Lyrics

Neck Breaker

VERSE 1
You’re wanted dead or alive
Up to you which one they decide
So ride, but you gotta land, sometime
And when you do, oh, you fool
The gallows will be waiting for you
You’re gonna hang from the head
Until you’re dead, dead, dead
Make your bed with the fishes
Last chance for final wishes

Chorus 1:
Don’t break your neck trying to run from the gallows
You’re bringing the end of the world on yourself
‘Cause if it’s Heaven you’re after, why not have it right now?
New Creation’s been growing for two millennia

Verse 2:
Hunt you down till Kingdom come
Hang you at the Resurrection
Ship off at Joppa, with your sins upon your head
Like bait dangling over jaws, but you’re Jonah and will be jettisoned

Chorus 2:
Don’t break your neck, trying to run from the gallows
I promise there’s more than one way to go out
But if the story you pick, ends with you getting strangled
Your noose could be tentacles into a mouth

Bridge:
Run from the noose on land, but a worse one will find you in the sea
You’re either saved or damned, if it’s what you believe

Chorus 3:
Don’t break your neck trying to run from the gallows
You’re saving their souls but sending Earth to Hell
So don’t waste your breath, cheering me up with good news
I swear it just sounds like you’re singing the blues
Don’t sever my head, if it’s lost in the clouds
I promise I’ll come back down on my own
‘Cause I’ve been asking the angels if our time’s running out
They say our whole kingdom’s upside down

Living Waters

VERSE 1
Water kiss
Abiogenesis 
Bubbles to the surface 
And breathes in 
Artist’s stroke 
Big bang under the ocean 
Whirlpool of bones 
Blossoming

CHORUS
Let the living waters flow and bring the World to life 
Trickle down the darkest cracks that never get the light 
Weaving in and out of every creature on the Earth 
Pull us all into the harmony that we’re created for

VERSE 2
Dynasties 
At the bottom of the seas 
Monsters and beings  
Undisturbed by man 
Gave up our throne for greed 
The world sank to anarchy 
Made itself a king 
Far from land

OUTRO
Living waters rise 
Flooding from God’s crying eyes 
Running down his pierced side 
Living waters rise 
Welling up deep down inside 
Raise these dead seeds back to life

Bottom of the Barrel

VERSE 1
Spinning out of control beneath the world
Where black and blue are up and down
No air left in my lungs
By now I’ve surely drowned

CHORUS
Down at the bottom of the barrel
Still your love is bottomless
The weight of the world is crushing me to a pulp
But it brings my soul to the surface
If I make my bed in Mariana Trench
I’m welcomed to a city that’s lit
Bioluminescence

VERSE 2
The sea is filled with miles of flashing lights
Like fireflies on moonless nights
My soul shines with the rest of them
Flesh and spirit both ignite

Tanninim

VERSE 1
You got, more day than night, more light than dark, you got
More sun than moon, but more space than stars, you gotta
See each piece must play its part, it’s parta
Harmony and part of our heart, you gotta
See each major has a minor counterpart
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater
Every father has a mother who has a father
Holds the whole universe together, you gotta

CHORUS
Let the darkness come, so the day can rest in peace
Nocturnal things come dance to minor harmonies
O Tanninim arise, from where you once did slumber
Give glory to the LORD, where man has left uncovered

VERSE 2
You got tanninim and cherubim gonna whet ya
Appetite for jaws that bite and claws that catcha
Kraken and Leviathan are sunken treasure
Howls at night and Bloop sound bites will let ya
Know there’s things we’ve never seen and never get to
Undisturbed for thousands of years the creatures
Didn’t need Adam’s name to give Him pleasure
Always do, what they were made to, you betta

What’s Kraken?

VERSE 1
Sighted in the Greenland Sea
Recorded down in Natural History
Regarded as a science fact
Then decades later they retract
Does anybody really know “What’s Kraken?”
[“Excellent question, sir. What really is Kraken?”]

PRECHORUS 1
Maybe when they see a squid they really see a tool
To meet their basic human needs at the cost of making people fools
A guarantee to sell his book or justify his rule
When is science really science when it’s fueled by our survival

VERSE 2
A tentacle washed up on shore
The TV says there’s something more
“Was it just a giant squid or evidence of Leviathan?”
Can anybody out there say “What’s Kraken?”

PRECHORUS 2
Who can really trust the news when it’s always who verse who?
Give me something I can prove, something true as two plus two.
‘Cause the truth will always lead to love and never to abuse.
I’m holding out for some good news that’s really good and really news.

CHORUS
Give me proof, give me something I can hold onto.
Timeless truth that’s still good as new.
Someone give me some good news, ooh that don’t have two sides to it.
Ooh it cuts right through the reds and blues.

OUTRO
[“The public won’t take it anymore. We demand the authorities hand over to us the truth. The truth must be released.”]
Release the Kraken!
What’s Kraken?

Fish In The Sea

Windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys 
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys 
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds blow 
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes

Come all you fishermen listen to me 
And I'll sing you a song of the fish in the sea, and it's …

Up jumps a whale, the largest of all, he says, 
"You want some wind, boys, well, I'll blow ye a squall," and it's…

ANGEL AQUARIUM

VERSE 1
Angels, guarding over territories
For every one if by land there's two if by sea
And anywhere that we could use some company
Sentinels, finding all the lost sheep at sea
If I could open up my third eye to see them
Sheltering us with their fins instead of wings

CHORUS
Nice to know we're not the only beings upon the sea
Impossible to be alone in such great company
Angels in aquariums
I can join the party just as soon as I believe

VERSE 2
Cherubim, collecting all the souls washed away
Take 'em down to a holding place where they are safe
Until they're raised again on Judgment Day
Aquarium, underwater purgatory
They seized Davy Jones Locker key, anarchy in the sea
An archangel seized monarchy

King of the Deep

SAILORS:
Back and forth we sway and sink
In tidal chains our spirits are linked
Who knew the River Styx channeled the sea
And ends at a kingdom lit up by the deceased

Spirits rule over their territories
Angels and demons are princes and kings
If gods of mythology were Nephilim
Then surely Poseidon is the King of the Deep

ANGELS:
When the souls of men, reach their full dissent
We’ll be waiting to catch them into our hands
Their hearts will be known, whether chaff or gold
Burned on the Hearth of the ocean’s King Archangel

POSEIDON:
I have leagues, of angels with me
Sit on my throne catching souls like trophies
I’ve been known, as Neptune and Poseidon
King of the Deep between land and Perdition

ANGELS:
Falling from above, we know not where from
But we collect them into our aquarium

SAILORS:
Six feet down, or six thousand
We’re buried by fathoms until our judgment
Back and forth we sway and sink
In tidal chains our spirits are linked

ANGELS:
When the Son of God, gives his final call
His voice rings out into the tombs of us all
Their hearts will be known, whether chaff or gold
Burned on the Hearth of the ocean’s King Archangel

POSEIDON:
Chaff will burn, on Poseidon’s Hearth
Those who are left resurrect back to Earth
All the souls, in Davy Jones
Will wash ashore to the Great White Throne

Man Myth Legend

VERSE 1
Chained to Plato’s Cavern, Chained to shadows of tradition
And Black silhouettes that line the ceiling of the ocean,
More souls are sinking every year, oh something must be wrong up there
Do or die, it’s time we find, the truth or lies, behind the man myth legend

VERSE 2
Grab your shield and trident, get your sea horse armed for war
Let your fins all fly, and ride with the nautical sea lords
They say these men are more like beasts
Eat you with their war machines
But if there’s any chance of peace we have no choice, leave our world of safety

CHORUS
When I look at Heaven I see silhouettes in black
Tradition tries to demonize what we don’t understand
We need to see them through the love that covers all our skins
Until we’re dining in their homes, these men will be as good as myths and legends

BRIDGE
They say the issue’s black and white
But aren’t we all just different shades of gray
If it makes us black and blue, then we’re going the wrong way
But we could bring in an age of peace
Joining both our worlds into one
We could be the heroes that make a new end to the legend

Us and Them

VERSE 1
Us (us, us, us, us) and them (them, them, them, them)
And after all we're all just ordinary men
Me and you (you, you, you)
God only knows it's not what we would choose (choose, choose) to do (to do, to do)

CHORUS 1
Forward he cried from the rear
And the front rank died
The general sat and the lines on the map
Moved side to side

VERSE 2
Black (black, black, black) and blue (blue, blue)
And who knows which is which and who is who
Up (up, up, up, up) and down (down, down, down, down)
And in the end it's only round 'n round (round, round, round)

CHORUS 2
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried
"Listen son", said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside

(Talking)
No one’s ever been to the surface, it’s just too dangerous
Last time any angel ever tried that it just brought war and violence.
Those men are just born evil beasts.
You ever seen one?
They say they ride huge monsters and have hands that shoot fire and kill anything in sight.
Listen, don’t even think about it.
They’re fine up there and we’re fine down here minding our own business,
Just like it’s always been.

Untouchable

VERSE 1
Rise of the Sea Lords
Royal blood is coursing through our veins
Transfusion with eternal life
Connect to the Life Source
Fills up our souls with love and grace
Nothing left to lose ‘cause we can’t die

CHORUS
I am untouchable
‘Cause nothing in this world can touch my soul
I am unconditionally loved
More than my heart could ever hold

VERSE 2
Enter the folklore
Become the heroes in the legends we were told
Choose any destiny we want
Ride up to Heaven’s shore
No telling how high we can go
Climb ever closer to the sun

CHORUS 2&3
I am untouchable
‘Cause nothing in this world can touch my soul
I am unconditionally loved
More than my heart could ever hold
I am a part of a plan
Where I am taken care of forever
I have eternal life
So tell me what is left to fear?

The Other Side

VERSE 1
Hello down there, from the other side
The land of air and light, where the waves go to die

CHORUS
If you’re wanting Heaven
Well, you’ll have to keep on going
‘Cause we are also looking up to where the sun is glowing
You think this is Heaven
Yeah, but we’re the ones all dying for our crimes
No, up here no one gets out alive

VERSE 2
We live in the light of the sun
But it burns our skin as red as devils
The air is taking us apart piece by piece
Till we return to dust for shovels

CHORUS 2
People always look for Heaven in the wrong places
As if it’s just somewhere you go on retirement vacation
But a wise man once said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within
Try looking there and let me know when you find it

BRIDGE
We’re going on a search for the real Heaven
A Heaven we don’t have to wait for till our lives are through
We’re finding out the real meaning of salvation
And finding out it’s better than anything we thought we knew

OUTRO
Look into the light
And not the kind that blinds you or burns out your eyes
The Spirit deep inside
Says, “Today you all can be with me in paradise”
On the other side
The other side
The other side
We’re breaking through the chasm to the other side
To Paradise

Post-OUTRO
On the other side
The other side
See you on the other side
In Paradise

CREDITS

Lyrics by Russell Thomas Shipp
Music by Russell Thomas Shipp and Anthony Jason Newton
Arranged by Rusty Shipp

Produced by Stephen Leiweke at Yackland Studio in Nashville, TN
Mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering

* ”Us and Them" -- written by George Roger Waters & Richard William Wright
Originally performed by Pink Floyd
Publisher: HAMPSHIRE HOUSE PUBLISHNG CORP
** ”Fish In The Sea" -- Traditional Music/ Public Domain

Liquid Pendulum

Verse 1
Sea mines on the assembly lines
And close behind’s a hundred coffins
Inject them into the veins of the ocean
Where demons are the ones doing the exorcisms

Chorus
Minefields in the ocean, ticking like a liquid pendulum
Counting down to their explosion, casting out the spirits like an exorcist

Verse 2
Blindfolded knights who throw their maces up to strike
Any random passerby whether good or evil
Hate and greed assembled in a factory
Now lurking in the sea and spreading out its tentacles

Bridge:
Aren’t your wars waged on land enough?
Why don’t you just keep your mankind to yourself?
Leave behind your mess for someone else
Sharks will gladly come to your help

Detonator

Verse 1
Detonate the mines, happens right on time
It might just blow your mind clean off
Only time will tell, swimming on egg shells
The ocean holds its breath for it to go off
Detonator!

Chorus
I don't feel the fire only healing from the light
Raptured from the shrapnel in the twinkling of an eye
Jesus wasn't kidding when he said the end was near
Like a thief in the night I'll disappear

Verse 2
Halt, put your weapons down, down underground
Until they can’t be found anymore
It's a forgotten war, minefields on the shore
Detonating long after the war's over
Detonator!

Verse 3
Disconnect the wires, before we all expire
But the water is turning into fire now
Everybody down, the bombs have stopped their ticking sound
five seconds till Heaven's all around

SS Naronic (Reprise)

O God, please tell me there is more than this
That this cold abyss is not the end
Tell me it’s more than an accident, a warning to teach a lesson
Show me how it’s all part of the plan
(Did you hear that? Is this submarine haunted?)

Show Me How To Live

Verse 1 
And with the early dawn moving right along
I couldn’t buy an ounce full of sleep 
And in the aching night under satellites
I was not received 
I’m built with stolen parts, telephone in my heart 
Someone get me a priest 
To put my mind to bed, this ringing in my head 
Is this the cure or is this a disease? 

Chorus 
Nail in my hand from my Creator 
You gave me life now show me how to live 
Nail in my hand from my Creator 
You gave me life now show me how to live 

Verse 2 
And in the after birth on this quiet Earth 
Let the stains remind you 
You thought you made a man, you better think again 
Before my role defines you

Bridge 
Into your loving hands I will land and roll out of my skin 
And in the final hour I will stand ready to begin 
Ready to begin, ready to begin 

Hundred Crosses

Verse 1
They say a hundred mines, they forgot to sweep
A hundred passersby now a hundred casualties
Casting out the spirits of the innocent
They've become like an evil exorcist
Thev’ve become an evil exorcist

Chorus
I hear/see there are a hundred crosses, floating on the waters
Unlucky sons and daughters, victims of the war
Unsuspecting foes of a board room's votes
Show me just one policy worth them dying/killing for

Verse 2
I guess the real question how to win the war
Is how to make a person not want to use their sword
You take away their weapons, they'll kill you with their fists
They'll find a way to be an evil exorcist
They’ve become an evil exorcist

Bridge
Only ninety-nine crosses I can find
One mine was left behind, casts my spirit high

Chorus 3
Oh, I have become one of those hundred crosses…
I hear there are a hundred voices, joining in the chorus
A hundred universes suddenly blacked out
They're lifting me to join them up above the waters
Where politics and causes have all been long forgot’

Breaking Waves

Verse 1
Breakers on the sea, advancing steadily
Little by little taking territory
The armies will erode till Pangaea’s covered over
And the Earth is once again formless and void

Chorus
Breaking waves crashing on your accolades
Break you down, water torture down the drain
One by one till your soul is what remains
Break you out, breaking from the breaking waves

Post-chorus
Break you down and wash you away
Breaking from the breaking waves

Verse 2
Simple H2O crushing your machines
Ships and submarines breaking down to smithereens
The breakers won’t desist, clinging to your wrist like exorcists
Feeling for the pulse of a human being

Navy Hymn

Eternal Father, strong to save
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep
O, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea
Amen

treading water

I’m alone in this world,
drifting like a lost ship at sea.
The more I live the less I feel at home.
Treading water just to keep from drowning.

All creation ‘round me groans
till the sea and all that’s in it is undone.
Something’s nipping at my toes.
Treading water till the angels come.

Give me that ancient feeling,
the kind of love that David felt,
shining through the jaws of holy war.
I want to go behind the curtain,
to where the golden cherubs dwell,
find something worth us fighting for.

Something in these endless waves
feels dead, cold and lonely as the stars.
It’s sad that some believe this liquid pendulum
could put together someone’s heart.

If I find in myself a desire
nothing in this world can fill,
the only explanation left is I was
made for another world.

Devil Jonah

There was a man or maybe a monster,
dared to curse his very Maker,
and so he was thrown overboard in the water,
into the belly of the Earth.
And with damnation as his anchor,
he sank down to the lower caverns
of Poseidon’s Hearth,
where the floor is made of fire.

Devil Jonah’s gonna pull you down
till you hit the bottom of the ocean.
‘Cause no one wants to go to Hell alone.
He’ll keep your gravestone nice and warm.

Do you feel him here?
Those haunting fingers are coming over the stern.
Smells like he’s being burned
until there’s nothing even left of him,
nothing but a lesson to teach your children
what happens to the hell-bent.

He shook his fist at the Creator
and never made it beyond the Equator,
before the storm came and swallowed him whole,
and he became a devil.
And to this day he prowls and he wanders the sea,
and seeks whom he may devour.
He waits in the water
tempting sailors over the edge.
When you go down, keep your eyes up as high as they go,
set on angels.

Devil Jonah’s gonna pull you down,
till you hit the bottom,
your time has come.
‘Cause no one plays chess with God and wins.
If you walk with Satan,
you’ll go where he’s going.

Crack Baby

Ooh, I’m a crack, baby, living in a cracked world.
All I need’s a quick fix, baby.
Can’t you see it’s what I was made for?
Well, I heard the word on the street,
told me the first one’s always free.
So go on and plug me in the wall, baby.
Ain’t no such thing as being free.

Give me something pink and frilly,
something warm and sweet,
to distract me from thinking
‘bout these cold, blood-red machines.

It’s my kryptonite.
It gets in my eyes and eats me inside.
When I get so high,
you just hang me to dry and get on with life.

Yeah, ‘cause I’m a sinner, lady.
There I said it, what more do you want?
Well, so is everybody on the planet,
so tell me what’s just one sin more?
Yeah, ‘cause I’m a crack, baby,
born into a crack-filled world.
I told you to give me my fix, baby!
No, I ain’t singing about no stinkin’ girl.
Or am I?

Am I falling in love?
Or maybe could it be
just another drug?

It’s my kryptonite.
It gets in my eyes and eats me inside.
When I get so high,
you just hang me to dry and get on with life.

Won’t you fix this crack, baby?
If I see it I’m gonna want it. Crack baby.
Won’t you give me my fix? Crack baby.
I’m gonna cry till I get it. Crack baby.
Please, hear my pleas!
Won’t you help me, oh, Jesus?

SS Naronic

[lyrics paraphrased from messages in bottles written during the sinking of the SS Naronic]

3:10 AM, 19th of February, 1893.
Our ship is sinking fast,
beneath these cold, ocean waves,
and we can’t see a thing.

Oh, God, please tell me there is more than this,
that this cold abyss is not the end.
Tell me it’s more than an accident,
a warning to teach a lesson,
show me how it’s all part of the plan.

Curse you, William Roberts!
You sailed right into an iceberg,
and all hands are lost.
We’re down to sea level,
and onto an icy Hell.
God, have mercy on us!
Cattle and charcoal
jettisoned to save the boat,
but we won’t stay afloat.
Human cargo have already gone below,
and we’ll soon follow.

All hands praying that underwater there is still hope.
So bottle up this letter,
lest there be no record of us.
And pray they don’t think it’s all a hoax.
Goodbye all.

No time to say more!

Hotel Bible

Why, why should I even try?
When you and I were born to die.
If there really is a Hell,
then most of them remain there still.
I was never good with words,
but you knew that and you heard.

Shrieks call from inside the drawer.
Just a peak,
no one knows how it goes behind closed doors.
You alone
are more than I've ever known,
but now it's time to find out for my own.

Still, all the world it confounds me,
birds are singing in the sun and
buds always come back to blossom.
And what about the stories that they told me?
Could they have really happened,
and then who is it that's behind them?

Something always answers when I call again,
and someone always catches when I fall away.

Why can't I just go to sleep
and wake up like it's all a dream?
But maybe if I take one peak
then I can set my mind at ease,
and know for sure that it's not real,
put to rest the fear I feel,
and I can forget about this whole thing.

Tonight it's just you and me,
let's make an evening out of it.
Get past all the make-believe,
find out if you're counterfeit.
We've both got nothing to hide,
but we've got everything to prove.
One day we're all gonna die,
so what have you got to lose?

Now I know what they all knew,
and I can feel your spirit move.
I know someone came to save me from all,
all my sins. Yeah!

Caligynephobia

Time to flippin’ rock it, sucka!

Cruisin' down the street, slick hair and cool shades.
Mindin‘ my own business, but she’s looking my way.
And when she bends over I can see it all.
Now she’s in my head and I’m ready to fall.

Oh, God, Jesus, take it away!
I can’t take it anymore, I’m so sick of the pain!
Hot women are a venom and lust is a disease.
I want to be free, but hot chicks are after me!

Gotta get out,
I gotta get out right now
before they find out that this song is about
hot women are a venom and lust is a disease.
I want to be free, but hot chicks are after me.
Gotta get out,
gotta get out right now,
'cause time is running out on this purity countdown.
When they get in your head,
they’re gonna try to take over ya.
Call it what you want, I call it caligynephobia!
Go!
Caligynephobia!

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
that girl is wearing her top too snugly.
And the more you show at a Rusty Shipp show,
is gonna show when our songs start going down the commode.
'Cause I can’t think straight, I’m gonna lose control.
Once it’s in your system you just can’t Let Go.
So how am I supposed to balance being friends and purity,
when everytime I turn around the ladies are all out to get me!

All these little girls started out on Disney.
Now they’re making trashy videos on MTV.
Can’t you see all your little fans are gonna follow you?
All you lazy parents stop saying “oh, so what?”
when your daughter is showing off her big, fat butt
Can’t you see that your child’s gonna get abused?

No, I’m not gay, I don’t care what they say.
Just because I’m not a creeper and I try to stay away
doesn’t mean I’ve got a scheme or I’m trying to be mean.
I’m just a guy living life like it’s supposed to be.
They look good and they know it, and they definitely show it.
They’ve got me under their thumb and I don’t see how I can overcome it.
Too high, too low, how far will it go?
Till we’re running around naked and there’s nothing left to show!

Go!
I think I’ve got a case of caligynephobia.
Does anybody have some medicine for caligynephobia?

Helter Skelter

When I get to the bottom, I go back to top of the slide,
where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride,
then I get to the bottom, and I see you again!

Do you, don’t you want me to love you?
Yeah, I’m coming down fast, but I’m miles above you.
Oh, tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer.
You may be a lover, but you ain’t no dancer.
Helter Skelter.

Will you, won’t you want me to make you?
Yeah, I’m coming down fast, but don’t let me break you.
Oh, tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer.
You may be a lover, but you ain’t no dancer.
Helter Skelter.

Look out!
She’s coming down.
You can’t be a lover if you ain’t no dancer.

When I get to the bottom, I go back to top of the slide,
where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride,
then I get to the bottom, and I see you again!

If I see you again.

She’s going down.

You’re going down!

I got blisters on my fingers!

Tip of My Tongue

On the tip of my tongue,
I want to speak but the words they just won’t come
around to become a sound,
make some sense of this feeling I have found.

On the tip of my eye,
I can almost see the other side,
and I break down and cry,
visited by a glimpse of the divine.

On the tip of my heart,
I can feel something glowing in the dark,
and these warm memories
of nostalgia bring goosebumps over me.

On the tip of my soul,
I’m this close to finally letting go
and fly as I wave goodbye below.

I don’t know what this feeling means,
but it drops me to my knees.
It feels like an angel dropped a feather from its wings,
but it slips through my fingers with the breeze.

On the tip of my tongue,
I can almost taste thy kingdom come
alive and open wide the sky.

On the tip of my tongue
are melodies that angels have sung.

The Lighthouse

Looking out this lonely tower,
waiting for your face to appear
just like so many times before, out upon the sea.
And as the sunlight fades,
right on time you manifest yourself again to me.
It feels like we were meant to be.

When the sun goes down and the lights come out,
look for the lighthouse, and you will see
light upon the sea, guiding you safely
back to me.

Not quite sure just what you are,
some kind of apparition
or a memory from someone’s broken heart.
Still you smile just the same,
and I can’t shake this longing for you,
even if I have to throw the world away.

Yeah, I swear I hear you calling out my name.
Wait. It’s not the same.
I feel a change.
There’s something weighing down the air.
A song inside my ear,
it’s your voice I hear.
You’re becoming clear,
and finally you appear.

You’ve come full bloom.
You’re standing in the room.
It’s coming true.
Am I losing my mind?
But we talk all night about the afterlife,
before you fade away in the dawn’s light.

When the sun comes out
and the lights go down,
look for the lighthouse,
and you will see
light upon the sea.
I’ll be here waiting
for you to come back home to me.

Davy Jones

[Cross my heart, and I’ll hope to die, ‘cause X marks the spot where my Lord resides. So cast my body into the sea, and I’ll be free.]

I’m so thirsty,
and all that I see
is water around me
that I can’t drink.
As I start to fade
I can see ghastly light,
though on the horizon
there’s nothing in sight.

When all of the sudden,
a ghost ship appears
with a crew of souls
whose singing I hear.

I see the captain.
He holds out his hand.
Says, “come ride with me
and the souls of the damned.”

Then we sail away
off to where the maps end,
where the sea meets the sky
and then we descend
down to Davy Jones’ Locker
and darkness within.
Poseidon’s reign ends
and Hades’ begins.

And I’m free
‘cause my God holds the keys
to Death and Hades.
Davy Jones ain’t got nothin’ on me!

Sirens of old,
they lure men to death,
sing tales of fangs in the depths.
The reapers above and the victims beneath,
they anchor me down to the heart of the sea.
I’m sinking down to the roots of the mountains,
I see the ocean’s deep fountains.
But you’re even there and you still hear my prayer
to rescue my soul after drowning.
I don’t care what lurks in the sea
‘cause my soul is sealed for eternity.
So take my body and do as you please.
Yeah, Davy Jones ain’t got nothin’ on me!

Credits

Vocals/Guitar: Russ T. Shipp.
Bass/BGV’s: Jake Adams.
Drums: Samuel Clayton.
Lead guitar/BGV’s: Justin Lee.

All songs written by Russ T. Shipp and arranged by Rusty Shipp, except for music cowritten or covered on tracks

2 (Justin Lee); 4 (Justin Lee); 6 (Dan Dollar); 7 (Koji Kondo); 9 (Lennon-McCartney); 11 (Tym De Santo); and 12 (Daniel Gregory Stidham).

Produced/Engineered/Mixed: J. Hall.
Mastering: Dan Shike.
Illustrations: Hein Zaayman.
Copyright Valinor Records.

Sinking Scarabs (Single)

Drop me into the ocean
and I will sink on down.
Let my faith test my devotion
with water all around.

Sinking Scarabs in the ocean
slowly drift away.
Cries drown out in the commotion
of the crashing waves.

As I sink into the sea
please take away my fear.
The sun seems so far from me,
but you still are so near.

The ocean is deep,
but your love is deeper.
At the bottom of the ocean
your love and devotion
they still surround me.

The ocean is great,
but your love is greater.
If the ocean is great
then how much greater
is its creator?

Hackberry Tree

You will find me by the Hackberry Tree,
sorting through my top priority.
I traded your soul in for a feeling,
‘cause spirit’s weak but flesh is willing.

Why do two lumps of flesh
make me feel like this?
I used to not give a flip
and it felt like bliss.
Chains me down
to the world,
hides the child in you.
Keeps me from the ideal forms
and the child in me too.

In my dream I saw a girl there smiling;
I forgot she was so pretty.
I wonder if things could have gone differently,
but life was too good to care about such things.

Your armpit turns me on;
it’s an all-time low.
Don’t let it cover up your soul.

You’ll find me by the hackberry tree
watching things unseen.
It’s moving like a mustard seed,
piercing through the concrete.

If we want to be like the angels,
we must become like a child.
We must live like the ones
who are living in Heaven,
before we can enter in the Kingdom.

We could bring Heaven down,
like it’s just begun.
Makes me pray
so long I miss communion.

Let Go

I look across this cold, white room
that’s closing in to seal my doom.
So many senseless fights,
and sleepless nights that kept me from you.
Now the Reaper comes for me,
but this can’t be my destiny.
O Son of God, won’t you save a place for me!

Let go!
Let go of this addiction,
in the end your sin
it just causes friction.
Let go!
Let go of this desire,
you won’t get any higher,
just burned by the fire.
Let go!
Let go and be free.
Break free to be
what you were meant to be.
Let go!
Let go before time flies by.
You spent your time getting high,
now it’s time for you to DIE/say bye bye!!!

Again your flesh has caught my eye,
but still I hear that voice inside,
“It offers nothing to gain,
and causes nothing but pain,
until the day you die.”
But this time I realize
there’s still a chance I might survive.
Close my eyes,
turn around and come back to life.

You’re suffocated by tragedy,
but that’s not the way it has to be.
Cry out to God before you’re left, wasted and bare.
But no, you like to choke on disaster,
risk your life for the sake of going faster.
Won’t you just stop for a second
and take a fresh breath of air?

Let it go!

Let's go!

F-Words (You Don't Mind)

Brand new day,
a brand new day to go and
play outside again with all my friends.
On the playground we're not talking politics.
In my room,
in my room I get to
do whatever I want to.
But don't be lude.
That was before access to
porn on YouTube.

My room has no windows,
the way my parents like it
and I don’t mind.
It's all I've ever known,
separates me from the
war on the other side.

No job. No taxes. No sex.
Just fun all the time with no ulterior motives.
Kurt, you grew the kids up way too fast.
F-words in Nintendo, guns at recess.

I used to be so happy
back when Christmas Eve felt like a whole week.
I wish that we could live forever
in those fondest memories.
But I don't mind.
I don't mind, no I'll be fine.
It's just a matter of time.
It's part of life that you get sad some times
and don't even know why.

Abortion and gays.
Oh no, so that's what those are for.
My whole world is changed.
I don't like it,
no, don't wanna know no more!

You don't mind.