Everyone gets a little sad sometimes.
-I've been wanting to end it all for years.
All you need is to take a couple of these pills.
-And what will I get?
Happiness!
-Wrong, my mind will still be dead, and then my thoughts will just be another division of your head.

Feeling lonely, you shut your friends out. Crawl in a corner just to get out of you life.
Everything seems so inconsequential when you shy away from those trying to reach you.

I can't remember, a non-medicinal happiness.
And I don't want to remember, a non-medicinal unhappiness.

The ball is rolling with problems growing everyday. Senseless hands that weigh down on your chest.
The weight grows stronger as you push everyone away, embrace any feelings you can get.

TAKE YOUR PILLS?

Was there ever a chance to find your mind through the cobwebs draped in an overcast life. Expected to put out rational emotions as your life's been robotisized. A quick fix solution to a society that's been made sick from the start. A mindless drone or depressed and alone, condemned to your coffin either way.

We won't cure this mental disease, until we fix society
We won't cure this mental disease, until we fix society

Explanation: This was originally written with the idea of critising the idea of a prescription pill solution to such problems/diseases as deppression, hyper activity, bi-polar dissorder. What I saw was that there is an overwhelming alot of people on these drugs, especially kids. It's a widely accepted and growing solution to dealing with mental problems that a large percent of the population deals with on a day to day basis. The problem? It's become such an acceptable solution that many people are being prescribed these medications to simply get a quick fix solution. Just because a kid is hyper in a classroom doesn't mean that the kid has a mental dissorder, kids are just, well, hyper alot of the time. It's the responsibility of the teachers and parents to find ways to deal with kids like this. But in our fast paced way of living nobody has time to sit down and help a kid learn how to concentrate. So medication is prescribed in order to calm the kid down. In the process of doing this, a major controversy has sparked up. That is, does putting people on these drugs change them? Does it alter their personality? Does ritalin destroy the creativness of a person? Is a person's overwhelming creativness the reason why they're put on ritalin in the first place? I'm not trying to dictate and right or wrong answers here. I'm not on any medications so I have no first hand expieriances to go along with this. I have however talked to a number of people, and have gotten a variety of answers. Some say drugs help them concentrate, some are only on drugs because they're parents make them. Perhaps the most upsetting answer is when the person doesn't even know what or why they're on the medication for. Or simply respond that it's supposed to help them do better in school, but have no clue if it's working or not because they've been on it too long and can't remember what it's like not to be on medication. I've also found positive affects of medication though. Recently someone who is very close to me was prescribed some pills due to some severe deppression that she was suffering from for years. Haveing seen this person and dealt with this person for most of my life, I can honestly say that what she is taking seems to be helping her alot. To sum this up, the problem as I see it is that although medications may help some people, it's become a quick fix solution to a sick society. Certainly enviroment plays a major impact on the mental health of people. And given our surroundings it's not hard to understand why so many people would be mantally unhealthy. Our world consists of a fast paced work week, contant pressure from all fronts - school, work, family,ect. - or simple things like the lack of time to ourselves or the lack of nature in our lives (we've paved over just about everything). Some people honestly need medication, but the sheer numbers of people on medication shows that we're dolling out an impersonal quick fix to a large amount of people, and that there's obviously a much deeper problem, rooted in our lifestyles that needs solving before we can truly hope to fix anything.

Destroy the Monster and Build Something New [mp3]
A fire burning bright is used for many things, it's used to fuel the machine, consumption fuels destruction

GRIND-GRIND-GRIND: the sound of progress, the sound of the machine
PUFF-PUFF-PUFF: the black smoke hits the sky as we PUSH-PUSH-PUSH to a bright new day

DESTROY!
PRODUCE!
CONSUME!
TOTAL DESTRUCTION!

GRIND-GRIND-GRIND CHUG-CHUG-CHUG PUFF-PUFF-PUFF
So this fucking machine is what we call "progress"!? It feeds off the life of everything inside us all is still a light a flicker of fire swells into a raging flame!
BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!
the fuel can destroy the machine it used to feed this fire can burn the world to the ground and in it's wake we'll build something new, from it's dying embers build a place not made to CONSUME!
BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!

Explanation: When writing the lyrics, I imagined this big machine representing progress rolling over the earth, ripping trees from their roots, grinding up animals and everything alive, and just spitting out shrink wrapped ground chuck and junk mail. Everything is prepackaged in the world we live in, and I would give up all conveniences I have just to live like I'm actually a fucking animal and part of nature for a change. We're all on kind of on a very nihilistic path of consumption, and this is just kind of my fantasy of stoping it.

3. Anthem for the Kids
A belief, molded through fear and brains, displayed, on the blab box, brainwash
For every child that can't get to sleep, that needs their parents to say it'll be ok
They're afraid of what might happen to them
Insomniac at ten, confused as everyday threatens to take their innocence away
DON'T GIVE IN

We've been forced to grow up to fast
Derailing cause we're pushing to hard for success
What's a kid supposed to do when she finds,
If she don't make the cut she'll get left behind

Growth serum / Results Results Results
Mechanize, desensitize / Put out Put out Put out
Glamorize the minds that survive the frying
Push the rest harder before they stop trying

Institutionalized mind assembly line leads to mass production of an unhealthy product
Institutionalized mind assembly line leads to mass production of an unhealthy product?

An educational system not based on reason. If you can memorize it, why think it? Comprehension isn't needed when implanting facts and figures. Do well on the SAT's; make it look good for the school district. It's all about results results results.

Growth serum / Results Results Results
Mechanize, desensitize / Put out Put out Put out
Glamorize the minds that survive the frying.
Push the rest harder before they stop trying.

Results Results Results

Explanation: This song represents my view of our school system, how the institution itself seems to be competing with it's self. When you attend classes it doesn't seem to be about teaching kids skills or trades, or even how to learn better later in their life. It seems to have the primary focus of teaching tidbits of knowledge, trivia answers almost. A district seems most successful when the kids can name obscure statistics, but the concept of understanding the statistics and what they mean seem lost. Secondly this song is about the obscene pressure put on kids to do well in school. The ideology forced to them from day one is get good grades so you can get a good job, and get a good job so you can make lots of money, and that money is in fact the only true goal in life. Of course a side note to this is in order to do well in school one cannot spend too much time wondering about the significance of a lesson, or even the truthfulness. In order to do well one must be absolutely committed to spewing out whatever bullshit the teachers want in exchange for good grades.

4. Ash's Intro
5. Hail to the King, Baby
6. If this is Punk, I Don't Want Anything to do with It
My head hangs heavy with the weight of today!

The ground I till is healthy but still I find, everything growing to be fake. And the well from which I first sipped, now seems more dirty than deep. And every night as I lay down, I can hear the locusts coming in my sleep.

The light's faded from my eyes. My pupils growing into dark pits into my mind. So stick your fingers in and pry, be sure to fix, any problems you might find. Like why I get so sad sometimes, I should be happy with these dark pits instead of eyes.

From this room I hear screaming. Out the window howling Sirens below. But from this bed I'm left dreaming, molding to furniture, time passes on.

This goes to:
The cardboard cut out, to whom I manifest all my hate. He says he wants to save the world, but he's never grown past novelty. How can he listen to reason, he's half an inch thick. His only message, is painted on him.

Justification to alienation.
Gotta know who's who, whom I, you, who?
Give everyone a classification.
Now I know who, but I don't know you.
SHUTUP! Shutup, stop the fuckin' commentary, I've had about enough, of you telling me who I am who you are. A description from your nametag to fit into your scene, well, you've cheapened everything, with words.

YOU'RE JUST AN EXTENSION OF YOUR NAMETAG!

You don't even know who you are. A positive message just to fit in, but don't act upon it without the okay from the scene. It's pathetic how weak you are. One day maybe you'll gain the strength to break out. One day maybe you'll disregard the nametags.

Explanation: This is mainly about all the scene division around the area. Everyone seems to know each other, see each other at shows, preach the same messages and such, but the concept of working together always seems to elude the majority of these people. There's this constant message of unity, but when it comes down to the hardcore kids working with the pop-punk kids it seems nobody cares about it anymore. This of course doesn't mean there are no exceptions; I see a lot of positive action being taken also, but not nearly enough. We need to get over these things. The well to do suburban kids should go talk to the "weird crusties and guys with tattoo's on their faces" before assuming things about them. And the Riverwest / Southside folks might try stopping by a show in the suburbs sometime to see what the kids there are doing, they'd probably be impressed. Once again, there are exceptions and a lot of positive people out there, congratulations to you; you've been a major inspiration to me.

essay#1: As we slowly grind all imagination to a halt, pack our youth in little shoe boxes full of first grade drawings and old report cards, our giddy smiles fade into granite faces of "maturity." Entertainment now to become synonymous with activities that dull our senses to the point that we shut out our lives. There is no longer a place for magic, only the ability to purchase cheap imitations from Walt Disney. Instead of reading books about dinosaurs and fairies, we read about how to make our way to the top, and not feel guilty about all the creatures we?ve had to crush to get there. Well I've decided to take my life back. To stop living in the myths of reality and start living in the magic of my reality. I've decided to eat out of the garbage. To create art whenever and wherever I have the opportunity. To make an opportunity when I don?t have one. To do what makes me happy, not what makes me money. To take back my youth. To become curious again and explore everything. To realize that all the boundaries, all the little lines, all the discouraging stares, and all the little "no you can't"s are just in my head.

This life is mine
and now I'm reclaiming it.

essay #2: Note to the reader: This booklet has been created from the byproducts of society. This is not just referring to the paper, ink cartridges, cardboard, etc. that was going to waste either in dumpsters or storage closets. No, this is referring to the ideas that society has discarded; that after something is used for one purpose it becomes waste. That if something is in the garbage it is unusable (or inedible). That recycling should be done only when there is a designated blue bin for it. As a society we throw out a lot of things, and somewhere down the line we've thrown out our lives. We've sold ourselves to bosses for jobs, to grade point academics for fancy name-based schools, to societal standards to fit in. And after it?s all done, when some higher up says we?re used up, trash, we leave ourselves to rot in the garbage among sit coms, theme parks, and lawn care.

This booklet was created by taking ourselves out of the dumpsters and finding out that some of the best stuff can be found in the trash.

Viva Garbage Liberation Front

[pics from the booklet]

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