Collect the skeletal remains
Of long dead memories
To line this rotting hole I've made inside me
A scarred and twisted soul is all I've got to show
For this life alone
Among the dead, among the bones
Burn me once
Shame on you
Burn me twice
Shame on me
You'll never get that close
Now while I serve the bones
Upon this anger upon this hatred I feed
These things that somehow nourish will slowly kill me
These talismans remind of pain felt over time
Before this life I chose
When Father Time begins to run out on you
There's a place we take you to
@SONG: "Just a burden now", I heard them say
I know I'm just in the way
You watch the car as they drive slowly away
Their guilt will hang on them for just today
All alone you sit, the phone never rings
Each day new sorrow brings
And the holidays, they come and they go
But there's one thing that I know
Even though my family counts me for dead
I never see them anyway
My life to God is not a worthless mistake
He's right there with me in my endless heartache
Can you look away from all this pain
Or do you think it isn't there
Can you look away from all this pain
Say you just don't really care
As we lock our priceless heritage away
Our kin the elderly
Do you know someone who stares at the walls
Words and Music by Ted Kirkpatrick
With fervid vocility we have perused
Through centuries of countless bethumbed volumes
Finding little solace for our plight
With absolute bodily quiescence
We have pondered
While earthenware pots are shattered and scattered
And hanging plants mournfully wilt and waste away
Encrusted ghouls once loved and cherished
Fortress and shield razed in absolute defeat
Pining away in curious conflagration
But this I call to mind and therefore
[Instrumental]
instrumental
Don€™t even try to tell me what prayer is for
My Genie in a bottle needs to give me some more
And when this mess is over-I don€™t need Him anymore
I€™ll put my God back on temporary ignore
If you will do what I need you to do
I€™ll find some time to praise you when this whole thing is through
If you get me out of this, Oh great Almighty
I promise I€™ll never do it again-well maybe€
I get along fine most of the time
No thought for thanks or blessings sublime
When turmoil breaks through the shell of my comfort
My lack of a prayer life abort
White knucklin the rosary
I know my God by what He does for me
Open only in case of emergency
White knucklin the rosary
When turmoil breaks through the shell of my comfort
My lack of a prayer life abort
An acrostic for prayer that I learned as a kid
Praise and repentance, ask for others, yourself
But now in my lackluster state of affairs
Give me what I ask for-beyond that who cares?
White knucklin the rosary
I know my God by what He does for me
Open only in case of emergency
White knucklin the rosary
Pray without ceasing-give thanks for all things
A prayer life that€™s missing the joy that can bring
Words and Music by Ted Kirkpatrick
Vision from the past
As you see yourself floating to shore
Tragedy that the water depth wasn't
Three feet more
Diving from the cliff
Never thought it would come to this
Incoherent utterance
"Don't move the body like this"
Years later in the metal chair
Passing day after day
Bitterness permeates everything I do and say
What kind of God would do a thing like this?
Ruin my life
God's got a funny sense of humor
When it comes to strife
The ways, mind and heart of God
Are certainly mysterious
"My plans are not your plans"
But remember this
That everything I do I do in love
To bring you closer to me
No matter what your problems or
Circumstances happen to be
When you put away bitterness
I cut him up this evening
And they came to check the scream
On the very spot i'd hidden him
I served a spot of tea
I'd left no evidence
That anything was wrong
But the unnerving sound beneath the floor boards
Reminded me of what I'd done
I thought I'd committed
The perfect, fool-proof crime
I never knew how heavy
This would wiegh upon my mind
Things done in secret
Under cover of night
Have a funny way
Of being brought into the light
I admit the deed
Can't you hear the beating
I admit the deed
I'm being driven mad by the tell-tale heart
In a permanent dream state
stumbling in the dark
you walk thru life asleep
Confusion overwhelms you
lifes only what you see
Your eyes look glassy
wandering aimlessly
you've fallen down the stairs
is there anyone to help you
find your sanity
Blessed is the man
who dwells in the unapproachable light (1 Ti 6:16)
It will open a window
that empties the darkness of your soul
There was a rich ruler
who mourned his daughters death
In faith came to the Lord
He said if you will only touch her
I know that she will live
But when the master saw her
He said that she's asleep
the crowd just laughed at Him
He said ARISE!
She heard and she obeyed
(Matt 9:18-19, 23-26)
Blessed is teh man
who dwells in the unapproachable light
it will open a window
that empties the darkness of your soul
If you walk in the light
as He is in the light
He will purify us (1 Jn 1:7)
Somnambulism
Two spirits call my name
One from glory one from shame (1 JN 4:1-6)
burning different flames (Heb 12:29, Matt 25:41)
I must believe I am receiving true words of light of the Christ
(Matt 16:15-17)
Swarms of Legions (Matt 26:53)
Swarms of demons (Matt 12:43)
Swarms at war today (Eph 6:12, Du 10:12-13)
Swarms to kill men (Luke 9:39)
Swarms to bless them (Heb 1:14)
Swarms that some obey (Col 2:18)
The Bible speaks of prayer
for those who have the faith to dare
Jesus Christ is there (Heb 11:1)(1 Peter 3:12)
Swarms of Angels
Swarms of Devils
Swarms surrounding me
Swarms to kill men
Swarms to bless them
(Lead - Lenaire)
Brilliant scientific enterprise
The alltruistic benefit of human justifies
A white lab coat represents the icon
Eradicate disease, the pedestal it stood on
lies shattered on the floor
Just another day, the dead half a million lay
Your taxes will foot the bill, supply animals to kill
Stinging infusion of chemical
The moribund patient clings to the wall
Another scapegoat to suffer for our sickening vices
You cut their neck, they cut your check
Endless barrage of repetition, satisfies your need
Of colleague competition
Pseudo scientist watches in fascination
As electrode-ridden monkey #32
Has his dignity completely destroyed
We need another $200,000 to find a scientific reason
why cats land on their feet
Feline fuel for the incinerator
Even though this test will not help the human mess
Continue it anyway, the car payment's due today
Deep in that cranial psycho vault
The thought you are to be sans fault
It ain't meant to happen on our own
The consequence of diligence
Without Him will show all the dents
That's why our eyes are always on the throne
What's wrong with me, what's wrong with you
How many times we've fallen through
The thin dev-ice of foolish thinking
All along our pride is sinking
The smoothness of another day
Convice me that I'm on my way
At 3 P.M. it all falls flat
I realize I ain't all dat
Stumble foot foot stumble
As your ideals start to crumble
Stumble soot foot fumble
Just another chance to be humble
Stumble foot foot stumble
As your ideals start to crumble
The consequence of diligence
Without Him will show all the dents
You point out others' sins overt
Under the carpet, sweep your dirt
Not inclined to come to Him
Inability within
Inward call achieves His end
Sovereignly commenced
Sola Gratia
Covenant to covenant
Solvation never changed
Sola Gratia
Quickened of the third person
Regenerate competance
Not my own, this faith a gift
Boasting set adrift
Sola Fide
Credited as rightousness
Looking far ahead
Sola Fide
Pardoned of iniquity
Forgotten, cast into the sea
Rightousness ascribed to me
Christ alone completed He
Sola Christus
Christ alone completed me
Sola Christus
Fulfilled the Father's Holy law
Unblemished lamb redemption brought
Sinless One received the wrath
Words and Music by Ted Kirkpatrick
The iguanidae sees East and West simultaneously
The praying mantis sees three hundred flies from three
Orbit of man, divergent strabismus and
Compound eyes alien by design
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
Unravel the surcingle, clotted and much
Excoriated eons of life unsound
Avert your gaze, the horrific pestilence
You are spared and standing on Holy ground
Searching nystagmus, it's no wonder
Spiritual migraines still persist
The scales fall, the cataracts desist
The life you once led is not even missed
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
When red is green and green is grey
Tou've failed the test in column A
You see at twenty what we do at fifty
The wisdom of sight comes from the father of lights
The treasure you see, the treasure you know
Cranial vault the minds map paved by heart and soul's aim
Transfer of DNA forms the cerebral mainframe
Just like a computer garbage in - garbage out
Subdural detour shuns the embrace of logic and reason
Shrouded in doubt
Divine mental biopsy reveals you need psycho surgery
The renewing of your mind by cosmic mirror
Spiritual angiography illustrates the mind's sorry state
Barnacle ridden psyche man's own demise to demonstrate
Burrowing mole exposes the dry rot within
Abundance of wormwood, euphomism for sin
Divine mental biopsy reveals you need psycho surgery
By His Spirit the symptoms are starting to clear
(Lead 1 - Cranial Drill)
(Lead 2 - Mendez)
Blind cavefish, inbred victim of ocular atrophy
Inky blackness everywhere, there's no reason to see
Wait is someone there? I can feel the heat
Limbs wax useless, help me, can't rise to my feet
Divine mental biopsy reveals you need psycho surgery
A shred of truth is illuminated by miner's light
Divine mental biopsy reveals you need psycho surgery
Nigh does the tempest
Draw to devour him
Through sullen seas of throes
The end of life begins
His fame will fade in time
His name is you and I
We died the day that Adam died
Outside the garden we're denied
Nigh does the Master
Draw to receive us
To give unto our souls
Harvested deeds we've sown
His fame remains throughout eternity
His name the Prince of Peace
He died the day our sin connived
Outside the gates was crucified
His blood was shed for all mankind
Outside atonement we're denied
(Lead 1 - Lenaire)
Words and Music by Ted Kirkpatrick
The case of George Dedlow
Double amputee, one of 500,000
Civil War casualties
Suffered a phenomenon so bizarre
Even the doctors looked on from afar
How can you feel a leg that isn't even there?
From cold to burning heat
To pain beyond compare
Clinically known as phantomb limb
So hard to treat, prognosis dim
Brachial plexus avulsion
They told you cycles were dangerous
Nerves ripped from the spinal cord
You certainly need the Lord
But just like the feeling in your arm that is gone
You've severed communication with Him all along
Even though you know it's totally wrong
Spiritual death kicks off its swan song
Don't throw away the years He gives you
By hardening your heart within you
And if you cut off both your own legs
And you have sworn just to ignore Him
The phantom limb will start to haunt you
Fear not, the grave has no power
For you will be with Me this hour
Through myriad eons of lost time
In sea of coal black sin
I was there - I am now
I have been there - I have been there
Through dark medieval ages, and biblical invasions
The lonely sea - tranquility
The still reflection stares at me
Is broken by the sullen tears of loss and grief
Or loss and grief
Come to Me, who are weary
And I will give you rest for your soul
My yoke and burden are light
To free you from your own plight
The sea of grace will separate your sin from Me
Your sin, your sin, from Me
[Instrumental]
Words and Music by Victor Macias
The fallacy impinging on mankind
Prevalent throughout aeons
Good and evil equally matched
Sicker yet, that perniciousness will reign
Satan, a dog on a leash
Subject to the will and restrictions of the Father
Incommensurate
Lucifer, Mephistopheles, the Serpent, Belial
Brought to life by the great I AM as an angel of light
Pride, his downfall, cast down from Heaven
Cursed to eat the dust of the earth
The tempter was created by a God you deemed fictitious
In a book that you call lies - make up your mind
Prevaricator, larcenist, blinder of the world
Deceiving fallen man into knowledge of the damned
Obvious now, the notion absurd
Incommensurate
The leash is short but not for long
Permanent incarceration imminent
Agnus dei, the lamb Of God defeated sin and grave
His death and resurrection
His plan in sovereign grace
Y el diablo que los engaáaba fu© lanzado al lago
De fuego y azufre, donde tambi©n
Est¡n la bestia y el falso profeta
Y all ser¡n atormentados da y noche
Why does God refuse to move?
If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again
I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me
I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground
My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should
He ain't standin in my way
Cause I did nothin today
He aint standin in my way
Your ship has crashed no sign of shore - to sit in your lifeboat-you can do no more
5 days at sea starved to the core - lifeboat is leaking-a rip in the floor
But wait, on the horizon - land, land hoe!
Will you sit there and pray-or will you get up and row?
The next time you are quick to say I'm just waitin' on the Lord
Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before
All things become one...
Words and Music by Ted Kirkpatrick
Unavoidable laryngectomy
Summon the E.N.T. M.D.
Is this the end for me?
Install the Western Electric number 5000
Creach modification
Nicotine addiction, larnyx benediction
Learn a whole new way to speak
Physic's law number two
Every action that you do
Has a strong and binding force
Set in motion human course
Your rainbow and the pot of gold
The dreams that you had grow cold
Your mistake burdens you a hundred fold
God knows our hearts are weak
But we must learn to think before we speak
And consider the damage that we wreak
My pet, my pet-how fun you are
I trust you so much I even leave the cage door ajar
You'd never harm me, but just to be safe-I admire you from afar
The coiling is fast
This time it's your last
Your soul asphyxiated
Final chance for escape terminated
Enveloped in python
Constriction complete
So harmless-me the master-you the slave
I reach out to touch you-I'm getting so brave
You affect me but little-I still haven't changed
And to those who find me abrasive-it's you that's deranged
The coiling is fast
This time it's your last
Your soul asphyxiated
Final chance for escape terminated
Enveloped in python
Constriction complete
Where dreams become nightmares
Of total defeat
Not just a white line or addiction of some kind
But entanglement with anger or to bitterness bind
Is God asking you to crawl to China - or just to cross the street?
To trudge through the desert through Arabian heat
Or to accomplish the impossible - an Herculean feat
Or maybe just trade in bad thoughts obsolete
Is it the concentration camps at Dackow?
Is it Joan of Arc revisited?
Niagara Falls in a barrel?
Or to mend a broken relationship instead?
Crawl to China
He is faithful - it remains in His hands
From the cold barren Arctic to the war stricken lands
From the place in your heart where despair takes its hold
To the lairs of the demons where deceptions are told
Is God asking you to crawl to China or just to cross the street?
Crawl to China
With emotional rigormortis freezing your step
You won't be going far at all
It feels pretty safe but the danger is real
You won't grow until you face the fear that you feel
Crawl to China
Distance makes my heart to fester
In self inflicted pain
If I can't face the consequences of my actions
I'll find someone else to blame
I greet you with a brothers kiss
And crank the knife another...twist
Twisting fates to fit the fabrications of my mind
I find I've crossed the line
No matter what the cost I must be right
I greet you with a brothers kiss
And crank the knife another twist
Pointing to things that don't exist
I crank the knife with another...
[Solo: Aaron]
Alone among the ashes of the things
Which once defined my lifeI hold that match which lit the fire
But you'll never see me take the blame...
You think they'll hit you but they won't
You think they nest in your hair but they don't
You think that feathers is what they got
You think they are a bird, but they are not
The old adage Blind as a bat
The truth is they can see, but not as good as you and me
I used to think that God was always serious
And I could walk the fence, I must have been delirious
I wonder if he laughs
I guess that I'm just curious
The God Jehovah us not feathers, wood, or stone
The Word became flesh and ascended to the throne
He walked the Earth like you and me
And dwelling in our hearts is where we wants to be
Between the years of 1861-1865,
over 620,000 Americans died from gunshot,
disease or sickness
in the bloodiest battles of our nations history -
the Civil War.
Through the instrument of prejudice,
fear and hate,
a different battle rages on to this day.
But in Christ, we are all one people -
united in our commitment to God and each other -
because it is He who First loved us...
(Lead - Lenaire)
After school my stomach sinks
From the thought of just how much he drinks
Broken home broken dreams
Mom and Dad forsake the family thing
So I slither in up to my room alone
Shut the world outside and rot inside my headphones
Nothing matter to the wounded mind of a child
Who becomes a victim of the family home defiled
I've been there once before
Today the child is you
Sacred vows are torn in two
Then he drinks himself to sleep each night
And dreams of how it could have been
She stays away and hates the day
She'll ever have to see his face again
Good enough for them is
Good enough for me 'cause
I treat myself just the way that their vow does now
(Lead - Mendez)
Pain has passed and now I see that bitter roots
Can down the biggest tree
The broken home within my soul is buried now
Forgiving grace I know
Good enough for them ain't
Good enough for me 'cause
I don't treat myself
Fall has come again
Bringing the leaves to the ground
Another year's gone away
Nothing's changed in this town
Far may it be from you
To live someone else's dream
Though your aspirations soar
Just thank the Lord once more
So many times we believe
That our lives will go to waste
Unless we strive to achieve
So many things out of haste
Sometimes we run too fast
When God is asking us to crawl
He who is faithful minding less
Shall be given to rule over all
Does it feel like every time you're alone
A voice begins to speak
@SONG: "There's so much more to life"
You'll hear, but you know you're where
God wants you to be
Do you dream your name in lights way up high
For all to see, could it be that faithful to
What you've got is what you first must be
Fall has come again
Bringing the leaves to the ground
Another year's gone away
You plan to leave that boring town
Far may it be from you
To leave your dreams because of fear
At least you're not afraid
The path to healing forks too many times
The road to contentment is hard to align
Out of the anguish - the quiet voice is mesmerizing
Great God Jehovah sympathizing
Manifold is misery - symbiotic history of trials
Soon a yard turns into miles - a day becomes a year
No path set before me presents itself as clear - confusion without peer
The cudgel of forlorn dreams - hits me square and final
Restoring the locust years
What you cannot do for yourself
There is One who is able
To restore the years the locust ate
When sorrow has it's grip on you
Giving you no reason to submit to any other
Manifold is misery - symbiotic history of trials
Soon a yard turns into miles - a day becomes a year
No path set before me presents itself as clear - confusion without peer
The cudgel of forlorn dreams - hits me square and final
Restoring the locust years
Bring us your trinkets, your baubles of gold
Join the debauchery, the young and the old
Let us bow down to his great golden calf
Darken our spirits, as we dance and we laugh
The golden calf takes shape - the idol of black hearts
The whole deed, from the sum of its parts
From the healer of sorrow came a great molten blast
With holy tongue of fire, the commandments were cast
Down from the mountain with two tablets of stone
In countenanc white, Moses walked down alone
Instructed by God to bring the people His word
Intoxicated by evil, their judgment obscured
Why should we listen to his set of his rules ?
Deeper in sin sinks the assembly of fools
Though shalt not make graven images
Visiting evil in the land of the dust
Though shalt not have other gods before Me
Then only then can you truly be free
Let us bow down to the King of kings
Melt down this idol and the evil it brings
Through famine, flood and choking mud the ancient river flows
Bringing life and death, transporting friend and foe
To build their cities by its banks the hopeful people chose
Fortify the walls - the fortress grows
Secure within the confiness of the stone
But what awaited them they couldn't have known
Healing waters of the Tigris
Ever flowing and all knowing
Healing waters of the Tigis
Washing over me
612 BC the Tigris floods and builds in turbulence
Pagan land of Nineveh - self-righteous over confidence
The rising torrent crushed stone and the courses on it's way
God's judgment on that fatedful day - a terrible price to pay
The greatest city of all - Nineveh - with a towering city walls
The awesome power of the swollen river Tigris - caused that massive city to fall
Healing waters of the Tigris
Ever flowing and all knowing
Living water of Jehovah
Balm of Gilead
Deliver to me the thieves, the murderers
And those with whom I find no fault
Just give me bodies - and the means to kill
It matters not who is guilty, who is innocent
It only matters where my fancy leads me
I live to please myself as you blood spills out
When you expire - there's a hundred more:
All who came to see - the curious, the morbid
Nero decides their fate - the arena becomes an assorted
Spectacle played out en masse
You soul means nothing, your pain even less
As your loved one plead for my forgiveness
Not an ounce of mercy will I give out
Bind the ropes, set the horses afoot
Wailing crise, limbs torn out by the root
Entertaining drunken guests as the Christians are martyred
Crimes so petty - the result - drawn and quartered
The result - drawn and quartered
How can it be, as my own death is imminent
That you, oh Lord, still love me
A life in the pleasure of torture and murder
I can't understand it - I can't understand
[I. The Suffering]
Skeezix bloated in petulance from the night's debauch
Wields his mutated feline frame down from his arboreal watch
Space 109 is always occupied by the countless faces who tried and tried
Bruises from an unseen source as chronic abuser runs his course
There is no remorse
Sinewy limbs reach through the bars to collect the carcasses of souls
Given over the deeds of infamy, Skeezix took his toll
The ungainly truncated form of the docile Pipsisewah
Subtle in demeanor yet with powers that beggar description
They call him by different names
Some call him Gilgamesh, the man who has never tasted death
The size of the room is half as large cause you walked around it twice
And you walk again with both eyes shut cause your fears became your vice
[II. The Battle]
Tormentor underestimating the power of the Pipsisewah
Confrontation on the grandest scale the outcome already known
The child whose humble prayer set the battle of ages
Torment no more
[III. The Victory]
We call him Jehovah who's always near
And you can win the battle when you pray without fear
The weak are victorious when the strong reaches down
And the ones who bring sadness will bow to the Crown
Car for sale - what a deal - I assure you it's a steal
Come and check it out some night - can't I see it in the light?
Kick the tires if you wish - 32 psi?
That's not bondo - It's all stock - do you think that I would lie?
Has it been in any wrecks - my mechanic wants to check
Oh no, to the contrary - to check it it's not necessary
I know many verses and have studied many years
Can't you see how holy my exterior appears?
Armor on all 4 tires - you sure are looking good
But you will be bent out of joint if I lift up that hood
I thought I knew you pretty well - but under stress you fell apart
You do just fine if you are driving up and down the block
But find a road with lots of curves - I see a sponge and not a rock
Find a road with lots of curves - I see a sponge and not a rock
For all these years I've known the Lord
And each year means a higher score
If people tell you your a horse you better saddle up
Have you noticed sin I lack? - odometer has been turned back
I exposite under toil - but that engine sure burns oil
I never miss a week of church - the transmission has a lurch
In our friendship you can trust - hey that frame is full of rust
I have some timely news for you
The car you sell is not so new
It isn't meant to run A1
So as a test or just for fun
For once lets see your real side
The humble side that doesn't lie
When pressures come that doesn't fly
For once let's see your real side
He's got a secret environment locked in his head
Reality suspended
He's got a cast of characters cooped up in his mind
Whenever he wants them
Sitting in a corner admiring the sunbeams
With an imaginary friend
He frolics and plays but he's forgotton the only One
Who can take away the pain
Trading in what's real for a figment
A cashed in life locked up in his brain
They don't give diplomas for catatonic state
[Solo: Aaron]
He bears a ton of gruesome cargo, can't seem to equate
What is fact or fiction
Gonna blow the escape hatch
From the miserable existance - find the Eden in his brain
The same cast fills his dreams and his nightmares
The horrors of night seem twice as harsh in the day
Disconnected existence
Pull the plug to ease the pain
Surprised by such an evil thought
Where did this thing come from?
I thought I cast it far away
But it's creepin back to me some
My spirit's willing - flesh is weak
Humility again I seek
I had my heart in His command
But soldiers fall when they proudly stand
Another day again I pray that I may find the narrow way
And like the camel trying to find that eye of the needle
So aimlessly I search around with no answer to be found
It's then I realize there's only one answer that's real
Other Gods have come and gone one's left standing on the throne
There is only one who's blameless only one who's love sustain us
Expunge at will on matters whether Gods exist to love proficient
Setting out to prove He's false you ended up in foreign missions
Analytic, pathogenic, supercalafragilistic
Cut it up and let it stand the theologic test
You'll see a faith that wavers not - others crumble, waste and rot
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom
When you think that you've arrived thousands more you have to drive
Like a hand springing from the carnal six foot soil
Buried many years ago never more again recoil
When you think you stand alone you will fall despite your toil
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom
Seek not your life from any other
His power alone is sufficient for you
His love and His grace they will see you through
The poisonous well has been purified
The scars on your heart have been sanctified
The Father above has been glorified
When it seems is a miserable place to be
Remember the words that He gave you and me
There is a beast that does exist
Not just a myth - the facts persist
Known from the dead that washed ashore
From modern graphs to old folklore
Not yet one ever seen alive
Though scientists and divers strive
Architeuthis - show yourself to us
Among the largest of the planet
The giant squid - the architeuthis
How can this massive creature
Escape the hordes of searching eyes
Escape the wisdom of the wise
Escape the sonar, the bathyscaphe
Returns with countless plotted graphs
Architeuthis - show yourself to us
I know God I've never seen
Not merely just a wishful dream
Alive, nut not for us to see
But living in the hearts of men
So great is His love for us
Yet many seekers look in vain
If you will set aside your pride, your arrogant facade
Then you can enter into grace
Architeuthis show yourself to us
Let us gaze at your haunting frame
We know you're real - no longer conceal
What bloated corpses already revealed
The last of the giant living mysteries
Architeuthis - show yourself to us
If a stone holds you down
Keep your head above ground
Though the foothold can be merciless
In a world not your own
Its the wieght of the stone
Holding me, holding you
Very fast, quite fast
Its not the wieght of the stone that's holding you down
Its the way it fascinates your mind
And just because it causes you to fall
Don't mean it tempts me very much at all
I can see that it feels like a millstone is tied around your neck
But if you come clean and say,I don't have it together
You can still keep your faith in check
3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 feet
No spineless fellow here
Down below 100 more and not a sign of fear
X marks the spot at 145 a stone dislodged held him fast
How could he know while now alive
13th day would be his last
They tried and tried to bring him to the surface in vain
If a stone holds you down
Keep your head above ground
Though the foothold can be merciless
For 12 more days the foothold was merciless
With no possible means of ingress or egress
In the end a paradox was found
The beast that held him was a 10 pound stone
Are you afraid - are you afraid?
That where he takes you is a cold, dark lonely place
Where its hard to find his face - hard to find his face
In a world that is not your own
In a world not your own - it's not the wieght of the stone [Repeat Line]
The world is quick to tell us
The media compels us
For me to have and you to not
Is the difference in our lot
If you must compound your joy
Then you must acquire this toy
Just remember this - a kiss is just a kiss
A smile is just a smile
The things you own will not atone
Or spare you from the life you've sown
Where moth and rust destroy
A land of tears and sadness
When those who put their faith in things
Find out it's only madness
Enjoy all that He gives you
But make sure you can see through
The haze that blocks the clarity
Of seeing the eternity
Of things that last and things that don't
Of choices we should make, but won't
If you will just incline your ear
There is something you must hear
Heed his words and you'll be free
From loving more than Me
Where moth and rust destroy
A land of tears and sadness
When those who put their faith in things
Find out it's only madness
Choose - you must choose
You must choose
Who you serve
Just waiting in the darkened wings
The voice that says to trust in things
Aspire to acquire - aspire to acquire
Light the sacrificial fire
Death to things
I feel numb
And think we're half asleep
Our collective sense of outrage
Has gone the way dodo birds and Model T's
We're being trained
We tell them what they want just to appease
It's the end of absolutes
Welcome to the death of meaning
Mice will run a maze for cheese
Koko signs her A - B - C's we think she's talking to her kitten in the corner
Pavlov's dogs would drool if they could hear their chiming cue
Just like them we've been conditioned
We're going dumb
Have we forgotten how to speak
Would mute cries fall on deafened ears
If we could get ourselves to give voice to our pleas
We're so well trained
That's the way it is and so we'll let it be
If there are no absolutes
Our objections have no meaning
Birds will learn to talk for treats
Flipper laughed and danced to please and avoid electrocution
Pavlov's dogs would drool if they could hear their chiming cue
Just like them we've been conditioned
Feeling numb
Half asleep
Being trained
We're just like sheep
Going dumb
We never speak
So well trained
The truth we never seek
You finally noticed
Did it dawn on you slowly
Or was it a blast of cold air
You're adrift on an ocean of silence
You've lost track of the last time there was anyone here
You sought the silence
Scuttled any and all who didn't see things the same
Your actions turned quickly to habits
You slipped your moorings
And soon you were drifting away
Swept with the tide
Pulled out to sea
No course or sense of direction
Swept with the tide
Pulled out to sea
A lost ship adrift
With a ghost at the wheel
To some you're a memory
Others choose to say I do not remember at all
Some wait and pray and scan the horizon
Hoping that one day they'll see you come home
Swept with the tide
Pulled out to sea
A lost ship adrift
With a ghost at the wheel
Just a boy, you will not remember half
The things you're going through right now
How can I explain to you things don't
Always go the way you want them to
I know you feel confused
Your mother never wanted this for you
She did her best but that he wouldn't do
You and I are brought together now by
Wedding vows, vows that I have also made to you
Flesh and blood though we are not
I will love you as my own
Now God's love is all we've got
Together we can build a home
All I want for you it to remember this
Never will I turn my back on you
This world will lie to you and take you for a ride
How can I protect you from this path
Only God can show you that the lights in life burn fast
Never forsake you precious days of youth
I promise I will do my best for you
The water is fast, but it ain't deep
I waded out before
I could do it in my sleep
Another line, another fix
Another "I don't care"
The place you thought you'd never be
Guess what, you're there
Drowning machine
Drowning machine
Sow a thought, reap and action
Sow an action, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a destiny
Do anything, be anyone
But you're not free
Drowning machine
Drowning machine
A three foot river drop
A circular hell
Drowning machine is
Ringing the death bell
Your lifeless soul floats to the shore
You couldn't stop
Had to have more, more, more
Drowning machine
Drowning machine
Drowning machine
You see life as a game (Eph 6:11)
that you don't want to play in
Born in a world
that you don't wanna stay in
There's only two roads (Jer 6:16-19)
and none in between them
If you don't choose the Son
the choice you've made is against Him (Matt 12:30)
Watch out!
You're gonna lose
If you mess with the maker (Is 45:9)
Look out!
You're gonna lose
If you mess with the maker (Matt 25:41 / Rev 12:9)
Beware you're gonna lose if you
think you can tip-toe in between (Matt 7:13-14)
Your life is in danger!
You have made up your mind
that you don't need religion
You're such a good person
and you live better than some Christians (Ep 2:8-9)
Well, I've got some really bad news
You can read it for yourself
Jesus came once to save you
Turn away and He's gonna slay you (Rev 19:15 / Joel 3:13)
Your life is in danger
To confessing Christians
that live in sin
To the religious
living by the law (Gal 3:10-11)
Those who heard the Gospel
and turned away
Lazy people who wouldn't make up their minds
Your life is in danger - Holy Danger!
You think it's alright to destroy God's creation
They don't have a voice so who cares how we're treating them here
If you read His word you should know that he blessed them
I know your defense is to say "God said dominate them"
Do you think dominate means to kill just for sport
Wear the fur from their backs
train them for circus acts
Take our pets to be gassed once their "cute" age is passed
Don't you see in their eyes how they trust us
but man in his sin turns that trust into horrible pain
When God says to man give account of your life's work
we must be prepared to reply "Your creation I have loved"
Locked behind steel cage
forced to take drugs we've made
cut them up just to show
what we already know
Before they die...
who will hear them cry
Gen 1:20-30, Hab 2:17, Ps 145:9, 16-17, Ps 150:6, Ex 23:11-12,
Is it greed or is it ignorance or is it both?
As the bulldozer trashes a thousand years growth
Clear cutting with a clear conscience
A burning desire to burn
If a tree falls and no one's around
The wildlife still hear it crashing down
[Chorus]
You were gone before we even knew you
And there's no way to ever get you back
Gorilla seven days old
Ripped from his mothers dead arms
Her hand now an ashtray souvenir for a tourist's charms
[Chorus]
Will I join the ranks of the photo gallery
It may be the only way left to see me
Thousand acres a day
Burning it all away
Extinction - the price to pay
A ton of rhino, a pound of horn
The Javan one cursed - the wheels of greed are born
Medicinal myth, smuggled to Hong-Kong
Ancient superstition - reality gone wrong
[Chorus]
I joined the ranks of the photo gallery
Its the only way left to ever see me
You were gone before we even knew you
And there's no way to ever get you back
The greatest land animal killed for a foot of ivory
Will your children live to see one
Or witness decimation by tyranny
Passenger pigeons blackened the sky
Never a chance we would say goodbye
Oh how I wish I could see one fly
[Chorus]
You were gone before we even knew you
And there's no way to ever get you back
American symbol of freedom and power
Only for target practice by the hour
Buffalo sat on the brink of no more
[Chorus]
Will I join the ranks of the photo gallery?
It may be the only way left to ever see me
Fist through a wall - foot through a door
Just another day for me to abhor
There's a wall in my plan for you today
There's a door with your name where it lay
Years of hateful thoughts will get you back
I'll be at peace soon
You think you're punishing me by your anger
But it's you serving the jail sentence
Heart turned to stone suffering all alone
Calibrating how hatred can sink the power of forgiveness
Anger needs a place to be buried
Anger needs a process for its gravestone
The time has come to speak of many things
Not shoes and ships and sealing wax not cabbages and Kings
But the way your raging words and actions
Gouge a monumental chasm between us
If I could only help you to see what I see
As you push away the ones who love you
Your world is closing in on you
The once many friends become the reluctant few
And when the few that remain choose rather to abstain
You'll be left alone with all the pain
And you'll ponder at length how a day turned a year
And the years rolled along till nobody was near
Broken before the One who understands
That it's hard to let go of familiar land
But you've got to leave the safe ground behind
A better place is waiting where there's peace of mind
Now that you've come to realize
That chronic anger has a steep price
Taking more than you can afford to give
I close my eyes and think about Calvary
I see it happening right in front of me
the back that bore the whip, the head that held the crown of thorns
what if I was there
would I even care, would I even care
or would I only stare
What if I was there just a face in the crowd
would I hide in shame or would I laugh out loud
would I pity Him or think that He is just a fool
another criminal
or just the truth, or just the truth
He is heaven's jewel
As He marched up that hill
I can picture Him still in my mind
all the blood and the sweat on His brow
as He passed me on by, I could see in His eyes
that His pain was a gift of His love
He was the sacrifice-the Lamb
and He is the great I AM
and He paid the price for me
the price for you and me-you and me
He made the deaf to hear again
He called the sinful man a friend
He walked that hill for me
so my blind soul could see-could see
As He marched up that hill
I can picture Him still in my mind
all the blood and the sweat on His brow
as He passed me on by, I could see in His eyes
that His pain was a gift of His love
I close my eyes and think about Calvary
I see it happening right in front of me
two criminals were there-with one on either side of Him
one hurled insults and one believed-and one believed
which one am I?
I've seen you at the shows
So proud to tell us how it goes
This and that a little more
Not too much now
You'll lose the floor
When we are not just what you thought
Do not blame, we're not the same
The color grey is real
A shade that you can't feel
Your world of black and white is surreal
The moment we begin to think
Our calling should be heard
Just the same by other ears
That hear the call themselves,
We're deaf to all
No matter what
We're in this world
To live His life
To live His Word
The color grey is real
A shade that you can't feel
Your world of black and white is surreal
Your take on life
Is what you've seen
What you've known
What you dream
The way you'll live
Is who you are
