Hey Jesus

Hey Jesus won’t you help me
To open up my heart
I want to love my neighbor
But my neighbor wants no part
I’m just a target market
To that dollar grubbing hound
He don’t give a damn about me
When my money ain’t around
His hand is in my pocket
He’s laying guilt and shame
He makes me start to doubt you
And he does it in your name
I would love to love my neighbor
But, my neighbor wants no part
He couldn’t feel love
If you nailed it through his heart

Hey Jesus won’t you help me
To turn the other cheek
I shoot daggers at the bastards
Every time they speak
My ears are catching fire
When they start twisting what you said
Take you out of context
And turn you on your head
Now I haven’t read that good ‘ole book
In 10 or 20 years
But I can’t recall you saying
You hate single mom’s and queers
I’d turn the other cheek
But I can’t ignore the lies
They couldn’t see love
If you nailed it through their eyes.

I was flipping through the channels
When a woman on the screen
Preaching hard and breathing heavy
She was white, cut and clean
Selling after-life insurance
To the poor and to the meek
She said, “Give me all you’ve got
I’ll lend you Jesus for a week”
J.C. I’m not like you
And not sure I’d want to be
Give up my life
So Paula White could get rich off of me?
She can trade in your temple
Like no one in the land
But she couldn’t feel love
If you nailed it through her hands

Hey Jesus I’m in hell
Where the hell are you?
All I see are Kennedy, Falwell
And Robertson too
And their fundamental minions
Who follow them around
The flames climb higher
Broken glass is on the ground
They say the bible is their blueprint
When it fits in with their plan
I can’t tell Berlin from Mississippi
From Afghanistan
They use you to exclude
They use you to divide
If you see a Christian coming
Christ you’d better run and hide
Jesus let me in
I’m pounding on your door
With the God they’ve conjured up
What do we need the devil for?

Tonight

The sun should have
Been up by now
But I still can’t sleep
I’ve been up counting
Mountain ranges
Covered in lost sheep
I’ve been up trying
Not to think about
Everything we’ve lost
Dollars and Democracy
Star-crossed
This land belongs
To giants now
That, dwarf the Philistine
That rock you’ve got is about
As much use as a protest sign

Tonight more than days before
We need your human touch
‘Cause other than to each other
We don’t count for much

Mother Nature she ties tough knots
When you try to hold her down
The sulfur sky is falling
The rainbows are grey and brown
Liberty put down her torch
For to thumb a ride
And Justice can’t hold on no more
She’s fallen to one side

Tonight more than days before
We need your human touch
Accounting crunched the numbers
And we cost too much

They blamed Tricky Dick
They blamed Trickle Down
The Texans, the Farmer
And Slick Bill
But say nothing of the fat cows
Still grazing on the hill
That’s business as usual
And it’s no surprise to me
I was born long after
It was still cool to believe
Perhaps I’m even lucky
I’m not stuck with some memory
Of what hope felt like
Before November 1963

Nothing in the Sky

Are you still confused?
It’s your innocence that’s gone
The day they drew back curtain
You realized you’re all alone
Like people when they jump
Like people trying to fly
Before they hit the ground
They cry out
To nothing in the sky

I was sitting on a beach
By the airport in Lauderdale
Nothing taking off or landing
The air was thick and stale
So I turned my head around
A bird was sitting on a line
It looked like he
Was wondering why
There was nothing
In the sky

There ain’t nothing in the sky
There ain’t nothing in the sky
Just a cool, calm, neutral blue
Staring me back in the eye
And no one’s walking
On the water
Or coming back when they die
Now, no matter how long
That I live
I won’t forget
And I can’t forgive

Self proclaimed holy men
Two days later on TV
Said “This country had it comin’
The good Lord’s trying
To make us see”
Those words echo in my head
As I walk past the dandelion
It holds my smile for me
Just like the sky

There ain’t nothing in the sky
There ain’t nothing in the sky
Just a cool, calm shade of blue
Staring me back in the eye
And no one’s coming
Down the mountain
No one’s coming with
A reason why
No matter how long that I live
I won’t forget
And I can’t forgive

For a moment it felt
Like peace had come
I’d pay the devil now
To get me some

In the name of Mohammed
Abraham and Jesus too
There’s no such thing as crazy
When it’s what
God wants from you
So they will kill
Until there’s nothing left
But the echo of a lie
Nothing but the truth
Nothing in the sky…

There ain’t nothing in the sky
There ain’t nothing in the sky
Just a cool, calm and neutral blue
Staring me back in the eye
And no one’s coming
To the rescue
No one’s even gunna
Say goodbye
No matter how long that I live
I won’t forget and can’t forgive

For a moment it felt
Like peace had come
Now, praise the lord
And pass the gun
For a moment it felt
Like peace had come
I’d pay the devil now
To get me some

Let Go

I’ll put it to you like to a child
You catch a tiger by the toe
When that tiger starts to yell
Any little kid could tell
It’s time for someone to let go

There’s nothing left here
To work out
There’s nothing to try
And take slow
We had our little place in time
Listen to the death knell chime
It’s time for someone
To let go

Can’t you hear that
Sweet bell of freedom ring?
Kindly step aside and let
The fat lady do her thing

I don’t want no part
In your drama
I won’t make one more cameo
I won’t sit through this
And pretend
We don’t know how
It’s gunna end
It’s time for someone
To let go

They say
“When you love somebody
Set them free”
Well baby
This is your big chance
To prove you really love me
So come on and
Prove you love me

The first two lovers
They had Eden
But there was so much
They did not know
About a jealous angel
Who had heaven
Until he
Wore out his welcome
It’s time
For someone
To let go

You’d see the writing
On the wall
If you could see
A thing at all
It’s time for someone
To let go
I just thought someone should
Let you know
It’s time to let go