1. SET LIST FOUR (4)

  2. 1 Married To Something Else………...35

  3. 2 Watering the Weeds

  4. 3 Rest In Peace…………….37

  5. 4 Downward Spiral

  6. 5 Rat Park……………..38

  7. 6 Rehab

  8. 7 Something In My Genes……...41

  9. 8 Alcohol

  10. 9 Empty Bottle…………….43

  11. 10 My Best Friends……………...44

  12. 11 Old Friends…………..44

  13. 12 Let Me Live the Dream …….46




MARRIED TO SOMETHING ELSE

You watch him come stumbling through the door

Find yourself wondering if you can take it anymore

The wedding ring bonds until death does part

But what’s on your finger is not in your heart


After ten years it’s still the same

While the love is gone

The smell of whiskey still remains


You know you can’t let him drag you down

That’s why some nights you live in another town

You dream of a future where you are free

Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be


You stare at the door until he comes home

Thinking your happiest days are spent alone

Its tugging at your heart it replays in your mind

When he’s sober he’s one of a kind

But that only happens about half of the time


After ten years it’s still the same

While the love is gone

The smell of whiskey still remains

You know you can’t let him drag you down

That’s why some nights you live in another town

You dream of a future where you are free

Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be


It’s never too late for another start

Age doesn’t matter when it concerns the heart

You know you can’t let him drag you down

That’s why some nights you live in another town

You dream of a future where you are free

Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be


It’s time to say your peace and pray a little prayer

To hope he’ll make it on his own when you’re not there

Then maybe he’ll take a look down inside himself

And realize he’s married to something else....


WATERING THE WEEDS

There are no more secrets

No more trying to hide what you know is true

And you better believe it

There’s no more denying to yourself

No use left in lying to everybody else

Self-crucifying…that’s exactly what you do

Jesus Christ!

Yeah, he did it, too


What game is left to play?

When you can’t play pretend?

Just what do you say?

When you know it’s the end?


This crippling disease has taken its toll

Will never heal, can never mend

Will never be whole

No escaping the demons that have taken control

Show me a man who has lost his strength

I’ll show you a man who has lost his soul

And once you’ve lost the love

Then that’s the end…it’s time to go


While you’ve been praying for salvation

I’ve been thinking about

All the time you’ve been wasting


Seems this madness never stops

In your mind you flip then flop

Riding a broken down Merry-Go-Round

Wondering when you’re gonna get off?


When will you realize that…

We’ve all just one life to live

You’ve got your fingers and your toes

In the cracks of the dam

As you find you’re running out of hands

And it’s still leaking like a sieve

You had better back away

‘Cause pretty soon something’s gonna give


When will you realize that…

You’re better off alone

You can’t get blood from a stone

When’s he coming home?

Don’t you think that’s a bit too soon?

You truly are your mother’s child

If you believe this rose is going to bloom


Perhaps it’s time to grab the weed wacker

For your little secrets can stab like jabbing thorns

Like how many times he’s really smacked ya

There are no excuses left for you to use

By now you know that you’ve been warned


Time to turn off the hose

And stop watering the weeds

There’s already few too many flowers

Is this what the world really needs?


REST IN PEACE

When the flames rose up

I watched my house burn down

As everything I had

Lay smoldering on the ground


Yet I wasn't sad

For me and my cats got out

But I got this sinking feeling

That there was something else....


I walked over to the lawn

Began rummaging around

That's when I remembered

My ears didn't hear the sound


Of a piercing shriek

Yelling at me to wipe my feet

Saying wash your hands twice

Before you come touching me...


Oooooh.....

that's right.....

Oooops....

she must have been asleep...


So when someone asks me,

"How's my wife?"

I say, "May she rest in peace"


DOWNWARD SPIRAL

I've got something on my mind

so I better just say it

I hear the music in my heart

but I just can't play it

I feel good inside but I can't explain it


I don't mind when people cry

I don't mind when it's raining

I don't mind when most people die

At least they stop their complaining


I've been led by many people, places and things

There's just so much out there in which to believe



I've loved many people and then

had to cut my strings

Just to end up watching

each of them leave


Have to go and plant another seed

Go and find something to fill the void

For idle time is the devil's toy

For sometimes being alone

Is worse than being unemployed


Sometimes you're Siegfried

Sometimes you're the tiger

And sometimes you're Roy


High above

An angel cries

And down below

Even storms have eyes

What grows in me

I now despise

Deep inside

another man dies


Blood clot...........

Gunshot

It's all the same

Heartache......

A big mistake

Just part of the game


Weeds growing wild

A saddened child

Just who is to blame?

Another birthday cake

Wear black at the wake

We're so glad you came


It's a vicious cycle

You better stay on your toes

It's a downward spiral

It comes and goes...


RAT PARK

Like the town witch on fire

I’ve become a social pariah

I have lost my desire

To climb up any higher


There’s an energy vampire

Now standing right beside ya

There’s lots to know that you can’t see

Until you crack the code

or else find the key


I was in rough shape

Looking for an escape

Started feeling sick

Must be time to get fixed




Look inside to see what’s broken

Hoping it’s not a hopeless situation

And that I really am worth saving


Since copping is not coping

When stopping isn’t an option

Oh how can I regain my focus?


It seems we cling to our vices

In major times of crisis

And when we’re feeling isolated

Day by day we’re being sedated


In a state of constant bereavement

Because we’ve failed to have our needs met

Hence our only sense of achievement

Is when we depart this world and leave it


Often it is fleeting and lost after a moment

Though you’re taking a beating

you try your best not to show it


It was when my world was dark

I made some friends at rat park

They said that I could stay there

That there were lots of fun games to play there


In lofts, down slides and on wheels we play

Oh no more boring lonely days

I’ve been growing stronger no longer do I crave

Of thinking, drinking or sleeping away the day


Yeah, some get lost and some get saved

Others find themselves getting thrown away

Some are still searching even after all these days

You either make your escape or become one with the maze


Remember if God grants wishes

To all those who kneel and pray

That means that somewhere there’s

A fallen angel waiting to have his day


REHAB

Sometimes I need a good talking to

To set my mind at ease

It's not always good for you

Doing just what you please



When the door is locked

You just need the right keys

Stop peaking through the keyhole

Get up off your knees


Just a glimpse of the whole

Will never do

With the door barred and chained

It's so hard to get through





Like a deer in headlights

Your feet stick like glue

Denial is just another lie

That you believe is true


Yeah...

I've been sedated

My head played with

Medicated

Regulated

And every word they said dictated

I've been questioned and I stated

That everything good I had I've traded

With every step I've walked been baited

A life like mine you begin to hate it


Well, the doctor's in

And he'll take your money

Then when you're not looking

He'll call you funny...

Names behind your back


The nurses are in on it I got a hunch

See their crooked smiles

While they're serving lunch....

Their white gowns

Should be striped with black


You gotta pay the bills

That'll pay for all the pills

They say will cure your ills

While they're raking in the mils


They locked him in the closet

And then they lost the key

Twenty years later

When they finally found it

They finally set him free


Though he looked much older

He looked okay to me

Though he acted much colder

Like we all expected him to be


Rehab - you never come out

The way you came in

Rehab - Get drunk off words

When they take your gin

Rehab - You'll never be the same

Rehab - you'll never go there again


When he gets home he has a drink

Passes out at the kitchen sink

Though his liver's fine his mind is bloated

Just one drink and his head exploded


Rehab - you never come out

The way you came in

Rehab - Get drunk off words

When they take your gin

Rehab - You'll never be the same

Rehab - you'll never go there again


SOMETHING IN MY GENES

I've got the life juice

Flowing inside me...

Sometimes

Other times

It's been denied from me


I think that depression

Is starting to kick in

Gotta find myself a room

And get checked in...

Quick!


Gotta get it together

Or else just keep on getting sick

Boy I'm in the mix

Into getting my fix

Fu$% being rich!

I'm just another hypocrite

Who talks and talks

But it's just more sh$%


So you learn to live with it

Become a walking regret

Or else a song-writing poet

Boy life sucks

Don't you know it?


I'm a druggie

I'm an alki

I'm a nicotine fiend


I'm a loser

An abuser

Do you know what I mean?


What I've done

Can't be undone

Oh, the things I've seen


This monkey on my back weighs a ton

A weight so heavy I cannot out run

There must be something in my genes


This monkey on my back weighs a ton

A weight so heavy I cannot out run

There's always something in my jeans


Just as the sun comes up

My head goes down

I pick up the paper

And then I put it down


I may waste my life

But at least it's just my own

You won't read about

Any killing sprees from me

When you get home




I may be on page fifty-six

Another kid, another lesson

Another druggie looking for his fix

Wrong place, wrong time

Got bagged for possession


In the home of the brave

And the land of the free

You get to choose

Your own obsession


I'm a druggie

I'm an alki

I'm a nicotine fiend


I'm a loser

An abuser

Do you know what I mean?


What I've done

Can't be undone

Oh, the things I've seen


I've always got something

To write about

I always find myself in a tunnel

In which I can't get out


As the light keeps getting

Dimmer in the distance


Every night I'm on the card

For the heavyweight bout

I once was strong

But now I'm beginning

To have my doubts


I think I may be in need

Of some assistance


ALCOHOL

I am a victim though I feel like a hero

You make me feel like number one yet I'm a zero

All this you put me through and still I go back to you

What is wrong with me? Why can't you let me be?


I saw you once and then I saw you twice

Now I see you all the time

When everything is said and done

I'm the one who pays the price

You never treated me kind


I had to descend from the highest mountains

Just to come back to earth

I climbed up the slopes of the valleys

For what any of it is worth


Still I come back to you after all that you put me through

You and I walked hand in hand and I picked you up when you fell

I thought you were my ticket to heaven and still I landed here in hell



Our conversations were one-sided…I never tried to hide it

You've never given me good advice

Still I come back to you

When everything is said and done… I'm the one who pays the price


Every time I try to stay away you cross my path nearly everyday

I fight so hard to walk a straight line

I fight so hard to leave you behind

Once false step and I'm back again and no further on then where I began

Still I come back to you after all that you put me through


What is wrong with me? Why won't you let me be?


EMPTY BOTTLE

I know you're thinking

Pondering tomorrow

I finally quit drinking

Drowning in my sorrow

Saved myself from sinking

I put down the bottle

When it started leaking

Some things you only borrow

So I know what you're seeking

Who do you lead...whom do you follow?

We both know of what I'm speaking

What do you need and what is hollow?

Do you see your reflection

In an empty bottle?


You don't know where you’re going

Only God knows where you’ve been

But the river keeps on flowing

And the part of you unknowing

Always goes wading on in


Signs read danger, don't fall in

Or you don't know the trouble you're in

Water so sweet it tastes just like gin

Take a dip and be baptized

In the pool of sin


Yet this path you walk

Wasn't chosen all on your own

As the thoughts you think are so deceiving

Everyday drifting farther from home

Now you regret the day you thought of leaving


The hard stuff's in the freezer

The 30 pack's in the fridge

The troubles of the world are building

Which way to the bridge?


You don't know where you’re going

Only God knows where you’ve been

But the river keeps on flowing

And the part of you unknowing

Always goes wading on in






Signs read danger, don't fall in

Or you don't know the trouble you're in

Water so sweet it tastes just like gin

Take a dip and be baptized

In the pool of sin


I know you're thinking

Pondering tomorrow

I finally quit drinking

Drowning in my sorrow

Saved myself from sinking

I put down the bottle

When it started leaking

Some things you only borrow

So I know what you're seeking

Who do you lead...whom do you follow?

We both know of what I'm speaking

What do you need and what is hollow?

Do you see your reflection

In an empty bottle?


MY BEST FRIENDS

One day at a time

Step by step

Suck toxins down

With every breath

In my time of weakness

I was never all alone

I despise the day

Tobacco seeds were sewn

Hand in hand

Right by my side

And when we went

Our separate ways

A part of me died

My twenty little friends

Though small in size

Became my foes

Whom I now despise

When the truth is clear

They kill you slow

There’s no pleading ignorance

When everybody knows


OLD FRIENDS

It looks like

I’m stuck inside the house again

Because I said goodbye

To all of my party friends


Going straight

can be so tough

When I’m alone

it’s especially rough





That is why I write for you

It really kills the time thinking up rhymes

After all that I’ve been through

If you listen up then I can save you some time


I’ve written stoned

I’ve written sauced

But I had trouble

Getting my point across


While trying to find myself

I often got lost

But with the devil gone

Now I’m the boss


The liquor store’s

It’s still open

My dealer

He’s still smokin’

Only one call away

I could ease my mind

Get a little number

That’s why I took his number

And I threw it away

Before I throw it all away


Girls who’ve been with me

They always forced me to choose

Now every one of them is history

And I’m the one left singing the blues


Anytime I hear about old friends

It’s only been bad news

Something like, “Hey, he’s in jail”

“Can I borrow some money for bail?”


I’d ask how he got there

They answered the cops found all the clues


The men in blue arrived at his house…

And started asking questions

Smelled something funny…

So he got bagged for possession


When he goes to church

He should ask god for repentance

The last time he got called into the station

Judge gave him probation

With a two-year suspended sentence


The list goes on and on

And it keeps getting worse

All my friends are hexed

I had to cross my name

Off of the list

Before I was next







For this black cloud hanging over me

It’ll follow me for two years

Before I am free

And if my probation officer I don’t see

I’ll sleep for the next six months

Inside a correctional facility


LET ME LIVE THE DREAM

I woke up… My mind was racing

When my feet hit the floor… they soon started pacing

Craving the apple I was once tasting

Footsteps to the past I began retracing

Running from old enemies I once was facing

All the while believing I was escaping


I never show my weakness even when I am breaking up inside

The only thing stronger than my ego is my foolish sense of pride


Sometimes I sacrifice all I've made

To live within a lie

The only cross to which I'm bound

Is burning me alive


Oh my, my, my, my... let me live the dream

Of escaping the demons... alive and unseen


From the blaring whispers of compulsion

Very few mortals can hide

Freedom is just another word for failure

For all those who have lost when they've tried


For the key to unlocking the mind is different

To each be them young or old

In trying to reach what they're searching for

Yet have never been able to hold


Oh my, my, my, my... let me live the dream

Of escaping the demons... alive and unseen


I tried staying with my own kind

I tried swimming within my own mind

But so slowly the path unwinds

Though I keep following what I hope to find

Even when life looks grave as you're running out of time


Could reality ever match my dream?

Will this nightmare ever end?

Will a new day ever begin?

Can I learn to make myself whole again?

To live without and change within?


Oh my, my, my, my...

let me live the dream

Of escaping the demons...

alive and unseen


Out of sight can mean out of mind

Yet what I am running from is never far behind

Once distant memories now mirror the present

As the shadowless clock has stopped telling time



No, you can't escape the voices

Echoing inside of your ear

As thoughts become desires

Speaking all too loud and clear


Although you may bow your head

While pretending not to hear

When the calming silence is gone

You know what is there


Oh my, my, my, my...

let me live the dream

Of escaping the demons...

alive and unseen