Subject: War
SMOKE PLUMES
On a high flying wagon train
Feel the sun through the window pane
Ran them black hats clear out of town
Hired a posse and gunned them all down
So let 'em raise a big dust cloud
You did good and your Mama's proud
No telling what the truth will find
But you're sky-high now with an open mind
chorus (X2):
And it's funny how the views can change
Thirty-thousand feet up and way down range
Are those smoke plumes in the air?
Or a line of clouds in the predawn glare?
Not sure what you really did
'Til historians lift the lid
Will a new world war dance cut it?
Open Pandora's box or shut it?
Is the world now a better place?
Did it just fall flat on its face?
No telling what you left behind
But you're sky-high now with an open mind
(chorus)
Why does Time always grant us sight
Of what we did wrong and what we did right
When it's too late to change a thing?
When the swan has sung its song and taken to the wing?
How long can Wisdom survive
Unwanted: Dead or Alive?
A lone voice 'mid the home team cheers -
"I give you these for they have no ears"
Final toast on a midnight plane
In full stealth mode and free of blame
It all went like you said it would
Took on the press and you fooled 'em good
Heading home with a loaded chest
Oiled Stetson and a cowboy vest
You know, you really robbed 'em blind
But you're sky-high now with an open mind
(chorus)
SOLDIER X
A clenched fist in a face
A lovers last embrace
A boot print in the mud
Filled with a pool of blood
Ransacked stores, kicked in doors
Executions on the spot
Everyone dies as traitors or spies
Doesn't matter if they're not
chorus 1:
Prisoners march - Their fates all sealed -
Gunshots in the woods beyond the burning field
No mercy or recoiling at the screams of terror
When it really isn't human but genetic error
A boy condemned to die
Is put down in mid-cry
A mother and her son
Are ambushed on the run
"Cold and stern, beat and burn
Be as brutal as you can
Let none survive to crawl out alive
And alert them of our plan"
chorus 2:
Villagers lie - Their heads face down -
Silence falls over the charred and gutted town
No remorse or revulsion for the night of terror
When it really wasn't human but genetic error
It really isn't human...
SCORNERS OF THE GRAVE
now, i've been in heavy weather
but this i just can't stand
it's amazing how you stay calm
with the bitter end at hand
take a look outside this window
the storm's not easing up
it's gonna blow right through your cornered life
and flip it like a cup
chorus:
at war with the world -
'cause they don't like the way it's made
so they're gonna kill us
and put our bodies on parade
would you reach across the table
and light my cigarette?
would you give us fifteen minutes?
would you care to make a bet?
be a friend and crack that window
i feel like i can't breathe
on second thought don't bother
who wants to hear them seethe?
(chorus 1)
chorus 2:
at war with the world -
more than our eyes refuse to meet
so they're gonna kill us
and drag our bodies through the street
do you think they'll lay us down
in a hazy sunlit glade?
do you think they'll hear our story
and the sacrifice we made?
i remember reading something
that always made me brave
"through words a man is never dead,
not even in the grave"
(chorus 1+2)
(repeat to fade)
at war with the world
(not even, not even in the grave)
at war with the world
(not even, not even in the grave)
at war with the world
(not even, not even in the grave)
WARLIKE WAY
be it Earth
or the realm of the gods
everyone, everywhere
is at odds
we hear the words the diplomats say
still we pound the drums in a warlike way
every inch
of the Earth, every spot
takes on the look
of a dark parking lot
we try to keep our demons at bay
still they manifest in a warlike way
chorus:
and so we come with loaded guns
to advertise our aims are true
and so we march with bayonets
to emphasize our point of view
no one wants to listen
no one wants to care...
crowded bar
contentious workplace
weapons quick to draw
fisticuffs to face
burning grudge, a time bomb in play
shattering of lives in a warlike way
(chorus)
bridge:
we already got
a witches brew
and these amateur chefs
want to thicken the stew
for you and for me
and for all humanity
(chorus)
tag verse:
no one wants to listen
no one wants to care
until some lunatic fringe group
starts waving guns in the air
THE SHELTER OF SHADOW
verse 1:
i struggle out of the gate -
stumbling -
trip bombs leave dead bodies in my wake
a crescendo of alarms -
soldiers scramble for their arms -
and the race is on for the shoreline of the lake
verse 2:
at the first line of trees - a machine gun nest -
wishing my shadow was a cave I could crawl into
wishing my shadow was a grave I could fall into
verse 3:
behind, I hear the cries -
echoing -
ahead, a stretch of field with deadly crop
more escapees disappear
with each report I hear
the gunshots ring the air but I don't drop
verse 4:
i pass the open ditch and bags of lime -
wishing my shadow was a cave I could crawl into
wishing my shadow was a grave I could fall into
bridge:
i could fall
i could fall
i could fall into
i could fall
i could fall
i could fall into
verse 5:
i feel the open field
exploding -
claiming lives around me left and right -
attack dogs on the trail
as my lungs begin to fail
with freedom just beyond and within sight
verse 6:
at the murky waterline I fall wounded -
praying the shadow was a cave I could crawl into
praying the shadow was a grave I could fall into
wishing the puddle was a lake I could dive into...