Release Date: September 30, 2008
Label: HiFi Records
"Arena" debuted in live performance at Toddstock - June 22, 2008. "Arena" tour kicked off in Oshkosh, WI on June 26, 2008.
Crowded world How can I find peace of mind With so many small agendas Pushing at me all the time Button one: you knew I had no time today Button two: you had to push it anyway Button three: then you went and did it again So I counted to ten and right there and then You made me mad Now I'm mad This is more than upset It's as enraged as I get And you ain't seen me mad yet And now I'm mad Crowded world Where no quiet can be found But for little scattered spaces With invaders lurking round Button one: I told you not to call me here Button two: your voice is like a drill in my ear Button three: you never hang up on your own So get off the phone and leave me alone Because I'm mad At the end of my patience, and I have a lot Don't know what makes you feel as if you're all I've got Nothing better to think about, better to do Why does everything always have to be about you?
It must feel pure to be so sure About every little thing But there's no cure for that angst of yours That tugs at you like a string Because you're afraid, afraid to know To know the answer 'Cause you're afraid that it will burn You're afraid to learn A nervous tic, you're being tricked By somebody else's god A little bit sick and a whole lot addicted There's another crack in the facade Because you're afraid, afraid to see To see the reason 'Cause you're afraid the tide has turned And you're afraid to learn Because you're afraid, afraid to hear To hear the accusations 'Cause you're afraid of what you've earned You're afraid to learn Why suffer for nothing? Suffer for something
Close your eyes and plug your ears and turn away I will execute the task without dismay Just leave upon the table what you've agreed to pay Then tell me How do you like me now? How do you like me now? I will do your dirty work Tell me, how do you like me now? Chances are you'll never hear again from me Not my style to put my business on the street But you know where to find me and youalso know my fee So tell me How do you like me now? How do you like me now that I've Done your dirty work Tell me, how do you like me now? I will lay a foe to waste For a grudge I've never had I will burn a field of grain For a spite I've never had I will spoil the wealth of kings For a greed I'll never have I will bring a nation down For a cause I'll never have
I like the noise and I like the smell And where the lead ends up, what the hell I've got a gun So you be the robber and I'll be the cop Cowboy saloons where someone gets dropped GI Joe goin' over the top I don't much care as long as I pop pop pop my gun You better run 'Cause I'm young, dumb and I've got a gun Public idiot number one 'Cause I'm young, dumb and I've got a gun The constitution says that I'm so blessed That I can clean my piece on the supreme court steps My pretty gun There's many like it, yeah but this one's mine A good replacement for a lack of spine When tribulation makes me need to unwind And pierce the air like I'm in Palestine Here's my gun This is my rifle, this is my gun This is for fighting and this is for fun I hate to gush but I'm your biggest fan I really love the way you fit my hand You're with me always like a wedding band More than a friend to me, my true identity You're smooth and hard and that's the way you stay Bright and polished like a Chardonay Fully loaded as a New Year's Day With a round in the chamber A round in the chamber
It's good to be the king, I've heard it said That's why I let you put a crown on my head Hoping that I'll never be forced to fake Actions that I'll never have to take I let you think I was a better man With pretty words about how true I am Humbly pretending to be brave and strong Inside I'm wondering, what if I'm wrong? Every once in a while you'll see Things are not what they seem to be Like the moment you saw through me Ah, but when push came to shove I had lost the thing I love When I lost the courage of my convictions I never let you see my doubting side I've always felt there's things you can't confide I need to be what I need to be However artificially And now I haven't got a thing to show For all the posing and the bravado You tested me and I had to fail No longer am I a supermale I was proud and I had to fall Now my image has grown so small And to think that I had it all Ah, but when push came to shove I had lost the thing I love When I lost the courage of my convictions And I live in constant fear That I'll never have you here Til I find the courage of my convictions Ah, but when push comes to shove I will have the thing I love If I have the courage of my convictions And your heart I would enslave And this whole world I would save If I have the courage of my convictions
I don't keep a lot of secrets But the ones I do will die with me It's not because I'm hiding something A trusted friend I try to be But when every adversary lies in wait to test me My world they would undo And they'd break me down to nothing if they only knew That you are my weakness, my weakness You're my Achilles' Heel The flame that melts the steel in my heart I don't pretend to be objective I will always come down on your side But every time I see or hear or smell you My bias grows more hard to hide And when the truth must be protected I find myself distracted My duty I abuse And in the battle's clamor The flaw within my armor Might shake the secret loose There's no ties As far as anybody knows, no surprise As far as anybody knows, you and I As far as anybody knows, have no ties And as far as they know, my will is bulletproof And I'd be no good to no one If they knew the truth That you are my weakness, my weakness You are my Kryptonite The sun that shines a light on my soul
Gathering in the corner Trying to look discrete We been talking about this all night long Now it's time to hit the streets Are you ready to rumble? Are you just gonna grumble? You might take a tumble But it's time to rumble This is the reason you keep a dream alive Spread it round the underground The moment will soon arrive Time to strike while the iron is hot No one received a message Nobody has a plan Everybody knows when the time is right To take a righteous stand You spend a lifetime waiting for a sign Alert the press and place your bets The planets will soon align
I didn't notice you there Til I felt your breath on my neck hair Now you put me through my paces You don't know what personal space is And not a soul in the room seems to have your need to share Did you ever stop to wonder Does anybody care? Maybe the ladies are impressed But I don't think so, let's be honest Why don't you give that thing a rest You're just a one-man pissin contest This used to be a nice place And now your dick is in the mayonnaise How does one vent one's sense of sickness At skull and skin of such vast thickness? Of everybody at the party Your target had to be me I really hate to disappoint you But I ain't got the need 'Cause it's the thing you do the best The kind of fight of which you're fondest You wanna brag, well be my guest You won a solo pissin contest I think by now we know better You can't get blood from a bore We gonna find that stupid sucker Who let you through the door None of the ladies were impressed Our recollection may be jaundiced We all recall with special zest We saw a solo pissin contest
Time to get up and face it Time to endure that aching Time, I must keep account of Time, the exact amount of My life you've entwined in the game that you've designed To waste my time, my precious time All gone down the drain Now it's time to break the chain Today's the day Today's the day We settle our scores Because tommorrow we're gonna wake up Even Time, there is no such thing as Time, just the endless ring of Time after time of constant Time wasted wrestling with Something someone said that got glued inside your head Somewhere in time, in ancient time Hope the memory dies Then you finally realize Today's the day How many years must we continue With bitter tears upon the menu? The same old fears, a different venue Now it appears the stress will end you Let's get it all out in the open Somebody call and make it happen In the boardroom, on the backstreets Hugs and kisses, knives or axes Why not here, why not now? Why not here, why not now? Why not today?
It's been easy until now But you'll likely question how You have traveled far, it's true But there's much more left to do For it's time to pay the toll And we never know the sum of what we owe You can't go back from where you came You must move on and face the flame Of the last bardo You can pray unto your god But your prayers will bring you naught For in here you bear the scar Of exactly what you are It matters not what you believe And it matters even less what you think you know So put on your little show But no further will you go Til you pass the last bardo You will surrender all you hide And be cleansed and purified And of you burden you'll be free If it takes eternity in the last bardo
Well, the old man called me to his dying bed There's only one thing in this world I like to see, he said I tried so many times but I've never done it Often made the climb but never reached the summit So I could look down on this pissant little town I took one step And another step But I could not reach that mountaintop I couldn't reach the mountaintop So I picked him up and put him on my back And strapped him in just like a hiking pack I took off up the hill at a steady pace I said: don't die on me now, we're gonna win this race So we can look down on this pissant little town I'll take one step And another step Til I reach that mountaintop I'm gonna reach the mountaintop
You like to push the envelope If you're gonna stick out your neck Everybody's sure to give you plenty of rope So who am I to object? Don't know what it means to fail You like walking along the edge Feel like you got a guardian angel Follows you around the ledge Everything's a different size When you're totally adrenalized It's a very thin line The room is on fire but it Won't help to panic And the floods rise higher but it Don't help to panic You lost you're voice but it Won't help to panic And you got no choice so it Don't help to panic Yea it's a very thin line It don't take much to lose it One moment everything is going just fine Then something takes your head and screws it You can never lose your cool Though you've got no course of action You may just wind up looking like a fool Or some other social infraction Everyone expects to be At a level of anxiety It's a very thin line You're in a strange town but it Won't help to panic And the power goes down but it Don't help to panic The zombies awake but it Won't help to panic And the earh is aquake but it Don't help to panic Yea, the wings fall off but it Won't help to panic And your boner goes soft but it Don't help to panic All the liquor's gone but it Won't help to panic The bars closed at one but it Don't help to panic We all think we'll do what's right Though we're half as high as Franklin's kite When it all comes down to fight or flight It's a very thin line Yea, the wheels just spin but it Won't help to panic And the roof caves in but it Don't help to panic And you just made a stinky Won't help to panic Then you cut off your pinky Don't help to panic
There's a cloud in the distance Rising from the dunes Ten thousand riders Blaze a trail of ruins No doubt about it They're headed this way Who will protect us on a judgement day? Some are unready, some are unwilling Hiding amongst the women and children Rousing the rabble from under the bed I'm calling you by name to bite the bullet Manup We didn't want no trouble But trouble's what we have You call it paranoia And have yourself a laugh And avoid the confrontation Until some other year Somebody call the boys cause there's no men in here Some are unready, some are unwilling Some are still able but ain't got the feeling Talking real loud at the back of the crowd I'm calling you by name to bite the bullet Manup Listen to me my friend What you will not defend Somebody else will end up takin' And when the famine comes You think they'll just give you some But if you believe that You're mistaken
The Todd Rundgren Connection is brought to you by
Roger D. Linder &
Rocemabra Web Services.