Katrina's Wake Up Call
It's a far too familiar sight -
All the poor who were left behind,
In the cesspool that once had been
The great city of New Orleans.
No carnivals here, just death -
Sick and elderly out of breath,
Hungry children barely alive
In the heat and filth, left to die.
In the flood of drowning cries
They were given nothing but lies -
Promised rescue that never arrived
For the thousands still alive.
Private charity drives will roll,
But the poor have taken their toll -
Jobless, homeless, with nothing at all,
Having trusted the government's bull.
Billions spent on a pointless war,
Many start to say 'no more' -
Time to get the priorities straight -
Time to act before it's too late.
Yes, it's time to wake up again -
Every woman and child, every man -
To rise up for the people's needs
Against corporate lies and greed.
September 2,2005
poem by Alexander Shaumyan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
When death and suffering's around
And there is no one to call,
There's still a sign of life that's found
Within these silent streets and walls.
The government can screw the poor
But it can never kill their soul,
There is a spirit bright and pure -
Zydeco, Cajun and Creole.
You cannot kill the Crescent City
With contracts that would turn it all
Into a suburb looking pretty
With condos and big shopping malls.
Let them pour billions on construction
To ease the guilt of those who sold
The city's poor to face destruction
Exacted by Katrina's toll.
And when the streets are filled with laughter,
With jazz and blues to lift the soul,
Forget their phony hereafter -
Just live and let the good times roll!
September 16,2005
poem by Alexander Shaumyan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Where I End & You Begin (demo)
there's a gap in between
there's a gap where we meet
where i end and you begin
and i'm sorry for us
the dinosaurs roam the earth
the sky turns green
where i end and you begin
i am up in the clouds
i am up in the clouds
and i can't and i can't come down
i can watch but not take part
where i end and where you start
where you, you left me alone
you left me alone.
X' will mark the place
like parting the waves
like a house falling in the sea.
i will eat you all alive
i will eat you all alive
i will eat you all alive
i will eat you all alive
there'll be no more lies
there'll be no more lies
there'll be no more lies
there'll be no more lies
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Where I End And You Begin
There's a gap in between
There's a gap where we meet
Where I end and you begin
And I'm sorry for us
The dinosaurs roam the earth
The sky turns green
Where I end and you begin
I am up in the clouds
I am up in the clouds
And I can't and I can't come down
I can watch and cant take part
Where I end and where you start
Where you, you left me alone
You left me alone
X'll mark the place
Like the parting of the waves
Like a house falling in the sea
In the sea
I will eat you alive x4
There'll be no more lies x4
I will eat you alive x4
There'll be no more lies x4
I will eat you alive x4
There are no more lies x4
I will eat you alive x3
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wake Up
You used to be my closest ally
In this cold, cold world of deception and lies
We would defend and protect one another
Now I can't tell if we are enemies or lovers
So who's gonna rescue us from ourselves
When we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
Oh baby
Where did we go wrong, baby
Did this cold, cold world turn us into stone
Well
Now all that battle
Is your ego and your pride
It's ticking like a time bomb
Ready to ignite
Hurtin' me to fight
So who's gonna rescue us from ourselves
When we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
When we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
When the smoke clears
What will be left for us but tears and pains
Why must we argue over the same things
Just to make your friend go back again
It's never too late
It's been too long
Can't get it right when no one thinks they're wrong
Gotta get out of the bed
And take a look what's going on
Oh when we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
When we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
When we gonna wake up
Baby, it's time for loving
When we gonna wake up
My baby, before it's too late
Oh baby (wake up)
Oh darling (wake up)
When are we gonna wake up (wake up)
When are we gonna take a look and see (wake up)
What's going on (wake up)
Oh what's going on (wake up)
It was wasting so much time (wake up)
And we're about to lose it all (wake up)
Oh baby baby baby (wake up)
Said I need you baby
Oh I need my baby home (wake up)
Bring my baby back to me (wake up)
Oh baby baby baby (wake up)
Oh oh (wake up)
song performed by by Alicia Keys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pachyderm
O' my elderly world, am I getting too bold?
The ones who go first were the elderly ones
Leaving spawns of unfertile aftermaths
Leaving my elderly world high and dry
O' my elderly world, am I getting out of control?
Doing everything that crosses my mind
Like there is no tomorrow
Like there are no rules
O' my elderly world, am I worthy of being alive?
When all my tendency contributes are turmoils
When my currupted mind only grieves others'
Like I own this elderly world...
O' my elderly world, are the rulers doing well?
When all they can offer are blood, tears and lives taken
When the rich becomes richer
When the poor becomes poorer
Like they own this elderly world...
O' my elderly world, do I still have the time?
Am always envious of time
Am always running out of time
Hope I won't be here when your time runs out
O' my elderly world...
poem by Chosen Reject
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Straight Through The Heart
You came on like an angel
I didnt see the evil in your eyes
I could see but I was blinded
Oh, believed your lies
You hit we with your promises
You shot me, I fell to the ground
Your promise of tomorrow
When I looked, you were
Nowhere to be found
You set me up right from the start
Stripped me of my dignity
You got me straight
Through the heart
I never did stand a chance
You got me straight
Through the heart
You cut me and left me for dead
You promised me a heaven
Turned out to be one hell all the time
The truth that youre pretending
Was just a chorus of lies
You set me up right from the start
Strip me of my dignity
And got me straight
Through the heart
I never did stand a chance
Got me straight through the heart
You cut me and left me for dead
You cut me and left me for dead
You came on like an angel
Just like an angel
You set me up
You got me straight
Through the heart
I never did stand a chance
Got me straight through the heart
You cut me, you left me
Straight through the heart
You never gave me a chance
Got me straight throught the heart
Im bleeding, youre leaving
Got me straight through the heart
song performed by by Uriah Heep
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Posting Pictures
i'm going to quit writing poetry,
and start taking pictures...
pictures of the homeless,
the jobless, the hungry,
the war victims, drug victims,
crime victims, victims of oppressive
regimes, beaten, imprisoned, threatened...
starting right here!
the elderly left to die in want,
those left to live on the street,
families sleeping in cars,
parents burying their children...
smoke stacks smoking,
nuclear disasters, oil spills,
mountains being mined,
timber being cut...
lonely people walking alone!
small children crying...
lovers left in the cold...
empty churches full of people.
i'm going to post these pictures in color
for all the world to see,
post them in dead silence...
maybe then someone will hear,
hear, and offer a hand!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Children Should Not Have To Be Homeless
There are thousands of homeless children in Beijing in China though that is not suprising to hear
For where there is a huge population there is poverty too 'twould appear
And China to anywhere else is no different the rich getting richer they say
And just beyond the leafy suburb is the suburb of neglect and decay.
There are thousands of homeless children in New York though with that some may not agree
In America the great Land of commerce no such a thing as poverty?
But the facts of course will tell you differently and in a World of inequality
There too are children homeless and hungry in the so called Land of the free.
There are homeless children in London in England as well as in Paris in France
The poor children of the poor suburb in life they do not have a chance
Their parents in Jail for drug abuse they become the kids of the street
They search the rubbish bins for food in dark alleys and what others do throw out they eat.
There are homeless children in Sydney and Melbourne and anywhere else one might name
Though that does not seem to affect us we never reflect on our shame
That many should have to grow poorer for one to become a millionaire
In a truly egalatarian society would never be looked on as fair.
Children should not have to be homeless though born into abject poverty
They should not be punished for the sins of their parents so much for our humanity
And money to some all that matters and money is married to success
Whilst the children of the poor live homeless on the street of the No Fixed Address.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Drowning
Everything is so complex
Everyday is like a test full of opsticals
That almost seem impossible
And I'm thinking just another breath not a minute left.
How long have I been drinking?
Pass the glass pint hit the flash light now break it.
People say I'm a star but I still think ill never make it.
And I'm thinking just another prayer not a second left.
I feel there's something missing
Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
I've been to hell and back looking for the answers to life.
Looking at myself trying to get things right.
And I'm feeling just another breath not a minute left.
I feel the darkness lifting.
There was a time
That I questioned if Id ever be alright.
Running getting high staying trapped by sleepless nights.
And I'm thinking just another breath not a minute left.
I feel there's something missing.
I'm running from myself and all the things I don't like.
Living every night like it's the last night.
And I'm thinking just another prayer not a second left.
I need to stop resisting.
Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Sometimes I hate that chaos surrounds me when all the answers I see go around me.
Am I drowning?
Am I fading away?
OR am I living up to all your dreams that made me this way?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Am I drowning?
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
Drowning in the drama lost in the lies trapped by the currents of life caught in the rip tides.
song performed by by Crazy Town
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Read All About It
Riots on our city streets
violence behind closed door
while the rich are getting richer
all the rest are sad and poor.
Young people can't find work
the elderly left on the scrapheap
people are feeling anxious
they struggle to get some sleep.
But that's all the bad news
surely there's some good as well?
this used to be a great country
not a mixture of misery and Hell.
The papers only cover the bad stuff
this is what we all want to read
but this isn't a bad place to live
full of badness, poverty, and greed.
What about the doctors and nurses
who tend the sick in their hospital beds
or all those selfless charity workers
with only good thoughts inside their heads?
People running marathon after marathon
to help someone who is ill and in need
they do it because they're full of compassion
not motivated by lots of money or greed.
So this country isn't yet gone to the dogs
whatever the newspapers like to say
there's still lots of brightness to be found
not everything is dull, depressing, and Grey!
poem by Kevin Halls
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rock House
(p. lord / s. st. victor / v.j. smith / p. abdul)
Chorus:
Rock you house you
Turn the fire up takin over
Rock you house you
People get strong
Rock you house you
Time to take the weight
Off your shoulder
Rock you house you
People move on
And yes its time to grow
Spent enough time to know
To believe in you is blind
You only tell us lies
So now that weve agreed
Its time to end your greed
The unanimous decision
Is to rock you
Chorus
You shake a million hands
Make a million plans
The give a promise
To the poor
And millions a war
We tried to beg and plead
Still you ignore our needs
So the only way to teach you
Is to rock you
Chorus
When I think about the
Babies eyes
Longing from hunger
It makes me wanna
Cry, cry cry
Then the situation
Of our mothers
And our brothers
Well I know, I know
We can make it better.
Chorus
To the nations telling lies
To the brothers
Down the block
To the power on the street
To the critics on my jock
Shut up and dance!!
Chorus
Set the record
Straight right
Here and say
Set the record
Straight right
Here and say
(peace)
song performed by by Paula Abdul
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Im Alive
(myles goodwyn)
Published by goody two tunes, inc. - bmi
I like to rock and I like to roll
I like the blues if its got some soul
I take my lovin any way you can
So if you got the time, honey Im your man
Cause Im alive, Im alive, Im alive
Ive learned to coped with the crap and jive
Remember boy, just to stay alive
Only the strong survive
Only the strong survive, and Im alive, yeah
I got no reasons for slowin down
I like to move, and Im glory bound
The silent runner in the edge of night
So dont you stand in my way, unless you wanna fight
Cause Im alive, Im alive, Im alive
I left my family in 65
And they said boy, just to stay alive, yeah
Remember only the strong survive
Only the strong survive, keep your head up boy, ooh
Im alive (Im alive), Im alive (Im alive)
And I really feel like gettin it on
Im alive (Im alive), Im alive (Im alive)
I said Im ready and Im feelin alright, ooh
And Im gonna find some lovin tonight, some good good love
And Im lookin at you, I know what I wanna do, yeah
Something I can get into
Im alive, Im alive, Im alive
I left my family in 65
And they said boy, just to stay alive, yeah
Remember only the strong survive, they said
Im alive, Im alive, Im alive (Im alive)
I can cope with all that crap and all that jive, baby (Im alive)
Im alive, Im alive, Im alive (Im alive)
And it feels good, yeah
song performed by by April Wine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Time Management Plan....What really happens
September 3,2008, just 6 weeks left to wait
Mind was becoming queerer, as exams were approaching nearer
So books were taken out and chapters were listed
Notes were made, revised and gisted
But oh! it was just september,1 month still left to practice and remember
I thought, 'it won't be too late, if i start studying at a later date
So flushed with joy, ii made it clearer, will sit to study when exams approach nearer
So on the calendar, I slashed 11, and this queen was back to its heaven
September 11,2008,5 weeks left up straight
But this time, I gave plenty reasons to excuse, for not to study in exam blues
Friends always waiting to chat, gossip about
Plus my bro can't here the T.V. less loud
And then I've to practice for a competition
Mind is boggling with frustration
I annonced, 'No big deal, since I've plenty work to do
I'll start studying from 22
September 22,2008, hardly weekly left to anticipate
This time I did make a start, but things now
seem to fall apart
I planned to study all the time, everywhere
Roaming on th terrace, sitting on the chair
but no result came out in despair
Still 20 chaters left to revise, hundreds of notes unsummarised
In such great frustration, I began to loose concentration
Now all learnt forgotten, under heaps of hopes laden
When I was just about to disintegrate
I realised 'Now its too late...
Had I made an early start, I would have definitely made it upto the mark
So...
To Accomplish Tasks In A Better Way
Start Right Here, Right Now, TODAY
poem by Geetika Nehra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Secrets
It seems we caused a forest fire
With just a flicker of a flame
And now I set alight to everything
Now all I do is cause you pain
I won't keep secrets alive
I'll send them all out to space
Without the will to survive
They won't be going no place
Oh my angel
Woman child
I used to think the time would come
When man would rise above the beast
I gave up thinking that way long ago
In conversation with a priest
I won't keep secrets alive
I'll send them all out to space
Without the will to survive
They won't be going no place
Oh my angel
Woman child
We could have heal this blindness
With some human kindness
I know secrets kill you
But my love can fill you
Time and time again
Time and time again
It would be so fine
If you could be mine
I won't keep secrets alive
I'll send them all out to space
Without the will to survive
They won't be going no place
Oh my angel
Woman child
song performed by by Tears For Fears from Raoul & The Kings Of Spain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Buried Alive By Love
Again the burden of losing
Rests upon my shoulders
And its weight seems unbearable
Your tomb is where your heart is,
I should have told her
But within me hid a secret so terrible
To cry is to know that you're alive
But my river of tears has run dry
I never wanted to fool you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been buried alive by love
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile
The kiss of vanity you blessed me with, spiritual woman,
Face the gods of war insatiable
Your home is where the dark is, I should have told her
Embrace the fire indestructible
To die is to know that you're alive
And my river of blood won't run dry
I never wanted to lose you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been buried alive by love
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
rescue me with your smile
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile
And they say to cry is to know that you're alive
But my river of tears has run dry
I never wanted to fool you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And a deserted soul is gone
A cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been buried alive by love
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile,
If I should die before I wake
I pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile
I've been buried alive by love
Ive been buried alive by love
Buried alive by love
I've been buried alive by love
I've been buried alive by love
I've been buried alive by love
song performed by by H.I.M.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Do Not Want To Go
'No, No, No, I don't want to go'
Time has not yet come for me to show
To the world that I have left this world for simple reason
I want to live here for some more years as a wealthy person
What I have seen in this world up to this time?
Childhood has consumed most part of the time
Where was I given choice to act of my own?
Now only I have come across and known
I spent time recklessly in young age
I did lots of bad things which can not be written on page
'Poor adventurous age' so I too followed same
It too passed off and this old age suddenly came
I did lot many things to corner enough of wealth
I knew I had no time so did not care even about health
I employed all tricks and fooled the people
Got as much as I wanted and finished the struggle
As soon as I realized that now is time to rest
This death bell rang to wind up my life's best
How can God be that cruel to impose such will?
I am afraid that not much time is left still
What will happen to my palatial building?
And to those precious emeralds which are in hiding?
Oh no God, give me some more time to adjust
I have no one so close here to whom I can trust
Now I realize why people wake up in late age
Wind up everything in time and skillfully manage
Now I am caught in cross fire and can't resign
I shall soon be put on fire and body may be consigned to flame
Give me some more time for worship as I followed nothing
Life was enjoyed as if it may not have any end for something
I repent now for not having utilized it in best way
The death lords may come anytime and take me away
Still I wish that I could be spared
To think about death I shouldn't be dared
Wealth, property and ornaments I have adored
It may all now be of no use and stored
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Alive Together
Speaking of marvels, I am alive
together with you, when I might have been
alive with anyone under the sun,
when I might have been Abelard's woman
or the whore of a Renaissance pope
or a peasant wife with not enough food
and not enough love, with my children
dead of the plague. I might have slept
in an alcove next to the man
with the golden nose, who poked it
into the business of stars,
or sewn a starry flag
for a general with wooden teeth.
I might have been the exemplary Pocahontas
or a woman without a name
weeping in Master's bed
for my husband, exchanged for a mule,
my daughter, lost in a drunken bet.
I might have been stretched on a totem pole
to appease a vindictive god
or left, a useless girl-child,
to die on a cliff. I like to think
I might have been Mary Shelley
in love with a wrong-headed angel,
or Mary's friend. I might have been you.
This poem is endless, the odds against us are endless,
our chances of being alive together
statistically nonexistent;
still we have made it, alive in a time
when rationalists in square hats
and hatless Jehovah's Witnesses
agree it is almost over,
alive with our lively children
who-but for endless ifs-
might have missed out on being alive
together with marvels and follies
and longings and lies and wishes
and error and humor and mercy
and journeys and voices and faces
and colors and summers and mornings
and knowledge and tears and chance.
poem by Lisel Mueller
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Great Chicago Fire
The great Chicago Fire, friends,
Will never be forgot;
In the history of Chicago
It will remain a darken spot.
It was a dreadful horrid sight
To see that City in flames;
But no human aid could save it,
For all skill was tried in vain.
In the year of 1871,
In October on the 8th,
The people in that City, then
Was full of life, and great.
Less than four days it lay in ruins,
That garden City, so great
Lay smouldering in ashes,
In a sad and pitiful state.
It was a sad, sad scene indeed,
To see the fire arise,
And hear the crackling of the flames
As it almost reached the skies,
And sadder still, to hear the moans,
Of people in the flames
Cry for help, and none could get,
Ah, die where they remained.
To see the people run for life;
Up and down the blazing streets,
To find then, their escape cut off
By the fiery flaming sheets,
And others hunting for some friend
That perhaps they never found,
Such weeping, wailing, never was known,
For a thousands miles around.
Some people were very wealthy
On the morning of the 10th.
But at the close of the evening,
Was poor, but felt content,
Glad to escape from harm with life
With friends they loved so well,
Some will try to gain more wisdom,
By the sad sight they beheld.
Five thousand people were homeless,
Sad wanderers in the streets,
With no shelter to cover them,
And no food had they to eat.
They wandered down by the lake side,
Lay down on the cold damp ground,
So tired and weary and homeless,
So the rich, the poor, was found.
Mothers with dear little infants,
Some clinging to the breast.
People of every description
All laid down there to rest,
With the sky as their covering,
Ah, pillows they had none.
Sad, oh sad, it must have been,
For those poor homeless ones.
Neighboring Cities sent comfort,
To the poor lone helpless ones,
And God will not forget them
In all the years to come.
Now the City of Chicago
Is built up anew once more,
And may it never be visited
With such a great fire no more.
poem by Julia A Moore
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Got Sick
when you left me
i got sick
got really sick
for a long time
but i did not die
even when you
left me, got sick
and got sick for
more than i can
handle, but i
did not die
somehow i
got sick but
i cannot die,
i am alive and
soon i know
i will be in love
again, my promise
to myself, my
hope eternal.
spring, and new
moon, and change.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Buried Alive By Love
I carry the burden that pulls your
Wrist upon my shoulders
And this weight seems so unbearable
Your tomb is where your heart is,
I should have told her
Everything made it seem so terrible
To cry is to know that youre alive
But my river of tears has run dry
I never wanted to fool you
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been buried alive by love
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile
Yesterday was the first time youre so much colder
Then you got someone insatiable
Your home is there in the darkness,
I should have told her
And embrace the fire indestructible
Well to die is to know that youre alive
And my river of blood wont run dry
I never wanted to fool you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been buried alive by love
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile
Oh,it seems to cry is to know that youre alive
And my river of tears has run dry
I never wanted to fool you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And its dead since oh youre gone
A cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like Ive been
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile, oh, baby
If I should die before I wake
There aint no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile
Ive been buried alive by love
Ive been buried alive by love
Buried alive by love
Ive been buried alive by love
Ive been buried alive by love
Ive been buried alive by love
song performed by by H.i.m. (his Infernal Majesty)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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