Paper Tiger
By: Beck Hansen
Written by: Beck Hansen

Version Of: Paper Tiger

This Version:
 
Lyrics:
Just like a paper tiger
Torn apart by idle hands
Through the helter skelter morning
Fix yourself while you still can

No more ashes-to-ashes
No more cinders from the sky
Let all the laws of creation
Tell a dead man how to die

The deserts down below us
And the storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

Looking through a broken diamond
To make the past what should be
Through the ruins and the weather
Capsized boats in the sea

Deserts down below us
The storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

I just hold on to nothing
And see how long nothing lasts

The deserts down below us
And the storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

There's one road to the morning
There's one road to the truth
There's one road back to civilization
But there's no road back to you
 
Live:

Played live 176 times:
Earliest known live version: August 23, 2002
Latest known live version: August 16, 2023