1. |
John Brown's Revenge
05:27
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Kansas was bleeding 1856
A free state consumed
By racist border attacks
Lawrence sacked, and a movement was lost
Till one man stood up and drew blood for
Blood was spilt on that final day
At the Battle of Black Jack they pushed back the southern advance
Just like ghosts fading into the night, Brown’s forces went east
To put an end to the fight….
Talk about the fight but talk is cheap
today we fight back for racial equality
Never give up never give in
This is the ghost of john brown’s revenge
Harper's Ferry, 1859
Twenty-one men seized the armory
To start insurrection arm all the slaves
But they were sold out by northern pacifists
They fought to the death against federal marines
And held up for treason john brown courageously……
Stepped to that noose and he took it with pride
To free the oppressed he would surely die
The crimes of the guilty, John Brown swore
Will never be purged away except with blood
Never give up, never give in
This is the ghost of john brown’s revenge
Look where we’re at… America Now
A classist divide, drawn on the lines of…..
Blacks in the ghettos, crack on the streets
Muslims kidnapped and sent to Guantanamo Bay
Mexico border guarded by police
And white racist thugs, they call themselves Minutemen
If john brown were here, he’d say it again
What we need right now, is a frontal assault on the……..
Crimes of the past, not yet put to rest
If you want real change, you gotta change it with fists!
Never give up, never give in
This is the legacy of John Brown’s re-……
Never give up, never give in
These are the words of John Brown’s re-….
Never give up, never give in
This is the ghost of John Brown’s revenge
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2. |
Perdition
05:18
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Dark shadows growing
Silhouettes cast upon the road to perdition
In the black all alone
Standing with fists clinched in stone
the vagabond tired
Going nowhere because no one
Is tending the fire
I’ve Seen too much pain
To believe in divine intervening
I’ve seen too much pain
salvation don’t mean a goddamn thing to me
condemned at the gates
in loathing I turn my back and I walk away
the preacher man says
that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand
well don’t hold your breath
when have you walked through his valleys of death
scriptures are chains
with so many suffering here on the earth in his
dungeon of pain
cast away pawns in his sick little game
I’ve seen too much pain
To ever believe in eternal grace
I’ve seen too much pain
the light of your lies so blinding
damned at the gates
disgusted I turn my back and I walk away
oh heavenly father
show me the way
spiritual treason
the truth sets you free
the blood of one martyr could never
wash away
the million lambs led to the slaughter
on his judgment day
the watchmaker watches
while the evil oppress the poor huddled masses
we crawl through the waste
as a charlatan shouts from the top of a stage
the church doors are open
but there’s never enough to buy back our redemption
I’ve seen too much pain
the words in your book mean nothing
I’ve seen too much pain
Malicious or helpless its all the same
Judged at the gates
In defiance I turn my back, and I walk away
Left at the gates
Judged at the gates
Damned at the gates
In defiance I turn my back and I walk away
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3. |
Susan
04:21
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Susan finished school at 16
Wants to be a secretary
2 years later she's got nowhere
Ends up in a factory
Making matches it's so boring
She gets sad and so depressed
Hears her doctor smugly tell her
"Take these pills and get some rest"
But she takes it one step further
Parents rescue her in time
Smile and tell her "When you're married
Everything will be just fine"
She recovers and gets married further shuts the closing door
Though he says "I really love you"
She feels worse off than before
9 months later she's a mother
It's a bouncing baby boy
"Oh how super!" say her parents But for her there is no joy
Words like mummy don't mean nothing
It's all she hears from 9 to 5
All alone at number 19
Every single day she dies
19 years of hollow cliches
Now she wants to end it all
Bored to death from doing nothing
Family drives her up the wall
Swinging Susan hanged herself
She couldn't live her pointless life
He comes home to see through tears
The rigid corpse that was his wife
The life and times of Susan Strange
Ended in that tragic way
With the money from insurance
The family went on holiday
Nothing left but rotting flowers
On an unattended grave
The epitaph has faded badly
No one reads it anyway
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4. |
Newsboy Funeral
06:42
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No one knows when Skinny died
But we found him dead in the snow
The bankers and lawyers walked right on by
On the corner where the day shoppers strolled
Skinny’s his name, for he had no kin
And nothing to call his own
So we gathered him up in a cheap wooden box
And carried little skinny on home
CHORUS
We carry our dead
We carry our dead
through the streets where we work to the bone
We carry our dead
We carry our dead
Through the streets that we all call our home
we carry our dead to the outside of the town
A place no one cares to go
And in a cold vacant lot we bury our dead
In the ground ---where the paperboys go
no one knows when timothy died
but he was stuffed in a dumpster in Queens
beaten black and blue and buggered on thru
and his throat cut to silence his screams
so we carried him off thru the streets at dawn
while the urbanites observed the scene
some stood and stared but most didn’t care
as the city bustled and steamed
CHORUS
I’ll sell you a paper if you’ll spare me a dime
For you know that we fend for our own
And I'll forego my meal, For we'll need every cent
To carry our brother on home
No one was there when Johnny died
He was ran down like a rat in the street
the trolley kept rolling and left Johnny there
all mangled and covered in sleet
And as the headlines in the papers cheered
the new age of progress is here
we carry our dead to the outside of town
where the eulogies won’t make a sound
CHORUS
OUTRO
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5. |
Oh, Guillotine
06:30
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The exalted arrive at the ball
on chariots of gold, upon the wings of the gods
their radiance lights up the halls
diamonds and jewels and skins of the thralls
orchestras line up arranged
celebrations of wealth the song of the day
wagers of blood would astound,
privileged the few, the rest worship the crown
the party began then to play
the beautiful people swaggered and swayed
indulged in the finest of ways
hors d'oeuvres and fine wines and expensive champagnes
when entered a madam so fair
her flair and her charm lit up the air
while outside of the palace estates
a terrible force soon began to shake
Isolated are the rich as disparity grows
debutantes in their decadence dance in their robes
twirling and spinning as the cup overflows
They wont even know when the knife’s at their throat
Oh liberty
….or guillotine
They dance to an opulent tune
and toasted and cheered to the health of the few
an order of tyrant tycoons
some make the laws, the rest simply consume
but as the party reached fanciful heights
the ramshackle slums burned all through the night
desperate and starving for change
Waves of plebeian rage crashes against the gates
Isolated are the rich as disparity grows
debutantes in their decadence dance in their robes
twirling and spinning as the cup overflows
They wont even know when the knife’s at their throat
Oh liberty
….or guillotine
and the guards at the palace were killed right on site
and the jackboot police ran away terrified
and the armies of war marched into the fight
but the people fought back with all of their might
they stood with their fists, clenched, raised to the sky
and the fires of rage ravaged the blight
and the beast that forever was kept in a cage
broke thru her chains and devoured her prey
Oh liberty
….or guillotine
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Poor Man's Blood New Mexico
Also check out Jeff's punk band "Article 15" at article15nmpunx.bandcamp.com.
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