Kansas Album

Well I'm trying to tell you about a thing I thought I saw
It came to me in a dream one night
When a voice began to call
I heard my name being summoned as I looked around to see
A hooded judge and jury
There was no mercy there for me
Well I can't make it, I just can't figure it out
This dream is drivin' me crazy
I gotta know what it's all about
The mark is upon me, and the mark of Cain brings fear

A cold wind's blowin' right down my back
I'm runnin, I'm runnin' from a figure that's dressed in black
I think my legs are made out of lead
Cause I'm runnin' but I'm going nowhere
The bad dream is coming closer and closer
I got a feelin' he'll always be there
Forever is a long time to spend in agony
And the demons of confusion have got a place for me
The mark is upon me, and the mark of Cain brings fear

I was tired, so tired of runnin'
I had to turn and look around
I saw eyes that looked right through me
And a voice that made no sound
My body froze and I stood and stared, unearthly face before me
From the depths of a hooded nightmare, I saw what could not be
Mysteries and mayhem from the pinnacle I see
There's no answer when there's no question
The mark of Cain bears hard on me

He had a thousand ideas
You might have heard his name
He lived alone with his vision
Not looking for fortune or fame
Never said too much to speak of
He was off on another plane
The words that he said were a mystery
Nobody's sure he was sane
But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
He was in search of an answer
The nature of what we are
He was trying to do it a new way
He was bright as a star
But nobody understood him
"His numbers are not the way"
He's lost in the deepest enigma
Which no one's unravelled today
But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
And he tried
But before he could tell us he died
When he left us the people cried
Oh, where was he going to?
He had a different idea
A glimpse of the master plan
He could see into the future
A true visionary man
But there's something he never told us
It died when he went away
If only he could have been with us
No telling what he might say
But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
But he knew
You could tell by the picture he drew
It was totally something new
Oh, where was he going to

I'm in a kind of foolish game, I try to get rich quick,
But I'm going insane,
The kind of freaks that hang out on 42nd Street
They're all pimpin' Judys and poppin' speed, well
It's a game of cat and mouse, and I think it's got my soul,
I think it's time for thinkin' 'bout a time to roll on
Down the road

Here comes Big Mike, I kinda owe him some beans,
He must be crazy, I guess that's why he's so mean,
If I tell him I'm leavin', he would sure enough split my gut,
Cause he knows I sold to a sucker, and I owe Big Mike a cut,
But I'll slip him a 20-dollar bill till I get out of town,
When I hit those white lines, I'm gonna be gone like a
Greyhound down the road

Well it looks like it might rain but rain ain't what we need
Sunshine and a war machine I'm gettin ready for another stampede
Grease the gears with blood paint it black as night
Ride through the city like a Trojan horse
Convinced what you're doin's all right

Hold on 'till the river goes down the river goes to the sea
Hold on the rive's comin' down on me
The killin' field has come to main street
Scatter guns in the liquor store
Rifled sinkhole graves in concrete it's out of hand
At black fathom 4

Fallen leaves turn grey faces cold and worn
Memories of a better time swept away like a firestorm
Who can get it straight who can think it through
When every time the telephone rings
You think it's someone comin' after you

Your mamma's shootin' Gallery wages
Your daddy don't give a damn no more
Keep these animals breakin' cages violent times
At black fathom 4

Walk into my world where brave can get you dead
You get together and a fight breaks out
Someone didn't understand what you said
Walk into my world anger's in my soul
Quick money give me double trouble
Friends are doing hard times in the hole

Children crying sniper thunder case the alleys and the corridors
Don't look back it ain't no wonder it's open season
At black fathom 4

Freak of nature fact or fright
Puts up with pain puts up with spite

Scarred up shoes have lost their sheen
It looks like better days they've seen

Chameleon man naive tycoon
Will eat the poor with silver spoon

He'll jest and jeer through looking glass
But nest right near the upper class

Who'll be the first one pointing at the simple man
Now I know I'm only lucky every freak of nature should know
How to run the whole freakin' show

Freak of nature'd rather be no less a man than you or me
He'd rather look the other way choose to fight another day

I take things for granted turn the tables 'round
What if I was down

To much goin' on runnin' out of time
And I don't understand it

Buried deep under blood and skin
A whisper a tempest is raging from within
I hold my breath bitter proud
Afraid to scream fire in the middle of a crowd
I ponder incision envision the brain
I beckon the surgeon to a slice against the grain
now that I've waisted you
the white room is pure the doctors are brave
If there's a cure I want to be saved
Sanctuary

Under the knife sharp and shiny key
Repair redeem resurrection
Under the knife they'll cut you out of me
Maybe love's imitation is life under the knife

I have come to determine a reasonable doubt
Where heaven and hell draw their boundary lines about
Now that I've waisted you now that I've tasted you
The white room had frost on the cold window pane
Your love had been lost my love was in vain
Sanctuary

Cynical splices stitch and install
Solder the filaments I feel nothing at all
Second wind secrets let them rise let them fall
I'll walk through your firestorm but never never crawl
The gambler lives the blood stain dries
It's time to forgive I open my eyes
Sanctuary

I can fly I really can wave good-bye familiar land
Catch the wind make my climb breathin in born again feelin fine
I can fly above distress I can fly to heaven no less
Leave the earth forget the time light as air I don't care feelin fine
Don't say I'm crazy don't say I'm out of my head
I might be crazy but one thing's for certain one thing's for sure
I can fly above the sea I can fly hey look at me
Without a net leave it behind
Feelin good feelin free feelin so fine

My lofty purchase high above I'm losing sight of you
I'm climbing up just like a kite the calm before the storm
When all at once it dawned on me where I'm not supposed to be
Clouds are black the sky is red I'm where the angles fear to tread
I feel like I've lost my way

Down and down and down I go I've lost all sense of my direction
This flaming spitfire flight has come undone
Grounding stages of rejection I am not worthy to have even tried
Help me annihilate this foolish pride where Icarus died

I say the act of my contrition be sure to bless all before I die
Save my seat in the smoking section cut me loose and say good-bye
I wake up on the doctors table where life and death are up for grabs
I'm comin I'm comin you better shoot me
Kill the pain and count the scabs no no no get out of my black dream
Give me life give me life I'll make a vow
I'll resist temptation I promise here and now
You see it all started when I was younger they said I was good
But I thought they said great
I crown myself the king of liars I am what I have learned to hate

I went driving through my old hometown
It was Thursday the bright sun on the horizon
I was surprised to see no one had burned it down
It seemed so peaceful and warm

Floods of memories came back to me
All the things we got away with when we were younger
And I felt kind of like a refugee
Like a scattered pile of leaves in a storm

Peaceful memory like lights on a Christmas tree
Every hometown should be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful and warm

Somehow now and then didn't seem to blend
'Till a farmer plowing his field waved hello
Another working man doing the best he can
I hope he is peaceful and warm

Peaceful memory plows in the green field sea
Every hometown should be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful and warm

On the Kansas banks of the Muddy Mo'
I threw rocks in the river and dreamed of running away
In a wind of change only a father knows
In a world so hectic so cold
I guess my old hometown's kinda dead and gone
Miss the sign on I-29 and you blow right by
But it's a place I can go remember where I come from
It will help me keep me peaceful and warm

Peaceful memory the only thing that's free
Take them and try to be peaceful and warm
Every father mother sister brother friend of the family
Peaceful peaceful and warm

I'm woven in a fantasy, I can't believe the things I see
The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall
And with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost
It rises now before me, a dark and silent barrier between,
All I am, and all that I would ever want to be
It's just a travesty, towering, marking off the boundaries my spirit would erase

To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak
And those are few who've seen it through to glimpse the other side,
The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is soon to be a bride
The moment is a masterpiece, the weight of indecision's in the air
It's standing there, the symbol and the sum of all that's me
It's just a travesty, towering, blocking out the light and blinding me
I want to see

Gold and diamonds cast a spell, it's not for me I know it well
The riches that I seek are waiting on the other side
There's more that I can measure in the treasure of the love that I can find
And though it's always been with me, I must tear down the Wall and let it be
All I am, and all that I was ever meant to be, in harmony
Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross
There is no loss

From the mountains to the sun, Life has only just begun.
We wed this land and pledge our souls to meet its end,
Life has only just begun
Here my people roam the earth, in the kingdom of our birth,
Where the dust of all our horses hides the sun
We are mighty on the earth, on the earth

You have come to move me, take me from my ancient home,
Land of my fathers I can't leave you now
We will share it with you, no man owns this earth we're on
Now the wheels are rolling hear the howling winds of war
It's my destiny to fight and die
Is there no solution, can we find no other way, Lord let me stay
Under the endless sky and the earth below
Here I was born to live and I will never go, oh no

But we cannot endure like the earth and the mountains
Life is not ours to keep, for a new sun is rising

Soon these days shall pass away, for our freedom we must pay
All our words and deeds are carried on the wind,
In the ground our bodies lay, here we lay

Look in the mirror and tell me
Just what you see
What have the years of your life
Taught you to be
Innocence dyin' in so many ways
Things that you dream of are lost
Lost in the haze
Hold on, baby, hold on
'Cause it's closer than you think
And you're standing on the brink
Hold on, baby, hold on
'Cause there's something on the way
Your tomorrow's not the same as today
Don't you recall what you felt
When you weren't alone
Someone who stood by your side
A face you have known
Where do you run when it's too much to bear
Who do you turn to in need
When nobody's there
Outside your door He is waiting
Waiting for you
Sooner or later you know
He's got to get through
No hesitation and no holding back
Let it all go and you'll know
You're on the right track
Hold on, baby, hold on
'Cause it's closer than you think
And you're standing on the brink
Hold on, baby, hold on
'Cause there's something on the way
Your tomorrow's not the same as today

I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Oh

Now, don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind (All we are is dust in the wind)
Dust in the wind (Everything is dust in the wind)
Everything is dust in the wind
The wind