Collapse (Post-Amerika)


When our rivers run dry and our crops cease to grow
When our summers grow longer and winters won't snow
From the banks of the ocean and the ice in the hills
To the fight in the desert where progress stands still
When we've lost our will

That's how we'll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as we all fall from grace

When the air that we breathe becomes air that we choke
When the marsh fever spreads from the swamps to our homes
When your home on the range has been torn down and paved
And the buffalo roam to a slaughterhouse grave
What more will it take

For us to know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
Kissing the ground as we all fall from grace

This is a chance to set things straight
To bend or break the rules back into place
There is no middle ground, no compromise
We've drawn the line
With perfect aim, we stand back and throw
Glass windows break and it's all about to blow
Lights go out as we pass the torch again
In hope that is stays lit

Neutrality means that you don't really care
Cuz the struggle goes on even when you're not there
Blind and unaware

That's how we'll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as we all, yeah we all, all fall from grace

Long Forgotten Sons


Far from home on a road unknown
Where the vultures circle on winds that blow
From northern skies that haunt these waking moments
On shadows cast by the mountain range
On calloused soles we find our way
Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon
While this sun is rising

We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don' belong to anyone
We are alone under this sun
We work to fix the work that you've undone

When cries for help go unanswered
And signal fires just burn and burn
We wonder if we're waiting here for nothing
'Cause our lips are sewn our ears are filled
With the constant drone of the unfulfilled
But we'll never fall if we stand for something
We stand for something

We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don' belong to anyone
We are alone under this sun
We work to fix the work that you've undone

Don't fall, I see lights in the distance
They're not far away
Stand up because the sky is turning gray

There's hope in these footsteps of persistence
So don't go astray
These lights get closer everyday

We are the long forgotten sons
Yeah we are the long forgotten sons

We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don' belong to anyone
We are alone under this sun
We work to fix the work that you've undone
What you've undone
(what happens now, we don't know, just hold on tight now here we go)

Re-Education (Through Labor)


To the sound of a heartbeat pounding away
To the rhythm of the awful rusted machines
We toss and turn but don't sleep
Each breath we take makes us thieves
Like causes without rebels
Just talk but promise nothing else

We crawl on our knees for you
Under a sky no longer blue
We sweat all day long for you
But we sow seeds to see us through
'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true
We wait to reap what we are due

To the rhythm of a time bomb ticking away
And the blare of the sirens combing the streets
Chased down like dogs we run from
Your grasp until the sun comes up

We crawl on our knees for you
Under a sky no longer blue
We sweat all day long for you
But we sow seeds to see us through
'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true
Look now at what they've done to you

White needles buried in the red
The engine roars and then it gives
But never dies
'Cause we don't live
We just survive
On the scraps that you throw away

I won't crawl on my knees for you
I won't believe the lies that hide the truth
I won't sweat one more drop for you
'Cause we are the rust upon your gears
We are the insect in your ears
We crawl
We crawl
We crawl... all over you

We sow the seeds to see us through
Our days are precious and so few
We all reap what we are due
Under this sky no longer blue
We bring the dawn long over-due
We crawl
We crawl
We crawl... all over you

The Dirt Whispered


She got down on hands and knees,
One ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something,
But the dirt made not a sound tonight

Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores,
Where we danced just to please the gods that only ask for more,
So it goes

But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live

On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants

The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip

The postcard says wish you were here
But I'd rather I was there,
Holding on to the simple things before they disappear,
That's what I meant

But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow

On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants

The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip

A destination, a fading smile.
Another station, another mile.
Another day gone, I swore that I will.
Be there before dawn.
So be there, I will.

She got down on hands and knees,
One ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something,
Anything at all

The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home"

On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants

The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip

Kotov Syndrome


There, high on the watchtower
Keeping the peace
Whatever that means
cause you see the world through
Crosshairs and TVs, don't you?

Ten foot walls built around us
White picket death
So quiet, so safe
But if we fall there will be nothing and no one to catch
So sit back and watch as we

Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, but collide with each other
We spin out of control

Something I cannot change
I was born in a place
That lives by the sword
And thus to it's blade we're condemned
Don't you understand why we scream "no more"?

My dreams are of children
Orphaned by blood
Spilled at these hands
Here on the graves of the innocent
We raise our flag

Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, but collide with each other
We spin out of control
Somethings you don't forgive, somethings you don't forget
Sometimes the fate you suffer is so much worse than death
We're way off course now and we're drifting out to sea
So cut the anchor on your heart to be set free
Set free
Set free

Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, we have to recover
We fall and crash, one after the other
Spin out of control

From Heads Unworthy


We are the children you reject and disregard
These aching cries come from the bottom of our hearts
You can't disown us now, we are your own flesh and blood
And we don't disappear just because your eyes are shut,
Now tell me

Love, Loss
Like a bullets path
Tear, Through
The cavity of my chest
Lights, Out
Because the fuse has blown

As their castles crumble slowly
We watch them fall
The crown slips from heads unworthy
As we gain control

This is the family that we crossed or never had
This is a war that was lost the day that it began
'Cause it's the race we run, but it keeps us at the start
And it's the song I sung from the bottom of heart,
That's how we

Read, You
Like a polygraph
Not, One
Single bone in your back
own, Up
To how you let us down

As their castles crumble slowly
We watch them fall
The crown slips from heads unworthy
As we gain control

Except for you and me, love
Everyone is the same,
We know, we know, we know, we know
But if to live, we have to be numb
I'd rather know the pain,
I'd rather know, I'd rather know
This happens almost never
But it happened once to me
And this will never be same
The ends we seam together

I'm not after fame and fortune
I'm after you
When I've served my time I swear I
will come back for you

As their castles crumble slowly
We watch them fall
The crown slips from heads unworthy
Right on to ours, but I'm after you

The Strength To Go On


Welcome home
While away
They have tampered with the locks
And your things they rearranged

"We propose a better way"
Said the note they left behind
In their wake of disarray
You fell in place

Don't fall asleep
They'll find us here
I know a place to disappear
As a voice proclaimed

What we are is the sum of 1000 lies
What we know is almost nothing at all
But we are what we are till the day we die
Or till we don't have the strength to go on
Till we don't have the strength to go on

Let us cry
Let us be
Let us open up our hearts
Without fear of anything

Faith alone
Is all we need
To traverse this burning bridge
Now before it gets too late
You claim "it's fine"

But the heart reveals
What smiles betray
Your sad sad eyes gave you away
And don't you know

What we are is the sum of 1000 lies
What we know is almost nothing at all
But we are what we are till the day we die
Or till we don't have the strength to go on
Till we don't have the strength to go on

Our shoulders bear an awful weight
But still we trudge on just the same
Our colors run then leave a stain
They blacken our once honest name
But how can we argue, tell me
Over the fury and the fire
How many times can we tell you that we
Are not like you, we see right through
Your poor disguise that fails to fool
The wary eye that's trained on you

What we are is the sum of 1000 lies
What we know is almost nothing at all
But we are what we are till the day we die
Or till we don't have the strength to go on
Till we don't have the strength to go on

What we are is the sum of 1000 lies
What we know is almost nothing at all
But we are what we are till the day we die
Or till we don't have the strength to go on
Till we don't have the strength to go on
Yeah we don't have the strength to go on

Audience Of One


I can still remember
The words and what they meant
As we etched them with our fingers
In years of wet cement
The days blurred into each other
Though everything seemed clear
We cruised along at half speed
But then we shifted gears

We ran like vampires from a thousand burning suns
But even then we should have stayed
But we ran away
Now all my friends are gone
Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved
Runaway
But what are we running from?
A show of hands from those in this audience of one
Where have they gone?

Identities assume us
As nine and five add up
Synchronizing watches
To the seconds that we lost
I looked up and saw you
I know that you saw me
We froze but for a moment
In empathy

I brought down the sky for you but all you did was shrug
You gave my emptiness a name
But you ran away
Now all my friends are gone
Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved
Runaway
But what are we running from?
A show of hands from those in this audience of one
Where have they gone?

We're all ok, until the day we're not
The surface shines, while the inside rots
We raced the sunset and we almost won
We slammed the brakes, but the wheels went on

We ran away
Now all my friends are gone
Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved
Runaway
But what are we running from?
A show of hands from those in this audience of one
Where have they gone?

Entertainment


All we are is entertainment
Caught up in our own derangement
Tell us what to say and what to do
All we are are pretty faces
Picture perfect bottled rage
Packaged synthesized versions of you

We've all made petty fortunes but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is coming soon

Come one come all the new sensation
Guarantees then obligations
Spotlights follow every single move
Basking here on ten foot stages
Pouty lips and oh so jaded
All as if we have something to prove

Despite these petty fortunes we still can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is here

And if we cared at all
about this unknown plight
then we'd do something more
to finally make this right

Is this only entertainment
Pull the curtains, places please
We've learned to sing and dance and cry on cue
But this is more than entertainment
In a world so sick with pain
This is the only thing that's real or true

We've all made petty fortunes but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream bloody murder over graves already dug
But can't you see the end

Hero Of War



He said "Son, have you seen the world?
Well, what would you say if I said that you could?
Just carry this gun and you'll even get paid."
I said "That sounds pretty good."

Black leather boots
Spit-shined so bright
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
We marched and we sang
We all became friends
As we learned how to fight

A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

I kicked in the door
I yelled my commands
The children, they cried
But I got my man
We took him away
A bag over his face
From his family and his friends

They took off his clothes
They pissed in his hands
I told them to stop
But then I joined in
We beat him with guns
And batons not just once
But again and again

A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away

The shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow

A hero of war
Is that what they see
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it's a flag that I love
It's the only flag I trust

He said, "Son, have you seen the world?
Well what would you say, if I said that you could?"