Promised Land

Little girl sits in the corner, locked in a stare.
Arms waving madly at something that sadly isn't there.
Dressed in the day's best by a nurse who's nowhere to be found.

What does she see?
Maybe she's looking at me...

Old man is strapped to the seat of his chair, wearing a gown.
Shouting and cursing at someone who clearly isn't around.
Father time has twisted his mind.
The staff says, "he's not well!"

To whom does he speak?
Maybe he's speaking to me...

So we keep these people inside these walls, from society.
Their forgotten lives safe from the crowd, they can't leave.
You've left them there with me.

So we keep these people behind these walls, from society.
Their forgotten lives safe from the crowd, they can't leave.
Through the doors come people like me, good-bye to them.
They see a picture few of us see.
They can't leave.
You've left them there with me.

Beating with life you promised life,
Security, happiness.
Unfortunate son cornered,
Cowering in the pit of
Circling panes of glass that
Surround and reveal the ever present "it".

"it" is my move, my every look,
Interpreting gestures,
Informing other
What's undercover and
Lurking beneath my mask
Of this year's featured model.
Is this too much?
Close your eyes.
Care to look inside? i am i!

What may appear
Might easily be explained,
But given the situation
Of info saturation,
What you feel can never go away.

Steering perception? i am!
Inviting contradiction? i am!
It's my insistence
You keep your distance
From the glare behind my stare.
So this is the way
The game is played.
You can leave now...
But i think you'll stay. i am i!

Waiting for the feeling to subside,
Paranoid, i melt into myself.
They say i'm to reach inside and find
The broken part of my machinery.
Psychoanalyze the chapters
On the path to my darkest day.
Searching for the answers,
All i see is damage through the haze.
Picking up the pieces of my life
With no direction for re-assembly.
The one that lays beside me
Is sharing scars of my broken yesterdays.
Will tomorrow find me hypnotized? crying?
Mother mary in control,
Domineering stranglehold
Sowing destructive seeds
For the scavengers to feed.
Driving the nail into my head,
Memory flows like a river.
With the one that lays beside me
I'm healing scars from my childhood memories.
Tomorrow finally found me.
I'm hypnotized. i'm trying...
To understand the chapters
Of the path from my darkest day.
Searching for the answers
But there's damage!

Sitting all alone, inside, today Jane.
The other girls are home, we're playing a new game.
The voice is very, very close, you like it that way,
And we're feeling rather warm inside.

Are you smiling or afraid?
You can have it either way.

Lady Jane your eyes are wide today,
And the world is looking very strange, you must proclaim!
It's quite a scary, scary ride we take, Lady Jane.

Yesterday seemed very dark, but now it's bright,
Your clouds have gone away.
Sensory perception peaking at this time,
Electric waves of sound are filling Janie's mind today

Calling out to Janie as you drift away, "don't be afraid,
They're only your illusion anyway."

Lady Jane your eyes are wide today.
And we're sure you won't forget the things
You've seen today!
It's quite a day to stay inside and play, Lady Jane

There's hunger in africa,
And anger on assembly lines.
At the touch of a button
I'm miles away.
I want no connection, just information,
And i'm gone.

I feel so helpless,
So i turn my gaze to another place.

My global mind reaches out for the truth.

Why try holding back the wave?
You'll only drown in the changes.
You've got to learn to let go.
Just let go and experience the flight.
Try to see from a different side..
If balance is the key
Maybe we'll see
A future understanding,

Then we won't feel so helpless,
An turn away and hide from the change.

My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.

Time and rules are changing.
Attention span is quickening.
Welcome to the information age.

I feel so helpless,
So i turn my gaze to another place.

My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
My global mind reaches out for the truth.
My global mind zeros in on you.

It's searching everywhere,
Across the mountains,
Across the oceans,
Across every man made line.
No boundary gonna keep it from you.

Watching the sand fall, listening for the knock
Upon my door,
And waiting... for promised land.

Standing neck deep in life,
My ring of brass lay rusting on the floor.
Is this all?
Because it's not what i expected.

Somewhere along the way
Friends i once held close fled the fast lane.
I didn't notice, i just had to make it.
Head down, nose in the grindstone;
The kiss of life placed on my brow
Kept sliddin' to the ground
And now it's buried six feet under.

Preaching from the floor again
The same old sad song,
"bartender... bring another drink for their favorite son."

Where did it all go wrong?
What's the use in even holding on?
Here's to love, hate... and promises.

Almost called it today.
Turned to face "the void"
Numb with the suffering
And the question,
"why am i...?"
So many times i've tried and failed to
Gather my courage, reach again for that nail.
Life's been like
Dragging feet through sand,
And never finding... promised land.

Preaching from the floor again
The same old sad song,
"bartender... bring another drink for their favorite song."
Where did it all go wrong?
I feel like i'm dying.
Here's to love, to hate,
To promises and promised land lies.

When i fell from grace i never realized
How deep the flood was around me
A man whose life was toil was like a kettle left to boil
And the water left these scars on me

The chains i wore were mine, dragging me towards my fate
Planned for me long ago

I played by all their rules, went to their right schools

Who was i to question?

They used to say i was nowhere man
Heading down was my destiny
But yesterday i swear that was
Someone else not me

Here i stand at the crossroad's edge
Afraid to reach out for eternity
One step when i look down
I see someone else, not me

I know now who i am, if only for awhile
I recognize the changes
I feel like i did, before the magic wore thin
And the baptism of stains began

Sacrifice, the always say... is a sign of nobility
But where does one draw the line in the face of injury?
I'm just trying to understand

Standing here at the crossroad's edge
Looking down at what i used to be
A drowning man, trying to stay afloat
Heavy with the past, but somehow keeping hope
That there's something more that is seen
But it's somewhere out of reach

So i keep looking back
Looking back and i see someone else

All my life they said i was going down
But i'm still standing stronger proud

And today i know, there's so much more i can be
I think i finally understand

From where i stand at the crossroad's edge
There's a path leading out to sea
And from somewhere deep in my mind
Sirens sing out loud, songs of doubt, as only they know how
But one glance back reminds and i see
Someone else, not me.

I keep looking back at someone else... me?