1. Beyond The Black

The war is over
The crypt we now taste
In the late 1900's, there is no human race
We split the planet with atomic birth
Man has died
We seal the urn.

Negotiations are over
Troops are marching to their doom
All that I see is a nightmare
The smoke is blotting out the moon
No, God please stop this bloody slaughter
We are off the beaten track
All the masses are rebelling
To withstand the dark attack
Will we make it back beyond the black?

Tanks are rolling in millions
See them come, and now they're gone
All the mountains are blackened
They said it came from just one bomb
No God please stop this bloody slaughter
Let it all repeat –– attack
All the masses are rebelling
To withstand the dark attack
Will we make it back beyond the black?
Will we make it back beyond?

Out of the crypt with faces marred
Seems the night has won
We unite as one
No more weapons, no more guns
Look out!
Food supplies are worth more than gold
Turn the young into old
With blinded eyes we count the cost
Of everything that we lost
Look out!

Watch out!
Beyond the black!!!

2. Date With Poverty

I live my life the best I can, sometimes I need a change
Losing all my marbles wasn't part of the game
Existing day by day tormented by the telephone
It's hard enough to live my life, why don't you live your own?

I pay out money with a check, I never use the cash
Collectors closing in on me, is this some kind of test?
Borrow is my middle name, the banks give graciously
With interest rates that terrify, they knock you senselessly

Bounce a check, lie a bit, do without
I'm in hiding, just leave me be
This is the first step to my date with poverty

You sit there in your cushy job and call me on the phone
You want my money and everything I own
I'll pay you soon as I get paid, the check is in the mail
Don't call my home anymore, I've long since jumped bail

Bounce a check, lie a bit, do without
I'm in hiding, just leave me be
This is the first step to my date with poverty
I'm in hiding, just leave me be
This is the first step to my date with poverty

Living on a shoestring daily, maybe I'll make some money maybe
I hope to make a living someday, then I'll pay you what I owe you
Then you'll get off my back!

Someday I'll get ahead of things and life will be so grand
I'll buy a house down my the beach, stick my feet in the sand
For now I'll do what I can do to keep this dream alive
Until I win the lottery I must survive

Bounce a check, lie a bit, do without
I'm in hiding, just leave me be
This is the first step to my date with poverty
I'm in hiding, just leave me be
This is the first step to my date with poverty

I'm so fuckin' broke
I can't even afford to pay attention
Don't you know who I am?
You got any food?
I need a drink
Aw, fuck you

3. Gods Of A Second Chance

In an act of desperation, he put a gun to his head
In his mind confusion, nothing but delusion,
thinking he was better off dead
No one to be his savior, from the vises he made
Voices callin' to him, left his life in ruins,
drugs have led his mind astray

God, don't you hear me? God, don't you care?
Cause if you did, my friend,
you wouldn't leave me hangin' on this way
Somebody turn on the lights, somebody give me some air
I'm in the middle of a nasty situation
that is leading me on nowhere
I gotta hear you tonight, I gotta know that you care
You got me down on my knees
and I'm praying and I gotta know you're really out there

The second hand is ticking, time moves ahead
Feel the shadows breathing,
whispering and seething, dealing inside my head
A Candle flame before me, flickers in dance
As I sit here praying,
hoping that I'm swaying the Gods of second chance
All cry to heaven, all cry for truth
And while we wait for lights and thunder,
the devil is on the loose

Somebody turn on the lights, somebody give me some air
I'm in the middle of a nasty situation
that is leading me on nowhere
I gotta hear you tonight, I gotta know that you care
You got me down on my knees and I'm praying
and I gotta know you're really out there

4. In Mourning

Maybe if you'de listen than you'de know what I just said
If you think the words I'm singing are why your kids are dead
Maybe could it be that no one was there to hear
Did you pay attention to their angers and their fears?
You're trying to find someone to blame who can't be put on trial
The enemy you're looking for is laughing all the while

I mourn for those who have been so deceived
You know the last words that they spoke were "Who loves me?"

People in glass house should not be throwing stones
A sticker on a record won't give your kids a home
So sad it takes someone to die for you to start to care
Your neglect and misguidance have become your nightmare
I hope and pray this tragedy was not all just in vain
Now you can help somebody else avoid the endless pain

I mourn for those who have been so deceived
You know the last words that they spoke were "Who loves me?"
I hope that someday you will stop and realize why do many kids have died

Think twice before you point a finger that you may regret
To clear you conscience is your goal, but that is all you'll get
What's done is done, you can't bring them back, Just let go of despair
You keep saying to yourself "If only I'de been there"

I mourn for those who have been so deceived
You know the last words that they spoke were "Who loves me?"
I hope that someday you will stop and realize
Just why do many kids have died

5. Watch The Children Pray

In a darkened graveyard glows a light.
I see it shine there every night.
I know somewhere there's a hidden door.
There's an answer here we must explore.

No, I'll not submit to reason.
I'll sit and watch the seasons change.

We watch the children pray.
Save us God today,
Come whatever may.

We hold our fate and make the choice,
But we'll not listen to that still small voice.
Are we just crazy, out of our minds?
Wish this were someplace, another time.

We watch the children pray.
Save us God today,
Come whatever may.

And I know we're going
So far away from this wretched life we lead.
With open arms meet catastrophe,
In the valley of the damned we'll be.

And I know we're going
So far away from this wretched life we lead.
With open arms meet catastrophe,
In the valley of the damned we'll be.

We watch the children pray.
Save us God today,
Come whatever may.

And now to life we say goodbye.
I know the when but not the why.
Our nation's blood spills on the ground.
Our lives go out without a sound.

6. Start The Fire

Break down the walls of forever.
Pull down hard on the lever.
Let them know that you can turn the key.
Though they try to hold us down.
Turn it up, that chainsaw sound.
I just love to see my parents flee.

So you see that they're all going nowhere.
Everybody's staring into space.
Start the fire.
Bring down the hammer.
Start start the fire.
Burning on forever.

Now I see the storm clouds a coming.
Can you feel the juice, it's a hummin'.
Feed the power cables into me.

Like a ship that's built for destruction.
I'm a metal man of construction.
And I'll fire my cannons, one by one.

So you see that they're all going nowhere.
Everybody's staring into space.
Start the fire.
Bring down the hammer.
Start start the fire.
Burning on forever.

7. No Friend Of Mine

No one's born with hatred, it's something that you learn
How do you think the good Lord feels,
about the crosses you burn
What makes you hate the difference
of someone's skin or race?
You must think you have more rights
to be living in this place

I don't know what you feel, or have you lost your mind?
Afraid to take a look at yourself,
afraid of the things you will find
You're no friend of mine

The Dark Ages are over, in case you haven't heard
While you're lost in ignorance, you killed a mockingbird
Hide behind your bedclothes, meet in some secret place
One day soon this hate you've brewed
will blow up in your face

I don't know what you feel, or have you lost your mind?
Afraid to take a look at yourself,
afraid of the things you will find
You're no friend of mine

Black and white and yellow, living side by side
The children always play together,
we taught them otherwise
All men created equal, all have human rights
So tell me why we hate each other,
no winners in the fight

I don't know what you feel, or have you lost your mind?
Afraid to take a look at yourself,
afraid of the things you will find
You're no friend of mine

8. Badlands

I ride alone, the wasteland that I cross
Will take another life, we'll take another loss
I feel a dry wind, dust is in my eyes
The artic cold at night, the earth, it tells me lies

God in heaven, my only friend
Will I live to see my journey's end?
As the world awakens me so hard, my values have been changed
I make a promise to myself: Never again
A dusty godforsaken path, endless to my dismay
I know these are the badlands, somehow I'll find my way

No more paradise, no more soothing rain
All the sacrifice, the pain is all the same
Still I'm pushing onward, alone I can't deny
My presence fills the desert, my spirit never dies

Will these lonely nights ever end?
Will I live to see my journey's end?
As the world awakens me so hard, my values have been changed
I make a promise to myself: Never again
A dusty godforsaken path, endless to my dismay
I know these are the badlands, somehow I'll find my way

The vultures that circle, cloud the empty sky,
Patiently waiting, they wait for me to die
Tortured and beaten, blistered by the sun
Forceful and heartless, have the badlands won?

Still I'm pushing onward, alone I can't deny
My presence fills the desert, my spirit never dies
As the world awakens me so hard, my values have been changed
I make a promise to myself: Never again
A dusty godforsaken path, endless to my dismay
I know these are the badlands, somehow I'll find my way

9. The Human Factor

I just can't believe my ears, some music out these days
The human factor has diminished, in oh so many ways
Fancy footwork gets top bill and I'll put on such a show
One more Midi cable and my band is ready to go
One more moneymaker and I'm set for life
Stealing from others will make my future bright

One, make some money; two, overexpose
Sincerity is felt much more when the human factor shows
When the human factor shows

I just need a sample cause no one says it's wrong
It's so easy to rip-off using someone else's songs
Everybody wants to be a star in modern days
But if I don't have talent then I'll just get by this way
Changing programs faster than I dare to say
Musicians all make mistakes who needs them anyway?

One, make some money; two, overexpose
Sincerity is felt much more when the human factor shows
When the human factor shows

I just heard a song today I think I'll use a part
incorporate it my own way and that is just the start
I'll change the lyrics that they wrote to satisfy my needs
I wrote the book. Two easy steps. "How to succeed."

I just can't believe my ears, some music out these days
The human factor has diminished, in oh so many ways
Fancy footwork gets top bill and I'll put on such a show
One more Midi cable and my band is ready to go
One more moneymaker and I'm set for life
Stealing from others will make my future bright

One, make some money; two, overexpose
Sincerity is felt much more when the human factor shows
When the human factor shows
When the human factor shows
When the human factor shows

10. Fake Healer

I prey upon your morbid fear
Of terminal disease
You won't know the difference
Now it's time for surgery
Another shot, another pill
Two weeks therapy
I take all major credit cards
Your money is what I need

I'm a healer
I will keep you all alive
I'm a healer

A villain at your bedside
Take this and you'll be fine
Severely educated
Just pay your bill on time
I think it's time for another test
I need more of your blood
Sign this affidavit
So my insurance won't go up

I'm a healer
I will keep you all alive
I'm a healer

Research and development
Spend millions every year
You sickly and decrepit ones
Keep my yacht safe on the pier

You're dying on a stretcher
We'll try to save your life
If you can't afford my service
I will let you die
I'm trusted and respected
Says my diploma on the wall
Before I will do anything
I'll give your bank a call

I'm a healer
I will keep you all alive
I'm a healer