1. Windspitting Punk (Koski-Goddard-Bonnel-Huber)
Give me just a second
to grasp your two-bit theories
as that's more than enough time I need
to see through their innate queries
you're telling me to shape up or ship out
but I’d never shape myself to something so offending
as you
and your kind
One day you sweetly sigh and say to yourself
"Music's my religion and I'm Born again"
Next week your muse has got some corporate cash
and all of a sudden the tunes are crap
keep your politics to yourself,
kid to me you're just spitting wind
a Windspitting punk with high-brow views
a p.c. fool who's saying nothing new
again
and again
what about the kids, piss-poor people
and the broke or the sluts
with overflowing pockets?
or the cursed fucks, pointin' pistols at the pope.
are they just martyrs fallen from your graces.
2. No Time To Play (Koski)
They've laid to rest morality,
blessed themselves with immortality
gazed into the eyes of innocents
as the blade was pulled out merrily
I’d beg and plead if it made sense to me,
if I thought it'd make a difference
to quit is to lose, so I suppose
I’m conceding defeat from weariness
They say
"No time play, you cannot stay,
appreciate the mess I’ve made"
Then they turn their backs and walk away
I've seen young bystanders
get shown the view from their watchtowers
and with their stealth and stench
transform these tykes
into another great lot of admirers
I don't blame traders
ah, how ignorance is bliss
it's so fucking easy to be bought and sold
when you're a young and stupid kid
3. Nowhere Fast (Koski)
I have crossed this road before
for many years I’m sure
don't recognize the faces though
that pass me by
I’ve been off and on my way again
passed marsh road atherton
black mountain way and bored
stale houses on the yellowed plains
I'm going off again and
for no good reason
year by year I’ve achieved some type of feeling that
suggests I’ve traveled miles that lead to nowhere fast
I've seen the lot of them
from queens to journeyman
bigots and confidantes
I’ve spoken to and laughed with
destructive catalysts
professionals and loyalists
punk rock pop nihilists
have grown up amongst suburban architects
who can say that it was all deceiving
or that anybody was mislead?
I’m not the one to be judging
I may not even be who I think I am
The asphalt is my burning bed
has left me invalid
puts me to sleep at night
in the arms of some strange no mans land
I’ll be back northbound and west
I need the fucking rest
but in the meantime
these broken roads and homes will ring in my head
4. Keep Running (Koski)
"hello again," you say to the folks at the E.D.D.
you've been dire and disgusted and come in most everyday
to keep yourself alive you have insults and forever curse
the almighty fuckin talisman that lives in the dirty church
and you keep running
from yourself
from everyone
from each new day
you never felt true pleasure or felt ill from real pain
but you complain so consistently as if you've been betrayed
and nothing's ever met
the guidelines that you set for each new day
and there's always someone standing nonchalantly in your way
to all the optimistic players you heave a sigh
those loyalists keep counting on everything being worthwhile but you
don't catch the light of day
and you've been accused of carrying on this way
see, you don't believe in preaching or praise
you just want to barely make it through each time consuming day
5. Sustain (Koski)
I can't believe the thing you say to me are so boring
I can't believe anything you do to me is done sober
I can't obtain a sense of patience,
and I can't ordain you as my patient,
but you chew away at all my nerves like I’m your servant
I can't sustain it
I sit alone with the others and I blame you
talk of your mother and the senseless way she must have raised you
I can't let go of this insanity
can't blow you off like a dead leaf on a tree
you stick around, I hope you get yours soon, you deserve it
I can't sustain it
6. One in All (koski)
Mr. product man
strolling by with a kind of head-held-high hypocrisy
the envy of so many walks of life but not a type like me
periodically searching through the perfect library
a man I am of an unusual sort of aimlessness
but nevertheless bent on the glory of my lifelessness
in the pursuit of nothing short of one in all
he shines his light on me
fluorescent minds are quick to bite the bait but there is time for me
the null and void is a dazzled riddle of what may or may not be
day by day counting the lines in my abridged diary
a man I am, a wary sort of nihilist
hence bent on the glory of my lifelessness
in the pursuit of nothing short of one in all
some have been good to me
been by my side through with the thick and thin and have supported me
other have scolded me with the scorched bits of their apathy
but I’ve lived to tell this tale of my instinctual vengefulness
a man I am that won't bow down to humanists
or the naiveté therein that seems to persist
in the pursuit of nothing short of one in all
7. Derailer (bonnel wickersham)
I’m flying off the handle again
I tried to keep in touch but my grip has loosened
the saints need a second look
I’m at the boreal banquet keeping warm boozin’'
derailed- I need help
god save the queen I fucked up the ant trail
derailed- I’ve been nailed
keep falling off the cross the crucifixion failed
I’m stepping all over my friends
I tried to dodge the bullet, but I’m a needy person
I need to get back on track
the pub's stoop pillpusher gave me pills to stop pushin'
derailed- I need ale
to numb the pain and relax in hell
derailed- I wanna kill
at the embarcadero on the third rail
derailer died for our sins, or was it just another drinking binge
I’m in a different kind of tension
not to be discussed by professional theory
it's been going on for quite some time
derailer gets by there's no need to worry
8. The Next in Line (huber)
born on the southside, you live alone
four walls and a roof but's always cold
look out the window and there is nothing to see
but, a riot torn city and the death of your country
and your chilled to the bone
with no possessions to call your own
yet you control your rage and you resist the crime
because your the next in line
out the back door and to corner store all
you want is a drink and nothing more
sit on the stoop and let the liquor soothe your pcide before you go inside
you in cut in front
and now your the next in line
you never thought you'd lead a life of crime
freedom's the only thing you need
but the truth is something few understand and an unwelcome reality
now it's dark and black and sad and gone
you express and repress the thing gone wrong
and you want to be the man who ran away
and you wish you could back to yesterday
now he's in her room and he's about to lie
so you pull the gun and squeeze the trigger and let the bullets fly...
9. Sign It Away (koski)
the day grows old and gray with rain skies
and the troubles keeping you are likewise
go to bed after television
as outside the moon is turning crimson
all alone like a Sunday
"tomorrow's no different" as you say
sleep with a drink in your hand
stick your head in the sand
and sign it all away
the tomb where the deadmen sleep reminds you
that your time's too short to grow remorseful
you prick up your ears and find it disconcerting
to hear the din of the boys in the chapel praying
you've got a burden that's sandbagging you but you can't quite let it out
it's like a poison like a sickness that's got you cryin' out
10. Time Tells Time (koski, huber)
look through these empty eyes and past the desolation
in them is realized the drama of frustration
taken paths worn down with life,
sanctified with tension
oh, the glory of a working day is glory only to the bossman
time will tell if time
is standing by my side
and life will blink its eyes
as I work myself blind
we hide ourselves in a blur of lust, liquor and nostalgia
tramp down the gravel on our streets
like passive strikers
take a pint of sins to wash away what you should be guilty conscience
but guilt is somewhere far and away to shrug the system is how we like it
11. Almost Brave (koski)
good intentions shattered by conventions
traditionalized and bland with boredom searched over and feared of
hatred is the cursed habit of the hardest working man
I’ll take a drink to this and a drink to that
and a good smoke to clear my head
I’m not a criminal
I’m at times quite honest
I’m not some scrawny knave
I’d say I’m almost brave
punching in is punching out of courage
doing what you're told and holding back your dreams for an awful, dead-end burden
denial is the loyal vice of the hardest working man
I’ll fight 'em down to bits and fuck their dirty tricks and I’ll always finish last
12. Fifteenth & T (huber)
drinkin' beers in the pouring rain
dupont circle summer again
jack in' wheels just for fun I was only 13
watch your step, but it's always the same
your always down and always going a away
learned a lot about the things you love to this day
I never want to walk alone
and I never want to see the sun come up
and it's all because of you
I never want to feel the pain
I’m never gonna feel the same again
and it's all for the memory of you
black suit yeah the music is life
wait! before you been out the rest of the night
Max revenge was the name we laughed out in the school yard
shot eyes yeah my moms always cryin'
she says "your friend is dyin"
what about the plans, we made for the next day
I know you may be right
I know it's not my life
I know it's not the right thing to do
I didn't take the call
I want and let my best friend fall
and I hope it was the right thing to do
13. London Drunk (koski)
I’m burning in this pit I dug myself an hour ago
and up around the corner lies that bastard pub's front door
and in my many changin moods and on similar days
I’ve cursed and spat up mercilessly at the foot of her fuckin' grace
chaos comes inevitably like a monarch dressed in rags
grinning like a maniac and splashing cider in my face
I’m going back to San Francisco to be finally at ease
as I’ve reached the heralded last rung
and become a part-time London drunk
the Bristol boys are lunatics but madness has its virtue
they all smash their pints and feign legless fights
because it's what they're fucking used to
one autumn night in Birmingham after the band had played
we fled into that filthy van and got out of that fucking place
by half a mile or half a minute I was a sunken, bloated slag
I puked up on the floorboards, my fucking jacket and pant leg
14. The Black Pint (bonnel)
I’ve been dishelved by this drink, by the pint's sight and stink
never enough times to stop and make me think
I’ve wrapped around some fingers, riddles rich in ringworm
I’m swollen still, poisoned by the sting
the black pint is my drink
you see my link
I steal and you sink
you spill and I drink
she's broken saintly vows,
she's viable and loud
auspiciously, she kicks me when I’m down
I’ll never leave her side, because of my pissiness or pride
oh, how I’m shady, in the shadow of my bride
the black pint is my dream
from orange, white and green
with nightmares of poteen.
spittin’ up in the sink
shove it up your ass
in your ear my dear
it's the best thing that's happened to me
in 28 fucking years
so I’ll thank my lucky starts
that there's a bad moon to rise
it's the best god has to offer,
to hang in our skies
and when your snubbed then loved
and it's like you're fondling the dove
you better suck on something scared, because you'll never see above
the black pint is my drink
you see my link
I steal and you sink
you spill and I drink
15. Bigot's Barrel (bonnel, wickersham)
he was spoken to just to be put down
and he was 22 when helped off the ground
beaten black and blue when his color was brown
and shining shoes in a dirty town
(chorus)
the bigots barely outnumber my regrets
as I float around like shit in the bay
the bigot's barrel just another white melee
it's just another fucking windy day
he's free to choose but his choices are few
the rope is loose but it's tied in a noose
he prays to god in the back of the church pews
they won't pass the plate to the blacks or the Jews
(chorus)
she's feeling free until "he" gets a free feel
a reeling plea in machismo battlefield
"I’m up to my neck in the rawest of raw deals
while I’m choking on the B.C. pill"
"I know the rules
to know that they're confused and wrong.
I'd read my rights it wouldn't take too long.
I'll take an inch, no more is offered
to a pawn. I wasn't asked, I will respond!"
16. A Step To Go (Koski)
This place is empty except for the stationary
bottles of whiskey and barstools still standing
concussion headache from blissful evening
of confusion muttered speech from too much drinking
the cars are idling
near out of gas and lifeless
like the people standing persuaded by the temptress
cut up and cunning
the brute keeps going nobody caring for the chaos he's arousing
always a step to go a step to go a step to go too far
seems like the only steps taken are in the wrong direction
but we keep stepping on each other breaking each rung on the ladder
always a step to go a step to go a step to go much further
persistent rhythms clutter dispersal then come together
to discuss the times they hung up on the clothesline in bad weather
the television whines and tells us different sides
of things that we don't care about, taking up our time
the road ends short with malice
no road maps to direct us
so we come up one step short of satisfaction
always a step to go, a step to go...