YOUR VEINS
Are you going to believe me when I speak the truth? Well you better believe me, because you know it's no use: you can close your eyes but the light still shines through. Give me your wrists and slowly speak your name. I can tell your fortune, tell it from your veins. And I can tell you, nothing's going to be the same. You can say a little prayer, yes I've said a few myself! Or you can come and ask for me when you know there's nothing left. Make a circle out of twigs and leaves. Now fill that circle with everything you need. And now, strike a match, and set yourself free!...Here's the punch line, here's what you've been waiting for. Here's the light at the end of the corridor. Here at last, you crash upon the shore! You hope the pain will end, you hope for blissful light, but you'd take just about anything that would kill the fear of being alive.


THE CARVER BROTHERS
It doesn't matter who you might be. We're going to find you eventually, always there on your trail. Carved out from the bottom, don't you worry about what seems fair. You might think it sounds bleak, but we'll be there to meet you. One way or another, first me, then my brother. Are you afraid of the dark? It's time to go to bed. Don't be afraid, your darkest night still lies ahead. And when he comes, he'll cast shadows everywhere. From the blackest light: O Blackness that levels all fields. It's time now to lay down your arms and practice for Death. It's time to go to sleep and practice, practice again. Because my brother's coming, and one night, he'll be humming your lullaby.


DEVIL'S DOORSTEP
You've got a bit of a problem don't you? You've got a mess and that's for sure. Well I've got a proposition, going to tell you what it's for. I might not know your problem, but I damn well know its source. I've got some good advice, and for a small price, I will share it with you, of course. I've been watching you for some time, no need to wonder how or why. And don't even try to sell me one of your watertight alibis. Did you think you'd ever find yourself in such a state? Showing up on my doorstep just as soon as I call your name... Well, some folks come with theories, and some folks come with faith. And some folks come with nothing, think they can put me in my place. But I've been here forever, there's not a thing that they can do - as old as I am, they'd be lucky just to show me something new... The truth is you'll all end up here. You'll all end up just the same. So what's the use in your silly sense of 'pride', or 'shame'? It's time to let go of all those words, you won't need them anymore. Now that you've stepped inside, you won't need a thing...why don't you make yourself comfortable? I'm just going to go and close that door.


THIS DOUBLE CROSS
This double cross was nicely planned, was nicely pulled off. I didn't know what hit me.
I'll find a way to make you pay.
This is too good to be true, you make believe so I will make it too, one for me and one for you! I've never seen it before, but I want some, yes I want some more! we'll be so happy forevermore, now I got just what I was asking for.

DROP DEAD DELILAH
See that girl? They call her Drop Dead Delilah...oh she's gorgeous of course, but that's not how she got her name. For the ordinary, all she's got to spare is a passing glare. But if you're special, you should beware. She's got a way of locking horns with the animal inside, you didn't even know it was there. Now don't be scared of the fact that you're going to act like an actor in a play by a drunken hack because you're doomed! Doomed is the word I'm afraid, but don't be afraid of the outcome, because you're going to come away with 'special knowledge', if you know what I mean. Then again...you might not! Oh yeah! Here she comes! She's coming closer! Yes she's approaching like a sinking feeling. She's gravitating to where your palpitating fever lies. She's fiercely quiet, 'til she's flying high on the back of a wild reverie. And her tresses hide a mess of strange obsessions deep in her brain. Are you going to look away? Are you going to look? Are you going to look her way?


THE GHOST OF THE LATE-NIGHT RAILS
Oh I saw you for the first time on a
late night train in Tennessee
it was lightning and thundering outside
we were sitting in facing seats
there was no one else in our
compartment, just you and me
and we kept on stealing glances as we raced through Tennessee.
Oh and the lightning flashed
as I looked into your eyes
you were looking back at me
and caught me by surprise
Your purse open in your lap and a pistol in your hand, then you slid the door shut, sat next to me and said DON'T MAKE ME USE THIS, KILLER.
That night when you killed me I
saw a tear in your eye
That night is a night that I will
never forget, no matter how much I try
and you stole back the suitcase
that I had just stolen from you
And you stole away my heart that night and I'm
still looking from train to train for you
Please kill me one more time
I know it's bound to work this time
Please kill me one more time
I can't keep you off of my mind


LIKE A HUNGRY KNIFE
now you can't see a thing in the dark
so alone when you're in the dark
sometimes it's fine so you don't mind
sometimes it kills like a hungry knife.
now you stand on your own
not a glimmer, not a glow
and you wonder why it feels
like you're home.
oh the blackness, the sweet blackness
where no tangled light rays collide in your eyes
you will see, you will feel what is real.
oh no, you're not blind but you panic still
you don't think you're going to cry
but you surely will!
oh now that the curtain came down
and no one else is around
you're going drink it in
you're going to sink into it now

100,000 PHANTOMS
I don't even turn around
to see who's there anymore
the phantoms that follow me down these streets
through the garbage and stains on the sidewalk that I wade through most nights
through the laughter and drink
and the dancers up there on the stage
even here, at our table
the candle globe casts shadows
on the wall I see flickering faces I know all too well
so I'm dredging up stories again
they come lurching out of my heart
skip all of the priceless moments
go right to the terrible parts
so sorry that I have to tell them but I'm glad to be telling them to you.
if I could turn around to see my pursuers, would my heart stop dead at the sight? Or would I see 100,000 phantoms on the streets,
trailing all the people rushing down the sidewalk?
this is a story I've told so many times:
THE BROKEN HEART
and these are the priceless moments
and all of the terrible parts
don't know why I keep on telling it, but I'm glad to be telling it to you. I'm glad to be telling it to you.


LAST RIDE
Forget who you know. Forget what you preach about. Not even your reputation is going to save you now. And when you pick up and leave town for good, I hope that you leave it with this understood: You can grab all you can in this up for grabs town. With your dirty bare hands you can shake it down. But when your luck runs out, you had better get out. There's a curse and a hearse at your heels.
Got rid of your foes, put them all underground. But you'll never guess who's coming to chase you down! And they're not so gullible this time - you can swindle the living, but the dead aren't buying. And you were just trying to get along, just to rip off the fools with a smile and a song. But your luck has run out. You had better get out. There's a curse and a hearse just for you!
Now what's a slick snake oil man to do?
Now the mob draws closer and so does the end. You have taken some liberties that you can't defend. You have taken your science as far as you can. You have taken your last fool, my friend.


ELEVATION
Goggle eyed, tongue tied
Muddy headed, stupefied
Well that's the way I want to feel again
It's not stupidity that I want, oh no
It's elevation
Stupefied, dizzy headed, mesmerized
Grip the gears of your machine
Strip it down until it gleams



From the album Carver Brothers Lullaby by the TUNNEL. All lyrics by J. Wagner, except "The Carver Brothers" by P. Crawford/J. Wagner.


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