You've Got A Chance


A rhapsody! Contestants in disguise
A nation of desire but who will win the prize?
The people stand united, reluctantly aligned
Copying and lying are the favorite pastime

You've got a chance to confront the world today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

Common life, depicted on afternoon TV,
Is spiked to give the miserable a vogue identity
Hate your neighbors, cheat your friends, they don't discriminate
Popularity and fame don't care if you're a reprobate

You've got a chance to confront the world today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

I'm tired of all this Shakespearean misinformation
I want to win the game

You've got the right intentions but who's got time to think?
You've got a noon appointment, you've got to hit the links
You're talking in the stratosphere, you're curled up on the floor
With such a wealth of information, why are you so poor?

You've got a chance to be relevant today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
(Don't you believe what the wise men have to say)
Despite circumstance
You've got a chance

Bad Religion Index

It's A Long Way To The Promise Land


It's a long way to the promise land so you'd better well know your way
There's a ship on the ocean and an albatross who is trying to lead you astray
Leaders, politicians, and power whores are in line to receive your choice
And you bet your ass, if you give it to them, they will gladly take your voice
And it's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

It's a long way to the promise land, if we work we might find it here
There's no substitute for enlightenment, there's no reason for bridled fear
When you join the people who've joined the club you gotta clench and play your hand
'Cuz if you fall in line you're gonna fall in time and you'll never make a stand
It's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

What are you going to do? When they call for you?
Bend and capitulate? Or keep your head on straight?

Easy answers bought without experience, is gonna lead you to certain doom
Because the truth is just what you make of it, it begins and ends with you!
And it's a long way to the promise land Wo-oh Oh oh oh

Bad Religion Index

A World Without Melody


I don't want to live in a world without melody
Sometimes the rhythmic din of society is too much for me
But purpose is prioritized these days, the goal is win the prize
There's a sleeping resonance we hold, through which we're unified

So let it out! Don't just get lost in the crowd
No one can deter you from your own path
There's no trip too remote from which you can't come back
And I've got this hunch about you and me
None of us are ready for a world without melody

Melody is the key, it's the surest way to unlock your individuality
Melody is the key, it will set you free!

Don't disrelish harmony, community will make you whole
Work and understanding are the chords way deep within your soul
They only need to be struck once, and the vibrations swell and spread
But if we mute them they decay, our sensibilities are dead

So let it out! Don't just be one of the crowd
Hesitance and diffidence will do you in
And your soul doesn't care for social medicine
And I've got this hunch about you and me
None of us are ready for a world without melody

Melody is the key, it's the surest way to unlock your individuality
Melody is the key, it will set you free!
And I know, together we could change the world
Just you and me
But I won't live without melody

Bad Religion Index

New America


Do you know the cost of future misery?
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away from realizing what we strive to be
But we've got to break out from this insulated blind and lame senility

Wake up the new America Wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria Wo-oh!
Change is the thing you're wary of Wo-oh!
We need a new America Wo-oh!

Laurels, human triumph, bestowments from the past
Victories don't mean a thing if they don't last
We are just marching toward extinction with blinders on our eyes
Jeopardizing everything we've learned and come to realize
You call that wise?

Open your eyes America Wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell to us Wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us Wo-oh!
We need a new America Wo-oh!

We don't have to be afraid to re-invent
We've got to start to build, progress, and implement
For when we take our fill, and never pay the price
We only build ourselves a fleeting, false paradise

You can live in staunch denial and mark me as your enemy
But I'm just a voice among the throng who want a brighter destiny
They say with me

We are the new America Wo-oh!
This is the new America? Wo-oh

Bad Religion Index

1000 Memories


You were the one, you were my everything
Never apart, no one in-between
Then one day, when you went your own way
You felt justified, and I was mortified
But today...

You are just a picture
And a thousand memories is all I take with me
'Cuz your smile is just too much to see
You're just a thousand memories

Fantasies, broken dreams
Reveries, sordid histories
Following my heart, laden with reaction, without calibration or design
Committed to a trial, a life of understanding
Can't somebody show a sign to you?
For me, to see if you only knew

That you were the one, you were my everything
Never apart, no one in-between
Then one day, when you went your own way
You felt justified, and I was mortified
But today...

'Cuz a picture is worth one thousand memories

Bad Religion Index

A Streetkid Named Desire


Well, it was punk-fifteen in the morning and it was time to stand my ground
And as the gawks and stares bombarded me I didn't even hear a sound
No one gave a damn if I was there or away
If I died and went to hell, they'd throw a party on my grave and they'd all say,
"This kid is just a fool, he'll never be cool,
They might as well just ship him off to some other school"
Plain destitute
Just a little too guilty, just a little too soon

But that day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place and I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire 'cuz I've got the desire

Well, it was punk-fifteen in the evening and it was time to set the town on fire
I saw my boots and my hair, as reflected in the mirror, reveal a streetkid named desire
I didn't give a damn because I was just dying to be
And as the Hollywood street scene left its mark on me I changed from a boy into a man
I said "Never again!" I stuck out my chin when I should have ran
Shit in the fan
I was driven so hard by the sound of my heart

But that day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place and I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire 'cuz I've got the desire

When the walls surround in deeper shades of blue
And there's no voice of reason inside you
And you search for meaning on an empty shelf
Then you're always dreaming of somewhere else

But that day was just like any other day
No work, and no pay
I knew that paradise was some other place and I'd get there another day
I will find it before I expire 'cuz I've got the desire

Today is just like any other day
No fear, no restraint
I know that paradise is some other place and I will get there another day
You can come with me, no conditions or fares
Somehow, somewhere
I will find it before I expire, 'cuz I've got the desire

Bad Religion Index

Whisper In Time


All those stories that my dad told me, they are just a whisper in time
All those things that never came to be, they are just a whisper in time

A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
(Memories that flicker and die)

All those places I wanted to go, they are just a whisper in time
All those friends who now I do not know, they are just a whisper in time

A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
(Memories that flicker and die)

Maps and roads that brought me here today, they are just a whisper in time
Circumstances that were explained away, they are just a whisper in time

A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Things that I can't shake from my mind
A whisper in time, a whisper in time
Moments that just flicker and die
(Memories that flicker and die)

... We are messengers of memory, just whispers in time

Bad Religion Index

Believe It


It could happen to you, a defect from the wasted outskirts of Los Angeles
With a crumpled-up pass for the RTD
And no authority or trajectory
On the brink of insanity

You'd better believe it
Because it's written all over your face
Just a neighborhood reject, out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it

Would you ever have thought persistence could prevail against the almost
unbearable weight of the system?
With nothing better to do, and no one else who you can look up to

You'd better believe it
Because it's written all over your face
A political defect, out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it

And the future is bright when ideas run astray
So turn out the light, a punk can't have a say
Sometimes desire is all that's there
Who said life was fair?

You'd better believe it
Because it's written all over your face
A political defect, out of step and out of place
You'd better believe it

Bad Religion Index

I Love My Computer


I love my computer you make me feel alright
Every waking hour and every lonely night
I love my computer for all you give to me
Predictable errors and no identity

And it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy

All I need to do is click on you and we'll be joined in the most soul-less way
And we'll never ever ruin each other's day 'cuz when I'm through I just click
And you just go away

I love my computer you're always in the mood
I get turned on when I turn on you
I love my computer you never ask for more
You can be a princess or you can be my whore

And it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy

All I need to do is click on you and we'll be joined in the most soul-less way
And we'll never ever ruin each other's day 'cuz when I'm through I just click
And you just go away

The world outside is so big but it's safe in my domain
Because to you I'm just a number and a clever screen name

All I need to do is click on you and we'll be together for eternity
And no one is ever gonna take my love from me because I've got security,
Her password and a key

Bad Religion Index

The Hopeless Housewife


Oh me Oh my
Get out of your 1950's fantasy, your face shines with misery transparently
Spew out that sobering half-assed victim rhetoric
Make 'em all squirm while they chew on it
It's a secret handshake and a passing wink of the eye
As the witches bridge club weekly meets to pen the tail on the sly

But they never ask "Why oh why don't we raise our voices to the sky?"
Instead you're mute and fawn just waiting to die like some kind of hopeless housewife
But you can change while you're alive and let 'em all know at least you tried
To kill the demons inside

Oh me Oh my
Damn your transcendental paralysis, we can work together and make sense of this
Don't be so sure you can chuck it all away
You've got to proceed no matter how bad you want to stay
It's a natural cause and a comfort zone there in your head
And the world turns away as you tap the snooze button in bed

But nobody can hear a word you said
Your history was never read
Instead you're mute and fawn just waiting to die like some kind of hopeless housewife
But you can change while you're alive and let 'em all know at least you tried
To kill the demons inside

Bad Religion Index

There Will Be A Way


Shut your eyes, see the future's distant shore
March ahead more enlightened than before
And there's sure to be bumps and distractions but I know we'll get through
There will be me, there will be you
There will be a way

Unresolved repercussions from your life
Fortified with the vitriol of strife
And you can be gridlocked by predictions, but you're wise grab the prize
Then revise, realize
There will be a way

Hey.... Ho
And I don't know where we are going but we're here on this ride
And we'll stand side by side all along the way

Follow me to the future's distant shore
Vagary needn't haunt us anymore
And now it's time to set the agenda, learn the past, make it last
Share the wealth, hold your fire, conserve life, make it right
Kill the hate, negotiate
There will be a way
There will be a way
There will be a way

Bad Religion Index

Let It Burn


Let your mind wander, look beyond the shadows
Focus on the skyline, read the silhouettes
Your deepest desires are a picture of tomorrow
All your darkest fears are just a vestige of regret

And it's Wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger, prevailing winds blow stronger
And the fire continues to grow

Don't let shallow water limit your perception
Heed the new horizon, muster to it fast
The moments of your yesterdays are in the wake behind you
You can't assess the future if you're living in the past

And it's Wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger, prevailing winds blow stronger
And the fire continues to grow
Keep it stoked!

If you are committed to a life of understanding
Then there's no agenda for vengeance in your life
Sharpen all your senses, face the opposition
You can overcome with fortitude and mental might

And it's Wo-oh oh oh
It seems like such a long way to go
As obstacles get bigger, prevailing winds blow stronger
And the fire continues to grow

The fire continues to grow, in your soul
So be bold, Let it grow

Don't let it die
Let it burn!

Bad Religion Index

Don't Sell Me Short


We don't need any more mountains
Because the trail builders failed to give us passage there
So we can't reach the sky
We don't need any more failure
There is human tragedy that's written everywhere
And we are all too young to die

Like a mystery that's here to stay
Some people never go away
'Cuz they've got something to say

Don't sell me short! You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off just because I don't belong
Like it or not I'm all you've got, dispose when I'm shot
Just don't sell me short, I might not be who you thought

We don't need any more fables
Because the writers have passed and left us lessonless
And we must find our own way
We don't need any more privilege
There is vivid desperation that is powerless
That no surplus can repay

Like the fix of rapture in a trance
Oh, fates are sealed by circumstance
So you've got to take a chance

Don't sell me short! You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off just because I don't belong
Pass me on by, ignore my cry, forget me when I die
Just don't sell me short, not while I'm still alive

Everybody's talking about heaven on earth,
I'm still trying to figure out just what I'm worth
I'm full of emotion and stuff you can't contain
And you just want to flush me down the drain
But you can't make me go away

Don't sell me short! You've been wrong too long
Don't brush me off just because I don't belong
Pass me on by, ignore my cry, forget me when I die
Just don't sell me short, not while I'm still alive

Bad Religion Index