Must Die, by Larry Cooper (2024)

1.

2.

It's funny how we test the thingsthat we say we want to lastWe bend and we twist them so carelesslyand the changes comin' fastIt's like he was your futureand there never was any pastI was your partner in crime for eight yearsNow I'm just some stranger in a ski maskAnd they'll never know just how long it takesto build a bridge that's worth burningAnd we'll never know right from wrong but it makesfor a world that keeps turningSo hold on to what you believeCause we're changing everythingAnd I did not want to deceiveI just cant see anythingthrough this maskI'm a stranger nowIn my own skinI'm a stranger nowWhere do I beginI'm a stranger nowOh the changes comin' fastI'm a stranger nowStuck behind this mask

3.

Left the light on againIn case you need to find a better way inDon't know where to beginbut I will fight this thing into the bitter endGive the secrets a restIt's getting cold outside and they have done their bestLet's put truth to the testI'm getting older, I should get this off my chestYou lied to meAn act of braverycan still end painfullyIt's not the same for meI put faith in youGave my grace to youOh I kept pace straight through the darkness till my face turned blueI'd say you know me bestIt's getting hard to see the lines and we should lay this thing to restOh, what a beautiful messWe were bold enough to try, I know the pain was worth the restConfide in meExact and made to beThe love that's saving meThe break that makes us freeOh I have faith in youThat you will find your bloomWe'll keep the fires alive inside our hearts and face the truthLeft the light on againIncase you need to find another way inDon't know where to beginBut I will fight myself into the bitter end

4.

Listless and praying for something devineHeartbroken and passing my pain down the lineI'm trying to stand tall, but there's a weight in my mindAnd I've carried it on for so long and it may crush me in timeDon't you dare trynna tell me it's gonna be just fineWhen not changing everything was my greatestCrimeI can hardly see what's in front of meOh, it's a crimeWhen I do, I don't believe itPlease send a signCause the hardest part of letting goWhen everything ends and nothing beginsit's a crimeI know this game well enoughFear and a little bit of shame welling up in my eyesOh honey, it takes a while to know love and it was hardly the timeI'm trynna be enough for myself, I'm trynna heal this mind of mineOh I've got some miles to make up but I will be just fineDon't you dare trynna tell me I'd better walk that lineWhen not changing anything was my greatestCrimeI should only see what's in front of meOh, it's designWhen I do, I gotta believe in itPlease send a signCause the best part of moving onThat life can begin where everything endsIt's a signOh darlin' I just wanna see the best in meand that's why I keep holding on to these sweet little memoriesOh darlin I just wanna see the best in you tooI just couldn't seem to say it rightI know you did what you had to doOh darlin' I just wanna see the best in meand that's why I keep holding on to these sweet little memoriesOh darlin I just wanna see the best in you tooWe just wasn't gonna get it rightI know we did what we had to doOh darlin' I just wanna see the best in methat's why I keep holding on to these dreams that weren't meant for meOh darlin I just wanna see the best in you tooI just couldn't seem to say it rightYou know I did what I had to do

5.

(These lyrics are only available in the vinyl gatefold)Heaven and hell seemed equidistant in this place.

6.

I try to live my life without liesbut sometimes they offer me momentary peace of mindI try not to count the daysbut in some ways, I'm still hurt by what I've left behindI wanna face my future so badlybut I can't seem to keep my thoughts in a straight lineMaybe I'll work my way through thisOr maybe all my demons will just consume me in timeI have to believe I can make itand most days I still doBut the deeper side of my demisejust doesn't feel the same without youI wouldn't dare say it started hereCause we both know that isn't trueI've lived my whole damn life with a bite marked heartbecause my shame is at the rootThe guilt of drunken fightsand flying aimless toward the sunThe still of silent nightsfeeling the pain of what's done is doneThe shrill and the desperate criesall sound the same when you just wanna runI took nil in the dying lightI had a name when the darkness begunSee I lost myself in the momentand hung all my hopes in the skyA selfish disease and I'm seeking atonement The mountain is steep but I'm willing to trySometimes I feel weak there's no helping the lonelyand I feel at home when the day turns to nightI just keep bleeding and crying 'if only'and these are the pieces of me that must die

7.

It's not far off now you seeThe place you want to beYou know the sun always rise over the seaYour heart and mind are all you needDon't go breaking down nowDon't go living your life in doubtIn learning to breatheYou found yourself inside of this dreamThe yearning heart would only bleedCursed from the start or so it seemsYou gave the best of yourself to the ghostYou didn't want help when you needed it mostYou bury your pain as if no one would knowand you say a prayer at the end of the ropeFound yourself alone againAll this quiet sufferinggets you nowhere in the endOpen your eyesOpen your eyesFound yourself alone againAll this quiet sufferinggets you nowhere in the endOpen your eyesSee the sunriseTrial by fireWhen you've seen the worst in all you desireWhat you did with hurt doesn't make you a liarThe trouble came first and your life seemed so direYou can regain what you lost on the roadThe pain is the same when the cost was your soulThere's nothing to gain in the weight that you holdand there is no shame in letting it goFound yourself alone againAll this quiet sufferinggets you nowhere in the endOpen your eyesOpen your eyesFound yourself alone againAll this quiet sufferinggets you nowhere in the endOpen your eyesSee the sunrise

8.

Where is the devine in uswhen the dead cells seem more alive than us?Who do we decline to trustwhen the fire in our eyes was never enough?How do we define our needswhen the gut rot don't leave room to breathe?What are we designed to bewhen an endless grey is all we see?What do you do when you're ugly like me?When the words don't sell you could never be freeWhen the heart won't tell you would never be seenSo what do you do when you're ugly like me?Who do you expect to staywhen you're walking through hell making same mistakes?What are you afraid to saywhen the truth itself won't save the day?Where do you intend to go?When the road don't bend you pretend to knowwhy the world won't lend you a breath to growwhy you're working so hard when you could end the showWhat do you do when you're ugly like me?When the words don't sell you could never be freeWhen the heart won't tell you would never be seenSo what do you do when you're ugly like me?It's easy to dieWe do it every dayWe keep holding on to what we've lostas if it's the only wayI came here looking for the truthBut when I've indoctrinated myself with this cynical mindand this lonely heart,what's the use?Do I stagger forward?Do I claim abuse?Do I hang my hopes to high and blame it all on the noose?It's always perception at the end of the dayand your mind is always lost if you know of no other wayYou turn your cheek to the lightand perpetuate decayYou relinquish control until all you can dois pray What do you do when you're ugly like me?When the words don't tell you could never be freeWhen the heart won't sell you would never be seenSo what do you do when you're ugly like me?

9.

(You're running out of time)Working day and nightSeems like you never growYou keep your faith in spiteof all the weight you holdWell you can put up a fightbut you may never knowOh I found myself along that roadSee I lost some pieces of meThe goodness got harder to seeI needed to breatheMy reasons got farther from dreamsand the hurt made me start to believeThat I shouldn't be clinging to hopeIt's a long way up from the end of the ropeWill I ever be free?Guess your god only knowsbut this is my poemI recite it aloneWish I could remember the reasonfor the hard heart that I am holding todayDoes the truth get lost in a big bad world?Or maybe I finally gave awayEbb and flow like the changing of seasonscause anyone lost in the darkness would strayHave you ever seen a flower unfurl in an unjust world?It is all about faithWorking day and nightSeems like you never growYou keep your faith in spiteof all the weight you holdWell you can put up a fightbut you may never knowOh I found myself along that roadI been chewed up and spit outMy mood sucks can't get out my headDepression is a chain to this bedAnd all I wanna do is walk the open road and find myselfBut where am I supposed to go?I'm passed lostTrouble recalling my last thoughtsAll I can remember,this feeling that had brought menothing but more fearmy confidence stripped downMy ego now mirroring the phrase that I've kept boundI'm unravelling.Back and forth inside my head I'm travelingI'm hoping I can make it through the day without an accidentSo passionlessGoing through the motions with my head downAm I moving through the process of setting up for a let down?Well, my bags packed and I'll carry it.My love's lost but somehow I aint lost hopeI'll pull through this like a chariotAnd keep my feet moving forward cause I know this is a long roadWorking day and nightSeems like you never growYou keep your faith in spiteof all the weight you holdWell you can put up a fightbut you may never knowOh I found myself along that road

10.

The light's gone outMy face looks different nowI search for wisps in clouds of doubtAs if here at the end, I'll see it somehowThe grimace in the morning sunGives life to those that want to runAnd I have reached another oneWhere my journey has just begunIn valleys I will lie in waitfor fortune's tune to playOnly to reject my fateWhen my days were all spent in vainIn reaching out toward the light,I'd doused a vital flameI'll tell you of the darkest nightsif you can tell me who's to blameI know the answer lies with inThat I'm the one who's sinnedThat only I can stop the dinand learn, from where, to beginI am running for the mountain tops as though I have something to say'If I die here, if my heart should stop:Know I have finally found the way'What the struggle really meant to mewas learning how to breatheI walk (now) upon a brilliant peakwhere I can finally seeA moment I can proudly shoutA moment without choice of doubtWhere I can love myself withoutthe words of those who wonder howThe light's gone outMy face looks different nowIs this progress?Or am I just turning myself over and overin cycles

11.

Break myself even if I won't ever be the sameOnly I know this road, there is no one to blameTake the time I need, try and learn my own nameSoftly spoken the honesty brings me some shameI thought I was broken but I couldn't see what remainedAnd the things that I believe do no mean that I'm awakeIt's not that I need some road to escapeBut the things that I dream tend to keep me awayOh I learned to breathe, keep the demons at bayBut I shouldn't need to pretend that they're fakeAnd I didn't choose to begin with there mistakesBut I stand to loose what they've given awayAnd as long as I breathe, I should choose what I breakand the changes I need will begin in my wake

12.

One, two, threeSister, did you see the lieand the backs that it's built upon?The shivering and silent nightsto honor what goes on and onYou have known the lightand you say the fates have done you wrongYou chose yourself an awful fightand now we sing a mournful songAnd who really knows what it's like?You have only seen what's insideBleed for your dreams in the nightand in daylight, you hide from your mindBrother have you lost the fight?Did the help you needed take too long?Or did you try to kill the lightto prove the gods have done you wrong?You can bleed and cryfor the pain your life was built uponYou made yourself an awful sightand now we sing a mournful songAnd who really knows what it's like?You have only seen what's insideBleed for your dreams in the nightand in daylight, you hide from your mindAnd I would lay it all straight downif you called on meWe get lost, somehow,in the sweet memoriesAnd you'll find your way back there somehowBut nobody waits for you nowAnd maybe we'll seeit was all a dreambut please, for me, believeWe can change anythingOh what a long way downOh such a long way outAnd who really knows what is right?Oh, all I can sayis goodnight

13.

Can't you see I got a mouth full of crooked teethand I been trynna throw the same stones all weekThe mic sends my grief maybe that's deepBut I still dull my mind when I seek reliefAnd I took pride in my little homeSurvived the fires, I can say I've grownI still consider virtue when I'm all aloneI may be flawed but at least it's knownThat nothing's wrong with meI have my own beliefs Sometimes the light seems out of my reachI've got some secrets I might keepIt's that we all areworthy of loveIt's that all arenever enoughThat we all arerising aboveThe seed, the tree, the beast, the doveworthy of loveOh can't you see the truth?You are living proofOf vital lies and the harm that was done to youYou might despise it but the damage always shows throughYou may deny it but in fire we are born anewAnd you take care on that lonely roadAnd where you lay your head you can call it homeJust remember when you're scared and you feel all aloneThe love is strongand I think you knowThat nothing's wrong with meI have my own beliefs Sometimes the light seems out of my reachI've got some secrets I might keepIt's that we all areworthy of loveIt's that all arenever enoughThat we all arerising aboveThe seed, the tree, the beast, the doveworthy of loveAm I worthy of love?I am worthy of love

14.

I have seen my own self in the work kind of waysOh do I need some help or should I just keep the faiththat one day I'll be well enough to live for todayAll this talking, I'm just scared and I have too much to sayI will walk down this road just as long as it takesI will make my choice known because the life is what the mind makesand the seeds that I've sewn have grown to show what I can breakand the fight is far from over, I will learn from my mistakesCause I do things the hard wayI am fighting for it every dayI'll shape my own life like clayCause I do things the hard wayI was fighting my way through the valleys insideI was counting the days, I was missing my prideWhen the light like a wave came into my lifeI was broken, I was frayed and I had nothing left to hideThere is something so sincere in the way that we loveand when I feel it near me I don't wanna give it upand I don't live in fear of some god up abovebut the hard truth this year is that a song aint enoughCause I do things the hard wayI am fighting for it every dayIt don't matter what the loveless sayI'll shape my own life like clayCauseLight can dull and love can fadeBut the truth just can't stay awayLiving proof of the life that I madeCause I do things the hard way