If I had a million dollars
would that still not be enough
to have your love\
to have your love

If I had all the power
make the world bend to my will
you'd turn away
you'd turn away

wasting all my love on you

If I had all the answers
to all of your prayers
couldn't believe
would you believe

If I owned a giant castle
and i offered you the crown
you'd throw it away
you'd throw it away

wastin all my love on you

what happened to this place? I turned my back for a second and the whole thing disappeared. not even the Trees look the same what the fuck happened? did everyone die? was there a mass transit system built just for the people who used to live here? that went to some magic place where they were never heard from again? what happened? tell me? was it you? who wasn't watching their post? who let their guard down? a hundred years of history a culture as thick as blood signs everywhere Don't come here if you're a fuckhead FUckheads NOT welcome the cool kids with their plot of land you let it slip away People told me letters sent in despair "the mission isn't the mission anymore" I couldn't believe them. it was the last great hold out on Earth the last breath of a dead society the one place I could hang my hat without having to worry about if stupids around YUPPIES ARE A CANCER they look like you and me that is to say they have feet and hands but you can tell by one look in their eyes they'll never live like common people.

Thank God for Slavery
how boring would this country be
if it hadn't been for Slavery
Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
Thelonious Monk
Tupac Shakur
All brought here against their ancestors will

The Irish had to Beg their way in
but not black people
The dark skinned world had a destiny
set in the rivers of time
They would be brought here
in chains
by the millions
because it was the only way
to make this nation great

So I say Thank God for slavery
if that's what had to be done
if that was the only way
for us to have a Malcolm X
a John Brown
a Richard Pryor
if slavery was the only way
to have rock and roll
to have long winded speeches
written by politicians
who were the last to get in line

No, I say Thank God for slavery
what separates us from Europe?
the White people
how did we become "white"?
when Germans stayed "German"

how dull
how peaceful
how much more sterile could we be
without the Boil
the Sickness
the Strife
conviction
Revolution!

None of this would have been Possible
nothing would have ever happened
no songs
no turbulence
no epic battles having been won
no unyielding current of ideas
about Liberty
and Justice
about what's best for All

No amount of ancient heritage
could match our growing pains
the get rich or die trying mantra
the "only way we know how"
that got us through "the war"

from the retards in the woods
to the aristocrats standing out on their balconies
slavery has touched us all
and made us better for it

for some it's home. it's the place they grew up.
it's where all their best memories are stored
hopes and dreams around every corner

for me, it's the land of failed friendships and dead girl friends.
shitty landlords and even shittier doctors.
dirty looks and cold shoulders
a place where there's more heroin then there are joints being smoked,
yet there's so many laws that you're afraid to cross the street
a town where street cleaners tell you to piss in the alley
first come first serve
all the toys held up high

the land where nothing happened
where I waited for long enough
a town where the best thing that Did happen
was just another failure

"customers only"
try to get on the A-list if you can
a pile of bodies
where everyone is trying to get on top

After three months of living here
Kurt Cobain became the most obvious thing in the world

in a land of homophobic wife beaters
a place where everyone hates themselves
a place where even your own mother can't be trusted

I can see it in the old ones
I can see how they remember this place
like there used to be magic
but now
now its apple computers and money rock
lesbians and frustrated dudes
the place where they throw the fish
cops with no one to bully because everyone follows the rules.
the city that always sleeps by ten

like it never happened
it helped spur commerce
so at least some people got rich
if he hadn't killed himself
god knows how lame this town would be
at least they have a Jesus

at least.