The Ballad of Herman P. Willis
There is a car
A goddamned Cadillac
There's an angry spirit
Still riding in the back
He's watching me
Everywhere I go
He heard me thinking
He heard that lonesome whistle blow
One and two and three generations four
A curse upon your bloodline for a century and more
The sun will never shine on your garden of stone
You invite your neighbors in but you're left there all alone
Sick little boy, one-room shack
And his daddy ran away
We called him Two Gun Pete from our big porch
And laughed at his angry face
And he never forgot it
He tells me every goddamned night
"You'll never get out of this world alive"
I been too lucky
Always crying over nothing at all
Always someone there to catch me when I fall
Now I'm building a fire
While the rain keeps driving in
Here comes that Cadillac, he's honking the horn, he says
"You lose again"
I Spied a Spider (2009)
You've Angered the Gods
There's a big snake in my backyard
Crawling down the trunk of a tree
He looks like he swallowed a rabbit
He took it away from me
He took it away from me
There's a sick little bird on the wire
Chewing underneath his wing
Looking with one eye open
I swear I didn't see a thing
I swear I didn't see a thing
In the earliest hour of the morning
When the sun and moon are sharing the sky
Your arm is still laying across me
Everything seems ready to die
Everything seems ready to die
We've been through the valley together
Walked into the devil's mouth
You pulled me out of the river
How could I think of leaving you now?
How could I think of leaving you now?
Sleeping in a Tree
I've been sleeping in a tree all day
High above the ground among the leaves I lay
Dreaming while the breezes make the branches sway
I've been sleeping in a tree all day
Keeping still until the sunlight dies away
I climb until I find a hiding place to stay
I live in the future
The present is gone
You prophesied the times to come
You got it wrong
I've been running from the bombs all night
You hear the sound but not before you see the light
Don't believe your eyes they won't believe the sight
I've been running from the bombs all night
Everything that's standing still is burning bright
The city's falling down the sky is flashing white
Promised Land Blues
I finally made it to the promised land
There was nothing there before me but empty oustretched hands
Hunger and confusion everywhere
I was longing for the shackles that I used to wear
To be so righteous and pure you must be just a little bit sick
That fruit's just hanging on the vine waiting to be picked
Nothing in my suitcase, nothing in my pail
I'm not looking for a paradise, just a cleaner jail
Please Spare the Life of Your Cocaine Dealer
Please spare the life of your cocaine dealer
He did you a favor when you needed a friend
So please spare the life of your cocaine dealer
Let the spirit of mercy in your heart and your head
Remember that party when you first met him
And he let you have your fill
He gave you the good shit
He showed you the trick
With the twenty dollar bill
And now with all eyes gazing upon you
And his fate firmly in your sway
You give no protection, just a lethal injection
Would you treat your dog that way?
Keep the Sweatshops Blazin'
Keep the sweatshops blazin'
Keep the sweatshops blazin'
You get home from work feelin', singin', dancin'
Just like a California Raisin
The director of operations
The director of operations
He's sweatin' to the oldies in his cotton slacks
He's on a tropical vacation
You still got nine good fingers
You still got nine good fingers
There's a guy outside who'd kill for your job
His family's eatin' shit for dinner
Rock n' Roll Tornado
The house, the truck, the old tool shed
The mailbox and the waterbed
The Shop-N-Save, the swimming pool
The car wash and the junior high school
A bovine and a picket fence
A telephone pole and the flea market tents
Swirling in the air so high
Spinning round and round up in the sky
Look out for that flying Winnebago
It's a rock and roll tornado
Canada, the Middle East
Eurasia, Ecuador and Greece
Every nation, every sea
Every ocean sucked into the cyclone stream
The planet Earth, the planet Mars
Saturn's rings and the Aquarius stars
The galaxy and even worse
The hapless, helpless universe
Down the Drain (By Way of the Basin)
There's somewhere else I'd rather be going
If I had the choice I'd go there
's somewhere else I'd rather be going
If I had the choice I'd go there
But one more time I'm making that journey
Down the drain by way of the basin
Sometimes I feel like I died in your mind
Or like you lived your life again and I was never born
Well I don't know much but I know that I was there
When you felt around in the dark for your balance
Now I dare not speak of the way that I feel
I miss you and it hurts me every day
But if I say so now then the bridge will fall apart
And that ain't no way to make things any better
College Town
It's hard enough just to stay with the beat
When the weight of your world is standing on your feet
And the transportation department is outside
Tearing up the street
The rent's been raised and it's overdue
It's time to kill your soul and raise some revenue
Yeah I know that things could surely be worse
But they could be much better too
Better learn to recognize a cosmic joke
Or else you'll find yourself casting about
In some college town
Where nothing you do takes hold
This ain't Mecca, it's not the Taj Mahal
It's just an empty room with some glass on the wall
And a sticker from the band last night
Up in the bathroom stall
The ghosts have left and the echoes have died
Give me one good reason to come inside
My arms are crossed, I'm not impressed
I think I'll go out for a ride
First you fit yourself with that homemade yoke
And then you find yourself casting about
Your heart's been taken and dragged across the floor
You've been defeated and your tailbone is sore
And the friends who used to lift you up
Man they don't know you anymore
There's a vision of the future forming in your eyes
You're lying in the grass searching through the skies
It's cold, it's late, it's not funny anymore
And you're the only one who's surprised
Guard the riches of your spirit; don't go broke
And I hope you never find yourself casting about
Another Cold Shoulder
A good friend should greet you with a smile
A smile is how a good friend should greet you
If he ain't seen you for a while
You can tell when something isn't right
When something isn't right you can tell
By the way he won't look you in the eye
Here comes another cold shoulder
What did I do now
Nobody wants to be the one to tell me
They're all hoping I'll just figure it out
It's deep into the winter for us now
Now it's deep into the winter for us
But we've got to beat the freeze somehow
You used to think I was so funny back in the spring
Back in the spring you used to think that I was so funny
But now you don't laugh at anything
The room goes silent when I come through the door
Somebody clears their throat
And everybody's eyes go down to the floor
Searching for sunlight, I look all around
But there's a cold front moving in
From the east, the west, the north, and the south
Only Way Free
I'm so wired wired wired
And I just got fired fired fired
And I never get tired tired
Of giving up
Here comes the corner of Hollywood & Vine
I usually take it at about 45
I got a current running through me I'm more than alive
I'm gonna accelerate and crank the wheel to the right
The reason is
There's no good reason
Nobody cares about reasons anymore
Here's all the pages I never let you read
I thought it was a secret that I had to keep
But it was really just dry leaves falling from a tree
And now it's all laid out for anyone to see
I don't fuck around when I got something to say
I don't let some bullshit get in the way
It just comes tripping off my tongue as plain as day
When the moment's just right with no delay
The reason is
There's no good reason
No one believes in reasons anymore
Hotter Heads Prevail (2005)
Old Ladies Reading the Bible
I don't want to see
Anything on my TV except
Old ladies reading the bible
The people who belong at the head of every classroom
Would never tell your child that his grandpa was a
baboon
Old ladies reading the bible
I don't want my kid to be some dope-smoking feller
I'm going to lock him up in a cellar with a couple of
Old ladies reading the bible
There's a cross on the flag, Jesus wrote the Constitution
He made it very clear, left no room for confusion about
Old ladies reading the bible
God damn you liberal intellectual
Atheist, communist, homosexual, we need more
Old ladies reading the bible
Potato salad at the church picnic
And dirty bombs at the abortion clinic, my utmost for
Old ladies reading the bible
Culture war and victory is near
And then the only music the children can hear will be
Old ladies reading the bible
Have You Ever Sold Out?
Have you ever sold out?
Do you still remember how it feels
To become the enemy
Of your own ideals?
If your soul is perfect
If your conscience is without a stain
Then you can tune me out now
You won't understand a word that I'm saying
Set up to take a fall
I walked into a trap
I couldn't stop myself at all
Where do you go at night
When you can't stand the dark
And you're scared of the lights?
I started thinking of my best friends
Suddenly so far from where I could be
Because I was lost
And praying that they wouldn't find me
I kept walking
Until the morning caught my back
Until the waves rolled in
And covered up my tracks
Set up etc.
Sold out
I'm calling you from the highway
I'm so glad that I got your machine
Now I'm not afraid
To say exactly what I mean
I'm going so far away
Maybe I'll come back after a long long time
I hope that everything has changed
I hope I'm astounded by the sight
Set up etc.
Help Yourself
Q: How many lawyers does it take to butter a piece of
toast?
A: It doesn't take any lawyers to butter a piece of toast.
Shoot your breath into the air
It's so cold outside you can see it hanging there
You are heavier in the water
You are safer at the shallow end
I don't wanna ride in the middle front seat
I want to stretch out in the back with the big kids
I don't wanna be the princess I wanna be the dragon
I wanna get the fuck out of this goddamn station wagon
Q: Why did the divinely inspired man cross the road?
A: Because the sign said "walk."
So there is a script written for your life
Written by a thousand monkeys who can type
It's pretty good right up until the end
The last twenty pages are really weird, they don't make any
sense
I Can't Feel a Thing
Show me the way
I'm all drained
And I can't feel a thing
Don't you ever cry?
No, you never cry
Your eyes are two
Twinkling stones
I'm gonna be all right
I'm gonna be all right
Just turn off the light
And leave me alone
The snow, the blizzard that came in the spring
It changed how you feel about everything
Summertime came and you just didn't care
You slept all the time and didn't go anywhere
You slept all the time and didn't go anywhere
Faith No Less
Death to the old white-haired ghost gods and the klan
Death to pennyloafers and hard-backed chairs
I was born here with no choice
I'm probably going out just the same way
All the believers seem in a hurry
To blow the gas cloud this way
Fuck flowers and full moons and sunrise and sky
Fuck flowers and full moons and sunrise and sky
All the useless things we don't need when we die
I was born here with no choice
I'll probably die just the same way
Faith is like that riddle
That I don't have time to say
Wake the Prisoner
Smile at the picture of sacrifice
Going down three times, only coming up twice
My bones, my hand, my good green flower
You miss her but she never was your child
Wake the prisoner
Release the secrets
That live in our bellies
Pick a rhythm out of the breeze
And make like an animal, devour it deep and easy
I am what is like a star almost an ocean ablaze surrounded by
magic and salt
Bounce Your Head
You'll never be caught in a contradiction
If you learn well the lessons of science fiction
One part inspiration and ten parts friction
There is too such a thing as a healthy addiction
Bounce your head
My dream for tomorrow is of a beautiful day
I'd come and visit more often but it seems so far away
Much remains untold but there's no more to say
If I forgive myself there's no one left to blame
Bounce your head
I can see in your eyes how you'd most like to have it
You and me living together like rabbits
Well you're kind of cute but you've got such bad habits
Chewing tobacco and Lenny Kravitz
The Revolution's Over
Don't you see the road?
Are you too fogged in?
Do you feel the cold?
Do you feel the wind?
Is there a perfect world in your imagination?
Does every circumstance have an explanation?
I still have the flyer it's tacked up on my refrigerator
The revolution's over, oh no
Revolution hat
Revolution shoes
The recession's getting worse
That's good revolution news
When the masses rise up it's gonna be so great
All those tanks will belong to the revolution state
All lyrics © 2005, 2009, & 2013 Collisionville