He was just a poor boy livin' down by the railroad tracks
His father worked so hard to provide that he died of a cardiac
He made himself a promise to leave the poverty behind
Now climbing up the corporate ladder
is all that matters in his grand design

You can forget about friends in your climb before your fall
The climb before the fall
Alone at the top you feel the pressure pulling you
And you try in your mind
to repent your sins in your climb before your fall
The climb before the fall
Change your ways or you will pay in your dying days
In the end, in the end, in the end

Sunrise now and he has to get to work,
he's gotta tell someone what to do
Lives his life thinkin' how to get ahead,
kickin' of his corporate shoes
Throws his credit cards in everyone's face,
name droppin' 'cause he thinks it's cool
Doesn't realize he doesn't know how to act,
he's just lookin' like a complete fool

He left everyone he loved alone out in the cold
His mother was standing in the welfare line
while he was up to his neck in gold
Now he's become a millionaire
and he's sitting right at the top
But he found that the higher up the mountain
means the longer that you're gonna drop