Living With The Living

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Living With The Living Lyrics
1.Fourth World War


2.The Sons Of Cain

Oh, lonely and endless light
Cold morning rises from the night
No smile smiles back through the glare
No voice calls back from the stairs

Oh, those wounds on your blistered feet
That march you on along that dusted street
Oh, that dust gathers 'round your head
As clean I rise from my lonely bed

All the talking, this and that
None taking me to where you're at
Oh, as fine as the day is long
Oh, my fineness, where have you gone?

And I know I'm not to sing of fights I've missed
But alone, I've got to sing just to exist
And to resist

So you're gone now and who's to blame?
Left down here among the sons of Cain
Have you gone on to their heavenly flame?
Leaving me here among the sons of Cain

So you're gone now and who's to blame?
Left down here among the sons of Cain
Oh, you're gone now and who's to blame?
All alone among the sons of Cain


3.Army Bound

Some modest dreams, they just don't pay out
Some modest means don't leave much way out
In every cradle there's a grave now
In every owner there's a slave now

Heard somewhere that there is a place now
Someone who'll catch you on your way down
But in every captain there's a kid now
In every chaplain there's an id now

So make sure you keep your bunk beds made
One day you'll see your bunker walls degrade
And in every garden there's a snake now
In every pardon there's mistake now

When you fall on the ground
Not a sound, army bound
When you're all no account
No amount, army bound

When your vests or your gowns
Hand-me-downs, army bound
When what's next looks unsound
Shaky ground, army bound

Working hard for a round
To the crown, army bound
While you march from your town
To renown, army bound


4.Who Do You Love?

Well, the day dawned and dried the grass on the ground
Someone up and died without a sound
And though we looked for, well, you couldn't be found
You were already on your way, dear

And I saw them call as you walked down the street
But tall through it all, you'd admit no defeat
Despite the grief that you get from everyone you meet
But open up and let things change, dear
Up and let things change, dear

Now we don't ask for medals, we don't ask for praise
We work hard instead and then we walk away
But when the question still pends at the end of every day
Oh, open up to what it's saying
Up to what it's saying

So the weight of the world, it won't get you down
You make what you wear and you don't wait around
You give 'em what they want, or as much as you can
Like you've done all along and you'll do again

But who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?

So the weight of your will will stave off decline
And you won't stop that war but that don't stop you crying
You say all the words that move all our friends
And you work 'til the clock has gone 'round again

But who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?

And so goes the most of our freedom of speech
We live for the city, we work for the beach
And when the weekend seems to be just out of reach
Just make the most of what you're paid, dear
The most of what you're paid, dear

Your love's a ghost
And that's why we're delayed here


5.Colleen

Colleen, never to be crowned queen
Never an evergreen
Floating above the scene
As still as a figurine

Expressionless, so serene
But I know what makes you scream
So don't you run out of steam
I know you, Colleen

It's been all messed up since the very beginning
You act so tough people think that you're winning
And everyone wants something from Colleen

Colleen, perpetually between
What is and what could have been
Floating through your routine
Every day since you were fifteen

And rosy as you make it seem
I know life for you ain't been a dream
To have to deal with the things you've seen
While they work you like you're a machine

Machines break down but you can't break with them
It's too late now so don't break the rhythm
And everyone wants something from Colleen

Colleen, if ever you walk into a dead end street
Come clean
Don't say that it's all all in your mind
Because I know what you mean, Colleen

It's been all messed up since the very beginning
It's too late now 'cause we're already in it
And everyone wants something from Colleen
And no one gets 'cause she's no one's Colleen


6.A Bottle Of Buckie

Nine years down the road and I remember it still
Standing on the corner back in Govanhill
Nine days out from home, feeling no pain
That northern city sun breaking through the rain,
That warmthless sun barely shining on

Me and you and a bottle of Buckie
Me and you and a bottle of Buckie

Nine years come and gone since I left you at home
And this restless soul of mine had me starting to roam
But the first time I stood by the banks of the Clyde
I was so glad to have you standing back by my side,
So proud of what we were doing

Oh, me and you and a bottle of Buckie
Me and you and a bottle of Buckie

Well, I knew by the dew in your starry eyes
It was a day we both had studied for all of our lives
Whether bold missionaries or a children's crusade
No fear pioneers, we were on our way
And there never were nothing that could get in our way

Then the neds with their knuckles and their Burberry scarves
They said how'd you Jersey boys ever make it this far?
But you jumped in between and said, listen my son
You don't know nothing about where we're from,
you don't know nothing about why it's now

Me and you and a bottle of Buckie
Me and you and a bottle of Buckie
Me and you and a bottle of Buckie
Me and you and a bottle of Buckie

Three times I went back in my wandering ways
Last time it was July during Marching Days
When someone said to run from that bitter parade
Well, I knew what you would do and I decided to stay,
And I knew no one ever got the better of me and you


7.Bomb.Repeat.Bomb

Like a gray bird in a blue sky, over a blue ocean civilized men
fly
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb
Through puffy clouds and beautiful rainbows
With the power and the speed and the will to succeed, moneyed
men fly high
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb

No need to clomp around through the ash, the rubble and the mud
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb
No need for face to face, or even worse,
To put a perfectly spit-shined pair of brand new leather boots
on the dirty, dusty ground
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb

Oh sure, you could mobilize a million troops
But a thousand could probably get the job done
But then people start to ask questions

So when you drop in out of the white clouds in a blue sky,
Don't worry about them having to see the whites of your blue
eyes
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb
Just let that payload fly and wing on home, my son, it's not
your day to die
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb

And when the crying starts, you won't have to see their
bloodshot eyes turn red
And when the dying starts, you won't have to know a thing about
who's dead
This is your mission, pretend it's television where the good
guys always win
And they're gonna win again because you're gonna bomb, bomb,
bomb, bomb, bomb

Oh, they can keep talking, let them keep talking,
They can talk while the bombs fall around them for all I care
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb
But when you've had enough of this diplomatic bullshit
And your patience is up, well, alright, it's on and they asked
for it
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb

Ah, but you'll want to give yourself a second to take in the
beauty of the sight
As you come in over the mountains between the green earth and
the sky
And bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb

Yes, bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb
In and out, no mess, no fuss
Bomb, repeat, bomb, repeat, bomb

And when the crying starts, you won't have to see their
bloodshot eyes turn red
And when the dying starts, you won't have to know a thing about
who's dead
This is your mission, like television where the good guys always
win
And they're gonna win again because you're gonna bomb, repeat,
bomb
Bomb, repeat, bomb bomb, repeat, bomb bomb, repeat, bomb bomb,
repeat, bomb


8.La Costa Brava

I've been seeing the same old things and
I've been hearing you saying some things that you don't mean
Everyone needs a Sunday some days
Everyone needs to take some time away

So come on home from the front lines, baby
You know you've done more than your time there was supposed to
have been
A little time out could turn your head 'round
A little time out could lift us out of this mess we're in

And down by the beach there's a small cafe
Where we'll hang on for Joan and drink Bonet all day

So come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there
Come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there

You know that waking up to the daily blues from
Waking up to the daily news ain't nothing strange
Everyone gets to feeling weak but
If everyone gets to take a week and change their pace

You travel west 'til you hit Girona
I'll travel east out of Barcelona and I'll meet you halfway
One day and night on La Costa Brava
We'll forget the fright and remember why we want to be brave and
that there's something to save

Like down by the beach there's a small cafe
Where we'll read and sit and think all day

Come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there
Come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there

Like down by the beach there's a veg cafe
Where we'll meet Lolo and Pablo and drink Moritz all day

So come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there
Come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there

So come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there
Come over to St. Feliu, 'cause
It's somewhere I've been and I want to take you there

We'll meet Berta, and Daniel, and Remy, Celine
And Mike, Adriana, Padi, and Aziz
And Maurix, Maria, and Laura, Tule
Jodie, and Paul, I hope Neil is okay


9.Annunciation Day/Born On Christmas Day

Picture me at twelve, Annunciation Day
To be sent off to the Falklands, that's for what I prayed
And the beads moved through my fingers
As I marched around the schoolyard on parade
And I wanted to believe every word I sang

Captive from the start, you can't even find the door
Yes, eternal peace awaits but for now you'll get eternal war
And not even the government knows what the fuck it's for anymore
So keep on praying to Mary, virgin mother, cheating whore

Matty, you were born on Christmas day
And just like the one they call Jesus Christ
You had thirty-three years before they sent you on your way
And though you'll never be resurrected,
Well, neither was he, despite what they say
But don't get your hopes up, my friends,
'Cause that don't mean that there ain't no judgment day


10.The Unwanted Things

Crying for the hungry friends and you're crying for the
struggling friends
And I'm crying over you
Crying over a mother's debt and now you're crying over some
other's head
While I'm crying over you

You're working so hard to guard against the weather
You'd shelter the world if you could
But remember we swore that we'd stop each other never?
From doing what we've got to, well, it's still understood

And so you're crying for the haunted things and you're crying
for the unwanted things
And I'm crying over you
Crying 'cause somebody cries and you're crying 'cause everybody
dies
And I'm crying over you

I see you working so hard to be a part of something better
It's not some big thing, it's just what you do
But remember the yard when we gardened together?
I can't think of anything better than you

Now I know it's late and
I know you're trying
But your time I wouldn't take
And I'd never stop you crying

You're crying for the living things and you're crying for
forgiven things
While I'm crying over you
And now you're crying for depriving things and you're crying for
the surviving things
And I'm crying over you

Now you know my ways and you
You know that I'm
Also set ablaze
By that same fire that makes you cry

And so I'm crying for the war and dread and I'm crying 'cause
there's more ahead
And I'm crying over you
I'll go on crying for our animal friends and I'll be crying 'til
their suffering ends
While I'm crying, crying over you

Crying over you


11.The Lost Brigade

Welcome to the lost brigade
Lost but pursuing
Fragments to protect the day
From badness and ruin

And this one's for the makers who have made
Only to be made
By the takers who delayed
Later to declaim

Who will be beatified?
And who sees a line and files along?
Who won't let tomorrow die?
And who keeps the vision moving on?

In this land of grand decay
Oh, we resist here
13,040 days
Oh, I have been here

Walking sticks and screaming bricks
Might leave you winded
But when you vindicate the last
The next is defended

So reckless and directionless
Just get in line and file along
Resolutions live and die
But every memory of mine's a song

So when my mind begins to turn
Turn in confusion
Will I find that I have earned
Your absolution?

Yes, when my mind begins to turn
Returns in confusion
There are gifts I'm to discern
Here in profusion

Every little memory has a, every little memory has a song
Every little memory has a, every little memory has a song
Every little memory has a, every little memory has a song
Every little memory has a, every little memory has a song


12.The World Stops Turning

Let me tell you about my morning, checked my mail and I received
a warning
Ooh, nothing new
And though it held an accusation, all I smelled was abnegation
Ooh, not a clue

And the noise in my town and the voice that's getting me down
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around

All the little people ruined by all the little poison little
minds are brewing
They're out and living in doubt
Breathing in the hate and rumor, the end comes soon, well, let's
make it sooner!
Oh, let's make it now

And the boys in your town and the malls they're building around
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around

Lazy biters ignore what they lack
Lazy fighters will overreact
And if the tricks of the pricks and the hacks distract
Don't look back!

And the noise in my house is a noise I've got to get out
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around
And the choice in our town is a choice that's getting me down
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around

There'll be no more walls now, no voice pushing you around
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around

It'll all float off, it'll all keep spinning
The spot that's not, well, you want to be in it
It'll all float off when the world stops turning around


13.Some Beginner's Mind

Well, the moths have been fed and the pirates pirated
Are things I left undone
As every day rolls on, I lose them
At least your pressure to confusion

Was it something I read that's been doing in my head?
What gives me palpitations?
The implication of delusion
Or just a problem of execution

So baby, claim that I'm not playing a roll,
Well, maybe I'll play for someone else, sir
Your babies claim that it's a game for gold,
Well, that's not the same as a claim for wealth, sir
That's not wealth, sir
And at the moment I'm trying to just find my beginner's mind

When the call finally came, I was reading up on quick claims
So I had to think about it
As I begun to doubt it mattered
No, I'm so sick of feeling battered

'Cause we're not trying to change when you tell me that I change
And when I try not to change
Well, then you tell me that I don't change
And there's not much I can change about that, sir

So baby, blame it on what you've been told, go blow that blame
around pell mell, sir
If I'm ashamed of what I bought or sold, I've got no one to
blame but myself, sir
I'm to blame for my own bad health, sir
And at the moment I'm trying to just find my beginner's mind

So to another year down the road, and that's not something I
could help, sir
But if you tell me that I'm getting old, you'd better take a
good look at yourself, sir
Yeah, take a look at yourself, sir
'Cause at the moment I'm trying to just find some beginner's
mind


14.The Toro And The Toreador

Howling in remembrance, an animal has died
I'm hollowed out but resonant, a void is amplified
And abandoned, shy

My animus was lost, I found when I looked back in time
I can see the where and how, but I don't know the why
Or if it's right to try

The best advice I ever had was leave what was behind
But did I see some value there, or am I going blind?
Is it all in my mind?

Like when you want it easy and you've got an uphill climb
Why would give power to the ones who robbed you blind
Yet another time?

You've got a choice, it's the toro or the toreador
Your brides are not all as weak as what you take them for
This mean arena is all the things it seems and more
Well, that final day will come, it comes to everyone

The accidents of birth can make it hard to speak one's mind
But I believe there's power here, just not that I can find
And I'm not aimed on dying

You're in a dance and you must maintain until it's done
You've got a chance to retake a bit of innocence
You didn't choose to commit, but you're committed
So put some passion in the play, because we all go anyway

Trying to find a fact to frame a fully righteous fire
Everyone wants body counts and I just want to cry
Is it alright?


15.C.I.A.

Sometimes the rain upon the sea
Can make the gray look green to me
And when I'm into all that gray
I'll make the morning last all day

See, I've been down to New South Wales
Both my brothers been in jail
Ah, but my sister, she got free
Now she's across the great gray sea

Now I've been hard, too hard to find
But there's no paranoia in my mind
There have been no comrades dropping dimes
It's just I'm working overtime

And I know that in the end
I'll come clean to all my friends
'Cause we all know we all have sinned
And we all know we're going to again

And when I was late in checking in
I couldn't say where I'd been
Well, I bet you knew, 'cause you sometimes do
And here we go 'round again

See, Molly always knows just what to bring
When Reb's in town, she always rings
You want to know what Tommy has to say?
Is Terry feeling better these days?

You can ask, take a look
We're all pretty open books
What I stand for, I mostly stand behind
What I am, I mostly can't hide

And when we were late in getting in
We couldn't say where we'd been
So maybe you knew, like you sometimes do
I've got need to pretend

Ah, but C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done
Oh, C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done

My father works from 6 to 8
And he ain't given up his faith
And so I haven't given up myself
Though I sure could use a little help

Now it don't take the writing of a song
To tell you what I was doing in '01
But what I fear that I might never see
Is where you were back in '73

And why Mal, he ain't around
Or if Everado was ever found
Why Frankie says that history's race is run
When we all know it's just erased by those who've won

And when I was late in weighing in
I couldn't say where I'd been
And you thought you knew like you sometimes do
But you got it wrong again

Oh, but C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done
Oh, C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done

Oh, C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done
Oh, C.I.A.
Only you know what you've done

Only you know what you've done
Only you know what you've done
Only you know what you've done
Only you know what you've done


Another holy hell was born today
To have another laugh on Heaven's sake
To arm yourself and get on in harm's way
But after all it's all a vain parade
After all it's just a vain parade

Thanks to the people who can get you through the day
But what do people like us matter anyway
A little patch of honor in a field of disarray
Is it okay?

And after all it's all a vain parade
After all it's all a vain parade