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 a stool
and a crowded way of life and a black reflecting pool
and as the people bend the moral fabric dies
then country can't pretend to ignore its peoples' cries
you are the government
you are jurisprudence
you are the volition
you are jurisdiction
and I make a difference too
1000 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?
kaleidoscopic images of love on the way
brother you'd better get down on your knees and pay
1000 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 ensconced within
the murky deep
How Much Is Enough?
tell me can the hateful chain be broken
production and consumption define our hollow lives
avarice lead us across 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
is brought on by his selfish cure
When?
I've seen a lot of things in 5 years
I struggle just to hold back the tears
but every fuckin' where 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, 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!
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 manswarm atom and yet you're alone
so I give you me
I give you nothing!
so you've got a place that you can call your own
but you make a habit of carrying the stone
look around and ask someone if you're alive
you're a sidewalk cipher speaking prionic jive
so 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 you're reserve is weak
audacity complete
ask yourself again "do I deserve much from them?"
no!
Land Of Competition
see, there's a girl who's afraid of the world so
she stays at home
also, a boy who seems so lost in his joy he's all alone
the camera's on them, they're in the land of competition
southern california air feeds them
and they know they're the best 'cuz of the way they are dressed
you can bet you are not welcome in their home
hey, see there's a girl who sits and watches the world from her blue screen
also a boy who truly wants to destroy his hometown scene
they both want to travel to the land of competition
southern california will destroy them
and they won't be the best, they'll be the poseurs who dress
like the plastic idiots who they copy
tell me what do you need to make you happy? indeed, is it out of your reach?
beware of number one, see all the damage it has done, there are so few of them
you won't find too many in the land of competition
southern california doesn't breed them
if you just want the best turn to yourself for the rest
and forget about the ones who "have it all"
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 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
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
judgments not tomorrow
it's today (yes, now it's here)
but no it isn't jesus
take a look at all your peers
they're all looking down on you
inside they know what's best for you
everybody knows what's best for you
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
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, always have to suffer!
Delirium Of Disorder
life is the sieve through which my anarchy strains
resolving itself into works
chaos is the score upon which reality is written
the timeless, swirling gyroscopic horde
delirium of disorder
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
Part II (The Numbers Game)
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 yourselves for subjugation
victory through domination!
the trepidatious throngs all fear the big eye in the sky
the government observes them with their own electric eye
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!
What Can You Do?
so you waste another day getting older and gray in
the head,
and you're hearing lots of stories about 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 that twists 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-and-roll band
do you find it more rewarding to compete with morons throughout this land?
they seem to be in power so I kick back and get farther behind
and I watch them as they fuck up every good thing on this earth with their minds
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 ya hey!
hey, I don't know if the billions will survive
but I'll believe in god when one and one are five
my moniker is man and I'm rotten to the core
I'll tear down the building just to pass through the door
Part IV (The Index Fossil)
we're widespread and well fed
the earth's rotating fate is in our head
we're dominant and prominent and all our deities omnipotent
and immortality is in our mastermind
and we destroy everything we can find
and tomorrow when the human clock stops
and the world stops ticking
we'll be an index fossil buried in our own debris
we're listless, promiscuous
and life to us is either hit or miss
we're savior-faire and debonair
and things we do are done with pride and care
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 has enfolded
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)
