Bad Religion Album

well the sheaves have all been brought,
but the fields have washed away
and the palaces now stand
where the coffins all were laid
and the times we see ahead
we must glaze with rosy hues
for we don't wish to admit
what it is we have to lose

millennia in coming
the modern age is here
it sanctifies the future
yet renders us with fear
so many theories, so many prophecies
what we do need is a change of ideas
when we are scared
we can hide in our reveries
but what we need is a change of ideas
change of ideas, change of ideas
what we need now is a change of ideas

this isn't another new fashion
or a new plastic trend,
everybody's searching for something
but in the mean time let's all just pretend
I've got this feeling
and I don't know what it is,
this room is overcrowded man
and I need air to breathe, yeah

big bang, big crunch,
you know there's no free lunch
kneel down and pray,
here comes your judgment day
big crunch, you know it's going
to be quite a show
what goes around always comes around yeah

a million hopeless faces
dwell within protected walls,
all waiting for a moment in their lives
when they can heed the clarion call,
and it's all so oppressive my mind feels
like a sieve,
this city is overcrowded man
and I need room to live

big bang, big crunch,
you know there's no free lunch
kneel down and pray,
here comes your judgement day
big crunch, you know it's going
to be quite a show
what goes around always comes around yeah

I think of the countless shadows
that have all come and gone,
all suffering in the notion
of better things to come,
if you share these beliefs
you know I wish you well,
'cause there's no room left in heaven,
and there's sure no room in hell, yeah.

big bang, big crunch,
you know there's no free lunch
kneel down and pray,
here comes your judgment day
big crunch, you know it's going
to be quite a show
what goes around always comes around yeah

Culture was the seed of proliferation
But it has gotten melded into an inharmonic whole,
Consciousness has plagued us and we can not shake it,
Though we think we're in control

Questions that besiege us in life
Are testament of our helplessness,
There's no vestige of a beginning,
No prospect of an end
When we all disintegrate it will all happen again,

Time is so rock solid in the minds of the hoards
But they can't explain why it should slip away,
History and future are the comforts of our
Curiosity but here we are rooted in the present day

Questions that besiege us in life
Are testament of our helplessness,
There's no vestige of a beginning,
No prospect of an end
When we all disintegrate it will all happen again,
If you came to conquer you'll be king for a day,
But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away,
And believe these words you hear
When you think your path is clear...

We have no control,
We do not understand,
You have no control,
You are not in command

There's a specter in the corner of an illustrated page
And a lonesome muted stripling with a rapt remedial gaze.
The poverty of his language and the wealth of his emotion
Bring him endless murky musings and unexpected frustration
Angst and madness weave the fabric of his life.
Tomorrow might be better but right now it feels like

There's a panther wild and proud behind the doors of a redolent cage,
And an underdeveloped intellect filled with impotent and static rage.
And don't think you're exempt if you earn good weekly wages,
'Cause you're neighbor's going crazy and insanity's contagious.
I know there's so much you want to say
But your tongue gets in the way and sometimes it feels like

I know there's so much you want to say
And the tumbrel of your mind gets in the way.
It's the same for everybody to degrees.
We all get that foggy freeze and sometimes it feels like

he's the latest superhero with powers so profound
he can leap a dotted line in just a single bound
I know you must have seen him in the books and magazines
he's the quintessential mindless modern epicene

his life is meaningful because he gets things done
bang bang he's dead
bang bang he's dead
chalk up another triumph for our hero the automatic man

it's true you must have met him
he's your best friend and your foe
his opinions are determined by the status quo

a true creature of habit
he smokes 3 packs a day
When he has an original
thought he forgets it right away

he's the automatic man

he's a paradigm of carefree living
he's our mentor disturb him if you can
he's the answer if your peace of mind is lacking
he's our savior he is the common man
so if you are troubled by the daily bump and grind
then take a another look around and brother you will find
the automatic man

Hey brother christian, with your high and mighty errand
Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word your saying
Hey sister bleeding heart, with all of your compassion
Your labors soothe the hurt, but can't assuage temptation

Hey man of science, with your perfect rules of measure
Can you improve this place with the data that you gather?
Hey mother mercy, can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?

And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of the eye and a "God you must be joking"

Hey mister diplomat, with your worldly aspirations
Did you see your children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier, you've got righteous proclamations
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations

And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions

I want to conquer the world
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children
I'll do away with their pollution and then I'll save the whales
We'll have peace on earth and global communion

I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world
I want to conquer the world

There's a watch in my pocket and its hands are broken
The face is blank but the gears are turning
Confusion is a fundamental state of mind
It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out
I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt

And Sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And Sanity is a state of mind
And you believe in Sanity?

There's a shadow on the wall where the paint is peeling
My body's moving forward but my mind is reeling
Congression is a fundamental state of being
It doesn't really matter how my day has turned out
I always end up living in the world alone

And Sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And Sanity will make you strong
And you believe in Sanity?

And Sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And Sanity is a state of mind
And you believe in Sanity?

Stranded...In a life in which you struggle
for acceptance is a never-ending chore
Upbraided...For your actions past and present &
rewarded for ideas of the future's bright open door
The Henchman...is a human analogue of the suffering
multitudes who, like good dogs, sit and lick for their reward

So what good advice have I got for you
To insure against your likely metamorphosis
into this reprobate?

Don't be a Henchman! Stand on your Laurels
Do what no one else does to praise the good
of other men for goodness sake

And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
Although a cold day in hell it will surely be
that is when the entire world shall live
IN HARMONY.......

(ONE TWO!)

The wheat waving next to you
is healthy and so fine
as is dinner with your loved ones everyday
But your routine is changeless
through the decades of your life
green pastures, open spaces, holy ways

And it must look pretty appealing
The acres of light, the crowded festive nights
and the millions of others just like you
Yeah it must look pretty appealing
This other world of sin
We keep dreaming of what other people do....

The person sitting next to you
is dismal and deranged
on the bus ride home from work to end your day
And the food on your table
is more plastic than protein
and your intellect depends on your TV

And it must look pretty appealing
The Pastoral Retreat, the folks on old main street
and the few pleasent people just like you
Yeah it must look pretty appealing
This simple way of life
We keep dreaming of what other people do...
but we never do what other people do...
You're too scared of other people not like you!

there's a place where everyone can be happy,
it's the most beautiful place in the whole fucking world,
it's made of candy canes and planes,
and bright red choo choo trains and the meanest little boys,
most innocent little girls,
and you know,
I wish that I could go there,
it's a road that I have not found,
and I wish you the best of luck dear,
drop a card or letter to my side of town,
cause there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend,
but baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send,
and you,
painted my entire world,
but I,
don't have the turpentine to clean
what you have soiled....
and I won't forget it.

there's a place where everyone can be right,
even though you remain determined to be opposed,
admittance requires no qualifications,
it's where everyone has been and where everybody goes,
so please try not to be impatient,
for we all hate standing in line,
and when the farm has been bought,
you'll be there without a thought,
and eternity my friend, is a long fucking time,
cause there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend,
but baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send,
and you,
painted my entire world,
but I,
don't have the turpentine to clean
what you have soiled....
and I won't forget it.

And Progress is never intelligently planned
Its the facade of our heritage
the odor of our land
They speak of Progress in Red, White and Blue
It's the structure of the future
as demise comes seething through
Its Progress 'til there's nothing left to gain
as the dearth of new ideas
makes us wallow in our shame

So before you go to contribute more
to the destruction of this world you adore
Remember life on earth is but a flash of dawn
we're all a part of it as the day rolls on...

And Progress is a message that we send
One step closer to the future
One inch closer to the end
I say Progress is a synonym of time
We are all aware of it
But it's nothing we refine
And Progress is a debt we all must pay
Its convenience we all cherish
Its pollution we disdain

And the cutting edge is dulling
Too many people to plow through
Just keep your fucking distance
and it can't include you

It's Progress...'til there's nothing left to gain
It's Progress...It's a message that we send
And Progress...Is a debt we all must pay.

Going through a world of sad debris
Regard quixotic reveries of ownership

The blossoming disease of man called tenure and accretion
The ancient western treadmill of deception and derision

But I want something more

Racing through a life of tragic wastage
I experience the loss of trust and innocence

The billowing cyclone of time has blown away our reasons
As we trugde like blind men forward trying to avoid collision

But I want something more

It's a love song to the self
A story recapped every day
It's a world of bogus feelings and
A world of slow decay
It's a world of laughter hidden
By this world of fear and torment
It's a game of strange compulsion
Our visceral convulsion

Anxiety for love of life
Anxiety for pain
Anxiety a feeling that you know you can't contain
(A fear that you have nothing more to gain)
Anxiety destroys us but it drives the common man
Foundation of society
Anxiety
Suppress it if you can

The caste of coffee-achievers didn't perform like they planned
The morning rush hour traffic is our play of false elan
So run around your frantic track and lay you down to sleep
Tomorrow's the redemption
We strive for that exception

What are we angry for?
We all need a common cure
That common goal for which you strive
To have more than the other guy

The quest for truth
The quest for gold
We end up all the same
The common lie
The righteous cry
We end up all the same
The angry crowd
Those lost and found
Everybody's all the same

The poet's pen
These words I lend
We all bend to anxiety

I can recall the warm youth
of a summer day, yeah
The sweetest lemonade,
the darkest game arcade
And Billy had a yearning
in the corner of his mind, yeah
It moved him secretly
It moved him powerfully

But prescience was lacking
and the present was not all
And his aptitudes were carelessly wasted
And challenging life with the abandon of a fool
He squandered the hours of his day...

Then darkness and disorder
slapped him sharply in the face, yeah
It hit him like a friend, struck something deep within
He couldn't break the chain of
slow decay that seemed to drag him
Just like a fatal tie toward the other side

And Billy was a lunatic just barking at the moon
And his brain was totally wasted.
He then exchanged his friends
for a needle and a spoon
And he threw his future away...

Bolt the door and throw away the key, yeah
Your dim reflection is all that you can see.

So where is the justice when no one is at fault
And a human life is tragically wasted?
How fragile is the flame that burns within us all
To light each passing day, yeah?!

You've got to quit your little charade
and join the freak parade
Now that your road has been paved
from conception to your grave.
Enormous things to do
others practices to eschew,
To be better than you is impossible to do

But the world won't stop without you.
No the world won't stop without you!

Your achievements are unsurpassed
you are highly-ordered mass
But you can bet your ass that
your free energy will dissipate.

Two billion years thus far
now mister here you are
An element in a sea of
enthalpic organic compounds.

The world won't stop without you.
The world won't stop without you!

You're only as elegant as
your actions let you be
A piece of chaos related phylogenetically
To every living organ system
we're siblings don't you see?
The earth rotates and will
revolve without you constantly.

Two billion years thus far
now mister here you are
An element in a sea of
enthalpic organic compounds.

The world won't stop without you.
No the world won't stop without you.
I said the world won't stop without you!