Machine Head
Catharsis
1. Volatile
Fuck the world!
They never see me coming
Their faces twisted in shock
Now the fools come gunnin'
To put our heads to the block
Sick of the laughter, sick of the pain
Sick of the feeling, this feeling of shame
Sick of the white folks, privileged and vain,
protesting a culture that isn't the same
Don't blame the false elites
when Nazi assholes march the streets
So call me a hypocrite, call me a fake
It's nothing compared to your pride and your hate
Dead!
Dead and bloated
These times are volatile
There's no room left for you
Dead!
Dead and bloated
There's no room left for you
These times are
Volatile! (x6)
This world is fuckin' volatile!
Fuck the world!
You'll never see me coming
Sick of the racists, sick of this shit
Sick of them telling me it's immigrants
Sick of the phonies on my phone screen
Sick of the NRA trying to scare me
Stop crying innocence
Stop claiming self-defense
Good men won't speak 'cause they're scared of the violence,
but bad men keep screaming to fill up the silence
Dead!
Dead and bloated
These times are volatile
There's no room left for you
Dead!
Dead and bloated
There's no room left for you
These times are
Volatile! (x6)
This world is fucking volatile!
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Dead!
Dead and bloated
These times are volatile
There's no room left for you
Dead!
Dead and bloated
Life can be so vol-a
Volatile! (x4)
Volatile! (x6)
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
Break it, smash it, burn it to the ground
2. Catharsis
I feel so empty and alone, I wonder
If this is ever going to go away
Cause now this changes everything
Smash all your sacred cows
Break all your sacred vows
Never look down on me
What you get, what you see
I could never be another brick in the wall
You’ll remember me
As you break all our spirits down and push us to the ground
Call me a fool with a gasoline can
Burn it fucking down, start it over and over again
Whenever I fall
If ever at all
You’re there to watch me crumble
And just like a muse
A drug I abuse
You’re there to watch me crumble
But you won’t get your chance
And so I sink into the grey horizon
I’m never going to let you say “I can’t”
I’ll never let you beat me to the ground
So can you see the hunger in my eyes?
Take a look, it’s no disguise
Got to crush my struggles, crush the pain and the strife
Live or die, I'm gonna fight for my life tonight
Whenever I fall
If ever at all
You’re there to watch me crumble
And just like a muse
A drug I abuse
You’re there to watch me crumble
But you won’t get your chance
You’ll never get your chance
The only thing keeping me sane
The music in my veins
And if these words are my fists
Can you feel my catharsis?
Can, you, feel my catharsis
Can, you, feel my catharsis
The only thing keeping me sane
The music in my veins
And if these words are my fists
This is my catharsis
Whenever I fall
If ever at all
You’re there to watch me crumble
And just like a muse
A drug I abuse
You’re there to watch me crumble
But you won’t get your chance
You’ll never get your chance
The only thing keeping me sane
The music in my veins
And if these words are my fists
Can you feel my catharsis?
This is my catharsis!
3. Beyond the Pale
I am skin and bones, broken stones
See the scars that I show
I live outside the bounds, in the unknown
I can't ingratiate, to the hate, ‘cause their world suffocates
Carve my own path and form my destiny’s shape
This storm won’t wait
The rain is falling down upon me
Beyond the pale
I found salvation
Emancipation
Beyond the pale
I found my heroes, the freaks and zeros
I live outside the lines
Got no time for the willfully blind
I’ll build a world of mine
Sever the ties
I’ll break down every wall
Fight and claw, take their punches, stand tall
My middle finger raised
So fuck ‘em all
And let them crawl
The rain is falling down upon me
Beyond the pale
I found salvation
Emancipation
Beyond the pale
I found my heroes, the freaks and zeros
The snakes come slithering out of their holes at night
Dirty water clouds my soul, the needle lies
Weather the storm, my heart is drowning
The rain is falling down upon me
Beyond the pale
I found salvation
Emancipation
Beyond the pale
I found my heroes, the freaks and zeros
Beyond the pale!
4. California Bleeding
I'm not the billionaire class
From San Lorenzo with the trailer trash
I can't afford a fucking thing in sight
Something about this state is just so right
San Francisco, give me your money
Drug-crazed, road-rage, don't ya act funny
I wanna smoke till I'm Oakland high
And drop some acid in the Barstow night
Sacramento, marching downtown
Mendocino, beer me down
Cut me open leave me splayed (stitch me back together)
California's bleeding me (blame it on the weather)
Sail me down the river
Temper like a trigger
Take a shot of vodka, blow out my liver
California's bleeding me
Don't give a fuck if I'm banned
The fucking rodents down at Disneyland
Highway 5 down to 99
I'm getting head near the Fresno sign
Berryessa, stumbling and stammered
East Bay Tramps out drinking and hammered
And Hollywood's giving me the bends
'Cause in LA you ain't got no friends
Fremont meth-head getting me wired
Start a riot, light a fire
Cut me open leave me splayed (stitch me back together)
California's bleeding me (blame it on the weather)
Sail me down the river
Temper like a trigger
Watch your back, here come the gold diggers
California's bleeding me, and I don't care tonight
We're going west
Like rats we come to infest
We never rest
Feed on the fucking stress
Cut me open leave me splayed... stitch me back together
California's bleeding me (blame it on the weather)
Sail me down the river
Temper like a trigger
Take some shots and blow out my liver
California's bleeding me, and I don't care tonight
And you won't go home
'Cause we welcome all
Golden State brings home the gold
5. Triple Beam
And there's no moral to the story
Read the lines in between
'Cause that's what happens
When you balance life on a triple beam
When you balance life on a triple beam
I turn a gram to an eight ball, an eight to a brick
The violence in my life was a measuring stick
And there's no moral to the story, read the lines in between
'Cause that's what happens
When you balance life on a triple beam
I used to dream about the end
And when it would come
Drug dealers die young at the end of a gun
Powders on the triple beam
Girls around my neck
No money?
Well... she could always pay with sex
Bikers tried to front me 30 grand worth of shit
Knew that if I took it, I'd never get out of this
What the fuck am I doing with amphetamines?
But that's what happens when you balance life on a triple beam
When you balance life on a triple beam
My dealer trusted nobody
Make you take a test
See if you would rat him out or stab him in the chest
He'd make you suck the Glass-Dick, called it "dragon's breath"
Smoke a giant hit of speed, prove you weren't the feds
Your heart would beat so fast
Before your eyes life flashed
Ain't easy to make cash
Living off of meth
It's a paranoid world
Violent and mean
But that's what happens
When you balance life on a triple beam
Paranoid, the gun is loaded
Nose destroyed and mind corroded
Rival dealers want me broken
If I sleep, it's with one eye open
They call it crank, speed, rosebud, methamphetamine
They call it crank, ice, bathtub, methamphetamine
At the AM/PM Shattuck and 51st
1:30 in the morning, streets at their worst
My buddy started a fight, some dude by the pumps
These black girls strolled up to watch 'em take their lumps
Three cars rolled up, 15 dudes rolled out
"You fuckin' with our girls?"
(mouth running like a spout)
I threw the first punch, nose broke on my rings
Now I'm fighting 4 dudes and my heads starting to ring
Somebody screamed "Stop, he's got a knife, run"
Not everybody listened, all of us were drunk
As I turned my head I saw my friend's knife blade
Murder in his eyes, the devil in his veins
He swung at the first, but then he missed
2nd one got lucky, 3rd one took a hit
The 4th got caught and this time he wasn't missing
Teeth grit down, survival of the fittest
And he stabbed him, and he stabbed him,
And he stabbed him again
Kill that motherfucker, let him never breathe again
And there's no moral to the story
Read the lines in between
'Cause that's what happens
When you balance life on a triple beam
6. Kaleidoscope
We rise
We fall
And then we come together and
Despise this all
So get your middle fingers in the air
And sing
They can't ignore us anymore
It’s up to us
So hear me out cause I don’t give a fuck
I’m stuck
I’m heading off the deep end like a truck
No brakes
I grip the wheel and start to shake
I beat my chest to feel alive
Not part of the hive
Comatose America, the zombies are in charge
Watch out for your brothers man, it really isn’t that hard
Have our souls turned cold?
The path I walk is only for the strong and the bold
I walk along a lonely road
It’s all I know
This hole in my soul
Songs fill what religion won’t
No hope, I can’t cope
Music plays in kaleidoscope
And if I’m lost
I don’t want to be found
Haunted by sound
Open up the floor and start a pit
This shit
Is building up inside of me
I can't pretend, that I wont fuckin’ snap tonight
You’ll find me nine feet in the grave
Before I’m a slave
Catatonic ignorance, the cronies run the show
Preying on our differences, divide and conquer the low
While I may be old
The world I see is only for the strong and the bold
I walk along a lonely road
It’s all I know
This hole in my soul
Songs fill what religion won’t
No hope, I can’t cope
Music plays in kaleidoscope
And if I’m lost
I don’t want to be found
Haunted by sound
Because we rise
We fall
And then we come together and despise
Them all
So get your middle fingers in the air
And bleed
They can’t ignore us anymore cause
I don’t give a fuck
We rise
We fall
And then we come together and despise
This all
So get your middle fingers in the air
And bleed
They can’t ignore us anymore cause
I don’t give a fuck
This hole in my soul
Songs fill what religion won’t
No hope, I can’t cope
Music plays in kaleidoscope
No hope
I can’t cope
Songs in kaleidoscope
And if I’m lost
I don’t want to be found
Haunted by sound
7. Bastards
Yesterday I told my sons "sometimes the bad guys win"
And that it made me scared about the world that we live in
But I had to reassure them that it wouldn’t be for long
Sons we have to be ourselves
We have to be strong
I said “boys you are the future, so let this be a lesson
There may come a day you have to fight off their aggression”
Cause fear and hatred won today, the darkness ate the light
But both you look in my eyes, it’ll be alright
In every step you take
I'm with you all the way
Cause I would die for you
To do what’s right for you
In hopes that when I’m gone
You’ll carry on these words I wrote for you
Till then…
I’ll sing
Stand your ground
Don’t let the bastards grind you down
Be bold, be strange
Don’t let their fears make you afraid
There’s hope, they’ll change
Well I looked out to the world today, thought "what a bloody mess!”
They stripped our morals from us, put 'em under house arrest
And "liberty" and "country" are the words they need to speak
A little “god,” a little “freedom,” if we don’t agree, we're weak
And every politician stood there idle and so smug
Empowering the racists and 2nd Amendment thugs
Wall St. and the billionaires, convinced us they’re so smart
Saying “vote with your wallet, instead of with your hearts!”
But we won’t go away!
You won’t forget our name!
The pussy generation, the PC and the brave
The protesters that slink along the streets of misery
And so…
I’ll sing
Stand your ground
Don’t let the bastards grind you down
Be bold, be strange
Don’t let their fears make you afraid
There’s hope, they’ll change
We’ll change
Change
No, no, no, no, no (FUCK NO!)
No, no, no, no, no (FUCK NO!)
No, no, no, no, no (FUCK NO!)
So give us all your faggots, all your niggas, and your spics
Give us all your Muslims, your so-called terrorists
We’ll welcome them with open arms, and put ‘em in our mix
We’re better off together now, embrace our difference
Remember there is love!
Our words can stop their guns
Forget the rednecks
Living in the past
We’re never going back now, we've reached critical mass
And so…
I’ll sing
Stand my ground
Won’t let the bastards grind me down
I’m bold, I’m strange
Won’t let their fears make me afraid
There’s hope, they’ll change
8. Hope Begets Hope
My eyes see through the lies
And I see the wolves among the sheep
I smell the fear inside
And the odor brings me to my knees
I'm at the end of my rope hanging on
These scars are dragging on my soul
And we won't let go
We could live forever if we just let go now
Hope begets hope
Stand strong to the winds of adversity
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
And no, we won't go
No marching orders, get up off of your knees now
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
I crawl on to the pyre
And the flames they purify my pain
I'm writhing in desire
All this hatred has been all in vain
Have you ever been the hated one
Face to face with the flaws upon your soul
Let the truth unfold
We could live forever if we just let go now
Hope begets hope
Stand strong to the winds of adversity
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
And no, we won't go
No marching orders, get up off of your knees now
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
I will prevail
And I've been running from the long arm of the law
I've got to live for better days
This depression that's inside of me
It eats away at the bones that are supporting me
I have to fight back or get knocked down
Take my hand and never let me drown
So tell me have you ever been the hated one
Face to face with the flaws upon your soul
Let the truth unfold
We could live forever if we just let go now
Hope begets hope
Stand strong to the winds of adversity
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
And no, we won't go
Fuck their orders, get up off your knees now
Hope begets hope
Stand your ground
Face, the flaws on your soul
Let, the truth unfold
We're gonna live forever
9. Screaming at the Sun
You'll find me screaming at the sun
It singes my eyes
The plan I devise, in this chess game to shatter the crook
And now the queen takes the rook
You think that you can read me like a book
But you mistook the pushback, skull crack, now I take the pawn
The pattern's sliding off and now the bishop's gone
Woe this land
It bares my hand
Of the final command
They see you blinded us, reminded us of all that's ugly
And if you let it in, the predator will leave you bloody
So take a look into my eyes
And sharpen your gaze
Sharpen the blades 'cause the stakes have been raised
Kiss the ring
And now the knight takes the king
Now the rank and file is to bring
The sacrificing, upside, downside, give me all your guns
I'm fucking crazy, oh my mind is lost or won?
Hold your breath
These wounds are fresh
Of this mate that I check
They see you blinded us, reminded us of all that's ugly
And if you let it in, the predator will leave you bloody
So we close
Off the din outside the window
No we won't
Normalize the tyrannizing
You'll find me screaming at the sun
Until my soul dies
You'll find me screaming now
And if you let it in, the predator will leave you bloody
10. Behind a Mask
The grieving widow's pose, she stands with head held high
Never to re-marry, never gonna try
'Cause that would end the symphony of sadness that we play
And end the songs of wanderlust that she commiserates
So she takes another shot of crown, in hopes to ease the pain
In hopes to ease the void inside, yet somehow it's in vain
'Cause vanity has come along and filled her perfume vile
And every day she dabs a little on her neck and smiles
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Open your eyes, let us see the void inside
Open your eyes, let us see
The old man sits alone staring at the screen
And contemplates the failures, done to his family
'Cause depression's bottles come along and filled his whiskey glass
With every sip put to his lips, erases all the past
So he tells another little lie and tells another tale
In hopes to spare the family and hide his private hell
But the more the words come out of him, like little cuts and scabs
Tearing at the tender hearts who gaze upon a mask
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Open your eyes, let us see the void inside
She puts her feet in well-worn shoes
Walks toward the past
Of the character
Behind the mask
Slowly climb out of your shell
Start to believe
Every now and then those demons
Will come to feast
On your flesh and bones
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Behind a mask (so we hide, so we hide)
Open your eyes, let us see the void inside
Open your eyes
Let us see
11. Heavy Lies the Crown
Call me the spider king, I creep along the night
I weave a web so dense, once caught there is no flight
So delicate the strands I weave around my victims taut
The terror suffocates their shattered afterthoughts
I feel their envy, heavy lies the crown
Call me the spider king, men sharpen blades behing
Caught in the light of greed, the prize infects their minds
They fly too close to flames of fame and withered vanity
Like moths they're drawn towards the inhumanity
I feel their envy, heavy lies the crown
And so I send my spies to watch the guilty seethe
Devise a twisted plot and gently pull the strings
I slink along the boulevards, listen to the streets
The avenues and gutters give me truth to speak
I feel their envy, heavy lies the crown
Call me the spider king, these fiends show no respect
Their blinded loyalties, the balance that I check
I hear them sharpen knives behind my back
A moment frozen, let them open fire
See the hatred that burns through my eyes
And remember the pain I’ll inflict on you
Before the dawn
Suffer my vengeance
Suffer my vengeance
So many cannons have been aimed at me
They raise the guillotine at full speed
The bayonets of men they clash and ring
The battle’s ashen sting, it recedes
The bodies burning in a blaze of heat,
The screams of agony and lost pride
These men go off to die, for war and countryside
The revving engine of the war machine,
Draining it as it feeds on the weak
They try to resurrect the violent seed
Into a hangman’s tree of deceit
The choice made out on the battleground
Through history resound
The weight would crush you down
'Cause heavy lies the crown
Heavy lies the crown
I smell the fear these men disguise as their love
The hints of their betrayal, it fires my blood
So many knives have missed my back to put me down
The weight would crush you down,
'Cause heavy lies the crown
Don’t put me on a pedestal
I lay there for you all to see
I never wanted any war
Save me from the hate below
Envy seeps from every pore
Jealousy is your just reward
This is a warning to you all
Don’t ever try to plot my fall
I’ll put you six feet in the ground
Heavy lies the crown
12. Psychotic
I'm at the end of my rope
And I'm starting to choke
The noose is tightening around my throat
It's strangling the hope
That's hiding in my soul
I argue with myself 'cause I can't take control
So drag me through the trough
With my Vietnam cough
And take this straitjacket off
I'm powerless and down
And cracking from the stress
Constricting like a python as it tightens 'round my chest
I gotta fucking death wish
Fighting all my enemies
Wrecking all their fucking dreams
My hands they bleed from the nails
Fingers make a fist
Don't tell me I'm a fatalist
Dancing 'round so frantically
Laughing so maniacally
I can't escape insanity
Trapped in my pain
Fight to keep myself sane
Silent I scream
Tortured by these dark dreams
So get the fuck away from me and hide knives
'Cause I can't trust myself tonight
I'll straight up lie and say
Anything to make it alright
You said you'd love me till the end
Now you want to end?
It's not the end till I say so!
Take your little razor blades
Cut me up and shed the pain
Let them stitch my heart out, black it out
Hand print on the wall
Blood holds me in thrall
Castrated by the butcher's blade that severs all
Trapped in my pain
Fight to keep myself sane
Silent I scream
Tortured by these dark dreams
Nails rake the skin in perfect rows
Spine shivers down from head to toe
Feeling sicker every second that passes
I vomit the pain as I pike till I gasp
My breathing quickens, heart starts to race
The lines sink deeper into my face
Peel the filth away, a sick bloody habit
Pick through the scabs as I sift through the maggots
Tobacco stains and tar
Fingernails burnt and charred
The smell of piss and rain
The odor haunts my brain
Psychotic
Thoughts from hell arise
Do I wanna let silence die?
Kill myself to survive
Needle in my arm and the damage is done 'cause I'm
Psychotic
Thoughts below arise
Do I wanna let silence die?
Kill myself to survive
Needle in my arm and the damage is done and I'm
Trapped in my pain
Fight to keep myself sane
Silent I scream
Tortured by these dark dreams
13. Grind You Down
The ashes chaff between my fingernails
The cigarettes have stained my skin
My lungs are sore from breathing in these chemicals
I thrive inside this life of sin
My bones are rotten to the marrow inside
My veins are coursing only ice
A heart of steel beats inside my chest
Temptation is my only vice
Grind you down and grind you down
Grind you down and grind you down
(Gonna grind you down)
Grind you body down
I can remember the last time December
The snow that comes falling it washes away
I'll live forever the wings of a feather
Will carry me on to the next victory
The smell of death fills up my nostrils like wine
My eyes have slowly turned to stone
My jackals terrorize the enemy lines
Chewing on their muscle and bone
Exact a pound of flesh to bring some justice
My other generals start to cheer
'Cause victory has shined a light upon us
Death is in the rear view mirror
Grind you down and grind you down and
Grind you down and grind you down
(Gonna grind you down)
Grind you body down
I can remember the last time December
The snow that comes falling it washes away
I'll live forever the wings of a feather
Will carry us off to this our victory
The burning feeling in my stomach starts to ache
The sweat begins to bead uncertainties awake
My body's holding and it's folding to the floor
Fight back alpha evermore
'Cause something's wrong
Cause for alarm
Authorities are here to harm
Carve your path
Not one step fucking back
Stand your ground
Don't let them grind you down
Say "no more".
Ring out our righteous roar
Stand your ground
Don't let them grind you down
Grind you down and
Grind you down and grind you down
(Gonna grind you down)
Grind you body down
I can remember the last time December
The snow that comes falling it washes away
I'll live forever the wings of a feather
Will carry me unto the next victory
'Cause something's wrong
It's now cause for our alarm
Carve your path
Not one step fucking back
Stand your ground
Don't let them grind you down
14. Razorblade Smile
Call me the billionaire breaker, turn 'em into my bitch
I'm the king of the freaks a' down here diggin' a ditch
I'm at a weed cafe on a Netherlands street
Riding a caffeine buzz and I'm starting to peak
Mescaline pile, gettin' me high
Laser beam eyes, puncture the sky
I'm catching lightning in a bottle and I'm hitting it hard
I got no time for your bullshit so don't even start
Freak magnet
Pushin' back at you
Straitjacket
I'm a rock star in the gutter and I love it down here
I'll take a shit on Mar-a-lago while I'm drinkin' a beer
Fuck your champagne wishes and your caviar dreams
I'll throw a brick through your window
And I'll kick in your teeth
I got a methadone twitch with a Vicodin itch
I'm smoking crank on a foil like a son of a bitch
Gonna fuck your borders, barbed wire dick
Gorge on bullshit , #1 spic
This is an all-black Russian hack, go USA
Trump's in bed with North Korea
And that just might be gay, come on
Straitjacket
Buckle up now quick
Freak magnet
I got a .357 and it's loaded and locked
Pullin' a hair-brain trigger 'cause the hammer is cocked
I got a razor blade smile and a cocaine tongue
I got a boner for miles, I'm slinging loads for fun
Carry a whiskey brown suitcase loaded with hash
I'm eatin' pussy by a dumpster
Beard stinking like snatch
I'll drink you...
Under the table with a gasoline smile
Honey you're my fire, let's get lost for a while
Blotto all our memories in bottles of wine
Got a snake charmer's eyes, now you're caught on my line
I'm chopping rails on a toilet, blazin' up in the stall
Chuggin' Jack in the food court, throwing up in the mall
I'm a psychoactive child in a rich man's game
I bet my future on a bar fight, kickin' ass, takin' names
I'm a
Freak magnet
Pushin' back at you
Straitjacket
Buckle up now
Black casket
I'm in a polka-dot hearse headed straight for the grave
No class, fast track, I can't be saved
15. Eulogy
The strands of memories spread like webs of cold
Along my skin I feel the frost taking its hold
Burning up, my insides start to freeze
Cannibalistic past, thoughts rife with disease
Come and set me free
Stand my ground
Won't let the bastards grind me down
I'm bold, I'm strange
Won't let their fears make me afraid
There's hope, we'll change
Spiders crawl across my scars at night
Picking at the scabs of regrets in my life
The darkness whispers madness as she calls my name
Murky faded like a fog of acid rain
Wash away the pain
I'll stand my ground
Won't let the bastards grind me down
I'm bold, I'm strange
Won't let their fears make me afraid
There's hope, we'll change
The pain goes on and on
Under a crushing weight
Sweating and paralyzed
Upon the bed of my own hate
The night is never ending
As I struggle for control
Where will I find the peace of sleep inside this hole?
I'll stand my ground
Won't let the bastards grind me down
I'm bold, I'm strange
Won't let their fears make me afraid
There's hope, we'll change
We'll change
Lyrics in plain text format
