I said to the fortune teller
Won't you please read me my cards
She laid out the deck and asked me
How I'd ever gotten this far?
I was born by the sea of misfortune
I was dragged by thte scruff of my neck
Through the drought ravaged fields my house was built in
Irrigated lawns in an orange sunset
When I was grown I crawled out this city
Covered by a blanket of smoke
And I pulled myself up to higher ground
To look around before I choked
And now I'll fight both tooth and nail
Until I get when I'm going to get
I'll hang on with the jaws of a pit bull
I won't let go of what my vision is

I am the king of war
I am a rotten dove
I am the face of innocence lost
I can't find a thing to love

If you hear kicking or your hear screaming
From the coast of the valley high
And you hear of shootings or of beatings
Do you try and shield your eye?
Do you just chalk it up to a sign of the times?
Do you talk about the fighting?
Never stand up so much as feel uneasy
Never speak up so much as think we're dreaming

And I am the dream of a child
I am the doors of the tor store open wide
With my shelves picked clean and empty
I am the dream of a child

I was told what to be but not how to do it
Told to believe but not ever why
I go through days where it's always raining
My common sense says the sun's in the sky
Well is this faith to keep on trying
Or am I a dog who knows when to die?
I won't know a thing as my flesh turns to soil
These days they just rush by

I am the king of war
I am a rotten dove
I am the queen of your fortune
And I am your blind, blind love
I am the weight of your memory
I am the shadow of fear
I am the question of the future
When your vision turns unclear