The Strawmen

Used to be a big mystery

That I could not understand

Why this heart of mine

Got turned into just another gland

And it's hard to say I love you

Yeah it's hard to say

Every culture has got its crimes

Some take the streets

Others take the minds

Western world loves the man of steel

He's plenty fast but he cannot feel

And it's hard to say...

It's time to turn around and face the little boy

That I left behind and let him back into my soul

Emotions chase me emotions chase me, yeah

Gonna let them catch me let them catch me, oh

And it's hard to say...

Cold wedding band wrapped around your neck

Your turning blue, she's a nervous wreck

Such a happy home

Flesh and blood turned to silhouette

Find a reason to hang on

Find a reason, it's all right that it's all wrong

You give, you take, that's all

One flesh, two  hearts, stone wall

Which one hurts you the most

Or can you feel at all

Find a reason...

Sometimes the headlines

Don't get the story right

Can't trust how you feel in the middle of the night

Find a reason...

days are tightropes / nights are bad jokes / there's nothing left to dream / so we take chances / with strange romances / make love to our machines / sperm banks and genocide / rattles the illusion / that we will turn the page / starving kids and diet pills / rattles the illusion / there's nothing new in this new age / the vision mongers / exploit our hungers / and we don't feel a thing / the shadow masters / feed on disasters / they love to pull our strings / sperm banks and genocide / rattles the illusion / that we will turn the page / starving kids and diet pills / rattles the illusion / there's nothing new in this new age / it made the papers last night / three days of suicides / we've lost our reasons to fight for life / the guiding voices / make all our choices / while we just drift along / eyes that roll back / turn white into black / can't tell the right from wrong / sperm banks and genocide / rattles the illusion / that we will turn the page / starving kids and diet pills / rattles the illusion / there's nothing new in this new age

some things seem so hard / like the bones in my backyard / each and every one of them / a victim of their own fall / some things seem so sweet / but the rottenness underneath / can make a hungry man bitter / and a rich man want it all / if we're so innocent, why can't i look into your eyes? / underneath the moon i've heard too many lies /ever since the fall / we've been running away to hide / i've heard it all before / that no one's keeping score / the weak ones never seems to have a friend / i've seen it taking shape / in this land of free escape / oh sweet Lord Jesus when you gonna bring it to an end? / if we're so innocent, why can't i look into your eyes? / underneath the moon i've told too many lies / ever since the fall / you've changed a little / working on this riddle / but you seem to have held on to your name / you've made some headway / a little seems to go a long long way / in the shadow of this cold cold train/ if we're so innocent, why can't i look into your eyes / underneath the moon i've heard too many lies / ever since the fall we've been running away to hide

The Strawmen released this in 1995 on the At Home record.  A few years later, the basic tracks were resurrected and Mike Roe added new vocals and guitar parts and released it on their Pray Naked record.

rain, a winter's rain / smears the neon window pane / the corner table is in the dark just like me / black, all I can see is black / I'm in the deep end / thrown into the deep end / don't pull the plug while / I'm in the deep end / fade, you won't fade / from my memory for one day / double edged memories hover round my broken heart / dead, sometimes I feel so dead / I'm in the deep end / thrown into the deep end / don't pull the plug while / I'm in the deep end / time, soothing time / take this misery from my mind / I'm in the deep end / thrown into the deep end / don't pull the plug while / I'm in the deep end

Same story as Deep End. . .recorded by The Strawmen and released in 1995 on the At Home record.  Re-released on the 77s Pray Naked record with new vocals/guitar by Mike Roe.  Original tracks from the Strawmen record were retained.

Tuned in the radio

To a passion play

Sounds much better now

Sounds all the same

Say this, say that

It's just a game

Some things go 'round and 'round

But never change

No phony eyes

No phony eyes

Flipped on the videos

Chasing a rhyme

Watched all the scary bones

Into the night

Fade in, fade out

Build up the hype

Paper thin images

Drifting from sight

No phony eyes

No phony eyes

A thin veil of innocence

Can't smother the flame

Of this angry atmosphere

We're all insane face it, don't space it

It's not just a game

Too many phony eyes

Too little shame

No phony eyes

No phony eyes

Not a very good time in my life.  The song was recorded as a demo on a Tascam 4-track cassette.  However, the emotion captured in the demo was something we didn't think could be re-captured in the studio.  So we decided to leave good enough alone.

I crawled up on the table

I’d been putting it off for years

I’ve got a heart problem

Makes me act kind of weird

But I have to admit

I was somewhat surprised

When the nurse grabbed my hand

And looked me straight in the eyes,

“Sir, you’re going to feel just great

Once they amputate”

When the surgery was over

I went on back home

The kids tied me to the bed

And turned the TV on

Their ropes were not cruel

Or meant to deny

They just kept me from floating

Away in the night

You lose a whole lot of weight

Once they amputate

Now that my heart is gone

I’m a harmless man

Once I used to cry a lot

Now I can’t

Once I had questions

Now there’s no doubts

Once I was hungry

Now I do without

There’s not a lot to love or hate

Once they amputate

The wounds healed kind of slow

I was laid up for a while

Friends stopped coming around

Just couldn’t reconcile

The man they had known

With the one I’d become

Two steps from the grave

Three to the gun

The future evaporates

Once they amputate