Greg Graffin

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

[Chorus]
10 in 2010
10 in 2010

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

[Chorus]

Happy and content it can't happen to you 10 in 2010! 10 in 2010!
Fifteen years we'll think of a solution 10 in 2010! 10 in 2010!
It won't just appear in one day 10 in 2010! 10 in 2010!
For 10 in 2010 we're well on our way 10 in 2010! 10 in 2010!

[Chorus]

Like piercing ear darts, I heard the news today
10 billion people, coming your way

[Chorus]

10 in 2010

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

I heard them say that the meek shall reign on earth
Phantasmal myriads of sane bucolic birth
I've seen the rapture in a starving baby's eyes
Inchoate beatitude, the Lord of the Flies

So what does it mean when your mind starts to stray?
Kaleidoscopic images of love on the way
Brother you'd better get down on your knees and pay
1,000 more fools are being born every fucking day

They try to tell me that the lamb is on the way
With microwave transmissions they bombard us every day
The masses are obsequious, contented in their sleep
The vortex of their minds ensconsed within the murky deep

So what does it mean when your mind starts to stray?
Kaleidoscopic images of love on the way
Brother you'd better get down on your knees and pay
1,000 more fools are being born every fucking day

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

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?

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

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 closest is a mess, your backyard's falling down
And I have no grand ideas or intentions of sticking around

So 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 I'm gonna build a world
Independent 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?

I'm going for a walk!

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
'Cause I don't have to
Live like you

I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk
I'm going for a walk

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

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 . . .

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

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.

This song goes out to all the hopeless sinners
With grave allegiances so meaningless and vain
The walking wounded in a pageant of contenders
Who balance on a rail of pain for just a pail of rain

And everything is barely missed, blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet, as a friend
Tell me, can that be all there is?

In my rectory of doubt, I kneel to pray like one devout
As time the great, gray dreamless sleep of a useless modern god
Erodes away each storied day as wretched Adams with hell to pay
Content upon a rail of pain for just a little rain

And everything is dearly missed, blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet, as a friend
Tell me, can that be all there is?

There's an endless disposition and it doesn't mean a goddamn thing
There's space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane
And if pigs could fly, then surely so could I, but this pedestrian knows better than to even try
And my divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly

And everything is dearly missed, blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet, as a friend
Tell me, can that be all there is?

I refuse to abuse what is kind to the muse
But it's there and it's happening to me along the way
As we go through the snow, we cannot forget our foes
But the dinner's always waiting at the table along the way, yeah

What you see, not for me, isn't what you planned to be
But you'll have what you wanted in the end along the way
And we'll cry as we try and our brothers pass us by
To be strong through the ages of our tears along the way, yeah

Now we grow as we show that the morals we must know
Will be shapen and mistaken by the falls along the way
But forget, don't regret, to find love and happiness
Unless you're willing to be strong when they are gone along the way
Like Tommy, you are free, and you will not follow me
Until we see each other once more on the path along the way

I refuse to abuse what is kind to the muse
But it's there and it's happening to me along the way
As we go through the snow, we cannot forget our foes
But the dinner's always waiting at the table along the way, yeah

What you see, not for me, isn't what you planned to be
But you'll have what you wanted in the end along the way
And we'll cry as we try and our brothers pass us by
To be strong through the ages of our tears along the way, yeah

Now we grow as we show that the morals we must know
Will be shapen and mistaken by the falls along the way
But forget, don't regret, to find love and happiness
Unless you're willing to be strong when they are gone along the way
Like Tommy, you are free, and you will not follow me
Until we see each other once more on the path along the way

I hate my family, hate my school
Speed limits, and the golden rule
Hate people who aren't what they seem
More than anything else, American dream

American dream's gonna swallow you whole
It's bursting at the seam
It'll sweep you away, so enjoy it today
Tomorrow you'll be old thus useless

American dream (2x)
American dream, that's ok
Cause no one dare give you away

I hate my job, I hate your god
I hate hypocrites and common slobs
Hate people who aren't what they seem
More than anything else, American dream

Promise me today
I'll have a Chevrolet
With whitewalls on the side
One boy, one girl, comfortable lies

American dream (2x)
American dream, that's ok
Cause no one dare give you away

American dream!

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.

I don't need to be a global citizen
'Cause I'm blessed by nationality
I'm a member of a growing populace
We enforce 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
It'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
'Cause so few live in the USA
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 walk with renewed confidence
We got a place to go when we die
And the architect resides right here

We've got the American Jesus
Bolstering national faith
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day

He's the farmer's barren fields, the force the army wields
Expressions on the faces of the starving millions
The power of the man, the fuel that drives the klan
He's the motive and the conscience of the murderer

He's the preacher on TV, the false sincerity
The form letter that's written by the big computers
The nuclear bombs, the kids with no moms
And I'm fearful that he's inside me

(In god we trust
Because he's one of us
Break down, cave in
He can redeem your sin

Strong heart, clear mind
And infinitely kind
You lose, we win
He is our champion)

We've got the American Jesus
See him on the interstate
We've got the American Jesus
Exercising his authority

We've got the American Jesus
Bolstering national faith
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day

One nation, under God
One nation, under God
One nation, under God
One nation, under God

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.

It's a love song to the self, a story recapped every day
It's a world of bogus feelings and a world of slow decay
It's a world of laughter hidden by this world of fear and torment
It's a game of strange compulsion, our visceral convulsion

Anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety, a feeling that you know you can't contain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety, suppress it if you can

The caste of coffee-achievers didn't perform like they planned
The morning rush hour traffic is our play of false elan
So run around your frantic track and lay you down to sleep
Tomorrow's the redemption, we strive for that exception

Anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety, a fear that you have nothing more to gain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety, suppress it if you can

What are we angry for?
We all need a common cure
That common goal for which you strive
To have more than the other guy

The quest for truth, the quest for gold, we end up all the same
The common lie, the righteous cry, we end up all the same
The angry crowd, those lost and found, everybody's all the same
The poet's pen, these words I lend, we all bend to

Anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety, a feeling that you know you can't contain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety

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)

Maybe it's too late for an intellectual debate
But a residue of confusion remains
Changing with the times and amphetamine tortured minds
Are the average citizen's sources of pain

(Yeah) Tell me what we're fighting for
I don't remember anymore, only temporary reprieve
And the world might cease if we fail to tame the beast
From the faith that you release comes an atheist peace (Woohoohooho - Atheist peace)

Political forces ran critical winds of discontent
And the modern age emerged triumphantly
But now it seems we've stalled and it's time to de-evolve
And relive the dark chapters of history

(Yeah) Tell me what we're fighting for
No progress ever came from war, only a false sense of increase
And the world won't wait for the truth upon a plate
But we're ready now to feast on an atheist peace (Ohoohohh. yeah - Atheist peace)

Everybody wants to dance in a playpen
But nobody wants to play in my garden
I see the hippies on an angry line
Guess they don't get my meaning

I'm enchanted by the birds and the blossoms
I'm enamored by young lovers on the weekend
I like the Fourth of July
When the bombs start flashing

And I wish I had a shiny red top
A bugle with a big brass bell would cheer me up
Or maybe something bigger that could really go pop
So I could make the gardening stop

Come out to play
Come out to play
And we'll pretend it's Christmas day
In my atomic garden

All my scientists are working on a deadline
So my psychologist is working day and nighttime
They say they know what's best for me
But they don't know what they're doing

And I'm glad I'm not Gorbachev
'Cause I'd wiggle all night like jelly in a pot
At least he's got a garden with a fertile plot
And a party that will never stop

Come out to play
Come out to play
And we'll pretend it's Christmas day
In my atomic garden

I hope there's nothing wrong out there
I'm watching from my room inside my room

He's the latest superhero with powers so profound
He can leap a dotted line in just a single bound
I know you must have seen him in the books and magazines
He's the quintessential mindless modern epicene

His life is meaningful
Because he gets things done
Bang bang, he's dead, bang bang, he's dead
Chalk up another triumph for our hero, the automatic man

It's true you must have met him, he's your best friend and your foe
His opinions are determined by the status quo
A true creature of habit, he smokes three packs a day
When he has an original thought he forgets it right away

He's the automatic man

He's a paradigm of carefree living
He's our mentor, disturb him if you can
He's the answer if your peace of mind is lacking
He's our savior, he is the common man

But if you are troubled by the daily bump and grind
Then take another look around and brother, you will find
The automatic man

See my body it's nothing to get hung about
I'm nobody except genetic runaround
Spiritual era's gone it ain't comin' back
Bad religion a cabal that is all that's left

Hey Mr. Mind
Stop wasting my time
With your factory precision

Factory precision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion bad religion

And don't you know the place you live's a piece of shit
Don't you know blind faith in life will conquer it
Don't you know responsibility is ours
I don't care a thing about eternal fires

Listen this time
It's more than a rhyme
It's your indecision

Your indecision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion
Bad religion
Bad religion

See my body it's nothing to get hung about
I'm nobody except genetic runaround
Spiritual era's gone it ain't comin' back
Bad religion a cabal that is all that's left

Hey Mr. Mind
Stop wasting my time
With your factory precision

Factory precision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion bad religion

And don't you know the place you live's a piece of shit
Don't you know blind faith in life will conquer it
Don't you know responsibility is ours
I don't care a thing about eternal fires

Listen this time
It's more than a rhyme
It's your indecision

Your indecision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion
Bad religion
Bad religion

See my body it's nothing to get hung about
I'm nobody except genetic runaround
Spiritual era's gone it ain't comin' back
Bad religion a cabal that is all that's left

Hey Mr. Mind
Stop wasting my time
With your factory precision

Factory precision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion bad religion

And don't you know the place you live's a piece of shit
Don't you know blind faith in life will conquer it
Don't you know responsibility is ours
I don't care a thing about eternal fires

Listen this time
It's more than a rhyme
It's your indecision

Your indecision is your

Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion too good to take
Indecision it's not too late
Bad religion
Bad religion
Bad religion

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?

Above us lay the burdens
Below us lay the truth
We're somewhere in the middle
And we're all discontent too

Is someone watching over you?
Inside they know what's best for you

Judgment's not tomorrow
It's today, yes now it's here
But no, it isn't Jesus
Take a look at all your peers

They're all looking down on you
Inside they know what's best for you

Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you

Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you

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

(Here we go now)
No one here can show you where it is
but I can point to a sign
On the roof of the world without apparent design
The frozen definition of a lunatic ambition to rise
(The air is thin, the future dim,
dimension hard to find)
Up on a mountain encased in solar rays
Beyond electric dreams of inarticulate passion plays
Coming down a mountain
Eons have a human ring
The conversation of impassive planets
Intercepted by a human being
Ratiocination is a practicable way to derive
An attitude of altitude and probity by which to abide
Or maybe a theophany of flaming creosote in disguise
(The air is thin, the future dim, dimension undefined)
Up on a mountain encased in solar rays
Beyond electric dreams of inarticulate passion plays
Coming down a mountain
Eons have a human ring
The conversation of impassive planets
Intercepted by a human being
(Here glaring cold in the crystalline geometry of night)
(Obscuring form and tracing faceless fears)
(Of a suprahuman immensity in a patch of sand)
(Or a raptor's guileless shivering intensity)
(I'm only a visitor, an atom of atoms )
(On a jutting red-spattered synagogue of granite)
(As it crouches literally in space)
(A frozen, amoral giant gazing heavenward forever)
(Hello, hello, hello, hello)
(Let's go where the raptor goes)
(To the mountain in a cosmic glow)
(We'll have a genuine terrestrial show)
(On a mountain, on a mountain)
(Let's scan the horizon clean)
(For any trace of human schemes)
(And try to touch upon immortal themes)
(On a mountain, on a mountain)
(Let's go where the raptor goes)
Coming down a mountain
(To the mountin in a cosmic glow)
Eons have a human ring
(We'll have a genuine terrestrial show)
The conversation of impassive planets
(On a mountain, on a mountain)
Intercepted by a human being
(Let's scan the horizon clean)
Up on a mountain
(For any trace of human schemes)
Encased in solar rays
(And try to touch upon immortal themes)
Beyond electric dreams
On a mountain, on a mountain
(Let's go where the raptor goes)
Coming down a mountain
(To the mountain in a cosmic glow)
Eons have a human ring
(We'll have a genuine terrestrial show)
The conversation of impassive planets
On a mountain, on a mountain
(Let's scan the horizon clean)
Up on a mountain
(For any trace of human schemes)
Encased in solar rays
(And try to touch upon immortal themes)
Beyond electric dreams
On a mountain, on a mountain
(Let's go where the raptor goes)
Coming down a mountain
(To the mountain in a cosmic glow)
Eons have a human ring
(We'll have a genuine terrestrial show)
The conversation of impassive planets
On a mountain

This isn't another new fashion or a new plastic trend
Everybody's searching for something but in the meantime let's all just pretend
I've got this feeling and I don't know what it is
This room is overcrowded, man, and I need air to breathe, yeah

Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day
Big crunch, you know it's going to be quite a show
What goes around always comes around

A million hopeless faces dwell within protected walls
All waiting for a moment in their lives when they can heed the clarion call
And it's all so oppressive my mind feels like a sieve
This city is overcrowded, man, and I need room to live

Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day
Big crunch, you know it's going to be quite a show
What goes around always comes around

I think of the countless shadows that have all come and gone
All suffering in the notion of better things to come
If you share these beliefs, you know I wish you well
There's no room left in heaven and there's sure no room in hell

Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day
Big crunch, you know it's going to be quite a show
What goes around always comes around

I can recall the warm youth of a summer day, yeah
The sweetest lemonade, the darkest game arcade
And Billy had a yearning in the corner of his mind, yeah
It moved him secretly, it moved him powerfully

But prescience was lacking and the present was all
And his aptitudes were carelessly wasted
And challenging life with the abandon of a fool
He squandered the hours of his day

Then darkness and disorder slapped him sharply in the face, yeah
It hit him like a friend, struck something deep within
He couldn't break the chain of slow decay that seemed to drag him
Just like a fatal tie toward the other side

And Billy was a lunatic just barking at the moon
And his brain was totally wasted
He then exchanged his friends for a needle and a spoon
And he threw his future away

Bolt the door and throw away the key, yeah
Your dim reflection is all that you can see

So where is the justice when no one is at fault
And a human life is tragically wasted?
How fragile is the flame that burns within us all
To light each passing day, yeah

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.

""Drop dead, it doesn't matter,"" She said
""It only hurts when I laugh,"" She said
Sometimes it's never a crime to spend the day in bed
She made certain that the curtains were red
To dream better by the light they would shed
She leaned back, tilted her head,
and this is what she said:
""You can't win, think it over again
I can't win, look at the trouble I'm in
We can't win, and we're stuck here together
Yeah, I hope it will last forever""
""Don't ever dare to hope,"" He said
""So I'm never let down too bad
I know there's nowhere to go,
so I'll just stay here instead""
He knew better than to pull on a thread
They unravel like the thoughts in his head
He looked out, it filled him with dread
And this is what he said:
""You can't win, think it over again
I can't win, look at the trouble I'm in
We can't win, and we're stuck here together
Yeah, I hope it will last forever""
With good books, and looks on their side
And hearts bursting with national pride
They sang songs that went along for the ride
And the other side complied
They said, ""Hey man, where do you reside?""
And, ""Could it be Mother Superior lied?""
And, ""Is it possible too many have died?""
It's only natural to reply:
""You can't win, think it over again
I can't win, look at the trouble I'm in
We can't win, and we're stuck here together
Yeah, I hope it will last forever""

With nothing better to do
No one to come home to
I woefully conclude
To take it out on you

I'm bored to the extreme, this world of foolish dreams
Disillusion, I am not who I seem to be
Yeah sure, I might do harm and bear my right to arm
Retribution, if only someone would listen to me

Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me

A room, an empty shelf
A book on mental health
I look for inner wealth
By punishing myself

I'm bored to the extreme, this world of foolish dreams
Disillusion, I am not who I seem to be
Yeah sure, I might do harm and bear my right to arm
Retribution, if only someone would listen to me

Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me

She said "thanks, but I'm broken
I guess you must have misspoken
What a laugh
I've never been chosen by anyone"

She was barely a teen, hanging out in between, just a part of the scene
With mercurial smile and incurable style, she was only a dream
How's that he didn't know a thing about
Making love to the kind of girl you read about?

He said "I'm bound to be broken
My daddy bet that I'd amount to nothing
He won't let
Anybody show him anything"

He was a troubled child, had been down for a while, always kept to himself
Though she couldn't defend he only wanted a friend, now he's made something else
It's so sad, no one saw it coming
The paper said that he hit the ground running

Oh yeah, I know I'm not broken
A little cracked, but still I'm not broken
I want to laugh
But I think that I'm choking on reality

When the world is turning for you, don't turn on me
Who are you here to repair? Well, I don't know what you mean
You could never resist glorifying despair
And now it's coming to you and I don't really care

Well, I'm not the kind to insist
You couldn't have missed, we must coexist
So please listen to me
There is no such thing as human debris

Oh yeah, I know I'm not broken
A little cracked but that amounts to nothing
I want to laugh
I'm not joking

I'm unbroken, I said I'm unbroken
A little cracked, it's just a token
I'm really not broken
Well, I guess I'm unbroken

My driftin' memory goes back to the spring of '42 when I was just a child in Momma's arms,
My Daddy plowed the fields and prayed and did all he could do to save that broke-down Oklahoma farm,

Then one night I heard my Daddy sayin' to my Momma, that he finally saved enough for us to go,
California was his dream, a paradise that he had seen, the pictures and the magazines had told him so

California cotton fields, where labor camps were filled with worried men and broken dreams,
California cotton fields, was as close to wealth as Daddy ever came

Almost everything we owned was sold or left behind, from Daddy's tools to the fruit that Momma canned,
Some folks came to say farewell and see what all we had to sell, some just came to shake my Daddy's hand

The model T was loaded down and California bound and the dream of hope was just four days away,
But the only change that I remember seein' in my Daddy was when his brown hair turned to silver grey

California cotton fields, where labor camps were filled with worried men and broken dreams,
California cotton fields, was as close to wealth as Daddy ever came

I'm incurable but durable, it's easy to see
Lack of restraint is a complaint of those around me
I know that others postpone
Gratification, well I lack that affectation

Let's get it right
There's no end in sight
And I can't stop, can't stop it, can't stop, can't stop it
Can't stop, it's shocking but I just can't stop it

Uncontrollable, I'm inconsolable
My pleasure center is the shelter for a reptile
I hate when I gotta tolerate
Frustration, see I lack the motivation

Let's set this straight
I never wait
And I can't stop, can't stop it, can't stop, can't stop it
Can't stop, it's shocking but I just can't stop it

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.

Well, the sheaves have all been brought
But the fields have washed away
And the palaces now stand
Where the coffins all were laid

And the times we see ahead
We must glaze with rosy hues
For we don't wish to admit
What it is we have to lose

Millennia incoming
The modern age is here
It sanctifies the future
Yet renders us with fear

So many theories, so many prophecies
What we do need is a change of ideas
When we are scared we can hide in our reveries
But what we need is a change of ideas

Change of ideas, change of ideas
What we need now is a change of ideas

Well, the sheaves have all been brought
But the fields have washed away
And the palaces now stand
Where the coffins all were laid

And the times we see ahead
We must glaze with rosy hues
For we don't wish to admit
What it is we have to lose

Millennia incoming
The modern age is here
It sanctifies the future
Yet renders us with fear

So many theories, so many prophecies
What we do need is a change of ideas
When we are scared we can hide in our reveries
But what we need is a change of ideas

Change of ideas, change of ideas
What we need now is a change of ideas

You took a time bomb and a case of crackers
And you made a maelstrom of organic debris
Then you took a workbench and a rusty anvil
And you polished them for everyone to see

You have created an unhealthy monster
But you're nowhere but nowhere to be found
So I guess I'll just cope with my provisions
From now until the day they lay me down

You took a baboon and made him perfect
You took a lion and stripped him of his pride
Then you took a million more varities, a scalpel and a sartory
And you stitched up a horrible surprise

You have created an unsocial monster
And you're searched for all over the globe
And most believe that things would sure be better
If you'd come down here and tell us what you know

Who is to blame for this, someone tell me please
His handiwork is flawed and it's there for everyone to see
Mutations, aberrations and blatant anomalies
They multiply and give rise to this monstrosity

You took the most abundant, smallest bits of matter
And you instilled them with affinity
And then you stratified accumulations, weeded out bad variations
And blended up your unique recipe

You have created a powerful monster
With direction and purpose all its own
And if you were here, would things be any different?
Or are you just a mosaic of thoughts alone?

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.

Death and the shadow that it casts on life scares me little or none
People tell me of a divine right and the happy chosen one

I'm a freak 'cause my morals clash with others in the world
I go home while they work hard, then they say I'm wrong

There's only one place to be, while living with tragedy
If their sins affected me, I gotta be damned to be free

Freedom is responsibility, pay more than it's worth
Instincts tells us not to die, hazy myth since birth

Learn their rules and play their game, deceive yourself in haste
Turn your own brain into dust, it's not theirs to waste

There's only one place to be, while living with tragedy
Extract the nectar, burn the tree, I gotta be damned to be free

Thinking this world it ain't so bad
Dying it's just another fad
Working eight hours, that's not for me
Dying it's just your destiny

Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder

Life is the sieve through which my anarchy strains
Resolving itself into works
Chaos is the score upon which reality is written
The timeless, swirling gyroscopic horde

Delirium
Delirium of disorder

Yeah, I am just an atom in an ectoplasmic sea
Without direction or a reason to exist
The anechoic nebula rotating in my brain
Is persuading me contritely to persist

Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder

Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder
Delirium of disorder

Who do you believe can put some meaning in your life?
Meaning in your life, meaning in your life
Who do you conceive to provide you guidance and light?
Guidance and light, guidance and light

Are they waiting for you in the by and by?
Do you even have to try?

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing
The future isn't difficult to see
It's easy to confuse grand design with life's repercussions
Lament not your vanquished fantasy, it's only destiny

Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?
Ignorance and fear, ignorance and fear
Ancient people succumbed to it, can it happen here?
Can it happen here, can it happen here?

Does it make you suffer 'cause you have to die?
Is it best to live a lie?

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing
The future isn't difficult to see
It's easy to confuse grand design with life's repercussions
Lament not your vanquished fantasy, it's only destiny

Why can't you see?
There ain't no destiny
For you and me
There ain't no destiny

Why can't you see?
There ain't no destiny
For you and me
There ain't no destiny

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing
The future isn't difficult to see
It's easy to confuse grand design with life's repercussions
Lament not your vanquished fantasy, it's only destiny

Hey, do what you want, but don't do it around me
Idleness and dissipation breed apathy
I sit on my ass all goddamn 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, yeah hey!

Hey, I don't know if the billions will survive
But I'll believe in God when 1 and 1 are 5
My moniker is man and I'm rotten to the core
I'll tear down the building just to pass through the door

So do what you must, do all you can
Break all the fucking rules and
Go to hell with Superman and
Die like a champion, yeah hey!

Hey, do what you want, but don't do it around me
Idleness and dissipation breed apathy
I sit on my ass all goddamn 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, yeah hey!

Hey, I don't know if the billions will survive
But I'll believe in God when 1 and 1 are 5
My moniker is man and I'm rotten to the core
I'll tear down the building just to pass through the door

So do what you must, do all you can
Break all the fucking rules and
Go to hell with Superman and
Die like a champion, yeah hey!

See the fight
Old men crying, deny their ruin
Watch them try
The cynic laughs at the optimist's closed eyes

Darkness falls, curtain calls, the cynic's beer soon overflows
Other watches, has a seat, and from the same cup, they drink
I'm doing time, how long I don't know

William had 26
Blew his brains out, now look at him
John had only one
Watch the mother mourn her only son

I'm doing time, how long I don't know
I'll kiss goodbye my brain and body
And go to sleep for generations (2x)

Salvation
Cease concentration
You'll only lose the fight
Don't tell me what's wrong or right
You're losing sight
You're just gonna die anyway

Down in the holler there's a thriving town
A treasure trove that makes the world go 'round,
When the city barons bring their legal papers and guns,
Oh darlin', don't be afraid to run

When we came to settle here we came to stay,
Maybe raise a family, earn a decent wage,
Now every public servant reeks of suspicion,
So darlin' don't be afraid to run

Darlin' don't be afraid to run,
And don't turn your back on the noonday sun,
Someday redemption will wash everyone,
But there's no telling when that day will come
So darlin' don't be afraid to run

Maybe we'll rendezvous out in nowheresville,
Or maybe we'll find each other runnin' still
Until we reach that auspicious liaison
Darlin' don't be afraid to run

Darlin' don't be afraid to run,
And don't turn your back on the noonday sun,
The people will greet you with derision,
You'll never be their model citizen
So darlin' don't be afraid to run

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

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

Heard a word, suicide
Not from one, but from thousands that tried
The lawyer's wife and the teenage brat
One thing in common, they all wanted out

And it's plain to see
It goes for you and it goes for me
And all the screwed up little girls and boys
All thrown in without a choice

But I heard him say
I want out
No complaints and no doubts
Just a chance to go on

I heard a word, suicide
And not from one, but from thousands that died
Want some attention and a little less regret
A teenage fluff, little threat and

And there are those, there are those who think
That drastic actions will make them unique
It's really all the same
That no one's happy and nobody's to blame

And the moral to this story is old
It's quite taboo, seldom told
The seed is reaped before it's sown
A bad choice was never resolved

Heard a word, suicide
Not from one, but from thousands that tried
The lawyer's wife and the teenage brat
One thing in common, they all wanted out

And it's plain to see
It goes for you and it goes for me
And all the screwed up little girls and boys
All thrown in without a choice

But I heard him say
I want out
No complaints and no doubts
Just a chance to go on

I heard a word, suicide
And not from one, but from thousands that died
Want some attention and a little less regret
A teenage fluff, little threat and

And there are those, there are those who think
That drastic actions will make them unique
It's really all the same
That no one's happy and nobody's to blame

And the moral to this story is old
It's quite taboo, seldom told
The seed is reaped before it's sown
A bad choice was never resolved

I had a dream...of unity
Where we could walk side by side
But today I see that it's only me
Just trying to get by

Sometimes we stride...undetoured
To walk as one... Toward our goal
But as people stray towards more selfish ways
We see we have no control

I had a dream... of unity
Where we would walk side by side
But today i see that it's only me
Just tryin' to get by just tryin' to get by

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.

The smell of virgin pages wafted through the swinging doors
And the croaking speech he'd heard from countless counselors before
They said we all care for you, we know how you suffer
But I know you can succeed, 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, 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 don't want our boys dead
Your sons and your husbands will be coming back heroes soon"

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, it's all just drunk sincerity

With steam, heat and rhythm in the backseat of the car
An adolescent perspective projecting life's forecast to the stars
You heard love from the lips, you were rapt by the hips
And the promise was eternal but you couldn't see that far

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, it's all just drunk sincerity

It's all just drunk sincerity
It is all just drunk sincerity

Weak and sick, dying in the sand
No such thing as a promised land
Don't lose faith in a better life
Reincarnation, poor excuse

You're dying you assholes, your religion can't help you now
Dying and starving in the fields you used to plow

Rotting bones in your barren fields
Worshipped creature's supposed to heal
He won't save you and he won't save me
See what you want to see

Hindu religion in the mind of a working Joe
Starving and dying in the fields you used to know

You're tied and bound to a God's useless advice
Bloated stomachs from aching diseases hold back the fight
In the end you'll return once more to die again
Go on till you can't no more in non-eternal sin

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.

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.

A new age of reason, brains treason to trick the mind
What good is searching if nothing's there to find?
We arrive at this place of no return, my brothers
Only to discover that our minds have led us away so far from the painful truth of who we are

What's right is wrong, what's come has gone, what's clear and pure is not so sure
It came to me
All promises become a lie, all that's benign corrupts in time
The fallacy of epiphany

Come forth, bear witness, see the profit from your loss
Beg for forgiveness only after you tally the cost
We arrive at this place of no return, my sisters
Only to discover that our values ran us aground on the shore, in the sea of what we could be

What's right is wrong, what's come has gone, what's clear and pure is not so sure
It came to me
All promises become a lie, all that's benign corrupts in time
The fallacy of epiphany

If it's real to me, do I have to prove it to you?
Why do revelations fade to cold blue untruths?
It's oh so relative
Subservient in total to one's perspective

What's right is wrong, what's come has gone, what's clear and pure is not so sure
It came to me
All promises become a lie, all that's benign corrupts in time
The fallacy of epiphany

Always failing me

She came from heaven, well there's no point belaboring that
I've seen some trouble and I must admit that I'm in demand
I confront rejection with magnetic good intentions and yet
Hey Jack, get back, in fact, don't do that

I act sharp but feel uncertain
'Cause next time it could be curtains

Evangeline, conspirator so fine
Lend me your faith 'cause mine is broken
Compared to mine
What is your crime, Evangeline?

Now just to be certain, let's be sure to set the record straight
I could use an angel but I don't intend to split up the take
Never go for treason, but I got reasons that don't warrant debate
My act's intact and in fact you're not all that

You act sure but you're uncertain
'Cause next time it could be curtains

Evangeline, conspirator so fine
Lend me your faith 'cause mine is broken
Compared to mine
What is your crime, Evangeline?

Well, there's no use turning back
It's already much too late
When the house is burning

Evangeline, conspirator so fine
Lend me your faith 'cause mine is broken
Compared to mine
What is your crime, Evangeline?

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...

It's all right to have faith in God
But when you bend to their rules and their fucking lies
That's when I start to have pity on you

You're living on a mound of dirt
But you can't explain your reason for existence
So you blame it on God

There's so much hatred in this world
And you can't decide who's pulling the strings
So you figure it's God

Your whole life foreshadows death
And you finally realize you don't want to die alone
So you'll always have God

It's all right to have faith in God
But when you bend to their rules and their fucking lies
That's when I start to have pity on you

It's all right to have faith in God
But when you bend to their rules and their fucking lies
That's when I start to have pity on you

There's people in the world today
Who say they're jewish, christian and such
They're all ignorant fools

They'll tell you you can't have your own way
Unless you pay money and dedicate your life
Or you'll be damned in hell

Don't be feeble like all of them
You have your own brain full of thoughts and choices
So use it don't let them use you

It's all right to have faith in God
But when you bend to their rules and their fucking lies
That's when I start to have pity on you

Come and see the brilliant light
Don't let your emotions mask your sight
It's the manifestation of a deeper fight
That affects me and you

My optimism was running high
A new world order was on my mind
But I couldn't believe it when I heard them say
They're throwing it away

The fertile crescent is burning today and baby, my emotions are too
The cradle of humanity has led us all astray
And we're all in this together, don't you know
'Cause our species has nowhere else to go

Aggression rears its ugly head
Retaliation brings further dread
The two are linked by unseen threads
That wind back through time

I don't agree with this outdated trend
Nationalism is an evil friend
But hatred is instilled by invisible lines
Drawn in our minds

And the fertile crescent is haunting us today, and baby, our instincts are too
The ghost of humanity is warning us this way
And I think we all should heed it, don't you know
'Cause we don't know where else to go

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.

There was a boy who had too many toys
And an ache inside of his bones
He sought extrication through chemical vocation
And now he answers to Jones

It's deadly and alluring
The sound of pounding heat
Enslaving all who dare succumb
To the temptations of the forbidden beat

Thinking today of what I want to say
Thinking of inhibition and vice
What they call straight I do relegate
As I cautiously saltate along

It's deadly and alluring
The sound of pounding heat
Enslaving all who dare succumb
To the temptations of the forbidden beat

It thunders away at first light of each day
And the simpleton lifestyle evolves
But soon enters dusk as the last surrey rusts
And a new day upon us results

It's deadly and alluring
The sound of pounding heat
Enslaving all who dare succumb
To the temptations of the forbidden beat

Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat
Forbidden beat

I'm tired of this city
All this toil and strife
Trying to cross the boulevard
Playing frogger with my life

Frogger with my life

there's people out there that say I'm no good,
'cause I don't believe the things that I should,
and when the final conflict comes, I'll be so sorry I did wrong,
and hope and pray that our lord god will think I'm good.

countries manufacture bombs and guns
to kill your brother for something that he hasn't even done.
smog is ruining my lungs, but they aren't sorry they've done wrong,
they hide behind their lies that they're helping everyone.

in the end the good will go to heaven up above,
the bad will perish in the depths of hell.
how can hell be any worse when life alone is such a curse?

fuck Armageddon, this is hell

we're living in the denoument of the battle's gripping awe,
so what's the use of being good to satisfy them all?

how could hell be any worse?
life alone is such a curse!
fuck Armageddon, this is hell

There's people out there that say I'm no good
'Cause I don't believe the things that I should
And when the final conflict comes, I'll be so sorry I did wrong
And hope and pray that our lord God will think I'm good

Countries manufacture bombs and guns
To kill your brother for something that he hasn't even done
Smog is ruining my lungs, but they aren't sorry they've done wrong
They hide behind their lies that they're helping everyone

In the end the good will go to heaven up above
The bad will perish in the depths of hell
How can hell be any worse when life alone is such a curse?
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell

We're living in the denouement of the battle's gripping awe
So what's the use of being good to satisfy them all?

How could hell be any worse? Life alone is such a curse!
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell

Generator - Bad Religion

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

Generator - Bad Religion

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

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

Hey, everybody's looking but they never can see
All the angst, corruption and the dishonesty
Think about the times and places you've never known
You're a man-swarm atom and yet you're alone

So I give you me
I give you nothing
I give you me
I give you nothing

So you got a place that you can call all your own
But you make a habit of carrying the stone
Look around and ask someone if you are alive
You're a sidewalk cipher speaking prionic jive

So I give you me
I give you nothing
I give you me
I give you nothing

Respectable, despicable, it seems all the same
Now we realize that we have nothing to say
If your reserve is weak, audacity complete
Ask yourself again, do I deserve much from them?

No!

Hey, everybody's looking but they never can see
All the angst, corruption and the dishonesty
Look around and ask someone if you are alive
You're a sidewalk cipher speaking prionic jive

So I give you me
I give you nothing
I said I give you me
I give you nothing

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.

And did those feet in ancient times
Trod on 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 laying low
Vying with those
Who you've traded your life to to bless your soul

And have they told you how to think
Cleansed your mind of sepsis and autonomy?
Or have you escaped from scrutiny
And regaled yourself with depravity?

Now we all see
Religion is just synthetic frippery
Unnecessary
In our expanding global culture of efficiency

Now we all fear
This impasse we have built to our future
Ever so near, ever so near
And oh so austere

Striking at mental apparitions like a drunk on a vacant street
Silently beset by the hands of time and elegant in its fury
An aberrant crack as skeletons yield to unrelenting gravity
While viruses prowl for helpless victims who succumb rapidly

Tell me, tell me where is the love in a careless creation when there's no above?
There's no justice, just a cause and no cure
And a bounty of suffering it seems we all endure
And what I'm frightened of is that they call it God's love

Well, we twist in torment and make believe
There's a truth that we all submit
Believe my eyes, my brain complies
To all that they interpret

So tell me, tell me where is the love in a careless creation when there's no above?
There's no justice, just a cause and no cure
And a bounty of suffering it seems we all endure
And what I'm frightened of is that they call it God's love

I know there's no reason for alarm
But who needs perspective when it comes to pain and harm?
We can change our minds
There's a better prize

But first you've got to tell me, tell me where is the love in a careless creation when there's no above?
There's no justice, just a cause and no cure
And a bounty of suffering it seems we all endure
And what I'm frightened of is that they call it God's love

They call it God's love
My pain is God's love

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.

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

As I walk beneath the valley
I shall fear no evil
'Cause thanks to King George and his rainbow cabinet
Today murder is legal

God, I know that it's wrong
To kill my brother for what he hasn't done
And as the planes blacken the sky
It sounds like heaven is falling

It sounds like heaven is falling
You promise me a new day a-dawning
I see a thousand points of light
Like so many points of hatred, shame, and horror

God, I want to be a man
But I don't want to die with a rifle in my hand
And as the planes blacken the sky
It sounds like heaven is falling

It sounds like heaven is falling
You promise me a new day a-dawning
Well, nothing here looks new to me
But a score of mothers' sons caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

Stranded
In a life in which your struggle for acceptance is a never-ending chore
Upbraided
For your actions past and present and rewarded for ideas of the future's bright open door

The henchman is a human analogue
Of the suffering multitudes who, like good dogs, sit and lick for their reward
So what good advice have I got for you
To insure against your likely metamorphosis into this reprobate?

Don't be a henchman
Stand on your laurels
Do what no one else does
And praise the good of other men for goodness sake

And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
Although a cold day in hell it will surely be
That's when the entire world shall live in harmony

Tired old man you're a wastin' slowly battling grey and blue,
Built your empire as a shell so nobody prays on you,
Remember when you were fresh and bitter like a blossom in its bud?
Struggle to keep the memories free from the sweat and blood,
Just to generalize, you sleep and you rise, you fail to recognize,
Like the Red Queen, you're running out of steam every mile,
The highway of denial

What a funny way to spend the day like a farmer deep in debt,
Tending to the coming harvest, ever trying to forget,
Don't you feel like you wanna run away from the mess that you've begun?
Now that they won't let you make it up as you go along,
Just to generalize, you sleep and you rise, you fail to recognize,
Like the Red Queen, you're runnin' out of steam every mile,
The highway of denial

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!

Tell me can the hateful chain be broken?
Production and consumption define our hollow lives
Avarice has led us 'cross the ocean
Toward a land that's better, much more bountiful and wide

So when will mankind finally come to realize
His surfeit has become his demise?
How much is enough to kill yourself?
That quantity is known today, as we blow ourselves away

Tell me is there anything so sure?
Rapacity, tenacity, capacity for more
Like a dog that feeds until he suffers
The infirmity of man is brought on by his selfish cure

When will mankind finally come to realize
His surfeit has become his demise?
How much is enough to kill yourself?
That quantity is known today, as we blow ourselves away

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

Going through a world of sad debris
Regard quixotic reveries of ownership
The blossoming disease of man called tenure and accretion
The ancient western treadmill of deception and derision

But I want something more

Racing through a life of tragic wastage
I experience the loss of trust and innocence
The billowing cyclone of time has blown away our reasons
As we trudge like blind men forward trying to avoid collision

But I want something more

Hey brother Christian with your high and mighty errand
Your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word your 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 the place with the data that you gather?
Hey mother mercy, can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?

And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of an eye and a "God, you must be joking"

Hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations
Did you see your children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier, you've got righteous proclamations
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations

And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of an eye and a "God, you must be joking"

Is there a man that can conquer that which can't be tamed?
And if that mad could speak would the words evoked be sane?
Ask me the reasons for misery and shame
I'll give your reasons for the wind and rain

And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of an eye and a "God, you must be joking"

I want to conquer the world
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children
I'll do away with air pollution and then I'll save the whales
We'll have peace on earth and global communion

I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world

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)

In the city, the day is too hot
And you're hoping for relief, 'cuz your head is filled with pain,
But you get no relief, 'cuz the night is the same...
In the night, in the night you see through jaded eyes.
In the night, in the night you feel barely alive.
You live your life in darkness, you've got pennies on your eyes.
But you say that it's all right, 'cuz you've never lived a lie,
As you crawl back to your womblike existence in the night.
In the night, in the night you see through jaded eyes.
In the night, in the night you feel barely alive.
You can't see no light, but you hear those heavy footsteps,
And the little man inside twists your tormented mind.
Your mind is filled with shadows, your palms are wet with sweat.
Limbs are bound and tangled in a fatal net.
There are two things you can do.
One is turn and fight.
The other's run headlong into the night.
In the night, in the night you see through jaded eyes.
In the night, in the night you feel barely alive.
You can't see no light, but you hear those heavy footsteps,
And the breathing at your side, is it yours, or is it
Good bye!

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

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

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

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

The wheat waving next to you is healthy and so fine
As is dinner with your loved ones everyday
But your routine is changeless through the decades of your life
Green pastures, open spaces, holy ways

And it must look pretty appealing, the acres of light
The crowded festive nights and the millions of others just like you
Yeah, it must look pretty appealing, this other world of sin
We keep dreaming of what other people do

The person sitting next to you is dismal and deranged
On the bus ride home from work to end your day
And the food on your table is more plastic than protein
And your intellect depends on your TV

And it must look pretty appealing, the pastoral retreat
The folks on old main street and the few pleasant people just like you
Yeah, it must look pretty appealing, the simple way of life
We keep dreaming of what other people do

But we never do what other people do
You're too scared of other people not like you

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

Hoarding turns allure to discontent
Altruism's a grind all it's own
Morning makes you know your in a cell
But love is just as pure as you both

Because it's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,

When true love is metaphysical
Venal desires we learn to beset
You and me we've got a special thing
But i want you to never forget

It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal

Each bedtime I
Stir with regret
Guilty and vain,
Hoping for retribution

Charity's immune from my demands
I don't expect a thing from the weak
But you my love are measured and compared
Predisposed to my profane decree

It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal,
It's reciprocal

It's reciprocal!

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.

It's a matter of prescience, no not the science-fiction kind
It's all about ignorance and greed and miracles for the blind
The media parading disjointed politics
Founded on petrochemical plunder and we're its hostages

If you stand to reason you're in the game
The rules may be elusive but our pieces are the same
And you know if one goes down we all go down as well
The balance is precarious as anyone can tell, the world's going to hell

Don't allow
This mythologic hopeful monster to exact its price
Kyoto now
We can't do nothing and think someone else will make it right

You might not think it matters now, but what if you are wrong?
You might not think there's any wisdom in a fucked up punk rock song
But the way it is cannot persist for long
A brutal sun is rising on a sick horizon

It's in the way we live our lives
Exactly like the double edge of a cold, familiar knife
And supremacy weighs heavy on the day
It's never really what you own but what you threw away, and how much did you pay

Don't allow
This mythologic hopeful monster to exact its price
Kyoto now
We can't do nothing and think someone else will make it right

In your dreams
You saw a steady state of bounty for eternity
Silent scream
But now the wisdom that sustains us is in full retreat

Don't allow
This mythologic hopeful monster isn't worth the risk
Kyoto now
We can't have vision for the future if it can't be fixed

Alien
We need a fresh and new religion to run our lives
Hand in hand
The arid torpor of inaction will be our demise

Kyoto now!

Hey see, there's a girl
Who's afraid of the world so she stays at home
Also a boy
Who seems so lost in his joy, he's all alone

The camera's on them, they're in the land of competition
Southern California air feeds them
And they know they are best 'cause of the way they are dressed
But you can bet you are not welcome in their home

Hey see, there's a girl
Who sits and watches the world from her blue screen
Also a boy
Who truly wants to destroy his hometown scene

They both want to travel to the land of competition
Southern California will destroy them
And they won't be the best, they'll be the poseurs who dress
Like the plastic idiots who they copy

Tell me what do you need to make you happy?
Indeed, is it out of your reach?
Beware of number one
See all the damage it has done, there are so few of them

You won't find too many in the land of competition
Southern California doesn't breed them
If you just want the best turn to yourself for the rest
And forget about the ones who have it all

Be careful of the ones who have it all
Be careful of the ones who have it all
Forget about the ones who have it all