I said to the fortune teller

Won't you please read me my cards

She laid out the deck and asked me

How I'd ever gotten this far?

I was born by the sea of misfortune

I was dragged by thte scruff of my neck

Through the drought ravaged fields my house was built in

Irrigated lawns in an orange sunset

When I was grown I crawled out this city

Covered by a blanket of smoke

And I pulled myself up to higher ground

To look around before I choked

And now I'll fight both tooth and nail

Until I get when I'm going to get

I'll hang on with the jaws of a pit bull

I won't let go of what my vision is



I am the king of war

I am a rotten dove

I am the face of innocence lost

I can't find a thing to love



If you hear kicking or your hear screaming

From the coast of the valley high

And you hear of shootings or of beatings

Do you try and shield your eye?

Do you just chalk it up to a sign of the times?

Do you talk about the fighting?

Never stand up so much as feel uneasy

Never speak up so much as think we're dreaming



And I am the dream of a child

I am the doors of the tor store open wide

With my shelves picked clean and empty

I am the dream of a child



I was told what to be but not how to do it

Told to believe but not ever why

I go through days where it's always raining

My common sense says the sun's in the sky

Well is this faith to keep on trying

Or am I a dog who knows when to die?

I won't know a thing as my flesh turns to soil

These days they just rush by



I am the king of war

I am a rotten dove

I am the queen of your fortune

And I am your blind, blind love

I am the weight of your memory-a