IF HOPE DIES LYRICS

1. Shop Till You Drop

feed the machine
that eats up
our lives
churning out product,
end result of time processed
then sold back to us,
and renamed convenience

left with the notion
of life as commodity
hours converted to dollars
for the benefit of
private interest
coerced, to reduce our options
there is no freedom
within this economy

working to buy
our time saving devices
have we sacrificed
more in the name of convenience
than we stand to gain?

eaten alive
our blood greases the axles
of an engine that's out of control
this defies our nature
we will take back
what our masters stole

they want you to live to work,
work until you die
marry and reproduce,
more resource for them to exploit

forget what they'd have you believe
our lives are not their playthings
we won't be bought and sold

2. Roddy Piper's Magic Sunglasses

wake up from the slumber that
you've been forced into
climb out from the depths of sleep
to the waking world
asleep with your eyes wide open
we stumble from place to place
lulled into compliance
from the whispers in our ears
well it's time to rise up from our beds

we've sensed that something's wrong
but with eyes closed tight it's hard to see
just what it is that sedates us
and keeps us from being free

we've been programmed
to fall into place
the rank and file members
of a catatonic state
washed away
and drowning
in this
mainstream

feed the need
that burns inside you
this desire
cannot be satisfied
this consumption consumes
our very being
this consumption consumes
you

once we finally wake up
we will see that
the emperor has no clothes
or skin upon his face

demolish all the signs
that hang over our heads
burn down everything
that bears their messages

end your consumption
of shallow offerings
shake off the effects
of this sleep

wake up

3. So It Goes

this
is a call
to notice that
which has gone unnoticed
that all of us
are walking wounded
bearing hidden scars
and subtle bruises
the casualties of a war
inside our hearts

we submit ourselves
to abstract forces
ruled by the concept
that living is surviving

we are suffocating on
our own tangled aspirations

mired down

by the restraints
forced on us
the fear and doubt
that serves to crush

we can no longer take satisfaction
in our suffering

now is the time to arm ourselves
with the knowledge
that we can achieve
a state of independance
one of personal anarchy

we can end this war

see past the darkened veil
pulled over our eyes
we will make the world at large
recognize our cries

i will dedicate myself
to reclaiming the disputed
landscape of my soul

i will repel each
incursion visited upon my spirit
cast light upon
the insidious decay of volition

surely, i do protest
let this be a message
that here i stand

4. The Hungry Ghost

when man made the choice that production holds more meaning than life
he sentenced our world
to a slow and lingering death
strip the land of all it holds
clear the forests down to the last stone
convert the living to the dead
and lose your life in the process
our civilization can reach no peak
it must continue to ravage the landscape
consume all the riches it has to offer
swallowed down into a stomach
that can never be full

just like a parasite
our industries cripple their host
and leave it
too weak to stand

we can lay no claim to this land
where did mankind develop hisentitlement?

to rape this earth and sky
to leave it choking and waiting to die
shows that we have developed
a terrible hatred of life
our culture is too busy
consuming it's dead remains
to see the carnage on either
side of it's face

yes, this is a reality
as real as the poisons we eat
it's in everything we touch
we have all been marked for death

as our skies turn grey
and our water becomes deadly to drink
we will all perish

this will be our end
our desire for production
has doomed us
we cannot defend
our selfish actions
up to this point
how can we stop
this monster that
we've created?
it will never rest
until it's never-ending
hunger has been sated

just one more species extinct.

5. A Prayer To Afflict The Comfortable

it's so much easier
to avert our eyes
from all the suffering
and injustices
that permeate our lives
to be in the midst of
sickness and pain
and always keep our
eyes fixed ahead
can only be explained
away by killing
your conscience
because we all know
that what we can't see
is of no consequence

there is some truth to the doctrine
that ignorance is no excuse
by knowing nothing you are
a silent partner in their abuse

so just close your eyes,
so you don't have to see
suffering out of sight,
is more action out of mind

knowing what i know
about man's inhumanity to man
i could only hate myself
if i left these words unsaid
don't be paralyzed by
you're partnership in these crimes
we have the chance to redeem
ourselves for those who've died

to ignore all the signs
that man is so unkind
and partake in this culture of death
makes all who don't acknowledge
just as guilty

there's still so much to fight for
even though this world
seems rotten to it's core
i know that life can spring anew
from it's remains
it's worth all we can do
to see it through
to better days

6. The Taker Thunderbolt

we are falling down now
motion mistaken for flight
ambition has betrayed us
pursuit of dominance leaves us blind
there are few who look below us
and see the end of our path
they know our world will be broken
upon the rocks it will be smashed
this culture, this ship of fools
it's success, is it's doom
we keep striving to stay aloft
facing forward as we plummet

why won't we listen
to the voices of reason?
we are all falling
we are all falling down
we are falling
we are falling down

we've bent the world
to our will
made ourselves the
new gods of this domain
accepted the myth
that this is the height
of life as it
was meant to be lived

we are falling down,
plunging headfirst
we are falling down,
straight to the earth
we are falling down,
rushing headlong
we are falling down,
straight to the ground

to those who cannot see
the desolation we are facing,
any heart that bleeds for this world
must reveal our desperation

we must abandon this failed experiment and
find a civilization that can fly in the wind

take heed of the warnings
the pull at work upon our legs,
that's gravity screaming at us
the news of our end

it seems to us that
this is all there is
no way out of this
hole we're in
despair grabs hold and
we throw up our hands
we can fight back with hope
and begin again

7. Curses Honororum

separated, compartmentalized
these are the dreary days
of our lives
screened out, and filed away
locked into drawers
of human decay
forced to live
wall to wall
bodies stacked from
floor to ceiling
this is not life but
subsistence that
we are feeling
given barely enough
so as not to make waves
convinced to fight
amongst eachother
our brothers and sisters
just to make wage
these scraps of social progress
are given to us to fabricate the
illusion of success
distractions to eat up
our time

when slavery wasn't so subtle
and we didn't have
american dreams to keep
us from waking the
exploitation was more
plain to see

instead of recognizing the state
in which we find ourselves
our attention is diverted
fingers pointing in
the wrong directions
blame has shifted focus from
the wealthy to those
struggling alongside us

we are trapped
in this cage
convinced we're
the players
when we are
the played

tell yourself it won't change

how much value do values retain
when the measure of a person
is his willingness to use violence
for his own personal gain?

we remain trapped in stasis

masses fight and struggle
vying for small priviledge
the rich continue to grow fat
as we carry the weight
upon our backs

there must be a path more fullfilling
other than the "choice" we've been given
between whether to rule or be ruled
give in to the strain
and be consumed

8. Sugar, Free Donuts

there is this energy
that flows from withing
there is this volition
that's constantly repressed
the ability to connect
to live and love without regret
exists inside the self
before barriers obscure it
subdued by artificial means
bondage that bites into weak flesh
sedatives to tranquilize
drain the meaning from our lives
a theft, a self imposed sentenced
doomed to watch devoid of passion

we cannot stand idly by
as the years are drained from our lives
real truth and interaction
obscured by false pretense

do you think that you are free?
is that really what you believe
can you see out past the blinds
placed on your perception

there is no way not to notice those
whose eyes are dull and lifeless
succumbed to promises of fullfillment
a tragedy of epic proportions

there is this energy
that flows from withing
there is this volition
that's constantly repressed
the ability to connect
to live and love without regret
exists inside the self
before barriers obscure it

don't let numbness
replace your spirit
don't live in fear
of the gifts you've been given
we can never exist fully
underneath chemical repression

9. Let Freedom Ring (From The Taco Liberty Bell)

we must bend the bars
of these cages around our hearts
deconstruct the confines
of a weary existence
smash apart the stones
piled high upon our chests
and take in our first
breaths of freedom
there is no waiting for
life to come strike us
we must seek it out
if we are to feel it's touch
and i resolve to seize each day
and not let go until
my hands can't hold

we
must not
separate ourselves from life

cherish and prize each breath
taken upon this earth
this is our only chance
one life, and then it's over

you've just got to decide
if you'll live life on your knees
a clear choice
between revolution and apathy
if the pain is too much,
you can look to me
i'll be there to help you up,
up to your feet

we must forge a path
straight through to the light
raise ourselves up before
we fade into the night

sinking down we are drowning
in a pool of despair
watching as our lives are
wrenched away from our hands

this is the match
held to the fuse
the spark that will
ignite change
we'll sift through the
wreckage left behind
and dance among the
ruins of our prisons

10. Who Died And Made Us King?

through pure arrogance
mankind has staked its claim
it's left its mark upon
all that surrounds us
there is a darkness rising overhead
shadows that are converging and closing in
we've set forth to conquer
every last inch of land
burning down and plowing over
everything in our path

our numbers explode
six billion lives
that this world can't hold

like a plague of locusts we spread
from one side of this earth, to the next
heedless, of the destruction
wrought by our hands
we continute to subjugate
the land

in the name of selfishness
in the name of greed
we have ignored our impact
on this planet's longevity

we look to the heavens
for the drawing of our paths
forsaking all that's present
for empty promises
never once have we stopped
to question the assumption
that we have the knowledge
to dictate what lives and dies

what lives and dies

never have we
stopped to question
the assumption
of man's dominion

there is a darkness rising overhead
enshrouding us
shadows that are closing in
bearing down
the long ignored prices
of progress

for love ,
of this world
for the future,
of mankind
we've got to turn
back this tide





IF HOPE DIES LYRICS