Bad Religion Album

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

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

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

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

it's a long way to the promised land
so you'd better well know your way
where'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 promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way to the promised land
if we work we might find it here
there's no substitute for enlightenment,
there's no reason for bridled fear
when you join the people who've joined the club
you gotta clench and play your hand
cuz if you fall in line you're gonna fall in time
and you'll never make a stand
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
what are you going to do?
when they call for you?
bend and capitulate?
or keep your head on straight?
easy answers bought without experience,
is gonna lead you to certain doom
because the truth is just what you make of it
it begins and ends with you!
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way to the promised land
wo-oh oh oh oh
it's a long way
when you join the people who joined the club
you gotta clench and play your hand
cause the truth is just what you make of it
it's a long way
get in line

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Cause a picture is worth a thousand memories

Well, it was punk - fifteen in the morning
And it was time
To stand my ground
And as the gawks and stares bombarded me
You know, I didn't even
Hear a sound
No one gave a damn
If I was there or away
If I died and went to hell,
They'd throw a party on my grave
And they'd all say,
"this kid is just a fool, he'll never be cool,
They might as well just ship him off
To some other school"
Plain destitute
Just a little too guilty, just a little too soon

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
Cuz I've got the desire

Well, it was punk - fifteen in the evening
And it was time to set the town on fire
I saw my boots and my hair,
As reflected in the mirror,
Reveal a streetkid named desire
I didn't give a damn
Because I was just dying to be
And as the hollywood street scene
Left its mark on me
I changed from a boy into a man
I said "never again!"
I stuck out my chin when I should have ran
Shit in the fan
I was driven so hard
By the sound of my heart

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
Cuz 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
Let's go

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
(memories that 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

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 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

(Chorus)
All I need to do is click on you and we'll be joined in the most soul-less way
And we'll never ever ruin each other's day 'cuz when I'm through I just click
And you just go away

I love my computer you're always in the mood
I get 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

(Chorus)

(Bridge)
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

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

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

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

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 just 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

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 modernmedia 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 modernday polemic
a walking controversy

She's the queen!