DON JAIL ROADWAY
01: IT’S HARD NOT TO DIE
If I only knew what I wanted surely I could steal it
There’s got to be something that I need to get along
If I had to take a life tonight God knows I would take it
I’d break any law you could find, commit any crime (wouldn’t I?)
02: DEATHGRIP ON LIVING
And they said: Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven;
And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:4)
I’m known Uptown, Downtown, Fortside, Donside
Etobicoke, Scar’bro, North York City, c’mon
I’m a dead-eyed, gun-slinging killer with a hot hand
Well that’s the word on the street, but I’m really just a conman (conning who?)
Spreading lies on the ave’ was the form of my defense
Gooch Ave, Blong Ave, Six Points, Plug Hat Road
‘Til I was caught by a chief hold-up in the north end
On a Grassway or Vineway, or Flaming Roseway (I forget…)
He said: I’m glad we got to meet ‘cause I got a proposition
A blood-soaked, no joke, point blank payday
It seems my bad reputation put me in a worse position
He said: I need three bodies and I don’t mean maybe, you dig?
(How am I going to con my way out of this?)
They say the code of the con is to know just enough about everything so you can lie about anything
But I wouldn’t know murder if it crept up slowly, put a hand on my mouth and stuck a knife right through me
I had to put the breaks on before the plot got thicker
I said: You got it wrong man, you see I ain’t no killer
But he kept on driving with a cold lack of interest
He said: Of coarse you’re not son, now let’s get down to business
Then he pushed a figure on me that was six whole digits
And I almost lost my breath ‘cause now I’m chin-deep in it
For that kind of bread…who am I to say who I am?
(How am I going to con my way into this?)
How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it;
But now murderers (Isaiah 1:21)
03: FROM LIFE & DEATH TO LIVING DEAD
Doctor, if we may be furtive, there are things that I’m unsure of
For instance, if comes the time to act a thief could I resolve to mete out grief
Or crumple, like an autumn leaf, blown to oblivion…Doctor?
It’s not my place to counsel crime, I don’t intend to waste our time
Hear me out - to steal a life, or two, or three - a clutch of hoods, of thieves like me
Just another rogue in the gallery…killer whales, vampire bats
Strangler figs, pedophile mushrooms…I wouldn’t touch the innocent, whoever they are
We take lesser lives just by waking up, so what am I scared of?
No, no, no…to harm your own, to kill your kind, you only kill yourself you’ll find
But if I’m willing to kill maybe I deserve to die, so who am I scared of?
Everyone gets what they deserve, but what’s ‘deserve’ - a man-made term
Let me ask you, is there anything more preposterous than two agreeing, nodding heads?
Is the Bible true because it says it is? Doctor, please encourage me
04: DEATH BY DEATH DEFIANCE
Well she’ll sit you down, then she’ll set you up
She’ll take your money, but she’ll take no guff
They don’t come any meaner, leaner or tough
She’s a rock-hardened criminal
Well she’ll take you in, then she’ll take you out
She’ll make you scream, and she’ll make you shout
And when she leaves you there she will leave no doubt
That she’s a rock-hardened criminal
She’s so hot – she must be cause she burned me
But she’s so cold – to freeze my heart, and to steal what she stole
Can I lend word to the transgressors here among us?
Can I preach one little bad verse from this good book?
Stand fast pilgrim, take another look…
What did Paul say? Galatians five-four
Abide by the law and suffer ‘ever more
Genesis three – don’t eat from the tree
Don’t eat from the tree of questioning
You’re gonna get sick eating that fruit
You’re gonna get too damned smart for your own damn good
Ignorance is bliss son, didn’t you know that?
There’s no real answers anyway
Now we’re kicked out with leaves on – heaven’s gone
If we ever did really have it at all
It’s hard to remember back that far
And I still feel naked the way we are
There’s not enough clothes in the world to hide our shame
The law of answers only justifies more questions
But we keep on asking just the same
And the last question you can ask is do you really know what you know?
Well there ain’t no way of knowing 'cause my hallowed knowledge tells me so
There ain’t no logic, only that which seems logical
There ain’t no magic, only that which seems magical
My head is a prison I’ve been locked in from the start
So if I'm treated like a criminal I might as well play the part
I am a criminal – lay the blame upon me
I am a criminal – I’ll bare these chains to be free
I am a criminal – the case for crime has been made
I am a criminal – the price for life will be paid
05: L’AMOUR DE MORT
Vive la nation qui a construit Teotihuacan
Long live the nation who built Teotihuacan
Ils n'étaient pas une fiction telle que Maldoror
They were no fiction such as Maldoror
Ils ont été à la guerre avec les dieux pour toujours
They were at war with the gods since time began
À la guerre avec la paix, à la paix avec la guerre
At war with peace, at peace with war
Ils réclament que la vie a été volée des dieux, cela que nous n'avons été jamais censés pour l'avoir
They claim that life was stolen from the gods, that we were never meant to have it
Peut-être c'est pourquoi il ne se comprend pas
Perhaps that’s why it doesn’t quite make sense
Mais les humains l'ont pris de toute façon, seulement parce qu'ils pourraient, parce qu'ils n'ont eu aucune crainte
But the humans stole it nonetheless, only because they could, because they had no fear
Des générations plus tard, quand le grand serpent fait varier le pas a traversé la mer, elles n'ont pas hésité à combattre cet envahisseur
Generations later, when the great feathered serpent crossed the sea, they did not hesitate to fight this invader
Elles ne se sont pas inquiétées s'il venait le ciel ou d'Espagne
They didn’t care whether he came from heaven or Spain
Elles étaient contentes pour livrer bataille qu'elles ont sue qu'elles perdraient
They were content to fight a battle they were destined to lose
Comme la bataille contre le temps, quand les dieux reprendront inévitablement ce qui appartient à elles
Fighting against time, when the gods would inevitably reclaim what was theirs
Mais cette nation adroite a su apaiser les dieux, ils ont su prolonger l'à court terme qui est resté
But this clever race knew how to delay the gods, they knew how to prolong what short time they had left
Un sacrifice humain, chaque maintenant et puis, jusqu'à ce qu'il n'ait pas y eu une seule gauche à tuer
A human sacrifice, every now and then, until there was nobody left to kill
06: WAITING TO DIE (And The Suspense Is Killing Me)
Before I agree to aid you, you must give me the names of victims
Do I really look that foolish?
We both know you’re incapable of doing this without me
Now out with the names, all three of them
Did I say three? I suppose that’s fitting
A holy ghost in our strange trinity, a Platonic third man in our ‘felosophy’
Behold, the hands of my betrayer are with me at the table
Come now - I’m no more a betrayer than you are a doctor
Guilty as charged - you know who I am - I’m a criminal, and I know who you are
You commit crimes for criminals, and against them as well
You are a criminal, you know who you are
You know who sent me, I know who I am
Only room for one criminal, only time for one last crime
One plus two minus three, felo de se
Is it any wonder how things have come to be this way?
Think I’ll have to tear it all down, start again – but it’s not that easy
One plus one plus one, brick on brick on…
Building to a sum that will not be built to
Golden rules and Job, snakes and ladders
Eden’s paradox – the fact of all matters
Higher than infinity, less than nothing
Apostate divinity, this tower is crumbling
Raging trains of thought with just one weakness:
Completely limited by unlimited incompleteness
There in lies the hook, or so we’ve reasoned
But reason is the crook, oh sweet Lord please have mercy
Higher than infinity, less than nothing
Apostate divinity, this tower is crumbling
Higher than infinity, less than nothing
Will to live return to me when one plus one means something
© 2006 E.C.d. Tancarville