Stone Temple Pilots

“Sin” by Stone Temple Pilots.

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Words by Scott Weiland, music by Weiland, Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo, and Eric Kretz. © 1992 Atlantic Recording.

Holy water clouds my thinking
Sinking low now
Keep on drinking

Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin makes me strong

You control me, soul you stole, mine
Wishful thinking
Six feet under

Dow you go now, suffer long
Down you go now, sin make me strong

Dead by dreaming, sleep you steal, mine
Pools of cold sweat
Hatred burns me

Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong

Holy water clouds my thinking
Sinking low now
Keep on drinking

Feel what were my eyes
Sink into the holes in my eyes
My sins have made me blind
Sink into the holes in my eyes

Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed you…

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“Naked Sunday” by Stone Temple Pilots.

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Words by Scott Weiland, music by Weiland, Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo, and Eric Kretz. © 1992 Atlantic Recording.

You’re the fuel to the fire
You’re the weapon of war
You’re the irony of justice
And the father of law

I’ve been waiting for a while to meet you
For the chance to shake your hand
To give you thanks for all the suffering you command
And when all is over and we return to dust
Who will be my judge and which one do I trust?

Angst…

You’re the champion of sorrow
You’re the love and the pain
You’re the fighter of evil
Yet you’re one and the same

Been waiting a while to meet you
For the chance to shake your hand
To give you thanks for all the suffering you command
And when all is over and we return to dust
Who will be my judge and which one do I trust?

Angst…

Sting

“All This Time” by Sting.

Words and music by Sting. © 1991 A&M Records.
Thanks to W. Errickson for the song suggestion.

I looked out across
The river today
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play
I saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
I saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter’s night

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea

Two priests came round our house tonight
One young, one old, to offer prayers for the dying
To serve the final rite
One to learn, one to teach
Which was the cold wind blows
Fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows

And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea
If I had my way I’d take a boat from the river
And I’d bury the old man,
I’d bury him at sea

Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle
And as these words were spoken I swore I hear
The old man laughing
‘What good is a used up world and how could it be
Worth having’

And all this time the river flowed
Endlessly like a silent tear
And all this time the river flowed
Father, if Jesus exists,
Then how come he never lived here

The teachers told us, the Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire
Garrison town,
They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, ’til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found

And all this time the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way I’d take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better
One by one
One by one…

Stabbing Westward

“So Wrong” by Stabbing Westward.

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Words by Christopher Hall, music by Hall/Flakus/Sellers/Kubiszewski. © 1996 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Wasted thoughts of you
Useless prayers to you
Give me back my mind
I’m empty inside

What have I become?
Everything’s undone
A candle burns here in your honor
My soul, a shrine I’ve built for you
I’ve got nothing left inside me
There nothing left inside but you

Can’t seem to pretend
This night has to end
I can’t fill this hole
You are all I know

It s so wrong that I need you
It’s so wrong that I need abuse
It’s so wrong that I need you
It’s so wrong that I’m scared I’ll die alone

Soundgarden

“Holy Water” by Soundgarden.

Words and music by Chris Cornell. © 1991 A & M Records.
Thanks to R. Coleman for the recommendation and information.

Holy water on the brain
And I’m losing sleep
Holy bible on the night stand
Next to me
As I’m raped by
Another monkey circus freak
Trying to take my
Indignance away from me
Holy water is rusting me
Bloody murder is the best
I’ve heard her scream
Holy devil in the flesh
Some might believe
And they take thine
Majesty so seriously
It’s the big lies
That are more likely to be believed
Holy water is rusting me
Damn the water if it’s life
You want to drink
Mind your mother if
It makes you feel at ease
As you’re raped by another
Monkey circus freak
It’s the big lies that are
More likely to be believed

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“Jesus Christ Pose” by Soundgarden.

Listen to this Song!

Words by Cornell, music by Cameron, Shepherd, Thayill, and Cornell. © 1991 A & M Records.
Thanks to R. Coleman for the recommendation and information.

And you stare at me
In your Jesus Christ pose
Arms held out
Like you’ve been carrying a load
And you swear to me
You don’t want to be my slave
But you’re staring at me
Like I need to be saved
In your Jesus Christ pose
Arms held out
In your Jesus Christ pose
Thorns and shroud
Like it’s the coming of the Lord
And I swear to you
That I would never feed you pain
But you’re staring at me
Like I’m driving the nails
In your Jesus Christ pose
And you stare at me
In your Jesus Christ pose
Arms held out like it’s
The coming of the Lord
And would it pay you more to walk on water
Than to wear a crown of thorns
It wouldn’t pain me more to bury you rich
Than to bury you poor
In your Jesus Christ pose

Rush

“Witch Hunt” by Rush.

Words by Neil Peart, music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. © 1981 PolyGram Records Inc, USA.
Thanks to J. Bolen of the Idaho Atheists for the recommendation and information.

The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torchlit hill

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right-
Confident their ways are best

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat, and burn, and kill

They say there are strangers, who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness, too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
Those who know what’s best for us-
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice
And fear
Walk hand in hand

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Free Will” by Rush.

Words by Neil Peart, music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. © 1980 Mercury/PolyGram.
Thanks to M. Merritt for the recommendation and information.

There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
“The stars aren’t aligned –
Or the gods are malign”
Blame is better to give than receive.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that’s clear-
I will choose Free Will.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them – they weren’t born in Lotus-Land.

All preordained-
A prisoner in chains-
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can’t pray for a place
In Heaven’s unearthly estate.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that’s clear-
I will choose Free Will.

Each of us-
A cell of awareness-
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that’s far too fleet.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Roll the Bones” by Rush.

Words by Neil Peart, music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. © 1980 Mercury/PolyGram.
Thanks to S. Hunter for the recommendation and information.

Well, you can stake that claim
Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame
If they don’t take that game
And sometimes the winner takes nothing
We draw our own designs
But fortune has to make that frame

We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That’s the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones

Why are we here?
Because we’re here
Roll the bones
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones

Faith is cold as ice
Why are little ones born only to suffer
For the want of immunity
Or a bowl of rice?
Well, who would hold a price
On the heads of the innocent children
If there’s some immortal power
To control the dice?

We come into the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That’s the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones

Jack — relax.
Get busy with the facts.
No zodiacs or almanacs,
No maniacs in polyester slacks.
Just the facts.
Gonna kick some gluteus max.
It’s a parallax — you dig?
You move around
The small gets big. It’s a rig
It’s action — reaction
Random interaction.
So who’s afraid
Of a little abstraction?
Can’t get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You better run, homeboy
A fact’s a fact
From Nome to Rome, boy.

What’s the deal? Spin the wheel.
If the dice are hot — take a shot.
Play your cards. Show us what you got
What you’re holding.
If the cards are cold,
Don’t go folding.
Lady Luck is golden;
She favours the bold. That’s cold
Stop throwing stones
The night has a thousand saxophones. So get out there and rock,
And roll the bones.
Get busy!

Roll the bones