LYRICS TO NEUREPUBLIK'S "OSTENTATIOUS"



THE NEUGOTHIC MOVEMENT (Crowell)

"the neugothic movement is taking over america"



COME UNDONE (Crowell)

dancing in the club disguising solitude & pain
intimate & drunken state - do you know my name?

let the lights go down on me
my glass is raised to misery
it used to seem like so much fun
but now i hate what i've become

kiss a stranger taste their mouth: smoke & bile & beer
swear that i will kill myself if i'm still here next year

never thought my life would be
the opposite of all my dreams
i wish that i could come undone 
i know i'm not the only one



CRYING ALONE (Crowell)

promise you forever if i only had the time
i should think you'd know by now my life was never mine
just because i'm not around does not mean i don't care
i should think you'd know by now that life is never fair

so many ways to be wrong in your eyes
patience is fading cohesion divides
never before has my life been this way
crying alone at the end of the day

every time i come to you it's like you're miles away
i always talk but never speak what you want me to say
i know you'd be happier if i was less like me
suffer through another day then go and watch tv

when i am away from you i know i'm not the same
the world can try to claim me, but they never will maintain
the energy i waste on you so very happily
so i can see you laughing even if it is at me



ALL HALLOW'S EVE (Crowell, Johnson)

dancing with my past 
dancing in a dream 
dancing with her ghost 
on this happy halloween 

she who went before 
caused my soul to grieve 
i will have her back 
on this next all hallow's eve 
whiter than the snow 
yellow gabardine 
once again my bride 
on this happy halloween 

'til the break of dawn 
'til the church bells ring 
charon takes you home 
on this happy halloween



THIS MUST BE A DREAM (Crowell)

"Thanks to the conservative ignorance of misguided
Missouri Republican Congressman Sam Graves,
$273,000 out of the Department of Education's
fiscal 2002 budget will help to identify, badger,
and harass Goth culture leaders that are allegedly
'preying' on the kids of Blue Springs Missouri..."

this must be a dream
for i cannot believe
what is happening
in the land of the free
money down the drain
Mr. Graves, we must complain
what was going through your brain?
your agenda is insane

if we don't think like you,
then steal our money until we do
black-dressed scapegoats to abuse
just like Hitler and the Jews
a witch hunt filled with hate
a quarter million to feed your aim
we can only hope you fate
is like McCarthy - full of shame

"$273,000..."



THE VAMPIRE SKANK (Crowell)

cannot face the light
i will sleep until the night
tonight
tonight i come for you
spread my wings & fly
watch the city floating by
& do what i was made to do

living by my vampire instincts
i will never die

challenged by my prey
i like it when they run away
but still it never takes too long
i'm really not to blame
they'd have perished all the same
but i just helped events along

hate & jealousy
seem to find their way to me
i will never die

years to me are days
the time so quickly fades away
'til all my mortal friends are dead

when you're deep in the ground
i will surely be around
i will never die



LIES (Crowell)

some people ask me why i lie & i don't tell the truth
sometimes it seems that it's the only civil thing to do
a lie from me is good as gold in anybody's mind
the truth from me will always be impossible to find

you ask me anything at all & i will tell you lies
i know you think i'm perfect - it's my tongue that you despise
a web of falsehoods cloaks my words and keeps my image clean
but what i say when i'm with you is never what i mean

i once was caught within a lie but eloquence prevailed
i found the loopholes hiding in the tiniest details
some day my world will tumble down and i'll be left alone
but 'til that day, i'll twist my words and show a heart of stone



EMPTINESS MACHINE (Crowell)

take me for a ride inside your emptiness machine
nothing but your icy stare to fill the space between
never will you show your feelings - never said you would
never will my soul recover - never thought it could

when i catch your eyes, you just look away
try to sympathize - nothing left to say
why am i still here?  everything has died
maybe it's the fear you will leave my side

i know it isn't right - i'll never break your skin
though i try to fight, i feel it start again
darkness in your heart, vacant is your soul
i cannot resist - you are in control



GOODBYE (Crowell)

goodbye my friends
the time has come for separation
don't cry for me
i see it as a liberation

i just cannot be the person you want me to be
i know deep down there's somebody else i have to be

so many years...
i've done the work as you've demanded
this time's for me
i hope that you can understand that

times change, all things must pass



CHRISTMAS IN BABYLON (Crowell, Johnson)

jack frost in the garden
santa on his sleigh
jesus in a manger
christmas on its way

christmas insincerity
it flows from you it seeps from me
at christmas in babylon

laughter on the outside
emptiness within
those you would disparage
suddenly your friend
time to feign compassion
care for those in need
where were you this summer?
hypocrites, indeed!

silver bells and christmas cheer
we all wear masks this time of year
at christmas in babylon