Roll The Bones

• Released September 3, 1991 by Atlantic Records
• Went Gold (500,000 copies) on October 25, 1991
• Purchase This Album

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1. Dreamline (4:37)
2. Bravado (4:35)
3. Roll The Bones (5:30)
4. Face Up (3:53)
5. Where's My Thing (Part IV, of the "Gangster Of Boats" Trilogy) (3:49)
6. The Big Wheel (5:12)
7. Heresy (5:25)
8. Ghost Of A Chance (5:18)
9. Neurotica (4:39)
10. You Bet Your Life (4:59)

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Lyrics

• Dreamline (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  He's got a road map of Jupiter
  A radar fix on the stars
  All along the highway
  She's got a liquid-crystal compass
  A picture book of the rivers
  Under the Sahara
  
  They travel in the time of the prophets
  On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
  Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
  We're only at home when we're on the run
  On the run
  
  He's got a star map of Hollywood
  A list of cheap motels
  All along the freeway
  She's got a sister out in Vegas
  The promise of a decent job
  Far away from her hometown
  
  They travel on the road to redemption
  A highway out of yesterday -- that tomorrow will bring
  Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
  We're only at home when we're on the wing
  On the wing
  
  When we are young
  Wandering the face of the Earth
  Wondering what our dreams might be worth
  Learning that we're only immortal
  For a limited time
  
  Time is a gypsy caravan
  Steals away in the night
  To leave you stranded in Dreamland
  Distance is a long-range filter
  Memory a flickering light
  Left behind in the heartland
  
  We travel in the dark of the new moon
  A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
  Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle's cry
  We're only at home when we're on the fly
  On the fly
  
  When we are young
  Wandering the face of the Earth
  Wondering what our dreams might be worth
  Learning that we're only immortal
  For a limited time
  
  We travel on the road to adventure
  On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
  Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
  We're only at home when we're on the run
  On the run...
  
  
• Bravado (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  If we burn our wings
  Flying too close to the sun
  If the moment of glory
  Is over before it's begun
  If the dream is won
  Though everything is lost
  We will pay the price,
  But we will not count the cost
  
  When the dust has cleared
  And victory denied
  A summit too lofty
  River a little too wide
  If we keep our pride
  Though paradise is lost
  We will pay the price,
  But we will not count the cost
  
  And if the music stops
  There's only the sound of the rain
  All the hope and glory
  All the sacrifice in vain
  [And] if love remains
  Though everything is lost
  We will pay the price,
  But we will not count the cost
  
  
• Roll The Bones (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Well, you can stake that claim
  Good work is the key to good fortune
  Winners take that praise
  Losers seldom take that blame
  If they don't take that game
  And sometimes the winner takes nothing
  We draw our own designs
  But fortune has to make that frame
  
  We go out in the world and take our chances
  Fate is just the weight of circumstances
  That's the way that lady luck dances
  Roll the bones
  
  Why are we here?
  Because we're here
  Roll the bones
  Why does it happen?
  Because it happens
  Roll the bones
  
  Faith is cold as ice
  Why are little ones born only to suffer
  For the want of immunity
  Or a bowl of rice?
  Well, who would hold a price
  On the heads of the innocent children
  If there's some immortal power
  To control the dice?
  
  We come into the world and take our chances
  Fate is just the weight of circumstances
  That's the way that lady luck dances
  Roll the bones
  
  Jack -- relax.
  Get busy with the facts.
  No zodiacs or almanacs,
  No maniacs in polyester slacks.
  Just the facts.
  Gonna kick some gluteus max.
  It's a parallax -- you dig?
  You move around
  The small gets big. It's a rig
  It's action -- reaction
  Random interaction.
  So who's afraid
  Of a little abstraction?
  Can't get no satisfaction
  From the facts?
  You better run, homeboy
  A fact's a fact
  From Nome to Rome, boy.
  
  What's the deal? Spin the wheel.
  If the dice are hot -- take a shot.
  Play your cards. Show us what you got
  What you're holding.
  If the cards are cold,
  Don't go folding.
  Lady Luck is golden;
  She favours the bold. That's cold
  Stop throwing stones
  The night has a thousand saxophones. So get out there and rock,
  And roll the bones.
  Get busy!
  
  Roll the bones
  
  Why are we here?
  Because we're here
  Roll the bones
  Why does it happen?
  Because it happens
  Roll the bones
  
  
• Face Up (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  You turn my head
  I spin my wheels
  Running on empty
  You know how that feels
  
  I'm on a roll now
  Or is it a slide?
  Can't be too careful
  With that dangerous pride
  If I could only reach that dial inside
  And turn it up
  
  FACE UP -- Face up or you can only back down
  FACE UP -- Hit the target, or you better hit the ground
  FACE UP -- There's still time to turn the game around
  FACE UP -- Turn it up
  Or turn that wild card down
  FACE UP -- Turn it up
  
  Don't complain
  Don't explain
  I don't think my new resolve
  Can stand the strain
  
  I'm in a groove now
  Or is it a rut?
  I need some feedback
  But all the lines are cut
  I get so angry, but I keep my mouth shut
  And turn it up
  
  You get all squeezed up inside
  Like the days were carved in stone
  You get all wired up inside
  And it's bad to be alone
  
  You can go out, you can take a ride
  And when you get out on your own
  You get all smoothed out inside
  And it's good to be alone
  Turn it up
  
  
• Where's My Thing? (Part IV of the "Gangster Of Boats" Trilogy, whatever that is) (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  (Instrumental)
  
  
• The Big Wheel (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Well, I was only a kid -- didn't know enough to be afraid
  Playing the game, but not the way the big boys played
  Nothing to lose -- maybe I had something to trade
  The way the big wheel spins
  
  Well, I was only a kid, on a holy crusade
  I placed no trust in a faith that was ready-made
  Take no chances on paradise delayed
  So I do a slow fade
  
  Playing for time
  Don't want to wait for heaven
  Looking for love
  For an angel to forgive my sins
  Playing with fire
  Chasing something new to believe in
  Looking for love
  The way the big wheel spins
  
  Well, I was only a kid, cruising around in a trance
  Prisoner of fate, victim of circumstance
  I was lined up for glory, but the tickets sold out in advance
  The way the big wheel spins
  
  Well, I was only a kid, gone without a backward glance
  Going for broke, going for another chance
  Hoping for heaven -- hoping for a fine romance
  If I do the right dance
  
  Wheel goes round, landing on a twist of faith
  Taking your chances you'll have the right answers
  When the final judgment begins
  
  Wheel goes round, landing on a leap of fate
  Life redirected in ways unexpected
  Sometimes the odd number wins
  The way the big wheel spins
  
  
• Heresy (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  All around that dull grey world
  From Moscow to Berlin
  People storm the barricades
  Walls go tumbling in
  
  The counter-revolution
  People smiling through their tears
  Who can give them back their lives
  And all those wasted years?
  All those precious wasted years
  Who will pay?
  
  All around that dull grey world
  Of ideology
  People storm the marketplace
  And buy up fantasy
  
  The counter-revolution
  At the counter of a store
  People buy the things they want
  And borrow for a little more
  All those wasted years
  All those precious wasted years
  Who will pay?
  
  Do we have to be forgiving at last?
  What else can we do?
  Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
  Yes I guess we do
  
  All around this great big world
  All the crap we had to take
  Bombs and basement fallout shelters
  All our lives at stake
  
  The bloody revolution
  All the warheads in its wake
  All the fear and suffering
  All a big mistake
  All those wasted years
  All those precious wasted years
  Who will pay?
  
  
• Ghost Of A Chance (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Like a million little doorways
  All the choices we made
  All the stages we passed through
  All the roles we played
  
  For so many different directions
  Our separate paths might have turned
  With every door that we opened
  Every bridge that we burned
  
  Somehow we find each other
  Through all that masquerade
  Somehow we found each other
  Somehow we have stayed
  In a state of grace
  
  I don't believe in destiny
  Or the guiding hand of fate
  I don't believe in forever
  Or love as a mystical state
  I don't believe in the stars or the planets
  Or angels watching from above
  But I believe there's a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
  And make it last...
  
  Like a million little crossroads
  Through the backstreets of youth
  Each time we turn a new corner
  A tiny moment of truth
  
  For so many different connections
  Our separate paths might have made
  With every door that we opened
  Every game we played
  
  Somehow we find each other
  Through all that masquerade
  Somehow we found each other
  Somehow we have stayed
  In a state of grace
  
  I don't believe in destiny
  Or the guiding hand of fate
  I don't believe in forever
  Or love as a mystical state
  I don't believe in the stars or the planets
  Or angels watching from above
  But I believe there's a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
  And make it last...
  
  
• Neurotica (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  You just don't get it
  What it is ... well, you're not really sure
  You move like you're walking on this ice
  Talking like you're still insecure
  
  Time is a spiral -- space is a curve
  I know you get dizzy, but try not to lose your nerve
  Life is a diamond you turn into dust
  Waiting for rescue, and I know you just
  Don't get it
  You just don't get it
  
  Neurotica -- Exotica
  It's just Erotica -- Hypnotica
  It's just Psychotica -- Chaotica
  It's just Exotica -- Neurotica
  
  You just don't get it
  Baby, don't you ask yourself why?
  If you don't like the answer -- forget it
  You know I hate to see you cry
  
  Fortune is random -- Fate shoots from the hip
  I know you get crazy, but try not to lose your grip
  Life is a diamond you turn into dust
  Looking for trust, and I know that you just don't get it
  You just don't get it
  
  SNAP!
  Hide in your shell, let the world go to hell
  It's like Russian roulette to you
  SNAP!
  Sweat running cold, you can't face growing old
  It's a personal threat to you
  SNAP!
  The world is a cage for your impotent rage
  But don't let it get to you
  SNAP!
  
  Neurotica -- Exotica
  It's just Erotica -- Hypnotica
  It's just Psychotica -- Chaotica
  It's just Exotica -- Neurotica
  
  
• You Bet Your Life (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Just another hunter, like a wolf in the sun
  Just another junkie on a scoring run
  Just another victim of the things he has done
  Just another day -- in the life of a loaded gun
  
  The odds get even; you name the game
  The odds get even; the stakes are the same
  You bet your life...
  
  Just another winner, pours his life down the drain
  Just another island in a hurricane
  Just another loser, like a cat in the rain
  Just another day -- in the path of a speeding train
  
  The odds get even; you name the game
  The odds get even; the stakes are the same
  You bet your life...
  
  anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
  hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
  rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
  minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist
  
  armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
  deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
  be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
  gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist
  
  Just another gypsy with a plastic guitar
  Just another dancer with her eyes on the stars
  Just another dreamer who was going too far
  Just another drunk -- at the wheel of a stolen car
  
  The odds get even; you name the game
  The odds get even; the stakes are the same
  You bet your life...
  
  anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
  hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
  rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
  minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist
  
  armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
  deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
  be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
  gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist