High Noon

 This album was written over a longer period than the others, between the middle of 1995 and the end of 1997, 
with the following exceptions;
* A disorganized version of American Steel was written in the fall of 1992 and shelved until 1996, when it was re-organized 
around a new theme; and
* In late 1992 Black Water popped into my head as a title and a guitar progression that I proceeded to ignore until 1997; and
* Haunted was written poorly in 1994 and then re-written around the title riff in 1996, and
* Slave was never played live because we couldn't decide what genre to play it in. We defaulted to heavy metal when we recorded it.

1. American Steel

Theme suggested by James Ellroy

She's so fine - I could cry
Curves and chrome - muscle and shine

Girl child by my side 
Come on baby let's go for a ride
Just you and me, and the cold black sky

I touched her thigh - I pulled off to the side
I looked back in the mirror - and I said good-bye

Sh'e gone, I'm on my own, now I can't remember where I was going
Or when this void turned into home
Nothing's left, nothing real
Nothing but the road, and American steel

I see the road narrow ahead
And disappear over the edge
But I can't turn back, and face what I fled

I can see myself shattered and smashed, cracked iron and exploded glass
I won't fade, I was born to crash
I'm going down in flames, dead at the wheel
Chained to the road and American steel

2. End of the Line

  Three nights last week, I had the same dream
I heard wolves in the hills, I heard a panther scream
Snakes came, I bent to the ground
They said, Lose the woman now, or you both go down
And I said, It's too late, I'm on till the end of the line
I'm going to ride this down till the end of the line

I saw you shine and I watched it die
I saw the last of the light as it left your eye
Doped up - fucked out - caving in
Yeah but you can't sink too low, there's no place I won't go
I'm following you to the end of the line
I'm going to ride you down to the end of the line
Come on home            Please help me, I need you

She loved me, and I remember it all
And I can't stand to see her fall
I know what's next with this one-way ride
One of us dies at the end of the line
Death train, rolling till the end of the line
I'm going to ride this train till the end of the line
Come on home            I can't make it alone, stay with me, please

3.Fallen Land

Theme suggested by Heironymous Bosch, "The Garden of Earthly Delights"

Well it's been too long that I've been away
I was a guest in the house of light, but I couldn't stay
Did you miss me?                        In the fallen land
I dreamed about you             In the fallen land
And when I woke up, my feet were already walking down the road
Back into the fallen land

I passed by a man drinking wine from the skull of a child
Black bats suckling on a woman who winked at me and smiled
I passed souls on fire          In the fallen land
Spirits in the ice                      In the fallen land
Gardens of cancer, red plumes in the sand
Down in the fallen land

I saw time melt like clay in the caves of hell
I saw panic spread like plague from a poisoned well
I saw the hand of fate          Upon the fallen land
Closing Heaven's gate           Upon the fallen land
No room for the wicked, no cover for the damned
Naked in the fallen land

There won't be no place to hide 
On the Judgement Day
You can't hide - From the eyes of the Lord
You can't hide - From the laws of the world
You can search this land in vain - There's no place to hide

There's no shelter in the fallen land
You won't find no place to hide
No place for the junkies and the drunks
No place for the catamites and the homosexuals
No place for the adulterers and their whores
No place for the children of sin
I'm talking to you, yeah you,
You, you, you, you, you, you, you
You won't find no place to hide

4. Slave

I'm yours, I'm in your hands
I'm yours, yours to command
I'm yours, don't release me, that would be more than I could stand
Freedom is a lie, each of us lives in chains

You mean the world to me - I won't deny it, I worship you
You mean the world to me, yes you do
I'm your slave - I'll live on my knees
I'm your slave - I'll die at your feet
I'm your slave - use me, please use me

I'll beg you for every breath of air
I'll beg you to leave me torn and bare
I'll beg you to hurt me, and prove you really care
When love is real, love is pain 

5.Haunted

Music inspired by "The Untouchables" on TV

Mist clings like a final kiss, beneath the moon's soft light
Dreams ring down the hollow years, lost in a mansion of endless night

Remember
Dust stirs with a tell-tale breeze, behind me in the hall
The clock chimes and the candles dim - my love has come to call
Once more, she's here with me

Forget her
Ice shines from an ivory smile, cold fire in her touch
Glazed eyes locked on mine, pale hands still clutch
Oh no no no this can't be
I can't believe she's gone from me forever

She left me haunted             Haunted heart
Now I'm haunted                 Haunted heart

6.High Noon

There's a train leaving Kansas, with the past on board
Moving this way like a cold wind off the plains
Our time is ending before it began
I can feel the chill, he's still your man
Coming home now, to claim his own
Coming home now                 Don't be long

It breaks my heart to watch you sleeping
You're so close to me, and so far away
You believe that it's over, and you've left him behind
I can't be here when you change your mind
It'll kill me, when you say goodbye
So long                         When you say goodbye

I keep telling myself, get out while you still can
Get out

8.Unwanted Love

One more woman, one more crush
One more ante, one more busted flush 
Time to fold

Every move, every line
Nothing works, nothing comes out right 
None of the time

Scar tissue - Bullet holes - Road wear - Does it show?
I thought so

Unwanted love           Will turn a man to stone
Unwanted love           Will turn a heart to bone

9.Bring Me the Dead

Heal me - hey hey hey heal me

I hear that terror forms a bond that never dies
And I believe it, I've seen it in her eyes
She wanted true love, she found a pimp who feeds her Seconal and crazy lies
And it works

So I told her about Jane, trading her kid for China white
And I told her about Jennifer, getting kicked in the belly till the fetus died
And she said, I don't know, I don't care, I just want his child
And I said, That's a sin

She's half virgin, with her head up in the stars
She's half whore, covered with cigarette burns and razor scars
She needs him more than life, he leaves her trashed, 
Laying there praying for it all to end
Please God, let me die
And you know what?  Each day I love her more

Bring me the sick, bring me the wounded, bring me the dead
Bring me the lame, bring me the shattered, bring me the dead
Bring me the unclean, bring me the twisted, bring me the dead
Bring me the lost, bring me the battered, bring me the dead

Heal me - Hey hey hey heal me

10.Stop

How can you tell me you need to leave?
How can you tell me to set you free?
Don't you realize what you mean to me?

You know you can't go away for long
You know you'll come back, you know you're wrong
You know you love me, you always will

No, no more - It's over - Can't you see?
No, no more - I mean it - Stay away from me
Let go      Hands off          Get away             Go home

I'm not leaving
We're not done
You've been playing with me for too long
Now, this is how it ends

Go home     Get away           Hands off           Let go         Stop

11.Black Water

Music inspired by the Wailers, "High Wall"

Lights in the harbor        Far below
A bridge at the end of the road
Wind on the river                  Tears in the snow
It's midnight, and it's time to go

Give me the eyes to see         When it's over
Give me the grace to leave       When it's over
Give me the will that I'll need to see this through

I just can't keep on hoping

Maybe this time      The wheel will turn for me
Maybe this time      My luck will change

I want to live        In the sun
I need to love       Just like anyone
And I can't understand what my life's become

Black water, rolling over me    Set me free

12.Winds of Heaven

My life before me, I thought I saw
The future gleam like a jewel
So rich in promise, so much in store
So many dreams, and none came true
Mirages beyond my grasp
Gone with the howl of the wind

I see a wasteland, the trail behind me
Fading traces of a life running dry
I despise the hopes that failed me
Barren visions, hollow lies
Delusions giving way at the last
Gone with the howl of the wind

Winds of heaven, wings of an angel
Over me

13.Goodbye

It's time to leave
And I only want to stay
I wish I'd known you better, seen you more
But it has to end this way
Goodbye