Complications, Investigations, Frustrations

Complications
And I don’t get your justifications anymore
I’m sorry I’m so thick
But this leads to such confusing ends
And now we’re both so sick
Of these words and the way we’ve been using them

Investigations
Need to be made into the devastation I adore
That much I’ll admit
How I break apart whenever you’re so near
But what makes me sick
Is the thought of you ever not being right here

Frustrations
Come to an end for me and my generation evermore
In simple things like this
Like the way you smile and make me feel so alive
And I wonder what I’ve missed
All those times when I was so about my own little lie

Waking up in Tattered Sneakers (lyrics)

I hear screaming in the street
Blood and tears mix and flow around down by my feet
As I float in the apathy that I was taught
Complacency is my currency and all I’ve got
Is not enough to buy a ticket out of here
My greatest fear

I’m alive and you’re dying by my side
And I’m crying and don’t know why
But I’m starting to feel something real here
And it hurts more than anything
How it hurts more than anything
Now it hurts more than anything that I've
Ever felt before...

There’s a gun in the hand of the man we all said was the one
Who would bring peace for us and everyone under this slowly falling sun
I feel I’ve done my part
Giving just enough to look good but not enough to reach the heart
Of the matter
What’s the matter...with me?

I’m alive and you’re dying by my side
And I’m crying and don’t know why
But I’m starting to feel something real here
And it hurts more than anything
How it hurts more than anything
Now it hurts more than anything that I've
Ever felt before...

Awakening to something that looks like you
But feels like me
More than anything, now I’m suffering
More and more the more I see
You
Hurting like you do
Even when my eyes are closed
You need more than just my money or my clothes
What you need is what I need
What can I do, who can I be
But here for you under the same blood red sky...

I’m alive and you’re dying by my side
And I’m crying and don’t know why
But I’m starting to feel something real here
And it hurts more than anything
How it hurts more than anything
Now it hurts more than anything
Oh, it hurts like we're both living it

Post-Apocalyptic (Modern) Romance...

Such a sad girl in such a mad world
Spins in place in the rain drops’ space
Laughing at the stars which hide their faces away

Such a little boy who lost his toy boat
And now drifts alone, on the river he floats
Time is a machine and the gears got stuck when he saw her that day

In a world of tears and ashes
A smile is treason, so show me the gallows
In a day of earthquakes and plane crashes
There is no reason for that hill to be so hallowed

Such a tip-top tower was bound to fall
Don’t you know they walked together to the wall
Shot down for believing in more than they would be receiving

Such a fallacy this fantasy made of lethargy
Holding their tongues for fear of what to say
You can take them away but you can’t take love away with all that bleeding

In a world of ashes and tears
A smile is treason, so show me the gallows
In a day of lies and little fears
I have no reason but still have more than you know, you know

He held her hand as they fell into the dark
She held his head in her lap after they cut it off
Revolution is for heroes in books
But they had burned all of those by the time these two were old enough

BloodSport

Everywhere I go it’s hidden from my eyes
The thread in my clothes, these logos are all lies
The food on this table was picked by those unable
To petition for better wages
While we whine about corporate cages
Our gold isn’t shiny enough

We’re living here in our complacency
Drowning down inside our currency
The blood that’s on our hands and laces up our feet
This chocolate is name brand and don’t it taste sugary sweet

Just around the corner is a place called poverty
But we only go there in our bad dreams, sad dreams
Every one of us just one paycheck or so away from homelessness
The middle-class is retro, don’t you know we’re becoming like the rest
As the proles roll into their role
The heads of state debate while corporations take control

We’re dying here in our great ecstasy
Collapsing cooling inside our fantasy
But when the fire falls, the wrecking balls will take these walls of stone
And the prince and the pauper will each give up their throne

Sell outs and sophisticates
Star-struck and indifferent
Celebrate the empty, money makers
We are bread and they are bakers
We’re burnt to a crisp in it
We’re all to blame for this inaction
We're all to blame for this non-reaction

City of Presidents

Leaves on the sea as the clouds float by
Seagulls fly from trees and I take a short drive
Risking my life by these granite hillsides

Dunkin Donuts on the corner, every corner, know what I mean
Jaywalkin’ across Hancock even though cars got a green
Through the no-trespassing parking lot on my way to the T

And then when I’m headed back, I make sure to stop by Willow Street
They put a fence ‘round that house so I just stare down at my feet
‘Cause when I was just a kid, on that porch is where I used to sit and eat

Sidewalks crooked and cracked and great for riding your bike
Gettin’ wicked crazy air, wind through my hair, what a sight
Used to basically live on the campus across the street to my right (facing north or something a’ight)

I was a weird kid, and I guess I still can be
Still trying to decide if this is a beginning or an ending
Full circle, my story always takes me back to Quincy

Memories like flag Day or Fourth of july parades by the park
Or the Fireworks at beechwood knoll that filled my eyes up with stars
Or smokers I would pass masquerading as performers outside the bars

I remember singing in the kids choir at Wolly Church
Except for that one time i Disagreed with the theology of the verse
And my first line in a play, Retreat!, was yelled but never really rehearsed

Summertime filled with wandering up and down the block
Or wintertime b-ball, having fun, though I knew I would never rock
Trick-or-treating, run out the door, “coat over costume or we’ll make you stop”

Sprint after the ice-cream truck that whines out “Green Sleeves”
Walk by Sailor’s Home Pond on the way to the beach, we’d
Go deep in the marsh till we lost the city scene

And I still dream of the same road and the same path to take
To run away from a place that never held too much heartache
So sometimes I call it my new old home just to alleviate the heartbreak

‘Cause now I’m making choices to keep going the same old way
Twists and turns have brought me to a not unexpected day
When home would be a question or a far off place to stay

But the future tends to look brighter when it’s on the edge of a moment
Too busy living life to ever realize that you can’t hold it
Back, but simply take a second and just own it.

*(Oil and Water)

Far away, so far that I don’t know how to see you
Just on the other side
Stars parade, such insufficiencies in the treasures
That smoke out the sky
And you can have it all
Just to watch it fall
But you can have it all

The gold in your footsteps
Is dirtying the waterline
Your tower casts a shadow
Over this child’s mind

Machine man, your head is made of nuclear lies
And I am your progeny
Say that again, those words you spoke when you were more fashionably dressed
And I was a prodigy
Those days we had it all
Oh, how we watched it fall
These days we feel so small

The gold in your eyelids
Is sparking up a controversy
And flecks of broken promises
Are all the things you can’t see
The gold in your footsteps
Is dirtying the waterline
Your tower casts a shadow
Over every child’s mind, and we’re blinded
And we’re blinded, and we’re blinded
And we’re blinded

Touch the face of the moon
The old man there is crying for the tide that won’t come home
Reach the end of days too soon
Now his face is turned to flesh and blood and bones

The gold in your cereal
Is carving out a new bowl
The oil and the water
Will kill your sons and daughters

The gold in your footsteps
Is dirtying the waterline
Your tower casts a shadow
Over every child’s mind, and we’re blinded
And we’re blinded, and we’re blinded
And we’re blind.

Just forget about what I said about the machine
It is your friend
Just forget about what I said about the corporation
It is, after all, a worthy occupation
Just forget about what I said about the politicians
They really do care solely about the people
Just forget about what I said about the revolution
It was immature and I apologize

But if you do anything at all, you may want to ignore everything I said before
Yeah, if you do anything at all, ignore my words and see what's rarely heard
'Cause if a prophet doesn't live as if it's the end of the world
Why are we supposed to care about his record sales?

A Better Man (lyrics)

Just trying to find my way in the dark

Just trying to mend this broken heart

Just trying to reach out to where you are

Just trying trying to bring together what’s been ripped to shreds

Caught like the traps I’ve set for myself in my head

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

‘Cause that’s not who I am

Just trying to leave behind a past that won’t let go

Just trying to not worry about all the things that I still don’t know

Just trying to keep this wreck of a sail-boat afloat

Just trying to keep you at arms length while I’m holding you tight

‘Cause you seem to be all that can make me still feel alright

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

Don’t have me so easily confused with a better man

‘Cause that’s not who I am

But you make me want to be

You make me want to be

You make me want to be

So much better than I am

But you make me want to be

You make me want to be

You make me want to be

So much better than I am

Just trying to balance out who I was and who I want to be

Just trying to convince myself that I still want to breathe

Just trying to grasp a hand in the dark and maybe feel something

And you tell me in the quiet that perfect love casts out all fear

And in your eyes I catch a glimpse of open arms

that span the universe yet still reach down and hold me here

The Root of It (Post-Modern Parenting)

Call it what you want, you can call it tough love

But if this is love, then from this day forth I’ve had enough

Now you’re telling me that this is all about what I did

While you were the one who was straight up lyin’ to your kid

So why exactly am I the one in trouble

When all I did was listen to what you said then at most start to mumble

“Well, actually...” so why are you smackin’ me

Talkin’ ‘bout how I have no right to be

Explaining to my cousin what’s going on in reality

See, just ‘cause I’m eight and just ‘cause she’s six

Doesn’t mean that either one of us can’t handle this

You say there’s no way that we’re ready for the truth

And your eyes imply you have a strong belief in the ignorance of youth

And perhaps it’s because you have our own best interests at heart

Or maybe your parents did the same to you and that’s how it got its start

But if you’re gonna spout proverbs right and left about honesty

Then I think we need to find a less, say, hypocritical policy

Because let me tell you, it’s these kinda harsh facts

That will grow inside young minds and can never be taken back

So, sure, where you’re coming from is very easy to see

But if we don’t find out from you then we’ll just find out from society

So tell us please, as we’re standing here in the lobby

After watching a film where we think we saw a dog beat

Does messed up junk still happen in the world

Or is everything utopian for us little boys and girls

You stutter for a second and then you raise up a hand

Almost like you’re asking a question, only to hit mine down again

And I suppose as I grow old someday maybe I’ll understand

But right now, I’m on a riot, and not even those I trust will meet my demands

Is there good and is there evil? Now we’re digging at the root of it

Just because we are so young, please don’t deny us now the truth of it