Bad Religion

[barbarin]

Henchman

Henchman

Stranded in a life in which your struggle for acceptance is a never-ending chore
Upbraided for your actions past and present
And rewarded for ideas of the future's bright open door
The henchman is the human analogue of the suffering multitudes
Who like good dogs sit and lick their reward
So what good advise have I got for you
To ensure against your likely metamorphosis into this reprobate?
Don't be a henchman Stand up on your laurels
Do what no one else does and praise the good of other men for good man's sake
And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
(Although a cold day in hell it will surely be)
That is when the entire world shall live in harmony

 

[barbarin]

It Must Look Pretty Appealing

It Must Look Pretty Appealing

The wheat waving next to you is so healthy and so fine
As is dinner with your loved-ones every day
But your routine is changeless through the decades of your life
Green pastures opens spaces holy ways
It must look pretty appealing
The acres of light the crowded festive nights
And the millions if others just like you
It must look pretty appealing this other world of sin
We keep dreaming of what other people do
The person sitting next to you is dismal and deranged
On the bus ride home from work to end your day
And the food on your table is more plastic than protein
And your intellect depends on your tv
And it must look pretty appealing the pastoral retreat
The folks on old main street and the few pleasant people just like you
It must look pretty appealing the simple way of life
We keep dreaming of what other people do
But we never do what other people do
You're too scared of other people not like you

 

[barbarin]

You

You

There is a place where everyone can be happy
It's the most beautiful place in the whole fucking world
It's made of candy canes and planes and bright red choo choo trains
And the meanest little boys and the most innocent little girls
And you know that I wish I could go there
It's a road that I have not found
And I wish you the best of luck dear
Drop a card or a letter to my side of town
'Cuz there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend
But baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send
And you painted my entire world
But I don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled
And I won't forget it
There's a place where everyone can be right
Even though you remain determined to be opposed
Admittance requires no qualifications
It's where everyone has been and everybody goes
So please try not to be impatient, for we all hate standing in line
And when the farm is good and bought, you'll be there without a thought
And eternity my friend is a long fucking time
'Cuz there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend
That's why baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send
And you painted my entire world
But I don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled
And I won't forget it

 

[barbarin]

Progress

Progress

And progress is not intellectually planned
Its' the facade of our heritage the odor of our land
They speak of progress in red white and blue
It's the structure of the future as demise comes seeping through
It's progress 'til there's nothing left to gain
As the dearth of new ideas makes us wallow in our shame
So before you go to contribute more
To the destruction of this world you adore
Remember life on earth is but a flash of dawn
And we're all part of it as the day rolls on
And progress is a message that we send
One step closer to the future one inch closer to the end
I say progress is the synonym of time
We are all aware of it, but it is nothing we refine
And progress is a debt we all must pay
It's convenience that we cherish; it's pollution we all disdain
And the cutting edge is dulling too many folks to plow through
Just keep your fucking distance and it can't include you
It's progress till there's nothing left to gain
It's progress it's a message that we send
It's progress is a debt we all must pay

 

[barbarin]

I Want Something More

I Want Something More

Going through a world of sad debris
Regarding quixotic reveries of ownership
The blossoming disease of a man called tenure and accretion
The ancient western treadmill of deception and derision
But I want something more
Racing through a life of tragic wastage
I experience the loss of trust and innocence
The billowing cyclone of time has blown away our reasons
As we trudge like blind men forward
Trying to avoid collision
But I want something more

 

[barbarin]

Anxiety

Anxiety

It's a love song to the self, a story recapped every day
It's a world of bogus feelings and a world of slow decay
It's a world of laughter hidden by this world of fear and torment
It's a game of strange compulsion our visceral convulsion
Anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety a feeling that you know you can't contain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety
Suppress it if you can
The caste of coffee-achievers didn't perform like they planned
The morning rush hour traffic is our play of false élan
So run around your frantic track and lay you down to sleep
Tomorrow's the redemption we strive for that exception
Anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety a fear that you have nothing more to gain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety
Suppress it if you can
What are we angry for?
We all need a common cure
That common goal for which you strive
To have more than the other guy
The quest for truth the quest for gold, we end up all the same
The common lie the righteous cry, we end up all the same
The angry crowd those lost and found, everybody's all the same
The poet's pen these words I lend
We all bend to anxiety for love of life, anxiety for pain
Anxiety a feeling that you know you can't contain
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society, anxiety

 

[barbarin]

Billy

Billy

I can recall the warm youth of a summer day
The sweetest lemonade the darkest game arcade
And Billy had a yearning
In the corner of his mind
It moved him secretly
It moved him powerfully
But prescience was lacking and the present was all
And his aptitudes were carelessly wasted
And challenging life with the abandon of a fool
He squandered the hours of his day
Then darkness and disorder slapped him sharply in the face
It hit him like a friend struck something deep within
He couldn't break the chain of slow decay
That seemed to drag him just like a fatal tie toward the other side
And Billy was a lunatic just barking at the moon
And his brain was totally wasted
He then exchanges his friends for a needle and a spoon
And he threw his future away
Bolt the door and throw away the key
You dim reflection is all that you can see
So where is the justice when no one is at fault
And a human life is tragically wasted?
How fragile is the flame that burns within us all
To light each passing day?

 

[barbarin]

The World Won't Stop

The World Won't Stop

You've got to quit your little charade and joint the freak parade
Now that your road has been paved from the conception to your grave
There are enormous things to do other practices to eschew
To be better than you is impossible to do
But the world won't stop without you
Your achievements are unsurpassed
You are highly ordered mass
But you can bet your ass your free energy will dissipate
Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are
An element in the sea of enthalpic organic compounds
The world won't stop without you
You're only as elegant as your actions let you be
A piece of chaos related phylogenetically
To every living organ system they're siblings don't you see
The world evolves and will rotate without you constantly
Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are
An element in the sea of enthalpic organic compounds
The world won't stop without you

 

[barbarin]

Modern Man

Modern Man

I've got nothing to say,
I've got nothing to do, all of my neurons are functioning smoothly yet still
I'm a cyborg just like you, I am one big myoma that thinks, my planet
supports only me, I've got this one big problem: will I live forever? I've
got just a short time to see, modern man, evolutionary betrayer, modern
man, ecosystem destroyer, modern man, destroy yourself in shame,
modern man, pathetic example of earth's organic heritage, when I look
back and think, when I ponder and ask "why"?, I see my ancestors spend
with careless abandon, assuming eternal supply, modern man.., just a
sample of carbon-based wastage, just a fucking tragic epic of you and I

 

[barbarin]

Turn On The Light

Turn On The Light

I had a friend
who kept a candle in his pocket, he used to touch it when the wind was
blowing high, I guess it made him feel like he could buck the system and
when it flickered out we laid him down to die, turn on the light, turn on
a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights, a beacon in the night,
I'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry, I'll construct a rack of tempered
beams and trusses and equip it with a million tiny suns, I'll install upon the
roof on my compartment and place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls
and then I'll turn on the light..... and I'll burn like a roman fucking candle, like
a chasm in the night, for a miniscule duration, ecstatic immolation
incorrigible delight