my love, my city pale as the grave/sterile, subdued, enslaved/houses bought, communities sold/in the name of turning concrete into gold/the world you leave us has no legacy/but our daughters will name us and our sons will show us the way/in the world you would have all of us drown/the world you would have i would burn down/this city is dying, buried in poison/with your wood and your nails, while you sing its eulogy/well, save your breath, because now it’s us, singing for you/save your breath, i’ll sing for you/torch city hall/burn it down/we’ll march a pony through its ashes/
Guillotine & Surrender
//guillotine poem by lionel joseph//
we packed the blades away/it wasn’t time for us to run things yet/go back to prayers, take all that you can get/but don’t touch theirs/go back to buddy, can you spare a dime?/the boss is right/we’ve got a lot to learn, backs to the wall/like how to steal a light/to torch a palace just to see it burn/to topple empires just to hear them fall//but we’ve burned that flag a thousand times before/whatever did we get, no open door/no hand held out in love, but only war/so now the flag we raise above us means something more/a hundred fucking centuries and no one’s learned a thing/a thousand words of anger, just another song to sing/a million fucking wars we fight, wrapped up in flags of hate/and one last dream of peace as we surrender to our fate/a color without country, without lesson, without life/there’s no meaning left without an answer and a price/like purity, like god, like bones bleached in the sun/and moon and stars and rivers, oceans flowing into one/a single piece of cloth in the barrel of a gun/
What Now?
it’s hard to make a monster out of government schemes/while you’re looking for the truth, they’re looking in your dreams/and they just make a scapegoat out of what you’ll never get/make you weak with punk rock records, and high school regrets/why weren’t it that way then?/how do we make it that way now?/white leftist guilt and self-reflection, that’s the real cash cow/making movies, writing books, singing songs to fight the man/it runs too deep/they made it up/so you will never understand their plan/what if it’s all a hoax?/what if it’s all a con?/ what if they’re paying us to stand up here and sing this song?/did you ever think about that?/no, i can see it in your eyes/you never even thought about the source of all the lies/but now evolution’s trapped/time is running back/there’s no way to know if they help or they attack/but oh, my dear/i still love you/and love is all we need/to help us make it through/oh my sweet, when i look in your eyes/all that i can see is the reflection of their lies/
ICE AGE
the ice age is coming/the cold war is here/we’ll wait all our lives for the summer of next year//oh look, there’s frost upon the window pane/ and look out at the rain/it’s turniong into snow/do you think it could be climate change?/well, who am i to know?//the icy cycle starts again with the slamming of a door/but this time kabul’s nicagagua and baghdad’s el salvador/they’ll fight the wars that go unseen in countries other than their own/and make speeches about valor as armies trudge through the snow//the ice age is here//the faster that we drop the bombs the darker turn the skies/the factories that make the guns will make the oceans rise/we’ll all freeze to death in the new world that is coming/but is it nuclear winter or the ice that has us running?/nature will destroy us if we don’t do it first/ the powerplant becomes a grave, the car becomes a hearse/
WHO CARES?
who cares?/who cares?/who cares?/who cares?/who cares?/who cares?/ who cares?/who cares?//who will we get to fight this war?/i know, i know/ we’ll use the poor/let’s close down the factories/more layoffs means more soldiers/and that’s more money for our pensions/now that we’re all getting older//who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/roadside surprise, another one dies/just more meat for the flies/who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/friendly fire, they’re shooting each other/blood dripping down their backs/who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/eleven soldiers died today/ how many more tomorrow?/who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/who cares?/ they’re not human anyway//who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/who cares?/ we’ve got plenty of them/who cares?/we’ve got plenty of them/who cares?/ who cares? who cares? who cares? who cares? who cares? who cares?
FROM THE ASSES OF KINGS
for the last several centuries humankind has been in a steady state of decline/we are using up our resources faster than we can begin thinking of how to replenish them/soon we’ll be scrambling to stay alive/perhaps one day swept away by the tide/but if we help each other/if we reach out to one another/then maybe, just maybe, we can have a hope to survive//things will get better on their own/i don’t want to rock the boat/i mean, why should i stand up?/this couch that i’ve been sitting on is so comfortable/why fix things if they’re not broken?/what’s wrong with the way things are?/it’s too hard to change things now/do you know a better way?//do you really believe in their mass produced shit?/do you really believe that their system is right?/do you really believe that we’ve done all we can?/show them your fist, not the palm of your hand/do you really believe it’s already too late?/can you even concieve of what we’ve got on our plates?/a big pile of shit from the asses of kings/and a gag in our mouths for the songs that we sing/
WHAT IF
i derive no joy from hate/and i ask for nothing from the state/but still they take my money, take my life/there’s only one way to survive/so i walk arm in arm with murderers/and i take anything they offer/but in my heart i plant a seed/come one day my heart be free//then there is no motherfucking way/there’s not the slightest fucking chance/that i will bow to you that day/that i will ask you for this dance/romance/no fucking romance/i play a game, i make a move/one step removed from love and truth/and still i wait, and still i wait/but this tree will never grow i hate/there’s no time for questions now/what if? what if? well, maybe so/there’s a weak link in every chain/but it’s never you that is to blame/what if it’s all a game, all wrong?/each revolution makes them strong/maybe it’s too late for this song/what else to do but carry on?//what if we stopped believing in a slogan based solution?/what if we stopped believing in a catch all revolution/what if we started acting like we’d already won/like the power and the wealth were ours to share as one/how would you treat your neighbors, or those you claim to hate?/you say the time is coming soon, but what if it’s too late?//what if?/what if?/what if?/what if?/
LAST WHITE FLAG
sick of all the lies, our faces we disguise/you cannot label what you cannot recognize/our flag is blank and white, a beacon in the night/is it the symbol of surrender or the symbol of a fight?// who will live and who will die and who will decide?/and in the end or is it the beginning/who raise the last white flag?/who will burn the last white flag?//we’ll untie our masks when you untie our hands/ and we’ll take all our masters, make them slaves and then/we will rule the land and crush all those below us/they will rise above and take over and start over again//right and left and right and wrong and black and white/ and you can fight it out while we pursue our dreams/can you hear the people off into the distance?/is it the sound of laughter or the sound of screams?/
DUTY HONOR PRIDE
there’s no war/there’s no war/there’s no war worth my love for you/ there’s no war/there’s no war/there’s no war that leads to peace or truth// from well fed mouths flutter moths and lies/they say it’s duty, it’s honor, it’s pride/but all you can really do is close your eyes/ while other people’s children lay down to die/and despite all my desperate cries/i can’t seem to uncloud your eyes/can’t i make you see?// there’s no war/there’s no war/there’s no war worth my love for you/ there’s no war/there’s no war/there’s no war that leads to peace or truth// there’s no war/to defend our freedom/there’s no war/to keep us safe/there’s no war/righteous or justified/there’s no war/worth your life or mine/ there’s no war that leads to anything but hate//
with bullets clenched between our teeth
we preach health like holy name
with dirty needles in our veins
we hold the olive branch of peace
with bullets clenched between our teeth
we preach health like holy writ
with our veins pumping full of shit
“fuck capitalist pigs!” then buy some more
cigarettes and beer above the law
“but it’s just myself i wanna destroy
not all the little girls and boys”
in factories across the sea
they work as slaves they are not free
cradled at the bosom of free trade
out of sight, out of mind the problem fades away
still they work to serve the western stores
making jeans they can’t afford
they work to serve the western lords
making dreams they can’t afford
we try to expiate our sins, while we
avert our eyes and keep costs down
it’s just the same for you and me
we’re all slaves to the factory
the world is a factory, churning out the dreams of the
people, churning out the smoke which blinds our eyes,
churning out government, churning out POWER; using up
life to fuel the engines.
and the wheels go round. rise up, throw down
but things are coming to an end.
we tried to smash the wheel of time and fear
but got our hands caught in the gears
now nothing’s ever gonna change
we sit alone and fear that nothing’s ever going to change.
and the wheels go round. rise up, throw down, the
cycle of flags… stars stripes, circles, sickles, symbols,
of black flags and white flags…
but things are coming to an end. the last white flag has been flown
and it’s complex for you, playing all sides of the game
but it’s simple for us
things are coming to an end
the gears are winding down
things are bittersweet, and clear
and we can see at last
here in these last days
if you think you understand the truth you never will
when you’re sure you’re right
then you surely will be wrong, and we’re all learning still
it’s not too late to hope
the fear and hatred ended with a kindly word
bosses, landlords, lawyers, cops
generals, CEOs, a system so absurd
a process of change is not an overnight sensation
no love song in a machine gun
a process of change is not a competition
no poem in a battle won
sometimes you’ll have to fight
to get what you believe
and if you have to steal
take only what you need
because there’s enough for everyone
but there’s too much in too few hands
and they’re the ones with all the guns
and they’re the ones with all the land
a process of change is not an overnight sensation
no love song in a machine gun
a process of change is not a competition
no poem in a battle won
is it more about the life than the living?
is it more about the gift than the giving?
when public schools teach loving hearts
instead of being battlefields
when globalism falls apart
and takes with it the new monarchy
when the pressure of this concrete world
is lifted from our chests, well then
maybe we can breathe again
the individual exists, i promise you
each of us is our own gift, i promise you
your own self is all that i can promise you
but if i have my way
when you’re old enough then we won’t wait another day
we will kick down all their doors together
we will walk away from war forever
a child born of love not institution
little friend, you are the revolution
a world born of love not institution
together we will dream the revolution
would you wait in line?
why do you do what you do?
who do you be when you’re not you?
do you ever reconsider your point of view?
was it something that somebody said?
or maybe it came from a book you read
well, is that a good reason to end up dead?
we’ve all got to think for ourselves
we can’t take our beliefs from a drugstore shelf
and poison ourselves when we need help
if you’ve got nothing inside
and life! you’re just along for the ride
then you’re already gone, you mean nothing to no one
you’re asleep without dreams, you’re just a part of their machine
how long would you wait for some sun on your face?
how long would you wait to get to the front of the line?
would you wait until they just hand it to you?
would you wait for the whole world to come crashing down on our heads?
would you wait forever? would you wait ’til we’re all dead?
the line’s getting longer and it won’t stop
until we all stop dreaming of a place at the top
but you just sit there and don’t make a sound
well, what would you do if it all came down?
would you face your life, or just stare at the ground?
well?
what would you do?
because the shining gates above are closed to somebody like me
so all i’ve got is my own self, and this apple from the tree
and like the snake my sin is i know who i am
and i know who you are, too, i know your kingdom is a sham
queens and kings on paper thrones with plastic crowns and mobile phones
they don’t want to break the cycle, they just want to break our bones
world trade, world bank, it’s the same rich thugs on the same old mission
it’s the aristocracy, and now it’s the inquisition,
we’ve got a legal system, there’s no justice to be seen
well, laws come from rulers, justice comes from within
the one’s on top are subject to the same laws as me and you
ha, we’re the subjects, and if we don’t want their fucking rule
then we can’t be their peasants on the factory floor
but it’s so hard to walk away when we can’t see anything more
we’ve gone too far too fast, but for all our new technology
we still can’t look back. it’s all happened before but we can’t see
this is the future, that’s what they’ve told us
but the yoke’s still on our shoulders
they keep their hands clean
and the truth about who’s right and wrong comes from glossy magazines
public opinion just feeds the guillotine
now listen: we are not your only hope
we will not hang by your rope
and we may not be standing tall
but at least we can stand at all
in the face….
of the flood that’s brought upon us by our own uncertainty
while the kings and queens of shit are their own deity
i demand…
a more important future vision
of dreams and fire, but opportunity is a monster
your laws do not apply to me
your schools do no good i can see
your temples and your churches,
no these are not my family
and i will not bow down
before the same old crown
as it rests on the heads of this new monarchy
the truth of right and wrong is nowhere to be seen
as the rats begin to whisper the talking heads begin to scream
no one will admit it but we all know what it means:
the beginning of the end
but there’s always another dream
and we’ve still got a lot to learn
like how to steal a light
the best defense against the prying eyes
build a wall of paper, wear a tie as your disguise
layer piled on layer
like the prettiest wedding cake
but when you try to take a bite is when you’ll find that it’s all fake
the days go by and we take our pay
the typeface blurs, what does it say?
the world is not black and white, it’s all grey.
a pen clenched in an angry fist
a war waged which does not exist
no guns, no clubs, no riot cops
just words and words and words and on and on and on and on
an animal without a head, without a heart
a labyrinth of words without an end, without a start
and when your fortress without walls is done all the forests will be gone
but the stench of exploitation lingers on and on and on and on
ovens piled with burning numbers, i don’t want to be a numbe
“don’t come looking for answers, you don’t know the proper questions anyway
don’t ask us for help, we won’t listen to anything you have to say”
and once you’ve asked for help, well then they’ve got you on the run
and then they’ll make you pay for all the things you haven’t done
the ones at the top can’t see the ones beneath, the fat old man of state can’t even see his feet
too bloated and sick to survive anymore, a dying paper ruler in a cabinet drawer
as we file away foundations for this new Roman Empire, existing just to grow, this bureacracy is cancer
something for the rich to do so they don’t have to work
each piece of paper, number, nothing by itself
but the impact is increased as as it travels down the tree
until the typo destroys the lives of the ones like you and me
who get paid shit… next to the “yes, sir” on top
but who is at the top?
power is not what it seems
the individual doesn’t matter
the throne is always empty
what a testament to humankind
an accomplishment of the mind
to create such monumental uselessness
so burn away the shadows
and cut away the tape
that has kept us so afraid to make a choice
our work so far removed, from our lives and from ourselves
we can’t remember why we do it anymore
so work and live, work for your own life; to help those who can’t; for food, for joy
no drudgery, no grey offices, no grey suits… don’t stare out the window, walk out the door
Can you guys post What If? on here?
Hey man I got What if on mp3 I can hook you up if you still need it..let me know
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paper thrones is one of the most refreshing things I’ve heard this year..unfortunately I slept on the tour but I will be keepin tabs now.
thanks
sucks I missed the tour though I guess I slept on it..doesnt look like you guys played Baltimore anyways but I think we coulda made the trip up to Philly for you..I’ll try to stay on top of this stuff from now on.
wish somebody would post ‘there is no war’ ep on here..I got the 7″ but I really wanna get it on a cd.
ah..nevermind..got it.