Raise

I cannot raise a smile
I cannot raise a fist
I cannot comprehend the cost of all these opportunities I missed
While I was waiting for an intervention
While I was waiting for the phone to ring
These creatures jumped the walls and sunk their teeth into the heart of everything

Or did it happen while I wasn’t looking
Did I just step aside and welcome in the wolves in poorly fitted sheep’s attire,
The lambs adorned in wolfish skin?
The words are separated from their meaning
And truth is separated from the fact
The vermin have consumed the trail of breadcrumbs
Now I’m scared there’s no way back

Aint that the way you slide
A sleepwalk to the darker side
And love is not the answer I’m afraid
The moment came and I just stood and watched it happened
And I’m ashamed

I spend my money in the usual places
I buy a lot of shit that I don’t need
I recognise the frailty of the age in terms of lust and hate and greed
But never see it in my own reflection
I don’t consider that I’m one of these oblivious, self-interested fools
Content to live and die on bended knees

Like I’m the servant of a natural order
And never happier than when I’m crushed
beneath the looming, loving leather boot
of that sweet oppression I’ve come to trust
like it’s the only thing that keeps me grounded
that helps instill in me a sense of pride
the daunting odds I strive to overcome
but in truth I barely even tried

Aint that just the way you find
Your aspirations get resigned
And love is not the answer I’m afraid
The moment came and I just turned and looked away
And I’m ashamed

Everybody tells it like it is
But every day the same old sun comes up on days like this

I cannot raise an army
But I will not raise the flag
I’ll call myself a rebel, scream seditious words into a paper bag
And make believe that it could make a difference
And maybe this time we can start a fire
By preaching eloquent, impassioned testimony only to the choir

It’s not important that you stand for something
You just need something you can rail against
The mortal sin of the poorly chosen word
Or a joke that may just cause offence
But any God without a sense of humour
Is not a deity that I could love
And who would choose eternity in a stern, unsmiling paradise above?

But that’s just the way you slide
The scripture will not be denied
And love is not the answer I’m afraid
The moment came and I just stood and watched it happen
And I’m ashamed

Can we not raise the standard of our discourse
Much above a howl of neatly scripted indignation
Punctuated by cries of peace and love
It’s not enough to hold a firm opinion
The counter-argument must be eviscerated in some frenzied moral outrage
All damnation, no debate

You see the meek stand to inherit nothing
Unless they have the will to lawyer up
Or fight so dirty as to contradict their claim of meekness
And there’s the rub
I’m well aware that I’m the one who’s shouting
Don’t think the irony is lost on me
A call for sober, calmly measured reason screamed in bold hypocrisy!

It’s gonna take a whole lot more than words to tame the dogs of war
And love is not the answer I’m afraid
My generation blew its chance, now let’s get the hell out of the way