Into this world
I came
Filled with fear
Crying all the time
I guess my birth
Left a great scar
On my heart and mind

Now I hand-pick cotton
And struggle to sing
"I am happy and I do what I like"
But my voice breaks
And I start to hate
My singing
And simply everyone

Mama told me
Be good
Work hard
And love Mr. God
Every Sunday
I lie
Trying to realize why

Ain't nothing more to say
Your Honor
Don't look at me like that
The truth is
I am a free man
But I can't enjoy my life

***
I came to a standstill
With lies and hopes inside my head
Always seemed too late to turn
And too soon to understand

No, I don’t have a stomach ache
It's just my face...

I got stuck
I ran aground
I got used to spewing bile
I wonder whether all those years
Hadn't been a waste of time

So how am I doing?
Oh, I CAN complain
Smoke too many cigarettes
But I don't care...

I could be foreign forever
To your otherland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your promiseland
One life was great
But another…
No, I don’t want to live on the edge
I won’t follow you
I found my own
I will stay

I could be foreign forever
To your hastenland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your neverland
One little brick then another
And I will build that wall anyway
You can find me there
Rested and calm
Without mask
This is where I will stay

Look around where we are
Who we are
What we always want
Twenty four
Seven
Three sixty five
Sometimes little more
I was chasing your shadow
Not knowing
I’d become your slave

I could be foreign forever
To your otherland
I could be foreign forevermore
To your promiseland
One life was great
But another…
No, I don’t want to live on the edge
I won’t follow you
I found my own
I will stay
I could stay forevermore

I've said a farewell
To never-ending smiles
I did not look good in red
From my place I can finally see
How much of this shade I called myself
Was me
And what was left behind

I can’t afford to be silent
I can’t afford to lose my stand
What matters is to be in view
I am seen therefore I am
I can satisfy my hunger
I can satisfy my thirst
What about the feeling of importance
Now I’ve got my chance

This is just what I need
To be in everyone’s eyes
To be hard-wired to all brains
And control all their minds

In the center of attention
TV
Glossy magazines
My private life is public
I sell everything
Days are getting shorter
They’ll forget about me soon
So I jump on the bandwagon
With no taboos

This is just what I need
To be in everyone’s eyes
To be hard-wired to all brains
And control all their minds

But what if we start to talk
Not only say out loud
What if we sift the babble
From what really counts
What if we disappear
Go deeply underground
What if we hide away
From being stupefied

You and I
Thousand eyes

When I scroll back through our recent days
I try to understand
How we could forget
We made a promise to one another
That nothing would ever break what we had
Now we never talk when we fall apart
We never talk when we fall apart
We pretend we’re ok
Surrounding ourselves with one-way friendships
And so-called friends

I know we got used to new us
And I don’t want to be there
I don’t want to be there
Where we are
I know we got used to new life
And I don’t want to be there
No, I don’t want to be there
Where we are

Silence fallen between
All the doors are locked
All the words unsaid
And we’re still afraid of time
Started to keep ourselves
At a distance that we could control
Not too close
Not too far
Now we never talk when we fall apart
We just never talk when we fall apart
We pretend we’re ok
By filling up our inner space
With little hates
And so-called love

I know we got used to new us
And I don’t want to be there
I don’t want to be there
Where we are
I know we got used to new life
And I don’t want to be there
No, I don’t want to be there
Where we are

So walk away with me

Day outside grows black
I lie faceup in my shell
Squeeze my eyes shut
And feel like falling into blank space

Had allowed that life to drift
For I’ve chosen a different trail
When light fades
I feel like falling into blank space

So you realized
Ingested real life
Grew up in the time of
Pushing through the crowds
So you realized
Chose unreal life
Settled in the mobile
Handy pocket size

Wanted to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Wanted to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Wanted to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But I turned my back

Could have been a tree of dawn
Rooted deeply in the ground
Bearing fruits
Far away from falling into blank space

But I took refuge from myself
In the crowded solitude
Now I dash
And feel like falling into blank space

Wanted to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Wanted to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Wanted to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But I turned my back
Got lost inside

I live surrounded by cherished memories
I have a weakness for collecting them
Alphabetize
As far as I recall my childish rituals
Icons of that world
Always filled my shelves and heart

Now I shelter from the rain
Hole up in my cage
You don’t have to think too much today
They filled in for your brain

Curled up
Deprived
Curled up
Deprived
I shut away

In a world of synonyms
And handwritten notes
My own puppet performances
Endless bedtime stories
I could touch the moon
And switch off the sun
I could have my dreams
And dream about better times

Now I shelter from the rain
Hole up in my cage
You don’t have to think too much today
They filled in for your brain

Curled up
Deprived
Curled up
Deprived
I shut away
Please don’t call my name

We are escalator walkers
In the brand new temple
Came to reshape identities
Shed our skins
Be reborn
And feel the same
That no one here is real

We are moving standees
In the shrine of choices
Incarcerated between floors of
Hope and disappointment
We feel the same
That no one here is real
We feel the same
That nothing here is still

We are stairway drifters
Made of cyber paper
Google boys and wiki girls
Children of the self care

We come to pray every single training day
Looking for a chance to survive
Buying reduced price illusions
Floating into another light
Melting into another lonely crowd

We feel the same
That no one here is real
We feel the same
That nothing here is still

***
Used to have our love
And now
Disposable needs
Used to have our souls
And now
Refined new skins

Take
Use
Throw Away
Forget

***
Dragging our feet
Tired and deceived
Slowly moving on
Bracing shaky legs
Against all those wasted years
We roll the boulders of sins
Up a hill of new days

In the arms of the setting sun
Our burdens cast shadows over fiery ground
Catching final rays
We try to reach the journey’s end
Before the sun will die

We sense we’re almost there
But the night comes too soon
And we crawl in the dark
Not ready to face up
To unknowing lies
We ache to go back

But we can’t stop
So we walk ahead

Night outside grows white
I lie faceup in my shell
Open my eyes
Don’t feel like falling into blank space

Had allowed that life to drift
For I’ve chosen a different trail
When darkness fades
Don’t feel like falling into blank space

Want to be your light
Illuminate your smiles
Want to be your cure
Bridge between self and us
Want to be your prayer
Wipe the tears from your eyes
When the night returns

I won't collapse

I'm set to rise