They Provide the Paint - Streetlight Manifesto

Track 08 off of 99 Songs of Revolution, Volume I. Streetlight Manifesto’s version of They Provide the Paint by Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution.

Lyrics:
There is a man with no face and a name I dont remember always in the house in the middle of the woods
And he said once Son, dont you laugh out loud for they are listening, oh, they are listening.
Oh youve got to be strong, Oh, youve got to keep holding on. Its now just a matter of time

They provide the paint for the picture perfect masterpiece that you will paint on the insides of your eyelids;
Can you possibly see anything you want to see? No (Hell No!) Theres nothing wrong with the way I see
And he wanted to be a soldier in the next great war he wanted to kill and fight and maim but not be told what he was fighting for.
And thats the way its gonna have to be my friend, and thats the way its gonna have to be my friend.
I passed a man on the corner in the city yesterday singing, Yada yada yada and tomorrow itll end. I never thought Id live to see another sunny day
But Im here and I fear I’ll be here until the end.

So watch your mouth, or youre gonna make a grave mistake.
Hold your tongue, or youre gonna catch a bullet in the head.
Watch your mouth, or youre gonna make a grave mistake.
Dont die for anything less than the best of life.

The things he said went to your head, you never tried to understand: "What they take you will never take back,
‘Cause they take what they take when they can cause they can from you.
You follow me and you follow me but you never ask why and I wonder what youre under could this be another piece
Of the, I dont care I just do what they say because they say what to do in a matter-of-fact way.
Dont stop because you might get burned and you might just learn to stand on your own two feet
And I think that its neat how you learn to repeat everything that you hear in the street so well.

Learn to repeat everything that you hear so well
Learn to repeat everything that you hear so well

And everyone was resting because they thought it was the end
And even if it wasnt they decided theyd pretend
And somewhere in the distance I could hear him whispering
You can fight all you want they will win in the end.

Sometimes in the evening when Im lying in my bed, I am taken to the forest to the isolated shed,
And I wake with his words resonating in my head and I cant stop thinking about the gist of what he said.

So watch your mouth, or youre gonna make a grave mistake.
Hold your tongue or youre gonna catch a bullet in the head.
Watch your mouth or youre gonna make a grave mistake.
Dont die for anything less than the best of
Everyone settles for the rest not the best of
I will die for no less than the best of life.