It was known just as "The Tree"
It was on the fence line of Jade Ranch
And on the wizened, hardened oak
Was a limb, known as "The Branch"

On the branch hung seven ropes
Of seven different lengths
Depending on the sentence
They chose one of seven strengths

Now a posse and a lynch mob
Are two completely different groups
You may always end up hanging
But through two different loops

Get caught with someone else's horse
By someone from on the ranch
Then you'll face Western Justice
And end up hanging from "The Branch"

Western justice it was called
And lynch mobs had a thirst
To see you hanging from "The Tree"
If you didn't meet the Marshall first

Get caught with an extra ace
You'll be called out as a cheat
You will never make "The Tree"
You'll get gunned down in your seat

But, have a horse, that's not your brand
And a lynch mob's soon around
Western Justice will prevail
With you ten feet from the ground

You'll sit upon the horse you stole
No one hears your weak defence
One slap and the verdicts in
You'll hang on the ranch side of the fence

Shoot a man in town and you
Will end up in the local jail
But, shoot him where the Law is not
And Western Justice will prevail

Seven ropes of different lengths
Take a man on to his death
Once the horse is slapped to go
No one will hear your last breath

There's a lynch mob and a posse
You don't know just how close they are
One does what they think is right
One feels the same, but has a star

"The Tree" is there in waiting
For the next rope to be strung
If you aren't caught by the Marshall
From "The Branch" you will be hung

Once you've reached
the end of the rope,
tie a  knot
then hang on it.
There is really no end
if you know
within yourself,
with your heart
you can extend.

I'm a creature of habit.
I get easily confused with constant change.
So please excuse me if I'm still hanging onto us when you have already left me ages ago.

How can you forgive something
that has never been apologized for?
It's an undeveloped photograph
It's an unfinished sentence
It's a working draft

How can you forget something
that has never been remembered?
It's an unopened package
It's a safe without a key
It's a lost baggage

It keeps you searching
It keeps you longing
It keeps you deciphering
The question
The answer
The password
It keeps you hanging
It keeps you wondering
It keeps you waiting for
The closure
The end
The full stop

You need a period not a comma
You need an end not a pause
You need closure
You need conclusion
Because you need
A new sentence
A new stanza
A new chapter

A beginning from an ending

Just look up and this is what you'll see
Me swinging gently from our favorite tree
So you once said it'd be forever, and ever
But what you really meant was never, never
You left me so crippled and so very broken
Took the cornerstone of my heart as a token
All I wanted was your black and twisted heart
All I received was my small world torn apart
Now here I hang, waiting for forever and ever
Might as well've been the one pulling the lever
How useless i have become, how can I ever forget?
I happen to be broken, I haven't forgotten you yet
Was it something in your stormy blue/gray eyes?
Or in the way you caught me in your web of lies?
The lies that you hung me with and now I swing
Forever doomed to love the boy who is my suffering

I wanted to fill the cracks of his mind, and breathe his very breath. Need consumed by deep desire, leaving me scared to death.

I hung a rope on that tree, where I used to kneel and pray. Struggling to keep my head up, waiting for something he refused to say.

I wanted to slip and fall into arms, eager to break my fall. Scattered hopes cast about, that are just shadow puppets on the wall.

I cupped my hands to catch his tears, but the favor was never repaid. Slip the rope around my neck, in hopes to repair the mess I made.

I wasted all my saved up wishes, just in the end to tie the knot. I finally took that step and hang myself, with all the promises he forgot.

In the backroads there's a legend
By the old black hanging tree
That this is the old crossroads
Where the devil comes to me
There's nothing near, it's barren
But the tree and an old rope
It is dark, and bleak and distant
And all devoid of hope
Is this the famous crossroads
where the devil makes a deal
It depends on what you're willing
To trade and get his seal

There is a tale of Johnny
Who played and won his bet
He beat the Devil at his game
But, the Devil does not fret
For every Johnny that is lost
A million more are signed
Just look around the world and see
They just so easy for to find

The pious and believers
Pass the tree and it's ok
But, the souls who wish to trade up
Feel a reason for to stay
The Devil hears their pleas
And he comes up to their side
He brings along the contract
And then he takes them for a ride

Deals are made for money
and deals are made for fame
It doesn't matter to the Devil
He's the ruler of the game
You'll get your wish regardless
In trade he gets your soul
The only thing you need to know
Is that you are no longer whole

A contract is a contract
And redemption sets you free
But, to doublecross the devil
Isn't easy as you'll see
Johnny beat him fairly
And the Devil said that he
Will come and grab a million more
By the old, black, hanging tree.

My dear lover, why did they put me here?
Reckless in authority
     Pushing, pulling, straining, taming
Trying to *tame me
     Tame you, tame us, tame them!
Would someone please try to tame them?
     Save them, save me, save us, love
They did it because of a love
     What's so wrong about love?
Whipping, striking, beating, bleeding
     One hit, two hits, three hits, four
     Five knocks me to the floor
Sit up! Stand up! See your ****** mother cry!
     I'm sorry brother for lusting lies
Lies told and lies seen
     Lies for things which you define me
Kick the chair from beneath my feet
     A noose hangs loose from this old tree
As my neck strains against these strings
     Last thoughts wonder to Adam & Eve
Who ate the fruit which planted these seeds
     The poisoned fruits are *you and me