Ben Moves To California Lyrics

all down the streets the signs read cheaper and better technology
this capitalist vision is my nightmare, put up a sign in my face
what the fuck happened to this place?
i think we made a wrong turn now look at hte lovely concrete
i drove to my stupid job today, got stopped at an intersection
15 minutes of my life just rolled away
i looked at the guy next to me he didn't seem so happy
no ones happy but everyone's too busy to see
let's go shopping today
drive our fancy cars to the fancy malls and for lunch we'll have big macs
i wish i could turn the clock back to when i was ten
when i wasn't scared of everything
and everything wasn't so fucking crowded
and i wonder if my kids will ever see a horizon
untouched by billboards and shopping malls
and i wonder if this crazy world thinks i'm the one who's crazy
what if i'm the one who's crazy?
what if i'm the one who's crazy?
i'm not crazy just frustrated

third graders holding hands indians
and pilgrims celebrating new found lands
they tried to teach me that at school
make the white race look superior it's always been their rule
now i can't believe we celebrate thanksgiving as a holiday of unity and peace
if i had my way, we'd all dress in black
and daddy would serve up the white meat
cuz genocide is nothing to celebrate, extinction doesn't deserve a parade
and we perpetuate these lies witht he turkeys that we buy
i tried explaining to my mom but she's too afraid to admit to herself
that her race is a killing machine
take a look around your town and who do you see?
the native american is surprisingly absent in his own indigenous land
do you want to know why? it's cuz we killed them all
it's not that hard to understand, yeah
so i go to college and you know what i learned?
that 80 million people were killed by my grandpa,
your grandpa and all of their friends
they bleached out our continent but that's not the end
the last full blooded aborigine died a century ago
if it's possible there's a place in the southern hemisphere
with a history even worse than our home
no one finds it peculiar
that a tropical island is full of people just like you and me
but astralia's a piece of shit floating in the pacific
buoyed by the blood of the aborigine.
buoyed by the blood of the aborigine.

wasted, passed out on the kitchen floor
another week gone by and i haven't been dreaming
blacked out and i can't remember exactly what i did last night
i hear stories in the morning and i know that i'm out of control
because wheni drink nothing ever matters,
i missed the sunrise, could barely open my eyes
now i've got to pull myself together
right now this town really fucking tears me down
someday it will drown me in the river
i've got to learn to put the liquor on the shelf
or i might end up drowning myself.

do you remember the first thing you had to memorize?
was it the pledge of allegiance?
a five year old stands for a flag that killed off all the real americans
do we really like being controlled or are our heads just spinning?
more cops more prisons to bear down on crime and violence
yet we glamorize violence through televised wars
my friend was unjustly beaten by the police
and broken star brought shame to the 57th precinct
and with their power came extortion and corruption
and failing to report rape and hatecrimes to make chicago look safe
tell me is this secrutiy, do we need protection from the police?
we need to reassess the power vested in authority
and social control threatens public safety do you feel safe?
see, i don't know what we're thinking
paying taxes so that we can be controlled
do you know what happens
when we start accepting everything that we've been told?
we all fall down and we close our eyes and pretend not to see
but why is a crime not a crime when it's committed by police?
we close our eyes and pretend not to see
but my friend got beat up by police
i had a dream that my whole town had turned into a prison
a cop on every corner but i don't feel too safe
feels like i'm in jail

i'm not angry i'm a no good piece of shit
i hear that eeryday, it just rolls off my back
left out frustrated no one to talk to
alone with the thoughts in my head
the people i respect knock me down,
so i sit like a piece of garbage washed up on the curb
and it's funny in a place where one in ten have no money
i hear only one in ten encouraging words
"yeah the wisemen don't know shit,
it's a poor fuck like me on the streets i got it all figured out"
said an old man piss drunk on a wednesday
a smile from his dirty toothless mouth made me smile
and he asked me for a smoke and some change
a cigarette was all i had to give
i sat around watching cars thinking stupid fucking thoughts about
my friends and my girl and my school and myself
and i wished i could go drinking
where noone knew my name and i didn't know anyone else
i sat alone bored accomplishing nothing
another summer day, more thrown away sunshine
"now don't be offended and don't curse me out,
but i'm starving and i sure could use your dimes"
i looked up at a young man not much older than me
gave him a dollar and a smoke and some time
he said "i fought for uncle sam and now he won't fight for me
he threw me out when i was done serving time
i said i wouldn't go into special forces and kill
he said 'then stay out on the streets and fucking die'"
yeah there's two kinds of prisons
some say one where you're locked up and everythings outside
and another where you're outside and everything is locked away.

the sky seemed far away
i tried to make sense of a thoughtless day
no disappointments stale words always know what to say
i took a train to olympia and realized once again how big the world was
i had forgotten how to breathe, we sat on the mountain
it seemed like i could touch the sky, no distractions
and i thought about the word freedom and what it really meant for me
because you see,
sometimes i don't feel so free when i'm stuck here in the city
i fell asleep on the side of the mountain
and i woke up to a peaceful morning
i took a deep breath as i stared across the canyon exhausted
hard concrete screaming my name
another year for me of worthless destiny
i've been waiting for the perfect time to scream
holding on and waiting for a better dream
i let so many slip through my fingers
as i watched the clock fade into the morning
so i smoke another cigarette as the sun rose over the city
but it didn't shine on me,
sleep has never made me happy what's left for me here
another lonely winter night, street lighs and a sleepless dream dismantled
words of indifference fall like rain
immersed into reality we all search for inspiration
sometimes it's really hard to find
but i found it on the mountain, now i'm back and i feel like i never left
sometimes i don't know where to go
a friend once told me to follow my dreams
but lately i've been asking myself
"what does it mean to be free?"
restless, someone tell me what to believe
i waste my days on an old fantasy
it's not the way it used to be

i read a book the other day about public schools in our nation
an indictment of our prevailing caste system
it seems so many things i've taken for granted others cant access at all
i ditched computer class while others had no books
i learned to hate my halls, there's holes in walls in schools right in my town
serving the rich, keeping the lower classes down
what do i mean by this statement?
it seems only too clear with your english class in a bathroom
how well do you think you'd fare?
i read of schools so overcrowded no room could be saved
not auditoriums, cafeterias or closet space.
a school's income is determined by property tax
and how much money can you get from poor mexican
and black families trapped in slums
poor kids need the most attention
but since they're untaxable they get none
and because the system sucks when the kids grow up
they'll have to send their kids back into the system that fucked them
it's a cycle that for years has not been broken
there's a name for this it's social reproduction
and we maintain this caste system by letting them enforce it
we're all flowers growing in a garbage can"
the teachers tell their kidsThe Broadways - Ben Moves To California - http://motolyrics.com/the-broadways/ben-moves-to-california-lyrics.html
but how can a flower grow when the sunlight's blocked by the lid?
disribute property tax more fairly at least that's a start
cuz little flowers can't grow in the darkness they need everything we've got.

the sun came up exposed the cloud the city put up
grey mountains lost grey skies covered them up
so what if we can make a million cars in one day
or a million bombs to blow ourself up
should we call this free?
the answer's obvious decisions made for and against us
the sun came up behind the trees on the city it looks so ugly to me
a million people a million dreams
but not a word spoken it seems
i'll be a friend to you be a friend to me
the bosses learned to fool the slaves into 8 hour days
but do we need them or do they need us?
it seems like we dwell on these useless things
life-styles of wealth pursuit of money
competition says to beat each other down for personal gain
sorry i didn't call last night, i've got a lot of nothing taking all my time
motivation sometimes sinks deep in the couch cushions
sometimes sleep is my best friend
and it hurt me when my friends transformed into my parents
they don't call here anymore so it all comes down to this turn
18 find life employment shut your mouth cover your eyes
i think we deserve a bit more than this
do you really think you run your life?
and when all the skies turn grey and the earth rejects this mess we've made
and all the cities fallt ot he sea
when every person has the means to build a life, follow their dreams
and not be worked into their grave
when all governments
and multi-million dollar corporations have been torn down
by commen men, when it all falls down
you and i sitting on the mountain side staring at the sun.

all alone again, the phone forgot to ring
even if it did, i doubt it would be for me
bedside table photographs of you, half smoked cigarettes
remember something too good to be true
and you called me and told me you were home
watching movies with your friends
while i sit by the phone i guess i'll have another cigarette
i guess i'll write another song
if i could be anything i'd be an aeroplane and then i'd fly so far away
500 miles so that you could look at me that way
the ceiling is so lonely when it's all that you can see
lying here on my back thinking of your smile
and the next time you'll show it to me
i can't help being jealous of your room when you're in it all alone
and i can't help being jealous of your friends when you're having fun
and i'm stuck here at home
i took the el today and everything reminded me of you
and i remember how you sat on the stairs
eating popsicles that turned your lips blue
i knew it then i know it now
my favorite dream has come true
i love you so much and i'll never meet another like you.

another ugly fucking stare
friendly faces seem so few and far between
the older i get it seems i'm just a piece of shit
to those even older than me
why am i so fucking bad?
i've been to school ever since i was three
and i'm part of a happy family
well my agenda might not be the same as yours
more to do with peace of mind and less to do with greed
i don't live vicariously through my tv
if i had a wish i'd do away with capitalist society
i'd build a world where smiles and love are worth more than money
and if this world blew up i'd finally get a decent night's sleep
and every night i pray for sweet dreams and an h-bomb
but my bomb didn't fall today
looked at the sky and prayed for metal rain
yesterday i stared out at the water, lawn chair in the sand all day
and as the sun kissed the horizon and the day began to fade
and people got into their cars and drove the fuck away
and the sounds of modern industry drifted lazily into space
but the fish are still dead in the water
and the machine starts up again at 8
and when the by-products of progress are human lives instead of fish
it will be too late to realize our mistakes
our quest for progress has become so fucking absurd
thank god for juicers vcrs and quisinarts
meanwhile people are still fucking blind
meanwhile we're all dying of aids
o the neutron bomb is so fucking ingenious
kill a million people instantly but preserve their machines
erase a culture and a race
but their fax machines are safe
just another fucking reason why i hate this fucking place
the fish are fucking dead in the water
and the ugly stares persist
and i forgot how to smile
is it our culture, our species or just our sick state of mind
that makes us so proficient in hate?
yeah we blew up japan and they bought our real estate
and the indians never saw a dime
we look out for #1 so much that #2 is dehumanized
if you don't believe me then take a look out on the street
human fucking beings living in refridgerator boxes
begging assholes like you and me for money just to eat
the fish are all dead in the water and the feelings are dead on the shore
and the only dream i have is for an h-bomb to come
and blow us fucking up
so you don't have to hear me bitch anymore

problem solved yelled the police
we wiped the shit right off the street
human beings sentenced to death by means of winter and concrete
i saw it on my tv i can be anything i want to be
unless my family's got no money
then i'll just settle for some sleep
everything is hunky dory in candlyland
we hide our problems well but it's ten below tonight
and i don't know why i was put inside this hell
i need to be treated likea person
5 o'clock soup kitchen before you eat you've got to pray
well jesus hasn't saved us yet
what makes you think he will today?
so hang up a red kettle ring your goddamned bell for everyone to hear
hey fuck it's christmas here's your paycheck for the year
there's charities outside your malls that treat human beings like animals
we persecute those without homes, is it a fucking crime?
no i really don't think so!
today i daydreamed that i could leave here tomorrow
because i've had too many days like yesterday
hey man you look really busy but i really need a friend
can someone spare a smile?

my friend gave everything he owns away
my friend says he's happier that way
he says did you ever notice the more you own,
the more worries you have?
i thought about my rent check and my bank account
and couldn't help but understand
he told me that he's going back to santa cruz to live on a boat
without a phone or a thing in his hands
and i'm staying in chicago to work and go to school
and fuck off with my shitty fucking band
and he said: brendan you should try it, it makes you feel so good
brendan you should try it, it makes you feel so good
so i threw away a stereo and some clothes to show i understood
down on the gold coast the people look so happy
money gets you laid, i saw it on tv
a brand new car, vcr a satellite dish
and a 6 pack are just a few parts of this american dream
well my friend had a dream to be free
he made it come true by giving away his tv
yeah my friend had a dream to be free
he made it come true with a backpack and his feet
when i walk along the city streets no one smiles or talks to me
i've seen possessions that run people's lives
everything we own makes us afraid to be friends
sharing used to be natural it'll never be that way again
my friend relearned to be a human being
how to stop and talk to people on the streets
he gave everything he owns away
and lives his dream with a backpack and his feet.

I woke up the other day walked out to blue suburban skies,
skies filled with dreams and butterflies
and i wondered to myself how do I fit in this game?
just a nameless face or faceless name
then i remembered an old friend of mine how we'd watch tv all night
tell each other about our dreams, but i don't see him no more, no.
light a cigarette and watch this day go by,
burned another six minutes to the sky
i need a fucking answer but i guess that's why we live this life
a constant search for something right
now my mind is wondering how am i going to get fucked up today,
light a bowl and see it all fade away
it happens everyday