Fake 50's clothes 
Fake 50's food 
Classic gas-guzzling dream cars 
In more ads on the tube 

Fake home-made cookies 
Like Mommy used to make 
Nostalgia for an age 
That never existed 

Do you remember 
Art-deco knick-knacks and flings 
The stars on the silver screen 
Made you forget Hooverville 

View the world 
Through Time Life and Nick-at-Nite 
Nostalgia for an age 
That never existed 

All the stars had a pretty face 
Children and negroes knew their place 
Blocks of happy families 
With Moms and Dads all in love 
Or are these wholesome memories 
Really from reruns on TV 

Fake sixties 
Mask our leaders sleaze 
Is it really a new beginning 
With Confederate Kennedys? 

Fake Camelot 
Before everything went wrong 
Nostalgia for an age 
That never existed 

Do you remember 
The Summer of Love 
Vietnam, mini-skirts and drugs 
Rebellion was so much fun 

Tell your own kids 
To say no to that 
Nostalgia for an age 
That never existed 

Turn that MTV racket off 
So your folks can listen to "classic" rock 
Mellow out to the same old songs 
Again and again and again 

Do you wonder or even care 
How you wound up such a square 
If you can't stand "The Big Chill" 
Get out of the freezer 

Can't stand The Big Chill 
Get out of the freezer 

Everything old is new again 
It all comes back, just wait your turn 
But somehow the magics always missing 

Giving up on future dreams 
To dwell on rosy memories 
Will make sure your best days 
Are in the past 

Nostalgia for an age that never existed 
Nostalgia for an age that never existed 

Do you remember 
Being the first punk in your town 
Outlaw #1 
For the t-shirt you had on 

Now you stay at home 
Mad at the whole scene 
For refusing to freeze 
In 1983 

Why can't all the bands reform 
Stick to playing their old songs 
It ain't punk 
If it ain't just like the old days 

That was then, this is now 
Suckling up to the sacred cow 
Can leave you stuck in the mud 
With it's remains 

Nostalgia for an age that never existed 
Nostalgia for an age that never existed