1. |
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What words could someone say?
It’s personal, you hid it so well
Oblivious, you were living in a shell
Bending over backwards for the ones without a name
Borderline comedian secretly living in pain
So unexpected, Such a giving soul
Dishing out so much of yourself must have taken its toll
What words could someone say to change your mind?
You left so many questions, no answers will we find
Friends and family dressed in black to bare the pain you left behind
What words could someone say?
Casual, you were making your debut
One night only, the last premier for you
Smokes scorched down to the filter, anxious for what's to come
Something else was on your mind with eyes setting like the sun
Those kids will carry on
Uphold your legacy
We'll be screaming into microphones
Til we succumb to entropy
You can always find someone out there who will strike with the right tone
In the backyard of a house show or someone over the phone
Don't need an epiphany
Don't need a miracle
Do what it takes to get through the worst day you’ve ever known
With words, words anyone can say
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2. |
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Lost the left foothold, lost the right
Frostbitten hands left to grip, holding on for dear life
A sudden fear soaked in existential dread
Flashback to the life he once led
A once confident smile worn away by the grind
Legs driven by the hunger not to fall into line
The altitude makes short work of these tired lungs
The tank’s on empty and the radio has lost all connection
Don't look back (don't break stride) not a tear (not a smile)
Watching heroes, turned guideposts, their journeys undone
Crested the clouds to the apex
Planted the pennant, wrote our names in the snow
Lost too many good men along the way
I keep the memories deep in my pocket, head on a swivel, ear to ground
I do my best to keep my word not to watch the world decay
I hope somewhere you're watching, I hope somewhere you are watching
The altitude makes short work of these tired lungs
The tank is on empty and the radio has lost all connection
Don't ever let them see you sweat, (Crack a smile), (check the box)
and move onto the next one
Sent a letter back to base camp, drenched in saline and alcohol
"All the best, thanks again, I'll see you back next fall”
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3. |
Nostalgic Distortion
02:40
|
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She fought back!
Eddie was an animal, a tool of the system
No limits, no rules, no conscious at all
He carved his path, pressed his will
Salted the earth and left it to fail
Sally always had a soft spot for the man
A classic beauty with a sense of humor
One day the animal was out on the prowl
To take what he wanted but she wasn’t having it
She fought back!
Eddie never justified a thing, treated the world like it’s a fucking joke
A product of his environment, a twisted man in a crooked time
He cornered Sally when no one was watching
Opened with charm but tried to close with force
Punch to the face split Eddie’s lip
He poked the bear but she had stirred the beast
She fought back!
Years later when she heard the bastard got what he deserved
A wave of sorrow filled her heart and no one understood
Pain ebbs and flows
Nostalgic Distortion
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4. |
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Pit feels light tonight, we’ve got a full room, but we’re not all here
Something’s not right, can’t find the face I’ve known so many years
Lost to the poison, sick on the fix
Taken away with a needle prick
How many friends will this plague claim?
We’ve got our demons but we’re all the same
Doctors, dealers, parents too
Enablers, entrepreneurs
For the pain or the fun, it’s the thing to do
But once you’re hooked, there is no cure
I don’t need a patch, I already wrote your name
On the collar of my jacket with a chosen few
When I remember him this burns inside my brain
Don’t make us miss you, don’t make us miss you
It’s a fucking disease!
Didn’t deserve this nobody does, didn’t deserve this nobody does
Sad you’re not the first and you won’t be the last
We’d do anything just to get you back, we’d do anything just to get you back
The time we shared went by too fast
I don’t need a patch I already wrote your name
On the collar of my jacket with a chosen few
When I remember him this burns inside my brain
Don’t make us miss you, don’t make us miss you
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5. |
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If you’re reading this, I’m not sorry
The feeling hits, your face turns ashen, the acid overflows
When everything that you believed in is all just one big joke
Elitist congregations of misfit toys and counterculture clothes
We used to battle for the right to live, but now we just scream for dope
Deaf and blind parasite
What better way to fight the powers that be than dirty laundry and plastic forties?
Fuck this, fuck that, a never ending stream
Runs miles wide and inches deep
You’re filled with hot air and its bursting at the seams
Homelessness, like Godliness, is pure and simple
Who am I to question the divine?
So take advantage your companions will never abandon you
Until our supplies run dry
What better way to fight the powers that be than dirty laundry and plastic fortys?
Still you don’t see the irony in “hashtag” anarchy?
It’s not my problem, it’s not my fault
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6. |
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Whenever I go, let them pick me apart, take what they want, maybe save someone else
Burn all the rest then divy me up, toast to my memory and drink to your health
Why waste time making someone else rich?
Plugged in a cube, forever condemned
Bled dry to dust then swept away
A lifelong dream cut off at the brain stem
Paper circles from this punch card won’t fill an hourglass
Whenever I go, let them pick me apart, take what they want, maybe save someone else
Burn all the rest then divy me up, toast to my memory and drink to your health
I was small but still a part of this world
We’re so small but still a part of this world
Premastication of the truth
Propagate with no context
Media spreads in a flight of ideas
Competing for eyes, ignoring the minds
Veritas is drowning, the well is flooding too fast
I’d rather die fat, happy, poor
Than surrender to security
I’d rather die fat, happy, poor
Than buy into every shrink wrapped idea of civility
That’s not my policy
Whenever I go, let them pick me apart
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7. |
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Waiting for my heavy eyes to close
Ruminating thoughts can’t be stopped
Failures flash on the ceiling
Moments of time I won’t get back
I’ll lay here struggling with demons on my back and wolves at my window
Writhe, writhe
Can’t stay awake
Writhe, writhe
Too tired to sleep
I’m trying so hard just to give in
Teeth and nails rip my skin
Taken by the writhe
Waiting for my heavy eyes to close
But my heart is pounding in ears
A shaking fever sears my skin
Can I breathe? What’s wrong with me?
I’ll thrash against this slab like the devil in a church
Convulsing at the altar
Writhe, writhe
Can’t stay awake
Writhe, writhe
Too tired to sleep
I’m trying so hard just to give in
Teeth and nails rip my skin
Taken by the writhe
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8. |
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My grandmother told me that everyone who loves you gets their own piece of you
An imperfect shard, a shred of your soul, carved out but not cut from the sinew
This bond connects, it leaves something there, and freezes all we’ve been through
But the choices I’ve made
Abandoned so much that my memories fade
I’m not good with fragile things, and I’m bad when I’m alone
You know the things I don’t and now I’m trying to make a difference
Just another fucking punk kid
Scraping by for relevance
It’s been too long since one of those nights staying up til every truth is spilled
I know every missed call hurts the only one who gets what I’m trying to build
Still every lush needs their own hot mess to help keep their glass half filled
But the more that I drink
The less I forget and my confidence shrinks
I’m not good with fragile things and I’m bad when I’m alone
You do the things I can’t so please forgive me
Just another fucking punk kid
Scraping by
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9. |
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Eat me, Drink me, Love me, Bless you
Put bread in the basket
Eat me, Drink me, Love me, Fuck you
From the bowl to the casket
Nothing to receive playing make believe
So much reading material
Plagiarized but hating different people
Calisthenics and spooky language
Turn out pockets, buy a bigger steeple
Eat me, Drink me, Love me, Bless you
Put bread in the basket
Eat me, Drink me, Love me, Fuck you
From the bowl to the casket
Playing make believe, nothing to receive
With a stellar marketing pitch and a product so in demand the children come to the feast where the food erodes like sand
The flock invest in their salvation, buying into divine plans while the shepherds get rich selling faith like a brand
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10. |
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Teetering on the fringe of film-grade apocalypse
Pour me another around and we’ll drink ‘til we forget
The inhumanity, “what’s yours is mine, what’s mine is mine too”
Survival of the most fortunate -- The privileged few
Hang me up…
Under the street light
Paycheck to paycheck
On the side of the freeway
And back to the block
Removed my broken body from this caste
Never again will I take a risk
This game is rigged to stifle forward progress
Our hero clad in green (decorated)
Uncontended in the trenches
Dodging bullets through the maelstrom
Toe the line in the offensive
Now the empty bottle is my only motivation
But my shopping cart is almost full and it’s time for medication
I stood on the rooftop waiting for daylight, but it never shown through
I tried to pick myself up by the bootstraps, but I’ve worn out all my shoes
Digging holes in the desert to find the insight that I may never learn
Neatly engraved above my head reads “fuck all, let it burn”
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11. |
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I won’t give up on you, I won’t give up on you
My friend, it’s been too long. I seems like yesterday we just met
But something’s different now. A face shrouded in disappointment
I can see it in your tired eyes
I can feel it in your trembling hands
All you ever wanted was to light the way
The rules all changed since you began
I won’t give up on you if you don’t quit on me
A life unsupported left your hopes contorted
This is not what you set out to be
I won’t give up on you just don’t give up on me
Overwhelmed
Searching for a beacon in the dark
Bystander effect invasion
Samaritans are few and far between
Let’s overcome this veil of apathy
The cog doesn’t see the whole machine
All you ever wanted was to light the way
The rules all changed since you began
Reach out your arm and grab onto my hand
This is not what you came for it’s not how it ends
Searching for a beacon, something to believe
I won’t give up on, just don’t give up on me
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On The Cinder Buffalo, New York
On The Cinder is a three piece Punk Rock band established in 2013 out of Buffalo, NY.
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