THE SONGS

This starts with the newest (Rotten Thing To Say LP) songs and below are all the other (Songs For Burning Lovers LP & Demo) ones. Oh god, please don't let me be misunderstood.

NO LOVE

Size me up and cut me down, cut me down to size

Up from something down to nothing, nothing in your eyes

Gotta be wrong, you gotta be wrong

you've got to lose some time

Gotta be wrong, you gotta be wrong,

They've got to stand on someone's pride.

I can live without the praise of trust fund punks,

If all the wrong moves shut me out then

i don't ever want to need your love again.

That old kicked feeling comes creeping back

On a mission, blind submission, submission to the pack

Gotta be wrong, you gotta be wrong,

you've got to burn some time

Gotta be wrong, you gotta be wrong,

You're gonna swing for someone's crimes.

Run dry in inner circles. All I ever wanted here was

a history written by the loser.

If I'm nothing, give me nothing.

You've got to lose some time

They've got to stand on someone else's throat

(so why not mine?)

"Don't save your words, son, spend them everywhere

It's a coward counts his words,

and slips them out when the coast is clear.

So lay your hateful burden down everywhere you can

They don't have to like it and they don't have to understand."

Gotta be wrong, you gotta be wrong,

You've got to lose some time

And the ones you throw away -

the rejects are mine.

SUPERSTITIOUS FRIEND

I've got a superstitious friend,

Says he knows what happens after The End

When all the stars and the avatars descend.

Got strangers in my house, run and hide when the moon comes out,

They've got a different God for every doubt.

And All of His Biggest Fans - Making Their Sunday Plans

And All of His Biggest Fans - Going to Meet the Man

Superstitious times, got it in for all suspicious minds

Come In My Son and Leave the World Behind

Got heathens in my house, kneel and pray when the son comes out

And speak in tongues & take up snakes in self-made altered states

And there's no place for me in their houses of the holy.

Superstitious friend, I've got a superstitious friend

Says he knows what happens after the afterlife -

But I'm just trying to make it through tonight.

TREMORS

Every time you turn around,

something waiting there to shut you down

the safety goes and you don't know when

or what's gonna come and set it off again.

Got any sharps we should know about?

You get one phone call so make it count.

Like any stress case off the street.

Process, tranquilize and repeat.

Tell my head what to feel.

Tell my head this isn't real

Go back to the grind and wait for the time

Next tremor comes down the line.

THE BODY

Digging deep down in the vaults

Grabbing on to anything that holds,

Any nerve thats still alive down there.

Reach your hand into the hole, come up with broken bits of

the proof you're looking for, that you were ever anywhere at all.

Your '79s. The innocence of simpler times.

You can't have them back,

But could you build this room from scratch if you tried?

Close your eyes, cross over to the other side.

Can you bring him back to life? Recreate Initial State?

I remember everything, and I want the fixtures back.

If I can shut out everything I know,

I'd trade it all - to conjure one morning of life

When all was happy oblivion and nothing was your problem yet.

You know you can't have it all,

But down in the hole, you can lose yourself in shadow worlds.

What you resist persists, what you look at disappears.

Then what is this you're fighting? There's only smoke and mirrors here.

You're all alone in a long dead broken home

Staring down the boy lost in a midnight move so many lives ago.

In a living room encased in formaldehyde,

The body floats, stares right back into your eyes

And he says "Sir can't you take me with you?

I've been here all these years.

There's nothing tactile in this room."

He says "Sir please take me with you.

I am your missing proof.

We'll take the other side

and bomb it all back to the womb."

Close your eyes. Crawl inside.

All your spells can't bring him back to life.

MADE OUT OF APES

Knuckle dragger DNA,

Low brow and a heavy hand.

From Joan of Arc to the Son of Sam,

You deny your early man?

It must be nice to come from gods

But me and mine, made out of apes.

What witchery is this? A shovel and carbon dating kit.

These bones, a satanic plot to undermine your Truth as fraud.

Oh how'd you ever get so smart?

It must be nice to come from gods

But me and mine, made out of apes.

These blunt old tools still get it done,

For me and mine...the throwback elite

You want to argue faith with a mirror in the dirt?

You want to fuck with Darwin's sons?

Bury the proof? It already was.

Weren't you the ones who said "Dust To Dust"?

BROKEN GLASS

20-20 Hindsight, 1060 heart. I'm big on words but not so smart.

Only two eyes to keep the watch, two hands to lock the doors and

you gotta sleep some time, trust any obliging floor.

Four wheels and a window, take the blessing with the curse.

We've woken up to better days but we'll live through worse.

You can lock a door but that's all, here or anywhere.

Hungrier mouths will guide more desperate hands

through the best of all your best laid plans.

Do you think so little of time and space?

All these things can be replaced.

And do you think so much of wood and steel?

Only life and death are real - and fuck the rest.

I get homesick for this place

So I'll take the good with the broken glass.

Every time we say this could be the last time & every time we're right

I just want to be with my friends tonight.

And tomorrow they can take the rest.

DAMAGE CASE

Ten to close and it's always December,

The cat drags in what time forgot to remember

I never forget this tattered number, You said

Haven't you got anything a little stronger?

Stare into the void of you where time stands still and I know

There aint no modern man for you

Mesmerized by hollow eyes, not healthy I know.

Applause long gone but here I'm hanging on every word

On the dark stage where the script stops

And the tragedy starts to show.

Infatuation high

Fires rise in pinpoint eyes

Like something once beautiful, studied and objectified,

Something old & spat out, you walk in. Oh where you been?

And what were you?

What was this promise that never came true?

Bit parts in forgotten frames, monologues still memorized

incantations to turn back time

I looked you up, I watched them all

Same face same eyes as this reprise

They might be giants, they might be gods,

Or just a damage case on a 30 year drunk,

so check the gate.

There aint no modern man for you

Mesmerized by hollow eyes, not healthy I know.

The applause long gone but here I'm hanging on every word.

On the tightrope where the script stops

and the desperation starts to show.

HATEFUL COMFORTS

CNN amnesiac waiting for the earth to crack

Memorize the planted phrase, burn the books, retract the praise

Let the people sink or swim, these polls won't save their skin.

Strength in numbers. Hateful comforts.

We back the winners and bury the others

51%. Your opinion for rent.

I watched horrified as the good things came to light

Because it was everything we ever wanted,

But something still just wasn't right.

Sigh of false relief. Nothing up my sleeve.

Have I helped your disbelief? Well, no.

Only ever have to blind half the people half the time

All the patriotic minds will follow

Duty-bound amnesiac, world war three strapped to his back

Don't ask him who he's for tomorrow -

It's a new day, to stand tall, look down and say

"What spineless bastards all when backed against the wall."

But you were never one of that fearful chorus

At the tail end of alarmists' strings

Who let the breaking news pick our enemies for us,

But if not us then who were they?

And where were these fearless freedom fighters

When a wrong word could land you on a no fly list?

Are we at the part where that was Them and never Us?

Surely you exaggerate. I don't remember it that way.

All but our proudest moments swept under the rug.

A proud history, we get to pick and choose

What to Never Forgive and Never Forget

He says I'd never sink to that. No...I wouldn't sink to that.

I'm more rational, less gullible - a better man than that.

But I could swear the mob was here

Still smell the smoke of mosques on fire

Still see the words washed off the walls

So who were the brave ones that dissolved into the crowd?

The collapsible mob along for the ride

That turns into smoke at the turn of the tide?

Two sides to every fence, and the optimist he says:

Why split hairs in peacetime? Let's celebrate with a new line

And disown it all when the pendulum swings back

And then it's back to the pitchfork, back to the high horse,

Back to trauma politics for all.

Will you remember this when it matters,

Or do you thank your god for a free world

Where nothing goes unscripted anymore?

Just buying time. Tricks of the light.

Are we moving forward, or just side to side?

Yesterday's hero, tomorrow's strung up witch.

Two sides to every fence for the 51%.

KARLA

Dead eyes made just for violent crimes.

Wanted to give him something nice - to despoil this Silent Night.

Sleeping sister's coming around, be a good girl and keep it down

I'll never let bad things not happen, not happen to you.

One hell of a first time. Take this gift in place of mine.

To deflower and devour. Sweet Halothane dreams

while our parents sleep just feet away

this trip downstairs, last thing you'll never see.

Wake up in Heaven, we've got darker plans down here

and we're just getting started now. I think I see our Number 2.

Locked doors missed curfews, standing gift wrapped on the steps

Tough love lesson she'll never forget - sometimes father don't know best.

What's your name, want a cigarette? Hitch a ride to Kingdom Land?

Start the camera. Start the car. Bad home drove you straight into my arms.

Sweet Halcion dreams, no one's even coming looking for you.

Broad daylight in a parking lot.

I'm lost, do you know the way to hell and back?

Three days is a long time - for a Catholic girl to die

Now Easter dinner calls, and I'm sorry but you've got to go

and there's no more painkillers, just me you and this hammer

They're gonna come looking this time, and they're gonna find

The bodies in the basement piling up

Home Monster Movies, classic cut

No remorse behind dead eyes

She'll slither away from even this unscathed

Everyone from The Bluffs to the Falls

lived in fear of that car, and a bogeyman

that was only half the true crime.

Black widow - creeps and crawls

Black widow - playing them all.

PIG CITY I

We got bigger problems now

Throw some gasoline on the fire

My city is a burning ship

Throw another one on the pile

(and burn it up) with the DUIs that never stick

and the punched-out wives that drop the charge

and the racial slurs struck from the record

and all the ones they're too tired to remember

the next business day

Shout em down and shut em out

Crunch the numbers, cook the books

The bums lost, the pigs are in

and if AIDS don't get you the Asians will

I can't take another year.

I can't take another day.

PIG CITY II

City Hall for the ruling few

For "The People" but not for you.

I'll take the gravy train and the pinkos back

I'll take anything but this.

Fixing the mess or just bending the math?

Pig City - Fat of the Land

Pig City - Bring Me The Head

Pig City, Dragging Me Down.

MESS

(City Limits Comp LP 2011 - LINK)

I don't want to be a mess no more

I don't want to live in sin

I don't want to crawl through dirty floors

and pick glass out of skin.

I don't want to piss in bottles no more

I don't want to sleep in vans

And wake up in a parking lot

a thousand miles from home.

I don't want to talk to cops no more

and keep my stories straight.

I don't want to starve and steal no more

to make these ends all meet.

(...Well maybe just this time

One more weekend should be fine...)

I just want to be a mess some more.

2009 Demo

Intro / Lives of the Saints

Alien vs. Creditor

Money Shots

I Don't Like You (Battalion of Saints)

Burning Love

Download link HERE. Available on cassette from Nerve Hold.

SONGS FOR BURNING LOVERS

LIVES OF THE SAINTS

HEY KID HERE’S A SHINY DIME, GET A NEW EMOTION.

YOUR UNSLEPT PARANOID’S BEEN WORKING OVERTIME

AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S COMING NEXT.

THE SKY IS FALLING, BUT IT ALREADY WAS

AND COUNTING THE DAYS, YOU’RE ONLY SPEEDING IT UP

BUT YOU’RE NO FURTHER AHEAD OR FURTHER BEHIND

– JUST FALLING APART.

LIVES OF THE SAINTS BUT THE DEATH OF THE PARTY.

LIVES OF THE SAINTS, BE THE DEATH OF YOU.

SHINY DIME, HERE’S A SHINY DIME FOR YOU.

SHINY DIME, HERE'S A SHINY DIME, AND

YOU GOTTA HAVE SOME WORDS IN THERE

THAT AREN’T “OBSOLESCENCE”, “SYSTEM” OR “MACHINE”

...ARE YOU HOLDING OUT ON ME?

LIVES OF THE SAINTS, BE THE DEATH OF YOU.

BUSTED

MY OH MY WHAT HAVE WE HERE?

A SIGHT FOR SORE YOUNG CATHOLIC EYES.

A FLORAL BED, A SIX PAGE SPREAD,

A MAGDALENE FOR ’88 BURNING IN MY HEAD.

I GOT SECRETS AS GOOD AS A RICH MAN’S.

THOUGHT CRIMES IN THESE NEIGHBORS’ BATHROOMS.

I WAS 15, YOU WERE 28. THIS USED TO BE SUCH A NICE STREET.

BUT NOW THEY LOCK THE BATHROOM DOORS

AND ANYTHING THAT ISN’T NAILED DOWN.

THE BAKKER IS OUT, THE DOCTOR IS IN.

THE GREAT WHITE HOPE IS AT IT AGAIN.

THE BAKKER IS OUT, BUT I’VE GOT IT IN HAND.

CAR IN THE DRIVEWAY, I’M LOST IN THE EYES.

HAND ON THE DOOR TURNS, I’M TAKING MY TIME.

CAUGHT RED-HANDED OVER YOU.

GUILTY, GUILTY, THROUGH AND THROUGH

AND I’M BUSTED.

SPLAYED OUT AND DEFIANT,

MOUTHING THE WORDS TO LIFE LESSONS,

YOU SAY “FUCK IT, HOLD ON TO YOUR SHAME, SON.

YOU’RE GONNA NEED IT WHEN WE INHERIT THE EARTH.”

BEEN BUSTED, THROUGH AND THROUGH.

BEEN BUSTED, THROUGH AND THROUGH.

RED-HANDED OVER YOU.

HIGH SPEED WIRES (INTERNET EXPLODER)

WAITING. WAITING. WAITING.

WAITING FOR THE MIRACLE, BUT NOTHING COMES OUT.

I’M HANGING UP ON THE DETAILS.

BUT NOTHING COMES OUT, NOTHING COMES OUT,

CAUSE THIS IS NO PLACE AND YOU AINT NOWHERE

FOR TAKING QUESTIONS.

& ALL MY FRIENDS LIVE IN TWO DIMENSIONS NOW.

WE HAVEN’T SEEN THEM SINCE.

THEY WERE CONVINCED THAT

WE HAD THE PROPHETS IN OUR THROATS.

BUT THEY AIN’T GODS, THEY JUST CRACKED THE CODES,

AND GAVE YOU...EVERYTHING?

TAP INTO THE CRANE SHOT,

WHAT THE CROWS SEE WHEN THEY LOOK DOWN.

IT’S EASY. SO EASY.

NEVER BEEN SO EASY LOOKING UP FROM THE GROUND.

I’M HANGING UP ON THE DETAILS.

I’M STRUNG UP ON THE HIGH SPEED WIRES.

FUTURE FUTURE BURNING BRIGHT

I’M SICK OF ALL THE FLASHING LIGHTS.

HAVEN’T SEEN THEM SINCE.

WE WERE CONVINCED THAT

WE HAD THE PROPHETS IN OUR THROATS.

BUT THEY AIN’T GODS, THEY JUST CRACKED THE CODES,

AND GAVE US EVERYTHING -

WE WANTED EVERYTHING, NOW WE GOT EVERYTHING.

NOW WE GOT EVERYTHING BUT REAL LIVE FLESH AND BLOOD.

NOW WE’VE GOT EVERYTHING BUT.

GET LOST GOING NOWHERE FAST.

ALIEN VS. CREDITOR

I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT.

I GOT YOUR NAME ON MY LIST.

YOU’VE FALLEN OFF. YOU’RE AT THE TOP.

AT THE TOP OF THE SHIT LIST.

CALL THE NUMBER 12 TIMES A DAY

AND LET IT RING TILL YOU MAP OUT KILLING ME

BUT FOR ALL THE BIG TALK, IT AIN’T THAT PERSONAL, BABY.

WE’RE DOING OUR JOB HERE, JUST DOING OUR JOB.

I’M DOING MY JOB SIR.

SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY:

“YOU WILL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE.

YOU WILL MISS MY HATEFUL SONG.

YOU WILL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE.

YOU WILL MISS MY THREATENING TONE.”

WE'RE DOING OUR JOB HERE, JUST DOING OUR JOB.

I'M DOING MY JOB, SIR.

IT’S THE CHASE AND NOT THE CATCH,

IT'S THE THREATENING OF BLOOD FROM STONE.

RING. RING. RING RING RING RING...

WE’RE KILLING THE LANDLINE.

WE’RE BREAKING THE BLOODLINE.

BREAKING THE BANK.

RING. RING. RING RING RING - "IT’S THE BANK".

MONEY SHOTS

YOU GIVE, YOU GIVE ME – NO SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF.

YOU MADE A GRAVEYARD OF THE PLACES I CUT MY TEETH.

YOUNG MEN I THINK WE HAVE BEEN CHEATED.

THESE GLASS-EYED RAGDOLLS DON’T EVEN TRY.

IS THIS IT? ALL TRACTION, NO ACTION?

WITH ALL THE GRACE OF MELTING CANDLES,

YOU TOOK 42ND STREET AND NAILED ITS COFFIN SHUT.

YOUNG MEN I THINK WE HAVE BEEN CHEATED.

THESE SHAVED RUBBER RAGDOLLS DON’T EVEN TRY.

SO WHERE’S THE 4TH WALL?

WHERE’S THE GREEN DOOR, HONEY?

HONEY, WHERE’S THE LOVELIGHT IN YOUR EYES?

WELCOME TO HELL - ALL HOLE, NO GLORY.

CURSE BREAKER

BLACK CATS STREAM ACROSS YOUR PATH

YOU COUNT THEM AS YOU GO

13 WAYS IN 13 DAYS, 13 STEPS TO NOWHERE, YOU THINK

SOMEONE'S TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING

SOMEONE'S SEEN YOUR RIGHTS & WRONGS

AINT NO ONE THERE TO TELL YOU NOTHING

YOU'VE JUST HEARD TOO MANY SONGS.

NO GODS ABOVE, NO HEXES FROM BELOW

NO SCAPEGOATS IN THE SKY FOR YOU

NO FATE. NO FATE. NO FATE. NO WAY.

NO SCAPEGOATS IN THE SKY

WHEN IT'S YOUR TIME TO DIE

LIGHTING STRIKES BURNED DOWN YOUR HOUSE

YOU THINK YOU'RE NEXT IN LINE.

AVOID THE CRACKS AND BROKEN BACKS

YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH & CROSS YOUR FINGERS

CONNOISSEUR OF BROKEN MIRRORS,

IT AINT LUCK KEEPING YOU ALIVE

THIS LIGHTNING FINDS YOU OUT

THE MORE YOU TRY TO HIDE

NO GODS ABOVE, NO HEXES FROM BELOW

NO SCAPEGOATS IN THE SKY FOR YOU

NO FATE. NO FATE. NO FATE. NO WAY.

NO SCAPEGOATS IN THE SKY

OUR SUPERSTITIONS GET US BY

BUT SON - YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE.

13 STEPS TO NOWHERE.

BURNING LOVE

GOT A BURNING LOVE, AND I'M BURNING UP INSIDE

I GOT DIRTY BLOOD, DIRTY FEELINGS I CAN'T HIDE

AT NIGHT, THESE PRYING EYES

TEMPTATION BURNING UP MY MIND

HEAT-SEEKING X-RAY EYES, NIGHT VISION X-RAY EYES

I GOT THIS BURNING IN MY MIND

THE FATHER'S BLOOD RUNNING THROUGH ME

THE FATHER'S BLOOD, IT'S GONNA DO ME IN

I CAN'T WIN - SO SUCK ME DOWN AGAIN

INTO THIS TWO WAY GLASS

WHERE ALL'S FOR SALE AND NOTHING LASTS

I'VE GOT THIS BURNING LOVE

I'VE GOT THIS BURNING LOVE

TEMPTATION BURNING UP MY MIND

I'VE GOT THIS DIRTY BLOOD

I'VE GOT THIS BURNING LOVE

NIGHT VISIONS TEARING UP MY EYES

AND I CAN'T HIDE.

THE NEEDLE

WE HAD IT ALL SO EASY,

YOU SHOT IT UP AND SHOT IT DOWN.

ALMOST PULLED IT OFF, BUT IT PULLED YOU IN

- SO WHO'S TO BLAME - FOR THE

WEIGHTS YOU HUNG AROUND YOUR NECK?

THERE WAS A TIME BEFORE WE

CANONIZED THE TRAINWRECK.

JUST SHOW UP FOR THE SOUNDCHECK.

IN A DARK ROOM WHERE YOUR WEEKS

THEY PASS LIKE SECONDS.

DIGGING THAT GRAVE FOR ALL THESE YEARS,

WHAT MAKES IT A TRAGEDY NOW

THAT YOU HIT THE BOTTOM, FORCED OUT

THE ONES THAT COULD HAVE HELPED?

THIS NEEDLE MADE A LIAR OF YOU.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE STICKING IT TO

BUT YOURSELF?

WE HAD IT ALL SO EASY

YOU SHOT IT UP AND DOWN

LIKE A BODY IN A CASKET

UNFAMILIAR AND DEFLATED

THIS DISTORTION OF SOMEONE THAT I ONCE KNEW

THE LAST AND ONLY WAY I'LL REMEMBER YOU.

MEMENTO MORI

We have optioned the past, left no stone unturned

Remade your world to death, so get down or get burned

And everything old is new again...

We. We breathe new death

Into the culture void, we commit this mess

Propped up again - off the screen & down your throat

Cannibalized, dumbed down and resized for easy gain

Money talks as Hollywood eats its own again

Cannibalized, dumbed down and resized for easy gain

In the death mask factory they work around the clock

To keep us safe from the menace of creation

and the threat of new ideas

(if these faithless drones could talk)

You can't dumb it down enough,

you can't insult me if I'm dead

So give me the safe caress of lazy nostalgia trips

and clockwork repackaged scripts -

You can't dumb it down enough,

can't insult me if I'm dead

Propped up again - off the screen and down your throat

Cannibalized, dumbed down and resized for easy gain

Money talks as hollywood eats its own again

Cannibalized, dumbed down and resized for easy gain

They just left it running when nobody asked for more.

DESTROYER OF WORLDS (OPPENHEIMER BLUES)

What thou hath wrought with these two hands,

the great undoing of every man

The toil of fourteen billion years snuffed out in a flash

They watched the birth with faith devout

They cut the cord and locked you out

She's everybody's baby now - and baby, it's gonna crash.

A big bang that the gods could see.

The fix is in, the Prime Mover is out.

We don't need your sun no more,

we've got 10000 suns down here.

Prometheus in a downward slide,

Hiroshima's sons want to know why

But they changed the locks & won't take your calls

You can't do these ghosts no good at all.

Now I Am Become Death

I had nine lives when I got to this town

and God only knows what it's down to now

But spare the bomb and spoil the child

(I tried to take it back).

He drops his eyes and leans in tight

with words to echo all your nights.

At the first flash of the blinding lights, he says:

"We're all sons of bitches now." Always.

You're a sinking sun. You're a setting sun. The lucky one.

("We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." - R.O.)

MISERABLE SOUND

Down. I get down. I get down with the miserable sound.

Soul. I got a soul (but I wouldn't want you to know).

Place - all out of place - up here (I'm) working on my face.

To sink in. To disappear. To be anywhere but here.

And I trace these steps every night, but I can't seem to get it right.

Down. I get down. I get down with the miserable sound.

Soul. I got a soul (but I wouldn't want you to know).

And practice makes a perfect scene of cultivated misery.

Virgin hands and cocaine eyes - Another moth lost in the lights

I've known too many night life deaths to be all that impressed

by another self-styled modern mess. My time it aint worth much I guess

But it's worth something more than this.

Down. I get down. I get down with the miserable sound.

Soul. I got a soul (but I wouldn't want you to know).

Some, I've known some - that can hold their own, but you ain't one.

This nightwatch routine, this played out passed out scene -

It's not the only game in town - I'm twice as lost and just as down,

but I'm not the one that's hiding out from the sun.

So look me up when you get over being so over it all (X2)

Waste my time -You waste my time - Don't waste my time.

If you're looking for your moment, it's coming and it's going going gone -

with the fear of the dawn.

------------------------------

Busted & Internet Exploder 2008 Practice Space Demos:

& "Blow-Up II" - A special movie just for you.

(Director of Photography - Andrus Hans Magnussen Meret)