⚠ TRIGGER WARNING — SET LIST TWENTY (20) — THE COST OF LIGHT Lead Rating: PG-13 | GX Points: 23 Set List 20 focuses on identity, purpose, burnout, idealism under pressure, and the slow erosion of hope. The pain here is not spectacle — it's cumulative. These songs document what happens when someone tries to live consciously inside systems that reward conformity, speed, and numbness. This is a set about almost breaking, not about already being broken. CORE THEMES AND POTENTIAL TRIGGERS: - Existential anxiety and loss of direction - Depression, self-doubt, and emotional fatigue - Addiction recovery and relapse anxiety (Dying Day) - Fear of wasted potential and creative paralysis (Fields of Time) - Identity erosion under societal pressure - Disillusionment with politics, media, and social narratives - Class consciousness and power imbalance (Plankton, Perfect World) - Burnout from capitalism, productivity culture, and "the grind" - Feeling unseen, unanchored, or disposable CONTENT NOTES: "Dying Day" includes addiction imagery, moral struggle, and end-of-life reflection. "Another Quarter" directly references depression, self-doubt, emotional breakdown, and fear of running out of time. "Fields of Time" centers on delayed dreams, regret, and creative despair. "Plankton" uses dehumanizing metaphors to critique systems that render individuals insignificant. "Perfect World" addresses systemic injustice, war profiteering, domestic anger, and emotional alienation. WHO SHOULD USE CAUTION: Depression or existential dread / Feeling trapped by systems / Creative burnout or fear of failure / Loss of faith in institutions / Loneliness disguised as independence / Idealism turning into exhaustion Set List 20 is the sound of someone still fighting — but tired. It believes change is possible, but no longer trusts easy answers. Hope exists here, but it is conditional, fragile, and hard-won.

SET LIST 20 — THE COST OF LIGHT 1. Undefeated 2. Dying Day 3. Fields of Time 4. Running Free 5. New Sight 6. Right By Sight 7. Off the Road 8. Rock Star Dreams 9. Plankton 10. Perfect World 11. Linear 12. Learn From the Masters 13. Another Quarter (1) UNDEFEATED I ain't got no plans this minute So I'm seizing the moment - I'm in it I'm not losing or winning - Just present Not up, not down - I'm all around From the cities to the towns To the horses and the plows Not the just the black or the white But every face in the crowd If you can see it you can be it If you wish to delete it then don't repeat it Some good advice to those who seek it Though those luckier than me might not need it Sure you can try to pin for the win When the argument becomes heated But a sly guy vies for the tie Because only Father Time is undefeated What about space? That's a whole 'nother race We started with the moon then wouldn't you know pretty soon It was on to Mars and that's just so far There's more in store we keep raising the bar I'd rather not roam Stick closer to home Preserve what we have Before that's all gone (2) DYING DAY I've given up on feeding my addiction Wash my bleeding hands clean From this filthy affliction Look up at the sky to guide my direction Why oh why do I even try To strive for perfection Get it up, get it out Put another on the shelf Rip in and pull it out Give away another piece of yourself Try to show what so many others hide In their sense of pride With their tongues they lied And then became tongue-tied And with a cross look they denied Knowing not which law they abide in Be it gin... sin... kin? So they just play pretend Yet where one man's rainbow ends... Another's begins At least I've found mine... Never stop trying Or else face regrets On the day of your dying Yes, the times are getting better They say tomorrow is the day Maybe then we can live forever Or at the very least we can all live together It sure sounds good - that much I'll say For when we live the dream We may finally sleep in peace Holding and protecting What was once so out of reach The times are getting better They say tomorrow is the day Yesterday is history Time to let it slip away Let it out, free yourself, it's okay The times are getting better They say tomorrow is the day You built your wall... now let it fall, it's okay The times are getting better They say tomorrow is the day For hope and faith is what we need The time is right to take up this creed Finally something positive in which to believe Aside from learning the obvious fact That we all bleed For once we have found the eternal spring We can sit back and see what it will bring Maybe countrymen, maybe kings... Maybe even better things The times are getting better They say tomorrow is the day Maybe then we can live forever Or at the very least all together It sure sounds good At least that much I'll say (3) FIELDS OF TIME I've been growing up And am slowly becoming a man I'm twenty-four years old And doing the best that I can I've got big dreams But I've had to put them on hold Thus the way it presently looks to me Is that my one true calling might never be As my big book of poetry Just keeps on getting dusty and old And the people who I am trying to help They no longer trust in me Gave up on waiting for me To finally fulfill my destiny Such a waste of a mind like mine Wasting its time on carpentry I've got to simply find the time To collect up my rhymes If it is still not too late To change the world's fate Because some of my stuff is so great Somebody has to publish me Just look at all the seeds I've sewn Look and see how they've grown Throughout the fields of time It damn near blew my mind That nearly all the weeds are gone Oh see the sun and how it shines Not a single cloud left in the sky Now I don't mean to sound so surprised... If there's a God then he or she knows Just how hard I have tried He or she sees the seas I have swam And knows all the mountains I've climbed Sees how much I have grown Knows of all the tears I have cried Senses every fear that I hide When no one cares that I am Sitting here all alone Pondering how to get blood from a stone But lately I have since changed my tune I now get to see the flowers in bloom Reaping the rewards of years of hard work On this lazy afternoon Feeling the sun and all of its warmth As if every month is April, May or June (4) RUNNING FREE Do you remember what you were Before the world told you what you had to be? Back in the haze of the days A distant memory of running free Then what happened to my mom and dad It came calling for me I ran for a while and tried to hide But you see eventually... Race baiting wars are waiting For those who get scooped up in the media spin A tidal wave of hate and fear Still the celebrities, car wrecks and sex keep you sucked in Remember not everyone who smiles at you really wants to be your friend (5) NEW SIGHT I got nowhere to go I got no one to meet I got no scene to show Seems the scenery's bleak... I got nothing to hide I got nothing to steal I got nothing left of value Except for my glorious ideals... (crowd cheers!) I got no status symbols I got no house, no kids, no car I got no way to know where to go Save for the sun, the moon, the stars I got no anchor in my life I got no chains to tie me down I got no incentive to try to fly high But to take in new sight and sound I got not one single second I'm willing to waste or give away - ay - ay I have yet to fully catch my breath Before I let that breath escape - ape - ape So never could I cry out Or scream as loud as I wanted to... Yeah, and that's how species die out Lost is everything - no more me; no more you... (6) RIGHT BY SIGHT I'm a yellow mellow fellow (Hello!) Oh, you're right by sight I'm white (aight!) But surely that's no guide if it hides that inside I'm A flesh and blood creature with a sell-by date Trapped in something that I don't know what it is So I don't know how to escape Perhaps it's too late Gotta trace fate Without the playa hate Still, hating the game is the same as before If the rich despise the rich then how do you think they feel about poor? "We abhor the deplorable!" It's a statement that's categorical And undeniable but we know that there's not much that isn't pliable, moveable and moldable and even bendable, breakable and also uncontrollable Which one am I and what is this? To be tamed with a brain, a heart or a fist? It's said circumstances don't make the man they reveal him But I'm down on this floor staring up at the ceiling Getting the shakes from these thoughts that I'm feeling Am I praying to something or cursing at nothing when asking for healing? (7) OFF THE ROAD I'm not changing my name... And since I can't change my face I'll still look the same... But I'll be in a whole 'nother place I'm changing my ways... They might have got me this far All this hard work has paid It's not a dream I'm a star I'm changing my place And my role in this life I know this time I can't wait There's no doubt that I'm right I'm changing my fate The entire way I view the world I found I don't need to escape I said why run when you can hurdle? Or at least dodge and jump around So why did I ever try to hide? Try to creep without sound When everybody knows I don't lie I'm changing my plan To some new unknown I tried to sit back and wait For something great to unfold But I have come to understand This time I can't wait to be told Sometimes in order to be a man You've got to walk off the road... (8) ROCK STAR DREAMS I've been living for a legacy since seventeen That's when music filled my head with rock star dreams I've been tightrope walking up against the razor's edge of infinity Since perception is just one's illusion of reality It's not strange for my brain to change the scenery Sure, they say the truth comes with a price Sometimes you give more than just your life Paying the ultimate sacrifice You say you don't think twice But we ALWAYS think twice... I was craving Retracing my past There were things worth saving I see that looking back What now seems ancient A newly uncovered artifact I've been contemplating How best to back track What will be waiting? A part of me's afraid to ask I've been living to be a legend Since the age of twenty seven I'm always giving in to the present That's the quickest way to get to heaven Lately I've been debating How much more blood we should keep bleeding It's increasingly frustrating Being forced to follow someone else's misleading I've been growing nervous of everything I believe in I don't wanna be led by rhyme I'd rather be led by reason Like you, I'm still trying to find more of my kind I keep hoping for a world that's fair... We know it'll never be even (9) PLANKTON Confliction is my currency Because you see I am made-up of bad energy Ever since infancy You filled me up with negativity With hostility towards those not like me And especially those just like me Funny, only the average was safe We know the middle's no place to escape You only find your way there when you lose faith Produce Consume Become numb to the hum of the vacuum You're in the wrong line you realize When it's not you who says who does the do in do or die? Yes... your allies have been compromised! When it's time to imitate, you are the master Yet can you innovate during a disaster? Strapped in a maze you did not create "I'm stuck in a bad copy" You say as you drink your coffee You think like Abraham, You're Linked In Something else is the whale while you're just the plankton In this play, there's lots of action And there you lay dead. Then you're not acting Even you believe you're being wrapped in plastic But at our best we are just energy, frequency with a little bit of static Still, you fall for their illusions as they work their magic Hocus pocus You lose your focus Before you get to try again The results are tragic (10) PERFECT WORLD I've spent my whole life Looking for what I can't see For what will never be As the only thing that can set me free Is an unknown memory That somewhere lives inside of me Behind a locked door Perhaps you hold the key? This set pattern we follow is just one of their lies A world lacking communion only me's and I's Through competition our brotherhood has been broken As no one's acknowledged these words that I've spoken Everything, even people filed by order and rank Number one built the Titanic And yet down it sank There's still time left to return these ideas you've been sold Rise up in rebellion, could you be so bold? The whole world's a fight I can't get no peace My mind gets disrupted When it's at ease The sun and I awake as one Though it's not my first choice I'd prefer to sleep in late I wish I had a voice Some say if winning isn't everything then why keep score? Those same people send other mother's sons to war I could be like you or maybe someone else One step towards them and one away from myself Sometimes they see me and ask me "How I feel?" I respond, "Like a hamster on a rusty wheel" If you feel trapped like a rat in this world so cold Rise up in rebellion, could you be so bold? The whole world's a fight I can't get no peace My mind gets disrupted When it's at ease Watching the sunset Is a long forgotten art Feet so busy walking Separate from the heart The brokers in their suits and ties walking down Wall Street The ones with their diamond watches and their hair so neat They get so stressed out playing all their Wall Street games When was the last time You noticed the moon? I'm surprised You've forgotten so soon As I climb up the mountains and float over the sea I find myself alone and contented alive and free No need to look at my watch or punch a clock And I actually notice my feet when I go for a walk It could be like this if enough people believe Just as the wind blows a flower I'm planting my seed There's so much more than what you've been told Rise up in rebellion could you be so bold? (11) LINEAR Way, way back... During my younger days When the picture was abstract Oh, how the times have changed All those colored paints Have changed to black and white I used to begin my day with play Now that play has to wait 'til night I have friends who never play at all Or when they can... it's just pretend They only look up to check the clock Like they're afraid it's gonna fall off the wall Well I guess I'm just one of those guys Who if you looked out from my eyes You'd see in straight lines Since I never had nor wanted a prime I can never say I'm too old and gray To ever stop what I'm doing and go hide away Since I could never say with any truth Maybe I should retire? Maybe it's time for me to be quiet? Maybe my work here is really through... Nah, I don't think that's something That I'll ever do That would make too many people mad Others would be left confused... I can never say I'm too over the hill To ever lay down and let time break my will Know I'm not the kinda guy who'd go leaving on a lie Swore not to do it again after I tried it one time... I can never say I'm too old and gray To ever stop what I'm doing 'til my last breath fades...away. (12) LEARN FROM THE MASTERS Today is the day I know that I will make it When I was cast from the mold Who would know that I'd break it? In bitter fits of jealousy There are those who can't take it Pretend to walk in my shoes When they know that they fake it Be yourself don't try to be me Open the door that'll set you free My pen name Bob Dylan Junior is gone I've stepped into the shoes of a man named Tom A poet, a writer, who dabbles in song And learns from the masters What he's known all along Since I am a poet I will fight you only with my pen I'll drag your name through the mud And then drag it through again There's no need for fists For fighting only leaves you bruised I've learned that paper cuts never heal When everybody has heard the news When made known is your reputation Then I win and you lose Since I am a poet I will try my very best To separate myself from all others And try to stand above the rest Searching for what hasn't yet been written Though there's not much that Dylan left Be yourself don't try to be me Open the door that'll set you free My pen name Bob Dylan Junior is gone I've stepped into the shoes Of a man named Tom A poet, a writer, who dabbles in song And learns from the masters What he's known all along (13) ANOTHER QUARTER When I am alone And all by myself Sometimes I begin To fill up full of self-doubt Fills my head I can't get it out And what's within me I could live without it Depression closes my eyes... Like sleeping When I feel like life... Has passed me by I break down inside... Start weeping Yet thoughts of wasted time... Won't relieve this cry The tears I spill... Are now seeping Down below the earth... They'll soon reside Soothing this malaise... That's been creeping I've looked up and down And left and right I've gone out searching In the middle of the night I have spent my days Just wandering around And I'm still looking For what I haven't found I searched for What I sought to find Found the fruit Couldn't get it off the vine So I climbed And climbed and climbed I've tried and tried But can't get it off of my mind When I am alone And all by myself Sometimes I begin To fill up full of self-doubt Fills my head I can't get it out And what's within me I could live without it I just want to make my mark Before I lose this spark And the room gets dark Then the game is over Then I'm sure I'd love To play again Or else it seems like Such a waste, such a sin Ladies and gentlemen You've all become My special friends Hopefully we've got something Greater to discover...