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Beaten
You can't help this and I can't help you.
I can't live like this.
I can't bear the brunt.
I can't carry this.

It defeated me.
It consumed you.

Explanation:
About trying to help a loved one through anger and depression - and losing. Even with all the pain, I'll never regret trying.


Bury My Father Under A List
I haven't got the point of this service.
Meaningless diatribe of faith over the caske of a grudge-bearing atheist.
A man of hope and dream weighed down by pettiness,
I hope you never have to meet anyone as affected by bitterness.

Can you shit the fuck up about whether heaven, hell or god exists?
Can we bury my Father under a list of his enemies?

There's some things that could really comfort me,
But I can't summarize what meant this much to me.
There's some things that could really comfort me,
But the parade of idocy is more than I can take.

You can't laminate a lifetime of years and struggles and gifts he gave;
A million battles were fought and lost.
You can't laminate a lifetime of dreams and tears and laughs we shared,
You couldn't disgrace it that way
And Ceremony doesn't mean shit.

Sell me a casket or an urn so our neighbors can see,
Even at our most devistated you couldn't keep us from spending on idiocy.

Can we bury my father under a list of his enemies?
I'd personally find that a far more fitting tribute.

The parade is in full swing.
Look at the horror that's been wreaked.


Explanation:
In April of 2006 my father died, and it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. My dad was completely the person in my life that I aspire to be like, and he was my best friend. The funeral process for me was totally draining and I felt like I could come up with no decent way to summarize what an enormous importance my Dad's life was to me, everything he did for my family and everything he taught me about being a decent human being. Mourning is a totally intense, personal time that people deal with in entirely different ways. No one should ever feel obligated to spend money on flowers, coffins or whatever else anyone tries to convince you is an honorable tribute. No one should feel obligated to do anything out of tradition. I hope when you lose someone close to you, you deal with it in your own way, and you get through it the best you can.



Reactionary
We'll take any excuse.
We'll take any isolated case to assert ourselves, state our case, call out in unison.
Against imagined threats.
It's the old adage - "What's that thing? Quick kill it!"
We fight what we fear, what we don't understand
Misguided energy - attack the other.
So the other must run, hide, close up shop, stay inside.
The wrath arrives bearing torches and pitchfork
Just another witch hunt, just another lynch
We heap travesty on tragedy,
We pile pain on pain


Explanation:
This one's about how Americans in general react to world events. We have such a knee jerk, reactionary mentality and tend to just lash out aimlessly rather than examine problems and try to understand what causes them. We end up with failed policies, failed foreign interventions, dishonest wars, and harmful social relationships. Those in power cultivate this type of mentality because it is very easy to manipulate. Get everyone amped up about terrorists, nukes, drugs, whatever, and that fear can be turned into a willingness to go along with just about anything. The particular lyrics to the song were about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting. I heard a story on NPR saying that when it came out that the shooter was Korean, Korean people in lots of cities were shutting down their shops and basically staying inside for fear of the most unfocused and absurd reaction by Americans. Though I didn't hear of any anti-Korean violence in the aftermath, its easy to see where their concern came from. The tradition of witch hunting and scapegoating goes back to some of the first white people to show up in this country.



Expect it Again
In the wake of oppression, turmoil and anguish, humiliation, they wait intent on revenge.
Numbed into violence by massive destruction and community suffering.
All it fucking takes is a father's trembling voice to a child's trembling ears for him to accept that there's no progress - his family is paralyzed.
An intolerable situation's made a fucking plague.
With the chance to change for another child you'd fucking do it too.

Expect it again - retaliation at any cost.

"Our revenge will be the slaughter of our children."
Heroes?
Martyrs?
Egomaniacs?
Either way, they wouldn't accept it anymore.

Explanation:
Suicide bombings and other acts of suicidal violence have been dismissed by our media and government as selfish acts of a few crackpots to get what they want. This can occasionally be the case, but in fact most terrorists or guerillas are really the product of oppression and suffering that have no hope or cause other than the goal of striking back as much as they can. Typically for every terrorist that commits a violent act, there are many more people from their same background that haven't taken it to that level yet, but support doing so. Anyone who will end their life just to take one stab at who they perceive as their oppressors must be seen for what it is - desperate. Our society must begin to question where that desperation comes from and how things for these people became so bleak, rather than writing it off as fanaticism. Terrorism comes from rage and as long as people are being pushed, history shows they will always lash back. The quote is from Bobby Sands, and I.R.A. volunteer who died in prison after a 66 day hunger strike for the right to be treated as a political prisoner rather than a criminal. This act and many others of suicidal resistance show that many people that are suffering will give up everything for the chance for the next generation to not have to endure it.



Paycheck Mercenary
Neighbors and acquaintances are in on our most feared conspiracies.
They all wake up early, work 40 hours, attend the same get togethers and parties.
We sit in the same rooms with army contractors, insurance adjustors, vultures and predators.
We sit idly by, move on and pretend that the lives that they ruin don't mean anything.
You make your lives off misery - you should all be fucking shot.

Are you going to grow up to be a capitalist tourniquet?
Are you willing to accept a bloody paycheck?
How do you people ever get to sleep?
A fucking white collar cannibal.
A fucking paycheck mercenary.
I don't understand how people can join the military,
kill, maim and steal, take money from these ventures to go to college and think that they better themselves.
I don't understand how insurance adjustors in New Orleans can look in the mirror after trying to hustle devastated families out of money they're entitled to.
Some people think that drive and ambition need to be at the expense of morals and compassion.

We choke, so they breathe.
Their hopes are our detriments.
Are we gonna fucking do something about it?
Are we going to swallow shit?
Are we going to fucking say something?

A fucking conscienceless human being.
A fucking white collar cannibal.
A fucking paycheck mercenary.

Explanation:
In the current climate of cutthroat capitalism, ordinarily good people are taking on morally despicable jobs to make a few dollars. In our social interactions with people we come across that have reprehensible careers and goals we must speak out against it and fucking shame these people and show the rest of our peers that they have no fucking dignity. There are varying degrees of selling yourself, and in this system we all have to at least a tiny amount, but there are plenty of jobs and careers where these people could use their skills for the benefit of people rather than to the detriment of them. These are the Halliburton employees, the insurance, oil and medical companies who rob the poor at any given chance. The high executives in these industries know exactly what they are doing, and should be annihilated. On a smaller scale, we need to inform out friends and peers why these positions and companies are disgusting and require their employees to sacrifices their principles. We also need to relentlessly tell kids that joining the military is only going to lead to death or massive physical or psychological damage, no matter how much the government tries to tell us it ends in luxurious careers. We need to be able to look back on our lives and not be disgusted with what we chose to do to get to retirement.



Conscious Minority
Hands that tremble, shaking with fear of the next move planned.
You have no remorse. She never wanted any of this, but this is what it's come to.
Now you're in control, and all you think is that "you deserve this."
Grip your eyes tight, so this soon might be over, another night she'll try not to remember.
Another torment carved into her mind.

There's a few that will stick up for themselves, while a conscious minority turns the blind eye.

What we've worked for and held in high regard has been infested by the same jocks and assholes I dealt with in school.

This must not happen again.

I hope that fat lip serves you well as a reminder of just what you get.
You better think hard, cause you're young still.
Burn the rug, it's been slipped under.
Rape has no place in hardcore.


Nation of Complainers
We are a nation of complainers
whose expectations for comfort are a disgrace.
As we fight to maintain a standard of living that far exceeds that which this planet can sustain.

And fight we will - all wars are over economic dominance.
But our skills at masking fact bring comfort to lies.
And so we expect this manufactured plastic life.
But how dare we be so arrogant.
Try justifying your pet's jewelry to a farmer in Chiapas.
Embarrassment.

Explanation:
How pathetic we are - basking in luxury and complaining about it. The level of material comfort that the a verage American expects is embarrassing. Our ideas about what we need are a complete disgrace. While the president lies about intelligence information to fabricate a war, people all over the country lie to themselves to create the comforting illusion that we are doing things for noble purposes rather than a base desire to maintain the privileges that past injustices have granted us. The ancient Egyptians squandered the people's wealth on one man's grave, medieval Europeans on one man's palace, and now the latest pop star outfits her pet with thousands of dollars in jewels. We still aspire to this. But I challenge anyone who accepts such expenditures to look in the eyes of any of the world's billions of people living on $1 a day and not feel like a worthless thief. Embarrassment.



Puritan’s Disease
The kingdom of heaven you promise is filled with disease.
It’s fueled the sickest maniacs we’ve seen in history.
A marauding crusade, a predatory priest.
You think society’s disturbed, and you’re the ones that always perverted it.
A nation of puritans are, trying to save us from serial killers and child molesters.
They’re trying to tell us Hell’s all around us and somehow it’s not any of their fault.
Religion - it’s a fucking disease.
This illness you’ve made will return And fucking suffocate you.
Your "moral behavior’s" shown too many symptoms of sadistic greed and inhumanity.
That which you disgust is just a reflection of your own sickness,
but you’ve made your bed.
Lie in it.

Explanation:
Priests molesting children, abortion clinics bombed by fanatical flakes, Christianity is going strong in America, and yet, the Christian right in this country constantly remind us that the world is a sick place, and that if we'd only see that their way was the right way, we'd be saved. How many times have we read of some psychopath's exploits only to read in the fine print that they came from a sterile, Christian home? The Christian right must forget that this country was founded by the same ilk of twisted, xenophobic, bigoted fanatics that they are. Too many have been slaughtered in this religion's name to hold it out as a safety net. The Christians have had their way long enough for everyone to see that their breed of lies, fakeness, fear and hatred are a fucking failure.


That's What You Get
Over a year ago
There's a girl who screams and clutches at rubble
Just like she dreamed
She was killed for her bravery and love that she felt(2nd verse: and a strength I don't have)
and the same mentality that put bullets in a four year old girl
and a portion of our money arming the hands of these criminals

As it stands right now I'm unhappy with the part of myself that's a murderer.
I won't know how to tell my kids I'm a shareholder in state terror
Unhappy with the part of myself that throws fundraisers for butchers
Unhappy with the part of myself that's a murderer, torturer, rapist and a thief

For your money you get: Savagery. Animals. Brutality.
Conscience tax.
Bulldozers.
Death squad camps.
and kids filled with hate...

But this is what we've really invested in:
The defeat of ourselves (ourselves)
We'll trade our own (our own)
With nowhere to go (that's what you get)
Guns turned on ourselves
For trading our own
We kept our heads all turned and not feeling guilty
While selling out the future we might not ever see.

Explanation:
In 2002 I considered going to Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement, a group of people from all over the world who nonviolently protest against Israeli brutality by standing in front of homes the Israeli army routinely bulldoze either as a response to a suicide bomb or to clear way for Israeli settlements. The idea behind this way of protest is to put western people physically in unity with the Palestinian people against Israeli government aggression, because while the Israeli army may think nothing of killing several innocent Palestinians, they know western governments would react furiously to the deaths of one of their nation's own. In the end, I backed out of it, knowing it could almost certainly be suicidal to go, as Sharon's Israeli army showed less regard for anyone who disagreed with his policies (Ariel Sharon is the prime minister of Israel, he is wanted in Belgium on war crimes charges for allowing a militia to enter a Palestinian territory and massacre everyone inside). I felt entirely depressed though, as I know my government, the U.S. government, is directly responsible for much of these deaths in Palestine, as we give billions of dollars a year to Israel in military equipment, even down to the very bulldozers that demolish houses. Rachel Corrie was a girl who probably felt the same as myself and went to Palestine with the ISM. She was a beautiful girl who came from a normal middle class background, had a boyfriend and a typical suburban life. Eventually, after many close brushes with death by Israeli army fire, she died standing bravely in front of a bulldozer preparing to demolish a Palestinian home. I suppose the Israeli army decided they didn't care she was a citizen of the government that donates all the equipment they use to kill and destroy, right down to the very bulldozer that ended Rachel's life. I'm sure Rachel didn't go to Israel to become a martyr, she wanted to go home to her mother, who wrote her asking her to come home. However, her bravery to me is an inspiration, a sign that suburban kids often depicted as college activists and "weekend warriors" honestly do care about injustices done in our name, so much so that they'd risk life and limb. Osama bin Laden's terrorist network use the crimes done against Palestinians as one of their main reasons for attacking western states. We are responsible. We elect the people that let or make it happen, and we pay them well. Our taxes have led to bloodshed the world over. Rachel's sacrifice wasn't just done in protection of the Palestinians, she stood up for all Americans who'd never want to have murder done in their name. Americans for the most part do not know the terrorism we've carried out, and they'd never want to believe it. Our culture keeps us focused on ourselves, while we let our foreign policies kill our children through reaction-terrorism, sending them to war in countries we have no business being in, or by letting the savages our government employs kill a girl braver than any soldier.


Try It
My door will remain unlocked today
as an open invite,
encouragement even,
to just come by and try it
This is the wrong time and wrong place for this,
but it's the only time I can have an impact
It would be an honor for yours to be the first blood these hands spill.
And I assure you, if you show up today we will both go to jail tonight.
Try it.

Explanation:
This song is about violence and the hardest day I've had as a 6th grade teacher. The teachers at my school were given a picture of a man and told that if we had his son or daughter in class we were to lock our doors when they were in our class. There was a strong suspicion by both the family and the police that he may come to the school to try to take one or both of them. He had apparently acted violently towards his son and had an "unnatural attraction" to his daughter. His son was one of my students that year, and I had taught his daughter the year before. Both were solid, sweet kids. His daughter had been one of my favorite students and had one of those genuinely nice, warm personalities that always put a smile on my face. I have never been a violent person. I've never been in a fight, haven't hit anyone, and never really experienced any aggressive impulses. That day, and the rest of the year, I left my door unlocked, eagerly awaiting the day he tried to take his son out of my class. My whole being was ready to hurt this man really bad. Had he shown up to my classroom, he would have gone to jail for what he had done to his children, and I would be headed there for what I would have done to him.

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