In The ArenaAmp It Up

I heard the backlash, I saw the venom in their eyes, a certain momentum builds when you stop askin' for their permission. The lonely lesson is the only blessing that you get for it, they only see the outcome, they never see the credit that you put in when the lights are off, and the night is long, and you're staring at the ceiling wonderin' if your rights are wrong. I saw the passengers, they voted with their feet for a softer cushion, But a diamond's only made when you keep pushin'. But I am the man in the arena... My face is marred, you've never seen it cleaner. I am the man in the arena... And I would not trade the struggle for the peace that you prefer. They told me leadership was handshakes and persuasion, a series of small compromises for the whole nation. But it's a cold negotiation, a treaty signed in adrenaline, it's bein' the only one who knows the cure but still feels the venom in the room. I'm just a ghost inside the board room now, writin' out the strategy they’ll never understand how it all connects. They want the title, they don't want the struggle, they want the final photograph without the blood inside the puddle. 'Cause I am the man in the arena... My face is marred, you've never seen it cleaner. I am the man in the arena... And I would not trade the struggle for the peace that you prefer. The applause all fades, the stock price all decays, the headlines all get old and start to turn another page. The only thing that's left, the only real and honest proof... Is the work you did when no one else was lookin' in the booth.