Red Right Lyrics

Underdogs

We keep hearing about you,
your legend came on ahead
It must be a burden to carry that fame
That’s a nice number one ranking
Just don’t get the tattoo yet
See, you still have to play the game

Maybe you beat us last time
Then we should bow down before you
But we forgot that part about fear
We came a long way to play here
We came a long way to cheer
And we refuse to disappear

We are the underdogs.  We are the underdogs.

Understand, we’re not trash talking
We’re not talking at all
What speaks is what stands on the field
Push and shove and act tough now
Talk as much as you want
Sorry, but we are not planning to yield

We are the underdogs.  We are the underdogs.

Surf Wherever You Want
(lyrics by Cowan Jenkins, Amy Gray and Patrick Short)

Caught in a closing mind
Unable to see it through
Cut walking on the edge
Depending on all of you

This isn’t possible.  These are all lies.
And I don’t have the time any more to be wise

Surf all the way to Chicago
Surf all the way to Utah
Surf all the way to Spokane, now baby
Surf wherever you want

I know you keep telling me
Walk out there without an idea
I couldn’t believe it for years
Bought into all of my fears

This isn’t possible.  You cannot surf.
You don’t belong on this marvelous earth.

If everybody smiled, with arms open wide
We’d find power greater than the rising tide
If everybody waved, at the same time
There’d be a wave big enough for everyone to ride

This isn’t possible.  You cannot surf.
You don’t belong on this marvelous earth

Do Not Resuscitate
(lyrics by Patrick Short, Jill Bernard and Ruth Jenkins)

I’ve lived a long life and yes,
I’ve had a very good time
I think I should be trusted to recognize
the end of the line
Could I get a little help from my doctor,
Without her committing a crime?  Well, I say

Do not resuscitate – That’s the end of that, yeah

Back in the nineties, we voted Death with Dignity in
Now they’re taking a hard look at it, up in Washington
The old Justice Department considers
What Oregon did is a sin, well I say

Do not resuscitate – That’s the end of that, yeah

They’ve got me on a machine
I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out
Real life is nothing but a dream
I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out
And I just want to jump and shout

It’s a warm room in cold white and I have been thoroughly wired
The road that I’ve walked has been long
and baby, I’m tired
Everybody’s got a shelf life, I’m certain
I’m certain mine has expired

Do not resuscitate – That’s the end of that, yeah

My Skin Makes Me Proud
(lyrics by Fiona Jenkins)

Give this to the beautiful serving maidens
See, it’s written in tall letters
My skin makes me proud,
My skin makes me proud
My skin is attached to me

There is nothing like a banana
My skin makes me proud,
My skin makes me proud
My skin is attached to me

I call you boo-boo ‘cause you’re funky

I know all about the presidents,
(they’re dead!)
My skin makes me proud,
My skin makes me proud
My skin is attached to me

I’m just making this part up
Keep your nose to yourself
My skin makes me proud,
My skin makes me proud
My skin is attached to me

I call you boo-boo ‘cause you’re funky

Your Personal Fantasy

Knowing what I know and what I used to think
A couple of theories that disagree
Your face floats in the headlight glare
And in the collision of the shore and sea

I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
Part of your personal fantasy
I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
The means to your destiny

You keep conjuring in the spirit world
It would be easier if you’d just let it ride
There are powers that you should not unleash
Maybe you should work on hanging on to life

I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
Part of your personal fantasy
I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
The gold in your alchemy

You’re a wreck waiting to happen (calling, calling)
A bomb about to go off (calling, calling)
And you always end up calling, calling me

You swore that I’d forget it all
And yet I do remember that time at the lake
I pulled you back from the end of the pier
But now I’m finally taking off my cape

I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
Part of your personal fantasy
I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be
The key to your tragedy

I’m Not Looking
(Lyrics by Amy Gray)

I’m not looking for an angel
all pure and clean and white
I aint looking for a charming prince
to come and set me free
I’m not looking for a godfather
to save me from the night
I’m just walking down this road
and hoping for some company

I’m not lookin’, I’m just walkin’
down this road and hoping for some company

I’m not looking for a bad boy
bringing drama to my door
I’m not looking for a teacher,
a philosopher, or clown
I’m not looking for a poet
leaving notebooks on my floor
I’m just walking down this road
until somebody comes around.

I’m not lookin’, I’m just walkin’
down this road ’til someone comes around

I’m not lookin for forever,
though I’m sure that’s very nice
I’m not lookin for perfection
or an endless credit line
I’m not lookin for redemption,
‘cause I’d really miss my vice
I don’t mind a little baggage,
if you help me carry mine.

I’m not lookin’, I’m just walkin’
I don’t mind a little baggage if you help me carry mine

Monkey Boy

You don’t understand evolution
So you start a school-board revolution
You could join up with the final solution
I’m a monkey boy

It’s black and white and something quite equivocal
Out of words, so you start chanting liberal
You got beliefs, but you’re so damn miserable
I’m a monkey boy

You always know just what is right for me
Paying homage to your vision of community
I don’t get it so I’m guilty of lunacy – I’m a monkey boy

You declare the poor deserve their fate and
.38 loaded, stuck it in your waistband
Now, you’re forcing me to take a stand
I’m a monkey boy

Righteous anger and some dollars spent
Guess I missed just what you meant
Y’all forgot the New Testament and I’m a monkey boy

Up in arms and you’re so scared witless
Sweeping statements about moral fitness
I will stand here as a witness – I’m a monkey boy

The Army That You Have

Donny joined the Guard back in ’99
He needed the money and it felt right
He wanted to serve and he wanted to save
And help the folks around the state

The century turned new
and the leaders turned old
With some great idea they’d cooked up before
Donny’s unit got called to fight
And took their bulldozers to war

The SUVs whipped past me
on the way up to Lone Pine
Turns out that that’s where they were going
That’s where they were going all the time

The letters that came home said less
The letters wondered what it was all for
We almost felt it before it happened
Then Donny didn’t write home any more

The flag snapped in the wind
as they played the taps on tape
They saluted us and then,
and then they drove away

I walked a long way with you
I walked down that hill alone.
I walked down that hill alone.
I guess you always go to war

With the army that you have
The army that you have
The army that you have
And a little more
Disappeared

Somewhere on this wild world,
My family seeks for me
Though I am on an island, I cannot see the sea
I’ve disappeared

I am just a poor man, I fight no jihad
I just earned a living driving my cab in Islamabad
Now I’ve disappeared

They say if I answer their questions,
Then I’m free to go
But how can I possibly tell them
What I do not know?
I’ve disappeared

Bring ‘Em On

It’s funny that you call the shots
But you never served
Every man gets the legacy that he deserves

Ain’t got no time to go to no funerals and then
Make Donald write the letters with a mechanical pen

You’re still laughing ‘bout that 0-4 race
Why didn’t Kerry throw this line back in your face?

Shining City on the Hill

Betrayed when I turned twenty-one
Swagger took the stage; tough talk was the rage
Next few years nothing much was done
Except we bombed a tent,
shook hands with a tyrant
Twenty-five years later more or less
The country stands on guard,
Perhaps the job’s too hard
The constitution’s ripped into a mess
Geneva’s been ignored, tied to a water board

I don’t want to live there – I don’t want to visit
Oh, your shining city on the hill
Stick a needle in us – Hold us under water
Oh, your shining city on the hill

We need intelligence acquired
By any means at hand, we’ve got to take a stand
Connect them to electric wire
Make them stay awake, see how much they can take

We’re told that we’re defending freedom
By depriving others of the freedoms
that we’re fighting for
So what makes us better than them
if we do the things that they do that we hate?
It’s morning in America
The illusion of us free, through sheer duplicity
As long as we have secret jails
It’s much worse than we feared
among the disappeared

I don’t want to live there – I don’t want to visit
Oh, your shining city on the hill
Put a dog leash on us – Stack us in a pyramid
Oh, your shining city on the hill
Fly us to an island – Hide us from our lawyers
Oh, your shining city on the hill
Tell us that they hate us – Sell the paranoia
Oh, your shining city on the hill

Just Now Understanding

As the news unfolds, and the dam overflows
And it digests slowly, and the world explodes
Did we learn anything those forty years ago?
I am just now understanding
what you taught me all along

We have no sense of history
we’ve turned back the page
We have no sense of humor
and a deep well of rage
And we’re still not listening
when you sing your songs
I am just now understanding
what you taught me all along

Our sodden angels, wringing wet with our tears
Standing guard at our midnights in the horror show
Our patron saints of the mortar,
alone with their fears
What happened out there,
the rest of us never will know

War should never be thought of
as the perfect first choice
And we should not expect to speak with one voice
Could we listen to history,
find out what it really meant?
And stop firing blindly into the other side’s tent
Think for a moment of what
It might mean if we’re wrong
I am just now understanding
what you taught me all along

See You Later

This was not how the dream was going to be
My baby waved goodbye to dad through the trees
This really is the unknown part of the plan
So do your best to try and understand and

I’ll see you later – I’ll see you later – Yes, I will

So play that slow one, baby, I want to dance
I guess you’re looking for a second chance
Or are you searching for a place to hide?
Don’t be ashamed, you go ahead now and cry, ’cause

I’ll see you later – I’ll see you later – Yes, I will

Day after day, I think you’re sitting close by
If I could see it was a trick of the light
I faintly hear your voice come filtering through
Is this the toughest thing you’ve had to do?

I’ll see you later – I’ll see you later – Yes, I will

All songs © 2008 Patrick Short, BMI

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