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The System Has Failed

Of Mice and Men

The System Has Failed
2004

Duration: 4:04

Track number: 10

Times played live: 45

Writers

Lyrics by: Dave Mustaine

Music by: Dave Mustaine

Theme

Inspired by the John Steinbeck novella, this track explores the theme of **failed plans** and the bitterness of unfulfilled ambition and betrayal over a lifetime. The narrator reflects on the gap between youthful idealism ('simple plans of mice and men') and the harsh reality of growing older, facing loneliness, and surviving continuous setbacks.

Lyrics
The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men Back when I was just seventeen I thought that I knew everything I could make it in this scene To be a rising star that only gleamed But all the answers disagreed With the questions held for me I was legal now at twenty-one I knew the way the world should run My God just look what I had done Simply drunk and having fun Looked for friends, but I found none All alone at twenty-one The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men At twenty-five I was surprised That I was still even half alive Somehow I managed to survive I felt my body's doing time And In my back a hundred knives From friends at twenty-five And now as Gabriel sounds my warning bell I'd buy your life, if you would sell A year or two, if less compelled So live your life and live it well There's not much left of me to tell I just got back up each time I fell The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men The fire burns on and on That drives me on till all is gone Except the simple plans Of mice and men
Musicians
Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine

Vocals and rhythm guitar

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Of Mice and Men | Megadeth