1. THE LIFE YOU LIVE

We strive for acceptance
In a world where nothing matters
You gave up your dreams
You've sold yourself out
Prove to me I'm wrong
Then what the hell are you waiting for
Life is passing you by
You only live life once
Live life to the fullest
Live your life to the fullest
Your life is a compromise


2. CASUAL CONVERSATIONS

Let me tell you what I heard
Rumor spreads like flame
Consuming conversation
Defacing the innocent
Killing friendship
Foul words spoken under
A breath speaking of truth
A trust based on lies
And misinterpretations
For all to tell
Don't believe all you're told
But that's just what I heard


3. SOLACE

For hours with a pen in hand
All I see, is an empty paper
Mocking me
Frustration never felt like this before
I'll stab this pen through your throat
It's these tests that show you're alive
These defeats that make you not want to be.
I'll find a way to get through this
This won't be the last time
I'll stab this pen through your heart
Until you bleed streams of consciousness


4. APPENDIX I: IF THERE IS HOPE

They've built kingdoms upon cabins,
Anticipate the crash
Watching, Listening.
While we're clawing, gasping
Volunteerism and livestock, convictions versus substance.
Never tired of the descending escalator.
Comfortable with discomfort and hating every minute of it
They're after you through the t.v. screen and radio waves
They've come for what you've got.
Wolves in salesmen's clothes and sheep in human skin
Like rag dolls, we're swinging from the pillars
Of an economic carousel, trust your grip?
Fret not, "this is only temporary."
Plagues are temporary too.
Loving every minute of it?

Is this our Oceania?


5. THICK AND THIN

We've been through so much
But it's only just begun
I like to think back to
Where this all started from
Back to the days when
Your friends are what mattered most and we took that for granted
And sometimes it takes
The loss of one to open your eyes
To what you've really got
Through thick and thin believe me when I say
I'll always be there for you
I'll die for any one of you


6. A NOT SO MODERN PARASITE

Honesty has no
Clothing preference
And fashions are serpents
Favorite skin
We've found an inviting spot
Upon this sinking soil
And we are longing for a moment of sincerity
And yet you disseminate your trite
And mind your profit margin
We know just what you're after
Fashioned sheet of glass
Obvious in your opinions
Are we your favorite assists?
Can't you see it, it's right in front of you?
You are the death that comes to kill the true
Never put prestige before your passions
We'll unveil the venom
If only shallowness was a deformity
You'd never show your fucking face around here again
Prefabricated poison under a musical guide
Is your heart for public observation?
Or a vehicle for material aspirations
Unfortunately words waste ink more
Than they impress in minds
One day the world might just give you the stage
And what would you have to offer
I fear not very much at all
I fear not much at all
Please don't waste our time


7. APPENDIX II: ...IT LAYS IN THE PROLES

Shackles come in many forms,
How are yours fitting?
Redefine need.
The law of things versus the state of things.
Is more money always greener?
Kicking and punching to get the bait.
Sobbing and sulking when it fails to satisfy.
Elixirs served on tap till 4 a.m.
The parched vacate to safety.
Look around your abode..
Those that hold the reins needn't have hands at all


8. THE GREAT EXODUS

And they will tell us we're individuals
There's a great selection in their market scene.
But the truth is, we're very much alike,
And we've sold ourselves for their dream
(We're not moving)


9. FORMALDEHYDE KISS

There is a sentence
Sprawled on a single piece of paper
Beside a mattress assuring me that
My heart will never break
And I'm as dependent on it
As a hopeless addict
On the needle being clean
Broken framed photographs
Perched on aging furniture
Unconsciously reminding me
As does the shrapnel scar of
A wounded vet
You know its love when we
Dance without moving and converse
Without the lifting of tongues
Every silver will tarnish
Every flower will wither, but if
You part before one heart stops
With my last dying breath... I swear..
I would die a thousand deaths...
Before I let your lips touch mine...


10. A TRI-COLORED GOLDMINE

Opportunity sure did a little more than just knock this time around.
But is it a phenomenon that a sin can be a saint to different eyes?
Or is it that cliche gray between the black and white?
Maybe it was curtain call for business integrity,
or Orwell's chance to color our slates from clean.
Whatever it was, we were its to covet:
The raped in awe of her rapist, the pawns in euphoric contentment.
Beware the eyes that see in shades of green


11. CODA: THE NIGHTBIRDS

God took the night off.
He let the will of man prevail.
There's a luster in the sky that we cannot see.

The Nightbirds came to save us
The Nightbirds came to set us free
The Nightbirds came to give us peace
A rather ironic species

Oh what futile shields these arms will be,
What desolate silence will thrive at daybreak
On pillows of stone and blankets of ash
We will sleep for one last time.

Tonight we will sleep in peace,
Allah, tonight we will sleep in pieces.