1. |
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the first thing that happens when things fall apart
i think in terms of the world, it's all vacant and stark
and in the time that i have, forget to recall
that all i know is i don't know nothing at all
and this infinite sadness could be just as passing
as that perfect day, nothing's everlasting
but to hold it all in without collapsing
takes a whole lot more than i have to distract me
so i'll cling to what's left of these torn up pages
was there something i said that could help to assuage?
from this ache in my head, this pain in my heart
and when i thought it was over, i'm back at the start
and now this bottle has broken inside of my soul
and the blood and the alcohol fight for control
if i don't give it up, it'll tear me to shreds
but if i'm numb when it kills me, i'm ok with death
so i'll bleed it all out on this stage like a chump
and hope you don't notice, i'm a little too drunk
but i'm thankful for all of these nights and my friends
i'll eventually put myself together again
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2. |
OK
01:52
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oh my god
we get drunk, and we stay drunk
and we don't even care who has to clean that mess up
we get loud if it feels right
and we hold onto love just a little too tight for our own good
cause the world is cold
and the drinks and the drugs fill the urges
but the love fills the soul
...or so we've been told
OK
and it gets bad on those long nights
with the stale air and the neon lights
but it gets worse on the next days
when you're swollen and hurt and it won't go away
til you go back to what's killing you in the first place
OK
what's the use?
if cowgirls never get the blues then i'd trade in these old shoes
for some cowboy boots, buy a nudie suit
with some rhinestones, and some cocaine, and a new name
and you will never see me again
OK
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3. |
Between Me and the Page
03:16
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there ain't no money in this no more he says
his dirty hands full of pocket change
hey i don't know what i'm gonna do, when the next string breaks
oh, but once there was a time, in the lights on the stage
when the crowd sang along, every word when we played
and i can still write them songs to make them smile through the pain
oh, just between me and the page
but you spent too many years trying
and the dreamer's always dying
if it woulda happened again, it woulda happened by now
but hey, there's no use crying
some things are just like lightning
strikes you once upon a lifetime
and i can write those words like a thunderstorm leaves you shaking in all its rage
whoa, just between me and the page
i wasn't always at home in a smoke filled bar
that's where you tend to land when you fall from grace
i held the bottle more than i held her
and she just couldn't wait
oh, but once there was a time we would dance in the rain
we were young, wild, unbroken before we were tame
and i could still write them songs like before all the chains
whoa, just between me and the page
but you spent too many years trying
and the dreamer's always dying
if it woulda happened again, it woulda happened by now
but hey, there's no use crying
but she was everything you wanted
ever since then you've been haunted
and you could write those lines
just like that first night
you fell in love and everything changed
oh, just between me and the page
but you spent too many years trying
and the dreamer's always dying
if it woulda happened again, it woulda happened by now
but hey, there's no use crying
some things are just like lightning
strikes you once upon a lifetime
and you could write those words like a thunderstorm leaves you shaking in all its rage
whoa, just between me and the page
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4. |
Mortars (Destroy Wave)
01:43
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abandon the ship or the zeros will tear us apart
we'll be tossed overboard to tread water with circling sharks
and shed your last tears for you family back home
you'll be wrapped up and sent back
with a flag draped over your bones
they'll be shattered
but if we make this stand
we might see tomorrow
and if we don't give in we'll at least die with honor
if we refuse to surrender and fight til the death
we'll hold back the onslaught, recharge and advance
through mortars and shrapnel, machine guns and shells
these war occupations
oh god, is this hell?
yeah, yeah
they're gonna run us through
for our optimism
cause our history is a violent lesson
the victors fill archives with their explanations
defeated rebuild and then plan new invasions
and humans will kill over slight variations
repeated ad nauseam til annihilation
with mortars and shrapnel, machine guns and tanks
from nuclear weapons, to arrows and blades
it's hell
oh god, oh god this is hell
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5. |
Long Goodbye
02:20
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family comes around, every now and then
with their face in their phones, ask how you've been
but that's a question with an answer you'd rather not give
ah, but once you rained fire down that east coast shore
with your 454, your green eyed girl
thinking maybe, you really died after that last kiss
change is in the mirror and it's looking back
had some good years, but they go so fast
and oh, all you're left with is the ghosts
racing in the street on a saturday night
music too loud and your hair just right
and oh, who woulda thought you'd ever get old
so it goes
oh, it goes
tried to stand up when the flag was raised
and your brother, lowered into that grave
with their hands on your elbows
you were carrying all the weight
and lord, it really hit you like them chicken pox
how you'd play in the dirt
and climb on the rocks
and how you'd gladly take his place in the pinewood box
change is in the mirror and it's looking back
had some good years, but they go so fast
and oh, all you're left with is the ghosts
nothing lasts forever then you're out of time
never really ready for that long goodbye
and oh, who woulda thought you'd ever get old
so it goes
ah, it goes
standing here looking down a long, dark hall
it could be a disaster, a slip or a fall
but you fell so hard back then
what could it hurt once more?
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6. |
Make it Burn
02:54
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7. |
Out Like a Light
02:23
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I'd grown so tired of being scared all the time
so I poisoned my blood, I filled every line
in this ragged old notebook that's stained with the beers,
the stray fallen ashes, the hand prints and grime
the midnight confessions and crossed out lines
bout girls I had loved, in a town I despised
how the dark turns to light, the light just subsides
it's as old as the stars
it's as cold as the ice.
We hold in the smoke and we long for a time
When the sun didn't burn us, the water was fine
Where the angels and ghosts came alive in the night
and the future was nothing but lies
We hold back the tears and pretend we're alright
Cause the world doesn't stop, we've done lost that fight
With the scars from the years and the damage inside
Oh goodnight, I'm goin' out like a light.
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8. |
Radiation Vacation
01:36
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when i met you i was awful and urgent
over my head and drowning in current
sun in your eyes like atomic test site
i felt energy meltdown like three mile island
green with envy and radiation
took a turn for the worse
there ain't no medication
everything changed on that summer vacation
well let me sink
bury me at sea
i was obsessed with atomic disasters and just fourteen
i always fell in love with every pretty girl i'd see
let these memories roll in the waves into sea foam green
shoulda let me sink
buried me at sea
the aftermath of atomic disasters is all i'd be
my heart exploded like fifty million tons of tnt
i gave whatever is left to the waves and the sea foam green
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9. |
Battle Noise
01:34
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i've been this weirdo, down and out, since i was just fifteen
i'd ask a head shrinking doc, "is something wrong with me?"
but i've been cursed with a knack for losing
and a total lack of money
makes it kinda hard
to figure out a path to sanity
and it's been ugly, and painful
the staring, the hateful
the hole in my head where my brain shoulda been
well it must be the cause of my trouble
i've been under attack and i think i'm gonna crack
but i don't know how or when
so back up off my steps right now and i'll begin to share these woes
whoa oh oh oh oh oh
i'm not alone
whoa oh oh oh oh oh
we'll stand as one united force
against a billion black boots
they'll hold our heads to the concrete
but our souls are breaking loose
their massive repressive or passive aggression
we can't be the last of our kind
we're left to haunt the streets
we're the ghosts at all the feasts
and we'll get lots of looks
hell, we'll get lots of looks
but nobody will listen when it's our turn to speak
from the cradle we're labelled. don't trust in their fables, we're lost in oblivion. know that we're able. untested, at best, they'd see us arrested
...and out come the wolves
...and out come the wolves
whoa oh oh oh oh oh
i'm not alone
whoa oh oh oh oh oh
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10. |
A Burial on Rocky Top
02:15
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think about my time growing up on rocky top
i was running wild in those tennessee hills
well i could buy smokes at 12 years old on rocky top
got arrhythmia from gas station pills
oh and once i had a girl on rocky top
they called her trash
she called it goth
well she carved my name into her arm until it scarred
when we broke up, she couldn't get it off
rocky top, you ain't always been good to me
but that's reality
you're just a hill old rocky top
i'm just a nobody
well my best friend in grade school he came from korea
we had to learn fight just as kids
and i don't regret those times we ran our mouths off
but the times we got our asses kicked
the mortal kombat arcade at the wal-mart in newport
was our throne, and we were the kings
but those inbred racists well they didn't like it
when a korean beat them with a fatality
rocky top, you ain't always been good to me
but that's reality
you're just some dirt and stone old rocky top
but one day i'll be buried into thee
so if i die take me home to tennessee
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11. |
MORTARS Tennessee
The part of the lake where all the trash washes up, the driveway at the house show when the AC is broken and it is too hot to play inside, the basement where you have to watch what you step on and the air feels real heavy. That is where we shine.
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