by Bob Dylan



Everybody wants to know why he couldn't adjust

Adjust to what, a dream that bust?



He was a clean-cut kid

But they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



They said what's up is down, they said what isn't is

They put ideas in his head he thought were his



He was a clean-cut kid

But they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



He was on the baseball team, he was in the marching band

When he was ten years old he had a watermelon stand



He was a clean-cut kid

But they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



He went to church on Sunday, he was a Boy Scout

For his friends he would turn his pockets inside out



He was a clean-cut kid

But they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



They said, "Listen boy, you're just a pup"

They sent him to a napalm health spa to shape up



They gave him dope to smoke, drinks and pills,

A jeep to drive, blood to spill



They said "Congratulations, you got what it takes"

They sent him back into the rat race without any brakes



He was a clean-cut kid

But they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



He bought the American dream but it put him in debt

The only game he could play was Russian roulette



He drank Coca-Cola, he was eating Wonder Bread,

Ate Burger Kings, he was well fed



He went to Hollywood to see Peter O'Toole

He stole a Rolls Royce and drove it in a swimming pool



They took a clean-cut kid

And they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



He could've sold insurance, owned a restaurant or bar

Could've been an accountant or a tennis star



He was wearing boxing gloves, took a dive one day

Off the Golden Gate Bridge into China Bay



His mama walks the floor, his daddy weeps and moans

They gotta sleep together in a home they don't own



They took a clean-cut kid

And they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did



Well, everybody's asking why he couldn't adjust

All he ever wanted was somebody to trust



They took his head and turned it inside out

He never did know what it was all about



He had a steady job, he joined the choir

He never did plan to walk the high wire



They took a clean-cut kid

And they made a killer out of him,

That's what they did