Living on a lighted stage
 Approaches the unreal
 For those who think and feel
 In touch with some reality
 Beyond the gilded cage.

 Cast in this unlikely role
 Ill - equipped to act
 With insufficient tact
 One must put up barriers
 To keep oneself intact.

 Living in the limelight
 The universal dream
 For those who wish to seem.
 Those who wish to be
 Must put aside the alienation,
 Get on with the fascination,
 The real relation,
 The underlying theme.

 Living in a fisheye lens,
 Caught in the camera eye.
 I have no heart to lie
 I can't pretend a stranger
 Is a long - awaited friend.

 All the world's indeed a stage
 And we are merely players:
 Performers and portrayers,
 Each another's audience
 Outside the gilded cage.