Bruce

I suppose I needn't to tell anyone that I am absolutely obsessed with music... Music it's self can truly be wonderful, but in my eyes, the lyrics are just as important as the actual musical construction.

Perhaps they are lyrics that speak to you personally...Or perhaps they are lyrics that you just admire for one reason or another.

Here are some of my Rush favourites to begin with:

"The Weapon" by Rush

We've got nothing to fear...but fear itself?
Not pain, not failure, not fatal tragedy?
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery?
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry?

With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun
In the glory game on the power train
Thy kingdom's will be done

And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us...

He's not afraid of your judgment
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying

And the things that he fears are a weapon to be held against him...

Can any part of life be larger than life?
Even love must be limited by time
And those who push us down that they might climb
Is any killer worth more than his crime?

Like a steely blade in a silken sheath
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of

And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...

"Entre Nous" by Rush

We are secrets to each other
Each one's life a novel
No one else has read
Even joined in bonds of love
We're linked to one another
By such slender threads

We are planets to each other
Drifting in our orbits
To a brief eclipse
Each of us a world apart
Alone and yet together
Like two passing ships

[Chorus:]
Just between us
I think it's time for us to recognize
The differences we sometimes fear to show
Just between us
I think it's time for us to realize
The spaces in between
Leave room for you and I to grow

We are strangers to each other
Full of sliding panels
An illusion show
Acting well rehearsed routines
Or playing from the heart?
It's hard for one to know

[Chorus]

We are islands to each other
Building hopeful bridges
On a troubled sea
Some are burned or swept away
Some we would not choose
But we're not always free

[Chorus]

"Territories" by Rush

I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
We all figure that our homes are set above
Other people than the ones we know and love
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs

The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel
What international means
In different circles, we keep holding our ground
In different circles, we keep spinning round and round

We see so many tribes overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream of lands they've left behind
Better people...better food...and better beer...
Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn't evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of the citizens along for the ride

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled

"Emotion Detector" by Rush

When we lift the covers from our feelings
We expose our insecure spots
Trust is just as rare as devotion
Forgive us our cynical thoughts
If we need too much attention
Not content with being cool
We must throw ourselves wide open
And start acting like a fool
If we need too much approval
Then the cuts can seem too cruel

[Chorus:]
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts

It's true that love can change us
But never quite enough
Sometimes we are too tender
Sometimes we're too tough
If we get too much attention
It gets hard to overrule
So often fragile power turns
To scorn and ridicule
Sometimes our big splashes
Are just ripples in the pool

[Chorus]

Feelings run high

Curb Zone

 

Bruce

The lyrics from Rush's 1987 album, "Hold Your Fire", are easily amongst the most the intellectual ever written. In fact, these exact lyrics were sent to Montreal high schools back in the hey-days as an example of exemplary writing.

"Second Nature" by Rush

A memo to a higher office
Open letter to the powers that be
To a god, a king, a head of state
A captain of industry
To the movers and the shakers...
Can't everybody see?

It ought to be second nature
I mean, the places where we live
Let's talk about this sensibly
We're not insensitive
I know progress has no patience
But something's got to give

I know you're different
You know I'm the same
We're both too busy
To be taking the blame
I'd like some changes
But you don't have the time
We can't go on thinking
It's a victimless crime
No one is blameless
But we're all without shame
We fight the fire while we're feeding the flames

Folks have got to make choices
And choices got to have voices
Folks are basically decent
Conventional wisdom would say
But we read about the exceptions
In the papers every day

It ought to be second nature
At least, that's what I feel
Now I lay me down in Dreamland
I know perfect's not for real
I thought we might get closer
But I'm ready to make a deal

Today is different, and tomorrow the same
It's hard to take the world the way that it came
Too many rapids keep us sweeping along
Too many captains keep on steering us wrong
It's hard to take the heat
It's hard to lay blame
To fight the fire while we're feeding the flames

"Mission" by Rush

Hold your fire
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame 'til the dream ignites
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I hear their passionate music
Read the words that touch my heart
I gaze at their feverish pictures
The secrets that set them apart

When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive
I wish I had that instinct
I wish I had that drive

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire

In the grip of a nameless possession
A slave to the drive of obsession
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen
I walk through their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams
But dreams don't need to have motion
To keep their spark alive
Obsession has to have action
Pride turns on the drive

It's cold comfort
To the ones without it
To know how they struggled
How they suffered about it
If their lives were exotic and strange
They would likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane

We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise
But a spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

"Lock And Key" by Rush

I don't want to face the killer instinct
Face it in you or me

We carry a sensitive cargo
Below the waterline
Ticking like a time bomb
With a primitive design
Behind the finer feelings
This civilized veneer
The heart of a lonely hunter
Guards a dangerous frontier

The balance can sometimes fail
Strong emotions can tip the scale

Don't want to silence a desperate voice
For the sake of security
No one wants to make a terrible choice
On the price of being free
I don't want to face the killer instinct
Face it in you or me
So we keep it under lock and key

It's not a matter of mercy
It's not a matter of laws
Plenty of people will kill you
For some fanatical cause
It's not a matter of conscience
A search for probable cause
It's just a matter of instinct
A matter of fatal flaws

No reward for resistance
No assistance, no applause

Don't want to silence a desperate voice
For the sake of security
No one wants to make a terrible choice
On the price of being free
I don't want to face the killer instinct
Face it in you or me
So we keep it under lock and key

We don't want to be victims
On that we all agree
So we lock up the killer instinct
And throw away the key

"Open Secrets" by Rush

It went right by me
At the time it went over my head
I was looking out the window
I should have looked at your face instead

It went right by me
Just another wall
There should have been a moment
When we let our barriers fall
I never meant what you're thinking...
That's not what I meant at all.

[Chorus:]
Well, I guess we all have these feelings
We can't leave unreconciled
Some of them burned on our ceilings
Some of them learned as a child

The things that we're concealing
Will never let us grow
Time will do its healing
You've got to let it go

Closed for my protection
Open to your scorn
Between these two directions
My heart is sometimes torn

I lie awake with my secrets
Spinning around my head
Something that somehow escaped me
Something you shouldn't have said
I was looking out the window
I should have looked at your face instead.

[Chorus]

I find no absolution
In my rational point of view
Maybe some things are instinctive
But there's one thing you could do
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you

"Time Stand Still" by Rush

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath
Before I start off again.
Driven on without a moment to spend
To pass an evening with a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I'd like to pause
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim
Who learns to transcend
Learns to live as if each step was the end

(Time stand still)
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
(Time stand still)
See more of the people and the places that surround me now
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each sensation a little bit stronger
Experience slips away
Experience slips away

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes
Let my defences down
All those wounds that I can't get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain, whose ship runs aground
I can wait until the tide comes around

(Time stand still)
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
(Time stand still)
See more of the people and the places that surround me now
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each impression a little bit stronger
Freeze this motion a little bit longer
The innocence slips away
The innocence slips away...

Summer's going fast, nights growing colder
Children growing up, old friends growing older
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each impression a little bit stronger
Experience slips away
Experience slips away...
The innocence slips away

Bruce

More...

"Faithless" by Rush

I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels ring so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and market place

Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist

Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist

I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me

I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place

Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist

Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist


"Spindrift" by Rush

As the waves crash in
On the western shore
The wind blows fierce from the east
Wave tops torn into flying spindrift

As the waves crash in
On the western shore
It makes me feel uneasy
The spray that's torn away
Is an image of the way I feel

What am I supposed to say?
Where are the words to answer you
When you talk that way?

As sun goes down
On the western shore
The wind blows hard from the east
It whips the sand into a flying spindrift
As the sun goes down
On the western shore
It makes me feel uneasy
In the hot dry rasp of the devil winds
Who cares what a fool believes

What am I supposed to say?
Where are the words to answer you
When you talk that way?
Words that fly against the wind and waves

(A little closer to you)
Where is the wave that will carry me
A little closer to you?

What am I suppose to do?
Where are the words that will make you see
What I beleive is true?

"Workin' Them Angels" by Rush

Driving away to the east, and into the past
History receeds in my rear-view mirror
Carried away on a wave of music down a desert road
Memory humming at the heart of a factory town

All my life
I've been workin' them angels overtime
Riding and driving and living
So close to the edge
Workin' them angels - Overtime

Riding through the Range of Light to the wounded city
Filling my spirit with the wildest wish to fly
Taking the high road to the wounded city
Memory strumming at the heart of a moving picture

All this time
I've been workin' them angels overtime
Riding and diving and flying
Just over the edge
Workin' them angels - Overtime

Driving down the razor's edge 'tween the past and the future
Turn up the music and smile
Get carried away on the songs and stories of vanished times
Memory drumming at the heart of an English winter
Memories beating at the heart of an African village

"Armor And Sword" by Rush

The snakes and arrows a child is heir to
Are enough to leave a thousand cuts
We build our defenses, a place of safety
And leave the darker places unexplored

Sometimes the fortress is too strong
Or the love is too weak
What should have been our armor
Becomes a sharp and angry sword

Our better natures seek elevation
A refuge for the coming night
No one gets to their heaven without a fight

We hold beliefs as a consolation
A way to take us out of ourselves
Meditation or medication
A comfort ,or a promised reward

Sometimes the spirit is too strong
Or the flesh is too weak
Sometimes the need is just too great
For the solace we seek
The suit of shining armor
Becomes a keen and bloody sword

A refuge for the coming night
A future of eternal light
No one gets to their heaven without a fight

Confused alarms of struggle and flight
Blood is drained of color
By the flashes of artillery light
No one gets to their heaven without a fight
The battle flags are flown
At the feet of a god unknown
No one gets to their heaven without a fight

Sometimes the damage is too great
Or the will is too weak
What should have been our armor
Becomes a sharp and burning sword

"Bravest Face" by Rush

Though we might have precious little
It's still precious

I like that song about this wonderful world
It's got a sunny point of view
And sometimes I feel it's true
At least for a few of us
I like that world, it makes a wonderful song
But there's a darker point of view
But sadly just as true
For so many among us

Though we might have precious little
It's still precious

In the sweetest child there's a vicious streak
In the strongest man there's a child so weak
In the whole wide world there's no magic place
So you might as well rise put on your bravest face

I like that show where they solve all the murders
An heroic point of view
It's got justice and vengeance too
At least so the story goes
I like that story, makes a satisfying case
But there's a messy point of view
That's sadly just as true
For so many among us

In softest voice there's an acid tongue
In the oldest eyes there's a soul so young
In the shakiest will there's a core of steel
On the smoothest ride there's a squeaky wheel

Though we might have precious little
It's still precious

More later...including some other bands than Rush (lol!)

Bruce

"Stand or Fall" by the Fixx

Crying parents tell their children
If you survive don't do as we did
A son exclaims there'll be nothing to do to
Her daughter says she'll be dead with you
While foreign affairs are screwing us rotten
Line morale has hit rock bottom
Dying embers stand forgotten
Talks of peace were being trodden

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

Is this the value of our existence
Should we proclaim with such persistence
Our destiny relies on conscience
Red or blue what's the difference

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

An empty face reflects extinction
Ugly scars divide the nation
Desecrate the population
There will be no exaltation

Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre

"Alien Shore" by Rush

You and I, we are strangers by one chromosome
Slave to the hormone, body and soul
In a struggle to be happy and free
Swimming in a primitive sea
You and I, we must dive below the surface
A world of red neon and ultramarine
Shining bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching to the alien shore

For you and me, sex is not a competition
For you and me, sex is not a job description
For you and me
We agree

You and I, we are pressed into these solitudes
Color and culture, language and race
Just variations on a theme
Islands in a much larger stream

For you and me, race is not a competition
For you and me, race is not a definition
For you and me
We agree

But that's just us...
Reaching for the alien shore

You and I, we reject these narrow attitudes
We add to each other, like a coral reef
Building bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching for the alien shore

For you and me, race is not a competition
For you and me, sex is not a definition
For you and me, we hold these truths to be self-evident
For you and me, we'd elect each other president
For you and me
We might agree

But that's just us...
Reaching for the alien shore

"Nobody's Hero" by Rush

I knew he was different in his sexuality
I went to his parties as a straight minority
It never seemed a threat to my masculinity
He only introduced me to a wider reality
As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that he was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he's nobody's hero
Saves a drowning child
Cures a wasting disease
Hero...lands the crippled airplane
Solves great mysteries
Hero...not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero...not the glamour girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying
Nobody's hero

I didn't know the girl, but I knew her family
All their lives were shattered in a nightmare of brutality
They try to carry on, try to bear the agony
Try to hold some faith in the goodness of humanity
As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that she was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart

But she's nobody's hero
Is the voice of reason against the howling mob
Hero...is the pride of purpose
In the unrewarding job
Hero...not the champion player
Who plays the perfect game
Hero...not the glamour boy
Who loves to sell his name
Everybody's buying
Nobody's hero

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that you were gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he's nobody's hero
Saves a drowning child
Cures a wasting disease
Hero...lands the crippled airplane
Solves great mysteries
Hero...not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero...not the glamour girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying
Nobody's hero

Hero

"Double Agent" by Rush

Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now

'On the edge of sleep, I was drifting for half the night
Anxious and restless, pressed down by the darkness
Bound up and wound up so tight'

So tight...

'So many decisions, a million revisions
Caught between darkness and light...'

Wilderness of mirrors
World of polished steel
Gears and iron chains
Turn the grinding wheel
I run between the shadows
Some are phantoms, some are real

Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now
Where would you rather be?
The doubt and the fear
I know would all disappear
Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here...

'On the edge of sleep, I heard voices behind the door
The known and the nameless, familiar and faceless
My angels and my demons at war'

At war...

'Which one will lose depends on what I choose
or maybe which voice I ignore...'

Wilderness of mirrors
Streets of cold desire
My precious sense of honor
Just a shield of rusty wire
I hold against the chaos
And the cross of holy fire

Wilderness of mirrors
So easy to deceive
My precious sense of rightness
Is sometimes so naive
So that which I imagine
Is that which I believe

'On the edge of sleep, I awoke to a sun so bright
Rested and fearless, cheered by your nearness
I knew which direction was right'

Was right...

'The case had been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light...
The choice between darkness and light'

"Available Light" by Rush

The restless wind
Has seen all things
In every kind of light
Rising with the full moon
To go howling through the night

The sleepless wind
Has heard all things
Between the sea and sky
In the canyons of the city
You can hear the buildings cry

Oh the wind can carry
All the voices of the sea
Oh the wind can carry
All the echoes home to me

Run with wind and weather
To the music of the sea
All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Chase the wind around the world
I want to look at life
In the available light

Play of light
A photograph
The way I used to be
Some half forgotten stranger
Doesn't mean that much to me

Trick of light
Moving picture
Moments caught in flight
Make the shadows darker
Or the colors shine too bright

Oh the light can carry
All the visions of the sea
Oh the light can carry
All the images to me

Run to light from shadow
Sun gives me no rest
Promise offered in the east
Broken in the west
Chase the sun around the world
I want to look at life
In the available light

All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Shadows hide the play of light
So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life
In the available light

I'll go with the wind
I'll stand in the light

"Ballad of Yarmouth Castle" by Gordon Lightfoot

Well, its four oclock in the afternoon
And the anchors have been weighed
From miami to nassau,
Shes bound across the waves

Shell be headin south through biscayne bay
Into the open sea
Yarmouth castle, shes a-dyin and dont know it

Now the many years shes been to sea
Shes seen the better times
She gives a groan of protest
As they cast away her lines

And the grumble of her engines
And the rust along her spine
Tells the castle shes too old to be sailin

But the sands run out within her heart
A tiny spark glows red
It smoulders through the evening
Theres laughter overhead

Now the men are served, and the cards are dealt
And the drinks are passed around
Deep within the fire starts a-burnin

Now its midnight on the open sea
And the moon is shining bright
Some people join the party
And others say good-night

Theres many who are sleeping now
Its been a busy day
And a tiny wisp of smoke is a-risin

Oh lord, she groans, Im burning!
Let someone understand!
But her silent plea is wasted
In the playin of the band

Everybodys dancin on her deck
And theyre havin such a time
Then a voice says
Shut up and deal, Im losin

Deep within the yarmouth castle
The fire begins to glow
It leaps into the hallways
And climbs and twists and grows

And the paint she wore to keep her young
Oh lord, how well it burns
And soon that old fire is a-ragin

Up beneath the bridge its climbin fast
The captain stands aloft
He calls up to the boatswain, n says
Boatswain, we are lost

For the ragged hoses in the racks
No pressure do they hold
And the people down below
Will soon be dyin

All amidships, oh shes blazin now
Its spreadin fore and aft
The people are a-scramblin
As the fire blocks their path

The evil smoke surrounds them,
And theyre fallin in their tracks
And the captain in his lifeboat is a-leavin

Oh then the ship, bahama star
Comes steamin through the night
She sees the castle blazin
And tis a terrible sight

Jump down, jump down! the captain cries
Well save you if we can!
Then the paint on his funnels is a-fryin

God help the ones who sleep below
And cannot find the way!
Thank God for those weve rescued
Upon this awful day.

Now the heroes, they are many,
But the times are growin slim
And now from stern to bow
Shes a-blazin

Oh the yarmouth castles moanin
Shes cryin like a child.
You can hear her if you listen
Above the roar so wild

Is she cryin for the ones who lie
Within her molten sides?
Or cryin for herself, Im a-wonderin

But the livin soon were rescued
The ones who lived to tell
From the star they watched her
As she died there in the swells

Like a toy ship on a mill pond
She burned all through the night
Then slipped neath the waves
In the mornin

Bruce

"Wire" by U2

Innocent, and in a sense I am
Guilty of the crime that's now in hand
Such a nice day
Throw your life away
Such a nice day
Let it go

Cold these eyes, I can't believe it
Cold, this heart is slow
Heart is stone

Call me
Such a cold heart
Such a cold man
Watch you tear your self apart

So lay me down
My soul to give
So lay me down
The longest sleep
Oh, the longest sleep

In I come and out you go you get
Here we are again now, place your bets
Is this the time
The time to win or lose
Is this the time
The time to choose

Cold these eyes, I can't believe it
So deep inside a cold fire
Cold, this heart is slow...
Heart is stone

Any time your on there
(Kiss me...)
Won't you tell me
That's it just give me it

In some white track
You come right back
Cartoon cutout
Cut throat let out
I'm on your side
Be on the both side
I'm on right track
You get off my back
I'm no dope
I give you hope
Here's the rope
Here's the rope
Now...swing away

DaSilva

Should have been Lyric not Lyrics
Btw I like those I write my self..
and this:
- When you over in American Samoa, what…what surprised you the most?
- I guess what hit me the most is the condition of the factory that the workers were in:
The factory was surrounded by a fence and barbed wire on top and on the bottom. And they have a chain-linked fence surround the whole factory and, and dormitory compound. The gate has a…has a guard shack, where the guard sit there and control the worker movement in and out of the.. of the factory
- The factory are made of ahm.. tin panels with tin roof. It’s really hot. The temperature over there is verily ninety degrees and inside the factory or the dormitory it reaches way over a hundred degrees.

[Verse 1]:
Yeah
It’s the contemporary form of slavery, they call it slave labour
But they don’t prosecute them cuz it’s how they make paper
When you rocking that fly shit that’s made in China
By an eight year old child tryna feed his mama
He exposed to contamination and disease
And only fifty-five percent of them will get degrees
And the women have to try to placate the boss
Because it’s sex discrimination in the labour force
The slave master only let them speak in sign language
And they’re suffering from lung disease and eye damage
fourteen hour shifts, seven days a week
two shitty meals a day, very little sleep
Human life only worth three cents an hour
All human right laws loose sense of power
What did four hundred years in the grave passes?
Only the improved cleverness of slave masters.

[Chorus]:
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fail
But I expect the system to fail!
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fail
But I expect the system to fail!

- Many Chinese workers are forced to sign secret agreements, known as shadow contracts, before they leave China, severely and, in some ways, illegally restricting their activities while on American soil. Workers are forbidden to participate in any religious or political activity or to ask for a salary increase or even to fall in love or get married.

[Verse 2]:
It’s one point six million people locked in jail
They do new slave labour force trapped in hell
They generate over a billion dollars worth to power
And only getting paid twenty cents an hour
They make cloths for McDonald’s and for Apple Bee’s
And working fourteen hour shifts in prison factories
And while we sit around debating who the wack emcee is
They have to work when arthritic pain attack the knees
Slavery is not illegal, that’s a ******* lie!
It is illegal, unless it’s for conviction of a crime
The main objective is to get you in your ******* prime.
And keep the prison full and not give you a ******* dime
But they the real criminal keeping you confined
For a petty crime but they give you two-to-nine
And ain’t nobody there to protect ya
Except a bunch of incompetent human rights inspectors

[Chorus]:
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fail
But I expect the system to fail!
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fail
But I expect the system to fail!

- The sweatshop situation’s kind of cohesive and kind of take advantage on the people that are poor and at an economic disadvantage.
- This Chinese woman made T-shirts and pants at the factory until she became pregnant.
- When I told them I was pregnant, they told me to have an abortion..
- Tu Xiao Mei says she refused to have the abortion and has now been barred from entering the factory.
- To allow them to bring that on to US soil is a very deep concern. We've now documented the facts that management coerces female workers who become pregnant into having abortions.
- But human rights workers say it's common practice
- Inside that factory Chinese law applies, and Chinese law is… is supreme
- Even though it's the United States of America?
- The flag doesn't fly inside there.

The main reason why I love groups such as JEDI MIND TRICKS and AOTP is because they are not like 50cent shit and other shit..

The may say shit but the talk and rap abut things that is important.. this is one of the best lyrics by example but they have eaven better texts.

Bruce

Some fantastic lyrical content from Mr. Tom Cochrane:

"Calling America"

I dreamt I was a refugee
Who lived outside of town
My family in a barria shack
Battered and run down

We had a friend from America
Helped out, we took him in
Like my brother he disappeared
They said he was with him

There we were far out at sea
Somehow we got lost
Then we landed hard on shore
There upon the rocks
While celebration shook the air
We turned to hear some shots
There's ones that have been here far too long
We think they've lost the plot

Here I go again
Leaving things out while I'm leaving things in
Where, where should I begin
Feeling so full or feeling so thin

Calling America
Man I know you're out there
Sisters are you breathing

Calling America
This thing they call America
It really is a dream

Then I stood face to face
With a girl that I once knew
She was dressed in gingham there
In colors red, white and blue
The more I spoke, the less she heard
And then she slipped away
I just stood there sinking
Far beneath the waves

Here we go again
Leaving things out while we're leaving things in
Where, where should we begin
Feeling so full or feeling so thin

Calling America
Man I know you're out there
Can't you hear me calling

Calling America
Sister are you out there
Can't you feel me dreaming

Calling America
This thing they call America
Really what does it mean

Calling America
This thing they call America
It really is a dream

Here we go again
Leaving things out while we're leaving things in
Where, where should we begin
Feeling so full or feeling so thin

Calling America
Man I know you're out there
Sister are you breathing

Calling America
This thing they call America
It really is a dream

Calling America
Sister are you out there
Can't you feel me breathing

Calling America
Sister are you out there
Can't you feel me breathing

Calling America
This thing they call America
Really what does it mean

"Boy Inside the Man"

So long so long so long he's been away
So long so long so long he's back again

When I turned seventeen
We had passion, we had dreams
Thought the love we were fighting for
Was something holy, something more

When I turned twenty-one
we were outside on the run
When I walked out with my girl
We went halfway around the world
CHORUS
I dreamed I saw her standing there
Running for the boy inside the man
I was hit hard by the light so bright it burned
All at once I knew she'd understand
Boy inside the man
The boy inside the man
When I turned twenty-five
We were hungry, we had drive
When I turned much older then
When the boy was lost in pride

Now I just turned thirty-one
I have lost and I have won
Still I've kept my dreams alive
'Cause the boy will never die
CHORUS
Ah do you understand
CHORUS

The boy inside the man
The boy inside the man
So long so long so long
You been away
So long so long so long
You're back again

Sister cool this face
As if it's carved in stone
Don't leave me in this place
Like a boy without a home (repeat)
Boy inside the man

"Mad Mad World"

I was standing with my paper there
Minding my own news
For everything that someone said
Someone else had a different view

I watched the whole thing there
Unfold upon my tv screen
"A new world order is on its way"
Well pass the popcorn please
You don't mean to tell me
No one here is going to get hurt
When there's folks at home who
Eat dog food they can't afford a shirt
Sure find out real fast who's a sitting duck
When it's a. . .

Mad mad world... shake your hands
And say good luck..it's a
Mad mad world..I can not believe this stuff. . .it's a
Mad mad world...getting madder every day....
Mad mad world...get involved and they'll blow you away
Sure find out real fast when you're a sitting duck
That it's a mad mad world

A little man sits up way high
Way above the crowd
Can you make them dance real fast
Can you make them cheer real loud

Money doesn't talk it swears
It sounds like a big machine
A voice on high says you reap what you sow
Just keep your own nose clean

More smoke fills up the air
More toxins up the creek
That's when the cash it changes hands
So we turn the other cheek
Sure find out real fast just when you've
Had enough when it's a...

CHORUS

He walks into the office and
He finds a big pink slip
It's says "you are no longer needed here
So take a good long trip"
You can take your gold watch and
Stick it you know where
Cause he's fired up and he's jacked up and
He's loaded up for bear

CHORUS


"Paper Tigers"

Keep your powder dry and warm
Thru the coming darkest storm
All the fear that's sent your way
Thru your eyes you might wash away
When you can
Still your lantern's strong and bright
Even thru the darkest night
All those paper tigers
All their lies they might have sold you
Might be wasted on
One so young that you're old again
She walks out thru the wind and the rain uh-huh

They can't give you all those things
No pot of gold no big brass ring
Stay on the road for the night has come
Perhaps at dawn we will be like one again

All those paper tigers
All the lies they might have been sold you
Might be wasted on
One so young that you're old again
Sylvia walks out thru the wind and the rain uh-huh
Still the shock rips you thru every nerve
In the bell jar nothing can be heard

I would walk with you
I would talk with you
I would do anything that would get you thru
Draw the line for you
Take the fifth for you
I would stand on a bridge and jump off it too

All those paper tigers
All the lies they might have told you
Might be wasted on
One so young that you're old again
All those paper tigers
All the lies your mother told you
Might be wasted on
One so young that you're old again
She walks out thru the wind and the rain uh-huh

"Get Back Up"

God I hate your needles and
Your dirty little vial of pills
I guess I love the sweat you put me through
I know I love your body
Like I used to love your mind
But now your soul's a slave
To all the things you use
I put you in the tub babe
With five big pounds of ice
If you don't get back up
I don't know what I'll do
I've walked around the room
Here nearly 37 Times
Can you hear me now
And am I getting through

Get up, get back up
Get up, get back up

I thought I heard you laughing
I thought I heard you scream
I thought I heard some wailing
Like lovers in heat
I thought maybe we'd been
Somewhere that we've never seen
Still you lie so still like
A china doll lost in a summer dream

Here I am way down here
Way down upon my knees
You're looking awfully blue
We were having such a good time
We were having so much fun now
We'll lock the door change the sheets
But how do I get to you

Get back up, get up babe
Get up babe, get back up

I feel like the walls
Are closing in get back up
You look like a china doll
So pale and so thin
Get back up and make me laugh
The way you used to do

Bruce

Thanks for the contribution Julius!

And I just want to mention that I'd like to read lyric from all types of genres too - rap, rock, country, etc.

I want to see (read, ha) them.