The Machine

[Hook] The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine [Verse 1: Buffalo Madonna] I wish I owned a life recorder Instead of my OCD disorder Watching reruns of my life Directors cut, I feel the knife Jesus, God, we need rewrites Can’t you see this script is trite? Kill the scene, hit the lights Ya’ll make it seem like it’s the life All you actors play yourselves Acting like you’re someone else Holding onto to what you felt Your skin’s become a prison cell I can’t watch this montage It’s so botched; gotta go I can’t watch—this nostalgia’s lodged in my throat I can’t stop—smash my watch Hands of clocks cannot hold What I’ve got Can’t be copped Neither locked in a vault Most nights I go out drinking Searching for something to bring home I come back high and empty Flying lows like Oxycodone It’s time to start the show 3,2,1, go Gotta do something that I never did though I’m the very threshold of chaotic control I’m contorting my body Twisting my soul I dance with chances—saxophone I’m killing my past Burning my clothes Dance in the ash I’m channeling ghosts I never will die I’m part of this world I’m deep in her thighs I’m making her twirl I’m fucking the stars Birthing his son Calling him God ‘cause there isn’t one The answer is, there is no answer Everybody knows we all die from cancer Cut out the banter You’re no pastor Half America is born a bastard I can slap my own paps But it wouldn’t knock enough sense for him to stop Still selling rock I’m rocking shows Every role in my life is a life I chose And I know I’m doing something right With these friends and this girl She says, “you are my puzzle piece In this fragmented world,” You gotta give to get some So many talkers hardly listen Can’t stand themselves so they keep no distance Get all fucked up and start religions I’m no bitch, I don’t blame the system ‘Cause I assist them Yes, I’m a cog Tune my clockwork, I do my job Oil the pistons and watch it walk Yeah, I walk all day and night Weaving through the city light I can’t believe, as tiny as see This machine is keeping me alive [Hook] The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you [Bridge: Buffalo Madonna] They’ve got you And they’ve got me We’re cogs We’re sheep We’re mice [Verse 2: P-Smoov] This machine has me going I cannot stop the ride I wanna grab the controls to climb inside and drive I hear a voice that’s calling On the intercom: “This is the world that’s talking Peter, please come back home,” I told him nothing though I did not reply It’s time to take this machine for a little test drive Rest stop, pass by Gassed up, let’s fly Time to break the system: Religion, taxes and sex, lies I don’t want a little I want to get it all I’m tired of being lied to So fuck ya’ll Until I die I will not comply Yeah, I know inside This machine's keeping me alive [Hook] The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine [Bridge: Buffalo Madonna] Maybe we’re moving backwards Maybe we’ve got it wrong Could we have overlooked the reasons why we belong? Maybe we’re moving backwards Maybe we’ve got it wrong Could we have overlooked the reasons why we belong? [Hook] The machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you like You need the machine needs you