I've Suffered A Head Injury

Ark of the Envious

i hear the driving of the nail
i hear the rain i hear the hail
i hear the laughter of the
people dancing 'round him
as he forces his poor family to set sail

if you don't care you will not cry
if you don't care you will not try
and now i'm drowning in the dark
with thoughts of building my own ark

i feel my baby's on the rise
sits there examining her thighs
in he comes all drenching clean
she comes when he never tries

repeat chorus

i'm sitting and wishing i were young
the best lines they'd flow right off my tongue
i'd believe that school is social banging in
and banging out and hanging in
and hanging out until we're hung

repeat chorus

of the envious
i am one


Even the Score

i wish that i could give breath
to the woman i've created
in paragraphs and paragraphs
i've written to this date
and set them all upon my desk, choose one to ignore
just to even the score

all the biggest plays i missed
'cause i was sitting over on the sidelines
all the precious faces that
refused to date someone outside the guidelines

well, high school begins the worship for the leisure class
you swear you'll overcome it
but your envy doesn't seem to pass
how similar the shopping but at different stores
we've got to even the score

repeat chorus twice


Acting as Your Slave

my hand asleep for hours
waiting for the needles to begin
i have no control
they proceed to penetrate my skin

acting as your slave i drink for amber waves
i never have embraced
acting as your slave i drink an open grave
an epitaph defaced

killing with compassion
she hasn't heard a word that i have said
swallowing your passion
i can see a thousand miles ahead

acting as your slave i drink for barricades
that i have often raised
acting as your slave i numb my head and
rave
of epitaphs defaced

acting as your slave i drink while she forgave
with trials left unfaced
acting as your slave i stumble to her grave
an epitaph defaced


Oceanside

she never wanted to talk
she never wanted to argue
but that's the way it goes
when there's nobody listening

eyes straight on the front line
knee deep in the river flow
keep your chin up, keep your back straight
rescue's on the way

always the keeper of secrets
always the source of confusion
but that's the way it goes
when there's nobody listening

eyes straight on the front line
knee deep in the river flow
keep your chin up, keep your back straight
rescue's on the way

nobody said this was going to be easy
but i'll tell you what i'm gonna do

can i take you to an oceanside
can i take you to an oceanside
for a few hundred years
i'm telling you that's all i've ever heard about it
can i take you to an oceanside

never a word of intention
never a hope of reunion
but that's the way it goes
when there's nobody listening

eyes straight on the high wire
knee deep in the river flow
keep your chin up, keep your back straight
rescue's on the way

nobody said this was going to be easy
but i'll tell you what i'm gonna do

repeat chorus


I've Suffered a Head Injury

vanilla ice man cometh
sampling, dealing, music stolen

to pre-pubescent girls appealing
re-mix record contract sealing
borrowed lyrics sung with feeling
slumping record sales are healing

concert hall promoters kneeling
keeping grateful deadheads reeling
quite surpressed yet quite revealing
influence is far from stealing

i've suffered a head injury
i've suffered a head injury

techno-pop kids, stardom's rockets
money in the label's pocket

unrelentless, thoughtless selling
busting charts, atop they're dwelling
lacking substance story telling
lost the message in this yelling

robbing fortunes from the willing
endless posing, mindless chilling
plastic icing airtime filling
instigating art-rock killing

repeat chorus


Clean Break

i think you need some assistance
to keep yourself at a distance
it's harder when she's beautiful
it's easy when she's waking up next to you

if you're gonna make a break, make a clean break
if you're gonna make a break, break clean
if you're gonna make a break, make a clean break
if you're gonna make a break, make a clean break

i can see the tables turning
homefires lit, your house is burning
it's harder in the evening but
it's easy in the afternoon

repeat chorus

sure there is an easy out by staying in
for one more session
you justify it all by seeing her in moderation
no opportunity for her to start a new relation
you help yourself because you're sensing obligation

i think it's great the way you handle
both ends of a burning candle
it's harder when she's easy but it's easy
when she's just as hard on you

repeat chorus


Martyr Material

it's different now
i feel that all those looks were just a game
you smoked and choked on cigarettes
and acted cute and lame-and lame

your parting lips that wrapped me up
in promised company
now mumble that each breath i take
takes from the air you breathe-and breathe

you were to shame these dreams
but from this bed it's different than it seems
you'll have to drage me everywhere you go
and you're not martyr material

you fell in love, you fell so hard
you said it must be days
i said that i am not quite ready
for your newest phase-your face

conceding, lying, cheating
deceiving relentlessly
my voice got softer
you could no longer hear me-hear me

that ring you wear in fashion
has a chain that pierces through my nose
you'll have to drag me everywhere you go
and you're not martyr material

my life is riding in this chair of wheels
with arms that move too slow
you'll have to drag me everywhere you go
and you're not martyr material


The Freshmen

when i was young i knew everything
she a punk who rarely took advice
now i'm guilt stricken, sobbing
with my head on the floor
stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice

i can't be held responsible
'cause she was touching her face
i won't be held responsible
she fell in love in the first place

for the life of me i cannot remember
what made us think that we were wise
and we'd never compromise
for the life of me i cannot believe
we'd ever die for these sins
we were merely freshmen

my best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
his girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
and now he's guilt stricken, sobbing
with his head on the floor
thinks about her now and how he really wept

repeat chorus

we've tried to wash our hands of all of this
we never talk of our lacking relationships
and how we're guilt stricken, sobbing
with our heads on the floor
we fell through the ice when we tried not to slip

repeat chorus