The smoke is the only reminder there ever were flames The war machine needs a target to do as it’s trained Its makers fear the enemy they dreamed up in their minds They don’t know who they kill, just that they’re not on their side What they call pride Is psychological design A bullet on the breeze can kill from one mile away We didn’t authorize the shot that rang out anyway Dead men tell the tales that their blood spells on the sand This gun is much too powerful for one set of hands So we need a plan We drafted a blank check to them for false security We got guilt and escalation, they got indemnity Majority thought power was the quickest way to peace But you know temporary laws, they somehow never cease This doesn’t seem like what it means to be free A bullet on the breeze can kill from one mile away We didn’t authorize the shot that rang out anyway Dead men tell the tales that their blood spells on the sand This gun is much too powerful for one set of hands So we need a plan To take it away

If I could turn it all around, I’d change every single thing No more dreams of falling down But I know the cycle never ends I might as well get on my feet and risk this route again Don’t say ‘I quit’ I’m not through believing Just need to see If there’s a life that makes sense to me I tried to run, tried to destroy everything And now I think I ran too far away If I could turn it all around, I would start ten years ago When her judgment tore me down But I know it doesn’t work that way But how can I show anyone that I’m different today? You said I quit But I’m not through believing Just need to see If there’s a life that makes sense to me I tried to run, tried to destroy everything And so much more than insecurity But still I dream that you were next to me If there’s still a chance, then I ran too far away If I could turn it all around, the past would all be nullified You’d be my sight and sound But I so don’t want it to be true That ten years’ thoughts behind my eyes Are meaningless to you

There’s a fear of people who let doubt crack the illusion that you create There’s no place to show your real heart You think to question is to betray A culture built on fear of ambiguity There’s a real beauty in the words that I have read, you don’t resemble Like layers of makeup on mannequins, what you can’t see won’t make you tremble But there are scars on every face Life is hard to live for everyone and everything so just hold on I can barely hear you over static and white noise that keeps you numb When the light shines in, you can no longer hide That you’re a house fresh painted with decay inside Someone else is who you’ll always be Unless you find some authenticity

I used to think I lost one of my senses I couldn’t feel something that didn’t have a name It felt like everyone else was outside living While I’m inside watching the shapes in the ceiling How can I find myself when I’m lost in the dark Down in the depths there is no way to make a spark I’m holding on to an imaginary rope Pulling myself up to the surface So I can breathe Sometimes more questions lead to a lack of answers When times are simple you think you know just what to say But then adversity will deal its next hand And we find who we are depending how we play Hide, run, walk, crawl or acquiesce and embrace the fall Now I hit the bottom But lived to say I bounced high enough to see the way The years collided and became today This time I’ll never let the friendship fade

I woke up this morning and the news said ‘buckle up because everything is screwed’ But I’ve heard the same thing since I’ve been old enough to care So what part of this is ‘news’? Is it not a flaw in us? It’s what our dollars buy Are we not what we consume? ‘Thanks for being with us, here’s everything that’s gone wrong since the last report at noon’ ‘At 6 again we’ll analyze what we’ve beaten to death, and the crime report comes soon’ Positivity The modern world is like a desert I’m searching for a spring Yeah, this status quo disaster Is too much of everything Is it not a flaw in us? It’s what our dollars buy Are we not what we consume? In the thoughts that we think On the paper and the ink Until there is no more room To care

Paradigm shift, and a new sun rising Slogans so trite they’re almost surprising Just more machinations to campaign Wrapped in phrases, calculated Special interest fabricated Vapid platitudes for the inane Is it wrong that in the back of my mind there’s a rage that’s festering Though it’s dormant most of the time I thought that all of us had a conscience and a mind Why can’t there be an honest voice? Why can’t the masses not comply? And ask the simple question – why? We used to use a word called liberty Three hundred million and we cannot change a thing I know that it looks bleak But if there’s a chance, that’s all we need There’s too much hope There’s too much pain For this heart too accept this brain Most will claim they have the answer Cut the other side because that’s the cancer Hatred is the cycle that we breed Can a humanist only theorize? Can a punk band only plagiarize? Can a Christian find the good in their beliefs? So here are the questions I would pose What’s democracy if not to live the laws that WE propose? Can we learn from past mistakes? Can we even show a pulse? Can we even tap the brakes? Or can we only watch the show, and float down the river?

I have a book where I write down what I have done To make sure I’m always moving on The world won’t wait for me I’m just a leaf that’s on the breeze I always thought I’d known exactly what I need Something that has always escaped me Something like your smile And the words I’d dream we’d say And all I ever want is to be stable I’m seasick from my own spinning view I think I’ll feel better when I’m able To know that I can find anchor in you There’s this idea that we’re nothing but our past Every line’s a riddle or a test we didn’t pass Who can take that? One mistake would drive you mad And then we act like love is scrolling through a list Searching for perfection But what if you missed? What if that’s not love That will catch you when you fall And all I ever want is to be stable I’m seasick from my own spinning view I think I’ll feel better when I’m able To know that I can find anchor in you You have no idea how I want to be all of those things for you But I am too broken for the perfect life that you’d design We are people, let’s be real, we’re a puzzle with a million pieces The journey not the rules is how we’ll find divine

That time is a boarded window, forever a mystery Do the pathways of our past diverge because of you or me? I often ruminate on the things I didn’t say Could I ever have made it harder for you to throw away? I can’t forget what you had said Like it’s tattooed inside my head Can I write my own lines Or will I die by the end of the night? You said I’ll always be the antihero But you’re the playwright You seem so much happier now, I’m glad you have it I’m searching for who knows what, and it’s become a habit I can’t forget what you had said Like it’s tattooed inside my head I kill those dreams each chance I get The past can’t chase me if it is dead

The world’s forgetting how to live Just parents and their plastic kids 6 billion people making choices But too blind to see the sum of them We were born on a complex planet Took everything that it can give Take a moment to consider This level of enlightenment I wouldn’t say I am a bleeding heart We just don’t need you if you don’t play your part So… What’s the reason we live here? I don’t know I just know there’s no more noble fight how can we cause change alone? I don’t know That’s not relevant to what is right There is too much chaos here To ever pause and reflect in it But first world problems with perspective Equal insignificance Politics won’t make the change They only care to pin the blame But somehow we need to be more Than parasites without a brain What’s the reason we live here How long can we breathe this old air I wouldn’t say I am a bleeding heart We just don’t need you if you don’t play your part

Stop screaming We’ve all got our tragedies The difference is I accept When mine are self-inflicted I know that I don’t do what I always should But I like to view myself As chaotic good Evil is A component of this design It’s the flimsiest finest line That curls and chases me No one is Immune to catastrophe So don’t let the flaws become The only thing you see I know We lived In a place That turned us into fantasy We break We love We grow More healthy in reality So stop screaming We’ve all got our tragedies And sometimes we have a chance To be the remedy Outwardly Now that’s what the old books teach We must be a neighbor to The ones within our reach So sure Cast stones Play judge Let your perception Misconstrue But then Be careful You don’t Want this same gun Pointed at you

Be inside this moment The present is the one that always lasts A wise man once said to me ‘Stop assuming that the future’s like the past’ I learned this lesson at a price when there was no calm in the storm If every day’s a hurricane, to hide inside becomes the norm But don’t forget what you control The negative is hard to bear if you wear it like a uniform But we’ll make it home If I have to cross this bridge alone It’s either this or no escape from where we’ve come Breathe inside this moment Every one you miss is never coming back Don’t plead for future miracles That may not come if you’re on the wrong track When you’re down on your knees and then The fear is coming back again The chill that cuts down to the bone Is gone and done if you can only make it home