Shout Fire

Midnight, all alone
Lies a man who believes what he hears
Waits by the phone
Wishing for morning light to appear

‘Cause something everybody’s talking about
Has left him shouldered with fear, crippled with doubt

Shout fire in a crowded room
Shout fire, say the danger’s coming soon
Shout fire ‘til the smoke appears
Shout fire, just to wake up all your fears
The sky is falling everyday
Shout fire just to keep you afraid

Eyes wide every night
Televisions in every home
With sharp suit and ties
Telling you to believe what you’re shown

And they will shake your hand and sell you guarantees
While manufacturing all your anxiety

Cross yourself and close your eyes
The end will come as advertised
Packaged and commercialized
Just wake me when it’s through

 

The Good Life

Are you on top?
Do you feel the world at your feet?
Or, do you feel so incomplete
So dissatisfied?

Fortunate soul
Born at the top of the chain
With everything looking your way
How do you survive?

All of us living the good life
All of us looking for more
Than we could ever need
Will surely go on
Searching for love that we’ll never find
Fooling our hearts, changing our minds
All of us living the good life

Are you inspired?
Or, are you just feeling outdone
Like your life’s a competition
That you’ll never lose?

A thorn in your side
A restless heart you can’t outgrow
Not ready to take on the role
That was written for you

 

Shelter In Place

Lock up the doors
Draw the shades to the floor
Call for a shelter in place

Sound the alarm
Turn the radio on
Sealed in a dark and familiar space

A warning
A chemical emergency

I can’t take it anymore
I can’t open up my eyes
I can’t wash my hands and hope that it would change
I am starving in your stare
Suffocating in your smile
We are locked inside a chemical embrace
Shelter in place

Detoxify
Clear the air, clear your mind
Sweep every nightmare under your bed

We’re choking
Crawling on our hands and knees
Now the glass is broken
And you turn your eyes to me

Hypnotized
Living for the things that keep us terrified
Bound together, burning through the days of our lives
Like children left alone at night
Too frightened to scream
Waking from a terrible dream

I can’t take it anymore
I can’t open up my eyes
I can’t wash my hands and hope that it would change
I am starving in your stare
Suffocating in your smile
We are locked inside a chemical embrace
Shelter in place
Shelter in place

Broken People

Broken people in a row
Accidents on exhibition
Kept in boxes head to toe
Shattered bones for all the world to see

Some were cracked when they were born
Some were crushed along the way
Gathered here just to perform
For your pleasure

Step right up and don’t be shy
Extraordinary freaks of nature
Better them than you and I
Trading their lives
To wake up whole again

Like toys they’re thrown into a drawer
Discarded pieces from a game
That no one plays with anymore
And, soon forgotten

Broken people in a row
We are all stars in the making
Laid in boxes head to toe
Shattered bones for all the world to see

Dead Technology

Lines on your face
Behind your reading glasses
Feeling replaced
A dead technology

A lesson from the past
Once talked about and celebrated
But, never built to last
And what was new is soon out-dated

We are last year’s generation
We are labeled obsolete
Shut down and pulled from circulation
How does it feel to be
A dead technology?

Marginalized
Passed on for new direction
Cutting all ties
With what has come before

Out-smarted by the young
Their perfect smiles, bright tomorrows
Just look what we’ve become
Begging for the time we borrow

I don’t want to be a souvenir
A record no one ever wants to hear
Spun around until it’s thrown away
A punchline for another day

Truth Be Told

Truth be told
I don’t like my reflection
Truth be told
I don’t like what I see

The truth is that I don’t know what I’ve been missing
The truth is that I never want what I need
We ask for the truth, but we take what we’re given
So here’s my decision
Truth be told

Truth be told
I’m a pale imitation
Truth be told
I’m a facsimile

The truth is that I just can’t make a connection
The truth is that I’m somewhere I don’t belong
We ask for the truth, but won’t take direction
For our loaded questions
Truth be told

Don’t want to hear myself talk
I hate the sound of my voice
I wouldn’t be here with you
But I don’t have a choice

Like an arrogant fool
Who’s lost confidence
Still I’m lying here, talking here without defense

Truth be told

The truth is that I sound like a broken record
The truth is that I’m spinning out of control
We look for the truth, but live for the pleasure
And so on, forever
Truth be told