louder

You and me
and the devil makes three
he is laughing
or is he crying
the world is boys and girls
and the trouble they make
little girl
this is a dismal world for us
little girl
let no one rebuke you
hold my hand
we wander through the land
and burn in every bed
what is it behind your eyes
I must have it
what speaks to you
in that hushed voice
I must hear it
what drives you onward
I must know it
let the skies gather storms
let the wind grow strong
let the earth remove itself
I will roar
louder than all of them
the day
you are taken away.

hello cruel world (bad religion)

I can't stop
the way I feel
but I can penetrate your religion
with a nail
you are mine
and we are twine
when we radiate in waves together
everything is fine

hello cruel world
do you know that you're killing me
I don't mind
but I could use a little sympathy

I've been blind
as a fool can be
my dear cruel world
do you ever think about me

I can feel so alone
with you right here
and yet, I turn to you for comfort
in my despair
you are dust
and I am bone
and I will love your endless gaze of madness
until I turn to stone

hello cruel world
do you know that you're killing me
I don't mind
but I could use a little sympathy

I've been blind
as a fool can be
my dear cruel world
now I know you are my everything
please forgive me

I've been blind
as a fool can be
my dear cruel world
now I've made a mess of everything.

the day you ran away

Wish you were here
on this clear, blue day
wish you were here
but you never stay

freedom is as freedom does
and you have shown yourself
to be far above
all of this and all of that

still, I wish you were here

there was always
sunshine in your eyes
there was always
an intensity you couldn't disguise
there was always
you and I

when does this begin to make sense
this constant leaving
everyone leaves
that's the way it goes
why can't I accept
that we're all just traveling through

I will always
want you by my side
I will always keep those tender moments
until the end of my life
I will always
search for you
on those dirt roads to nowhere
those back lots and alleyways
in those hidden places
we explored together

I will always chase you
and curse the day
you ran away from me.

my sister's tiny hands (handsome family)

We came in this world together
legs wrapped round each other
my cheek against my sister's
we were born like tangled vine
we lived along the river
where the black clouds never lingered
the sunlight spread like honey in my sister's tiny hands
but while picking sour apples
in the wild, waving grasses
sister stumbled in a briar and was bitten by a snake

every creature casts a shadow
under the sun's golden finger
but when the sun
sinks past the waving grass
some shadows are dragged along

alone, I took to drinking
bottles of cheap whiskey
and staggering through the back woods
killing snakes with a sharpened stick
but still I heard her laughing
in those wild, waving grasses
still her tiny hands went splashing
at the river's sparkling shore
so I took my rusty gas can
and an old iron shovel
I set the woods to burning
and choked the river up with stones.

finite (bad religion)

*Bonus track from The Dissent of Man.*

In a quantity of light
you can search for all of your life
but it's finite
from a sudden burst of sound
the recoil may never be found
it is finite

on and on
on and on
but impervious to calculation
on and on, it's impervious to calculation
just how far it goes, nobody knows

in the peaceful warm embrace
the intention shows on your face
but its finite
from the hate that spurs us on
to the meek and gullible pawn
it is finite

on and on, on and on
it's impervious to calculation
on and on
but impervious to calculation
just how far it goes

where the lightning sparked a flash
when precisely did it pass
all delusions went away
as with all the shades of gray
now I'm left with faulty tools
and a hazy set of rules
and a brand new day

in the turbulent conscious stream
the unbearable lightness of being
it is finite
from the universal mass
constant matters coming to pass
it is finite

an and on, on and on
but impervious to calculation
on and on, its impervious to calculation
just how far it goes, nobody knows
no one knows.