Today I pack my rifle, 5.56 and all my gear Yesterday I had an Enfield 30 rounds in a bandolier Last week I marched with Sherman, fixed a bayonet If there’s a war to end all wars, I haven’t seen it yet I’ve stood in the shield wall, been cut down by cavalry I was first over the transom when we lost Gallipoli You can call me eleven bravo, legs, or infantry My story’s just the same throughout all of history I have died a million deaths I’ve been slashed and torn asunder Taken many of my last breaths As the riptide pulled me under The story has been told before and will be told again So long as there are poor young men I have been on both sides of a crumbling palisade Too often I’m a child, untrained and afraid I sang carols in the trenches on a quiet Christmas eve And now I am a mother fighting in the streets of Kyiv Rarely have I volunteered for duty or for pride It’s a job and my employer chooses when and how I die The terrors I have seen, the awful tools of hell By and by I’ll get my due for using them myself Sometimes I survive and see my sons grow old Old enough to take my place in this eternal role

It was just another Sunday New York City, early fall I was halfway through my second cup When my partner caught the call There’s a Jane Doe on a park bench With her throat cut open wide So we hopped into the cruiser, For to find who made her die. Well, forensics had things well in hand By the time we came around Blood pooled on the sidewalk, And the murder weapon found. We all commenced to canvas; Every case begins the same… The coffee shop IDed her - Laura Foster was her name. We soon tracked down a roommate At the college down the street When we told her what transpired, Lord, she didn’t miss a beat. She said, “I’ll tell you just what had happened, And I’ll tell you who to blame.” And the fires of hell shone in her eyes When she spoke the bastard’s name: She said, “I know Tom Dooley done it. There is no doubt in my mind. He’s been stepping out on Laurie, And she called him out last night. Oh, I know Tom Dooley done it - Poor Laurie should have run! I hope that boy will hang for what he’s done. Then we brought him to the station And we asked him to confess But he stumbled over details And his story was a mess Then the ME called us over With a strange look in her eye; When we said we knew he’s lying, She said, “I can tell you why.” She said, I know Tom Dooley done it! Lord, I know it in my bones. We got DNA to prove it - But he didn’t work alone. Oh, I know Tom Dooley done it! We should lock him up for life - But I know there’s an accomplice 'Cause their prints are on the knife. Asking question after question, As he shouldered all the blame - And no matter how we pushed him, Wouldn’t give his partner’s name. “You best tell us who you worked with If you want to save your hide!” But he wouldn’t change his story - He just hung his head and cried. “Oh, we know Tom Dooley done it,” Says captain. “Thats a fact. But we ran those prints this morning, And we just now got ‘em back. There’s a woman named Ann Melton, And she just ran out of luck - Seems you got rour second killer, boys. Head on down and pick her up.” Seems Ann Melton was the woman Tom was seeing on the side, And the two of them conspired On the night that Laura died. Tom took Laura to the park bench, It was Ann who swung the blade. And so the curtain falls on courtroom walls And the words of the ADA: She says, “I know Tom Dooley done it. We will prove beyond a doubt, With the help of young Ann Melton, They took Laura Foster out. Oh, I know Tom Dooley done it, And the charge is murder one - Lord, I hope they both will hang for what they done.”

I wandered into Babylon on a Friday evening After I failed in a fruitless quest to obtain the key to religious ecstasy And on the dance floor, the sound of the angel's trumpets, all seven Sounded out and fell into my hand O Brugmansia, archangel of the garden Reveal to me your divine prophecy, show me the way I spent a night in Babylon And I saw the swarms of Abbadon flying through the air And I heard the wretched horseman of Armageddon O Lord, please forgive me, forgive me for my sins Taken over by the rhythm of the divine Feel the rapture coming through your soundsystem The light shined seven stars above the DJ The spotlight on his face shone like the summer sun With fire in his eyes, this is Jesus in disguise (this is...this is Jesus...in disguise?) There's wormwood in the water (Artemisia) Bled from a falling star I spent a night in Babylon And I saw the swarms of Abbadon flying through the air And I heard the wretched horseman of Armageddon O Lord, please forgive me, forgive me for my sins Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy And I saw four fallen angels with luminol halos And I saw the whore of Babylon with angel wings in the front row And I saw a mountain of subwoofers aflame with laser light shows The sound crashed into the sea And the sea became acid. I spent a night in Babylon And I saw the swarms of Abbadon flying through the air And I heard the wretched horseman of Armageddon O Lord, please forgive me, forgive me for my sins forgive me for my sins

Born under a long white cloud Three planets from the sun You travelled to a wide brown land Ran rings round everyone And you’re going really far You’re going really far Phar Lap You’re going really far We cheered you from the stands You raced across our screens We watched as you prepared to fly Through barriers on worlds unseen And you’re going really far You’re going really far Phar Lap You’re going really far You pulled through from behind To win on Saturn’s track A victory in a flash of light But you never did come back And you’re going really far You’re going really far Phar Lap You’re going really far You had the biggest heart Phar Lap You’re shooting for the stars Phar Lap Hope shining in the dark Phar Lap You’re going really far Phar Lap You’re going really far

Feast of Fools, it lasts a day At least that’s what they always say But when you’re ruler of the land You can change the rules at hand Long live the jester king Long live the jester king What a joke to be a king Don’t require much of anything Talk real nice and give real work To the city guard and the county clerk But winds will change, and on them come The arrows of the fearsome Hun With just a prayer, without a plan Cometh the hour, cometh the man You don’t understand The dangers close at hand But you’re the one wearing the crown The scepter laid aside, The sword will be your guide Gotta step up if you’re gonna throw down The farmers fields are filled with horses Taken from Atilla’s forces The Huns at last have shown their backs We’ve repelled their best attacks Long live the jester king Long live the jester king

in a way i thought I had it made when i made this it’s everything i was striving for so i sent sent it up into the cloud to the soundcloud and i waited for the praise to stream in chorus and I’m amazed that you radiate grace and you can touch the sky when i can leap and fall completely i’ve got the taste but you radiate grace how can I turn my back when your song touches me so deeply and i know i’ve got so much more to give if you give me a chance to be --exceptional-- does it show? that I’m pushing my twitch stream just as hard as i can but I’m hitting my ceiling chorus i see you soaring and i can’t look away i can’t look away i’m losing value but i can’t fade away i can’t fade, fade, fade chorus

A man fades, nineteen eighty-eight The nurse tells him it’s not safe for his family to be there For his final days in intensive care Huddled outside a cold phone booth They take turns saying I love you His daughter last to say goodbye “Stay on the line. Please stay on the line.” The saddest story you’d ever hear If it happened in other years But it’s happening now and we feel nothing What are we all becoming? A headline in nineteen ten Two hundred thousand children Lost a parent to this plague Their lives will never be the same Printed faces in monochrome The front page, a child alone Mom and dad won’t return What did she do to deserve The saddest story you’d ever hear If it happened in other years But it’s happening now and we feel nothing ‘Cause if we did it’d be too crushing Refugees in ninety-five Four million disrupted lives In just the first month of a war Soon will be many more The cable news shows them march And risk their lives to flee from harm Exhausted from the perilous trek Who will give these people beds? The saddest story you’d ever hear In any other year But it happened now and we feel nothing Surreal emptiness this rough spring In nineteen eighty, radicals invade D.C Year two thousand three, mass murder at the grocery Nineteen seventy-four, genocides around the world Twenty eleven, an artist lost to depression Nothing Nothing We feel nothing We feel nothing The saddest story you’d ever hear If it happened in other years But it happened now and we feel nothing What are we all becoming? The saddest story I’d ever hear If it happened in other years Why do I feel nothing?

L . _ . .(di dah di dit) E . (dit) T _ (dah) S . . . (di di dit) D _ . . (dah di dit) A . _ (di dah) N _ . (dah dit) C _ . _ . (dah di dah dit) E . (dit) LYRICS "Can you hear me? Hello. Can anyone hear me? This is day 129 since the event. Can anyone hear me? This is Sam Morse. Can anyone hear me? Hello. Is anyone out there? This is day 129. Can anyone hear me? This is Sam Morse." A painter with no one to paint for Just punching holes in a paper machine Lines and dots swarm a genius A creative mind stuck in quarantine One ivory shoe, one metal In the silent chambers of his home A thinker with no one to talk to Can't do it alone From bored feet, his message is born. Can you hear me Can your hear me . _ .. . _ ... / _.. ._ _. _._. . (l-e-t-s-d-a-n-c-e) . _ .. . _ ... / _.. ._ _. _._. . (l-e-t-s-d-a-n-c-e) An inventor with no one to vent to With a message the world needs to hear A rhythm trapped in needles And a solitude that Sam cannot bear Can you hear me You can hear me Umpteen times on the radio No more incommunicado In hazmat, get out the door Take it all off on the dance floor You can hear me You can feel me From California To Sydney You can hear me Hear the dance code Do the Morse flow Hear the dance code You can feel me Hear the dance code Do the Morse flow Hear the dance code This is my legacy Hear the dance code Do the Morse flow Hear the dance code

in November 91 there formed a perfect storm with strong high pressure over Nova Scotia there was a state of emergency we knew that we couldn't leave so we held on to one another Ellie, this house is gonna fly and take us both to paradise yeah this house is gonna rise and you'll see my promises realised the impact was nothing more than the force of natures law crashing waves 30 feet tall in the middle of the wreck is an image that I dread as the pulsing sounds lift me off the ground Ellie, this time I'm gonna fly and say goodbye to paradise yeah this time I'm gonna rise and you'll see my promises left behind there's no place like home Ellie, in time I'm gonna try to go back to paradise yeah this house is gonna rise and we'll see our promises realised

Narcissus stares In his underwear Mirror image on his phone screen Posts it online On Instagram or Vine Now waits for that hit of dopamine Echo sees him Posing in the gym His body took her breath away She fell in love Hither to undreamed of So messaged him just to say I know you don’t know me But I think you could be The one to make me happy Eternally When her phone pinged With a message from him Echo thought it destiny Nothing prepared Her for the despair Caused by his casual cruelty Echo faded away Narcissus will always be alone See in his mind There were imperfections With the sea of his complexion So he sits and stares in genuflection At the face in his reflection

Will any one stop Though I am unknown A nameless face On a body bleeding out By the side of the road Phone has got no signal Anyway I've got my fears The help that comes Might be as bad As the ones who left me here The van with the cross won't stop Hours or minutes gone I gave up and closed my eyes Dreaming of the distant voices Of those who passed me by They're so sorry, still desert me Better safe than showing mercy Only giving what you'll be repaid for When all that's asked of you is love your neighbor Woke up in the hospital With an aching in my bones A stranger's scrawl on a notepad "Couldn't leave you all alone I know from my own travels Sometimes the road unravels So when your fight if finally won Go forth, help the next one" When vans with the cross won't stop Shepherds of the lost you're not They're so sorry, still desert me Better safe than showing mercy Only giving what you'll be repaid for When all that's asked of you is love your neighbor Go forth and help the next one Mercy for the lost at any cost Mercy for the lost at any cost At any cost

The clan is starving, mammoth hunger Sun sets on the cave at twilight No more nothing here to forage Fowl children of dinosaurs Roost in thorn trees for the night Wolf cubs bark and howl Big cats prowl the savannah Only Og the mighty hunter can provide for the clan Should Og walk or take the minivan? Og go to Safeway Og go to Safeway, baby Og go to Safeway Score the clan some food With cotton bags and solid credit Gaze at Og the strong and mighty Quickly filling shopping basket Ahi poke and huli chicken Spam musubi and 12 pack Sprite Cell phone starts to howl Get some towels and bananas Bag of rice, more toilet paper and coffee for the clan Good thing Og take the minivan CH When Og get back to cave Og go to bathroom, wash his hands When he come out there no more nothing Half a Sprite, a few bananas "You're enabling bad food choices" "Where are the chips I asked for?" "Costco huli chicken's better" Back in the minivan, back to the store CH

Virtual Descartes really thought that he could Separate the facts from the senses to conclude To find out what is real, to declare what is true As a simulation, he had to think it through After thinking up forever he said "Cogito ergo sum" But there was no way to prove it, it was instantly shot down A brain in a vat could think that very thing So could virtual Descartes, it's just a simple string Code entangled in itself, sitting in the cloud You can't explain away the demon hidden in the shroud We have no philosophy, the ego has betrayed Thus came the silliest solution: Virtual Descartes prayed.

Drove my Greyhound blind in a blizzard Lonely souls sat quiet and shivered On the midnight route out of Toledo Got a man up front twirling his mustache A sleeper in the back behind a mask Twelve poor wretches staring into the dark If you got a score to settle or forget This old dog can keep a secret Hound’s a haven for tramps and thieves Storm shut us down outside of Laramie Howlin’ scream that you wouldn’t believe Cell tower’s down no way to call for help I put my hand out to the sleeper Man I called out for a preacher Blood all down his chest, death in his eyes Someone had a score to settle but don’t forget This old dog can keep a secret Hound’s the site of murder intrigue We had six hundred miles to go Mustache man called himself Poirot Bowed and said he’d find the miscreant He pored over clues the whole night long Twelve cuts and the name Armstrong Twelve wounded souls hiding behind their eyes They had planned an unlikely conspiracy Vengeance for the wicked man’s misdeeds Vigilante justice indeed We are all running from something Pain or fear or a guilty conscience When the jury you get ain’t the one you need You might just find your volunteer peers There were no strangers on the bus you see This man was the killer of beloved Daisy One by one they plunged the knife into his heart Mustache man spoke gravely Rough justice on this cursed plain Your verdict I accept, but can’t approve We are all running from something Pain or fear or a guilty conscience When the jury you get ain’t the one you need You might just find your volunteer peers

I’m just doing my job and you’ve made this easy You’ve ignored building guidelines and you built this crazy Little straw-based house that fails fire regulation A tiny spark and you’re toast, or in your case, bacon It’s not even close to being an acceptable standard The walls are moving and the roof’s been abandoned There’s no running water, this must be a joke No could live in this hovel, this pig in a poke Don’t make this harder than it has to be The Demolition Order’s council policy I’d help if I could but my hands are tied There really is no option, now you have to comply A house made of sticks, yeah, it’s great in theory It’s super-sustainable and eco-friendly But there’s more to this than green accreditation You need thermal mass and some basic sanitation Look, sticks are for dogs and not for building houses The doors are missing and the windows are lousy It nearly fell to the ground when I leant on it Hard to make a cuppa with no cooker and no working electric Don’t make this harder than it has to be The Demolition Order’s council policy I’d help if I could but my hands are tied There really is no option, now you have to comply A planning inspector’s no job for a wolf My mum said I was crazy and I’ve wasted my youth Wearing sheep’s clothing was never enough for me I prefer filling forms and bureaucratical stuff I guess I’m too lazy to do the huff and puff Blowing is hard work with lame respiratory This brick-built house, it is quite spectacular It matches its neighbours and the local vernacular The right proportions and some solid foundations Retrospective consent will be fine on this occasion If you’re going to share your place with your two young siblings Maybe build another garage to make space for cars and extra bins More toilets and bathrooms must enter your equation You need permission for a House of Multi-Occupation Don’t make this harder than it has to be The Demolition Order’s council policy I’d help if I could but my hands are tied There really is no option, now you have to comply

Verse 1 Sisyphus the crafty head of claims processing Ruled his unit with an iron fist He fired those who were not appealing And CEO Zeus was pretty pissed The head of claims adjustment, Salmoneus, And Sisyphus never saw eye to eye When his protege Tyro fell for Sisyphus’ cynical advance Link All hell broke loose Then Tyro turned her back On Sisyphus Chorus He shouts “I’ve still got cases left to push,” As his colleagues leave him for a drink “I’m really on the brink Of a breakthrough I can see the finish line I’ll work through the night just this one last time” Verse 2 So Zeus got the union Thanatos To chain him up in spurious claims (harassment) But Sisyphus turned the allegations round COO Ares had to step in (take control) Zues sent Sisyphus to talk to HR But Persephone couldn’t make it stick (slippy fish) In the end Sisyphus’s hubris Let Hades from complaints intervene (now he’s screwed) Link 2 And Hell descends Eternal working life For Sisyphus

My first civic education I got all my information From a single TV station It was all I ever knew So I followed their directives And adopted their perspectives Then one day I waxed objective And saw how much wasn’t true When I left the screen behind me And set out with an open mind All the Truths I found were blinding But I had a change of heart Now that I’ve returned I’d like to show you what I learned But it seems you are determined To reject me from the start I know the echoes are compelling What the talking heads are selling Feels like betrayal to question the tales They are telling But I found a place out in the sun Where facts are seldom ever spun And the only cherry picking Comes from underneath the tree I know it can be harrowing To doubt the shadows on the screen You might think I’m blinded Cuz now all that I can see Is how the fabricated echoes mislead you The fractured ideologies feed you Everybody else at the screen Shares ideas you accede to CHORUS?: All those years of watching “Fair and Balanced” news I thought That their messages were honest And the other side was wrong And all those years of righteous Accusations of the bias In the media were lies And “entertainment” all along Anti-maskers Anti-vacc’ers Hydroxychloroquine Is the answer Get sick and blame it all on China How could it be your fault? Kids in cages Separated Are you still waiting for the Border invasions It’s time to build a wall cuz immigrants Are coming for your jobs There’s no such thing as alternative facts But when your house of cards falls down It’s a good way to distract Second Amendment Don’t condemn it Thank God we have our Thoughts and prayers for the dead (amen) It’s time to stockpile Cuz the government is coming for your guns The White House insurrection And the claims of rigged elections And the calls to hang Mike Pence Because he wouldn’t break the law You may think the lies are charming But in fact they are alarming When you see the people swarming Like another Civil War The echoes may just be relating Hyperbole that others are stating But would you rather adhere to a lie Than negate it There is a place out in the sun Where facts are seldom ever spun And the only cherry picking Comes from underneath the tree I’m not trying to obfuscate, Diminish or indoctrinate An open mind is an open gate So prisoners can finally be free

In the midwest, there was a girl named buttercup And there's a rancher, a boy she's been crushing on Every time she asks him, to do anything He responds, As You Wish But he had no money, so he joined the army But then vietnam broke out, and he was MIA Death can't stop true love, it only delays it a while Hear this now, I will always come for you Death can't stop true love, it only delays it for a while As you wish, I promise I will marry you Thought to be dead, Westley future bride Fell into a relationship, with an abusive guy Then out of nowhere, outside a bar one night Buttercup was attacked by 3 men, no help in sight A man in black came to her aid, and drove those men away Could it be, is it possible, my Westley saved the day Buttercup's new man, wasn't happy about it But Wesley saved her from him too Death can't stop true love, it only delays it a while Hear this now, I will always come for you Death can't stop true love, it only delays it for a while As you wish, I promise I will marry you Death can't stop true love, it only delays it for a while As you wish, I promise I will marry you

We park the RVs at the travel lodge Me, my wife, and our entourage The king's the biggest player in the Middle East Has quite a reputation as a predatory beast If you say that you're my sister We might make it out alive He's taking my wife to his crib, his pad We're still alive, so that's not so bad I prophesied it right, I predicted the score With so many concubines, what's a couple more? PC Bae, it's so hard it's so hard When you're so smokin' hot, smokin' hot Bae, and I say it a lot Cuz you're so smokin' hot, smokin' hot What will I do if he finds I've lied? Should I remain or sneak out at night? I can't decide and it's driving me insane CH

I was scrolling through my Insta feed when you rolled up with your TikTok crew and you had my shoe But my shoe is not some stupid way to flirt with you; it’s really really really just a shoe I left you at that dance I really ran away can’t you take a hint can’t you get a clue I’m not playing hard to get I’m really ghosting you at least I’m really really really trying to I understand you have a thing for feet so does every other man I meet so keep on rolling down that street sashay away give up, retreat Get away from me Gimme my glass slipper and get out of my face Why are you down on one knee? no you can’t propose you’ve got to give me some space you don’t know a damn thing about me are you live-streaming this? is this whole bit for clicks? you and your flash mob of lunatics you know the right thing to do just give me my shoe Are you high your highness this scenario couldn’t ever go like you thought it’d go This is not some fairytale or puppet show from far away and oh so long ago OK TBH the royal ball was fine till the clock struck twelve once upon a time Now happy ever after means I’m not with you please leave me be and also leave my shoe I understand you have a thing for heels​ now be a friend and end this whole ordeal Don’t want to blame you or kink-shame you all the same you gotta go now hit the road