1. THUS FROM MY LIPS, BY YOURS, MY SIN IS PURGED

well, I've got a will but I want yours
I've got a growing heap of crosses and burdens
I've simply lost heart to shoulder
simply no strength to lift
I've always been a man in need
'cause I keep stepping in and out of the shadow

caught by the drift and pitch of whatever it is
that keeps me coming back
I want out
'cause I'm getting sick
sick from all this swerving
driver, sick from turning on you

someone show me a hole in this cycle
show me the way away and i'm coming back
the way I came
no! I've seen this place before
surely this is no place for the light of this world

oh how sweet the sound
I know it saved but is it changing a wretch like me
oh my God how sweet is the sound
I once was blind but now I just look away

Stepping in and out of the shadow
Stepping in and out
I just look away
Stepping in and out of the shadow
I just look away

Stepping in and out

My bride, I don't want to know what I'd be without
forgiveness brushing these adulterous lips


2. LOVE JEALOUS ONE, LOVE

this is me at my darkest
looking down from my tower to heaven
my reputation is what I am on the scale
in the eyes of mankind
the more I get beneath me,
the higher, and more out of reach
teacher, which of us will be the greatest

we will wear compassion
we will wear it on our chests
and sing with love at our throats
like a child, it's all I know

Father, hide our hearts in you
lest we steal them back
and lay them at the feet of men
I know now that glory has not a place
near my hands or any man


3. INCOMPLETE IS A LEECH

unless you can part my ribs like the sea
and make stone beat, then there's no hope for me

unless the east never meets the west
unless you set my sin between your shoulderblades
and forget

part my ribs like the sea and change me
'cause stone doesn't beat
and rock hearts don't pump anything
but I've grown not to mind because at least
stone doesn't sling like blood
or spill like guts across the floor
where the bloodsuckers want more and more and more


4. BLOODSUCKER PT. II

well, it's yours
you can have it if it means that much to you
don't let me stop you
don't let me stop you now
[x2]

and stretch me out across the table
and turn my insides out
turn me into someone else
someone more like yourself

and stretch me out
but bother not with ties, I promise to lie
perfectly still
And I swear, I swear not to scream
at my becoming part of the machine

well, it's yours
you can have it if it means that much to you
don't let me stop you
don't let me stop you now

but let it be known that this is what you'll get
for falling out of line, and no one wins
and no one wins against the machine
so get back, get back in line

are you the man now
that you got what you wanted
are you the man now
that you got it
[x2]


5. TERRIBLE! HOW TERRIBLE FOR THE GREAT CITY!

am I a monster when I sink my teeth into her
when I don't love her
no, I don't love you
forgive me darling, but love has nothing to do with this
it has nothing to do with how I can't stop
until I get what I want from you

this is what real men keep quiet
it doesn't exist if you can hide it behind your teeth
and sleep at night next to your wife
who you love too much to tell her
you don't love her at all

I just feel as empty as the lungs
of those waiting in the womb
do you feel as empty as the lungs of those waiting
to come into this world
where being beautiful means being used

how long will we blame the devils on our shoulders
and pose like angels on the outside
when all I am is a monster


6. THE WIDOW

Dead man, were you ever alive?
Or was I just a seed buried deep inside
Some woman you wed
Right before you crawled out of her bed and crept down the hall?
Did you think of me?
Did you even for a second hesitate in the doorway?
It's just something that I'd like to know
Though I'd still love you if told me
That you just walked away

My God, what a world you love
Where men bury their sons
And without thought just walk away

And my mother's heart breaks
Like the water inside of her
[x2]

Dead man, is it being high that makes you alive?
It makes you leave behind three boys and a wife in '89
As the track marks inched their way up your arm
My mother taught my brothers and I not to call you daddy
But to call you father

But I believe there is something here to be learned of grace
'Cause I can't help but love you
No I can't help but love you
Even with a heart that breaks
Like the promises that you made
Like the promises that you made
The promises that you made
'Cause I still love you

My God, what a world you love


7. WAKE DEAD MAN, WAKE

let the dead bury their own dead

will you still love me in famine
as when love began at the harvest
or would you gain the whole world
son, I love you at your darkest
but what good is the whole world
when I promise no tomorrow
I only promise your tomorrows
will never take you past my palm

love, what is love without trust
at my word would you bring your isaac

son, I loved you at your darkest


8. ADMISSION: REGRET

so I hear there's a whole world out there
but I've grown to love this bed too much to leave it
if love really drives out fear
then I pray it's her voice I've been hearing outside my door

one more time, love, won't you come remind me
I'm someone believed in
I'm someone still within your reach
'cause all I've got is sleep
against my fear of being swept away
by the wind, the undertow, and thought

regret

so I hear there's a whole world out there
but I've grown to love this bed too much to leave it
I keep hearing about this world out there
come untie me from this bed
come untie me from the wicked things I love

awake! awake in the company of men given something to say
give me a servant's heart and a tongue to obey
awake! come wind
awake! come thought
tired head, take up your mat,
take your mat and walk


9. ONE: TWENTYSEVEN

when will the weak shame the strong
and not collapse into our own arms
when will we raise our flags past half-mast
and not collapse into our own arms
but shame will keep us who we are

shame is the anchor tied around my ankle
shame keeps me low and close to the bottom
where I am the least
at the bottom

where pride has never been and never will
the swell of my chest
I stand on this
where pride has never been and never will
the swell of my chest
I call this brave
but how dare I call this love
and not bear my cross to the end

how can I call this love when all that I am
is because your love endures my back to it
your love endures my back to it
your love endures my back to it


10. OF WANT AND MISERY: THE NOTHING THAT KILLS

I watched you float away on a wave of want and misery
now I've got to find you
I watched you float away on whatever caught your eye
now I've got to find you
'cause I've got to keep your head above the water
while the current pulls me under

I will hang my life in the space between the noose and your neck
I won't let you die just yet

I will love you even when you won't let me
and you will kill me by doing nothing
but I know it's not you, my dear,
I know it's not you
I know it's not you, my dear,
it's the nothing that kills

I can't save you
control is something out of mine
no, I can't save you
control is something out of my control

I will love you even when you won't let me
and you will kill me by doing nothing
but I know it's not you, my dear,
I know it's not you
I know it's not you, my dear,
it's the nothing that kills

I can't save you but I will love you
no, I can't save you but I will love you
I'd like to think that this is love
lost in second chances without end
this is romance