1.Language of Violence
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Mark S. Pistel
The first day of school was always the hardest
The first day of school, the hallways the darkest
Like a gauntlet
The voices haunted
Walking in with his thin skin lowered chin
He knew the names that they would taunt him with
Fagot sissy punk queen queer
Although he'd never had sex in his 15 years
And when they harassed him, it was for a reason
And when they provoked him, it became open season
For the fox and the hunter, the sparks and the thunder
That pushed the boy under, then pillage and plunder
It kind of makes you wonder
How one can hurt another
But dehumanizing the victim makes things simpler
It's like breathing with a respirator
It eases the conscience of even the most conscious
And calculating violator
Words can reduce a person to an object
Something more easy to hate
An inanimate entity, completely disposable
No problem to obliterate
But death is the silence
In this language of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this cycle of violence
Death is the silence
It's tough to be young, the young long to be tougher
When we pick on someone else it might make us feel rougher
Abused by their fathers but was at home though
So to prove to each other that they were not homos
The exclamation of the phobic fury
Executioner, a judge and jury
The mob mentality, individuality was nowhere
Dignity forgotten at the bottom of a dumb
Old dare and a numb cold stare
On the way home it was back to name calling
Ten against one they had his back up against the wall and
They reveled in their laughter as they surrounded him
But it wasn't a game when they up jumped and grounded him
They picked up their bats with their muscles straining
And they decided they were gonna beat this fella's brain in
With an awful, powerful, showerful, an hour full of violence
Inflict the strictest brutality and dominance
They didn't hear him screaming, they didn't hear him pleading
They ran like cowards and left the boy bleeding
In a pool of red 'til all tears were shed
And his eyes quietly slid into the back of his head
Dead
But death is the silence
In this language of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this cycle of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this language of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this cycle of violence
Death is the silence
You won't see the face 'til the eyelids drop
You won't hear the screaming until it stops
The boy's parents were gone and his grandmother had raised him
She was mad, she had no form of retaliation
The pack didn't have to worry about being on a hit list
But the thing they never thought about was that there was a
witness
To this senseless crime, right place wrong time
Tried as an adult one of them was gonna do hard time
The first day of prison was always the hardest
The first day of prison, the hallways the darkest
Like a gauntlet
The voices haunted
Fagot, sissy, punk, queen, queer
Words he used before had a new meaning in here
As a group of men in front of him came near
For the first time in his life the young bully felt fear
He'd never been on this side of the name calling
Five against one they had his back up against the wall and
He had never questioned his own sexuality
But this group of men didn't hesitate in their reality
With an awful, powerful, showerful, an hour full of violence
Inflict the strictest brutality and dominance
They didn't hear him screaming
They didn't hear him pleading
They took what they wanted and then left him bleeding in the
corner
The giant reduced to Jack Horner
But dehumanizing the victim makes things simpler
It's like breathing with a respirator
It eases the conscience of even the most conscious
And calculating violator
The power of words, don't take it for granted
When you hear a man ranting
Don't just read the lips, be more sublime than this
Put everything in context
Is this a tale of rough justice
In a land where there's no justice at all？
Who is really the victim
Or are we all the cause and victim of it all？
But death is the silence
In this language of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this cycle of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this language of violence
Death is the silence
But death is the silence
In this cycle of violence
Death is the silence
You won't see the face 'til the eyelids drop
You won't hear the screaming until it stops
2.Famous and Dandy (Like Amos and Andy)
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Sidney Charlie Hunter, Mark S. Pistel
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
It's quite a spectacle to see us land
In waste receptacles as if we've planned it
We're never skeptical when we get branded
Then disrespectful 'cause we feel abandoned
The height of mediocrity is the challenge
Crawling through the entrails of imbalance
We learn to like to be the heroes
We learn to lie to the brand name Negroes
We learn to laugh to avoid being angry
We learn to kill and learn to go hungry
We learn not to feel, for protection
And we learn to flaunt when we get an erection
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
We're born believing we're greater than circumstance
Infinitely stronger than chance as our first breath is handed
We taste the double standard, the need to wear the mask
And with society's nurturing, the psychic plastic surgery
Begins to take effect as our souls watch astound
Our characters flounder, duplicitous identity
Diction and contradiction have become the skills of assimilation
Razor honed to perfection from the moment of creation
It's gone from identity crisis to survival slingshot to rifle
Sin to revival, try to get looked at but not poked in the
eyeball
Warned of our impurities, afraid of insecurities
Real life experts of the artificial, athletes and entertainers
Have become the minstrels on commercials
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
On screen or off we can be rented to perform any feat
And we reflect the images presented by the media's elite
Positive or negative attention is viewed as success
U.S.D.A. African American Beef is seen as progress
We never ask ourselves too many questions
Too much truth in introspection
Maintain the regimentation and avoid self-degradation
We act out all the stereo types, try to use them as decoy
And we become shining examples
Of the system we set out to destroy
'Cause even in the most radical groups you will find
That when you stray from the doctrine, you'll see hard times
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
Being kicked in the mouth or smiling with no teeth
They're both choices, yes, but it's impossible to eat
Uneducated, underdeveloped, undisciplined but mostly unaware
We join the flavor of the month club
We swallow the flavor of the month
Well, holding our crotch was the flavor of the month
Bitch this bitch that was the flavor of the month
Being a thug was the flavor of the month
Then no to drugs was the flavor of the month
Kangol was the flavor of the month
Rope gold was the flavor of the month
Adidas shoes was the flavor of the month
Then bashing Jews was the flavor of the month
Gentrification was the flavor of the month
Isolation was the flavor of the month
My pockets are so empty, I can feel my testicles
'Cause I spent all my money on some plastic African necklaces
And I still don't know what the colors mean
Red, black and green
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos and Andy
3.Music and Politics
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Sidney Charlie Hunter
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that sometimes it's easier to desire
And pursue the attention and admiration of 100 strangers
Than it is to accept the love and loyalty of those closest to me
And I would tell you that sometimes
I prefer to look at myself through someone else's eyes
Eyes that aren't clouded with the tears of knowing
What an asshole I can be, as yours are
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I might be able to listen in silence to your concerns
Rather than hearing everything as an accusation
Or an indictment against me
And I would tell you that sometimes
I use sex to avoid communication
It's the best escape when we're down on our luck
But I can express more emotions than laughter, anger, and let's
fuck
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that I pooped in my own dog dish
And sometimes I would rather face not eating
Than face licking it clean and admitting when I'm selfish
And I'd tell you that I'm suffering from the worst type of
loneliness
The loneliness of being misunderstood
Or more poignantly the loneliness of being afraid
To allow myself, to be understood
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that the personal revolution
Is far more difficult
And is the first step in any revolution
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that music is the expression of emotion
And that politics is merely the decoy of perception
4.Satanic Reverses
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Mark S. Pistel
In the 1970's
The OPEC nations began to dominate
The world's oil economy
In the 1980's, Japan became the world's
Number one economic power
In 1989 the nations of Eastern Europe
Attempted to restructure
While in the United States civil rights have
Collapsed at the hands of fundamentalists
And national insecurity's at an all time high
Exxon and on and on and on
The ministers of double speak
New meanin' of clean they tried to teach us
They staged the phoney shampoo of the Valdez greases
Completely jheri curled the beaches
Pipe bomb for the NAACP
And a hit on Salman Rushdie, the Berlin Wall comes down
And the U.S. cracks down on illegal aliens
Ban the freedom of choice for those wantin' abortion
And enforce capitol punishment
Twenty four hour radio ban
For indecency determined by the F.U.C.C.
Why are we so anesthetized to the lies？
Because we do it in our own lives
We believe all the things that we want to hear
But then we also love to criticize
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail-out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
In 1992 the European economic community will reform
In 1997 the city of Hong Kong will become
A part of the People's Republic of China
In 1999, and this is no coincidence
The nation of Panama will control it's own canal
While in the United States
Civil rights have collapsed at the hands of Fundamentalists
And national insecurity's at an all time high
Helms said ban the photograph of the piss Christ
It's sacreligious not an art
While we all try to discern between our cup of tea
And what we call obscenity, the house's legislation
Ripped the phoney foundation off what we thought inherent
Sent Joey to the Supreme Court
'Cause he made a statement, they called it
Desecration of the symbol that was meant to represent
The freedom of so called choice and dissent
They almost had me believin' it, they were bleedin' him
He said, 'Burn baby, burn'
'Til the street Samurai said to my face
That any flag that's worth a shit
Was woven from fire in the first place
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
Bail out the banks loan art to the churches
Satanic Reverses
5.The Winter of the Long Hot Summer
Lyricist：Wally Badarou, Michael Franti, Mark Pistal
It all seemed so idiotic, all the accusations of unpatriotic
The fall we'll always remember, capitulating silence
Election November before the winter of the long hot summer
Somewhere in the desert we raised the oil pressure
And waited for the weather to get much better
For the new wind to blow in the storm
We tried to remember the history in the region
The French foreign legion, Imperialism,
Peter O'Toole and hate the Ayatollah were all we learned in
school
Not that we gave Hussein five billion
Not of our new bed partner the Syrian
And of course no mention of the Palestine situation
It was amazing how they steamrolled
They said eighty percent approval
But there was no one that I knew polled
No one had a reason for being in the Gulf
We waited for congress to speak up illegal build up
But no one would wake up
Our representatives were Milli Vanilli's
For corporate Dallas Cowboy Beverly Hillbillies
With perfect timing the politicians rhyming their sentiments
So nicely oil gold and sand my sediments precisely
We regretfully support the lunacy
I'm afraid there is no time for more scrutiny
National unity preserve our community
Teflon election opportunities were in profundant abundance
On January second the Bush administration
Announced a recession had stricken the Nation the highest
quarterly
Earnings in ten years were posted by Chevron
Meanwhile a budget was placed in our hands
As the deadline in the sand came to an end
So much for the peace dividend one billion a day is what we
spent
And our grandchildren will pay for it 'til the end
When schools are unfunded and kids don't get their diplomas
They get used for gun boat diplomacy disproportionately
Black or brown we see bullet catchers for the slave master
Then the conservatives called up reservists
To active service left families nervous but more importantly
broke nine Hundred a month but the check came late, army red
tape you see
This golden opportunity, we watched the tube and read the
newspaper
The propaganda of the gas masked rape
Was the proper slander to whip up the hatred
The stage was lit and the lights were all faded
The pilots in night vision goggles Kuwaited and generals
masturbated
'Til the fifteenth two days later they invaded
Not a single T.V. station expressed dissension or
Hardly made mention to the censorship of information
From our kinder and gentler nation blinder and mentaler
retardation
Disorientation, the pilots said their bombs lit Baghdad
Like a Christmas tree, It was the Christian thing to do you see
They didn't mention any casualties, no distinction between the
real
And the proxy only football analogies
We saw the bomb hole, we watched the Super Bowl
We saw the scud missile, we watched Bud commercials
We saw the yellow ribbons, saw pilots in prison
We never saw films of the dead at eleven
Angela Davis addressed the spectators
And shouting above a rumbling generator said
'If they insist on bringing us down
Then let's shut the whole country down'
Marching through the downtown
A hundred thousand became participants
And we heard the drums of millions off in the distance
Rushing through the cities some of them did things that weren't
so pretty
Most were there for primal scream therapy
News men concentrated on the negative liked the jingoists more
Peaceful protesters ended up on the cutting room floor
Nintendo casualties of the ratings war
More bombs dropped than in World War II
On in both Asian invasions, new world order persuasion
Business as usual for our nation
Could you imagine a hundred fifty thousand dead
The city of Stockton coffins locked in when we clocked in
Not to mention civilians, the loss of life on both sides
Pushed the limits of resilience the scent of blood in our
nostrils
Fuel of the fossil land of apostle
The blackness that covered the sky was not the only thing
That brought a tear to the eye or the taste of anger to the
tongues
Of those too young to remember Vietnam
Is heroin better in a veteran's mind
Than the memory of the dying laying in a line
Is it the smell or the shadows heaving and weeping
That keeps the soldier from sleeping as he sings the orphan's
lullaby
When the soldiers put down their bayonets
The strings are chained to the marionettes
Emir of Kuwait gets back in his jet
We replace the dead with new cadets
Will we hate those who did the shelling
Or will we hate those who weren't willing to do the killing
When the leaders of the bald eagles come home to roost
Will we sing a song of praise and indebtedness
For our deliverance from evil or will we sing a song of sadness
For the dreaded debt this mess delivered us people
6.Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Sidney Charlie Hunter, Mark S. Pistel
Life these days can be so complex
We don't make the time to stop and reflect
I know from first hand experience, one can go delirious
Seriously it can be like that
But before I put my foot in my mouth
'Cause that's what I'm about to start talking about
Please let me confess before all the rest
That I'm afflicted by this addicted like most in the U.S.
It's tough to make a living when you're an artist
It's even tougher when you're socially conscious
Careerism, opportunism
Can turn the politics into cartoonism
Let's not patronize or criticize
Let's open the door and look inside
Pull the file on this state of denial
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
The bass, the treble
Don't make a rebel
Having your life together does
America has an image of a young one
Fast living not give an expletive
No respect for his
Or the lives of those around him
Suicidal, homicidal or at very least
Extremely unbridled
How convenient for those
Who would like to destroy him
The problem has never been our political logic
But the way we enact it
We can imagine a perfect society
But can't maintain a decent relationship
The failure found in the luxury, not in the hardship
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
Raise the double standard
7.Famous and Dandy (Like Amos 'n' Andy)
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Sidney Charlie Hunter, Mark S. Pistel
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
It's quite a spectacle to see us land
In waste receptacles as if we've planned it
We're never skeptical when we get branded
Then disrespectful cause we feel abandoned
The height of mediocrity is the challenge
Crawling through the entrails of imbalance
We learn to like to be the heroes
We learn to lie to the brand name Negroes
We learn to laugh to avoid being angry
We learn to kill and learn to go hungry
We learn not to feel, for protection
And we learn to flaunt when we get an erection
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
We're born believing we're greater than circumstance
Infinitely stronger than chance as our first breath is handed
We taste the double standard the need to wear the mask
And with society's nurturing the psychic plastic
Surgery begins to take effect as our souls watch astounded
Our characters flounder duplicitous identity
Diction and contradiction have become the skills of assimilation
Razor honed to perfection from the moment of creation
It's gone from identity crisis to survival slingshot to rifle
Sin to revival try to get looked at but not poked in the eyeball
Warned of our impurities afraid of insecurities
Real life experts of the artificial athletes and entertainers
Have become the minstrels on commercials
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
On screen or off we can be rented to perform any feat
And we reflect the images presented by the media's elite
Positive or negative attention is viewed as success
U.S.D.A. African American Beef is seen as progress
We never ask ourselves too many questions
Too much truth in introspection
Maintain the regimentation and avoid self-degradation
We act out all the stereotypes try to use them as decoy
And we become shining examples of the system we set out to
destroy
'Cause even in the most radical groups you will find
That when you stray from the doctrine you'll see hard times
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
Being kicked in the mouth or smiling with no teeth
They're both choices, yes but it's impossible to eat
Uneducated, underdeveloped undisciplined but mostly unaware
We join the flavor of the month club, we swallow the flavor of
the month
Well holding our crotch was the flavor of the month
Bitch this bitch that was the flavor of the month
Being a thug was the flavor of the month
Then no to drugs was the flavor of the month
Kangol was the flavor of the month
Rope gold was the flavor of the month
Adidas shoes was the flavor of the month
Then bashing Jews was the flavor of the month
Gentrification was the flavor of the month
Isolation was the flavor of the month
My pockets are so empty I can feel my testicles
'Cause I spent all my money on some plastic
African necklaces and I still don't know what the colors mean
Red, black and green
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
What will we do to become famous and dandy
Just like Amos 'n' Andy？
8.Television, the Drug of the Nation
Lyricist：Michael Franti, Mark S. Pistel
'One nation under God' has turned into
One nation under the influence of one drug
Television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
TV, its satellite links
Our 'United States of Unconsciousness'
Apathetic, therapeutic an' extremely addictive
The methadone metronome pumpin' out
150 channels, 24 hours a day
You can flip through all of them
An' still there's nothin' worth watchin'
TV is the reason why less than 10 per cent
Of our nation reads books daily
Why most people think Central America means Kansas
Socialism means Unamerican
An' Apartheid is a new headache remedy
Absorbed in its world, it's so hard to find us
It shapes our minds the most
Maybe the mother of our nation should remind us
That we're sittin' too close
To the television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
TV is the stompin' ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods are chased
By Grecian formula'd bald eagles
TV is mechanized politics' remote control
Over the masses
Co-sponsored by environmentally safe gases
Watch for the PBS special
It's the perpetuation of the two party system
Where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served
To the fast food culture
Where straight teeth in your mouth are more important
Than the words that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or Will he not get elected？
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
TV, is it the reflector or the director ？
Does it imitate us or do we imitate it？
Because a child watches 1500 murders before he's 12 years old
An' we wonder why we've created a Jason generation
That learns to laugh rather than to abhor the horror
TV is the place where armchair generals
An' quarterbacks can experience first hand
The excitement of video warfare
As the theme song is sung in the background
Sugar sweet sitcoms that leave us with a bad actor taste
While pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video, you heard the soundtrack
Well, now go buy the soft drink
Well, the only cola that I support
Would be a Union C.O.L.A., cost of living allowance
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
Back again, 'new an' improved'
We return to our irregularly programmed schedule
Hidden cleverly between heavy breasted beer
An' car commercials
CNN, ESPN, ABC, BCB, TNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like 'virtually spotless'
'Fresh, frozen', 'light yet filling'
An' 'Military Intelligence' have become standard
TV is a place where phrases are redefined
Like 'recession' to 'necessary downturn'
'Crude oil' on a beach to 'mousse'
'Civilian death' to 'collateral damages'
An' being killed by your own army
Is now called 'Friendly fire'
TV is the place where the pursuit of happiness
Has become the pursuit of trivia
Where toothpaste an' cars have become sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children
By a cathode ray nipple
TV is the only wet nurse that would create a cripple
Television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
On television, the drug of the nation
Breedin' ignorance an' feedin' radiation
9.Water Pistol Man
When girls dressed in black, they all look so lonely
And contraceptives don't get used by the horny
You can't find the key to the door in your building
But are you still willing？
The responsibility becomes an afterthought
When one remembers the things that they should've bought
There's no pretending that you forgot
Must everything in life have political ramifications
Even taking kids on vacation or having a simple operation
But my friend Billy told me that sometimes
It takes a grown man a long time to learn
Just what it takes a child a night to learn
And my son proved his words
Water pistol man full of ammunition
Squirting at fires on a worldwide mission
But did you ever think to stop to squirt
The flowers in your own backyard
For all my faux pas I never said, 'Excuse me'
Was the simplest things that always confused me
I never stopped I never looked both ways
Must it always a tug of love between friends and work
Hope to learn the meaning of the word jerk
Before it happens to a rope 'round my neck
Let's build a bigger telescope
So that we can see things more up close
Farther away from where we really are
I was up the whole night before
Reading books about places I'll probably never go
And those aren't good things to know about
Water pistol man full of ammunition
Squirting at fires on a worldwide mission
But did you ever think to stop to squirt
The flowers in your own backyard
When I feel with my heart
I know in my mind I should say with my lips
But don't does that make you feel upset？
I should know that the power of one man
Seems like a small squirt
When he aims at the flames of the whole earth
But the fire starts at home
Water pistol man full of ammunition
Squirting at fires on a worldwide mission
But did you ever think to stop to squirt
The flowers in your own backyard
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