Coerced by food and rent* Dependent on work, our lives are spent Toiling and restrained From reclamation, the laws of state** We're told protect us from ourselves But experience indicates Freedom a state could never give And capitalism must die so we can live LIVE (x 8) The only chance for power Is when you get to the top of their ladder Control, the boot in your back Is your boot in the back of another From boss or cop, to worker, to lover To child, to pet, to environment Freedom a state could never give And capitalism must die so we can live LIVE (x 8) The deluded still proclaim That change can come from within the state I reject this claim This system's made to self-perpetuate If we weren't governed by fools I'd still reject their claim to rule Cause freedom a state could never give And capitalism must die so we can live LIVE (x 8) NOTES: *Enslaved by food and rent **From reclamation, the chains of state

The US continues to ravage Iraq Its soldiers come home insane and in body bags Can we call this liberation?

Hierarchy's unnecessary Destroy all authority Power is poison Guarantees corruption Hierarchy is divisive Because it gives power To one person Over another When imbalances of power exist Corruption of both is inherent One person subject to obey The other in a privileged position There is no higher authority than oneself No higher authority than oneself Equal interaction negated Corruption inevitably breeds resentment There is no higher authority than oneself No higher authority than oneself Resentment contributes to a cycle Of bitter authoritarians in waiting There is no higher authority than oneself No higher authority than oneself The cycle will go on and on Until we consciously disengage ourselves from it.

Numb is your body, numb is your brain About to expire Day after day of employable shame Extinguished the fire Hope - Gave way to hopelessness Sacrificed all for the almighty job But more so your family Twenty years on and your wife's moving on The death of the fantasy “Love” - Gave way to bitterness You never forgot who you were This merely compounded the shame Once stood so tall in the crowd Until you succumbed to the game... Dead Alive Broken heart Broken mind

Darkness descends - Pain of life "I am gods lonely man" - Pain of life Alienation - Annihilation Pain of life - Pain of life Living is killing me, can't seem to cope Existing feels futile, losing all hope Of will to endure it seems I’ve been robbed I want to give in and finish the job. I don't know what's going on inside of me I feel like a ship sinking into a sea Pain of life – suffer in misery Pain of life – suffer with no escape NOTES: "To feel alone is to be alone".

Everything I fucking buy Is dripping with blood (of) Victims of convenience My money fills guilty pockets. Today I chain you to Your fucking shelves And burn your fucking Marketplace to the ground I’ll fucking starve Before I give you One more cent of My dignity. NOTES (2015): This song is sort of a fantasy. I don't think that withdrawing our individual productive, consumer or even communicative/cultural capacities from capitalism, or any other system, will eliminate it/them. The systems merely steam-roll onwards, while we sit back with self-righteousness and self-congratulation and lay responsibility for their continuation on those who buy the wrong thing or make whatever other wrong personal choice. Is there another way?

Man's man, Piece of fucking shit Head full of poison With words and fists and sex as a weapon Enacting their program Designed to maintain womens’ subjugation To sexualization And all are restricted by normalized hetero Sexual relations. Doing it all to live up to the role The role, the role that they gave you. Too much of a coward to ever reject The role that they gave you Man's man, piece of fucking shit Head full of poison Act to maintain womens’ domination And exploitation. So insecure, so disrespectful So fucking hateful So much fucking shame to think I’m the same Cut your own fucking throat!

Reject your culture Reject your privilege Reject your gender Reject religion Voice of Treason Question racial superiority Question male superiority Question human superiority Question everything Voice of Treason No tolerance for fascism No tolerance for sexism No tolerance for racism No tolerance for homophobia Voice of Treason It is not “punk rock” to embrace the worst characteristics of the dominant culture. It is not rebellious to react to a so-called politically correct trend. You are not swimming against the stream in an oppressively dogmatic subculture You are working in collusion with the systems we are trying to end. NOTES (2015): For some folks, affirming culture, religion/spirituality, gender, may be a source of strength and I don't mean to undermine or diminish that. When I wrote the song I was a lot less aware of my own position, and a lot less aware of how other people may have a different relationship with culture, gender, spirituality, etc... It's educational as well to engage with my own premises underlying the writing of the song. My target audience for this song is, to a great degree, myself and people like myself - white, settler, cis-male punks who in reaffirming commitment to and identifying with their culture or ethnicity, gender or religion are committing to and identifying with racism and white supremacy, patriarchal forms of masculinity and hierarchical religions - all of which are contingent on the domination of other people.