Freedom's Nightmare

Track Listing and Lyrics

Excerpt from
review by Gainesville Sun

From the first track, you get a sense of being in the life-altering epiphanic scene of a Tarantino movie, and it's not just the Southwestern-style trumpet sounds wrapped around the lyric's cadence that does it.

Like Quentin, Lars Din Song Riot comes across as entirely American. Listening is a comfortable and familiar experience, despite all the twists and turns...

Virtually anyone, especially Floridians, can connect with these lyrics.Besides personal messages written so artfully that they can become the listener's own thoughts, "Freedom's Nightmare" deals directly with things that are right around us.

The Santa Fe River, St. Augustine and 13th Street all make non-superficial cameos on the album...the level of intelligence throughout the band allows for references to local history that most people don't even know.

Lars Din Song Riot is artful, poignant, technically impressive and smooth music. I really don't know what more to ask for.


Read more about Freedom's Nightmare.

Some of the songs are red; click on 'em to download. Or listen to the Song Stream in the box above.

1. SMOKE (4:04)
2. FLOODPLAIN FLORIDA (4:40)
3. DRAG US DOWN (4:58)
4. EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY (3:32)
5. JUNKSHOP MURDER (5:32)
6. JUSTIFIED BY YOU (3:55)
7. SLIM & BETTY (3:10)
8. DEAD MAN’S HAND (3:44)
9. PICK A GOOD HORSE AND WIN (3:45)
10. STONES OF AUGUSTINE (3:17)
11. DEVIL'S RADIO (3:18)
12. THAT FIRE IN YOUR HEART (4:25)
13. COZY & WARM (3:35)
14. DIFFERENT KIND OF ARMY (3:30)
15. PERSONAL AD (1:52)
16. BURN THIS BRIDGE (2:19)
17. BIKE FRIENDLY TOWN (4:14)
18. MAN YOU ONCE KNEW (3:07)
19. HAPPY LITTLE DOG (2:35)

SMOKE
[D]...[Bb]
I’ve been in [Gm] nightmares let me speak [D]
[Bb] I let the [Gm] embers glow I [D] didn’t try for what I want to be, [Bb] I knew you [Gm] gotta suffer [D] truth to stay young, how do I [F] right the mangled wreck of [Eb] chemicals and what I’ve [Bb] done?
I used the [Gm] tools within my reach but I was [C] wrong [Eb] [D]

[Bb] them people [Gm] tore down the police [D] fence
[Bb] with nothing but [Gm] instinct some hooks and an [D]animal innocence they used their [Bb] ears in the [Gm] council though their [D] hearts were on fire and by their [F] self defense against the uni[Eb]forms I was inspired
they paid {Gm] attention to what everyone de[C]sires [Eb] [D]

the enemy is made of smoke
who comes when no one sleeps and everything is just this side of broken down and loneliness reveals its bitter joy self righteousness is easily achieved on shaky ground
when the vultures all are circling round

we all will be where we can be
as strong as vines around an old invasive tree there are no rules confining how we grow but sun and what we will as any chainsaw made by man is bound to choke and then be still
as the sun dissolves the early morning chill

we want these streets where we were born
where we were raised and left devices in the storm around your fucked up family life and your fist when it thundered there’s no god and there’s no squad that can erase this human gift
we only want what we have all been forced to miss


FLOODPLAIN FLORIDA

Well I [C] had a dream the ocean didn’t stay down at the beach
fact it was [Am] gathered in my bathroom when I went to brush my teeth
there was a [F] lobster in my toilet starfish hanging out by the [C] soap
so I [Am] sloshed into the kitchen to make a cup of tea
there was [E] seagulls having breakfast on a box of my saltines
and on [F]13th street people waiting at the bus stop for a paddle boat

and on the [G] radio the weatherman was promising clear skies
there was [F] news of a barge pileup out on I-75
that’s when I [C] knew for sure that [Am] Florida was [G] now the ocean [C] floor

I went to get my mail I wasn’t sure what I would see
there was a little row of buoys where the boxes used to be
with 3 bottles tied to mine one was a water bill
when I dove down to the bottom to see about my van
I met a navy recruiter in scuba gear asked him for a hand
to get the inner tube from a tire he kept asking me to join
I said I don’t think I will

Then I popped up to the surface I was ready to ride the tide
I heard candidates giving speeches from an oil platform nearby
and it was clear to me
that Florida was at the bottom of the sea

Well I drifted into town everything seemed quite calm
everybody was working even though nobody had a job
commuter traffic was backed up on 13th street no wind in their sails
I heard 2 plumbers discuss the lottery what they’d do if they win
one said I’m moving to the coast of Arkansas when my ship comes in
and I got blown away by the gale force of a hurricane wind
I saw a lifeboat full of doctors quietly eating cake
I crossed a funeral procession and got caught up in the wake
I started coughing and capsized that’s when you came swimming by

We walked that tangled bottom we were looking for some church
we were arguing and lost I’m not sure which one was worse
you said I know a thing or 2 about raising animals in a boat
then we paused beneath the magnolia to watch a submarine
let out a bunch of coast guard to bust a man for selling seaweed
when you kissed me there was salt on my tongue when I awoke in my bed
there was a low smoky haze in the Sunday sky
the radio was warning of an increased risk of fire
and I sat in my pajamas somewhere on the future floodplains of Florida

DRAG US DOWN

Drag us down until they drag us down we rise until they drag us down we rise
they never will drag us down we rise until they drag us down

[Dm] Your Azalea bush [Gm] is overgrown [C] hear the bumblebees [A] do you want to get [Dm] stung
[Dm] underneath [Gm] these canopies [C] by the Santa Fe river [A] and the Cypress knees [Dm]
until they [Bb] drag us [A] down we [Dm] rise until they [Bb] drag us [A] down we [Dm] rise until they {Bb] drag us [A] down we [Dm] rise until they [Bb] drag us [A] down we [Dm] rise

We possums rest in the afternoon then we grub in the leaves beneath the Seminole moon
where Andrew Jackson was too scared to come where the shark's tooth smiles and the creek still runs
until they drag us down we rise they drag us down we rise they never will drag us down we rise until they drag us down we rise

See the lacerations on a great big world sometimes I’m a man sometimes a little girl
won’t you take a ride on a fish that sways jump into the water with the sexiest rage
until they drag us down we rise they drag us down we rise they never will drag us down we rise until they drag us down we rise


EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY

It’s a [Dm] long hard road from the carnival house to the place of dead tires
big bold moon throwin packets of light [A7] down on the children below
one fell down by the side of the road [Gm] turned her face to the light
she said [Dm STOP] everybody loves my baby but nobody is willing to change

dawn came crawling and the cicadas swarmed her lips were crusted with sand
he’s got a broad brimmed mind and a long overcoat and a shadow over his mouth
when the sky tore open she was soaked to the bone he said we have almost arrived
she said everybody loves my baby but nobody is willing to change

as they stumbled through town where the traffic lights smoldered like a cat's eye under a bed
headlines read that he’d done nothing wrong but you couldn’t tell that to her
mysterious cargo derailed at the crossroad panic all over town
everybody loves my baby but nobody is willing to change

they had a [Gm] full investigation or so it was said but the [Dm] girl didn’t testify
between the [Gm] chalice the pistol the promise unkept there was [A7] too much left that would never be right [Dm]

a full moon shines on the place of dead tires where a tricycle lies on its side
a breeze blows gentle in the ruins and dust hardly making a sound
now she’s sitting upstairs with the windows wide open and that damn letter dangling in her hand
everybody loves my baby but nobody is willing to change she said everybody loves my baby but nobody is willing to change

JUNKSHOP MURDER

Who wants these medals here this bag of Spanish coin tattered riding crop membership card for a club I think I never even joined a Moroccan castle built with sand a golden watch with missing hands it's bric a brac it’s mostly crap, who’ll love it when I’m gone?

Who will take these ragged boots black powder bullets and a lariat slightly chipped binoculars key to a box of rubies I don’t remember where they’re buried at
an anchor for the ship that flew the day the hurricane came through are these the only things that keep oblivion at bay?

Come in like a veteran’s son, some south Georgia Raskalnikov eyes nervous as a metronome from the ammo boxes to the goldfish tank I asked him what he wants his hand cold shadow the pit the flash the best moments happen way too fast--now from a sticky puddle I watch as dust motes circle in the sun

I’ve been betrayed by circumstance I saw the dream and thought it real, a happy stranger at the local dance ignoring gentle nudges to discover what was concealed or maybe I’ve just seen too many dawns like the gargoyle statue cast in bronze I pray for strength to surrender to whatever happens next

JUSTIFIED BY YOU
There's an old farmhouse on the corner, it's abandoned, no people or pigs. The devil woke me there this morning, but who cares if the devil sings. I'm not gonna mess up this time. See i fit right in my shoes. And if i push as much as i am able, will i be justified by you?

Sandhill cranes circle overhead like a lazy brass band, Cumberland Joe took his little girl fishing in the bottom of a sardine can. We all caught out from the Baldwin yards where the Muscadine grows wild, i'll be back in march to fix yer front porch and swing low like a screech owl.

Mr. Lynch, deadly with a cross-bow, killed the judge that released him on bail. I called him up to see how he was doing, he said i feel fine but too many axes to grind. But i' ain't gonna mess up this time, you see i fit right in my shoes and if i push as much as i am able won't i be justified by you?

Old George whiskey in a bible he taught me them hound dog tricks, but the cure by burning stolen kisses there's no glue can fix. If the Lafayette house don't keep you warm and your 'probate judge' won't bend, ring this bell when the screech owl sings and i'll try to stand up again...

I'm traveling to Boone, where the trees grow at an angle, got some friends that ain't opposed to saying prayers. It might be foothold today, catastrophe tomorrow, like the echo out of Sisyphus Springs. I ain't gonna fuck up this time...

Every night i struggle to keep my ducks in a row for my Nelly Bly with the buckwheat cake in her dragon mouth and the teargas in her eye. Shoes and stockings in her Tennessee hands and her feet like a river barge, i'm gonna keep my train on this increment track and the coal burning in my heart.

SLIM & BETTY
I'm gonna tell you now about Slim and Betty, normal as any two people could be,
except she was in love with him and he was in some tree.
Well Betty never used to break the law, she maybe picked her nose when nobody saw,
and i don't know what was in her mind when she chopped down that tree, but she was singing
It ain't as good as it could be, who knows how good it could get, we ain't out of the woods yet.

Slim hit dirt with a bang, bumped his head jumped up and sang all right Betty I'm ready
let's go and do our thing. They pulled the Chevy from the garage said hey hey let's get the fuck out of dodge and squealed onto the interstate with the muffler dragging, singing that ain't as hard as it could be who knows how easy it could get we ain't out of the woods yet.

Pretty soon they ran low on cash, you know that old trick the dine and dash they had a little fun like a rash from Topeka to Des Moines. And Betty took to filling up her coat while Slim would whisper “Betty please! You're gonna land us in the penitentiary!” and then they heard that siren song, the siren was singing, it ain't as easy as you might think you don't know how hard it could get, you ain't out of the woods yet.

They said whoops that's enough of that little spree, we got plenty of luxuries, they had a feather boa and a cooler between they were drinking fancy beer. And hallelu it was a wild ride, two lovebirds with the throttle wide, hands between each others' thighs, it's a wonder they could steer, all the time singing. Ain't we just as bad as we could be, who knows how bad we could get, we ain't out of the woods yet.

They lost the cops at a wedding parade, came bouncing in looking like a masquerade, Slim was dressed as Mae West and Betty was Marlon Brando. But the minister was a wrinkled man who said, hmph you'd better not upstage the bride, so they just drank the communion wine and split for Mexico, all the while singing, ain't we just as nasty as we could be you know how nasty we would get we ain't out of the woods yet.

There they found a house with the shutters closed and bounced around without their clothes and blew the candle out do i gotta fill it in? It was hi ho and a nice warm gun, one said go, the other said come, they were belly to belly and Betty said um, i think you forgot something. Ain't we just as nasty as we could be who knows how nasty we would get we ain't out of the woulds yet.

DEAD MAN'S HAND

I know that sleeping dogs should be left sleeping choosy beggars will not be eating
and I kept my counsel cuz I was uncertain but good behavior has become a burden
cuz you left me sitting with a dead man's hand left me sitting with a dead man's hand
left me sitting with a dead man’s hand you left me sitting with a dead man’s hand
left me sitting with a dead man’s hand you left me sitting with a dead man’s hand

Well we get choices that ain’t worth choosing the time of innocence has become confusion
yeah you screw your neighbor call it being driven sell your life call it cost of living they
leave you sitting with a dead man’s hand they leave you sitting with a dead man’s hand
leave you sitting with a dead man’s hand they leave you sitting with a dead man’s hand

Well every thing's going to shit let’s start all over again
I don’t believe it’s true that there’s nothing we can do

now we got power but we deny it some people still say if you stay real quiet that some corporate leader will share the bounty and lend a hand if he catches you drowning but he’ll leave you sinking with a dead man’s hand leave you sinking with a dead man’s hand
leave you sinking with a dead man’s hand leave you sinking with a dead man’s hand

PICK A GOOD HORSE AND WIN

Well life is good in Florida for folks like you and me
with a million bucks and a private line to the governor’s bedroom suite
and a platinum insurance card that says “You’re welcome to get sick”
makin bank on beach front development like some magic trick
and god bless the hurricane I can hear them registers ring

pick a good horse and win y’all pick a good horse and win

some places got the living wage we think that that’s a mistake
you got the right the work but not the right to live on what you make
and we got too many children here and they’re all far too young
always askin questions bout the deals we do until we can’t get nothin done
well this right here is the sunshine state where the lottery is king

so pick a good horse and win ya’ll pick a good horse and win

come drive our beautiful highways get sunburned at any beach
get the same food from a million joints and hook up your RV
but if you plan on moving here I gotta warn you some
keep your voter registration in the place where you come from
for when common folks want their voices heard here is what they sing

just pick a good horse and win ya’ll pick a good horse and win

see everybody’s got the right to vote except the ones that don’t
like felons and the people with names like felons or anything kinda close
and immigrants pay taxes but who cares if they can’t vote?
cuz the voting machine will straighten 'em out if the sheriff’s road block won’t
and if we’re short the supreme court will make the fat lady sing

so pick a good horse and win ya’ll pick a good horse and win

check the score: the civil war never changed a thing
we still play pick a good horse and win

STONES OF AUGUSTINE

One August day we traveled in my car past the pine scrubs and palmettos to the shore
we gamboled down uneven streets with a blanket and guitar, and puzzled over secrets that are sleeping
in the stones of Augustine

we heard champagne laughter drift in from the yachts and the Old Town vendors closing down their shops
the restaurants were filling up the street lights flickered on as night descended gently on the ocean
and the stones of Augustine

in that salty breeze we dreamed a different time when Africans sought shelter in these pines
they joined the tribes of Seminoles their children grew up free until Andrew Jackson’s army came a-prowling
down the stones of Augustine

by the promise of Oklahoma they brought to ruin what gunpowder alone could never do
then they bought this paradise from Spain that wasn’t theirs to sell
nobody knows how many tears have fallen on the stones of Augustine

all the hopes of the unconquered ones are living in these shells from the night the captured tribe slipped through the walls to follow common dreams, far from the stones of Augustine

a pelican skims across the darkened bay as my lover and I walk barefoot in the waves
in the moonlight on the ramparts of Castillo de San Marcos she said we’ll build a new foundation from the old stones of Augustine, these stones of Augustine

DEVILS RADIO

Now we live in modern times we got telephones and telephone lines
we got atomic clocks that measure the days we got satellites and microwaves
from a thousand papers you can choose even lighted billboards bring you the news
but no transmission comes quite as clear and that scandal channel from mouth to ear
and the spark for the fire that won’t go out is “have you heard?” from a scandalized mouth cuz gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio

well Myra told me what Ethyl said what Frankie heard from Ellen’s bed
from Samuel who was there he claims to hear what Cynthia heard from James
that Jaquelyn told her therapist from Harold who whispered it to Allan in the bathroom and I’ll tell you if you put your hand on this telephone directory swear you didn’t hear it from me
cuz gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio

there goes Jim that lucky old fuck 2 high school girls in his pickup truck
he made a million dollars lobstering spent it all on scratch lottery
his wife Judy’s been divorced 5 times still pretty as a picture at 79
her 3rd husband Harry the ex-marine with a Rolodex list of sex diseases
on the night he told the bar she was short on juice he found the front door locked, suitcase on the stoop
cuz gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio

that Suzy Q she’s the living end she starts drinking brandy about half past 10
had a hard time since late last fall when her brother was killed by a bowling ball
her daughter got pregnant in 94 in the bedroom section of a department store
runs in the family so they say hard to tell but it sure looks that way
her daddy was a minister in high regard until the day he pissed in the collection jar
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio
gossip is the devil’s radio gossip is the devil’s radio

THAT FIRE IN YOUR HEART
that fire in your heart is throwing sparks up in your head it don't much matter what you read bad news tends to fall away, course you can let it dim your night like shadows in candle light, till your stars are darkened blurs and your ground is tangled too.
That ocean in your eye, with its host of deadly fish, like some convoluted wish that you're glad will not come true but the wreck divers and their gear are lined up along those docks with all their hyperbaric talk the miracle is tonight they might all disappear and you might still be here
with a river running in your hands to some green and healthy place where the blossom gardens reach as far as feet can roam, but you won't pick up the telephone, it must really weigh a lot, does it weigh so much more than what you got? Call it a blessing, call it a curse, you know the choice has always been yours.
That glacier in your gut, you're always thinking nobody can tell, funny all them years you lived in hell, it never really seemed to melt at all, but i don't believe that you are stuck, no i think you know just what to do, i think you know just where to start, with that fire in your heart, with that fire in your heart.

COZY & WARM

We’re far apart that's alright with you
I only see you when I'm sleeping
last night I had a dream
I was holding you so cozy & warm
I wish it was like it was
I wish it was like it was

I want you here with me and you might do
all of my friends say I must be dreaming
I wish I was
then I’d be holding you so cozy & warm
and it would be like it was
and it would be like it was

Things change even I do
I still remain so sweet on you
come see me sometime
we will be holding each other
so cozy & warm
and it’ll be like it was
and it’ll be like it was

DIFFERENT KIND OF ARMY

Hey for the good ol' wars of the past when soldiering was fun
with the boot camp and shooting and acting cool and gettin a medal when we got done
of course now and then a few people got dead but we didn’t let it get us down
cuz it was good old fashioned hell on earth but I’m a different kind of army now it was good old fashioned hell on earth but I’m a different kind of army now

I had a little trouble down in Viet Nam it was thing they called the Viet Cong
I couldn’t see the enemy but killin civilians I decided it wasn’t wrong
well I dropped more bombs than in World War II but I lost that war somehow
I guess the people really didn’t want me there but I’m a different kind of army now I guess the people really didn’t want me there but I’m a different kind of army now

I always was a friend of Manuel Noriega he was working for the CIA
we used to have us some fun just smuggling drugs until he got a little uppity one day
to keep my military base he had to be replaced not to mention my canal
we dug mass graves and we buried em fast cuz I’m a different kind of army now we dug mass graves and we buried em fast cuz I’m a different kind of army now

silly Iraq they might as well have attacked us they had to be destroyed
we kept Americans confused with a shortage of news and flew over to try out our new toys
we used depleted uranium on Saddam Hussein and we contaminated every town
and half a million kids have died since then cuz I’m a different kind of army now half a million kids have died since then cuz I’m a different kind of army now

well the company testified years ago sayin congress we need more oil
and Osama Bin Laden we don’t even care if we got him we just want someone we can employ
yeah we’re insuring the globe is insecure as we know business leaders who are wealthy and proud
have got the best government that money can buy cuz I’m a different kind of army now they've got the best government that money can buy and I’m a different kind of army now

Now I’m making a list of who the enemy is in this complicated war
please don’t be alarmed if one day the army shows up at your door
cuz in times like this your freedom is at risk and there are weirdos in every crowd
I ain’t got time for your freedom of speech cuz I’m a different kind of army now

and freedom of assembly don’t even make me laugh I’m a different kind of army now so before I close the cell door on you here I just want to thank you for your tax support throughout the years


PERSONAL AD

Well I’ve been sitting in the dark almost every night
last one that left me left me so uptight
my personal ad was answered by you
do you mind if we screw this light bulb in

I haven’t had a shower in a short eternity
you might’ve met a lot of people but
nobody dirty as me
I don’t mean for you to get me wrong
I just want to completely be honest with you

My second hand last ditch rebound duck
so the photo wasn’t me well who really gives a fuck
you gonna take off your coat or should I turn off the heat
think I can find you a seat
there’s a Lazy Boy around here somewhere

Well I’ve heard there’s a wrong way to make new friends
can we hurry this up I got another date at ten
I got some condoms but believe it or not
I just wanna talk about my chronic incontinence


BURN THIS BRIDGE

Let’s burn this bridge that’s all that’s left to do
leave a smoking ledge so no one else can get through
let the pieces fall wherever they may hit
l’m gonna burn this bridge when I get to it

They say that violence is the silence of a mind with nothing to say
it may be true that my brain is to blame but anyway who are they to say
I tried to go their way I’ve listened to every word
but they just want to play and get on my last nerve so let’s burn this bridge tomorrow before dawn leave a smoking ledge and move on

BIKE FRIENDLY TOWN
This ain't no bike friendly town. Another day, another rider down, this ain't no bike friendly town.

You ride in a barge you like to call your car on a beautiful bright spring day, you must be really hating who you are since you're in such a hurry to get away. This ain't no bike friendly town.

Folks around here are swollen with local pride, and i just get tense. Yeah the yards may be lush on every side, but you can't see them from the stretchers in an ambulance. This ain't no bike friendly town.

I've been to bike friendly towns, and they look nothing like this. They got lanes, i said lanes, so the bicyclists don't get hit. Public parks and public transit, hell people even use their feet, 'cause there ain't six acres of parking lot on every single street. This ain't no bike friendly town, this ain't no bike friendly town, another day another rider down, this ain't no bike friendly town.

MAN YOU ONCE KNEW
He's not the man that you once knew when you walked along the highway as the cuckoo bird flew. He woke you with a whisper saying i love you, early in the morning. You can trace the line from his shoulder to his elbow, he's not the man you used to love so well, no he's not the man you used to know so well.

He's not the man that used to call up to your window with a mouthful of dreams and a bottle of wine. He used to make you glow like a lighthouse shrine early in the morning. Something must've happened he's not that fella, he's not the man you used to love so well, no he's not the man that you used to know so well.

You know love is supposed to change, and he never seems to notice when you're disappointed. Every spell has a breaking point. He never explains; he never seems to see the warnings. He just stands in his tower saying i wish i could help you, and he's not the man that you used to love so well, no he's not the man you used to know so well.

He's not the man that you used to love, he used to tell you honey i could never get enough. Let's go swimming in a hot steamy bathtub, early in the morning. He must've forgot what he used to tell you, he's not the man that you used to love so well, no he's not the man that you used to know so well.

He's not the man you used to love so well, every day was a palace under a magic spell. Now you wake up looking at an empty egg shell early in the morning. When he knocks at the barn-door you give him shelter but he's not the man that you used to love so well, no he's not the man that you used to know so well.

HAPPY LITTLE DOG
The dog is there for you if you want him to. He's hoping that you do. But if you don't, he's still a happy little dog.
See his cherry tongue and the little eyes that beg. Now he's jumping up and down and pissing on your leg. He's a happy little dog. Happy little dog with a happy little heart. Please don't get him excited or he yelps a lot he's not very smart. He's a happy little dog.