Vice Verses

Tracklisting

  • Afterlife
  • The Original
  • The War Inside
  • Restless
  • Blinding Light
  • Selling the News
  • Thrive
  • Dark Horses
  • Souvenirs
  • Rise Above It
  • Vice Verses
  • Where I Belong

Afterlife

I’ve tasted fire I’m ready to come alive
I can’t just shut it up and fake that I’m alright
I’m ready now
I’m not waiting for the afterlife

Let it burn the way the sunlight burns my skin
The way I feel inside, the way the day begins
I’m ready now
I’m not waiting for the other side cause…

- Chorus -

Everyday
The world is made
A chance to change
But I feel the same

And I wonder why
Would I wait till I die
To come alive?
I’m ready now
I’m not waiting for the afterlife
I still believe we can live forever
You and I we begin forever now
Forever now
I still believe in us together
You and I we’re here together now
Forever now
Forever now
Or never now

Everyday
A choice is made
Everyday
I choose my fate

And I wonder why
Would I wait till I die
To come alive?
To come alive

Everyday
Everyday
I still feel the same

I’m ready now
I’m not waiting for the afterlife

I’m ready now
I’m ready now

 

The Original

Got your hands in your pockets
Like you’re ready to pay
Got your eyes out of socket
Like you’re a mile away
Mouth shut like a locket
Like you’ve nothing to say

Speak your mind up come on baby free yourself

- Chorus -

Free yourself
Ain’t no one to do it
Free yourself
Ain’t nothing to it
Free yourself
Don’t let nobody try and take your soul
You’re the original

So you say you’re just a lost soul
I know you better than that
So you say you’re just lost in the wash
I know you better than that
So you say you’re just a face in city race
Wasted and sick of it all

Speak your mind up come on baby free yourself

- Chorus -

Free yourself
Ain’t no one to do it
Free yourself
Ain’t nothing to it
Free yourself
Don’t let nobody try and take your soul
You’re the original

 

The War Inside

Put your hands up open wide
Put your hands up side by side
Age don’t matter like
Race don’t matter like
Place don’t matter like what’s inside

Let the kick drum kick one time
Breathe out let your mind unwind
Eyes on the ceiling
Looking for the feeling
Wide open let your own eyes shine

Yeah, it’s where the fight begins
Yeah, underneath the skin
Between these hopes and where we’ve been
Every fight comes from the fight within

- Chorus –

I am the war inside
I am the battle line
I am the rising tide
I am the war I fight

Eyes open open wide
I can feel it like a crack in my spine
I can feel it like the back of my mind
I am the war inside

I get the feeling that we’re living in sci-fi
I get the the feeling that our weapons are lo-fi
Ain’t no killer like pride
No killer like I
No killer like what’s inside

Yeah, it’s in the air we breathe
Yeah, it’s in the blood we bleed
Beneath these dreams and what we’ve seen
We are the kids of the in-between

Put your hands up open up wide
put your hands up side by side
Age don’t matter like
Race don’t matter like
Place don’t matter like what’s inside

Yeah, every thought or deed
Yeah, every tree or seed
The big things come from the little dreams

Every world is made by make believe

 

Restless

I am the sea on a moonless night
Calling falling, slipping tides
I am the leaky, dripping pipes
The endless, aching drops of lights

I am the raindrop falling down
Always longing for the deeper ground
I am the broken, breaking seas
Even my blood finds ways to bleed

Even the rivers ways to run
Even the rain to reach the sun
Even my thirsty streams
Even in my dreams

I am restless
I am restless
I am restless
I’m looking for you

I am restless
I run like the ocean to find your shore
I’m looking for you

I am the thorn stuck in your side
I am the one that you left behind
I am the dried up doubting eyes
Looking for the well that won’t run dry

Running for the other side
The world that I’ve always been denied
Running hard for the infinite
With the tears of saints and hypocrites

Oh, blood of black and white and grey
Oh, death in life and night in day
One by one by one
We let our rivers run

I am restless
I am restless
I’m looking for you

I am restless
I run like the ocean to find your shore
I’m looking for you

I can hear you breathing
I can feel you leading
More than just a feeling

I can feel you reaching
Pushing through the ceiling
Till the final healing
I’m looking for you

Until the sea of glass we meet
At last completed and complete
Where tide and tear and pain subside
And laughter drinks them dry

I’ll be waiting
Anticipating
All that I aim for
What I was made for

With every heartbeat
All of my blood bleeds
Running inside me
I’m looking for you

 

Blinding Light

Hey boy, don’t believe em
The old lies never could come true
Hey boy, don’t believe em
Everything that they told you to

Hey boy, don’t believe em
We’re the nation that eats our youth
Hey boy, don’t believe em
None of us are bullet proof

Deep down there’s a boy inside
Asleep ready for the sun to rise
Wake up, wake up

- Chorus –

Still looking for the blinding light
Still looking for the reason why
Still looking for the sun to shine
To take me higher and higher

All my life
I’ve been living in the darkest night
Still looking for the blinding light
To take me higher and higher

Hey girl, be yourself now
Don’t believe what they told you to
Hey girl, be yourself now
Your skin’s more than a pin-up suit
Hey girl, don’t conform now
No one else got soul like you
But none of us are bullet proof

Deep down there’s a hope inside
You’ve got wings but you’re scared to fly
Wake up, wake up

Still looking for the blinding light

Deep down there’s a hope inside
Brighter than the fears in my mind
I keep looking for the blinding light
It’s the hope that keeps me alive
Wake up, wake up

I keep looking for the blinding light

The blinding light
Been waiting all my life
To take me higher and higher
Blinding light
You’re the vision that gives me sight
The blinding light
Take me higher and higher

 

Selling the News

Welcome to Holy City of silver screen
Built with a lens and a low self-esteem
A teenager’s plea for meaning and means
We’re selling the news

See opinions are easier to swallow than facts
The greys instead of the whites and blacks
If you shoot it too straight they won’t come back
We’re selling the news

See money speaks volumes louder than words
Or virtues with wings maybe not quite at first
But salaries are paid by the ads not the bird
We’re selling the news

See all men are equal all is for sale
A powerful dog that’s been chasing his tail
The lowest common denominator prevails
We’re selling the news

- Chorus -

I want to believe you
I want to believe
But everything here’s in between
The fact is fiction
The fact is fiction

I want to believe you
I want to believe
But everything here’s in between
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion

America listens the story is told
With an eye on the truth as the story unfolds
But the ratings determine if story is sold
We’re selling the news

Begging the question mongering fears
Stroking the eyes and tickling ears
The truth is seldom just as it appears
We’re selling the news

- Chorus -

I want to believe you
I want to believe
But everything here’s in between
The fact is fiction

I can see your talking heads
On the television set
On the internet they said
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion

Substance, oh substance – where have you been?
You’ve been replaced by the masters of spin
Who make good looking books and write history in
We’re selling the news

The lines start to blur, I get so confused
I get shiny new models mixed up with the blues
I get binary code mixed up with abuse
The facts are simply one option to choose

Where nothing is sacred there’s nothing to lose
Where nothing is sacred all is consumed
We’re still on the air it must be the truth
We’re selling the news

- Chorus -

I want to believe you
I want to believe
But everything I see is greed
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion

 

Thrive

Been fighting things that I can’t see in
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

I’ve been awake for an hour or so
Checking for a pulse but I just don’t know
Am I man if I feel like ghost?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

- Chorus - 

No I’m not alright I know that I’m not right
The steering wheel don’t mean you can drive
A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive
No I’m not alright I know that I’m not right
Feels like I travel but I never arrive
I want to thrive, not just survive

I come alive when I hear you singing
But lately I haven’t been hearing a thing and
I get the feeling that I’m in between
A machine and a man who only looks like me

I try and hide it and not let it show
But deep down inside me I just don’t know
Am I man if I feel like a hoax?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No I’m not alright I’m always close but I’m never enough
I’m always in line but I’m never in love
I get so down but I won’t give up
I get slowed down but I won’t give up

Been fighting things that I can’t see, yeah
Like voices coming from the inside of me, yeah
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?
I want to thrive, not just survive
Thrive

 

Dark Horses

I’ve made my mistakes
I’ve seen my heart cave in
I’ve got my scars
I’ve been to hell and back again

Born for the blue skies
We’ll survive the rain
Born for the sunrise
We’ll survive the pain

- Chorus -

We’re singing…
Hey, You can’t count us out
We’ve been running up against the crowd
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses
We’re singing…
Wait! It’s not over now
We’ve been down but we’ve never been out
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We found a way out
The city takes everything it can
But outside the crowds
I can feel my lungs again

Born for the blue skies
We’ll survive the rain
Born for the sunrise
We’ll survive the pain

- Chorus -

We’re singing…
Hey, You can’t count us out
We’ve been running up against the crowd
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses
We’re singing…
Wait! It’s not over now
We’ve been down but we’ve never been out
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We’re singing…

Laa la-la-la-la-laa
Laa la-la-la-la-laa

- Chorus -

We’re singing…
Hey, You can’t drown us out
We’ve been running up against the crowd
We don’t care what they say
We know we’ll find a way
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

 

Souvenirs

Here’s to the twilight
Here’s to the memories
These are my souvenirs
My mental pictures of everything

Here’s to the late nights
Here’s to the firelight
These are my souvenirs
My souvenirs

- Chorus -

I close my eyes and go back in time
I can see you smiling, so alive
We were so young
We had no fear
We were so young
We had no idea that life was just happening
Life was just happening

Here’s to your bright eyes
Shining like fireflies
These are my souvenirs
The memory of a lifetime

We were wide-eyed with everything
Everything around us
We enlightened by everything
Everything

- Chorus -

So I close my eyes and go back in time
I can see you smiling, so alive
I close my eyes and go back in time
You were just a child then and so was I
We were so young
We had no fear
We were so young
We had no idea

That nothing lasts forever
Nothing lasts forever
Nothing lasts, nothing last
You and me together
We’re always now or never

Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

- Chorus -

I close my eyes and go back in time
I can see you smiling, you’re so alive
I close my eyes and go back in time
You were wide-eyed
You were wide-eyed
We were so young
We had no fear

We were so young
We had just begun
A song we knew but had never sung
It burned like fire in our lungs
Life was just happening
Life was just happening

I wouldn’t change it for anything
My souvenirs

 

Rise Above It

Another couple of kids with their heads on top
Just another stranger
Just another plot
Another track home where the city streets stop
Just another kid with another bored cop

Just another lemon into lemonade job
Just another rust and dust facade
Just another key stuck broken in the lock
Just another scarecrow choking on a cough
Oh come on!

- Chorus -

It all feels so typical
I guess I’m looking for a miracle
Rise above it
Rise above it
I don’t care what they’re telling me
We could be what we want to be
Rise above it
Rise above it

Listen up loud, listen up, listen here
Just because you’re running doesn’t mean that you’re scared
Just because it’s law doesn’t mean it is fair
Never let another tell your soul what to fear

Here we go again give it one more try
Don’t believe the system’s on your side
Just another lover-turned-enemy fight
Just another blood and nicotine sky
Oh come on!

I get so sick of it
It feels so counterfeit
I rise above it
Rise above it

Hear our voices rise
Here our battle cry
We’ve been under the curse
With our arms raised high
Hear us sing tonight
Like the last night on earth

We will rise
Like the tide
Like dead men
Coming back to life
We are rising
Rising

Turn it up now, listen loud and clear
Just because you’re present doesn’t mean that you’re here
Oh come on!

- Chorus -

It feels so typical
Guess I’m looking for a miracle
Rise above it
Rise above it
The curse is spoken
The system’s broken
Rise above it
Rise above it

Let’s rise above it
We can rise above it

 

Vice Verses

Walking along the high tide line
Watching the pacific from the sidelines
Wonder what it means to live together?
Looking for more than just guidelines

Looking for signs in the night sky,
Wishing that I wasn’t such a nice guy
Wonder what it means to live forever?
Wonder what it means to die?

- Chorus -

I know that there’s a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
I got my vice verses

The wind could be my new obsession
The wind could be my new depression
The wind goes anywhere it wants to
Wishing that I learned my lesson

The ocean sounds like a garage band
Coming at me like a drunk man
The ocean tells me a thousand stories
None of them are lies

- Chorus -

I know that there’s a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
I got my vice verses

Let the pacific laugh
Be on my epitaph
With it’s rising and falling
And after all, it’s just water
And I am just soul
With a body of water and bones
Water and bones

Where is God in the night sky?
Where is God in the city light?
Where is God in the earthquake?
Where is God in the genocide?

Where are you in my broken heart?
Everything seems to fall apart
Everything feels rusted over
Tell me that you’re there

- Chorus -

I know that there’s a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
These are my vice verses
These are my vice verses

Yeah
These are my vice verses

 

Where I Belong

Feeling like a refugee
Like it don’t belong to me
The colors flash across the sky

This air feels strange to me
Feeling like a tragedy
Take a deep breath and close my eyes
One last time

Storms on the wasteland
Dark clouds on the plains again
We were born into the fight

But I’m not sentimental
This skin and bones is a rental
And no one makes it out alive

- Chorus -

Until I die I’ll sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Where the weak are finally strong
Where the righteous rights the wrong
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Feels like we’re just waiting, just waiting
While our hearts are just breaking, breaking
Feels like we’re fighting against the tide

I wanna see the earth start shaking
I wanna see a generation
Finally wake up inside

Until I die I’ll sing these songs
Still looking for a home
Where I belong

This body’s not my own
This world’s not my own
But I can still hear the sound
Of my heart beating out
So let’s go boys, play it loud

On the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell you that I tried
to live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look you in the eye
And know that I’ve arrived
In a world where I belong

Where I belong

I still believe we can live forever
You and I begin forever now
Forever now
Forever
I still believe in us together
You and I we’re here together now
Together now
Together now
Forever now
Forever now

Forever