Don't Damn Me

(album: Use Your Illusion I - 1991)

Don't damn me when I speak a piece of mind
'Cause silence isn't golden when I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been and I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper 'cause it's all a part of me

Be it a song or a casual conversation
To hold my tongue speaks of quiet reservations
Your words, once heard, they can place you in a faction
My words may disturb, but at least there's a reaction
Oh yeah, oh, oh yeah
Sometimes I wanna kill, sometimes I wanna die
Sometimes I wanna destroy, sometimes I wanna cry
Sometimes I could get even, sometimes I could give up
Sometimes I could give, sometimes I never give a fuck

It's only for a while, I hope you understand
I never wanted this to happen, didn't want to be a man
So I hid inside my world, I took what I could find
I cried when I was lonely, I fell down when I was blind

So, don't damn me when I speak a piece of mind
'Cause silence isn't golden when I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been and I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper 'cause it's all a part of me

How can I ever satisfy you?
And how can I ever make you see that
Deep inside, we're all somebody
And it don't matter who you, you wanna be?

But now I gotta smile, I hope you comprehend
For, this man can say it happened 'cause this child has been condemned
So I stepped into your world, I kicked you in the mind
And I'm the only witness to the nature of my crime

But look at what we've done to the innocent and young
Whoa, listen to who's talking 'cause we're not the only ones
The trash collected by the eyes and dumped into the brain
Said, it tears into our conscious thoughts, you tell me, who's to blame?

I know you don't wanna hear me crying
And I know you don't wanna hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your illusion
But your delusions are yours, and not mine
We take for granted, we know the whole story
We judge a book by its cover and read what we want
Between selected lines

Don't hail me and don't idolize the ink
Or I've failed in my intentions, can you find the missing link?
Your only validation is living your own life
Vicarious existence is a fucking waste of time

So I send this song to the offended
I said what I meant and I've never pretended
As so many others do, intending just to please
If I damned your point of view, could you turn the other cheek?

Oh
Don't damn me when I speak a piece of mind
'Cause silence isn't golden when I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I've been and I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper 'cause it's all a part of me

Don't damn me
I said, don't damn me
I said, don't hail me
Ah, don't damn me
Ouh

Smoke 'em if you got 'em
Alright, that sucked