CONFESSIONS OF A PETTY THIEF

7" EP released in November 2003 by Immigrant Sun Records, later featured on the CD/LP of The Message (2004, 2008)

Recorded and Mixed by Doyle Odom at Electric Tide Studio (Houston, TX)

Mastered by MJR at Prairie Cat Mastering

Artwork and Layout by Daniel Austin

Daniel Austin–lyrics, vocals, guitars

Eric Gibson–bass

RJ Noel–drums

Guitar solo on "Pains of Indifference" by Ryan Brown

Anthem of The Prodigal Son

Raised too high too soon in the game
Sowed all my seeds, still waiting for rain
Life has come to mean writhing in pain
But I don't regret a fucking thing...

What a petty waste of time–your politics, your dollar signs
Take me back to distant shores or vacant rooftops under the stars
Where is the romance in your sterile world of suits and ties?
If poverty of wealth means richness in soul
Then I have been made whole

When we die
We are immortalized not in clouds
But in words we dared to scream aloud
(I scream aloud)

This rebellion is not a phase
I'll hate you all for the rest of my days
Red-brick walls of false security
The facades of your broken dreams
The hand that feeds won't let you breathe
Yet you run back to your cage

When we die
We are immortalized not in clouds
But in the words we dared to scream aloud
(I scream aloud)

As you bow down to your gods...
I renounce the world you love

_____

Fool's Gold

What is left of our lives as we leave the marketplace
With our store-bought dreams?
As the sheep allow themselves to be bought and sold
The corporate giants are taking hold
Enslaving us to convenience and commodity

The fool's gold we blindly treasure will soon rot and fade away
But these words are forever here to stay:
Buy what you want, but I will take what I fucking need
As I try to survive in this land of greed

_____

Pains of Indifference

The search goes on....
And I hope I choke on every word I wrote
Grant that I may find peace in this world
Peace at last, lay this weary heart to rest
I want to be no more

Through these days I can push on
But I'm afraid the meaning is gone

No longer can I bear to think
Disenchanted by memories of countless failures
And unrequited love
I've been self-condemned to wander this disgusting world
Graceless, godless, void of any faith
Only to find nothing at the end of the rope
I want to be no more

Through these nights I lay in wait
My heart burns to forget...

Alone, alone at last, alone in this fucking world
Is this truly what I want?
When her eyes mean nothing to me, the stars mean nothing to me
And I can't find the will to breathe

The search goes on...

_____

Believe in Nothing

Dismiss all that's wrong or right
Only the blind see in black and white
The cycles of cruelty have been passed down for centuries
As our relentless pursuit of truth absolute has kept us on our knees...

Awaiting mercy from the gods
Or the tyranny of their laws
Our ideas must evolve before we see their powers dissolve
We must adapt to the harshness of our changing world
There is no truth absolute, save for "change: subject to all"

Reality seen differently through each and every eye
There's no need to die for the fundamentals we've been taught
Because no truth divine would shackle the mind
With fear and contempt

Disregard all you think you know
Your beliefs are not your own
Disregard all you think you know
Clean the slate and begin again

Believe in no god
Believe in no law

_____

Parade of Idiots

Fuck them all
Because it's us versus them, and we are here filled to the brim
With life and something to say
We want more than a fashion parade
We know your glamour hides your despair
And I've got better things to do than fix my fucking hair

Pop-culture at it's very best is a parade of idiots I detest
To those puppets and those pulling their strings--
You'll never cheapen the songs we sing

Artistic merit is lost when the "artist" becomes commodified
Just another pig impaled on the cross of the almighty dollar sign
Another puppet, a dollar whore whose words mean nothing more
Than the clothes you wear, or your fucking hair
Do us all a favor
Quit wasting our precious time

_____

My Only Surrender

This is my only surrender
I felt my walls crumble down
Naked and vulnerable
Afraid to embrace the light of love

Everyday, the scars were there
Symptoms of a subconscious fear
I chose to walk the path of hate
I built a cage I could not escape...

We were dancing with daggers while staring straight into the sun
The love we had was fragile, like a loaded gun
But I'd take one in the head for you
If only you would see me through
The selfish hell I willingly cast myself into

Through a thousand nights of solitude

I longed to love
Through a thousand night of solitude

I failed to love

Your words of love are still haunting me
They cripple me like a disease
As I recall moments of true peace upon these stormy seas
At the mercy of demons driving me, full of passion for misery
I somehow long to be complete, but I have yet to accept defeat

Through a thousand nights of solitude

I longed to love
Through a thousand nights of solitude...