1.Ask Yourself
A fallen solider,
Another casualty to the gravity of everyday living,
Life can be so unforgiving for those opposed to all of the rules
I never thought the first gunshot
I'd hear in my home town would hit so close to home
Family left to take the pain although he took the blow
Ask yourself would it be easier if there was somebody to blame
And ask yourself would it make more sense if there was someone
to hate
Like father like son born to lose a war no one ever prepared him
to fight
It isn't wront it isn't right count your lucky fucking stars
tonight
A younger brother who now takes pats on the back that only
prolongs the grief
Would you believe somehow life goes on after a tragedy
A penny for your thoughts an insight into your demise
What was it like to see the world through your tormented eyes
Would we find a tortured soul if we'd taken off your disguise
Or would we still be left with all these
Wise show me someone to blame
Give me someone to hate
2.How Do You Feel Now？
What would you say if i said i don't want you anymore？
What would you think if i left your bags outside of the door？
How would you feel if i knew all about your little lies？
What would you do if i saw right through your disguise？
You better start thinking what you'd say think feel and do
＆cause i no longer what anything to do with you a
Hear me just this once
I won't repeat myself again
It's over, finished, done, the end
Can i ask you, can i ask you, how do you feel now？
Let me ask you, let me ask you, how do you feel now？
What could you say that hasn't been said a million times？
What could you think you've always memorized all of your lines？
How could you feel your heart wasn't in it from the start？
What happens when your precious little world comes falling
apart？
All those fucking times you fucked with me and played your
stupid games
Those days are over now ＆cause the master-slave relationship's
been rearranged
All those fucking times you left me reeling feeling pathetic
Well i'm dealing ＆em back to you in spades and just like you,
payback's a bitch
It's coming it's coming it's coming back to you
Don't act so surprised like you haven't got a clue
There's nothing there's nothing there's nothing you can do
Your over your finished it's curtains for you
3.Election Year
Election time time for red white and blue baby baby kissing and
photo opportunities
Meet your candidate ivy league white trash prim and proper nice
teeth for the t.v.
Here to bring you to the promised land with a porcelain smile
and empty promises
Sure he'll take your campaign contributions but you can bet
he'll never put your money where is mouth is
Did you go out and vote today？
Do you really think it made a change？
How did you feel when you walked away？
Like everything will be the same？
One thing is evident one thing is clear
Nothing gets done in an election year
Now let's play watch your candidate kiss ass to the corporate
brass
＆cause he needs the cold hard cash
To finance his big shot at the big dance his big chance to be a
real big man
Campaign platforms bought and sold like futures on the new york
stock exchange
A firesale on your future your life is their game wouldn't you
like to play here we go congress one progress zero
You think your leaders are thinking about reform
They'd sooner sit and watch our cities burn like nero
Makes you wonder what the fuck you're voting for
For a change vote who the fuck are you kidding me
What we need is some good old fashioned anarchy
You bring the torch and i'll bring the kerosene
We'll strike a match and burn this fucker down
4.Breakdown
How many hits to the head will it take ＆til you relize it hurts？
Does it really make you feel all that great so what's it really
worth
I don't want to see you go down
I don't want to see you breakdown
I don't want to see you fall (down)
It's in your face you can't deny it
I know where you've been and where you'll go tonight
Running a race everyone loses so why run at all
When we were young it was so much fun smoking and drinking the
boredom away
You lost the thrill so you upped the ante but i wasn't so quick
to play you lost your youth you lost your passion now it seems
you don't care at all
You built a house out of playing cards how long ＆till it falls
Don't you call me a hypocrite we both know i like to have my fun
too but nothing's gotten a hold on me like the shit that
possesses you
It's gotten so sad the way you depend on something other than
yourself to make your life fun
The hardest part the tragedy is that you don't see the damange
done.
5.Shine
Can you feel it do you hear that sound
Thunder of the whole world crumbling down around you
Deep in skeptic faces think that you might drown
Gotten high on anxiety and now you want to come down
Someplace to hide someplace to go
Will you ever find it how will you ever know
Don't want to give up hope but it's getting hard to cope
Holding on by a threat to keep from hanging by a rope
It's not like you've got time working on your side
Simple fact is that we are all eventually going to die
One day you're feeling fine the next day you might lose your
fucking mind
So while you've got the time, take a moment out of everyday to
shine
Reality's a blur you're in a dismal state
And you're pretty sure your brain is on the take
Your desires can't be satiated even the simplest task seems
compliated a thin line lies between camp beautiful and the
circus freaks
How can it possibly be some slip so easy
From the ranks of the sane to the files of insanity
There will be those who will do what they can to smash your
dreams
The miracles in your life are closer than they seem
Overcoming fears in life a clich but reoccurring theme
You've got to hold together at the seems
Searching for the answers forever it seems
You'll find the answer it's in your dreams
6.Great Expectations
When i look up at these hollowed walls of high achievement and
storied victories
I can hear irony laughing ＆cause you see pride where i see
vanity
Impressing all of your friends has never been one of my
intentions
My heart is set of different goals
I won't be a trophy for anyone
So sorry if i haven't quite lived up to your great expectations
You know if i could i'd walk on water for you but
I have limitations
Tell me when your ego gets hungry do you shake the smaller fruit
off the family tree
And when you go to sleep do you forget to count the black sheep
Sometimes what's simple math to most doesn't add up when you get
behind closed doors
A photo may speak a thousand words but do you really get the
picture i just want a life to call my own is that too much to
ask for
The fact is i've committed no crime here
And i apologize for nothing so open up your eyes and try to
realize
That we don't share the same worldview
I don't mean to disrespect but don't you ever forget
That i can't live my life for you
7.Hangman
Delicate words from a small town preacher
evil came visited us yesterday§
A fit of madness no rhyme or reason
The innocent are always the one who pay
Who's left to deal with the consequences？
Who's going to pick up the broken pieces？
All homes aren't guarded by white picket fences
How could you kill a child？
Another psycho sixteen gunshots
Ringing out on a kindergarten playground
A flood of tears from desperate mothers
Think of your own now you've really made her proud
Mommy's angel father's pride and joy
Will they mourn on the day of you hanging？
No they won't cry cheeks will stay dry
When the lever's pulled and you're left dangling
You'll get what you deserve
8.Growing Old
I'm gonna tell you what you don't want to hear
You're gonna hear the truth
You're gonna find out how life can be so unfair
Don't let them try to take control of you
Stand tall and walk with pride
Believe in yourself and good things will come to you
Live your life how you feel is right
Weigh the consequences and think before you do
Before you know it your youth is gone
Responsibility has found its way to you
So while you're still young take full advantage
Pack your days with memories to bring along with you
I know that when i look back it will always bring a smile to my
face
And as i look to the future i see so many more that i can hardly
wait
Growing old doesn't mean that the fun has to end
We all grow old now's the time to let the good times begin
Don't let your life slip by
I know there's still a million things
I want to try before i die
The time has come to seize the day
Do what you want and do it now tomorrow may be too late
9.Perfect Sense
It's been so long since the first day
I met you girl and since then
We've been to heaven and been through hell
We've seen life in each others skin and through each others eyes
you know me better than i know myself
I thought of you today and wondered why
I'd torn down what we'd built
I checked my memories felt guilty for the way
I felt i know you think
I think i know everything but that's so far from the truth
Only thing i really know is there's so much for me to learn from
you
Don't know the reason why it took me so long to see that
In a less than perfect world you make perfect sense to me
Don't know the reason why it took me so long to see that in a
picture perfect world you'd always be standing next to me
I've seen that picture too, the one you said you painted in your
head a mural of a perfect home you and i a family and friends
Can't change the past can't change what's passed so i guess
there's just one thing to do
Let you know just how i feel and ask to build a new future with
you
No need to look down you know if you fall that i will catch you
I'll be your safety net and always remember i'd die for you and
no one else but you
I will be here for you i will always be here for you
10.Slander
Maybe i shouldn't have said it of course
I was too quick to judge
Words swiftly spoken may be unrefined
I didn't know optimism was a crime
Hey i have got enough problems
Don't need extra baggage from you pointless games and taxing
headtrips unfortunate side effects of your friendship
I may have slipped won't happen again my legs are beneath me now
For the last time cut down from behind
I will be ready next time
It's no big deal
I've gotten used to being let down
I just didn't think that
I would ever be let down by you
Your antics are always expected
Passed off as being your nature
Get away with murder ＆cause you're just being you
A modern day version of shakespeare's licensed fool
Not to say that i'm not guilty
Emotions get the best of me
Quick to fight a nasty habit
Can't keep my cool if i never had it
I had so much faith in you ＆til i saw your true colors bleeding
through
You're a joke that i don't get with a punchline
I'm trying hard to forget
I don't want to carry the burden
Of holding this grudge any longer
What to do, do i made amends？
Or discard this joker from my deck of friends？
Slander you said it i heard it
But you know i never deserved it
So locked to you the world in my head i know i should have never
let you in
11.Short Fuse
Sometimes this world it really gets to me
All of the big heads my nerves get tested
Just when i think it's gotten the best of me
I save my worst for last
My fuse it ends i reach the final draw a sudden impulse
It's time to break skulls and you don't really want to be the
straw that breaks the camel's back
I see the edge and i just got to push it
I don't know what comes over me
I feel the trigger and i just got to push it
It's temporary insanity
Now i got the feeling now i've got the itch
Like an obsession i need aggression
You turn it on and i can't turn off the switch to stop the
current's flow
Step in my mind if you want to come with me
Were going for a ride a mental landslide
No destination i just want to see how far we can go
You can run you can hide
You can stay right by my side
You can run you can hide
I'm gonna swallow someone else's pride
No regrets no remorse for me no way i've felt compassion it's a
distraction and tell me just who the hell are you to say who is
wrong or right
Make a choice pay attention or pay the price
Can't live forever it's now or never
Listen up and pay heed to this advice
I'm going to lose my fucking head tonight
So watch your back tonight
12.Open Your Eyes
When i was younger i used to wait anticipate
Mark my calendar on the release date
So i'd be the first to hear the brilliant things you'd say
I'd skip luch for a week
Save up all my money to be the first kid on the block to own
your brand new cd
Open your eyes open your eyes open your eyes
Who's gonna show me how to laugh
Open your mouth open your mouth open your mouth
Who's gonna show me how to
Who's going to show me how to laugh？
Who's going to jerk tears from my eyes
I've memorized every last word and every note
So now who's going to write the songs
I wish the songs i always wish i wrote that song
So did you think you didn't matter anymore
That you weren't changing people's lives
Well you're wrong such poignant words from you
I heard thoughts and emotions that were worth so much more than
a cheap slogan on a t-shirt
13.Picture This
Everyday a battle is fought
Today i was reminded somehow i had forgot
Everyday a lesson is taught
Real estate's important and human life is not
Is all of this bloodshed worth an outdated plan laid by ancient
hands
Such a crucial piece of earth
Take a look again it's a fucking piece of dirt
Can anyone show me what's wrong with this picture？
Something definitely looks out of place to me
It's clearly out of focus somebody broke us
But here's where the joke is nobody provoked us
We're broken and no one's to blame but us ourselves and we
We can't agree so we war egos declare young soldier be scared
But what are we fighting for
Something that's nothing that we can afford
We glory ourselves in our past the rockets red glare the bombs
bursting in air§
We fly our flags at half mast
It's hard to take pride in young wasted lives
Picture this a world where governments are more concerned with
feeding the people than their egos
Picture this a world where borders are mere lines on a map not
symbols of economic gaps
Picture this respect on a grander scale respect for human rights
Picture this a world where there's no need to write songs like
this
Can anyone out there help fix this picture
Who can make the world a better place to be
We've got one chance let's take it the world's what we make it
If we're going to change it we can't be complacent
The future of the world is up to us ourselves and we
14.Watch Over Me
I dedicate my life as i dedicate this song
So your loving memory will never be gone
Your message and your song will continue on
The positive that you created shall never be undone
You taught me everything i know and everything i do
Taught me how to live my life and to always be true
True to your friends and your family
True to your heart be who you want to be
You'll forever be my mentor forever be my friend
＆cause brotherhood's the rule which can not bend
You'll be truly missed as you were truly loved
I hope you're watching me from up above
We will live our lives in your memory
We will try to be the best that we can be in your memory
Your short time on earth was very well spent some people they
live 80 years and never make a dent
But you changed the world with the words that you would write
And taught us all to always fight the good fight
And i know you're watching over me from above in the center of
my heart is where you will forever be
From the center of my heart is where you'll never leave
There's no way your memory will ever fade away
Because of all the happiness and the goodness that you gave
In my heart is where you'll always be you'll always be with me
Nobody can take away the memories we'll always have the memories
I remember you always looking out for me
Putting me on your shoulders so i could see
Being the best brother you knew how to be
I can still feel you looking over me
And it makes me smile to know you're still watching over me.
| 
