inbred towne
DREAMING CHILD:
i walked out this morning through an ordinary door/
i saw flashes of importance, not knowing what they’re for/
i sat on a park bench on an ordinary day/
and lit an ordinary cigarette in an ordinary way/
and then i opened my eyes/
just to realize/
there’s no reality/
born in a dreaming child/
like so many others, i often will ignore/
the path that I am set for and the things that sit in store/
the gifts that I’ve been given are forced beneath the weight/
of trying to do what’s right here, with the right thing here at stake/
and then i opened my eyes/
just to realize/
there’s no reality/
born in a dreaming child/
i am the wish on an eagle’s tips/
i am the whisper on a young girl’s lips/
i am that space between asleep and awake/
i am the art that every dreamer makes/
‘cause i am your – dreaming child/
now that i am out here there seems nowhere left to go/
the one place I had never gone, now is all i know/
the great space of myself has been revealed unto me/
but no different than you my eyes are open to seem free/
and then i opened my eyes/
just to realize/
there’s no reality/
born in a dreaming child/
INBRED TOWNE:
this inbred towne is looking for a hero/
no one’s around, feeling like it’s near though/
this inbred towne has opportunity zero/
i wish i could fake my death. (2X)/
i can’t change a thing if i can’t change myself/
i want to do those things that others only dream of/
i can’t change a thing (3X)/
and nothing can change me/
but, i am doing fine. i am doing fine/
moved to another towne, same thing here goes/
my past can’t hold me down, it still needs a hero/
New inbred towne, i can’t go with its flow/
god must be giving me a test. (2X)/
i can’t change a thing if i can’t change myself/
i want to do those things that others only dream of/
i can’t change a thing (3X)/
and nothing can change me/
but, i am doing fine. i am doing fine/
i’ve drawn lines across my vision/
defending my fort of shame/
a call on the armies of delusion/
to keep me safe and sane/
the wild jungle accents of a fashionably cultured pose/
are hoping to close in/
they’re hoping to close in!/
moved to another towne, same thing here goes/
my past can’t hold me down, it still needs a hero/
New inbred towne, i can’t go with its flow/
god must be giving me a test. i wish i could fake my death/
i can’t change a thing if i can’t change myself/
i want to do those things that others only dream of/
i can’t change a thing (3X)/
and nothing can change me/
But, i am doing fine. i am doing fine/
WELL-DRESSED NUDE:
please, god, take this thing from me/
this thing that has meant everything/
this all encompassing desire/
this thing i’ve felt i’d always need/
please, god, take this thing from me/
this pain for want of not getting/
this thing i’ve used to justify/
this poster-child for my beliefs/
oh, well-dressed nude/
your day is coming soon/
oh, well-dressed nude/
is my day coming at all?/
at all?/
please, god, take this thing from me/
this thing i love entirely/
this thing i thought would make me/
yet, now i know i must set free/
oh, well-dressed nude/
your day is coming soon/
oh, well-dressed nude/
is my day coming at all?/
at all?/
how will i know when it’s time to let go/
when somehow i feel like there’s still hope?/
oh, well-dressed nude/
your day is coming soon/
oh, well-dressed nude/
is my day coming at all?/
at all?/
please, god, take this thing from me/
this thing that has meant everything/
this all encompassed life desire/
this thing i pray comes back to me/
I AM YOU:
i am wily, i’m the wick/
i’m a superficial dick/
i am wicked, i am proud/
i’m the bleach-job on your shroud/
i’m to hold to, i’m to hate/
i’m a still-borne pontificate/
i’m a preacher, baby blue/
i’m for sure what i say and do/
i am you- feed off you/
i am you- feed me you/
i am pilot, i’m the sinned/
i am saccharinned opinions/
i’m flirtatious, i am meek/
i am gritty old hopes i keep/
i am branded, i’m the freak/
i have words and need to speak/
i’m ambitious, i am screwed/
i am chewed-up and wasted food/
i am you- feed off you/
i am you- feed me you/
you are cashing in on the both of us/
there’s no getting away with this/
i feel it too, ‘cause i am you/
i am you/
i am thoughtful, i am pissed/
i am loud and will be missed. (repeat all 2X)/
i am you- feed off you/
i am you- feed me you/
i am you. i’m immune. because I am you.
FULL CIRCLE AGAIN:
i’ve seen a child’s dream from the other side/
and it seems to make more sense/
but, i’ve locked myself inside of this life/
and where i stop is anybody’s guess/
i have come full circle/
i have come full circle- again/
i’ve thrown away a half million jobs/
although i’d never do that to my friends/
i’ve given up one dream too many/
still, somewhere inside is still a better man/
i have come full circle/
i have come full circle- again/
did he who made the lamb make thee?/
i must believe it’s all part of some plan/
all the king’s horses are back to work again/
and these dreams are still all i am/
i have come full circle/
i have come full circle- again/
MANY PATHS:
i don’t want to be your saviour- i don’t want to be the king/
to the court of many ages- or the praises they will bring/
i don’t want to be the father- of geniuses to come/
i don’t want to be a genius- in this world that i run from/
there are many paths up the mountain/
one of them must be for me/
there are many paths up the mountain/
but, none of them are worth my integrity/
not for me/
i don’t want to be your artist- painting your every thought/
i don’t want to be the buyer- when it’s your soul that is bought/
i don’t want to be your lover- feeding you your lines/
and i don’t want to be the villain that is parting out your minds/
there are many paths up the mountain/
one of them must be for me/
there are many paths up the mountain/
but, none of them are worth my integrity/
not for me/
all their moments are left out on stage/
while our generation is in retrospect’s cage/
can’t we learn this in our own way?/
i’ll step forward if that’s okay!?/
is that okay?- i’ll step forward anyway!/
there are many paths up the mountain/
one of them must be for me/
there are many paths up the mountain/
but, none of them are worth my integrity/
not for me/
i’ll step forward if that’s okay/
i’ll step forward anyway. (repeat all)/
MANIFEST DESTINY:
i’d hate to be a woman- i’d hate to be a black/
i’d hate to be a thinker with a less than perfect past/
i’d hate to be an arab- i’d hate to be a jew/
i’d hate to be whatever they find to hate in you/
i’d hate to be latino- i’d hate to be chinese/
i’d hate to be the bottom on which these dwellers feed/
i’d hate to be a native- i’d hate to be a gay/
i’d hate to say a fucking thing they’d hate for me to say/
i’d hate to be like them (3X)/
i’d hate to hate like them/
i’d hate to be for progress- i’d hate to be for peace/
i’d hate to be the back into which their knives will sheath/
i’d hate to be a frenchman- i’d hate to be the press/
i’d hate to question leaders that lead to senseless deaths/
i’d hate to be a student- i’d hate to be the poor/
i’d hate to be the target, that’s what their guns are for/
i’d hate to be a dreamer- i’d hate to need a choice/
i’d hate for them to notice that i am using my own voice/
i’d hate to be like them (3X)/
i’d hate to hate like them/
the good ol’ boys- manifest destiny/
they like their wars- manifest destiny/
their church is state- manifest destiny/
they’re taking over everything/
taking over everything with their manifest destiny/
i’d hate to be like them (3X)/
i’d hate to hate like them/
i’d hate to hate to hate to hate. (repeat)
REMARKABLE:
have you been sent to save someone?/
maybe that somebody is me?/
you’ve such a way about you/
something better and so inspiring/
you define remarkable/
you’re living solace and grace/
you’re something remarkable/
in this unremarkable place/
you are remarkable/
you’re everything love's supposed to be/
you are remarkable/
you are my everything/
you are brilliant and beautiful/
a childhood dream come true/
a dream i never dared dream/
the only dream i hold on to/
you define remarkable/
you’re living solace and grace/
you’re something remarkable/
in this unremarkable place/
you are remarkable/
you’re everything love's supposed to be/
you are remarkable/
you are my everything/
they won’t know what they’re missing/
they can’t comprehend your ways/
there’s no simple way to put it/
there’s nothing about you i would change/
you are remarkable/
you’re everything love's supposed to be/
you are remarkable/
you are my everything/
were you sent to save someone?/
could that somebody be me?
TO BE A MAN:
i’m glad to finally hear from you, and i am glad to hear you’re feeling well/
for years i hoped you had good reason, and some i made up for myself/
but, it’s hard to start pretending everything is how it should have been/
all those years that you missed out on, i was becoming my own man/
i don’t want to think that i missed out on what it’s like to have a dad/
my mother did well on her own, and i am grateful for what i had/
But, i couldn’t stop from thinking, or wring out the epitaph/
“there’s a sailor out there drinking away the son that’s his to have.”/
i fought the monsters in my closets- and i grew up way too fast/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
they say that i look like you – they say they see parts of you in me/
i’m not sure what part they’re seeing, no part of me would ever leave/
the child that looks to me now has been my greatest blessing/
and, now that i am a father, i fill the voids you vacancied/
and, what now of my brother? your other son has set to sea/
to wear the dress-blues of the ghost that other war helped you to be/
do you really mean what you write? do you really want back into our lives?/
i want so much to believe that, but it’s gonna have to take some time/
i fought the monsters in my closets- and i grew up way too fast/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
did you dream of me like i dreamed of you?/
did you worry what i might be going through?/
did you wonder where i was living too?/
did your little boy…? oh, how could you?/
i’m glad to finally hear from you, but i hope it’s not for conscious-sake/
i admit i am way more than just cautious, but i pray it’s not too late/
i didn’t want to think i missed out on what it’s like to have a dad/
yet now that you’ve resurfaced, i’m hoping you are proud of who i am/
i fought the monsters in my closets- and i grew up way too fast/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
i had to teach myself the lessons- of what it’s like to be a man/
THE GODS OF OUR DRIVES:
some of the best times i remember we had/
were rarely something that we would plan/
our youth and our spite, and flakings of prose/
our uncrafted journeys with nowhere to go/
beer in the bed, and smoke in the dash/
plenty of music, and an unrolling stash/
the start of the silence is building enough/
for one of our drives in the ol’ chevy luv/
we’d talk of women, and money, and how both would leave/
the things we’d admit no one else would believe/
we played like immortals, we played with our lives/
and we sang to forever as the gods of our drives/
we thought we’d sing forever as the gods of our drives/
the clock had no meaning, the time always did/
the world could have found it’s answers in a couple of kids/
our lives would feel better once out on the road/
and the lengths we would go nobody was told/
we’d talk of women, and money, and how both would leave/
the things we’d admit no one else would believe/
we played like immortals, we played with our lives/
and we sang to forever as the gods of our drives/
we thought we’d sing forever as the gods of our drives/
the friends on our albums were witness to this/
they shared in a history even they must miss/
the artistic license, the memories we made/
the detours of fortune that have distanced our days/
have brought us to age and opposite coasts/
that truck and those places are rusted old ghosts/
i’ll sometimes go driving and turn up the tunes/
and slip past the exits of many past moons/
when our youth and our spite, and flakings of prose/
were uncrafted journeys with nowhere to go/
THE MEEKLING:
his death may have gone unnoticed for weeks/
if not for the way he went about it/
for a guy that could freak out the freaks/
his funeral seemed pretty crowded/
it began as you’d expect, all quit and bemused/
then it built up like a rock concert/
those that really knew him seemed to be annoyed/
his death, like his life, catered to the absurd/
so, three cheers for the meekling- three cheers for his death/
three cheers for the meekling- three cheers for what’s-his-name/
he’s the best!/
he had a habit of getting in your face/
and it was unnerving to get caught in his peer/
for a guy that followed others/
there was never a “we” in his weird/
he was for taunt and leaving alone/
with pity and rumors his aire/
occasionally he’d be seen talking to empty space/
or dancing to music that wasn’t there/
his wardrobe was a repetition of different shades of black/
and there was an unknown purpose in his walk/
a leather bound book was married to his hands/
and the pen in its pages would wave like a wand/
the corners of the campus, its shadows his haunt/
but his secret agenda, his future claim/
would change the way everybody would think/
once they found out what he had made/
so, three cheers for the meekling- three cheers for his death/
three cheers for the meekling- three cheers for what’s-his-name/
he’s the best!/
insight in his colours- kindness in his views/
the strokes of beauty- he could find in you/
meekling, the finally see it in you. too late/
the gates of his moment were made of canvas and shroud/
his post-humous chance to celebrate/
his gift, now revealed to an unworthy crowd/
with each and every person captured in his paint/
insight in his colours- kindness in his views/
the strokes of beauty- he could find in you/
meekling, the finally see it in you. too late/
AINT THIS A MIRACLE:
i don’t think i’ve got anything figured out/
i don’t believe i’m still your chosen one/
i’m not so sure i want to say this out-loud/
but i’m rather glad i got to be here/
aint this a miracle!?/
aint this the shhh!?/
aint this a miracle!?/
i really hope I don’t blow this/
i think that god’s got a great sense of art/
just look at the finger painting he’s already done/
i’d like to think i’ve learned something so far/
but i’m not so sure i will retain it/
aint this a miracle!?/
aint this the shhh!?/
aint this a miracle!?/
i really hope I don’t blow this/
i don’t want to just survive until i die/
i want to be worth being alive – for life/
aint this a miracle!?/
aint this the shhh!?/
aint this a miracle!?/
i really hope I don’t blow this/
i am strong enough and i’m willing. (repeat)
YET:
fingers of moon on the flesh of a grin/
wringing out the maddening oils within/
caught in the smoke, on a porch and a sigh/
balanced on comforts waiting inside/
i can’t wait to see/
what’s still yet to be/
from me – yet. (repeat all 2X)/
i’m still pretty young to have such a past/
a couple extra years turn into ninety-six/
a bone powdered life is sheeting the walk/
that’s milked off before when now’s not enough/
i can’t wait to see/
what’s still yet to be/
from me – yet. (repeat all 2X)/
(instrumental break)/
weakening hairs of day split the floor/
from work to its bills to hours of chores/
no broken regrets, no hopes saved to spend/
i’ve settled for nothing, but i’m still not dead/
i can’t wait to see/
what’s still yet to be/
from me – yet. (repeat all 2X)/
i love that my stories can seem like a lie/
believe me or not, i have lived this life/
the way that i want, or think that i can/
from what i can tell that is all that i have.
CAROLINA, FOREVER:
the scales of paint on these musty walls are shedding/
and they’re falling on the habits of older drinking men/
they know every shuffling foot that may enter/
and they’re sure you’ll agree with their backwards way of thought/
the shop next door, filled with its perfumed drawling women/
is port to the gossip trained on yet another’s disposition/
in the smog light neon, they’re all making plans for after church/
they know that there’d be hell to pay if it didn’t happen to be them/
carolina won’t let them go- carolina will be their home, forever/
carolina, bred and bone- carolina will be their home, forever/
slow-motion efforts spill out on wheel-torn, narrow roads/
with the attitude, anything that happens happens somewhere else/
they watch their own town getting smaller as they get up in age/
and their young are waiting ‘til it’s okay for them to get away/
there is something they know happened, once and fairly close by/
but that’s really none of their business, at least not as they see it/
they wave at every passer, and the passer’s family tree/
and know them both by the way this town’s eroded their posture and eye shape/
carolina won’t let them go- carolina will be their home, forever/
carolina, bred and bone- carolina will be their home, forever/
good day to you. what brings you by?/
you haven’t changed a day/
i know, i heard, you wouldn’t believe…/
my dear, you wouldn’t say!?/
they still display the flag of the war their grandfathers lost/
and they work to keep from dying off in retirement/
there are good ol’ boys out fishing, while their women make their beds/
and the boys are messing up the primp the little girls must wear/
you might think that you’re above this gushing monotony/
this ambitionless paralysis, this pause-buttoned thrill/
but stay a little while, and take off your thinking cap/
you’re sure to lose the memories of any life you’ve had/
carolina won’t let you go- carolina will be your home, forever/
carolina, mind control- carolina will be your home, forever.
SKETCHY:
poor little mascara cheek/
it’s your fault you feel so cheap/
it’s your cause to be the sheep/
in the spin-cycle goodness/
of their pity/
“slap me on the backside/
and call me pretty,” you say/
but it’s kinda sketchy – he may/
be the one who is betrayed/
but it’s kinda sketchy – the fray/
the kind of thing that lasts for days/
poor little jean worn thin/
your concrete island has no ends/
you’re cornered on a four-post bed/
in the best you found/
at a secondhand/
“i hope that you are kidding/
but it’s not that funny,” you say/
and it’s kinda sketchy – sustained/
by the fact we think we’re ingrained/
but it’s kinda sketchy – you claim/
when they won’t play the rule/
by your game/
poor little happenstance/
let me sip from your canteen/
let me take a peek/
let me please/
i’m not as sketchy as you think/
just a rough sketch/
hung for jury/
just the thought before enough/
poor little caught-off-guard/
it’s your own fault you take it hard/
it’s the custom of your part/
to flaunt your sadness/
to hit your mark/
“tell me I’ll be fine/
and call me pretty,” you say/
but it’s kinda sketchy – retrace/
your steps back to this place/
but it’s kinda sketchy – this may/
not, may not help your case/
let me sip from your canteen/
let me take a peek/
let me please/
i’m not as sketchy as you’d think/
just a rough sketch/
hung for jury/
just the one who cares/
LET ME IN:
you pez back your head and pour in the sky/
there’s resin old coffee left for the night/
but your rubberband chatter is too nervous to blink/
you’re conscious of everything, but can’t seem to think/
you jury the spaces that fill in your frock/
you’ve nothing to say, but feel forced to talk/
the bed has been made as tight as the lynch/
that’s broken the passions you can’t seem to fix/
let me in – you have nothing to lose/
let me in – let me inside of you/
you dote on denial, and freeze-dry your cries/
you’re sure you never asked to be criticized/
your blankets are hardly the shield that you need/
but they’ll keep you, protect you, and you know they won’t leave/
you’re curled like the cord to the phone that won’t ring/
not that you really long for their company/
it doesn’t help to know that you made it this way/
they should have known better – they should have just stayed/
let me in – you have nothing to lose/
let me in – let me inside of you/
please let me love you without reservation/
please take my word without any question/
please know i’ll do what i say that i’ll do/
please let me love you like you know you want me to/
you pez back your head and pour in the sky/
there’s resin old coffee left for the night/
but your rubberband chatter is too nervous to blink/
you’re conscious of everything, but can’t seem to think/
you cannot be happy to keep waiting for the catch/
any unpredictabilities are left derelict/
i can’t live up to the expectations you’ve deemed/
but i’ll keep you, protect you, and i swear i won’t leave/
let me in – you have nothing to lose/
let me in – let me inside of you.
Find downloadable samples of music Anthony has been a part of creating throughout the years, a musical biography, photos of past performances and projects, lyric sheets, a list of upcoming gigs, links to Anthony's Local Top Ten and his brain-child (The Artist's Think Tank), and a porthole to his current musical project.