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The wind has turned against us, the storm clouds closing in

I don’t see no albatross just evidence of sin

As scales fall from my eyes and the truth start to arise

The ship of state is sinking under the weight of lies

Go ask the captain why no seabirds sing

Go ask the captain why no dolphins grin

As we get closer to the Cape of Fear

Go ask the Captain -- “What are we doing here?!” 

Some say the captain’s sleeping, some say he stayed on shore

While others say he’d never leave this mighty man-o-war

We’ve searched for top to bottom but he’s given us the slip

He swore he’d never leave us, he’d go down with his ship

Go ask the captain ...

So many lost at sea, such fearless sailing

Broken hearts line the quay while hope is failing

We started out triumphant, flags waving in the breeze

Now we’re the unholy terror of the Seven Seas

Go ask the captain ...

Running through traffic lanes, nothing ventured nothing gained

No one asked them to take the pain of washing windscreens in the pouring rain

Coffee tables through the day, talk in tongues of far away

Pavements of gold they heard men say. A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay

Building towers of power and wealth, starched uniforms nurse a nation’s health

Starting from somewhere no one knows and fewer care how well they fare

Give me your tired, your poor, the refuse of your teeming shore

I’d lift my lamp by the golden door -- but no more …

Riding trains through the night, shining offices so bright

Getting home before it’s light. Out of mind and out of sight

Dirty men with dirty hounds. Same park bench all day around

Sipping cans of Special Vision remind each other they’re on a mission

Kids need mums but floors need mopping. Temperature inside always dropping

Sneaking in while cranes were docking. Promised land might be their coffin.

Give me your tired, your poor …

Picking fruit in the farmer's field paid by the pannet from the farmer’s yield

Many would take your place to have this work. The job is yours but you’d better not shirk

Wait by the corner a van picks you up like you pick fruit for the farmer's cup

Someone had a boat and someone had a notion to see what was on the other side of the ocean

Everyone comes from where they began. From Scandinavia or Vietnam

A black soldier stands by the Alamo with his brother-in-arms from Mexico

Give me your tired, your poor …

I tried Buddhism but I just couldn’t hack

Re-worked Shouldhism was a knife in my back

Life is a river so I’ll go with the flow

But to swim against the current, well I’m gonna need a tow

Almost indestructible -- I can take the blows

Very nearly unbreakable -- no one ever knows

Show me a brick wall, watch me walk straight through

Into this house which rattles -- rattles without you

Existentialism -- I thought I’d take a peek

Every second was an hour, every hour lasted a week

But that’s still cool cause I’m alive, there is no rhyme or reason

So what is death at twenty to four except time out of season

Almost indestructible …

Thought I’d try nostalgia to get me through the years

Focus on the good times, déjà vu the tears

Looking back the only way to put my best foot forward

Falling down is the new up and nostalgia the new awkward

Almost indestructible …

I’m in my bed half-sleeping

And I hear her – the girl upstairs

She’s walking on my ceiling

Heavy footsteps – so many cares

I’m lying right beneath her

She doesn’t know – what’s the hurry?

The door slams and here I am

Beneath her worry

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

With no right hand

She strides into the crosswalk

Searches her purse for a car key

Answers her phone and starts to talk

A walking miracle to me

She takes it all for granted

Moving freely – no need to think

Coordination, motivation

As if by instinct

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

Who cannot stand

The big event of my day

Sitting upright in a chair

More chunks of me to cut away

Fingers sifting through my hair

Precision with sharp scissors

Decision's in a stranger’s hands

Old growth goes — make way for new

Regardless of plans

I’m just a witness

To the kind of life

I thought I’d have

But it passed me by

I'm just a witness

Now here I lie

Just half a man

Without a plan

Maria left San Pedro Sula as the gang burnt down her home

Cradled Jesus close to her breast and whispered pleas to Saint Jerome

A desperate crowd was on the march, the coffee crop had failed

Maria asked where they were heading “Up north!” they wailed

We’re a Caravan of hope, a caravan of tears

We’ve been travelling on this earth -- for endless years

There are random acts of violence along the way

Gang-rule strangles cities where even angels fear to stray

Food and medicine in short supply, the city lights appeal

For those tempted in desperation it’s the devil’s deal

We’re a caravan of hope, a caravan of tears

We’ve been travelling on this earth -- for endless years

They say 5,000 troops are waiting at the border gate

Have they forgotten how their forebears once shared our fate?

They marched from Oklahoma and West Texas farms

To be met with righteous anger by those bearing arms

We’re a caravan of hope, a caravan of tears

We’ve been travelling on this earth -- for endless years

Up in Pittsburg a man walks into a temple and opens fire

Maria waits at the border gate in a caravan of desire

We’re a caravan of hope, a caravan of tears

We’ve been travelling on this earth -- for endless years

I want to tell you how to live your life

To manage your anger and be a good wife

I want to tell you how to teach your kid

Not to make the mistakes that we both did

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

You’re growing up and I want to warn you

That the boys will mock and the girls will scorn you

Being smart or pretty will not save you

Special is a trap that just enslaves you

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

I want to tell you how to do your job

Stack those bricks and worship my God

I want to tell you how to love me right

To lick my wounds and hold me at night

But it’s none of my business

It’s not up to me

To lick your wounds

Or set you free

It's not up to me

Ain't none of my business

Not up to me

Cause I’m not up to it

When I’m free

It’s not up to me

It just ain't up to me

Not up to me

When you give your all for nothing 

Yet nothing ever comes for free

Though I knew all along that I didn’t belong

Slow murder in the seventh degree

I didn’t see it coming, thought I knew you well

Shame on you for making me blue

I should have known better so shame on me too

But I don’t need to carry the shame for two -- shame on you

There’s a time and a place for repentance

You were too late you missed the last train

I was miles up the track with a knife at my back

As you stood all alone with your pain

We all know betrayal like a knife in the heart

The cold blade slips right through

They should have known better than to turn on you

But you don’t need to carry the blame for two, no shame on you

Wade in the water …

When we see it was all for nothing

Yet the memory lives on in our heart

And try as we may there may yet come a day

When we realise we’ve made a new start

I didn’t see it coming though I tried so hard

Did I bite off more than I could chew?

But now I know better I can see it’s true

Now I don’t need to put the blame on you, no shame on you

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

I wish you could live your life

Like you did at Spanish Banks

Were you left alone, 

my dear?

In the dark unknown

your fear

outgrew your universe

The hurt

diminished by my side 

Your devotion – 

an excuse to hide

You were pacing on a cliff

Between safety and a promise

Me in chains, breathing stiff

Your eyes drinking in the distance

Longing so palpable

Tether stretched … until

It broke and you joined the ranks

Oh, the delight of the Spanish Banks

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

I wish you could live your life

Like you did at Spanish Banks 

Your devotion is sweet

Except when it’s not

And you’re under my feet

And your breath is too hot

And you crowd me in bed

And you get in my face

And I wish instead 

You’d just give me some space

You choose me and lose 

possibility

Full hands can’t seize 

the day -- Refuse 

that deep groove 

where instincts rule 

Just flee! 

I’ll be cool with you

while you’re 

splashing through the shallow sea

Remember that day on Spanish Banks

You fled your fears and broke free

Running wild across wet sand

Splashing through the shallow sea

Frolicking under a fat sky

Learning you could live your life

Like you did that day on Spanish Banks

Ninety-nine

Columbine

Not the time

Swallow that line

Newtown

Lock down

Prayers again

No hope then

Six minutes

Parkland

School us

Take a stand

Oklahoma

Arizona

West Virginia

Tried to warn ya’

Science books

Decades old

No money

So cold

Cut taxes

For supplies

Teachers pay

With their lives

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

Bump stocks?

Throw rocks

Under attack?

Use a bat

Get a raise 

If you pack

Don’t invest?

Not the best

Protest

Like Emma

Gonzalez

Call BS

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Show me 

You’re pissed

Up! Rise up!

Resist!

Class won’t be

Dismissed

You know we need some education

You know we need some gun control

We don’t value education

We don’t want no gun control

You were playing the wild card then

"Turn on, tune in, drop out"

You had all the answers when we were plagued by doubt

We were running in circles then, eyes upon the clock

You saw through the trick of time

We asked "Why? Why not?!"

This is just the way things are when all is said and done

All the questions ever asked, all the spinning spun

How did you get behind a hard place and a rock?

Your whole life rushing by, don't ask why -- Why not?!

But time had it’s way with you

Knocked you to the ground

Skin and bone surrendering as mind becomes unbound

Is this just the way thing are

When all is said and done?

We were searching for reasons why

Your last words were this -- “Why not?!”