White Crosses Lyrics

1. White Crosses
Intro C, F, C, G, C
I wake up in the morning and I drink from the fountain.
I wake up in the morning with the same unanswered questions.
I don't know what's going to cure my unsettled stomach.
Street kids collect spare change in a conch shell on the side walk;
their teeth are yellow, their hair is tangled.
Their minds are vapid and they laugh wild in their depravity.
I'll make my way back home to you, head north on San Marco Avenue.
White crosses on the church lawn, I want to smash them all.
I want to smash them all.
Pony tails swinging back and forth behind beach blonde college girls out for a jog.
Saint Augustine, shine your light down on me!
Pop hits from the 90's echo out of tourist filled bars.
I am met with arms crossed under dirty looks, I am treated like a common
thief.
Eaves-dropping in on conversation, I wander aimless leering at strangers.
Strung out on the amphetamines that you gave to me.
Eye-balled with suspicion by a pencil skirt in high heels,
you realize that you're talking to yourself.
Cannon fire explodes out over the bay.
2. I Was A Teenage Anarchist
Verse1:
I was a teenage anarchist
Looking for a revolution
I had the style, I had the ambition
Read all the authors I knew the right slogans
There was no war but the class war
I was ready to set the world on fire
I was a teenage anarchist
Looking for a revolution
Chorus:
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
Verse2:
I was a teenage anarchist
But the politics were too convenient
In the depths of their humanity
All I saw was bloodless ideology
With freedom as their doctrine
Guess who was the new authority
I was a teenage anarchist
But the politics were too convenient
Chorus:
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
When you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
Verse3:
I was a teenage anarchist
But then the scene got too rigid
It was mob mentality
They set their rifle sights on me
Narrow visions of autonomy
You want me to surrender my identity
I was a teenage anarchist
(stop)
The revolution was a lie
Chorus:
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
Do you remember when you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
When you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
When you were young
And you wanted to set the world on fire
I was a teenage anarchist (4x)
3. Because Of The Shame
Intro:
Whoa oh oh oh whoa
whoa oh oh oh whoa
Whoa oh oh oh whoa
Whoa oh oh oh whoa
We used to get high together, instead of getting high alone.
I can't remember the last time I saw you.
I can't remember the last time we talked.
You left home for a fresh start,
working as a waitress down in Bradenton.
With my name tattoo'd into your skin.
Because of the shame I associate with vulnerability
I am numbing myself completely.
Can you hear me right now?
I watched your mother bury you today, with tears in her eyes.
well, It wasn't her words that shook me, it was the resemblance you shared.
Whoa oh oh oh whoa X2
Don't it seem so detached and unreal? Don't it seem so far away?
Like the past never happened, or like nothing's ever changed.
With your casket open in front of me,
your eyes closed and your lips silent.
With my name tattoo'd into your skin.
Because of the shame I associate with vulnerability
I am numbing myself completely.
Can you hear me right now?
I watched your mother bury you today, with tears in her eyes.
well, It wasn't her words that shook me, it was the resemblance you shared.
Whoa oh oh oh whoa x2
I didn't listen to the preacher.
I couldn't look your husband in the eyes.
I'm not sure what I meant to you then,
so I'm not sure what I owe you now.
But if something I said hurt you
I swear it was not my intention.
With your name tattoo'd into my skin.
With your name tattoo'd into my skin.
Because of the shame I associate with vulnerability
I am numbing myself completely.
Can you hear me right now?
I watched your mother bury you today, with tears in her eyes.
well, It wasn't her words that shook me, it was the resemblance you shared.
well, It wasn't her words that shook me, it was the resemblance you shared.
Whoa oh oh oh whoa
whoa oh oh oh whoa
Whoa oh oh oh whoa
Whoa oh
Can you hear me right now?
Can you hear me right now?
4. Suffocation
INTRO/VERSE: Bm D
We were young heartbreakers estranged from our wealthy parents,
doing key bumps in a handicap bathroom.
Stoned complacent, ambivalent, mass communicating with shared subconscious.
CHORUS:
Suffocation.
Modern life in the western world.
Homosexual sons of unfulfilled fathers.
Divorced from reality, free and young.
We were bashing our brains out on a kitchen cabinet.
It was a televised crucifixion.
Suffocation.
Modern life in the western world.
BRIDGE: Bm D
We were star-crossed, we were destitute.
Our words spoke mass destruction.
We watched the sun rise in the morning.
Daughters in arm, we all are orphans.
Suffocation.
Modern life in the western world.
In the western world.
5. We're Breaking Up
This is the only voice I know.
These are the only words I have.
This is the only way I know how to say, we're not in love anymore.
It's the same way that it's always been,
The dynamic to the relationship never changes.
It's the same way that it's always been,
The dynamic to the relationship never changes.
We used to like all the same bands.
We used to have all the same friends.
What do we have left in common?
Just shared memories of good times long since past. (Long since past)
It's the same way that it's always been,
The dynamic to the relationship never changes.
It's the same way that it's always been,
The dynamic to the relationship never changes.
You can't get what you want from me, and I can't get what I need from you.
This is the only voice I know.
These are the only words I have.
This is the only way I know how to say, we're breaking up.
It's the same way that it's always been.
It's the same way that it's always been.
I'm not giving up on us.
I'm not giving up on us.
6. High Pressure Low
Intro:
B F# E X4
E (low) Eb C#
There was a high pressure low developing off the coast of Africa,
uplift in the atmosphere pushed waves
across the ocean towards Antilles and Bon Air.
F# E E F# E(low)
I paced in Agitation.
I drew the curtains closed.
I turned the air conditioner on.
I pressed a warm wash cloth to my face.
Somewhere out there a hurricane was coming.
There's just no future left for us to dream of,
living in an era of instability.
So caught up in the culture of their rivals,
fear breeds in honest men.
It's a high pressure low.
It's a high pressure low.
7 missiles flying over the sea of japan.
Tales of feral children sleeping in wolf dens.
And the pious preacher commands.
F# E E F# E (low)
I hold my breath in anticipation.
Into the shelter of the jungle noble savages run.
Vestal virgins triumph over life long inhibitions.
And I wonder, what is real? What is fiction?
There's just no future left for us to dream of,
living in an era of instability.
So caught up in the culture of their rivals,
fear breeds in honest men.
It's a high pressure low.
It's a high pressure low.
Would anyone forgive Robert McNamara?
In retrospect he had to admit;
there was mistake in going to war without first asking all the questions.
Yes, Robert Strange McNamara,
there are those who just cannot forget.
And I wonder, have I lost my own compassion?
There's just no future left for us to dream of,
living in an era of instability.
So caught up in the culture of their rivals,
fear breeds in honest men.
It's a high pressure low.
It's a high pressure low.
It's a high pressure low.
It's a high pressure low.
Outro:
7. Ache With Me
Verse:
I've walked down high streets looking through windows.
I've been lost in crowds of strangers.
Searched record shops and cosmetic aisles, phone books, want ads, bus stops and libraries.
Newspaper headlines, mannequin faces, television stations, billboard advertisements.
Your voice echoes in the back of my mind.
I see your face when I close my eyes.
Chorus:
Do you share the same sense of defeat?
Have you realized all the things you'll never be?
Ideals turn to resentment, open minds close up with cynicism.
I've got no judgment for you.
Come on and ache with me.
Come on and ache with me.
Verse:
Through bar rooms, cafs, jail cells and court rooms.
Theaters, restaurants, graveyards and churches.
I've spent every dollar that I've ever earned.
I'll bleed my heart out, I'll give every word.
I've asked preachers, doctors and lawyers, socialites, pariahs, mothers and fathers.
You may not find all that you're after, in the end I hope it doesn't matter.
Chorus:
Do you share the same sense of defeat?
Have you realized all the things you'll never be?
Ideals turn to resentment, open minds close up with cynicism.
I've got no judgment for you.
Come on and ache with me.
Do you share the same sense of defeat?
Have you realized all the things you'll never be?
I've got no judgment for you.
Come on and ache with me.
Come on and ache with me.
Come on and ache with me.
8. Spanish Moss
CHORUS:
You just need to find some place to get away.
You can forget your name.
And there's no need to apologize.
WHOAS
VERSE:
It could be a good life.
It could be such a very good life.
We could find a place for just me and you.
Need some place to stay safe, need some place to stay safe and warm.
Why don't we deserve the same?
Look into the Spanish moss.
Let your mind conjure up old ghosts.
Ride you bike through lost Florida streets.
Everything we've said and done, can be so easily forgotten.
You can always change who you are.
BRIDGE:
I caught a glimpse of this life, it could be such a very good life.
We could find a place for just me and you.
But it's not yours to keep.
Yeah, the truth will tear your heart out.
In a world run by gangsters you're stuck standing in a bread line.
9. Rapid Decompression
Intro: C
How much is too much?
I'm tired of predicting to lose.
But before you point your finger,
before you cast your stones,
F# (slide to) G
take a look at yourself.
How can you expect from someone what you won't do yourself?
There's no bottom to your reality.
Your desperation is utter and complete.
What you can't love about yourself you have to steal from someone else;
F# (slide to) G C
and what you can't steal you have to deny.
(palm mute)
Rapid Decompression.
Rapid Decompression.
Rapid Decompression.
Rapid Decompression.
F# (slide to) G C
Sometimes it feels like your whole world is coming to an end.
Coming to an end
Coming to an end.
10. Bamboo Bones
Intro (x2)
Verse: E,B,A,A
Chorus: C#m,A,E,B
Don't let them break you.
Don't let them tell you who you are.
Doesn't matter where you come from,
you'll always have a floor to sleep on.
And you have your bamboo bones,
nervous energy,
blind ambition,
skin of your teeth.
Push back, push back, push back,
with every word and every breath.
What god doesn't give to you,
you've got to go and get for yourself.
I'm embarrassed to admit it,
I've got no grip.
I'm leading with my jaw.
Can you see it from a distance?
Does it look ridiculous?
I guess that's just what I have to live with.
Still I have a mind to think,
knees to break,
you standing beside me.
I'm going to push back, push back, push back,
with every word and every breath.
What god doesn't give to you,
you've got to go and get for yourself.
On Last "What god..." part play:
What god doesn't give to you,
you've got to go and get for yourself
for yourself