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Train your brain
Train your brain
and feed your head
that's what I learned about life
because it's what they said
it's ok to watch 'em blow us up
they show it on tv
but when we're doing the killing
they don't want you to see
they tell us why the people bombed our buildings
say they don't like to be free
as if it's really all that simple
you must be out of your tree
if we don't like the way you run things
preemptive war from our side
yet the ones who sign the fattest contracts
are always first to hide
they sit in comfort and convenience
drink from a silver cup
they meet and plot and plan an unprovoked
war while they divide it up
train your brain
and feed your head
that's what I learned about life
that's what the people said
and someone's always getting richer
as they decide our fate
keep the masses in a grip of fear
and teach them all to hate
you have no qualms about your meddling
in someone else's affairs
so long as all your asshole buddies
can get the biggest shares
but just imagine for a second
if they had done it to us
came in and took away your president
and put you all on a bus
you say we're fighting for their freedom
but we don't have it at home
you locked away a lot of innocent people
while you're still free to roam
train your brain
and feed your head
that's what I learned about life
that's what the people said
And now you talk about religion
say you're appointed by god
you stand up there pontificating
while they just sit there and nod
but let me ask you one question
and then I'll let you go
how'd you manage to convince them all
I guess we'll never know
Train your brain
and feed your head
that's all they taught me 'bout life
that's all the people said
november, 2004
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untitled
i went and messed it up again, i shoulda known better than to walk that way
everybody told me i was looking for trouble if i didn't need to be there then i shouldn'a stayed
but just like everyone else i'm making up dumb excuses for my stupid behavior
i never said i listen to my own advice let alone come across acting like a savior
this time i think i'm in trouble -let my own sense of direction get away from me
i just try and hold on but i lose control -head spinning so fast that i can't even see
and when i looked back up thinking you were gonna be there for me just like you'd always been
i had to come to grips with the fact that you'll never see me and i'll never see you again
i'm feeling such a loss and an aching in my heart that i can't tell anyone about
so i go around telling them pretty much exactly what they expect me to spout
listen to my heart and i get in deeper, i listen to my head i'm not satisfied
there's a delicate balance in the universe, keep it somewhere right in the middle she said and died
this girl gave me so much i could never lose all the times that we had together
walking on the busy streets hearing all kinds of languages going thru all kinds of weather
suddenly she went away and there's nothing that can bring her back cuz she's really gone
it's tough when you have to face up to fear but she was my foundation to stand upon
and i think about all the time when i'm lost and i'm so confused about the world today
i know that if i called her up there she'd tell me not to worry and she'd know the right words to say
there was nothing that could ever make me forget about her, and i knew this from the start
cuz the girl's inside my soul and she's never gonna leave my mind or escape my heart....
so if you got someone in your life right now that really gets inside your soul
take it to limit cause you never know how much time you'll have til they're ready to roll
it might be tomorrow might be today so it shouldn't upset you when they go away
make it all worth while when you got the time like my favorite girl used to always say
words and music by joe herbert
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one night
i started a joke
and she began to cry
she saw the look on my face
i saw the look in her eye
i knew right then i was in trouble
there was no hiding the smirk
but then i thought of a good one
said i had to go to work
i try to stay out of trouble
try to avoid a fight
but sometimes trouble surrounds me
it all can change in a night
i walked in late once too often
too many times i've been bad
i think i should have maybe thought about this
considered what i had
so look i realize you caught me
i had my hand in the till
but then you never really faught me on it
i wonder when you will
(so we can uh...talk about it later..)
>right to chorus
i try and stay out of trouble
you're absolutely right
i shouldn't take you for granted
i won't put up a fight
i try and stay out of trouble
there's no denying you're right
i risked it all and lost big time
and i lost it all in one night
copyright march, 1999
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Jersey
i had some friends i thought i trusted
they seemed pretty cool to me
they looked like maybe they were one of us
feeling things that you and i see
it took about a year for me to realize
they had no sense of honesty
and all the time i thought that i knew them
i was looking at their picture of me
my new friends took me to this art house party
then left me in a corner to die
but when i started up a conversation with someone
they came right over nice as pie
they wouldn't introduce me to their sweetest friend
til they saw us both dissappear
i told them what i thought about them straight to their face
and i haven't seen them now for a year
i can't believe i fell for that line again
like god telling me i'm cursed
oh, you'd get to the promised land alright,
but you'd have to go through jersey first
i'm not like the people you might be used to
i hope I don't remind you of them
i watch how you spread your mistrust and hatred
from where does all your anger stem
and why do you assume we want to be just like you
the way you pick and judge your friends
i'd like to come to jersey with you onc more time
but i don't like the kharma they send
i can't believe i even used to hang around you
i think maybe i was cursed
the sign said this way to the promised land
but you'll have to go through jersey first
i can't believe i fell for that line again
like god telling me i'm cursed
oh, you would get to the promised land alright
but you'd have to go through jersey first
words and music by Joe Herbert, copyright 2000
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entitled
it's because you're entitled to it
that's why you're taking some more
it never seems like it's enough to fill you
you're always keeping score
you feel your brain drain downwards
you can't do all the math
you feel your mind drip back in time
you're walking on the wrong path
but it's too late to try and stop it
not sure you would if you could
it might be just what you want you say
to think it feels this good
the guilty pleasures in a lifetime
don't come that often to you
and so you tempt the hand of fate again
it's me you're trying to screw
but i'm too smart to let it happen
been in the game too long
and though you're ready to deliver the message
you might have read it wrong
and so you tell me you're entitled to it
i watch you taking some more
you wanna back up just a bit now
and don't be such a whore
i never thought you were entitled to it
i hope you're feeling good
you want to show me one glimpse of madness
but i don't think you should
you sold your soul to the devil
and now your reaping rewards
he's singing sweetly in your ear right now
and you know all the chords
you think that you're entitled to it
already taking some more
i thought that there was just enough to fill you
there's never really enough to fill you
now whatdja do that for
you act like you're entitled to it
and i can't keep up the pace
you're on a rough slide downwards
and i want you out of my face
written by joe herbert, copyright november, 2000
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twice (falling apart)
ok, so i guess that i didn't need to be so cruel
maybe i reacted that way 'cause i wanted to be cool
you didn't have it coming, you've always been a real nice kid
and i should have known better than to do the nasty things i did
i tried to blow it off like i didn't have feelings for you
it took me by surprise when i realized what i was going through
when you turned away, things began to change it's probably for the better
my friends said i should give you room - if she wants to leave, you gotta let her
i shouldn't be so mean even if i got a broken heart
you'll know in a couple years when it's falling apart
and when it happens to you i hope you'll take my advice
cause you don't ever wanna go through this same kind of thing twice
so i sit at work and think about how everything just went so wrong
why i have to wait and wonder what you're doing all day long
it's like a torture that i put myself through every day and night
i miss hearing your sweet voice even when we would fight
its going to be hard until i get myself together again
thinking out how good it felt when you were with me then
i have to find some way to occupy myself not thinking of you
and i hope you never have to experience what i'm going through
i shouldnt be so cruel even if i got a broken heart
maybe in a couple years it'll fall apart
and if it ever happens, i hope that you'll take my advice
you don't ever want to go through this same thing twice
words and music by joe herbert, C. january, 2000
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How Could You
how could you..after everything we've been through
and all this time i thought you were my friend
how could you.. you really disappoint me this time
everything came so quickly to an end
how dare you..this smacks of such hypocrisy
you standing up there thinking that you're better
than the rest of these people, thinking that you can sway
their feelings, just by reading that condescending letter
how could you, be so deceived and blind that way
how could you even look yourself in the face
you trust these foolish leaders to start another world war
none of us'll ever survive in that race
now everything about you i find offensive
you laugh at us and pretend to kneel down and pray
i realize now that you're on the move and this is your world
and you don't want anyone like me to stay
tell me what's going on.. in that world of yours
tell me if there's anything else that you really need
now you say i've gone astray-never did i think that it would get this way
i always wanted to follow your lead
instrumental break
we thought you'd let us stay here, and really get a look at you
but something inside told me i'm gonna be leaving
you like to say you're so honest, instilling such supreme faith
but when you looked in the mirror it was nothing you could believe in
how could you..you're never gonna live it down
all these people they looked up to you
you call for diversity, but when it confronts you
suddenly you're taking on a hostile view
how could you, just for asking a question
you turn away from me and hide your face
you cut me off from any of your connections-and then you walk right past me
you don't ever want to have to jump in that race
how could you.. how could you...how could you... how could you
written by joe herbert, copyright 92/2004
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shed
you said you think you're a little bit evil and
you're never sorry for the things you said
you tell me 'bout the friends that keep disappearing
soon you won't have any friends to shed
you have no regrets for yesterday or for
all the nasty things you did
you try and play it down by acting tough
keeping most of your feelings hid
you wonder how you got to this point in life
how you landed the position you're in
even though the friends you keep losing somehow
make you think you're still gonna win
they deep disappearing and you keep moving on
shedding one more layer of skin
but pretty soon it's gonna catch up with you
you won't recognize the person within
i saw it when you spread yourself too thin
and they cast you down in the dirt
and even though you've caused some other people pain
i still don't want to see you hurt
so am i the last one you haven't gotten over
how come you didn't cast me aside
i know you've gotten close to dropping me before
but you always end up letting me slide
someone gave you that much hurt and anger
you don't allow yourself to get close
yeah, but just because you tasted life's bitterness
doesn't mean we all need a dose
they keep disappearing you keep moving along
you shed another layer of skin
even though you thought you didn't lose a thing
there's nothing really left to win
june,2000
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shove
i got a girlfriend anna - she's 24 years old
she has her own apartment - so independent and bold
she likes it when i come over -and so i do now and then
when i'm there we always make it - she never asks me where have you been
but i don't think of her only - there's someone else for me too
i can't get her away from me - no matter what i do
and sometimes when i'm with anna - she's really not on my mind
i wonder if she's aware of what - i'm always looking to find
chorus
i think about her at midnight
4 in the morning too
i want her out of my system
that's what i'm goin' through
i wish that i never met you
i wouldn't be so in love
if I get pushed like this again
i'm gonna give it the shove
i'm sick of her cause she haunts me - as soon as i get up
she's with me every morning - i'm getting real fed up
so all the while i'm with her - i'm really thinking of you
i know it's not very nice of me - but i must admit it's true
chorus
{bridge}
i wish we'd stay apart for one whole week
maybe my feelings would fade
but it's so hard when you keep calling me like that
and make me wish i stayed
chorus
i think about her at midnight -4 in the morning too
i want her out of my system -it's what i'm goin' through
i wish that i never met you - i wouldn't be so in love
and if I get pushed again -i'm gonna give it a shove
july,2000
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how long (another song about murder)
what are we gonna do about this pressing problem
what are we going to say when they want to know why
how long did you think we could put it off 'til they'd find out
how long did you think you'd continue to lie
everyone already knows about this anyway
still it's something you don't want to admit
walk into the principal's office before it gets too late
it's over, the jig is up, and it's time to quit
you're going to tell it all this time, no backing down
it's time you cleared that conscience anyway
just start at the beginning, and don't spare any details
i'm sure by now you've got an awful lot to say
so what are we going to do about this problem
when are we going to take a breath and just come clean
you can't go on running like this forever
what if there's a possibility that you might've been seen
c'mon, get it off of your chest, you'll feel better in the morning
everyone's gonna find out about it anyway
what have you got to lose, but a guilty conscience
after you tell them, what can they possibly say
so tell it all, brother, let's get the damn thing over with
tell us all about the pain you've been keeping in
why not confess and get it over with, you're only gonna make things worse
tell the whole world about this ugly sin....
may, 1996
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little satan
You got a nice bright smile when they're telling you what you want to hear
But you never give a second thought to cutting them down with fear
How could you be so warm and friendly with me today
Then turn around and cut me with the nasty little things you say
I guess everyone thinks you're such a sweet little kitten for sure
They come in feeling broken and you offer up a cute little cure
But then it all falls apart when we look inside your bottomless soul
And we learn about the way you treat us when you're not playing the role
And how the devil came out and whispered in your sweet little ear
Telling you all about the bullshit you wanted to hear
And how the story's so much different than it first appeared
Looks like it's true about the worst things you always feared
You got a nasty side, but it's something that you don't like to show
It's always just below the surface barely creeping up to say hello
But just give us a minute to disagree with something you said
And you're pouncing like a tiger, filling everyone with dread
I knew it was over when I walked back into that place
As soon as I noticed the sad, desperate look on your face
But you can force the attitude- the same way it's always been
That's right- keep it all hidden, go stand in your corner again
I see the devil came out and whispered in your ear
Telling you all that bullshit you love to hear
The story is so much different than it first appeared
And it looks like it's true about the worst things you always feared
Til the devil came out and he whispered right in your ear
Telling you all the shit that you wanted to hear
Now everything is different than everything at first appeared
And it must be true about the worst things we always feared
I see the devil came out and whispered in your ear
Telling you all that bullshit you love to hear
The story's now so much different than it first appeared
And it looks like it's true about the worst things you always feared
written by joe herbert, copyright 4-13-07
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All lyrics, poems and writings are written by Joe Herbert,
and copyrighted between 1986 and 2009. No copies without permission.
{keep it cool!} c. joseph herbert
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