Into The Unknown

I see a white haired man, he's got a suit on hand
He's telling people how they're supposed to live
Nobody's listening to the politician
No matter what sage advice he has to give

He's got a clumsy, outdated m.o.
And he's come to a fork in the road
And there is only one direction to go

Among the commuters, dwarfed by the skyscrapers
I watch the countless millions fighting for space
See hateful, petty acts, disjointed images,
And can't believe that i'm one of the same race

We're all just struggling to cope
And we come to a fork in the road
As we watch our foundations erode
There's only one direction to go

It's the way of the dodo
Such a noble destiny
It's the waltz of desperation
Passed along to you and me
The way of the dodo
(it's the gray stuff in your head)
(it's the pulse of the living and the voices of the dead)

there's the image of a man
Who commands a high opinion
But he hides his hatred with a sheepish grin

And beside him flanking closely
Are the boisterous hollow masses
Who lap up whatever trickles in

This intercourse of nature,
This vulgar social pastime
Reflects the lowest mark of our progress

And the few who ride peripheral
Maintain subtle advantage
Fighting hard to abstain and redress

Do you know your place
In the big charade?
Are you more than they?

Leaders and followers
Leaders and followers

Recognition by proximity
And a brand new face
Just a smidgen of success pie
And a pinch of social grace
You can play with the big boys
Or you can tell them what to do
But sooner or later there's another one like you

The voyeuristic public
Of which we're all a part
Maintains perspective on the human play

And while many have desires
Of joining in the show
Many turn and go the other way

Tell me do you know your place
In the big parade?
Are you fear and shame?

bad religion - tested

Yeah they say there's a place free of trouble and care,
And you have to pass a test for, to make it there.
It has something to do with a road that's straight and narrow,
And the only way to go it is by being like them...
There's always one more hill to climb,
There's always one more hill to climb!

Bombarded by multiple choices twenty-four-seven,
Navigate your tangled web of logic compassion,
Guided by subconcious voices astute and sharpened,
Tested,
Tested, oh oh oh.

Options, well maybe one, what we're supposed to do.
Stand and deliver, or see the conflict through.
And as we long and proceed to build our castles in the sky,
Our plans bent invalid, and determination dies.

There's no preperation and no guide!
Just what you've done before here with your life...

Bombarded by multiple choices twenty-four-seven,
Navigate your tangled web of logic compassion,
Guided by subconcious voices astute and sharpened,
Tested,
Tested, oh oh oh.

Acting on will,
The test is a reaction.
Opening your heart,
The test is the emotion.
Rolling the dice,
The test is the agility.
Burning out your mind,
The test is the recovery...
One two.

You can play by the rules, or bend them to your needs.
But the test isn't over till you reach your dark eternal sleep.
There are no absolutes, no big wheels in the sky...
You don't have to be first, just to get a sundown goodbye.

Yeah,
Bombarded by multiple choices twenty-four-seven,
Navigate your tangled web of logic compassion,
Guided by subconcious voices astute and sharpened,
Tested,
Tested, oh oh oh.
Tested.

The silent stray inertia
No burden on my back
No determinance, no ballast
No chance of looking back
It doesn't matter what's ahead
It's time i'll hit it hard
No fixing my position
No sign of retard
It's the fast life
There's nothing i can do
The fast life
Suck it in and follow through
The fast life
Just learning as i go
You might call it careless
But this fast life
Is all i've ever known
Like a wispy feather
Defying gravity
Or a rolling cobble
In the middle of the stream
Propelled by a ghost force
That never shows his face
Increase the ante
Of this perpetual pace
It's the fast life
There's nothing i can do
The fast life
Suck it in and follow through
The fast life
Just learning as i go
You might call it careless
But this fast life
Is all i've ever known
Ever since the day
I came out of the womb
My head was always bouncing
Off the walls in the room
Always scratching gravel
Covering new ground
No matter how hard they tried
They couldn't pin me down
It's just the fast life
There's nothing i can do
The fast life
Suck it in and follow through
The fast life
Just learning as i go
You might call it careless
But this fast life
Is all i've ever known
Yeah it's all i've ever known

father, can you hear me?
How have i let you down?
I curse the day that i was born,
And all the sorrow in the world...

Let me take you to the herding ground,
Where all good men are trampled down,
Just to settle a bet that could not be won,
Between a prideful father and his son.

Well you guard me now for i can't see,
A reason for this suffering and this long misery.
What if every living soul could be upright and strong?
Well, then i do imagine there will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

When all soldiers lay their weapons down,
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crown,
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves...
It's easy to imagine there will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

There will be
Sorrow.
Yeah there will be
Sorrow .
And there will be
Sorrow, no more.

you're obsessed and distressed

supersonic

Well, i am not making haste or could it be haste is making me
What's time but a thing to kill or keep or buy or lose or live in
I gotta go faster
Keep up the pace
Just to stay in the human race
I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic
Tell me does life exist beyond it?
When i need to sate, i just accelerate
Into oblivion
Into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah ya-ahn
Well here i go again, everything is alien
How does it feel to be outstripped by the pace of cultural change?
My deeds are senseless and rendered meaningless
When measured in that vein
I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic
Tell me does life exist beyond it?
When i need to sate, i just accelerate into oblivion
I won't lie, it's exciting
When i try to decide things
I just want to live decently, meaningfully
I'm in misery
(pace setters, go getters)
(rat racers, forget hers)
(researchers, berserkers)
(strategies to help the workers)
(new time saving devices)
(quick vices, short splices)
(brevity, dependency)
(digital efficiency)
I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic
Tell me, does life exist beyond it?
When i need to sate, i just accelerate into oblivion
Into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah ya-ahn

Little girl's eyes open wide
Two ways to go but you can't decide
Follows all rules, has no say
Ends up in somebody else's play
Close your eyes cause you just don't need them anyway
Lose as directed, don't take no chance
Don't hinge your life upon circumstance
Mystery and misery go hand in hand
So you better follow the master plan
Don't use your head, lose as directed
Little boy sitting in his master's arms
Safe and protected from any harm
Wants to be a man, wants to branch out
But he's told not to ask questions or doubt
Close your mind, it's a book of instructions now
Lose as directed don't take no chance
Don't hinge your life upon circumstance
Mystery and misery go hand in hand
So you better follow the master plan
Don't use your head, lose as directed
Lose as directed
Let's go!
Monkey see, monkey do
Just another animal in the zoo
Got four wall security
Never even have to read a recipe
But it's not exactly what you would call free
Lose as directed, don't take no chance
Don't hinge your life upon circumstance
Mystery and misery go hand in hand
So you better follow the master plan
Don't use your head, lose as directed
Lose as directed
You lose!

Blood is a river,
Flowing darkly amidst the tangled roots of the tall shining city
Crazy flowing mantide migrations
Engorge the big ventricle of heartbroken america
So many heaven hoping, hopeful groping breathers
All tap together quietly and desperately in unison
Hey, hey, hey, is anybody listening?

News from the front
News from the front
We're living in troubled times
So many fighting for their lives
Why do the troops despise the news from the front?

Ignorance is the root of fear
Fear is the kindling of anger
War is the bringer of shame
But never has the burden lain so heavily upon the victim
Rage and desolation
Pain and loneliness
Isn't it all alarmingly familiar?
Hey, hey, hey, silence is a killer.

News from the front
News from the front
Yeah these are troubled times
How many more will have to die
Before the governors can't deny the news from the front?

Break down the barriers, ally the carriers,
What is your motivation? take a good look in the mirror

News from the front
News from the front
So many are fighting for their lives
How many more will have to die?
Why does the government decry the news from the front?