Don McLean - Vacant Luxury

He had a black American Express card
You know you can buy a house with that
But you can't fill it with love
If you don't have love to give
If you don't have love to give you'll never be free
You'll never be free of
Vacant luxury

He had homes on both coasts
But they are empty now
With walk-in closets and all
But you can't fill closets with love
If you have no love to give
If you have no love to give, you'll never be free
You'll never be free
Of vacant luxury

The cities are empty, the rat race has run
Leave that luxury high rise and gilded age fun
Leave the parties, the weddings and sporting events
Don't go near a crowd if you have any sense
Your neighbor is toxic, his fears are hunger
We must be perfectly clean, just like
Felix Unger

You can't fill a high-rise with love
If you have no love to give
If you have no love to give you'll never be free
You'll never be free
Of vacant luxury

The yachts are abandoned and colleges [?]
The rat race now is to outrun the plague
So many mansions to show you had sway
Have all been defaulted and melted away
There's street side dining on subzero weather
We're suddenly all homeless birds of a feather
You can't fill a mansion with love if you have no love to give
If you have no love to give, you'll never be free
You'll never be free
Of vacant luxury

So run to the country and knock on the doors
Of beautiful homes you'd like to make yours
Just wave your money in front of a hick
And he'll sell you his house, ever so quick
You'll have distance and safety, except for one thing
The people you fear will arrive in the spring
And they'll start complaining, there's nothing to do
You'll be so bored you'll go out of your head
So you'll run back where you came from instead

Around and around you'll be so confused
You'll be so controlled, you'll feel so abused
That you'll have to seek treatment, from an all-knowing twit
Who hung up a shingle but doesn't know shit
Who'll say you're a victim like most of your friends
But are you a survivor or is this where it ends
You're a victim of luxury, of that there's no doubt
You'll have to take less to find your way out
You can't fill a person with love, if there's no love to give
If there's no love to give, you'll never be free
You'll never be free of
Vacant luxury
Vacant luxury
Vacant luxury
Vacant luxury