[Verse 1]
Ilsa was an acrobat who went and fell in love with that
Horatio the human cannonball
A wedding 'neath the big top tent with barkers clowns and elephants
Sideshow family oddities and all
The dog-faced boy howled out with joy
As the tattooed lady was crying

[Chorus]
Ever since the beginning to keep the world spinning
It takes all kinds of kinds

[Verse 2]
Thomas was a congressman with closets full of skeletons
And dresses that he wore on Friday nights
Phyllis was a pharmacist, a dab of that, a pinch of this
Concocted to suppress her appetite
When the children were fiddling she'd slip 'em some Ritalin
And wait for Thomasina to arrive

[Chorus]
'Cause ever since the beginning to keep the world spinning
It takes all kinds of kinds
All kinds of kinds

[Verse 3]
When I play this old guitar from children's shows to smoky bars
I take a break and think about the past
When I stood up in geometry and everybody stared at me
And I tossed my test into the trash
I scratched off my number while hitching out under
That bush league population sign
[Chorus]
Ever since the beginning to keep the world spinning
It takes all kinds of kinds

[Bridge]
Now some point a finger and let ignorance linger
If they'd look in the mirror they'd find

[Chorus]
That ever since the beginning to keep the world spinning
It takes all kinds of kinds
All kinds of kinds
All kinds of kinds

[Outro]
Yeah, yeah, ooh
Oh yeah