⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING – SET LIST TWENTY (20)
Set List 20 focuses on identity, purpose, burnout, idealism under pressure, and the slow erosion of hope. The pain here is not spectacle — it's cumulative. These songs document what happens when someone tries to live consciously inside systems that reward conformity, speed, and numbness.
This is a set about almost breaking, not about already being broken.
CORE THEMES & POTENTIAL TRIGGERS:
Existential anxiety and loss of direction
Depression, self‑doubt, and emotional fatigue
Addiction recovery and relapse anxiety (Dying Day)
Fear of wasted potential and creative paralysis (Fields of Time)
Identity erosion under societal pressure
Disillusionment with politics, media, and social narratives
Class consciousness and power imbalance (Plankton, Perfect World)
Burnout from capitalism, productivity culture, and "the grind"
Feeling unseen, unanchored, or disposable
Loneliness framed as independence
Idealism clashing with reality
Aging, time pressure, and fear of irrelevance
Persistent rumination and mental looping
The weight of wanting to matter
CONTENT NOTES (MODERATE TO STRONG):
"Dying Day" includes addiction imagery, moral struggle, and end‑of‑life reflection.
"Another Quarter" directly references depression, self‑doubt, emotional breakdown, and fear of running out of time.
"Fields of Time" centers on delayed dreams, regret, and creative despair.
"Plankton" uses dehumanizing metaphors to critique systems that render individuals insignificant.
"Perfect World" addresses systemic injustice, war profiteering, domestic anger, and emotional alienation.
"Running Free" and "Right By Sight" examine identity confusion, media manipulation, and internalized conflict.
No graphic violence is present, but psychological weight is sustained across the set.
THIS SET MAY BE DIFFICULT IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO:
Depression or existential dread
Feeling trapped by systems you can't escape
Creative burnout or fear of failure
Loss of faith in institutions or narratives
Loneliness disguised as independence
Idealism turning into exhaustion
Constant self‑interrogation without resolution
TONAL SUMMARY
Set List 20 is the sound of someone still fighting — but tired. It believes change is possible, but no longer trusts easy answers.
Hope exists here, but it is conditional, fragile, and hard‑won. Unlike Set 21, this set does not shock. It wears you down.
It asks whether staying conscious in an unconscious world is bravery — or slow self‑destruction. Listener discretion advised,
especially for prolonged listening.
THE COST OF LIGHT
SET LIST TWENTY (20)
1 Undefeated
2 Dying Day
3 Fields of Time
4 Running Free
5 New Sight
6 Right By Sight
7 Off the Road
8 Rock Star Dreams
9 Plankton
10 Perfect World
11 Linear
12 Learn From the Masters
13 Another Quarter
(1) UNDEFEATED
I ain't got no plans this minute
So I'm seizing the moment - I'm in it
I'm not losing or winning - Just present
Not up, not down - I'm all around
From the cities to the towns
To the horses and the plows
Not the just the black or the white
But every face in the crowd
If you can see it you can be it
If you wish to delete it then don't repeat it
Some good advice to those who seek it
Though those luckier than me might not need it
Sure you can try to pin for the win
When the argument becomes heated
But a sly guy vies for the tie
Because only Father Time is undefeated
What about space? That's a whole 'nother race
We started with the moon
then wouldn't you know pretty soon
It was on to Mars and that's just so far
There's more in store we keep raising the bar
I'd rather not roam
Stick closer to home
Preserve what we have
Before that's all gone
(2) DYING DAY
I've given up on
feeding my addiction
Wash my bleeding hands clean
From this filthy affliction
Look up at the sky
to guide my direction
Why oh why do I even try
To strive for perfection
Get it up, get it out
Put another on the shelf
Rip in and pull it out
Give away another piece of yourself
Try to show
what so many others hide
In their sense of pride
With their tongues they lied
And then became tongue-tied
And with a cross look they denied
Knowing not which law they abide in
Be it gin... sin... kin?
So they just play pretend
Yet where one man's
rainbow ends...
Another's begins
At least I've found mine...
Never stop trying
Or else face regrets
On the day of your dying
Yes, the times are getting better
They say tomorrow is the day
Maybe then we can live forever
Or at the very least
we can all live together
It sure sounds good –
that much I'll say
For when we live the dream
We may finally sleep in peace
Holding and protecting
What was once so out of reach
The times are getting better
They say tomorrow is the day
Yesterday is history
Time to let it slip away
Let it out, free yourself, it's okay
The times are getting better
They say tomorrow is the day
You built your wall...
now let it fall,
it's okay
The times are getting better
They say tomorrow is the day
For hope and faith
is what we need
The time is right
to take up this creed
Finally something positive
in which to believe
Aside from learning the obvious fact
That we all bleed
For once we have found
the eternal spring
We can sit back and see
what it will bring
Maybe countrymen, maybe kings...
Maybe even better things
The times are getting better
They say tomorrow is the day
Maybe then we can live forever
Or at the very least all together
It sure sounds good
At least that much I'll say
(3) FIELDS OF TIME
I've been growing up
And am slowly
becoming a man
I'm twenty- four years old
And doing the best that I can
I've got big dreams
But I've had to put them on hold
Thus the way it presently
looks to me
Is that my one true calling
might never be
As my big book of poetry
Just keeps on getting
dusty and old
And the people
who I am trying to help
They no longer trust in me
Gave up on waiting for me
To finally fulfill my destiny
Such a waste of a mind like mine
Wasting its time on carpentry
I've got to simply find the time
To collect up my rhymes
If it is still not too late
To change the world's fate
Because some of my stuff
is so great
Somebody has to publish me
Just look at all
the seeds I've sewn
Look and see how they've grown
Throughout the fields of time
It damn near blew my mind
That nearly all
the weeds are gone
Oh see the sun
and how it shines
Not a single cloud left in the sky
Now I don't mean
to sound so surprised...
If there's a God
then he or she knows
Just how hard I have tried
He or she sees the seas
I have swam
And knows all
the mountains I've climbed
Sees how much I have grown
Knows of all the tears
I have cried
Senses every fear that I hide
When no one cares that I am
Sitting here all alone
Pondering how to get
blood from a stone
But lately I have since
changed my tune
I now get to see
the flowers in bloom
Reaping the rewards
of years of hard work
On this lazy afternoon
Feeling the sun and all of its warmth
As if every month is
April, May or June
(4) RUNNING FREE
Do you remember what you were
Before the world told you
what you had to be?
Back in the haze of the days
A distant memory of running free
Then what happened to my mom and dad
It came calling for me
I ran for a while and tried to hide
But you see eventually…
Race baiting wars are waiting
For those who get scooped up in the media spin
A tidal wave of hate and fear
Still the celebrities, car wrecks
and sex keep you sucked in
Remember not everyone who smiles at you
really wants to be your friend
Sometimes it resides behind the eyes
another's true intent
For one might say
It's not how you play the game
It's whether you lose or win
Given time everything will change
What you red, your black, your white, your blues
Yeah that's what I said
So your destiny is yours to choose
Yet let too many voices in your head
And the one you'll lose belongs to you
It's alright to hide behind a lie
Yet if you dare share the truth
Hey baby, I'm your guy
Just one look into your eyes
Lacking fire - that's no surprise
If you sought out the flame of love
What exactly do you think you'd find?
The reason I speak of
Is I think it's time that you tried
Sometimes it seems that
sir is short for serpent
And miss for misses and mistakes
When the realities of all your dreams
Bring you nothing but heartbreak
And if that's the case
We can track and retrace
But we can't go back and erase
So let us relax and embrace
The fact that haste makes waste
The way in which we act we have got to face
Do you remember what you were
Before the world told you what you had to be?
Back in the haze of the days
A distant memory of running free
(5) NEW SIGHT
I got nowhere to go
I got no one to meet
I got no scene to show
Seems the scenery's bleak…
I got nothing to hide
I got nothing to steal
I got nothing left of value
Except for my glorious ideals…
(crowd cheers!)
I got no status symbols
I got no house, no kids, no car
I got no way to know where to go
Save for the sun, the moon, the stars
I got no anchor in my life
I got no chains to tie me down
I got no incentive to try to fly high
But to take in new sight and sound
I got not one single second
I'm willing to waste or give away – ay - ay
I have yet to fully catch my breath
Before I let that breath escape – ape – ape
So never could I cry out
Or scream as loud as I wanted to…
Yeah, and that's how species die out
Lost is everything - no more me; no more you…
(6) RIGHT BY SIGHT
I'm a yellow mellow fellow (Hello!)
Oh, you're right by sight I'm white (aight!)
But surely that's no guide
if it hides that inside I'm
A flesh and blood creature with a sell-by date
Trapped in something that I don't know what it is
So I don't know how to escape
Perhaps it's too late
Gotta trace fate
Without the playa hate
Still, hating the game is the same as before
If the rich despise the rich
then how do you think they feel about poor?
"We abhor the deplorable!"
It's a statement that's categorical
And undeniable but we know that there's not much
that isn't pliable, moveable and moldable
and even bendable, breakable and also uncontrollable
Which one am I and what is this?
To be tamed with a brain, a heart or a fist?
It's said circumstances
don't make the man they reveal him
But I'm down on this floor
staring up at the ceiling
Getting the shakes from these thoughts
that I'm feeling
Am I praying to something
or cursing at nothing
when asking for healing?
(7) OFF THE ROAD
I'm not changing my name...
And since I can't change my face
I'll still look the same...
But I'll be in a whole 'nother place
I'm changing my ways...
They might have got me this far
All this hard work has paid
It's not a dream I'm a star
I'm changing my place
And my role in this life
I know this time I can't wait
There's no doubt that I'm right
I'm changing my fate
The entire way I view the world
I found I don't need to escape
I said why run when you can hurdle?
Or at least dodge and jump around
So why did I ever try to hide?
Try to creep without sound
When everybody knows I don't lie
I'm changing my plan
To some new unknown
I tried to sit back and wait
For something great to unfold
But I have come to understand
This time I can't wait to be told
Sometimes in order to be a man
You've got to walk off the road…
(8) ROCK STAR DREAMS
I've been living for a legacy since seventeen
That's when music filled my head
with rock star dreams
I've been tightrope walking up against
the razor's edge of infinity
Since perception is just one's illusion of reality
It's not strange for my brain to change the scenery
Sure, they say the truth comes with a price
Sometimes you give more than just your life
Paying the ultimate sacrifice
You say you don't think twice
But we ALWAYS think twice…
I was craving
Retracing my past
There were things worth saving
I see that looking back
What now seems ancient
A newly uncovered artifact
I've been contemplating
How best to back track
What will be waiting?
A part of me's afraid to ask
I've been living to be a legend
Since the age of twenty seven
I'm always giving in to the present
That's the quickest way to get to heaven
Lately I've been debating
How much more blood we should keep bleeding
It's increasingly frustrating
Being forced to follow someone else's misleading
I've been growing nervous of everything I believe in
I don't wanna be led by rhyme I'd rather be led by reason
Like you, I'm still trying to find more of my kind
I keep hoping for a world that's fair…
We know it'll never be even
(9) PLANKTON
Confliction is my currency
Because you see I am made-up of bad energy
Ever since infancy
You filled me up with negativity
With hostility towards those not like me
And especially those just like me
Funny, only the average was safe
We know the middle's no place to escape
You only find your way there when you lose faith
Produce
Consume
Become numb to the hum of the vacuum
You're in the wrong line you realize
When it's not you who says
who does the do in do or die?
Yes... your allies have been compromised!
When it's time to imitate, you are the master
Yet can you innovate during a disaster?
Strapped in a maze you did not create
"I'm stuck in a bad copy"
You say as you drink your coffee
You think like Abraham, You're Linked In
Something else is the whale
while you're just the plankton
In this play, there's lots of action
And there you lay dead. Then you're not acting
Even you believe you're being wrapped in plastic
But at our best we are just energy,
frequency with a little bit of static
Still, you fall for their illusions
as they work their magic
Hocus pocus
You lose your focus
Before you get to try again
The results are tragic
(10) PERFECT WORLD
I've spent my whole life
Looking for what I can't see
For what will never be
As the only thing
that can set me free
Is an unknown memory
That somewhere lives
inside of me
Behind a locked door
Perhaps you hold the key?
This set pattern we follow
is just one of their lies
A world lacking communion
only me's and I's
Through competition our
brotherhood has been broken
As no one's acknowledged
these words that I've spoken
Everything, even people
filed by order and rank
Number one built the Titanic
And yet down it sank
There's still time left
to return these ideas
you've been sold
Rise up in rebellion,
could you be so bold?
The whole world's a fight
I can't get no peace
My mind gets disrupted
When it's at ease
The sun and I awake as one
Though it's not my first choice
I'd prefer to sleep in late
I wish I had a voice
Some say if winning
isn't everything then
why keep score?
Those same people
send other mother's
sons to war
I could be like you
or maybe someone else
One step towards them
and one away from myself
Sometimes they see me
and ask me "How I feel?"
I respond,
"Like a hamster
on a rusty wheel"
If you feel trapped like a rat
in this world so cold
Rise up in rebellion,
could you be so bold?
The whole world's a fight
I can't get no peace
My mind gets disrupted
When it's at ease
Watching the sunset
Is a long forgotten art
Feet so busy walking
Separate from the heart
The brokers in their
suits and ties
walking down Wall Street
The ones with their
diamond watches
and their hair so neat
They get so stressed out
playing all their
Wall Street games
Go home and
yell at their wives
forget their own kids' names
All for the love of money
and nothing more
If they call that rich
then you can call me poor
If they tell you the lie
"all that glitters is gold"
Rise up in rebellion,
could you be so bold?
The whole world's a fight
I can't get no peace
My mind gets disrupted
When it's at ease
When was the last time
You noticed the moon?
I'm surprised
You've forgotten so soon
As I climb up the mountains
and float over the sea
I find myself alone
and contented
alive and free
No need to look
at my watch
or punch a clock
And I actually
notice my feet
when I go for a walk
It could be like this
if enough people believe
Just as the wind
blows a flower
I'm planting my seed
There's so much more
than what you've been told
Rise up in rebellion
could you be so bold?
(11) LINEAR
Way, way back…
During my younger days
When the picture was abstract
Oh, how the times have changed
All those colored paints
Have changed to black and white
I used to begin my day with play
Now that play has to wait 'til night
I have friends who never play at all
Or when they can… it's just pretend
They only look up to check the clock
Like they're afraid it's gonna fall off the wall
Well I guess I'm just one of those guys
Who if you looked out from my eyes
You'd see in straight lines
Since I never had nor wanted a prime
I can never say I'm too old and gray
To ever stop what I'm doing and go hide away
Since I could never say with any truth
Maybe I should retire?
Maybe it's time for me to be quiet?
Maybe my work here is really through…
Nah, I don't think that's something
That I'll ever do
That would make too many people mad
Others would be left confused…
I can never say
I'm too over the hill
To ever lay down
and let time break my will
Know I'm not the kinda guy
who'd go leaving on a lie
Swore not to do it again
after I tried it one time…
I can never say I'm too old and gray
To ever stop what I'm doing
'til my last breath fades…away.
(12) LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Today is the day
I know that I will make it
When I was cast from the mold
Who would know that I'd break it?
In bitter fits of jealousy
There are those who can't take it
Pretend to walk in my shoes
When they know that they fake it
Be yourself don't try to be me
Open the door that'll set you free
My pen name Bob Dylan Junior is gone
I've stepped into the shoes
of a man named Tom
A poet, a writer, who dabbles in song
And learns from the masters
What he's known all along
Since I am a poet
I will fight you only with my pen
I'll drag your name through the mud
And then drag it through again
There's no need for fists
For fighting only leaves you bruised
I've learned that paper cuts never heal
When everybody has heard the news
When made known is your reputation
Then I win and you lose
Since I am a poet
I will try my very best
To separate myself from all others
And try to stand above the rest
Searching for what
hasn't yet been written
Though there's not much
that Dylan left
Be yourself don't try to be me
Open the door that'll set you free
My pen name Bob Dylan Junior is gone
I've stepped into the shoes
Of a man named Tom
A poet, a writer, who dabbles in song
And learns from the masters
What he's known all along
(13) ANOTHER QUARTER
When I am alone
And all by myself
Sometimes I begin
To fill up full of self-doubt
Fills my head
I can't get it out
And what's within me
I could live without it
Depression closes my eyes…
Like sleeping
When I feel like life…
Has passed me by
I break down inside…
Start weeping
Yet thoughts of wasted time…
Won't relieve this cry
The tears I spill…
Are now seeping
Down below the earth…
They'll soon reside
Soothing this malaise…
That's been creeping
I've looked up and down
And left and right
I've gone out searching
In the middle of the night
I have spent my days
Just wandering around
And I'm still looking
For what I haven't found
I searched for
What I sought to find
Found the fruit
Couldn't get it off the vine
So I climbed
And climbed and climbed
I've tried and tried
But can't get it off of my mind
When I am alone
And all by myself
Sometimes I begin
To fill up full of self-doubt
Fills my head
I can't get it out
And what's within me
I could live without it
I just want to make my mark
Before I lose this spark
And the room gets dark
Then the game is over
Then I'm sure I'd love
To play again
Or else it seems like
Such a waste, such a sin
Ladies and gentlemen
You've all become
My special friends
Hopefully we've got something
Greater to discover…