the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows
the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn

we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death

the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

it went like this:

the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair

the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze

i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful --
these are truly the last days"

you grabbed my hand and we fell into it like a daydream or a fever

we woke up one morning and fell a little further down --
for sure it's the valley of death

i open up my wallet and it's full of blood

well...where are you coming from?

...well...i don't like the way the country's ran, don't you know, and, erm...that's pretty much what i was expressing in my poem. the government...the american government - they're sneaky, they're very deceitful, they're liers, they're cheats, they're rip-offs. i mean, the american government is one systematic government that...that nobody can trust. i don't trust them myself.

and how long have you been writing for?

huh?

how long have you been writing for?

since i was four.

d'you do this sort of thing a lot, like, open-mic kinda questions?

oh i love open-mics, i love coming here to do open-mics, absolutely.

what kind of reactions d'you usually get?

usually, people are...are pretty much in agreement with what i'm saying.

we overheard you before talking about...you went to court today for a speeding ticket...?

that's accurate.

right. d'you wanna tell us that story?

yes, absolutely, i wouldn't mind telling you the story. erm...i went to court today for a speeding ticket, and i told the judge, erm..."let me tell you something, and you listen and you listen good, i'm only gonna say this one time and one time only, i don't repeat myself for nobody," i said. i says..."i'm here to pay a speeding ticket, not to listen to your lectures and hear you run your mouth for an hour." i says "i'm here to pay off my speeding ticket...and i'm here to get my fines out of the way and get the fuck to work." the judge says "you can't talk like that in my courtroom, you're in contempt of court." then i said...i told the judge, "if that's the best you can do, i feel sorry for you." i said "why don't you just shut your fucking mouth for once and listen." i said "i'm not gonna take any shit." i said "i'm gonna pay my speeding ticket like i said." i walked up to the god damn judge and i hand him my 25 dollars and i says "here's my money, now i am leaving."
and i left it at that...
...then, before i left, i turned around and told the judge "i'm here to state who i am and be honest with you." i said "if they thought i was dangerous on the road like you're trying to accuse me of, wouldn't they have taken my license when i first got it? yes they would. and the judge says "yeah, you have a point," he goes "you don't need to get loud," i said "don't get loud?" i says "i've got every right to get loud." i says "you can't do a god damn thing about it, because i'm expressing myself in your court, and there is nothing you can do about it. you think you're god because you have a robe and you can put people up the god damn river for 20 years? well you're not."
and i left it at that...

did you walk away?

yes i did...i don't like the judicial system, i don't like the government system, i don't like the police, i don't like anything to do with this country's government. i just don't like it, because...they're sneaky, like i said - they're deceitful, they're lying, they're cheats, the rip people off. that's the american government for you. america is a third world country, and people don't recognise it...and i think that that's pretty god damn sad, that they don't recognise their own country as a third world, third rate, third class slum.

well...d'you have any weapons?

yes, i do. i own a high-powered assault rifle, i own a 12-gauge double barrel shotgun, i own a regular shotgun, i own a regular hunting rifle, i own a 9 milimetre, a 357, a 45 handgun, a 38 special, and, erm...i own an m-16 fully automatic ground assault rifle...

d'you think things are gonna get better before they get worse?

no way. things are just gonna get worse and keep on getting worse. like i said, america's a third world country as it is and...and we're just basically in a hopeless situation as it stands.

what d'you think this country's gonna look like in the year 2003?

y'know, i'll tell you the truth - nothing against you guys, but i don't wanna answer that question because...i haven't even got a mind that's that...that inhumane.

are you ready for what's coming?

ready as i'll ever be.

most people aren't.

there's a little saying...dates back for generations...

go on...

be prepared for anything at any time from anybody, don't take no shit, always stand your ground. people wanna come up to me and run their mouth - guess what? i'll throw them through the fucking window...i won't think a thing of it.

would you mind reciting your poem for us?

not at all, i don't see why...i don't see why i couldn't.

there's an evil virus that's threatening mankind
it's not state of the art, it's a serious state of the mind
the muggers, the backstabbers, the two faced elite
a menace to society, a social disease
to brainwash the mind is a social disorder
the cynics, the apathy one-upmanship order
watching beginnings of social decay
gloating and sneering at life's disarray
eating away at your own self esteem
pouncing on every word that you might be saying
to attack someones mind is a social disorder
the constitution, the government, martial law order
superficially smiling a shake of the hand
as soon as your back is turned treason is planned
when every good thing's laid to rest
by the governments hate, by the constitution and their lies
and every time you think you're safe
and when you go to turn away
you know they're sharpening all their knives
all in your mind
all in your head
try to relate it
all in your mind
all in your head
try to escape it
without a conscience they destroy
and that's a thing that they enjoy
they're a sickness that's in all of our minds
they want to sink the ship and leave
the way they laugh at you and me
you know it happens all the time
but it only happens in your mind
the rats in the cellar you know who you are...
or do you?
watching beginnings of social decay...

thank you for your time

Brother will kill brother
Spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion
Something I don't understand

Fools like me, who cross the sea
And come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep, for their beliefs
Do you kill on God's command?

A country that's divided
Surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace
No foolish naive stand

The end is near, it's crystal clear
Part of the master plan
Don't look now to Israel
It might be your homelands

Holy wars

Upon my podium, as the
Know it all scholar
Down in my seat of judgement
Gavel's bang, uphold the law
Up on my soapbox, a leader
Out to change the world
Down in my pulpit as the holier
Than-thou-could-be-messenger of God

Wage the war on organized crime
Sneak attacks, repel down the rocks
Behind the lines
Some people risk to employ me
Some people live to destroy me
Either way they die. they die

They killed my wife and my baby,
With hopes to enslave me
First mistake... last mistake
Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants
Next mistake... no more mistakes!

Fill the cracks in, with judicial granite
Because I don't say it, don't mean I ain't
Thinkin' it.
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose
And the lack of mercy killings.
mercy killings, mercy killings
killings killings killings
next thing you know they'll take my thoughts away

Hup, two, three, four, marching down the street
Rolling of the drums and the trampin' of the feet
Generals salute and mothers wave and weep

Here comes the big parade
Don't be afraid
Price is paid
One more parade

So young, so strong, so ready for the war
So willing to die upon a foreign shore
All march together, everybody looks the same
So there is no one you can blame
Don't be ashamed
Light the flame
One more parade

Listen for the sound and listen for the noise
Listen for the thunder of the marching boys
A few years ago their guns were only toys
Here comes the big parade
Don't be afraid
Price is paid
One more parade

So young, so strong, so ready for the war
So willing to die upon a foreign shore
All march together, everybody looks the same
So there is no one you can blame
Don't be ashamed
Light the flame
One more parade

Medals on their coats and guns in their hands
Trained to kill as they're trained to stand
10,000 ears need only one command
Here comes the big parade
Don't be afraid
Price is paid
One more parade

So young, so strong, so ready for the war
So willing to die upon a foreign shore
All march together, everybody looks the same
So there is no one you can blame
Don't be ashamed
Light the flame
One more parade

Cold hard stares on faces ? so proud
Kisses from the girls and cheers from the crowd
And the widows from the last war cry into their shroud
Here comes the big parade
Don't be afraid
Price is paid
Don't be ashamed
War is a game
World in flames
So start the parade

theres a prophet on a mountain and he's making up dinner
with long division and writing crop
anybody can feel like a winner
when it's served up piping hot

but the people aren't looking for a handout
they're America's working corps
can this be what they voted for?

let them eat war x2
that's how to ration the poor
let them eat war x2

there's an urgent need to feed
declining crime

from the force to the union shops
the war economy is making new jobs
but the people who benefit most
are breaking bread with their benevolent hosts

you never stole from the rich to give to the poor
all they ever gave to them was a war
and a foreign enemy to deplore

let them eat war x2
that's how to ration the poor
let them eat war x2

there's an urgent need to feed
declining crime

we've got to kill 'em in the end
before they reach for their checks
squeeze some blue collars
let them bleed from their necks
seize a few dollars from the people who sweat
cause it's freedom or death and they won't question it
at a job site the boss is god like
conditioned workhorses park at a stoplight
seasoned vets with their feet in nets
a stones throw away from a rock fight
but not tonight, feed ‘em death

here comes another ration (feed them death)
cause they're the finest in the nation (feed them death)
but there's nothing left to feed them
when it's freedom or it's death

let them eat war x2
that's how to ration the poor
let them eat war x2

there's an urgent need to feed

It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner

In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr. Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle

In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer

Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the great leap forwards

Jumble sales are organised
And pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the great leap forwards

One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?

Here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it

It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole

If no one seems to understand
Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman

In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room

So join the struggle while you may
The revolution is just a tee shirt away
Waiting for the great leap forwards

The eastern world it is explodin',
Violence flarin', bullets loadin',
You're old enough to kill but not for votin',
You don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin',
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin',
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say?
Can't you see the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be noone to save with the world in a grave,
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin',
I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin',
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
Handful of Senators don't pass legislation,
And marches alone can't bring integration,
When human respect is disintegratin',
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin',
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China!
Tehn take a look around to Selma, Alabama!
Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
But when your eturn, it's the same old place,
The poundin' of the drums, th pride and disgrace,
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace,
Hate your next-door-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

I’m so sorry, please forgive me
Who do I pray to to straighten out this problem?
Straighten out this problem, straighten out my mind.
Straighten out this crooked toungue...
My mind has wandered, from the straight and narrow.
My mind has wandered from the flock you see.
My mind has wandered, the man just said so.
My mind has wandered, I heard it on tv.
And the flock has wandered away from me.

-chorus-
All around the world now
Like a big bright cherry cloud
Traveling from home to home
Tv sets and telephones
Here it comes just like a storm
Bathe in it and be reborn
Time to let the world know
Welcome madness, say hello
Like a wave we cannot see
Washing over you and me
Hiding here and hiding there
Madness hiding everywhere
Such a curiosity
Here it comes to set us free
Plenty left for you and me
Say hello insanity

I am the virus, are you the cure?
I am morally, I’m morally impure
I am a disease and I am unclean
I am not part of god’s well oiled machine
Christian nation, assimilate me
Take me in your arms and set me free
I am part of a degenerate elite
Dragging our society into the streeet
Into the abyss and to the sewer don’t you see
The man just told me, he told me on tv

Do you think you’re better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me

And the alchoholic bastard waved his finger at me
His voice was filled with evanglical glee
Sipping down his gin and tonics
While preaching about the evils of narcotics
And the evils of sex, and the wages of sin
While he mental fondles his next of kin
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
And he waved his hypnotizing finger at me

Let’s imitate reality
Let’s strive for mediocrity
Let’s make believe we’re all the same
Let’s sanitize our little brains
I’d love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I’d love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I’d love to hear you laugh tonight, I’d love to hear you weep
I’d love to listen to you while you’re screaming in your sleep

Christian sons, christian daughters
Lead me along like a lamb to the slaughter
Purify my brain and hose down my soul
White perfection, perfection is my goal

Do you think you’re better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me

Christian nation, make us alright
Put us through the filter and make us pure and white
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
Let’s talk of family falues while we sit and watch the slaughter
Hypothetical abortions on imaginary daughters
The white folks think they’re on the top ask any proud white male
A million years of evolution, we get danny quayle

(chorus)

I’d love to take you home with me, I’d love to tuck you in
I wish I could protect you from the wages of our sin
I’d love to hear you scream tonight, I’d love to hear you cry
Protect you from the madness that is raining from the sky

(chorus)

I’d love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I’d love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I wish that I could keep you in a precious chinese box
On sundays I would pray for you so it would never stop
I’d love to hear you laugh tonight, I’d love to hear you weep
I’d love to listen to you while you’re screaming in your sleep
I’d love to soothe you with my voice and take your hand in mine
I’d love to take you past the stars and out of reach of time
I’d love to see inside your mind, to tear it all apart
To cut you open with a knife and find your sacred heart
I’d love to take your satin dolls and tear them all to shreds
I’d love to mess your pretty hair, I’d love to see you dead.

Come back oh proud Canadians
To before they had TV
No Hockey Night in Canada
There was no CBC

In 1812 Madison was mad
He was the President, you know
He thought he'd tell the British
Where they ought to go

He thought he'd invade Canada
He thought that he was tough
Instead we went to Washington
And burned down all his stuff

And the White House burned, burned, burned
And we're the ones that did it!
It burned burned burned
While the President ran and cried

It burned burned burned
Things were very historical
and the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies, wah wah wah
in the war of 1812!

Now some hillbillies from Kentucky
dressed in green and red
left home to fight in Canada
but they returned home dead

Its only war the Yankees lost
except for Vietnam
and also the Alamo
and the Bay of... Ham

The loser was America
The winner was ourselves
So sing along and gloat about
The war of 1812

Chorus:
And the White House burned, burned, burned
But the Americans won't admit it
It burned burned burned
It burned and burned and burned

It burned burned burned
I bet that made them mad
and the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies, wah wah wah
in the war of 1812!