songs

Dare you see this and still claim hoax

The clouds have been replaced by smoke

All day the sky’s an eerie orange

My neighborhood’s been red-flag warned

Pack my bag, park facing out

When they say go, no time for doubt

Wind gusts nearing sixty-five

I can’t stay home and stay alive

Where can I run, where can I be safe

When all my options are shrinking

There’s too many people to save

The gridlock blocks all means of escape

Tell me, is the world still turning?

Tell me why you ignore learning

You stand by and just do nothing

While Paradise is burning

Put on my N-ninety-five mask

The pool has a layer of ash

On the ridge an ominous glow

Embers blow like volcanic snow

The world keeps getting hotter

More drought means still less water

And there’s too many people to save

Where can I run, how can I escape?

Where can I run, where can I be safe

When all my options are shrinking

There’s too many people to save

The gridlock blocks all means of escape

Tell me, is the world still turning?

Tell me why you ignore learning

You stand by and just do nothing

While Paradise is burning

I’ve been here for generations

Since the pioneers came West

When the hills were full of gold

And the future untold

Still held promise

Don’t want to leave this place, my home

This morning midnight trumps the sun

Thought I’d be here til my last day

These matchstick trees are now ablaze

Where can I run, where can I be safe

When all my options are shrinking

There’s too many people to save

The gridlock blocks all means of escape

Tell me, is the world still turning?

Tell me why you ignore learning

You stand by and just do nothing

Tell me, is the world still turning?

You stand by and just do nothing

Is the world still turning?

‘Cause Paradise is burning

So we have shared history

But it’s no mystery

Wouldn’t see you if I didn’t have to

But you’re in our Mum’s home

And she won’t leave it alone

Happy Christmas though I’d rather slap you

And while she’s so rapt

In your Golden Boy trap

You complain as you spend all her money

And her dying wish

Is to close this abyss

But I still feel the sting, hear me scream

You were older than me, 

So much colder than me

When you sat on top of my toy chest

While I hurt inside

You get off I cried

But Mum didn’t take any notice

You laugh and you scoff

Now I’ve blown the lid off.

I’m older. I’m bolder. I told her. 

So we share ancestry

But I don’t have your disease

That makes you so fucking self-centered

Though I no longer fear

I loathe when you’re near

You pollute every room that you enter

And while she’s so rapt

In your Golden Boy trap

You complain as you spend all her money

And her dying wish

Is to close this abyss

But I still feel the sting, hear me scream

You were older than me, 

So much colder than me

When you sat on top of my toy chest

While I hurt inside

You get off I cried

But Mum didn’t take any notice

You laugh and you scoff

Now I’ve blown the lid off.

I’m older. I’m bolder. I told her. 

Now I see the truth

That you hid in your youth

The shame lurking beneath the bravado

An apology

Would go a long way with me

Say sorry, why can’t you just say so?

You laugh and you scoff

Now I’ve blown the lid off.

I’m older. I’m bolder. I told her. 

You laugh and you scoff

Now I’ve blown the lid off.

I’m older. I’m bolder. I told her. 

I’m in my bed half-sleeping

And I hear her — the girl upstairs

She’s walking on my ceiling

Heavy footsteps — so many cares

I’m lying right beneath her

She doesn’t know — what’s the hurry?

The door slams and here I am

Beneath her worry

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

With no right hand

She strides into the crosswalk

Searches her purse for a car key

Answers her phone and starts to talk

A walking miracle to me

She takes it all for granted

Moving freely — no need to think

Coordination, motivation

As if by instinct

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

Who cannot stand

The big event of my day

Sitting upright in a chair

More chunks of me to cut away

Fingers sifting through my hair

Precision with sharp scissors

Decision's in a stranger’s hands

Old growth goes — make way for new

Regardless of plans

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

Without a plan

I want to tell you how to live your life

To manage your anger and be a good wife

I want to tell you how to teach your kid

Not to make the mistakes that we both did

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

You’re growing up and I want to warn you

That the boys will mock and the girls will scorn you

Being smart or pretty will not save you

Special is a trap that just enslaves you

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

I want to tell you how to do your job

Stack those bricks and worship my God

I want to tell you how to love me right

To lick my wounds and hold me at night

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

Ain't none of my business

Not up to me

Cause I’m not up to it

When I’m free

It’s not up to me

It just ain't up to me

Not up to me

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

I wish you could live your life

Like you did at Spanish Banks

Were you left alone, 

my dear?

In the dark unknown

your fear

outgrew your universe

The hurt

diminished by my side 

Your devotion — 

an excuse to hide

You were pacing on a cliff

Between safety and a promise

Me in chains, breathing stiff

Your eyes drinking in the distance

Longing so palpable

Tether stretched … until

It broke and you joined the ranks

Oh, the delight of the Spanish Banks

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

I wish you could live your life

Like you did at Spanish Banks 

Your devotion is sweet

Except when it’s not

And you’re under my feet

And your breath is too hot

And you crowd me in bed

And you get in my face

And I wish instead 

You’d just give me some space

You choose me and lose 

possibility

Full hands can’t seize 

the day — Refuse 

that deep groove 

where instincts rule 

Just flee! 

I’ll be cool with you

while you’re 

splashing through the shallow sea

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

Learning you could live your life

Like you did that day on Spanish Banks

Ninety-nine

Columbine

Not the time

Swallow that line

Newtown

Lock down

Prayers again

No hope then

Six minutes

Parkland

School us

Take a stand

Oklahoma

Arizona

West Virginia

Tried to warn ya’

Science books

Decades old

No money

So cold

Cut taxes

For supplies

Teachers pay

With their lives

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

Bump stocks?

Throw rocks

Under attack?

Use a bat

Get a raise 

If you pack

Don’t invest?

Not the best

Protest

Like Emma

Gonzalez

Call BS

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

You know we need some education

You know we need some gun control

We don’t value education

We don’t want no gun control