ScottMillin.com
My Fresh Sheet
Our
American
Carnage
My Last Fall
Those dirty little hands
on the grandfather clock
Leaving me behind
with little to no luck
I've toiled here long enough
trying to make sense of it all
So I'll stick the landing
on my greatest last fall
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I furrowed the rows
and I sowed seeds
I raised them up
they're my lost legacies
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I've told some truths
Hid behind some lies
Asked a lot of questions
but I'm tired of the why's
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And the past it hangs heavy
like a noose 'round my neck
It ticks as it tightens
I feel it constrict
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My body's been broken
Mind's turned to rust
Ashes to ashes
spread them 'round if you must
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Send them to sea
or put them in ground
Better bury them quick
Don't leave me hanging around
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That God damn clock
it tells us the day
Well, today is the day
for my passing away
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Beyond the Margin
They're livin' out there
beyond the margin
In a much darker place
It's no comparison
They're livin' in the red lines
lines that we cannot see
Keeping them away
from you and your family
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You tell them to work hard
to quit making excuses
You tell them to toil
and suffer our consequences
You tell them stop reaching
to pull their hand back
You tell them they're lazy
Nobody gave you jack
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Beyond the margin
it's where
we want them to be
Making us feel better
about the I and the we
Separate and unequal
and stuck in the past
It's a losing proposition
the way that we live
the way they've been cast
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But back is where it started
a long time ago
Owned and indentured
to pick and to hoe
Failed ideals
Counted three fifths
one hundred percent
compromised
Curated divide
and continues these rifts
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Sequestered
crossing over the border
following that torch
to the law and the order
Riskin' it all
working dusk until dawn
They're out there
doing our dishes
and cutting our lawns
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So subjugate the meek
poor and downtrodden
Subjugate them all
and let me know
when you've got 'em
Use them as tools
and political pawns
Cultivate with hate
and harvest the weeds
from our garden
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To those who are certain
in this land
of the so called free
You're certainly unaware
and with no empathy
So take a hard look
over your latte
your cup of joe
Pick your head up
There's much more to know
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Beyond the margin
It's where
we want them to be
Making us feel better
about the I and the we
Separate and unequal
and stuck in the past
It's a losing proposition
the way that we live
the way they've been cast
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The Three Headed Snake
Yeah, she calls you on over
and she lures you right in
With a curl of her finger
she beckons
Hey baby
where have you been
And she's working it real good
Hiking up that French skirt
Looking you in the eyes
Hey, baby.
She's a cunning little flirt
Well now she's got you
just where you want to be
Within a kiss of her lips
her liberating
sensuality
Falling in love with her light
Looking her up and down
Moving in for more
Desiring her crown
​
Oh the boys they clamor on past
Need and want is their baggage
Stepping on others
to get their checks cashed
And the old dodgers hoard the money
like answers to a test
Judges ruling in their favor
sustaining their power
over all of the rest
​​
Yeah, she's standing up high
looking down upon us all
Hair cascading over shoulders
High heels and rustling dress
echoing down marble halls
Sure, she likes it a little rough
blindfolded and measured
Counseling our desires
Appealing to the guiltiest
of our guilty pleasures
​​
Now she's got you
just where you want to be
within a passing glance of her truth
and her sensible carnality
​​
And so help you, God
You'll do whatever it takes
to curry her favor
You'll make your best case
​​
Oh the boys, they clamor on past
Need and want is their baggage
Stepping on others
to get their checks cashed
And the old dodgers hoard the money
like answers to a test
Judges ruling in their favor
sustaining their power
over all of the rest
​​
The suits make their way
down to last call
Slapping backs and grabbing ass
My oh my
How the mighty cannot fall
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Power, money, and corruption
it's the three headed snake
Perverting Liberty and Justice
There's not much more
that they can take
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I Don't Know Why
I don't know why
violins make me cry
Vibrations over the bridge
release a melody
that's trapped deep inside
​
I don't know why
these children have to die
Eviscerated in safe spaces
and buried alone
while their parents are left to cry
​
I don't know why
they're living out on the street
No life and no quarter
Unstable and unable
to stand on their own feet
​
I don't know why
hatred knows no shame
Bullies carrying torches
Cowards marching in step
following that flame
​
I don't know why
old friends drift away
Disappearing into the ether
Leaving us to wonder
if they're really okay
​
I don't know why
I get drunk at night
playing songs from the past
while trying to make it right
​
And I don't know why
I see so much of the wrong
or why I have to get it out
stripped and written down
alone, without a song
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Pray For Me
Pray for me
I'm sending the kids off to learn at school
Pray for me
Where else they gonna learn the golden rule
Pray for me
I'm going to a concert, what's in store for me?
Pray for me
What kind of act am I going to see?
​
I guess there's nothing left for us to do
Must be Congress has no control
or power over you
Who's going to protect us I haven't a clue
They've been elected
and they elected to abandon you
​​
Oh pray for me
Weapons and war
it's baked into the foundation
Pray for me
Now it's being funneled
into the largest donation
Pray for me
They're so angry
and afraid for their rights
Pray for me
We're governed by a culture of guns
Now we're dead in their sights
​​
I guess there's nothing left for us to do
Except duck and cover
or stare off into the blue
While they stand at attention
and fall in love with the 2nd
with no common sense
No further amendment
​​
So, pray for me
and I'll pray for you
Cuz that's really all
that's left for us to do
Oh I'll pray for you
and you'll pray for me
Together we'll pray for the victims
of a gun philosophy
Pray for me
and until someone governs
this is who we will be
Flag Waiver
There's red on the seams
and it's bloody and mean
In the white is the might
if you know what I mean
The blue is the glue
and the stars state their rights
Our fathers they found it
and in an off Key he did write
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He's a flag waiver
and he's done us no favor
He's a flag waiver
he burnt it all down
He's a flag waiver
placed the fear
in your neighbor
He's a flag waiver
now we're screwed all around
​
He groped it
Wrapped himself
all around it
He kissed it
and raped it
and they applauded
complicit
He skulked away
leaving us alone in the dark
He trampled the norms
and that ignited the spark
​​
He's a flag waiver
and he's done us no favor
He's a flag waiver
he burnt it all down
He's a flag waiver
placed the fear
in your neighbor
He's a flag waiver
now we're screwed all around
​​
Give us your angry
and ignorant
Your God fearing men
Put them in a stew
and stir it up again
and again
The country is boiling
and steamed off its gains
Don't lecture me
how to make it better again
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He's a flag waiver
and he's done us no favor
He's a flag waiver
he burnt it all down
He's a flag waiver
placed the fear
in your neighbor
He's a flag waiver
now we're fucked all around
​
We have blood on our hands
and a future to reckon
Still to account for the past
and the rights
that we're wrecking
Take to the streets
love thy neighbor and enemy
Take that flag back
but wave it
for both you and me
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These Dreams
Maryanne had her wedding day
like she always planned
Seventeen years went by
and fertile soil became sand
Life done went sideways
it's the way that it goes
But I'm not telling you nothing
that you don't already know
​​
Working man Johnny
fell right off his ladder
Doc said fractured backbone
Johnny said, "meh, not that it matters"
He took the pills for the pain
They took away more than that
Johnny took them one at a time
'til only the pain remained
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These dreams that we dream
they're like a bird that flew
Over the horizon
and on to some place new
These dreams they've flown on
and left us behind
Searching for meaning
for hope of some kind
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Well that lucky day Bobby
spending cash on scratch tickets
Trying to dig his way out
of the hole and its thickets
He said, "man this is my lucky day!"
Scratched up a couple more
and lost another way
Rolling the dice
it's how we try to fix our living
The buying and the losing
and the chasing of the winning
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Big Eddie's in his pick up truck
Dog Rusty at his side
Snake on his back window
telling you, better run and hide
Daring you to tread on me
Eddie's open carrying his grudge
Fully loaded
unaware of American history
He says, "we're losin' it all Rusty!"
scratching the good ole boy's ears
Blaming the others
A sure fire cure
for whitewashing all your fears
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These dreams that we dream
they're like a bird that flew
Over the horizon
and on to someplace new
These dreams they've flown on
and left us behind
Searching for meaning
for hope of some kind
​
This land of so called freedom
it bends at its knees
Giving us chances
Endless opportunities
We leave them behind
Squandered to rot
or borrow on credit
Needing it co-signed​
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Dream on young dreamers ​
you have nothing left to lose
Pick up our broken pieces
and try to make something new
Hope's a terrible strategy
but while you're at it
take a knee to the pew
Then kick aside my sorrow
and roll up your sleeves
'cuz you've got a lot of work to do
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These dreams that we dream
they're like the bird that flew
Over the horizon
and on to someplace new
These dreams they've flown on
and left us behind
Searching for meaning
for hope of some kind
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Norm
Did you hear about old Norm?
That son of a bitch left us
and slipped out on the sly
Disappeared, evaporated
like a fart into a night sky
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Norm was tough old bastard
Somehow managed to stick around
Hanging on, biding his time
Sure as hell fire
standing his ground
​​
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
even after all these years
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
Why'd he just up and disappear?
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Norm's been forced way to the back
Separated, unequal
But he found his way back
Doing it civil
Forcing a sequel
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Remember when Norm was throttled
by that tricky little dick?
Abused by simpletons
waging war on our body politic
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Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
even after all these years
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
Why'd he just up and disappear?
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Norm's attended a party of fools
Warping our precedent
and breaking our rules
Dimming the enlightenment
and fishing around in our schools
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Norm sure has seen a lot!
Kids lying in piles in classrooms
Teachers at the door
already been shot
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Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
even after all these years
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
Why'd he just up and disappear?
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Come back Norm
Can't you see
we miss your conversation
and hospitality
You served up consensus
at the table
of common decency
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Come back Norm
Stop this fall from grace
We need you to save ourselves
before it's far too late
​​
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
even after all these years
Hey now, Norm is not here
He's long gone
Why'd he just up and disappear?
​​
Hey Norm, where'd you go?
Where you at?
Send us a note
Drop us a line
Come on, Norm
Please, come back
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Big House on the Hill
My family lived
in a big house on the hill
Lots of rooms and comforts
Nicely decorated
and planters out on the sills​
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My lot was there
for generations
Had some feuds along the way
a divorce or two
but mostly celebrations
​
My family lived
in a big house on the hill
There were always chores to do
Upkeep too
and we lived there
with relative free will
​​
We took care of our neighbors
Provided them with shelter
Set examples
Made a mistake or two
but happiness was ample
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Something happened
along the way
something sure changed
Cracks in the foundation
and a bow in the frame
Utilities are dated
Cable's fried
Chimney needs repointing
Now there's moss
covering the north side
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Inside a sickness is spreading
Nobody seems to care
We're turning on each other
Windows stuck shut
Can't let in the fresh air
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My family lives
in a big house on the hill
If nothing changes
I'll live there still
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But my house is in need
of some kind of a contractor
to save it from collapse,
a structural disaster
My family needs a therapist
someone to mediate
and help us coexist
​​​
My family lives
in a big house on the hill
Hope to see you around
I'll be sure to wave hello
and be sure to wish you well
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