LYRIC: Too Lazy To Live

Drinking your life away 

You down a six pack everyday 

It's not enough that you're destroying yourself

Throw your litter on the ground, polluting the planet for everyone else 

Lazy fucks are always driving cars 

Nowadays a half-mile walk is far too far 

Smog, cancer, asthma, other vicious treats 

Planet's being ruined just to save your aching feet 

People only care about themselves 

Not concerned with anyone else 

Too concerned with their own lives 

To care if mankind survives 

Time is running out 

Litter cuz we can't be bothered to put things away 

Drive instead of walk to save a second in your day 

Can't be arsed to dispose of it properly so your waste goes in the sea 

I say that we're killing ourselves and I'm greeted with apathy 

AIDS and cancer are dangerous 

But our most fatal disease is our laziness 

More contagious than a cold 

When smog stops you breathing don't complain-you have been told! 

People care too much about themselves 

Not concerned with anyone else 

Greedy for convenience and free time 

Mankind does not deserve to survive 

Laziness will be your death 

Selfishness will be your death 

The planet's time is almost up 

Just cuz no one gives a fuck 

Ice caps melting and flooding the ground 

Cancer causing smogs are all around 

Earth won't die now give it a few more years 

You don't care you won't be here 

I hope reincarnation does exist 

So you come back and die on the land on which you pissed! 

I'll be laughing when your children die 

We'll be laughing when your children die! 

LYRIC: Junk Food News

Have you heard the news?

Not the stuff about the wars or politics

But the celebrity views

A TV celeb thinks this about their latest flick

And have you seen the shocking pictures?

Not of starving children in Iraq

But of those ghastly trousers

The ones that made some pop-star look fat

Forget about that bill

The one that takes more freedoms away from us

Cuz they've invented a pill

To take your head away from all that fuss

It must be very good, all the big-shot actors are using it

It's here in the papers!  The exciting world of Hollywood politics!

It's junk-food news, it takes away the attention

Government is boring

They can do what they like with our taxes

My favourite star has got a new haircut!

We've got nuclear bombs

Ours are pointing at countries and others are pointing back

But the Oscars were fun

And war brings us down so let's just laugh!

We'll get a four minute warning, those watching the news won't know what it's about

Everyone'll die, ignorant of why

But aware of the lates films to come out

It's junk-food news, it takes away the attention

Government is boring

They can do what they like with our taxes

My favourite star has got a new haircut!

Yes my favourite star has got a new haircut

And that actress I like she is pregnant

And sure I might die ignorant

But at least I knew who was sleeping with who!

LYRIC: There Must Be More Than This To Life

I'm astounded at your bitterness

Your apathy and unwillingness

To build a better place for us

And just accept this shit

The oppression's indisputable

It is unacceptable

So why are you so disagreeable

To alternatives to this?

Don't be fooled cuz you're comfortable

Aim for the impossible

To your boss you're just a pain in the ass

You lose your life to claim your wage

You lose more time everyday

Why do you put up with this crap?

There must be more than this to life?

Brainwashed so you cannot fight

And as they pull the budget tight

It's unfair but you don't speak out

Capitalist ideology

In the interests of them-not you and me

We must fight against THEM don't you see?

Don't be docile, SHOUT!

It's not in their interests to be nice

They care for money not people's lives

And it's the apathy that let this grow-you know

You may think utopias can't exist

But anything must be better than this

This exploitative system must go!

COMFORTABLE MIDDLE CLASSES

GET UP OFF YOUR BOUGHT OUT ASSES

There must be more than this to life!

LYRIC: Spin-Cycle on Greenwash

Some people really believe all the things they see on TV, 

All the things they read in the news 

No independent points of view 

McDonalds is nutritious 

Nestle chocolate is delicious 

Shell and BP: Eco-friendly 

We live in a democracy 

So much fiction - PR vision 

To find the truth is quite a mission 

All the facades, all the lies 

They want cash, who cares who dies! 

Spin-cycle on Green-wash 

The façade they give you is not a real world-view 

Reality has been lost 

PR distortion 

Morality abortion 

First we let them take the media 

Take the ways and means to feed ya 

Take the power, take the cash 

Now we have to get it back 

Soon they'll kill us if we let them 

They want profit, we want freedom 

They'll lie to us to protect themselves 

They want money and fuck our health! 

GM foods, consumer craze 

Fuck the dangers if it pays 

Well fuck them I've had enough 

These capitalist liars can get fucked! 

Spin-cycle on Green-wash 

The façade they give you is not a real world-view 

Reality has been lost 

PR distortion 

Morality abortion 

We don't want to be dying for you 

You try to hide but your lies we see through 

Inhuman monsters who only love cash 

Well we're making sure that these days are your last 

Spin-cycle on Green-wash 

The façade they give you is not a real world-view 

Reality has been lost 

PR distortion 

Morality abortion 

LYRIC: Welcome to England (TM)

You think you live in a free nation? 

Well all I see is a corporation 

The government's our bosses and we are their slaves 

Poor health and safety and no minimum wage 

The day that we're born, we punch in the clock 

Only when dead do we finally sign off 

In between we slave away 

Life disallowed for those without pay 

Welcome to England, registered trademark

An affiliate of The West.Inc 

Your life is ours, we've supplied you a number… 

Shut up! Obey! You're our commodity! We'll use you until you die! 

If free, why must we earn our living? 

Life's a right that they are not giving! 

What do you work for? For joy or for cash? 

How much do you give how much do you get back? 

Fulfillment lacking there's no time for you 

Insignificant parts, just a human screw 

Keep you in line with fear and obey 

So they can use you for another day! 

Welcome to England, registered trademark

An affiliate of The West.Inc 

Your life is ours, we've supplied you a number… 

Shut up! Obey! You're our commodity! We'll use you until you die! 

Piss off, fuck you, I'm not your commodity, I'll resist and reclaim my life! 

LYRIC: This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Streets filled with conspiracy 

The Masses Screaming To Be Free 

Demonstrators everywhere 

The rich are having quite a scare 

Fighting against corruption and a murderous regime 

The masses are uprising and are taking to the streets 

Protest's a right supposedly in this democracy 

So why the fuck is everywhere surrounded by police? 

Banners and singing against tear-gas, clubs and guns 

Who is really protecting the peace? 

This is what democracy looks like 

Is this what democracy looks like? 

Everyday people get fucked 

By this system so corrupt 

Corporate, capitalist sacks of shit 

Screw us over for more profit 

But now we're getting restless and we're beating on our drums 

A battle cry for freedom in our mass demonstrations 

Our anger turned to magic and some more direct action 

A democratic right to voice our dissatisfaction 

We're growing stronger not going away 

In fear they bring in their armies! 

This is what democracy looks like 

Is this what democracy looks like? 

Cuz to me it just looks like Marshall law! 

Undercover cops sparking up violence 

Military nerve gasses to stop our dissent 

Arrested for political opinions 

As rubber bullets fly at our painted faces 

The class war illustrated 

As the cops protect the ruling class 

This is your fucking democracy 

Aren't you proud of what you let pass? 

Freedom of speech beaten away 

We speak our minds, their batons raise! 

The confrontation evidence they've something to protect 

Throw all you can at us cuz we will never rest! 

We will fight until we win 

Your mind manipulation is fading fast! 

This ain't what democracy looks like! 

This ain't what democracy looks like! 

Because it's not a democracy when you're beaten up for speaking out 

This ain't a democracy-oh no! 

LYRIC: President Grab-a-Pussy

Make America Great Again by making Americans hate again

President Grab-a-pussy
President build-a-wall
President golden showers
Awaiting Putin’s call
President carnage
President Fake News
President intolerant
Of anyone else’s views
President little hands
President insecure
President winning
Like we’ve never won before
President no tax
President billionaire
President who thinks a blind trust
Can be a family affair
President Islamophobe
President election hack
President taking all our progress
And turning all that progress back
President American carnage
President America first!
President 45
who made 43 no longer the worst
President Apprentice
President You’re fired
President who so many racist, sexist, assholes you have inspired

I thought I’d have something clever to say
After Donald Trump’s inauguration day
The crowning of a President endorsed by the KKK
In the same week we celebrated the birth of MLK?
But what words are left that can make any of this OK?
And at the same time acknowledge that this isn’t going away?
That orange Hitler was the victor and that he’s here to stay?
That our deepest ideals are about to be betrayed?
And so far from what is decent we have very clearly strayed?
Besides, how many more times do his failings have to be displayed?
The sheer number of disqualifying factors could form a fucking parade!
Yet that didn’t seem to matter on last year’s election day
And it is too late now even if they did somehow persuade
So we are forced to pull the covers on this rotten bed we made
And slumber four years with one eye open the fractured sleep of the afraid

President Twitter troll
President repeal
President the art of making a fucking deal
President thin-skinned
President litigious
President who lies so much that his bullshit is prodigious
President unethical
President regrettable
President whose war crimes soon won’t be hypothetical
President birther
President body-shamer
President class of ‘13 WWE hall of famer
President insulting
President inflamer
President who put to rest the claim they’re all the samer
President real estate
President corrupt
President who like his businesses will leave us all bankrupt
President climate denier
President nuclear slaughter
President who creepily seems to want to fuck his own daughter

Whenever I picked up my pen today
Or opened my mouth up to vent today
The words died on my tongue or the page today
Just “President Trump” then I’d start to fade
That sentence alone and the joke was made
Cutting deeper than any satirical blade
Four syllables that feel like a hand grenade
Like a burning hot day when you can’t find shade
You can’t even laugh you feel so dismayed
Depression so heavy it can’t be weighed
A bill that’s so large it cannot be paid
So this is the best I could serenade
These lemons not even Beyonce could turn into lemonade:

Whatever your politics
Whoever you are
Let’s agree Reality TV has now gone too far

LYRIC: The Lofty Oracles

My old friend insomnia’s here
But just once this last political year
I want to sleep election night without fear
My eyes stinging with tears
Wondering when the dust clears
What it is I will hear?
Is it sobbing or cheers?
And whose cheers and whose tears?
Will I wake up amazed that the old order’s been razed
Our society finally awoke from its daze?
Or with the sucker punch of recognizing
My fellow citizens have been lionizing
The lies
And swallowing bullshit down whole when they go to the poll?

Believing budget-butchers slash with compassion rather than to let the business cash-in
Assuming competence with the economy comes at the cost of our humanity
Hoodwinked by media-trained faux passion
Following spin-doctored narratives the way the shallow follow fashion
Ignoring the catastrophic situation of our growing homeless population
A social welfare devastation – you see them sleeping rough around the station
And as the trains get more expensive – don’t even think about what your rent is
Or how our jobs get less secure as our bosses demand more and more
And how our wages aren’t enough to buy the never-ending stuff
We need to buy to stay alive – our cost of living a living suicide
With our healthcare no longer healthy, it’s funding cut by the super-wealthy,
And a diminishing education due to austerity’s financial obliteration

But we’re so quick to cite futility,
Invent inherent inability,
In the name of false stability
We choose decline with such rapidity

And I find it so regrettable
The agenda’s so easily settable
By those desperate to make inevitable
The idea utopia isn’t gettable

But there’s no evidence detectable
Revolution ain’t selectable
Even though THE LOFTY ORACLES
May have denounced it unelectable

And I must say I’m curious
Why it is we’re aren’t all furious
And how it is so many seem contented
With unnecessary inequality which could so easily have been prevented
Instead becoming cemented like no alternatives have been invented
Which could’ve been implemented to untorment the now tormented
But each solution that’s presented is always swiftly circumvented
By the ones who all assented to the policies I’ve documented
We’re abandoned and unrepresented; a selfish greed unprecedented
But we just go about our day like this destruction is okay
We shrug our shoulders, shake our head
Avert our eyes from all the dead
Normalize what should be scandals, legitimize economic vandals,
As systematically they dismantle rights which underfoot they trample
And we pretend the mood is not so sombre; that’s the propaganda we all conjure
As the wrongs keep getting wronger
The waiting lists keep getting longer,
The vulnerable forsaken, fundamental rights keep getting taken, yet so many refuse to waken to the truth of our situation!
All this corruption, all this bribery
My outrage could fill a fucking library
But while we should be out marching down on the streets
Instead pearls of non-wisdom are set to repeat
How this is “the real world”, how life “has” to be
Manufactured demands treated inerrantly
“Educated” opinions that hide strategy
Promoted and parroted adherently
Clung to despite the incoherency

All hope discarded in this cowed paradigm
Of the self-harming Groundhog Day we vote for each time

And there’s no evidence detectable
Revolution ain’t selectable
Even though THE LOFTY ORACLES
May have denounced it unelectable

LYRIC: The Ballot Was a Bomb

It’s like we booby-trapped the future

An open wound bleeding out and there ain’t no hope of suture

I wish I could wish a happy new year

But I’m watching wheels rolling forward to a catastrophic fear

Dormant malice now awake

I barely recognise a world in which this wasn’t a mistake

But the mistake that I won’t make

Is pretending everything we hold dear isn’t now at stake

Before a storm there may be calm

But if you think that means it’s over be prepared to be alarmed

Because the ballot was a bomb

THE BALLOT WAS A BOMB

June 24, November 9

Grief-stricken, the saner citizens came to terms with our decline

I hold passports in both places

A dual-citizen duelling with the thought of all those racists

Walls and borders instead of embraces

So much hate in so many faces

But the sun came up and life went on

And you could almost make believe the worst was never gonna come

Hoping that it can’t happen here

But it always does and always has on this the history is clear

THE BALLOT WAS A BOMB

The ballot was a bomb

X in the box lit the fuse and some forget the fuse is long

It reminds me of oh-nine

All that false hope after the world crashed and you thought you had survived

But unravelling takes time

You’re dangling from a rope; don’t see the strands start to untwine

Because that poison acted slow

The Great Recession already got you but you didn’t even know

Cut by cut they chopped us down

You didn’t notice you were falling till your body hit the ground

So yeah – he’s not even President yet

But I get no comfort from the tweets of the President elect

Or the big business bigots he has chosen to select

Or the petty little grudges he seems unable to forget

And our Brexit may lay in a Schrodinger state

Both in Europe and out until the trigger date

But a stay of execution merely postpones our fate

And can’t erase the result of our referendum of hate

2016 fucked the future – our votes flipped the switch

Is it any wonder those celebrities chose to die and jump the ship?

It hasn’t happened yet, but by the pricking of my thumbs

The ballot was a bomb and something wicked this way comes

THE BALLOT WAS A BOMB

LYRIC: The Tone of our Oppression

It’s easy to say they’re all the same

Same ideologies under a slightly different name

And I remember, as a kid, thinking Bill Hicks was so deft

With his “puppet on the right” and his “puppet on the left”

I’m just as guilty as him as I sang “vote for change”

Implying the choice is fiction when you’re choosing from a range

Of options limited from pretty bad to even worse

I sang democracy’s eulogy and packed it in a hearse

Because it’s evident to all of us that we’re not truly represented

And if voting could change anything they’d have made a law against it

But while I confess we are being oppressed, I think that history’s shown

When it comes to our oppression each election sets the tone

Because there’s a tone to our oppression

We choose the tone of our oppression

What is the tone of our oppression?

There is a tone to our oppression 

Each campaign sets parameters of what we should debate

Do we pick the puppet who speaks of love or the puppet who speaks of hate?

Each candidate has a worldview of what problems we all face

And this worldview is instructive of where priorities will be placed

For while utopia remains a goal, we’re not in utopia yet

And we can’t afford idealistic gambles with our social safety net

Because people actually live and die based on policy decisions

We might agree they’re not perfect but don’t tell me all politicians

Are all basically the same when that is blatantly untrue

The lesser of two evils entails a better of the two

It’s not a lot but it’s not nothing and it’s time we heed this lesson

Their rhetoric sets a mandate for the tone of our oppression

Because there’s a tone to our oppression

We choose the tone of our oppression

What is the tone of our oppression?

There is a tone to our oppression 

We choose the tone of our oppression

Real lives will be affected by who is and isn’t elected

LYRIC: Vote For Change

 The economy is fucked

You want a job you’re out of luck

And don’t you feel that sense of déjà vu?

For have we not heard this before?

The promise that they’ll do much more,

Kick the old guard out and start anew?

And isn’t it incredible

How absolutely gullible

In the end we all turn out to be?

The same old lies, a different voice

We still believe we have a choice

A vote for change we never really see

When we VOTE FOR CHANGE

One speaks of audacity

The other a Big Society

In practice both illusions are the same

The re-branding of old ideas

Contemporized with modern fears

The same old story under a new name

And isn’t it familiar?

Euphoria, hysteria,

The sense of something new to start again?

And how that feeling soon falls flat

A creeping dread, you realize that

The brand new day you dreamt of never came

Still you VOTE FOR CHANGE

Did you really think they’d let you choose?

If it meant they might actually lose?

Did you really think you had a say?

When with the promise of salvation you’ll shut up and go away?

They keep on giving us black eyes

And yet we still feign our surprise

Every time the fist flies to our face

The actors change the play’s the same

Different rules to an unchanged game

A wealth of evidence on which to base

This isn’t just conspiracy

But documented history:

Those with power don’t let go the reigns

Yet still we hope each time again

That this is now and that was then

And blindly follow liars lulling “change”

And we VOTE FOR CHANGE

LYRIC: Temporary

There’s only so many times that I can whine that it’s unfair

When there’s nothing I can do to make things better

There’s only so many kinds of heart-break that I can take

Before my heart gets broken down forever

There’s only so many goals that I can watch just disappear

As time marches on not concerned or caring

There’s only so many tolls that I can pay for my mistakes

Without feeling something inside me start tearing

There will be days when you can’t go on

There will be times when everything goes wrong

There will be moments when the pain’s too much

There will be times when hope seems so far away

There’s only so many games that I can be bothered to play

When I know the rules are stacked against my favour

There’s only so many pains that I can take before I die

And I know there is no ever-loving Saviour

There’s only so many fights that I can give a damn to win

Before the sense of loss starts feeling like a habit

There’s only so many nights that I can sit up asking why

There’s something that I need and I don’t have it

There will be days when you can’t go on

There will be times when everything goes wrong

There will be moments when the pain’s too much

There will be times when hope seems so far away

But it’s not always like that, and all the things that seem so bleak

Are only temporary

Though the hurt can weigh you down, don’t forget these open wounds

Are only temporary

When the world sees like too much and cynicism is all you know

It’s only temporary

There’s only so many times that I can whine that it’s unfair

Before whining loses all justification

There’s only so many crimes against my heart that I can bear

Before laughter takes the place of devastation

There’s only so many days that I can wish that I were dead

Before I’m overwhelmed by stunning revelation

That there are so many ways that I can change the way things are

If I recognise and avoid this stagnation

There will be days when you can’t go on

There will be times when everything goes wrong

There will be moments when the pain’s too much

There will be times when hope seems so far away

But it’s OK!

LYRIC: Anti-Me World

You do things that I think are stupid

I hate the way you’re all the same

Your ideas are the same as each others’

Your unoriginality is lame

Anti-me world makes me wanna hurl

I’m trapped in this place

If I don’t get out today I’ll get out another way

But deep down I know there’s no escape

From this Anti-Me World

Nothing is right for me, everything is wrong for me

And you can call me crazy

Just because I do things that are different to the norm

Why is this world so Anti-Me?

Anti-me world makes me wanna hurl

I’m trapped in this place

If I don’t get out today I’ll get out another way

But deep down I know there’s no escape

From this Anti-Me World

What you all do today just ain’t what I like

Infact to tell you the truth you’ve ruined my life

Won’t leave me alone and let me get on my way

Tease me call me crazy, weird, strange, and insane

You lot are ignorant you haven’t got a clue

My world is fine as long as I’m

Excluded from you

Be the same as everyone and meanwhile I shall

Continue in my struggle to be original

But this you won’t allow

In your Anti-Me world

Anti-me world makes me wanna hurl

I’m trapped in this place

If I don’t get out today I’ll get out another way

But deep down I know there’s no escape

From this Anti-Me World

Lyric: Entrapment of the Flesh

Imagine a world cleansed of hate and fear where every view is listened to with an open ear,

Opression and greed no longer exist and there are no more laws just anarchists

Humanity finally decides to stop hating each other and create good lives

Anarchy not a vision or deluded dream, everyone gets along and the world is serene

But in this utopia our problems still won’t end

With human bodies wearing us we’ll still be slaves

To germs, bacteria, disease and illnesses that kill…

That’s it!  You’re sick!  And you’ll never be free in your human body!

Because when oppression is gone and we’re living in freedom, there’ll still be the chance of the flu…

That’s it!

Slave to the body even when the mind is free, try bucking the system when you’ve got the big C,

Plot the revolution to smash the state, put it in action with a raging headache!

Scientists are working on the perfect germ bomb

Lesson wasn’t learnt with AIDS that man cannot control disease and if he tries

He dies!

That’s it!  You’re sick!  And you’ll never be free in your human body!

Because when oppression is gone and we’re living in freedom, there’ll still be the chance of the flu…

That’s it!

Disease will sneak up on you stealthier than a government spook

There is no cure for sickness cuz you need the symptoms first to get your pills!

That’s it!  You’re sick!  And you’ll never be free in your human body!

Because when oppression is gone and we’re living in freedom, there’ll still be the chance of the flu…

That’s it!

LYRIC: Reality Casualty

He woke at six as normal

Put on a face as normal

He went to work as normal

Smiled at colleagues as normal

His misery a hidden part of him

Until they found his hanging body

She went to Joy’s as normal

Coffee and chat as normal

Left at two as normal

Back to her home as normal

Threw her two kids to their deaths and then followed them out the window

Of their twelfth floor apartment

They lived their lives as normal

Saw all their friends as normal

Picked up the kid as normal

Gave him his tea as normal

Then went upstairs and shot themselves to death

Found by their six year old child

Just another reality casualty

Another case of this life’s misery

One person every hour and a half 

Give up on this life

Why

So many fed up with this 

Life

So many going without

Help

Are our goals really what we need or just false lies from which we bleed?

He went to school as normal

Got pushed around as normal

Cried all alone as normal

Left at four as normal

A school tie was the substance of his noose

It’s getting them early now

LYRIC: Happy Song

Never really wrote a happy song before

I always concentrate on misery and war

Or how some girl broke my heart

Always neglecting the part

Where I deserved it

But then you came into my life

Made me see the world was much more bright 

Than I had hitherto realised

You opened my eyes

And now I wanna write a happy song for you

But I don’t know what to do

Because I haven’t done it before

It all feels so new

And I don’t know any happy chords

You gotta believe this is a happy tune

Written to put across how my heart is in bloom

And how I’m feeling such joy

Please don’t be annoyed

That it sounds evil

I’m just not used to being happy

Haven’t got the tools to feel this way

But even so, you’ve got to know

That I really do

And now I wanna write a happy song for you

But I don’t know what to do

Because I haven’t done it before

It all feels so new

And I don’t know any happy chords

I wish I did I really do

But I can’t seem to write a happy tune

But now I wanna write a happy song for you

But I don’t know what to do

Because I haven’t done it before

It all feels so new

And I don’t know any happy chords

LYRIC: Glad To Miss You

The start of something new

But I’m not there with you

I wish that I knew then what I know now

Three-thousand miles away

The distance is so great

I wish that I knew then what I know now

But if I could go away from you and just not give a damn

Sure it wouldn’t hurt so much but you must understand

The fact that it hurts makes it real

These feelings that we feel

The pain in our hearts seals the deal

And I’m so glad that I have you to miss today

I want to be with you

It’s simple but it’s true

I wish that I knew then what I know now

Plans made in darker times

Forced us to say goodbye

I wish that I knew then what I know now

But if I could say goodbye to you and just not give a damn

Sure it wouldn’t hurt so much but you must understand

The fact that it hurts makes it real

These feelings that we feel

The pain in our hearts seals the deal

And I’m so glad that I have you to miss today

I know I’m far away

But it’ll be ok

In just a few more days

I’ll be with you

I know right now I’m gone

But it won’t be for long

Please baby just hold on

These last few days…

The start of something new

So glad that I miss you

And glad that I know now what I know now

I’m counting down the days

‘til I see you again

And glad that I know now what I know now

Because if I could leave you far behind and just not give a damn

Sure it wouldn’t hurt so much but you must understand

The fact that it hurts makes it real

These feelings that we feel

The pain in our hearts seals the deal

And I’m so glad that I have you to miss today

I’m so glad

That I have you

I’m so glad that I have you to miss today

LYRIC: Another Day, Another Worry

I see others breeze through life in a way which seems so alien to me

Unburdened by the weight of their days darkened by anxiety

Never knowing what it’s like to not feel normal in a crowd

Undisturbed by nagging voices planting concerns oh-so-loud

It’s like a war is going on but the only soldier fighting’s me

And no-one else who shares my flag can even see there is an enemy

The main collateral damage is my day-to-day sanity

“The price, we think, ain’t worth it”, says a grimly smiling Secretary

“This war will be a long war and we cannot see an end in sight,

It may well be that in your life a day won’t pass free from this fight.”

Another day, another worry

I’m not recovering in a hurry

They say it takes time but I’m having doubts

How much time before my time runs out?

When I was a kid they used to say I was the serious one

Always picking problems where the other kids were having fun

Get these ideas in my head that I just couldn’t seem to shake

But I learnt early that a smile was a thing people liked it if I faked

Familiar feelings of a heart crank-speeding in my chest

Constricted throat, no breath, my hands and face encased in sweat

I’d look around for help but knew no help I’d ever get

External weapons could make no contact with this internal threat

And so I learned to cope by learning that I probably never would

And that the sort of life which others had was something that I never could

Yeah, I would never never know a day that would be footloose and fancy-free

I would never know a day I would be free from my anxiety

Another day, another worry

I’m not recovering in a hurry

They say it takes time but I’m having doubts

How much time before my time runs out?

I suppose at this point we should start talking about meds

The use of chemicals to put right problems in our heads

The kind you get from doctors and the kinds they cannot give

The drugs that ease the pressure and restore the will to live

Except I never took a thing, and I probably never will

Not that I have anything against those who try to get help from a pill

It’s just a code I arbitrarily imposed — maybe once there was a reason but now who the hell knows?

That I wouldn’t put those poisons in my veins or up my nose

Couldn’t see a reason to add addiction to my growing list of woes

Some tell me I’m straightedge because I’m scared of losing grip

Others tell me that I seek control and a life I can predict

Me, I think it has to do with drunken people being dicks

But it could be emetophobia and my fear of being sick?

Most likely its my dad and all the harm I saw it do

But it’s also got to do with what is false and what is true

Because I could achieve synthetically the state I’m looking for

But to get better authentically would mean a whole lot more

Another day, another worry

I’m not recovering in a hurry

They say it takes time but I’m having doubts

How much time before my time runs out?

Did I bring it on myself or is it in genetic code?

Was it the way they brought me up or did I do it on my own?

Always fearing for the worst and seeing clouds in silver linings

Seeing everything will fall apart with a clarity that’s blinding

Thinking about those origins – the problem in another form

Anxiety about anxiety: was it made or was it born?

The fact is, it doesn’t matter how it came but that it’s here

And I’m sick of every day filled with a litany of fear

But the alternative is worse so I dig in and persevere

Because although I’m terrified I’m still glad that I am still here

Cuz I refuse to be held prisoner by some voices in my head

And I’ll perform my prison break each day I rise up from my bed

I’m not convinced I have discovered yet the key to set me free

But I keep picking at the lock to escape each day’s anxiety

And I feel good about my chances as the battle rages on

And I will conquer every day until my last tomorrow’s come

LYRIC: Only Dying

The message comes in morning mail

The envelope is thin and pale

A single page is all it holds

But even so your blood runs cold

There’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

Don’t bother tryin’

And there’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

There’s only dyin’

A doctor’s name and then a date

The tests that will decide your fate

The thing you hoped would go away

Has just grown strong while you delayed

God’s non-existence, though displayed

You think it might be time you prayed

Dear father who art in heaven

And mother who art there too

You died too young, and left me shaken

I count the hours, till I’m with you

It’s not a way to live your days

One foot inside an early grave

But grief has scarred and left its mark

So happy days dim into dark

There’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

Don’t bother tryin’

And there’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

There’s only dyin’

Got too good at writing eulogies

Thinking about terminal disease

They tell me it will all be fine

Routine procedure, happens all the time

But they said the same to dad and mom

And moments later both were gone

There’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

Don’t bother tryin’

And there’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

There’s only dyin’

I barely sleep, as dreams are plagued

A hundred diagnoses made

And when I wake I sit and shake

And pray the nurse my blood to take

Another night staring at the clock

Another night wondering what I’ve got

Dear institution founded by Nye Bevan

Hallowed be thy name

Thy will is being undone by conservative scum

And I fear we’re all gonna die in great pain

Am I terrified of finding out

Or am I terrified of losing doubt

The day draws near and time will tell

If I’m ill or if I’m well

 And there’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

Don’t bother tryin’

And there’s no runnin’

There’s no hidin’

There’s no delayin’

There’s only dyin’

 The message came in morning mail

The envelope was thin and pale

I clasped it like the holy grail

Results inside, end of the trail

I felt my body getting frail

My fingers twitched my breath was stale

Will I pass or will I fail?

The message came in morning mail

LYRIC: ANARCHOPHY

When I was 12 I was angry and bored

Found music by Green Day and Faith No More

It was different than other stuff hitherto heard

But the difference could not yet be put into words

Skip forward a year, 1995

A new album by Green Day comes into my life

I’m told “this is punk” and I dye my hair green

As I fumble my way into this revivified scene

Believe it or not it was on MTV

That I first saw a band called Dead Kennedys

Jello sang “Life Sentence” and my mind was blown

On Alternative Nation these first seeds were sown

I headed to Tempest and purchased a tape:

Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death my catalyst of fate

At first listen I wanted to take the thing back!

Not as tuneful as Green Day, I thought it was crap!

But the guy back at Tempest flat out said “no”

Said to “give it a chance”, said “let the sound grow”

And I already knew that the bastard was right

I’d been humming California Uber Alles all fucking night!

And the noise soon endeared the more that I’d hear

Graduating from Green Day I developed an ear

But the more that I listened the more questions I had:

Who were Reagan and Thatcher?  Were they really this bad?

I caught up with the 80s in protest and rage

Ignorant to the incidents on which lyrics were based

Time to pick up a paper and read a few books

Look deep into places I had not before looked

The Cold War, The Contras, Zinn, Pilger and Chomsky

My political awakening soundtracked by fast punk beats

Freedom of style

Freedom of thought

Anarchist philosophies go from is to ought

This is the world

It ought not to be

A better way is possible

You’re not gonna stop me

 Caught up to the 90s, new faces same villains

New modern excuses for old imperialist killings

It started with Dead Kennedys, it still hasn’t ended

Music and politics will forever be blended

The reading went on, from Sixth Form to Uni

I studied Politics alongside Philosophy

I now knew the players, I wanted the theories

The justification for a world so damn dreary

A nightmare so sickening and getting worse yearly

All while our leaders tell us we have to be cheery

I wanted to see why it was nothing changed

How identified problems continued to reign

And as the world progressed backwards and repressed ever faster

I accumulated degrees — first my bachelors then a masters

Through dissertation and thesis I sought for solution

A social and intellectual revolution

And yes, I delighted in the irony

When I secured government funding for my PhD

About anarchism as the only power structure that’s legitimate

A hundred thousand words and I think that I proved it

But what was the use of these writings on power

When locked in the basement of some old ivory tower?

I’d speak at a conference, argue with academics,

Who’d roll jaded eyes at my youthful polemics

Less interested in life than in words and their meaning

Reducing discussion to mere linguistic preening

I wanted the world to be changed by ideas

But it won’t ever happen if nobody hears

I thought of those records that started my path

And I left academia.  I didn’t look back.

Freedom of style

Freedom of thought

Anarchist philosophies go from is to ought

This is the world

It ought not to be

A better way is possible

You’re not gonna stop me

Through all the years I kept all these notes

Poetry and prose for found and lost hope

It began as a kid in my ongoing journal

Poems and lyrics to make thoughts eternal

Diaries and blogs, novels and music

If I don’t jot it down I’m terrified I’d lose it

Embalming my thoughts: each sentence a snapshot

Some moments to be shared; some moments — perhaps not

But all of them part of an ongoing journey

Of trying to solve all the things that concern me

Political, personal, ancient or new

In writing I’m trying to unlock the truth

Been putting them in songs since Green Day’s “Insomniac”

I put down the guitar now and then but I keep coming back

Sometimes it’s punk rock, sometimes it’s hip-hop

What’s clear to me now is it’s not going to stop

So what is ANARCHOPHY? What does it mean?

This mixture of anarchy and philosophy?

To me it means freedom and an enquiring mind

Poking at pulling all of the lies that bind

Analysing even the most sacred cow

Speaking the thoughts they try not to allow

Questioning structures of authority

Calling bullshit on bullshit when bullshit I see

It’s a name for the thoughts I can’t not put in rhyme

All those burning questions I’ve asked for a very long time

It’s a 12 year old boy listening loudly to punk

It’s a PhD thesis that still no-one’s debunked

It’s having a voice and deciding to use it

It’s demanding the impossible all set to good music

Freedom of style

Freedom of thought

Anarchist philosophies go from is to ought

This is the world

It ought not to be

A better way is possible

You’re not gonna stop me