SET LIST TEN (10)

1 History To Me …………….103

2 Pushing the Button

3 Heresy Speaks No Evil……….105

4 Obamafication………….107

5 Shadow Boxing……………..108

6 Picture Something Nice

7 Call It Fate……………..109

8 Pardon Me………...110

9 Birthright………………....113

10 Shades

11 Intellectual Property……….114

12 Another History Lesson………...115

HISTORY TO ME

I remember when Ice Cube and T were black

And rapped...now they act...like crap...

I remember when The Rock he cooked

And then he'd call us all funny names

Eye brow raised with that funny look...

Now he acts...like crap… it’s a fact…

Everything is coming back

But changed...

They're calling it the same name

But it's... strange

I remember when it was cool to say hello

To somebody new I didn't know

Now they're all plugged in to their phones

Which is plugged in where? They don't know...

They don't care.

I say hello.

They don't say hello.

So I stare...

Uh Oh...

I need more than a good chiropractor

To fix this fractured broken soul

I need more than skilled psychiatrists

To bandage up these mentally slit wrists

And net all these knotted thoughts

I watch spin and twist out of my control

So look out… all up, down and around

Both near and far,

hey you up there,

look out below!

Everything is coming back

But changed...

They're calling it the same name

But it's... strange

I’m seeing so many faces playing charades

Believing they’ve found

a new game in a new age…

Hahaha… It’s just history to me…

Written on a fresh page

PUSHING THE BUTTON

History won't repeat this

so I'm gonna say it with a fist

Scratch my name off the list…

Somebody's gotta resist

Such actions without thinking

is like an alcoholic drinking

One slip is all it takes

to start the snowball rolling

and then it's too late

And when there's an avalanche below

You'll be the one who's

covered by the snow

Covered from head to toe

They keep you in suspense

while hiding behind their fence

And in the same sense

there is just no defense

When all it takes is a fool like you

To push the button and we're all through

The whole world's future

and the whole world's past

One flick of the wrist

and it's gone in a flash

With one press of the button

Were here and then gone all of a sudden

F&%$#*g 'A' is what I say

I stopped caring

about getting blown away

You can hide under desks

You can hide behind chairs

But there's nowhere to run

When the sirens blare

When video games turn into real life

You say goodbye to your children

And then goodbye to your wife

And don't forget to pet

Your dog as well

Right before all of us

Get blown to hell

HERESY SPEAKS NO EVIL

Government sponsored torture

is kind of hard to ignore

Especially when you're held prisoner

of a misguided war

Lobbyists sit with

wads of cash in their fists

For any politicians who

find it too hard to resist

Seems that tax cuts

for corporations

and also the rich

Is the only way to build

true bipartisanship

For our money system

The Fed is privately owned

Backed by paper not gold

And everyday us indebt

wage slaves are sold

When you're afraid of

not being afraid

The "terrorists" win

Their best weapon is fear

They watch our civil liberties

become stripped away so fast

through the most unpatriotic of acts

Soon we won't be able to

speak, see or hear

If this is the state of the union

I think a state of emergency

should be declared

On second thought...

that's not such a great idea

And I haven't even

gotten to distribution of wealth

Inflation, funding for education

or health care

Why are so many more

concerned with the

theft of their identity

Than the loss of free will,

dignity and humanity

When you lack

any great substance

I guess you dress to impress

And fill yourself with vanity

This misinformation generation

eats up whatever they feed ya

Be it Mickey D's, MTV,

shows based on "reality"

Yum Yum...

spoon fed by a controlled media

We're infatuated by celebrities

and American Idols

Fox News, LeBron's shoes,

natural disasters

and let us not forget...

the crazy homicidal

If this is the state of the union

I think a state of emergency

should be declared

On second thought...

that's not such a great idea

And I haven't even

gotten to distribution of wealth

Inflation, funding for education

or health care

I am growing tired

of this throw away

disposable consumer society

Why are those who say

our globe isn't warming

Still trying to lie to me?

Using up energy sources

that will not be soon replaced

Did you know that plastic

is gonna be the fossil

of the entire human race?

Our seas are overfished

and rainforests destroyed

Why? So men can make money

Mother Nature gets lucky when

people are unemployed

If this is the state of the union

I think a state of emergency

should be declared

On second thought...

that's not such a great idea

And I haven't even

gotten to distribution of wealth

Inflation, funding for education

or health care

Time to step off my soapbox

And walk down the road yonder

But before I go

two final questions to ponder:

Might seven billion people

be considered overpopulation?

How can we have

all-you-can-eat buffets

AND sufferers of starvation?

OBAMAFICATION

America wants change

Not the rhetoric of change:

Yes we can

But we didn't

See sometimes

The truth is hidden

Sure some words

Were surely spoken

The needle's stuck

Record is broken

Yes we can...

Yes we can...

Yes we can...

The rhetoric

Just keeps getting repeated

Information

Guess we don't need it

Pick a war hero

Or a good neighbor

Suffer sooner or

Suffer later

Yes we can...

Yes we can...

Yes we can…

SHADOW BOXING

Maids in the morning sweeping up broken glass

Long lost dreams of a shattered past

As a cup full of life is spilled to the floor

A man who once had riches now lives poor

Walking down the spiral staircase that is my mind

Passing all the memories that I've left behind

See the same things enough soon you'll grow blind

Be careful of what doors you open and what you will find

Some patterns are so hard to break they end up breaking you

Anyone who's ever worn these shoes knows this is true

See enough dope and you're bound to give it a try

See murders every day and pretty soon you won't cry

There's blood on the sidewalk

The scent of death in the air

Yet you stroll right past

While others stop and stare

Some men live long and some die young

Some carry heavy burdens, some carry none

When you're shadow boxing you sometimes bruise

When you fight yourself sometimes you lose

PICTURE SOMETHING NICE

Homeless mand in the alley

He's paying his dues

While he was sleeping

The children took his shoes

When he wakes up

He looks so confused

His pride is hurt

What's left of his ego is bruised

Yeah, every hour

of every day

The faces change

But the story's the same

You live it, you breathe it

You hear it, you see it

You learn to accept it

And soon you expect it

Just as the sun rises

Just as the moon shines bright

There's no need to worry

You're doing all right

Don't pay attention

Just walk on by

Picture something nice

Don't you bat an eye

It's not your problem

Someone else will solve it

It's not your problem

Someone else will fix it

You just leave the worrying to me

I'll worry about the way thing ought to be

It's not your problem

So go on and make your exit

You think that you're perfect?

In everything you say

In everything you do

Some say what you don't know

Cannot hurt you

And you believe it to be true

Oh, but the price you will pay

You will find out some day

That day maybe today

Or could still be far away

So you better keep on your toes

Because there is something

That everybody knows

Inside there's a monster that grows

Beneath your pretty clothes

A vanity affair

But there is no one else there

You're only cheating yourself

A vanity affair

Either make amends

Or keep playing pretend

You're only cheating yourself

When you think you win

Then you really lose

So either apply some more makeup

Or think of changing your shoes

A vanity affair

You're not just cheating yourself

You're dragging down

Everybody else

CALL IT FATE

Birds circle around your home

Say it one more time...

Why won't they leave you alone?

They flap their wings from side to side

But from Mother Nature no man can hide

Being punished for crimes --

Well, that may be

For crimes against humanity

Just when you thought

There was no one to see

Now you look at your life

And who is to blame?

You can call it fate

You can call it a shame

As your family boasts:

"You're in the prime of your life"

You go under the doctor's knife

For cancer has no name or face

Unfortunately for you it's too late

Enter the hospital a dying life

Exit the church a crying wife

Now you look at your death

Pondering who is to blame?

You can call it fate

You can call it a shame

In the next room of the hospital

Is a mother's joy

The prize of a life - a baby boy

The parents counted the fingers

Then the parents counted the toes

But what's in the soul nobody really knows

Food, love and shelter - baby got his fill

So no one knows why he grew to kill

You can look at their deaths

And who they blame

You can call it fate

You can call it a shame

A man dresses in the mirror

As he flashes a smile

In a two-thousand dollar suit

He'll wear at the trial

He asks the judge to cut his client a break

Starts preaching about

How we all make mistakes

The judge, on these words, reduces bail

Keeps a guilty man away from jail

His freedom is gained but what's been lost?

Will he do it again?

They keep their fingers crossed

PARDON ME

I just got a pardon from the president

Because I did not admit

to what I knew they'd submit as evidence

And I just made a friend

who will do what it takes

And be there to the end

or at least until he fixes mistakes

I think we may have just set a new precedence

Since it is so clearly evident

That politics is no place for benevolence

When we can't trust the president

That means we can't trust the government

Who often sells out its residents

Giveth and taketh on false precedents

Since some just take whatever they need

With greed...what's important is the numbers on

Not the names of dead presidents

I have come to believe

Not everyone is entitled to be free

Because a handful of money is all you need

To put people in your pocket to guarantee

That when trouble comes it'll let you be

When you buy a judge

You can throw out the jury

The system's become corrupt

Manipulated through misdeeds

Someone should do something

'Cause there's a document I've seen

Saying they're vetting Ann Coulter and Satan

To run together in 2016

Just remember that

Every candidate has a rhyme

Around election time

Saying we'll do just fine

If you wave this sign

Standing on a pedestal

Waving a fake gold medal

Just rubbing on their crystal ball

Saying they've been here and there

They've seen and done it all

Only after the choice has been made

And you've dealt them the ace of spades

While thinking that politics isn't a game

And you haven't been played

But finally after all

the promises have been made

You found that the scale of honesty

Has never been weighed

As they've forgotten all that they've said

Speaking this while doing that

They placed one foot on the platform

And then they fell flat

The train they boarded straight to the top

The engine failed; the track got derailed

And when the conductor was jailed

The bail they collected was never mailed

Yet every opinion they stated

Was quoted as fact

Saying that proof was in the eye

And they said it with such tact

Even though no

Evidence ever backed

But numbers can lie

Once you've developed the knack

So everyone signed on the dotted line

Without ever reading the pact

And now you're complaining

About paying so high a tax

Once you sign a deal with the Devil

There's no turning back

However, there's a new path unpaved

So it's up to me and you

We've been taught to

follow the leader

Sadly, it's true

It can't be that way anymore

Time for us to settle the score

Start pushing the stale old values aside

No more can we run and hide

The government that rules us

practically everyone is a liar

Words catching on

And now it's spreading like a fire

They've talked and talked

Talk, talk, talk 'til they're blue in the face

Just follow me and I'll show you the way

Going to Washington D.C.

Time to see the true enemy

But beware...for their twisting tongues

will tell you it's me

Don't listen to them if you want to be free

Join us - every color and race

Speed up! - We've got to quicken the pace

Million man march - huh - multiply that by ten

History, we're going through it again

Do it for the homeless you meet

Do it for the children on the street

Think about the hungry, the ill, and the sick

We'll dismantle the system brick by brick

Tell it straight and don't beat around the Bush

We tried to pull now it's time to push

It's nine for them and one for us

It's their turn to sit on the back of the bus

The politicians look us right in the eyes

While their words are full of lies

So it should come as no surprise

What happens to them after they die

They care not for us only I

They tell me, "Well, just because..."

When I ask why

They say, "They learned it from their peers...

That true honesty has disappeared."

So true has come our biggest fears

There's no one left who really cares

I'm going to give each one a mirror

So they can see what we see

Then I'm going to run for president

So I can show what's evident

I will answer questions truthfully

And you can think what you want of me

I'll hide behind no mask at all

Not forced to sit I will stand tall...

I'll be myself and wear no veil

With my left hand on the bible:

"I smoked pot and I inhaled!"

BIRTHRIGHT

I had a glass of wine and I felt fine

Yeah, so I had a couple more…

I went out looking for a good time

Like Marco Polo – I wanted to explore…

Had no idea what it would bring

Maybe something great

or perhaps nothing…

The only difference

between the pauper and the king

Is just birthright

and the size of the diamond ring…

Change the substance not the shadow

Or else you’ll find that change is hollow

Let the light in open the window

Lead the people and they will follow

What do I do…

If not this?

What do I share?

If not this gift?

What’s the best present

To give to our kids?

I say a future world

Left better than when we

First came into it?

But leading by example

Is the hardest thing to do

To reserve and hold your judgment

Until you walk one day without shoes

Singing the song of someone else

Well, it only goes to prove

That one man’s country song

Can be another man’s blues

What do I do if not this?

I could go back to being a hypocrite

Hello dear…(fake smile)

Hi my love…(kiss, kiss)

Change the substance not the shadow

Or else you’ll find that change is hollow

Let the light in open the window

Lead the people and they will follow

Here’s something those of you

With two jobs already know

This bitter pill has become

Too hard to swallow

Healthcare’s gone for good

And Social Security will follow

They want you to pay for today

So they can own you tomorrow

Overworked and underpaid

Slowly dying from minimum wage

Swimming in debt

as the cost of living

It rises over your head…

so you try to forget…

But I won’t let you forget:

Change the substance not the shadow

Or else you’ll find that change is hollow

Let the light in open the window

Lead the people and they will follow

SHADES

What color are your eyes?

To me that’s as important

As the color of your skin

About this I am quite certain

What color are you inside?

That’s what really matters

What we can see outside

Are just shades and spatters

Shades from mighty bright white

To midnight black or blacker

To me it’s a mitigated factor

Much like the clothes of a good actor

For it’s just a tiny fraction of the whole

Something that’s beyond all of our control

Gives no insight to the depths of the soul

Might show where we’re from -

But not where we’re gonna go…

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Graffiti scribbled on the side of a building

Obscenities aimed at the passing children

Yet these simple words can have

Such a complicated effect

On an empty vessel of thought

Dependent on a world filled with neglect

With the wind picking up

There's trash blowing all over the ground

There's three guys under 'neath a bridge

Passing the bottle around

I see weeds sprawling across the sidewalk

Crawling up through the cracks

I watch a kid on his way home to a broken home

Walking alone along the tracks

Things are heading south

No matter which way you face

What is bitter to your eyes

Can give your mouth a bad taste

Seems that everywhere I look

There's something that hurts my eyes

They say another day, another dollar,

Which each new day comes a new surprise

It's not just the inner city

Where things are getting worse

When the intellectual property of so many

Needs to be torn down or reinforced

ANOTHER HISTORY LESSON

So just what do you want from me?

Another bloody lesson on history?

I am but one man can't you see

Will there be anyone behind me

When I finally make my stand?

Could I see a show of hands?

For I've grown sick and tired

Of laying way back in the cut

When your conscience burns with fire

You reach a point where enough's enough

No more playing follow the leader

I just fell off of the societal ladder

History is cyclical and I'm a big reader

Many say I'm madder than the mad hatter

But to me those vicious

Tongues only flatter

Only what my people say

That's all that really matters

I try to make a difference everyday

Don't let my ego go run off and play

For it may come home

Broken and shattered

I dress myself in rags and tatters

For people see me

More clearly this way

It's a small price to pay

To help keep the monsters at bay

For there's very little that I need

To be free of jealousy and conceit

Just my one true love

And our little ones at our feet

Then I'd sleep well

Knowing I've made a difference

At least to most

Of the people I meet

That's my definition of winning

Living in a box

Saying everything sucks

Now to me that's sinning

Such unfulfillment

Would be my defeat

A human retreat

Having to start all over again

At the beginning