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THE MASSES (1985)

1. RIX 2. Real Life 3. Personal Edge 4. No Choice 5. I Don't Know 6. The Masses/Shaboo Shaboo 7. Shallow Graves 8. Look At You 9. The Pain 10. What Do You Do? 11. [Notes]

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REAL LIFE If hardcore's ever gonna be a real alternative It's going to have to deal with the real life of the kids "Fuck the system," and other old clichés It's time for real answers, let the bullshit rot away Clothes and hair may change But the world still stays the same And maybe real answers can't always be patly written in the songs So the audience can understand it and simply sing along Maybe the answers depend on the individual His or her situation, and what they must do

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PERSONAL EDGE I'm not gonna enforce it Or tell you what to do It's my personal edge My edge on you If you drink That's your decision I'm not gonna turn it Into a religion To some it's a label But to me, it's mine I'm not gonna let it Rule my mind You say you need it I say I don't Let it come between us That I won't

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NO CHOICE Forced, pressured Two paths to take Either one A painful mistake No clear-cut answer Only pain To escape the pressure I can't remain I have no choice Either way I'm ripped Either way I get hurt Either way I can't win Neither way will work No choice

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I DON'T KNOW The more you say you don't belong The more people you need to lean on Grab control of all your peers To use them as a wall to hide all of your fears Your rules? I'm not jealous They just change with everybody else's You say you don't care; we know that's a lie Your idea of going sick is getting high

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THE MASSES/SHABOO SHABOO [INSTRUMENTAL] Fuck the masses Everybody does Fuck the masses It's what they love Fuck the masses For every cent Fuck the masses 'cause they're ignorant Capitalism fucking rules

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SHALLOW GRAVES I'm the funeral attendant For the world's powers I bury every kind I'm the morgue attendant For the imperialists I bury what they leave behind Now I'm digging Many shallow graves So many, so many Shallow graves The bodies of the murdered peasants I see them all Soviet and Afghan dissidents I see them fall The ruined lives Propaganda, lies Torture remains One's socialist, one's democratic But to them it's all the same

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LOOK AT YOU I look at you All I see Are the things that Cannot be I'm trapped, I stare There's no escape All I can do Is look at you and wait Maybe someday I'll know what to do And perhaps someday I'll know when it's through Maybe someday I'll know the truth But for right now I just look at you I can't stand it A situation I hate It seems to follow me To my dying day It rips me up It tears me inside And there's nothing I can do to hide

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THE PAIN Can we really feel it? The screaming pain Of the tortured millions With forgotten names All of our trials, worries and fear Seem so petty when compared to theirs And yet my pain feels real enough

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WHAT DO YOU DO? What do you do? You just consume Sit back and simply Let it roll in You don't create Only destroy Or amuse yourself With expensive toys There's nothing left For me to say When I see you all Act that way Middle-class black holes Again and again Always fucked up On the weekends What the fuck do you do? What is your worth? I your life just a lie? Will anything be different If tomorrow you should die? Filled with Social apathy Concerned only with What can make you happy What the fuck do you do? Why don't you tell me What do you do... What the fuck do you do?

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[NOTES] ALL WORDS ALL MUSIC: VERBAL ASSAULT ALL MATERIAL RECORDED LIVE ON THE "STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE SHOW" ON WRIU JANUARY 20, 1985 ENGINEERED BY MIKE SCOTT "PRODUCED" BY VERBAL ASSAULT COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION VERBAL ASSAULT NICK BARBATO-DRUMS, VOCALS PETER CHRAMIEC-GUITAR DYLAN ROY-BASS, VOCALS CHRISTOPHER JONES-VOCALS CHRIS GORMAN-BACKING VOCALS WARNING: THIS TAPE MAY CONTAIN CLEVERLY HIDDEN SATANIC MESSAGES VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO IDLE RICH. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HELPED US OUT AND WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THEM. THEY ARE CHRIS CARILLI, AL Q. (SUBURBAN VOICE), POSITIVE OUTLOOK, CHRIS GORMAN, MIKE SCOTT, DANNY BURNS, JESSICA & TOM G., SERG & THE SUPER REVERB, JACKIE, RANDY & THE LIVING ROOM, DOUG CARON & PIED PIPER PRODUCTIONS, MR. & MRS. BRIAN & JUDY JONES, JON, GRAHAM BATTING, MIKE (xXx), LISA K., ANYBODY WHO HAS LOANED US EQUIPMENT, AND MOST OF ALL, THANKS TO ANYBODY WHO BOUGHT OUT LAST TAPE, WHO COMES TO THE SHOWS & CLAPS AFTER THE SONGS & DANCES WHEN WE'RE PLAYING THEM. YOU'RE THE GREATEST. SORRY TO ANYBODY WHO WE FORGOT. ALL MAIL WILL BE ANSWERED. Let us in the name of radical pragmatism not forget that in our system with all its repressions we can still speak out and denounce the administration, attack its policies, work to build an opposition base. True, there is government harassment, but there is still that relative freedom to fight. I can try to attack my government, try to organize to change it. That's more than I can do in Moscow, Peking or Havana...Let's keep some perspective. -Saul D. Alinsky [From Rules for Radicals (New York: Vintage Books, 1971, page xxi). -CBJ]

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