Derek Webb

(vs. 1)
there are days i don't believe the words i say
like a life that i'm not living
a song that i'm not singing but to you

there are times that i believe i'm satisfied
like an intimate connection
despite this bad reception with you

(pre-chorus)
because i can't afford to pay
for most of what i say
so it's a lucky thing
that the truth's public domain

(chorus)
and i am like a mockingbird
i've got no new song to sing
and i am like an amplifier
i just tell you what i've heard
oh, i'm like a mockingbird

(vs. 2)
and yes, it's true that i need this more than you
like one whose name is many
have mercy, please don't send me away

(pre-chorus)
and i'll do all i can
to be a better man
oh i'll clean up this act
and be worse than we started

(chorus)

(vs. 1)
don't teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don't teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don't teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus)
i don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

(chorus)
i want a new law
i want a new law
gimme that new law

(vs. 2)
don't teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don't teach me about loving my enemies

don't teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus/chorus)

(bridge)
what's the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything
do not be afraid
do not be afraid
do not be afraid

(vs. 1)
poverty is so hard to see
when it's only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where we're all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus' neighborhood
where he's hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can't give me

(vs. 2)
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what's the deal
i don't sleep around and i don't steal
i want the things you just can't give me

(bridge)
because what you do to the least of these
my brother's, you have done it to me
because i want the things you just can't give me

(verse. 1)
i have come to give you life
and to show you how to live it
i have come to make things right
to heal their ears and show you how to forgive them

(pre-chorus)
because i would rather die
i would rather die
i would rather die
than to take your life

(chorus)
how can i kill the ones i’m supposed to love
my enemies are men like me
i will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
my enemies are men like me

(verse. 2)
peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution

(pre-chorus)

(chorus)

(bridge)
when justice is bought and sold just like weapons of war
the ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor

(chorus)

In God we trust
and the government is on His shoulders
in God we trust
through democracy and tyranny alike
in God we trust
He uses both good and evil men

in God we trust
so we fight for peace and He fights for us
in God we trust
even when He fights us for someone else
in God we trust
even when He looks like the enemy

in God we trust
even though our hearts are bankrupt
in God we trust
for more than just the value of our dollar bills
in God we trust
but there’s no gold behind these notes of reserve

in God we trust
even through our great presumption
in God we trust
even though He favors no nation-state
in God we trust
even when the blessing is a curse

(Chorus)
kiss me once more, please, before i go
kiss me sweetheart, and i won't go no more

'cause i feel a little drunk
like a man who just can't get enough
and there's just one thing that can cool my head

(chorus)

like an addict to his fix
so am i to your sweet lips
the wife of my youth, my drug of choice

(chorus)

(Vs. 1)
politics or love
can make you blind or make you see
make you a slave or make you free
but only one does it all

and it's giving up your life
for the ones you hate the most
it's giving them your gown
when they've taken your clothes

it's learning to admit
when you've had a hand in setting them up
in knocking them down

(chorus)
love is not against the law
love is not against the law

(vs. 2)
are we defending life
when we just pick and choose
lives acceptable to lose
and which ones to defend

'cause you cannot choose your friends
but you choose your enemies
and what if they were one
one and the same

could you find a way
to love them both the same
to give them your name

(chorus)

i've got faith in the bank and money in my heart
i've got a calloused place where your ring used to be, my love
i've traded naked and unashamed
for a better place to hide
for a righteous mask, a suit of fig leaves and lies

i thought the cattle on a thousand hills
was not enough to pay my bills
and i fell in love with those who proved me wrong
and now i want a broken heart

now there's a great pad lock
on the place where i was free
and i'm feeling bad from swallowing that key
now i work real hard but i mostly call in sick
of a broken back from the ground fighting back at me

i cannot look you in the eye
so i check the knots on my disguise
'cause i fell in love with fashion in the dark
and now i want a broken heart

i've got alibis for every crime
a substitute to do my time
'cause Your heart breaks enough on both our parts
and now i want a broken heart
now i want a broken heart
now i want a broken heart

you ravished me with one look of your eyes
you, you are fair, you're so fair, oh my love
better than wine is your love
if you can't find me it's alright, oh my love
stay with your friends, i will come speak to you
'cause you are mine, oh my love
and better than wine is your love

better than wine is your love, is your love
better than wine is your love, is your love
you are beautiful, eyes like doeves, oh my love
you have lips like jewels, hair of gold, oh my love
wild as a vine is your love
but btter than wine is your love

i tell you, my beloved
you cannot be replaced with my left hand beneath your head
and my right arm around your waist
so take a deep breath
because i feel a little drunk
but i'm in my right mind babe
and i know your love is much...

better than wine is your love, is your love
better than wine is your love, is your love
you are beautiful, eyes like doeves, oh my love
you have lips like jewels, hair of gold, oh my love
wild as a vine is your love
but better than wine is your love

i know i always let everybody down
i know i've got a bad name in this town
'cause my last friend stopped calling months ago
i know i always make you wait around
i know the way my promises must sound
and even though you've heard it all before
darlin' could you listen just once more

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now

with you, i'm so glad to get into a bad situation
'cause nothing makes us close, nothing like a little incarceration

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now...

i repent, i repent of my pursuit of america's dream
i repent, i repent of living like i deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we're safe and white
i am wrong and of these things i repent

i repent, i repent of parading my liberty
i repent. i repent of paying for what i get for free
and for the way i believe that i am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
i am wrong and of these things i repent

bridge
i repent judging by a law that even i can't keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

i repent, i repent of trading truth for false unity
i repent, i repent of confusing peace and idolatry
by caring more of what they think than what i know of what we need
by domesticating you until you look just like me
i am wrong and of these things i

don't lie to me
tell me something true
'cause i'm only free
when i look at you

and you look so good it hurts
and love, i come undone

chorus
but i don't want medication
just give me liberation
even if it cuts my legs right out from underneath
don't give me medication
i want the real sensation
even when living feels just like death to me

don't paint my face
i need to see the scars
so i don't forget
the back of my tutor's arm

'cause i just can't keep it straight
which kills and which one saves

chorus

bridge
'cause the truth is i need you just like the air i breathe
just like a freight train needs the tracks beneath
so i'd rather suffer my whole life and be this rich man's wife
if loving you means suffering

chorus

as you came to us so we come to you
fragile as a baby hopeful and new
but learning fast that to walk is to fall
soon we've done it all

chorus
we come broken and we come undone
we come trying hard to love everyone
but we come up short in all that we do
because we do
so we come to you

as you came to us so we come to you
dirty and hurting then dead in the tomb
but raised redeemed to show off the scars
'cause you've brought us this far

chorus

tag
you came to show the way not around but through
so through it all we come to you

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
Who cannot hide the scars of the curse that we all bear

They'll know us by our picket lines and signs
They'll know us by the pride we hide behind
Like anyone on earth is living right
And isn't that why Jesus died
Not to make us think we're right

Chorus:
But love, love, love is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
It's the how and it's the why
We live and breathe and we die

They'll know us by the reasons we divide
And how we can't seem to unify
Because we've gotta sing songs a certain style
Or we'll walk right down that aisle
And just leave 'em all behind

They'll know us by the billboards that we make
Just turning God's words to cheap cliches
Says, "What part of murder don't you understand"
But we hate our fellow man
And point a finger at his grave

Chorus

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
Telling 'em their sin is worse than ours
Thinking we can hide our scars
Beneath the t-shirts that we wear

i'm robbing peter, i'm paying paul
i'm changing my name back to saul
i got to them and you know i'll get to you

i'm turning shepherds into sheep
and leaders into celebrities
it's holy sabotage, just look around you

chorus
'cause everything's for sale in the 21st century
and the check is in the mail from the 21st century

don't want the song i want a jingle
i love you Lord but don't hear a single
and the truth is nearly impossible to rhyme

but i know the songs with all the hooks
and i know some lies that will sell some books
so grab 'em fast, i'm running outta time

just keep selling truth in candy bars
on billboards and backs of cars
truth without context, my favorite of all my crimes

chorus

bridge
what works verses what's right
hey what's the difference tonight?

take out the sign, forget the meal
we've got a gym and a farris wheel
i swear it's just like the country club down the block

'cause you can make your life look good
you can do what Jesus would
but you'd be surprised what you can do with a hard heart

chorus

tag
i think you've got trouble in the 21st century
so welcome to the struggle, it's the 21st century
i never thought i'd make it to the 21st century
Lord, i love the 21st century

i write these words from the grave
'cause it's the only place that i'm safe
and only the dead are permitted to speak the truth