Gospel Haunted

Every time I sing I sing for the Lord
Glory, glory, glory amen
The Holy Ghost keeps this cold heart warm
Glory, glory, glory amen

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah worthless fuckers, hallelujah

And everyone who lives lives in fear of the Lord
Glory, glory, glory amen
And anyone who don’t ain’t gonna live too long
Glory, glory, glory amen

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah worthless fuckers, hallelujah

Yes I do believe in what I cannot see
I’m gonna go ahead and drown myself in glory
Yes I do believe in what I cannot see
I’m gonna go ahead and drown myself in glory

Don’t go telling lies lie your eyes on the Lord
Glory, glory, glory amen
Tap your Sunday shoes to these gospel haunted blues
Glory, glory, glory amen

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah worthless fuckers, hallelujah

Lord I do confess there’s evil thoughts within my breast
Glory, glory, glory amen
But I won’t lose to sin like my wicked brother did
Glory, glory, glory amen

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah worthless fuckers, hallelujah

Yes I do believe in what I cannot see
I’m gonna go ahead and drown myself in glory
Yes I do believe in what I cannot see
I’m gonna go ahead and drown myself in glory

Yes we do believe in what we cannot see
We’re gonna go ahead and drown ourselves in glory
Glory amen

Jesus a knockin’, a knockin’ on my door
He kept on a knockin’, He kept on a knockin’ for an hour maybe more
I said, “Well go away Lord, I can’t afford to pay Lord
I spent all my money, I spent all my money on a cheatin’ gal”

I said, “A woah, woah A cold wind’s gonna blow”
I said, “A har, har Judgement’s coming for us all
That’s all, that’s all”

Jesus a callin’, a callin’ on my phone
He kept on a callin’, He kept on a callin’
I said, “Can’t you see that no one’s home?”
I said, “Well go away Lord, I can’t afford to pay Lord
I spent all my money, I spent all my money on a cheatin’ gal”

I said, “A woah, woah A cold wind’s gonna blow”
I said, “A har, har Judgement’s coming for us all
That’s all, that’s all”

Jesus whisperin’, He’s whisperin’ in my dreams
He kept on whisperin’, He kept on whisperin’ until them whispers turned into screams
I said, “Well go away Lord, I can’t afford to pay Lord
I spent all my money, I spent all my money on a cheatin’ gal”

I said, “A woah, woah A cold wind’s gonna blow”
I said, “A har, har Judgement’s coming for us all
That’s all, that’s all”
Judgement’s coming for us all
Judgement

Here I am standing at the crossroads
On the path between darkness and light.
They keep telling me I must choose
Between what is wrong and is right.

Oh, between good and evil I’ll never choose.
If either side wins, I know I’ll lose.
So I’ll stand at the crossroads for life.

And all of them just want to use me,
Use my name to endorse their beliefs.
But I won’t be nobody’s puppet.
No matter who’s pulling the strings.

Oh, between good and evil I’ll never choose.
If either side wins, I know I’ll lose.
So I’ll stand at the crossroads for life.

Back off Angels, back off Devils.
I want to stand on my own.

And no I won’t join your army.
Not for Satan, not for Jesus Christ.
Though I dwell within endless darkness,
Somewhere I know there’s a light.

Oh, between good and evil I’ll never choose.
If either side wins, I know I’ll lose.
So I’ll stand at the crossroads for life.

Back off Angels, back off Devils.
I’m gonna to stand on my own.

I won’t be trampled ‘neath nobody’s footsteps
I won’t be ground in the dirt like your dog
I am devoted to all that is evil
I will betray everything I was taught

Let us be, let us be,
Let us be serpents
Among the beasts we’ll reign

Everyone’s saying that the end is coming
But I’ve got news for you, it’s already here
You must have missed it while you were consuming,
Stacking and storing that shit you don’t need

Let us be, let us be,
Let us be serpents
Among the beasts we’ll reign
With no mercy, no justice,
Just like you always dreamed of

Give up your Gods and your blind thoughtless comforts
Cower and whimper under the snakes
There will be nowhere to be safe and dry,
For all of your bodies we’re now inside

Let us be, let us be,
Let us be serpents
Among the beasts we’ll reign
With no mercy, no justice,
Just like you always dreamed of

I’ve got a secret, I’m a gonna tell you
Put your ear to my mouth bone
Everybody better leave the room now
Strangers strangers, no more strangers

I’ve got a secret,
I’m a gonna tell you
I’ve got a secret,
It’s a gonna change you

Everybody likes the sound of my banjo
Have yourself a seat and I’ll entertain you
Don’t get anxious there’s no hurry
You’re safe here darling don’t you worry

I’ve got a secret,
I’m a gonna tell you
I’ve got a secret,
It’s a gonna change you

Once I read the entire Bible
I know things that would impress you
Put on this dress so nice and short gal,
Showing off the top of your ankle

I’ve got a secret,
I’m a gonna tell you
I’ve got a secret,
It’s a gonna change you

Just like toxic waste, man,
It spews from their mouths
The lies that they want us to believe
And if you disagree,
Well they’ll throw you to the wolves
That’s the Chemical, the Chemical, the Chemical Church

They keep their houses swept,
And their suits all pressed and clean
Their thoughts and their actions all the same
But deep within their bones,
I smell their soul’s decay
That’s the Chemical, the Chemical, the Chemical Church

It has poisoned us all
It has poisoned us all

“If you are not white,
Then you are not a man”
That’s what I heard a preacher say
“And if you sodomize,
Then you deserve to die”
More bullshit from the Chemical, the Chemical, the Chemical Church

So if you’ve got some gasoline,
Then give it to the cause
Nothing else can cleanse like fire
We’ll burn these corporate churches,
And the Lord above will smile
At the death of the Chemical, the Chemical, the Chemical Church

It has poisoned us all
It has poisoned us all

I wanna mess around gal
I wanna mess around
I wanna mess around gal
I wanna mess around

I like it when you pray gal
I like it when you pray
I like it when you pray gal
I like it when you pray

Don’t waste my time
Don’t waste my time
‘Cause I wanna mess around

Stuck in this ugly town gal
We’re stuck in this ugly town
Stuck in this ugly town gal
Stuck in this ugly town

Ain’t it just like Hell gal?
Ain’t it just like Hell?
Ain’t it just like Hell gal?
Ain’t this just like Hell?

Don’t waste my time
Don’t waste my time
‘Cause I wanna mess around

We never have any fun gal
We never have any fun
We never have any fun gal
We never have any fun

Don’t it feel good to cry gal,
To fill your heart with blood?
Don’t it feel good to cry gal,
To fill your heart with blood?

Don’t waste my time
Don’t waste my time
‘Cause I wanna mess around

Follow me down into the pit
There’s blood on my hands,
And tears on my lips
I did not believe what you claimed to be
But the murder of you,
It was the murder of me

Oh Lord, won’t you send down the pain?
I’m ready to suffer again

I don’t know why I bother to pray
My knees grow so weak,
My head starts to sway
The room fills with fire, shadows do howl
The paint on the walls, boy,
It all starts to curl

Oh Lord, won’t you send down the pain?
I’m ready to suffer again

Tell me Lord
Tell me now
When will it end?
When will it end?

Look at the filthy lives we all lead
We are just open wounds exposed to Thee

Mercy I beg, but mercy from who?
Satan won’t have me, and neither will you
And everything ends just as it began,
With the half-hearted prayer of a weak worthless man

Oh Lord, won’t you send down the pain?
I’m ready to suffer again

Tell me Lord
Tell me now
When will it end?
When will it end?

Look at the filthy lives we all lead
We are just open wounds exposed to Thee

Lord won’t you send down the pain?

All folks ever seem to care about is wealth,
But wealth is death
Blessed are the lame, the sick, the poor,
Lacking wealth, for wealth is death

Never met a rich man whose grave
I didn’t want to piss on
Never met a poor man whose grave
I didn’t want to pray on
Wealth is death, life’s for living

Why would I ever want a job?
Waste my life, wealth is death
When I’m old and ready for the grave,
I want memories to recall

Never met a rich man whose grave
I didn’t want to piss on
Never met a poor man whose grave
I didn’t want to pray on
Wealth is death, life’s for living

La, la, la
Wealth is death

Every word was spoke in whisper
Every dream was dreamt alone
Firelight it burned so dimly
Underneath the hungry moon

Forgive me Matilda, dear
Forgive me Matilda, dear

Summer came and so did Autumn,
Falling leaves of red and gold
Starving men and wounded daughters,
Crawling husks of blood and bone

Forgive me Matilda, dear
Forgive me Matilda, dear

Lakes went dry and crops were failing
Corn turned black and hearts turned cold
We thought your blood would soothe God’s anger,
It only made the sickness grow

Forgive me Matilda, dear
Forgive me Matilda, dear

And I wake up in the city
All them cold dim lights shining down on me
The walls are concrete, I can’t kick through them
The windows dirt filled, I can’t see through them

I walk with eyes closed through the hallway,
Stumble down the stairs to the basement
The sound of people, the sound of machines
I must escape them, get my poor soul clean

Down in the basement I find a corner
It is cobwebbed, cracked and hollow
I take my hat off, I let my hair down
Then I back up to the opposite wall
I start running, my head strikes corner
And the whole building, man, it starts to crumble
Twenty stories of city dwellings
Are now cracked rubble upon the sidewalk

All that graffiti, all of them children
Forever safe now from becoming orphans
And me I’m safe too, I’m in a tunnel
Hidden down here beneath the city
Now look there on the floor, an old white pony
With a map tied to its ankle
The map has only one black arrow
That says, “nowhere” in its center

Ill at ease
Ill at ease

Ain’t it grand?
The tunnel leads to a forest
So, so grand
Thousand year old trees
Yet this magnificence
Leaves me feeling impotent and insignificant

Everything fits but me
Crow, deer carcass,
Loose branches, still water, and me?
Human!
So ugly with combed hair and tight fitting clothes

Whisper whisper to the dead carp
Lying bloated on the red shore
Face all caved in from my wood bat
Fins all torn off by my fingernails
It is lunch time
Fuckin’ fish meat
Gathered berries stain my fingers
So this is real life
Not just dress up
Unprotected by my neighbors
And when the night falls I see real stars,
Not just stickers on my ceiling
Lord it is grotesque
Lord it’s absurd
To keep speaking these cold, cold city words

I need a new language full of trouble,
Full of danger and uncertainty
Grunts and growls, moans and howls,
Something awful to offend thee

But even out here I feel walled in
I feel cut off from my birth skin
This ain’t primal, no this is fake too
The geese fly above in a two-sided triangle

I lift my slingshot, filled up with sharp rocks
I’m just like David
They are Goliath
And one by one boy, the birds they fall dead
I laugh silently and I stomp on their heads
Ill at ease
Ill at ease

Ain’t it grand?
The tunnel leads to a forest
So, so grand
Thousand year old trees
Yet this magnificence
Leaves me feeling impotent and insignificant

Everything fits but me
Crow, deer carcass,
Loose branches, still water, and me?
Human!
So ugly with combed hair and tight fitting clothes

And I wake up in the country
Pestilent sun shining down on me
I reap my bounty, one thousand acres
Yes I do own this, I justly claim it

Fuck the generations who came before me
I never needed them nor nobody
I’m like an Indian, so silent and wise
Though I know nothing and I hate silence
Ill at ease
Ill at ease