BAD RELIGION - THE PROCESS OF BELIEF - 2002

SUPERSONIC
(Brett Gurewitz)
Well, am I making haste or could it be haste is making me,
What’s time but a thing to kill or keep or buy or lose or live in.
I gotta go faster, keep up the pace,
Just to stay in the human race...

I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic.
Tell me, does life exist beyond it?
When I need to sate, I just accelerate
Into oblivion.

Into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah yah ya-ahn...

Now here I go again, everything is alien,
How does it feel to be outstripped by the pace of cultural change?
My deeds are senseless and rendered meaningless,
when measured in that vein.

I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic.
Tell me, does life exist beyond it?
When I need to sate, I just accelerate
Into oblivion.

I won’t lie, (pace setters, go getters)
It’s exciting (rat racers, forget hers)
When I try (researchers, berserkers)
To decide things. (strategies to help the workers)
I just want to live (new time saving devices)
Decently, (quick vices, short splices)
Meaningfully. (brevity, dependency)
I’m in misery. (digital efficiency)

I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic.
Tell me, does life exist beyond it?
When I need to sate, I just accelerate
Into oblivion.

Into oblivion yah yah yah yah yah yah ya-ahn..

PROVE IT
(Greg Graffin)
Hit the road in wander mode,
Inquire along the way.
Savoir faire in full despair
While living day to day,
My heart is not a cold cauldron of proof.
I don’t ever need to prove myself to you.
No!

Looking back I’m off the tracks
More times than I recognize.
Mistakes are another opportunity to refine,
My heart is not a cold cauldron of proof.
I don’t ever need to prove myself to you.

There’s no such thing as hell,
But you can make it if you try.
There might come a day
When emotion can be quantified.
But as of now there’s no proof necessary,
It’s only in your mind.

CAN’T STOP
(Brett Gurewitz)
I’m incurable, but durable, it's easy to see
Lack of restraint is a complaint of those around me.
I know that others postpone
Gratification, well, I lack that affectation.

Let’s get it right,
There’s no end in sight!

And I can’t stop
Can’t stop it
Can’t stop
C-c-c-c-c-can’t stop,
Shocking, but I just can’t stop it,
That’s right!

Uncontrollable, I’m inconsolable,
My pleasure center is the shelter for a reptile.
I hate when I gotta tolerate
Frustration, see, I lack the motivation.

Let’s set this straight,
I never wait!

And I can’t stop
Can’t stop it
Can’t stop
C-c-c-c-c-can’t stop,
Shocking, but I just can’t stop it,
That’s right!

BROKEN
(Brett Gurewitz)
She said, thanks but I’m broken.
I guess you must have misspoken.
What a laugh, I’ve never been chosen by anyone.

She was barely a teen,
Hanging out in between,
Just a part of the scene.
With mercurial smile
And incurable style,
She was only a dream.

How’s that, he didn’t know a thing about
Making love to the kind of girl you read about.

He said, I’m bound to be broken.
My Daddy bet that I’d amount to nothing.
He won’t let anybody show him anything.

He was a troubled child,
Had been down for a while,
Always kept to himself.
No she couldn’t defend,
He only wanted a friend,
Now he’s made something else.

It’s so sad, no one saw it coming,
The paper said that he hit the ground running.

Oh yeah, I know I’m not broken.
A little cracked, but still I’m not broken.
I wanna laugh, but I think that I’m choking on reality.

When the world is turning for you,
Don’t turn on me,
Who are you here to repair,
Well I don’t know what you mean.
You could never resist
Glorifying despair,
Well now it’s coming to you
And I don’t really care.

While I’m not the kind to insist,
You couldn’t have missed, we must co-exist.
So please listen to me,
There is no such thing as human debris.

Oh yeah, I know I’m not broken.
A little cracked, but that amounts to nothing.
I wanna laugh, I’m not joking.

I’m unbroken,
Oh yeah, I said I’m unbroken,
I said I’m unbroken,
A little cracked,
it’s just a token.
I’m really not broken,
What a guess, I’m unbroken.

DESTINED FOR NOTHING
(Greg Graffin)
Who do you believe can put some meaning in your life,
Meaning in your life, meaning in your life?
Who do you conceive to provide you guidance and light,
Guidance and light, guidance and light?
Are they waiting for you in the by and by?
Do you even have to try?

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing,
The future isn’t difficult to see.
It’s easy to confuse grand design with life’s repercussions,
Lament not your vanquished fantasy.
It’s only destiny.

Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear,
Ignorance and fear, ignorance and fear?
Ancient people succumbed to it, can it happen here,
Can it happen here, can it happen here?
Does it make you suffer ‘cause you have to die?
Is it best to live a lie?

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing,
The future isn’t difficult to see.
It’s easy to confuse grand design with life’s repercussions,
Lament not your vanquished fantasy.
It’s only destiny.

Why can’t you see?
There ain’t no destiny.
For you and me,
There ain’t no destiny.
(Why can't you see?) Why can’t you see?
(No destiny) (There aint no destiny) There ain’t no destiny.
(Why can’t you see?) For you and me,
(No destiny) (There ain’t no destiny) There ain’t no destiny!

Headed for eternity and destined for nothing,
The future isn’t difficult to see.
It’s easy to confuse grand design with life’s repercussions,
Lament not your vanquished fantasy.
It’s only destiny.

MATERIALIST
(Greg Graffin)
You’re obsessed and distressed
‘Cause you can’t make any sense of the ludicrous nonsense
And incipient senescence
That will deem your common sense useless.
This ain’t no recess!

I want to believe in you, but my plan keeps falling through,
I know I have to face the harshness, grin and bear the truth,
And I have to walk this mile in my own shoes.
(But I’m no fool!)

I’m materialist,
A full-blown realist, (Physical theorist)
And I guess I’m full of doubt,
So I’m prone to hear you out and refuse.
I’m materialist,
There ain’t no fear in this,
It’s there for all to see, so don’t talk of hidden mystery with me...

Mind over matter, it really don’t matter
If the street’s idle chatter turns your heart strings to tatters.
Flatter hopes don't flatter and soul batter won’t congeal to mend
A life that is shattered into shards.
Was it in the cards?

The process of belief is an elixir when you're weak,
I must confess, at times I indulge it on the sneak,
But generally my outlook's not so bleak.
(And I’m not meek!)

I’m materialist,
Call me a humanist,
And I guess I’m full of doubt,
So I’m prone to hear you out and refuse.
I’m materialist,
There ain’t no fear in this,
It’s for all to see, so don’t talk of hidden mysteries with me...

Like Rome under Nero, our future’s one big zero,
Recycling the past to meet immediate needs.
And through it all we amble forth and persevere and climb
Our mountains of regrets to sow our seeds!

I’m materialist,
I’m materialist,
I’m materialist,
I’m materialist. (hold)

KYOTO NOW!
(Greg Graffin)
It’s a matter of prescience,
No, not the science fiction kind.
It’s all about ignorance,
And greed and miracles for the blind.
The media parading, disjointed politics
Founded on petrochemical plunder,
And we’re its hostages.

If you stand to reason, you're in the game,
The rules might be elusive, but our pieces are the same.
And you know if one goes down we all go down as well,
The balance is precarious as anyone can tell,
This world’s going to hell.

Don’t allow
This mythologic hopeful monster to exact its price.
Kyoto now!
We can’t do nothing and think someone else will make it right.

You might not think it matters now, but what if you are wrong?
You might not think there’s any wisdom in a fucked up punk rock song.
But the way it is cannot persist for long,
A brutal sun is rising on a sick horizon.

It’s in the way we live our lives,
Exactly like the double-edge of a cold familiar knife.
And supremacy weighs heavy on the day,
It’s never really what you own, but what you threw away.
And how much did you pay?

Don’t allow
This mythologic hopeful monster to exact its price.
Kyoto now!
We can’t do nothing and think someone else will make it right.

In your dreams
You saw a steady state a bounty for eternity.
Silent screams
But now the wisdom that sustained us is in full retreat.

Don’t allow
This mythologic hopeful monster isn’t worth the risk.
Kyoto now!
We can’t have vision for the future if it can’t be fixed.

Alien
We need a fresh and new religion to run our lives.
Hand in hand
The arid torpor of inaction will be our demise.

Kyoto now!

SORROW
(Brett Gurewitz)
Father, can you hear me?
How have I let you down?
I curse the day that I was born
And all the sorrow in this world.

Let me take you to the herding ground
Where all good men are trampled down,
Just to settle a bet that could not be won
Between a prideful father and his son.

Will you guide me now, for I can’t see
A reason for the suffering and this long misery.
What if every living soul could be upright and strong?

Well, then I do imagine...
There will be sorrow,
Yeah, there will be sorrow,
And there will be sorrow no more.

When all soldiers lay their weapons down
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves.

It’s easy to imagine
There will be sorrow,
Yeah, there will be sorrow,
And there will be sorrow no more.

There will be sorrow,
And there will be sorrow,
And there will be sorrow no more.

Yeah there will be sorrow,
Yeah there will be sorrow,
And there will be sorrow no more.

EPIPHANY
(Greg Graffin)
A new age of reason,
Brain treason to trick the mind.
What good is searching
If nothing’s there to find?
We arrive at this place
Of no return, my brothers,
Only to discover that our minds have led us away
So far from the painful truth
Of who we are.

What’s right is wrong,
What’s come has gone,
What’s clear and pure is not so sure.
(It came to me.)
All promises become a lie,
All that’s benign corrupts in time,
(The fallacy)
Of Epiphany.

Come forth, bear witness,
See the profit from your loss.
Beg for forgiveness
Only after you tally the cost.
We arrive at this place
Of no return, my sisters,
Only to discover that our values ran us aground
On the shoal in the sea of what
We could be.

What’s right is wrong,
What’s come has gone,
What’s clear and pure is not so sure.
(It came to me.)
All promises become a lie,
All that’s benign corrupts in time,
(The fallacy)
Of Epiphany.

If it’s real for me, do I have to prove it to you?
Why do revelations fade to cold blue untruths?
It’s oh so relative,
Subservient in total to one’s perspective.

What’s right is wrong,
What’s come has gone,
What’s clear and pure is not so sure.
(It came to me.)
All promises become a lie,
All that’s benign corrupts in time,
(Mountains don’t stand the test of time)
(The fallacy)
Of Epiphany.

EVANGELINE
(Brett Gurewitz)
She came from Heaven, well, there’s no point belaboring that,
I’ve seen some trouble and I must admit that I’m in demand.
I confront rejection with magnetic good intentions and yet,
Hey Jack, get back, in fact, don't do that.

I act sharp but feel uncertain
‘Cause next time it could be curtains.

Evangeline,
Conspirator so fine,
Lend me your faith because mine is broken.
Compared to mine,
What is your crime, Evangeline?

Now just to be certain, let’s be sure to set the record straight,
I could use an angel, but I don’t intend to split up the take.
Never go for treason, but I got reasons that don’t warrant debate,
My act's intact and in fact, you’re not all that.

You act sure but you’re uncertain
‘Cause next time it could be curtains.

Evangeline,
Conspirator so fine,
Lend me your faith because mine is broken.
Compared to mine,
What is your crime, Evangeline?

Well, there’s no use turning back.
It’s already much too late
When the house is burning.

Evangeline,
Conspirator so fine,
Lend me your faith because mine is broken.
Compared to mine,
What is your crime, Evangeline?

THE DEFENSE
(Brett Gurewitz)
Nothing comes easier than madness in the world today,
Mass paranoia is a mode, not a malady.
Yeah, I’d like to watch a thousand cable channels but there's nothing on,
And my high speed connection’s monitored daily by the Pentagon.

These things are seldom what they seem,
I'm not inclined to enjoy my dreams...

(Won’t go away...)

(No peace) No peace, (no friends) no friends,
(We trace) We trace the mortal edge (with no defense)
To state the obvious: this world is perilous for us.

No sense (no sense), no guide (no guide),
Ain’t it beautiful to be alive? (Yeah, right!)
I won’t resign before the struggle ends,
So I’ll construct a sound defense.

We are the prey and culture is the predator,
I’m running out of time where conditions are positional.
Shadows of a doubt cast reluctance and depravity,
There’s got to be a way to overcome this grim reality.

Is there an option left for me?
I’m not immune to despondency...

(There’s no way...)

(No peace) No peace, (no friends) no friends,
(We trace) We trace the mortal edge (with no defense)
To state the obvious: this world is perilous for us.

No sense (no sense), no guide (no guide),
Ain’t it beautiful to be alive? (Yeah, right!)
I won’t resign before the struggle ends,
So I’ll construct a sound defense.

There’s a signpost on the corner
And it keeps everybody safe,
We were all made in the shade.
And your mother’s in the kitchen
Where she’s patching all the cracks in the wall,
We never had a care in the world.

(No shade) Too much to sacrifice, (no light) it’s hard to recognize,
(Just black) Just a compromise (and white) obscuring deadly alibies,
(My plans) It’s combinational, (and designs) the pressure so intense,
So I’ll construct this sound defense.

(No way) Nothing’s plainer than the madness in the world today,
(No sign) I must conceal myself and steal myself and break away.
(No grace) I seek initiatives in matters that are black and white,
(No sense) So I’ll construct a sound defense.

THE LIE
(Greg Graffin)
How do you know what you can be
If you can’t see where you are going?
What breaks the silence, misery
Can make you see where you belong.
It’s a dangerous stage, but the show must go on.

Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Don’t let your weakness show.
You just might be the last to know.

Freedom is such a loaded word,
So full of hurt and such aplomb.
Loneliness saunters in its breeze,
Like a disease it drags along.
The time of your life can’t be had for a song.

Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Don’t let your weakness show.
You just might be the last to know.

Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Would you betray your soul?
Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Don't let your weakness show.

Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Only the meek follow.
Why do you lie, why do you lie?
Trample the fear below.
You just might be the last to know.

YOU DON’T BELONG
(Brett Gurewitz)
Hey, you,
Is there something worth aspiring to?
And can it be found in a record store?
Well, it’s not there anymore.
Just think of all the things we did,
We were different
Just like all the other kids.

Missy was a teen blue video star,
Tom took his life in his mother’s car.
Milo went to college but you knew about that,
Rodney played our record,
GG started riots,
Laurie was always quiet.
She was battling depression.

Hey, you,
Is there something worth belonging to?
And can I pick it up for a song
Or a diploma or a worthy cause?
Well let me tell you that there’s nothing wrong,
It’s just that ones like us will never belong.

Jack wore a skirt, but he knew how to scrap,
Billy went to county on a class one possession.
Wendy went to school while her daddy shot smack,
Eugene kept a list,
Mugger was security,
Mary, she kept her purity.
We were all in it together.

Yellowed postcards on the wall
Serve to cover up a blankness after all,
So I will carry them along
Like a song when I'm gone, yeah.

Hey, you,
Is there something worth belonging to?
You know we've been here all along
Like a confederacy of the wrong.
And I confess it could be prejudice
But to you I dedicate this song,
Yeah to you.

BORED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
(Greg Graffin)
With nothing better to do,
No one to come home to,
I woefully conclude
To take it out on you.

I’m bored to the extreme,
This world of foolish dreams.
Disillusion,
I am not who I seem to be.

Yeah sure I might do harm
And bear my right to arm,
Retribution,
If only someone would listen to me.
Listen to me,
Listen to me,
Listen to me,
Listen to me.

A room, an empty shelf,
A book on mental health,
I look for inner wealth,
By punishing myself.

I’m bored to the extreme,
This world of foolish dreams.
Disillusion,
I am not who I seem to be.

Yeah sure I might do harm
And bear my right to arm,
Retribution,
If only someone would listen to me.
Listen to me,
Listen to me,
Listen to me,
Listen to me.

SHATTERED FAITH
[available on Australian and Japanese version and “Broken” single]
The scientist purported that there ain’t no purpose
And the theologian told me that it’s all been designed
And I’m trying to maintain objectivity.
The world won’t illuminate what really matters,
And I’m an imperfect mortal meaning extractor
Processing the complexity.

Born of the earth, (Are we blind?)
We weren’t given a choice. (There’s no way)
What about free will? (What we have)
Do we have a voice? (Is shattered faith)
See them run in place (Here and now)
In the human rat race, (No reward)
So much dead weight (No debate)
To our disgrace. (Shattered faith)
Life begins when you accept your fate.

Paralysis from forces raging out of control until
My confidence and will are at an all-time low,
Just directionless wandering.
Eternal life, eternal truth, eternal secrets,
Isolated hopes and hypotheses just
Leave me feeling so hungry.

Born of the earth, (Are we blind?)
We weren’t given a choice. (There’s no way)
What about free will? (What we have)
Do we have a voice? (Is shattered faith)
See them run in place (Here and now)
In the human rat race, (No reward)
So much dead weight (No debate)
To our disgrace. (Shattered faith)
Life begins when you accept your fate.

Right or wrong, the main criterion is what you do and not what you say,
The roads you take, the friends you make and those you throw away.
The method is a simple synthesis of the past and present state,
You never lose if the path you choose is one you can easily navigate.

I had a dream, light and carefree, but now there’s doubt and gravity.
But I won’t run in place (Are we blind?)
In the human rat race. (There’s no way)
I can set the pace (What we have)
And accept my fate. (Is shattered faith)
Shattered faith, (Here and now)
Shattered faith, (No reward)
The part of me (No debate)
I can’t erase. (Shattered faith)

POEMA COMPLETO PRA MINHA IRMÃ

“Dos nossos planos é que tenho mais saudade
É quando olhávamos juntos na mesma direção.

Aonde está você agora
Além de aqui dentro de mim?
(....)
Vai ser difícil sem você
Porque você está comigo o tempo todo.

E quando vejo o mar
Existe algo que diz:
– A vida continua e se entregar é uma bobagem.

Já que você não está aqui,
O que posso fazer é cuidar de mim
Quero ser feliz ao menos.
Lembra que o plano era ficarmos bem?”
– Legião Urbana, Vento no Litoral



[poema ainda sem título]
Enquanto existir chuva...
Sol e mar, vento para ser partido em rostos
Nossos corações sempre baterão juntos
Como um...
Como o de verdadeiros irmãos.
Oh, onde está seu coração?
Oh, onde está meu coração?
Será que você sabe o quanto estou atualmente
Atualmente
Presente
Estou tão feliz
Como há muito tempo não estava?
Já fazia uma cara que não estava feliz assim.
Sou o sol e as estrelas mais luminosas...
Ah, você tem que ver os meus amigos tão felizes
Quando me vêem tão incrivelmente feliz assim!
Meu coração aperta –
Por que você não pode estar feliz aqui junto comigo?
Mesmo estando apaixonado não correspondido
Não consigo mais ficar triste
E isso me deixa mais feliz ainda!
Onde está você agora, neste instante, Irmã,
E seus olhos e suas lágrimas e sua voz?
Eu lembro de quando éramos crianças
Correndo descalças pela areia da praia
Fecho os olhos para lembrar e para ver seu sorriso
E não consigo não chorar...
Será em nossos corações onde residiremos novamente
Em nossas mentes e lembranças para sempre.
E, por uma última vez novamente,
estaremos juntos de mãos dadas junto com mamãe
frente ao mar.

:: .. :: .. :: 18 de julho de 2008 :: .. :: .. ::

:: .. :: .. :: ‘til the next! :: .. :: .. ::

FABÍOLA - part fünf - [unkomplett]

[poema ainda sem título]
[falta terminar]

Meus olhos brilham ao ver você?
Meu coração bate mais rápido
(a ponto de quase explodir)
à Sua mais simples visão?
Eu me sinto mais completo e mais feliz
em Sua presença?
Quando Você está perto de mim
é como se não existisse chuva e medo e raiva e desespero
é como se o sol brilhasse sempre!
Eu devo demonstrar
completa apatia
ou
radiante felicidade
por estar sentindo o que sinto por Você atualmente?
Vou desenhar um sorriso em meu coração
só por Você existir!
Você se sente bem quando alguém diz que se sente bem
só de pensar em Você
só de lembrar que você existe?
Tomara que sim... tomara que sim!
Será que o toque de Suas mãos é tão bom
quanto o vento quebrando no rosto
e a chuva de um dia todo molhando o corpo?
Ah, como será Você descalça andando em uma praia
ao fim do entardecer ou início do amanhecer?

BAD RELIGON - THE NEW AMERICA - 2000

YOU’VE GOT A CHANCE
(Greg Graffin)
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 their favorite pastime.

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 PROMISE LAND
(Greg Graffin)
It’s a long way to the promise 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.
And you bet your ass, if you give it to them,
They will gladly take your voice.

And it’s a long way to the promise land.
Wo-oh oh oh oh oh.

It’s a long way to the promise 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 promise land.
Wo-oh oh oh oh oh.

What are you going to do
When they come 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!

And it’s a long way to the promise land.
Wo-oh oh oh oh oh.

A WORLD WITHOUT MELODY
(Greg Graffin)
I don’t want to live
In a world without melody.
Sometimes the rhythmic din
Of society is too much for me,
But purpose is prioritized.
These days the goal is win the prize.
There’s a sleeping resonance we hold
Through which we're unified,
So let it out!

Don’t just get lost in the crowd,
No one can deter you from your own path.
There’s no trip too remote
From which you can’t come back.
And I’ve got this hunch about you and me,
None of us are ready
For a world without melody.

Melody is the key,
It’s the surest way
To unlock your individuality.
Melody is the key,
It will set you free!

Don’t disrelish harmony,
Community will make you whole.
Work and understanding are the chords
Way deep within your soul.
They only need to be struck once
And the vibrations swell and spread,
But if we mute them they decay,
Our sensibilities are dead,
So let it out!

Don’t just be one of the crowd
Hesitance and diffidence will do you in
And your soul doesn't care
For social medicine.
And I’ve got this hunch
About you and me,
None of us are ready
For a world without melody.

Melody is the key,
It’s the surest way
To unlock your individuality.
Melody is the key,
It will set you free!

And I know together we could change the world,
Just you and me,
But I won’t live without melody.

NEW AMERICA
(Greg Graffin)
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 reinvent.
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 wants a brighter destiny.

Then say with me,
We are the new America! wo-oh!
This is the new America! Wo-oh!

1000 MEMORIES
(Greg Graffin)
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
‘Cuz 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.
Committed 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...

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
‘Cuz a picture is worth
One thousand memories.

A STREETKID NAMED DESIRE
(Greg Graffin)
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
‘Cause 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,
But 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
‘Cause I’ve got the desire.

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.

WHISPER IN TIME
(Greg Graffin)
All those stories that my dad told me,
They are just a whisper in time.
All those things that never came to be,
They are just a whisper in time.

A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Things that I can’t shake from my mind.
A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Moments that just flicker and die.

All those places I wanted to go,
They are just a whisper in time.
All those friends who now I do not know,
They are just a whisper in time.

A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Things that I can’t shake from my mind.
A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Moments that just flicker and die.

Maps and roads that brought me here today,
They are just a whisper in time.
Circumstances that were explained away,
They are just a whisper in time.

A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Things that I can’t shake from my mind.
A whisper in time, a whisper in time,
Moments that just flicker and die.

‘Cuz we are messengers of memory
Just whispers in time.

BELIEVE IT
(Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz)
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?

I LOVE MY COMPUTER
(Greg Graffin)
I love my computer,
You make me feel alright
Every waking hour
And every lonely night.

I love my computer
For all you give to me:
Predictable errors
And no identity.

And it’s never been quite so easy,
I’ve never been quite so happy.
All I need to do is click on you
And we’ll be joined in the most soulless way,
And we’ll never ruin each other’s day
‘Cause when I’m through I just click
And you just go away.

I love my computer,
You’re always in the mood.
I get so turned on
When I turn on you.

I love my computer,
You never ask for more.
You can be a princess
Or you can be my whore.

And it’s never been quite so easy,
I’ve never been quite so happy.
All I need to do is click on you
And we’ll be joined in the most soulless way,
And we’ll never ruin each other’s day
‘Cause when I’m through I just click
And you just go away.

The world outside is so big,
But it’s safe in my domain
Because to you
I’m just a number
And a clever screen name.

All I need to do is click on you
And we’ll be together for eternity.
And no one is ever gonna take my love from me
Because I’ve got security, her password and a key.

THE HOPELESS HOUSEWIFE
(Greg Graffin)
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.

THERE WILL BE A WAY
(Greg Graffin)
Shut your eyes,
See the future’s distant shore.
March ahead,
More enlightened than before.

And there’s sure to be bumps and distractions,
But I know we'll get through.
There will be me, there will be you,
There will be a way.

Unresolved repercussions from your life
Fortified with the vitriol of strife.
And you can be gridlocked by predictions,
But you’re wise, grab the prize.

Then revise, realize
There will be a way.

And I don’t know where we are going,
But we’re here on this ride
And we’ll stand side by side
All along the way.

Follow me to the future’s distant shore,
Vagary needn’t haunt us anymore
And now it’s time to set the agenda.
Learn the past, make it last,
Share the wealth, hold your fire,
Conserve life, make it right,
Kill the hate, negotiate.
There will be a way.

LET IT BURN
(Greg Graffin)
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!

DON'T SELL ME SHORT
(Greg Graffin)
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 me 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.

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 me when I’m shot.
Just don’t sell me short,
I might not be who you thought.
You’ve been wrong too long.
Don’t brush me off
Just because I don’t belong.
Pass me on by
And forget me when I die
Just don’t sell me short,
Not while I’m still alive.

PRETENDERS
[bonustrack]
I give to you, you take from me
We live in perfect harmony
But I know you can’t give me what I need
With subtle care and rosey hues
We duke it out, we change our views
We hold so dear our unanimity

Oh...

We are just pretenders
We are just pretenders, lost in this charade
We are just pretenders, characters on stage
We are just pretenders, trying to break free
We are just pretenders, hiding so no one sees

We try to find our peace of mind
Just a vestige we left behind
But ignorance takes far less energy
And if you please, I’ll look to you
Because I need somebody who
Forgives me for my harsh reality

Oh... but

We are just pretenders
We are just pretenders, we’re trying to break free
We are just pretenders, we’ll lose them easily
We are just pretenders, trying to break free
We are just pretenders, hiding so no one sees

You standing there
Playing with your hair
Trying to ignore
But peeking in the mirror
Reliving the scenes
From books and magazines
Craving the life
You live in your dreams
And I’m standing here
Thinking that it's queer
But fearing that I am the same

You ask me how I feel
It's so damn surreal
I think it’s finally time we ended this game
‘Cause we are just pretenders
We are just pretenders, lost in this charade
We are just pretenders...

THE FAST LIFE
[available on European and Japanese Version]
The silent stray inertia,
No burden on my back.
No determinance, no ballast,
No chance of looking back.
It doesn’t matter what’s ahead,
It’s time I’ll hit it hard.
No fixing my position,
No sign of retard.

It's the fast life,
There’s nothing I can do.
The fast life,
Suck it in and follow through.
The fast life,
Just learning as I go.
You might call it careless,
But this fast life
Is all I’ve ever known.

Like a wispy feather
Defying gravity,
Or a rolling cobble
In the middle of the stream,
Propelled by a ghost force
That never shows his face,
Increase the ante
Of this perpetual pace.

It’s the fast life,
There’s nothing I can do.
The fast life,
Suck it in and follow through.
The fast life,
Just learning as I go.
You might call it careless,
But this fast life
Is all I’ve ever known.

Ever since the day
I came out of the womb,
My head was always bouncing
Off the walls in the room,
Always scratching gravel,
Covering new ground.
No matter how hard they tried,
They couldn't pin me down.

It’s the fast life,
There’s nothing I can do.
The fast life,
Suck it in and follow through.
The fast life,
Just learning as I go.
You might call it careless,
But this fast life
Is all I’ve ever known.
Yeah, it’s all I've ever known.

QUEEN OF THE 21ST CENTURY
[available on European and Japanese Version]
From the time she could crawl
She was all draped in macrame.
She was preened and redeemed
In a church that tried to show the way.
She was taught to never ask for more,
They had no idea of what she had in store.

She’s the queen of the 21st century,
Just a ghost of what her parents thought a little girl should be:
Analog heart, analog nerves, analog brain,
But a fixture of the digital domain.

From the time she could read
She could see that there was urgency,
No debate, just a spate of ignorance
In a splintering community.
She could never meet their expectations,
Then she came to symbolize the nation.

She’s the queen of the 21st century,
Just a shred of what her parents thought a little girl should be:
Steeped in spite, coddled in fear, drenched in novelty,
But masterful at sensual technology.

She’s the queen, no rules in her empire.
She’s the queen, just libido and desire.
She’s the lean, mean, fighting machine,
The stuff of modern media lore
And she always knows the score.

She’s the queen of the 21st century,
Just a ghost of what her parents thought a little girl should be:
Fallen star, black and blue,
Broken hearts, wasted youth,
Rusted cars, twisted roots,
Mental scars, the ugly truth.

She’s the queen of the 21st century
And she’s a modern-day polemic,
A walking controversy.

She’s the queen!

EU QUERO SER SOLDADO

QUERO SER SOLDADO
Eu vou me alistar
Pra ganhar um salário
Só pra comer e dormir
Às custas do contribuinte
Que se mata de trabalhar
E vou ficar no quartel
Só pra jogar bola, dormir e capinar!

Ô, eô, ô, eô
Eu vou me alistar
Receber pra não trabalhar!

Você, pagador de impostos
Vai pagar meu curso de alpinismo
Rapel, tiro e pára-quedismo
Vou brincar de acampamento
Fazer curso teórico e prático de tortura de cidadão suspeito
E, durante tudo isso, por uma lobotomia vou passar
Vão me fazer acreditar que ninguém é melhor do que os militar!

Ô, eô, ô, eô
Eu vou me alistar
Receber pra não trabalhar!
:: .. :: .. :: escrito em 16 de junho de 2008 :: .. :: .. ::

EM DEFESA DA LIBERDADE E DO PROGRESSO DO CONHECIMENTO NA INTERNET BRASILEIRA

retirado de: http://www.petitiononline.com/veto2008/petition.html

ESTA PETIÇÂO AGORA É DIRECIONADA A CAMARA DOS DEPUTADOS - Na noite de 09/07 o Senado aprovou o projeto de forma velada, pegando a todos nós de surpresa. Desta forma temos de dar uma resposta á altura coletando o máximo de assinaturas possível dentre outras ações que estão sendo desenvolvidas. Não podemos desistir de exercer nosso direito á democracia.

---

To: Senado Brasileiro

EM DEFESA DA LIBERDADE E DO PROGRESSO DO CONHECIMENTO NA INTERNET BRASILEIRA

A Internet ampliou de forma inédita a comunicação humana, permitindo um avanço planetário na maneira de produzir, distribuir e consumir conhecimento, seja ele escrito, imagético ou sonoro. Construída colaborativamente, a rede é uma das maiores expressões da diversidade cultural e da criatividade social do século XX. Descentralizada, a Internet baseia-se na interatividade e na possibilidade de todos tornarem-se produtores e não apenas consumidores de informação, como impera ainda na era das mídias de massa. Na Internet, a liberdade de criação de conteúdos alimenta, e é alimentada, pela liberdade de criação de novos formatos midiáticos, de novos programas, de novas tecnologias, de novas redes sociais. A liberdade é a base da criação do conhecimento. E ela está na base do desenvolvimento e da sobrevivência da Internet.

A Internet é uma rede de redes, sempre em construção e coletiva. Ela é o palco de uma nova cultura humanista que coloca, pela primeira vez, a humanidade perante ela mesma ao oferecer oportunidades reais de comunicação entre os povos. E não falamos do futuro. Estamos falando do presente. Uma realidade com desigualdades regionais, mas planetária em seu crescimento.

O uso dos computadores e das redes são hoje incontornáveis, oferecendo oportunidades de trabalho, de educação e de lazer a milhares de brasileiros. Vejam o impacto das redes sociais, dos software livres, do e-mail, da Web, dos fóruns de discussão, dos telefones celulares cada vez mais integrados à Internet. O que vemos na rede é, efetivamente, troca, colaboração, sociabilidade, produção de informação, ebulição cultural. A Internet requalificou as práticas colaborativas, reunificou as artes e as ciências, superando uma divisão erguida no mundo mecânico da era industrial. A Internet representa, ainda que sempre em potência, a mais nova expressão da liberdade humana.

E nós brasileiros sabemos muito bem disso. A Internet oferece uma oportunidade ímpar a países periféricos e emergentes na nova sociedade da informação. Mesmo com todas as desigualdades sociais, nós, brasileiros, somo usuários criativos e expressivos na rede. Basta ver os números (IBOPE/NetRatikng): somos mais de 22 milhões de usuários, em crescimento a cada mês; somos os usuários que mais ficam on-line no mundo: mais de 22h em média por mês. E notem que as categorias que mais crescem são, justamente, "Educação e Carreira", ou seja, acesso à sites educacionais e profissionais. Devemos assim, estimular o uso e a democratização da Internet no Brasil. Necessitamos fazer crescer a rede, e não travá-la. Precisamos dar acesso a todos os brasileiros e estimulá-los a produzir conhecimento, cultura, e com isso poder melhorar suas condições de existência.

Um projeto de Lei do Senado brasileiro quer bloquear as práticas criativas e atacar a Internet, enrijecendo todas as convenções do direito autoral. O Substitutivo do Senador Eduardo Azeredo quer bloquear o uso de redes P2P, quer liquidar com o avanço das redes de conexão abertas (Wi-Fi) e quer exigir que todos os provedores de acesso à Internet se tornem delatores de seus usuários, colocando cada um como provável criminoso. É o reino da suspeita, do medo e da quebra da neutralidade da rede. Caso o projeto Substitutivo do Senador Azeredo seja aprovado, milhares de internautas serão transformados, de um dia para outro, em criminosos. Dezenas de atividades criativas serão consideradas criminosas pelo artigo 285-B do projeto em questão. Esse projeto é uma séria ameaça à diversidade da rede, às possibilidades recombinantes, além de instaurar o medo e a vigilância.

Se, como diz o projeto de lei, é crime "obter ou transferir dado ou informação disponível em rede de computadores, dispositivo de comunicação ou sistema informatizado, sem autorização ou em desconformidade à autorização, do legítimo titular, quando exigida", não podemos mais fazer nada na rede. O simples ato de acessar um site já seria um crime por "cópia sem pedir autorização" na memória "viva" (RAM) temporária do computador. Deveríamos considerar todos os browsers ilegais por criarem caches de páginas sem pedir autorização, e sem mesmo avisar aos mais comum dos usuários que eles estão copiando. Citar um trecho de uma matéria de um jornal ou outra publicação on-line em um blog, também seria crime. O projeto, se aprovado, colocaria a prática do "blogging" na ilegalidade, bem como as máquinas de busca, já que elas copiam trechos de sites e blogs sem pedir autorização de ninguém!

Se formos aplicar uma lei como essa as universidades, teríamos que considerar a ciência como uma atividade criminosa já que ela progride ao "transferir dado ou informação disponível em rede de computadores, dispositivo de comunicação ou sistema informatizado", "sem pedir a autorização dos autores" (citamos, mas não pedimos autorização aos autores para citá-los). Se levarmos o projeto de lei a sério, devemos nos perguntar como poderíamos pensar, criar e difundir conhecimento sem sermos criminosos.

O conhecimento só se dá de forma coletiva e compartilhada. Todo conhecimento se produz coletivamente: estimulado pelos livros que lemos, pelas palestras que assistimos, pelas idéias que nos foram dadas por nossos professores e amigos... Como podemos criar algo que não tenha, de uma forma ou de outra, surgido ou sido transferido por algum "dispositivo de comunicação ou sistema informatizado, sem autorização ou em desconformidade à autorização, do legítimo titular"?

Defendemos a liberdade, a inteligência e a troca livre e responsável. Não defendemos o plágio, a cópia indevida ou o roubo de obras. Defendemos a necessidade de garantir a liberdade de troca, o crescimento da criatividade e a expansão do conhecimento no Brasil. Experiências com Software Livres e Creative Commons já demonstraram que isso é possível. Devemos estimular a colaboração e enriquecimento cultural, não o plágio, o roubo e a cópia improdutiva e estagnante. E a Internet é um importante instrumento nesse sentido. Mas esse projeto coloca tudo no mesmo saco. Uso criativo, com respeito ao outro, passa, na Internet, a ser considerado crime. Projetos como esses prestam um desserviço à sociedade e à cultura brasileiras, travam o desenvolvimento humano e colocam o país definitivamente para debaixo do tapete da história da sociedade da informação no século XXI.

Por estas razões nós, abaixo assinados, pesquisadores e professores universitários apelamos aos congressistas brasileiros que rejeitem o projeto Substitutivo do Senador Eduardo Azeredo ao projeto de Lei da Câmara 89/2003, e Projetos de Lei do Senado n. 137/2000, e n. 76/2000, pois atenta contra a liberdade, a criatividade, a privacidade e a disseminação de conhecimento na Internet brasileira.


André Lemos, Prof. Associado da Faculdade de Comunicação da UFBA, Pesquisador 1 do CNPq.

Sérgio Amadeu da Silveira, Prof. do Mestrado da Faculdade Cásper Líbero, ativista do software livre.

João Carlos Rebello Caribé, Publicitário e Consultor de Negócios em Midias Sociais

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

BAD RELIGION - THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST - 2004

OVERTURE
[instrumental]
(Brett Gurewitz)

SINISTER ROUGE
(Greg Graffin)
Innocents burned alive at the stake,
Tortured and dumped in nameless graves.
Centuries waned, authority died
Scattering seeds of ancient lies.

Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.
Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.

Child molesters and Jesuits
Holding secret conference
Underneath the Pontiff's nose
And only God will ever know.

Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.
Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.

Give us this day our daily bread,
Your legacy we’ll not forget.
Lick the wounds, cleanse the land,
The modern world rejects your hands.

Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.
Sinister Rouge,
Coming back for more to even the score.
Sinister Rouge.
The nightmare comes in Sinister Rouge.

SOCIAL SUICIDE
(Greg Graffin)
Right now! Well, it’s finally time to face my fears,
Gonna get the hell out of here
And create a fresher atmosphere,
But the consequence is clear.

There’s a furnace set on high
And a yearning undefined,
But it’s time to turn the tide,
It’s social suicide.

Like you! Perseverance is a useless tool,
Just a patron on a ship of fools,
Feigning interest in the cast and crew
While you’ve broken every single rule.

There’s a furnace set on high
And a yearning undefined,
Now it’s time to turn the tide,
It’s social suicide.

Shadows entertain the unwashed masses,
Scholars explain their numb reactions.
I don’t even know if I can ever find truth,
But I’m sure it won’t come from following you.

There’s a furnace set on high
And a yearning undefined,
But it’s time to turn the tide,
It’s social suicide.

ATHEIST PEACE
(Greg Graffin)
Maybe it’s too late for intellectual debate,
But a residue of confusion remains.
Changing with the times and developmentally tortured minds
Are the average citizen’s sources of pain.

“Tell me what we’re fighting for.”
I don’t remember anymore,
Only temporary reprieve,
And the world might cease
If we fail to tame the beast.
From the faith that you release
Comes an atheist peace.

Political forces rent
Bitter cold winds of discontent
And the modern age emerged triumphantly.
But now it seems we’ve stalled
And it’s time to de-evolve
And relive the dark chapters of history.

“Tell me what we’re fighting for.”
No progress ever came from war,
Only a false sense of increase,
And the world won’t wait
For the truth upon a plate,
But we’re ready now to feast on an atheist peace.

ALL THERE IS
(Brett Gurewitz)
This song goes out to all the hopeless sinners
With grave allegiances so meaningless and vain,
The walking wounded in a pageant of contenders
Who balance on a rail of pain for just a pail of rain.

And everything is barely mist – blood relations and bricks.
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me:
Can that be all there is?

In my rectory of doubt I kneel to pray like one devout
As time the great, gray dreamless sleep of a useless modern God
Erodes away each storied day, as wretched Adams with hell to pay
Contend upon a rail of pain for just a little rain.

And everything is dearly missed – blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me:
Can that be all there is?

There’s an endless disposition and it doesn’t mean a god damn thing,
There’s space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane.

And if pigs could fly, then surely so could I,
But this pedestrian knows better than to even try.
My divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly.

And everything is dearly missed – blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson
More than this, once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me:
Can that be all there is?

LOS ANGELES IS BURNING
(Brett Gurewitz)
Somewhere high in the desert near a curtain of a blue
St. Anne’s skirts are billowing,
But down here in the city of limelights
The fans of Santa Ana are withering.
And you can’t deny that living is easy
If you never look behind the scenery,
It’s showtime for dry climes
And bedlam is dreaming of rain.

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning,
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind,
So many lives on the breeze,
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning.

This is not a test
Of the emergency broadcast system
When Malibu fires and radio towers
Conspire to dance again.
And I cannot believe the media Mecca,
They’re only trying to peddle reality:
Catch it on prime time, story at nine,
The whole world is going insane.

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning,
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind,
So many lives on the breeze,
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning.

A placard reads: “The end of days”.
Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze.
More a question than a curse,
How could hell be any worse?
The flames are stunning,
The camera’s running
So take warning.

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning,
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind,
So many lives on the breeze,
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning.

LET THEM EAT WAR
(Brett Gurewitz)
There’s a prophet on a mountain
And he’s making up dinner
With long division and a riding crop.
Anybody can feel like a winner
When it’s served up piping hot.

But the people aren’t looking for a handout,
They’re America’s working corps.
Can this be what they voted for?

Let them eat war,
That’s how to ration the poor.
Let them eat war,
There’s an urgent need to feed
Declining pride.

From the force to the union shops
The war economy is making new jobs,
But the people who benefit most
Are breaking bread with their benevolent host.

You never stole from the rich to give to the poor,
All they ever gave to them was a war
And a foreign enemy to deplore.

Let them eat war,
That’s how to ration the poor.
Let them eat war,
There’s an urgent need to feed
Declining pride.

Kill ‘em and eat ‘em before they reach for their checks.
Squeeze some blue collars, make ‘em bleed from their necks.
Seize a few dollars from the people who sweat
Because it’s Freedom or Debt and they won’t question it.
At a job site the boss is God-like,
Conditioned workhorses park at a stop light,
Seasoned vets with their feet in nets
A stone’s throw away from a rock fight, but not tonight, feed ‘em death.

(Feed ‘em death) Here comes another ration
(Feed ‘em death) ‘Cuz they’re the finest in the nation,
(Feed ‘em death) When there's nothing left to feed them with
(Feed ‘em death) It's freedom or it’s death.

Let them eat war,
That’s how to ration the poor.
Let them eat war,
There’s an urgent need to feed
Declining pride.

GOD’S LOVE
(Greg Graffin)
Striking at mental apparitions
Like a drunk on a vacant street,
Silently beset by the hands of time,
Indelicate in its fury.
An aberrant “crack” as skeletons yield
To unrelenting gravity
While viruses prowl for helpless victims
Who succumb rapidly.

Tell me! Tell me where is the love
In a careless creation?
When there’s no above
There’s no justice,
Just a cause and a cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure.
And what I’m frightened of
Is that they call it God’s love.

Twisted torment, make believe
There’s a truth and we all submit
Believe my eyes my brain replies
To all that they interpret.

Tell me! Tell me where is the love
In a careless creation?
When there’s no above
There’s no justice,
Just a cause and a cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure.
And what I’m frightened of
Is that they call it God’s love.

I know there’s no reason for alarm,
But who needs perspective
When it comes to pain and harm?
We can change our minds,
There’s a better prize,
But first you’ve got to...

Tell me! Tell me where is the love
In a careless creation?
When there’s no above
There’s no justice,
Just a cause and a cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure.
And what I’m frightened of
Is that they call it God’s love.
My pain is God's love.

TO ANOTHER ABYSS
(Greg Graffin)
Not long ago, and yet the image is so vague
I hesitate to label it a memory,
There was a show of local color and I felt astray
‘Cuz I had nothing to offer but insufficiency.

And you know that it’s a bitch
When you learn to scratch that itch,
A blatant fallibility,
Sooner to some, but eventually...

All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vague conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity,
And you wonder “What’s in this for me?”

To another abyss – to no avail,
The search is bound to fail.
To another abyss – to no avail,
So long ago I set sail.
And it chills me to the bone
That I’m so far away from home.
To another abyss.

So what should I do now?
What should I celebrate
Given finite means and a penchant to depreciate?
How can I still avow and depend upon a state
That cares nothing for my happiness, welfare or fate?

And I know I can’t explain
The commotion in my brain,
Like a terrifying reality,
Deconstructed but inadequately...

All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vain conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity,
And release the weight of history.

To another abyss – to no avail,
The search is bound to fail.
To another abyss – to no avail,
So long ago I set sail.
And it chills me to the bone
That I’m so far away from home.
To another abyss.

So long ago, I set sail
And I’m struggling on the way
And I’m waiting for the day (To another abyss)
And I’m looking for the way back home. (To another abyss)
(To another abyss) So far away,
(To another abyss) So far away,
(To another abyss) So far away...
(To another abyss)

THE QUICKENING
(Brett Gurewitz)
The quickening is an ephemeral thing
That only happens in the dark
Like catching lightning in a jar.
And the pain that it brings
Is just the promise of Spring.
It’s madness on the wing.
Oh, what does it mean...

To come alive?
To come alive!
To come alive!

The entering is soulful conjecturing
* Oh lost and by the wind-grieved ghost
Come back to me again.
Because the way that she bleeds
Is in the law that he reads,
Confusing words and deeds.
So what does it mean...

To come alive?
To come alive!
To come alive!

To pierce the vein of the sacred and profane,
Poor science in service of a faith,
But who will bear the mark of Cain?

To come alive?
To come alive!
To come alive!

* Look Homeward Angel from Thomas Wolfe

THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST
(Brett Gurewitz)
We strike first
And we're unrehearsed.
Here we go again
To stage the greatest show on heaven and earth.
Come on, get your money’s worth.

Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna give,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.
Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.

We’re coming on fast
And we’re built to last.
We stumbled once in 'Nam,
Now we’re glad to finally say
Those days have passed.
Tell me how long can it last?

Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna give,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.
Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.

We just started out,
You don’t need to be afraid,
Yeah you deserve two minutes hate.
Well, we spit and we cursed
And our bleeding hearts burst,
But even ten million souls
Marching in February couldn’t stop the worst.
Couldn’t reverse...

Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna give,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.
Don’t wanna live,
Don’t wanna be
E-M-P-I-R-E.

I can’t live if living is with you...

BEYOND ELECTRIC DREAMS
(Brett Gurewitz)
No one here can show you where it is but I can point to a sign
On the roof of the world without apparent design,
The frozen definition of a lunatic ambition to rise.

The air is thin, the future dim, dimension hard to find.

Up on a mountain, encased in solar rays,
Beyond electric dreams of inarticulate passion plays,
Coming down a mountain, eons have a human ring,
The conversation of impassive planets intercepted by a human being.

Ratiocination is a practicable way to derive,
An attitude or altitude and probity by which to abide
Or maybe a theophany of flaming creosote in disguise.

The air is thin, the future dim, dimension undefined.

Up on a mountain, encased in solar rays,
Beyond electric dreams of inarticulate passion plays,
Coming down a mountain, eons have a human ring,
The conversation of impassive planets intercepted by a human being.

Here glaring cold in the crystalline
Geometry of night, obscuring
Form and tracing faceless fears of
Suprahuman immensity in a
Patch of sand or a raptor’s guileless
Shivering intensity, I’m only
A visitor, an atom of atoms on a jutting
Red spattered synagogue
Of granite as it crouches literally in
Space, a frozen amoral giant
Gazing heavenward forever.

Let’s go where the raptor goes, to the mountain in a cosmic glow,
We'll have a genuine terrestrial show on a mountain – on a mountain.

Let’s scan the horizon clean for any trace of human schemes
And try to touch upon immortal themes on a mountain – on a mountain.

Up on a mountain, encased in solar rays,
Beyond electric dreams of inarticulate passion plays,
Coming down a mountain, eons have a human ring,
The conversation of impassive planets intercepted by a human being.

BOOT STAMPING ON A HUMAN FACE FOREVER
(Brett Gurewitz)
Drop dead, it doesn’t matter, she said,
It only hurts when I laugh, she said.
Sometimes, it’s never a crime
To spend the day in bed.
She made certain that the curtains were red,
To dream better by the light they would shed.
She leaned back, tilted her head
And this is what she said.

You can’t win! Think it over again,
I can’t win! Look at the trouble I’m in,
We can’t win! And we’re stuck here together,
Yeah, I hope it will last forever.

Don’t ever dare to hope, he said,
So I’ll never let down too bad.
I know there’s nowhere to go
So I’ll just stay here instead.
He knew better than to pull on a thread,
They unravel like the thoughts in his head.
He looked out, it filled him with dread
And this is what he said.

You can’t win! Think it over again,
I can’t win! Look at the trouble I’m in,
We can’t win! And we’re stuck here together,
Yeah, I hope it will last forever.

With good books and looks on their side
And hearts bursting with national pride,
They sang songs that went along for the ride
And the other side complied.
They said, “Hey, man, where do you reside?”
And “Could it be Mother Superior lied?”
And “Is it possible too many have died?”
It’s only natural to reply.

You can’t win! Think it over again,
I can’t win! Look at the trouble I’m in,
We can’t win! And we’re stuck here together,
Yeah, I hope it will last forever.

* “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face... FOREVER!”
– George Orwell, 1984

LIVE AGAIN – THE FALL OF MAN
(Greg Graffin)
The road is narrow, the horizon wide
And they say what’s waiting on the other side
Is so rewarding and the ultimate prize,
But what good is something if you can’t have it until you die?

Desperate, tenacious, clinging like a grain of sand,
Watching its foundation wash away.
Drunk with the assertions they know they can’t defend,
Confident that they might live again.

Live again! Live again!
Would you give it all up to live again?
Live again! Live again!
Would you give it all up to live again?

Temptation, revelation, you decide,
Torture shows its colors often in disguise.
Progress and purpose help us realize
We pass along a brighter faith even though it must be blind.

Desperate, tenacious, clinging like a grain of sand,
Watching its foundation wash away.
Drunk with the assertions they know they can’t defend,
Confident that they might live again.

Live again! Live again!
Would you give it all up to live again?
Live again! Live again!
Would you give it all up to live again?

THE SURFACE OF ME
[available just on Japanese version]
Oh yeah! A study of history
Reveals an unflagging appeal to mystery.
You talk about abstraction
At the top of the list,
But you might as well get pissed,
‘Cause in me the essence does not exist.
No!

Yeah yeah! You’re so shallow.
How can your romance hope to be
The veil of an ersatz human nature
That can pacify but never slept well
When there’s the pretension of living a lie?

Take me as I am, judge me for my crimes,
I can say I’ll behave freely all the time.
You can predict what I’ll say, it’s in my DNA,
But soon I’ll be a catalogue number anyway.
So say a little prayer,
Convince yourself that someone cares.
All I am is what you see.
There is nothing more than the surface of me,
There is nothing more than the surface of me!
You know?

Oh yeah! Apologies to Skinner,
But I do believe that I feel like I’m a winner
Having just discovered a long solved modal secret
Of how I always feel
So goddamn downtrodden and desperate.

Take me as I am, judge me for my crimes,
I can say I’ll behave freely all the time.
You can predict what I’ll say, it’s in my DNA,
But soon I’ll be a catalogue number anyway.
So say a little prayer,
Convince yourself that someone cares.
All I am is what you see.
There is nothing more than the surface of me,
There is nothing more than the surface of me!

... QUEM PRECISA...?!?

“Empty causes,
Direction for the soul, conviction for the mind.
Empty causes,
Cling to everything you find.
Empty causes,
You’ve got yours and I’ve got mine.”
– Bad Religion, Empty Causes, do álbum The Gray Race, de 1996

Quem precisa de RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE?!? Os caras têm/tinham atitude e postura e ideologias verdadeiramente rock’n’roll?!? Indubitável e inegavelmente. Porém, pra mim, JÁ ERA! Sempre que eu pude e tive oportunidade de ouvir os álbuns do Rage, eu sempre tava escutando algo antes, como Napalm Death, Brujeria, Bad Religion, Marilyn Manson, Bambix, Neil Young e Rammstein. Desta vez, não é diferente. Eu tenho acesso ao gurpo capitaneado por Zack de la Rocha e Tom Morello, mas também tenho acesso (graças ao Lucas, que Gaia te abençoe para sempre, cara!) ao som do BLACK LABEL SOCIETY – banda de heavy metal tradicional, liderada por um guitarrista que "nem toca nada", o Zakk Wylde, que não é ninguém mais ninguém menos do que guitarrista da banda-solo do madman Ozzy Osbourne – do PANTERA – o superquarteto Phil Anselmo nos vocais, Abbott “Dimebag” Darrell – que Deus o tenha em paz – na guitarra, Rex Brown no baixo e Vinnie Paul na bateria – e dos RAMONES, que obviamente, dispensam apresentações.
Me desculpe, de todo o meu coração, meu grande amigo e irmão João Paulo Silva Assunção, mas Guerrila Radio e The Battle Of Los Angeles é o caralho! Eu vou ter mais futuro se continuar ouvindo os álbuns Rocket To Russia (1977), Road To Ruin (1978) e Loco Live (1991), dos Ramones; Far Beyond Driven (1994), Cowboys From Hell (1990), Vulgar Display Of Power (1993) e The Great Southern Trendkill (1995), do Pantera; Sonic Brew (1999), 1919 Eternal (2002), Blessed Hellride (2002), Mafia (2005) e Shot To Hell (2006), do Black Label Society.
O caso é que o Ramones e o Pantera (mais as bandas que citei no primeiro parágrafo) sempre tiveram mais a ver visceralmente comigo do que o Rage. O som dos caras (do Rage) é legal, poderoso? Indubitável e inegavelmente. Mas, PRA MIM, não é aquela coisa que eu diga “ooooooh, isso é que é som, puta som esse. Rage Against The Machine é que é banda, patati, patata, coisa e tal”. aí, vão me dizer: “caralho, tu ouve Rammstein, que é industrial!”. Mas o caso é: o Rammstein num tem scratch e nem um pé no hip-hop (pra mim, as únicas bandas que tão perdoadas por colocar scratch e guitarras pesadas são os saudosos Faith No More e o DeFalla ); as letras – mesmo aquelas de dois ou três ou mais sentidos (ex.: Mann Gegen Mann, Morgenstern, Reise, Reise, Seemann, Lachzeit, Nebel, Das Alte Leid, etc. e etc.) – são muito boas; e, para completar, a língua alemã é muito mais adequada para o peso que eles se propõem a fazer, e eu não agüente mais ver/ouvir a língua inglesa ser estuprada do modo que é (e se ninguém se tocar, os rappers daqui vão fazer com o nosso idioma o mesmo que os rappers from USA fizeram com o idioma pátrio deles – ou seja, cagar tudo! Isso não pode acontecer, uma vez que o nosso idioma é mais rico e belo do que o deles).
Hum... Pois é, né? Falando em letras... As letras combativas... Se for pra pegar letras combativas, eu pego mesmo as do Dead Fish, do Brujeria, do Bad Religion, do Ministry e de mais n bandas que eu gosto, sejam de hardcore ou de punk rock ou de metal ou de grindcore mesmo, tanto nacionais quanto internacionais. Mas, tanto as letras quanto o som das bandas que citei sempre estiveram e estarem mais em sintonia com o meu coração, atitude e modo de pensar e ver o mundo do que as do Rage...
Quer gostar do RATM (que é como muitos dos fãs do Rage chamam a banda), de qualquer banda que seja, gosta! Só não enche a porra do meu saco dizendo o porquê eu devo gostar da banda em questão!


Apesar da minha amiguinha Naisha Cardoso Ferreira muito provavelmente não curtir nenhuma das bandas citadas acima, esta postagem é mais do que carinhosamente dedicada à ela. Não é todo dia que sua conhecida sua é capa de um dos cadernos do jornal O Liberal – o caderno chamado Mulher do último domingo (29 de junho de 2008), além de estar na entrevista principal! Parabéns pelo trabalho reconhecido pela mídia, Na!

“Nos foi dado o paraíso e o transformamos em um matadouro.”
– O Deus Branco em A Natureza da Fera, história do Homem-Animal, personagem da DC Comics, escrita e desenhada por Grant Morrison.

bis bald!
‘til the next!

canção ensolarada do sábado

finalmente essa semana terminou! [a semana] começou de maneira ótima – domingo, o último dia da festa do Arraial do Pavulagem, onde encontrei gente que não via faz uma cara + os vagabundos do CEFET + uma tropa de bagabundos do RPG, fliperamas, cachaçadas + Anchietanos + uns loucos da Microcamp. foi realmente ótimo ter visto esse pessoal todo de uma vez no mesmo dia! na segunda.... a Tami-chan conseguiu estragar o meu dia (isso se chama retribuição de favor ou acerto de contas) e, graças à Carlinha (i.e.: Carla Cristina Saraiva da Silva) + Professora Luiza + André + tia Dóris +Santana, meu dia voltou a ser algo legalzim (mesmo estando eu deprimido até o meio da semana).
terça-feira e quarta-feira foram uma merda. o que salvou a quarta foi que falei com os caras do canteiro do Paar (i.e.: Marquinhos, Luisinho, Neto, Minhoca, Raimundo, João Paulo, Paulo Canalha e Caco) e colocamos a conversa em dia (tradução: falamos merda pra caralho!).
a quinta-feira foi ótima por causa da festa de quinze anos da RAÍSSA MORAES BALDEZ, irmã mais nova do Albert Richard Moraes Lopes. indubitavelmente, a festa foi muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuito do caralho. tanto pelo clima, quanto pelos amigos reunidos (desculpe pelas piadas de baixo calão, Carol [Liebchen von Albert]) + a ótima comida... e a bebida também, é claro. Frau Rosangela und Herr Lino + Frau Edilena, parabéns e muuuuuuuuuuuuuuitísiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimo obrigado de todo o meu coração pela festa maravilhosamente incrível, vocês são demais! é por essas e por outras que eu vocês moram e irão morar para sempre em meu coração!
hum........ eu não posso esquecer de dizer que, nesta mesma quinta, horas antes, rever a Fabrícia Cunha(from Microcamp – ver a postagem Re-Aprender A Andar). novamente não rolou ficarmos juntos.... mas tudo bem assim mesmo

ontem... aniversário do Marcelo Santos de Lima, vulgo Uchiha Marcelo (‘tava demorando muito eu citá-lo aqui!). não sei de quantos anos, mas foi legal, eu me diverti, conheci gente nova (i.e.: Suelen e a Fran [Mädchen von Marcelo], comi (uma ótima pratada, diga-se logo!, Congratulations, Mrs. Rosa) e ainda bebi pra valer!!!!!! quer coisa melhor?!? eu, não! sehr Danke, Marcelo!

a propósito, aqui está a letra completa de Your Song, do Elton John, cujo trecho abre essa postagem. minha mãe adora essa música, e ela [essa letra] reflete muitas das coisas boas que sinto por muitas das pessoas citadas nessa postagem.

enjoy!

YOUR SONG :: SUA CANÇÃO
Elton John
It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside É um tanto engraçado, este sentimento aqui dentro
I’m not one of those, who can easily hide Eu não sou um daqueles, que conseguem facilmente esconder
I don’t have much money, but boy if I did Eu não tenho muito dinheiro, mas se eu por acaso tivesse
I’d buy a big house where we both could live. Eu compraria uma grande casa onde poderíamos morar.

If I was a sculptor, but then again no, Se eu fosse um escultor, mas também não sou,
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show Ou um mago que pudesse fazer poções
I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do Eu sei que isso não é muito, mas é o melhor que posso fazer
My gift is my song and this one’s for you. Meu presente é minha música é esta é pra você.

And you can tell everybody, this is your song E você pode dizer para todos que esta é a sua canção
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done, Ela pode ser bem simples mas agora está feita,
I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind Espero que você não se importe, espero que não se importe
That I put down in words Que eu exprima em palavras
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world. Quão maravilhosa é a vida, enquanto você está em meu mundo.

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss Eu me sento no telhado, limpo os velhos pensamentos
Well a few of the verses, well they’ve got me quite cross Bem, alguns destes versos, deixam-me muito nervoso
But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song, Mas o sol tem sido agradável, enquanto escrevo esta canção
It’s for people like you, that keep it turned on. É por pessoas como você que continuo a fazê-la.

So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do Então perdoe meu esquecimento pois faço destas coisas
You see I’ve forgotten, if they’re green or they’re blue Você pode perceber que não lembro se eles são verdes ou azuis
Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean De qualquer forma, o que realmente importa
Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen. É que são seus os olhos mais doces que eu já vi.

And you can tell everybody, this is your song E você pode dizer para todos que esta é a sua canção
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done, Ela pode ser bem simples mas agora está feita,
I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind Espero que você não se importe, espero que não se importe
That I put down in words Que eu exprima em palavras
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world. Quão maravilhosa é a vida, enquanto você está em meu mundo.

Lucas, valeu, cara, obrigado de verdade pelos álbuns dos Ramones, do Bad Religion, do Mastodon, do Pantera e do Unleashed que cê tem me arrumado. eu te amo por isso, cara!

“Não sei porque mas às vezes, me sinto tão bem
Talvez nem perceba
Mas são coisas simples que me fazem respirar e seguir em frente
Não sei porque mas às vezes me sinto tão bem
Talvez nem mereça
Quero viver outro tanto
Nunca me senti tão sonoro
Agora, como sempre, é cedo
Me sinto tão bem
Não peço licença
Pra ser feliz sem motivo
Sou feliz porque sim
E porque você respira
Não sei porque mas às vezes me sinto tão bem
Mas desta vez com certeza
Vou usar meus minutos guardados
Eu tenho a paz de um riso livre
A gente se entende se sente tão bem”
– CPM22, A Gente

bis bald!
até a próxima!