Well I smoke tea in the evening so I can sleep it off And I drink tea in the morning so I can work it out A hundred pages of the book of life have turned and left me spinning, spinning Even through all this drudgery somehow I can’t stop grinning, grinning Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing I’m a twenty-first century man, -now get used to it I've been put through the motions again and again I can't tell you how many times I've been given the short end People don't listen cause they can't relate, and I don't need their pity, pity No one cares unless it bothers them, -that's just life in the city, city Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing I’m a twenty-first century man, -now get used to it I get so sick and tired of the careless laziness I've had all I can stand of everybody's ignorance History will tell us we are on the road to nowhere, nowhere How can all of you just laugh as your world burns in thin air, thin air Believe it or not, I know what I'm saying It's the twenty-first century now, you better start praying I don't like being told how to think I don't want to be put in the ring With people who don't fairly compete How can I get back on my feet?

I came upon a fork in the road, flashing lights each way I go I took a dose of surreality, -it veils my eyes, filters what I see Whichever way I go, looks like I’ll reap what I sew Standing in the suicide lane Trying to cross to the other side of my brain Heavy rain washes over grass; worried mind comes but it will pass I stand drenched head to feet wondering what kind of fate I’ll meet Now I’m only under the weather; hey it’s got to get better Howling in the suicide lane Trying to figure out if I’ve gone insane There’s nothing left for me here, -if I keep moving I’ll go somewhere My blood’s been boiling for so long; my heart marches toward freedom But I can’t catch a ride, so for now I guess I still reside The good Lord's got to rescue me; feels like it's now or never Running in the suicide lane ‘Cause all these places I pass look just the same

I been spending all my money, never take none back I been losing every hand dealt, and that’s a fact I find myself without a notion or a guess I wonder, oh my Lord, is this some kind of test? I gotta break away; I gotta find myself And anyone who tries to stop me can go right to Hell And if I end up burning too, at least I tried I don’t feel an ounce of shame, -I’m satisfied Been feeling like a black sheep for a while now Been getting real tired of everybody’s crying out loud I’m an angry young man with nowhere to choose I’ve got nothing left to boast and nothing to lose I been going down every single day I may as well give it all up anyway Don’t accuse me my friend, ‘cause I am justified I’m not your man to hang, you can’t hurt my pride You can’t tell me what to be Don’t try to indoctrinate me I’ll be gladly crucified If it means avoiding your lectures on life

All us folks between the three freeways with beat shoes and cheap clothes Some of us are missing teeth and others are missing toes We work hard and we hardly play, we smoke and drink our blues away So sorry if you’re offended by the way we talk But if you can’t handle it you better find a short cliff and take a long walk We don’t need your acceptance or inclusion in your scene We don’t follow the trends you set and everybody here is a has-been In this diesel-stink valley where aesthetic is dead, everyone leaves status for functionality instead So sorry if you’re bewildered by the things we don’t have But unless you wanna donate you can go on home and stop pretending to feel bad Oooh, you know they’re all vampires But instead of fangs they have influence Oooh, it’s falling apart now We’re all waking up to this Oooh, don’t know how much longer They can keep shutting us out Oooh, they might not believe it, But pretty soon we’re gonna rise up All of you in brand name everything who take your dog to the spa Don't really understand the human spirit, you're all lost in the mall You run around with your head hanging down asking "how could it get any worse?" Well sorry if you’re upended by the path we take, But before we answer that, we have to get on back and do some actual work

Well I left my sleeping mother home alone, went out into the world as if I had somewhere to roam All I was doing was wasting time again; when you really think about it we aren’t given very much to spend On my way through the city I saw people begging on the road Part of me wondered what it’s like to know the things they know There’s a dirty, scrawny guy, his wife and dog by his side, he holds a beat up hand-written sign It says something I can’t read but my heart isn’t bleeding, -I pass on by I don’t blame myself and I don’t shame nobody else because we’re all surviving in this hell We victimize some and we villainize others; we work till we’re exhausted and we crowd till we’re all smothered The streets beat me up from beneath; my body’s getting sore in its seat I’m sick of sweating through this heat; I want something good for me to eat The weather’s so heavy even in the summer; I been smoking too much, -these days I’m not much of a runner It’s not my fault I got no time at all; I’m so patient leaning in hospital halls; And I’m sick of seeing wall after wall I smell gas and I feel trapped, -I gotta ditch where I’m at, -I’m going dumb Pretty soon I’ll just be one more squirming roach under the corporate thumb But more power to them, -they came and they conquered, -I salute them, -I salute them I don’t blame myself and I don’t shame nobody else because we’re all surviving in this hell We victimize some and we villainize others; we work till we’re exhausted and we crowd till we’re all smothered I can’t sleep; I can’t think; I’m running out of ink... and paper In this pre-dawn madness, I feel joy and hate and sadness... over hours But it gets me nowhere and I continue to stare blankly at nobody in the dark I’ve got a lot of rough days ahead and if I don’t get to bed I might explode I’ll end up like all my nightmares of people getting smeared all over the road Oh I feel so spiteful; isn’t it delightful when you feel you have no more left to lose? Hey man I’m begging too, -I just beg better than you; you bet I do; you bet I do I don’t blame myself and I don’t shame nobody else because we’re all surviving in this hell We victimize some and we villainize others; we work till we’re exhausted and we crowd till we’re all smothered Apprehensive I proceed, reluctant but not free; defensive I assume I’m being led to my doom As I creep underneath a bleak and beautiful street on the west side Whores sit on curbs and their daddies are disturbed on Milwaukee Avenue, It’s getting very hard to tell, -is this purgatory or hell? Are these storm clouds on the horizon or is it toxic smog rising? As it drifts in the late-day haze, and the sun is harshly kicked away, I ask myself why I’m going this way And sadly, I’m happy to do it; unfortunately the risk of evil is worth it We all complain about chemicals and moan about morals But we’re all shoveling coal on the same train So we really have no right to complain I don’t blame myself and I don’t shame nobody else because we’re all surviving in this hell We victimize some and we villainize others; we work till we’re exhausted and we crowd till we’re all smothered

I’ve got a long way down to go; The journey back is shorter though So if I face myself toward light will I be winning this old fight? I am a hypocrite I swear; I don’t follow the words I share Somebody help me leave this place; Lord, touch my body with your grace I'm disgusting I’m raunchy, distorted, mysterious and jaded I hope this razor blade’s serrated If you're like desperate as me But you will to be free Do me a favor now Do us all a favor now Bury me six feet deep Cut me; Let my guts run out Kill me; Knock my lights out I’m a taildragger down below the salt And I must admit it’s all my fault Nobody who's tried to love me Has stuck around, -they all leave I promise i wasn't born this way There was a time when i saw none but golden days But now I'm reeling Now my skin is peeling As i bleach in the city sun As i bleed from my naked feet I'm so tired from being on the run I'm so sick from breathing in the street I wanna tell you What it means to be on the wrong side of the tracks I'm trying to warn you Don't put yourself on your knees when you can stand instead Don't let your friends down, baby, -use your head Wait a minute Just a minute right now Listen close cause you ought to know You were not meant to be forgotten You were not meant to lose your soul You were not meant to go on starving You were meant to be whole So let's take a trip into the dark where no one comes back clean Let's drive through the gutter where your mind feels cluttered and your nightmares clog the scene

Sometimes I scare myself Sometimes I’m losing my morality I can feel a razor sharp dark edge developing and pushing me just past sanity Somewhere I’ll find my home Somewhere I’ll fit right in But right now it seems so hard to pledge myself to escape the place I’m in And I could be wrong I could be totally complete This could be where I belong Or am I settling? It’s like a deserted house It’s like a clearing in the woods I wonder if getting lost is hopeful, -is it the only way to start feeling good? It isn’t anywhere familiar I’ve walked these reject streets before If I can’t find a ride to somewhere, will the dust settle beyond that crimson door? And I could be wrong Lightning could be everything to me Adrift upon this bottomless ocean, this ever-stormy sea I have a nightmare every night And when I wake up it’s not too different I’m trying to be a faithful servant, but I’m sick of being here for everything I’m in some alternate dimension where destiny doesn’t match reality I’m staring through the keyhole to potential, but I can’t kick down the door in my bare feet I could be mistaken I could be on the inside looking out But with every new roadblock in each direction, it seems I’m being locked out Every step I take is backward on thin ice And drowning seems to set me free So reach your hand into my hypothermia (into my cold dead heart) Tie the cinder blocks around my feet Every thought I have betrays my situation As I watch this bad movie Everyone predictable and nothing understandable Surrounding the most fragile side of me But maybe I’m wrong Maybe I’m as cold as the ice at my feet What if I’m the one locking the door, -can I break free? Someday I’ll find my Jerusalem; I’ll be baptized in the river Someday I'll find my nirvana; I'll be whole and greatly forgiven I will see the forgotten prophets; they will grant me my release I’ll make my pilgrimage to Mecca, but you better believe I won’t be looking east

In one mind you know the right thing, or were you just told to believe it? In one life you live so upstanding, or were you just conditioned to act it? Like hot tea you’ve been steeping in lie after lie after conviction Now that your mind has been opened, allow us to make a few corrections Don’t miss truth baby, don’t miss truth Don’t miss the good times in your youth Don’t miss truth honey, don’t miss truth Or else lies start catching up to you The world that we grew up in has us thinking a certain way But here’s a radical idea for you; maybe this isn’t how we’re supposed to spend our days What if instead of us all getting jobs we all head for the hills? Could it be us to change society? Do we have the strength of will? Don’t miss truth baby, don’t miss truth Don’t miss the good times in your youth Don’t miss truth honey, don’t miss truth Or else lies start catching up to you Why don’t you open a door or two; let’s go somewhere uncharted Here in our minds we can always find our inner abstract artist Sometimes we need a key to unlock the unperceivable And once you take that key in your heart, existence begins to unravel A hundred pages in the human story Fading away like the morning glory Don’t miss the good times in your youth Don’t miss truth honey, don’t miss truth Or else lies start catching up to you Reality is only temporary and morality is so arbitrary Who’s to tell you what’s bad or good? Who has the right to play Robin Hood? Why do we all feel so out of place in this civilized union of fear and disgrace? Oh Lord God if you can hear me up there, give us a sign that you truly care Reality is only temporary, morality is so arbitrary Reality is only temporary, morality is so arbitrary Reality is only temporary, morality is so arbitrary Reality Morality Reality Morality Reality Morality Reality is only temporary. Morality is so arbitrary. You may not understand it now, but with the proper work and dedication, your mind will be expanded a thousand fold. All one must do is humble thyself to thine own nature; it will tell you exactly what to think, feel, speak, and act. No one else has the right to tell you these things, -for your reality is only satellite to mine and everyone else’s, only is it home-known to you. As celestial bodies can scarcely glimpse each other’s reflections across the infinite vastness of the night sky, so too do our minds and realities scarcely interact in very finite view of each other. But broader reality exists solely beyond the end of your fingertips. As a being you are nothing more and nothing less than the universe experiencing itself in a subjective theatre. As I was walking one day I wondered why I see things so darkly. Why do I squint at the sun? It doesn’t hurt me… The answers didn’t come too clearly so I walked a little further, where dogs barked and bees flew about flowers, and I said to them, “Teach me, -whatever you know, teach me.” And I simply observed and began to understand the dogs, the bees, myself, the trees, and even the air between us all. The idea here, folks, is to let yourself be taught by everything, no matter the concept, no matter the experience, -for you are on a path specifically designed for you by yourself, -your Greater Self, The Greatest Self. This reality you know belongs to no one but you, and it is part and parcel of the greater sea of collective consciousness, -though loosely organized. It is a shared experience between all sentient beings, derived from the same root and destined for the same end, but taking infinite divergences along the way. The mind projects multiple variants of light and sound and color and from these expressions come our impressions of our connections to the world around us. So if you throw off the shackles of everyday life, you may find that there is nothing left beyond the door that doesn’t just take a little knocking, -nothing you can’t find that doesn’t just take a little looking, -nothing you can’t be that doesn’t just take a little being. Arrive, children, -you have reached the promised land, and soon you’ll have your answer.

Take my mind, put it to rest Life was just a beginning, just a test When I die, I don’t wanna ask for another day When I die, I wanna go easy, cause I know I’m gonna go anyway When I die, by and by, I promise, Lord have mercy, I won’t cry Well I was told so long ago; When the spirit come to take you, you’ll know it’s time to go I believe in a higher place, Where no one harbors hatred; their souls are full of grace When I fade into the light, dear Lord, show me mercy, I won’t fight The river runs red with the blood of man Bell towers echo all across the land I was born a king, died a slave Laid to my final rest in an unmarked grave When I fade into the light, dear Lord, show me mercy, I won’t fight When I die, by and by, I promise, Lord have mercy, I won’t cry