Nick Annis Music

Lyrics: Steal the Cow

1. Land of the Free

I just have a page of the story, nothing here explains
the rage and the cry for glory that echoes the insane
it led from the state of Missouri to every southern town
led to the wrath and the fury that burned those cities down. It said,

"That's the way it was done in my daddy's day,
so that's the way it's gonna be"
I will fight to keep my slaves in the home of the brave
and the land of the free

I just know what I've been told, it's us or them survive
and the quest for land and gold that fed the westward drive it led to the desert plains from the hills of Tennessee
led to the Trail of Tears and a creek at Wounded Knee
it said, "That's the way it was done in my daddy's day,
so that's the way it's gonna be" the genocide of the native tribes in the home of the brave and the land of the free

led from the Mekong delta to the ditches at Mylai
to peace with dignity and how they made that fly
"That's the way its been done since your daddy's day,
that's the way it's gonna be"
across the Asian countryside 57,000 soldiers died
from the home of the brave and the land of the free

All I know is what I've seen between the sponsors' brands
watered stocks and war machines
and empires changing hands
led from the Enron boardroom to an oilfield in Sudan
from the Riyadi reserve to a pipeline at Ceyhan
"That's the way it was done in my daddy's day,
so that's the way it's gonna be"
if someone's got to rule this world,
it might just as well be me.
"That's the way its been done since your daddy's day,
that's the way it's gonna be" but all I really understand there's oil beneath my brother's sand
for the home of the brave and the land of the free

2. Steal The Cow

I'm the people's choice, I'm your long lost friend
I'm the inner child of the Great White Father.
I'm the Prince of Thieves, in the House of Lords
I'm a mujahadeen in a holy war.
Hear me all ye warring tribes,
I do not come to take your side.
What you had you were not using.
So what we took, you ain't losing.
Welcome to the Here and Now.
Why buy the milk if you can steal the cow?

I'm the broken word in the treaties made
I'm the wrath of God in the Great Crusades
I'm the hidden hand on a Dallas road
In a desert storm I am the rising waters.
Someone's pain is someone's loss
someone's loss is someone's gain.
Someone's price is someone's cost
someone's flood is someone's rain.
Welcome to the Here and Now.
Why buy the milk if you can steal the cow?

3. I'm married...

4. I'm Not Him

I’m not him, I’m not them. Not the one that did you in.
Was not me that left you hanging Ain’t the one that slammed that door. I’m still here. I ain’t gone.
But I will before too long. Before I lose another battle
in someone else’s war. Maybe someday you’ll forgive me for everything he’s done.
For every disappointment you’ve been through.
For every broken promise. For every shattered vow.
For all the things you hoped that man would do.
But I’m not him.

It was not me. I was not there. I’m not the one that does not care. Ain’t the one that left you stranded. Was not me that put you down. I’d love to stay. I hope you win.
But each day seems to begin With us back in neutral corners to finish out the round.
I’m not the one who chose to be somewhere else with some other one when he was supposed to be with you.
‘That’s the way it goes’ doesn’t go too far to heal the scars of all the things you hoped that man would do.
But I'm not him.

Yes you are. You’re all the same. Different face,
different name. Another thoughtless, luckless loser who never keeps his word You’re ashamed of how you feel.

Afraid this might be real. You’re about what I expected, and you’re less than I deserve.

Maybe someday you’ll forgive me for everything he’s done. For every disappointment you’ve been through.
For every broken promise. For every shattered vow.
For all the things you hoped that man would do.
But I’m not him. I’m not them. I’m the same man that I’ve been. Been as good a friend as I know how to be.

5. In the beginning...

"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth,
and the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters."
It's an oral history, passed down, word of mouth, from father to son.
From Adam to Seth, from Seth to Enos, from Enos to Caanan, for 40 generations
a growing, changing story, passed down, word of mouth, father to son.

Till Moses finally gets it down on lambskin.
But lambskins wear out, need to be copied.

So you have a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy
of an oral history passed down through 40 generations.

From Hebrew it's translated into Arabic. From Arabic into Greek.
From Greek into Latin. From Latin into Russian, from Russian into German,
from German into an Olde form of English that you could not read.
Through 400 years of evolution of the English language to the book we have today.
Which is:
A translation of a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation
of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy
of an oral history passed down through 40 generations.

You can't put a grocery list through that many copies, translations and re-tellings
and not get some big changes in the dinner menu when the kids make it back from Superfresh.

And yet people are killing each other over this written word.

Here's a tip.

If you're killing someone in the name of God...
you might be missing the message.

6. God is Good

By our desires we are held to this earth
by our passions we are led astray
and though I long so to hold you this way
I can see the price exceeds the worth
the Lord is calling us to higher ground
in his grace we will always stay and though I long so to hold you this way I can see I’d only hold you down
Don’t you know that God is good he’s all the things you should be doing thought by now you understood
there are reasons for the things you’re going through

7. Hey Love

Hey love, time to go, and start my workin’ day
Hey love it’s hard to put this waking dream away
When all is said and done, you are the only one I leave
Hey love, time to go, and find my world again
Hey love it’s hard to leave and lose my closest friend
When all is said and done, you are the only one I leave. And all tomorrow holds, turns on a single day
the calling of our souls is coming to me…
coming to reach me this way…

Hey love, time to say, the words I never said
My love I might have shared but kept inside instead
And all tomorrow holds, is in this moment now
The futures that unfold are coming to me…
coming to reach me somehow…
Hey love, time to go, and start my workin’ day
Hey love it’s hard to put this waking dream away
When all is said and done, you are the only one I leave

8. Shade

I am Detroit born, but I'm raised in the sand at the ocean's edge with my father's hand in mine.
And the waves would roll in, and I would run back
ahead of that foam, and I could hear him laugh.
He walked over to me, smiling his face and he carried me up inside of those waves, and I got to wade in the shade of his shadow. And the breakers roll back to the sand of this sacred home of my promised land in the shade of his shadow.

And the years crawl by, and men see their youth and boys see their gods by the masks they use. The fruit that falls beneath that tree will put down root, and set it's seed
and in that dappled clearing there a boy will choose which masks to wear in the shade of that shadow.

And the years roll by, and boys grow to men
and leave their homes, and come back again.
The gods they knew from younger days
grow tattered wings, grow feet of clay.
In the rubble of that broken spell between boy and man is that promise still and wrestled in a silent plea
of which is yours, of who is me In the shade...

9. Jesus, Inc.

Lord I wonder sometimes what goes on in your name
Through the frozen smile on a pious face
Making some outrageous claim to sell me what you gave by grace. Saying, Would you repent your sins today?
Help us praise the Lord on high. All we need's your Visa# Operators are standing by. Would you repent your sins today We were chosen to show you how Its really not that much to pay. Special bonus if you act now...

He's just a two-bit hustler on the two-foot screen telling me "Send that money Federal Express for the Lord"
He'll pick it up in his limousine
On his way out to visit the sick and the poor.

11. Recurring Theme

It’s an old recurring theme that hits me now and then
hits me when the day’s been a little too long
and I think of where I’ve been and I think of where I’m bound and a feeling of weariness creeps in my bones. It’s an old recurring theme when I got good news to share
and I bring it on home but there’s nobody there
and I wonder if it ends or if it just goes on and on
and on and on and on. The days run together, they all seem to blend. And it feels like forever since I’ve seen a friend It’s an old recurring theme that hits me now and then Hits me when the night’s been a little too long
Where is the love I have waited my life for
Where is the woman I’ve been dreaming of
love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay
It’s not love until you give it away.

12. Background Scenery

It’s the same nine-to-five, it’s the clothes that you wear
the car that you drive, and the cut of your hair
It’s payin’ your bills, it’s dollars and cents,
it’s that house on the hill, with a white picket fence
and it’s all background scenery.
It’s the road that you planned that’s starting to bend
the touch of a hand and the smile of a friend
things that you know but you just can’t explain
it’s love that you’ve lost it’s the love that remains
and it’s all background scenery.
It’s the price that you pay for the dreams that you chase
the crap in your way and the demons you face
it’s the place that you stand when shove comes to push
it’s that bird in your hand that’s worth two in your bush
and it’s all background scenery. It’s the skin that you’re in inside of my lip in a kiss that begins at the curve of your hip it’s a grip that you take, a slip of the tongue, the sounds that you make when it’s starting to come and it's all...
It’s the whisper of death your lover’s first lie your mother’s last breath and your baby’s first cry
it’s things that you done the choices you've made the wisdom you've won, and all that you traded was...

13. Just because...

14. Take Your Time

Take your time think of all you’ve seen look into his eyes, can you see your deepest dreams?
Or is it just the second show, in a game of give and take
it’s the hardest thing to know, and the easiest to fake
and when you’re done looking in his eyes look into mine.

Take your time remember all you’ve heard and listen to his heart, not just his words does the sound of it ring true is it all you hoped you’d find it’s an easy thing to do, it’s just hard to define
and when you’re done listening to his heart when your reasons to run are slowly pulled apart and when you’re done listening to his heart listen to mine.
Take your time, look into his soul and see if it’s the kind that’s big enough to hold
all you’ve got to share, is it everything you need
is it big enough to care you can see it in his deeds
and when you’re done, if you’re still looking for a sign
look into mine.come into mine.you’re welcome in mine.

15. Same World, Same Time

Have you noticed this day?
Have you noticed what we’ve been given?
Have you taken the time
to question why we’re living in the Same World,
at the Same Time
Of all the worlds in eternity?