Bad Religion - Generator Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion Generator 1992 Bad Religion is: - Greg Graffin: vocals and harmonies - Jay Bentley: bass guitar - Mr. Brett: lead and rhythm guitar - Greg Hetson: lead and rhythm guitar - Pete Finestone: drums 1: Generator 2: Too much to ask 3: No direction 4: Tomorrow 5: Two babies in the dark 6: Heaven is falling 7: Atomic garden 8: The answer 9: Fertile crescent 10: Chimaera 11: Only entertainmentk 1: Generator 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 book 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 the 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 2: Too much to ask 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 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 3: No direction 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 affection 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 ws politically incorrect I don't belive in self important folks who preach no Bad Religion song can make your life complete you'll get no direction from me you'll get no direction from me 4: Tomorrow 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 evryday we profit so leaning toward the great unknown 5: Two babies in the dark There'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 because Raggedy ann is in the closet picking posies two babies in the dark like diamonds in the sand while pap's far away making children's stories the little one's inside so afraid to be alone she's trying to brave until the daddy comes home so if you chance to see her please tell her it's alright 'cause everyone fights the tendency to snap sometimes it's not a matter of being brave and strong 'cause noises in the house are terrifying I'll put you to sleep at night like a foreign movie I'll sing you lullabies and I'll teach you about everything and I'll only ask you one thing please save me 6: Heaven is falling As I walk beneath the valley I shall fear no evil for 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 promises me a new day a'dawning I've seen 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 promised me a new day a'dawning well nothing here looks new to me but a score of mothers' sons caught 'tween the devil and the deep blue sea 7: Atomic garden 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 in my blossoms I'm enamored by young lovers on the weekend I like the Fourth of July when 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 night time they say they know what's best for me but tehye 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 leats he's got a garden with a fertile plot and a party that will never stop I hope there's nothing wrong out there I'm watching from my room inside my room 8: The answer Long ago in a dusty village full of hinger, 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 complelled people to follow along but the hunger never vansihed and the man was banished and the village dried up and died at a time when wise men peered through glass 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 scutinized in his colleagues eyes he soon became a mockery don't tell me the answer I've got ideas too but if you've got enough naivete 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 for eternity 9: Fertile crescent 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 belive it when I heard them say they're blowing it away and 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 tigether 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 the 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 need it don't you know 'cause we've got nowhere else to go 10: Chimaera You took a time bomb and a case of crackers and you made a maelstrom of organic debris then you took a work bench 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 theu lay me down you took a babboon and made him perfect you took a lion and stripped him of his pride then you took a million more varieties 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 belive 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 all to see mutataions, abberations and blatant anomalies they multiply and give rise to this...monstrosrity 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? 11: Only entertainmentk 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 chicanery from truth see it's only entertainment a superficial episode as life continues to unfold only entertainment controlled and copied they've planted the seed that sprouts into your picture of the world can't someone protect me (turn away, turn away) from this electron beam? hey you, Mr. FCC have you no advice for me? Bad Religion - Against The Grain Bad Religion Against The Grain 1990 Bad Religion is: - Greg Graffin: vocals and harmonies - Jay Bentley: bass guitar - Mr. Brett: lead and rhythm guitar - Greg Hetson: lead and rhythm guitar - Pete Finestone: drums 1: Modern Man (1:51) 2: Turn On the Light (1:23) 3: Get Off (1:40) 4: Blenderhead (1:10) 5: Postive Aspects of Negative Thinking (0:55) 6: Anesthesia (3:00) 7: Flat Earth Society (2:21) 8: Faith Alone (3:34) 9: Entropy (2:21) 10: Against The Grain (2:04) 11: Operation Rescue (2:05) 12: God Song (1:35) 13: 21st Century Digital Boy (2:38) 14: Misery and Famine (2:31) 15: Unacceptable (1:42) 16: Quality or Quantity (1:20) 17: Walk Away (1:50) 1: Modern Man I've got nothing to say, I've got nothing to do, All of my neurons are functioning smoothly, Yet still I'm a cyborg just like you, I am one big myoma that thinks, my planet supports only me, I've got this one big problem: Will I live forever? I've got just a short time to see, Modern man, evolutionary betrayer, Modern man, ecosystem destroyer, Modern man, destroy yourself in shame, Modern man, pathetic example of earth's organic heritage, When I look back and think, when I ponder and ask myself "Why?", I see my ancestor spend with careless abandon, Assuming eternal supply, Modern man, evolutionary betrayer, Modern man, ecosystem destroyer, Modern man, destroy yourself in shame, Modern man, pathetic example of earth's organic heritage, Just a sample of carbon-based wastage, Just a fucking tragic epic of you and I 2: Turn On the Light I had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket, He used to touch it when the wind was blowing high, I guess it made him feel like he could buck the system And when it flickered out we laid him down to die, Turn on the light, Turn on a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights, (yeah) A beacon in the night, I'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry, (yeah) I'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses And equip it with 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, (yeah) A beacon in the night, I'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry, And I'll burn like a roman fucking candle burn like a chasm in the night burn for a miniscule duration, ecstatic immolation, incorrigible delight 3: Get Off Lacivious, It's all that I can think of as I drag my feet, searching like diogenes, Dangerous, The adjectives of the decade and of your alluring intricacies, Yes I 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 And 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's shared by many more, I know it's impossible but I'm 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 Ah-ah-ah-ah (x3) off 4: Blenderhead Flying through a dark prismatic tunnel on a carousel, The earth is turning and you know it very well, Your mind is reeling like ten helicopters wheeling And you're gonna hit the ceiling like a mallet on a bell, Hey, Blenderhead, they're starting to ask questions, Your transgressions are a danger flashing sign, Challenge conventions and radiate your splendor And feel those flywheels turn your blender... head (yeah) Tally up the gleaming ventured on a wishing well, Each shining trinket has a story it can tell, Your moments pining like those tales all intertwining Can become the rusted lining of a deep neglected shell, Hey, Blenderhead, you ask so many questions, Your confusion's a life-affirming sign, Break from tradition and carry on with valor And feel those flywheels churn your blender... head (yeah) 5: Postive Aspects of Negative Thinking Let's gather 'round the carcass of the old deflated beast, We have seen it through the accolades and rested in its lea, Syntactic is our elegance, incisive our disease, The swath endogenous of ourselves will be our quandary, We've nestled in its hollow and we've suckled at its breast, Grandiloquent in attitude, impassioned yet inept, Frivolous gavel our design, ludicrous our threat, Excursive expeditons leave us holding less and less, So what does it mean? When we tell ourselves it's only for a while we've 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 minds Of all the terrorist religions and their bullshit lines, Of all the hand-me-downs from all industrial crimes All 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 6: Anesthesia Everybody's 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 prove 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 too late and caused a chain reaction, I've been hanging out here for eleven long years like a church mouse wondering where the cat as gone And looking at you now is driving me to distraction, 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 prove complicity now, Anna.........., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, All good children go to heaven! 7: Flat Earth Society Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... 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... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water And the whistling of wind on a calm summer night But you better believe that down in their quarters The men are holding on for their dear lives, The Flat Earth Society is somewhere far away, with their candlesticks and compasses And the bright ship Humana is on its way with grave determination... And no destination, The Flat Earth Society is meeting here today, singing happy little lies, And the bright ship Humana is well on its way with grave determination... And no destination, Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... Lie lie lie... (x infinity) 8: Faith Alone Heard a sermon from a creaky pulpit with no one in the nave, I paid a visit to the synagogue and I left there feeling blame, No one could tell me what to do, They had not the capacity to answer me, What the world needs now is some answers to our problems, We can't buy more time because our tender isn't valid, If your soul needs love you can get consoled by pity, But it looks as though faith alone won't sustain us anymore, Watched the scientists throw up their hands conceding, "Progress will resolve it all," Saw the manufacturers of earth's debris ignore another green peace call, No one could tell me what to do, They had not the ability 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... What the world needs now is some answers to our problems, We can't buy more time because our tender isn't valid, What the world needs now is some accountability, If your soul needs love you can get consoled by pity, But faith alone won't sustain us anymore, Faith alone won't sustain us anymore (round, x infinity) 9: Entropy Random blobs of power expressed as that which we all disregard, Ordered states of nature on a scale which no one things about, Don't speak to me of anarchy or 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 matter of course, Entropy, energy at all levels, Entropy, from it you cannot divorce And your pathetic moans of suffrage tend to lose all significance, Extinction, degradation: the natural outcome of our ordered lives, Power, motivation: temporary fixtures for which we strive, Something in our synapses assures us we're ok But in our disequilibrium we simply cannot stay, It's entropy, it's not a human issue, Entropy, it's matter of course, Entropy, energy at all levels, Entropy, from it you cannot divorce, A stolid proposition from a man unkempt as I, My affectatious nature I cannot rectify, But we are out of equilibrium unnaturally, A pang of consciousness at death and then you will agree It's entropy... Entropy, it's matter of course, Entropy, energy at all levels, Entropy, from it you cannot divorce, Entropy... (x4) 10: 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 a lunatic, sequestered and content, There ignored and defeated by the government, There's an oriented public whose magnetic force will pull, But away from the potential of the individual, Against the grain, that's where I'll stay, Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain, The flow is getting stronger with small increments of time And eddies of new ideas are increasingly hard to find, You need all that the other has, it's your right to seize the day But in all your acquisitions you will soon be swept away, Against the grain, that's where I'll stay, Swimming upstream, I maintain 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 of purpose will destroy us rapidly, Against the grain, that's where I'll stay, Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain, Against the grain, against the grain, Against the grain 11: Operation Rescue 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've needed all these years To stop the heinous wrongdoings and verify our moral benevolence as a people Operation, Operation Rescue, They're here to right our fall, they've heard a troubled call, Operation, Operation Rescue, You wonder where they come from, but I just wonder why they're here at all, Ya-ya-ya-ya-ya (x3) Ya-ya-ya-ya Life ever-after is what they're in business for, See them brandish the key to their kingdom's door, It's persuasive, it's a part of you and me But it's not overwhelming as they wish it to be, If no one believed in fairy tales, there's nothing they could do but fail Yet everywhere we look someone is trying to reassure our moral benevolence as a people, Operation, Operation Rescue, They're here to right our fall, they've heard someone's troubled call, Operation, Operation Rescue, You wonder where they come from, but I just wonder what compels them all, Operation, Operation Rescue, Operation, Operation Rescue, You may wonder where they come from, But I just wonder what compels them all, Ya-ya-ya-ya-ya (x3) 12: God Song 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, Have they told you how to think, Cleansed your mined 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 cultural efficiency" Now we all fear this impasse we have built to our future (ever so near), Ever so near, and oh so austere 13: 21st Century Digital Boy I can't believe 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, 'Cause I'm a 21st Century digital boy, I don't know how to live but I've got a lot of toys, My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual, My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual, Ain't life a mystery? I can't explain it, the things they're saying to me, It's going yayayayayayaya, oh yeah, 'Cause I'm a 21st Century digital boy, I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys, My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual, My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual, Ain't life a mystery? I tried tell you about no control, But now I really don't know, And then you told me how bad you had to suffer, Is that really all you have to offer? See I'm a 21st Century digital boy, I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys, My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual, My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual, That's what I yearn for (21st Century digital boy), Neurosurgeons scream for more (21st Century digital boy), Innocence raped with napalm fire (21st Century digital boy), Anything I want I really need (21st Century digital boy), 21st Century schitzoid boy (21st Century digital boy), 21st Century video boy (21st Century digital boy), 21st Century digital boy (21st Century digital boy), 21st Century sofa boy (21st Century digital boy)... Note: The first four lines in the last stanza are "stolen from King Crimson" 14: Misery and Famine (2:31) So proud a history, replete with sanctity, Orbs in their harmony, they sing their code to me, Have you ever heard yourself, the orbit 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, A feeling of despair, hungry and full of care, We resent everywhere the fortune that we share, "This world 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 (x4) 15: Unacceptable Irreducible is the word for today, plastic compounds and nuclear waste, What the hell's the matter with the people on this planet? Have we all gone insane? The stigma of industrial progress killing us over and over again, It's one part per trillion... unacceptable, One part per billion... unacceptable, One part per million... unacceptable, This mammoth pogrom set upon us courtesy of the USA, Inexcusable are the men before our time, I'd like to kick their ass for what they left behind, Cancer-causing chemicals, ozone-depleting arsenals, we're all gonna fry, So put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye, One part per trillion... unacceptable, One part per billion... unacceptable, One part per million... unacceptable, One part per billion... unac(fucking)ceptable (x infinity) 16: Quality or Quantity Offer me eternity, and I'll trade a cup of coffee and a time, 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 (x3) 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 are a feast for some you say, Survival and living are concepts you can't equate, Quality or quantity (x3) don't tell me they're the same, Quality or quantity (x3) a choice you have to make, 17: Walk Away 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 Bad Religion - No Control Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion No Control 1989 Bad Religion is: - Greg Graffin: vocals and harmonies - Jay Bentley: bass guitar - Mr. Brett: lead and rhythm guitar - Greg Hetson: lead and rhythm guitar - Pete Finestone: drums 1: Change of Ideas (0:54) 2: Big Bang (1:40) 3: No Control (1:44) 4: Sometimes It Feels Like... *?!%+!* (1:32) 5: Automatic Man (1:38) 6: I Want To Conquer The World (2:16) 7: Sanity (2:44) 8: Henchman (1:03) 9: It Must Look Pretty Appealing (1:21) 10: You (2:06) 11: Progress (2:12) 12: I Want Something More (0:46) 13: Anxiety (2:08) 14: Billy (1:56) 15: The World Won't Stop Without You (1:51) 1: 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 rozy hues, For what don't wish to admit what it is we have to lose. Millenia in coming, 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. 2: Big Bang This isn't another new fashion, or a new wave 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 gonna be quite a show. What comes around always goes around, yeah. A million hopeless faces dwell within protected walls, All waiting for a moment in life when they can heed the clarion call. And it's all so oppressive my mind feels like a sieve. This city's 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 gonna be quite a show. What comes around always goes around, yeah. 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, 'cause there's no room left in heaven and there's sure no room in hell, 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 gonna be quite a show. What goes around always comes around. 3: No Control Culture was the seed of proliferation but it's gotten melded Into an inharmonic whole, to an inharmonic whole. Consciousness has plagued us and we cannot shake it Though we think we're in control, 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, yeah. Time is so rock solid in the minds of the hordes but they can't Explain why it should slip away, explain why it should slip away. History and future are the comforts of our curiosity but here we are Rooted in the present day, rooted in the present day 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, yeah. 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 have no control. We have no control, we do not understand. You have no control, you are not in command. You have no control. We have no control. No control. No control. You have no control. Note: The "There's no vestige..." line is from Hutton, 1795. So there. 4: Sometimes It Feels Like... *?!%+!* 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 # %#"@$#!" *""%%75838769%("%56("5965 65"$"%423!(060_*"7534# There's a panther wild and proud behind the doors of a redolent cage, And an underdeveloped intellect filled with impotent and static rage. And don't think you're exempt if you earn good weekly wages, 'Cause you're 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 )"^*()" $%#68%3*(48" % 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 % $#*%( ")""$%@*%)* "%(65("$8%$# 3("5( %)9%9"$868 5: Automatic Man 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 books and magazines. He's the quintessential mindless modern epicine. His life is meaningful because he gets things done. 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 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. So if you are troubled by the daily bump and grind, Then take a careful look around and brother you will find... The Automatic Man. 6: I Want To Conquer The World Hey Brother Christian with your high and might errand, Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word you're saying. Hey Sister Bleeding Heart with all of your compassion, Your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation. Hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure, Can you improve this place with the data that you gather? Hey Mother Mercy can your loins bear fruit forever? Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure? 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 my decisions With a quick wink of the eye And a "God you must be joking!" Hey Mr. Diplomat with your worldly aspirations, Did you see the children cry when you left them at the station? Hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation, And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations. 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 I want to conquer the world, Expose the culprits and feed them to the children, I'll do away with air pollution and then all save the whales, We'll have peace on earth and global communion. I want to conquer the world! (x4) 7: Sanity 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 mind. 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 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. 8: Henchman 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 the ideas Of the future's bright open door. The henchman Is the 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 good man's 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. 9: It Must Look Pretty Appealing The wheat waving next to you is healthy and so fine, As is dinner with your loved ones every day. But your routine is changeless through the decades of your life, Green pastures, open spaces, holy ways. And it must looks pretty appealing, 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, 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. 10: You There's a place where everyone can be happy. It's the most beautiful place in the whole fucking world. It's made of candy canes and planes and bright red choo-choo trains, And the meanest little boys and the most innocent little girls, And you know I wish that I could got 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. Because 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 fucking time. Because 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. 11: Progress 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. 12: I Want Something More Going through a world of sad debris, Regard quixoitic 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. 13: Anxiety 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 (have more than the other) guy. The quest for truth, the quest for gold, yeah, 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. 14: Billy 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. It moved him secretly. It moved him powerfully. But prescience was lacking and the present was not 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. 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? 15: The World Won't Stop Without You You've got to quit your little charade and join the freak parade Now that your road has been paved from conception to your grave. Enormous things to do, others' practices to eschew, To be better than you is impossible to do, But the world won't stop without you. No, the world won't stop without you. Your achievements are unsurpassed, you are highly-ordered mass, But you can bet your ass your free energy will dissipate. Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are, An element in a sea of enthalpic organic compounds. The world won't stop without you. The world won't stop without you. You're only as elegant as your actions let you be A piece of chaos related phylogenetically To every living organ system, we're siblings, don't you see? The earth rotates and will revolve without you constantly. Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are, An element in a sea of enthalpic organic compounds. The world won't stop without you. No, the world won't stop without you. I said the world won't stop without you. Bad Religion - Recipe For Hate Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion Recipe For Hate 1993 1: Recipe For Hate 2: Kerozene 3: American Jesus 4: Portrait Of Autority 5: Man With A Mission 6: All Good Soldiers 7: Watch It Die 8: Struck A Nerve 9: My Poor Friend Me 10: Lookin' In 11: Don't Pray On Me 12: Modern Day Catastrophists 13: Skyscraper 14: Stealth 1: Recipe for hate can't you feel it can't you see it the promise of prosperity it's overwhelming you and me it afflicts us like a disease ubiquitous compelling too we cling to you like crazy glue and inject such a potent seed it's best for all humanity the spread of culture the sword of progress the vector of suffrage a warm and septic breeze the pomp and elation the duty and vocation the blood of the hybrid it's just a recipe re-living our ancestry the frightful lack of harmony our fore-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 2: Kerosene everywhere I look I see exclusive huddled uninviting shelter is privilege of the same 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 kerosene keeps me warm feels so good to watch it burn kerosene 3: American Jesus i don't need to be a global citizen because i'm blessed by nationality i'm 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 thats 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 the prosperity it makes us walk with 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 farmers barren fields the force the army wields the expession 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 conscience of the murderer he's the preacher on t.v. the false sincerity the form letter that's 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 4: Portait of authority 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 and a plague across his land and it haunts him every day it tells him he has no chance his hopes just fade away and he can't muster the support and to him it's just a stereotype of his life-long fight 5: Man with a mission rescue me when I get too deep, talk to me there's nothing to tell, Everyone, is a hydocrite, 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 hydocrite, 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 6: All good soldiers all good soldiers crack like boulders The sun climbs up to a razon, 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 abnywhere the president says- because the president believes in god- like all good soldiers wait like warheads- When the fighting starts who will be accountable, a cannibal, a cannoball It's six A.M. I can see my breath and the clay dirt is laughing at the weekling boy- today is the day that I'll write my friends its something I've been trying to remenber- I had a dream of a wall that was twenty-one stories tall... All good soldiers fall in line when they march and shout- are a respectable marching and signing- will go anywhere the president says- because the president believes in god- like all good soldiers should 7: Watch it die i was born on planet earth the rotating ball whre man comes first it's been around for a long time but now its 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 sea 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 the planet earth at a drastic time full of plastic mirth and every day i've seen increasing signs and you would too if you'd opened your eyes you had a chance you did not try so now it's time to watch it die 8: Struck a nerve there's an old man on a city bus holding a candy cane and it is'nt even christmas he see's a note in the obituary that his last friend has died there's an inflant clinging to his overweight mother in the cold as they go to shop for cigarettes as the 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 that i am not alone introverted i look to tomorrow for salvation but i'm thinking altruistcally and a wave of overwhelming doubt turns me to stone and i guess it 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 strunk a nerve i try to close my eyes but i cannot ignore the stimuli if theres a purpose for us all it remains a secret to me don't ask me to justify my life 9: My poor friend me i know a man who doesnt 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 instead of bearing down his ship is crumbling his crew is one of clowns he doesnt 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 im running out of steam i know there are people who are cynical and vane they point their finger 'cuz they can't accept the blame they live their lives under a blanket of shame and their progeny crawl from underneath it lately i've come to see the solution and it begins with me but i'm so fallibly human i've picked the lot 10: lookin' in suddenly, it came to me a potent dosage of reality i saw myself in the broad daylight and it made me think about life im not the kinda guy who nods his head with closed eyes i scoff at labels i defy censuses and despise group mentality all along i through that this was only human but i know now that i'm in the minority i'm lookin' in now i think in relation to my fellow man and what strives to do we fail to see theres no compromise our evolution is our demise one day you may find that you are also one of me a micrososm of the human race observing those around us desiring to belong behing the guise of salvation we suffer along the way we're lookin' in 11: Don't pray on me 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 12: Modern day catastrophists take those potatoes out of your ear listen to the warnings verify all your fears there's a world outside that's ready to blow and we're all to blame when it finally explodes you gotta listen up gotta listen to what they're telling you gotta listen up and think about what they're saying to you they're the modern day catastrophists they've got practical solutions (know all the right equations) they're the self-appointed righteous pragmatists and they know 50 ways to save the world what makes you think you can cure our disease? maybe its just our biology maybe its time to make room for another species this is the 21st Century 13: Skyscraper Come let us make bricks and burn them hard We'll build a city with a tower for the world and climb so we can reach anything at all Build me up, Tear me down like a skyscraper Build me up, then tear down These joining Walls So they can't climb at all I know why you tore it down that day You throught, if you got caught we'd all go away Like a spoiled little baby who can't come out to play You had your revenge Build me up, tears me down like a skyscraper Build me up, then tear down these joining walls So they can't climb at all Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion Stranger Than Fiction 1995 Bad Religion is: Jay Bentley - Bass Greg Graffin - Vocals Mr. Brett - Lead & Rhythm Guitar Greg Hetson - Lead & Rhythm Guitar Bobby Schayer - Drums 1: Incomplete 2:28 2: Leave Mine To Me 2:07 3: Stranger Than Fiction 2:20 4: Tiny Voices 2:36 5: The Handshake 2:50 6: Better Off Dead 2:39 7: Infected 4:08 8: Television 2:03 9: Individual 1:58 10: Hooray For Me... 2:50 11: Slumber 2:39 12: Marked 1:48 13: Inner Logic 2:58 14: What It Is 2:08 15: 21st Century (Digital Boy) 2:47 European bonus tracks 16. News From The Front 2:23 17. Markovian Process 1:30 18. Leaders And Followers 2:41 1: Incomplete 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 fury, a creeping gray memory, I am incomplete... doctor, cure me; what is the cause of my condition, this madness shoots me, like bullets smashing glass in 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, an unmailed letter, an unbuilt motor, deck without a joker, a creeping gray memory I am incomplete... tell Saint Peter not to bet on me, I am a naked obsession, a good intention gone bad, I am incomplete... 2: Leave Mine To Me there are desperate times upon us, there are codes of white and black, political resentment and people start to crack, there's hate and opposition, there's fumbling dialog, yet you sit there and judge me and you think it makes a difference if you think I'm all alone you are foolishly wrong, there's an entire army who blindly follow along, and you happen to be one of them believe it or not, even though you try not to be we are of the same plague the other ways we're taught to fear, don't even scratch the surface of the problem here, I'm not blind, and I'm not scared, so many crucial factors exist out there, and we're but one, and they're bout two, and how we come to terms will help us pull through things cannot change too fast, it took us this much time, to reach our current platform and walk this fragile line, if I thought I'd make a difference I'd kill myself today, but so many are like me lost in the fray you create your own reality, and leave mine to me 3: Stranger Than Fiction 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 4: Tiny Voices 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 5: The Handshake 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 6: Better Off Dead I'm sorry about the sun, how could I know that you'd burn?, and I'm sorry about the moon, how could I know that you'd disapproved, I'll never make the same mistake, the next time I create the universe I'll make sure we communicate at length but until then...better of dead, a smile on the lips and a hole in the head, better of dead, yeah better than this, better of dead, yeah better than this, take it away 'cuz 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, the next time I create the universe I'll make sure you participate But until then... Better of dead, yeah better of dead, why don't you try pushing daisies instead and I'll never make the same mistake, the next time I create the universe I'll make sure we communicate, just in case 7: Infected 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 love to strike you, here's my confession, you learned your lesson, stop me before I do it again 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, 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, are incurable, I want to bathe you in holy water I want to kill you, upon the alter, you and me, you and me 8: Television television, television, television, television oh yeah! I want to bask in your golden light, submerge in electric waves, I need my connection to the world outside the world outside is buzzing like an angry wasp in summer, the candidates are running, and 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 every atom of my body, blood and sinew, bone and fibre, I can't distil 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 that I have learned to let you in I will lever have to be alone 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 9: Individual individuals run for cover, for the multitudes of thoughtless clones have reached a critical mass, individuals hide in fear, under cover, sheltered by the wafer thin veil of intelligence individuals, nowhere to be seen urbana is oozing like a bloated carcass, with maggots cooking in the desert heat, oozing, with progeny writhing and desperate for input from someone more determined congregating 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, individuals command exception, and accept dichotomy, maybe you can't choose anymore procreation without gain or purpose, languid wills and torped minds, catapulted ever faster by the arrow of time 10: Hooray For Me... 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 that underground heroes of the tarmac shooting smack were blowing up worlds and Damned out loud, he, 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 when I slept with stony faces on the riverbank, my angeldevil 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 'cuz you want to? well, that's just what I do so hooray for me yeah, I was dreaming through the "howzlife", yawning, car black, when she told me "mad and meaningless as ever..", and a song came on my radio like a cemetery rhyme, for a million crying corpses in their tragedy of respectable existence oh, yeah, I'm not respectable, and never sensible, I've been incredible so damned irascible and I like the things I do so hooray for me 11: Slumber so, you're feeling unimportant, 'cuz you've got nothing to say, and your life is just a ramble, no one understands you anyway well, I've got a piece of news, son, that might make you change your mind, your life is historically meaningful, and spans a significant time slumber will come soon, and you are helping put it to sleep, side by side we do our share faithfully assuring that slumber will come soon well, now do you feel a little better?, lift up your head and walk away, knowing we're all in this together, for such a short time anyway there is just no time to parade around sulking, I would rather laugh than cry, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, we share this place together, and we pitch in to help it die I'm not good at giving morals, and I don't fear the consequence, if life makes you scared and bitter, at least its not for very long 12: Marked 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, everyone you love leaves a mark on your soul everything you take leaves a mark on your soul, everything you give leaves a mark on your soul, and all the fear and loneliness that's impossible to control, and every tear you cry leaves a mark on your soul 13: Inner Logic automatons with business suits clinging 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 over truth of the evil and deception there is an inner logic, and we're taught to stay far from it it is 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 displaying pomp and discipline, they mold their institution where they practice exclusion on the masses every day 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...) 14: What It Is there's a purpose, there's a goal, there's a virtuos, and immoral, there's a reason for all of this, and I don't know what it is I am one, and plural too, I accept them but they exclude, I could make sense of all of this, but I don't know what it is the seeds of inspiration never germinated in my mind, the beacon of awakening is somewhere that I can't find, so I don't know what it is there's a beginning, and there's an end, there's a climax, some would contend, there's a way to signify this, but I don't know what it is 15: 21st Century (Digital Boy) I can't believe 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, I'm a 21st century digital boy, I don't know how to live (or read) but I've got a lot of toys, my daddy is lazy middle class intellectual, my mammy's on valium, she's so ineffectual, ain't life a mystery? I can't explain it, the things they're saying to me, going yayayayayayaya, oh yeah, I tried to tell you about no control, but now I really don't know, and then you told me how bad you had to suffer, is that really all you have to offer? Bad Religion - Suffer Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion Suffer 1985 Bad Religion is: - Greg Graffin: vocals and harmonies - Jay Bentley: bass guitar - Mr. Brett: lead and rhythm guitar - Greg Hetson: lead and rhythm guitar - Pete Finestone: drums 1: You Are (The Government) (1:19) 2: 1,000 More Fools (1:34) 3: How Much Is Enough? (1:22) 4: When? (1:38) 5: I Give You Nothing (Tom Clement...) (2:00) 6: Land of Competition (2:04) 7: Forbidden Beat (1:53) 8: Best For You (1:57) 9: Suffer (1:45) 10: Delirium of Disorder (1:37) 11: Part II (The Numbers Game) (1:38),br> 12: What Can You Do? (2:44) 13: Do What You Want (1:05) 14: Part IV (The Index Fossil) (2:04) 15: Pessimistic Lines (1:07) 1: You Are (The Government) 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. 2: 1,000 More Fools 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? Kaleidoscoping 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? Kaleidoscoping 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. 3: How Much is Enough? 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. 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 brough 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. 4: When? 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. 5: I Give You Nothing/Tom Clement... 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! 6: Land of Competition See there's a girl who's afraid of the world so she stays at home. Next there's 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 'cuz of the way they are dressed, But you can bet you are not welcome in their home. 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 to 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." 7: Forbidden Beat 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 (x6) 8: Best For You 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, its 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 (x8) 9: Suffer 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. 10: Delirium of Disorder Delirium of Disorder (x2) 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 (x8) 11: Part II (The Numbers Game) (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) It's superficial progress, they call it liberation. With opiates of silicon, Big Brother schemes to rule the nation. We're one nation under God, we stand above the rest; With mighty high technology, we're never second best. Our specialty is infiltration! Prepare yourself for subjugation, Victory through domination. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) The trepidatious throngs all fears the big eye in the sky. The government observes them with their own electric eye. We're one nation under God, we stand above the rest; With mighty high technology, we're never second best. Our specialty is infiltration! Prepare yourself for subjugation. Automatons, illiterates, and indigents of every shape and size Don't stop but aid this cruel crusade, participate in their own demise. We're one nation under God, we stand above the rest; With mighty high technology, we're never second best. Our specialty is infiltration! So pack your bags you third-world nation, Victory through domination. 12: What Can You Do? So you waste another day getting older and gray in the head, And you're hearing lots of stories 'bout the happy times you have ahead. There are other folks in power so you kick back and get farther behind, And although the world rotates itself the only thing you twist is your mind. You see, the world's falling apart at the rifts, And surprisingly, the leaders can't make any sense of it. You mean nothing to the world, we're all someone else's fool, But oh, what can you do? "Yeah you waste your time with losers if you get stuck in a rock-n-roll band." Do you find it more rewarding to compete with morons throughout this land? They seem to be in power so I'll kick back and get farther behind. And I watch them as they fuck up every good thing on this earth with their "minds." You see, the world's falling apart at the rifts, And surprisingly, the leaders can't make any sense of it. You mean nothing to the world, we're all someone else's fool, But oh, what can you do? Yeah you waste another day getting older and gray in the head, And we're hearing lots of stories 'bout the happy times we have ahead. The morons are in power so we kick back and get farther behind, And we watch them as they fuck up every good thing on this earth with their "minds." You see, the world's falling apart at the rifts, And surprisingly, the leaders can't make any sense of it. We mean nothing to the world, we're all someone else's fool, But oh, what can you do? I said, oh, what can you do? (Go!) 13: Do What You Want 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! 14: Part IV (The Index Fossil) We're widespread and well fed, The earth's rotating fate is in our head, oh yeah. We're dominant and prominent, And our diety's omnipotent, oh yeah. And immortality's in our mastermind, And we destroy everything we can find. And tomorrow when the human clock stops and the world stops turning, We'll be an index fossil buried in our own debris. We're listless, promiscuous, And life to us is either hit or miss, oh yeah. We're savoir faire and debonaire And things we do are done with pride and care, oh yeah. And immortality's in our mastermind, And we destroy everything that we find. And tomorrow when the human clock stops and the world stops turning, We'll be an index fossil buried in our own debris. See, immortality's in our mastermind, And we destroy everything that we find. And tomorrow when the human clock stops and the world stops turning, We'll be an index fossil buried in our own debris. In our own debris. 15: Pessimistic Lines So here we are again to experience the bitter, scalding end And we're the only ones who can perceive it. But others sing of beauty and the story that's unfolded As one that deserves praise and ritual. My pessimistic lines, Your superstitious lives, And the modern age's lies won't absolve you. And the professorial truth, And the dear clairvoyant youth, And of course the nightly news will deceive you. (Watch out!) My pessimistic lines, Your superstitious lives, And the modern age's lies won't absolve you. And the professorial truth, And the dear clairvoyant youth, And of course the nightly news will deceive you. (Let's go!) Bad Religion - The Gray Race Back To Index Warning !!!: these lyrics are COPYRIGHT protected. Bad Religion The Gray Race 1996 Bad Religion is: Jay Bentley - Bass Greg Graffin - Vocals Mr. Brett - Lead & Rhythm Guitar Greg Hetson - Lead & Rhythm Guitar Bobby Schayer - Drums 1: The Gray Race 2:06 2: Them And Us 2:50 3: A Walk 2:14 4: Parallel 3:19 5: Punk Rock Song 2:27 6: Empty Causes 2:51 7: Nobody Listens 1:57 8: Pity The Dead 2:56 9: Spirit Shine 2:11 10: The Streets of America 3:48 11: Ten in 2010 2:22 12: Victory 2:36 13: Drunk Sincerity 2:13 14: Come Join Us 2:03 15: Cease 2:35 1: 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 2: Them And Us 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) 3: A Walk I'm going for a walk not the after dinner kind I'm gonna use my hands and I'm gonna use my mind and who the hell are you to tell me what to do? you can't even tie your own haggard shoes your closet is a mess, and your backyard's falling down and I have no grand ideas or intentions of sticking around I'm gonna build a world independant and exempt all alone I'll be an empire with no mortgage and no rent and I don't need to live in your stinking zoo you can't even feed the animals donated to you your storage sheds are ramshackled, flies decorate the walls and you expect me to die here in this shit-filled tiny stall? and I know you're watching! everything I do call me threat to your children call me socially unglued call me master of insanity, unable to relate call me lazy, bane, and filthy call me monstrous reprobate I'm going for a walk and there's nothing you can do 'cuz I don't have to live like you so I'm going for a walk 4: Parallel sleeping on a time bomb, staring into space there's an ocean of unpleasantries we are not prepared to face sitting on the fence post to watch the storm roll in and terrified of the damage it will bring when it begins it will begin splintered dreams of unity (our lives are parallel) so far from reality (our lives are parallel) independent trajectories (our lives are parallel) separate terms of equality (our lives are parallel) our lives are parallel is there no redemption? no common good? is there nothing we can do for ourselves? or only what we should? comes the hard admission of what we don't provide goes the insistence on the ways and means that so divide they so divide side by side suffering loneliness (our lives are parallel) phony collective progress (our lives are parallel) accepting that it's all such a mess (our lives are parallel) gesturing without hope of redress (our lives are parallel) our lives are parallel forging little plays of deception and pain as we watch our foundation crumble away staggering like birds against a hurricane and trying all the while to stay out of each other's way broken dreams of unity (our lives are parallel) independant trajectories (our lives are parallel) screaming out for understanding (our lives are parallel) turning inward and suffering (our lives are parallel) 5: Punk Rock Song have you been to the desert? have you walked with the dead? there's a hundred thousand children being killed for their bread and the figures don't lie they speak of human disease but we do what we want and we think what we please have you lived the experience? have you witnessed the plague? people making babies sometimes just to escape in this land of competition the compassion is gone yet we ignore the needy and we keep pushing on we keep pushing on this is just a punk rock song written for the people who can see something's wrong like ants in a colony we do our share but there's so many other fuckin' insects out there and this is just a punk rock song (like workers in a company we do our share but there's so many other fuckin' robots out there) have you visited the quagmire? have you swam in the shit? the party conventions and the real politik the faces always different, the rhetoric the same but we swallow it, and we see nothing change nothing has changed... 10 million dollars on a losing campaign 20 million starving and writhing in pain big strong people unwilling to give small in vision and perspective one in five kids below the poverty line one population runnin' out of time 6: 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 7: Nobody Listens 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 things are so inane? so many quests for compassion are just for someone's personal gain so nobody listens to you 8: Pity The Dead there's a boy in crimson rags with a grimace and a spoon, and a little sullen girl face-up staring at the moon and there's no one around to hear their lonesome cries then they pass away alone into the night why do we pity the dead? are you churned by emotion from voices in your head? (are you scared of the logic that swirls within your head) look at all the living and you'll ask yourself why oh why do we pity the dead? pity the dead! well, you've seen the disease, suffering and decay, and you whisper to yourself blissfully "it's okay" and you still refuse the possibility that the dead are better off than we tell me what you see, tell me what you know is there anyone who lives a painless life? if there is show me so the destitute and famished, demonic and the banished, dejected and the ostracized, the brainwashed and the paralyzed, the conquered and objectified, the few who see the other side tell me what you see! It's a mortal wretched cacophony in the end you may find there's no guiding subtle light, no ancestors or friends, no judge of wrong or right just eternal silence and dormancy and a final everlasting peace 9: Spirit Shrine shed a tear for the criminal, give him something to believe light a fire for the miserable, give the darkness some meaning closed wounds harbor pestilence, when you lick them from within charity has a redolence chastity cannot rescind spirit shine, it's a sign of a troubled mind (tortured mind) spirit shine all the time can render you blind you can take it all to heart or throw it all away you can give until you're dry and sucked of all your gleam you can fake another cry and compromise your dream cling tight to the parable - let it dominate your life create a God who's infallible - give your leader some respite clouds wounds harbor pestilence - when you lick them from within rosy smiles lose their radience - when you take it on the chin 10: The Streets Of America 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 11: Ten In 2010 parched, cracked mouths, empty swollen guts sun-baked pavement encroaches on us haves and have-nots together at last brutally engaged in mortal combat 10 in 2010 what kind of God orchestrates such a thing? 10 in 2010 ten billion people all suffering 10 in 2010 truth is not an issue just hungry mouths to feed 10 in 2010 forget what you want, scrounge the things you need happy and content it can't happen to you 10 in 2010 fifteen years we'll think of a solution 10 in 2010 it won't just appear in one day 10 in 2010 for ten in twenty-ten we're well on our way like piercing ear darts, I heard the news today 10 in 2010 10 billion people...coming your way 12: Victory the velveteen and oaken soothed the lonely child the parents watched the escort take him while they stood outside the priest was kind and gentle as he positioned his head the pain was like brimstone, but the kid hardly bled victory instinct over intellect victory it erupts from deep inside history history is laughing at us plotting its discovery victory, victory blame it on the victory among the parade crowd there stands a decorated man remembering how he helped to save this sacred land his helpless enemy was wounded, both hands raised with hope he killed him without second thought, with brute force and a rope so many times, so many lives test the other side waiting to see what the maker has in mind the unsuspecting commoners hum diligent each day they wallow in their father's sins, as time passes away the crimes are without motive but they ignore all restraint the evil sits inside them torpid timing its escape 13: 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 14: Come And 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 15: 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