Lyrics (copyright 2006 Mitzi Cowell except*)

Flip

flip so they cannot flop you
rip so they cannot drop you
rock so they cannot roll you
give so they cannot rob you
freak so they cannot box you
think so they can't outfox you
run till they never catch you
learn what they cannot teach you
(zig so they do not zag you
be big so they cannot bag you)

love and they cannot hate you
live and they cannot kill you
shine and they cannot snuff you
burn til they cannot quench you
stand even if they knock you
expand till they cannot block you
Hmove so they cannot clock you
be till they can't avoid you

you and me
we are the powers that be

I walked thru the halls of power
high in the ivory tower
and all I could see
was human beings

marble walls and winding stairs
3-piece suits and leather chairs
still all I could see
was human beings


Hard to Know

I would not go and throw this away
but I would not choose to live this a-way
and I know it's hard
hard to know what to do sometimes

I would not run my own train off the track
but I would not choose to ever go back
and I know it's hard...

there's nothing like that feeling I get
and everytime I swear I'll never forget
but I know it's hard...

Belly of the Beast
oh, I make my home in the belly of the beast
in the lair of the monster

I see the darkness all around
it's hanging like a cloud over my hometown
I see the fear in their eyes
staring at the TV believing all the lies

and I say oh,
I make my home in the belly of the beast
in the lair of the monster
oh, I can't go home
till the belly of the beast is torn asunder

I shout and cry but do they hear
above the chattering voice of fear
it's like a science fiction movie
and then the cold wind blows right thru me -
it's real

(chorus)

so I'm packing up my car
I'm gonna drive it to the place where the monsters are
and then I'll join a rebel band
and hand in hand we're gonna make our stand

(chorus)
oh, we spend our days in the belly of the beast
in the lair of the monster
oh, we look for rays of hope anywhere
in the lair of the monster

oh, I have no fear in the belly of the beast
in the lair of the monster
oh, I'm gonna sink my spear
in the belly of the beast
in the heart of the monster


Refugees

come back to me
shine it back to me
show it back to me
what I need to see
cause we're refugees
in babylon
in the darkest days
before the dawn

it tears my heart
it makes me weak
but it makes me strong
everrytime I speak
and I'm talking now
and I can't shut up
and I'm walking now
and I can't sit down
cause we're refugees...

we've got no leeway we've got no slack
it's on our shoulders to bring it back
cause we're refugees...

it's Love's desire
it's the sacred fire
it calls to me
all thru the wire
and I'm listening now

so come back to me
shine it back to me
show it back to me
what I need to see
we will be free
it's guaranteed
by the quality
of our urgency
cause we're refugees...


Hoodwinked/WRS

hoodwinked
what do you think?
what do you know?
do you know?

opinion
what's your opinion?
are you just a minion?
do you know?
who's got dominion
over your opinion?
do you know?

brainwashed
did you get your salad tossed?
who's the boss?
do you know?
double-crossed
salad tossed
do you know?

democracy
for the aristocracy
S.O.S.D.D.
for the rest of you suckers
is that democracy
or hypocrisy?
do you know?

well, look who's got a
mandate
over the united states
have you got your facts straight?
do you know?
mandate
or date rape?
do you know?

hoodwinked...

my alarm clock goes off early
it makes me a litle bit surly
but I've got to keep it together to
give it all away
give it all away again

I hope my kids don't get sick
I hope my paycheck comes quick
I buy a little rice and beans and then I
give it all away
give it all away again

I appreciate your reassurance
but I'd like some health insurance
overtime and benefits but
you took it all away
took it all away again

if this role I must live out
I pray my feet don't give out
I just keep shoveling the Love out
I give it all away
give it all away again


Before Forever

Do you remember when we were together?
out on that open plane before forever
the sky was black in the broad daylight
and when the stars looked down
they could not help but smile

do you remember when we were together
I taste you in the breath of every lover
every one brings me closer
to you

sometimes I feel
like I've been blown into a million pieces
and every once in awhile
I find one

sometimes I feel
like I've been lost out in the woods without you
and I've been sitting here on my rock
wondering how we got
separated

do you remember?
I see you in the eyes of every other
every one brings me closer
to you


The Words

Love don't lie but
Love can say goodbye
more often than we'd like it to
time does fly but
time goes dragging by
while I'm waiting for my heart to heal

if I could
lord I surely would
fill up my pockets with the things I've done
and lay them out
so there'd be no doubt
I'm just waiting for the words to come

I pick thru scraps of
books and photographs
looking for I know not what
life's so long
then all too soon it's gone
while we're waiting for the words to come


Life is a Freak Show

Life is a freak show
you'd better hope that wedon't go
because man cannot live
on white bread alone
life is a rainbow
more than red, blue or yellow
and your world will be so gray
if you drive us all away

you look for Love at your shopping mall
you look for peace in a pill bottle
you look for reality on TV
but none of those people look like me

(chorus)

you tell me you know how to pray
then you throw God's treasures all away
is there a hole in your soul that you just can't fill?
well all your posessions never will

(chorus)

do you keep your street behind a gate?
do you hide your heart behind your hate?
you'd better open it up and come downtown
where the playful people gather round

(chorus)


Home from the War

I'm home from the war
I'm not the same person that I was before
I fought for my country
is my country gonna fight for me?

I'm home from the war
went to fight evil on a distant shore
now I find the evil at my own front door
telling me that I'm not welcome here
I'm home from the war

I'm home from the war
my civilian shoes don't fit me anymore
my feet are too big and my back's too sore
to carry the weight of the world anymore

I'm home from the war
the ghost of my old self goes about her chores
eating at the restaurants
buying from the stores
but she's gotta do it all without me
oh I'm home from the war

a little grayer in the hair
and worse for the wear
i know you really care
but you just weren't there
when it all went down

I'm home from the war
i don't know what I'm feeling but I know for sure
what I thought was real
it isn't real anymore

I'm home from the war
no idea what's in store
well they tell me
one battle's done and another's begun but
I don't live here anymore
I don't live here anymore
so send me back to the war...


Twinkle

twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder who you are
up above the world so bright
like a diamond in the night

now I lay me down to sleep
why do I dream of flying?
maybe in my dreams I keep
the truth I've been denying

do you see us?
working so hard
trying so hard just to be us?
do you see us?
looking so far
flat on our backs in our own backyard
don't you see us?

we are not that far apart
we've got 2 legs and a heart
but we're not that far apart


Mattie
*traditional

prettiest train, man, I've ever seen
run down from jackson back to new orleans

if you go to memphis, boy, don't hang around
police'll get you, man, you're workhouse bound
[talking free labor]

mattie when you marry, don't marry no convict man
every day monday hoe handle in your hand

mattie when you marry better marry some railroad man
[raytheon man]
every day sunday dollar in your hand

it's in your hand