The New America
Album - 9 maggio 2000 - Debaser id 14146

A rhapsody! Contestants in disguise
A nation of desire
But who will win the prize?
The people stand united,
Reluctantly aligned
Copying and lying
Are the favorite past-time
You've got a chance
To confront the world today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

Common life depicted on afternoon tv,
Is spiked to give the miserable a vogue identity
Hate your neighbors,
Cheat your friends,
They don't discriminate
Popularity and fame don't care
If you're a reprobate

You've got a chance
To confront the world today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

I'm tired of all this
Shakespearean misinformation
I want to win the game
You've got the right intentions
But who's got time to think?
You've got a noon appointment,
You've got to hit the links
You're talking in the stratosphere,
You're curled up on the floor
With such a wealth of information,
Why are you so poor?
You've got a chance
To be relevant today
Desperate romance
Is the curse of castaways
What good is skill
If you don't make it to the dance?
(don't you believe what the wise men have to say)
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

it's a long way to the promised land
so you'd better well know your way
there's a ship on the ocean
and an albatross who is trying to lead you astray
leaders, politicians, and power whores
are in line to receive your choice
you can bet your ass, if you give it to them,
they will gladly take your voice
and it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
and it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way to the promised land
if we work we might find it here
there's no substitute for enlightenment,
there's no reason for bridled fear
when you join the people who've joined the club
you gotta clench and play your hand
cuz if you fall in line you're gonna fall in time
and you'll never make a stand
and it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
what are you going to do?
when they call for you?
bend and capitulate?
or keep your head on straight?
easy answers bought without experience,
is gonna lead you to certain doom
because the truth is just what you make of it
it begins and ends with you!
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
when you join the people who joined the club
(it's a long way to the promised land)
you gotta clench and play your hand
(it's a long way to the promised land)
cause the truth is just what you make of it
(it's a long way to the promised land)
it's a long way
get in line

Do you know the cost of future misery?
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away
from realizing what we strive to be
but we've got to break out
from this insulated blind and lame senility

Wake up the new america
wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria
wo-oh!
change is the thing you're wary of
wo-oh!
we need a new america
wo-oh!

Laurels, human triumph,
bestowments from the past
victories don't mean a thing
if they don't last

We are just marching toward extinction
with blinders on our eyes
jeopardizing everything
we've learned and come to realize
you call that wise?

Open your eyes america
wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell to us
wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us
wo-oh!
We need a new america
wo-oh!

We don't have to be afraid to re-invent
we've got to start to build,
progress, and implement
for when we take our fill,
and never pay the price
we only build ourselves a fleeting,
false paradise

You can live in staunch denial
and mark me as your enemy
but I'm just a voice among the throng
who want a brighter destiny
they say with me

We are the new america
wo-oh!
This is the new america?
wo-oh

You were the one, you were my everything
Never apart, no one in-between
Then one day, when you went your own way
You felt justified, and I was mortified
But today...

You are just a picture
And a thousand memories is all I take with me
'Cause your smile is just too much to see
You're just a thousand memories

Fantasies, broken dreams
Reveries, sordid histories
Following my heart, laden with reaction, without calibration or design
Comitted to a trial, a life of understanding
Can't somebody show a sign to you?
For me, to see if you only knew

That you were the one...
(first verse)

'Cause a picture is worth a thousand memories

Well, it was punk - fifteen in the morning
And it was time
To stand my ground
And as the gawks and stares bombarded me
You know, I didn't even
Hear a sound
No one gave a damn
If I was there or away
If I died and went to hell,
They'd throw a party on my grave
And they'd all say,
"this kid is just a fool, he'll never be cool,
They might as well just ship him off
To some other school"
Plain destitute
Just a little too guilty, just a little too soon
That day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place
And I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire
Cuz I've got the desire
Well, it was punk - fifteen in the evening
And it was time to set the town on fire
I saw my boots and my hair,
As reflected in the mirror,
Reveal a streetkid named desire
I didn't give a damn
Because I was just dying to be
And as the hollywood street scene
Left its mark on me
I changed from a boy into a man
I said "never again!"
I stuck out my chin when I should have ran
Shit in the fan
I was driven so hard
By the sound of my heart
When the walls surround
In deeper shades of blue
And there's no voice of reason inside you
And you search for meaning
On an empty shelf
Then you're always dreaming
Of somewhere else
Today is just like any other day
No fear, no restraint
I know that paradise is some other place
And I will get there another day
You can come with me,
No conditions or fares
Somehow, somewhere,
I will find it before I expire,
Cause I've got the desire

It could happen to you,
a defect from the wasted outskirts of los angeles
with a crumpled-up pass for the RTD
And no authority or trajectory
on the brink of insanity
You'd better believe it
because it's written all over your face
just a neighborhood reject,
out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it
Would you ever have thought
persistence could prevail
against the almost
unbearable weight of the system?
With nothing better to do,
and no one else who you can look up to
You'd better believe it
because it's written all over your face
A political defect,
out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it
And the future is bright
when ideas run astray
So turn out the light,
A punk can't have a say
Sometimes desire is all that's there
Who said life was fair?

oh me oh my
get out of your 1950's fantasy,
your face shines with misery
transparently
spew out that sobering
half-assed victim rhetoric
make 'em all squirm
while they chew on it
it's a secret handshake
and a passing wink of the eye
as the witches bridge club weekly
meets to pen the tail on the sly
but they never ask
"why oh why don't we raise our voices to the sky?"
instead you're mute
and fawn just waiting to die
like some kind of hopeless housewife
but you can change while you're alive
and let 'em all know
at least you tried to kill the demons inside
oh me oh my
damn your transcendental paralysis,
we can work together
and make sense of this
don't be so sure
you can chuck it all away
you've got to proceed
no matter how bad you want to stay
it's a natural cause
and a comfort zone
there in your head
and the world turns away
as you tap the snooze button in bed
but nobody can hear a word you said
your history was never read
instead you're mute
and fawn just waiting to die
like some kind of hopeless housewife
but you can change while you're alive
and let 'em all know
at least you tried to kill the demons inside

Let your mind wander
Look beyond the shadows
Focus on the skyline,
Read the silhouettes
Your deepest desires
are a picture of tomorrow
All your darkest fears
are just a vestige of regret
And it's wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger,
prevailing winds blow stronger
and the fire continues to grow
Don't let shallow water limit your perception
Heed the new horizon
Muster to it fast
The moments of your yesterdays
are in the wake behind you
You can't assess the future
if you're living in the past
Keep it stoked!
If you are committed
to a life of understanding
then there's no agenda
for vengeance in your life
Sharpen all your senses,
face the opposition
You can overcome
with fortitude and mental might
And it's wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger,
prevailing winds blow stronger
and the fire continues to grow
in your soul
So be bold, let it grow
Don't let it die
Let it burn!

we don't need any more mountains
Because the trail builders
failed to give us passage there
so we can't reach the sky
We don't need any more failure
There is human tragedy
that's written everywhere
And we are all too young to die
Like a mystery that's here to stay
Some people never go away
cuz they've got something to say
Don't sell me short!
You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off
just because I don't belong
Like it or not I'm all you've got,
Dispose when I'm shot
Just don't sell me short,
I might not be who you thought
We don't need any more fables
because the writers have passed
and left us lessonless
And we must find our own way
We don't need any more privilege
There is vivid desperation
that is powerless
That no surplus can repay
Like the fix of rapture in a trance
Oh, fates are sealed by circumstance
So you've got to take a chance
Don't sell me short!
You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off
Just because I don't belong
Pass me on by, ignore my cry,
forget me when I die
Just don't sell me short,
Not while I'm still alive
Everybody's talking about heaven on earth,
I'm still trying to figure out
just what I'm worth
I'm full of emotion
and stuff you can't contain
And you just want to
flush me down the drain
But you can't make me go away