Track Listing
- Green Day- American Idiot [American Idiot] *
- Pennywise- God Save the USA [Rock Against Bush vol. 1] *
- The Cure- Club America [Wild Mood Swings]
- Bonnie Prince Billy- Death to Everyone [I see a Darkness]
- Bruce Springstein- My City in Ruins [Tribute to Heroes] *
- Rocky Votolato- Alabaster [Suicide Medicine]
- Bright Eyes- Land Locked Blues [I am Wide Awake, Its Morning] *
- Thursday- War all the time [War all the time]
- Pedro the Lion- Indian Summer [Control]
- Bright Eyes- When the President Talks to God (Live) [Motion Sickness] *
- The Offspring- Baghdad [Rock Against Bush vol. 1] *
- Green Day- Jesus of Suburbia [American Idiot]
- Bright Eyes- Bowl of Oranges [Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep your ear to the Ground]
- Bright Eyes- Dont Know When, But a Days Gunna Come [Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep your ear to the Ground] *
( * denotes the best examples of modern poetry)
"American Idiot"
Don't want to be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Where everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along to the age of paranoia.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Where everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.
Don't want to be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria.
It's calling out to idiot America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Where everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.
"God Save The U.S.A."
God you must be kidding me, thought this was supposed to be
The home of the brave and the free for you and me
But now there's something wrong - shit's been going on too long.
It's never gonna change, there's no way i say.
What's the CIA and the NRA?
They're all the same - just the names are changed.
Fuck - there's no excuse - any way you lose.
It's all a joke in the good old USA.
All we need is more factories pumping filth into the sky.
Corporate greed and perverted priests, it's the story of our lives.
And apathy's the national disease and there is no end in sight.
God save the USA - blame the president and say your prayers tonight.
The irony of liberty is no one here is truly free
When elections are stolen bij the G.O.P.
So watch the nightly news - find out how you are getting screwed.
What you gonna do? - there's no use i say
Fuck the industry - the aristocracy
Fuck they're all the same - just the names are changed.
Fuck ther's no excuse, any way you lose.
It's all a joke in the good old USA.
Government hypocricy - American Idolatry - Corporate philosophy.
Nightly news of tragedies - Where no one cares what's right or wrong
Our heroes now are all long gone - The freedoms that we all abuse
The obituaries front page news
"Club America"
I ride into your town on a big black trojan horse
I'm looking to have some fun
Some kind of trigger-happy intercourse
"club america salutes you" says the girl on the door
"we accept all major lies
We love any kind of fraud
So go on in and enjoy...
Go on in and enjoy!!!"
I'm buying for my bright new friends
Blue suzannes all round
And my mood is heavily pregnant...
Yeah you're right
I couldn't help but notice your icy blue eyes
They've been burning two holes in the sides of my head
Since the second I arrived
And it's not too hard to guess from your stick-on stars
And your canary feather dress
Your hair in such a carefully careless mess
That you're really trying very hard to impress
You're such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
Sensational dazzling perfectly sized
Such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
Sharing it with me in club america tonight...
So we talk for a while about some band you saw on tv
But I don't listen to you and you don't listen to me
Yeah it's an old routine but it's a very special part of the game
And you don't really care what I call you at all
When I can't quite remember your name
And it's not too hard to guess from your stick-on stars
And your canary feather dress
The way you're so carefully couldn't care less
That you're really trying very hard to impress
You're such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
Sensational dazzling perfectly sized
Such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
Sharing it with me tonight
Yeah you're a wonderful person living a fabulous life
Fantastic divine and thrillingly bright
Such a wonderful person living a fabulous lie
With me in club america tonight...
Death To Everyone
I am here, right here
Where god puts none asunder
And you, in black dress and black shoe
You do invite me under
Go on, go there
You can see me aging
Stars turn, balls burn
Coming kids are raging
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
La la la ...
Every terrible thing is a relief
Even months on end buried in grief
Are easy light times which have to end
With the coming of your death friend
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
La la la ...
So strap me on and raise me high
Cause buddy I'm not afraid to die
But life is long and it's tremendous
And we're glad that you're here with us
And since we know an end will come
It makes our living fun
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
Death to me and death to you
Tell me what else can we do die do
Death to all and death to each
Our own god-bottle s'within reach
Death to everyone is gonna come
And it makes hosing much more fun
"My City's In Ruins"
There is a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet bells of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves,
The boarded up windows,
The empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Now's there's tears on the pillow
Darlin' where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins
Now with these hands,
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
We pray for your love, Lord
We pray for the lost, Lord
We pray for this world, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
Come on
Come on
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Alabaster
on the outside looking in
i've never been able to crack the code
to break the secret spell
that would open up the door and let me in
to everything I've been looking for so hard I've never seen
but I feel my strength returning tonight
its flowing from the purest well to ever give water
It spills out into an ocean where the sharks are circling
a carnival of counterfeits has no room for something real
arrogance and ego wrapped around every word
shouted from the pulpit as a judgment to control
these were my roots my seed was thrown in shallow soil
I grew into the thorn bushes to be scorched by the sun
but I feel the gravel move beneath my feet
the smell of the gasoline mixed in with the trees
when my faith is strong I know my strength
the threats will be screamed when the vultures fell threatened
so I'll open up the door and let you in
I want to break the alabaster smell the sweet perfume
and when the bottle is broken I'll have nothing left to give
I'll know I'll already have everything worth having
but I feel my strength returning tonight
its flowing from the purest well to ever give water
it spills out into and ocean where the sharks are circling
a carnival of counterfeits want to crucify something real
"Landlocked Blues"
(feat. Emmylou Harris)
If you walk away, Ill walk away
First tell me which road you will take
I dont want to risk our paths crossing some day
So you walk that way, Ill walk this way
And the future hangs over our heads
And it moves with each current event
Until it falls all around like a cold steady rain
Just stay in when its looking this way
And the moons laying low in the sky
Forcing everything metal to shine
And the sidewalk holds diamonds like the jewelry store case
They argue walk this way, no, walk this way
And Lauras asleep in my bed
As Im leaving she wakes up and says
I dreamed you were carried away on the crest of a wave
Baby dont go away, come here
And theres kids playing guns in the street
And ones pointing his tree branch at me
So I put my hands up I say enough is enough,
If you walk away, Ill walk away
And he shot me dead
I found a liquid cure
From my landlocked blues
Itll pass away like a slow parade
Its leaving but I dont know how soon
And the worlds got me dizzy again
You think after 22 years Id be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So Im always pacing around or walking away
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And Im balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away
A good woman will pick you apart
A box full of suggestions for your possible heart
But you may be offended and you may be afraid
But dont walk away, dont walk away
We made love on the living room floor
With the noise in the background of a televised war
And in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say
If we walk away, theyll walk away
But greed is a bottomless pit
And our freedoms a joke
Were just taking a piss
And the whole world must watch the sad comic display
If youre still free start running away
Cause were coming for you!
Ive grown tired of holding this pose
I feel more like a stranger each time I come home
So Im making a deal with the devils of fame
Saying let me walk away, please
Youll be free child once you have died
From the shackles of language and measurable time
And then we can trade places, play musical graves
Till then walk away, walk away
So Im up at dawn
Putting on my shoes
I just want to make a clean escape
Im leaving but I dont know where to
I know Im leaving but I dont know where to
"War All The Time"
Standing on the edge of the Palisades' Cliffs
In the shadow of the skyline {it seemed} very far away
Like a lightning rod that couldn't pull the storm from me
{When} I was 5 years old, my best friend's older brother died
He fell from these cliffs
{And} the river washed him away, the current pulled him downstream
And our lives float in the headlines, so we park these cars
{In our} parent's garage
{To} listen to the lullaby
Of carbon monoxide
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast, falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
If the sun doesn't rise
We'll replace it with an H-bomb explosion
A painted jail cell of light in the sky
Like three-mile-island nightmares on TVs that sing us to sleep
They burn on and on like an oil field
Or a memory of what it felt like
To burn on and on and not just fade away
All those nights in the basement, the kids are still screaming
"On and on and on and on.................."
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast, falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
And we're blowing in the wind
We don't know where to land
So we kiss like little kids
We used to be very tall buildings
We've been falling for so long
Now your eyes are a sign on the edge of town
They offer a welcome, when you are leaving
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast, falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
{When} the pieces fall it's like a last day parade
And the fires in our streets start to rage,
So wave to those people who long to wave back
from the fabric of a flag that sang "love all of the time"
War all the time, war all the time
All of the time
War all the time, war all the time
All of the time
All of the time
War all of the time
War all of the time
War all of the time
War all of the time
"Indian Summer"
Ultra-violet rays wash over
All the boys and girls
As their moms lay tanning by the pool
Oh, look, their dad's arriving home
All the children hug his neck
Unaware of their inheritance
All the experts say you ought to start them young
That way they'll naturally love the taste of corporate cum
God bless the indian summer
God bless the indian summer
God bless the indian summer
Don't you just love the sun
Doesn't it make you feel good all over
It's my pleasure to announce
In conjunction with the fed
And my recent popularity
Thanks in part ot mother nature
It will never rain again
It should do wonders for the GNP
If you're just joining us now
You've missed a brilliant speech
We go now live to the streets
To find out what the voters think
He's worked a miracle
I just now bought a brand new car
God bless the indian summer
"When The President Talks To God"
When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our womens' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke
No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't
Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That's what God recommends
When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God
When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?
I doubt it
"Baghdad"
In your plane in the blue sky
You roam again
Words that echo in your mind
Make your heart beat faster
This is no Vietnam
We will win in Iraq
The President said let it ride, ride
Islam be damned
Make your last stand
In Baghdad
Warrior, the time bombs
About to go
What will you feel
Will you even wonder
If the man that's in your sights
Ever kissed his girl goodbye
The Captain said kill or die, die
Islam be damned
Make your last stand
In Baghdad
Great Satan
Great Satan
Great Satan (Our flags of burning)
Great Satan (Our flags of burning)
Great Satan (Our flags of burning)
Great Satan (Our flags will burn)
Soon America may find
Its young men in the sand
Where there casualty
Is just a number
In Iraq
The President said let it ride, ride
You will be damned
Make your last stand
In Baghdad
In Baghdad
"Jesus Of Suburbia"
[Part 1]
I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of suburbia
From the bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me
Get my television fix sitting on my crucifix
The living room or my private womb
While the moms and brads are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane
To keep me insane and doing someone else's cocaine
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me
[Part 2: City Of The Damned]
At the center of the Earth
In the parking lot
Of the 7-11 were I was taught
The motto was just a lie
It says home is where your heart is
But what a shame
Cause everyone's heart
Doesn't beat the same
We're beating out of time
City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care
I read the graffiti
In the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess
It didn't say much
But it only confirmed that
The center of the earth
Is the end of the world
And I could really care less
City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to careeeeee
[Part 3: I don't care]
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
[x4]
I don't careeeeeeeeee
Everyone is so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled but never saved
From the cradle to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the middle east
We are the stories and disciples
Of the Jesus of suburbia
Land of make believe
And it don't believe in me
Land of make believe
And I don't believe
And I don't care!
I don't care! [x4]
[Part 4: Dearly beloved]
Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse
[Part 5: Tales of another broken home]
To live and not to breathe
Is to die In tragedy
To run, to run away
To find what you believe
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run
I run away
To the light of masochist
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time
I don't feel any shame
I won't apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain
When you've been victimized
Tales from another broken home
You're leaving...
You're leaving...
You're leaving...
Ah you're leaving home...
"Bowl Of Oranges"
The rain, it started tapping on the window near my bed. There was a loophole in my dreaming,
so I got out of it. And to my surprise my eyes were wide and already open.
Just my nightstand and my dresser where those nightmares had just been.
So I dressed myself and left then, out into the gray streets.
But everything seemed different and completely new to me.
The sky, the trees, houses, buildings, even my own body.
And each person I encountered, I couldn't wait to meet.
I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health.
I said "{I am terribly sorry but} there is nothing I can do for you
{that} you can't do for yourself."
He said "Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help."
So I sat with him a while and then I asked him how he felt.
He said, "I think I'm cured. No, in fact, I'm sure.
Thank you Stranger, for your therapeutic smile."
So that is how I learned the lesson that everyone is alone.
And your eyes must do some raining if you are ever going to grow.
But when crying don't help and you can't compose yourself.
It is best to compose a poem, an honest verse of longing or simple song of hope.
That is why I'm singing...
Baby don't worry cause now I got your back. And every time you feel like crying,
I'm gonna try and make you laugh. And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad,
then we will wait for it to pass and I will keep you company
through those days so long and black.
And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
Then I think we would see the beauty.
Then we would stand staring in awe at our still lives posed like a bowl of oranges,
like a story told by the fault lines and the soil.
"Don't Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come"
Is it true what I heard about the Son of God? Did he come to save? Did he come at all?
And if I dried his feet, with my dirty hair, would he make me clean again?
They say they don't know when but a day is gonna come, when there won't be a moon
and there won't be a sun. It will just go black, it will just go back to the way it was before.
I knew a lovely girl, with such pretty pride, and every man wanted her, and so did I.
So did I. But she up and died in a fit of vanity.
Now men with purple hearts, carry silver guns. And they will kill a man
for what his father has done. But what my father did, you know it don't mean shit.
I'm not him.
So you think I need some discipline, well, I had my share. I have been sent to my room.
I've been sat in a chair. And I held my tongue. I didn't plug my ears. No, I got a good talking to.
And now I don't know why, but I still try to smile when they talk at me
like I'm just a child. Well, I'm not a child. No, I am much younger than that.
And now I have read some books and have grown quite brave. If only I could just speak up I think
I would say that there is no truth. There is only you and what you make the truth.
So I will just sing my song and I'll pass a hat. Then I'll leave your town and never look back.
No, I don't look back because the road is clear and laid out ahead of me.
I'll get home and meet my friends at our favorite bar. We'll get some lighter heads for our heavy hearts.
And we will share a drink. Yeah we will share our fears and they will know how I love them.
They will know how I love. They will know how I love them.
I am nothing without their love.
I don't know when but a day is gonna come when there won't be a moon and there won't be a sun.
It will all go black. It will all go back to the way it is supposed to be.
Is it true what I heard about the Son of God? Did he die for us? Did he die at all?
And if I sold my soul for a bag of gold, which one of us would be the foolish one?
Which one of us would be the fool? Which one of us would be the foolish one?
Which one of us would be the fool?
Could you please start explaining? You know, I need some understanding.
I could do good with some explaining. You know. I want to understand.