Lyrics - Youth Is Not For Pleasure — Second Language - Alternative Rock Band from Los Angeles

Lyrics - “Youth Is Not For Pleasure”

TRACKLIST:

1. Youth Is Not For Pleasure 

Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave

This never ending infatuation
This morbid saint
This indoctrinated angel
Clips her wings in haste

Like memories divided
By syncopated thirst
Ashes on the water
Books thrown into the fire
Visions far beyond our grasp to threaten and inspire
It’s an illusion
It’s an illusion…it’s an illusion

Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave

Hoisted up to serve my time
Flapping in the wind
Trapped between the innocence
And wanting still to win, it’s an illusion

It’s an illusion, grounded in the air
It’s an illusion, interpretative stares
It’s an illusion, three-dimensional recluse
Another captive beast
Dreams of getting loose

Wake up! Wake up!
You’ve got to set her free
Wake up! Wake up!
Or they’ll be closing the cage on me

Ohhhhhh
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
Youth!
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
Youth!
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
...but to be brave
Youth is not for pleasure…but to be brave
...but to be brave

Toni Zeto: Lead Vocals, Shaker, Bells, Face Percussion
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Vocal, Clicker, Flute, Sheet Metal, Face Percussion
Jessie Jacobson: Bass, Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Bongos, Metal, Face Percussion
Jarrett Lesko: Keyboard, Cowbells, Vocal, Face Percussion
Brian Bielski: Drums, Sheet Metal, Vocal

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

2. This Scorched Earth 

Fallow lands, barren fields, shallow graves
Morning light, new day dawns in still birth
Silent seas, voiceless breeze, separate waves
Useless sun, pointless moon
This scorched earth

This scorched earth, this scorched earth
One last shot heard round the world
This scorched earth, this scorched earth
Still no victory flag's unfurled

Siren's songs pierce the night
In an endless refrain
No star light, no star bright
The sun is burning cold
And hope only held as strong
As the weak link in the chain of command
Grains of sand who do as they are told

This scorched earth, this scorched earth
One last shot heard round the world
This scorched earth, this scorched earth
Still no victory flag's unfurled

As we hold the final line
In the name of common sense
Open arms, open hearts
The only defense

This scorched earth, this scorched earth
One last shot heard round the world
This scorched earth, this scorched earth
Still no victory flag's unfurled

Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars, Keyboard
Jerome Faulkner: Backing & Lead Vocals, Piano, Keyboards
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Backing Vocal
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

3. Garden Of Delight 

And in this world, no symmetry, no light
We fight each urge
We beat the demons back
The passions surge
We stretch them on the rack

In this garden of delight

Men of the cloth
For them the patterns weave a design
I envy them but that collar fits too tight
The holy shroud blindfolds each sordid sight

In this garden of delight

All for the love of love
From the hosts above we can't see
But in their name, we carry on as though
The only game in town's the one we know

In this garden of delight

Well, in the dead of night
The death of light's complete
Don't mourn the loss
Don't mourn the memory
You'll turn, you'll toss
Away your sanity

In this garden of delight

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocals, Guitars
Toni Zeto: Lead & Ethereal Vocals
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Flute, Backing Vocals
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Bongos
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

4. Words Into Action (1985 Version)

Words won't make you feel
What you should feel
What you once felt
Words won't reveal what is real
They'll just mislead you from the start
They will seal and constrict
Charismatic tongues
As they conceal
They contradict the language of the heart

And so one word leads to the next
As conversation slips into text
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

Words turn into shouts
Triggered by doubts
Fall on deaf ears
Words sprayed all about
Ooze from the spout
But no one hears

So automatic
Reeled off by rote
Snag on your conscience
Catch in your throat
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

I would give anything
To make you understand
No need to read my lips
Feel the warmth of my hand

Words mean nothing at all
They bounce off the wall
And fade away
But feelings that beckon and call
No matter how small
Can still save the day

Somehow the silence
Says so much more
And in the stillness
Love settles the score
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Flute
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Drum Programming
Brian Bielski: Kick & Snare Drum, Sheet Metal, Plastic Tubs, Brass Pipes
(+ DMX drum machine)

Produced by Tony Berg, Earle Mankey
and Second Language, 1985.

 5. No God In Heaven Tonight

There is no rest
No respite
For the weary
In search of his holy light
There is no god
In heaven tonight

Last gift of flowers
Colors bright
For the living
Deprived of his holy sight
There is no god
In heaven tonight

Through bloodshot eyes
All the world seems a wonder
Two shaky hands
Grip the wheel
Wheel of fortune
And it all seems like a dream to me now
Through a glass darkly

On your conscience
On your breath
The smell of liquor
The lingering stench of death
There is no god
In heaven tonight

He loves his fools
And he loves his drunkards
He loves his drunkards
And he loves his fools
But he loves his drunken fools
Most of all
Loves them through a glass darkly

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocals, Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Sticks
Toni Zeto: Backing + Ethereal Vocals, Ratchet
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Clarinet
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Sticks
Brian Bielski: Drums, Sticks

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey 1985.

6. Visions Of An Aging Race

Visions of an aging race
Starlight reaches your face
In a venture to overcome
Driven though deaf and dumb
In a blackened vacuum lie
With vengeance and disguise
Blood as poison as wine
Under sacrificial skies

Under sacrificial skies
Visions of an aging race

Instructed to carve a path
Through destruction, oh, and wrath
Mankind without wisdom
Is like a weapon to the blind
The struggling of humanity
Always seeking to find

Under sacrificial skies
Visions of an aging race

While the children dance and play
All of their toys will be taken away
To be punished not for their innocence
But for their greed and doubt
For negating what life’s all about
Under sacrificial skies

Oh… no, oh… no

© Lyrics and Melody by Toni Zeto (12/18/84)
Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jerome Faulkner-Toni Zeto-
Jarrett Lesko-Brian Bielski (12/17/84)

Toni Zeto: Lead Vocals, Keyboard
Jessie Jacobson: Guitars, Keyboard, Metal Can, Backing Vocal
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums, Shaker

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

7. Excavation

You’re like an excavation buried deep
You’re like an excavation
You hang on to all that’s past you
It haunts you in your sleep
You hang on to all that’s past you
It haunts you in your sleep
Bound with tradition
Bound with fear, bound to follow
So far yet so near
Excavation

You’re like an excavation buried deep
You’re like an excavation
You hang on to all that’s past you
It haunts you in your sleep
You hang on to all that’s past you
It haunts you in your sleep
Bound with tradition
Bound with fear, bound to follow
So far yet so near
Bound with tradition
Excavation

Bound with tears, bound to follow
So far yet so near
Bound to follow
Bound to follow, bound to follow

Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Clarinets, Backing Vocal
Jessie Jacobson: Guitars, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

8. Caution To The Wind

She struts where angels fear to tread
Pied piper to the waking nightmares
The dancing dead

Wake up and cast
Caution to the wind

Don’t look into her eyes
One glance turns strong men into stone
And she poisons everything she touches
Her kiss will chill you to the bone

Wake up and cast
Caution to the wind

In the eye of the hurricane
This is the calm before the calm

She knows she has to keep her distance
She knows she’s got no soul to save
She knows the path of least resistance
Leads right to her grave

Wake up and cast
Caution to the wind

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Chimes, Plastic Tubs, Sheet Metal
Toni Zeto: Backing & Lead Vocals, Keyboard, Dinner Gong, Chimes, Woodblock, Mini-Drum
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Keyboard, Dinner Gong, Triangle, Shaker
Brian Bielski: Drums, Bongos, Shaker, Dinner Gong

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985. 

9. The Edge

You were here, it was gone
You disappear, it lingers on
In soft focus, delicate, obscured
This hocus pocus is patently absurd

Still it’s there and it’s mine
And so I dance a fine line
Court it gently, treat it as a friend
Though it might just kill me in the end

It’s the edge, it’s the edge
Like the edge of the knife
It’s the edge, it’s the edge
And it slices through my life

It provides company
It resides inside me
Gently slicing my sinews apart
Cutting slowly into my heart

And the strength I once felt
Cut loose by the blow you dealt
Still I go on balanced on the ledge
Drawn and quartered, a captive of the edge

It’s the edge, it’s the edge
Like the edge of the knife
It’s the edge, it’s the edge
And it slices through my life

Toni Zeto: Lead Vocals
Jessie Jacobson: Guitars, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocal
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboard
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

10. Long Goodbye (1985 Version)

In the endless summer of discontent
The tip of the iceberg
On the darkest continent
Splintering puppets
Hiss through wooden grins
Toothless to bite the hand that force-feeds
Gets under their skins

This is the long goodbye

The deeper they go
The darker it gets
'Til blood stains the whitewash
Liquidates idol threats
The country club's burning
Body politic sweats
South Africa’s up in flames
Out of time, far too late for regrets

This is the long goodbye

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Guitars, Cowbells, Faux Didgeridoo (pipe)
Toni Zeto: Vocals, Insect Shaker, Kalimba
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards
Jarrett Lesko: Basses, Shaker, Sheet Metal
Brian Bielski: Pipes, Sheet Metal, Plastic Tubs
(+ DMX drum machine)

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey.

11. Uncertain Terms (1985 Version)

These thoughts swarm like flies
Form like black clouds across the skies
Divide them like worms
Each half grows and squirms

Uncertain terms

These thoughts like disease
Sap my spirits, drain my energy
Spread faster than germs
More fertile than sperm

Uncertain terms

Serving the sentence
‘Til it serves me
Words spoken in passing
Become the passwords
This match made in heaven
Could go down in flames
This match could burn twice
So swept up in wordplay
Playing with fire
We’re gonna play with fire

To touch you again
To hold you and maybe then
Your kiss reaffirms
It soothes as it burns

In no uncertain terms
Uncertain terms

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Guitars, Sticks
Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals, Sticks, Ratchets
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

12. I Know You’re There

The grass a little greener
My kiss a little sweeter
Than what you were waiting for
My dreams a little deeper
The stakes a little steeper
Than what you gambled with before

Why won’t you look at me
Why don’t you care?
Why, why won’t you look at me
Why don’t you care?

Can it be, can it be any wonder
That I made this social blunder
And it haunts me every waking day
You never run, you never wander
You’re hiding down under
But there’s electrical current in the air

Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?

The grass a little greener
My kiss a little sweeter
Than what you gambled with before
My dreams a little deeper
The stakes a little steeper
Than what you gambled with before

Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
You try to hide from me
But I know you’re there
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
Why won’t you look at me?
Why, Why don’t you care?
You try to hide from me
But I know you’re there

Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals, Bell, Samples
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Backing Vocal
Jessie Jacobson: Guitars, Keyboard, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

13. You Pays Your Dues (You Takes Your Chances)

You pays your dues
And you takes your chances

It’s a slow torturous path
To the top of the scrapheap
It’s a dark narrow road
And the muck runs knee deep

You pays your dues
You takes your chances
You pays your dues
And you takes your chances

It’s a steep uphill fight
To that ivory tower
It’s a long lonely walk
Down the corridors of power

You pays your dues
You takes your chances
You pays your dues
You takes your chances
And you pays your dues
And you takes your chances

Keep your eye on the wheel
And your nose to the grindstone
Keep a stiff upper lip
Work your fingers down to the bone

You pays your dues
You takes your chances
You pays your dues
You takes your chances

No guiding lights anoint the day
No helping hands to point the way
No black or white
Just shades of gray
Shades of gray

You pays your dues
You takes your chances
And you pays your dues
And you takes your chances
You pays your dues
And you takes your chances

Take your chances

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Guitars, Piano, Keyboard, Anvil, Handclaps
Toni Zeto: Backing Vocals, Keyboard, Handclaps
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Backing Vocal, Handclaps
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Handclaps
Brian Bielski: Drums, Keyboard, Handclaps

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

14. Sky Will Open

I have direction, I have insight
I have the courage to win this this fight
Outside the darkness, inside the light
Your eyes are calling me with soft delight

Oh and the sky will open up
And pull us through
Oh yes the sky will open up
And pull us through

I’m just reacting, I have no plans
No strategic moves are in my hands
We run so fast, think we can fly
We climb the ladder you and I

Oh and the sky will open up
And pull us through
Oh yes the sky will open up
And pull us through

Bluer than blue, redder than red
Reflecting the colours inside my head
Orange is the water, pink is the night
It sounds so untrue yet I feel that I’m right

I have direction, I have insight
I have the courage to win this fight
Outside the darkness, inside the light
Your eyes are calling me with soft delight

Oh and the sky will open up
And pull us through
Oh yes the sky will open up
And pull us through
And yes the sky will open up
And pull us through (repeat)

Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocals
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Clarinet, Backing Vocal
Jessie Jacobson: Guitars, Keyboard, Woodblock, Backing Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

15. Passion Paints A Portrait

Outside the frame
(outside the frame)
outside the border
The colors run
(the colors run)
the colors bleed
No sense of space
No sense of depth
No sense of order
As all these blinding colors
Fade to neutral tones

The jigsaw puzzle fragments
Form impressions like a mirror
Now smash the glass
The image comes through clearer

Passion paints a portrait

Patterns emerge
Formless to reason
Lines on the verge
Of ruthless discipline
Image broken and bent
In such crude definition
As context resolves
Perspective slips away

Just out of reach
It hangs over my head
With wire and nail
Stretched out so prone and pale

Passion paints a portrait

Bursting inside
Life's fluids course through my veins
Turning the tide
Raging like a flood
Once dried up and dammed
Strained by pride, overflowing
Now splashed out across eternity
With paint as thick as blood

Passion paints a portrait

Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Guitars, Keyboard
Toni Zeto: Lead & Backing Vocal, Sticks, Ratchet
Jerome Faulkner: Keyboards, Clarinet, Backing & Lead Vocal
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Keyboard
Brian Bielski: Drums
(+ DMX drum machine)

Produced by Second Language and Earle Mankey, 1985.

16. Words Into Action (Early Version)

Words won't make you feel
What you should feel
What you once felt
Words won't reveal what is real
They'll just mislead you from the start
They will seal and constrict
Charismatic tongues
As they conceal
They contradict the language of the heart

And so one word leads to the next
As conversation slips into text
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

Words turn into shouts
Triggered by doubts
Fall on deaf ears
Words sprayed all about
Ooze from the spout
But no one hears

So automatic
Reeled off by rote
Snag on your conscience
Catch in your throat
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

I would give anything
To make you understand
No need to read my lips
Feel the warmth of my hand

Words mean nothing at all
They bounce off the wall
And fade away
But feelings that beckon and call
No matter how small
Can still save the day

Somehow the silence
Says so much more
And in the stillness
Love settles the score
Let's put - let's put words - words into action
Words into action

The album features 16 vintage recordings from 1985 produced by
Second Language & Earle Mankey with Tony Berg on one song, remastered and released for the first time.

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Lyrics - “Youth Is Not For Pleasure”

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