Throwing Stones (Live at Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA, December 16, 1992)

[Verse 1]
Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity
Paint it with a skin of sky
Brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me
A peaceful place, or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race
Full of hope, full of grace
Is the human face
But afraid we may lay our home to waste

[Chorus]
There's a fear down here we can't forget
Hasn't got a name just yet
Always awake, always around
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

[Verse 2]
Now watch as the ball revolves
And the nighttimе falls
Again the hunt begins
Again the bloodwind calls
By and by, thе morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes
From some men's eyes
No, it strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets
Staking turf, dividing up meat
Nightmare spook, piece of heat
It's you and me
You and me

[Chorus]
Oh, click flash blade in ghetto night
Rudy's looking for a fight
Rat cat alley, roll them bones
Need that cash to feed that jones
And the politicians throwin' stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

[Bridge]
Commissars and pin-stripe bosses roll the dice
Any way they roll
Guess who gets to pay the price
Singing money green is the only way
Sell them guns, rape the earth today

[Chorus]
So the kids they dance and shake their bones
And the politicians throwin' stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirit's sleeping
Then the flesh is ink
Yes, history's page will be deeply carved in stone
The future's here, we are it, we are on our own
On our own
On our own
On our own
On our own
On our own
On our own
On our own
On our own, on our own
On our own, on our own

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]
If the game is lost
Then we're all the same
No one left to place or take the blame
We will leave this place an empty stone
Or that shiny ball of blue we can call our home

[Chorus]
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones
Politicians throwin' stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

[Verse 5]
Shipping powders back and forth
Yes, and black goes south and white comes north
In a whole world full of petty wars
Yes, and I got mine and you got yours
And the current fashion sets the pace
Lose your step, fall out of grace
The radical, he rant and rage
Singing someone's got to turn the page
And the rich man in his summer home
Singing just leave well enough alone
But his pants are down, his cover's blown

[Chorus]
The politicians throwin' stones
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones
It's all too clear we're on our own
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

[Outro]
Picture a bright blue ball
Just spinnin', spinnin' free