Some people are into the power of power
The absolute corrupting power, that makes great men insane
While some people find their refreshment in action
The manipulation, encroachment and destruction of their inferiors

Growing up in public, growing up in public
Growing up in public, growing up in public with your pants down

Some people are into sadistic pleasures
They whet their desires and drool in your ears
They're quasi-effeminate characters in love with oral gratification
They edify your integrities, so they can play on your fears

They're gonna do you in public, 'cause you're growing up in public
They're gonna do it to you in public,
'cause you're growing up in public with your pants down

Some people think being a man is unmanly
Some people think that the whole concept's a joke
But some people think being a man is the whole point
And then some people wish they'd never awoke

Up from a dream of nightmarish proportions
Down to a size neither regal nor calm
A prince hamlet caught the middle between reason and instinct
Caught in the middle with your pants down again

Caught in the middle, I'm really caught in the middle
I'm caught in the middle, caught in the middle deciding about you

Copyright: SONY ATV MUSIC PUB LLC
Writer(s): LOU REED, MICHAEL FONFARA