1. |
The War Never Ends
03:50
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Headlines roll like thunder, scream like lightning in the night
Nuance, colors, shades of gray reduced to black and white
Hostile forces lead the chase, U.N. forces are in place
As refugees return to face devastation and disgrace
It's time for rebuilding, and reflection, and revenge
A truce has been declared
But the war it never ends
The Russian bear's now null and void, communism's bit the dust
That iron will and steel resolve has been taken out by rust
After centuries of history, the future's still in jeopardy
As megatons of atom bombs are a black market commodity
Once bitter enemies now uneasy friends
Wonders never cease
And the war it never ends
Wisdom's passed down through the ages, a road map for the soul
I guess lives are lived between the pages as things spin out of control
While there's temples, mosques, and miles of pews
For Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Jews
And all their different points of view
Some preaching peace some practice cruel
Can you really cast the first stone in defense?
There's always more room on the cross
So the war it never ends
Hatred keeps the poor in chains, it's a bottomless black pool
Hatred is a burning flame, hatred is a fuel
As the fathers sins pass to the child,
New atrocities are stamped and filed
As old debts are repaid in kind
It's an eye for an eye until we're all blind
Here's the only message that it sends
Life is cheap
So the war it never ends
The last battleground is the hearts and minds and the souls of the young
It's the last thing in this universe that can be lost or won
Kids you'll stab with forks, you'll cut with knives until you become all that you ate
If you only do one thing in life, take care what you put on your plate
Because the truth not only twists, it turns and bends
Inner peace may be in reach
But the war it never ends
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2. |
December 26th
03:18
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The stockings once hung by the chimney with care
Now missing in action in the debris here some where
It's December 26th now and I just don't care
Thank goodness Christmas is over
Once everyone's favorite time of the year
The lights and the magic, good will and good cheer
But right about now, I've had it right up to here
Thank goodness Christmas is over
For months we've been bludgeoned by ads on TV
Showing how perfect our Christmas could be
With a Lexus, some diamonds there under the tree
There'll be peace on earth and we'll be happy
The boundries of greed have somehow been blurred
The joy once in giving now vague and obscured
Expectations so high, disappointment's assured
Tank goodness Christmas is over
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3. |
Changes
03:00
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Little hands I held in mine
Not so long ago
Now turn car keys and wave goodbye
As I just watch them go
No more slamming doors
Or stomps down halls
That was just a phase
Now we're on to long distance calls
And cards on major holidays
Changes, changes
The pieces of the puzzle rearranging
Changes, changes
The only constant is, is things keep changing
Paint it fades, leaves they fall
Old cars rust away
More memories to lose or recall
In technicolor shades of gray
Faith is lost or faith is found
Abandoned or confirmed
As some times people leave
Never to return
Changes, changes
The rear view mirror's crowded, things are fading
Changes, changes
The only constant is, is things keep changing
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4. |
Trophies
02:19
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On the playgrounds, in the school yards
The lesson quickly learned
It's not good enough to simply play the game
Score is kept, we're measured by the trophies that we've earned
Forget the fun it's glory or it's shame
From the guns of fallen soldiers
To Olympic bronze and gold
As the reasons for our actions fade
It's the trophies that we hold
And so it does continue, as we race through our lives
Until we're looking back and measuring ourselves
Will we count up all the hearts we've touched or all the tears we've cried
Or the shiny things up there up on our shelves
From the guns of fallen soldiers
To Olympic bronze and gold
As the memory of our actions fade
It's the trophies that we hold
If the ribbons blue, it shows the world that we've prevailed
Any other color, the degree to which we've failed
Hit or miss, win or lose, one day the game it ends
The lights go out the clock runs out of time
As we become a memory to our loved ones and our friends
And the boxes of the junk we leave behind
In the thrift shops, at the tag sales
The local churches old
The trophies of a lifetime
Are ungloriously sold
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5. |
Oil
03:55
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On and on the engines roar
As they take our children off to war
Wave the flag and then get on your day
The very thing that made us strong
Now stands poised to tear us down
How on earth could things turn 'round this way
In the eighteenth century
The whaling ships set out to sea
To kill the beasts and strip their flesh to boil
To fuel the lamps and grease the gears
They set the course that we still steer
And that is we'll do anything for oil
On and on the engines roar
To work, the bank, to school, the store
Deafness is a minor price to pay
For power speed and luxury
And the illusion that we are still free
Something has to fuel and light the way
In the nineteenth century
There came a great discovery
That fortunes could be pumped out of the soil
Land was raped kings were made
The die was cast as plans were laid
Assuring we'd do anything for oil
From the four points of the compass
To the dark side of the moon
Somethings got to change
It better happen soon
As everything we've gained
Is displaced by what we've lost
And the price we've paid
And everything it's cost
On and on the engines roar
On and on and more and more
It's not carved in stone but still we all obey
The powerful are subsidized by our leaders
With our children's lives
Money is the truth the light the way
In the last two centuries
We've made a lot of enemies
As the good we've done is replaced by what we've spoiled
From the smoke up in the atmosphere
To the plastic shit that's everywhere
From dead fish and birds on tar stained shores
To our soldiers limping home from war
To love and live their lives and then
They're sent back to do it all again
That's the legacy of anything for oil
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6. |
Tonight I'm Going To Cry
03:50
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I see it in your eyes
There's no use pretending
Our story is now over
There will be no happy ending
There was a time and place
We knew loves wild embrace
Though I've been set adrift
I'm putting on my bravest face
But tonight when I get home
I'm alone and out of sight
No family or friends
To ask if I'm all right
I'll turn off the phone
So I won't have to lie
Tomorrow I'll move on
But tonight I'm going to cry
I'm still here and you are gone
A once true now faithless lover
There's only one way to move on
Take one step and then another
The warmth of love is gone
The hurt so cold it freezes
Here lies my broken heart
I'd better pick up all the pieces
'Cause I know my heart will mend
And I will love again
But the trouble with tomorrow
Is all the time "tween now and then
So tonight when I get home...........
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7. |
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What on earth is going on
My paycheck isn't all that small
By the time I meet my obligations
There's hardly nothing left at all
How we gonna put the kids through college
How we gonna pay these doctor bills
I know sometimes the road gets rough
But does it always have to be uphill?
I am of a generation to taste and dream the American dream
But now I bolt upright in bed, with sweaty palms and start to scream
'Cause it's official now, it's been confirmed, I'm not too big to fail
But working folks we've still got choices. Sink or swim or learn to bail
Some times I just want to get into my car and drive
But with the price of gas that's not so smart
Once the streets were paved with gold, now all roads lead straight to Walmart
We're all here in the front row
Of this dogma and pony show
They couldn't say it if it wasn't true
Actually they can and do
The preacher says when times are hard
You've got to put your trust in the hands of God
Banker says when times are hard
You've got to have a little faith in Master Card
Politicians say when times are hard
''' It's not my fault, it's those guys there""
We need to vote those clowns on out of office
Elect someone who really cares
The trouble is, no one cares
Unless you've got the Do Re Mi
Money talks, bullshit walks
And the road is getting kind of slippery
Money talks, the poor folks walk
And the road is getting kind of slippery
(dedicated to the great and sadly late Joe Bageant)
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8. |
My Country
02:31
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My country
Different things to different folks
To some it's the shining city
To some it's the butt of jokes
To some it's the Great Satan
I suppose that could be true
To others it's the garden
I can see that too
My country
Has been there when the chips were down
Unless of course it was the one
Who threw those chips around
Not that one up on it's shoulder
Or that heart up on it's sleeve
My country
Home of the brilliant and brave
Land of the dim and free
The common thread which binds us all
Is fragile, frail, and slight
Pulled tighter than a fiddle string
Across this great divide
My country
It's got a fever and a cough
Watch it roll on 'till it's better
Or the wheel's come off
But my country's where the tired and poor
Still come to cast their lot
It's anything to any one
There ain't nothing that it's not
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9. |
Time
02:26
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You might have a mansion
A palace of your own
But it's time spent with the ones you love
That makes a house a home
It's time
Time is everything
But like patience or a paycheck
Time it does get spent
It tends to fly and when it's gone
You wonder where it went
Time
Time is everything
Time is like the ocean
Time is like the sea
I stick my big toe in
And the waves wash over me
In the western part of your heart
There's a place where you decide
To settle down or saddle up
That pony and ride
Time
Time is everything
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