(unless otherwise specified, all lyrics by Joshua Ellis)
Scatterlings + Refugees (words and music by Joshua Ellis) [audio: red_state_soundsystem-scatterlings_+refugees(video_mix).mp3]We are scatterlings and refugees, we have never known peace We have never known a home Home is wherever we are when we're together Peace is the sound that we make when we're alone
I rang the New Year in In a field out in the suburbs somewhere outside East Berlin I watched the fireworks burn the night And I wondered where you were and if you were alright
We are scatterlings and refugees, we are bastards, we are orphans We don't ever make a sound Traversing the oceans in perpetual motion Our feet don't ever touch the ground
We went dancing Old soul records playing in the alleyway And we are old souls, you and me Disappearing at the dawning of the day
We are scatterlings and refugees, we have never known peace We have never known a home Home is wherever we are when we're together Peace is the sound that we make when we're alone
And when my telephone rings in the dark And you say 'Hey, I'm at the White Cross On Las Vegas Boulevard' No matter where I am, I'll get on a plane I'll go anywhere to see you again
We are scatterlings and refugees, we are angels, we are monsters We never mattered anyway We're the patron saints of rented cars and last goodbyes in airport bars And in the morning, like ghosts, we slip away
We slip away
Sleeping In Flame (music and lyrics by Joshua Ellis)
It may be morning but the sun hasn't risen And I feel like I'm walking out of prison And the moon is wearing a tie And singing a song about you and I My only comfort is a brave cigarette To push away the things I cannot forget And I was wrong But I promise that I won't be long
Why don't we burn down this fucking town And build an empire in these streets? I'll put on my cowboy boots You can wear ruby slippers on your feet And I'm calling your name And you're sleeping in flame, my love
There was a story, but I can't remember If it was January or December A tale of lovers or a tale of friends And I can't remember how the story ends I wanna keep this channel open I wanna keep these words unspoken 'Cause I know This is a promise that I won't let go
Why don't we burn down this fucking town? I've just seen too much to care Chase me down into the underground You can wear pretty flowers in your hair And I'm playing my games And you're sleeping in flame, my love
Why don't we burn down this fucking town? There's nothing better left to do I will write love letters on these walls I will write them all to you And I'm signing my name And you're sleeping in flame, my love
My love
Berlin Floor Show
Greta married for money and divorced for shame Now she's living on the remnants of her family name She plays the strasse with the boys that she cruises She hides her smiles but she shows off her bruises, yeah Oh yeah
Michael used to make movies in the indie scene Till his muse ran away with a beauty queen Now it's heroin and roses every night of the week Them bloodstains are ugly but they sure are chic, yeah
Something like a murder Something like as low as you can go Something like desolation Something like a Berlin floor show
I saw you on a broadcast of the BBC And my Lord, you still looked good to me You were smiling at the man with the microphone But in the back of my mind, I could still hear you moan
I could hurt you, baby, if it's what you're asking I ain't Launcelot, you ain't no lady faire I could keep you coming in the middle of the night I could leave you grasping at the empty air, baby
Something like a murder Something like as low as you can go Something like recrimination Something like a Berlin floor show
You tell me how you really love the glamour You love the cafes and the cabaret You ask me if I'm coming home tonight I can't think of a single thing to say You were so pretty back in Indiana You were such a lovely homecoming queen But now you're decked out in Milano leather Now you want someone to tell you this is just a dream
Something like a murder Something like as low as you can go Something like dislocation Something like a Berlin floor show
Something like a murder Something like as low as you can go There's nothing like absolution There's nothing like a Berlin floor show
Divine Intervention
All last night, I was looking for you Your burning skin and your paper heart All last night, I was dreaming of you But in the morning you fell apart
All my life I've been waiting for you And now you're here and I'm a mess All these stolen moments, kissing you on camera And everything that hasn't happened yet
I don't believe in anything Not anything that I could mention But you are something unexpected You are divine intervention You are divine intervention
All my life is falling downward Like a candle used up by the flame All last night, I was dreaming of you And I don't even know your name
I don't believe in anything Not anything that I could mention But you are something unexpected You are divine intervention You are divine intervention
Scarecrow
Is any of this real? The streetlight spills like water on my face Frozen, broken, stolen I have finally found my grace
You hold the line You hold the camera Taking pictures as the shadows burn the wall You think you saw me You think you knew me But I was never really here at all
We are walking beside the river Throwing stones into the water Watch them sink without a trace This is where we go our separate ways You can't look me in the eye You can't tell me to my face
And I'm a scarecrow I'm an autumn leaf All my certainties are blown apart And cast upon the wind I fall apart I fall to pieces When the winter comes I am born again
When I am gone Will you remember? Will you tell stories of The way I used to be? Or will I sink Without a ripple?
Will there be anything Left of me?
Every Hour Wounds (The Last One Kills)
Where will you be in ten years? Still in this bar, chillin’ with these drunks? Or will you hit the highway Like we used to back when we were punk?
And watching tempus fugit like a bird Everybody dies, haven’t you heard? Waiting till you pay off all your bills Every hour wounds, the last one kills
She’s sitting in a cafe On the Boulevard du Second Chance Smoking English cigarettes And waiting for her French romance
But I’ll never find her in this Starbucks Waiting on another piece of good luck Fingerpainting in my coffee spills Every hour wounds, the last one kills
And when they find me face-down In a pool of my own innuendo Covered with the scars of dreams I gave up long ago I hope they take a picture and they Send it out on Twitter For every single person that I know
One day I will find the guts To leave this desert town And seek a new Jerusalem With no one else around
No more traffic jams or telephones No more Abercrombie-wearing clones When I think about it, I get chills Every hour wounds, the last one kills
Every hour wounds, the last one Every hour wounds, the last one Every hour wounds, the last one kills
Every hour wounds, the last one Every hour wounds, the last one Every hour wounds, the last one kills
Not In This World (Or The Next One)
I’m a good soldier, I march like they tell me My feet fall in time When I stop moving, I stare at your picture And I trace the lines
Of your eyes and your mouth and your hair As it falls in fractured waves I put you back in my pocket, and I count the days But I am sunburnt and sand-blinded And I’m lost in space I disappear in the whiteness I am erased
Never again, never again, never again Will I laugh at your lies Never again, never again Not in this world or the next one
Wear that gray dress that you wore on the day That we went to the zoo Watching the animals climbing for shelter And I looked for shelter in you
But now I’m surrounded by bullets Screaming like ghosts Of all of these things that I’ve left I think I will miss you the most But if it wasn’t this, it would be something else And I am no longer afraid This is all anyone gets And I am not ashamed
Never again, never again, never again Will I beg at your feet Never again, never again Not in this world or the next one
Never again, never again, never again Will I call you up drunk and afraid Never again, never again, never again Will I break any promise I’ve made
I would like you to forget me My name and my face Lock all the doors of my memory And throw all the keys away
Go out and get drunk and get crazy And start a new life Ghosts have no need for companions And no need for wives
Never again, never again, never again Will I haunt you Never again, never again Not in this world or the next one
Never again, never again, never again Will I haunt you Never again, never again Not in this world or the next one
(This song is dedicated to the memory of Corporal Pat Tillman, whom I never met. I hope he might have liked it.)