1.'China Man'

and you knew too well what you had to lose

and I'm moving on and you're moving on too

b/c there's not an ounce of sincerity

yeah, I'm alone but I prefer the clarity

and oh here you go again with some unclear plea for self-realization/some long and sleepless hunt for relation/ and we cordially extend our apologies to those who put their faith in this/ to those who put their money on this

and you state your claim but you step back down

and you speak your mind when no one hears a sound

and your opinion is famous, b/c words are spread

yeah, you're a step below lost, but a step above misled

and oh here you go again with some unbearable hunger for the promised land/some idealistic 12-step plan/ and we persistently extend our sympathy to those who couldn't speculate/ to those who caught on too late

yeah… it happens so fast…

and we all ignore this free advice

and you just disregard your own demise

and I don't need some pretentious claim

from an ungrateful stranger who loves this game

and oh here you go again with some rational reason you wanna be with me/ but you don't wanna be around me/ and you go on and on and on about how you can't be wrong/ not about this guy/ he wouldn't make it if he tried

yeah…it happens so fast

2."Harlequin Romance Ruins Lives"

Oh Argentina-

You'll win this once again/with your great leadership and respect for the working man/ and you watch the new kids/ watch them try to shake things up/ and you'll embrace them/get ahead at catching up

-oh, I'm talking to no one

-they've got no future

-so they wanna pull you out

I guess we made it/ without the time and the research/ and you've got the government talking/ and they pray for us in church/ and the city stopped sleeping

-while you're making decisions

-and you're playing by ear

-yeah, you're testing the waters

chorus:

Harlequin romance is ruining my life

The muse of a man has gone to new heights

And when I'm alone I am never alone

And I can't act surprised because I should've known

Now you got the pay off/ yeah your calling finally called/ and there're no laws that state/ what's too big and what's too small/ so you give them an off day/ you set them free from all their strife/ yeah you're their leader/ you're the breath that gives them life

-oh, my faith has been restored

-in this great newfound mystique

-but you're a smooth talker

-yeah, you say all the right things

(small break)

repeat chorus

3. 'Today/Tonight'

and I said you cannot be here all by yourself/ you are so cunning and you will hit so hard by bringing up weaker times and past romances/ and taking lofty chances/ on some half-hearted speech you made about how true love exists we're all just too lazy to find it/ and you got no one to get behind it/ we'd so much rather settle on infatuation and loss in an endless cycle/ such a familiar cycle…yeah

chorus:

and this is and outrage/ but your say is quite outdated/ and the hopeful pray as the young girls lay out in the sun

and I said you should not be left here/ here in such pleasure/ it's such a forward gesture/ that you advance towards me/ though we just met and you call me fragile, and I have so much to rattle/ but you'll corrupt my very being, I can't interrupt what you are seeing though your time has come and gone/ it's time for you to move along/ to she that seems to be elite, oh the patience paid is sweet/ but it's just this cycle/ such a predictable cycle…yeah

repeat chorus

LONG chorus:

And this is appalling, but your opinion was overlooked

And the judges rule, but the president is a fool

And the children cry as the passers pass right by

And the hopeful still pray as the young girls lay out in the sun

4. "work ethic"

I need a statement/ that will bring…bring them to their knees/ let them see a side we rarely ever speak about/ we don't even think about/ too bold to cut through

The future gets you through it, but you've got time/ every waking hour on the eastside/Is spent losing what you've savored and becoming local favorite/ when they tell you that you've made it/ everything feels infinite

Chorus:

But you couldn't be any further away from me, but I won't say anything

Cuz I love you and I need the assurance and the empathy

You couldn't be any further away from the prize you always talk about

It's not easy, but it's worth the effort and you see that you'll have to bring it out

The city is surrounded by noise/ but it sleeps alone just like the unhappy residents/ who sit and stare at x-rays/ and forget their friend's birthdays/ they think they chose their own way/ but they're not fooling anyone.

The past keeps you up late/ and thought…after thought hang on to one another and you think/ if you're the only one bothered/ then why does it hold you under/ and keep you from the promised/ what they promised us years ago.

Repeat chorus

5. 'Man-Eater'

this…is not a plea/ this is just an apology/ I know that you have been hurt by me/ and this is the only way for me to truly be sorry/ I'm just an everyday/ I'm not a follower of wizardry/ I can't work any magic/ but I love you/ and I'm down on my knees/ it's a dangerous place to go/ b/c you're a man and even if you don't love me/ you don't know how to tell me no

so baby let me see you

I just wanna see you

I don't bark and I surely don't bite

So baby let me see you

6. "Lon Chaney"

1^st Verse:

you are a man of many faces/ come from many faces/and spread the word

now you have nothing really to say/ about as cliché/ as a pretty face without a voice behind it/ and you have high expectations

there's no way to save it when there's nothing left/ he wants conversation and she wants sex/ there's nothing to hide, so there's nothing to protect

just because he doesn't want ya doesn't mean he doesn't love ya/ he'll go out and find himself in California/ and mingle among the regular people he never knew

never talked to

never ate with

certainly never slept with

chorus:

hold that thought babe, cuz I like the way you're thinking/ you just run away when the people that you love grow old/ if you hide your face then/ no one cares enough to/ shed a tear when you pack up your things and go home.

2^nd verse:

 why would you save it when there's nothing left/ and there's so much confrontation, there's no time for sex/ and you gave up hiding it so there's nothing to protect

And he said he doesn't want ya, so I guess he doesn't love ya/ and while he's out finding himself in California/ you'll settle down again, find a man who doesn't like the thought

And he's mingling/ and he's holding hands/ and he's starting over/ and he's making plans with a fresh young face everyday

chorus

3^rd verse:

(loud)

and he's better/ and he's a brand new man/ and he's doing something/ and he's taking a stand/ cuz he left that life behind and found his truth/ he found his calling yeah..

and it's worth it/ cuz he's trying hard/ and he forgot about her/ and he's about to start/ and he knows exactly what to say.

outward bridge:

he doesn't hear what you're saying

he doesn't know anything

he is a man of many faces

and he's exactly as he seems

7. "It's a Shame"

there are worse things in my body besides the air I breathe/ yeah, you should count your lucky stars for coming from humble beginnings/ b/c love and hate walk hand in hand once you enter the gates of the promised land/ and I'm telling you as an insider/you should surely be grateful

bridge:

-oh I've lost it

-I've lost charm I had

-I've lost that wit I had

-I've lost that truth I had

& it's a shame

chorus:

I see what you're planning in your head/ yeah I know you better than you even know yourself/ and I see that cross hanging down by you/ and I wish that I was a poor girl too/ I wish it was that easy to live w/o proof

There are worse things in my mind than morbid thoughts/ as if bitterness is a disease I somehow caught/ but the absence of God has done me well and I caught you fast when you thought you fell/ but all you were looking for was a little reassurance

Bridge:

Oh I found it

-I found that satire

-I found that sullen girl

- I found that manic depression

and it's a shame

what a fucking shame

she's back

repeat chorus

There worse things within me I wish you could see/ and no higher power could save a knave like me/ and I told you I don't want a part in your crusade to save my bleeding heart/ because I'm happiest when I'm free to ruin my life

Oh God I'm wasting it

-I'm wasting that wit I had

-I'm wasting that charm I had

-I'm wasting that truth I had

and it's a shame

what a perfect waste

yeah It's a shame

8. "the shrew"

Our minds are getting faster

Our minds are getting faster

And you know that you have lost her

When she shows you what she knows

And tells you where to go

She breaks things down real slow

Heredity has ruined her

So young and with such anger

But love is not the answer

Because someone will have to tame her

The searching can't being

Because attraction must enter in

And she has the fairest skin

But the sharpest bite

Chorus:

But someone's always willing/ someone's always killing/ to filter someone's mind and find the things that people miss/ and sometimes when you're lonely/ and words are spilling out/and you're talking to yourself / and you appreciate the people/ who no one really likes but no one really hates/ they just listen to your problems try to offer their good word/ and sometimes even strangers/ are better than no one/ you're still feeling empty, but at least they won't worry about you…

Our brains they have evolved

To a swift and painless call

And the experts, they are appalled

Because now no one has to think

And no one has to work

And zombies roam the streets and

Run their errands

But she doesn't even hear us

She'll never even come near us

She mopes and talks his ear off

About recent studies and poetry books

And pretty girls and their dirty looks

And how no one ever uses their own thoughts

Or ideas in this day in age

Repeat chorus

They are in surplus

Welcome to the modern age

The thinking girls

In the modern age

9. 'Own it in an Instant'

you understated the side effects/ of love so short with and intellect/ she owned you before you could speculate/ the way you'll play the game

I know I know I told you so/ she'll crush you before you even know/ and you second-guess you're tactics after/ but this doesn't add up at all---

Chorus:

You could own it in an instant, but you won't even try/ and you know her and you love her but you let her float by/ you could win this with a short kiss then you notice that she's ruthless, so you lose it in the last few seconds of the game

It's not the same

You lost it when started loving it/ and grew used to the life of an associate/ and I know she's unconventional/ but that was quite and impressive call

And the hurt and pain was still belated/ cuz you were somehow pre-medicated/ and she tried not to laugh, but you saw around it/ and walked right out the door—

Repeat chorus.

10. 'I Saved Latin'

And you can't rely on the remedy/ when you forgot the words to the melody/ and the source was outted days ago/ so you pack it up and you let it go/ and they'll leave you there when you lose that spark/ magnetic wit and a faithful heart/ and it was great at first, but it'll soon wear off/ and you lose what you worked so hard for

And you shouldn't rely on your family/ when they lie to about significant things/ and they put you on their family tree/ just talk about you with their friends and colleagues/ and you sell yourself short just to bring yourself down/ assurance is the only thing keeping you around/ and when you lose that niche that enraptured me/ I'll stay close by just to keep my place in line.

Chorus:

And you can't repeat the words I say

And you can't remember the music I play

But you like the way I say it and you feel like you should stay

You don't wanna leave cuz it would ruin the day

And you can't understand these books you read

And you can't interpret the life you lead

But the kids are happy and you think it's safe to credit yourself

And you can't rely on your epiphany/ he reads your mind and he's all you see/ and you feel it bursting at the seams/ perfection found in a libertine/ and you always cry with the windows down/ because the wind is cold and it blocks the sound/ and there's nothing to do except dig for thought/ relive the bad years the ones that we forgot

Repeat chorus

Bridge:

 Oh the language is dead/ but it's the birth of all the others/ oh the language is dead/ nothing's keeping it alive except for teachers and young lovers

11. 'Cause and Effect'

and the point of the plot was to arouse the senses then get you thinking about sentimental value and all the little things we take advantage of/ and the audiences' only quarrel with this so-called artistic revolution/ was all the immoral conduct and shocking imagery/ but all these people they live a fantasy

bridge:

and oh…/they don't even know/ they all go back to their proper upbringing/ and these unworthy souls are out in the grass singing

CHORUS:

Please have mercy on my soul and emancipate the innocent

We shall not be moved and we still have no consent

There is a balm somewhere to make the wounded whole

There is a balm somewhere to save my wounded soul

And he says that you are nothing but a paper signed to him and no one else/ and this toil and mental abuse/ it's wrath, it nearly overturns you/ and no art can save anyone from death by force/ it'll just help you pass the time until/ you accept this fate that you are cursed with

BRIDGE:

And oh…they won't even show/ the bitter aftermath its bringing/ and these unworthy souls are scattered in a choir singing

REPEaT CHORUS TWICE