Bad Religion

[barbarin]

At The Mercy Of Imbeciles

At The Mercy Of Imbeciles

What you do is what you are / And wishing upon distant stars
/ Won't improve the hole you're in / Won't absolve your
deepest sin

But action is no gift from some covert and lofty god / It's
dependant and weighty all the same / And it is oh so easy just
to keep to yourself / But then you're at the mercy of imbeciles

Now I didn't make up the rules / But clearly we are led by fools
/ It is wise to know their ways / So you know how not
to behave

But sometimes we find ourselves in desperate need / and we
look to those with privilege and power / It's then we learn
compassion sits inert on their shelves / We're at the mercy of imbeciles

NO Action is no gift from some masked spirit in the sky / It's
reducible to flesh, mind, and bone / And it is oh so easy just to
keep to yourself

But then you're at the mercy of imbeciles

Imbeciles / Imbeciles / IMBECILES

 

[barbarin]

The Same Person

The Same Person

You want prosperity / For yourself, but not for me / Somehow
you just can't see / We're in this collectively

You think that freedom is / A drastic severance / from your past
relations / just a quest for new bargains

We're not the same person / We're not the same person (Don't
even wanna know) / Wooohhh

Don't need no good advise / Nor shoddy merchandise / I'm the
suspect device / Beaten down, unable to strike / We're not the
same person / We're not the same person (Don't even wanna
know) / Wooohhh

And the sun comes over us again / We lament, we pine, and
we rescind / And we ask for understanding / But aren't we the
stingy ones indeed / When it's needed from us in the end?

We watch the days go by / Compete and then we die / So few
ever ask why / But so many just abuse the design

We're not the same person / We're not the same person (Don't
even wanna know) / Wooohhh

 

[barbarin]

In So Many Ways

In So Many Ways

I can see the shadows on the wall / Drifting as the leaves start
to fall / Unfazed by rugosity, the objects yield to gravity / And
depict the destiny of us all

No one really knows why we die / No one gets a break so we
try / Ignoring mortality, we worship mediocrity / And wait to
see what happens up on high

In so many ways we live to follow the sun / In so many ways
we exalt and fail as one / In so many ways we want so bad to
be done / In so many ways we show our pain in unison

Something in you is busy counting days / Catapulting you
through the haze / Blind to virtuosity, ignorant of your sanctity,
/ Revealing you, in so many ways

In so many ways we live to follow the sun / In so many ways
we tend to rise and fall as one / In so many ways we want so
bad to be done / In so many ways we show our pain in unison

 

[barbarin]

You've Got A Chance

You've Got A Chance

A rhapsody! Contestants in disguise
A nation of desire but who will win the prize?
The people stand united, reluctantly aligned
Copying and lying are the favorite pastime

(Chorus)
You've got a chance to confront the world today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

Common life depicted on afternoon TV
is spiked to give the miserable a vogue identity
Hate your neighbors, cheat your friends, they don't discriminate
Popularity and fame don't care if you're a reprobate

(Chorus)

(Bridge)
I'm tired of all this Shakespearean misinformation
I want to win the game

You've got the right intentions but who's got time to think?
You've got a noon appointment, you've got to hit the links
You're talking in the stratosphere, you're curled up on the floor
With such a wealth of information, why are you so poor?

You've got a chance to be relevant today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
(Don't you believe what the wise men have to say)
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

 

[barbarin]

It's A Long Way To The Promise Land

It's A Long Way To The Promise Land

It's a long way to the promise land so you'd better well know your way
There's a ship on the ocean and an albatross who is trying to lead you astray
Leaders, politicians, and power whores are in line to receive your choice
And you bet your ass, if you give it to them, they will gladly take your voice
And it's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

It's a long way to the promise land, if we work we might find it here
There's no substitute for enlightenment, there's no reason for bridled fear
When you've joined the people who've joined the club you gotta clench and play your hand
'Cuz if you fall in line you're gonna fall in time and you'll never make a stand
It's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

(Bridge)
What are you going to do? When they call for you?
Bend and capitulate? Or keep your head on straight?

Easy answers bought without experience, is gonna lead you to certain doom
Because the truth is just what you make of it, it begins and ends with you!
And it's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

 

[barbarin]

A World Without Melody

A World Without Melody

I don't want to live in a world without melody
Sometimes the rhythmic din of society is too much for me
But purpose is prioritized these days, the goal is win the prize
There's a sleeping resonance we hold, through which we're united

So let it out! Don't just get lost in the crowd
No one can deter you from your own path
There's no trip too remote from which you can't come back
And I've got this hunch about you and me
None of us are ready for a world without melody

Melody is the key, it's the surest way to unlock your individuality
Melody is the key, it will set you free!

Don't disrelish harmony, community will make you whole
Work and understanding are the chords way deep within your soul
They only need to be struck once, and the vibrations swell and spread
But if we mute them they decay, our sensibilities are dead

So let it out! Don't just be one of the crowd
Hesitance and diffidence will do you in
And your soul doesn't care for social medicine
And I've got this hunch about you and me
None of us are ready for a world without melody

Melody is the key, it's the surest way to unlock your individuality
Melody is the key, it will set you free!
And I know, together we could change the world
Just you and me
But I won't live without melody

 

[barbarin]

New America

New America

Do you know the cost of future misery? Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away from realizing what we strive to be
But we've got to break out from this insulated blind and lame senility

Wake up the new America Wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria Wo-oh!
Change is the thing you're wary of Wo-oh!
We need a new America Wo-oh!

Laurels, human triumph, bestowments from the past
Victories don't mean a thing if they don't last
We are just marching toward extinction with blinders on our eyes
Jeopardizing everything we've learned and come to realize
You call that wise?

Open your eyes America Wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell us Wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us Wo-oh!
We need a new America Wo-oh!

We don't have to be afraid to reinvent
We've got to start to build, progress, and implement
For when we take our fill, and never pay the price
We only build ourselves a fleeting, false paradise

You can live in staunch denial and mark me as your enemy
But I'm just a voice among the throng who want a brighter destiny
They say with me

We are the new America Wo-oh!
This is the new America? Wo-oh

 

[barbarin]

1000 Memories

1000 Memories

You were the one, you were my everything
Never apart, no one in-between
Then one day, when you went your own way
You felt justified, and I was mortified
But today...

You are just a picture
And a thousand memories is all I take with me
'Cuz your smile is just too much to see
You're just a thousand memories

Fantasies, broken dreams
Reveries, sordid histories
Following my heart, laden with reaction, without calibration or design
Committed to a trial, a life of understanding
Can't somebody show a sign to you? For me, to see if you only knew...

That you were the one...
(First verse)

'Cuz a picture is worth one thousand memories

 

[barbarin]

A Streetkid Named Desire

A Streetkid Named Desire

Well, it was punk-fifteen in the morning and it was time to stand my ground
And as the gawks and stares bombarded me I didn't even hear a sound
No one gave a damn if I was there or away
If I died and went to hell, they'd throw a party on my grave and they'd all
say, "This kid is just a fool, he'll never be cool, they might as well just ship
him off to some other school"
Plain destitute
Just a little too guilty, a little too soon

(Chorus)
But that day was just like any other day
No work, and no play
I knew that paradise was some other place and I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire 'cuz I got the desire

Well, it was punk-fifteen in the evening and it was time to set the town
on fire
I saw my boots and my hair as reflected in the mirror, reveal a streetkid
named desire
I didn't give a damn because I was just dying to be
And as the Hollywood street scene left its mark on me I changed from a
boy into a man
I said "Never again!" I stuck out my chin when I should have ran
Shit in the fan
I was driven so hard by the sound of my heart

(Chorus)
(Bridge)
When the walls surround in deeper shades of blue and there's no voice of
reason inside you
And you search for meaning on an empty shelf
Then you're always dreaming of somewhere else

(Chorus)
Today is just like any other day
No fear, no restraint
I know that paradise is some other place and I will get there another day
You can come with me, no conditions or fares
Somehow, somewhere
I will find it before I expire, 'cuz I've got the desire

 

[barbarin]

Whisper In Time

Whisper In Time

All those stories that my dad told me, they are just a
whisper in time
All those things that never came to be, they are just a
whisper in time

(Chorus)
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
(Memories that flicker and die)

All those places I wanted to go, they are just a
whisper in time
All those friends who now I do not know, they are just a
whisper in time

(Chorus)
Maps and roads that brought me here today, they are just a
whisper in time
Circumstances that were explained away, they are just a
whisper in time

(Chorus)
... We are messengers of memory, just whispers in time