BAD RELIGION -- STRANGER THAN FICTION -- 1994

:: STRANGER THAN FICTION ::

:: bad religion ::
:: 1994 ::
Greg Graffin - voz
Brett Gurewitz - guitarra
Jay Bentley - baixo
Greg Hetson - guitarra
Bobby Schayer - bateria

INCOMPLETE
(Brett Gurewitz)
Mother, father, look at your little monster,
I'm a hero, I'm a zero,
I'm the butt of the worst joke in history.
I'm a lock without a key, a city with no door,
A prayer without faith, a show without a score,
I'm a bad word, a wink, a nod, a shiver,
An untold story, sex without fury,
A creeping gray memory...
I am incomplete,
Incomplete...

Doctor, cure me; what is the cause of my condition?
This madness shoots me,
Like bullets smashing glass in a silent movie.
I'm a trap without a spring, a temple with no god,
A jack without an ace, the tip of your tongue,
I'm a promise, an unmailed letter,
An unbuilt motor, deck without a joker,
A creeping gray memory...
I am incomplete,
Incomplete...

Tell Saint Peter not to bet on me.
I've got a naked obsession, a good intention gone bad.

I am incomplete,
Incomplete...

LEAVE MINE TO ME
(Greg Graffin)
There are desperate times upon us,
There are codes of white and black,
Political resentment and people start to crack.
There's hate and opposition,
There's fumbling dialog,
Yet you sit there and judge me
And you think it makes a difference.

If you think I'm all alone, you are foolishly wrong,
There's an entire army who blindly follows along.
And you happen to be one of them, believe it or not,
Even though you try not to be, we are of the same plague.

The other ways we're taught to fear,
Don't even scratch the surface of the problem here.
I'm not blind, and I'm not scared,
So many crucial factors exist out there,
And we're but one, and they're but two,
And how we come to terms will help us pull through.

Things cannot change too fast, it took us this much time
To reach our current platform and walk this fragile line.
If I thought I'd make a difference, I'd kill myself today,
But so many are like me lost in the fray.

You create your own reality,
And leave mine to me...

STRANGER THAN FICTION
(Brett Gurewitz)
A febrile shocking violent smack
And the children are hoping for a heart attack.
Tonight the windows are watching, the streets all conspire,
And the lamppost can't stop crying.

If I could fly high above the world,
Would I see a bunch of living dots spell the world stupidity?
Or would I just see hungry lover homicides, loving brother suicides,
And olly olly oxenfrees who pickaside and hide?

The world is scratching at my door,
My morning paper's got the scores,
The human interest stories and the obituary.

Cockroach naps and rattling traps,
How many devils can you fit upon a match head?
Caringosity killed the Kerouac cat,
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

In my alley around the corner,
There's a wino with feathered shoulders,
And a spirit giving head for crack and he'll never want it back.
There's a little kid and his family eating crackers like Thanksgiving
And a pack of wild desperadoes scornful of living.

The world is scratching at my door,
My morning paper has the scores,
The human interest stories and the obituary.

Cradle for a cat, Wolfe looks back,
How many angels can you fit upon a match?
I want to know why Hemingway cracked,
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Life is the crummiest book I ever read,
There isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots,
Pictures to shock and characters an amateur would never dream up.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...

TINY VOICES
(Greg Graffin)
The brown and orange sky holds its breath
As the sun retreats to the distant horizon,
And our hearts palpitate anxiously as we soon will lay supine
And wait for sleep to overcome us.

And from somewhere in our black,
Subconscious minds when we're asleep,
Comes a haunting swelling mass of voices,
Resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence,
And the desperate plea for recognition and recompense.

Tiny voices, echoes of our heritage,
Our long and sallow faces turn the other way,
Tiny voices, harbored deep within
As we outwardly deny that they have something to say,
And if we don't confront them they will never go away.

The billions of tiny pinhole embers fade into a morning sky
Filled with poignant morose wonder,
Waking a bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil
Which we carry deep inside.

And from somewhere in our black,
Subconscious minds when we're asleep,
Comes a haunting swelling mass of voices,
Resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence,
And the desperate plea for recognition and recompense.

Tiny voices, echoes of our heritage,

Our long and sallow faces turn the other way,
Tiny voices, harbored deep within
As we outwardly deny that they have something to say,
And if we don't confront them they will never go away.

THE HANDSHAKE
(Greg Graffin)
Every time you shake someone's hand
And it feels like your best friend,
Could it be that it's only superficiality?
Without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise,
Handshakes are nothing but a subtle "fuck you",
Contracts determine the best friendships.

This is the way of the modern world,
Everyone's vying for patronage,
This is the way of the modern world,
And something has gotta give.

Every time you shake someone's hand,
And you share neither color nor creed,
You gotta overcome the obstacles of history.
There is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry
And these have created the new foundations of society,
There's no harmony, just class and race.

This is the way of the modern world,
Everyone's fighting for dominance,
This is the way of the modern world,
And something has gotta give.

Now I believe in unity, and I am willing to compromise,
But I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul.

Every time you shake someone's hand,
It determines where you stand,
And if you won't uphold your side then it's better to
Fend for yourself, and shun the handshake,
Someone's gotta give.

BETTER OFF DEAD
(Brett Gurewitz)
I'm sorry about the sun,
How could I know that you would burn?
And I'm sorry about the moon,
How could I know that you'd disapprove?

And I'll never make the same mistake:
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure we communicate at length.
Oh yeah...

But until then, better off dead,
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head.
Better off dead, yeah better than this,
Take it away 'cause there's nothing to miss.

I'm sorry about the world,
How could I know you'd take it so bad?
And I'll never make the same mistake,
So if you're looking for a patsy
Why not try the entire human race,
Just to play it safe?

But until then, better off dead,
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head.
Better off dead, yeah better than this,
Take it away 'cause there's nothing to miss.

Better off dead, yeah better off dead,
Why don't you try pushing daisies instead?
Better off dead, yeah better off dead,
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head.

And I'll never make the same mistake:
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure you participate.

And I'll never make the same mistake:
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure you participate,
Just in case.

INFECTED
(Brett Gurewitz)
Now here I go,
Hope I don't break down,
I won't take anything,
I don't need anything.
Don't want to exist,
I can't persist,
Please stop before I do it again.

Just talk about nothing, let's talk about nothing,
Let's talk about no one, please talk about no one, someone, anyone...

You and me have a disease,
You affect me, you infect me,
I'm afflicted, you're addicted.
You and me, you and me.

I'm on the edge,
Get against the wall,
I'm so distracted,
I love to strike you.
Here's my confession,
You learned your lesson,
Stop me before I do it again.

Just talk about nothing, let's talk about nothing,
Let's talk about no one, please talk about no one, someone, anyone...

You and me have a disease,
You affect me, you infect me,
I'm afflicted, you're addicted.
You and me, you and me.

You're clear - as a heavy lead curtain I want to drill you - like an ocean,
We can work it out, I've been running out, now I'm running out.
Don't be mad about it, baby...

You and me have a disease,
You affect me (I want to tie you), you infect me (Crucify you).
I'm afflicted (Kneel before you), you're addicted (Revile your body).

You and me (You and me) have a disease (We're made in heaven),
You affect me (I want to take you), you infect me (I want to break you),
I'm afflicted (Supplicate you), you're addicted (With thorny roses).

You and me (You and me), have a disease (are incurable),
You affect me (I want to bathe you), you infect me (In holy water),
I'm afflicted (I want to kill you), you're addicted (Upon the altar).

You and me, you and me...
TELEVISION
(Brett Gurewitz, Johnette Napolitano)Television, television, television, television...

Oh yeah! I want to bask in your golden light,
Submerge in electric waves,
I need my connection to the world outside.

The world outside is buzzing like an angry wasp in summer,
The candidates are running, and soon the son of God is coming,
Crackle mental convolutions tune in to the revolution,
Whereby everyone's included so we'll never have to be alone.

Every atom of my body, blood and sinew, bone and fibre,
I can't distil you from my blood,
You're a hungry germ inside of me.
You're my lover, you're my heroine,
My conscience and my voice,
And I know now that I have learned to let you in
I will never have to be alone.

I'd take after my mother but she's from a different generation,
I prefer my big brother, he's so gentle and understanding,
And I learn what I can from him by the television light,
So that when I'm all alone, I know everything's gonna be alright.

INDIVIDUAL
(Greg Graffin)Individuals run for cover,
For the multitudes of thoughtless clones
Have reached a critical mass. (Have reached a critical mass)Individuals hide in fear, under cover,
Sheltered by the wafer thin veil of intelligence. (Thin veil of intelligence)
Individuals, nowhere to be seen...

Urbana is oozing like a bloated carcass
With maggots cooking in the desert heat, (Cooking in the desert heat)Oozing, with progeny writhing and desperate
For input from someone more determined. (Someone more determined)
Congregating in invisible circles,
Half apart and half a part,
All too aware of the insignificance,
Pushing on with soul and heart.

Individuals don't pray for forgiveness,
When pinned up against the wall
under siege of persecution, (Under siege of persecution)Individuals command exception,
And accept dichotomy,
Maybe you can't choose anymore. (Maybe you can't choose anymore)
Procreation without gain or purpose,
Languid wills and torped minds,
Catapulted ever faster
By the arrow of time...

You take yours and I'll keep mine!

Individuals...

HOORAY FOR ME...
(Brett Gurewitz)I can see my teenage father standing straight on a desolate corner
In the shadow of tentacled towers by the red light of America.
I imagine how his mother felt when she heard that her husband was dying.
And the underground heroes of the tarmac shooting smack
Were blowing up worlds and damned! out loud.
Hey, can you tell me how does it feel?

Yeah, tell me... Can you imagine, for a second,
Doing anything that you don't have to?
Well that's what I'm accustomed to so hooray for me...
And fuck you!

When I slept with stony faces on the riverbank,
My angeldevil reveler shook me desperately in dying.
I don't exactly want to apologize for anything.
And now we're all mad and tangled in secret rooms
With roman candles on an endless graveyard train.

Yeah, tell me... Can you imagine, for a second,
Doing anything just 'cus you want to?
Well, that's just what I do so hooray for me...
And fuck you!

Yeah, I was dreaming through the "howzlife", yawning, car black,
When she told me "mad and meaningless as ever.."
And a song came on my radio like a cemetery rhyme
For a million crying corpses in their tragedy of respectable existence.

Yeah, tell me... Can you imagine, for a second,
Trying half the things you ever wanted to?
Well, that's just what I do, so hooray for me...
And fuck you!

Oh yeah... I'm not respectable, and never sensible,

I've been incredible, so damned irascible

And I like the things I do so hooray for me...

And fuck you!

SLUMBER
(Greg Graffin)So, you're feeling unimportant
'Cause you've got nothing to say.
And your live is just a ramble,
No one understands you anyway.

Well, I've got a piece of news, son
That might make you change your mind.
Your life is historically meaningful
And spans a significant time.

Slumber will come soon
And you are helping put it to sleep.
Side by side we do our share,
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon.

Well, now do you feel a little better?
Lift up your head and walk away,
Knowing we're all in this together
For such a short time anyway.

There is just no time to parade around sulking,
I would rather laugh than cry.
The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak:
We share this place together
And we pitch in to help it die.

I'm not too good at giving morals
And I don't fear the consequence.
If life makes you scared and bitter,
At least it's not for very long.

Slumber will come soon
And you are helping put it to sleep.
Side by side we do our share,
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon.

MARKED
(Brett Gurewitz)If I'm a monster,
I am a willing one,
This roller coaster ride is an enticing one,
On the tip of a continuum flowing wavelike
Through disorder carry me like a vessel to water.

Everything you see leaves a mark on your soul,
Everything you feel leaves a mark on your soul,
Everything you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
Everything you make leaves a mark on your soul.
If I can touch it,
I can destroy it,
If it's imaginable to some degree,
I can become it,
Like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,
Consuming bits and pieces until I'm finally extinguished.

Everyone you see leaves a mark on your soul,
Everyone you bare leaves a mark on your soul,
Everyone you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
Everyone you love leaves a mark on your soul.

Everything you take leaves a mark on your soul,
Everything you give leaves a mark on your soul,
And all the fear and loneliness that's impossible to control
And every tear you cry leaves a mark on your soul.
INNER LOGIC
(Greg Graffin)Automatons with business suits, swinging black boxes,
Sequestering the blueprints of daily life,
Contented, free of care, they rejoice in morning ritual
As they file like drone ant colonies to their office in the sky.

I don't ask questions, don't promote demonstrations,
Don't look for new consensus, don't stray from constitution.
If I pierce the complexity I won't find salvation,
Just the bald and overt truth of the evil and deception.

There is an inner logic, and we're taught to stay far from it.
It is simple and elegant, but it's cruel and antithetic
And there's no effort to reveal it.

Graduated mentors stroll in marbled brick porticos
In sagacious dialog they despise their average ways,
Betraying pomp and discipline, they mold their institution
Where they practice exclusion on the masses every day.

I don't ask questions, don't promote demonstration,
Don't look for new consensus, don't stray from constitution.
If I pierce the complexity I won't find salvation,
Just the bald and overt truth of the evil and deception.

There is an inner logic, and we're taught to stay far from it.
It is simple and elegant, but it's cruel and antithetic
And there's no effort to reveal it.

Decorated warriors drill harmless kids on pavement,
Simulating tyranny under red alert.
Protecting the opulent and staging moral standard,
They expect redemption of character and self-growth.

(No equality, no opportunity,
No tolerance for the progressive alternative...)

WHAT IT IS
(Greg Graffin)There's a purpose, there's a goal,
There's virtuous, and immoral,
There's a reason for all of this
And I don't know what it is!

I am one, and plural too,
I accept them, but they exclude,
I could make sense of all of this,
But I don't know what it is!

The seeds of inspiration never germinated in my mind,
The beacon of awakening is somewhere that I can't find.
So I don't know what it is...

There's a beginning, and there's an end,
There's a climax, some would contend,
There's a way to signify this,
But I don't know what it is!

The seeds of inspiration never germinated in my mind,
The beacon of awakening is somewhere that I can't find.
So I don't know what it is.
Show me something more definitive,
I don't know what it is!

21st CENTURY (DIGITAL BOY)
(Brett Gurewitz)I can't believe it,
The way you look sometimes,
Like a trampled flag on a city street,
Oh yeah.

And I don't want it,
The things you're offering me,
Symbolized bar code, quick ID,
Oh yeah.

I'm a 21st century digital boy,
I don't know how to live
But I've got a lot of toys,
My daddy is a lazy middle class intellectual,
My mommy's on valium,
She's so ineffectual,
Ain't life a mystery?

I can't explain it,
The things they're saying to me,
It's going yayayayayayaya,
Oh yeah.

I'm a 21st century digital boy,
I don't know how to read
But I've got a lot of toys,
My daddy is a lazy middle class intellectual,
My mommy's on valium,
She's so ineffectual,
Ain't life a mystery?

I tried to tell you about no control,
But now I really don't know.

And then you told me how bad you had to suffer,
Is that really all you have to offer?

See I'm a 21st century digital boy,
I don't know how to read
But I've got a lot of toys,
My daddy is a lazy middle class intellectual,
My mommy's on valium,
She's so ineffectual,
Ain't life a mystery?

Cat's foot, iron claw, (21st century digital boy)Neurosurgeons scream for more, (21st century digital boy)Innocence raped with napalm fire, (21st century digital boy)Anything I want, I really need. (21st century digital boy)
21st century schitzoid boy,
21st century video boy,
21st century digital boy,
21st century sofa boy...

NEWS FROM THE FRONT
(Brett Gurewitz, Jay Bentley, Bobby Schayer)Blood is a river,
Flowing darkly amidst the tangled roots of the tall shining city,
Crazy flowing mantide migrations
Engorge the big ventricle of heartbroken America.
So many heaven hoping, hopeful groping breathers
All tap together quietly and desperately in unison.
Hey, hey, hey, is anybody listening?

News from the front,
News from the front,
We're living in troubled times,
So many fighting for their lives,
Why do the troops despise the news from the front?

Ignorance is the root of fear,
And fear is the kindling of anger.
War is the bringer of shame,
But never has the burden lain so heavily upon the victim.
Rage and desolation,
Pain and loneliness,
Isn't all of it alarmingly familiar?
Hey, hey, hey, silence is a killer.

News from the front,
News from the front,
Yeah, these are troubled times,
How many more will have to die
Before the governors can't deny the news from the front?

Break down the barriers, ally the carriers,
What is your motivation?
Take a good look in the mirror.

News from the front,
News from the front,
So many are fighting for their lives,
How many more will have to die?
Why does the government decry the news from the front?
[disponível nas versões japonesa e européia do álbum]
MARKOVIAN PROCESS
(Greg Graffin)You will all say
That I am surely crazy ,
Only an unrepentant pessimist
Whose thoughts should be detained.
But facts are sterile,
Not vulgar nor sublime,
And they're not religion,
They're for everyone
And signify the times.

Today is a window,
Tomorrow the landscape.
All you need to do is take a look outside
To know what we're bound to face.

The level of disparity, the common man,
The manner of destruction of the native land,
The poverty of reprisal from all involved
And the scathing trajectory from the past.

Markovian process,
Lead us not in vain.
Prove to our descendants what we did to them,
Then make us go away.
[disponível nas versões japonesa e européia do álbum]

:: ‘til the next! ::