Locked away, I'm hidden from your sight
Forced to live in artificial light
Made to suffer because of what I'm not
A casualty in a war that must be fought
So here I wait like the ones that came before
And when I'm gone they'll need a thousand more
You've decided that my life is yours to take
So now I'm trapped in a world I did not make

Let me go
Leave me be
Stop your tests
Set me free

In my cell, I'm waiting for your tests
What hidden law makes you better than the rest
You feed me drugs and see how I behave⟓
And test my blood to and see what you have made
Day by day situation growing worse
You weren't content to let nature take its course
Now you suffer by the toxins that you use
Terrified by the fate that you helped choose

Morbid fascination instilled within our young
Raised and weaned on cold steel, the damage it has brung
Little plastic war toys always within reach
Replicas of war, what lessons do they teach

Minimal control, that's why this land is great
Accidental death, the lesson learned too late
Escalating tensions sweeping 'cross our land
A gun beneath your pillow you fail to understand

Images of violence flicker on the screen
Taken in by young eyes unsure of what it means
Violent heritage echoed in their games
Countless shattered lives, no one learns their names

Violent by nature

Children raised on violence, soon no place to run
Setting fights with bullets, the nightmare's just begun
Staring out the window, your child plays with friends
Waving plastic pistols, the circle never ends

In their eyes of children is a world I wish could be
Their definitions of this life derived so simply
There's no one to hurt them and everything is fair
The cruelty around them seems hidden from their stare

In their eyes I see a world where every man is free
In their eyes I see a better place for you and me
In their eyes I see a world where no one has to die
In their eyes I see a place where there's never need to lie

But as they grow this vision changes with every passing year
Each misconception lost with shedding of a tear
A world that once seemed safe is revealed to be so cold
In a world disfigured by simply growing old

The simple definitions of this world you think you know
Will surely start to cramble as your youthful body grows
Love for you is simple, it supplies you with your needs
In our world it's lethal for it bites the hand that feeds

Sometime at an early age a strange call beckoned you
It urged you on to selfishness and told you what to do
It taught you the word trust was just a tool that you could use
To manipulate your target make them do what you would choose
And still the call kept haunting you as you raced toward the end
You went through life with blinders on, no chance to make a friend
The call that you had answered is the one that's known as greed
It's tempting lure of empty wealth is one few fail to heed

Too late to change. Too late to change.
Just like a lemming you're blind to your fate
You fail to question until it's too late
Too late to change. Too late to change.
Driven by something you don't understand
Your lack of comassion is killing our land

It made you poison once clear rivers, raze forests to the ground
So you cut your expenses at the expense of those around
You did not care your every touch brought sickness to the land
The only green you care bout is the kind that you can spend
Somehow after all this time you make it to the end
And stare into that darkest void that longs to be your friend
But something deep inside of you resists the need to quit
You realize that only emptiness resides within the pit

You realize the harm you've done and what could yet come true
The crimes that you've committed and what you still can do
The goals you once held dearly now seem very strange
Your new found care for mankind shows it's not too late to change

At the age of 15 your life is defined, it's measured in ounces and grams
The wisdom of ages is soon pushed away for a crystal that's purchased in drams
No time for book learning, the street is your school, it teaches a lesson that's real
You shun lit and science, that's crap for your parents, the only thing real is the deal

Words on a page, they're so hard to read
The will to learn, it's not in your creed
Why should I care, I reeally can't see
The teaching of man, they mean nothing to me

Sports is the answer that's what you've been told,
It's the only way you'll succeed
A ball is your teacher, replaces the textbook,
It's the only tool that you'll need
History and math are soon pushed away by the glory bestowed by a sport
The classroom's forgotten, their teachings outdated,
You live by the rules of the court

Although things aren't perfect, they're trying their best,
The choice is left up to you
Resist the temptation of the easy way out,
The promises made just aren't true
You've made your decision have given up trying
And now there is no turning back
Another statistic for our failing system,
Another that's slipped through the cracks

Talk about humanity, what's wrong and what is right
You take a human being and strip them of their life
A tormented soul, trapped and left to decay
In a controlled environment to die in a demented way
Death row, he's awating, time just drags by
Gas chamber awaits for him to pay for his crime
When will the madness end, will it be today
What terrible thoughts living day by day

The crime was committed, forever left condemned
Left and forgotten, the fortune never ends
Sentenced to death, delayed for seventeen years
Left to go insane now death's his greatest fear

15 thousand dollars monthly that we pay
To keep him alive, now that's insane
Injustice prevails again, it's the American way
No wonder we're in debt, why do we have to pay
If the death penalty exists to make these convicts pay
Kill them when convicted instead of awaiting
To wait seventeen years is totally inhumane
The crime has lost its meaning, it's ruthless to be so vain

Our forefathers came with a vision and dream, to settle on this land
They built a great nation with blood and sweat, to benifit all of man
A path of destruction they did not see, they did not understand
Live for the moment instead of the future, typical for all of man

Overpopulation will soon take its toll
The growth of mankind is simply out of control
Soon no where to turn, we run short of precious land
Take our complex problems and place them in our children's hands

Living on a dream, a final prayer, future lies unseen
Hope to make a difference in our lives, its up to you and me
Destroying ourselves day by day, can we change at all
Hope for the best and keep on fighting before we take a fall

In the past, wars were benifical, man's its only enemy
Without this devastation we have inequality
People live longer thatn yeasterday, their offspring on the rise
It's mordern science, will it be answer or will it be our demise

Trapped in my mind, the answers you won't find
Deep despair, what I feel, lost in time, what I'm feeling
Emotions lost all meaning, can not help what I'm feeling
Tortured by pain, this agony is so insane

Diminishing away, day by day
A life once fulfilling now stripped away
It it's certain I must die
I deserve the right to die
Thousands of dollars everyday
To keep me suffering in a life of pain
I lie rotting be disease, eats away piece by pice
Just leave me be

Living through this Hell, life unravels, just as well
Politics of man won't let me die, they just prolong my demise
A life I did not choose, but it is certain I will lose
A disgrace to myself it I take my family through this hell

Forced to deal with decisions you never thought come true
Abandoned by the ones you've trusted, no one's there for you
Internal maelstrom of confusion, unsure of who you are
The things you used in definition didn't take you very far

The things I felt before I'm not sure if they're there
Words which meant so much fall on ears which just don't care
Emotions all entangled, it's time to reearrange
The seasons pass, emotions die, I'm helpless as things change

We often times define ourselves by our titles and our friends
We place our trust in fallacies which eventually will end
But just like dreams that fade away with every morning's light
We're left with only memories, no tangibles in sight

Now I find I'm all alone and wondering what is real
Insecure of who I am, afraid of what I feel
But I'm on the path to knowledge, the darkness won't last longer
That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger

Things change
Things change
Things change
Things change