MC Lars - Buddhism for Dummies lyrics

When I was little
I was scared of earthquakes
Out in California
That's where the earth shakes
Techtronic motion, it was terrifying
I'd think of windows breaking and
I'd think of people dying
The Bay Bridge collapsed in 1989
Richter scale 69
Buildings shook a real long time
I was in the other room when
I heard my mother scream
Thought adults were invincible it
Wasn't what it seemed
15 seconds later there were dozens left dead
I'd get scared at night and
Climb into my parents' bed (Mom)
I still get chills when I see photographs
Of the freeways that were cracked
And the buildings that collapsed
So I'd act out in class


Shaking other people's desks
Yelling "Earthquake!"
To cope with the stress
Using comedy, like I still do today
20 years later, nightmares haven't gone away

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say

There was an Oakland Hills fire in 1991
People burned to death, I was very young
They evacuated us to my grandparents' house
We grabbed the cat and dog
In the Volvo we were out
Turned the news on, it was terrifying
I was freaked out and my mom was crying
And my sister too, but grandma turned it off
She said, "Is this something that we
Really need to watch?"
One thing I remember so clearly to this day
Is an image in my head that
Won't seem to go away a car was crushed
A doll was melting on the seat
The burnt black eyes were all
That I could see some nights I can't sleep
I still see her face
Her eyes, they still haunt me
I'm stuck in that place
I try to make it go away
All I think of is the flames
That week was so traumatic
I've never been the same

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say

I was leaving for college, my dad woke me up
He said, "We've been attacked"
And sure enough
Terrorists had hit the World Trade Center
The Pentagon too, I clearly remember
Sitting with my mom, now she was quiet
It was raining bodies
Dripping down the sidewalk
Ten years later, our economy's in crisis
Bin Laden and his boys
They were not the nicest
The earth is so alive
So expect defenestration
Constantly evolving, decimating, antiquation
Collapsing new buildings
Einstürzende neubauten
The cities will all crumble when
Man has been forgotten
The Buddhists believed that change is eternal
Heraclitus thought that the world
Is an inferno
One day we're here and the next we're gone
Impermanence, that's the point of this song

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say

Impermanence, what you gonna do about it?
Impermanence, run for your life? I doubt it
Impermanence, I think about it
Every single day everything falls apart
Nothing you can do or say