Post office clerks put up signs saying position closed 
And secretaries turn off typewriters and put on their coats 
And janitors padlock the gates for security guards to patrol 
And bachelors phone up their friends for a drink 
While the married ones turn on a chat show 

And they'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow 

Gentlemen time please, you know we can't serve anymore 
Now the traffic lights change to stop, when there's nothing to go 
And by five o'clock everything's dead and every third car is a cab 
And ignorant people sleep in their beds 
Like the doped white mice in the college lab 

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all 
The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before 
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow 

Telephone exchanges click while there's nobody there 
The Martians could land in the car park and no one would care 
Close-circuit cameras in department stores shoot the same movie every day
And the stars of these films neither die nor get killed 
Just survive constant action replay 

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all 
The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before 
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow 

And Bill hoardings advertise products that nobody needs 
While angry from Manchester writes to complain about all the repeats on T.V. 
And computer terminals report some gains in the values of copper and tin 
While American businessmen snap up Van Goghs for the price of a hospital wing 

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all 
The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before 
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all 
They'll burn down the synagogues at six o'clock and we'll all go along like before 
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow