Flogging Molly : Speed of Darkness

Folk Punk / USA
(2011 - Borstal Beat Records)
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Lyrics

1. SPEED OF DARKNESS

Bury me in silence
For I'll never hear the truth
My coffin will be empty
Cause you'll never steal my youth

I was born to live beside you
But you tried to stop me grow
Now I'm living on the run
From all this hatred you now love
Who said it only rains
From the heavens above

[Chorus]
The speed of darkness lights our way
We set our course for America
No bitterness will bite my tongue
The speed of darkness has begun

It's something of a pity
But you'll never understand
How a boy can grow and
Still never be a man

I would trade the sun for nothing
And the glancing of a star
If you could just remember
Grains of dust is all we are
It only takes a second
For a beat to kill a heart

[Chorus]
The speed of darkness lights our way
We set our course for America
No bitterness will bite this tongue
I've reconciled with all that's gone
The speed of darkness has begun

Only time and life will tell
But it's a long way home when you're in hell
Where constant demons fracture souls
Once a nightmare, now just lifeless ghosts

The speed of darkness lights our way

You tore this land asunder
But my pride will bring it back

I would trade the sun for nothing
And the glancing of a star
If you could just remember
Grains of dust is all we are
It only takes a second
For beat to kill a heart

[Chorus]


2. REVOLUTION

I spent twenty-seven years in this factory
And the boss man says, 'hey you're not what we need'
The penguins in the suits they know nothing but greed
It's a solitary life when you've mouths to feed
But who cares about us?

Now I'm back on the streets
With my hands held shut
I'm a workingman without any work
Well is this the way it's meant to be
Because I signed on for the American Dream
Now, I write my name to the welfare scheme
The money in the bank, it's history

So take me down to where the worlds collide
And leave me here 'til I'm satisfied
So let the Revolution begin

Now I drag these bones
'Cross the barren land
Where once a city, now an outstretched hand
We can't lose our sense of dignity
While the fat-faced cats lap up the cream
Another disappearing act falls up their sleeves
While the shirts on our back seek refugee

So take me down to where the worlds collide
And leave me here 'til I'm satisfied
'Cause there'll come a day
When all of us will show, we won't be afraid
Although we're crashing, we won't burn
Let the Revolution begin

I spent twenty-seven years in this factory
And the boss man says, 'hey you're not what we need'
The penguins in the suits they know nothing but greed
It's a solitary life when you've mouths to feed

So take me down to where the worlds collide
And leave me here 'til I'm satisfied
Do take me down to where the worlds divide
And leave me here I won't compromise
'Cause there'll come a day
When all of us will show, we won't be afraid
'Cause from these ashes we will grow
So let the Revolution begin...


3. THE HEART OF THE SEA

Stick and stones, a few clam living bones
Salt and water melt my skin
If you don't set sail, you'll end up in the belly of a whale
No swallow saint will mock your grave

Every light of every day
It's a way into decay

But I won't cry myself to sleep
'Cause my soul no longer weeps
But my body lies in the heart of the sea

Darkness breaks and we heard the morning wakes
She marks us weary as we drown
Show no remorse as you will make a beautiful course
Let's do the one you love the most

Every light of every day
It's a way into decay

Don't fornicate
With the one you love to hate
You'll wind up dead before she vows

But I won't cry myself to sleep
'Cause my soul no longer weeps
While my body lies in the heart of the sea

Another useless confrontation
Leaves any A-class confirmation
Now the end appears
And my eyes are filled with fear

I am blind, I am blind, take me up before I die
Don't wanna end up in the heart of the sea
Oh, I am blind, I am blind, take me up before I die
I don't wanna end up in the heart of the sea

Now the lesson is lesson is learnt
Don't you remember the fire from your burns
Walk, it's better even truly feel

But I won't cry myself to sleep
'Cause my soul no longer weeps
While my body lies in the heart

But I won't cry myself to sleep
'Cause my soul no longer weeps
While my body lies in the heart of the sea
Heart of the sea


4. DON'T SHUT'EM DOWN

Sad days, kissing the cheeks
Of the families who are walking away
Tragic, the pubs are opposing,
The system is broken, decay

Because business is down at the depot,
Defenses are the only things built
Neighbors wave goodbye to each other
This country is over, they say

Yeah, this is life
In a modern town
The windows smashed open with the doors kicked out
It's not a good day left to be in a fight
'Cause living is hard through the struggles of life
If nothing gets done it will never be right
But don't shut 'em down

Lately, the 21st century's been... crazy
It's the sing of the times
Buildings decomposing in slumber
There's no work for all till they wake

Yeah, this is life
In a modern town
The windows smashed open with the doors kicked out
It's not a good day left to be in a fight
'Cause living is hard through the struggles of life
If nothing gets done it will never be right
But don't shut 'em down
Don't shut 'em down

Too many faults, no reasons
The rains that fall, dry bleeding
Upon the ashes of our homes
Our homes
Save our homes

Manic
The word on the street here is panic
There's a riot at hand

People, taking care of the people
There's no other way, or we'll break

Yeah, this is life
In a modern town
The windows smashed open with the doors kicked out
It's not a good day left to be in a fight
'Cause living is hard through the struggles of life

Yeah, this is life
In a modern town
The windows smashed open with the doors kicked out
It's not a good day left to be in a fight
'Cause living is hard through the struggles of life
If nothing gets done it will never be right
But don't shut 'em down
Don't shut 'em down

Sad days, kissing the cheeks of the families (you can't shut 'em down)
Sad days, kissing the cheeks of the families (you won't shut 'em down)


5. THE POWER'S OUT

From the town of Detroit where my job is secure yeah
Secure in the fact now that it's gone for good yeah
So I'll scrimp and I'll scrape at this pension I saved
So it should be gone by the end of the day

Yeah the power's out
Is there no luck in sight?
Yeah the power's out
Hope it's just for the night
Yeah the power's out
Another kick in the head
I'm so poor at this living I'd be richer off...

Wrap me up in your silver then roll me gold yeah
Then ice up this whiskey 'til it's nice and cold yeah
Forgive me for dreaming it's all I have left
Except this pending foreclosure and mountains of debt

Yeah the power's out
Well there's fuck all to see
Yeah the power's out
Like this economy
Yeah the power's out
Guess it's par for the course
Unless you're a blood sucking leech CEO, CEO

So I guess the good lord has forgotten about me
And me like himself my old trade's carpentry
I could build him a cross with one hand behind back
And the other three nails 'case he gives me the sack

Yeah the power's out
The poor dog has left home
Yeah the power's out
Couldn't 'ford him a bone
Yeah the power's out
It's the trickle effect
Today it's just me but tomorrow ye rest

Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power...

So don't spend your taxes on men on the moon yeah
We've been there before and we left pretty soon yeah
The grass will be greener one day I expect
When the earth will catch fire then replenish itself

From the town of Detroit where we fight 'til we drop yeah
We don't want your pity we just want a job yeah
There's no shame in us asking with some self-respect
But don't leave it much longer; we're human at best

Yeah the power's out
Well there's fuck all to see
Yeah the power's out
Like this economy
Yeah the power's out
Guess it's par for the course
Unless you're a blood sucking leech CEO, CEO, CEO, CEO
The CEO must go

Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power's out
Yeah the power's out
Power's out, the power's out
From the town of Detroit where we fight 'til we drop
From the town of Detroit where my job is secure
'Cause the power's out


6. SO SAIL ON

Time to take a breath once more
Before the hammer blow
Wrap myself around the veil
Against the bitter cold
Body bruised from selfishness
The penny dropped too late i guess

[Chorus]
So sail on
To all now born
So sail on to you

Raise my glass to all before
True friends I have known
Take me to my virgin grave
Beneath the haunting snow
Nothing left but fare thee well
I wish you health, so please take care

[Chorus]


7. SAINTS & SINNERS

Saints and sinners are but we
Twisted wrecks of symmetry
Like broken arrows split
Against the mindless rift we feed
Saints and sinners are
And each other's company we seek

Though we took our separate paths
Back to the womb where we collapsed
On buildings full of living bricks
Cementing walls a dangerous fix
Saints and sinners are
Begrudgers who will never mix

Contemplating right from wrong
In retrospect we don't get on
So Armageddon here we come
Who are the chosen ones?
Consequences who you've been
For in damnation Satan grins

[Chorus]
We're saints and we're sinners
Nothing more than lost beginners
Both now facing endless falls
Its hell or heaven cry's
The pulpits' scorn

Every saint now has a past
So may the sinners' future last
Every ghost still has a haunt
Where he or she feels they belong
All possessing tortured souls
Confessing all that's yet to be
Saints and sinners are
Lunatics a vicious breed

So Armageddon here we come
Who are the chosen ones?
Consequences who you've been
For in damnation Satan grins

[Chorus]

[Chorus]
We're saints and we're sinners
Nothing more than lost beginners
Wise men crank the guillotine
Where heads will roll for all to see


8. THIS PRESENT STATE OF GRACE

In this present state of grace
I hold my head up high
Though the water damage froze
Another flood will soon be by
Here and now is all we'll be
So it's this present state of grace I offer thee

Welcome home to the men
And the women who defend
Back to their lives and the lies
Shat on them by government
Through the barbs and the pokes
And the ones we'd like to choke
It's this present state of grace I offer thee

In this present state of grace
A poor man robbed me blind
Though I offered him the cash
He said 'don't insult my pride'
To each their own
We're just flesh and bone
An this present state of grace I offer thee

In this present state of grace
I saw the wall capsize
And through the banks they fell
Into the swelling tide
Let them eat cake
For our mistakes
And this present state of grace I offer thee

So let's sing goodbye to Auld Lang Syne
Under the carpet sweep behind
Where passengers making turns
Towards the coming great divide
The true prophet never spoke
He just smiles and saw the joke
And this present state of grace I offer thee

'Cause only life, yeah only life has loneliness to sell
So celebrate, yeah live your life, live it and raise hell
The true prophet never spoke
He just smiled and saw the joke
And this present state of grace we creatures need

Yeah, it's this present state of grace we creatures need


9. THE CRADLE OF HUMANKIND

The sum of all my fears like dread are from demons yet to come
All the things I should've mentioned wave goodbye and "we'll see you soon"
It's the words I've never written that say more about myself
Where empty is the promise lies a pocket full of doubt

So may the road I've yet to take
Leave a smile across my face
'Till the laughter sheds the darkness far behind
For I still belong in the cradle of humankind

Though my time may be less traveled than those that came before
We're all exiles here in madness kicking down each other's door
Unforgiven is the lesson we pour upon ourselves
When a helping hand is needed, slap in the face is what we get

But I will fight for this right and each moment of it's life
'Till I witness all the differences yet to heal

So may the road I've yet to take
Leave a smile across my face
'Till the laughter sheds the darkness far behind
For I still belong in the cradle of humankind

Sometimes drink till I am empty, grab another from the shelf
Though I'm stuck in conversation, it's with myself and no one else
Never listen to much reason till I hear it's a last call
When I notice that my ghost is still dancing on his ow

So may the road I've yet to take
Leave a smile across my face
'Till the laughter sheds the darkness far behind
For I still belong in the cradle of humankind

Wherever you go
(The sun sets to rise
On a day that you find
You Struggle to be
But you're already there)
Wherever you go

Wherever you go
(A passionless life
Has no words to write
It's a body that's broken
And breathless of life)
Oh, wherever you go

There'll always be a roof and a dream above our head
As long as I'm breathing, then forever I'll be

Ah, I will fight for this right and each moment of it's life
'Till I witness all the differences yet to heal

So may the road we've yet to take
Leave a smile across our face
'Till the laughter sheds the darkness far behind
We still belong in the cradle of humankind


10. OLIVER BOY (ALL OF OUR BOY)

Oh! Oliver Boy what did you do?
But crush the hand you never shook
Then rob the rights of people to be free
Oh! Oliver Boy it's a terrible state
You left behind a worse off race
Where dignity and pride fought for their place
Oh! Oliver Boy now you are gone
And we're still here where we belong
Forgiveness being our strength you'll never see

Now the sun shines on this page I write
Though it's raining hard in Palestine
No lands are promised lands
When will we see?
So don't tell me that your God's my God
I don't think they even care at all
Just a pantomime behind a curtain lies deceit
Oh listen to me bark out loud
Without a voice and little growl
Snapping at the heels I wait
For something more to change
The more they stay the same

[Chorus:]
Oliver Boy! It's the same militia
Oliver Boy! Just the clothes are different
Oliver Boy! It's the same old story
Where there's blood there's death not glory

Look into these empty eyes
Fed upon by parasites
As beauty's ugly head devours its plight
While the borders of our hate create
Nothing more than each our fate
Trapped between our comfort and our crime
So stand along the graveyard wall
And watch the souls perform their song
Sing to us the dead above
As the mourners come to pray
The living stay away

[Chorus:]
Oliver Boy! It's the same militia
Oliver Boy! Just the clothes are different
Oliver Boy! It's the same old story
Where there's blood there's death not glory
Oliver Boy! We're all someone's sons
All of our Boys! Just put down the guns
Oliver Boy! You're dead but listen
You were wrong but we're no different

Marching to the left, everyone in step
Don't ask the question, why we're here with no direction
Marching to the right, this is not our fight
The curse of friction, born of man and contradiction

[Chorus]

All of our Boys!

Now the sun shines on this page I write
Though it's raining hard in Palestine


11. A PRAYER FOR ME IN SILENCE

I've been walking miles forever
Through these footprints of my life
When I offered you my sadness
You took home with delight
Eat my heart when you are hungry
I have nothing more to give
Let us not forget each other
When our wounds begin to spill

[Chorus]
So say a prayer for me in silence
Let no cathedral mock our hearts
That's when I will be forgiven
Let us never fall apart

I've been wrong on more occasions
Than I'd like to recognize
But there's room in our vocation
If we read between the lines
Every house needs a foundation
So the mortar we'll supply
We'll be broke but never broken
Let us laugh until we cry

[Chorus]


12. RISE UP

God you say is always the answer
But what is the answer for our cruelty
We punish a life 'til it's life ever after
Ever after the place that we all end up being

O' such is a morn' as this to awaken
Forgotten the hour that was yesterday
With a standing blow to the head of frustration
Divide and we fall have you nothing to say?

[Chorus]
So let us rise up
Stand and be counted, stand and be counted
On that let's agree
Rise up
Dig out the cancer; dig out the cancer of futility

Many's the word that's been broken true anger
Lips that are sealed as the hour slips away
Belief is a joke to this lost generation
Building the walls as the mind segregates

But when all is said
The voice that is silent can't be heard

[Chorus]

For we, we shall overcome... someday

So we bring the head of the ol' palace tribe
For there is the rapture that bleeds out a life
Hand over fist from their pulpit they spew
Liars they'll crumble not knowing the truth

But when all is said
The voice that is silent can't be heard

[Chorus]
So let us rise up
Stand and be counted, stand and be counted
On that let's agree
Let us rise up
Dig out the cancer; dig out the cancer of futility
Rise up
Stand and be counted, stand and be counted
On that let's agree
Let us rise up
Dig out the cancer; dig out the cancer of all human greed

For we, we shall overcome...

lyrics added by fraselle3000 - Modify this lyrics