Grant
Lee Buffalo
Copperopolis - 1996
Faithless
on the skids hung out to dry oh seen better days
With the sunlight fading like a tabloid and I I have found
All those double-barreled freedom fighters are in for themselves
And a call to arms has never been about anything else
Fire
one more round
But hate is not a lone assailant
Hear the drummers pound
Listen to the homespun violent sound
Hatred
on the prowl underneath an oh new guise garb and gown
And he's so persuasive when you look in his eyes all dumbfound
And the double-talkin' politicians expose their intimate lives
While the sheep are lowing for the shepherd to show he never arrives
Fire
one more round
But hate is not a lone assailant
Hear the drummers pound
Listen to the homespun violent sound
Sound
Ooh
I'll tell you how it
Pains to say this
Ugliness is ours
'Cause I would better lay in bed and
Maybe even sleep all day
Maybe sleep some more
Some more
Too
Suspicion
is a powerful religion when it leads to the force on these shores
In the jungles of the midwest dwarf militia train for war right on course
Unlike the famous fable revolution won't yield a firework show
Unlike the famous fable revolution won't end on July the Fourth
Fire
one more round
But hate is not a lone assailant
Hear the drummers pound
Listen to the homespun violent sound
Sound
Yeah
the homespun sound
I hear the sound
Yeah the homespun sound
Crossing
the bridge where many lean to see
Over the rail to glance the trembling stream
Others stay to the center fearful it might sway
And all those who would choose to turn back the other way
But
you and me have own bridge to cross
Weather worn and sea tossed
We've our own bridge to cross let's not
Make any excuses
I
came upon someone's used and yellowed paperback
A collection of dreams and their meanings all conveyed
Seems to dream of a bridge denotes a thousand different things
If the planks are secure or the rope is broke or frayed
But
you and me have own bridge to cross
Weather worn and sea tossed
We've our own bridge to cross let's not
Make any excuses
Maybe
the rain's holding off
Surely it knows we're down here
Walking 'round there barefoot lost
Pretty soon these clouds've got to clear
I
know it's a lot
Arousing thunder I only ask you to stop
For a second so I could coax you to talk
Think
when we first laid eyes
Didn't know who you were and then I was one more passerby
You were the girl in the entryway that's all that I knew but ah
You were still in school and I was insecure
I
know it's a lot
Arousing thunder I only ask you to stop
For a second so I could coax you to talk
'Bout
your dreams
And orange soda
Tea leaves TV
More
Looks
like the rain's holding off
Might as well take this slow
You know sometimes when I hold you in silence I listen real close
Then I hear you talking to my soul
Well
I know it ain't half
Of this story I'm only meaning to ask
Just what would it take to coax you to laugh
To laugh
What
would it what would it
What would it take you to laugh
To
laugh
Here
is the one here is the one here is the one mistake that can not be made
There is a line that is crossed over once and only once let it be said
All of the hubris clenched in our fist won't punch our way out of here
You know what I've told and I tell but you won't let it pass into your ears
Even
the oxen ramming their heads on wood rails
Come to know pain before the rusted barrier falls
Before
the radio long before radio waves struck down to touch
Off the wild flame that took all in its path and trampled the young underbrush
Music shooed clouds away billowing anxieties are rolled over and out
Seems like a lot of folks gave up and got out except for the truly devout
Who
like the oxen ramming their heads on wood rails
Came to be dizzy before the barrier fell
Love
is the one love is the one weapon that hasn't been brandished yet in this song
Strikes fear in the pockets of bankers and generals without it we can't carry
on
And all of us knew this at one time from teething to toothless it's safe to
say
But useless perhaps to point out that we've lost our instincts and awe in this
day
And
like the oxen ramming their heads on wood walls
Might come to know mercy before the barrier falls
And I come to know mercy before the barrier falls
Falls
falls
And it falls falls falls
Music
of a southern day and the nectar of brass
Spilling into Congo
Square where the queens used to pass
There lies no greater place for one left to drift
And there hides no greater lie and no bigger myth
And
in the heat of crackdown all is silent
Just before the match is struck and the gas is poured along roads
But in the heat of crackdown all is silent underneath
Gunned
down in the drive a foreign exchange
Student
from Japan whose fate it was shortchanged
You saw it all when it made the national news
How the isolated incident occured in Baton
Rouge
And
in the heat of crackdown all is silent
Just before the match is struck and the gas is poured along roads
But in the heat of crackdown all is silent underneath
And it's a crackdown on beliefs
Everyone
watching
The events from the sky
No bodies touching
Don't wish to prize
Into our own lives
Into our own
Terrorism
terrify tear the truth in two
Seeks to paralyze weaken turn the screws
But only cowards could create the OK
bomb
'Cause no bomb is OK when there can be no calm
And
in the heat of crackdown all is silent
While the voice of power over roars condemns the songs of
Innocence and finally it's a crackdown on beliefs
Oh it's a crackdown on beliefs
And it's a crackdown on beliefs
And
this is a crackdown on beliefs
Will you have a crackdown on beliefs
This a crackdown on beliefs
This is a crackdown
You
call me from your armchair with no will to be there
The weight of your armored suit so immense
Caught up in the turnstiles even talk becomes battle
Withdraw your only defense
I've
held that emptiness
I've held it and I've made the same wish at times
To lunge headlong and out of reach
So bleak or bare I'll hold you through each
Praying
to the saints and now the candle is low
Regrets won't hasten their remedy
Even when it's awkward in the dull loss of words oh
Please don't hide your sorrow from me
'Cause
I've held oh that emptiness
I've held it and I've made the same wish at times
To lunge headlong and out of reach
So bleak or bare I'll hold you through each
Hold you through each
You
call me from your armchair
Everyone's been there once
I'll be at your side when you're needing someone
There
was a light blue as a welder's torch
It used to shine over the fields
And all the wise men strong men were drawn for miles
Followed a star to Bethlehem
Steel
Our
mother's father worked here in World War Two
On the main floor operating the drill
And in his open palms little splinters remind him of
The booming days the days of Bethlehem Steel
But
the steeples on the hills they point
To a better life beyond this one
And that promise penetrates the clouds
And mighty walls of brick red cinnamon
Take
a walk past Lazarus Moving n' Storage
Behind the Goodman's
Furniture Store
See the smoke stacks rise on up to heaven's step
While on earth we're burnin' this miracle iron ore
But
the steeples on the hills they point
To a better life beyond this one
And that promise penetrates the clouds
Even when they block the fiery sun
The sun
There
was a light blue as a welder's torch
It used to shine over the fields
And all the wise men strong men were drawn for miles
Followed a star to Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
I
could lay down on green Swedish moss
Wherever my bed roll could be tossed
I could find sleep in the back of a cab
I'm all that I have
I've
got a girl a waiting for me
Just down the dock and over the sea
Until I lay my head in her lap
I'm all that I have
I'm all
Here
the black toadstools logs and green moss
Are sealed from the city's violet exhaust ah
Only the sound of the thunderclap
I'm all that I have
Well I'm all that I have
You
crawl up my vine and my soul's unwound
Clouds are miles down as the song unwinds
I'm conducting nothing anything at all
No I know I know
If
I lose the floor I don't want no twist
Want to bite through this till I can hear no more
All the talkin' dissin' doggin'
Now I know I know I know
Not
like two and two
Never seems to add up like I want it to
Not like two and two
Why
can't I get this off lazy spent and spun
Off my chest for once 'cause I'm feeling lost
It's a waste of ink and paper
Laboring over anecdotes
In
the center ring welter-weight tongue-tied
He was petrified before the song was sang
He fell back against the rope and
Dared to do the rope-a-dope
Not
like two and two
Never seems to add up like I want it to
Not like two and two
It goes on and on on and on
I'm
tired of saying I don't get it anymore I don't care
To hear you tell it tell me I can't tell you anything
Why
the face the frown now and why so blue
Not like two and two when you're feeling down
It's a thing we both know so so
Can't we just explain away
Not
like two and two
Never seems to add up like I want it to
Not like two and two
And on and on on and on
It goes on and on
Soon
we'll count the rings inside all one by one
Wondering if I could point to the place
Where we first slept 'neath it's branches
Leaves
once rose like an ocean we swam when we were boys
This one was all things a mansion a fortress
And as we matured it was shade for
The secrets that we passed along
But
this oak has grown old wither-wrung
It threatens to fall
Better for us if the axe splits the trunk they say
On
your tip toes a ten-penny nail jutting high in the bark
Relics of tree houses built and torn down
Places we hid after dark oh
Please
please lend some belief to this hard wasted ground
Where little green soldiers and Indians fought
This is the burial mound of
My youth and my innocence
This
oak has grown old wither-wrung
It threatens to fall
Better for us if the axe splits the trunk they say
Better for us
Gift
of the sage chaparral
Born of this bone-dry heat
In summer when roads turn caramel
The earthquakes and everyone leaves
Where
have they gone
Far from Hyperion
And Sunset
Boulevard
Where have they gone
North up to Oregon
And Mount
Saint Helens
Left
behind dishes and furniture
Took only the blankets to sleep
Sprinkled their pillows with lavender
Safe from the grasp of the enemy
Where
have they gone
Far from Hyperion
And Sunset Boulevard
Where have they gone
North up to Oregon
And Mount Saint Helens
Thrown
from the nest of Los Angeles
Naive and motherless each
Dear
friends farewell
Write down the e-mail for me
We're out of town till these aftershocks
Let up most definitely
Where
have they gone
Far from Hyperion
And Sunset Boulevard
Word is you've gone
On up to Oregon
With room for company
Flown
from the nest of Los Angeles
Naive and motherless me
Whittled
me down till I was kindling for the fire
'Cause I might've found out for myself in a while
Round
and round it goes
Soon it comes to blows
School house crushed the kid
Snuffed his will to flower
But now that the answer has
Been offered oh so eloquently
Pummeled
you hard till you began to settle in
By the end of the day even they took you as one of them
Round
and round it goes
Soon it comes to blows
You know in the streets below
The high rise is the ghetto
Now that the answer has
Been offered oh so eloquently
Speaker
of the house I'll never be as powerful as you
As I've only known the humble work that which these hands can do
Soon
it comes to blows
In this moment fragile
Unearthing Wade
and Roe while in
The inner city it's a battle
Creation
myth and gun control
Are all up for grabs and on the mantel
It hits a little too close to home for most
I can't turn it around but I can turn the channel
Now that the answer has
Been offered oh so eloquently
Oh think I'll just drift away slowly
Think I'll just drift away slowly
You've
come this far
Followed each
And every star
Not to reach
The peak would seem so wrong
Your eyes look tired
Want to sleep
Although this climb's
So steep
We must keep pressing on
Down
it's the only way down
It's the only way down
Down it's the only way down
It's the only way down
I've
heard you sing
With quiet voice
Of adverse things
Now you've made the choice
To overcome
This mountain spire
Towering
Below the summit
Cowering
You've seen how others clung
Down
it's the only way down
It's the only way down
Down it's the only way down
It's the only way down
You've
come this far
Along this wind
Around this bend
Now look at where you are