Time to Pretend Lyrics
I'm feelin' rough, I'm feelin' raw
I'm in the prime of my life
Let's make some music, make some money
Find some models for wives
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin
And fuck with the stars
You man the island and the cocaine
And the elegant cars
[Pre-Chorus 1]
This is our decision, to live fast and die young
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?
[Chorus]
Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
[Verse 2]
I'll miss the playgrounds
And the animals and diggin' up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother
And the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father
Miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom
And the time spent alone
But there is really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run its course
[Chorus]
We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
[Outro]
I said yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
About
MGMT have described the lyrics to “Time to Pretend” as:
We wrote “Time to Pretend” our senior year of college, and the music was inspired by a praying mantis we had in our house. She laid eggs and it died, and we laid the egg case on this kinda model pirate ship on the mantelpiece, and the eggs hatched and all these baby praying mantises were climbing up the rigging of the ship, and it was pretty crazy… uhm so the music was inspired by our praying mantis that liked to dance to The Clash {laugh} and the lyrics are just about us imagining being rock stars… and yeah, fantasy rock star life.
The song has featured in various films and television shows, including Skins, Saltburn, and the 2016 trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. “Time to Pretend” was ranked #493 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Some think we’re druggies. Others see the tongue-in-cheek element, that’s what I hope for as a lyricist: confusion!
- 1.Time to Pretend
- 2.Weekend Wars
- 3.The Youth
- 5.Kids