Scandal Machine

I read the room at seventeen Figured out how the thing runs clean Give them something they can't ignore Then give them twice as much the day before They write the headlines, I write the show Every outrage perfectly timed You think you caught me — no, you're on the clock I scheduled this sometime in '69 Every whisper feeds the wire Every front page costs me nothing (I'm the fuel and I'm the fire) I am the scandal machine Running smooth on borrowed fury I am the scandal machine No conviction no attorney I am the scandal machine And I eat what you throw at me I am the scandal machine They called me reckless, called me vain I kept the receipts and banked the pain The ones who wrote me off by name Are writing features now to explain Every trial run in the press Every interview is a press release You think that's chaos — that's the plan I am the architect and I am the disease Every whisper feeds the wire Every front page costs me nothing (I'm the fuel and I'm the fire) I am the scandal machine Running smooth on borrowed fury I am the scandal machine No conviction no attorney I am the scandal machine And I eat what you throw at me I am the scandal machine You wanted a confession Here it is — I meant it all Not the thing you think I meant The one behind the thing, behind the wall I am the scandal machine Running smooth on borrowed fury I am the scandal machine No conviction no attorney I am the scandal machine And I eat what you throw at me I am the scandal machine (Full band stomp to hard stop)