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1. |
Thread the Line
03:31
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THREAD THE LINE
Bow down to the limelight
A footrest while they lean
Swim laps around the bends
Choose your own disease
Mistakes come with grains of salt
Nice to taste when not at fault
It covers up and then dissolves.
Wait! Can't settle down!
Just feeling half as well as I fell out of sight
Just in time to avoid land mines when limbs are loose
If I'd lost my mind and my shine
I'd be in line to follow you
Until I thread the line
Hush up, suck it up, let them take us
Deep enough till we choke on intestines
Spread legs & plagiarize
Fed up, filled the gut with a sickness
It’s cold enough so I’ll freeze up my symptoms
They melt off with grains of salt
So ante up, you bet your life on luck
Wait! Can’t settle down!
Just feeling half as well as I felt
You know they say your haste makes waste
Am I bound to pass you or be bound by you?
Out of sight just in time
Avoid headlines, and they will you
I know who’s skin I’m under, a needle will fondle you
And cut off your circulation.
When I thread the line
When I thread the line
Define hook line and sinker when you come to
Your condition is doubtful
I thread the line between words and the things you do
It’s the last time you wink to your friends.
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2. |
Subject Predicate
02:53
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SUBJECT PREDICATE
Driving by your unlit house again
See some bodies when I’m peeking in
A little movement mixed with hesitance
He’s got his hands on you
Lean back in shadows so I can’t be seen
Nervous shakes are fear and hate in me
Against my nature, but very capably violent in defeat
Take over, I’m falling fast
Nose diving crash (Maybe for the best)
Disorder, smeared aftermath
Goodbye. Subtract.
Getting closer, so I start to shake
Feeling like the final choice is made
Brought some chalk so I can mark their place
Or white out their face
The lights are out, so now I’m going in
I’ll read a eulogy I wrote for them
You know I’m only yelling to get through to you
It’s over, I warned you I’d be stopping by (So you’d comply)
He’s cowered and she’s begging to buy some more time
You know they’ll say you weren’t at fault when you’re found (Or something more profound)
You know where they need to look for you now…the ground!
I’ll save your pieces, at least the pieces I recover
(It’s not right tonight, it’s light)
I can finally take a life to lead another
(I’ll find - the sign - in time)
You make me out like a man in the middle
Man who is mental is a man with a mind
You make me out like a man in the middle
A man who is mental is a man with a mind
You make me out like a man in the middle
And man, I hate the middle!
The moral: some choices cannot be stricken or erased from record
If you want it that way, you should have tried to escape
I would have given space for you to live.
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3. |
The Gathering
04:02
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THE GATHERING
Shovel, come bury me
Bind my hands & hold my feet
Nobody’s coming, no one will dig me out
Put the fear of blood in every pulse & ounce
(I can’t believe I just said that)
My resolve, keep me free
I’ll try my luck, or let luck try me
They think that they are winning by going in headfirst
A head start for the hearse
Nobody’s coming, keep swinging ropes unwound (Where dangling feet are found)
If they can build you up, then they can tear you down (Like some wrecking ball, man. Set her down!)
A medal for each heart you bereave (Nice try!)
Absolved, rest assured the pardon you seek is nothing when something is brittle
And soon crumbling (held tight!)
Hands on a heart flat lining
Why solve what’s proved in a battle
We’ll have your head on a mantel
The fittest depends on survival
The rich get out quick when they’re liable
A point of significance rests on a group of whims
Give me a hand for a handle
I’ll give it back when I’m stable
Write it on your arm with ink that doesn’t bleed
Hope it doesn’t wash off before it serves its need
Gotta add some sand to stall the hourglass
Confetti as serrated blades and loose skin for a map
Be brave while your wound stings, clean first to scab
Nothing's ever smooth, so it’s worth another stab
Cutting in then held out by arthroscopy clamps
Pros and cons tallied equally.
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4. |
Secret No.8
03:46
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SECRET NO.8
Persistent and flaunting, I’m fully aware
The calling is haunting, but always fair
Now heading upstairs, don’t blow your cover, heading upstairs alone
Be careful, the bullet didn’t miss by much at all
Specific and bashful, or nonchalant with despair
More flippant than agile
A secret we’ll share
The finger was pointed at you
The gun became the guest
The finger gripped your life
The gun did the rest
You’re torn between affliction and the cure
You’re torn between the price and the relevance
You’d sworn that you’d be proper, but it all depends
Before the storm you have to head to shore
(We had a lot in common, neither ‘one’ would stop ‘one’)
Before the storm you’ll be forewarned (you will conform) or learn why storms are formed
Should’ve felt the body in another way
Should’ve been familiar with the same mistake
What’s your forte
Sorry, but it’s gone in vain
Couldn’t feel my body in that mental state
A lot less to do but I have much more to say
(Had to feel her breathing to prove I was awake)
(Should’ve guessed I’d cave in under heavy weight)
Blood stained caution tape
Sudden, but it couldn’t wait
A mark of passion is risky when missed
Don’t judge the accuracy by the hits
Speak in secret or in foreign tongues
Most chances taken are not worth their rush
Marks of passion,
Been cursed to have them.
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5. |
Ventolin
04:22
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VENTOLIN
Slip or fade or step away from the crowd
Had enough of grind & trials for now
Wanna fight pound for pound
The sound of the angels pierce the sky
You’ll never hear it if you don’t listen now
Trumpet the warning of selfish life
Well I can hear you so you don’t have to shout
I’m dragging my feet cause I want to fly
(I’d be more sensible if only not so miserable)
It’s not gonna matter cause I’m afraid of heights
(And I’d be pardoned if I were indispensable)
The only moments I’ve ever felt were mine
Are the ones that I would give up before I’d try
Let’s finalize the sentimental ties
Then sterilize the things you’ve memorized
(How do you expect to breathe it all in if you can’t find your Proventil or Ventolin)
(It’s gonna get you in the end, so will it get you runnin’?)
You fake it, I know it, you didn’t have to show it
You hate it, I’ve noticed, surprised how well you hold it
I hate it, they know it, I’m not afraid to show it
I’d make it, then blow it, I’ve tried to tell you
I’m gonna waste some time
(Oh, I’m stuck on principle)
To find out if it is really mine
(Otherwise invincible)
If you uncover your face you’ll find
(Blow my wish on fireflies)
I’m holding back to show I’m really trying
Good try, bad time
It’s not about who’s allowed or who’s declined
The wall is in place to find out who wants inside
(How do you expect to bear the load if you only try to carry it on your own)
(Do you feel weak or incapable to have to ask for help)
You didn’t realize that you have to speak up
Did you expect to get another shot?
It’s not a given, are you giving enough to keep them all honest?
It just feels good, but that doesn’t make it right
Understanding in the middle of the night
Just because the truth is clear, doesn’t mean it will apply
What’s convenient will be sure to rule out any advice
I’m back before you knew I was coming
The tension could be cut with a knife
You’d flinch if you weren’t protected by others
Alas, I’m forced to carry my promise
Grasp the rod with my other hand
Risk it all for the promise
And hope it all works out
It’s the same old story you try to tell us
It doesn’t matter the ending fails us
The same old story of better times
I doubt they were, but you fantasize
The same old story, it’s the same old story
It just feels good, but it can’t be what you want anyway.
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6. |
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WOLVES IN WOLVES CLOTHING
Will you forgive me?
I couldn’t detect their phony laughs
I’m a sucker for progress,
So I can be fooled by lying acts and changing facts
I’m asking the questions for the answers that you lack
I’ve said all my harsh words now, but I won’t take them back
We carry the keys but still the locks remain intact
And we can’t go this alone, but still we go on…
Our own separate paths
Come to an impasse
You’ll have to find one that will trust you when you’re leading it
Why ride a dead horse when you find more pleasure beating it
(I’m not surprised)
You suck the funds from her account instead of feeding it
You’d be more careful if you weren’t the one who’s bleeding it
We’re not for sale; you’ll have to look for someone else
Poor communication is how you explain your simple minds
Always speak for the moment, but remember nothing you imply
Can you be this insulting and are you just simply compromised?
To bite off your hands can be worth more than anything that you justly provide
(The weight on my mind will clear up in time as long as I comply)
You talk with the sly lisp of the serpent on Eve’s back
We’re sifting through pieces that your puzzle proudly lacks (How does it come to that?)
I’m blaming myself for steps I should have taken back (How does it come to that?)
We need more than a loan
We need to be left alone
Why can’t I relax?
Frame my broken back
How does it come to the brink of what we’re heading for?
If you’d look up from your desk you’d see there’s something more
(You can’t represent what isn’t meant)
How does it come to the point of you declaring war?
We did our part and we’ve given you even more
(It’s not an accident if you mean it)
The sound of confession is slight hesitation when questioned between the lines
Pretension is haunting when knowing what it defines
Your cowardice savvy is mostly comedy until it is realized
That it’s you who is misrepresenting all of our lives
Oh we hate the puzzle, gotta play anyway
Oh we hate the picture, gotta look anyway
Oh we hate the game, we gotta play anyway
Or we gotta find a new way
Please cut off my hands
So I can’t sign more contracts
And we despise our new home
When wolves are feeding don’t look away
We keep on calling, but why won’t anyone come?
Everyone is a wolf of their own
Grow fangs or cry alone
Why create for them take?
You’ve got a lot of things in common with fish that feed at the bottom
You shred your words like a blender, you say too many to remember
It’s hard to find someone to help us without being paid (Oh, we try anyway)
What we make they will waste
We realize we consummate or complicate something to show for your ego
Swift undertow
Swim with the flow
Our relationships nothing like it was defined when we signed, when we signed
Please let us go.
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7. |
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BAD HABITS MAKE NEW FRIENDS (BLOOD SON)
Shot glass, throw your head back
Novice, never should have asked
Let’s get started now
Shot glass, going down the hatch
After this, never get it back
Eyeglass, gather all the facts
Loath who you will depend on
No one’s got your money, never made the money, always waste the money, so you think it’s funny, never had the money, lean on everybody, always waste the money, lean on everybody
Let’s get started, no time to waste
Sharp glass, free pass, over the edge, you’ve been on the ledge
Motor skills, bottled to death, lead me now to death
Today, bad habits make new friends
We’ll toast, and drink to an ending
No one’s got your money, never made the money, always waste their money, so you think it’s funny, always waste the money, lean on everybody
No one’s got your money, never made the money, always waste their money, lean on everybody, so you think it’s funny, lean on everybody
Let’s get started, no time to waste
You’ve gotta give me some space
I know what I’m doing
I’m in control of the situation
Nothing will quench a thirst
If discipline hasn’t first
After invited in, the spell never fully rescinds
The bottle becomes the urn
Swallow down those you burn
You know, you’re defined by things you try when you’re desperate
What a reversal of the way we once knew
I’ll count on fingers all the chances we blew
I’m on my toes and got more counting to do
(Now! I’ll navigate! Best! To walk away!)
We’ll have to start all over
We’re not wiser, we’re older
Let’s get physical
Let’s get married first, or let’s just call it off
Let’s get physical
There’s no need to rush, can’t get what you want
Let’s get physical, nobody has to know, or let’s just call it off
(I’m still trying, I’m not letting go)
Exposed, vengeful, though you show it politely
Thin shell, impressionable, follow blindly
Puncture, line up the holes, feed the wires through gently
Clip ends, tie closed, now you’ve got me sewn
Sewn my soul to your soul
Let’s get physical, let’s get married first, if that’s what you want
(Now here it is, you wanted it)
Let’s get physical, not maniacal, that’s not practical
Too late to save yourself, look out for someone else
(Now here it is, you wanted it, breathing down my neck)
No one now
Let’s get physical, why do you always persist
No one now
That’s just pitiful, you know it is
No one I need alone
Got a lot of things to do
And not a lot that you can choose
Blood son
You’ve got a lot of things to prove
I’m only asking one from you
Blood son
Bleed the cipher now
Blood son.
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8. |
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THE ANNEX(ATION OF ISLAM)
Channeling a frequency you can’t explain if you tried
You’ve witnessed, but can’t describe
We stand divided
Collecting all the noise we make, a fraction goes into sound worth having around
And we hide behind it
Wanna spit, say or write the words that fit
When the sentence gets caught then they sentence it to the wandering mind
(Newsstand provided) We stand divided
This problem’s bigger everyday
With candles and vigils you feel like you chase it away
Light them, touché
To pass down the line that has formed for a chance to be seen on the news of the day
Oh no, you dare call it occupation, and leave us to fight on both sides of the line
Ergo, forestall the operation and blame our efforts for the loss of life
We stand divided
You roam the wrong side of the religious seas
You cater to the people you will never please
The bolder get martyred
Before they get smarter
You say that you can read me like the back of your Koran
Your arrogance is greater than I can contend
The fight (the fight) will end (we’ll win) tonight (tonight)
If we stand united
This problem’s bigger everyday
With candles and vigils you feel like you chase it away
Well, light up, touché
And pass the pain
When the right words escape you just find something easy to say
It’s a slight demeaning and bit romantic
(Hey, it gets violent)
It’s a fight for meaning in a state of panic
(We’re all just fading away)
One eye on your culture, one more on its status
(We fight the feeling we’re in a war)
Unitedly divided
With the countless divisions it’s hard just to keep them all straight
Withhold information no one is informed anyway
With the countless divisions and moral disorder
We put out one fire to light up another
With the countless divisions
When it all just gets in the way
We all just sit down
And the time is ours, Oh we waste
We all just sit around
When the end is seconds away
We’ll all just sit down
We all just sit down
It’s pitiful.
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9. |
Help Is On the Way
05:34
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HELP IS ON THE WAY
Don’t stop there
Step back and pull the alarm
You will notice the anger
When it grabs your arm
If my life was worth the taking
I might have tried
Still, I’ve left too many markings
For me too hide
Someone’s always coming after me
The feel of danger before it’s seen
If you’re different, just tell me now before we’re alone
Torn up dresses and some skinned up knees
My life lessons don’t compare to these
Lie down, Bite down.
I watch the bandage soak the blood within
I’ll heal, but never quite enough to blend in
Remind me of a time we’re not made to suffer, made to grieve
Or tie me up and pretend it’s love, I’ll recover, just don’t leave
I’ve left there feeling more ashamed than this
But I won’t let him put his hands on me again, she said
Drug across the asphalt to try to break her vow
Hair is braided chain links with a foot against her brow
I’m to blame, but it’s her fault, I’m sure he planned it out
Help is on the way again, help is on the way now
Her arms are bare and cold, and the recover long
She’ll warrant resuscitating when she’d rather be gone
She’s gone hysterical in the wake of harm
She’ll rock backward and forward after the music is gone.
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10. |
Debutante Stomp
04:41
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DEBUTANTE STOMP
Got a sudden new urge to sneeze or maybe just to laugh
Try to satisfy a cleansing I need before I act
Already filled with anger, need something to counteract
I’ll be here to perform all week, if I’m the joke you’re getting at
Shaking hands with the scum, a brazen jambalaya
Rubbing shoulders in guise, and build enchanting alibis
Greasy lipped debonair
Try to cheat your way by
Opportunity flypaper
When you’re stuck you’ll know why
I know I said it, I know I said it
I can’t believe it, I know I said it, I did
I know I said it, I know I said it
I can’t believe it, I can’t believe I said it
Who’s got the qualification I need time to gather mine
Who’s got the qualification, let’s use them to get things right
You’ll be sorry and so will I
Who drives the public opinion, maybe they can shed some light
We found another place we can’t define
Who’s got the qualification you mean well and so do I
Who drives the qualification, let’s stack yours against all mine
I don’t understand, when it will apply
Who drives the public opinion, let’s choose them to smother tonight
Gotta get another way
Gotta, gotta get it another way
Gotta get another way
Gotta, gotta get, get another way
Gotta get it, and then get away
I’ve been stunted from growth I need by searching without grace
Haste is waste and it comes in clean, but leaves in dirty ways ahhh
Haunted by blind ambition, so I’ll never see its prize
Can’t be open to something pure if look through hazy eyes
I gave up chase for the crown because I knew it came with a price
Forgot the people who got me here, ole, debutant stomp, debutant taunt stomp
Greasy lipped debonair, beware
Try to claim a new style, it’s wild, debutante stomp, debutante taunt stomp
Caught me coming of age
In the time of my life
Piling up my regrets
To flush them down with advice
Caught up in the charade
Tilt your chin to the light
Sticky fingers run through your hair
Falling down by your side
This is another message, this is another song
This is the same old message, within another song
This is the same old message, within the same old song
We’ll give you another chorus, why not just sing along
This is a complication, demanding sacrifice
We’ll have some conversation, with hope to satisfy
This is another message, this is another song
We hope you’ll keep the message
We’ve got another message coming, no data found
I’ve found the more I try to listen, this is a complicated sound.
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11. |
Secret No.9
04:14
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Hey girl
Would you stop calling
Or at least sobbing.
Hey girl
I wish I had stopped it
It still hasn't stopped yet.
For a girl
I'll never forget it
Forever embedded.
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12. |
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START DICTATION/END TRANSMISSION
Start dictation, I’ll leave something behind
Poised bloodletting struck a nerve from the ink
Dried up tissue like the cracked riverbed dammed from sea
No one can save me from myself
Or cut off the flow as I bleed
I’ve found all the scars that I’ve looked for
To help you feel sorry for me
I can’t wait for this day to end
Flick the lights and end transmission
Batteries melting alms and flint
A chemical-caused dissolution
A question of choice or disease
The dissenters will gather and clamor
To inspire excuses for greed
I can’t wait for this day to end
Flick the lights and end transmission
After Braille I will leave something to find
And when I die
Choir will sing
Hallelujah
No one is safe from disaster
And no one is safe from the pain
Without knowing them both is enamored false sense of security
I’ll do what you do
Try to make it through
By fooling myself I’m victim to all they do
No one’s saving you while they’re chaining your feet
Just don’t complain, no point anyway
Without all those chains you’d still drag your feet
The same old songs the DJ plays
I know all the words before they finish each phrase
But they’ll trick you with gauze over wounds that they tame
And hide for you art so competition is null & plain
It’s the same old songs, with the same old names
And it’s nobody’s fault, or so (cronyism) claims
But the same old songs that the DJs play
Will offer me nothing like the songs they played yesterday
The same old songs that the DJs play
I’ve decided I will not fit the format they’ve made for me.
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