Bad Religion

A rhapsody! Contestants in disguise
A nation of desire
But who will win the prize?
The people stand united,
Reluctantly aligned
Copying and lying
Are the favorite past-time
You've got a chance
To confront the world today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

Common life depicted on afternoon tv,
Is spiked to give the miserable a vogue identity
Hate your neighbors,
Cheat your friends,
They don't discriminate
Popularity and fame don't care
If you're a reprobate

You've got a chance
To confront the world today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

I'm tired of all this
Shakespearean misinformation
I want to win the game
You've got the right intentions
But who's got time to think?
You've got a noon appointment,
You've got to hit the links
You're talking in the stratosphere,
You're curled up on the floor
With such a wealth of information,
Why are you so poor?
You've got a chance
To be relevant today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
(don't you believe what the wise men have to say)
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

It's a long way to the promise land
So you'd better well know your way
There's a ship on the ocean
And an albatross who is trying to lead you astray
Leaders, politicians, and power whores
Are in line to receive your choice
And you bet your ass, if you give it to them,
They will gladly take your voice
And it's a long way to the promise land
Wo-oh Oh oh oh oh
It's a long way to the promise land,
If we work we might find it here
There's no substitute for enlightenment,
There's no reason for bridled fear
When you join the people who've joined the club
You gotta clench and play your hand
'Cuz if you fall in line you're gonna fall in time
And you'll never make a stand
It's a long way to the promise land
Wo-oh Oh oh oh oh
What are you going to do?
When they come for you?
Bend and capitulate?
Or keep your head on straight?
easy answers bought without experience,
Is gonna lead you to certain doom
Because the truth is just what you make of it,
It begins and ends with you!
And it's a long way to the promise land
Wo-oh oh oh oh oh

I don't want to live
In a world without melody
Sometimes the rhythmic din
Of society is too much for me
But purpose is prioritized
These days the goal is win the prize
There's a sleeping resonance we hold,
Through which we're unified
So let it out! don't just get lost in the crowd
No one can deter you from your own path
There's no trip too remote
From which you can't come back
And I've got this hunch about you and me
None of us are ready
For a world without melody
Melody is the key,
It's the surest way
To unlock your individuality
Melody is the key,
It will set you free!
Don't disrelish harmony,
Community will make you whole
Work and understanding are the chords
Way deep within your soul
They only need to be struck once,
And the vibrations swell and spread
But if we mute them they decay,
Our sensibilities are dead
So let it out! don't just be one of the crowd
Hesitance and diffidence will do you in
And your soul doesn't care
For social medicine
And I've got this hunch
About you and me
None of us are ready
For a world without melody
Melody is the key,
It's the surest way
To unlock your individuality
Melody is the key,
It will set you free!
And I know together we could change the world
Just you and me
But I won't live without melody

Do you know the cost of future misery?
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away
From realizing what we strive to be
But we've got to break out
From this insulated, blind and lame senility
Wake up the new america wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria wo-oh!
Change is the thing you're wary of wo-oh!
We need a new america wo-oh!
Laurels, human triumph
Bestowments from the past
Victories don't mean a thing
If they don't last
We are just marching toward extinction
With blinders on our eyes
Jeopardizing everything
We've learned and come to realize
You call that wise?
Open your eyes america wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell to us wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us wo-oh!
We need a new america wo-oh!
We don't have to be afraid to re-invent
We've got to start to build
Progress and implement
For when we take our fill
And never pay the price
We only build ourselves
A fleeting, false paradise
You can live in staunch denial
And mark me as your enemy
But I'm just a voice among the throng
Who want a brighter destiny
They say with me
We are the new america wo-oh!
This is the new america? Wo-oh

You were the one,
You were my everything
Never apart,
No one in-between
Then one day,
When you went your own way
You felt justified,
And I was mortified
But today...
You are just a picture
And a thousand memories
Is all I take with me
'Cuz your smile
Is just too much to see
You're just a thousand memories
Fantasies, broken dreams
Reveries, sordid histories
Following my heart,
Laden with reaction,
Without calibration or design
Committed to a trial,
A life of understanding
Can't somebody show a sign to you
For me to see if you only knew
That you were the one
You were my everything
Never apart,
No one in-between
Then one day,
When you went your own way
You felt justified,
And I was mortified
But today...
You are just a picture
And a thousand memories
Is all I take with me
'Cuz a picture is worth
one thousand memories

Well, it was punk-fifteen in the morning
And it was time to stand my ground
And as the gawks and stares bombarded me
You know, I didn't even hear a sound
No one gave a damn
If I was there or away
If I died and went to hell,
They'd throw a party on my grave
And they'd all say
"this kid is just a fool, he'll never be cool
They might as well just ship him off
to some other school"
Plain destitute
Just a little too guilty, just a little too soon
That day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place
And I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire
'Cuz I've got the desire
Well, it was punk-fifteen in the evening
And it was time to set the town on fire
I saw my boots and my hair
As reflected in the mirror
Reveal a streetkid named desire
I didn't give a damn
Because I was just dying to be
And as the Hollywood street scene
Left its mark on me
I changed from a boy into a man
I said "never again!"
I stuck out my chin when I should have ran
Shit in the fan
I was driven so hard
By the sound of my heart
But that day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place
And I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire
'Cuz I've got the desire
When the walls surround
In deeper shades of blue
And there's no voice of reason inside you
And you search for meaning
On an empty shelf
Then you're always dreaming
Of somewhere else
Today is just like any other day
No fear, no restraint
I know that paradise is some other place
And I will get there another day
You can come with me,
No conditions or fares
Somehow, somewhere,
I will find it before I expire,
'Cuz I've got the desire

All those stories that my dad told me,
they are just a whisper in time
All those things that never came to be,
they are just a whisper in time
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
(memories that flicker and die)
All those places I wanted to go,
they are just a whisper in time
All those friends who now I do not know,
they are just a whisper in time
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
Maps and roads that brought me here today,
they are just a whisper in time
Circumstances that were explained away,
they are just a whisper in time
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
'Cuz we are messengers of memory
Just whispers in time

It could happen to you,
a defect from the wasted outskirts of los angeles
with a crumpled-up pass for the RTD
And no authority or trajectory
on the brink of insanity
You'd better believe it
because it's written all over your face
just a neighborhood reject,
out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it
Would you ever have thought
persistence could prevail
against the almost
unbearable weight of the system?
With nothing better to do,
and no one else who you can look up to
You'd better believe it
because it's written all over your face
A political defect,
out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it
And the future is bright
when ideas run astray
So turn out the light,
A punk can't have a say
Sometimes desire is all that's there
Who said life was fair?

I love my computer
You make me feel alright
Every waking hour
and every lonely night
I love my computer
for all you give to me:
predictable errors and no identity
And it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy
All I need to do is click on you
and we'll be joined
in the most soul-less way
And we'll never ruin each other's day
'cuz when I'm through I just click
and you just go away
I love my computer
you're always in the mood
I get so turned on
when I turn on you
I love my computer
you never ask for more
You can be a princess
or you can be my whore
And it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy
The world outside is so big
but it's safe in my domain
Because to you
I'm just a number
and a clever screen name
All I need to do is click on you
and we'll be together for eternity
And no one is ever gonna take my love
from me because I've got security
her password and a key

Oh me oh my
Get out of your 1950's fantasy,
Your face shines with misery transparently
Spew out that sobering
half-assed victim rhetoric
Make 'em all squirm
while they chew on it
It's a secret handshake
and a passing wink of the eye
As the witches bridge club weekly
meets to pen the tail on the sly
But they never ask
"why oh why don't we raise our voices to the sky?"
Instead you're mute
and fawn just waiting to die
Like some kind of hopeless housewife
But you can change while you're alive
and let 'em all know
at least you tried
to kill the demons inside
Oh me oh my
Damn your transcendental paralysis
We can work together
and make sense of this
Don't be so sure
you can chuck it all away
You've got to proceed
no matter how bad you want to stay
It's a natural cause
and a comfort zone
there in your head
And the world turns away
as you tap the snooze button in bed
But nobody can hear a word you said
Your history was never read
Instead you're mute and fawn
just waiting to die
Like some kind of hopeless housewife
But you can change while you're alive
and let 'em all know
at least you tried
to kill the demons inside

Shut your eyes
See the future's distant shore
March ahead
More enlightened than before
And there's sure to be bumps and distractions
but I know we'll get through
There will be me, there will be you
There will be a way
Unresolved repercussions from your life
Fortified with the vitriol of strife
And you can be gridlocked by predictions,
But you're wise grab the prize
Then revise, realize
there will be a way
Hey... Ho
And I don't know where we are going
but we're here on this ride
And we'll stand side by side
all along the way
Follow me to the future's distant shore
Vagary needn't haunt us anymore
And now it's time to set the agenda,
Learn the past, make it last
Share the wealth, hold your fire,
conserve life, make it right
kill the hate, negotiate
There will be a way

Let your mind wander
Look beyond the shadows
Focus on the skyline,
Read the silhouettes
Your deepest desires
are a picture of tomorrow
All your darkest fears
are just a vestige of regret
And it's wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger,
prevailing winds blow stronger
and the fire continues to grow
Don't let shallow water limit your perception
Heed the new horizon
Muster to it fast
The moments of your yesterdays
are in the wake behind you
You can't assess the future
if you're living in the past
Keep it stoked!
If you are committed
to a life of understanding
then there's no agenda
for vengeance in your life
Sharpen all your senses,
face the opposition
You can overcome
with fortitude and mental might
And it's wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger,
prevailing winds blow stronger
and the fire continues to grow
in your soul
So be bold, let it grow
Don't let it die
Let it burn!

we don't need any more mountains
Because the trail builders
failed to give us passage there
so we can't reach the sky
We don't need any more failure
There is human tragedy
that's written everywhere
And we are all too young to die
Like a mystery that's here to stay
Some people never go away
cuz they've got something to say
Don't sell me short!
You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off
just because I don't belong
Like it or not I'm all you've got,
Dispose when I'm shot
Just don't sell me short,
I might not be who you thought
We don't need any more fables
because the writers have passed
and left us lessonless
And we must find our own way
We don't need any more privilege
There is vivid desperation
that is powerless
That no surplus can repay
Like the fix of rapture in a trance
Oh, fates are sealed by circumstance
So you've got to take a chance
Don't sell me short!
You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off
Just because I don't belong
Pass me on by, ignore my cry,
forget me when I die
Just don't sell me short,
Not while I'm still alive
Everybody's talking about heaven on earth,
I'm still trying to figure out
just what I'm worth
I'm full of emotion
and stuff you can't contain
And you just want to
flush me down the drain
But you can't make me go away

like a morning crow and his unwelcome song
or a worn-out broken record that keeps skipping along
mountains of instructions you keep piling on me
resound like a cacophonous symphony
but I don't wanna hear it anymore
no, I don't wanna hear it anymore
let's go!

priests and politicians pretend they're your friend
and police speak to you like you're children again
blanket statements cover you like a rug
and they tell me maybe I'm acting a little too smug
but I don't wanna hear it anymore
no, I don't wanna hear it anymore
no more!

every day we hear the secrets of life
reduced to cheap jokes, poetry, and friendly advice
they'd rather see us all pusillanimous
absorbent in their chorus of correctness
but I don't wanna hear it anymore
no, I don't wanna hear it anymore
I said, I don't wanna hear it anymore
No, I don't wanna hear it anymore

here inside this quiet room there's direction
outside in the sultry noon-time reflection
a million people scurry
they're looking for advice
none willing to lend charity, just exercise their

shades of truth and partisan conventions
shades of truth between disparate lines
shades of truth interpret my intentions
you don't know I'm alright
you don't know I'm alright

who authored the blueprints and made us captains?
someone proclaimed creation, people listened
while children by the millions are thrown into this zoo
the so-called gift of clarity! oh what was God up to?

shades of truth and lenient conventions
shades of truth between disparate lines
shades of truth interpret my intentions
you don't know I'm alright
you don't know I'm alright
yeah!

so many walk in parallel and pull their blinders tight
so few offer apology and accept others' rights
and nothing absolutely can be cherished in the end
but can't we all accept that it will all happen again?

shades of truth just partisan conventions
shades of truth between disparate lines
shades of truth interpret my intentions
you don't know I'm alright
you don't know I'm alright

just shades of truth and partisan conventions
shades of truth between disparate lines
shades of truth interpret my intentions
you don't know I'm alright
you don't know I'm alright

England seemed like such a beautiful place from afar
until one day I saw how miserable things really are

all fantastic images they only are apparent
propagated just by hope
and desire to share it

beauty was the allure that brought me close to you
loneliness was the bond that made me stick like glue

all fantastic images they only are apparent
promoted by desperate hope
that things are somewhere better

I don't have a thing against fantasy
but to chase it down just doesn't make sense to me
if your only hope is simply peace and love
you end up discarding most of what you're made of
what you're made of...

all fantastic images they only are apparent
promoted by desperate hope
that things are somewhere better

k..k..k..killer (2x)

you have got your stranglers and prowlers in soft shoes
furniture makers, carpenters too
bombers and commandos, all with some lost cause
disgruntled workers, immersed in "veritas"

but stealthily, in the land of the free, it's lurking right there
most are unaware of
the biggest killer in American history (4x)
and God shed his grace on thee

business institutions, universities
both are quite the circus when the killer wants his way
I think of Edward Teller and his moribund reprise
then I look to Nevada and I can't believe my eyes
it's time for him to die!

most cannot remember minutia learned in school
it's not there on the blackboard, it's what they don't tell you
we have got a problem, it starts and ends right here
it can be defeated but you've got to face your fear

we'll join and unite and steady our sight
then we'll put it right 'cuz it's time to fight
the biggest killer in American history (4x)
and God shed his grace on thee

history doesn't make something right
consensus is not a fact-based exercise
you're tied and bound to this self-indulgent enterprise
we call America

a brush with a star, a token of love
a name in the sand, enough is enough
a diet of air, a face on the net
a fish in your palm, your television set

once you convince yourself
the universe falls into place
you've got your ideas
and your posse of friends
you all make up rules
and the fun never ends

but still there's a problem, leaves you gasping for air
you look for some meaning, blank smiles are all that's there
and still water stales a soft summer breeze
you cling to your hopes while you drop to your knees
there's no substance!(2x)

once you convince yourself
the universe falls into place
you've got your ideas
and your posse of friends
you all make up rules
and the fun never ends

but still there's a problem, leaves you gasping for air
you look for some meaning, blank smiles are all that's there
and still water stales a soft summer breeze
you cling to your hopes while you drop to your knees

there's no substance!(2x)

fa fa fafa fa fa fafa raise your voice! (4x)

don't be played like someone else's board game
don't be classed out like some desperate redoubt
don't be misled you've got a lot on your head
and nobody's gonna pay attention when you are dead

so...
fa fa fafa fa fa fafa raise your voice! (4x)

it's the primary rule, you gotta wanna be fooled
it's our daunted restraint that keeps us silent in shame
it's our nature to be adversarial and free
our evolution didn't hinge on passivity

so...
fa fa fafa fa fa fafa raise your voice! (10x)

we all know politicians only go
just halfway there
just halfway there
the innocence of youth needs protection not abuse
but no one seems to care
yet no one seems to care

and you sit there and watch the world go around
from your pseudo-benevolent vantage point
while we who've been left to pick up after you
try our best to make some sense for those who come next

now what have you done to foster the truth
besides just hide the lies?
besides just hide the lies?
a selfish campaign never justifies the gain
but the means are verified
yeah the means are verified

and you sit there and insist you are right!
from your popular psychological podium
while those who rely and depend on you
they wilt because you don't accept we need each other

while sowing the seeds of Utopia
you invoked a convenient amnesia
you forgot how to care, you forgot how to provide
you forgot how to work toward a meaningful life

our apocalypse 1981
teenage vagrants looking for some fun
a renewed promise of prosperity
a vulgar platform for the world to see
we were...
the hippy killers (4x)

busted refuse from broken homes
pocked flesh and malacious bones
creatures sustained by desire, heart, and soul
nothing to leave and nowhere to go
we were...
the hippy killers (4x)

the hippy killers (8x)

good days during horrible times
overused bodies, neglected minds
shoulder to shoulder we formed as one
the next miserable generation
we were...
the hippy killers (4x)

Neighbors, nobody loves you like we do. Neighbors, your government has triumphed in finally making you a public fit for the 21st century. Never before has a governing body shown so much concern for the economic well-being of its subjects. Today we have insulated you from countless factions who threaten your financial viability; such as the poor; the idealistic foreigners still clinging to their childish notions of social welfare; why, you're even kept uninformed of useless propagandist journalism that reports alleged violations of human rights (we all know they wouldn't have been punished if they hadn't been doing something WRONG!!). And who better to dispense such blatantly evident factoids but a self-appointed authority like myself?

Acid Rain is a thing of the past.... too many possible causes, too little significance for our modern thinking public, besides industrial manufacturing is at an all-time low anyway, who needs those narrow minded laborers, too many mouths to feed, hehe, and too much burden on the payroll! Who needs 'em here in the land of the free time. Some other ass-backward country will give us what we need by exploiting its uneducated children anyway.

The Internet has expanded our ability to pacify average Americans better than ever by offering fantastical adventures to every corner of the imagination. Your home office is the window to your world, and the heart of your social life. Such reclusive behavior helps clear the roads and public works from overburden like the lower middle class and others who depend shamelessly on their government. Today you are freer than ever to do what you want, provided you can pay for it!

Remember, the first word in USA is US!
We have arrived, neighbors, we are the privileged elite!

since the start of the 17th century
there's been the scent of unseasoned wood burning in the air
and the conquest of nature meant nothing at all
while we betray exception we take all that's there

but motives are translucent in the reflection of shame
the actions ghostly remnants of our ancestral ways
and unwittingly you just take your place in this parade
the voracious march of godliness makes us all the same anyway
all the same...

since the dawn of our human family
there's been concentrated sepsis blowing in the breeze
and we turned on each other with ferocity
desperation, forced, without reprieve

but the missions were misguided and the trammeled led astray
the air resounds with thunder as the victor seized the day
and the haunting voice of history lives ignored but not betrayed
the voracious march of godliness will get us close to heaven one day
some day...

the voracious march of godliness (6x)
the voracious march of godliness makes us all the same anyway
all the same...

look around the country, an abundance you'll find
of mediocre minds
sift through the fodder as sane justice declines
because of mediocre minds
shrouded under cover, the most flamboyant guise
hides a mediocre mind
you got yours but you can never bend mine
with your mediocre minds

when they cry foul you had better watch out
because you never know which aptitude they're griping about
don't act too smart for their stenoscopic ways
you'll be discarded away

reason's not to be what the privileged define
with their mediocre minds
so many sighted people are so helplessly blind
from their mediocre minds

if you want attention then you'll be asked to bend
but the surest insurrection is enlightenment
then you can live outside inharmoniously
without friends and enemy

they wanna keep me locked away
cuz I've an overactive brain

leaders, presidents and the nightly news guys
cater to mediocre minds
reason's not to be what the privileged define
with their mediocre minds
you got yours but you can never bend mine
with your mediocre minds
the only natural thing that I really despise
are the mediocre minds
mediocre minds! (2x)

what will prove to be our big mistake?
short sighted arrogance all for what sake?
our families to ashes, our ambition to dust
our progeny in silence thinking "what about us?"

but don't forget the dance of neglect
the march for empowering prosperity
the pain from loss and want for mere lucidity
just maternal residue, and I was there too
and maybe so were you

when something is won it comes with sacrifice
it's there beneath the joy, the glory and pride
rarely it's acknowledged but in positive light
consciously omitting the losers' plight

but don't forget the dance of neglect
the craving for community that never was met
the longing for status and the overture of regret
with no one to deter, pathetically unsure
forgetting who they were

just maternal residue, and I was there too
and maybe so were you

a mutinous enemy carved a nascent country
sweat, blood and valor forms the grit of our history
bequeathed to everyone: chance and free expression
substance was restrained and the spirit was broken

I feel a strange denial rhythmic as change
constant as time
lonely insistent whispers
somber as a wave bye bye

searching for solution, without constitution
blackcoats by our sides promising salvation
advocating dogma as tickets to hereafter
mortals in their prime with their desperate hands in the air

daunting complex and burning
rhythmic as change
constant as time
conflicts, craving approval
weighted as a murder trial
oh, I feel a strange denial

correct is consensus
everything else, nonsense
forward is the hope
forget recompense
peace and tranquility is only for the wealthy
dearth for the masses and inequality

I feel a strange denial
rhythmic as change
constant as time
lonely insistent whispers
dissipating in the night
like a lone forgotten light

and no one is helping me
it's a strange denial

what you do is what you are
and wishing upon distant stars
won't improve the hole you're in
and won't absolve your deepest sin

but action is no gift from some covert and lofty god
it's dependent and weighty all the same
and it's oh so easy just to keep to yourself
then you're at the mercy of imbeciles

now I didn't make up the rules
but clearly we are led by fools
it is wise to know their ways
so you know how not to behave

but sometimes we find ourselves in desperate need
and we look to those of privilege and power
it's then we learn compassion sits inert upon their shelves
and we're at the mercy of imbeciles

no action is no gift from some masked spirit in the sky
it's reducible to flesh, mind and bone
and it's oh so easy just to keep to yourself
but then you're at the mercy of imbeciles
imbeciles (3x)

you want prosperity for yourself but not for me
somehow you just can't see we're in this collectively
you think that freedom is a drastic severence
from your past relations, just a quest for new bargains

we're not the same person
we're not the same person
(don't you ever wanna know)
wooohhh

don't need no good advice nor shoddy merchandise
I'm the suspect device, beaten down, unable to strike
we're not the same person
we're not the same person
(don't you ever wanna know)
wooohhh

and the sun comes over us again
we lament, we pine, and we rescind
and we ask for understanding
but aren't we the stingy ones indeed
when it's needed from us in the end?

we watch the days go by, compete and then we die
so few ever ask why but so many just abuse the design

we're not the same person
we're not the same person
(don't you ever wanna know)
wooohhh

we're not the same person
we're not the same person
(don't you ever wanna know)
wooohhh

I can see the shadows on the wall
drifting as the leaves start to fall
unfazed by rugosity, the objects yield to gravity
and depict the destiny of us all

no one really knows why we die
no one gets a break so we try
ignoring mortality, we worship mediocrity
and wait to see what happens up on high

in so many ways we live to follow the sun
in so many ways we exalt and fail as one
in so many ways we want so bad to be done
in so many ways we show our pain in unison
unison (2x)

something in you is busy counting days
catapulting you through the haze
blind to virtuosity, ignorant of your sanctity
revealing you in so many ways

in so many ways we live to follow the sun
in so many ways we tend to rise and fall as one
in so many ways we want so bad to be done
in so many ways we show our pain in unison
unison (2x)

in so many ways we live to follow the sun
in so many ways we exalt and fail as one
in so many ways we want so bad to be done
in so many ways we show our pain in unison
unison (2x)

I've got nothing to say,
I've got nothing to do,
all of my neurons are functioning smoothly
yet still I'm a cyborg just like you,
I'm one big myoma that thinks,
my planet supports only me,
I've got this one big problem:
will I live forever?
I've got just a short time to see,
modern man, evolutionary betrayer,
modern man, ecosystem destroyer,
modern man, destroy yourself in shame,
modern man, pathetic example of
earth's organic heritage
when I look back and think,
when I ponder and ask "why?",
I see my ancestors spend with careless abandon,
assuming eternal supply, modern man . . .
just a sample of carbon-based wastage,
just a fucking tragic epic of you and I.

Positive Aspect Of Negative Thinking
let's gather round the carcass of the old deflated beast,
we have seen it through the accolades and rested in it's lea,
syntactic is our elegance, incisive our disease,
the swath endogenous of ourselves will be our quandary,
we've nestled in it's hollow and we've suckled at it's breast,
grandiloquent in attitude, impassioned yet inept,
frivolous gavel our design, ludicrous or threat,
excursive expeditions leave us holding less and less,
so what does it mean?
when we tell ourselves it's only for a while we have been deceived
and it's only for a moment that the treasures of our day
make life easier to complicate,
the treasure thrown away,
I'm so tired of all the fucked up mind
of all the terrorist religions and their bullshit lines,
of all the hand-me-downs from all industrial crimes
and the weeping mothers and those who are led so blind,
from the plastic protests and the hands of time
and the pursuit of mirth and all hating kind.

Anesthesia
everybody is talking about the girl
who went and killed the delivery man,
but she looks so kind and gentle,
it just doesn't stand to reason,
I saw her right there just the other night
as stately as a slot machine,
but when she looked my way something mad
as hell came over me,
anesthesia, mona lisa, I've got a little gun,
here comes oblivion,
I never loved you, how did you find me?
the cops will never complicity now, anna . . .
all good children go to heaven!
I remember your face that august night
when we lied about the beautiful time to come
and that crazy old man who came much to late
and caused a chain reaction,
I've been hanging out there for eleven long years
like a church mouse where the cat has gone,
and looking at you now
is driving me to distraction.

Flat Earth Society
lie, lie, lie . . .
the full moon is rising over dark water
and the fools below are picking up sticks
and the man in the gallows lies permanently
waiting for the doctors to come back and tend to him,
the flat earth society is meeting here today,
singing happy little lies
and the bright ship humana is sent far away
with grave determination . . .
and no destination, lie, lie, lie
yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water
and the whistling wind on a calm summer night,
but you'd better believe that down in their quarters
the men are holding in for their dear lives,
the flat earth society is somewhere far away,
with their candlesticks and compasses
and the bright ship humana is well on its way
with grave determination . . .
and no destination, lie, lie, lie, ad infinitum.

heard a sermon from a creaky pul pit with no one in the nave, i paid a
visit to the synagogue and i left there feeling blame, no one could
tell me what to do, no one had the ability to answer me, what the
world needs now is some answers to our problems, we can't buy more
time because our tender isn't valid, if your soul needs love you can
consoled by pity, but it looks as though faith alone won't sustain us
anymore, watched the scientists throw up their hands conceding,
"pregress will resolve it all", saw the manufacturers of earth's
debris ignore another green peace call, no one could tell me what to
do, they had not the capacity to answer me, what the world needs now
is some accountability, we can't buy more time because time won't
accept our money, if your soul needs love you can always have my pity,
but it looks as though faith alone won't sustain us no more...

Entropy
random blobs of power expressed as that which we all disregard,
ordered states of nature on a scale that no one thinks about,
don't speak to me of anarchy of peace or calm revolt,
man, we're in a play of slow decay orchestrated by boltzmann,
it's entropy, it's not a human issue,
entropy, it's a matter of course,
entropy, energy at all levels,
entropy, from it you can not divorce
and your pathetic moans of suffrage tend to lose all significance,
extinction, degradation;
the natural outcomes of our ordered lives,
power, motivation; temporary fixtures for which we strive,
something in our synapses assures us we're ok
but in our disquilibrium we simply can not stay,
it's entropy . . .
a stolid proposition from a man unkempt as I,
my affectatious I can not rectify,
but we are out of equilibrium unnaturally,
a pang of consciousness of death
and then you will agree.

Against The Grain
three thousand miles of wilderness
overcome by the flow,
a lonely restitution of pavement,
pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
my path again renewed,
against the grain,
that's where I'll stay,
swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain
here labelled as lunatic,
sequestered and content,
there ignored and defeated
by the government,
there's an oriented public who's magnetic
force does pull,
but away from the potential of the individual,
against the grain . . .
the flow is getting stronger
with smaller increments of time and eddies
of new ideas are increasingly hard to find,
you need all that the other has,
your right to seize the day
but in all your acquisitions you will soon
be swept away,
against the grain . . .
there's a common consensus
and an uncomfortable cheer,
a reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
it sings "leave your cares behind you,
just grab tenaciously",
this lulling sense or purpose will
destroy us rapidly,
against the grain . . .

Operation Rescue
it's an s.o.s sent out telepathically,
signs of our distress don't allow complacency,
we need restoration now of our integrity and a
drastic bold reminder of our morality,
the rectifying troop is here,
the ones we have needed all these years to stop
the heinous wrongdoings and verify our moral
benevolence as a people,
operation rescue,
they're here to right our fall,
they have heard a troubled call,
operation rescue,
you may wonder where they come from,
but I just wonder why they're here at all,
life ever-after is what they're in business for,
see them brandish the key to their kingdoms door,
it's persuasive, it's a part of you and me
but it's not overwhelming as they wish it to be,
if no one believed in fairy tales
there would be nothing they could do but fail
yet everywhere we look someone is trying to reassure our
moral benevolence
as a people,
operation rescue . . .
you may wonder where they come from,
but I just wonder what compels them all.

God Song
and did those feet in ancient times
trod america's pastures of green?
and did that anthropocentric god wane
with their thoughts and beliefs all unseen?
I don't think so,
he's up there with the others lying low,
vying with those who you've traded
your life to bless your soul,
and have they told you how to think,
cleansed your mind of sepsis and autonomy?
or have you escaped scrutiny,
and regaled yourself with depravity?
now we all see, "religion is just synthetic
frippery, unnecessary in our expanding
global culture efficiency"
and don't you fear this impasse
we have built to our future?
ever so near,
and oh so austere.

i can't belive it
the way you look sometimes
like a trampled flag on a city street, oh yeah
and i don't want it
the things you're offering me
symbolized bar code,quick ID, oh yeah
cuz i'm a 21st century digital boy
i don't know how to live but i got a lot of toys
my daddy is a lazy middle class intellectual
my mommy's on valium(she's)so ineffectual
ain't life a mystery?
i can't explain it
thie things they're saying to me
it's going yayayayayayaya, oh yeah
cuz i'm a 21st century digital boy
i don't know how to read
but i got a lot of toys
CHORUS
i tried to tell you about no control oho
but now i really don't know
and then you told me how bad you had to suffer
is that really all you had to offer?
CHORUS
21st century digitsl boy(5x)
ain't life a mystery?

so proud a history, replete with sanctity, orbs in their harmony, they
sing their code to me, have you ever heard yourself the orbit that you
are in? the terse, oppressive blanket that's instilled here by our
spin, it's misery and famin, it's a force we cannot see, misery and
famine, it compels us naturally, misery and famine, great ellipse, we
bend to thee, misery and famine, just accept your vagrancy, others who
bear no name, who feel that life's a game, my verse they will defame,
we suffer all the same, they pay no regard to their position or their
speed, but the firmament still covers them with its malevolent seed,
it's misery and famine..., "you look for meaning in things no one
comprehends, you feel no affinity to the rabble we're in", sources of
inquiry have nothing to portend, they will perplex us all until the
coming end, a feeling of despair, hungry and full of care, we resent
everywhere the fortune that we share, "this earth could be a better
place" is a concept i condone, given our pathetic course our destiny
is known, it's misery and famine...

Unacceptable
irreducible is the word for today,
plastic compounds and nuclear waste,
what the hell is the matter with the people
on this planet? have all gone insane?
the stigma of industrial progress killing us
over and over again,
one part per trillion . . . unacceptable,
one part per billion . . . unacceptable,
one part per million . . . unacceptable,
this mammoth pogrom set upon courtesy of the U.S.A
inexcusable are the men before our time,
I'd like to kick their ass for what they left behind,
cancer-causing chemicals,
ozone-depleting aerosols,
we're all going to fry,
so put your head between your legs
and kiss your ass goodbye.

offer me eternity, and i'll trade a cup of coffee and a dime, looking
for a handout on behalf of those who have so little time, but who
wants to live on just 70 cents a day? padding your pockets doesn't
make this a better place, "cereal and water" is a feast for some you
say, your price-tag on existence can't cover your double face, quality
or quantity: a choice you have to make, dipping in the icing, bringing
home the largest turkey from the field, breaking all the piggy banks,
scooping up the booty, licking all the right holes, bolstering the
payroll, why reduce life to a dollar amount per day? and why let the
world think this is the american way? your uneaten greens ar a feast
for some you say, survival and living are concepts you can't equate,
quality or quantity don't tell me they're the same

Walk Away
shut off the t.v and peel off those sunday gloves,
and I'll stain the clean that you've been counting,
old mr. fletcher passed by here today,
after 40 years of toil he just up and walked away,
fantastic the panic that showed in his eyes,
he shrugged when I asked him about it,
he said "young man pay heed, you listen well to what I say,
now there comes a time for a man to walk away",
walk away, I'll be a parade,
and I'll be determined that no one shall dissuade on my way,
I'll sure take some time to burn all the bridges that I'm leaving behind,
he passed by again and he was shivering from the cold,
I'm not sure but I think that he was trying,
he told me about the weather and something old to pay,
"but tomorrow", he said, "I'm gonna surely walk away".

Recipe For Hate
can't you feel it, can't you see it
the promise of prosperity,
it's overwhelming you and me
it afflicts us like a disease,
ubiquitous compelling too
we cling to you like crazy glue,
and inject such a potent seed
it's best for all humanity,
the spread of culture,
the sword of progress,
the vector of suffrage a warm and
septic breeze,
the pomp and elation,
the duty and vocation,
the blood of the hybrid
it's just a recipe
re-living our ancestry
the frightful lack of harmony,
our fore-fathers who led the way,
their victims are still here today,
now it's time to erase the story
of our bogus fate,
our history as it's portrayed
it's just a recipe for hate.

Kerosene
everywhere I look I see exclusive huddled
uninviting shelter is privilege,
of the sane and competent,
kerosene keeps me warm,
I'm alone to watch it burn,
kerosene
exposure, is a pitiful
and pointless way of dying
before it gets me,
I'll set a funeral pyre
kerosene keeps me warm,
I'm alone to watch it burn,
kerosene
I'm a man and my dignity
won't wave,
tonight buildings rage,
kerosene keeps me warm,
it feels so good
to watch it burn,
kerosene keeps me warm,
feels so good to watch it burn,
kerosene.

American Jesus
I don't need to be a global citizen,
because I'm blessed by nationality,
I'm a member of a growing populace,
we enforced our popularity
there are things that seem to pull us under
and there are things that drag us down,
but there's a power and a vital presence
that's lurking all around
we've got the american jesus
see him on the interstate,
we've got the american jesus
he helped build the president's estate
I feel sorry for the earth's population
'cuz so few live in the U.S.A,
at least the foreigners can copy our morality,
they can visit but they cannot stay,
only precious few can garner our prosperity,
it makes us walkwith renewed confidence,
we've got a place to go when we die
and the architect resides right here
we've got the american jesus
overwhelming millions every day
(exercising his authority)
he's the farmer barren fields,
the force the army wields,
the expression in the faces
of the starving children,
the power of the man.
he's the fuel that drives the clan,
he's the motive and the conscience
of the murderer
he's the preacher on TV,
the false sincerity,
the form letters that written by
the big computers,
he's the nuclear bombs,
and the kids with no moms
and I'm fearful that
he's inside me.

Portrait Of Authority
nothing more, nothing less,
in icon on the wall decoration and duress,
which many strive to be,
it's the marble statue standing over me,
and nobody has the will to tear it down,
it determines wrong and right,
but to me it's just a stereotype
and it makes us lose our sight
the portrait of authority,
you tell me that's what I'm supposed to be
(it embodies what he cannot be)
another time, another man,
an oppressive intrusion
and a plague across his land,
and it haunts him every day,
it tells him he has no chance
his hopes just fades away,
and he lives his life prepared to tear it down,
but he can't muster the support,
and to him it's just a stereotype
of his life-long fight.

Man With a Mission
rescue me when I get to deep,
talk to me there's nothing to tell,
everyone, is a hypocrite, look to me,
I'll save your soul,
now somebody out there must be reading my mail,
cuz everybody knows,
I'm a man with a mission,
coming to your town today,
I can damn you to fiery prodititon,
cuz I'm a man with a mission,
follow me, when you give up,
work for me, it'll serve you well,
everyone's a hypocrite,
come to me, I'll save your soul
now somebody out there must be tapping my phone,
'cuz everybody knows,
I'm a man with a mission,
I'm gonna fly you away,
high above the noise and competition,
yeah, I'm a man with a mission,
I'm a man with a mission,
passing through your town today,
I condemn you to fiery prodition,
yeah, I'm a man with a mission.

All Good Soldiers
all good soldiers crack like boulders,
the sun climbs up to a razor,
violins, new boots, and numbers on a chain,
all good soldiers
all good soldiers fall in line,
when they march and shout
are a spectacle,
marching and singing
will go anywhere the president says,
because the president believes in god,
like all good soldiers should
all good soldiers wait like warheads,
when the fighting starts,
who will be accountable,
a cannibal, a cannonball,
six a.m. I can see my breath
and the clay dirt
is laughing at he weakling boy,
today is the day
that I'll write my friends
something I've been trying to remember,
I had a dream of a wall
that was twenty-one stories tall...
all good soldiers fall in line,
marching and singing,
will go anywhere the president says,
because the president believes in god,
like all good soldiers should.

Watch It Die
I was born on planet earth,
the rotating ball where man comes first,
it's been around for a long, long time,
but now it's time to watch it die
I saw a man on my big blue screen,
he ruled the world economy,
he said the rich would never concede,
but some day soon he'll be put to sleep,
I've seen the life of the forest gree,
and adaptations of the deep blue sea,
and who knows who is the fittest,
they will all soon be put to sleep,
on a plunging flight and we're sitting
in the pilots seat in the midst of life,
people on a dark horizon praying
somebody will save their lives
I was born on planet earth,
at a drastic time full of plastic mirth,
and every day I've seen increasing signs,
and you would too if you'd opened your eyes,
you had a chance, you did not try,
so now it's time to watch it die.

Struck A Nerve
there's an old man on a city bus
holding a candy cane,
and it isn't even christmas,
he sees a note in the obituary that
his last friend has died,
there's an infant clinging to
his overweight mother as they go to
shop for cigarettes,
and she spends her last dollar
for a bottle of vodka for tonight
and I guess it struck a nerve,
like I had to squint my eyes,
you can never get out of the line of sight,
like a barren winter day,
or a patch of unburned green,
like a tragic real dream,
i guess it struck a nerve
every day I wander in negative disposition,
as I'm bombarded by superlatives,
realizing very well that I'm not alone,
introverted i look to tomorrow for salvation,
but I'm thinking altruistically,
and a wave of overwhelming doubt
turns me to stone
and I guess it struck a nerve,
sent a murmur through my heart,
we just haven't got time to crack the maze,
like a magic speeding clock,
or a cancer in our sells,
a collision in the dark,
I guess it struck a nerve
I try to close my eyes,
but I cannot ignore the stimuli,
if there's a purpose for us all
it remains a secret to me,
don't ask me to justify my life.

My Poor Friend Me
I know a man who doesn't have many friends,
I know a place where he lives where trouble never ends,
I know it's hard for him to read 'tween the lines,
and his day are getting so much shorter,
he simply turns away instead of bearing down,
his ship is crumbling,
his crew is one of the clowns,
he doesn't care as long as he can wear the crown,
I know this man all too well,
it's my poor friend me,
a portrayal of the great dichotomy
(a reminder of a tragic history),
it's my poor friend me
and I'm running out of steam
I know there are people who are cynical and vane,
they point their finger cuz they can't accept the blame,
they live their lives under a blanket of shame and their
progeny crawl from underneath it,
lately I've come to see the solution,
and it begins with me,
but I'm so fallibly human,
I've picked the lot.

suddenly, it came to me
a potent dosage of reality
i saw myself in the broad daylight
and it made me think
about life
im not the kinda guy
who nods his head
with closed eyes
i scoff at labels
i defy censuses
and despise group mentality
all along i through
that this was only human
but i know now that
i'm in the minority
i'm lookin' in
now i think in relation to
my fellow man
and what strives to do we fail to see
theres no compromise
our evolution
is our demise
one day you may find
that you are also one of me
a micrososm
of the human race
observing those around us
desiring to belong
behing the guise of salvation
we suffer along the way
we're lookin' in

a grizzly scene on my electron beam
told a story about human rights
so all of Kings horses
and all of Kings men
had a riot
for two days and nights
Well, the city exploded
but the gates wouldn't open
so the company asked him to quit
Now everybody's equal
Just don't measure it
Well Hanson did it hester
and Mark David did it to John
and maybe Jack dit it to Marilyn
but he did it to South Vietnam
for beauty and glory
for money, love and country
Everybody's doing it,
Don't do that to me
I don't know what stopped
Jesus Christ from turning
every hungry stone into bread
and i don't remember hearing
how Moses reacted
when the innocent first born sons
lay dead
Well I guess
God was a lot more demonstrative
back when he
flamboyantly parted the sea
now everybody's praying
Don't prey on me

listen to the warnings
verify all your fears
there's a world outside
that's ready to blow
and we're all to blame
when it finally explodes
you gotta listen up
gotta listen to what
they're telling you
gotta listen up and think
about what they're saying to you
they're the modern day catastrophists
they've got practical solutions
(know all the right equations)
they're the self-appointed
righteous pragmatists
and they know 50 ways
to save the world
what makes you think
you can cure our disease?
maybe its just our biology
maybe its time to make room
for another species
this is the 21st Century

Skyscraper
come let us make bricks
and burn them hard,
we'll build a city with a tower for the world
and climb so we can reach
anything we may propose,
anything at all
build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all
I know why tore it down that day,
you thought, if you got caught
we'd all go away,
like a spoiled little baby
who can't come out to play,
you had your revenge
build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all.

a grizzly scene on my electron beam
told a story about human rights,
so all of kings horses
and all of kings men had a riot
for two days and nights
well, the city exploded
but the gates wouldn't open
so the company asked him to quit
now everybody's equal
just don't measure it
well hansson did it to hester
and mark david did it to john
and maybe jack did it to marilyn
but he did it to south vietnam
for beauty and glory
for money, love and country
everybody's doing it,
don't do that to me
I don't know what stopped
Jesus Christ from turning
every hungry stone into bread
and I don't remember hearing how Moses
reacted when the innocent first born sons lay dead
well I guess God was a lot more demonstrative back when
he flamboyantly parted the sea,
now everybody's praying,
don't pray on me.

I've got nothing to say, I've got nothing to do,
All of my neurons are functioning smoothly,
Yet still I'm a cyborg just like you,

I am one big myoma that thinks, my planet supports only me,
I've got this one big problem: Will I live forever?
I've got just a short time to see,

Modern man, evolutionary betrayer,
Modern man, ecosystem destroyer,
Modern man, destroy yourself in shame,
Modern man, pathetic example of earth's organic heritage,

When I look back and think, when I ponder and ask myself "Why?",
I see my ancestor spend with careless abandon,
Assuming eternal supply,

Modern man, evolutionary betrayer,
Modern man, ecosystem destroyer,
Modern man, destroy yourself in shame,
Modern man, pathetic example of earth's organic heritage,
Just a sample of carbon-based wastage,
Just a fucking tragic epic of you and I

i had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket,
he used to touch it when the wind was blowing high,
i guess it mad him feel like he could
buck the system and when it flickered out we laid him down to die,
turn on the light, turn on a million blinding brilliant white
incendiary lights, a beacon in the night, i'll burn relentlessly until
my juice runs dry, i'll construckt a rock of tempered beams and
trusses and equip it with a million tiny suns, i'll install upon the
roof on my compartment and place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls
then i'll turn on the light... and i'll burn lika a roman fucking
candle, like a chasm in the night, for a miniscule duration, ecstatic
immolation, incorrigible delight

lascivious, it's all that i can think of as i drag my feet, searching
lika a diogenes, dangerous, the adjectives of the decasde and of your
alluring intricacies, i cah see your green-screen mentality and i can
feel the sting of its consequence, and i know i shouldn't but it's too
much to ignore, an emotion i deplore, every time i look at you, i just
want to do it, i can clench my fist right through it but i just want
to get off, rectilinear, this direction we've been heading never
realizing we are on a runaway machine, angular, the momentum that does
turn us one step further on our ladder, one more turn toward the east,
i realize your green-screen mentality and i know it is shared by many
more, i know it is quite impossible but i am damned to find a way to
revolve the other way, every time i scrutinize i just say "screw it",
we're on a ride down a blind conduit and i just want to get off

The Gray Race
the framework of the world
is black and white
the infrastructure builders
flex their might
turning true emotion
into digital expression
one by one we all fall down
the gray race shrivels
trapped inside the world it creates
it's black and white
the perputual destructive
motion machine
began to chart a course
never before seen
turning raw compassion
into fields of plus and minus
one by one we all give in
the gray race shrivels
trapped inside the world it creates
it's black and white
I'd swear there were times when I was someone else
a person with determination and knowledge of the self
but you flattened me to rubble and now I can see that I'm
just faded negative of the image I used to be
and that's our dilemma.

Despite that he saw blatant similarity, he struggled to find a distinctive moiety
All he found was vulgar superficiality
But he focused it to sharpness and shared it with the others
It signified his anger and his misery

Them and us, lobbying determined through a mire of disbelievers
Them and us, dire perpetuation and incongruous insistence
That there really is a difference between them and us

Hate is a simple manifestation of a deep-seated self-directed frustration
All it does is promote fear and consternation
It's the inability to justify the enemy
And it fills us all with trepidation

Them and us, bending the significance to match a whimsied fable
Them and us, tumult for the ignorant and purpose for the violence
A confused loose alliance forming them and us

And I heard him say we can take them all
We can take them all
We can take them all, that's what he said
We can take them all

But he didn't know who we were and he didn't know who they were
And there wasn't any reason or motive or value to his story
Just allegory, imitation glory
And a desperate feeble search for a friend

Them and us, lobbying determined through a mire of disbelievers
Them and us, dire perpetuation and incongruous insistence
Tumult for the ignorant and purpose for the violence
A confused loose alliance forming them and us

We can take them all
We can take them all

A Walk
I'm going for a walk
not the after dinner kind
I'm gonna use my hands
and I'm gonna use my mind
and who the hell are you to tell me what to do?
you can't even tie your own haggard shoes
your closet is a mess, and your backyard's falling down
and I have no grand ideas or intentions of sticking around
I'm gonna build a world
independant and exempt
all alone I'll be an empire
with no mortgage and no rent
and I don't need to live in your stinking zoo
you can't even feed the animals donated to you
your storage sheds are ramshackled, flies decorate the walls
and you expect me to die here in this shit-filled tiny stall?
and I know you're watching! everything I do
call me threat to your children call me socially unglued
call me master of insanity, unable to relate
call me lazy, bane, and filthy
call me monstrous reprobate
I'm going for a walk and there's nothing you can do
cuz I don't have to live like you
so I'm going for a walk.

Parallel
sleeping on a time bomb, staring into space
there's an ocean of unpleasantries we are not prepared to face
sitting on the fence post to watch the storm roll in
and terrified of the damage it will bring when it begins
it will begin
splintered dreams of unity (our lives are parallel)
so far from reality (our lives are parallel)
independent trajectories (our lives are parallel)
separate terms of equality (our lives are parallel)
our lives are parallel
is there no redemption? no common good?
is there nothing we can do for ourselves? or only what we should?
comes the hard admission of what we don't provide
goes the insistence on the ways and means that so divide
they so divide
side by side suffering loneliness (our lives are parallel)
phony collective progress (our lives are parallel)
accepting that it's all such a mess (our lives are parallel)
gesturing without hope of redress (our lives are parallel)
our lives are parallel
forging little plays of deception and pain
as we watch our foundation crumble away
staggering like birds against a hurricane
and trying all the while to stay out of each other's way
broken dreams of unity (our lives are parallel)
independant trajectories (our lives are parallel)
screaming out for understanding (our lives are parallel)
turning inward and suffering (our lives are parallel).

Punk Rock Song
have you been to the desert?
have you walked with the dead?
there's a hundred thousand children being killed for their bread
and the figures don't lie they speak of human disease
but we do what we want and we think what we please
have you lived the experience?
have you witnessed the plague?
people making babies sometimes just to escape
in this land of competition the compassion is gone
yet we ignore the needy and we keep pushing on
we keep pushing on
this is just a punk rock song
written for the people who can see something's wrong
like ants in a colony we do our share
but there's so many other fuckin' insects out there
and this is just a punk rock song
(like workers in a company we do our share
but there's so many other fuckin' robots out there)
have you visited the quagmire?
have you swam in the shit?
the party conventions and the real politik
the faces always different, the rhetoric the same
but we swallow it, and we see nothing change
nothing has changed . . .
10 million dollars on a losing campaign
20 million starving and writhing in pain
big strong people unwilling to give
small in vision and perspective
one in five kids below the poverty line
one population runnin' out of time.

Empty Causes
everwhere you looked there was confusion, violence, drama and drugs
so many righteous revolutionaries spouting utopian love
everyone shrouded in purple haze
then one day they woke up from their dream state
they found themselves no more at peace than before
older, meek, and conformed
empty causes
a bluster for the soul, a fix for their mind
empty causes
cling to everything you find
well, the shots rang out like popcorn and the Chief was hit and rushed out of sight
the mohawk-chain, leather brigade rejoiced maliciously on that night
someone cried out "fuck the government"
his mates couldn't define what he meant
so no one gave him the time of day
and the scene died away
empty causes
a war for the body, an army in the mind
empty causes
losing steam as time goes by
could it be that everybody selfishly desires their own personal retinue
and that causes are just manifestations of too much time and far to little to do
empty causes
direction for the soul, conviction for the mind
empty causes
cling to everything you find
empty causes
you've got yours and I've got mine.

Hey mister, don't point at me
You shout rhetoric nonsense like a Pavlovian model responding to questions
Hey teacher, arrogance is bliss
You spend your time turning water into life as if you were God's foreman

Is it any wonder things seem so awry?
We swim in a sea of confusion
And don't have to think to survive
So nobody listens

Hey recluse, don't shout at me
You proclaim yourself expert by extensions of the methods detailed in your magazines
Hey downer, don't prey on me
We've all got bum raps that torment us day to day, that we hoist on our own shoulders

Is it any wonder people pass you by?
Your plea for understanding
Is heard as desperate lies
So nobody listens

I can't help you
I can't help you
I can't help you
I can't help you now

Is it any wonder things are so inane?
So many quests for compassion
Are just for someone's personal gain
So nobody listens

Nobody listens to you

Pity The Dead
there's a boy in crimson rags with a grimace and a spoon, and a little sullen
girl face-up staring at the moon
and there's no one around to hear their lonesome cries
then they pass away alone into the night
why do we pity the dead?
are you churned by emotion from voices in your head?
(are you scared of the logic that swirls within your head)
look at all the living and you'll ask yourself why
oh why do we
pity the dead?
pity the dead!
well, you've seen the disease, suffering and decay,
and you whisper to yourself blissfully "it's okay"
and you still refuse the possibility
that the dead are better off than we
tell me what you see, tell me what you know
is there anyone who lives a painless life?
if there is show me so
the destitute and famished, demonic and the
banished, dejected and the ostracized, the
brainwashed and the paralyzed, the conquered
and objectified, the few who see the other side
tell me what you see! It's a mortal wretched cacophony
in the end you may find there's no guiding subtle light,
no ancestors or friends, no judge of wrong or right
just eternal silence and dormancy
and a final everlasting peace.

Spirit Shine
shed a tear for the criminal, give him something to believe
light a fire for the miserable, give the darkness some meaning
closed wounds harbor pestilence, when you lick them from within
charity has a redolence chastity cannot rescind
spirit shine, it's a sign
of a troubled mind (tortured mind)
spirit shine all the time
can render you blind
you can take it all to heart or throw it all away
you can give until you're dry and sucked of all your gleam
you can fake another cry and compromise your dream
cling tight to the parable - let it dominate your life
create a God who's infallible - give your leader some respite
clouds wounds harbor pestilence - when you lick them from within
rosy smiles lose their radience - when you take it on the chin.

desolate and without purpose
radiating from so many septic sources
forming the fabric of a wayward people
disappearing as the vestiges of our past

scratched like tartan into virgin soil
a substrate for progress and disarray
a spreading network of broken dreams
searching for a thoroughfare to take us away

just a little tale from the streets of America (say a little prayer)
sparkled promises paved with pathos and hysteria
trenchant, weary native sons
step back
and see the damage done
meander to the horizon (shoot straight to the horizon)
the streets of America

black, tarred concrete
pine for me
lying domant
for you and country
hardened surface
cracked within
catch the sweat
from off the chin

of men and women
senior and child
who look to you
and your sterile miles
and in their stares
is bald dismay
for what you promised
led them astray

hard-cracked, daunting, lifeless veins
false hope corridors to greener pastures is all that remains

Ten In 2010
parched, cracked mouths, empty swollen guts
sun-baked pavement encroaches on us
haves and have-nots together at last
brutally engaged in mortal combat
10 in 2010
what kind of God orchestrates such a thing?
10 in 2010
ten billion people all suffering
10 in 2010
truth is not an issue just hungry mouths to feed
10 in 2010
forget what you want, scrounge the things you need
happy and content it can't happen to you
10 in 2010
fifteen years we'll think of a solution
10 in 2010
it won't just appear in one day
10 in 2010
for ten in twenty-ten we're well on our way
like piercing ear darts, I heard the news today
10 in 2010
10 billion people . . . coming your way.

Victory
the velveteen and oaken soothed the lonely child
the parents watched the escort take him while they stood outside
the priest was kind and gentle as he positioned his head
the pain was like brimstone, but the kid hardly bled
victory
instinct over intellect
victory
it erupts from deep inside
history
history is laughing at us
plotting its discovery
victory, victory
blame it on the victory
among the parade crowd there stands a decorated man
remembering how he helped to save this sacred land
his helpless enemy was wounded, both hands raised with hope
he killed him without second thought, with brute force and a rope
so many times, so many lives
test the other side
waiting to see what the maker has in mind
the unsuspecting commoners hum diligent each day
they wallow in their father's sins, as time passes away
the crimes are without motive but they ignore all restraint
the evil sits inside them torpid timing its escape.

Drunk Sincerity
the smell of virgin pages wafted through the swinging doors
and the croaking speech he'd heard from countries counselors before
they said "we all care for you, we know how you suffer
but I know you can succed, I used to have it so much rougher"
there's hope in the words and emotion in the eyes
it's so easy to be misled by the savvy gentle guise
and like fools we trust the delivery
but it's all just drunk sincerity
in maternal family assembly poised regarding the blue tube
the numbers crept up higher and the hawks stayed out of view
then the generals said "we dont want our boys dead
your sons and your husbands will be coming back heroes soon"
with steam, heat, and rhythm in the back seat of the car
and adolescent perspective projecting life's forecast to the stars
you heard love from the lips and you were rapt by the hips
and the promise was eternal but you couldn't see that far.

Come Join Us
so you say you gotta know why the world goes round
and you can't find the truth in the things you've found
and you're scared shitless cuz evil abounds
come and join us
well I heard you were looking for a place to fit in
full of adherent people with the same objective
a family to cling to and call brethren
come and join us
all we want to do is change your mind
all you need to do is close your eyes
so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us
don't you see the trouble that most people are in
and that they just want you for their own advantage
but I swear to you we're different from all of them
come and join us
I can tell you are lookin' for a way to live
where truth is determined by consensus
full of codified arbitrary directives
come and join us
all we want to have is your small mind

turn it into one of our own kind
you can go through life adrift and alone
desperate, desolate, on your own
but we're lookin' for a few more stalwart clones
so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us
we've got spite and dedication as a vehement brew
the world hates us, well we hate them too
but you're exempted of course if you
come and join us
independent, self-contented, revolutionary
intellectual, brave, strong and scholarly
if you're not one of them, you're us already so
come and join us.

Cease
blacktop pavement cover me
like a chemical reaction or a steam roller
spreading randomly
there's a distant and a low frequency
it tickles my ear, it rumbles under my feet
and it shakes the leaves off of every tree (violently)
what pretension! Everlasting peace
everything must cease
institution on the Hill
like a beacon in the mind of an ancestor
to ignite a people's will
there's a shadowed stain on the west facade
it has spread like decay to enshroud the fraud
and the descendants find oh so odd
(oh so odd)
what pretension! Everlasting peace
everything must cease
grave memorial hewn white stone
like the comforting caress of a mother
or a friend you've always known
it evokes such pain and significance
and the generations pass without recompense
what pretension! Everlasting peace
everything must cease.

Mother, father
Look at your little monster
I'm a hero, I'm a zero
I'm the butt of the worst joke in history

I'm a lock without a key, a city with no door
A prayer without faith, a show without a score
I'm a bad word, a wink, a nod, a shiver
An untold story, sex without purity, a creeping gray memory

I am incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete

Doctor, cure me
What is the cause of my condition?
This madness shoots me
Like bullets smashing glass in a silent movie

I'm a trap without a spring, a temple with no god
A jack without an ace, the tip of your tongue
I'm a promise in an unmailed letter
An unbuilt motor, deck without a joker, a creeping gray memory

I am incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete

Tell Saint Peter not to bet on me
I've got a naked obsession
A good intention gone bad

I am incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete

There are desperate times upon us, there are codes of white and black
Political resentment and people start to crack
There's hate and opposition, there's fumbling dialog
Yet you sit there and judge me and you think it makes a difference

If you think I'm all alone you are foolishly wrong
There's an entire army who blindly follow along
And you happen to be one of them, believe it or not
Even though you try not to be, we are of the same plague

The other ways we're taught to fear
Don't even scratch the surface of the problem here
But I'm not blind and I'm not scared
So many crucial factors exist out there
And we're but one and they're but two
And how we come to terms will help us pull through

Things cannot change too fast, it took us this much time
To reach our current platform and walk this fragile line
If I thought I'd make a difference, I'd kill myself today
But so many are like me, lost in the fray

You create your own reality
And leave mine to me, leave mine to me
Leave mine to me, leave mine to me

A febrile shocking violent smack
And the children are hoping for a heart attack
Tonight the windows are watching
The streets all conspire and the lamppost can't stop crying

If I could fly high above the world
Would I see a bunch of living dots spell the word stupidity?
Or would I see hungry lover homicides, loving brother suicides
And olly olly oxenfrees who pick a side and hide?

The world is scratching at my door
My morning paper's got the scores
The human interest stories
And the obituary

Cockroach naps and rattling traps
How many devils can you fit upon a match head?
Caringosity killed the Kerouac cat
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

In my alley around the corner there's a wino with feathered shoulders
And a spirit giving head for crack and he'll never want it back
There's a little kid and his family eating crackers like thanksgiving
And a pack of wild desperados scornful of living

The world is scratching at my door
My morning paper has the scores
The human interest stories
And the obituary

Cradle for a cat, Wolfe looks back
How many angels can you fit upon a match?
I want to know why Hemingway cracked
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

Life is the crummiest book I ever read
There isn't a hook
Just a lot of cheap shots, pictures to shock
And characters an amateur would never dream up

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

I'm sorry about the sun
How could I know that you would burn?
And I'm sorry about the moon
How could I know that you'd disapprove?

And I'll never make the same mistake
The next time I create the universe I'll make sure we communicate at length
Oh yeah

But until then, better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head
Better off dead, yeah, better than this
Take it away, 'cause there's nothing to miss

I'm sorry about the world
How could I know you'd take it so bad?

And I'll never make the same mistake
So if you're looking for a patsy, why not try the entire human race?
Just to play it safe

But until then, better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head
Better off dead, yeah, better than this
Take it away, 'cause there's nothing to miss

Better off dead, yeah, better off dead
Why don't you try pushing daisies instead?
Better off dead, yeah better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head

And I'll never make the same mistake
The next time I create the universe I'll make sure you participate
Oh yeah

And I'll never make the same mistake
The next time I create the universe I'll make sure you participate
Just in case

Now here I go, hope I don't break down
I won't take anything, I don't need anything
Don't want to exist, I can't persist
Please stop before I do it again

Just talk about nothing
Let's talk about nothing
Let's talk about no one
Please talk about no one, someone, anyone

You and me have a disease
You affect me, you infect me
I'm afflicted, you're addicted
You and me, you and me

I'm on the edge, get against the wall
I'm so distracted, I'd like to strike you
Here's my confession, you learned your lesson
Stop me before I do it again

Just talk about nothing
Let's talk about nothing
Let's talk about no one
Please talk about no one, someone, anyone

You and me have a disease
You affect me, you infect me
I'm afflicted, you're addicted
You and me, you and me

You're clear as a heavy lead curtain
Want to drill you like an ocean
We can work it out, I've been running out
Now I'm running out, don't be mad about it, baby

You and me have a disease
You affect me, you infect me
I'm afflicted, you're addicted
You and me, you and me

I want to tie you, crucify you
Kneel before you, revile your body
You and me, we're made in heaven
I want to take you, I want to break you
Supplicate you with thorny roses

You and me are incurable
I want to bathe you in holy water
I want to kill you upon the altar
You and me, you and me

Television, television, television, television
Television, television, television, television

Oh yeah, I want to bask in your golden light
Submerge in electric waves
I need my connection
To the world outside

The world outside is buzzing like an angry wasp in summer
The candidates are running and the son of God is coming
Crackle mental convolutions tune in to the revolution
Whereby everyone's included so we'll never have to be alone

Television, television, television, television
Television, television, television, television

Oh yeah, I want to bathe in your golden light
Submerge in electric waves
I need my injection
From the world outside

Every atom of my body, blood, and sinew, bone and fiber
I can't distill you from my blood, you're a hungry germ inside of me
You're my lover, my heroine, my conscience, and my voice and
I know now that I have learned to let you in, I will never have to be alone

Television, television, television, television
Television, television, television, television

Oh yeah, I want to bathe in your golden light
Submerge in electric waves

I'd take after my mother but she's from a different generation
I prefer my big brother, he's so gentle and understanding
And I learn what I can by the television light
So that when I'm all alone I know it's gonna be alright

Television, television, television, television
Television, television, television, television

Individuals run for cover for the multitudes of thoughtless clones
Have reached a critical mass, have reached a critical mass
Individuals hide in fear undercover, sheltered by the wafer
Thin veil of intelligence, thin veil of intelligence

Individuals, nowhere to be seen

Urbana is oozing like a bloated carcass with maggots
Cooking in the desert heat, cooking in the desert heat
Oozing with progeny writhing and desperate for input from
Someone more determined, someone more determined

Congregated in invisible circles
Half apart and half apart
All too aware of the insignificance
Pushing on with soul and heart

Individuals don't pray for forgiveness when pinned up against the wall
Under siege of persecution, under siege of persecution
Individuals command exception and accept dichotomy
Maybe you can't choose anymore, maybe you can't choose anymore

Procreation without gain or purpose
Languid wills and torpid minds
Catapulted ever faster by the arrow of time
You take yours and I'll keep mine

Well, I can see my teenage father standing straight on a desolate corner
In the shadow of tentacled towers by the red light of America
I imagine how his mother felt
When she heard that her husband was dying

And the underground heroes of the tarmac shooting smack
Were blowing up worlds and damned out loud
Hey, can you tell me, how does it feel?
Yeah, tell me

Can you imagine for a second
Doing anything that you don't have to?
Well, that's what I'm accustomed to
So hooray for me and fuck you!

When I slept with stony faces on the riverbank
My angel-devil reveller shook me desperately in dying
I don't exactly want to apologize for anything

And now we're all mad and tangled
In secret rooms with roman candles
On an endless graveyard train
Yeah, tell me

Can you imagine for a second
Doing anything just 'cause you want to?
Well, that's just what I do
So hooray for me and fuck you!

Yeah, I was dreaming through the "how's life," yawning, car black in that night
When she told me "mad and meaningless as ever"
And a song came on my radio like a cemetery rhyme
For a million crying voices in their tragedy of respectable existence

Tell me, can you imagine for a second
Trying half the things you ever wanted to?
Well, that's just what I do
So hooray for me

Oh yeah, I'm not respectable, never sensible
Maybe incredible, so damned irascible
I like the things I do
So hooray for me and fuck you!

So you're feeling unimportant
'Cause you've got nothing to say
And your life is just a ramble
No one understands you anyway

Well, I've got a piece of news, son
That might make you change your mind
Your life is historically meaningful
And spans a significant time

Slumber will come soon
And you are helping put it to sleep
Side by side we do our share, faithfully assuring
That slumber will come soon

Well, now do you feel a little better?
Lift up your head and walk away
Knowing we're all in this together
For such a short time anyway

There is just no time to parade around sulking
I would rather laugh than cry
The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, we share this place together
And we pitch in to help it die, we pitch in to help it die

I'm not too good at giving morals
And I don't fear the consequence
If life makes you scared and bitter
At least it's not for very long

Slumber will come soon
And you are helping put it to sleep
Side by side we do our share, faithfully assuring
That slumber will come soon

Slumber will come soon
Slumber will come soon
Slumber will come soon

If I'm a monster, I am a willing one
This roller coaster ride is an enticing one
On the tip of a continuum flowing wavelike through disorder
Carrying me like a vessel through water

And everything you see leaves a mark on your soul
Everything you feel leaves a mark on your soul
Everything you touch leaves a mark on your soul
Everything you make leaves a mark on your soul

If I can touch it, I can destroy it
If it's imaginable to some degree I can become it
Like a hungry turning cortex that just flickers to existence
Consuming bits and pieces 'til I'm finally extinguished

And everyone you see leaves a mark on your soul
Everyone you bear leaves a mark on your soul
Everyone you touch leaves a mark on your soul
Everyone you love leaves a mark on your soul

And everything you take leaves a mark on your soul
Everything you give leaves a mark on your soul
And all the fear and loneliness that's impossible to control
And every tear you cry leaves a mark on your soul

Automatons with business suits, swinging black boxes
Sequestering the blueprints of daily life
Contented, free of care, they rejoice in morning ritual
As they file like drone ant colonies to their office in the sky

I don't ask questions, don't promote demonstrations
Don't look for new consensus, don't stray from constitution
If I pierce the complexity I won't find salvation
Just the bald and overt truth of the evil and deception

There is an inner logic and we're taught to stay far from it
And it's simple and elegant
But it's cruel and antithetic
And there's no effort to reveal it

Graduated mentors stroll in marbled brick porticos
In sagacious dialog they despise their average ways
Betraying pomp and discipline, they mold their institution
Where they practice exclusion on the masses every day

I don't ask questions, don't promote demonstrations
Don't look for new consensus, don't stray from constitution
If I pierce the complexity I won't find salvation
Just the bald and overt truth of the evil and deception

There is an inner logic and we're taught to stay far from it
And it's simple and elegant
But it's cruel and antithetic
And there's no effort to reveal it

Decorated warriors drill harmless kids on pavement
Simulating tyranny under red alert
Protecting the opulent and staging moral standard
They expect redemption of character and self-worth

Decorated warriors drill harmless kids on pavement
Simulating tyranny under red alert
Protecting the opulent and staging moral standard
They expect redemption of character and self-growth

No equality, no opportunity
No tolerance for the progressive alternative

There's a purpose, and there's a goal
There's a virtuous, and immoral
There's a reason, for all of this
But I don't know what it is

I am one, and plural too
I accept them, but they exclude
I could make sense, of all of this
But I don't know what it is

The seeds of inspiration never germinated in my mind
The beacon of awakening is somewhere that I can't find
So I don't know what it is

There's a beginning, and there's an end
There's a climax, some would contend
There's a way to, signify this
But I don't know what it is

The seeds of inspiration never germinated in my mind
The beacon of awakening is somewhere that I can't find
So I don't know what it is, show me something more definitive
I don't know what it is

Parched, cracked mouths emty swollen guts
Sun baked pavement encroaches on us
Haves and have-nots together at last
Brutally engaged in mortal combat
10 in 2010

What kind of God orchestrates such a thing?
10 in 2010
Ten million people all suffering
10 in 2010
Truth is not an issue just hungry mouths to feed
10 in 2010
Forget what you want, scrounge the things you need

Happy and content it can happen to you
10 in 2010
Fifteen years well think of a solution
10 in 2010
It wont just appear in one day
10 in 2010
For ten and twenty-ten were well on our way
10 in 2010

Like piercing ear darts, I heard the news today
10 in 2010
10 million people...coming your way

hey brother christian with your high and mighty errand,
your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you're saying
hey sister bleeding heart with all of your compassion,
your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation

hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure,
can you improve this place with the data that you gather
hey mother mercy can your loins bear fruit forever?
is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?

I want to conquer the world,
give all the idiots a brand new religion,
put an end to poverty uncleanliness
and toll promote equality in all of my decisions
with a quick wink of the eye and a "god you must be joking"

hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations,
did you see the children cry when you left them at the station?
hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation
and precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations

I want to conquer the world,
expose the culprits and feed them to the children,
I'll save the whales,
we'll have peace on earth
and global communion.....

hey, do what you want, but don't do it around me
idleness and dissipation breed apathy,
I sit on my ass all god damn day
a misanthropic anthropoid with nothing to,
say what you must, do all you can,
break all the fucking rules
and go to hell with superman
and die like a champion

hey, I don't know if the billions will survive,
but I'll believe in god when one and one are five
my moniker is man and I'm rotten to the core
I'll tear down the building just to pass thru the door

hey, sit down and listen and they'll tell you when you're wrong,
eradicate but vindicate as "progress" creeps along,
puritan work ethic maintains its subconscious edge,
as old glory maintains your consciousness

there's a loser in the house and a puppeton a stool,
and a crowded way of life and a black reflecting pool,
and as the people bend the moral fabric dies,
then country can't pretend to ignore it's people's cries

you are the government,
you are jurisprudence,
you are the volition,
you are jurisdiction
and I make a difference too

I've got nothing to say,
I've got nothing to do,
all of my neurons are functioning smoothly
yet still I'm a cyborg just like you,
I'm one big myoma that thinks,
my planet supports only me,
I've got this one big problem:
will I live forever?
I've got just a short time to see,
modern man, evolutionary betrayer,
modern man, ecosystem destroyer,
modern man, destroy yourself in shame,
modern man, pathetic example of
earth's organic heritage

when I look back and think,
when I ponder and ask "why?",
I see my ancestors spend with careless abandon,
assuming eternal supply, modern man....

just a sample of carbon-based wastage,
just a fucking tragic epic of you and I

early man walked away as modern man took control.
their minds weren't all the same, to conquer was his big goal,
so he built his great empire and slaughtered his own kind,
then he died a confused man, killed himself with his own mind.
go!

we're only gonna die from our own arrogance.

long ago in a dusty village,
full of hunger, pain and strife,
a man came forth with a vision of truth,
and the way to a better life,
he was convinced he had the answer,
and he compelled people to follow along,
but the hunger never vanished,
and the man was banished,
and the village dried up and died,

at a time when wise men peered,
through brass tubes toward the sky,
the heavens changed in predictable ways,
and one man was able to find,
that he had thought he found the answer,
and he was quick to write his revelation,
but as they were scrutinized
in his colleagues eyes,
he soon became a mockery,

don't tell me about the answer,
'cause then another one will come along soon,
I don't believe you have the answer,
I've got ideas too,
but if you've got enough naivite,
and you've got conviction,
then the answer is perfect for you

an urban sprawl sits choking on its discharge,
overwhelmed by industry,
inclined toward charity,
everyone's begging for an answer,
without regard validity,
the searching never ends,
it goes on and on and on for eternity

lie, lie, lie.......
the full moon is rising over dark water
and the fools below are picking up sticks
and the man in the gallows lies permanently
waiting for the doctors to come back and tend to him,

the flat earth society is meeting here today,
singing happy little lies
and the bright ship humana is sent far away
with grave determination....
and no destination, lie, lie, lie

yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water
and the whistling wind on a calm summer night,
but you'd better believe that down in their quarters
the men are holding in for their dear lives,
the flat earth society is somewhere far away,
with their candlesticks and compasses
and the bright ship humana is well on its way
with grave determination.....
and no destination, lie, lie, lie, ad infinitum

three thousand miles of wilderness
overcome by the flow,
a lonely restitution of pavement,
pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
my path again renewed,
against the grain,
that's where I'll stay,
swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain

here labelled as lunatic,
sequestered and content,
there ignored and defeated
by the government,
there's an oriented public who's magnetic
force does pull,
but away from the potential of the individual,
against the grain.....

the flow is getting stronger
with smaller increments of time and eddies
of new ideas are increasingly hard to find,
you need all that the other has,
your right to seize the day
but in all your acquisitions you will soon
be swept away,
against the grain......
there's a common consensus
and an uncomfortable cheer,
a reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
it sings "leave your cares behind you,
just grab tenaciously",
this lulling sense or purpose will
destroy us rapidly,
against the grain.....

like a rock, like a planet,
like a fucking atom bomb,
I'll remain unperturbed by the joy and the madness
that I encounter everywhere I turn,
I've seen it all before,
in books and magazines,
like a twitch before dying,
like a pornographic sea,
there's a flower behind the window,
there's an ugly laughing man,
like a hummingbird in silence,
like the blood on my door,
it's the generator

oh yeah, oh yeah, like the blood on my door,
wash me clean and I will run until I reach the shore,
I've known it all along like the bone under my skin,
like actors in a photograph,
like paper in the wind,
there's a hammer by the window,
there's a knife on the floor,
like turbines in darkness,
like the blood on my door,
it's the generator

everybody is talking about the girl
who went and killed the delivery man,
but she looks so kind and gentle,
it just doesn't stand to reason,
I saw her right there just the other night
as stately as a slot machine,
but when she looked my way something mad
as hell came over me,

anesthesia, mona lisa, I've got a little gun,
here comes oblivion,
I never loved you, how did you find me?
the cops will never complicity now, anna......

all good children go to heaven!
I remember your face that august night
when we lied about the beautiful time to come
and that crazy old man who came much to late
and caused a chain reaction,
I've been hanging out there for eleven long years
like a church mouse where the cat has gone,
and looking at you now
is driving me to distraction

did you ever see the concrete stares of everyday?
the lunatic, the hypocrite are all lost in the fray

can't you see their lives are just like ours?
an unturned stone, an undiscovered door
leading too, the gift of hope renewed,
eternity for you,
the masses of humanity
have always had to suffer

the businessmen whose master plan
(controls the world) each day,
is blind to indications of his species
slow decay

people blow their minds
(they choose to resign),
this deformed society is part
of the design it'll never go away,
(it's in the cards that way),
the masses of humanity
will always have to suffer!

heard a sermon from a creaky pulpit with no one in the nave,
I paid a visit to the synagogue and I left there feeling blame,
no one could tell me what to do,
no one had the ability to answer me,
what the world needs now is some answers to our problems,
we can't buy more time because our tender isn't valid,
if your soul needs love you can get consoled by pity,
but it looks as though faith alone won't sustain us anymore,
watched the scientists throw up their hands conceding,
"progress will resolve it all",
saw the manufactures of earth's debris ignore another green peace call,
no one could tell me what to do,
they had not the capacity to answer me,
what the world needs now is some accountability,
we can't buy more time because time won't accept our money,
if your soul needs love you can always have my pity,
but it looks as though faith alone won't sustain us no more.....