Standing at the foot of the ladder
A voice cries come on up to the sky
Put your feet on those first few rungs
You never know if you never try
Cautiously steel at my feet
And a vacuum of time seemed to fly
Everything seemed so much brighter now
I would like to go climb really high
So I complied with the rules and eagerly I climbed
Right up to those dizzy heights
Away from all the smoke and the grime

Then a voice said `Stop` 
You`ll have to lose a few of those parasites
Shed some excess weight
Well there youre special friends you say
But to the ladder theyll astop you being great

Up there are the lakes of Gehenna
Up there lurks every foul thing
Up there are only homes for the friendless
So climb the voices sing Up the ladder, Up the Ladder

Then a voice said `Stop`
You`ll have to shed some of that self esteem
Throwaway that integrity
You can`t keep your moral code
You must become just like me
Well I paused and looked around
And up ahead of me
That glittering world of gold and fun
Wasn`t what it seemed to be
And I saw them falling down
From the warm into the cold
They`d sold their souls and played the clown
So young but looked so old
And as my legs they started to move 
this time down instead of up
I agreed it was the right thing to drink of this new cup

Though many are still climbing 
They want to be a thousand feet tall
For just a few short years of glory
They`ve got a long long way to fall
Down the ladder, Up the ladder