Bad Religion

[barbarin]

All Good Soldiers

All Good Soldiers

all good soldiers crack like boulders
The sun climbs up to a razor,
violins, new boots, and numbers on a chain
All good soldiers
all good soldiers fall in line
when they march and shout-
are a spectacle
marching and singing-
will go anywhere the president says-
because the president believes in god-
like all good soldiers should
all good soldiers wait like warheads-
When the fighting starts who will
be accountable, a cannibal, a cannonball
It's six A.M. I can see my breath
and the clay dirt
is laughing at the weakling boy-
today is the day
that I'll write my friends
its something I've been
trying to remember-
I had a dream of a wall
that was twenty-one stories tall...
All the good soldiers fall in line
when they march and shout-
are a spectacle
marching and singing-
will go anywhere the president says-
because the president believes in god-
like all good soldiers should

 

[barbarin]

Watch It Die

Watch It Die

i was born on planet earth
the rotating ball where man comes first
its been around for a long long time
but now its time to watch it die
i saw a man on my big blue screen
he ruled the world economy
he said the rich would never concede
but some day soon he'll be put to sleep
i've seen the life of the forest green
and adaptations of the deep blue sea
and who knows who is the fittest
they will all soon be put to rest
on a plunging flight and we're sitting
in the pilots seat in the midst of life
people on a dark horizon praying
somebody will save their lives
i was born on planet earth
at a drastic time full of plastic mirth
and every day i've seen increasing signs
and you would too if you'd opened your eyes
you had a chance you did not try
so now it's time to watch it die

 

[barbarin]

Struck A Nerve

Struck A Nerve

there's an old man on a city bus
holding a candy cane
and it is'nt even christmas
he see's a note in the obituary
that his last friend has died
there's an infant clinging
to his overweight mother in the cold
as they go to shop for cigarettes
and she spends her last dollar
on a bottle of vodka for tonight
and i guess it struck a nerve
like i had to squint my eyes
you can never get out of the line of sight
like a barren winter day
or a patch of unburned green
like a tragic real dream
i guess it struck a nerve
every day i wander
in negative disposition
as i'm bombarded by superlatives
realizing very well
that i am not alone
introverted
i look to tomorrow for salvation
but i'm thinking altruistically
and a wave of overwhelming doubt
turns me to stone
and i guess it struck a nerve
sent a murmur through my heart
we just haven't got time
to crack the maze
like a magic speeding clock
or a cancer in our cells
a collision in the dark
i guess it struck a nerve
i try to close my eyes
but i cannot ignore the stimuli
if theres a purpose for us all
it remains a secret to me
don't ask me to justify my life

 

[barbarin]

My Poor Friend Me

My Poor Friend Me

i know a man
who doesn't have many friends
i know a place he lives
where trouble never ends
i know its hard for him
to read 'tween the lines
and his days are getting so much shorter
he simply turns away
instead of bearing down
his ship is crumbling
his crew is one of clowns
he doesnt care
as long as he can wear the crown
i know this man all too well
its my poor friend me
a portrayal of the great dichotomy
(a reminder of a tragic history)
its my poor friend me
and im running out of steam
i know there are people
who are cynical and vane
they point there finger
'cuz they can't accept the blame
they live there lives
under a blanket of shame and their progeny
crawl from underneath it
lately i've come
to see the solution
and it begins with me
but i'm so fallibly human
i've picked the lot

 

[barbarin]

Lookin' In

Lookin' In

suddenly, it came to me
a potent dosage of reality
i saw myself in the broad daylight
and it made me think
about life
i'm not the kinda guy
who nods his head
with closed eyes
i scoff at labels
i defy censuses
and despise group mentality
all along i thought
that this was only human
but i know now that
i'm in the minority
i'm lookin' in
now i think in relation to
my fellow man
and what he strives to do
we fail to see
theres no compromise
our evolution
is our demise
one day you may find
that you are also one of me
a microcosm
of the human race
observing those around us
desiring to belong
behind the guise of salvation
we suffer along the way
we're lookin' in

 

[barbarin]

Don't Pray On Me

Don't Pray On Me

A grizzly scene on my electron beam
told a story about human rights
So all of Kings horses
and all of Kings men
had a riot
for two days and nights
Well, the city exploded
but the gates wouldn't open
so the company asked him to quit
Now everybody's equal
Just don't measure it
Well Hanson did it to hester
and Mark David did it to John
and maybe Jack did it to Marilyn
but he did it to South Vietnam
For beauty and glory
for money, love and country
Everybody's doing it,
Don't do that to me
I don't know what stopped
Jesus Christ from turning
every hungry stone into bread
and I don't remember hearing
how Moses reacted
when the innocent first born sons
lay dead
Well I guess
God was a lot more demonstrative
back when he
flamboyantly parted the sea
Now everybody's praying
Don't prey on me

 

[barbarin]

Modern Day Catastrophists

Modern Day Catastrophists

take those potatoes out of your ear
listen to the warnings
verify all your fears
there's a world outside
that's ready to blow
and we're all to blame
when it finally explodes
you gotta listen up
gotta listen to what
they're telling you
gotta listen up and think
about what they're saying to you
they're a modern day catastrophe
they've got practical solutions
(know all the right equations)
they're the self-appointed
righteous pragmatists
and they know 50 ways
to save the world
what makes you think
you can cure our disease?
maybe its just our biology
maybe its time to make room
for another species
this is the 21st Century

 

[barbarin]

Skyscraper

Skyscraper

Come let us make bricks
and burn them hard
We'll build a city
with a tower for the world
and climb so we can reach
anything we may propose
Anything at all
Build me up, Tear me down
like a skyscraper
Build me up, then tear down
those joining Walls
So they can't climb at all
I know why you tore it down that day
You thought, if you got caught
we'd all go away
Like a spoiled little baby
who can't come out to play
You had your revenge
Build me up, Tear me down
like a skyscraper
Build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
So they can't climb at all

 

[barbarin]

Incomplete

Incomplete

Mother,
Father,
Look at your little monster
I'm a hero
I'm a zero
I'm the butt of the worst joke in history
I'm a lock without a key
a city with no door
a prayer without a faith
a show without a score
I'm a bad word
a wink, a nod, a shiver
an untold story, sex without fury
a creeping gray memory
I am
Incomplete, Incomplete, Incomplete
Incomplete
Doctor
Cure me
What is the cause of my condition
This madness shoots me
Like bullets smashing glass in a silent movie
I'm a trap without a spring,
a temple with no god,
a jack without an ace,
the tip of your tongue,
I'm a promise, an unmailed letter,
an unbuilt motor, deck without a joker,
a creeping gray memory
I am
Incomplete, Incomplete, Incomplete
Incomplete
Tell Saint Peter not to bet on me
I am a naked obsession
a good intention gone bad
I am
Incomplete, Incomplete, Incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete, Incomplete, Incomplete

 

[barbarin]

Leave Mine To Me

Leave Mine To Me

There are desperate times upon us,
there are codes of white and black,
political resentment and people start to crack
There's hate and opposition,
there's fumbling dialog,
yet you sit there and judge me
and you think it makes a difference

If you think I'm all alone you are foolishly wrong
There's an entire army who blindly follow along
and you happen to be one of them believe it or not
even though you try not to be we are of the same plague

The other ways we're taught to fear
Don't even scratch the surface of the problem here
I'm not blind, and I'm not scared
So many crucial factors exist out there
And they're but one, and we're but two
And how we come to terms will help us pull through

Things cannot change too fast, it took us this much time
to reach our current platform and walk this fragile line
If I thought I'd make a difference I'd kill myself today
But so many are like me lost in the fray

You create your own reality
And leave mine to me