A rhapsody!
Contestants in disguise
A nation of desire
But who will win the prize?
The people stand united,
Reluctantly aligned
Copying and lying
Are the favorite past-time.

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

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

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

I'm tired of all this
Shakespearean misinformation
I want to win the game

You've got the right intentions
But who's got time to think?
You've got a noon appointment,
You've got to hit the links
You're talking in the stratosphere,
You're curled up on the floor
With such a wealth of information,
Why are you so poor?

You've got a chance
To be relevant today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
(don't you believe what the
wise men have to say)
despite circumstance
you've got a chance

Hey, you, Is there something worth aspiring to? and
can it be found in a record store? well, it's not there anymore
Just think of all the things we did
We were different, just like all the other kids
Missy was a teen blue video star
Tom took his life in his mother's car
Milo went to college but you knew about that
Rodney played our record
Jimmy started riots
Laurie was always quiet, she was battling depression
Hey, you, Is there something worth belonging to? and
can I pick it up for a song, or a diploma, or a worthy cause?
Well, let me tell you that there's nothing wrong
It's just the ones like us will never belong
Jack wore a skirt but he knew how to scrap
Billy went to county on a class-one possession
Wendy went to school while her daddy shot smack
Eugene kept a list
Mugger was security
Mary, she kept her purity
We were all in it together
Yellowed postcards on the wall
serve to cover up the blankness after all
so I will carry them along, like a song, when I'm gone
Hey, you, Is there something worth belonging to?
You know we've been here all along
like a confederacy of the wrong
and I confess it could be prejudice
but to you I dedicate this song -yeah, you

So...
You’ve given it all you can
And your life is in the garbage can
And you say you’re tired and dry
Cuz your mind won’t let you cry
So you hang up what is left inside
And you want to kiss it all goodbye

You’re lost in space, you’re swirling ever higher
You’re lost on your own, you’re too far from home
You’re no one’s friend, you gave it your best try yeah!
You’re stuck in the drone, of being alone.

You turn to light, but all you get is darkness
Your head turns to stone, your numbness has grown
You’re stuck inside your little world of rejects
The good world unknown, you’re stuck in the drone.

there's a place where everyone can be happy
it's the most beautiful place in the whole fuckin' world
it's made of candy canes and planes
and bright, red choo choo trains
and the meanest little boys
most innocent little girls
and you know, I wish that I could go there
it's a road that I have not found
and I wish you the best of luck dear,
drop a card or letter to my side of town

'cause there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend
but baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send
and you
painted my entire world
but I
don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled
and I won't forget it

there's a place where everyone can be right
even though you remain determined to be opposed
admittance requires no qualifications
it's where everyone has been and where everybody goes
so please try not to be impatient
for we all hate standing in line
and when the farm is good and bought
you'll be there without a thought
and eternity my friend, is a long fuckin' time

'cause there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend
but baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send
and you
painted my entire world
but I
don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled
and I won't forget it

Hey sit down and listen and they'll tell you when you're wrong.
Eradicate but vindicate as "progress" creeps along.
Puritan work ethic maintains its subconscious edge
As Old Glory maintains your consciousness.
There's a loser in the house, and a puppet on the stool,
And a crowded way of life, and a black reflecting pool,
And as the people bend, the moral fabric dies,
The country can't pretend to ignore its people's cries.
You are the government.
You are jurisprudence.
You are the volition.
You are juridiction.
And I make a difference too.

US government blew its plan
Too much money down the can
Look and listen to what the president says
The first lady's a fuckin' lez
They think they know it all
America, China's about to fall
Lethargicism will overrule us
Government's wading pool

World war III
World war III
World war III
World war III

"Forget it," came from the president's door
I'll make us have another world war
It don't matter what the people think
We have to save our precious brink
Here I go, I'll push the bomb
It's headed straight for Guam
And the rest will release soon
In your living room

World war III
World war III
World war III
World war III

Run, but don't be scared to look behind.
Stop, don't wait too long, make up your mind.
The end is almost here,
The sky, the air, so nice and clear,
The sound of your decay,
And the ringing in the air is the sweet debris of yesterday.

There, now that you know it's not so bad.
See, the good meet soon for ?
So if you try to enhance,
We don't deserve another chance.
Just laugh along the way,
And kiss your ass goodbye with a shadow dream of yesterday.

Yesterday, the good old days.
Yesterday, the way we used to play.
Yesterday, it just got worse and worse.
Yesterday, the future's been rehearsed.

Run, but don't be scared to look behind.
Stop, don't wait too long, make up your mind.
The end is almost here,
The sky, the air, so nice and clear,
The sound of your decay,
And the ringing in the air is the sweet debris of yesterday.

Yesterday.
Yesterday.

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

wasted children, fixed blank eyes, blood and sweat, we socialize
broken homes from which they come, beer-stained dad, compliant Mom.
fear and love, much despised, replaced by comfortable lies.
teenage classic, more cliche, one step further on the edge of decay.
white trash, 2nd generation, white trash, 2nd generation,
white trash, 2nd generation, don your crown and cleanse the nation.
are you ready to fight for your morality? Right wing allies, white supremacy.
pretty fascist on the tube draped in red and white and blue
white trash, 2nd generation, stupid foibles, indignation
offspring of suburban fright, pearl-white creatures of the night
white trash, 2nd generation, white trash, 2nd generation,
white trash, 2nd generation, don your crown and cleanse the nation.
stiff blue collar, coat and tie, brand new breeds side by side.
Christian ethic, right extremes, shoved down our throat as the American Dream.
white trash, 2nd generation, stupid foibles, indignation
offspring of suburban fright, pearl-white creatures of the night
white trash, 2nd generation, white trash, 2nd generation,
white trash, 2nd generation, don your crown and cleanse the nation.
white trash, 2nd generation, white trash, 2nd generation,
white trash, 2nd generation, don your crown and cleanse the nation.

Early man walked away as modern man took control.
their minds weren't all the same, to conquer was his
goal,
so he built his great empire and slaughtered his own kind,
then he died a confused man, killed himself with his own
mind.
go!
we're only gonna die from our own arrogance.

(repeated over and over)

I've seen a lot of things in five years.
I struggle just to hold back the tears.
But everyfuckingwhere I go,
I see the pathos that I know
Will spell the termination of us all.
Someone's got to tell me, do you see
That everything around you has a hidden tragedy?
Seeds of happiness have never
Found a place to grow,
And our generation doesn't know.
When, when will you try
To change the logarithmic face of kissing things goodbye?
When, when will you know
That human life is so short and death is oh so slow?
I've tried to make things make sense but I can't.
I'm happy just to watch them all and laugh.
And if you think you've got it made,
Just revel in your selfish ways,
'Cuz when the world stops turning so will you!
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah.

Shut off the TV and peel off those sunday gloves,
And I ll stain the clean that you ve been counting,
Old Mr. Fletcher passed by here today,
After 40 years of toil he just up and walked away,

Fantastic the panic that showed in his eyes,
He shrugged when I asked him about it,
He said, "Young man pay heed, you listen well to what I say,
Now there comes a time for a man to walk away,"

Walk away (walk away) I ll be a parade,
And I ll be determined that no one shall dissuade
On my way (dissuade) I ll sure take some time,
To burn all the bridges that I m leaving behind,

He passed by again and he was shivering from the cold,
I m not sure but I think he was trying,
He told me about the weather and something old to pay,
"But tomorrow," he said, "I m gonna surely walk away,"

Walk away (walk away) I ll be a parade,
And I ll be determined that no one shall dissuade
On my way (dissuade) I ll take my sweet time,
And burn all the bridges that I leave behind,

Walk away (walk away) I ll be a parade,
And I ll be determined that no one shall dissuade.

I was born on planet earth
the rotating ball where man comes first
it's been around for a long, long time
but now it's time to watch it die

I saw a man on my big blue screen
he ruled the world economy
he said the rich would never concede
but some day soon he'll be put to sleep

I've seen the life of the forest green
and adaptations of the deep blue seas
and who knows who is the fittest
they will all soon be put to rest

On a plunging flight and we're sitting
in the pilots seat in the midst of life
people on a dark horizon praying
somebody will save their lives

I was born on planet earth
at a drastic time full of plastic mirth
and everyday I've seen increasing signs
and you would too if you'd opened your eyes
you had a chance you did not try
so now it's time to watch it die

the velveteen and oaken soothed the lonely child
the parents watched the escort take him while they stood outside
the priest was kind and gentle as he positioned his head
the pain was like brimstone, but the kid hardly bled

victory
instinct over intellect
victory
it erupts from deep inside
history
history is laughing at us
plotting its discovery
victory, victory
blame it on the victory

among the parade crowd there stands a decorated man
remembering how he helped to save this sacred land
his helpless enemy was wounded, both hands raised with hope
he killed him without second thought, with brute force and a rope

so many times, so many lives
test the other side

neighbors, no one loves you like he loves you,
and no one cares like he cares.
neighbors, let us join today in the holy love of God and money,
because neighbors, no one loves you like He loves you.
and what better way to show your love than to dig deep into your pockets.
dig real deep, until it hurts. Alleviate your guilt,
free yourself once again, because he gave to you, brothers and sisters.
please give a 10, 25, or 50 dollar tax-deductible donation,
and I assure you your modest pledge will be used to censor TV and radio,
ban questionable books, and contribute to many other Godly services.
no longer will young Christian Americans hedonistically indulge
in masochistic submission to rhythmic music, for with your monetary support,
there is no end to what we can achieve in this country.
the voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
the voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
(1,2,3,4)
can't you see what we believe in, all our thoughts, all our reasons,
pursuit of life and liberty and happiness we cannot see?
speak of truth with a mighty voice, but politics are your real choice.
hire men to change the law, protect and serve with one small flaw.
voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
if we shun God and Jesus Christ, religious love is sacrifice.
love for God is shown in cash, the love they send is mailbox trash.
with every pamphlet we receive, more money asked for Godly needs.
build a million dollar church, with money spent on God's research.
voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
on late night TV, God can heal, a certain force you cannot feel.
love for money in God's name, religion' ... Read more »

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

What will prove to be our big mistake?
Short-sighted arrogance all for what sake?
Our families to ashes, our ambitions to dust
Our progeny in silence thinking "what about us?"
But don't forget
The dance of neglect
The march for empowering prosperity
The pain from loss and want for mere lucidity
Just maternal residue, and I was there too
And maybe so were you
When something is won it comes with sacrifice
It's there beneath the joy, the glory, and pride
And rarely it's acknowledged but in positive light
Consciously omitting the losers plight
But don't forget
The dance of neglect
The craving for community that never was met
The longing for status and the overture of regret
With no one to deter, pathetically unsure
Forgetting who they were

I had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket
He used to touch it when the wind was blowin' high
I guess it made him feel like he could bluff the system
And when it flickered out we laid him down to die

I turn on the light
Turn on a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights
Yea, a beacon in the night
I'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry, ya

And I'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses
And equip with just a million tiny suns
I'll install upon the room of my compartment
And place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls

Then I'll turn on the light
Turn on a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights
A beacon in the night
I'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry

And i'll burn like a roman fucking candle, 
Like a chasm in the night, for a minuscule duration, 
Ecstatic immolation, incorrigible delight

there's a light on in the hallway
so i can't understand
why you hide underneath the covers
there's a baby in your womb
so don't be scared tonight
raggedy ann is in the closet picking posies

two babies in the dark
like diamonds in the sand
while papa's far away making up children's stories
the little one's inside
so afraid to be alone
she's trying to be brave until the daddy comes home

so if you chance to see her
please tell her it's alright
'cause everybody fights the tendency to snap
sometimes it's not a matter
of being brave and strong
'cause noises in the house are terrifying

two babies in the dark
like diamonds in the sand
while papa's far away making up children's stories
the little one's inside
so afraid to be alone
she's talking to herself nothing`s no once more

i'll put you to sleep tonight
like a foreign movie
i'll sing you lullabies
and i'll teach you about everything
and i'll only ask one thing
please save me

Every day we profit so
Leaning toward the great unknown
Asking how it pertains to tomorrow

Aim for places we've not been
Trample paths that go between
Yesterdays foundations and tomorrow

It's the way they say it's got to be
We spear ahead and forge our destiny
Who do they represent? who do you belive?
Make a sound decision for others to heed

Try to set a faster pace
Try to build a master race
One that will make a contribution to tomorrow

It's the way they say it's got to be
We put aside our fears and make history
The clothes are in the dryer and the writing is on the wall
We're trying everything we can to stop this fall

Everyday we profit so
Leaning toward the great unknown

A refreshing plunge, a drink of platable water
A deep inspiration on a warm summer day
A safe stroll in the middle of the road community
A neighbor who in times of need will not turn away

I ain't no politiciam
I am a citizen
And I wonder if I'm living too far out of bounds

Community protection, rehibilitation
Police that serve without legitimate right to maim
Global aareness, ecological guilt
Cultural and environmental awakening

I ain't no optimist
I try to be a realist
And I think that we are living too far out of bounds

Is it too much to ask?
Could it be the world is shrinking?
I can see the walls closing in
No one can take much for granted anymore

Remote control, three cars for every family
Corruption at the expense of the simple majority
A violent crash, a plunder of the third world
Any wretched ploy that bolsters our economy

I ain't no blind supporter
I'm a conscious citizen
And I know that we are living too far out of bounds

Ain't no politiciam
Ain't no blind supporter
I ain't no vetrope
I am a citizen
And I wonder if I'm living too far out of bounds

Is it too much to ask?
Can we keep the earth from sinking?
I can see the walls closing in
No one can take much for granted anymore
(You better not take it for granted anymore)
I'm not taking nothing for granted anymore

the brown and orange sky holds its breath
as the sun retreats to the distant horizon,
and our hearts palpitate anxiously as we soon will lay supine,
and wait for sleep to overcome us

and from somewhere in our black,
subconscious minds when we're asleep,
comes a haunting swelling mass of voices,
resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence,
and the desperate plea for recognition and recompense

tiny voices, echoes of our heritage,
our long and sallow faces turn the other way,
tiny voices, harbored deep within
as we outwardly deny that they have something to say,
and if we don't confront them they will never go away

the billions of tiny pinhole embers fade into a morning sky
filled with poignant morose wonder,
waking a bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil
which we carry deep inside

Not long ago, and yet the image is so vague
I hesitate to label it a memory
There was a show of local color and I failed to stray
Cause I had nothing to offer but insufficiency

And you know that it’s a bitch
When you learn to scratch that itch
A blatant fallibility
Sooner to some, but eventually
All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vain conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity
And you wonder, “what’s in this for me?”

To another abyss
To no avail
The search is bound to fail
To another abyss
To no avail
So long ago I set sail
And it chills me to the bone
That I’m so far away from home
To another abyss

So what should I do now? What should I celebrate?
Given finite means and a penchant to depreciate
How can I still avow and depend upon a state
That cares nothing for my happiness, welfare, or fate?

And I know I can’t explain
The commotion in my brain
Like a terrifying reality
Deconstructed but inadequately
All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vain conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity
And release the weight of history

<chorus>

So long ago, so long ago…oh, I set sail
And I’m struggling on the way
And I’m waiting for the day (to another abyss)
And I’m looking for the way back home (to another abyss)
So far away (to another abyss)
So far away (to another abyss)
(to another abyss) So far away
(to another abyss)

shut your eyes,
see the future's distant shore
march ahead
more enlightened than before
and there's sure to be bumps
and distractions
but I know we'll get through
there will be me, there will be you
there will be a way
unresolved repercussions from your life
fortified with the vitriol of strife
and you can be grid locked by predictions,
but you're wise grab the prize
then revise, realize
there will be a way
hey... ho
and I don't know where we are going
but we're here on this ride
and we'll stand side by side
all along the way
follow me to the future's distant shore
vagary needn't haunt us anymore
and now it's time to set the agenda,
learn the past, make it last
share the wealth, hold your fire,
conserve life, make it right
kill the hate, negotiate
there will be a way
there will be a way
there will be a way

Part One
from the bird and the deer who live on the same
to the condominiums that litter the plain
it took time... time and disregard
from the green and the trees that shot high in the air
to the high-business market-men who take all that's there
it took time... time and disregard

Part Two
one more acre, another tree
"it's all untamed, of course it's free"
one more acre, it seems no one cares
"another great chance to put a building there"

Part Three
I used to roam, wherever I would
I'd see my friends and I'd eat what I could
we did live together in our borderless state
survival our instinct, nature our fate
today I see borders and my friends disappear
man chooses my fate thus I live in fear
tomorrow the trucks come
I've nowhere to run
my home is destroyed so they can have fun.

Part Four
from the wild natural wonderland from which we all came
to the cement and metal that lost all the game
it took time... time and disregard............

despite that he saw blatant similarity
he struggled to find a distinctive moiety
all he found was vulgar superficiality
but he focused it to sharpness
and shared it with the others
it signified his anger and misery

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

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

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

I heard him say
we can take them all
(but he didn't know who they were,
and he didn't know who we were.
and there wasn't any reason or
motive, or value, to his story,
just allegory, imitation glory,
and a desperate feeble search for a friend)

Since the start of the 17th century
There's been the scent of unseasoned wood burning in the air
And the conquest of nature meant nothing at all
While we betray exception we take all that is there
Motives are transcluent in the reflection of shame
The actions ghostly remnants of our ancestral ways

And unwittingly, you just take your place in this parade
The voracious march of godliness makes us all the same anyway
Since the dawn of our human family
There's been concentrated sepsis blowing in the breeze
And we turned on each other with ferocity

Oh yeah!
A study of history reveals an unflagging appeal to mystery
You talk about abstraction at the top of the list
But you might as well get pissed, cause in me the essence does not exist, no-oh-oh

Yeah-yeah!

You’re so shallow
How can your romance hope to be the veil of an ersatz human nature
That can pacify but never slept well when there’s the pretension of living a lie

Take me as I am, judge me for my crimes
I can say I’ll behave freely all the time
You can predict what I’ll say, it’s in my DNA
But soon I’ll be a catalogue number anyway
So say a little prayer
Convince yourself that someone cares
All I am is what you see
There is nothing more than the surface of me [x2]
you know

Oh yeah!

Apologies to Skinner, but I do believe that I feel like I’m a winner
Having just discovered a long solved modal secret, of how I always feel
So goddamn downtrodden and desperate

Take me as I am, judge me for my crimes
I can say I’ll behave freely all the time
You can predict what I’ll say, it’s in my DNA
But soon I’ll be a catalogue number anyway
So say a little prayer
Convince yourself that someone cares
All I am is what you see
There is nothing more than the surface of me [x2]

Take me as I am, judge me for my crimes
I can say I’ll behave freely all the time
You can predict what I’ll say, it’s in my DNA
But soon I’ll be a catalogue number anyway
So say a little prayer
Convince yourself that someone cares
All I am is what you see
There is nothing more than the surface of me [x4]
What you see is the surface of me

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

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

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

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

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

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

Neighbours, nobody loves you like we do.
Neighbors, your government has triumphed in finally making you a public fit
for the 21st century.
Never before has a governing body shown so much concern for the economic
well-being of its subjects.
Today we have insulated you from countless factions who threathens your
financial viability; such as the poor; the idealistic foreigners still
clinging to their childish notions of social welfare; why, you're even kept
uninformed of useless propagandist journalism that reports alleged
violations of human rights (We all know they wouldn't have been punished if
they hadn't been doing something wrong!!). And who better to dispens such
blantently evident factoids but a self-appointed authority like myself?
Acid Rain is a thing of the past... Too many possible causes, too little
signifigance for our modern thinking public, besides industrial
manufacturing is at an all time low anyway, who needs those narrow minded
laborers anyway. Too many mouths to feed, and to many burden on the pay
roll! Who needs 'em? Here in the land of the free-time. Someother ass
back-ward country will give us what we need by exploiting its uneducated
children.

You want prosperity
For yourself, but not for me
Somehow you just can't see
We're in this collectively
You think that freedom is
A drastic severance
From your past relations
Just a quest for new bargains
We're not the same person
We're not the same person (Don't even wanna know)
Wooohhh
Don't need no good advice
Nor shoddy merchandise
I'm the suspect device
Beaten down, unable to strike
We're not the same person
We're not the same person (Don't even wanna know)
Wooohhh
And the sun comes over us again
We lament, we pine, and we rescind

The quickening is an ephemeral thing
That only happens in the dark
Like catching lightning in a jar
And the pain that it brings
Is just the promise of spring
It’s madness on the way
Oh, what does it mean…

To come alive
To come alive
To come alive
(To come alive) To come alive
To come alive
To come alive

The entering is soulful conjecturing
Oh, lost and by the wind-grieved coast
Please come back to me again
Because the way that she bleeds
He’ll sit alone when he reads
Confusing words and deeds
So what does it mean…

<chorus>

To pierce the fame of the sacred and profane
For science, in service of the faith
But who will bear the mark of Cain?

et's gather 'round the carcass of the old deflated beast,
we have seen it through the accolades and rested in it's lea,
syntactic is our elegance, incisive our disease,
the swath endogenous of ourselves will be our quandary,

we've nestled in it's hollow and we've suckled at it's breast,
grandiloquent in our attitude, impassioned yet inept,
frivolous gavel our design, ludicrous or threat,
excursive expeditions leave us holding less and less,

so what does it mean?
when we tell ourselves it's only for a while we have been deceived
and it's only for a moment that the treasures of our day
make life easier to complicate,
the treasure thrown away,

I'm so tired of all the fucked up mind
of all the terrorist religions and their bullshit lines,
of all the hand-me-downs from all industrial crimes
and the weeping mothers and those who are led so blind,
from the plastic protests and the hands of time
and the pursuit of mirth and all hating kind

How do you know what you can be
if you can't see where you are going?
What breaks the silence?
Misery can make you see where you belong
It's a dangerous stage but the show must go on

Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Don't let your weakness show
You just might be the last to know

Freedom is such a loaded word,
so full of hurt and such aplomb
Loneliness saunters in its breeze
like a disease it drags along
The time of your life can't be had for a song

Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Don't let your weakness show
You just might be the last to know

Oh, Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Don't let your weakness show
Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Only the meek follow
Why do you lie? Why do you lie?
Trample the fear below
You just might be the last to know

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

Our apocalypse 1981 / Teenage vagrants lookin' for some fun /
A renewed promise of prosperity / A vulgar platform for the
world to see / We were / The hippy killers

Busted refuse from broken bones / Pocked flesh and
malicious bones / Creatures sustained by desire, heart, and
soul / Nothing to leave and nowhere to go / We were / The
hippy killers

Good days during horrible times / Overused bodies, neglected
minds / Shoulder to shoulder we formed as one The next
miserable generation / We were / The hippy killers

every time you shake someone's hand and it feels like your best friend,
could it be that it's only superficiality?,
without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise,
handshakes are nothing but a subtle "fuck you",
contracts determine the best friendships

this is the way of the modern world, everyone's vying for patronage,
this is the way of the modern world, and something has gotta give

every time you shake someone's hand,
and you share neither color or creed,
you gotta overcome the obstacles of history,
there is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry

and these have created the new foundations of society,
there's no harmony just class and race

this is the way of the modern world,
everyone's fighting for dominance,
this is the way of the modern world,
and something has gotta give

now I believe in unity, and I am willing to compromise,
but I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul

every time you shake someone's hand,
it determines where you stand,
and if you won't uphold your side then it's better to
fend for yourself, and shun the handshake,
someone's gotta give

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

If I could only get the tools, the stimuli and
Molecules, frozen moments in time
I could be the archetype, a credit to the
Genotype, re-program your mind

But the storybook sages fill their pages
Hiding from the warming sun
Limitless distractions give no pause to distort a
Precious delusion

Did you see the moralist retort and raise his fist
"You can't make man a machine"
I can see the edifice crumbling in foggy mist,
Razed by discovery

But the storybook sages fill their pages
Hiding from the warming sun
Limitless distractions give no pause to distort a
Precious delusion

We strike first
and we're unrehearsed
here we go again
to stage the greatest show on heaven and earth
come on, get your money's worth

don't wanna live
(can't live)
don't wanna give
(can't give)
don't wanna be
(won't be)
Em-P-I-R-E
don't wanna live
don't wanna be
Em-P-I-R-E

We're comin on fast
and we're built to last
we struggled once in 'Nam
now we're glad to finally say
those days have passed
tell me how long can it last!

don't wanna live
(can't live)
don't wanna give
(can't give)
don't wanna be
(won't be)
Em-P-I-R-E
don't wanna live
don't wanna be
Em-P-I-R-E

We just started out
you don't need to be afraid
yeah you deserve two minutes hate

well, we split and we cursed and our bleeding hearts burst
but even ten million souls
marching in February couldn't stop the worst,
couldn't reverse

don't wanna live
(can't live)
don't wanna give
(can't give)
don't wanna be
(won't be)
Em-P-I-R-E
don't wanna live
don't wanna be
Em-P-I-R-E

don't wanna live
don't wanna give
don't wanna be
Em-P-I-R-E
don't wanna live
don't wanna be
Em-P-I-R-E

i can't live
if livin' is within you

hey did you find the pieces your mentor left behind?
and did you care, did you trade his genius for your dispair?
did you walk the line?
did you see the mongrels on either side?
did greasy finers grasp for pieces of your mind?

Nothing comes easier than madness in the world today
Mass paranoia is a mode not a malady
Yeah, I'd like to watch 1,000 cable channels but there's nothing on
And my high speed connection's monitored daily by The Pentagon
These things are seldom what they seem
I'm not inclined to enjoy my dreams
Won't go away

No Peace (no peace), and No Friends (no freinds)
We trace the mortal edge (with no defense)
To State the obvious, This world is perilous for us
No sense and No Guide, ain't it beautiful to be alive (yeah, right)
I won't resign before the struggle ends
So I'll construct this sound defense

We are the prey and culture is the predator
I'm running out of time where conditions are positional
Shadows of a doubt cast reluctance and depravity
There's got to be a way to overcome this cruel reality
Is there an option left for me, I'm not immune to despondency
There's no way 3

No Peace (no peace), and No Friends (no friends)
We trace the mortal edge (with no defense)
To State the obvious, This world is perilous for us
No sense (no sense) and No Guide (no guide),
ain't it beautiful to be alive (yeah, right)
I won't resign before the struggle ends
So I'll construct this sound defense

There's a signpost on the corner and it keeps everybody safe
We were all made in the shade
And your mother's in the kitchen, where she's patching all the cracks in the wall
We never had a care in the world

(No shade) Too much to sacrifice, (No light) it's hard to recongnize
(Just black) traps to compromise (And white) obscuring deadly alabies
(My plans) It's combinational, (designs) the pressure's so intense
So I'll construct this sound defense
(No Way) Nothing's plainer than the madness in th ... Read more »

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

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

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

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

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

You have got your stranglers and prowlers in soft shoes. Furniture makers,
carpenters too
Bombers and commandos, all with some lost cause
Disgruntled workers, immersed in veritás
But stealthily, in the land of the free, he's lurking there
Most are unaware of
The biggest killer in American history
And god shed his grace on thee
Business institutions universites
Both are quite the circus where the killer wants his way
I think of Edward Teller and his moribund reprise
Then I look to Nevada and I can't believe my eyes
It's time for hime to die!
Most cannot remeber minutia learned in school
It's not there on the blackboard, it's what they don't tell you
We have got a problem, it starts and ends right here
It can be defeated but you've got to face your fear
We'll join and unite and steady our sight
Then we'll put it right `cuz it's time to fight
The biggest killer in American history
And god shed his grace on thee

Television, Television, Television, Television

Oh yeah! I want to bask in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my connection to the world outside

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

Television, Television, Television, Television

Oh yeah! I want to bathe in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my injection from the world outside

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

Television, Television, Television, Television

Oh yeah! I want to bathe in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my connection to the world outside

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

Television, Television, Television, Television

parched, cracked mouths, empty swollen guts
sun-baked pavement encroaches on us
haves and have-nots together at last
brutally engaged in mortal combat
10 in 2010

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

happy and content it can't happen to you
10 in 2010
fifteen years we'll think of a solution
10 in 2010
it won't just appear in one day
10 in 2010
for ten in twenty-ten we're well on our way

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

Did you ever see the concrete stares of everyday?
The lunatic, the hypocrite, are all lost in the fray.
Can't you see their lives are just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer.
The businessman whose master plan controls the world each day
Is blind to indications of his species' slow decay.
Can't you see his life is just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer.
People blow their minds (they choose to resign)
This deformed society is part of the design.
It'll never go away (it's in the cards that way).
The masses of humanity have always, always had to suffer!
A door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity, still clinging to their dignity,
The masses of humanity will always have to suffer.
Always have to suffer.

Well,am I making haste or could it be haste is making me
what's time but a thing to kill or keep or buy or lose or live in
I gotta go faster
keep up the pace
just to stay in the human race

I could go supersonic,the problem's chronic
tell me does life exist beyond it?
when I need to sate,I just accelerate into oblivion
into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah yah yahn

Now here I go again,everything is alien
how does it feel to be outstripped by the pace of cultural change
my deeds are senseless and rendered meaningless
when measured in that vein

I could go supersonic,the problems chronic
tell me does life exist beyond it?
when I need to sate,I just accelerate into oblivion

I won't lie,it's exciting when I try to decide things...
I just want to live decently,meaningfully
I'm in misery

(pace setters,go getters,rat racers,forgetters,researchers,berserkers
strategies to help the workers,new time saving devises,quick vices
no crisis, brevity dependency,digital effciency)

I could go supersonic,the problem's chronic...
tell me does life exist beyond it?
when i need to sate,I just accelerate into oblivion
into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah yah yahn

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

Dedication is the price you pay:
The initiated are Coddled and caged
Before you walk, as soon as you crawl
Hope is pointless when you're stuck in the trawl

Fuck the freshman lectures and brandishments
They just betray impoverished accomplishments
The puppet masters fear originality
They tighten up the tethers and they shackle your feet
Submission complete

Your recruits never have a chance,
Enticed to the drill, admonished to dance
Early to rise and early to shine,
Life is long but the end is nigh

Break the guilty trammels from yesteryear
Remember how rejuvenation conquers all fears
Lowly opportunities take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show
The sad reflection of dead ambition
You live for nothing. Submission complete.

Yeah, break the guilty trammels from yesteryear
Remember how the taste of failure makes it all clear
The lowly opportunities take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show
The sad reflection of dead ambition
You live for nothing

Expectation, indoctrination,
Life's a damnation. Submission complete
Dying on your feet
Submission complete
A total defeat

A mutinous enemy carved a nascent country
Sweat, blood, and valor
Forms the grit of our history
Beqeathed to everyone:
Chance and free expression
Substance was restrained
And the spirit was broken
I feel a strange denial
Rythmic as a change
Constance as time
Lonely
Insistent whispers
Somber as a wave bye bye
Searching for solution, without constitution
Blackcoats by our sides
Promising salvation
Advocating dogma as tickets to hereafter
Mortals in their prime
With their desperate hands in the air
Daunting
Complex and burning
Rythmic as change
Constant as time
Conflicts
Craving approval
Weighted as a murder trial
Oh I feel a strange denial
Correct is Consensus
Everything else, nonsense

a febrile shocking violent smack
the children are hoping for a heart attack,
tonight the windows are watching,
the streets all conspire,
and the lamppost can't stop crying,
if I could fly high above the world,
would I see a bunch of living dots spell the world stupidity?,
or would I see hungry lover homicides,
loving brother suicides,
and olly olly oxenfrees,
who pickaside and hide

the world is scratching at my door,
my morning papers got the scores,
the human interest stories, and the obituary

cockroach naps and rattling traps,
how many devils can you fit upon a match head?,
caringosity killed the Kerouac cat,
sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

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

the worlds is scratching at my door....

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

life is the crummiest book I ever read,
there isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots,
pictures to shock and characters an amateur would never dream up

We all know politicians only go
Just half-way there
Just half-way there
The innocence of youth needs protection not abuse
But no one seems to care
Yet no one seems to care
And you sit there adn watch the world go around
From your pseudo-benevolent vantage point
While we who've been left to pick up after you
Try our best to make some sense for those who
Come next
Now what have you done to foster the truth
Besides just hide hide the lies?
Besides just hide hide the lies?
A selfish campaign never justifies the gain
But the means are verified
Yeah the means are verified
And you sit there and insist you are right
From your popular psychological podium
While those who rely and depend on you
They wilt because you don't accept we need
Each other
Whule sowing the seeds of Utopia,
You invoked a convenient amnesia
You forgot how to care, you forgot how to provide,
You forgot how to work toward a meaningful life

shed a tear for the criminal, give him something to believe
light a fire for the miserable, give the darkness some meaning
closed wounds harbor pestilence, when you lick them from within
charity has a redolence chastity cannot rescind

spirit shine, it's a sign
of a troubled mind (tortured mind)
spirit shine all the time
can render you blind

you can take it all to heart or throw it all away
you can give until you're dry and sucked of all your gleam
you can fake another cry and compromise your dream

cling tight to the parable - let it dominate your life

There's a specter in the corner of an illustrated page
And a lonesome muted stripling with a rapt remedial gaze
The poverty of his language and the wealth of his emotion
Bring him endless murky musings and unexpected frustration

Angst and madness weave the fabric of his life
Tomorrow might be better but right now it feels like...

There's a panther wild and proud behind the doors of a redolent cage
And an undeveloped intellect filled with impotent and static rage
And don't think you're exempt if you earn a good weekly wages
'Cause your neighbor's going crazy and insanity's contagious

I know there's so much you want to say
But your tongue gets in the way
And sometimes it feels like...

I know there's so much you want to say
And the tumbrel of your mind gets in the way
It's the same for everybody to degrees
We all get that foggy freeze and sometimes it feels like...

Father can you hear me?
How have I let you down?
I curse the day that I was born
and all the sorrow in this world

Let me take you to the herding ground
Where all good men are trampled down
Just to settle a bet that could not be won
Between a prideful father and his son

Will you guide me now, for I cant see
A reason for the suffering and this long misery
What if every living soul could be upright and strong

Well, then I do imagine...
there will be sorrow
Yeah there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow no more

When all soldiers lay their weapons down
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves

Its easy to imagine
There will be sorrow
Yeah there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow no more

There will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow no more

Yeah there will be sorrow
Yeah there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow no more

So, you're feeling unimportant,
'Cuz you've got nothing to say.
And your live is just a ramble
No one understand you anyway

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

Slumber will come soon
And you are helping to put it to sleep
Side by side we do our share
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon.

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

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

Right now
Well it's finally time to face my fears
Gonna get the hell out of here
And create a fresher atmosphere
But the consequence is clear

There's a burner set on high
And a yearning undefined
But it's time to turn the tide
It's social suicide

Like you
Perseverance is a useless tool
Just a patron on a ship of fools
Feigning interest in the cast and crew
Why you've broken every single rule

There's a burner set on high
And a yearning undefined
Now it's time to turn the tide
It's social suicide

Shadows entertain the unwashed masses
Scholars explain their known reactions
I don't even know if I can ever find truth
but I'm sure it won't come from following you

There's a burner set on high
And a yearning undefined
But it's time to turn the tide
It's social suicide

Innocents burned, 
alive at the stake
Tortured and dumped
In nameless graves
Centuries wane
Authority died
Scattering seeds of ancient lies

Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score

Child molesters
And Jesuits 
Holding secret conference
Underneath the pontiff’s nose
And only God will ever know

Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score

Give us this day
Our daily bread
Your legacy 
We'll not forget
Lick the wounds
Cleanse the land
The modern world
Rejects your hand

Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score

Don't try to say that I threaten your freedom
We've done without for 20 years, so think if we really need 'em

We're all just slaves for the troop commanders (3x)
We're all slaves

We can blow up things better than in any country except this one
Waiting for it too then you realize it ain't too much fun
We're in a country, democracy, supposed to be the best on the globe
Living from the denoument lifted from the high class clones and

We're all just slaves for the system masters (3x)
We're all slaves

And we're all just slaves for the system masters
We're all slaves

Here inside this quiet room there's direction
Outside in the sultry noon, time reflection
A million people scurry, they're looking for advice
None willing to lend charity, just exercise their

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

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

Shades of truth and lenient conventions
Shades of truth between disparate lines
Shades of truth interpret my intentions
You don't know I'm alright
You don't know I'm alright

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

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

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

You don't know I'm alright
You don't know I'm alright
You don't know I'm alright

The scientist purported that there ain't no purpose
and the theologian told me that it's all been designed
and I'm trying to maintain objectivity
The world won't illuminate what really matters
and I'm an imperfect mortal meaning extractor
processing the complexity
Born of the Earth (Are we blind?)
We weren't given a choice (There's no way)
What about free will? (What we have)
Do we have a voice? (Is shattered faith)
See them run in place (Here and now)
in the human rat race (No reward)
So much dead weight (No debate) to our disgrace (Shattered Faith)
Life begins when you accept your fate
Paralysis from forces raging out of control until
my confidence and will are at an all-time low
Just directionless wandering
Eternal life, eternal truth, eternal secrets
Isolated hopes and hypotheses just
Leave me feeling so hungry
Born of the Earth (Are we blind?)
We weren't given a choice (There's no way)
What about free will? (What we have)
Do we have a voice? (Is shattered faith)
See them run in place (Here and now)
in the human rat race (No reward)
So much dead weight (No debate) to our disgrace (Shattered Faith)
Life begins when you accept your fate
Right or wrong,
the main criterion is what you do and not what you say
The roads you take, the friends you make and those you throw away
The method is a simple synthesis of the past and present state
You never lose if the path you choose is one you can easily navigate
I had a dream, light and carefree
But now there's doubt and gravity
But I won't run in place (Are we blind?) in the human rat race (There's no way)
I can set the pace (What we have) and accept my fate (Is shattered faith)
Shattered faith (Here and now)
Shattered faith (No reward)
the part ... Read more »

One – two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight
Days go marching by
There and back I never wait for a confident reply

Truth is stark and leaves its mark as limited constraints
And the most difficult part is accepting what the future may bring

It seems like a lifetime of scrutiny
Wither the path, whether worth the fee
A lifetime of scrutiny
And it seems as though I can't be sure of anything anymore

One – two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight
Years go flying by
No one seems to hesitate or cast an earnest eye

Judgment comes in many forms but never scarce or shy
And the litany is long as the confidence is strong in their delight

It seems like a lifetime of scrutiny
Prejudicial waters wash over me
A lifetime of scrutiny
And the words just don't equate with sense or sanity anymore

One – two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight
The faces and the names
Shattered hopes and stolen dreams and no one left to blame

Is it possible to win this pointless mortal game?
`Cuz when death comes it's swift and my friend,
We end up all the same

It feels like a lifetime of scrutiny
Wither the path and whether worth the fee
A lifetime of scrutiny
And it seems as though I can't remember anything anymore

This isn't art this is suicide, in a social way
I don't have the need, and I don't have the time
I'll tell you why…
Because I think about it all the time
I think about what's true and what's lie
I used to think things in my head were true
Sensory feedback from things like you…
Sensory feedback from things like you.

I don't know why this must be,
The guitar's misleading me.
I don't know why, I've got a social suicide
From a sensory overload
It's a hell of a time
Got a sensory overload
Got a tricky little mind
Tricky little mind
Little…
Go!

I think about the quivering flesh
Then I think about the urban mess
It makes my mind begin to reel
I don’t understand all the things I feel
I don’t want to hide from the things I hear

I don't know why this must be,
The guitar's misleading me.
I don't know why, I've got a social suicide
From a sensory overload
It's a hell of a time
Got a sensory overload
Got a tricky little mind
Tricky little mind
Tricky little…

Oratory of hope and glory a whisper and a rhyme
An effigy, a soldier out of time
Citizen and patriot you can't be far behind
The funeral is weighting heavy on your mind

Requiem
Bring the dissident from slumber
Requiem
Raise the rebel from its grave
Requiem
Sound the revolution's thunder
A monumental blunder averted and betrayed

Dig around the cemetery a record of the day
Friends and neighbors in stages of decay
But the saddest thing of all eludes discovery
The stimulus for this somber ceremony

Requiem
Bring the dissident from slumber
Requiem
Raise the rebel from its grave
Requiem
Sound the revolution's thunder
A monumental blunder averted and betrayed

The sanctimonious minions how they grovel at the feet
Authority is populist deceit
Pity yet another casualty's demoralized decline
Just a victim of irrational design

Requiem! Requiem!
Requiem
Bring the dissident from slumber
Requiem
Raise the rebel from its grave
Requiem
Sound the revolution's thunder
A monumental blunder averted and betrayed

there's a watch in my pocket and its hands are broken
the face is blank but the gears are turning
confusion is a fundamental state of mind
it doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out
I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt
and sanity is a full-time job
in a world that is always changing
and sanity is a state of mind that you believe in
sanity

there's a shadow on the wall where the paint is peeling
my body's moving forward but my mind is reeling
depression is a fundamental state of being
it doesn't really matter how my day has turned out
I always end up living in this world of doubt

and sanity is a full-time job
in a world that is always changing
and sanity is will make you strong if you believe in
sanity

and sanity is a full-time job
in a world that is always changing
and sanity is a state of mind that you believe in
sanity

pa pa papa pa pa papa raise your voice! (4x)

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

so...
pa pa papa pa pa papa raise your voice! (4x)

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

so...
pa pa papa pa pa papa raise your voice! (10x)

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

have you been to the desert?
have you walked with the dead?
there's a hundred thousand children being killed for their bread

and the figures don't lie they speak of human disease
but we do what we want and we think what we please

have you lived the experience?
have you witnessed the plague?
people making babies sometimes just to escape
in this land of competition the compassion is gone
yet we ignore the needy and we keep pushing on
we keep pushing on

this is just a punk rock song
written for the people who can see something's wrong
like ants in a colony we do our share
but there's so many other fuckin' insects out there
and this is just a punk rock song
(like workers in a company we do our share
but there's so many other fuckin' robots out there)

have you visited the quagmire?
have you swam in the shit?
the party conventions and the real politik
the faces always different, the rhetoric the same
but we swallow it, and we see nothing change

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

And progress is not intelligently planned;
It's the facade of our heritage, the odor of our land. They speak of
Progress, in red, white and blue.
It's the structure of the future as demise comes seething through. It's
Progress, 'til there's nothing left to gain,
As the dearth of new ideas makes us wallow in our shame.
So before you go contribute more
To the destruction of this world you adore,
Remember life on Earth is but a flash of dawn
We're all part of it as the day rolls on.
And progress is a message that we send.
One step closer to the future, one inch closer to the end. I say
That progress is a synonym of time.
We are all aware of it but it's nothing we refine,
And progress is a debt we all must pay.
Its convenience we all cherish, its pollution we disdain
And the cutting edge is dulling,
Too many folks to plow through.
Just keep your fucking distance
And it can't include you.
It's
Progress, 'til there's nothing left to gain, it's
Progress, it's a message that we send.
And progress is a debt we all must pay.

Hit the road in wander mode, inquire along the way
Savoir faire in full despair while living day-to-day
My heart is not a cold cauldron of proof
I don? ever need to prove myself to you
Looking back I? off the tracks more times than I recognize
Mistakes are another opportunity to refine
My heart is not a cold cauldron of proof
I don? ever need to prove myself to you
There? no such thing as hell
But you can make it if you try
There might come a day
when emotion can be quantified
But as of now there? no proof necessary
no proof necessary
no proof necessary
There's no proof necessary
it? only in your mind (mind, mind, your mind)

nothing more nothing less
an icon on the wall decoration and duress
that which many strive to be
its the merble statue standing over me
and nobody has the will to tear it down
it determines wrong and right
but to me its just a stereotype
and it makes us lose our sight
the portait of authority
you tell me
that's what im supposed to be
(it embodies what he cannot be)
another time another man
and oppressive intrusion

Oh can't you feel the nostalgia I wonder about ya
Modernistocrat Horatio Alger
Clever never hesitating in the baiting ever waiting
For the canticle of manacles abating
Did you ever forget – you had a regret – and what you only guessed at
Might still be waiting?

When the prodigal son with a caroming shadow of hate comes to land
at home
Well he's a mourning star with a champagne heart at his curtain call
And father never understood the way
the work gets done
Don't look at me, no I ain't one, no prodigal son
Don't look at me, no I ain't one, no prodigal son

When everybody about – is read to bout y'all – about controversial
values
Don't you think you better readdress the level of the cowardice
rising to drown you
Did you ever connect – or come to reject – or even inspect
The dream that hound you

When the prodigal son with a caroming shadow of hate comes to land
at home
Well he's a mourning star with a champagne heart at his curtain call
And father never understood the way the work gets done
Don't look at me, no I ain't one, no prodigal son
Don't look at me, no I ain't one, no prodigal son

When you least expect it he's going to run
Like the blood red path of the western sun oh yeah
The prodigal son is waiting, waiting for his moment to come
Well hell no, don't look at me
Can't you see, I ain't one, no prodigal son
It ain't me, no I ain't one, no prodigal son

there's a boy in crimson rags with a grimace and a spoon, and a little sullen
girl face-up staring at the moon
and there's no one around to hear their lonesome cries
then they pass away alone into the night

why do we pity the dead?
are you churned by emotion from voices in your head?
(are you scared of the logic that swirls within your head)
look at all the living and you'll ask yourself why
oh why do we
pity the dead?
pity the dead!

well, you've seen the disease, suffering and decay,
and you whisper to yourself blissfully "it's okay"
and you still refuse the possibility
that the dead are better off than we

tell me what you see, tell me what you know
is there anyone who lives a painless life?
if there is show me so
the destitute and famished, demonic and the
banished, dejected and the ostracized, the
brainwashed and the paralyzed, the conquered

Economy technology, does it really work?
The guy runnin' the Government, another jerk!
Try to teach some values and it all erodes away
You're lucky if they listen to a single word you say.
What is right and what is wrong?
The government decides.
You don't have to like the laws
As long as you abide.
We're all being oppressed by upper middle class.
The government you vote for is the one that you possess.
I'm so tired and i'm through and so are you.
Oppresive fear from the President, Its not the government
We control the masses of the whole entire race.
Soon our streets will all get filled without a happy face.
Economy technology, does it really work?
The guy runnin' the Government, another jerk!
Try to teach some values and it all erodes away
You're lucky if they listen to a single word you say.

The final page is written in the books of history,
As man unleashed his deadly bombs and sent troops overseas
To fight a war which can't be won and kills the human race,
A show of greed and ignorance, man's quest for dominance.

They say when a mistake is made, a lesson has been learned
But this time, there's no second chance, the hate engulfs the world.
A million lives are lost each day, a city slowly burns,
A mother holds her dying child, but no one is concerned!

I show pity on the human race,
on the ignorant plenty who devote their lives
to an icon that they've never known.
I show pity on eons past,
when early man started the first civilization
and human aggression was born.
I show pity on the future to come,
when the government system will be omnipotent
and we'll be worse off... than we are now!
pity, pity, on the billions of ignorant people.
pity, pity, on the masses of aggression.
pity, pity, on the future centuries to come,
on the billions of ignorant people,
on the future centuries to come,
on the masses of aggression.
it's all a matter of looking at the past.
it's all a question, are we gonna last?
if we endure the aggression that's inside all of us
we'll wipe out our own species and thus... the world!
pity!
pity on...
on the masses of aggression,
on the billions of ignorant people,
on the future centuries to come,
on the masses of ignorant people,
on the future centuries to come.

it is an s.o.s. sent out telepathically, signs of our distress don't
allow complacency, we need restoration now of our integrity and a
drastic bold reminder of our morality, the rectifying troop is here,
the ones we have needed all these yers to stop the heious wrongdoings
and verify our moral benevolence as a people, operation rescue,
they're here to right our fall, they have heard a troubled call,
operation rescue, you may wonder where they come from, but i just
wonder why they're here at all, life ever-after is what they're in the
business for, see them brandish the key to their kingdoms door, it's
persuasive, it's a part of yoy and me but it's not overwhelming as

sleeping on a time bomb, staring into space
there's an ocean of unpleasantries we are not prepared to face

sitting on the fence post to watch the storm roll in
and terrified of the damage it will bring when it begins
it will begin

splintered dreams of unity (our lives are parallel)
so far from reality (our lives are parallel)
independent trajectories (our lives are parallel)
separate terms of equality (our lives are parallel)

our lives are parallel

is there no redemption? no common good?
is there nothing we can do for ourselves? or only what we should?

comes the hard admission of what we don't provide
goes the insistence on the ways and means that so divide

they so divide

side by side suffering loneliness (our lives are parallel)
phony collective progress (our lives are parallel)
accepting that it's all such a mess (our lives are parallel)
gesturing without hope of redress (our lives are parallel)

our lives are parallel

forging little plays of deception and pain
as we watch our foundation crumble away
staggering like birds against a hurricane
and trying all the while to stay out of each other's way

broken dreams of unity (our lives are parallel)
independant trajectories (our lives are parallel)
screaming out for understanding (our lives are parallel)
turning inward and suffering (our lives are parallel)

presidential election every four years
but neither man we can see or hear
urgent cries for society
but he can't see the blood on me
do you see?
do you see too much for me?
try that with our oligarchy,
try that with our oligarchy
oligarchy, oligarchy

Transfixated on the big blue screen
its your window to the outside
a melancholy dream
a medium upon which you build reality
this episodic currency
that everybody needs
somebodies delivery lulls you to sleep
the man behind the weather map
the editor in chief
they control two worlds
power and disease
and you cannot supress you curiosity
but see it's only entertainment
superficial urgency
posterboard mentality
only entertainemnt
tightly constrained
the buzz that remains
is the story of how we run our lives
many our the people poor and suffering
from the lack of coverage
from the transmission beam
and if it ever gets there
you'll be offended too
'cause you cannot distinguish

History doesn't make something right
Consensus is not a fact-based exercise
You're tied and bound to this selfindulgent enterprise...
We call America
A brush with a star, a token of love
A name in the sand, enough is enough
A diet of air, a face on the net
A fish your palm, your television set
Once you convince yourself
The universe falls into place
You've got your ideas
And your posse of friends
You all make up rules
And the fun never ends
But still there's a problem that leaves you gasping for air
You look for some meaning, blank smiles are all that's there
And still water stales a soft summer breeze
You cling to your hopes while your drop to your knees
There's no substance
Once you convince yourself
The universe falls into place
You've got your ideas
And your posse of friends
You all make up rules
And the fun never ends
But still there's a problem that leaves you gasping for air
You look for some meaning, blank smiles are all that's there
And still water stales a soft summer breeze
You cling to your hopes while your drop to your knees
There's no substance

hey mister, don't point at me
you shout rhetoric nonsense like a Pavlovian model
responding to his questions

hey teacher, arrogance is bliss
you spend your time turning water into life
as if you were God's foreman

is it any wonder
things seem so awry?
the masses are cloaked in confusion?
we don't have to think to survive
so nobody listens

hey recluse, dont shout at me
you proclaim yourself expert by extensions of the methods
detailed in your magazines

hey downer, don't prey on me
we've all got bum raps that torment us day to day
that we hoist on our own shoulders

is it any wonder
people pass you by?
your plea for understanding
is heard as desperate lies?
nobody listens

I can't help you...

is it any wonder

Culture was the seed of proliferation
But it has gotten melded into an inharmonic whole
Consciousness has plagued us and we can not shake it
Though we think we're in control
Questions that besiege us in life
Are testament of our helplessness
There's no vestige of a beginning,
No prospect of an end
When we all disintegrate it will all happen again

Time is so rock solid in the minds of the hordes but they can't
Explain why it should slip away
History and future are the comforts of
Our curiosity but here we are
Rooted in the present day

If you came to conquer you'll be king for a day
But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away
And believe these words you hear
When you think your path is clear

We have no control
We do not understand
You have no control
You are not in command!

A sullen figure walks along a dusty road
His life was holy and he couldn't bear the load
He left his people and a simple life behind
He raised his torso and he looked into the sky
Shouting his questions
Looking for directions
"What do I do now?"

Now a confused school girl stares at the TV tray
The stresses of maturing compound every day
She glances up to see her favorite video
And gets ideas from Madonna's nasty clothes
In need of affection
She craves a direction
Her heroes offer her

Everyone is looking for something
And they assume somebody else knows what it is
No one can live with the decisions of their own
It seems so they look to someone else
To tell 'em what to be
Tell 'em what to wear
Tell 'em what to say
Tell 'em how to act and think and compel others compulsively
Until the world is all like them

A righteous student came and asked me to reflect
He judged my lifestyle was politically incorrect
I don't believe in self important folks who preach
No Bad Religion song can make your life complete
Prepare for rejection you'll get no direction from me
You'll get no direction from me
You'll get no direction from me

Yeah can you hear the call in our rambling land
Susurrations that can expand beyond all hope of light
and plunge us into into unrelenting night

A pall on truth and reason,
It feels like hunting season
So avoid those lines of sight
and we'll set this right

Welcome to the new dark ages
Yeah, i hope you're living right
These are the new dark ages
And the world might end tonight

Now come ye children one and all – let's heed Ezekiel's call
And bide until the word is good and ripe and get plucked clean out
of sight

The world will be erased
Our kin will be immaculate ejaculate in space
Before the kind of king's love, he'll snatch us
From above, brothers help me sing it

Welcome to the new dark ages
I hope you're living right
These are the new dark ages
And the world might end tonight

So how do you sleep? – there's nothing to keep –
This is deep
Because we're animals – with golden rules
Who… who can't be moved by rational views yeah

Welcome to the new dark ages
I hope you're living right
Welcome to the new dark ages
And the world might end tonight

when everybody dies around you, from someone else's gun,
it really makes you stop and think about the years to come.
something good had to happen to the human race.
we all had better stop hoping and set our heads on straight.
you've gotta turn over a new leaf,
'cause that old one's turning on you.
we've gotta turn over a new leaf.
if the future's only hoped for, we are doomed.
today is over, it's already shot, so we can think about ourselves.
they keep on working on our nature, they're saying that can only help.
start throwing out your pockets, keep what you really only need.
save life and earth and water, there can't be any other need.
you've gotta turn over a new leaf,
'cause that old one's turning on you.
you've gotta turn over a new leaf.
if the future's only hoped for, we are doomed.

you've gotta turn over a new leaf,
'cause that old one's turning on you.
we've gotta turn over a new leaf.
and let your love come on through.
you've gotta turn over a new leaf,
'cause that old one's turning on you.
we've gotta turn over a new leaf,
a new, a new, a new.

I know a man
Who doesn't have many friends
I know a place he lives
Where trouble never ends
I know its hard for him
To read 'tween the lines
And his days are getting so much shorter
He simply turns away
And dons a bitter frown
His world is crumbling
His ship is weighted down
He doesn't care
As long as he can wear the crown
I know this man all too well
Its my poor friend me
A portrayal of the great dichotomy
(a reminder of a tragic history)
Its my poor friend me
And I'm running out of steam
I know there are people
Who are cynical and vain
They point their finger
'cuz they can't accept the blame
They live their lives
Under a blanket of shame and their progeny
Crawl from underneath it
Lately I've come
To see the solution
And it begins with me
But I'm so fallibly human
I've picked the lock
But will not turn the key

Of people running scared
We live, breathe and die
Off to a world, our time is slipping on by
We have solutions, but don't even try
And I feel I know just who to blame

do you know the cost of future misery?
have you lost your sense of sustainability?
we are just a step away
from realizing what we strive to be
but we've got to break out
from this insulated blind and lame senility
wake up the new America
transcend the mass hysteria
change is the thing you're wary of
we need a new America
laurels, human triumph,
bestowments from the past
victories don't mean a thing
if they don't last
we are just marching toward extinction
with blinders on our eyes
jeopardizing everything
we've learned and come to realize
you call that wise?
open your eyes America
see through the lies they tell to us
confront the fears that worry us
we need a new America
we don't have to be afraid to re-invent
we've got to start to build,
progress, and implement
for when we take our fill,
and never pay the price
we only build ourselves a fleeting,
false paradise
you can live in staunch denial
and mark me as your enemy
but I'm just a voice among the throng
who want a brighter destiny
they say with me
we are the new America
this is the new America?

i've got nothing to say,
i've got nothing to do,
all om my neruons are
functioning smoothly
yet still i'm a cyborg just like you,
i am one big myoma that thinks,
my planet supports only me,
i've got this one big problem: will i live forever?
i've got just a short time you see,
modern man, evelotionary 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

If you're discontent to know you world's a pile of shit
Listen to a riddle that'll tickle every bit of it
HA HA HA

Ape shall not murder – ape wasn't so sure
Bad ape you made a mistake
Annihilation in a cannibal – war
Well cultivation might have served you
Might have raised you up unscathed
If you had called that fucker by its name

Did you listen to the arbiter's beck and call?
Did you find what you were looking for or not at all?
NOT AL ALL

Ape shall not murder – ape take the cure
Bad ape you made a mistake
Annihilation in a cannibal – war
Culture might have cured you
And raised you up unscathed
If you had called that fucker by its name
Say the name
Say the name
Say the name

when you're sitting alone, frown and groan
over your bad day
when you're laughing with peers
forget your years, then be on your way
but don't forget, all the while
that you've crossed the social mile
and a million days is worth one good laugh
but don't forget, all the while
that you've crossed the social mile
and a million days is worth one good laugh.

So proud of history, replete with sanctity
Orbs in their harmony, they sing their code to me
Have you ever heard yourself, the orbit that you are in?
The terse, oppressive blanket that's instilled here by our spin

It's misery and famine, it's a force we cannot see
Misery and famine, it compels us naturally
Misery and famine, great ellipse, we bend to thee
Misery and famine, just accept your vagrancy

Others who bear no name, who feel that life's a game
My verse they will defame, we suffer all the same
They pay no regard to their position or their speed
But the firmament still covers them with its malevolent seed

It's misery and famine, it's a force we cannot see
Misery and famine, it compels us naturally
Misery and famine, great ellipse, we bend to thee
Misery and famine, just accept your vagrancy

You look for meaning in things no one comprehends
You feel no affinity to the rabble we're in
Sources of inquiry have nothing to portend
They will perplex us all until the coming end, until the coming end

A feeling of despair, hungry and full of care
We resent everywhere the fortune that we share
This earth could be a better place is a concept I condone
Given our pathetic course, our destiny is known

It's misery and famine, it's a force we cannot see
Misery and famine, it compels us naturally
Misery and famine, great ellipse, we bend to thee
Misery and famine, just accept your vagrancy

Misery and famine
Misery and famine
Misery and famine
Misery and famine

You're obsessed and distressed 'cause you can't make any sense
of the ludicrous nonsense and incipient senescence
that will deem your common sense useless
This ain't no recess!
I want to believe in you but my plan keeps falling through
I know I have to face the harshness, grin and bare the truth
And I have to walk this mile in my own shoes (and I'm no fool!)
I'm materialist
A full-blown realist
And I guess I'm full of doubt
So I'm prone to have it out with you
I'm materialist
There ain't no fear in this
It's there for all to see
So don't talk of hidden mystery with me
Mind over matter it really don't matter
if the street's idle chatter turns your heart-strings to tatters
Flatter hopes don't flatter and soul batter won't congeal
to mend a life that is shattered into shards
Was it in the cards?
The process of belief is an elixir when you're weak
I must confess, at times I indulge it on the sneak
But generally my outlook? not so bleak (and I'm not meek!)
I'm materialist, call me a humanist
I guess I'm full of doubt
So I'll gladly have it out with you
I'm materialist
I ain't no deist
It's there for all to see so don't talk of hidden mystery with me
Like Rome under Nero, our future's one big zero
Recycling the past to meet immediate needs
And through it all we amble forth to persevere and climb
Our mountains of regret to sow our seeds
I'm materialist!
I'm materialist!
I'm materialist!
I'm materialist!

Look around the country, an abundance you'll find of
Mediocre minds
Sift trough the fodder as the sane justice declines because of
Mediocre minds
Shrouded under cover, the most flamboyant guise hides a
Mediocre mind
You got yours but you can never bend mine with your
Mediocre minds
When the cry foul you had better watch out becaus you never know which
aptitude they'r griping about
Don't act too smart for their stenoscopic ways
You'll be discarded away
Reason's not to be what the privileged define with their
Mediocre minds
So many sighted people act so helplessly
Blind from their
Mediocre minds
If you want attention then you will be asked to bend but the surest
insurrection is enlightenment
Then you can live outside inharmoniously
An enemy

rescue me when I get too deep,
talk to me there's nothing to tell,
Everyone, is a hypocrite,
look to me,
I'll save your soul
Now somebody out there must be
reading my mail
Cuz' everybody knows
I'm a man with a mission,
coming to your town today,
I can damm you to fiery perdition,
Cuz' I'm a man with a mission
Follow me, when you give up,
Work for me, it'll serve you well
Everyone is a hypocrite, come to me,
I'll save your soul
Now somebody out there must be
tapping my phone,
Cuz everybody knows
I'm a man with a mission,
I'm gonna fly you away,
high above the noise and competition,
yeah I'm a man with a mission,
Passing through your town today
I condemn you
to fiery perdition,
yeah I'm a man with a mission

if I'm a monster,
I am a willing one,
this roller coaster ride is an enticing one,
on the tip of a continuum flowing wavelike
through disorder carry me like a vessel to water

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

if I can touch it,
I can destroy it,
if it's imaginable to some degree,
I can become it,
like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,
consuming bits and pieces until I'm finally extinguished

everyone you see leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you bare leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you touch leaves a mark on your soul,

the systems of life hum accordingly
every day, every year, every century
but, everywhere humans go things get worse and worse
can you tell through the smoke of the dirty city?
the jungle was once a tranquil hideaway
for the king of trees and the mountains themselves
but man those things sell a million dollars a pound
cut them up, dry them out, good display for the shelves
why can't we just leave them alone?

who is the animal?
who is that dangerous beast?
why were the other ones made?
i know it wasn't just for our feast

and now they're down to 250 lone souls
they're a breed of a losing generation it seems
the killers are ourselves so you know who to blame
it was man with his plan and his frightening greed
i don't think we'll ever leave them alone.

Pilgrim, those are dry and bitter tears,
And lonely eyes look way beyond your years.
Pilgrim, did you drink the mercury?
Your lips turn blue and you’re strugglin’ just to see.

You were too far gone to carry on,
Now your life has stalled,
As you march ahead yet go no place at all.

Pilgrim, when you left them all behind,
The loneliness destroyed your able mind.
Pilgrim, see the writing on the door?
It’s takin’ you back to a place you were before.

And the next in line, paces his stride, waiting for your fall,
With a hope that lies in a hidden master’s call.

Pious eyes, ignoring passersby,
And go to their grave.
Don’t despair, this world of toil and care,
This pilgrim lost his way.

Pilgrim, will you ever find your call?
Is truth so pure that you’re willing to risk it all?

Pious eyes, ignoring passersby,
And go to their grave.
Don’t despair, this world of toil and care,
This pilgrim lost his way.