Elegy

“May she rest in peace”
Said the rebel priest
As he laid his guitar in the fire
“To the god of opinion
All glory and dominion”
They sang as the flames danced higher

Used to bear in our bodies the bruises
From authorities we defied
Now I’m sorry to say that somewhere along the way
We became what we despised

Sold our souls for the promise of safety
Our inheritance purchased some stew
Our fears were too loud so we turned the music down
Now we can’t save you

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Parallel

Is this the path to heaven?
Is this the road to hell?
So far the broad and narrow
Highways are running parallel
I feel like a wolf in this wool
Feel sheepish wearing my fur coat
I’m just a wanderer with nowhere to call my home

We watch the shadows on the wall
We gaze now darkly through the glass
Like sailors tempest-tossed
And clinging to the mast
We wait like children for the dawning sun to pierce the veil
Until the morning light the night prevails

Is this the fond remission?
Is this the fare-thee-well?
A stillborn expedition
‘X’ marks the crossing where we fell
Is this the course correction?
A vow made on hallowed ground
We’re too far in both directions
For us to turn back now

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Cosmic Darkness

He smells of cosmic darkness and his eyes are filled with rage
Now he’s marching with the acolytes of a prehistoric age
When this car leaves the driveway I don't think it's coming back
But even Christ dropped the cross three times so I'll cut you you some slack

It's a tall ladder to climb
To stare down at the flat surface of time
Your hands may shake, your heart will dive
Dancing on the floor where the villains thrive
Gears turn too many times
It's so hard to see through these blurred lines
You can’t sleep 'cause your mind's in drive
Crossing off the days until the ghosts arrive

Dull teeth in your chainsaw
Wishing you were running with the old outlaws
These architects and masterminds
One step too slow is two steps behind
So spin this straw into gold
Just leave me a little in case I get cold
Cause I'm alone in this grey jail
I can leave when I want but to leave is to fail

When this car leaves the drive it disappears into the black
But even Christ dropped the cross three times so I’ll still have your back

Lyrics: Brian Rogers
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

User

Well I bleed my blood like the earth bleeds oil
Wanna scratch this itch, wanna breach the soil
Wanna turn me out, wanna see my soul
Wanna burn me up like the blackest coal

Have I felt all that I'm ever gonna feel?
Have I broken more than time could ever heal?
I'm a user, I'm a user, and I'll take what you can give
I'm a user every day I live

Well the smoke goes up from a billion cars
And it blocks the light from a billion stars
Never trade my legs for a pair of shoes
Never clip my wings for a bird's-eye view

Have I felt all that I'm ever gonna feel?
Have I broken more than time could ever heal?
I'm a user, I'm a user, and I'll drink this river dry
I'm a user 'til the day I die

Well my destiny is a westward charge
Manifest in me in a restless heart
Tried to make my name in the shifting sand
Tried to stake my claim in an avalanche

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Eight Wing

I'm an all or nothing guy in a world of compromise
Some might say that that's a lie
What do they know?
I have a vision in my mind I will make and realize
I won't be bought or take a bribe to let it go

So if you say “It's okay, just behave”
You can't quite understand
What this means to me, this litany
This is my legacy

So stop stop running, there's a brick wall coming
Won't give way or bend my will
Until the last man's folded cause I'm locked and loaded
And I'm aiming for the kill
Never play ball, winner takes all
So you can stand aside
Or we can do this hard way tonight

Some might say I'm in the wrong
Why can't we all just get along
After all it's just a song
What do they know?
A composition for the lyre
A motivation and desire
It's like a warm and raging fire in the snow

And they chide me, “It's highly unlikely
”You'll never make it through”
But they strain to see what's plain to me
This is my legacy

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Matches, Mathematics, and Me

You take a step
Hold out your hand
It glows bright like a firebrand
I draw my sword
Deflect the blow
In a bid to maintain control
As my sentries all rush to the breach
And I bury my heart beneath
The weight of time and silent scars
I have learned to survive you hide who you are

But you won't let me go
Draw me in close so I can see
That you won't let me go
Now that we know how this can be

So light a match and set me free
From the man I've been trying to be
I've done the math and I can tell
There's no chance of this ending well
They say Rome wasn't built in a day
It'll fall the exact same way
Brick by brick, and stone by stone
I will make this a place that you can call home

And I won't let you go
Draw you in close so you can see
That I won't let you go
Now that we know how this can be

I've spent my life building castles to
Keep out the pain, finding substitutes
Idle idols built from vain pursuits
Give them one inch and they'll stage a coup
Digging deeper in the earthen floor
Awake to what I've been longing for
Something vital like a molten core
Fierce and burning, my heart's yearning for more

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

All My Luck is Bad

She’s got a new haircut and tattoo
The radio bangin’ those I-40 blues
A .38 in the drawer
With a Bible nobody reads no more
It’s a high price to spend
For these lost souls aren’t your friends
Are you still having fun
You’ve become quite the prodigal son

Left behind guns and photographs
All they are are memories
Said I’d never forget this town
But it doesn’t remember me
Now all the joys of flesh and gold
Are yours to touch and spend
But the devil has no self-control
And the house always seems to win

Father Time’s still undefeated
This time it feels like he cheated
If I had seen this twist
Would have dressed nicer than this
Now we’re going through all five stages
And I think it’s gonna take ages
But a train’s gotta stay on its tracks
I’ll try and paint over the cracks

Tell me are you a gambling man

As the dice fly out of your hand
Things I didn’t say but I wish I had
Seems all my luck is bad

Lyrics: Brian Rogers
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Same Page

Another day you wake up and you read
Another friend with an impassioned plea
Advertisers telling you what you need
And everyone's so quick to tell you what you should believe
It's so easy to get your signals crossed
You can't keep track of all the time you lost
Watching the people looking for applause
Braggin' they're on the bandwagon for every single cause

And it never ends
And who are you when this carousel you're on stops
And you get to think your own thoughts
I'll take your hand
Be your place to stand
I know it's been harder lately
But I think that it's amazing when

You know just what I'm thinking
Without me even speaking
Our beats are so in sync and
We're on the same page, we're on the same page
When you're looking for direction
And my pain can't find expression
We've got that brain connection
We're on the same page, we're on the same page, baby

Arm in arm, we've got the strongest armor
I'll be your refuge from all of the drama
The hypocrites with their confident comments
No self-awareness I'm embarrassed for them to be honest
Since I met you this is how we do
You get me when no one else has a clue
Always lockin' eyes from across the room
Like Jim and Pam you're the camera that I look into

And I'm not saying we'll always agree
There's room for individuality
We wanted love and not assimilation
Made it my mission to assist in all the dreams you're chasin'
But when the pressure comes from all sides
Won't rat you out cause we're ride-or-die
I got your back and you got mine
On the same team, baby, til the next life

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Give Me That Evil

I can tell it ain't amateur hour
Know it's not your first rodeo
But there's some dust on that ivory tower
Dead bulbs in the afterglow
On a scale from 1 to 0
Can this paper tiger roar
Just like one of those tragic heroes
Always winning battles and losing wars

So give me that evil, I'll grind my teeth
Tell the heavy hitters put the blade back in the sheath
Lay down the nets, take what you can carry
Like the diamond dogs and real mercenaries

Always were a prisoner of the moment
Dark reminder of things to come
Maybe I should stop counting my footsteps
Opened all these doors now go walk through one
We've reached the end of the advent
A cracked wall of alumni
Everyone waiting for ascent
A thousand years of saying that end is nigh

Curse the day I fell up on this (beware the wolf)
Now it's sinking in the claws (dressed as a lamb)
Falling straight into the abyss (the heavy hoof)
Evil’s clamping down its jaws (the immortal ram)
Curse the day I fell up on this (personal nicotine)
Now it's sinking in the claws (feel the dopamine)
Falling straight into the abyss (shake off the Dramamine)
Evil’s clamping down its jaws

Lyrics: Brian Rogers
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Primordial Calligraphy

Headed towards the dark age now
Could I bum a light

To burn down these castle walls
You’ve lived in all your life
Shutting out these sentinels that watched you through the night
You may see the slings and arrows but you never see the knife

Knights and demons will demolish all the metal monsters in the trees
Empty churches in the forest all reading the primordial calligraphy
I’m not one to seek nostalgia but it lurks in places I don’t see
VHS and faded puzzles, bygone relics of a family tree

Layin’ in this tiny room
You feel so far away
The tide rolls out and the waves die down
They’ll fight another day
The fog rolls in and chokes the light
The stars will lick their wounds and hide
Sleepin’ in the attic on a humid night
Just trying to enjoy the ride

Lyrics: Brian Rogers
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

S.O.S.

(spoken)
Hello! Is anybody there? Can anybody hear me? I’m trapped inside this room!

A match is lit, a fire is born
A wolf is clawing at the door
On wretched wings the smoke slips in
It fills my lungs, my breath grows thin

When will I wake up from this nightmare that I’m living?
When will this madness end? I need a new beginning

Can anybody hear me screaming? Save me!
Can anybody hear me call?

My back is bowed beneath these chains
My thoughts plunge daggers in my brain
Feels like a prison inside me
Can’t see the light, I can’t break free

Can anybody hear me screaming?
Save me! Save me!
I’m calling at the top of my lungs
Can anybody hear me screaming?
Save me! Save me!
Cause I don’t want to die tonight
Come pull me out of this alive

The end is approaching
Everything seems hopeless
My cries gather no reply
Who cares if I live or die?
I feel like I’m going insane
But I can’t give in
I’ll fight through the pain
Life hangs by a thread
Can this really be it?
I want to be saved
I want to live!

Lyrics: Daniel Gregory Stidham and Aaron Farnsworth
Music: Raid the Quarry
© 2022, Raid the Quarry

Disaster Artist

I wonder if you recall
The perfect day we had last fall
What did it make you feel
When we watched the sunset from on high
And I held your hand on the bus ride
Thought we had something real

But it’s just like you
To change your mind again
Your art is disaster and I’m your masterpiece
Caught in the whirlwind
And it’s just like me
To keep coming back for more
Guess I’m not the best at learning my lessons
Third time’s a charm and we’re going on four

Yes, I can, I can take a hint
But I’d rather make you say it
You never cared, so baby, there’s no reason I need you around
I made my peace when you were gone
Suffered, forgave, and then moved on
Then you came back to town
And like a child playing with a balloon
You’ll crush my heart just to see what it’ll do
Shoulda known better, baby, you’ll never follow through

Lyrics and music by Daniel Gregory Stidham
© 2016, Raid the Quarry

Moments

Light begins to fade behind us
Showering the skies with pink
The sun burns out and cools the evening
We just sit and watch it sink
So I turn and catch a ray of dusk
That flickers in the vibrant skies
And like a playful lightning bug
It darts across your thoughtful eyes

In this moment I’m transported to a place I know I’ve never been (I may have always been)
It’s so familiar, strange, enticing, daunting, yet it pulls me in

And it doesn’t matter where we go tonight
I’m sure wherever we end up that it will be alright
And it doesn’t matter what we do
Cause I just want to be with you
Hold me til the stars have said goodnight

So whisper soft “Don’t let me go”
Or else I may be lost, amazed
Entangled, breathless, hanging
In the balance of your stunning gaze
I may not move for any sound
Might bring this fragile dream down broken
And if I cannot speak or smile
My heart will voice these words unspoken

I’ve seen the desert sunset
I’ve seen ruined ramparts in Beijing
But castle walls and waterfalls
Never mean that much to me
With your head on my shoulder I’m right where I need to be
Darling, can’t you see?
Yeah yeah yeah

Think fast, move slow
Hold me tight before I go
And we will savor twilight

Lyrics and music by Daniel Gregory Stidham
© 2016, Raid the Quarry

Fox Mulder

What use was the rule I followed if it brought me here?
We prayed and sang and we raised our hands but you did not appear
Is there coming a day when all of this will be made clear?

So let’s seek til we find
We’ll test the spirits in our hearts and minds

I’ve been walking the path unseen for so long
Am I slipping away? I’m barely holding on
Is there help for the questions inside me?
I want to believe, just give me one reason

If you had believed in vain would you want to know you’re wrong?
Or if life just a game we make up as we go along?
Can anyone really find the truth by weighing pros and cons?

Is my faith just a crutch? Is the suffering too much?
If there’s a god in this world is he unjust?
Am I living a lie? Won’t find out til I die
Why?

We’ll test the spirits and we won’t fear the answers
The fire is where the smoke leads

Lyrics and music by Daniel Gregory Stidham
© 2016, Raid the Quarry

Worst of Both Worlds

I don’t want to see you
But I’m praying for your call
You know that I need you
So you’re stringing me along
You can’t keep a promise
You only keep time
What will you do with all you stole from mine? Woah…

You are the worst of both worlds
You’re not a girl
You’re just the beat that’s leaving me behind
You are the worst of both worlds
You’re not a girl
You’re just the tragedy I need in my life

We were never together
But it feels like we’re breaking up
We go through the heartache
But never have a chance for love
It’s a sick twist of fate
I need you just to go on
Without you I can’t even play this song, woah…

You’re just the beat that I’m leaving behind

Lyrics and music by Daniel Gregory Stidham
© 2016, Raid the Quarry

Priority One

I come alive when the sun goes down
Priority one: get out of town
I feel so stuck here anymore
The itch for adventure, I’ve got it bad
You feel it too, so pack your bags
We’ll push that pedal to the floor

Cause if you’re down tonight let’s go
And if you’re up for it let’s leave
We’ve got everything we want
Because there’s drinks on ice and the radio’s free

We’re taking this on the road
Passions deep in our souls
We stashed our dreams in floorboards
Hope is our stowaway
We’re street sharks trying to survive
Movement means we’re alive
Four cylinders and four doors
Carry us away

We’re not gonna sleep til we cross state lines
And bid farewell to the Land of Mines
Our dead-end jobs won’t miss us there
It’s in my veins, the neon glow
The city lights, the rock and roll
A brand new wind blows through my hair

Cause in the Mountain State I’ve found
That all the shops are dead by ten
So let’s roll the windows down
And go where the music’s still pumping at three am

Stop in the middle of the street
And slow this down, slow it down
Life from around us floats in on the breeze
We’ve never felt so free
So come awake with me
Come awake and see
The cigarettes and dive bars of our urban odyssey
Come awake with me

Lyrics and music by Daniel Gregory Stidham
© 2016, Raid the Quarry