⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING – SET LIST FIFTEEN (15)
This set contains intense political rhetoric, violent imagery, psychological distress, and anti-institutional themes, often delivered through satire, sarcasm, and exaggerated bravado.
Several songs blur the line between metaphor and menace, especially when discussing revolution, violence, and social collapse.
Listener discretion is advised.
PRIMARY CONTENT FLAGS
VIOLENCE & REVOLUTIONARY IMAGERY
"Flim Flam Man," "Solving Problems," "Messy Room," "Sign of the Times," "Heavy Machines" contain: Violent metaphors. Threatening language. Mentions of weapons, explosions, fists, blood, and fate being "sealed". Revolutionary rhetoric that escalates from frustration into confrontation.
"The weapon is loaded / There will soon be explosions"
"Aim is taken and fate is sealed"
These themes are not instructional, but they are emotionally charged and aggressive, which may be distressing to some listeners.
MENTAL HEALTH / PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS
"Shield," "Story of My Life," "Monarch," "Brain Games," "Floating Head" explore: Avoidance and cowardice as survival strategies. Self-loathing disguised as humor. Chronic indecision and paralysis. Cycles of emotional manipulation and obsession. Feeling trapped inside one's own mind.
There are no explicit suicide instructions, but several songs express nihilism, despair, and emotional exhaustion.
PARANOIA / ANTI-SYSTEM RHETORIC
"Come to Me," "Other Times," "Heavy Machines," "Sign of the Times" include: Distrust of institutions (government, media, religion, corporations). "Divide and conquer" narratives. Apocalyptic or revolutionary framing. Us-vs-them thinking.
These themes may be triggering for listeners sensitive to conspiracy thinking, political extremism, or social unrest.
GRAPHIC & DISTURBING IMAGERY
"Messy Room" includes vivid depictions of: Bloodshot eyes. Cold steel (implied weaponry). Violent fantasies becoming "real".
"Solving Problems" escalates from verbal dominance into implied physical violence.
EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION / TOXIC DYNAMICS
"Brain Games," "Monarch," "Floating Head" depict: Power struggles in relationships. Gaslighting. Cycles of resentment. Identity erosion through conflict.
STRONG LANGUAGE & OFFENSIVE TERMS
Frequent profanity
Derogatory insults
Aggressive confrontational tone throughout several tracks
WHO SHOULD USE CAUTION
This set may be difficult for listeners who:
Are sensitive to violence or weapon imagery
Are experiencing anger dysregulation or paranoia
Have trauma related to political unrest, extremism, or civil conflict
Are seeking calm, healing, or emotionally safe material
SUMMARY
Set List 15 is raw, combustible, and unapologetically confrontational.
It documents a mind oscillating between withdrawal ("Shield") and eruption ("Sign of the Times"), using satire and intellectual bravado as armor.
This is anger processed through language, not resolution — a portrait of someone circling the edge of action, daring the world to push back.
Proceed knowing this set does not soothe — it provokes.
LIMINAL STATE
SET LIST FIFTEEN (15)
1 Shield
2 Story of My Life
3 Floating Head
4 Come To Me
5 Flim Flam Man
6 Other Times (first part)
7 Solving Problems
8 Messy Room
9 Monarch
10 Heavy Machines
11 Brain Games
12 Chit Chat Chatter
13 Sign of the Times
SET LIST 15 — LIMINAL STATE — RATED PG-13 — COLLABTUNES.COM · 433 songs · 34 albums · free to use with name credit
34 ALBUMS LYRICS FREE TO USE
RATED PG-13
SET LIST 15 — LIMINAL STATE
13 tracks · read them or hear them
WHY THIS PAGE TALKS. These lyrics are free to use with name credit. What you hear is a plain spoken reading — no melody, no tune, no imitation of any singer. It is here so a musician can hear the natural cadence and phrasing of the words as written, then build their own music on top. Nothing borrows a melody from anybody, and nothing tells you what yours should sound like. The words are the material. The music is yours.
Read the words on the page itself → · ← All readers
1. SHIELD · 2. STORY OF MY LIFE · 3. FLOATING HEAD · 4. COME TO ME · 5. FLIM FLAM MAN · 6. OTHER TIMES · 7. SOLVING PROBLEMS · 8. MESSY ROOM · 9. MONARCH · 10. HEAVY MACHINES · 11. BRAIN GAMES · 12. CHIT CHAT CHATTER · 13. SIGN OF THE TIMES
1. SHIELD
by Tom Jensen
"Either write something worth reading
or do something worth writing"
Looks like Benjamin Franklin's right again
So rather than be a man of action
I'm off to get my pen...
Whatever keeps me free from blame
Surely, that's the choice I'll choose
For in this game I never said I had to win
I'm happy to draw if it means I don't lose
Call me a coward
Call me what you will
While you're crawling among the fallen
Well, I'll be standing still
So what if I'm standing still?
At least treading water
Means that I'm still alive
Just look here at my great big book
So what if it lacks a spine?
It makes for a magnificent shield
Which I use to hind behind
And I hide behind it all the time
2. STORY OF MY LIFE
by Tom Jensen
I just picked up my pen
It's been God knows when
Since I really tried
To see something through to the end
And now I'm back at it again
Don't know just where to begin
Sifting through the rubble
Digging myself out of trouble
Won't someone come and burst my bubble?
Unentrap me
and I'll simply walk away happily
I'm just waiting for the time to be right
Always hesitating…
That's the story of my life
Probably cost me a dozen loving wives
To think that I might have made it
Had I acted on what I knew
Everyone knows I've always said it
But why are there some things
That we can just never do?
3. FLOATING HEAD
by Tom Jensen
I'm a white boy with no rhythm
And even less soul
I've faced the fact
that I'll probably be like this
Until my last days of growing old
Hell, what I've been told
You know I just won't allow
myself to believe it
Every girlfriend I've ever had
Tells me I dance just like a quadriplegic
I give….They take
They live…I die trying to save
A drowning doggy from the lake
I give…And they take some more
Both me and the doggy
Never paddle back to shore
(Because I have no arms and legs)
4. COME TO ME
by Tom Jensen
You were right
to come to me...
When you wanna learn
about the system
uh ha
About how the
powers that be
Try to keep
greatness down
So that people like me
Lose our will to fight
and resist them
uh ha
Divide and conquer...
The oldest trick
in the book
Mix in politics
and religion
Add a little
gender and race
Into this melting pot
And now they're
ready to cook
uh ha
Can you hear
us screaming?
As we're being
boiled alive
Oh, oh they say
we're dreaming
If we want more out
of life than to survive
uh ha uh ha
You were right to
come to me...
When you wanna
learn all about love
uh ha
About how I have no doubt
That the greatest feelings
Come from the inside out
The light within shines
brighter than the light above
uh ha
Falling in love
is overrated
While growing to love
Is what true love
is really made of
This is the truth
that is rarely stated
It's such a simple idea
You know that
greeting cards hate it
5. FLIM FLAM MAN
by Tom Jensen
Flim flam man
Flim flam man
You would have me understand
You hold my whole world in your hands
But that's a lie I've found out your plans
About me or my you don't give a damn
You only build so you can break
You give… just so you can take
And I've grown tired
Of fakes and flakes
For goodness sakes
I've had it up to here
Not sure how much more
I can take before
I make a big mistake
The weapon is loaded
There will soon be explosions
I'm leading the legions
To a new Eden, yeah!
The countdown has been ticking
Since the problem needs a fixing
As the balance keeps on shifting
Many people've been predicting
The coming of a fight
Say it might be going down tonight
But those who are likewise heady
Know it's been happening already
And by the time we get to see it
There will be no way to defeat it
Everybody have to beat it (OW!)
That's bad in black or white
No other colors needed
'Cauce once you see you start bleeding…
You're only trying to stay alive
To hell with getting even!
6. OTHER TIMES
by Tom Jensen
The more get less as less get more
They keep on raising the ceiling
While dropping the floor
The rich get richer
Those in the middle grow poor
When will the soldiers realize
They've been fighting the wrong war?
There's a curtain of silence
Now draping over this island
It blows in from the highlands
Where everything's in ruins
So many were trapped there stranded
Left right where they were standing
Poor fools lacking the tools
Who got caught not knowing the rules
We all know what leads you
Your reputation precedes you
You may say you've changed
Still no one believes you
Healing takes time
Mending broken minds
When the wound cut deep
To all the way inside
As my luxuries
have become necessities
I'm being slowly stripped
of my spirituality
This lack of harmony
within humanity
Has begun eating away at me
I can't decide
if this is a side effect
Or the scheme behind the plan
I don't know where it's going
What I was or who I am
Positivity triggers mental agility
While negativity kills our ability
To foresee a future better than the present
As intuition tunes us in to what isn't evident
Every pauper's voice
shall be equal to the president's
When we get things right
no more will we be hesitant
To speak out against
what we feel isn't right
Sometimes love heals
other times it starts the fight
7. SOLVING PROBLEMS
by Tom Jensen
Precision beats power
and timing beats speed
I walk up to the biggest motherfucker
and see that he's afraid of me
My defiance and disdain
Act as my suit of armor
Your reliance on the same old same old
Leaves you distressed while I get calmer
When things change
Chaos thrives
Those stuck in chains
Will not survive
Minds with walls
Will not evolve
The riddle remains
The puzzle's unsolved
Cunning and wit can have the same effect
To soothe the savage into deep introspect
Or else prove to the farmer he's incorrect
That a peaceful life is what is best
Yeah, you told me the price
And yet knew not the value
The trouble was the bubble
They been trying to sell you
It's gonna burst there's no doubt
You were the first man in
but the last one out
You lost your shirt,
your spouse and then your house
You're playing in the dirt
so why you still running your mouth?
Punk! Life just damn knocked your ass out!
I suggest you stop talking and think about it
Cork that kettle before you go off spouting
Oh shit… he's still dribbling toxins
And just the sight of him is making me nauseous
When I get like this it's best to be cautious
It can lead to flying fists
or else me dropping logic
I got answers to your questions
either way the problem's gettin' solved, kid!
Precision beats power and timing beats speed
I walk up to the biggest motherfucker
and see that he's afraid of me
8. MESSY ROOM
by Tom Jensen
The smoke from my cigarette
encases me like a tomb
As the aura of my bitterness
becomes happier with gloom
Don't you fret but can't you sense
the oncoming distress?
When you live inside your mind
because this world is a mess
Yes, there is danger out on the street
Faces of anger for you to meet
And some even stranger and others you can't see
The chosen ones that always were
Along with those that'll never be
What we have found are many faces walking
While looking down at the ground
Hear the echoing of malicious words
The first time they were ever heard
See the small hands that have grown
And the fists that have been thrown
Traversing the uneven roads that we have traveled
While watching the moral fabric that's unraveled
When a sweaty palm fuses with cold steel
A hand extends but does not feel
A pokered-face turns the tables after a bad deal
As fantasy vengeance has now become real
Pent-up aggression can no longer be concealed
Aim is taken and fate is sealed
Two eyes full of blood are suddenly revealed
As fantasy vengeance has now become real
Don't you fret but can't you sense
the oncoming distress?
When you live inside your mind
because this world is a mess
9. MONARCH
by Tom Jensen
My demons act as faithful dogs
Arriving as if summoned
How do they know even before me
That there's trouble coming?
If I let go of my anger for you
Then baby I'll have nothing left
Maybe that's what I should do?
Perhaps that's for the best…
Playing stupid games
Will only win you stupid prizes
Truth never needed many words
Or any veil or disguises
They say never let 'em see you sweat
And don't stay crying in your beer
Yeah, all those good words of advice
Passed right on through my ears
When it feels guilty to laugh
Tell everyone your secret
Such burdens from the past
We all know you don't need it
If feelings are not facts
Why do words carve like knives?
As the scars left in the aftermath
Reflect two broken lives
Give the people some bread
For they just want another circus
And it's hurting my head
Knowing I don't deserve this…
I'm a prisoner of my brain
A victim of biology
How does a butterfly find its way?
Maybe by using astrology
10. HEAVY MACHINES
by Tom Jensen
I try to comprehend infinity
While operating heavy machinery
And that's just by using my brain
While slowly jogging in the passing lane
Of time and space and rhyme and plane
I'm trying to see just what makes me
Superior to royalty
probably because of my belief
In fairness and equality
to the nth degree for all humanity
Which unfortunately includes
the sufferers of insanity
Stupidity, vanity…
Are you kidding me?
I have to fight for them, too?
Couldn't we just let them be?
For each one of them
just add one to get their I.Q.
– yup….it's two….
When that's your crew
what the hell you gonna do?
It sure beats me…So I ask you
The time has come
Something must be done
The time has come
We are the chosen ones
The time has come
No longer can we run from this
Sure I talked a lot of s%^t
But I never made a stand
Can't take back any of it
Well that's not what I have planned
Time to let the new revolution begin
All this time I've been blaming myself
When I should have been blaming you and you….
And her and him
This crazy look inside my eye
Should tell you a little bit about me
There's so much that I despise
So many things that keep me from being free
So let us make a list of the biggest causes
Of our collective misery
11. BRAIN GAMES
by Tom Jensen
Brain games... Brain games...
She's been playing brain games
'Cause he's been playing brain games
'Cause she's been playing brain games
Since you get what you give...
You just get more of the same...
Brain games... Brain games...
She's been playing brain games
'Cause he's been playing brain games
'Cause she's been playing brain games
What a horrible way to live...
When it's as monotonous as the rain
As lovers turn to strangers
Or couples that I call not lovers but painers
When their broken hearts fill up
Then start brimming over with anger
As Valentine's Day greeting cards
Are blank and black except for the word 'danger'
And soon refused and remarked
'Won't you please return to sender'
For sure sometimes silence is golden
If or when speechless
if and when powerless you are rendered
Or when hurting words into your mind enter
It is surely better to refrain...
Rather than play brain games...
Brain games...Brain games...
Since you get what you give...
You just get more of the same...
Brain games... Brain games…
12. CHIT CHAT CHATTER
by Tom Jensen
Chit chat chatter...
Can you hear their teeth rattle
As if underneath the warm breath
Of a baby and his rattle
Chit chat chatter...
Does it really matter
Speaking just to fill one's idle time
Without expressing what's on your mind
Chit chat chatter...
All the words blend together
Like the birds of a flock
Birds of the same feather
Chit chat chatter...
As words end up in a blender
And the thoughts get lost
When there's no core at the center
Chit chat chatter...
From the circling tongues
Never ending, never starting
Once the talking has begun
Chit chat chatter...
Sometimes the words hurt
Sometimes the words flatter
To me it all sounds the same
Chit chat chatter...
As their oohs and their ahhs
Resemble goos and gahs
One's candle of thought
Slowly loses its flame
13. SIGN OF THE TIMES
by Tom Jensen
Calling all revolutionary reformists
Just how long can we ignore this?
Somebody's gotta try to resist
Before the boot gets too big
Sure, in my heart stands a pacifist
But behind him stands a line of people
Who are pissed and it's a sign of the times
When it actually has to come down to this....
I fell down….
When I felt a smack to the back of my head
Yeah, and so….
Didn't the sign I was holding which read:
World Trade Organization
You had best be on your way…
We're sick and tired of evil corporations
Getting caught
and then just changing their names
Sometimes all it takes
To create a crime
Is the wrong word
At the wrong time
To push a man
Not unlike myself
Right over the edge
Right across the line
I can see that now
This time like never before
A new place to go
Just waiting to be explored
So...just know that my last
Gasping breath will be spent
Denouncing at length against
Whatever corrupt powers that be
And judging not all but some
Without regards to
Or from they're from
Whether or not they must pay a penalty
Calling all revolutionary reformists
Just how long can we ignore this?
Somebody's gotta try to resist
Before the boot gets too big
Sure, in my heart stands a pacifist
But behind him stands a line of people
Who are pissed and it's a sign of the times
When it actually has to come down to this....
COLLABTUNES.COM · free to use with name credit · the words are free, the music is yours