Quasi

Repair the hull, replace the sails.
The monkey wrestles with the ghost
And a thousand little pleasures form a thin veneer
Over lack of hope.
The captain was rightly murdered by the crew
But now they don't know what to do -
Drifting on the murky Sargasso of the everyday.
Work and slave and skimp and save
And you can buy yourself a bigger cage
And a thousand little cruelties we agree to pretend to ignore.
The ghost has got the monkey by the tail
And all they both can do is wail.
And you and I go drifting by the abandoned vessels of the everyday.

Everday we earn our meager pay
But it takes its toll to play the happy prole.
They buy your labor, try to steal your soul -
Bite the bullet, hold your tongue and play the happy prole.
Paranoid and tired - quit before you're fired.
But they've got you in the hole, so you play the happy prole.
You need the money so you got to play it dumb,
but if you play it long enough it's just what you become.
Pay your rent, pay your bills, pay the doctor for your pills
So you can work another day, as life slips away.

"You only hurt the one you love."
That may be true, but better said:
"You only hurt the one who loves you."
We went through hell just to get to hell -
Die of thirst or drink up from the poisoned well.
If I kept things inside, at least I never lied.
I'm not trying to document my suicide.
You won't live long, but you may write the perfect song;
Please excuse those who choose to not play along.

I know the Ether can never claim the Earth.
Atmospheric gasses cannot remain with dirt.
We purchase pleasure, pay for it with hurt
And we rarely get our money's worth.
See how we grasp at the stars?
They're so far away, you can't even see what's right in front of you.
Flesh wounds heal; broken bones mend
But you're not my friend - I never want to see you again.

Orbiting pods, underwater domes -
We fill our tanks with oxygen to step outside our homes.
Once it was hard, now it's just routine
And I can't tell the difference between people and machine.
Love was a problem for our ancestors;
It's not such a problem anymore.
Breeding as a science proved it has no use at all
And it mostly disappeared when we eliminated war.
There's comfort and control, it's safe for you and me.
News from the surface shows how hard life there can be.
Why live in danger? Why live with pain?
People from the surface find it hard to explain.
And every little thing is strictly monitored;
We're given everything we need.
Fed by I.V., we rarely need to sleep -
There's no pointless dreaming and our happiness is guaranteed.

Leave it behind
Have no fear, no mind
Now there you are, an invisible star
Feel what you see, am I not your tree?

Carried along through a tunnel of green
Float through the night on a river of light
Feel what you hear, am I not still near?

Wizard's kiss, dragon's breath
Pot of gold payable on death

You think you're on the winning team
But it's no game, though it just might be a dream

Highest hill to lowest pit
If you ain't got love, you ain't got shit
'cause it's your life to live or to lose
I'm tired of singing the death culture blues!

Now we're told just to get in line
And bowo down the almighty dollar sign
Battle turns from left to right
But I'm not going down without a fight

I've done my time, I took my bath
I'm back on track down the shining pathy
'cause it's your life to live or to lose
I've tired of singing the death culture blues!

Drifting down a river of cars
I saw your name written up in the stars
I jumped ship and I'm down a hole
Deep underground like a lump of coal
Then a dream I never knew came true

They'll rattle your cage, they'll yank your chain
And all your dreams tumble down the drain
Never give up, never give in
Poverty sucks but it ain't no sin
Then a dream you never knew comes true

A machine came knocking at my door
Lost & alone; hungry for oil.
I could see he wouldn't get too far
Shape of a man; soul of a car.
Soon we'll all be dead.
It makes me feel so comfortable.
What I see & what I think I hear
Clouds in my eye; rust in my ear.
A machine will never have to feel.
I know it's fake but pretend that it's real.
Soon we'll all be dead.
It makes me feel so comfortable

Molecules dissipate,
Disperse & recoagulate.
Breathing in & out,
There is nothing more.
I am mist, you are steam
We are clouds.
We are drifting away.
In one of many heavens
Blue light prevails
We dream perfect music,
We hang from our tails.
In one of many hells
We sharpen up our horns
Plotting our revenge while
Waiting to be born.
Particles of light & particles of matter
Come together for an instant, then scatter

I don't care if it gets too cold.
I don't care if it gets too old.
I don't care if I'm all alone.
I don't care that you'll never know.
I don't care if you don't love me
& I don't care if you never loved me.
Even when I'm with you I'm not there.
I don't know where I am.
I don't want to suffer or cause no suffering
But then again, I don't care

Back the fuck away from it,
& leave it where it lies.
How many stabbings can it take before it dies?
I got the message like a bullet to the head.
No wishful thinking now could help bring back the dead.
I never noticed as you turned into a ghost.
You couldn't help me when I needed you the most.
You made your choice & you would not change your course.
I got a lesson how to flog a dying horse.
On Easter I got a chocolate rabbit
The biggest one I ever saw.
You never know until you've bitten off their head
that they're hollow & the chocolate is bad

Who says blood is thicker than water?
Who still believes that three is a magic number?
One plus one plus one equals nothing

I'm fixing up my coffin
Where one day I will lie.
I can hardly wait until
The day when I should die.
I'm beveling the edges to
make it nice and strong.
One day I shall die &
I hope it won't be long.
I'm fixing up my coffin
I'm building it with care,
Because I will spend eternity
just lying back in there.
If I go to heaven,
I'll look down with pride
Upon my lovely coffin &
The pile of bones inside

You can't make a giant
Just by stretching out a dwarf.
One person's beauty mark is
Another person's wart.
Just a spoonful of sugar makes the poison go down fine,
It makes the poison go down fine.
If everything is a movie just projected in your head,
You can have a seat &
Simply swallow what you're fed.
And you can spend a lifetime
Painting pictures for the blind
Just painting pictures for the blind.
A blank piece of paper is better than a book.
What you gave is worse than what you took.
But a spoonful of sugar makes the poison go down fine
It makes the poison go down fine