as the world (reissue)
"As the World"

I'm stretching my ears they're open and not withstanding
To rhythmic syncopation, harmonic dissonance
I move to a groove that will never stop swinging
And I sing to a song that never ends
I'm pushing my brain to think a little harder
To learn from the simple and question the complex
If logic and reason are the gods that you follow
Then you'll drown in your soul's emptiness

It's too easy to "be in" with a platform
It's too easy to know what to say
It's harder to sit when everyone else is standing
To shake your head as the world just nods away

I'm raising my voice to shout a little louder
To answer your questions and ease the tension
In my argument arrogance has no friend
And I hate to be cushioned in a fight

It's too easy to "be in" with a hair style
It's to easy to go with the flow
It's hard to see through a haze of popularity
To shake your head as the world just nods away

Fever high, blind man clapper
Flag-waving monkey man
Never hear past own mouth flappin'
All the answers, palm of your hand

Herd mover platform weaver
Change topic, slight of hand
Issue bender, big speech giver
Power tie, and photo tan

Ray: Fashions and fads a fictitious flirtation the foremost foundation to fit in
Brett: Fashions and fads a flirting the foremost foundation fit it
Chris: Fashions fads flirting foremost to fit in

Ray: It's talk at the table the TV and tabloids the telephone trivia and talk show trash
Brett: Talk at the table and tabloids telephone trivia talk show trash
Chris: Talk at the table trivia talk show trash

Sometimes we get caught up in making the right impression
Is the commission really worth the sale that we pitch?
I'm not really big on justifying intentions
If it's good then let it grow
On its own we'll soon be rich

Turning as the world
Turn a turn around turn around turn around
Watch as the world turns around

It's too easy to "be in" on the new wave
It's too easy to know how to play
It's harder to "be in" for the sake of your own being
To shake your head as the world just nods away

"Uncle"

Mother do you mind if I sleep in today?
There's a boy on the corner who likes to pick on me
He knows the places I hide...I can't get away
He likes to see me cry, so he knocks me down again

Finger points at my chest, bad breath in my face
Hits me like his father would hit him
Try to run if I could...I can't get away
It's not like what's under my bed

I feel like a Charlie Brown look-alike
Look like a polyester king
In my new suit from Arties, that's right in town
My dress shoes from Acme never fit
He called me a goofy geek choir boy
Catholic school freckled little twerp
Black frames they hang on my pudgy cheeks
Pants hoisted up in case of flood

All I hear is mother's voice saying this is not how I raised you
Over and over again making my head spin like a little top
A corrective hand, the punishment
This time I've got sentenced to my room
Why can't they see I didn't start this one
But I'll take all the blame again and I don't know why!

Why, Why Why?

What if I told you I was sorry?
Would you drop the strap and let me have dessert?
I'd even take the plate out of my pants
So you won't hurt your hand
Let me come down from my room let me speak
I think that I've sat long enough
I think that I've thought long enough

I owe myself this walk outside today
The world is not as big as I today

Mother do you mind...I'm feeling awfully brave
I want to hear you say...say it for myself
Say it now...I can't hear you
Now is here right now...it's my turn now

My mornings are more carefree
I don't have to look over my shoulder
I breathe a little easier now my conscience is free
I am what I told you

"How Long I Have Waited"

One angry gesture provoked by hate
One friendly favor considered too great
One gracious smile looked upon as fake
Have I become too jaded?

Too many critics defame and deface
"Two can't accomplish what one will replace."
To be idealistic you're always saving face
Another ego deflated

To whom do I owe favors and to what do I belong?
On which fine line must I balance to remain headstrong?


My 3-D glasses helped images soar
My three point baskets helped even the score
Three tries for perfect I'm left with no more
How quickly life becomes out-dated

The alter ego the place where we go
Another person opens up inside
A drive's that's instinct to act more than think
Nothing more than a place to hide

For years I have wondered how hard should I try?
Now four years later I think I know why
Fortune smiles on those who never say die
How long I have waited...

"Best Regards"

Thank you ahead of time
For taking a moment to remember
I hope that inside you there is still a part of me
And it fills you up with joy

These are my "nows" and your "yesterdays"
Here are the days of your days past
I can't say I know you like you have known me
But still, I send my best regards

I've left you some songs and by then some faded pictures
Do we still agree?
Have the years changed your point of view?
Will you raise a glass to toast me and my tenet?
After all I've done to be you?


Have you found time to raise some children?
I'm still waiting to grow up
Have all my efforts paid off, come through?
I sincerely pray they do

Make you, more than me
I give you all I am

I am for now
What I am today
Can you see that I am
What I am today?
So I say...

Goodbye for now
I'm sure we'll stay in touch
Thanks again for your time
I can't say I know you like you have known me
But still, I send my best regards

"The Cheese Stands Alone"

I've been Banana'd, Cabaret'd, stuffed in a truck for days
Leathered out, flannel'd in, paid to play, thought we'd win
The talent show that would break the band
Wrote the words that hit the fan
Flogged and prog'd, revival'd to death
Released and reviewed and signed with the best!

Leave me out, I've had my fill
Stand on my own, I've been through it all


I've been AOR'd, alternadised, heavy-metal'd, acousticised
Pickled to an amber hue and never lied to me or you
To get ahead or create a vibe, for sympathy to romanticize
How hard it is to rock 'n roll
To be a pawn or gain control

It seems that lately we've become quite the target
Dodging verbal traffic, oh the fun of it
Our job is now writing, performing, and enduring
And I'd have to be lying if I denied loving it (shake it down)

I love it, I eat it, I starve it then I feed it
It spins my head and moves my toes
You can smell the beat it tickles my nose
It fills my gut and gets my goat
It sinks my ship and floats my boat
Don't let it take you out too far
Or change the you, you really are

Step up and see the band
Play favorites from one night stands
A resume of four golden years
When the cheese stood alone
So heigh-ho the dairy-o
I'm tickled pink and don't you know
To love the things we plant and grow
Is a treasure hard to find

Looking back my credit was never shaky
I may have burned a few bridges here and there
Looking back I've seen the serpent and his offer
The weasel in his hole, the leech on the wound
The sly old cat wants the rat
The rat he aims to please
But back and forth they never see
The cheese stands alone
So heigh-ho the dairy-o
I'm tickled pink and don't you know
To love the things we plant and grow
Is a treasure hard to find

Looking back I can't help but look forward
There's so much life, there's so much more
Everyone has so much to offer
You're crazy to ignore it, you're crazy not to try

"A Short Essay"

I've been given a chance to put my hand in my head
To pay with a coin and throw the slug into the gutter
Pay any way you choose but just remember
We're not alone in knowing our decisions

Fall dead south to the burning river
Or sail up north, yours is paradise
When all is done and you meet with your forgiver
Will you look away when you see all you are?

Exposed in a light complete we stand alone naked
Unveiling our shadows in brilliance

I was wrong to think the promise I made at thirteen
wouldn't make any difference
I wake up with a smile, dress myself in the same clothes
Only difference, this time it's for me

You sit at the table
We all feed off the center until there's nothing left
Break it if you're able
With the bones we've left behind I made a wish
I kept it to myself 'til now
I kept it to myself 'til now

Raise a little Cain when Abel turns away
Jekyll would be dead if Hyde had his way
Every Grinch can find true meaning
All your moves are up to you

On our right always waiting never begging for more
There's a friend for the moments we need him
On our left always wanting to even the score
There's a friend who will sell us our every desire...

"My Dear Wormwood"

My Dear Wormwood I'm pleased with your progress
I hear your patient is feeling doubt and is slipping
He's falling from grace at a nice even pace

My Dear Wormwood I'm delighted to hear
Your patient's made some new friends
We've checked them they're all clear
They're worldly, intelligent, and cynically secure

My Dear Nephew don't hurry your patient
You may awaken him to his real position
Let him think that his actions don't matter at all

The infernal police have informed me
you're patient's leaning towards the other side
You've got to bring us back some food Wormwood
or become food yourself

I've enclosed a booklet for incentive
On the new "House of Corrections for Incompetent Tempters"
You'll find every page to be far from dull

And in a moment you've let a soul slip through your fingers
I can hear the howl of sharpened famine
For it's loss echoes on and on through the kingdom of noise
There was a clearing of his eyes
and he knew what you had in him
We now have nothing! Oh the degradation of it!

My Dear Wormwood My Dear Dear Wormwood
I think the high command will give me a piece of you
I feel anxious to see you, I long to embrace you

Poppet fool, hunger drool
Ravenous for swine infernal
Forever damned serve your sentence
In eternal hell!

"Entry 11.19.03"

I've left behind all my mistakes
Drawn like a map to find me
Here's a chance to relive my life
I'll stay right here - it's peaceful
Since I've signed away all of my time
That's all I have anymore
I wait for the mail or someone to call
To take me away, I'm in the mood

How soon we forget, I have no regret

I don't remember, they won't let me forget
My birthday suit is wrinkled
I sit by my window tied to this chair
They've turned off my set, it's quiet time

How soon we forget, I have no regret

No one could touch me in my prime
I was Fred Astaire to the ladies
I was Errol Flynn, as Robin Hood, for myself
With my band of men, we'd be off again
I would give anything to be young like that
If only for a day
The mail was late again today
I can't shake this chill
I'm tired
I won't give in
It's not my style
Tomorrow buys me one more try

How soon we forget, I have no regret

"One For The Show"

We wade in and out, this span is but a blink
Slow to step but real sure to move on
And on and on
Slow to step but sure

I see my old grays are all now black and white
The fence that I sat on could only be wrong or right
Wrong or right
All my grays are black and white

I always thought I knew me best
All my turns were drivable
But as I see my life before me I am exposed
Accounting what's accountable

As the world shakes it on down
Some learn to dance and others just drown
I can see that now, see it now
The world will shake you down

It all comes back in waves
Every scrap of thought in detail
Every second of every day is so familiar
It seems like only yesterday

I...
Rode around the block on two wheels for the first time
Played tag in the dark and stayed up all night
Saw lightening bugs and sparklers dance madly in the evening
Felt so young I could jump the moon

It's all before me now
I'm the one, I'm the one, I am the one for the show

We ride the flow of momentum we make
We rise to fall and fall to rise
Slow to step, slow to step
We ride the flow we wake

I built in the sand
Stole my first kiss
Was king of the hill
Rode my bike with no hands

One for the all the money
One for the show
One to get ready
And one to go


Paid with a coin
From my polyester pocket
Threw the slug
Back into the gutter

"Audio Verité"

Could you point me to the nearest trend?
I'm lost with no clue
I could change direction to stay with the current
All depends on the flow

I could stand in the middle and never have to worry
If I don't have to make the choice
What if I said it first?
Then you'd compare them all to me
And I'd stand like no one else

You think too much
Relax
You'll understand
It's hard to make them come to life
They all look good on paper


I'm nothing if I can't be curious
So I question everything
If I gave you direction to point you on your way
You won't find what I've found

Promise me that you'll be there
In sickness and in health
Promise me that you'll be there
For richer or for poorer

Spoon fed hold your hand
Nose ring blind on blind


To have the chance is all I ask
To be part of the whole
If I stood on your shoulder
And whispered in your ear
Truth is you still won't hear

Promise me that you'll be there
In sickness and in health
Promise me that you'll be there
For richer or for poorer

"Settled Land"

It used to be so romantic
But sometimes the luster gets lost and abused
It's good to find time to remember
All that we've done, the things we've been through

Please don't try to change or alter
Or stake a claim on settled land
We've been here before the grass became green
When the sound was new


I like to keep well rooted
When the anchor runs deep
You know the base never bends
Away from the you you believe in
Once you lose touch you begin to pretend

What used to bring fond memories
Leaves me now with no desire
The deeper this disease will spread
Thinner will our face appear
When after all is spent and done
Do you still think the choice you've made
Has been the right one?
I never thought I'd feel this way
For something for so long

I'm a whore for punishment
My time spent in purgatory
Hero or idiot just depends on
How you look at it

Settling for something less
Is like giving up on your last breath
Worn too thin to give advice
That no one needs to hear
I'd trade off all my privacy
For this dream 'til now has frightened me
I push to get, to give, to grow
To keep our will from suffering

You pull in the reins I'll bite the bit
Toss my head and throw you
You force the chord that never fits
I'll break the staff that holds it

Come on and tell me, tell me how to be
Go on and show me, show me what to see


Come on down you've got nothing to fear
It's a plain simple fact we all float down here!

I've seen Wickersham Brothers and Beezle Nut Oil
They'd love to try to boil you
Taggarts, Tooheys, Healots galore
Swearing "We'll never screw you."

When forever comes down to cover
Points a and b and all that's between
It's the stuff in the middle that matters
It moves you, it makes you
It is your whole being

Please don't try to change or alter
Or stake a claim on settled land
We've been here before the grass becomes green
When the sound was new
Before deals were dealt and pie was cut
When doors were ours to open and shut
But still the game's there to be played...or not

"A Habit Worth Forming"

So delicate is she
Her coffee freckled skin
A distraction I'd prefer over nervous conversation

I'd like to trace my name
In the sweat upon her chest
She'd smile and draw me in
That's all I'd ever need

So close, cold feet, can't speak, not yet

Shy, childlike in nature
Offering herself
Offering herself as you please

I don't want to make the wrong impression
But I can't hold this in
How I'd like to get over this problem
Would you help me?


A woman waits for me
As a part of myself
As a part of myself
I can't deny

"Never The Same"

WWhat can I say?
What can I do you for you?
Some are here for but a moment
Then are taken in an instant to eternity
Remember life and what's been shared with you
That you have shared

It's funny how we feel closer
With the ones that we love
When they're farthest away
You can feel them so near
Just 'round the corner the memory still clear

"Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I did not die."
I say to you I will see you again
On the other side someday


"There's never endings only discovery,"
I tell myself over and over again
Some leave their mark in our hearts then go

It's hard to continue onward
When forever comes down it comes down so heavy
Too final to forget
You've got to believe there's something more

After the song is over
The dance goes on, so dance away
When all is said and done
Remember what's been given, not taken away
But you struggle and you strain
As the undertow pulls you down


The years will spare the rod and soften the hardest blow
...but I am never the same
With time comes a certain fading and erasing
...but I am never the same

In each man
There lies a start that has no end
A means to be more
A light that shines in its own special way


Left with cold distance
I'll always be with you
We weather the cycle
I'll always be there
So fragile to balance
Too potent to harness
Life charges past the mortal in man

Remember all the life you shared every day
There's never any endings
...but I'll never be the same


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