1. don't think too much, too soon
when it's too little, too late
don't suck the air from the room
while someone else suffocates

imagine a mile in the shoes
that some devil keeps lacing you in
who used god as an excuse
to behave and to say what's less than human

2. don't tell the rain it's dry
don't tell the sun it's hot
don't point, don't lie, don't patronize
it won't erase all the rotten parts you got

imagine centuries in the skin
that some thief keeps taking you in
who finds new ways of legislating
for the hate of your melanin
for the guilt of their wrong-doing
for the envy of your elegance
for the safety of their dominance
for the trembling fear of your perserverance
for the crazy high of arrogance
for the lazy love of ignorance
for the hate of your melanin
​for the hate of your melanin

1. since shelter in place
got nothing in the bank
stopped touching my face (mmm),
and stay six feet away (mmm)
i take my time with tasks
all my friends are sewing masks
my plans all got replaced
with sanitizing every space
but i keep on clinging
to my musical upbringing
hoping all this singing in your screen
will help it be alright

CH
we just gotta put each other first
and stay at home so it don’t get any worse
keep thanking all the folks who are hard at work so it tapers off tapers off
don’t spend all your time getting mad on twitter
pick up a pen and write your senator
or pop your head in on a struggling neighbor
til it tapers off tapers off

2. i never miss a Zoom,
i sterilized my broom
but sometimes the doom and gloom (mmm) keeps me stuck inside my room (mmm)
you’re not in this alone
just make the moves up as you go
be good to folks you know
and even the ones you don’t
but just remember
you’re your own defender
not just in November
people have the power
to make everything alright

CH

Lyrics ("melt with you" portion attributed to song of the same name by Modern English)

fire’s coming round the mountain, babe, start running for the car
no time for family photo albums, records, or guitars
freeewheelin’ dylan was my savior but I cannot return the favor
i know them all by heart anyways
they’ll be blowin’ in the wind after the blaze

you’re the only thing that i refuse to lose
even driving toward death’s door, you’re my refuge
when the world stops burning, this flame will continue
and i’ll melt with you

smoke’s clouding up our eyes, babe, open your ears and try to hear me
they may not recognize our bodies but I’ve memorized your spirit
leaving life is really scary but skin and bones are temporary
my love for you’s the only truth that stays
it will be blowin’ in the wind after the blaze

you’re the only thing that i refuse to lose 
even driving toward death’s door, you’re my refuge 
when the world stops burning, this flame will continue 
and i’ll melt with you ​

face to the furnace, tears up in flames
i was the fodder, were you not entertained?
you heard it cracking, did you laugh at that sound?
fire is fuel when you're the hound
 
i've taken orders and i've contravened
i've saved the day, and i’ve fled the scene
i could care less about castles and crowns
power is pointless when you're the hound
 
just allow me to touch upon
the fact my knee was never bent
i used to have a nose for blood
but now it's gone i must have lost that scent
it's a wonder i've seen love at all
it must have been by accident
 
i've taken prisoners and i've been behind bars
i figure salvation is not without scars
face to the furnace, nose to the ground
fire is freedom when you're the hound

*pronouns changed from she to he in honor of my friend Jeffrey Joe who I lost the year I wrote this song

​everyone’s wearing black
everyone looks so sad
everyone can be seated now
everyone ends up dead
everyone bow your head
everyone remember
 
was there a time or two or three he had you laughing?
was he with you giving tissues when you cried?
was he the kind of kind worth photographing in your mind?
did he give you a good story for the day he died?
 
everyone goes to bed
everyone ends up dead
everyone will live another day
everyone still misses
everyone reminisces
everyone has something to say
 
was there a time or two or three he had you laughing?
was there a moment you just had to memorize?
was he the kind of kind worth photographing in your mind?
did he give you a good story for the day he died?

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*written to the tune of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid
 
i guess it's trump, what a crushing defeat
can't believe he's allowed in the president's seat
can't everyone see he's an ass - an ass who hates everything?
look at his team, dangers untold
how many disasters can one cabinet hold?
somebody pass me a drink, at this point i’ll drink anything
 
he hates brown people, gays, the disabled
he hates women and science and more
i was sure no one thought he was able
i was wrong, now I'm scared, of what's in store
 
i wanna be where the sheeple aren't
i wanna see humanity advancing
exercising your, what do you call it? oh - brain
grabbing pussies got trump this far
not paying taxes or his employees
bragging about, what's that word again? rape
sexual assault is not fucking fun, just ask his victims, every last one
the jock gets away and the best we can say:
rape's just part of our world
 
what would i give if i could live where people were smarter?
not pray away gay, or get in the way of a parenthood planned
don't you understand this is a man who has objectified his daughter? still there are women who voted him in, it's unreal as his tan
 
i'm not ready to reap what the people sow
we've got some questions, let's find the answers
starting with lessons we've already, i don't know…learned
when's it our turn? we know what we need:
to live in a land ruled by love and not greed
out of the debris, how about you and me take charge of our world?

all these needles all in vain
when will sleep come to numb the pain
cut it off so it won't bleed
how does one try not to need
 
i'm learning how to roll with it
the tightening of the tourniquet
no blood supply i'm used to it
i'll die trying loosen the grip
 
all these things I saw
explain the rubber mouth and stubborn jaw
circulatory system breech
what kind of wave resists the beach
 
it wasn't my plan
i didn't mean no harm
oh well who needs a hand
who needs a loving arm

beware, a cocoon can turn into a coffin
safety betrays, it ain’t always your friend
besides what is life if it’s not lived often
be not afraid to turn into the wind
 
i look at this life through a prism of lenses
a screen door in the wind swinging wild on its hinges
it slams then expands to show new scenery
i’ve been transformed by love’s alchemy
It swims in the tears of my proud father’s eyes
roams the meadows of spain, sings the sheep lullabies
cloaked in the coat of a camouflaged king
awakened a life that lived only in dreams
 
it even exists in a pyramid scheme
and my woman who waits by the oasis spring 
rises like steam from the fresh blood of war
laid under the shade of an old sycamore
it’s the legend that leads you to treasures untold
pours lead in a mold, expects no less than gold
pushes the sun on its course in the sky
wooshes like wind, never born nor will die
 
beware, a cocoon can turn into a coffin
be not afraid to turn into the wind

i used to cast my light like a net on the sea
when i came around you would shimmer for me
now my spotlight might be something you dread
like a jailbird ducking away or running ahead
 
is it just me or is the fog rolling in thicker
cause what used to beam now only seems to be a flicker
i might look good, i might seem strong
but you are wrong, i'm just stuck in the moss
tell me where should a lighthouse look when it's lost?
 
i used to take each wave with a grain of salt
thought the price of love was the pain of assault
now when the wind howls, i tower, irate
at the owl and the moon that i imitate
 
oh the brutal ache of phantom limbs
makes for futile shakes of your hands my friend
my armless body's head just spins
and i’m jealous of the seagull’s glide
i search for days less tall, more wide
oh a glow is just a glare with too much pride to die

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