Dice Of A Generation (この世代のサイコロ)

(album: American Saikoro - 2018)

I don't have to tell you things are bad, everybody knows things are bad
Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job
The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter
We know the air is unfit to breathe; our food is unfit to eat
We sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes
As if that's the way it's supposed to be, we know things are bad, worse than bad: they're crazy!

Caught in a mental dystopia and it's got no end in sight (No end in sight)
And just in case you're wondering, no
The kids are not alright (You got it)
Giving love to my art but it's unrequited
Quite a few hearts who'd rather die than fight it (Woah)
Despite it all we're holding on but for how long (Oh yeah)

Yo, just another night in a heartbreak city
Watching all the lights flicker out what a pity
It's a cut-throat, come-and-go time that we're living in
Riding on a slow boat to dipping out n' giving in
Quitting time, maybe it's a new-age, crazy ain't it?
History repeated with a fresh new coat of paint, it's
Time and time I hear the same sung tragedy
Target the young minds and tell 'em what they have to be
Something to be said about the shit we're told
When you're in your early twenties and you feel like you're getting old
Plenty of proof that, yeah, the world is cold
But we forget about it, drowning in the stuff we're sold
A band made to own overblown expectations
Struggling just to make conversation
Dark room, light head, vision turning black and red
Whadda they want from me? I guess we betta play dead
Stifle the heartache, I'm not asleep, not awake
Not a real, not a fake, all I know is give and take
Working hard, no breaks, keep it together
If I close my eyes then I could sleep forever
In a world set in motion by avarice and greed
Ain't no wonder we go under if we can't succeed
'Cause though I tend to bleed, I beg and plead with myself
And no I'm not the first falling victim to mental health
Calling on somebody, anybody, save me!
All in all, even my devotion's kinda wavy
Generation made emotions, still they say we're lazy
Navigate the maze, though they're looking at us crazy
But part of getting older I suppose with time
If your make and your model is a different kind, like mine
Outside the weather's been perfectly fine
But the storm rages on in my mind

Caught in a mental dystopia and it's got no end in sight (No end in sight)
And just in case you're wondering, no
The kids are not alright (You got it)
Giving love to my art but it's unrequited
Quite a few hearts who'd rather die than fight it (Woah)
Despite it all we're holding on but for how long (Oh yeah)
So wish I may and wish I might
I know there won't be sleep tonight
We're all aboard the same train rolling
Towards a brighter life
Careful who you trust in a world of facades and fraudulent promises of hopes and dreams
Some cannot cope in a world that won't stay true to what it, true to what it seems

Just another day here in pseudo-utopia
Sooner or later, the devil takes hold o' ya
Big money schemes keeping everyone suspicious
Nobody wants to fall behind, everyone's ambitious
Kinda sad, no one really wants to be a mom and dad
Ya sit 'em real still with medication and iPads
And everybody needs a pill 'cause everybody feels bad
Really feeling down without the gadgets we wish we had
Someone's got a new car, someone's got a new wife
Someone's got it made, man he's gotta have a good life
Maybe it's a masquerade, you ever thought about it?
You don't see the strife on the inside, your vision's clouded
No doubt about it, that no matter how you slice it
The way ya living life is never gonna be the right fit
And you can try to fight it, but you might get your mind split
Tryna to get straight to the bottom of it
And there's a lot of 'em who quit and get their hats hung
Never did I ever think I'd see 'em kick it so young
Gears in your head might turn a different direction
It doesn't mean you're broken, embrace imperfection
It's hardly ever spoken, 'cause the pharm needs protection
But a closer inspection yields a corporate infection
Correction: maybe I'm just outta my mind
I've heard a million times that overthinking's a crime
"I'm making good art, from the heart, starting today" I said
Sounded real easy when I heard it inside my head
Let it spread, all our existential dread
Like, does music even matter once you're buried and dead?
A younger me who believed in the strength of humanity
Learned the profanity, accepted insanity
Thousands of miles away, believing a plan to be
Doesn't make it any less depressing and sad to see

Caught in a mental dystopia and it's got no end in sight (No end in sight)
And just in case you're wondering, no
The kids are not alright (You got it)
Giving love to my art but it's unrequited
Quite a few hearts who'd rather die than fight it (Woah)
Despite it all we're holding on but for how long (Oh yeah)
So wish I may and wish I might
I know there won't be sleep tonight
We're all aboard the same train rolling
Towards a brighter life
Careful who you trust in a world of facades and fraudulent promises of hopes and dreams
Some cannot cope in a world that won't stay true to what it, true to what it seems

Caught in a mental dystopia and it's got no end in sight
And just in case you're wondering, no
The kids are not alright
Giving love to my art but it's unrequited
Quite a few hearts who'd rather die than fight it
Despite it all we're holding on but for how long
Just another night in a heartbreak city