turn down the lights, placate the drunk,

kill the telephone

i don't want to spit this one out 

and have you rape me later on 

now ladies and gentlemen

i used to be a notorious killer

and then i became the world's greatest dancer

always asking what the truth was

and never waiting for an answer 

now it's the clay inside this heart of stone

and the concrete in my head

i know there's a fine line 'tween the living and the dead

and i used to go to slasher films

and leave feeling pretty free

it's really quite cathartic 

to see yourself up on the screen

and i've been driving the nails

firmly in your tree

you've been talking to your father 

on behalf of me

nothing at these checkpoints

i care to defend 

why do i raise the hammer up

and drive the nails again?

now in the graveyard of my secrets

there's a hope buried beneath 

all this talk of peace and righteousness 

has got me weary beyond belief 

and there's an unwanted mistress

in my bed late at night

she says "i know you're a criminal,

you've been on death row all your life."

and i've been driving the nails

firmly in your tree 

you've been talking to your father

on behalf of me

nothing at these checkpoints

i care to defend

why do i raise the hammer up

and drive the nails again?

-bill mallonee