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Recorded February-September 1987, released November 1987.
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1. I Blew Up The Clinic
Real Good
2. What Is The Measure Of Your Success?
3. Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel A Lot Better
4. Babylon
5. Jim Morrison's Grave
6. Svengali
7. Jung and the Restless
8. Innocence Lost
9. A Principled Man
10. Harder To Believe Than Not To
1. I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good
I have the road in my blood
I drive a custom van
I play the tunes
I'm the neighborhood ice cream man
so don't you mess this boy around
The other day, when the clinic had its local debut
some chicks were trying to picket
the doctor threatened to sue
Now I don't care if it's a baby or a tissue blob
but if we run out of youngsters
I'll be out of a job, and so I
I did my duty cleaning up the neighborhood
I blew up the clinic real good
Try and catch me, coppers
you stinking badges better think again
before you mess this boy around
I've hung in Saigon just to see the special effects
I've hung from gravity boots for my Napoleon complex
It's time to close
ooh...there she blows
history in the making
you picked the fight
I picked dynamite
I blew up the clinic real good
Preacher on a corner
calling it a crime
says, "The end don't justify the means anytime"
I stood up on my van
I yelled, "Excuse me, sir.
Ain't nothing wrong with this country
that a few plastic explosives won't cure."
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2. What Is The Measure Of Your Success?
In this city I confess
I am driven to possess
answer no one, let them guess
are you someone I impress?
I am a big boss
with a short fuse
I have a nylon carpet and rubber shoes
and when I shake hands
you'll get a big shock
you'll be begging for mercy when the champ is through
you'd better believe I'll put the clamps on you
In this city, be assured
some will rise above the herd
feed the fatted, leave the rest
this is how we won the West
I am a safebox
I am the inner sanctum when the door locks
I own the passkey
you say you can't take it with you?
we'll see about that, won't we?
push...push...push...
In this city I confess
god is mammon, more is less
off like lemmings at the gun
I know better, still I run
I am an old man
and the word came
but you can't buy time on a good name
now when the heirs come around like buzzards on a kill
I see my reflection in their envious eyes
I'd watch it all burn
to buy another sunrise
Some men find the fire escape
old men learn it all too late
push...push...push the alarm
old MacDonald's bought the farm
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3. Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel A Lot Better
Enter the young idealist
chasing dragons to slay
exit the hustler
packing up his M.B.A.
Freshmen scream in a classroom
was there a sound?
first degree in the vacuum
I'm on college ground
Took a class
big fun
modern ethics 101
first day learn why
ethics really don't apply
Prof says, "One trait
takes us to a higher state
drug free, pure bliss
get your pencils, copy this:
"Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
and the truth gets blurred like a wet letter
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
Top of the class sits Ernest
he was brightest and best
till the professor lured him
to the hopeless nest
Now he lives for the shortcut
like a citizen should
tells the class with a wink
"only the young die good."
He says, "Ideals? Uncouth.
fatalism needs youth
eat well, floss right
keep the hungry out of sight
save face--nip and tuck
praise yourself and pass the buck
don't forget the best advice
everybody's get a price
"Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
and the truth gets blurred like a wet letter
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
"While the world winds down to a final prayer
nothing soothes quicker than complete despair
I predict by dinner I won't even care
since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
Nazis plead in a courtroom
"Pardon me, boys"
profits fall in a boardroom
did they make a noise?
Someone spreads an affliction
company's nice
someone sells an addiction
puts your soul on ice
Half wits knock heads
candidates in double beds
good guys defect
"I can't precisely recollect"
teacher's pet theory's fine
if you're born without a spine
can't you spell wrong?
sing it to him Papa John
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4. Babylon
Infidels
in a broken time
our fathers bled the ground
chained and bound
Castaway
should the remnant die?
my hopes were growing numb
overcome
She bewitched
with a Siren's cry
he beckoned, "Come and learn"
is there no return?
chorus:
Babylon
born in your walls
bred in your will
captive until
I heard the heavens cry
Babylon
this is goodbye
Aftershocks
and the sorrow grows
some make their slow descent
some repent
Rescue me
these idols lie
I cannot bear the shame
make this desert rain
(chorus)
Make this desert rain...
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Am I a pilgrim
or another souvenir hound
in the city of lights
I set my sights
on a king's domain
It was a manhole
dug over at the edge of town
and a spray can scrawl
on the cemetery wall
said, "You'd better behave"
Jim Morrison's grave
It's getting cold here
and there ain't a lizard in sight
did the end begin
when you shed your skin
in the home of the brave
Somebody shake him
from the land of larger than life
where the remnants warn
of a legend born
in a dead man's cave
Jim Morrison's grave
I stay driven 'cause there's nowhere to park
I can't shut my eyes--I'm afraid of the dark
I lie awake
that stone left me chilled to the bone
sound the alarm before it's done
find Jim Morrison
Come away to Paris
let him see another day
let him fade out slowly
only fools burn away
let a true love show him what a heart can become
somebody find Jim Morrison
find Jim Morrison's grave
I get weary
Lord, I don't understand
how does a seed get strangled in the heart of a man
then the music covers like an evening mist
like a watch still ticking on a dead man's wrist
tick away
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Blue shadows
a Venetian parade
eyes on a starlet who was yet to be made
he had the thin blue lips
and a fingerless glove
he was a hunter for a prey
to put his prints on
chorus:
Oh, Svengali
oh, Svengali
wide eyes mesmerize
ain't he clever
oh, Svengali
He set stages from Vienna to Rome
he promised flowers and footlights
if she'd only leave home
when he secured her passage on an Aegean ship
she didn't know of the power
in an evil man's grip
(chorus)
I knew you when...
you saw a scene in the clouds
you saw a man in the moon
and your mood was enthralling
you could weep for a falling star
He'll take you deep in his debt
he's wanting all he can get
will your heart hold the virtue?
you've never known that power
that the evil men use
Gone
cried the madman
as he slapped her to life
and then a cold wind slowly sucked him into the night
so come away
to the refuge they can never control
they'll try to steal your body
but they can't touch your soul
Back to Top
In the corner was the doctor
he said, "How may I assist?
she said, "Doctor give me something
I divorced my analyst"
He said, "Chemicals won't help yet
(I'm a doctor, not a musician)
let's both try some word association"
he said, "Love."
she said, "You bet."
Rushed from the fire to the frying pan
entrust your soul to a shrinking man
chorus:
Jung and the restless
pleasant dreams
Gotham's got religion
fifty minutes from the corner of your mind
to the center of the new redemption
Jung and the restless
primal screams
ain't showbiz bewitching?
first came stats pulling habits out of rats
now they may need more attention
She said, "What can I believe in?"
he said, "Don't believe, just...be"
she said, "You've got to give me one good reason to live"
he said, "Hmmm...I gotta be me"
Served with smiles and a noble intent
I think this waiter's got a fake accent
(chorus)
"So tell me about this latest dream."
"I was in a mental ward
for a little shock treatment
when a sudden power surge zapped me with two thousand volts
then I floated down a tunnel to a shining man in white
and when I could finally make it out his face it was...
it was you, doctor"
"So what's the problem?"
(chorus)
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Ever hear the sound of a death row chorus?
ever see the look of a wolfman prowling the steps?
in this deep freeze bunker they store us
send away the priest, 'cause they're ain't nothing more to confess
She had the innocent eyes of a Renoir lady
clutched her black book like an angel nursing a child
"It's a quarter to midnight here, baby
if you're gonna stare, do it while I'm sleeping"
But her eyes, they shone of an innocent way...
in her eyes, we glimpsed of an innocent way...
and in the days that followed we were under a spell
why's the girl visiting a prison cell?
Innocence, innocence,
innocence lost
all souls want it back
some uncover the cost
innocence, innocence lost
break free, look at me
is your innocence lost?
He'd seen things that a man don't mention
sunk into his eyes was a weariness nothing could heal
"Don't tell me 'bout your cheap salvation
what's a man do when he don't feel nothing?"
But her eyes, they shone of an innocent way...
She said, "Beyond these bars there are things you can't see"
He spoke slowly
"Ain't no pardon for me"
Innocence, innocence,
innocence lost
all souls want it back
some uncover the cost
innocence, innocence lost
she said, "Look at me,
don't you, don't you lose your innocence
don't lose your innocence"
he said, "God's own angels couldn't give me hope
when you leave me hanging, just leave me enough rope"
But her eyes he glimpsed of an innocent way...
And on the eve of destruction they were shining the chair
outside vigils, inside men were sobbing
as she kissed his forehead when the morning had dawned
he said softly to her, "I'll see you beyond"
Back to Top
Under a flag
they sword a bond
caught under fire they ran
are you the one
standing your ground?
are you a principled man?
Followers fall
blinded by kings
lost in the lie of the land
are you the one
sworn to be true?
are you a principled man?
Now...begin
come alongside it
seize the wind
come along, ride it
one day it will be you believing
there is a principled man
Who goes there?
do you belong, lad?
you know there
is a new dawn, and
one day to say stick with me, baby
I am a principled man
Many's the man
grounded by greed
leaning on power and land
show me the one
lost in the stars
show me a principled man
Now...begin
seize the wind
Who goes there?
do you belond, lad?
you know there
is a new dawn, and
one day to say stick with me, baby
I am a principled man
Bleeding and hushed
hung between thieves
there the foundation began
are you the one
taking your cross?
are you a principled man?
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10. Harder To Believe Than Not To
Nothing is colder than the winds of change
where the chill numbs the dreamer till a shadow remains
among the ruins lies your tortured soul
was it lost there or did your will surrender control?
Shivering with doubts that were left unattended
so you toss away the cloak that you should have mended
don't you know by now why the chosen are few?
it's harder to believe than not to
harder to believe than not to
It was a confidence that got you by
when you know you believed it, but you didn't know why
no one imagines it will come to this
but it gets so hard when people don't want to listen
Shivering with doubts that you left unattended
so you toss away the cloak that you should have mended
don't you know by now why the chosen are few?
it's harder to believe than not to
Some stay paralyzed until they succumb
others do what they feel, but their senses are numb
some get trampled by the pious throng
still they limp along
Are you sturdy enough to move to the front?
is it nods of approval or the truth that you want?
and if they call it a crutch, then you walk with pride
your accusers have always been afraid to go outside
They shiver with doubts that were left unattended
then they toss away the cloak that they should have mended
you know by now why the chosen are few
it's harder to believe than not to...
I believe
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