1. |
First
01:50
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First they came for the Muslims
And I knew I wasn't one
So I kept my mouth shut and then they were gone
Next they came for immigrant families
But I spoke the mother tongue
So I kept my mouth shut and soon they were gone
Then they came for the queers
The protestors and the weirdos too
And they took anyone different
From me and you
Until then they came for me
There was no one to speak up
And they hauled me off as you kept your mouth shut
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2. |
Burning Bridges
04:06
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This is not the end-this is barely the middle
Of the story that we write
Stopping here would not be right
You want your demands you want more than you'll handle
Of the privileges of life
But you won't get that tonight
So Spare your tears and save your sighs
Use them like kerosene so bright
This is not goodbye
This is not goodbye
We're burning bridges
We may cross again but it will not be as friends
Already you don't recognize
You just choose to patronize
Claim your moral high ground your highway to the sky
Measure piety in height
Like Babel's tower or Icarus in flight
So go ahead ignore the cries
Of those like me and me alike
Guess that's your goodbye
Guess that's your goodbye
Is burning bridges
You make up whatever story that you want to
That paints you in a flattering light
That makes it look like you were right
But don't you wet those sad fat eyes
Cause you do not get to be nice
There's no nice goodbye
There's no nice goodbye
We're burning bridges
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3. |
All In The Wrist
04:37
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Bruises you can hide
By removing the light
So that you can look good
To someone's ears instead of eyes
Don't let anyone see
The complete and real me
Because then maybe they would
Question what you wish to be
Maybe ask if it really would be best
That my agony's so much more so your discomfort's a little less?
Because the labels filthy, faggot, other hit me like a fist
With fingers made of downright polite sorries straight out of your lips
Like your heart isn't in it
Like this punch is all in the wrist
Take a child that's shy
And teach her she must hide
What she feels inside
Because it's something you don't like
Present to her clearly
That God and you agree
That God likes what you like
And hates your hates in kind
Is that what you really think is best
Making what you understand the only thing that's blessed
Because the labels filthy, faggot, other hit us like a fist
With fingers made of downright polite sorries straight out of your lips
Like your heart isn't in it
Like this punch is all in the wrist
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4. |
Ink And Blood And Water
05:14
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I take a step out of the shadows
Where I had left myself to hide
After being judged undeserving of love
By a jury of me, myself, and I
A jury rigged by my preconceptions
Of who to love and how to be
By a group who claimed that in all of their aims
They were doing what was best for me
Because our blood is thicker than water
And ink is thicker than blood
And we're so desperate to do what we've been taught is right
That we don't stop to think what we've been taught
Step in the light then brace for reactions
There is disgust, and there may be screams
But it's not my wounds sending them reeling back
It's where my heart is still unbroken and clean
It may still beat like everyone else's
It may be possess a similar shape
But there's something that's not in line with their thought
Something that they call sick when it's not the same
They say though blood is thicker than water
There's ink that's thicker than blood
And that ink should also flow through our veins
Making sure that all hearts love like theirs does
As I approach you - first there's nothing
A silence with clarity
And the words that follow confirm your response
Betraying how they're chosen so carefully
For kindness matters but is less important
Than making clear that you disagree
And the confession you heard; those living words
They matter less than dead words others have preached
You think that blood is thicker than water
But ink is thicker than blood
And you're so desperate to do what you've been taught is right
That you don't stop to think what you've been taught
You act like blood is thicker than water
But ink is thicker than blood
And you think the best way you can show me love
Is by condemning the way my heart loves
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5. |
Dead Buoys
03:54
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Religion is some faith
Twisted tight and to such length
That you can use it like a rope
Tie yourself to others to stay afloat
And it was these human rafts
That kept our ancestors safe in the past
But to keep themselves above the waves
They pushed others to the bottom
And
Held underneath without air
Those below became shells of themselves
Dead buoys by which we spared
I want to swim on my own
When somebody else is going down
I won't be the one who's helping them drown
I want to swim on my own
If treading water is no longer safe
I won't be the one who's making them stay
Religion is some faith
Twisted tight til it has weight
And it can anchor you with hope
As the dark storms toss your little boat
But a weight also it seems
Holds you under if you start drowning
Keeps you under when you're entangled
Where the ocean's darkness slowly strangles
Even though you may mean well
Don't believe all things are as they seem
Some monsters come from within ourselves
I want to swim on my own
When somebody else is going down
I won't be the one who's helping them drown
I want to swim on my own
If treading water is no longer safe
I won't be the one who's making them stay
Religion is some faith
Twisted tight and to such length
That you can use it like a rope
So choose wisely what it's used to hold
I want to swim on my own
When somebody else is going down
I won't be the one who's helping them drown
I want to swim on my own
If treading water is no longer safe
I won't be the one who's making them stay
You will be the one who's making them stay
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6. |
Falling Out Of Reach
04:09
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No arm is long enough
No embrace near wide
No grasp is strong enough
To breach the divide
As it all falls out of reach
As it's falling out of reach
No stance taken's really firm
In the sand on the beach
And waves repeating "Are you sure"
Pound against what you preach
And it all falls out of reach
Watch it falling it out of reach
Guard your hope behind closed doors
Locked away from your fears
Protect it from the impending storms
Full of rain born out of your tears
Cause it all falls out of reach
Soon it's falling out of reach
Cause it all falls out of reach
Soon it's falling out of reach
And it all falls out of reach
Watch it falling out of reach
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7. |
Part 0
02:41
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8. |
Part 1 Agnostic
02:40
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Your tiny hesitation
To stand up for what's right
Has me thinking that you don't
Believe that it's worth the fight
A thousand doors before you
With each one crying choose
With everybody pushing
It's easy to get confused
And you don't know what to do
You're lost with no direction
You're swimming in a sea
Where each thought and it's rejection
Ebbs and flows with the greatest ease
And when you finally think
That you've found solid ground
Your young island starts to sink
As your doubts pull you down
And you start to drown
Those little imperfections
Covered with perfect lies
Is what you think you see
When you look into someone's eyes
There is no one you can trust
Because there is no truth
But you don't dare to think
That the problem may lay in you
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9. |
Part 2 Apologetics
05:06
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So, So you think you can say
That we live in a land where all has or will come to naught
So, So you think you can say
That our world is in disarray and none of it’s your fault
So, So you like to believe
That you are a spectator watching us from far off
So, so you’d like me to think
That you are right ‘cause you’re afraid of being wrong
That's not where I belong
So, so you think I don’t see
See the Machiavelli that you strive to hide so well
So, so you think I don’t see
See that ultimately that all you care about is yourself
So, so you like to believe
That it’s about you first, last and middle above all
So, So you’d like me to think
That life is all chess and you’re a player or a pawn
It's not where I belong
So, you and I disagree
In a way we all see something that’s hazy and beyond
So, I am begging you please
Don't claim as all your own something bigger than both of us
So, go ahead and believe
What you think you’ve learned from gathering up all your scars
But know, know and never forget
That what you have learned can only ever be a part
Of where we all belong
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10. |
Part 3 Anthem
03:37
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There's only so many words
There's only so many chords
Left in this arsenal
To fight a losing war
But don't you give up hope
And don't you dare despair
Cause when you say you need me
You'll find that I'm already there
There's only so many ways
That I can stand up and say
There's specks of black and white
So small it all looks gray to our eyes
To be completely free from blame
Is something none of us can claim
And rules reach for truths they can never hold
But that doesn't mean that there's no hope
So come and take me by the hand
Let's all admit it's all a mess
And then the healing can begin
Accept the loss to learn how to win
I can't always give what you want
I'll try to give you the grace given to me
And I will love you just the same
Even if we never agree
And don't you give up hope
And don't you dare despair
Cause when you say you need me
You'll find that I'm already there
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11. |
Telephone Pole
04:25
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Flying swiftly down the street
I'm secured here in the back seat.
Hearing judgement's flying from the front
At passersby to whom you're being blunt
About their present life
And where they'll be on the other side
And I wonder if it is just me
Who thinks we can't see what you say you see?
Cause every time you turn around the telephone pole in your eye takes the whole crowd out
And at the end of the day when the people run away you still haven't figured it out
Haven't figured it out
Eyes are fixed upon the street
I hold the wheel and you teach
The places I should go and how to steer
The fabled there I should get to from here
And the regimented rules and such
Past posted signs there is so much
You say that I must now internalize
To represent an upright moral life
But every time we turn around because of a mistake there's a part of me that just dies
And at the end of the day when I've thrown myself away it just doesn't feel right
Doesn't feel right
You think that you know better than people like me about our own lives
Which only makes sense if you believe that God only sees the world through your eyes
Throw me from the driver's seat
Unfit to run my life you screech
You use different words but the meaning
Is not lost to misunderstanding
To anybody but your heart
Housing the part of God you are
And God weeps to see the consequence
Saying "that's not at all what I meant"
You want to talk about sin - then let's talk about sin getting loaded inside a gun
And aimed at those you don't like and shot at who they are and not at what at they have done
You think that you know better than people like me about our own lives
Which only makes sense if you believe that God only sees the world through your eyes
While you were melting the gold in our souls to build your cow to the skies
Did you ever stop to think you were building a God that I would never recognize
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12. |
On The Way Out
03:40
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You put on a bold brave face and you state that you're not afraid
But someone has to be scared to say what it is you say
You claim what we've done to you and reveal you have no clue
The suffering we endure for your unchallenged untruth
And you may wish we'd just disappear
But we're not cause it took long enough just for us to get here
As your decrees are exchanged for loud and angry shouts
We both know that your way's on the way out
Used to things matching your plan
Playing leader of the band
Convinced you're the chosen clan
For some holy higher hand
As you crush us underfoot
Blind to everything you took
Justifying with vague books
So you do not have to look
Past the surface of what you stole from me
So you can ignore that it's thievery
As your decrees are exchanged for loud and angry shouts
We both know that your way's on the way out
And though your fear may manifest itself as doubt
Deep down we know your way's on the way out.
Write to the press, call us names
State we're lesser cause we're not the same
What worked for you long ago
You think will still work today
You go out on the attack
Say that you'll take this nation back
Show you fail to understand
This nation's not yours to have
Call the truth revisionist history
But your truth; it leaves you blind to what I see.
As your decrees are exchanged for loud and angry shouts
We both know that your way's on the way out
And though your fear may manifest itself as doubt
Deep down we know you're on the way out.
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