Wrong turn into a bad neighborhood,
And for the moment before you perceive
The gun at your window,
You feel
Guilty.
Judgmental.
Racist.

You walked on water
When you spilled it on the floor
You’d never turn it to wine
‘Cause that’s a sin

And it’s okay to hate, and lie,
And cheat, and steal, and whine
Yeah, you can do anything
You’ve got Jesus on your side!

The Lord said, “Let there be light”
And damn, it shines on you
‘Cause you’re the Chosen
The Righteous
The Free

I asked you if you’d teach me
About the Kingdom our Lord made
You said, “God don’t want you loving,
He wants you SAVED!”

It’s the way that you lie
It’s the way that you live
It’s the way that you judge
It’s the gift that you give
It’s the life that you seek
It’s the home that you miss
It’s the jokes that you tell
And it’s got you so pissed

So tell it to me slow

Can’t cut it
Can’t cut this mid-speed city life
Can’t cut it
No matter how you do, it ain’t right

It’s the way that you hate
It’s the way you despise
It’s the way you mislead
It’s the way you’re unwise
It’s the falsehoods you spread
It’s the food that you eat
It’s the hobbies you tend
It’s the word on the street

So tell it to me slow

Can’t cut it
Can’t cut this mid-speed city life
Can’t cut it
No matter how you do, it ain’t right

It’s a justice in honor
It’s a freedom in life
It’s a glory in loving
It’s a value in right
It’s the way that you thrive
In dollar-masked lust
Yet are worth little more
Than ashes or dust

You’ve got those star-bright eyes
What you’re sayin’ just don’t cut
All the soul-savin’, sooth-sayin’
Won’t get me down in your rut

Because I’ve grown older
My voice grows bolder
And when I cry, I’m tired
Of crying for you . . .

These are the dark days, the sad days
The tried and true-blue bad days
I’ve got pins and needles all down
The edge of my spine

Ain’t gonna be the door mat anymore
Ain’t gonna be your fair-day friend no more
Ain’t gonna be the pawn stuck in your game
You won’t parade without me playin’ the rain

So I’ve grown older
My voice grows bolder
And when I cry, I’m tired
Of crying for you . . .

Walkin’ in the door
To the answering machine
Blinking light before you
Pulse racing
Press the button

Just a spammer, phone slammer
Make some dinner, pound a hammer
But when the phone rings . . .

Stop! Drop everything!
Dash over to the cordless
Answer quickly
Stop! Drop everything!
Duck into your room
The world stands still
And phone is god.

Redskins vs. the Ravens
Screaming at the television
Volume at four-hundred
Ears bleeding

Catchin’ all the play-by-play
But I can’t hear a word you say
And when the phone rings . . .

Stop! Drop everything!
Dash over to the cordless
Answer quickly
Stop! Drop everything!
Duck into your room
The world stands still
And phone is god.

Stop to go and stop stop go
Workin’ in the city, got to move
Stay in the know
Stop to go and stop stop go
Nine-to-five turned eight-to six
Step on my toes

And we’re rats
Just rats on parade
Sardines inside a train
Man, we’ve got it made

Stop to go and stop stop go
Lunch break’s just ten minutes
I’ve got to go
Stop to go and stop stop go
Seven-to-seven, no more eight-to-six
Priorities, you know?

And we’re rats
Just rats on parade
Sardines inside a train
Man, we’ve got it made

Who are these people, home invaders?
What are they doing in my living room?
Wife and kids? Don’t recognize the face
I’ll call ‘em on the cell, see if they’re home

Stop to go and stop stop go
Just sleepin’ at the office now
Priorities, you know?

I can look out and see
Nothing but hatred and negativity
The world is what we think
It cannot be
I can look out and see
All the pain, all the fear
The world is not the dream
We aim to dream

So I could be so naive
I could try to understand
Pen on paper
Hand in hand

I can look out and see
Nothing but downward glares and such
The world is just sum total
Of all these ways
I can look out and see
All the stares and love affairs
The world is not the dream
We aim to dream

So I could be so naive
I could try to understand
Pen on paper
Hand in hand

I can look out and see
All you try to hide from me
The world is not the dream
We aim to dream

Euro-cool hot-shots
Hate us ‘cuz it’s just so cool
We saved ‘em twice, but who cares
They still teach that crap in school?
In a nation so prone to losing
They think it’s better not to fight
Feelin’ proud because they spite us
Whether or not we’re right

Got to stop these pesky freedom fighters
Can’t let them build a new and better world

Don’t help them!
We can stand by comfortably silent
Don’t help them!
Don’t give them what they deserve
Let them be whittled away by oppression
Let them by killed for speaking their minds
Let them be slaves to a shameless dictator
Free them? We don’t have the time

Hollywood hot-shots
Speak out from mansion gates
Claiming high-minded morals
Dissenting, yeah that’s great
“War is so unpleasant”
Bad karma all around
Let’s grab the signs and protest
Fighting’s started on the ground

Got to stop these pesky freedom fighters
Can’t let them build a new and better world

Don’t help them!
We can stand by comfortably silent
Don’t help them!
Don’t give them what they deserve
Let them be whittled away by oppression
Let them by killed for speaking their minds
Let them be slaves to a shameless dictator
Free them? We don’t have the time

American soldiers
Cheered by the people they save
While the Prime Ministers wail
And the anti-war protesters rave
They exercise gifts of freedom
Something none of us have earned
They say dissent is oh, so wonderful
And something Iraqis don’t deserve

If you so desire
I could tell you why I’m tired
Fever pitchin’ curve ball

If you so desire
I could walk this tightrope wire
People look so small
So small

So they talk about justice in prodigal words
And Lord, it’s the worst song I’ve ever heard
Tell them what I think, they flip me the bird

If you so desire
I could jump into this fire
Wonder why you care

If you so desire
I could yell until I tire
And you would stare
Just stare

So they talk about justice in prodigal words
And Lord, it’s the worst song I’ve ever heard
Tell them what I think, they flip me the bird

If you so desire
I could tell you why I’m tired
People look so small
So small

You were born to hate me
You’ve been trained since day one
You have never met me
And you’re expert with a gun
You call it justice when I die
You call it duty as you kill
You follow orders from Al Qaeda
In the guise of Allah’s will

But no God orders killing
And no God wishes pain
You serve the will of men
You’re just a pawn inside their game

You’ve never been to Houston
Never seen a New York sky
Never tasted love or freedom
Never lived outside your lie
I have never stood against you
Never wished you less than well
But you think you will find heaven
By sending me to hell

But no God orders killing
And no God wishes pain
You serve the will of men
You’re just a pawn inside their game

This morning you kill mothers, fathers
Brothers, sisters, friends
Your fury in Manhattan brings
So many songs to end
But sins are all forgiven
Sins 3,000, and more still
Even orders from Al Qaeda
In the guise of Allah’s will

You post a poem and you say
This ain’t a game
But you’re the one who’s been playing
You pretend you care and you don’t
You say say it’s fine, but you won’t
Open your eyes
And see what you have done

You post a poem and you say
Can’t take it no more
But you’re the one who’s been givin’
You pretend to know but you don’t
You’re to blame, but you won’t
Open your eyes
And see what you have done

So this is my new song
I wrote it this morning
I know it’s kinda telling
But hey, it works for me

Just wrockin’, just wrockin’ baby
Just wrockin’ you off to sleep
Just wrockin’, just wrockin’ baby
Just wrockin’ you off to sleep
It was a treasure you never deserved
So it’s one you never got to keep

You post a poem and you say
This ain’t a game
But you’re the one who’s been playing
You pretend you care and you don’t
You say say it’s fine, but you won’t
Open your eyes
And see what you have done

People get lost in the years sometimes
The days go by and they’ve changed
When you look into the eyes of friends
And see strangers lookin’ back at you
Fight or flee
With you and me
Another trusted soul gone down the drain

It’s a vicious way to live from lie to lie
Holding onto strings, I’ve got to try
But this puppet’s cut loose, I’m sure
This much is true

People get lost in the tears sometimes
By the wayside and then they’re gone
And you beg into their caverns, yeah
Full of water, full of shame
Where’ve you been?
I knew you when
Another knife stabbed in the back

It’s a vicious way to live from lie to lie
Holding onto strings, I’ve got to try
But this puppet’s cut loose, I’m sure
This much is true

I never bought this game, nor wanted to play
These thoughts have drawn me tired
No more to say.

Bring the food, my friend
There’s glory in the darkness
Worlds of wasted hopes and shriveled dreams
Bring the life, my friend
There’s glory in its dying
God knows that friendship’s seldom as it seems

So sorrowful, these silent messages
These flashlight shafts of hope cut through the dark
So sorrowful, these silent words
These pangs of passing truth on every flash
How dim the view cast back from Heaven’s gate

Bring the food, my friend
There’s glory in our taking
Of liberty and justice down our throats
Bring the life, my friend
There’s glory in its ending
And faith destroyed on the wings of every note

So sorrowful, these silent messages
These fading dreams of righteousness and love
So sorrowful, these silent words
These notes of passing loyalties in every tone
How dim the view cast back from Heaven’s gate

If you look into my eyes, you can see it
If you listen to my voice, you can hear it
Touch my skin, I know you’ll feel it
Icy cold

From the platform
I watch the trains go by
Friends who stood beside me
Stand elsewhere now

I guess that’s how it goes, in fleeting days
It’s the human art of betrayal, anyway
And sorry only means so much, you know it’s true
I never thought I’d write this song for you

If you look into my heart, you’ll know it
If you cared for wrong or right, you’d show it
Speak your piece, I’m not listening
‘Cuz I’m just tired

From the safety of
Locked doors I choose to cry
Friends who stood beside me
Stand elsewhere now

I guess that’s how it goes, in fleeting days
It’s the human art of betrayal, anyway
I know that’s how it goes, I always knew
I never thought I’d write this song for you

And sorry only means so much . . .

The world shatters
Broken glass is all you see
It may be a dream
Might be a dream
But is this a broken world before you
Or are you just looking with broken eyes?

What was crystal clear
Looks confused and lonely now
It’s a familiar feel you know all-too-well
And the way it all seems to be
It may be a dream
Might be a dream
But is it a broken world before you
Or are you just looking with broken eyes?

The world shatters
Broken lives are all you see
It may be a dream
Might be a dream
But is this a broken world before you
Or are you just looking with broken eyes?

I’ve been lookin’ out
And I know what it’s about
Runnin’ but it’s just the same
Another prayer, another game

And sometimes I’m just lost for all the words
Sometimes I can’t help but lose my nerve

So I’ll tell you, tell you, tell you
I have seen the world and I know
It ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be
So I’ll tell you, tell you, tell you
When you’re feeling more than jaded
And your smiles are all but faded
There’s your whole life waiting on
The other side

I’m tryin’ to find the way out
There’s only so much we can talk about
And in the end it’s true
All the answers lie in you

But sometimes you can’t live until you try
And sometimes you can’t love until you are loved
Or lie ’til you’re lied

And I’ll tell you, tell you, tell you
I have seen the world and I know
It ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be
So I’ll tell you, tell you, tell you
When you’re feeling more than jaded
And your smiles are all but faded
There’s your whole life waiting on
The other side

So I’ll tell you, tell you, tell you
When you’re feeling more than jaded
And your smiles are all but faded
There’s your whole life waiting on
The other side

I heard today that I’d been lying
Pity, I’d not been told, for
Otherwise I’d have laid a party
And lent your hatred some extra voice
So sorry, you see
But again, you’ll know to miss me

Betrayed, no other word
No softer tone
Betrayed, no other voice
No songs worth singing
With a scream

I heard today you’d overflowed
With vitriolic words
Pity, I’d not been told, for
Otherwise I’d have gone away
But again, you’ll know to miss me

Cuban cigars hangin’ off your lips
Need some hard cocaine, you’ll have it shipped
It’s too easy, it’s too easy
Got a nice, expensive electric car
With velvet seats, lights, and a mini bar
Life is breezy, life is breezy
It’s too easy, it’s too easy

Got a Macintosh and a country club
Need a good woman, you’ve got petty love
It’s too easy, it’s too easy
Got a rare Canadian spotted goose
And a hot tub with an electric noose
Life is breezy, life is breezy
It’s too easy, it’s too easy

And it’s a one-way ticket to paradise
Now you’re on the inside looking out

So if I need some cash, you’ve got lots to give
If I need a life, you got lots to live
It’s too easy, it’s too easy
With your Learjet and your stupid cat
We all know you’re a dirty rat
Life is breezy, life is breezy
It’s too easy, it’s too easy

Looking back on all my years
I still don’t understand those fears
So often confused, so often lost
I made my choices, but at what cost

Looking back on all my tears
A shriek across my leaden ears
I’ve served my sentence, done my time
Written slower, learned to rhyme

Looking back at your young face
Remembrin’ your soft, cold embrace
The time we spent, the dream we shared
The visions that were so impaired

Looking back on all my years
I still don’t understand those fears
And I’ve never lost quite as much
As from your thoughtless human touch

The sun was shining
A beautiful day
The mid-september skies grew warm
And the city skyline rose as usual

The freeways were packed
The offices moved with the sounds
Of every-day life
Until the first plane hit the tower
And those that survived
Ran

And we’re still running
Still running from the ghosts of the eleventh
We’re still running
Still running from the jets in our minds
And we’re scared
We have every right to be scared
So we’re still running
We’re still running

In the weeks to come
We lived our lives
With a silky sweet smell of fear
As the bombs fell on Afghanistan

The freeways were packed
The officies moved with the sounds
Of every-day life
Until the suspicious package found the mail-room
And those that survived
Ran

And we’re still running
Still running from the ghosts of the eleventh
We’re still running
Still running from the jets in our minds
And we’re scared
We have every right to be scared
So we’re still running
We’re still running

But as we run, we run together
American flags in hand
We run to fight for freedom
United to make a stand
We may bruise and break, and some may die
But we must never forget why

(America, America, God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea)

And we’re still running
Still running from the ghosts of the eleventh
We’re still running
Still running from the jets in our minds
And we’re scared
We have every right to be scared
So we’re still running
We’re still running

The freeways were packed
The offices moved with the sounds
Of every-day life
Until the first plane hit the tower
And those that survived
Stand
Strong
Together

Ominous skies
Cold rain reaching out for me
Ominous skies
Drip down the hospital window
Poetry in motion
The power of an endless sky
Ominous skies
Foreboding fear

Lightning crash
A world or two away from here
Lightning crash
Or does silence surround
Ominous skies
Drench the countryside below
Lightning crash
So far away

Ominous skies
Cold rain reaching into me
Ominous skies
Pour into the hospital window
Poetry in motion
The power of an endless sky
Ominous skies
Ominous skies
In your eyes

Make yourself up in your disguises
Put on your caps and gowns
Close your eyes and turn your smiles
Upside-down
Be on your best behavior
Put on your happy face
Be the person you’ll never be
Such is the human race

You can yell and scream
Spew the room with steam
Make your complaints
And learn to hate
Everything that was good
Until we fixed it
Yeah, we fixed it

Make yourself into your idols
Put on yours suits and ties
Rearrange your honesty
Into lies
Make your false advances
Your cures for false disease
Throw out your opinion and do
Anything they please

You can yell and scream
Spew the room with steam
Make your complaints
And learn to hate
Everything that was good
Until we fixed it
Yeah, we fixed it

Walk the aisle, shake the hand
Trail the pack, make a stand
Think it through, make it real
Just to be the one who kneels

Make yourself into their dreams
And dream the words they say
If they want your soul tomorrow
Give it to ‘em today
Take the chances they give you
And throw the rest to the wind
Selling your soul for acceptance
Ain’t no sin

You can yell and scream
Spew the room with steam
Make your complaints
And learn to hate
Everything that was good
Until we fixed it
Yeah, we fixed it

The class drones on, repeating what they say
They say I should pay attention, feed my brain
The boredom reaches deep enough to drive insane
And there’s enough loneliness here for us all

The clock tick-tocks on, it’s almost three o’clock
Most people think this s###’s hard as rock
There’s more than enough fear here for me to mock
And they all hope mother missed the call

So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about teaching us things
It’s all about making us think in the box
We can speak as long as we don’t sing
So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about making us learn
It’s all about making us feel the same
All about tying down the birds

So the students stood up, yelled, attacked
And began to search for the freedom they lacked
But soon grew lazy and went home for a snack
For that’s just what they had learned

The next day they returned and the teachers laughed
Until they all cried, and would have yearned for the past
If it had been any different; then at long last
They tied the future to the stake . . . and it burned

So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about making us learn
It’s all about making us feel the same
All about tying down the birds
So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about pride in small towns
It’s all about stomping out differences
It’s all about inches and pounds

Does your freedom rest in conformity?

So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about teaching us things
It’s all about making us think in the box
We can speak as long as we don’t sing
So it’s all about education they say
It’s all about making us learn
It’s all about making us feel the same
All about tying down the birds

Behind the flickering glow
Of the CRT in the living room
And the cold eyes of your
Average raving lunatic
Lies a silence vengeance
A quiet desperation
That somehow touches
Even the most sane of minds

And behind that wonderous, techno glow
The tentacles reach out for you
So soft, and baby, oh so sharp
So pleasant, so tantalizingly hellish

And behind the silent millisecond
Of the open air between spots
And within the thoughts of
The humble and the mighty
The lies a silent message
A quiet desperation
The somehow washes
Even the most sane of minds

So we huddle about our shrine
To technological superiority
We slip away, slip away
I slip away, slip away
And the messages are planted
In our brains

Eyes red with the fatigue
Of a thousand hours watching
I want to turn away
I want to turn away
I want to turn away

.. ..-. / .-.. .. ..-. . / .— . .-. . / .- . . . / . .- . . . -.— / .- . . . / .—. .. . —..—
.— —- ..- .-.. -.. / ..—/ -. . . . / .- / .—. .. .
.. -. /—.. . . . / . . . -.- -.— ..—..

And so it begins
In a very nice way
The piano man playin’
It goes on that way
Lies are your answers
So tell me no truth
Belief in this sorrow
Mistakes of youth

I stand in the doorway
The noose ’round my neck
Is everything set?
I don’t bother to check
Where’s that happy ending
That they promised me?
Everything’s foggy
Like the clouds on the sea

If life were so easy
What life would it be?
If life were so easy
Would you still need me?
And so it begins
In a very nice way
The piano man playin’
It goes on that way

I stand in the doorway
Can’t wait for reply
For the jury to tell me
That I soon will die
I wonder if I’m
Doing the right thing
As I close my eyes
And kick my legs free
Free . . .

.. ..-. / -. . . . -—. . . . / .— . .-. . / .- /—.-. ..- . / ..-. .- . . . -.. —-——..—
.— .. . . . -—/ .- . . . - . . . —- -. / .— —- ..- .-.. -.. / .— .
.. . . . -  . . . - . /——- / .-.. ..  . . . - . ..—..

Honor thy father, it says in the book
So will I go to hell if I don’t give in?
Is it true that this is allowed?
If I stand up, is that a sin?
I kept my mouth shut, but somehow
The churchgoers knew it all
So they frowned and they prayed a lot
But never said a word
Or made the call

You break the bread but do you drink the wine
Should I honor my father to continue a lie?
You faith says to help the ones who’re in pain
Yet they’ve left me out in the rain -

Did your God ask for this silence?
Did your God give me this pain?
Will your God give him easy forgiveness?
Will your God drive me insane?
Should the “faithful” stand by silent?
Do the “faithful” take his side?
Will the “faithful” let me suffer
Will the “faithful” tell me lies?

You break the bread but do you drink the wine
Must I honor my father and continue this lie?
Your faith asks that you inflict no pain
Yet I’m standing out here in the rain

Into the light, feel me tonight
Something I had
Has disappeared
And for it we must fight

And into the light, still all alone
An old man stands up
Trying to find
The keys to his home

Further and further we run
And we fall
Something escapes from the sound of his calls
So we fear
Yeah, we fear that someday we will die
And it seems
That time is a myth and yet it always finds
You

Yet we still pray, that this pain will end
But we can’t believe,
Couldn’t pretend
So we rise up again

I hold back the dogs, prevent the fight
Work for a peace
And then finally see
Into the light—

In the thirteenth hour
Time that isn’t there
So peaceful
So wonderful
And I finally see you again
I missed you
Have I spoken enough?
Sufficiently?
Is this death or a dream?

We thought we were so powerful
We had to take a stand
In doing so, we cursed
This freedom-land

In the thirteenth hour
Time was never there
So lonely
So quiet
Can we sing anymore?
Stuck
In death or a dream
Death or a dream

Please direct my publicist
To the exit door
In the cold clear night
Deep breath
Miss ya’
Have I lost the Midas touch?
What’s the deal?
Are you there?
Can you see there’s no-one here?
Damn
There’s really no-one here!
The delusions ooze away
Nothing to say
Until I write a new poem
Would you read it
If it were from another man?
Please direct my soul
To my publicist
Or my spokesperson
Red Tape
What’s the deal?

Please direct your questions
To my publicist
Or my spokesperson
Red tape
Come back
Find out where I went
What’s the deal?
Don’t you care?
Did you notice I was gone?
Damn
You really don’t care!
The delusions ooze away
Nothing to say
Until I write a new poem
Would you read it
If it were from another man?
Please direct my answers
To my publicist
Or my spokesperson
Red tape
What’s the deal?

The people of the West
Are laughed at in the East
The people of the East
Are murdered in the West
The murderers of the South
Are punished in the North
The murderers of the North
Are murdered in the South
But what of those in the middle
The line between feeling and thought
Between sane and insane
Love and war
Fear and anxiety
Heart and soul
You and me?

It’s a cold, cold winters day
Is school cancelled today?
Children utter sighs of relief
As the television man debriefs
A day safe from the insane torment
Of the place to which we are sent
And nobody seems quite opposed
To hearing, “Fairfax County Schools, closed.”

And this is the message we bring
Telling our future not to sing
Taking away what makes them whole
Taking away their very soul
How can you call this education?
Don’t stand there and claim exculpation
Because you’re the one opposed
To hearing, “Fairfax County Schools, closed.”

The future minions smile and nod
The brainwashers speak and they applaud

And yes it is a very sad thing
But there’s no one left here to sing
Is this really best in the long run
For all our daughters and our sons?
God save us, if we live in a world
With a logic and a future so swirled
Where you’re the one opposed
To hearing, “Fairfax County Schools, closed.”

Do you believe in God the father almighty
Creator of heaven and earth?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ
His only son, our Lord?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
The church?
Forgiveness?
Life everlasting?
Do you believe? Do you really?
Can you believe? Can you really?
How do you do it?
Why do we do it?
How do you pull this off?
Why is it that what I need most
Is what always gets away?

Do you believe in the tie that binds
That holds us all together?
Can you believe that something out there exists
Far over the horizon?
Humanity?
Happiness?
True love?
Why do you believe? Tell me why!
How can you believe? Tell me how!
Why don’t you tell me?
Why can’t you talk to me?
All I want to do is believe
Why is it when I need you most
You’re always running away?