-------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (1) The Milkman Of Human Kindness -------- If you're lonely, I will call.. If you're poorly, I will send poetry I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint If you're sleeping, I will wait If your bed is wet, I will dry your tears I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm making up Won't you hold my hand.. I'm making up If you are falling, I'll put out my hands If you feel bitter, I will understand I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (2) To Have And To Have Not -------- Up in the morning and out to school Mother says there'll be no work next year Qualifications once the Golden Rule Are now just pieces of paper Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards If you look the part you'll get the job In last year's trousers and your old school shoes The truth is son, it's a buyer's market They can afford to pick and choose Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because I dress like this Doesn't mean I'm a communist The factories are closing and the army's full I don't know what I'm going to do But I've come to see in the Land of the Free There's only a future for the Chosen Few Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards At twenty one you're on top of the scrapheap At sixteen you were top of the class All they taught you at school Was how to be a good worker The system has failed you, don't fail yourself Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (3) Richard -------- Richard belongs to Jayne And Jayne belongs to yesterday How can I go on When every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus Neil belongs to love And love belongs to no man How can he go on When no one answers the adverts in his mind? There will be parties, there will be fun There will be prizes for everyone And hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard There will be ladies dressed in lace I just want to see her face When hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard You helped me build this bed But you won't help me sleep in it When I fall between you and the wall Our titanic love affair sails on the morning tide I really love you style Did you read it in the Look and Learn? How long can we go on? Do you think I only love you Because you sleep with other boys -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (4) A New England -------- I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long People ask when will you grow up to be a man But all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams I loved you then as I love you still Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill I don't feel bad about letting you go I just feel sad about letting you know I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I loved the words you wrote to me But that was bloody yesterday I can't survive on what you send Every time you need a friend I saw two shooting stars last night I wished on them, but they were only satellites It's wrong to wish on space hardware I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (5) The Man In The Iron Mask -------- When he drops you off, I will not say Who was that who so quickly drove away The things you've done and the places you've been When I open the door for you I will not let them in As long as you come back to me I will never ask For you I will be The man in the iron mask You said you love me and it broke my heart I was always your prisoner right from the start The nights you spend without me This house is like a dungeon And you only return to torture me more You must have your reasons I will no ask For you I will be The Man in the Iron Mask -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (6) The Busy Girl Buys Beauty -------- The busy girl buys beauty The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy And sees her world Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair And the truth about pain What was Anna Ford wearing? What did Angela Rippon say? What will you do When you wake up one morning To find that God's made you plain In a beautiful person's world? And all those quick recipes Have let you down And you're 20 and a half and not yet engaged Will you go look for the boy who says I love you let's get married and have kids The busy girl buys beauty The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair In a mail order paradise -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (7) Lovers Town Revisited -------- It's that summer of the evening Get ready and roll the cassette There's boys outside preaching genocide And trying to think up some sort of threat And the ladies in the cloakroom Take no notice of me I wish myself was back at home But there's nothing safe in watching TV There's something born tomorrow That I lost when I was out for a drink How many gangs is it gonna take To change the way I think? It takes more than good intentions And a big bloke on the door And though it's never the same after the first time That doesn't stop them coming back for more Fighting in the dance halls happens anyway Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think But most times, it makes me run away -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (8) The Cloth 1 -------- Did you believe those things We read in the papers? And never mind that, can you meet me Down at the Time Warp tonight? Oh you look divine That suit would get you into anywhere Tonight I'll be, as you can see The idol of an island far, far away A man of straw in cloth of gold Look into his eyes at the days of old And bow to the cloth And bow to the cloth Can you believe those things We've seen in the papers? And never mind that, can you get To the bar before the next egg starts? The word goes 'round the eyes of a wife And magazines with shiny pages And my hay-head where will it stop? And the boys in the shop continue to bop A man of straw in cloth of gold Look into his eyes to the days of old And bow to the cloth Bow to the cloth Heading down, getting further down And we've hit an iceburg But I don't care what the people think I will drink and drink till the damn ship sinks A man of straw in cloth of gold Look into his eyes to the days of old A drowing man in a metal coat The prince has fallen into the moat To the cloth, to the cloth -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (9) Speedway Hero -------- Take her little fingers And put 'em to your face And don't forget she said You're looking good And don't forget the next time That you get into a race Beneath it all You're only flesh and blood So fill her up and pick her up And ride into the breeze You're taking all the corners That were at the 35 degrees It's so hard to face up to It's not in no highway code Another speedway hero's coming home She's young and dressed in leather And you met her at a dance And you can't make out That strange look in her eyes But don't waste your time in talking Or waiting for the day Because biker girls only want To see you die So take them, wear their sorrow Like a badge to all the world Have pity on this little teenage Heartbroken girl It's so hard to face up to It ain't in no highway code Another speedway hero's coming home Speedway Keep one eye on the speedo And one hand on the bottle Keep one eye on the lady And one hand on the throttle It's so hard to face up to But it's harder in the dirt And even speedway heroes are getting hurt Even speedway heroes are getting hurt Even speedway heroes are getting hurt -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (10) Loving You Too Long -------- Love is a fire that burns Love is a wheel that turns Love is a thunderstorm With rain to wash us dry Love is the leaf at the top of the tree Once love was you and me Once love rained down In a thunderstorm of passion All these things I see Are haunting me I've been loving you for too long I've been loving you for too long Love is the game she plays Love is the good old days Love is a shooting star that burns So bright on that special night And love is the promised land Love has slipped through my hands Love has disappeared Like a rocket into the ocean All these things I see Are haunting me I've been loving you for too long I've been loving you for too long I've been loving you for too long I've been loving you for too long -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (11) A13, Trunk Road To The Sea -------- If you ever have to go to Shoeburyness Take the A road, the okay road that's the best Go motorin' on the A13 Well, if you're looking for a thrill that's new Take in Fords, Dartford Tunnel and the river too Go motorin' on the A13 It starts down in Wapping There ain't no stopping By-pass Barking and straight through Dagenham Down to Grays Thurrock And rather near Basildon Pitsea, Thundersley, Hadleigh, Leigh-On-Sea, Chalkwell, Prittlewell Southend's the end If you ever have to go to Shoeburyness Take the A road, the okay road that's the best Go motorin' on the A13 It starts down in Wapping There ain't no stopping By-pass Barking and straight through Dagenham Down to Grays Thurrock And rather near Basildon Pitsea, Thundersley, Hadleigh, Leigh-On-Sea, Chalkwell, Prittlewell Southend's the end If you ever have to go to Shoeburyness Take the A road, the okay road that's the best Go motorin' on the A13 Go motorin' on the A13 Go motorin' on the A13 -------- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) -------- -------- (12) Fear Is A Man's Best Friend -------- Standing, waiting for a man to show Wide eyed, one eye fixed on the floor This waiting's killing me It's getting me down Day in, day out My feet are wearing holes in the ground Darkness warmer than bedroom floor Want some to hold me close forever more I'm a sleeping dog But you can't tell When I'm on the prowl You better run like hell Yeah, that makes sense Don't think too much about it Life and death The things we only do when we're bored Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend If you add up it brings you down If you add up it brings you down Homeless living like a man on the run Days leading nowhere where to my son? We're already dead But not yet in the ground Grab ahold of my shaking hand And I will show you around Yeah, that makes sense Don't think too much about it Life and death The things we only do when we're bored Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend If you add up it brings you down If you add up it brings you down Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend Say fear is a man's best friend -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (1) It Says Here -------- It says here that the Unions will never learn It says here that the economy is on the upturn And it says here we should be proud That we are free And our free press reflects our democracy Those braying voices on the right of the House Are echoed down the Street of Shame Where politics mix with bingo and tits In a money and numbers game Where they offer you a feature On stockings and suspenders Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders It says here that this year's prince is born It says here do you ever wish That you were better informed And it says here that we can only stop the rot With a large dose of Law and Order And a touch of the short sharp shock If this does not reflect you view you should understand That those who own the papers also own this land And they'd rather you believed In Coronation Street capers In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers Could it be an infringement Of the freedom of the press To print pictures of women in states of undress When you wake up to the fact That your paper is Tory Just remember, there are two sides to every story -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (2) Love Gets Dangerous -------- The love of a woman A fear of the phone A secret message to a happy home I've never been so scared I never knew you cared Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous There's a fear that comes from being in danger Being in love with a total stranger Putting our futures in jeopardy When love is a secret, fear is the key When we meet in the street My terror is complete Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous Like a drug that threatens to take my life Lust is a cancer, love is a vice When she holds me, I understand Respect and fear go hand in hand No need to act tough It scares me just enough Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (3) The Myth Of Trust -------- I woke up this morning To find that we have outlived the myth of trust You woke up this morning To the fact we've lost the things We took for granted between us And I grew up in awe of the girl next door And the boy that never cried And I was dreaming of those Elizabethan girls While you were working in the market To earn ourselves And when you found out what happened yesterday While you were away in this land of Cain We were upstairs in the bedroom Dancing disgusting And flushing our babies down the drain And the apple that don't want to get eaten Will still fall off the tree When you're in as deep as we are honey It's so easy to get washed out to sea For the facts of life are not man and wife But Man and Woman sadly And the apple that don't want to get eaten Will still fall off the tree -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (4) From A Vauxhall Velox -------- She said "Do these seats fold down" I said "If you pull that handle" All the time she'd been waiting for Something with a little more And all her mates on the new estates Were walking out in confetti and sunshine Her mother read her mail And her Dad was a Policeman Which I must say worried me But some things have just got to be So we passed very fast like ships in the night Or cars in a contraflow system Some people say love is blind But I think that's just a bit short-sighted Some people just want it now It doesn't matter where or how Satisfaction takes a second place So long as they can get excited -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (5) The Saturday Boy -------- I'll never forget the first day I met her That September morning was clear and fresh The way she spoke and laughed at my jokes And the way she rubbed herself Against the edge of my desk She became a magic mystery to me And we'd sit together in double History twice a week And some days we'd walk the same way home And it's surprising how quick A little rain can clear the streets We dreamed of her and compared our dreams But that was all that I ever tasted She lied to me with her body you see I lied to myself 'bout the chances I'd wasted The times we were close Were far and few between In the darkness at the dances in the school canteen Did she close her eyes like I did As we held each other tight And la la la la la la la la means I love you She danced with me and I still hold that memory Soft and sweet And I stare up at her window As I walk down her street But I never made the first team, I just made the first team laugh And she never came to the phone She was always in the bath In the end, it took me a dictionary To find out the meaning of unrequited While she was giving herself for free At a party to which I was never invited I never understood my failings then And I hide my humble hopes now Thinking back she made us want her A girl not old enough to shave her legs -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (6) Island Of No Return -------- Digging all day and digging all night To keep my foxhole out of sight Digging into dinner on a plate on my knees The smell of damp webbing in the morning breeze Fear in my stomach, fear in the sky I eat my dinner with a weary eye After all this it won't be the same Messing around on Salisbury Plain Pick up your feet, fall in, move out We're going to a party way down South Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity I hate this flat land, there's no cover For sons and fathers and brothers and lovers I can take the killing, I can take the slaughter But I don't talk to Sun reporters I never thought that I would be Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea I saw one today and in his hand Was a weapon that was made in Birmingham Pick up your feet, fall in, move out We're going to a party way down South Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity I wish Kipling and the Captain were here To record our pursuits for posterity Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (7) St Swithin's Day -------- Thinking back now I suppose you were just stating your views What was it all for For the weather or the Battle of Agincourt And the times that we all hoped would last Like a train they have gone by so fast And though we stood together At the edge of the platform We were not moved by them With my own hands When I make love to your memory It's not the same I miss the thunder I miss the rain And the fact that you don't understand Casts a shadow over this land But the sun still shines from behind it Thanks all the same But I just can't bring myself to answer your letters It's not your fault But your honesty touches me like a fire The Polaroids that hold us together Will surely fade away Like the love that we spoke of forever On St. Swithin's Day -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (8) Like Soldiers Do -------- Blues eyes fighting the grey eyes fighting the tears Armed to the teeth for a war of words Reaching all the years I advanced across a poppy field I saw the gleam as you raised your shield And love screamed down With the sun behind its back Our Fathers were all soldiers Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers do Nothing is clear in this tactical unclear war I can't be bothered to find out What we are fighting for No one can win this war of the senses I see no reason to drop my defences So stand fast my emotions Rally round my shaking heart Our Fathers were all soldiers Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers do Blue eyes fighting the grey eyes fighting the tears Armed to the teeth for a war of words Reaching all the years I advanced across a poppy field I saw the gleam as you raised your shield And love screamed down With the sun behind its back I knew once again I was under attack So stand fast my emotions Rally round my shaking heart Our Fathers were all soldiers Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers Fighting and falling like soldiers Fighting and falling like soldiers do -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (9) This Guitar Says Sorry -------- Sandra met Raymond at the Race Relations Much to the dismay of her family and friends The love that we have is so important The time that it takes to make a baby Can be the time it takes to make a cup of tea The love that we have is so important He still goes dancing and she still cuts hair They put the baby into Council care The love that we have is so important -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (10) Strange Things Happen -------- All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you But the phone rang all night long To tell me I was wrong And I watched while the officer Wrote all their ages down Strange things happen When you're not around Our love is so strong It moves objects in my house Strange things happen When you're not around Those magical moments Have found their way back home again All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window And that book of old spells I was thinking of you And all the spells we cast Have lately come to pass And the flowers in the garden have all fallen down Strange things happen... -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (11) A Lover Sings -------- You and I are victims of a love That lost a lot in the translation When I think of all the time that I spent Sitting on the edge of your bed in anticipation Of you giving in and us living in sin A hot day, the smell of hairspray And the sound of a shower running softly It's things like this that remind me of how I felt The first time you came back for coffee The way you took it amazed me Walking in the park, kissing in the dark And my head against your pillow Late at night a lover sings Adam and eve are finding out all about love I say Adam and Eve are finding out all about love There is no real substitute For a ball struck squarely and firmly And you're the kind of girl who wants to Open up the bottle of pop Too early in the journey Our love went flat just like that It doesn't matter the colour of the car But what goes on beneath the bonnet Is there a flag that flies above your heart And is my name writ there upon it Wedding cake and toothache Equals love and pain Walking in the park, kissing on the carpet And your tights around your ankles Late at night a lover thinks of these things Adam and eve are finding out all about love I say Adam and Eve are finding out all about love Adam and eve are finding out all about Adam and eve are finding out all about love Teresa and Steve are finding out all about love -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (12) It Must Be A River -------- Something starts swimming inside of me At the sound of your name And the pressure on my lips I'm falling, falling It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away Something starts swimming inside of me At the sound of your name And the water on fire I'm falling, falling It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away Something starts swimming inside of me At the sound of your voice And the waterfall's walling I'm drowning, drowning It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away It must be a river 'Cause it swept me away It must be a river It swept me away -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (13) I Won't Talk About It -------- I don't wanna cause any trouble in town I don't want it I just want you to know that I'm around If you need me If you've been left all alone You can just pick up the phone (I won't talk about it) And dial up L-O-V-E (I won't talk about it) Baby you can call on me I know there's things about my scene That might get in your way That's not part of what I wanted to do I just wanna get next to you (I won't talk about it) I don't wanna bring you down (I won't talk about it) I just wanna be around (I won't talk about it) I already know Wherever we go Whatever we do or see Your secrets are safe with me -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (14) Talking Wag Club Blues -------- Well the sun goes down on London town But it never sets on Oxford Street Those well spoken young men and their bouncers Are trying to create a well dressed elite And all on private medicine, tut tut Once inside join the rising tide Of people who are so proud to get in Who think their face is their fortune But under their skin their ugly as sin Didn't I meet you down at the clinic? And lots of boys with lots of poise And hair right down to their hips There're lots of pretty girls with suntans And cold sores on their lips Is he your boyfriend Or is he just here to hold your coat? Or take it off, take it off, take it off And let's find out Half assed tries with half cast eyes Are sucking in their cheeks until it hurts Lots of twats in funny hats With Karl Marx printed on their shirts Will tell you revolution is just a state of mind Oh this is Saturday night In the West End alright And these people are not my kind You can cut the rug with this week's drug Make 'em all queue up to lick your arse Wear a T-Shirt that says "Young, free and single" Or a big badge that says "I'm hip; I'm working class". The place is full of earholes Who hang on every word that they speak Who believe what they write about themselves Week after week after week after week I don't know how they get away with it They should be ashamed While if it's all so bloody beautiful Well take it home and have it framed -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (15) You Got The Power -------- I'm leaving you, darling And I won't be back I found something better Somewhere down the track Oh, oh, I need you, darling You've got the power You've got the power of love In your hands You've got the power of love To make me understand Oh, oh, I want you to try me You've got the power I told you, darling That I would stand by your side Remember the days you made me cry But, oh, darling, oh, my little darling You've got the power to love We belong together And we love each other We belong together And, darling, you know I don't Have to look no further cause You've got the power I need you, darling (in your hands) Oh, yes you have You've got the power to love To make me understand You've got the power You've got the power You've got the power -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (16) The Last Time -------- Well, I told you once and I told you twice But you never listen to my advice You don't try very hard to please me With what you know it should be easy Well, this could be the last time This could be the last time Maybe the last time I don't know, oh no Well, I'm sorry girl but I can't stay Feelin' like I do today Staying here is too much sorrow I guess I'll feel the same tomorrow Well, this could be the last time This could be the last time Maybe the last time I don't know, oh no, oh no Well, this could be the last time This could be the last time Maybe the last time I don't know, oh no, oh no Well I told you once and I've told you twice That someone will have to pay the price But here's a chance to change your mind 'Cause I'll be gone a long, long time Well, this could be the last time This could be the last time Maybe the last time I don't know, oh no, oh no Baby no, no, no Baby no, no, no Baby no, no, no -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (17) Back To The Old House -------- I would rather not go back to the old house I would rather not go back to the old house Too many memories, bad memories Too many memories there When you cycled by, here begin all my dreams The saddest thing I've ever seen And you never knew how much I really liked you 'Cause I never even told you, I meant to Are you still there? Or have you, moved away Or have you moved away? I would love to go back to the old house But I never will I never will I never will -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (18) Which Side Are You On? -------- This government had an idea And parliament made it law It seems like it's illegal To fight for the union anymore Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? We set out to join the picket line For together we cannot fail We got stopped by police at the county line They said, "Go home boys or you're going to jail" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? It's hard to explain to a crying child Why her Daddy can't go back So the family suffer but it hurts me more To hear a scab say, "Sod you, Jack" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? I'm bound to follow my conscience And do whatever I can But it'll take much more than the union law To knock the fight out of a working man Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (19) Between The Wars -------- I was a miner, I was a docker I was a railway man between the wars I raised a family in times of austerity With sweat at the foundry between the wars I paid the union and as times got harder I looked to the government to help the working man But they brought prosperity down at the armoury We're arming for peace me boys, between the wars I kept the faith and I kept voting Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand For theirs is a land with a wall around it And mine is a faith in my fellow man Theirs is a land of hope and glory Mine is the green field and the factory floor Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers And mine is the peace we knew between the wars Call up the craftsmen, bring me the draughtsmen Build me a path from cradle to grave And I'll give my consent to any government That does not deny a man a living wage Go find the young men never to fight again Bring up the banners from the days gone by Sweet moderation, heart of this nation Desert us not, we are between the wars -------- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) -------- -------- (20) The World Turned Upside Down -------- In 1649 To St. George's Hill A ragged band they called the Diggers Came to show the people's will They defied the landlords They defied the laws They were the dispossessed Reclaiming what was theirs "We come in peace," they said "To dig and sow We come to work the lands in common And to make the waste grounds grow This earth divided We will make whole So it will be A common treasury for all The sin of property We do disdain No man has any right to buy and sell The earth for private gain By theft and murder They took the land Now everywhere the walls Spring up at their command They make the laws To chain us well The clergy dazzle us with heaven Or they damn us into hell We will not worship The God they serve The God of greed who feeds the rich While poor men starve We work we eat together We need no swords We will not bow to the masters Or pay rent to the lords We are free men Though we are poor You Diggers all stand up for glory Stand up now" From the men of property The orders came They sent the hired men and troopers To wipe out the Diggers' claim Tear down their cottages Destroy their corn They were dispersed But still the vision lingers on You poor take courage You rich take care This earth was made a common treasury For everyone to share All things in common All people one We come in peace The orders came to cut them down -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (1) Greetings To The New Brunette -------- Shirley It's quite exciting to be sleeping here in this new room Shirley You're my reason to get out of bed before noon Shirley You know when we sat out on the fire escape talking Shirley What did you say about running before we were walking Sometimes when we're as close as this It's like we're in a dream How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team Shirley Your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle Shirley We are joined in the ideological cuddle I'm celebrating my love for you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet Politics and pregnancy Are debated as we empty our glasses And how I love those evening classes Shirley You really know how to make a young man angry Shirley Can we get through the night without mentioning family The people from your church agree It's not much of a career Trying the handles of parked cars Whoops, there goes another year Whoops, there goes another pint of beer Here we are in our summer years Living on icecream and chocolate kisses Would the leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man and you were my missus Shirley Give my greetings to the new brunette Give my greetings to the new brunette Give my greetings to the new brunette -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (2) Train Train -------- Train took my baby away from me Tears in my eyes, I could not see Oh train train Hurry bring my baby back again I love that woman, you just don't know And now that she's gone I'll miss her so Why train train Hurry bring my baby back again Then I got this letter she wrote to me Says she's coming home, in my misery Why train train Hurry bring my baby back again -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (3) The Marriage -------- I understand you needing And wanting is no crime But I can't help feeling That you and your mother are just wasting your time Choosing Saturdays in Summer I dare you to wear white Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right I just don't understand it What makes our love a sin How can it make that difference If you and I are wearing that bloody, bloody ring If I share my bed with you Must I also share my life Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right You just don't understand it This tender trap we're in Those glossy catalogues of couples Are cashing in on happiness again and again So drag me to the altar And I'll make my sacrifice Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right And marriage is when we admit our parents were probably right -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (4) Ideology -------- When one voice rules the nation Just because they're top of the pile Doesn't mean their vision is the clearest The voices of the people Are falling on deaf ears Our politicians all become careerists They must declare their interests But not their company cars Is there more to a seat in parliament Than sitting on your arse? And the best of all this bad bunch Is shouting to be heard Above the sound of ideologies clashing Outside the patient millions Who put them into power Expect a little more back for their taxes Like school books, beds in hospitals And peace in our bloody time All they get is old men grinding axes Who've built their private fortunes On the things they can rely The courts, the secret handshake The Stock Exchange and the old school tie For God and Queen and Country All things they justify Above the sound of ideologies clashing God bless the civil service The nations saving grace While we expect democracy They're laughing in our face And although our cries get louder The laughter gets louder still Above the sound of ideologies clashing Above the sound of ideologies Above the sound of ideologies Above the sound of ideologies clashing -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (5) Levi Stubbs' Tears -------- With the money from her accident, she bought herself a mobile home So at least she could get some enjoyment out of being alone No one could say that she was left up on the shelf "It's you and me against the world, kid," she mumbled to herself When the world falls apart, some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face She ran away from home in her mother's best coat She was married before she was even entitled to vote And her husband was one of those blokes The sort who only laughs at his own jokes The sort a war takes away And when there wasn't a war, he left anyway When the world falls apart, some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong Are here to make everything right that's wrong Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too Are here to make it all okay with you And one dark night he came home from the sea And put a hole in her body where no hole should be It hurt her more to see him walking out the door And though they stitched her back together, they left her heart in pieces on the floor When the world falls apart, some things stay in place She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case When the world falls apart, some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (6) Honey I'm A Big Boy Now -------- I can see the kitchen light From the road where I park my bike But it's dark there as it often is these days And the gloomy living room Really needs a dust and a broom But I can't brush your memory away Her father was an admiral In someone else's navy And she had seen the World before I met her She would wash and cook and clean And all the other things between And like a fool I just sat there and let her Now I can feed and wash and dress myself And I can sleep without the light on Honey, I'm a big boy now I don't know what she does With all the money that I sent her She's running round the town with the Young Pretender I haven't touched the garden Since the day she walked away From a love affair that bore only bitter fruit She took everything she wanted Which is why she left me here With these pots and pans and my old wedding suit A letter came one morning That she would not let me see And from that day I began to realise That she would one day break The home we tried to make For sinners cannot live in paradise -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (7) There Is Power In A Union -------- There is power in a factory, power in the land Power in the hands of a worker But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand There is power in a Union Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud War has always been the bosses' way, sir The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands There is power in a Union Now I long for the morning that they realise Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us? Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child There is power in a Union The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand There is power in a Union -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (8) Help Save The Youth Of America -------- Help save the youth of America Help save them from themselves Help save the sun-tanned surfer boys And the Californian girls When the lights go out in the rest of the World What do our cousins say They're playing in the sun and having fun, fun, fun Till Daddy takes the gun away From the Big Church to the Big River And out to the Shining Sea This is the Land of Opportunity And there's a Monkey Trial on TV A nation with their freezers full Are dancing in their seats While outside another nation Is sleeping in the streets Don't tell me the old, old story Tell me the truth this time Is the Man in the Mask or the Indian An enemy or a friend of mine Help save the youth of America Help save the youth of the world Help save the boys in uniform Their mothers and their faithful girls Listen to the voice of the soldier Down in the killing zone Talking about the cost of living And the price of bringing him home They're already shipping the body bags Down below the Rio Grande But you can fight for democracy at home And not in some foreign land And the fate of the great United States Is entwined in the fate of us all And the incident at Chernobyl proves The world we live in is very small And the cities of Europe have burned before And they may yet burn again And if they do I hope you understand That Washington will burn with them Omaha will burn with them Los Alamos will burn with them -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (9) Wishing The Days Away -------- On Monday I wished it was Tuesday night So I could wish for the weekend to come On Tuesday I wished that the night would pass So I could call you on the phone Now a man can spend a lot of time Wondering what was on Jack Ruby's mind And time is all I have without you here On Wednesday when you hung up It was as much as I could do To stop from wishing Thursday Would pass so quickly too They're out there making history In the Lenin Shipyards today And here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away There's always room for one more soul Down in the Human Zoo I don't want you to come here though I want to come home to you Somebody's knocking at the door Its later than I think And its time to put on these stinking clothes And get out there and stink On Friday I wished there was something more To be seen in the letters you send On Saturday I wished it was Sunday Oh will this torment ever end Sometimes I get a notion to put a torch To the tools of my trade Here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (10) The Passion -------- The fear of a daughter can run high In the mind of a father to be For something is growing inside But we don't talk about it, do we? In the long empty passionless night Many times to herself she has prayed That the baby will love her much more Than the big boy who stole her away And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn It pains her to know that some things will never be right If the baby is just someone else to take sides in a fight Harsh words between bride and groom The distance is greater each day He smokes alone in the next room And she knits her life away And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn A long time ago she saw visions on the stairs And when she felt dizzy, her mother was always there The home help is no help at all I have not committed a crime Angels gaze down from the wall Is there a God? Is there a next time? -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (11) The Warmest Room -------- A rainy afternoon Spent in the warmest room She lay before me and said Yes it's true that I have seen some naked men As she made for the door Leaving me on the floor I wish I'd done biology For an urge within me wanted to do it then And here she comes again And I'm sitting on my hands And she sings to me that siren song Here she comes again and I'm biting my lip But it won't be long As Brother Barry said As he married Marion The wife has three great attributes Intelligence, a Swiss army knife and charm But that's not enough sometimes And she did speak her mind And told them all that she believed The only way to disarm is to disarm I know people whose idea of fun Is throwing stones in the river in the afternoon sun Oh let me be as free as them Don't let her pass this way again Though you cannot be blamed But I've become inflamed With thoughts of lust and thoughts of power Thoughts of love and thoughts of Chairman Mao We have such little time At your place or mine I can't wait till we take our blood tests Oh baby let's take our blood tests now -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (12) The Home Front -------- Father mows the lawn and Mother peels the potatoes Grandma lays the table alone And adjusts a photograph of the unknown soldier In this Holy of Holies, the Home And from the TV an unwatched voice Suggests the answer is to plant more trees The scrawl on the wall says what about the workers And the voice of the people says more salt please Mother shakes her head and reads aloud from the newspaper As Father puts another lock on the door And reflects upon the violent times that we are living in While chatting with the wife beater next door If paradise to you is cheap beer and overtime Home truths are easily missed Something that every football fan knows It only takes five fingers to form a fist And when it rains here It rains so hard But never hard enough to wash away the sorrow I'll trade my love today for a greater love tomorrow The lonely child looks out and dreams of independence From this family life sentence Mother sees but does not read the peeling posters And can't believe that there's a world to be won But in the public schools and in the public houses The Battle of Britain goes on The constant promise of jam tomorrow Is the New Breed's litany and verse If it takes another war to fill the churches of England Then the world the meek inherit, what will it be worth Mother fights the tears and Father, his sense of outrage And attempts to justify the sacrifice To pass their creed down to another generation 'Anything for the quiet life' In the Land of a Thousand Doses Where nostalgia is the opium of the age Our place in History is as Clock watchers, old timers, window shoppers -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (13) Sin City -------- This old town is filled with sin, it will swallow you in If you've got some money to burn, take it home right away You've got three years to pay, but Satan is waiting his turn This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poor house It seems like this whole town's insane On the thirty first floor, a gold plated door Won't keep out the Lord's burnin' rain The scientists say, it will all wash away But we don't believe any more So we got our recruits and our green Mohair suits So please show your I.D. at the door This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poor house It seems like this whole town's insane On the thirty first floor, a gold plated door Won't keep out the Lord's burnin' rain A friend came around, tried to clean up this town And his ideas made some people mad But he trusted his crowd, so he spoke right out loud And they lost the best friend they had This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poor house It seems like this whole town's insane On the thirty first floor, a gold plated door Won't keep out the Lord's burnin' rain On the thirty first floor, a gold plated door Won't keep out the Lord's burnin' rain -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (14) Deportees -------- The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting The oranges are piled in their creosote dumps Flying us back to the Mexican border Spend all our money to wade back again Father's own father, he waded that river It took all the money he made in his life My brothers and sisters come to work in the fruit trees And they ride the trucks 'til they took down and died Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane And all they will call you will be deportees Some of us are illegal and others not wanted Our work contract's out and we've got to move on Six hundred miles to the Mexican border They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves We died in your hills and we died in your deserts We died in your valleys, we died in your plains We died 'neath your trees, we died in your oceans Both sides of the river and we died just the same Skyplane caught fire over Los Gatos canyon A fireball of lightning, it shook all our hills Who are these friends who are scattered like dry leaves The radio says they are just deportees Is this the best way we can grow big orchards? Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit? Scattered like dry leaves that rot on your topsoil We're known by no name except deportees -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (15) The Tracks Of My Tears -------- People say I'm the life of the party 'Cause I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I'm blue So take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears, I need you Since you left me if you see me with another girl Seeming like I'm having fun Although she may be cute she's just a substitute Because you're the permanent on&101 So take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears, I need you Hey, hey, yeah Outside I'm masquerading Inside my hope is fading I'm just a clown, yeah, oh, since you put me down My smile is my make up I wear since my break up with you Baby, take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears Baby, baby, baby, baby, take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (16) The Clashing Of Ideologies -------- When one voice rules the nation Just because she's top of the pile Doesn't mean her vision is the clearest And the voices of the people Are falling on deaf ears Our politicians all become careerists They must declare their interests But not their company cars Is there more to a seat in parliament Than sitting on your arse? And the best of all this bad bunch Is shouting to be heard Above the sound of ideology crashing Whisper up in Whitehall Must not be spoke aloud The offender faces jail or resignation And another dose of welfare cuts Is passed without a word From those who claim to represent The centre of this nation All these men and women Elected for their high ideals While we just pay our taxes They pay lip service when it feels And the voices of the millions And the hopes of a whole lot more Are lost above the sound Of ideology crashing Are lost above the sound of ideology Above the sound of ideology Above the sound of ideology crashing -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (17) Greetings To The New Brunette (Demo Version) -------- Shirley, it's quite exciting To be sleeping here in this new room Shirley, you're my reason To get out of bed before noon Shirley, you know when We were sat on the fire escape talking Shirley, what did you say About running before we were walking? When we're looking close tonight It's like we're in a dream How can you lie there And think of England When you don't even know who's in the team? Shirley, your sexual politics Has left me all of a muddle Shirley, we're involved In the idealogical cuddle I'm celebrating my love for you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable When my cement is wet Politics and pregnancy Are debated as we empty our glasses And how I love those evening classes Shirley, you really know how To make a young man angry Shirley, can we get through the night Without mentioning family? The people from your church agree It's not much of a career Trying the door handles of parked cars Whoops there goes another year Whoops there goes another year... Here we are in our summer years Living on ice cream and chocolate kisses And would the leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man And you were my missus Shirley, do we really have to agree With each other? Shirley, if we persevere There are things we'll discover After everything we've touched on tonight You're asking me if I really care If our love is gone in the morning Like the goldfish we won at the fair Greetings to the new brunette Greetings to the new brunette Greetings to the new brunette Greetings to the new brunette To the new brunette Greetings to the new brunette -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (18) A Nurse's Life Is Full Of Woe -------- To live forever in your stupid dream And face the ignominy that old age brings Looking up in your heart, but I think you know That a nurse's life is full of woe But Jimmy Quail in another town They shift it up and they push you around If you find it's hard, you should think you so That a nurse's life is full of woe She was in this fetid lie This is not the way that I would choose to die I wish you were ever in my heart And I miss you in heaven to this day And I wonder how you find it out And you're looking up and you'll lock me out 'Cause you know in your heart if you want to go For a nurse's life is full of woe To live forever in your stupid dream And face the ignominy that old age brings Looking up in your heart, and you're ever so That a nurse's life is full of woe Do you believe any children survive? I wonder if you wanna stay alive And I wonder if you feel this gift If you have to work a thirty-six hour shift But I wonder now when you'll understand When the woman in white comes to take your hand And you put your heart, and I think you know That a nurse's life is full of woe That a nurse's life is full of woe -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (19) Only Bad Signs -------- He answers the phone So I know you're not alone I'll find only bad signs If you've let him answer this time When I return To find letters that you've burnt I'll find only bad signs If you have burnt his, not mine When you go out, I do not doubt That I'll find only bad signs By things that you leave here I'd rather go blind Than continue to find Only bad signs You know that you're leaving I cannot guess How much more I can take When you're with him Three's a crowd, and a heartbreak The look on your face And the long silent days I see only bad signs If we are lost in our own home The sun may rise But not in my eyes I see only bad signs And sorrow and shadows I just cannot guess How much more I can take When you're with him Three's a crowd, and a heartbreak He answers the phone So I know you're not alone I'll find only bad signs If you've let him answer this time When I return To find letters that you've burnt I'll find only bad signs If you have burnt his, not mine Only bad signs Only bad signs Only bad signs -------- Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) -------- -------- (20) Hold The Fort -------- We meet to die in freedoms cause And raise our voices high We'll join our hands in union strong To battle or to die Hold the fort For we are coming Union men be strong Side by side keep pressing onward Victory will come Look my comrades See the union banner waving high Reinforcements now appearing Victory is nigh Hold the fort For we are coming Union men be strong Side by side keep pressing onward Victory will come See our numbers still increasing Hear the bugles blow By our union we shall triumph Over every foe Hold the fort For we are coming Union men be strong Side by side keep pressing onward Victory will come Fierce and long, the battle rages But we do not fear Help will come whenever it's needed Cheer my comrades cheer Hold the fort For we are coming Union men be strong Side by side keep pressing onward Victory will come -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (1) She's Got A New Spell -------- What is that sound Where is it coming from All around What are you running from Something you don't understand Something you cannot command That's how I know She's got a new spell Yes, that's how I know That she's got a new spell What's going down Who's moved this room from round me Where has it gone I fear this night will drown me So I lie awake all night 'Cause I can't sleep with something I can't fight The laws of gravity are very, very strict And you're just bending them for your own benefit One minute she says She's gone to get the cat in The next thing I know She's mumbling in Latin She cut the stars out of the sky And baked them in a pie She stole the scene and scenery The script and the machinery -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (2) Must I Paint You A Picture? -------- It's bad timing and me We find a lot of things out this way And there's you A little black cloud in a dress The temptation To take the precious things we have apart To see how they work Must be resisted for they never fit together again If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me If these are tears let them fall Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance And now the bells across the river chime out your name I look across to them again Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real All your friends said come down It will never fly And on that imperfect day We threw it all away Crisis after crisis With such intensity This would never happen if we lived by the sea Most important decisions in life Are made between two people in bed I found that out at my expense And when I see you You just turn around and walk away like we never met Oh we used to be so brave I dreamt the world stopped turning as we climbed the hill I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real (Repeat to end) -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (3) Tender Comrade -------- What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade When we lay down our weary guns When we return home to our wives and families And look into the eyes of our sons What will you say of the bond we had, tender comrade Will you say that we were brave As the shells fell all around us Or that we wept and cried for our mothers And cursed our fathers For forgetting that all men are brothers Will you say that we were heroes Or that fear of dying among strangers Tore our innocence and false shame away And from that moment on deep in my heart I knew That I would only give my life for love Brothers in arms in each other arms Was the only time that I was not afraid What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade When we cast off these khaki clothes And go our separate ways What will you say of the bond we had Tender comrade -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (4) The Price I Pay -------- My friend said she could see no way ahead And I was probably better off without you She said to face up to the fact that you weren't coming back And she could make me happy like you used to But I'm sorry to say I turned her away Knowing everything she said was true And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do There's something inside that hurts my foolish pride To visit the places we used to go together Not a day goes by that I don't sit and wonder why Your feelings for me didn't last forever Girl I love you so much that sometimes it's such I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do So keep that phone out of my way for the things I must say Are empty if you don't believe they're true That's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Girl, I love you so much that baby it's such I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And you know that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (5) Little Time Bomb -------- One of them's off her food And the other one's off his head And both of them are off down the boozer To drink a toast To the one that he hates most And she says there are no winners, only losers "Well, if there are no winners Then what is this?" he thinks As he watches her complete a lap of honour And he sits in the stands With his head in his hands And he thinks of all the things he'd like to bring down upon her Revenge will bring cold comfort in this darkest hour As the juke box says "It's All Over Now" And he stands and he screams What have I done wrong? I've fallen in love with a little time bomb I've fallen in love with a little time bomb In public he's such a man He's punching at the walls with his bare and bloody hands He's screaming and shouting and acting crazy But at home he sits alone and he cries like a baby He holds your letters but he can't read them As he fights this loneliness that you call freedom You said this would happen and you were not wrong I've fallen in love with a little time bomb I've fallen in love with a little time bomb -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (6) Rotting On Remand -------- I stood before the Judge that day As he refused me bail And I knew that I would spend my time Awaiting trial in jail I said there is no justice As they led me out of the door And the Judge said, "This isn't a court of justice, son This is a court of law." They first sent me to Windsor And then to Stoke on Trent In a holding cell in Liverpool Three days and nights I spent My solicitor can't find me And my family don't know I keep telling them that I'm innocent They just say, "Come on son, in you go." I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done Here I sit in 'F' wing waiting for my trial to come It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand I ended up in this jail Built in 1882 When one man to one prison cell Was a Victorian value Now three of us are squeezed in here And you can't escape the smell Of that bucket in the corner And we eat in here as well They let me out of this cage To slop that bucket out To get my food and bring it back And if I'm lucky, get a shower Apart from one hour's exercise I'm locked in here all day You don't turn criminals into citizens By treating them this way Is the price of law and order the stench of Wormwood Scrubs With judges quick to sentence more down from above It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (7) Valentine's Day Is Over -------- Someday boy you'll reap what you've sown You'll catch a cold and you'll be on your own And you will see that what's wrong with me Is wrong with everyone that You want to play your little games on Poetry and flowers pretty words and threats You've gone to the dogs again and I'm not placing bets On you coming home tonight anything but blind If you take me for granted then you must expect to find Surprise, surprise Valentine's Day is over, it's over Valentine's Day is over If you want to talk about it well you know where the phone is Don't come round reminding me again how brittle bone is God didn't make you an angel, the Devil made you a man That brutality and economy are related now I understand When will you realize that as above so below there is no love Valentine's Day is over, it's over Valentine's Day is over For the girl with the hour glass figure Time runs out very fast We used to want the same things but that's all in the past And lately it seems that as it all gets tougher Your ideal of justice just becomes rougher and rougher Valentine's Day is over, it's over Valentine's Day is over Thank you for the things you bought me Thank you for the card Thank you for the things you taught me When you hit me hard That love between two people Must be based on understanding Until that's true you'll find your things All stacked out on the landing Surprise, surprise Valentine's Day is over, it's over Valentine's Day is over -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (8) Life With The Lions -------- I hate the arsehole I become Every time I'm with you You know you've got me on the run But let me make it clear to you It's taken two fools such as we To make love deaf, dumb and blind Now you're upset 'cause I can't read your mind love You're upset 'Cause I can't read your mind I hate the arsehole I become Every time I'm with you I get the feeling looking in your eyes That somehow I should forgive you I know that I'm guilty but I don't know what I've done You're not about to let me join in the fun are you You're not about to let me join in the fun I hate the arsehole I become Every time I'm with you I hate the way you try to give me back All the things I give to you I know when I leave the room They say what's up with him But love is not a game you play to win girl Love is not a game you play to win If that face of yours could only talk The stories it could tell The chase is always better than the kill, love The chase is always better than the kill -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (9) The Only One -------- Sometimes when you lose your way to me I think you don't care at all If you don't get here soon I'll tear that clock down from the wall Your family and friends don't understand They treat me so strange The book you said to read Well I have read but nothing's changed The clocks go forward the clocks go back Yet here I sit as if I were the only one And oh you cannot hear me Oh you cannot hear me Can anybody hear me out there He's up on his high horse again You're down in the park I'm left to fight my impulses alone here in the dark The chain that fell off my bike last night Is now wrapped round my heart Sometimes I think that Fate has been against us from the start I long to let our love run free Yet here I am a victim of geography And oh you cannot hear me Oh you cannot hear me Can anybody hear me out there She said kiss me or would you rather Live in a land where the soap won't lather And oh... You know you are the only one Yes you are the only one Yes you are the only one -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (10) The Short Answer -------- Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Devil that was me If ever anyone could help me with my obsession with The young Suzannah York. it was Mary In my pink pyjamas she asked me for something I gave her the short answer She read our stars out loud And I knew then that we should have gone sailing But we stayed home instead Fighting on the waterbed Like the honeymoon couple on drugs Me and Mary What happened in the past Remained a mystery of natural history She should have been the last But she was just the latest If she wanted to be a farmer's wife I would endure that muddy life I would dig for victory And the sound of happy couples Coupling happily in the dark While you and I sat down to tea I remember you said to me That no amount of poetry Would mend this broken heart But you can put the Hoover 'round If you want to make a start All my friends from school Introduce me to their spouses While I'm left standing here With my hands down the front of my trousers I just don't know what's to be done I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum And how did they conceive of me Tell my Mary The boys who came to the shop Always made her laugh much more than I did When I told her this must stop She didn't bat an eyelid She said you know honey it's such a shame You'll never be any good at this game You bruise too easily So said Mary Her two brothers took me out Of circulation for the duration So we went our separate ways but does she still love me She still has my door key Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop You're never happy with what you've got Till what you've got is gone Sorry Mary -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (11) Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards -------- It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying Over luxury's disappointment So he walks over and he's trying To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her That the Third World is just around the corner. In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell At the first hurdle. In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear Is the sound of someone stacking chairs And mopping up spilt beer And someone asking questions and basking in the light Of the fifteen fame-filled minutes of the fanzine writer. Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses While looking down the corridor Out to where the van is waiting I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards. Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted You can be active with the activists Or sleep in with the sleepers While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards. One leap forward, two leaps back Will politics get me the sack? Here comes the future and you can't run from it If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it. It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole. If no one seems to understand Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman. In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune But this is reality so give me some room. So join the struggle while you may The Revolution is just a T-shirt away. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (12) Love Has No Pride -------- I've had bad dreams too many times To think that they don't mean much anymore Good times have gone, left my sad home Friends who once cared don't call back anymore Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one to blame But I'd give anything to see you again I've slept alone too many nights To think that you would come back again I've heard you talk, he's crazy to stay But this love hurt's me so I don't care what you say Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one to blame And I'd give anything to see you again If I could buy your love Then I'd surely try my friend And if I could pray My prayers would never end And if you want me to beg I'll fall down on my knees And ask for you to come back Honey, I'd for you to come back Beg for you to come back to me Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one but myself to blame And I'd give anything to see you again Yes I'd give anything to see you again -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (13) That's Entertainment -------- A police car and a screamin' siren Pneumatic drill and ripped-up concrete A baby wailing, a stray dog howling The screech of brakes and lamplight blinking That's entertainment That's entertainment A smash of glass and the rumble of boots An electric train and a ripped-up phone booth Paint-splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat Lights going out and a kick in the balls I say that's entertainment That's entertainment La la la... Days of speed and slow-time Mondays Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday Watching the news and not eating your tea Freezing cold flat with damp on the walls I say that's entertainment That's entertainment Waking up at 6 A.M. on a cool warm morning Opening the windows and breathing in petrol An amateur band rehearsing in a nearby yard Watching the telly and thinking 'bout your holidays That's entertainment That's entertainment Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume A hot summer's day and sticky black tarmac Feeding ducks in the park and wishing you were far away That's entertainment That's entertainment Two lovers kissing masks a scream of midnight Two lovers missing the tranquillity of solitude Getting a cab and travelling on buses Reading the graffiti about slashed-seat affairs I say that's entertainment That's entertainment La la la... -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (14) Bad Penny (Demo Version) -------- I have a letter from her When she worked for the "Woman's Realm" And all the things she promised me She promised herself as well She said, "I want my freedom" And ran off along the beach It's hard to love a girl so near Yet so far out of reach Yet so far out of reach She came back when the tide came in And introduced her friend to me She said, "Don't ring while he's here" And gave me back my poetry She expected me to understand As she's always done this before And now she asks me "Why don't you send me poems anymore?" Send me poems anymore And she steals more than she buys You can see it in her eyes And she'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny Then she comes back and asks me To sing all her favourite songs As if she's never been away As if she's done nothing wrong But I've come to the conclusion That she doesn't realize a thing And she probably still thinks I love her And she doesn't know that it's a sin She doesn't know that it's a sin And she steals more than she buys You can see it in her eyes And she'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny She'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny She'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (15) Reason To Believe -------- If I listened long enough to you I'll find a way to believe that it's all true Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe Someone like you Makes it hard to live without Somebody else Someone like you Makes it easy to give Never think about myself If I gave you time to change my mind I'd find a way just to leave the past behind Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe Someone like you Makes it hard to live without Somebody else Someone like you Makes it easy to give Never think about myself If I listened long enough to you I'd find a way to believe that it's all true Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (16) Must I Paint You A Picture? -------- It's bad timing and me We find a lot of things out this way And there's you A little black cloud in a dress The temptation To take the precious things we have apart To see how they work Must be resisted for they never fit together again If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me If these are tears let them fall Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance And now the bells across the river chime out your name I look across to them again Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real All your friends said come down It will never fly And on that imperfect day We threw it all away Crisis after crisis With such intensity This would never happen if we lived by the sea Most important decisions in life Are made between two people in bed I found that out at my expense And when I see you You just turn around and walk away like we never met Oh we used to be so brave I dreamt the world stopped turning as we climbed the hill I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real (Repeat to end) -------- Workers Playtime (1988) -------- -------- (17) Raglan Road -------- On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way And I said, "Let grief be a falling leaf at the dawning of the day" On Grafton Street in november we tripped lightly along the ledge Of a deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passions pledge The queen of hearts still making tarts and I not making hay And I loved too much by such and such is happiness thrown away I gave her the gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign That's known to all the artists who have known true gods of sound and time With word and tint I never did stint I gave him reams of poems to say With her own name there and hlong dark hair like the clouds over fields of may On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see him walking now Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay When the angel woos the clay he'll lose his wings at the dawn of day On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way And I said, "Let grief be a falling leaf at the dawning of the day" -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (1) The Internationale -------- Stand up, all victims of oppression For the tyrants fear your might Don't cling so hard to your possessions For you have nothing, if you have no rights Let racist ignorance be ended For respect makes the empires fall Freedom is merely privilege extended Unless enjoyed by one and all So come brothers and sisters For the struggle carries on The Internationale Unites the world in song So comrades come rally For this is the time and place The international ideal Unites the human race Let no one build walls to divide us Walls of hatred nor walls of stone Come greet the dawn and stand beside us We'll live together or we'll die alone In our world poisoned by exploitation Those who have taken, now they must give And end the vanity of nations We've but one Earth on which to live And so begins the final drama In the streets and in the fields We stand unbowed before their armour We defy their guns and shields When we fight, provoked by their aggression Let us be inspired by like and love For though they offer us concessions Change will not come from above -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (2) I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night -------- I dreamed I saw Phil Ochs last night Alive as you and me Says I to Phil "You're ten years dead" "I never died" says he "I never died" says he The music business killed you Phil They ignored the things you said And cast you out when fashions changed Says Phil "But I ain't dead" Says Phil "But I ain't dead" The FBI harassed you Phil They smeared you with their lies Says he "But they could never kill What they could not compromise I never compromised" "Though fashion's changed and critics sneered The songs that I have sung Are just as true tonight as then The struggle carries on The struggle carries on" With the song of freedom rings out loud From valleys and from hills Where people stand up for their rights Phil Ochs is with us still Phil Ochs inspires us still -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (3) The Marching Song Of The Covert Battalions -------- Here we are, seeking out the Reds Trying to keep the communists in order Just remember when you're sleeping in your beds They're only two days drive from the Texas border How can a country large as ours Be scared of such a threat Well if they won't work for us They're against us you can bet They may be sovereign countries But you folks at home forget That they all want what we've got But they don't know it yet We're making the world safe for capitalism Here we come with our candy and our guns And our corporate muscle marches in behind us For freedom's just another world for nothing left to sell And if you want narcotics we can get you those as well We help the multi-nationals When they cry out protect us The locals scream and shout a bit But we don't let that affect us We're here to lend a helping hand In case they don't elect us How dare they buy our products Yet still they don't respect us We're making the world safe for capitalism If you thought the army Was here protecting people like yourself I've some news for you We're here to defend wealth Away with nuns and bishops The Good Lord will help those that help themselves I've some news for you We're here to defend wealth We're making the world safe for capitalism -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (4) Blake's Jerusalem -------- And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the Holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Amongst these dark satanic mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold Bring me my arrows of desire Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of Fire I will not cease from mental fight Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (5) Nicaragua Nicaraguita -------- Oh Nicaragua Nicaraguita Most beautiful flower of my love Fertilized with the blessed blood of Diriangen Oh Nicaragua you are even sweeter Than the honey from Tamagas But now that you are free Nicaraguita I love you much more But now that you are free Nicaraguita I love you much more -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (6) The Red Flag -------- The people's flag is deepest red It shrouded oft our martyred dead And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds we'll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the red flag flying here It waved above our infant might When all ahead seemed dark as night It witnessed many a deed and vow We must not change its colour now It well recalls the triumphs past It gives the hope of peace at last The banner bright, the symbol plain Of human right and human gain It suits today the meek and base Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place To cringe beneath the rich man's frown And haul that sacred emblem down With heads uncovered swear we all To bare it onward till we fall Come dungeons dark or gallows grim This song shall be our parting hymn -------- The Internationale (1990) -------- -------- (7) My Youngest Son Came Home Today -------- My youngest son came home today His friends marched with him all the way The fife and drum beat out the time While in his box of polished pine Like dead meat on a butcher's tray My youngest son same home today My youngest son was a fine young man With a wife, a daughter and two sons And a man he would have lived and died Till by a bullet sanctified Now he's a saint or so they say They brought their young saint home today An Irish sky looks down and weeps Upon the narrow Belfast streets At children's blood in gutters spilled In dreams of glory unfulfilled As part of freedom's price to pay My youngest son came home today My youngest son came home today His friends marched with him all the way The pipe and drum beat out the time While in his box of polished pine Like dead meat on a butcher's tray My youngest son came home today And this time he's here to stay -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (1) Accident Waiting To Happen -------- I've always been impressed with a girl Who could sing for her supper and get breakfast as well That's the way I am, heaven help me He said, "We don't like peace camapigners 'round here" As he nailed another one to the wall And that's what gets me in trouble, heaven help me Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion You're an accident waiting to happen There you are standing at the bar And you're giving me grief about the DDR And that chip on your shoulder gets bigger as you get older One of these night you're gonna get caught It'll give you a pregnant pause for thought You're a dedicated swallower of fascism Time up and time out for all the liberties you've taken Time up and time out for all the friends that you've foresaken If you choose to waste away like death is back in fashion You're an accident waiting to happen And my sins are so unoriginal I have all the self-loathing of a wolf in sheep's clothing In this carnival of carnivores, Heaven help me Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion You're an accident waiting to happen You're an accident waiting to happen You're a dedicated swallower of fascism You're an accident waiting to happen -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (2) Moving The Goalposts -------- I put on my raincoat to make it rain And sure enough the skies opened up again I dreamed of you as I walked to the shops You were dancing with the wallies on Top Of The Pops Once in a while Gennady Gerasimov drops his smile And you can see that his aim's A portfolio pregnant with gains He's been up all night Moving the goalposts Like a jackdaw with a fiery brand Spread the news all over this land Robin Hood and his Merry Men Are never, never, never coming back again I don't believe that love should be pain So could you please rub my back again I think it's safe to leave than in the park Let's blow out the candles and kiss in the dark Heavens above Can this sticky stuff really be love! Don't get dressed yet Not yet We've been up all night Moving the goalposts -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (3) Everywhere -------- Dig in boys for an extended stay Those were final orders to come down that day Waiting to be saved in the Philippines You'll wait forever for the young Marines Now I believe to be here is right But I have to say that I'm scared tonight Crouching in this hole with a mouth full of sand What comes first the country or the man? Look at those slanted eyes coming up over the hill Catching us by surprise, it's time to kill or to be killed Over here, over there, it's the same everywhere A boy cries out for his mama before he dies for his home All my life I wanted to be As clever and strong as my best friend Lee We grew up together along Half Moon Bay Lee was Japanese, born in the USA When Tommy was fighting Jerry along the River Seine Me and Lee wanted to do the same Then they bombed Pearl Harbour at the break of day I was headed for these islands while Lee was hauled away They said look at his slanted eyes, he's guilty as guilty can be Sent here as enemy spies to sabatage the Land of the Free I never got home, my platoon was never saved That little fox hole became my island grave Lee got out of jail but a prisoner he remained Till he ended his own life to lose that ball and chain And they said Oh Little Slanted Eyes can't you forgive and forget? And he said, Oh Mr Friendly Ghost Can you catch water in a net? -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (4) Cindy Of A Thousand Lives -------- Blue velvet America Half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees Who punctured the beauty And invited monsters such as these The pig faced boy, the corrupted clown The grotesque figure who never comes into town Something broken, something stained Something waiting for the worms to claim And you can never go there again Except in nightmares The voyeur who dares not come near Knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear My shadow came this morning And left some candy in my shoe They're always watching me Watching the things I do Cindy of a thousand lives Cindy of the Stepford Wives I've looked at all the photographs But Cindy, which one of them was you? -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (5) You Woke Up My Neighbourhood -------- As I wait for sleep to drag me under In the evening gloom I sit and wonder The words I should have said to you The things I always meant to do The bad dreams that all came true You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now When I think of how we were together I know we couldn't be like that forever Beneath the Seven Sister stars The night we let it go too far I slept out in the car You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now I remember skipping on the porch till it grew cold I remember feeling like I was eight years old Somersaults across the lawn Singing dancing up till dawn Every now and then we'd have a row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet round here now You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (6) Trust -------- He's already been inside me And he really didn't say And I really didn't ask him I just hoped and prayed He's already been in side me And I really don't feel well I keep looking in the mirror But it's hard to tell Will he stay by me and take my hand And hold me till I sleep Or will he crumble and fall to the floor And weep Oh feeble man, oh evil man He's already been inside me Would he have told me if he cared? I know I ought to find out But I'm much too scared He's already been inside me And I know it can't be good Nothing feels The way it should Will he hold me in his arms again And wipe away my tears Or has he already taken My best years Oh evil man, oh feeble man -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (7) God's Footballer -------- God's footballer hears the voices of angels Above the choir at Molineux God's footballer stands on the doorstep And brings the Good News of the Kingdom to come While the crowd sings 'Rock of Ages' The goals bring weekly wages Yet the glory of the sports pages Is but the worship of false idols and tempts him not God's footballer turns on a sixpence And brings the Great crowd to their feet in praise of him God's footballer quotes from the Gospels While knocking on doors in Black Country back streets He scores goals on a Saturday And saves souls on a Sunday For the Lord says these are the Last Days Prepare thyself for the Judgement yet to come His career will be over soon And the rituals of a Saturday afternoon Bid him a reluctant farewell For he knows beyond the sport lies the spiritual -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (8) The Few -------- At night the Baby Brotherhood and the Inter City Crew Fill their pockets up with calling cards And paint their faces red white and blue Then they go out seeking different coloured faces And anyone else that they can scare And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? From the stands of the Empire Stadium Come the heralds of the New Dark Age With the simplicities of bigotry And to whom all the world's a stage These little John Bullshits know that the press Will glorify their feats So that the general public fear them And the authorities say give 'em all seats And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed Is shouting "Here we go!" What do they know of England who only England know? Our neighbours shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in their fountains To express our national pride And to prove to the world that England Is just as rotten as she looks They repeat the lies that caught their eyes At school in history books But the wars they think they're fighting Were all over long ago What do they know of England who only England know? And the society that spawned them Just cries out "Who's to blame?" And then wraps itself in the Union Jack And just carries on the same Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (9) Sexuality -------- I've had relations with girls from many nations I've made passes at women of all classes And just because you're gay I won't turn you away If you stick around I'm sure that we can find some common ground Sexuality Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality Your laws do not apply to me A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden Headlines give me headaches when I read them I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade He said some things are really best left unspoken But I prefer it all to be out in the open Sexuality Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality Don't threaten me with misery Sexuality I demand equality I'm sure that everybody knows how much my body hates me It lets me down most every time and makes me rash and hasty I feel a total jerk before your naked body of work I'm getting weighed down with all this information Safe sex doesn't mean no sex it just means use your imagination Stop playing with yourselves in hard currency hotels I look like Robert De Niro, I drive a Mitsubishi Zero Sexuality Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality Come eat and drink and sleep with me Sexuality We can be what we want to be -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (10) Mother Of The Bride -------- The Reverend Mother went and got me a drink She came back and said to me "Well what do you think?" I said "I've made myself a fool For the prettiest girl in school" How can I deal with this hurt I feel inside? I tell it to the mother of the bride I put on my suit and smile for the big day But I couldn't watch as her dad gave her away And as they solemnly said "You'll do" Her mother said "That should have been you" At the mercy of the moon The boy who spoke too soon She married him and destroyed all my hopes Of a two-up, two-down, two point five And a dish on the roof For the soaps I saw them at the hardware store He looked boring she looked bored It's nice to know that someone was on my side Best wishes to the mother of the bride -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (11) Tank Park Salute -------- Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers Leave the light on at the top of the stairs Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky A tree taps on the window pane That feeling smothers me again Daddy is it true that we all have to die At the top of the stairs Is darkness I closed my eyes and when I looked Your name was in the memorial book And what had become of all the things we planned I accepted the commiserations Of all your friends and your relations But there's some things I still don't understand You were so tall How could you fall? Some photographs of a summer's day A little boy's lifetime away Is all I've left of everything we've done Like a pale moon in a sunny sky Death gazes down as I pass by To remind me that I'm but my father's son I offer up to you This tribute I offer up to you This tank park salute -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (12) Dolphins -------- Sometimes I think about Saturday's child And all about the time We were running wild I've been searching For the dolphins in the sea And sometimes I wonder Do you ever think of me This world may never change The way it's been And all the ways of war Won't change it back again I'm not the one to tell This world how to get along I only know that peace will come When all our hate is gone This world may never change -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (13) North Sea Bubble -------- I went out drinking with Thomas Paine He said that all revolutions are not the same They are as different as the cultures That give them birth For no one idea Can solve every problem on Earth So don't expect it all to happen In some prophesied political fashion For people are different And so are nations You can borrow ideas But you can't borrow situations In Leningrad the people say Perestroika can be explained this way The people who told us That two and two is ten Are now trying to tell us That two and two is five We're living in a North Sea Bubble We're trying to spend our way out of trouble You keep buying these things but you don't need them But as long as you're comfortable it feels like freedom My American friends don't know what to do But they'll wait a long time for a Beverley Hills coup War! What is it good for It's good for business -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (14) Rumours Of War -------- There are soldiers marching on the common today They were there again this evening They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground Before the storm clouds gathering I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves They are testing the air raid sirens They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds At the hospital and he asylum I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today And we stood there idly chatting He said: "No, no I don't think war will come" Yet still he carried on digging Everything in my life that I love Could be swept away without warning Yet the birds still sing and the church bells ring And the sun came up this morning Life goes on as it did before As the country drifts slowly to war -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (15) Wish You Were Her -------- There's a girl sleeping in my bed And I'm singing unwritten songs in my head She provided bittersweet company I confided how much you mean to me And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I let her warm her feet on me Wish you were her That I wanted you to be my wife Is the worst kept secret of my life Everyone knows, even my friend here I've just whispered your name in her ear And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I ask her how she takes her tea Wish you were her Her I wish you were her -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (16) Body Of Water -------- I will cross this body of water If you promise you won't try this at home You're where you want to be Where am I, I'm up a tree I had a hurt attack Rolled away, now I'm bouncing back Forgive me for feeling sick I think I just got up too quick Is this the consequence Of an out of bed experience Where I'm from the sun don't shine We keeps the light on all the time I walk upon the ground we dream about You finding out about it now But you are clever never to be found Summer could take a hint Seeing you in a floral print Oh, to become a pearl In the wordy world of the Cornflake Girl -------- Don't Try This At Home (1991) -------- -------- (17) Party Of God -------- In a busy street a man sits down Oblivious to the traffic sounds No chaos, no frenzied shrieking crowd Thank God their silence, walking heads bent down Come when they saw us Called it lethargy The treadmill turns There down below their feet Should I pray for an end to come Quickly, quickly Or cross the waves of an angry sea Risking and braving The shipwreck and the mutiny assailing Assailing In a haunted doorway and from the light of day See another life fall to ruin in pain False smiles from even children it seems Landlocked ground for empty and lost dreams A league against me I hear him say It's not worth half the effort Or the price you pay Should I pray for an end to come Quickly, quickly Or should I raise my face to the heavens above And tell God stop jeering As our human frailties and all our failings Are we failing Pound and pound on an endless street Again and again the nightmare scene All stained against the tightened rope Not one with a lasting lingering hope There's evidence Everywhere you see Put a quarter down at the newsstand So that you can read Should I pray for an end to come Quickly, quickly Or should I raise my face to the clouds above Entreating their mercy But as clouds will do they'll rain down First gently and sweetly Until they silence me with a burst of thunder And lightning And helpless landlocked screaming I know God must be agreeing It's the worst part of watching It's the worst part of watching It's the worst part of watching It's the worst part Landlocked in screaming God must be agreeing To be helpless is the worst Must be the worst part of watching The worst part of watching -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (1) From Red To Blue -------- Another day dawns grey, its enough to make me spit But we go on our way, just putting up with it And when I try to make my feelings known to you You sound like you have changed from red to blue You're a father now, you see things in different ways For every parent will gain perspective on their wilder days But that alone does not explain the changes I see in you The way you've drifted off from red to blue Sometimes I think to myself Should I vote red for my class or green for our children? But whatever choice I make I will not forsake So you bought it all, the best your money could buy And I watched you sell your soul for their bright shining lie Where are the principles of the friend I thought I knew I guess you let them fade from red to blue I hate the compromises that life forces us to make We must all bend a little if we are not to break But the ideals you've opted out of I still hold them to be true I guess they weren't so firmly held by you -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (2) Upfield -------- I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill And I flew with them over the Great Wen till I had seen my fill Of such poverty and misery, sure to tear my soul apart I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word But they laughed and said: "It doesn't matter, if you'll help us in our art You've got a socialism of the heart, you've got a socialism of the heart" I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone I walked these ancient empire streets till I came tearful to my home And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (3) Everybody Loves You Babe -------- Everybody likes you babe but me I guess that proves how stupid I can be Your father thinks it's swell, your mum hears wedding bells Our friends all say we make a lovely couple we get on so well People say that we're a perfect match They don't realise that there's a catch They don't have to live with you, forgive you for the things you do There's just no ignoring, you're pretty but you're boring Everybody likes you babe, but me They just don't know how iffy you can be I'd hate for you to go, before I let you know That everybody loves you babe, but me I'm begging you to stay out of my way 'Cause everybody likes you babe, but me Everybody likes you babe, but me -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (4) Sugardaddy -------- Sugardaddy took me to wonderland Gave me so many presents I could not stand To see you I really couldn't stand to see you Sugardaddy took me far away On a holiday, I didn't have to pay Just be there All I had to do was be there Sugardaddy comes with his pockets full of fun Sugardaddy's blowing kisses from his gun What will he do and where will he run When the real world comes to town Sugardaddy took all my pain away Now I have to say I'd let him get away with murder I'd let him get away with murder He drives a car that doesn't have a roof He dares the Big Ol' World to tell him the truth By buying silence He buys you silence Silence, so you'll never ask him why Silence, so you'll never say he makes you cry Silence, so you'll never look him in the eye And say you want his time 'cause time is money Sugardaddy can't help but overfill my cup Sugardaddy always rides heavy on his luck What will he do when his baby grows up And doesn't want the toys that he's provided? Sugardaddy comes with his pockets full of fun Sugardaddy's blowing kisses from his gun What will he do and where will he run When the real world comes to town -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (5) A Pict Song -------- Rome never looks where she treads Always her heavy hooves fall On our stomachs, our hearts and our heads And Rome never hears when we call Her sentries pass on, that is all And we gather behind them in hordes And plot to reconquer the Wall With only our tongues for our swords For we are the little folk, we Too little to love or to hate Leave us alone and you'll see That we can bring down the state Mistletoe killing an oak Rats gnawing cables in two Moths making holes in a cloak How they must love what they do Yes, and we little folk too We are as busy as they Working our works out of view Watch, and you'll see it some day No indeed! We are not strong But we know of Peoples that are Yes and we'll guide them along To smash and destroy you in war We shall be slaves just the same? Yes, we have always been slaves But you, you will die of the shame And then we will dance on your graves We are the worm in the wood We are the rot at the root We are the taint in the blood We are the thorn in the foot -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (6) Brickbat -------- I ought to leave enough hot water For your morning bath, but I'd not thought I hate to hear you talk that way But I can't bring myself to say I'm sorry The past is always knocking incessant Trying to break through into the present We have to work to keep it out But I won't be the first to shout it's over I used to want to plant bombs at the last night of the proms But now you'll find me with the baby, in the bathroom With that big shell, listening for the sound of the sea I steal a kiss from you in the supermarket I walk you down the aisle, you fill my basket And through it all, the stick I take is worth it for the love we make I used to want to plant bombs at the last night of the proms But now you'll find me with the baby, in the bathroom With that big shell, listening for the sound of the sea The baby and me I stayed in bed, alone, uncertain Then I met you, you drew the curtain The sun came up, the trees began to sing The light shone in on everything I love you The sun came up, the trees began to sing The light shone in on everything I love you -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (7) The Space Race Is Over -------- When I was young I told my mum I'm going to walk on the Moon someday Armstrong and Aldrin spoke to me From Houston and Cape Kennedy And I watched the Eagle landing On a night when the Moon was full And as it tugged at the tides, I knew deep inside I too could feel its pull I lay in my bed and dreamed I walked On the Sea of Tranquillity I knew that someday soon we'd all sail to the moon On the high tide of technology But the dreams have all been taken And the window seats taken too And 2001 has almost come and gone What am I supposed to do? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon Now my dreams have all been shattered And my wings are tattered too And I can still fly but not half as high As once I wanted to Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon My son and I stand beneath the great night sky And gaze up in wonder I tell him the tale of Apollo and he says "Why did they ever go?" It may look like some empty gesture To go all that way just to come back But don't offer me a place out in cyberspace 'Cause where in the hell's that at? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get out of my room Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we're all just going nowhere -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (8) Northern Industrial Town -------- It's just a northern industrial town The front doors of the houses open into the street There's no room for front gardens, just two-up two-down In a northern industrial town And you can see the green hills 'cross the rooftops And a fresher wind blows past the end of our block In the evenings the mist comes rolling on down Into a northern industrial town And there's only two teams in this town And you must follow one or the other Let us win, let them lose, not the other way round In a northern industrial town And the street lights look pretty and bright From the tops of the hills they rise dark in the night If it weren't for the rain you might never come down To your northern industrial town And on payday they tear the place down With a pint in your hand and a bash'em out band Sure they'd dance to the rhythm of the rain falling down In a northern industrial town And there's plenty of artists around Painters steal cars, poets nick guitars 'Cause we're out of the black and into the red So give us this day our daily bread In a northern industrial town But it's not Leeds or Manchester Liverpool, Sheffield, nor Glasgow It's not Newcastle-on-Tyne, it's Belfast It's just a northern industrial town Merry Christmas, war is over In a northern industrial town -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (9) The Fourteenth Of February -------- I wish that I could remember the first moment that we met If only I could remember that sweet moment when we met If I knew then that I Would spend the rest of my life with you I imagine I would have held your gaze a little longer When first our eyes met Did it rain or did sunshine attend out first meeting? What words were said? What weight given to that first greeting? My diary doesn't help I don't even mention your name until that summer When bloomed the Seed sown on the first day that we met I know the date, I know the place where in happened Yet in my mind the scene I recall is imagined As we grow old I'm sure There will be moments that we will not forget But I would Remember something of the moment that we met -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (10) King James Version -------- He was trapped in a haircut he no longer believed in She said "I'm a teacher here. I teach the children" And he wondered to himself there and then the things he could learn from her A great might wonder Think of the names you once called me in anger Remember the sadness in Florence Ballard's eyes Imagine all the melancholy you could find in the arms of a stranger Bread of heaven Seems like nothing goes right In the world that we were born in But the horizon is bright Yonder comes the morning Upstairs they're buying a stairway to Heaven Down in the Garden they're changing sticks into snakes And the jangle of religious medals would put The fear of God into an angel Come all ye faithful Their baby came home to them an unmarried mother They wished that she would turn into a pillar of salt But in the end compassion has to be the greatest family value Hope of the helpless Looks like a drift to the Right For the world we were born in But the horizon is bright Yonder comes the morning -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (11) Goalhanger -------- He's got the bonhomie of a game show host And his handshake is so limp it's like meeting a ghost His apologies are tired 'cause he uses them a lot His excuses are so lame if they were horses they'd be shot He lies through his teeth with impeccable grammar In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger Keeping all his options open till the very last minute Checking every situation trying to work out what's in it Trying to nail him down is like nailing water to a wall He's incapable of making a commitment at all Like trying to knock in a nail with an inflatable hammer In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who's never there He won't be there again today Well, that's what he told me to say He's got the natural arrogance of an exclamation mark And he wishes his bite was a big as his bark He's appealing to the referee at every single stage He's a fuzzy little bundle of impotent rage And when he ought to have patience, he only has anger In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger His lack of humility defies imagination And he hangs round like a fart in a Russian space station He doesn't even notice as he sells you down the river 'Cause he's one of life's takers and he's looking for a giver He smirks and shrugs his shoulders as he drops another clanger In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (12) As Long As You Hold Me (Demo) -------- As long as you hold me I'll get by As long as you need me I will try not to die I don't want the shame I don't want the blame I don't want the fame anymore If only they'd tell me, tell me why If I could believe them and their lies But I don't want their name I don't want their pain I won't play their games anymore I always look at the last page of the book How will it end? The suspense robs me of lovers and friends I don't want the shame I don't want the blame I don't want the fame anymore -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (13) Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet (Demo) -------- Who's gonna shoe your pretty little foot? Who's gonna glove your hand? Who's gonna kiss your red ruby lips? Who's gonna be your man? Papa can shoe my pretty little foot Mama can glove my hand And sister can kiss my red ruby lips 'Cause I don't need no man I don't need no man, poor boy I don't need no man Sister can kiss my red ruby lips 'Cause I don't need no man -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (14) Sugardaddy (Demo) -------- One, two, three, four Sugar daddy took me to wonderland Gave me so many presents I could not stand to see you I really couldn't stand to see you Sugar daddy took my pain away On a holiday, I didn't have to pay, just be there All I had to do was be there Sugar daddy comes with his pockets full of fun Oh, sugar daddy's blowing kisses from his gun Sugar daddy, where will you run When the real world comes to town Sugar daddy took all my pain away And now I have to say I'd let him get away with murder I'd let him get away with murder He drives a car that doesn't have a roof He dares the big ol' world to tell him the truth By buying silence He buys your silence Silence, so you'll never ever ask him why Silence, so you'll never say he makes you cry Silence, so you'll never look him in the eye And say you need his time not his money Sugar daddy can't help but overfill my cup Oh, sugar daddy always plays heavy on his luck What will he do when his baby grows up And doesn't want the toys he's provided? Sugar daddy comes with his pockets full of fun Oh, sugar daddy's blowing kisses from his gun Sugar daddy, where will you run When the real world comes to town -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (15) The Space Race Is Over (Demo) -------- When I was young I told my mum Going to walk on the Moon someday Armstrong and Aldrin spoke to me From Houston and Cape Kennedy And I watched the Eagle landing On a night when the Moon was full And as it tugged at the tides, I knew deep inside I too could feel its pull I lay in my bed and dreamed I walked On the Sea of Tranquillity I knew that someday soon we'd all sail to the moon On the high tide of technology But the dreams had all been taken And the window seats taken too And 2001 has almost been and gone What am I supposed to do? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Now that the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon Now my dreams have all been shattered And my wings are tattered too And I can still fly but not half as high As once I wanted to Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Now that the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon Now, my son, he sees the sky With a great sense of wonder I know that someday soon he'll want to know "Tell me the truth, Dad, why did they ever go?" And it may look like some empty gesture To go all that way just to come back But don't offer me a place out in cyberspace 'Cause where in the hell's that at? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get out of my room 'Cause the space race is over And I can't help but feel we're all just going nowhere -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (16) Goalhanger (Demo) -------- He's got the bonhomie of a game show host His handshake is so limp it's like meeting a ghost His apologies are tired 'cause he uses them a lot His excuses are so lame if they were horses they'd be shot Keeps coming 'round like a bad boomerang In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger Keeping all his options open 'til the very last minute Checking every situation trying to work out what's in it Trying to pin him down is like nailing water to a wall He's incapable of making a commitment at all Tryin' to knock in a nail with an inflatable hammer In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger Yesterday upon the stairs I met a man who's never there He won't be there again today Well, that's what he told me to say He's now fresh out of embarrassment Defies imagination And he hangs 'round like a fart in a Russian space station He doesn't even notice as he sells you down the river 'Cause he's one of life's takers and he's looking for a giver He smirks and shrugs his shoulders as he drops another clanger In the game of life he's just a dreadful goalhanger -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (17) Upfield (Demo) -------- I'm going upfield, way up the hillside I'm going higher (up higher) than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels up on Primrose Hill And I flew with them over the Great Wen 'til I had seen my fill Of such poverty and misery sure to tear my soul apart I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher (up higher) than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word But they laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. Will you help us in our art? You've got a socialism of the heart" I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher (up higher) than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone And I walked these ancient empire streets 'til I came tearful to my home And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part I've got a socialism of the heart One more time, I've got a socialism of the heart That's why I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher (up higher) than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over that blue horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (18) The Fourteenth Of February (Demo) -------- I wish that I could remember the first time that we met If only I could remember that sweet moment when we met If I knew then that I Would spend the rest of my life with you I imagine I would have held your gaze a little longer When first our eyes met Did it rain or did sunshine attend our first meeting? What words were said? What weight given to that first greeting? My diary doesn't help I don't even mention your name until that summer When bloomed the seed sown on the first day that we met I know the date, I know the place where it happened Still, in my mind, the scene I recall is imagined As we grow old I know There will be moments that we will not forget But I would Remember something of the moment that we met -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (19) Qualifications -------- With my qualifications, wooh With my qualifications, wooh I could get me a job walking a dog Chopping a log, cleaning a bog With my qualifications, wooh With my qualifications, wooh I could see myself stacking a shelf As a sales assistant at Do-It-Yourself With my qualifications, wooh With my qualifications, wooh My brother worked night and day At the Eurostar Terminal And the government gave it away So what's the point in university? For three years I read philosophy Now I read barcodes all day long Beep-beep-beep sings that check-out song With my qualifications, wooh Talking 'bout my qualifications, wooh Would you like to see my Ph.D.? My BSE? My GCSE? I gotta first in physics so I ought to know If your fries are for here or to go -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (20) Never Had No One Ever -------- When you walk without ease On these very streets where You were raised I had a really bad dream It lasted 20 years, 7 months and 27 days And all of that time I never, I never had no one ever Now, I'm outside your house I'm alone And I'm outside your house I hate to intrude Well, I'm alone, I'm alone, I'm alone I'm alone, I'm alone, I'm alone And I never, I never had no one ever I never had no one ever I never had no one ever Yeah, 20 years, 7 months and 27 days And all of that time I never, I never had no one ever -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (21) Thatcherites -------- You Thatcherites by name, lend an ear, lend an ear You Thatcherites by name lend an ear You Thatcherites by name, your faults I will proclaim Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear, you will hear Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear You privatise away what is ours, what is ours You privatise away what is ours You privatise away and then you make us pay We'll take it back some day, mark my words, mark my words We'll take it back some day, mark my words You Thatcherites by name, lend an ear, lend an ear You Thatcherites by name lend an ear You Thatcherites by name, your faults I will proclaim Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear, you will hear Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear The scabs they hide their faces in shame, yes in shame The scabs they hide their faces in shame They hide away in shame but we recall their names And they know they'll share the blame for it all, for it all They know they'll share the blame for it all You Thatcherites by name, lend an ear, lend an ear You Thatcherites by name lend an ear You Thatcherites by name, your faults I will proclaim Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear, you will hear Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear Your leader, she has gone to the Lords, to the Lords Your leader, she has gone to the Lords Your Leader she has gone, but she's left us Little John And he's barely hanging on by his nails, by his nails He's barely hanging on by his nails You Thatcherites by name, lend an ear, lend an ear You Thatcherites by name lend an ear You Thatcherites by name, your faults I will proclaim Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear, you will hear Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear -------- William Bloke (1996) -------- -------- (22) All Fall Down -------- Councillors, magistrates, men of renown Who needs to live in a dirty old town? Yes, come on, tear it down Who needs the trees and the flowers to grow? We can have a motorway with motorway dough I know, I know, they've got to go Tear them down, mess them round Make a mockery of all of the crowds And if you ever have a sleepless night Just count out your money, it will be all right Politicians, planners, go look at what you've done Your madness is making a machine of everyone But one day your machine might turn on We'll tear you down, mess you round And bury you deep under the ground And we'll dance on you grave till the flowers return And the trees tell us secrets it took ages to learn We'll tear you down We'll tear you down, mess you round And bury you deep under the ground And we'll dance on you grave till the flowers return And the trees tell us secrets it took ages to learn We'll tear you down -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (1) Walt Whitman's Niece -------- Last night or night before that (I won't say which night) A seaman friend of mine (I'll not say which seaman) Walked up to a big old building (I won't say which building) And would not have walked up the stairs (not to say which stairs) If there had not have been two girls (leaving out the names of those two girls) And I recall a door, a big long room (I'll not tell which room) I remember a deep blue rug (but I can't say which rug) A girl took down a book of poems (not to say which book of poems) And as she read I laid my head (and I can't tell which head) Down in her lap (and I can mention which lap) Well, my seaman buddy and his girl moved off after a couple of pages And there I was, all night long Laying and listening and forgetting the poems And as well as I could recall Or my seaman buddy could recollect The girl had told us that she was a niece of Walt Whitman But not which niece And it takes a night and a girl And a book of this kind A long, long time to find its way back Last night or night before that (I won't say which night) A seaman friend of mine (I'll not say which seaman) Walked up to a big old building (and I won't say which building) And would not have walked the stairs (not to say which stairs) If there had not been two girls (leaving out the names of those two girls) And I recall a door, a big long room (I'll not tell which room) I remember a deep blue rug (but I can't say which rug) A girl took down a book of poems (not to say which book of poems) And as she read I laid my head (but I can't tell which head) Down in her lap (and I can mention which lap) -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (2) California Stars -------- I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight On a bed of California stars I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight On a bed of California stars I'd love to feel your hand touching mine Tell me why I must keep working on Yes, I'd give my life to lay my head tonight On a bed of California stars I'd like to dream my troubles all away On a bed of California stars Jump up from my starbed, make another day Underneath my California stars They hang like grapes on vines that shine And warm the lovers' glass like friendly wine So I'd give this world just to dream a dream with you On our bed of California stars I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight On a bed of California stars I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight On a bed of California stars I'd love to feel your hand touching mine Tell me why I must keep working on Yes, I'd give my life to lay my head tonight On a bed of California stars I'd like to dream my troubles all away On a bed of California stars Jump up from my starbed, make another day Underneath my California stars They hang like grapes on vines that shine And warm the lovers' glass like friendly wine So I'd give this world just to dream a dream with you On our bed of California stars So I'd give this world just to dream a dream with you On our bed of California stars (Dream a dream with you) -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (3) Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key -------- I lived in a place called Okfuskee And I had a little girl in a holler tree I said, little girl, it's plain to see Ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me She said, "It's hard for me to see How one little boy got so ugly" Yes, my little girly, that might be But there ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me Way over yonder in the minor key Way over yonder in the minor key There ain't nobody that can sing like me We walked down by the buckeye creek To see the frog eat the goggleieye bee To hear that west wind whistle to the east There ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me Oh my little girly, will you let me see Way over yonder where the wind blows free? Nobody can see in our holler tree And there ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me Way over yonder in the minor key Way over yonder in the minor key There ain't nobody that can sing like me Her mama cut a switch from a cherry tree And laid it on to she and me It stung lots worse than a hive of bees But there ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me Now I have walked a long, long ways And I still look back to my tanglewood days I've led lots of girls since then to stray Saying, ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me Way over yonder in the minor key Way over yonder in the minor key There ain't nobody that can sing like me Way over yonder in the minor key Way over yonder in the minor key There ain't nobody that can sing like me Ain't nobody that can sing like me -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (4) Birds And Ships -------- The birds are singing in your eyes today Sweet flowers blossom in your smile The wind and sun are in the words you say Where might your lonesome lover be? Birds may be singing in my eyes this day Sweet flowers blossom when I smile But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild Where might my lonesome lover be? -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (5) Hoodoo Voodoo -------- Hoodoo voodoo, seven twenty one two Haystacka hostacka, ABC High poker, low joker, ninety-nine-a-zero Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance Blackbirdy, bluejay, one, two, three, four Trash sack, jump back, EFG Biggy hat, little hat, fatty man, skinny man Grasshopper greensnake, hold my hand Hoodoo voodoo Chooka-chooky-choo-choo True blue, how true Kissle me now Momma cat, Tommy cat, diapers on my clothes line Two, four, six, eight, I run and hide Pretty girl, pretty boy, pony on a tin can I'll be yours, you'll be mine Hoodoo voodoo Chooka-chooky-choo-choo True blue, how true Kissle me now Jinga jangler, tinga lingle, picture on a bricky wall Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close Hot breeze, old cheese, slicky slacky fishy tail Brush my hair, kissle me some more Hoodoo voodoo Chooka chooky choo choo True blue, how true Kissle me now Hoodoo voodoo Chooka chooky choo choo True blue, how true Kissle me now Kissle me now Brush my hair And kissle me some more Kissle me some more Kissle me some more -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (6) She Came Along To Me -------- Ten hundred books could I write you about her 'Cause I felt if I could know her I would know all women And they've not been any too well known For brains and planning and organized thinking But I'm sure the women are equal And they may be ahead of the men Yet I wouldn't spread such a rumor around 'Cause one organizes the other And sometimes the most lost and wasted Attract the most balanced and sane And the wild and the reckless Take up with the clocked and the timed And the mixture is all of us And we're still mixing But never, never, never Never could have it been done If the women hadn't entered into the deal Like she came along to me And all creeds and kinds and colors Of us are blending Till I suppose ten million years from now We'll all be just alike Same color, same size Working together And maybe we'll have all of the fascists out of the way by then Maybe so But never, never, never Never could have it been done If the women hadn't entered into the deal Like she came along to me -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (7) At My Window Sad And Lonely -------- At my window, sad and lonely Oft times do I think of thee Sad and lonely and I wonder Do you ever think of me? Every day is sad and lonely And every night is sad and blue Do you ever think of me my darling As you sail that ocean blue? At my window, sad and lonely I stand and look across the sea And I sad and lonely wonder Do you ever think of me? Will you find another sweetheart In some far and distant land? Sad and lonely now I wonder If our boat will ever land Ships may ply the stormy ocean And planes may fly the stormy sky I'm sad and lonely but remember Oh I'll love you till I die -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (8) Ingrid Bergman -------- Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman Let's go make a picture On the island of Stromboli Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman, you're so perty You'd make any mountain quiver You'd make fire fly from the crater Ingrid Bergman This old mountain it's been waiting All its life for you to work it For your hand to touch its hard rock Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman If you'll walk across my camera I will flash the world your story I will pay you more than money Ingrid Bergman Not by pennies, dimes, nor quarters But with happy sons and daughters And they'll sing around Stromboli Ingrid Bergman This old mountain it's been waiting All its life for you to work it For your hand to touch its hard rock Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (9) Christ For President -------- Let's have Christ our President Let us have him for our king Cast your vote for the Carpenter That they call the Nazarene The only way we could ever beat These crooked politician men Is to cast the moneychangers out of the temple Put the Carpenter in Oh, it's Jesus Christ our President God above our king With a job and a pension for young and old We will make hallelujah ring Every year we waste enough To feed the ones who starve We build our civilization up And we shoot it down with wars But with the Carpenter on the seat Way up in the capitol town The USA be on the way Prosperity bound -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (10) I Guess I Planted -------- I guess I planted some long lonesome seed of a song Way down inside me long ago And now I can't remember when it was But it joined up with the rest of them and grows It's such a little song, it don't compare With all your big ones you hear everywhere But when it dawns way in the back of your mind The big ones are made up of the little kind Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now I can't even start to look around me here Without hearing this song And seeing all of us first separated Hurt, apart and afraid Hungry for the union So we kept on Singing and working, fighting till we got it And this is the big union song I guess I hear Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Now, now, now... We fought there at your place We fought there on your ship And I guess if you missed out on the fight for our union You missed out on one awful big step Us people took Now, now, now... Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now Union song, union battled All added up, won us all what we got now -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (11) One By One -------- One by one, the teardrops fall as I write you One by one, my words come falling on the page One by one, my dreams are fading in the twilight One by one, my schemes are fading fast away One by one, the flowers fading in my garden One by one, the leaves are falling from the trees One by one, my hopes are vanished in the clouds, dear One by one, like snowflakes melting in the breeze One by one, my hair is turning gray One by one, my dreams are fading fast away One by one, I read your letters over One by one, I lay them all away One by one, the days are slipping up behind you One by one, the sweetest days of life go by One by one, the moments stealing out behind you One by one, she'll come and find not you or I One by one, I hear the soft words that you whispered One by one, I feel your kisses soft and sweet One by one, I hope you'll say the words to marry One by one to one by one forever be -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (12) Eisler On The Go -------- Eisler on the go Eisler on the move Brother is on the vinegar truck And I don't know what I'll do Don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do Eisler's on the come and go And I don't know what I'll do Eisler on the farm Eisler on the town Sister in the tickly bush And I don't know what I'll do Don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do Eisler's on the come and go And I don't know what I'll do Eisler on the boat Eisler on the ship Daddy on the henhouse roof And I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do Eisler's on the come and go And I don't know what I'll do Eisler in the jailoe Eisler back at home Rankin scratch his head and cry And I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do Eisler's on the come and go And I don't know what I'll do Eisler him write music Eisler him teach school Truman him don't play so good And I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do Eisler's on the come and go And I don't know what I'll do Don't know what I'll do I don't know what I'll do -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (13) Hesitating Beauty -------- For your sparkling cocky smile I've walked a million miles Begging you to come and wed me in the spring Why do you my dear delay What makes you laugh and turn away You're a hesitating beauty, Nora Lee Well I know that you are itching to get married, Nora Lee And I know how I'm twitching for the same thing, Nora Lee By the stars and clouds above We could spend our lives in love You're a hesitating beauty, Nora Lee We can build a house and home where the flowers come to bloom Around our yard, I'll nail a fence so high That the boys with peeping eyes Cannot see that angel face My hesitating beauty, Nora Lee Well I know that you are itching to get married, Nora Lee And I know how I'm twitching for the same thing, Nora Lee By the stars and clouds above We can spend our lives in love If you quit your hesitating, Nora Lee We can ramble hand in hand across the grasses of our land I'll kiss you for each leaf on every tree We can bring our kids to play Where the dry leaves blow today If you quit your hesitating, Nora Lee Well I know that you are itching to get married, Nora Lee And I know how I'm twitching for the same thing, Nora Lee By the stars and clouds above We could spend our lives in love If you quit your hesitating, Nora Lee -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (14) Another Man's Done Gone -------- Sometimes I think I'm gonna lose my mind But it don't look like I ever do I've loved so many people everywhere I went Some too much and others not enough Well I don't know, I may go Down or up or anywhere But I feel Like this scribbling might stay Maybe if I hadn't have seen so much hard feelings I might not could've felt other people's So when you think of me, if and when you do Just say, "Well, another man's done gone" Well, another man's done gone -------- Mermaid Avenue (1998) -------- -------- (15) The Unwelcome Guest -------- To the rich man's bright lodges I ride in this wind On my good horse, I call you My shiny black Bess To the playhouse of fortune To take the bright silver And gold you have taken From somebody else And as we go riding In the damp foggy midnight You snort, my good pony And you give me your best For you know and I know Good horse 'mongst the rich ones How oftimes we go there An unwelcome guest I never took food From the widows and orphans And never A hardworking man I oppressed So take your pace easy For home soon like lightning We soon will be riding My shiny black Bess No fat rich man's pony Can ever overtake you And there's not a rider From the east to the west Could hold you a light In this dark mist and midnight When the potbellied thieves Chase the unwelcome guest I don't know, good horse As we trot in this dark here That robbing the rich Is for worse or for best They take it by stealing And lying and gambling And I take it my way My shiny Black Bess I treat horses good And I'm friendly to strangers I ride and your running Makes my guns talk the best And the rangers and deputies Are hired by the rich man To catch me and hang me My shining black Bess Yes, they'll catch me napping one day And they'll kill me And then I'll be gone But that won't be my end For my guns and my saddle Will always be filled By unwelcome travelers And other brave men And they'll take the money And spread it out equal Just like the Bible And the prophets suggest But men that go riding To help these poor workers The rich will cut down Like an unwelcome guest -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (1) Shirley -------- Shirley It's so exciting to be sleeping here in this new room Shirley You're my reason to get out of bed before noon Shirley You know when we sat out on the fire escape talking Shirley What did you say about running before we were walking? Sometimes when we're as close as this It's like we're in a dream How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team? Shirley Your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle Shirley We're joined in the ideological cuddle I'm celebrating my love to you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet Politics and pregnancy are debated as we empty our glasses And how I love those evening classes Shirley You really know how to make a young man angry Shirley Can we get through the night without mentioning family? The people from the church agree It's not much of a career Trying the handles of parked cars Whoops there goes another year Whoops there goes another pint of beer Here we are in our summer years Living on ice cream and chocolate kisses And would leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man and you was my missus? Shirley Give my greetings to the new brunette -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (2) Sulk -------- If you hate me, why don't you go? And if you love me, why don't you let me know? But you just won't give me an inch, so You just sulk Why do I want to hide whenever you show up? You know your moods just make me want to throw up Why don't you just bloody well grow up? You just sulk All of the time Why don't you pick me up or throw me a line? All over the place Why don't you tell me what you think? Come on and tell me to my face If you love me, why don't you show it? If you hate me, why don't you let me know it? Why don't you just pick up something and throw it? You just sulk If you want to bend my arm Well you could do it with a little more charm But you just couldn't bear to do me any harm So you just sulk And you tell me that you want to quit And then you treat me like a piece of shit And when I ask you, what's that got to do with it? You just sulk All of the time Why don't you pick me up or throw me a line? All over the place Why don't you tell me what you think? Come on and tell me to my face If you love me, why don't you show it? If you hate me, why don't you let me know it? Why don't you just pick up something and throw it? You just sulk Sulk, sulk -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (3) The Boy Done Good -------- Strange as it may seem, I once had my football dreams But I was always the last one, the last to get chosen When my classmates picked their teams I guess that was the way it stayed in every game I played Life just tripped me and clattered and kicked me Till you picked me from the parade Now I feel like I've won the cup every time that we make love Forty-five minutes each way, at halftime I hear a brass band play The boy done good, the girl done better The seasons turn and we're still together The sky is still blue and tomorrow is another day You weren't that kind of a girl who likes her studs to be covered in mud Taking you to the pictures was a regular fixture for one of life's eternal subs I tried hard acting tough, but I just can't stand the taste of that stuff Like some macho park player I got in the way of In some grudge match against his club But I'm happier how I am today now I've put my boots away I guess I'll never get picked to play my song on match of the day -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (4) Heart Like A Wheel -------- Some say the heart is just like a wheel When you bend it, you can't mend it But my love for is like a sinking ship And my heart is on that ship out in the ocean They say that death is a tragedy It comes once, and it's over But my only wish is for that deep, dark abyss 'Cause what's the use And it's only love And it's only love That can wreck a human being, turn him inside out That can wreck a human being, turn him inside out When harm is done, no I know it happens frequently What I don't understand, oh please God, hold my hand Is why it should happen to me And it's only love And it's only love That can wreck a human being, turn him inside out That can wreck a human being, turn him inside out Some say the heart is just like a wheel When you bend it, you can't mend it But my love for is like a sinking ship And my heart is on that ship out in the ocean And my heart is on that ship out in the ocean -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (5) Bad Penny -------- I have a letter from her When she worked for the "Woman's Realm" And all the things she promised me She promised herself as well She said, "I want my freedom" And ran off along the beach It's hard to love a girl so near Yet so far out of reach Yet so far out of reach She came back when the tide came in And introduced her friend to me She said, "Don't ring while he's here" And gave me back my poetry She expected me to understand As she's always done this before And now she asks me "Why don't you send me poems anymore?" Send me poems anymore And she steals more than she buys You can see it in her eyes And she'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny Then she comes back and asks me To sing all her favourite songs As if she's never been away As if she's done nothing wrong But I've come to the conclusion That she doesn't realize a thing And she probably still thinks I love her And she doesn't know that it's a sin She doesn't know that it's a sin And she steals more than she buys You can see it in her eyes And she'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny She'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny She'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (6) Ontario, Quebec And Me -------- You don't need my Christmas cards You already have my heart This has been a holiday romance Right from the very start For we know how to spend the time Who cares about the weather We'll dance in the town till the sun goes down And push our beds together From the Land of the Midnight Sunglasses To the Mountains of the Moon You could never stay a day too long Nor never come back too soon And you know what a fool I am With my short attention span Flying in the rainy season too Nothing can keep me away from you -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (7) Walk Away Renee -------- She said it was just a figment of speech And I said "You mean figure." And she said "No, figment" Because she could never imagine it happening But it did When we first met I played the shy boy When she spoke to me for the first time my nose began to bleed She guessed the rest The next day we went on a bus ride to the ferry And when nobody came to collect our fares Well, I knew then this was something special I couldn't stop thinking about her And every time I switched on the radio There was somebody else singing a song about the two of us It was just like being on a fast ride at the fun fair The sort you want to get off because its scary And then as soon as you're off you want get straight back on again But all love is strange And you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth I suppose She began going out with Mr. Potato Head It was when I saw her in he car park With his coat around her shoulders that I realized I went home and thought about the two of them together Until the bathwater went cold around me I thought about her eyes and the curve of her breasts And about the point where their bodies met I confronted her about it I said, "I'm the most illegible bachelor in town" And she said, "Yeah. That's why I can never understand any of those silly letters you send me" And then one day it happened She cut her hair and I stopped loving her -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (8) Rule Nor Reason -------- The wind sways the trees and the raindrops on the leaves Tumble down, down my neck in the breeze Yes, it's true I hid out in the shadow of your doubt And this medal that I wear is not for bravery, I'm afraid And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as good as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason The Queen on her throne plays Shirley Bassey Records when she's all on her own And she looks out the window And cries What should I do? Scratch off all of my tattoos? And forget those girls' names? But you're not about to let me do that, are you? And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as bad as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as big as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (9) Days Like These -------- The party that became so powerful By sinking foreign boats Is dreaming up new promises Because promises win votes And being resolute in conference With the ad man's expertise The majority by their silence Shall pay for days like these The right to build communities Is back behind closed doors 'Tween government and people stands The right arm of the law And shame upon the patriot When the mark of the Bulldog Breed Is a family without a home And a pensioner in need Those whose lives are ruled by dogma Are waiting for a sign The Better Dead Than Red Brigade Are listening on the line And the liberal, with a small L Cries in front of the TV And another demonstration Passes on to history Peace, bread, work, and freedom Is the best we can achieve And wearing badges is not enough In days like these -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (10) Think Again -------- Do you think that the Russians want war? These are the parents of children who died in the last one Do you think that it's possible knowing their past That they'd ever considered repeating the past When twenty million were slaughtered by NAZI invasion They died fighting on our side you know In a fight to defend human kind against NAZI terror and hatred In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again Do you think that the Russians want war? These are the sons and the daughters of parents who died in the last one Do you think that they want to go through that again? The destruction, the bloodshed, the suffering and pain In the second world war, out of every three dead, one was Russian If we try with all of our power Can we not find a way to peacefully settle our difference In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again Do you think that the Russians want war? Will the voice of insanity lead you to total destruction? Will you stumble to death as though you were blind? Will you cause the destruction of all human kind? Will you die because you don't like their political system? There will be no survivors you know No one left to scream in the night and condemn our stupidity In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (11) Scholarship Is The Enemy Of Romance -------- Scholarship is the enemy of romance Where does that leave me? Alone in the rain again What happened to the weekend I planned with you? We didn't even get upstairs this time I never missed that end-of-term kiss But where did it go, miss? I don't know, miss Take me to the fair and hold me close as we fly through the air Then suddenly on Sunday, it all just melted away And when it had gone, between patches of yellowing grass I found a coin and lost what I was looking for I never took the advice in that book Oh you should look, sir You might learn, sir You might learn, sir -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (12) The Tatler -------- Whenever you find a man That loves every woman he sees There's always some kind of woman That's putting him up a tree Well that kind of man he ain't got As much sense as a mule You know every woman don't love you They're just playing you for a fool Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can If you marry the wrong kind of woman And you get where you can't agree Well you just as well forget your plan Let that woman be But a man ought to make a good husband And quit trying to lead a fast life Going around dressing up other women Won't put clothes on his own wife Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can Well there's lots of good women want to marry And they want to live well at home But they're 'fraid they might get hold of some rowdy man Can't let other women alone And there's lots of good men want to marry And they want to live well at home But everytime they turn their back there's a man there Asking, "Darling, is he gone?" Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (13) Jeane -------- Jeane The low-life has lost its appeal And I'm tired of walking these streets To a room with its cupboard bare Jeane I'm not sure what happiness is But I look in your eyes And I know that it isn't there We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried Oh, Jeane There's ice on the sink where we bathe So how can you call this a home When you know it's a grave But you still hope for ridding grace As you tidy the place But it will never be clean, Jeane No heavenly choirs Not for me and not for you Because I think that you know I really think you know I think you know the truth, Jeane We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried Cash on the nail It's just a fairy tale And I don't believe in magic anymore, Jeane But I think you know I really think you know Oh, you know the truth, Jeane We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried and we failed We tried Oh, Jeane -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (14) She's Leaving Home -------- Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins Silently closing her bedroom door Leaving the note that she hoped would say more She goes down the stairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief Quietly turning the backdoor key Stepping outside she is free (We gave her most of our lives) (Sacrificed most of our lives) (We gave her everything money could buy) She's leaving home after living alone For so many years Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown Picks up the letter that's lying there Standing alone at the top of the stairs She breaks down and cries to her husband, Daddy our baby's gone Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly How could she do this to me (We never thought of ourselves) (Never a thought for ourselves) (We struggled hard all our lives to get by) She's leaving home after living alone For so many years (bye bye) Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away Waiting to keep the appointment she made Meeting a man from the motor trade (What did we do that was wrong) (We didn't know it was wrong) (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy) Something inside that was always denied For so many years (bye bye) She's leaving home Bye, bye -------- Reaching To The Converted (1999) -------- -------- (15) I Don't Need This Pressure Ron -------- What was that bang? It was the next big thing Exploding over our heads And soon the next generation Will emerge from behind the bike sheds What are we going to offer 'em? The exact same thing as before But a different way to wear it And the promise of a whole lot more Oh, pity the pressures at the top The tantrums and the tears And the sound of platinum cash tills Ringing in their ears Money maketh man a Tory Don't fire that assumption at me I like toast as much as anyone But not for breakfast, dinner and tea So don't saddle me with your ideals And spare me all your guilt For a poet with all the answers Has never yet been built I see no shame in putting my name To socialism's cause Or seeking some more relevance Than spotlight and applause Neither in the name of conscience Nor the name of charity Money is put where mouths are In the name of solidarity We sing of freedom And we speak of liberation But such chances come But once a generation So I'll ignore what I am sure Were the best of your intentions You are judged by your actions And not by your pretensions There's drudgery in social change And glory for the few And if you don't tell me what not to say I won't tell you what not to do -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (1) Airline To Heaven -------- There's an airline plane Flies to heaven everyday Past the pearly gates If you want to ride this train Have your ticket in your hand Before it is too late If the world looks wrong And your money's spent and gone And your friend has turned away You can get away to heaven On this aeroplane Just bow your head and pray Them's got ears, let them hear Them's got eyes, let them see Turn your eyes to the Lord of the skies Take this airline plane It'll take you home again To your home behind the skies Well a lot of people guess Some say no and some say yes Will it take some and leave some behind? But you will surely know When to the airport go To leave this world behind Oh a lot of speakers speak A lot of preachers preach When you lay their salary on the line You can hold your head and pray It's the only earthly way You can fly to heaven on time Fly to heaven on time Them's got ears, let them hear Them's got eyes, let them see Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies Take that airline plane It'll take you home again To your home behind the skies Your ticket you obtain On this heavenly airline plane You leave your sins behind You've got to take this flight It may be daytime, might be night But you can't see your way if you're blind Them's got ears, let them hear Them's got eyes, let them see Turn your eyes to the Lord of the skies Take that airline plane It'll take you home again To your home behind the skies -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (2) My Flying Saucer -------- My flying saucer, where can you be? Since that sad night that you sailed away from me? My flying saucer, I pray this night You will sail back before the day gets bright My flying saucer, fly back for home You will get lost in the universe alone My flying saucer, end all my fears Sail back tonight, love and kiss away my tears My flying saucer, I pray this night You will sail back before the day gets bright You will sail back before the day gets bright -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (3) Feed Of Man -------- If you beat up, you butcher and you bleed a man You bang up and badger and blood-let a man And then I come along on the feet of man And halfway laugh and cry about the meat of man And I do what I can To bale, string and tie Some ballad truths Up and cured out for the feed of man Folks try to tell me That it's on God's orders that you bleed your man It's on God's good word that you bleed your man On God's plan print that you dead a man Or spit and curse and whip your man I say I'll help you squeeze and fix yourself up a A new kind of God of some kind One that tells you Fertilize and multiply One that tells you Outsow and outblow Outplant and outgrow Outdo, and outrun, and outclimb, and outspread Every other tree and bush And brushy fruits and flower petals Outfruit them all for the feed of man Outstalk and outhunt and outthink For God's own sweet sake, outthink! Outthink Outthink the fruits Outgrow these animal kinds and shapes of man It you miss and go down Your dust will turn up on that long hot job Once more again To help in the feeding and the seed of man And not in the bleeding and the end of man -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (4) Hot Rod Hotel -------- I'm a porter and a night clerk at the old Hot Rod Hotel I clean and scrub the lobby down and thirty-one rooms as well I wax and shine their boots and shoes, I brush down their crinkly clothes And I meet the buses and trains and I show you to your door Bell-bottom pants brought two boys in at six-fourteen last night Two girls checked in at ten-oh-two and I flipped on the light The landlord's wife looks in their doors and finds one terrible sight Those boys and girls got bawled up in their doors and rooms that night A bloody flood could never mess these rooms up any worse It looked like Moe had used this room to grease and breed a horse Old gum and hairs and sticky rags, old bottles on the floors Gobs of spit and condom rubbers on the windows, walls, and doors The lammy tried to make me clean out that crappy mess Or else he'd fire me off my job and let me starve to death I laid aside my polish rag and I downed my dusting pan And I've not seen the old Hot Rod nor that old town since then -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (5) I Was Born -------- I was born at half past twelve, almost one in the morning I was born at half past one, almost two in the morning Now my birthday comes again and I don't know how old I am Half past one or two or three, almost four in the morning I was born at half past four, almost five in the morning I was born at half past six, almost seven in the morning How old am I, you ask of me? One year younger than I used to be Half past seven, half past eight, half past nine in the morning I was born at half past nine, almost ten in the morning I was born at half past ten, almost 'leven in the morning Today my age is tweedle and twee, I'm prettier than I used to be Half past 'leven, half past 'leven, almost twelve in the morning -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (6) Secret Of The Sea -------- Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the secret of my love for you Then we both could know the secret of the sea Tell me could you ever tell the secret of the sea? These high rolling waves along the shore The footprints of the lovers that come here to love By the tides washed away forever more Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the secret of my love for you Then we both could know the secret of the sea You claim to know the secret of a kiss and a hug The secret of the grass and of the trees If you can tell the secret of a warm friend's hand Then we all would feel the secrets of the sea Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the secret of my love for you Then we both could know the secret of the sea We both could know the secret of the sea -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (7) Stetson Kennedy -------- I done spent my last three cents Mailing my letter to the President Didn't make a show, I didn't make a dent So I'm swinging over to this independent gent Stetson Kennedy Writing his name in Stetson Kennedy Writing his name in I can't win out to save my soul Long as Smathers-Dupont's got me in the hole Them war profit boys are squawking and balking That's what's got me out here walking and talking Knocking on doors and windows Wake up and run down election morning And scribble in Stetson Kennedy I ain't the world's best writer, ain't the world's best speller But when I believe in something I'm the loudest yeller If we fix it so you can't make no money on war Well we'll all forget what we was killing folks for We'll find us a peace job equal and free We'll dump Smathers-Dupont in a salty sea Well, this makes Stetson Kennedy the man for me -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (8) Remember The Mountain Bed -------- Do you still sing of the mountain bed we made of limbs and leaves? Do you still sigh there near the sky where the holly berry bleeds? You laughed as I covered you over with leaves; face, breast, hips, and thighs You smiled when I said the leaves were just the color of your eyes Rosin smells and turpentine smells from eucalyptus and pine Bitter tastes of twigs we chewed where tangled wood vines twine Trees held us in on all four sides so thick we could not see I could not see any wrong in you and you saw none in me Your arm was brown against the ground, your cheeks part of the sky Your fingers played with grassy moss, as limber you did lie Your stomach moved beneath your shirt and your knees were in the air Your feet played games with mountain roots as you lay thinking there Below us the trees grew clumps of trees, raised families of trees and they As proud as we tossed their heads in the wind and flung good seeds away The sun was hot and the sun was bright down in the valley below Where people starved and hungry for life so empty come and go There in the shade and hid from the sun we freed our minds and learned Our greatest reason for being here, our bodies moved and burned There on our mountain bed of leaves we learned life's reason why The people laugh and love and dream, they fight, they hate to die The smell of your hair I know is still there, if most of our leaves are blown Our words still ring in the brush and the trees where singing seeds are sown Your shape and form is dim but plain, there on our mountain bed I see my life was brightest where you laughed and laid your head I learned the reason why man must work and how to dream big dreams To conquer time and space and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled with my emptiness now and look at city and land And I know why farms and cities are built by hot, warm, nervous hands I crossed many states just to stand here now, my face all hot with tears I crossed city and valley, desert and stream to bring my body here My history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy and pain Go through my head on our mountain bed where I smell your hair again All this day long I linger here and on in through the night My greeds, desires, my cravings, hopes, my dreams inside me fight My loneliness healed, my emptiness filled, I walk above all pain Back to the breast of my woman and child to scatter my seeds again -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (9) Blood Of The Lamb -------- Are your garments all spotless? Are they white as the snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Is your soul all spotless? Is it clean as the snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? I am washed, yes I'm washed I am washed in the blood I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb I'm all clean I'm all spotless I'm all pure like the snow I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb Have you laid down your burdens? Have you found peace and rest? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? I've laid down all my troubles I've found peace and rest I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb Have you learned to love your neighbors? Of all colors, creeds and kinds? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? I've learned to love my people Of all colors, creeds, and kinds I'm all washed in the blood of that lamb I am washed, yes I'm washed I'm allwashed in the blood I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb I'm all clean I'm all spotless And I'm pure like the snow I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (10) Against Th' Law -------- It's against th' law to walk, against th' law to talk Against th' law to loaf, against th' law to work Against th' law to read, against th' law to write Against th' law to be a black, a brown or white Everything's against th' law I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues It's against th' law to eat, against th' law to drink Against th' law to worry, against th' law to think Against th' law to marry or try to settle down Against th' law to ramble like a bum from town to town Everything's against th' law I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues It's against th' law to come, against th' law to go Against th' law to ride, against th' law to roll Against th' law to hug and against th' law to kiss Against th' law to shoot, against th' law to miss Everything's against th' law I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues It's against th' law to gamble, against th' law to roam Against th' law to organize or try to build a home Against th' law to sing, against th' law to dance Against th' law to tell y'all the trouble on my hands Everything in Winston-Salem is against th' law I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues Everything in Winston-Salem is against th' law I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (11) All You Fascists -------- I'm gonna tell all you fascists, you may be surprised People all over this world are getting organized You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose Race hatred cannot stop us, this one thing I know Poll tax and Jim Crow and greed have got to go You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose All you fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose People of every color marching side by side Marching across the fields where a million fascists died You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose All you fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose I'm going into this battle, take my union gun Gonna end this world of slavery before this war is won You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose All you fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose I said, all you fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose You're bound to lose You fascists are bound to lose -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (12) Joe DiMaggio's Done It Again -------- Joe DiMaggio's done it again Joe DiMaggio's done it again Clackin' that bat, gone with the wind Joe DiMaggio's done it again Some folks thought Big Joe was done Some just figured Joe was gone Steps to the platter with a great big grin Joe DiMaggio's done it again I'm gonna tell you just the way I feel Man can't run without his heel Watch that raggy pill split the wind Joe DiMaggio's done it again All three fielders jumped their best Trying to climb that high board fence They all growed whiskers on their chin Joe DiMaggio's done it again Up along the clouds where the eagles roam Joe cracked that ball to whine and moan His buddies all laugh as they trot on in Joe DiMaggio's done it again Grandma's home by the radio On the television watching Joe She jerks the beard off of Grandpa's chin Joe DiMaggio's done it again The puppy dog barked at the pussycat How does it look from where you sat? Looks like a cyclone slidin' in Joe DiMaggio's done it again -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (13) Meanest Man -------- If the folks next door to me weren't so good I'd do all the mean things anybody could I'd drink and I'd gamble and I'd louse around I'd be the meanest man in this whole town If I hadn't seen the light in that old lady's eyes I'd try to be a man you would hate and despise I'd rave and I'd rant and I'd scream and yell And I'd chase my neighbors from here to hell If I hadn't heard those kids laugh playing games I'd have nervous fits, I'd go insane I'd turpentine cats and tin can dogs I'd smother people to death inside of hollow logs If the people around me wasn't so nice I'd freeze my heart into a cake of ice Steal money from soldiers and working folks too I'd lend you a dollar and I'd take back two If my wife didn't kiss me the way she does I'd carry four or five daggers and three or four guns I'd shoot craps and ramble and hang out late I'd steal baby buggies and Cadillac Eights If my friends didn't write me those letters I get I'd be a dictator, the worse one yet I'd be the only smart bird, you'd all be fools Send you all away to war and I'd stay home and rule If it wasn't for them songs I hear you all sing I'd put a crown on my dome and I'd say I'm your king I'd kidnap some, I'd blackmail others I'd peddle black market stuff, rob sisters and brothers If it weren't for your talking I hear on the street I'd be the orneriest man that you ever did meet I'd preach the gospel of hate and I'd drink your blood But I can't be this bad because my folks are too good No I can't be this bad 'cause my folks are too good -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (14) Black Wind Blowing -------- Black wind blowing in the cotton field, honey There's a black wind blowing in the cotton field, baby There's a black wind blowing in the cotton field And oh, how funny it makes me feel Baby, sweet thing, darling There's a long black cloud hanging in the sky, honey There's a long black cloud hanging in the sky, baby There's a long black cloud hanging in the sky Weathers gonna break and hell's gonna fly Baby, sweet thing, darling Cotton's pretty thin yonder on the hill, honey Cotton's pretty thin yonder on the hill, baby Cotton's pretty thin yonder on the hill It won't clear a greenback dollar bill Baby, sweet thing, darling Work shade and back to the buzzard wing, honey Work shade and back to the buzzard wing, baby Work shade and back to the buzzard wing Clouds are gonna bust and cry down rain Baby, sweet thing darling There's a black wind blowing in the cotton field, honey There's a black wind blowing in the cotton field, baby There's a black wind blowing in the cotton field And oh, how funny it makes me feel Baby, sweet thing, darling -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) -------- -------- (15) Someday Some Morning Sometime -------- Someday, some morning sometime, sometime I'd like to hold your hand in mine Someday, some morning, sometime I'd like to tell you you're pretty and fine Your face will smile and your eyes will shine Someday, some morning, sometime I'll build you a house all covered in vines I'll bring you a nickel, I'll bring you a dime Someday, some morning, sometime Five, six, seven and eight, oh nine I'll take you down where the birds fly by Someday, some morning, sometime -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (1) St. Monday -------- Monday and the afternoon is bearing down on me I'm watching the clock and the clock is watching me Don't have to be cool but you know I am Don't have to be here but you know that I'm a hard worker but I ain't working on a Monday I'm a hard worker but I ain't working on a Monday A hard working fellow but I ain't working on a Monday St. Monday's still the weekend to me Two dozen enquiries are on hold for me My shift supervisor is staring hard at me Nobody can say what the matter is I'm trying to recharge my batteries I'm a hard worker but I ain't working on a Monday I'm a hard worker but I ain't working on a Monday A hard working fellow but I ain't working on a Monday St. Monday's still the weekend to me Somewhere out on the road, I just wanna be free I don't wanna do as I'm told Don't wanna work 4, 5, 6 days and turnaround Want to get high on life but first I got to get me back home Nobody can say what the matter is I'm trying to recharge my batteries -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (2) Jane Allen -------- Jane Allen took me by surprise said she heard I was a married man Might have known she'd wanna find out exactly how married I am She took me the wrong way home to get me on my own Jane Allen had a bunch of stuff from the old days she wanted to deal with How come the things that we had done had left her with a mess of feelings She took me the long way home, no signal on my phone Jane Allen took me to a place where she thought I'd be defenceless I had to let her down gently to bring her to her senses She took me the wrong way home I know I should have told you I guess I did not understand That you might need convincing too, that I'm a faithful family man Jane Allen went to her bed smiling but without me I don't know how to tell you this without that you should doubt me You'd take it the wrong way I know, you just wouldn't let it go It was over a long time ago - believe me I love you so -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (3) Distant Shore -------- Everyone knows That there's no place like home But I'm just seeking refuge In a world full of storms Washed up on a distant shore Can't go home anymore The natives are hostile Whatever I say The thing they fear most is That I might want to stay By their side on a distant shore Can't go home anymore I escape my tormentors By crossing the sea What I cannot escape is Memory Far away on a distant shore Can't go home anymore -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (4) England, Half English -------- My mother was half English And I'm half English too I'm a great big bundle of culture Tied up in the red, white and blue I'm a fine example of your Essex man I'm well familiar with the Hindustan 'Cause my neighbors are half English too My breakfast was half English And so am I you know I had a plate of Marmite soldiers Washed down with a cappuccino And I'll have a veggie curry about once a week The next day a fry it up as "Bubble 'N' Squeak' 'Cause my appetite's half English And I'm half English too Dance with me To this very English melody From Morris Dancing to Morrisey All that stuff came from across the sea Britannia she's half English She speaks Latin at home St. George was born in the Lebanon How he got here I don't know And those three lions on his shirt They never sprung from England's dirt Them lions are half English And I'm half English too Le-li Umma le-li-ya, le-li Umma le-li-ya Le-li Umma le-li-ya, le-li, bledi g'desh akh! le-li-ya Oh my country Oh my country Oh my country What a beautiful country you are -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (5) NPWA -------- I grew up in a company town And I worked real hard 'til that company closed down They gave my job to another man On half my wages in some foreign land And when I asked how could this be Any good for our economy? I was told nobody cares So long as they make money when they sell their shares Can you hear us? Are you listening? No power without accountability! I lost my job, my car and my house When ten thousand miles away some guy clicked on a mouse He didn't know me, we never spoke He didn't ask my opinion or canvass for my vote I guess its true, nobody cares 'Til those petrol bombs come spinning through the air Gotta find a way to hold them to account Before they find a away to snuff our voices out Can you hear us? Are you listening? No power without accountability! The ballot box is no guarantee that we achieve democracy Our leaders claim their victory when only half the people have spoken We have no job security in this global economy Our borders closed to refugees but our markets forced open The World Bank says to Mexico We'll cut you off if you don't keep your taxes low But they have no right to wield that sword 'Cos they take their orders from the chairman of the board IMF, WTO I hear these words just every place I go Who are these people? Who elected them? And how do I replace them with some of my friends? Can you hear us? Are you listening? No power without accountability! -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (6) Some Days I See The Point -------- Never saw a meaningful TV advert, I don't think shopping is a metaphor for life Don't waste my time at the gym in the morning, try to keep trim by living my life Wanna feel the wind blowing in my hair Wanna hear the waves crashing on the beach I'm not seeking easy answers or inner peace I'm just looking for some release I want to help to make the world better but I can't do it all on my own Try to keep the lid on my disappointment 'cause cynicism's such a cop out I know Watch the shadows of clouds moving on the hill Open my eyes and drink my fill On those days that I feel dejected I come up here for a bit of perspective Gonna follow the path that climbs up through the trees Walk along the cliff top and gaze out to sea I feel free when I come up here And if it's clear some days I see the point -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (7) Baby Faroukh -------- Standing, standing up for the first time Baby Farouk is here Walking, walking all on his own Baby Farouk draws near Join us now in celebration To each child a generation Climbing, climbing over the wall Baby Farouk is high Dancing, dancing out in the hall Baby Farouk can fly Bringer of joy and tribulation To each child a generation Sleeping, sleeping sound in his cot Baby Farouk he glows Plant a seed of love in my heart Baby Farouk, it grows To each woman and man a child To each child a generation -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (8) Take Down The Union Jack -------- Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset And put it in the attic with the emperors old clothes When did it fall apart? Sometime in the 80s When the Great and the Good gave way to the greedy and the mean Britain isn't cool you know, its really not that great It's not a proper country, it doesn't even have a patron saint It's just an economic union that's passed its sell-by date Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset And ask our Scottish neighbours if independence looks any good 'Cause they just might understand how to take an abstract notion Of personal identity and turn it into nationhood Is this the 19th century that I'm watching on TV? The dear old Queen of England handing out those MBEs Member of the British Empire - that doesn't sound too good to me Gilbert and George are taking the piss aren't they? Gilbert and George are taking the piss. What could be more British than here's a picture of my bum? Gilbert and George are taking the piss Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset And pile all those history books, but don't throw them away They just might have some clues about what it really means To be an Anglo hyphen Saxon in England.co.uk -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (9) Another Kind Of Judy -------- Crawling round on all fours I was looking for a lover or a just cause But she turned out to be another kind of Judy She took me down to the Cherry Tree She drank me back to puberty But she turned out to be another kind of Judy I was 35 going on 17 I was missing in action on the local scene But she turned out to be another kind of Judy I made her part of everything I did I really loved her and I loved her kid But she turned out to be another kind of Judy Judy comes and Judy says If you won't ever mend your ways Then nothing's gonna change She filled my head with the awful noise Of her disappointment and the Pet Shop Boys But she turned out to be another kind of Judy Judy comes and Judy says If you won't ever mend your ways Then nothing's gonna change I made her part of everything I did I loved her truly and I loved her kid But she turned out to be another kind of Judy -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (10) He'll Go Down -------- Drop-dead gorgeous and the rest Resurrected his interest Clouds so swift, the rain won't lift He'll wait for you when you change your shift He'll go down, he'll drag you on the ground He'll panic you into attack He'll tape your calls and play them back And the next thing you'll be knowing your desperation will be showing And He'll go down, he'll drag you on the ground He'll go down He'll offer you pretty balloons They'll burst before they've played a tune Oh please don't wear that satin dress And please don't give him your home address 'Cause he'll go down, he'll drag you on the ground He plays a high fast mighty game It always ends up just the same Your welcome will be worn out Your suspicions will be borne out And he'll go down, he'll drag you on the ground He'll go down He'll drag you on the ground He'll go down He'll drag you on the ground He'll go down -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (11) Dreadbelly -------- Horses, hounds and humans all sitting on an underground train That fox that lives in the Mile End Road is gonna get chased again Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles and his mate Sir Richard Van Dyke Are following on behind the hunt on a two-stroke motorbike Who would have thought it? Dreadbelly come running over the hill and he cried out "I be cursed! Before it get it out of my system I've got to get some in there first' He threw himself at her dainty feet and he begged her for an answer She said "You're a much better fishmonger than you're ever gonna be a clog dancer' The strong man Egyptologist, he couldn't return her gaze But she won him over with her tight pullover and her Wonderful turn of phrase She said "Clear piss and hard shit is all you need to make You'll find in life that everything else is just icing on the cake' Who would have thought it? -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (12) Tears Of My Tracks -------- I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue You know that I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue I sold all my vinyl yesterday At a boot sale out on the highway And now my room's full of fresh air So I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue Somebody owns all my albums now They probably don't even wonder how My name got written on the sleeves So I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue I opened the window I let in the sun My record collection has ended For someone else's just begun I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue I'm down, but I'm not out Lord I'm hurting I'm down, but I'm not out But I feel blue Yeah, yeah, yeah... -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (13) Billericay Dickie -------- Good evening, I'm from Essex In case you couldn't tell My given name is Dickie I come from Billericay And I'm doing very well Had a love affair with Nina In the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena Could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners And other misdemeanors But I got right up between her Rum and her Ribena Well, you ask Joyce and Vicky If candy floss is sticky I'm not a blinking thicky I'm Billericay Dickie And I'm doing very well I bought a lot of Brandy When I was courting Sandy To aim to make her randy And all I had was shandy Another thing with Sandy What often came in handy Was passing her and Mandy She didn't half go bandy So, you ask Joyce and Vicky If I ever took the mickey I'm not a flipping thicky I'm Billericay Dickie And I'm doing very well I'd rendezvous with Janet Quite near the Isle of Thanet She looked more like a gannet She wasn't half a prannet Her mother tried to ban it Her father helped me plan it And when I captured Janet She bruised her pomegranate Oh, you ask Joyce and Vicky If I ever shaped up tricky I'm not a blooming thicky I'm Billericay Dickie And I'm doing very well You should never hold a candle If you don't know where it's been The jackpot is in the handle On a normal fruit machine So, you ask Joyce and Vicky Who's their favorite brickie I'm not a common thicky I'm Billericay Dickie And I'm doing very well I know a lovely old toe rag Obliging and noblesse Kindly, charming shag from Shoeburyness My given name is Dickie I come from Billericay I thought you'd never guess So, you ask Joyce and Vicky A fine pair of squeaky chickies I'm not a flaming thicky I'm Billericay Dickie And I'm doing very well Oh golly, oh gosh Come lie on the couch With a nice bit of posh From Burnham-on-Crouch My given name is Dickie I come from Billericay And I ain't a slouch So, you ask Joyce and Vicky About Billericay Dickie I ain't an effing thicky You ask Joyce and Vicky And I'm doing very well -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (14) Mansion On The Hill -------- There's a place out on the edge of town, sir Rising above the fact'ries and the fields Ever since I was a child, I can remember That mansion on the hill In the day, you can see children playing On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel Steel gates that completely surround, sir The mansion on the hill At night, my daddy'd take me and we'd ride Through the streets of a town so silent and still Park on a back road along the highway side Look up at that mansion on the hill In the summer, all the lights would shine There'd be music playing, people laughing all the time Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields Sit and listen to that mansion on the hill Tonight, down here in Linden town I watch the cars rushing home from the mill There's a beautiful full moon rising Above that mansion on the hill There's a beautiful full moon rising Above that mansion on the hill -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (15) Glad And Sorry -------- Thank you, kindly for thinking of me If I'm not smiling, I'm just thinking Glad and sorry, happy or sad When all is done and spoken You're up or I'm down Can you show me a dream? Can you show me one that's better than mine? Can you stand it in the cold light of day? Neither can I Glad and sorry, happy or sad When all is done and spoken You're up or I'm down Can you show me a dream? Can you show me one that's better than mine? Can you stand it in the cold light of day? Neither can I Glad and sorry, happy or sad When all is done and spoken You're up or I'm down -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (16) Yarra Song -------- There's a chill tonight on the Yarra Winter is creeping in While far away my loved ones Wake up in England's spring And although delights await me All the way to Flinders Street It's that little piece of heaven With which they must compete When The Saints take on The Magpies Someday too far away I barrack for St. Kilda In that funny game they play But my heart's not really in it My mind wanders to a town Where The Hammers sing "I'm forever blowing bubbles" And the rain comes pouring down Yes, it's still raining in England Guess that's why I like it here There's a brolly in my hotel room For when the skies aren't clear 'Cause it never rains in Sydney And it never rains in Perth Adelaide's a desert And Brisbane's just scorched earth So excuse me please such days as there And send me to the town Where the children sing when St. Kilda win And the rain comes falling down So wake me up tomorrow And send me home again To where The Hammers sing "I'm forever blowing bubbles" In the pouring London rain -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (17) You Pulled The Carpet Out -------- I know sometimes I'm not the man you married I'm like some lame lead singer in a tribute band And just as I snatch victory from the jaws of my defeat You pull the carpet out from underneath my feet Well, I never forget that I'm someone's daddy But I guess I must be careless with my time 'Cause just when I think that I've got my weekend plans You pull the carpet out from underneath my feet I ain't never been no follower of fashion But just like you I got my sense of style So why is it whenever we're together on the street You pull the carpet out from underneath my feet? It's not like you don't love me anymore You just like to send me sprawling on the floor Just like Caesar had his slave to keep him mortal I guess I've got you to cut me down to size 'Cause there's just no one else to knock me off my feet You'll pick me up when I'm feelin' down -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (18) Mystery Shoes -------- I don't know Where are they from, who knows? What can I say? Mystery shoes, walk away I should have known I'm so alone Why can't you see? What this could mean to me? Please not today Mystery shoes, walk away The sun don't shine now your not mine The rain can fall but I won't crawl Away into the night Don't get me wrong, I'm all right But I must stay Mystery shoes, walk away Mystery shoes, walk away Mystery shoes, walk away -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (19) 1 2 3 4 -------- Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Chooka-choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight A, B, C, D, E, F, G Hoodoo, voodoo, seven, twenty-one, two Haystack, hoe-stack, hey do the hoe-ta High boga, low joker, ninety-nine, a zero Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight A, B, C, D, E, F, G Blackbird, blue jay, one, two, three, four Trash-stack, jump back, E, F, G Big man, little man, fat man, skinny man Grasshopper, green snake, hold my hand Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo Mama cat, tom cat, diapers on the clothesline 2, 4, 6, 8, run and hide Crazy man, lazy girl, pony on a tin can I'll be yours and you'll be mine Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight A, B, C, D, E, F, G And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight A, B, C, D, E, F, G -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (20) Dry Bed -------- I waked up in a dry bed mommy come see I waked in a dry bed daddy I did I woke up in a dry bed with dry feet and a dry head I am a big boy now Hey look at my dry bed Come feel my dry bed My beds all dry dry I'm a big boy Look look at my dry bed Dry dry my dry bed My beds all dry dry and I'm a big boy Rain didn't rain & wet my bed mommy come see River didn't run and wet my bed daddy come look Dry bed ho ho ho I'm gonna go to the movie show 'Cause I'm a big boy now Hey look at my dry bed Come feel my dry bed My beds all dry dry I'm a big boy Look look at my dry bed Dry dry my dry bed My beds all dry dry and I'm a big boy Pussy cat didn't wet my bed last night Sister come feel Puppy dog didn't make my beddy bed wet Brother take a peek Dry bed yippie iye iye take me down to the pony ride 'Cause I'm a big boy now Hey look at my dry bed Come feel my dry bed My beds all dry dry I'm a big boy Look look at my dry bed Dry dry my dry bed My beds all dry dry and I'm a big boy -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (21) Danny Rose -------- Dead Danny Rose Stole an automobile Danny Rose No, he oughtn't to steal Fighting and stealing That's how my Danny rose Shouting his name So everybody knows He was a dare Danny Rose Dead Danny blows Thought he'd go it alone Danny goes With his gun and his comb Shooting and stealing That's how my Danny grows Shouting his fame So everybody knows He was a rare Danny Rose Dead Danny Rose They saved him yet you Hang up his clothes People beg to inspect you Saying here is the blood stained Jacket he wore This is his original gun Never been seen by the public before Danny Rose Stole an automobile Danny Rose Really oughtn't to steal He hit the road block They saw him explode No one could save him But how my Danny glowed 'Til early morning Rare Danny Rare Danny Rare Danny Rare Danny Please say a prayer for Danny Rose -------- England, Half English (2002) -------- -------- (22) She Smiled Sweetly -------- Why do my thoughts loom so large on me? They seem to stay for day after day They won't disappear, I've tried every way But she smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly and said don't worry Oh no no no Where does she hide it inside of her? Keeps her peace most every day Won't disappear, my hair's turning grey But she smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly and said don't worry Oh no no no There's nothing in why or when There's no use in trying You're here begging again and again and again That's what she said so softly I understood for once in my life Feeling good most all of the time But she smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly She smiled sweetly and said don't worry Oh no no no... -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (1) I Keep Faith -------- If you want to make the weather Then you have to take the blame If sometimes dark clouds fill the sky And it starts to rain, folks complain And though your head may tell you To run and hide Listen to your heart and you'll find me Right by your side, because I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith in you Yes I do, I keep faith in you If you think you have the answer Don't be surprised If what you say is met with anger And contempt and lies No matter how hard you may want to Just walk away Reach out, you'll find me there beside you All of the way, because I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith in you Yes I do, I keep faith in you All the dreams we shared I never knew no one who cared About these things the way that I've see you It doesn't matter if This all falls off the cliff Together we are gonna see it through I know it takes a mess of courage To go against the grain You have to make great sacrifice For such little gain and so much pain And if your plans come out to nothing Washed out in the rain Let me rekindle all your hopes and Help you start again, because I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith in you Yes I do, I keep faith in you I keep faith in you Yes I do, I keep faith in you I keep faith in you I keep faith in you Yes I do, I keep faith in you I keep faith in you, yeah, yeah I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith I keep faith -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (2) I Almost Killed You -------- You see a rainbow I see a dark cloud You see your new friends And I see a bad crowd I almost killed you Nearly killed you Almost killed you With my love I'll put a gun up to my head If you treat me this way Is it fake, is it real? Are you feeling lucky today? I almost killed you Nearly killed you Almost killed you with my love Like a gypsy child, you wouldn't be christened You just wouldn't listen The tune that you dance to is not of my making I can't countenance the steps you're taking I almost killed you Nearly killed you Almost killed you Nearly killed you -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (3) M For Me -------- Take the M for me and the Y for you Out of family and it all falls through We've got to love each other everyday Instead of hoping it might stay that way Now, I've got friends who are telling me They're living in clover But lose the C for commitment and the L for love And it's over, baby, it's all over now I'm not thinking about the things you said As we lay awake last night in bed I'm just happy to be by your side When we're rolling in the sheets or tumbling in the tide You keep on come telling me all about your problems Let's pull the Y off of your and throw it on the fire And make 'em our problems, baby Our problems now Take the M for me and the Y for you Out of family and it all falls through We've got to love each other every day Instead of hoping it might stay that way Your problems, baby Make 'em our problems now Your problems, baby Make 'em our problems now -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (4) The Beach Is Free -------- Well, the fields belong to the farmers And the forests belong to the king These days our pleasures are all behind fences We have to pay for everything So turn around and come on down The beach is free Just turn around and come on down The beach is free Well, the cities are teeming with people And the highway is jammed up with cars And the airport is a nightmare in season But you don't have to go that far Just turn around and come on down The beach is free Just turn around and come on down The beach is free Well, they take all the flags down in the evening And the soldiers stand guard at the keep But the beaches are always open 'Cause the ocean, she never sleeps So turn around and come on down The beach is free Just turn around and come on down The beach is free So turn around and come on down The beach is free Just turn around and come on down The beach is free -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (5) Sing Their Souls Back Home -------- We sing our songs of freedom And we sing our songs of peace We sing about sweet harmony For to make the fighting cease Let's sing one song for the folks tonight That are sleeping on the streets Come on and sing their souls back home Oh, oh won't you sing along with me? Come on, oh raise your voices now with me And let them know that we want them back home From wherever they may be Come on and sing their souls back home The wind blew and the birds they flew And they scattered everybody wide Gathered up their loved ones They were running from the tide Now if we don't get these people back Well, then I fear this town will die Come on and sing their souls back home Oh, oh won't you sing along with me? Come on, oh raise your voices now with me And let them know that we want them back home From wherever they may be Come on and sing their souls back home Oh Lord it's hard, don't you know To be living in days like these Terror and war do nothing But shatter families So let's reach out with all our hearts To our soldiers overseas Come on and sing their souls back home Bring 'em home now Oh, oh won't you sing along with me? Come on, oh raise your voices now with me And let them know that we want them back home From wherever they may be Come on and sing their souls back home Oh, oh won't you sing along with me? Come on, oh raise your voices now with me And let them know that we want them back home From wherever they may be Come on and sing their souls back home -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (6) You Make Me Brave -------- There's a place A place that I go Where I curl in a ball on the floor And no one can know And the fear Wells up inside I'm just falling again Feel I'm falling again And you make me brave Then you make me brave When the dark And all of the doubt Crowds in around me And blocks the world out And then I I see you smile And I'm flying again Yes, I'm flying again 'Cause you make me brave Yes, you make me brave What's to come? No one can know But I fear for the future What it may hold Take my hand Take it today Let's not live in the past Let's not hide in the past Today Today Live for today Live for today -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (7) Something Happened -------- Do you know what love is? Love is when you willingly Place someone else's priorities Above your own Do you know what lust is? Lust is when you actively Force your own priority On someone else -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (8) Mr. Love & Justice -------- Mr. Love & Justice Please, tell me what am I to do Everything you told me I found out none of it was true I'm looking for some answers To these problems I face Desertion should mean disgrace So tell me do I have a case And I know that nothing is forever But still though I want to make the effort So he knows you just can't walk away Mr. Love & Justice I ask you, is it really fair If all of that commitment Just vanishes in the air? Feel I'm on a one way ticket To the end of the line It won't stop the children crying But I want some justice this time I'm still waking up in the morning with a troubled mind Can't believe he left me, how could I be so blind? What else can I do but make this appeal to you Is there any love or justice in the world today for me? Mr. Love & Justice If there's one thing that I must do If only for my own sake I've got to see this thing through I've just got to find out If I was right or I was wrong Then I'll believe he's gone Pick myself up and move on 'Cause I know nothing is forever But still though I want to make the effort So he knows you just can't walk away -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (9) If You Ever Leave -------- Walking out together All along the shore Arm in arm beneath the cliffs that tower above us We hear the breakers roar Here we found each other Here we made our home Took the sea, the sky, the sun, the summertime Made it all our own If you ever leave If you ever leave me If you ever leave, my dear There's nothing for me here The storms that pound the harbor Scatter driftwood on the beach A million stars that fill the winter night sky Seem just beyond our reach Tides of time march onwards Just as sunshine follows rain The season's ever changing, ever moving on Yet our love remains If you ever leave If you ever leave me If you ever leave, my love You can take the stars above If you ever leave If you ever leave me If you ever leave, my love Then you can bring the curtain down On this lonesome town -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (10) O Freedom -------- The policemen broke my door down Dragged me from my bed I asked them what was happening They just ignored the words I said They waved their guns in my face Kept screaming out my name Something terrible had happened And somehow I was to blame O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name In thy name O freedom, what liberties are taken What liberties are taken What liberties are taken in thy name My accusers formed a jury The judge and the defense The charges were made known to me But not the evidence There was no guilty verdict Yet, still I was detained Flown to another country where Their methods are less constrained O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name In thy name O freedom, what liberties are taken What liberties are taken What liberties are taken in thy name In our determination To defend democracy We must not destroy the safeguards That underpin our liberty For who will pay the price if Injustice such as this Turns our protectors to oppressors And angry men to terrorists? O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name In thy name O freedom, what liberties are taken What liberties are taken What liberties are taken in thy name -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (11) The Johnny Carcinogenic Show -------- Saw some guy on the TV yesterday He's selling poison by the ton "How can you do such a thing?" a woman asked And he replied, "Well, the secret is to hook 'em young Look, I'm not responsible for the lessons children learn I'm just responsible for giving my investors some return" Here's a message from The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Well, you'd never believe how much effort goes into Adding some glamour to the brands To distract you from the damage that they do Putting their product in your hand What other industry could ever get away With contaminating their best customers this way? Here's a message from The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Here's a product that promises to do nothing But take your money and your soul Poverty is toxic, everybody knows No need to help it take its toll Who will profit from the misery they sow? Not the grandchildren that you will never know Here's a message from The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Poverty is toxic The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Poverty is toxic The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Poverty is toxic The sponsors of 'The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' Poverty is toxic -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (12) Farm Boy -------- Whisper under my breath Say a little prayer Same as I do every time I step into the sun's bright glare I am just a farm boy Lived up on the hill Wanted to get away Now the army pays my bills And I'm just dreaming of the time that I can go home I'm just dreaming of the time that I can go home Here comes a captain Take his anger out on me Calls down fire upon My country's enemies Wants me to pick our targets But all that I can see Is farmers and their families And a whole lot of misery, mmm yeah 'Cause I'm just dreaming of the time when I can go home I'm just dreaming of the time when I can go home Say a little prayer now Second one today Oh, sweet Jesus Won't you take my sins away? I'm dreaming of the time that I can go home I'm just dreaming of the time when I can go home Yeah, I'm dreaming of the time when I can go home I'm just dreaming of the time that I can go home -------- Mr. Love & Justice (2008) -------- -------- (13) Goodbye, Goodbye -------- Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to go Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me so long The day has come at last The sails strain at the mast This have quickly passed away Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to say Goodbye to all my friends Who sailed with me the longer way The bells have all been rung The songs have all been sung This long river has run its course Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to go Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me so long The coffee pot is cold The jokes of all been told The last stone has been rolled away Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to say Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me the longer way Goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (1) Bugeye Jim -------- If I get up and let you in I lose my house and my home again If I get up and try to come I get sent back to the land I'm from Back to the land I'm from The cloud came low and the rain did pour I hear your hand touch on my door The rain has quit and the light of the moon Shows you standing in my room Standing in my room Bugeye Jim, I can't come I can twist and turn, but I can't come I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come I woke up this morning with an aching brain Hear you tap on my window pane I look at you with a heavy head I hear you sit down on my bed The storm gets worse and my heart feels bare I feel your fingers comb my hair Feel you comb my hair The mud it runs and the waters rise I feel your hotkiss on my eyes The rain it rained and the world did stir I sing to you my lovesick word I sing to you my lovesick word Bugeye Jim, I can't come I can twist and turn, I can't come I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come I woke up this morning with an aching brain Hear you tap on my window pane -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (2) When The Roses Bloom Again -------- They were strolling in the gloaming Where the roses were in bloom A soldier and his sweetheart brave and true And their hearts were filled with sorrow For their thoughts were of tomorrow As she pinned a rose upon his coat of blue Do not ask me, love, to linger For you know not what to say For duty calls your sweetheart's name again And your heart need not be sighing If I be among the dying I'll be with you when the roses bloom again When the roses bloom again beside the river And the mockingbird has sung his sweet refrain In the days of auld lang syne I'll be with you sweetheart mine I'll be with you when the roses bloom again With the rattle of the battle Came a whisper soft and low A soldier who had fallen in the fray I am dying, I am dying And I know I have to go But I want to tell you before I pass away There's a far and distant river Where the roses are in bloom A sweetheart who is waiting there for me And it's there I pray you take me I've been faithful, don't forsake me I'll be with her when the roses bloom again -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (3) Gotta Work -------- I gotta work or go nuts I gotta work or go nuts I gotta work I gotta work I gotta work or I'll go nuts I get dangerous if I don't work I get mean if I don't work I go screwball Go loco I go crazy if I don't work I hurt people if I don't work Kill people if I go nuts I hit people Scratch people Bite people if I go nuts I gotta work I gotta work Gotta work or I go nuts I go screwball Go loco Crazy if I don't work Hit people Scratch people Bite people if I don't work -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (4) My Thirty Thousand -------- Paul Robeson he's the man That faced the Ku Klux Klan On hollow grove's golfing ground His words came sounding And all around him there To jump and clap and cheer I sent the best, the best I had My thirty thousand The Klansman leader said That Paul would lose his head When thirty five thousand vets Broke up that concert But less than four thousand came To side with the Klan But around Paul's lonesome oak My thirty thousand A beersoaked brassy band Did snortle 'round the grounds Four hundred noblest souls Westchester's manhood And they looked exactly like Fleas on a tiger's back Lost fish in the waters of My thirty thousand When Paul had sung and gone And the kids and babies home Cops came with guns and clubs And clubbed and beat 'em I'd hate to be a cop Caught with a bloody stick 'Cause you can't bash the brains Out of thirty thousand Each eye you tried to gouge Each skull you tried to crack Has a thousand thousand friends Around this green grass If you furnish the skull someday I'll pass out the clubs and guns To the billion hands that love My thirty thousand Each wrinkle on your face I know it at a glance You cannot run and hide Nor duck nor dodge them And your carcass and your deeds Will fertilize the seeds Of the men that stood to guard My thirty thousand Of the men that stood to guard My thirty thousand -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (5) Ought To Be Satisfied Now -------- You jacked me up and you run me down You nagged at me and you bawled me out You made me leave town and I'm Frisco bound You'd ought to be satisfied now You took my silver, you took my gold You made me believe in every lie that you told You left me a-standing out there in the cold You'd ought to be satisfied now You went around with whoever you pleased I stood in the rain in my B.V.D.'s There was times when I thought I'd freeze You'd ought to be satisfied now You got a new lover richer than me You got you a car and a boat on the sea You spend all my money to go out on a spree You'd ought to be satisfied now I'm down in this gutter, I'm hungry, I'm cold You're drinking and gambling and wasting our dough You'll won't even pay back that money you owe You'd ought to be satisfied now Once I had a fortune that you took away A hundred cold dollars you spent every day Tonight I'm a bum on the Frisco train You'd ought to be satisfied now You'd ought to be satisfied now You'd ought to be satisfied now -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (6) Listening To The Wind That Blows -------- There's a girl as she is sleeping Sleeping in her sweet repose I'm her broken-hearted sweetheart Listening to that wind that blows When my good friends gather 'round me Where my graveyard flowers grow In my grave I'll be there sleeping Listening to that wind that blows Blow, wind, blow, long low and lonesome Blow, wind, blow, where no heart knows I'm your lonesome-hearted listener Listening to that lonesome wind that blows On those ocean sands I wandered Where those whitecap breakers roll I walked along the beach at midnight Listening to that wind that blows In this great and crowded city Where the silver dollar flows Many's a broken-hearted sweetheart Listening to that wind that blows Blow, wind, blow, long low and lonesome Blow, wind, blow, where no heart knows I'm your lonesome-hearted listener Listening to that lonesome wind that blows I dreamt last night we lay together Arm in arm we took a stroll I woke up and the sky was cloudy Listening to that wind that blows Has it come your time to leave me? Has it come your time to go? Always, dear, I'll be here waiting Listening to that wind that blows Blow, wind, blow, long low and lonesome Blow, wind, blow, where no heart knows I'm your lonesome-hearted listener Listening to that lonesome wind that blows -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (7) Go Down To The Water -------- Go down to the water where the oil floats by Drop your hair down and cry And write with your finger in the sand Mail it out with the tide Mail it out with the high and the low Watch the marks in the sand Listen to the fog on the homeless waves And feel the salt sea in your hands Smell that sea wind, taste on your lips That foam that rolls over my lost ships Write your letter once more in the sand Where the breaker dips and our undertow slips Kneel down and feel the water's edge Write our names side by side And look and listen to all those ships That toss in the fog and in the tides Let down your hair when you kneel down there Let me be the wind that pulls your hair And you be the man you made out of sand And let your hands keep making him there When nobody is looking kiss your hand And touch to the nose of your man in the sand Then lay down with your head on his chest Be nice, be nice to your man on the sand -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (8) Chain Of Broken Hearts -------- This world looks like a chain of heavy broken hearts It chains my brothers and sisters all apart Link after link it clatters thru my land This long heavy chain of broken hearts Selfish pride is one link in this chain And you better drive it out of your heart Brother and sister when you do it's then that you'll get loose From this long heavy chain of broken hearts It's this long heavy chain of broken hearts It's this long heavy chain of broken hearts You gotta find your union before you can get free From this long heavy chain of broken hearts Fear is a link in this chain Of sorrow and trouble and pain Drive out your fear and you will break apart This long heavy chain of broken hearts Jealousy is a link of the worst A worry, a blister and a curse Join our union band and break with your hands This long heavy chain of broken hearts This long heavy chain of broken hearts This long heavy chain of broken hearts You gotta find your union before you can get free From this long heavy chain of broken hearts It's when you are free from this chain Love will come and fill you up again Show your friends and neighbors how to break away From this long heavy chain of broken hearts Yes this long heavy chain of broken hearts This long heavy chain of broken hearts You gotta find your union before you can get free From this long heavy chain of broken hearts -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (9) Jailcell Blues -------- Mailman walkin' by my cell Mailman walkin' by my cell It's when you don't bring me no news That's the time when I sing my jailcell blues That's the time when I sing my jailcell blues When you walk your mailpouch When you walk your mailpouch By me with not one word from you That's the time that I'll weep my jailcell blues That's the time that I'll weep my jailcell blues Little leather bag goes by me Little leather bag goes by me Not one little peep from you Only time I cry my jailcell blues Only time I cry my jailcell blues -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (10) Don't You Marry -------- Baby, don't you marry no farming man Put a rake and a shovel right in your hand Don't you marry no railroad man When you want him he won't be on hand So don't go marrying no business man Got too much monkey business on his hands Don't go marry no jellybean man Got too many women on his hands Just take me back Baby won't you take me back I won't do one little thing That you don't like O' don't you marry no banker man He'll take all your money from your hand No, don't you marry no finance man He'll slap a big mortgage right in your hand Just take me back Baby won't you take me back I won't do one little thing That you don't like Don't you marry no travelin' man Always bummin' off round in foreign lands Don't you marry no singer man He's the brokest feller in the band Just take me back Baby won't you take me back I won't do one little thing That you don't like Don't marry no soldier nor sailor man Always sailing off and drinking in a distant land Don't marry yourself no mariner man Put the invasion barge right in your hands -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (11) Give Me A Nail -------- Give me a nail and I'll nail it Give me a ship and I'll sail it Give me a bugle and I'll toot it Give me a gun and I'll shoot it Give me the work and I'll do it Give me the stew and I'll stew it Give me the bell and I'll ring it Give me the song and I'll sing it Give me the words and I'll talk 'em Give me the miles an' I'll walk 'em Give me the crop and I'll grow it Give me a row and I'll hoe it Give me a life and I'll live it Give me a life and I'll give it Give me a war and I'm in it Give me a world and I'll win it -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (12) The Jolly Banker -------- My name is Tom Cranker and I'm a jolly banker I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I safeguard the farmers and widows and orphans Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I When dust storms are sailing and crops they are failing I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I check up your shortage and bring down your mortgage Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I When money you're needing and mouths you are feeding I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I'll plaster your home with a furniture loan Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I If you show me you need it, I'll let you have credit I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I Just bring me back two for the one I lend you Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I When your car you're losin', and sadly you're cruisin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I'll come and foreclose, get your car and your clothes Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I When the bugs get your cotton, the times they are rotten I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I'll come down and help you, I'll rape you and scalp you Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I When the landlords abuse you or sadly misuse you I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I I'll send down the police chief to keep you from mischief Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (13) Union Prayer -------- I hear that prayer and praying Will change this world around I fold my hands I bow my head I kneel down on the ground I prayed and prayed by night and day And then I prayed some more I prayed till my tongue was dry as dust And I prayed till my knees had sores Will prayer change shacks to decent homes? Will prayer change sickness into health? Will prayer change hate to works of love? Will prayer get me my right to vote? Will prayer give jobs at honest pay? Will prayer bring stomach full of food? Will prayer make rich treat poor folks right? Will prayer take out the Ku Klux Klan? Will prayer cut down the hoodlum bands? Will prayer stop in the lynchbug hands? If all of these things my prayers can do I'll pray till I am black and blue I'll pray till I am black and blue I'll pray till I am black and blue I'll pray till I am black and blue I'll pray till I am black and blue If prayer will bring us union love I'll pray and pray and pray some more I'll pray all day from door to door And fall at night to pray some more My prayer with a union label My prayer with a union label My prayer with a union label My prayer with a union label -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (14) Be Kind To The Boy On The Road -------- Who is that boy on the white winding highway? Why does he roam alone? Is he looking for life on that white winding highway? For his parents dealt him trouble at home You might think he's wrong standing there on that highway O' what a foolish young lad! But you yourself might be standing on that highway If you'd had his troubles on your hands Don't point your finger at that boy on the highway As you travel down this road Either give him your help or pass him with kindness 'Cause he's got all the trouble that he wants Your policeman discourages that boy on the highway It's heard everywhere that he goes But the best way to help that boy on the highway Is to fix all your troubles there at home I've heard it said 'bout rolling stone boys They gather no moss in their life? I'll tell you the bee that gets the honey Ain't the bee that hands around the hive Oh be kind to that boy on that white winding highway As you travel on there alone Remember the men that wrote your Bible Are the men who gave up their homes -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (15) Ain'ta Gonna Grieve -------- I long to fly away to Heaven Pass beyond that shining door See my master and my savior High away to Heaven soar I have made myself my promise Never again to grieve my lord I will live his gospel story Sweetest story ever told Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord anymore Not anymore Guess I've lived my life in blindess I have lived a life of wrong Now my heart runs full with gladness Singing out my gospel song Many a faith's too easy shaken Many a heart's too full of fear Many an eye is too mistaken Grievous to my savior dear Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord anymore Not anymore Make today this golden promise Make this vow forever more Live the story and the glory Dwell in peace forever more Make today this one agreement Change my thoughts from greed to love Enter soft into my chamber Pray for light to show me through Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord anymore Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord, not anymore Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more Ain'ta gonna grieve no more Ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more I ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord no more I ain'ta gonna grieve my Lord anymore Not anymore Not a gonna grieve Not anymore Not anymore -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (16) Tea Bag Blues -------- Well, it's awful cold outside I'm cold at home tonight Walkin' up an' down by my poor self God you know this just ain't right Gonna boil myself a tea bag Gonna boil myself a tea bag And if you moze over my way I will boil you off a tea bag, too Well I've come from Oklahoma Where the dust and gravel blow I've got gals with booseleg rotgut But man I never did learn to know Just how to boil me off a tea bag How to simmer up a tea bag And if you'll ease over my way I will boil you off a tea bag, too I rode the trains and the busses I rode the roads I rose the blinds Hit every kind of bag and satchel I used every bait I could find Never did think about no tea bag Never did see no tea bag But if you'll ooze over closer Yes, I'll boil you off a tea bag too Yes I will I've used beer, and wine, and coffee Buttermilk, sodie, and rum And I've rolled them every color Seen them go before they come Learnin' how to use a tea bag How to dip a tea bag If you'll sneak over my way I'm gonna strain your little tea bag, too Yeah baby, that's a promise Learnin' how to dip my tea bag How to soak up my tea bag And I'm up north in New York City Singin' my lonesome tea bag blues -------- Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012) -------- -------- (17) I'm Out To Get -------- I'm out to get your greenback dollar I'm out to get your silver change I'm out to get your long black limo You kept me down on my knees too long Now my daddy before me, he worked like I work He was worked to death forty years or so Now my mama she died from grieving over him How old she was I never did know I'm out to get your greenback dollar I'm out to get your silver change I'm out to get your long black limo You kept me down on my knees too long Now the building you own you won at gambling On dice and horses and ticker-tape machines But that's no sign that you are smarter than I am I'm going to show you just what I mean I'm out to get your easy money I'm out to get my share of your gold I'm out to get your whiskey and women I'm going to get back my life you stole Now I went to the judge and I talked with the tenants We told him we had no hot water in the sink He spent a half an hour upon his bench there To tell us what a fine reputation our landlord's got But I'm out to get your long green tender I'm out to get your round town car I'm out to fight and win a good job and wages And a six room twin bed flat with a built in bar Now I told that judge how you played the horses How you won this apartment building here How you took our money and headed to Florida To lay in the sun with women while we freeze here So, I'm out to get your excess bacon I'm out to get my cut from you I'm going to walk and talk and tell all my neighbors How they ought to talk right up for their cut too It won't be with no gun nor gambling wheel sir That I will use to relieve you of your till It will be in a nice friendly way with all my neighbors Smelling and barking brother up and down your hill And you can't hide along no oceans And you can't hide in no desert for long We're out to get back every penny that you won gambling Because we can't live, landlord, on a race horse song -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (1) January Song -------- I'm so tightly wound in tension Feel just like a guitar string Waiting to reveal emotions Touch me and you'll hear me sing I'm so tired of being wired But there so much that I have to do Tidy up the place for Monday When she's buried in her dancing shoes My journey has been so hard lately Been having to get out and push Lift me standing on the sidewalk Talking to a burning bush Politicians selling freedom Bumper sticker, 50 cents Asking what he wants to be free from Answer don't make any sense Somewhere on the fall horizon Gonna wash away my sins Turn around and taste tomorrow This is how the end begins -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (2) No One Knows Nothing Anymore -------- Deep down in the underground Atoms spinning 'round and 'round Scientists monitor readings Searching for the Holy Grail The particle or at least the tale Of the one who gives the universe its meaning But what if there's nothing No big answer to find? What if we're just passing through time? No one knows nothing anymore Nobody really knows the score Nobody knows anything Let's break it down and start again What happens when the markets drop If the numbers really don't add up? Everyone seeks the safe haven And as they contemplate their ruin The self-proclaimed smartest people in the room Are trying very hard not to sound cravin' But what if there's nothing No pot of gold to find? Only the blind leading the blind No one knows nothing anymore Nobody really knows the score Since nobody knows anything Let's break it down and start again Let's stop pretending we can manage our way out of here Let's stop defending the indefensible Let's stop relying on the lecturing of the experts Whose spin just makes our plight incomprehensible High up on a mountain top Somebody with a skinned crop Is thinking deep thoughts for us all Serenity is all around But if you listen you can hear the sound Of one head being banged against the wall But what if our ancestors had stayed up in the trees Who'd be sleeping weighed down by these worries? No one knows nothing anymore Nobody really knows the score Since nobody knows anything Let's break it down and start again -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (3) Handyman Blues -------- I'm never gonna be the handyman around the house my father was So don't be asking me to hang a curtain rail for you, because The screwdriver business just gets me confused It takes me half an hour to change a fuse And when I flicked the switch, the lights all blew I'm not your handyman Don't be expecting me to put up shelves or build a garden shed But I can write a song that tells the world how much I love you instead I'm not any good at pottery so let's lose the 't' and just shift back the 'e' And I'll find a way to make my poetry build a roof over our heads I know it looks like I'm just reading the paper But these ideas I'll turn to gold dust later 'Cause I'm a writer, not a decorator I'm not your handyman -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (4) I Ain't Got No Home -------- I ain't got no home, I'm justa roamin' 'round Just a wandering worker, I roam from town to town And the police make it hard for me, no matter where I go And I ain't got no home in this world anymore No I ain't got no home in this world anymore My brothers and my sisters are all stranded on this road The long and dusty road that a million feet have trod Now a rich man took my home and drove me from my door And I ain't got no home in this world anymore No I ain't got no home in this world anymore I was farming on the shares and always I was poor My crops are laid into the banker's store And my wife took down and down, oh on the cabin floor And I ain't got no home in this world anymore No I ain't got no home in this world anymore I minded in your mines and I gathered in your corn I've been working, Mr., since the day that I was born Now I worry all the time, like I never did before I ain't got no home in this world anymore No I ain't got no home in this world anymore Now as I look around, it's mighty plain to see This world is such a strange and funny place to be Where the gambling man is rich while the working man is poor I ain't got no home in this world anymore No I ain't got no home in this world anymore -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (5) Swallow My Pride -------- Here are the photos that I keep Here's the empty bed where I lay my head to sleep I dream about you but my dreams will not come true Till I'll swallow my pride and get back home to you I tell myself I'm in the right That don't keep me warm through another lonely night Can't live without you, even though you make me blue Got to swallow my pride and get back home to you I know your love for me is deep But I'm the man who makes you cry yourself to sleep Oh how can a man be strong? If he can't even lift up the telephone and say he's wrong If I want you back again then I know what I must do Got to swallow my pride and get back home to you Swallow my pride and get back home to you -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (6) Do Unto Others -------- In the Bible, we are told God gave Moses in the days of old Ten great Commandments For his people to hold true But the greatest Commandment of all Is in the book of Luke, as I recall Do unto others as you would have them do to you Do unto others as you would have them do to you Now baby you don't believe In the story of Adam and Eve Who called up on science To prove it's all untrue But in the cold light of the day Peaceful words still point the way Do unto others as you would have them do to you Do unto others as you would have them do to you So just lift up your eyes Don't pass by on the other side Don't be bound by what you think others may do Put just a little bit of faith And that's all it really takes Do unto others as you would have them do to you Do unto others as you would have them do to you Now the way the world is run Too many people looking after number one Don't seem to notice The damage that they do No, it's not widely understood There is, there is a greater good Do unto others as you would have them do to you Do unto others as you would have them do to you -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (7) Over You -------- This street is named for flowers It's barren, hot and gray And shadows wheel on iron heels And move along their way The light that soothes me evening Has cut me clean in two But my blood, it runs with stars And they're fallin' over you Now the bells have stopped their whaling They've been railing on deaf ears The towers lean, their faults unseen By us this many years The waiting crowd moves blind and loud Like angry rivers do But silence builds a bridge and reaches Swinging over you It used be the wicked Who surrendered but no more They've drawn a line through heart and mind And sold it like a war The poor play host, give up their ghosts Like death is nothing new But I could live forever When I'm dying over you I may learn someday to offer More than what I feel To set aside this wholesome pride And put my shoulder to the wheel To build our truth then raise the roof And not confuse the two But still we stand of rafters and the swing And there's laughter risen over you -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (8) Goodbye, Goodbye -------- Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to go Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me so long The day has come at last The sails strain at the mast This have quickly passed away Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to say Goodbye to all my friends Who sailed with me the longer way The bells have all been rung The songs have all been sung This long river has run its course Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to go Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me so long The coffee pot is cold The jokes of all been told The last stone has been rolled away Goodbye to all my friends The time has come for me to say Goodbye to all the souls Who sailed with me the longer way Goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (9) There Will Be A Reckoning -------- Somewhere between the midnight and the cold and empty dawn I found myself out walking on the streets where I was born And I came upon a stranger who looked me in the face And ask me what I was doing In this god forsaken place I don't need to be forgiven for something I haven't done Nor for wanting my family to find the place in the sun If you keep this pressure on, just don't be surprised If I can't summonup my dignity while you're roughing up my pride There will be a reckoning for the peddlers of hate Who spread their poison all across this estate And a reckoning too, for the politicians who Left us to this fate, there will be a reckoning Just a few days later, a man came to my door To ask me if I thought that this place was worth fighting for And though I recognize his reasons, I just could not agree When they told me that my neighbor would be my enemy I don't need to be forgiven for something I haven't done Nor for wanting my family to find the place in the sun If you keep this pressure on, just don't be surprised If I can't summonup my dignity while you're roughing up my pride There will be a reckoning for the peddlers of hate Who spread their poison all across this estate And a reckoning too, for the politicians who Left us to this fate, there will be a reckoning There will be a reckoning There will be a reckoning There will be a reckoning -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (10) Chasing Rainbows -------- The wheels have come off again And the fault is all mine What was I thinking? We were doing just fine But it hurts me so to hear you say We'd be better off apart Please don't let my complacent mind Belie my loving heart You've shot me down again From out of the blue If there was something That I was supposed to do Well there's just no way that everyday I'll reach your high bench mark But don't let my complacent mind Belie my loving heart I know you think if I just tried We would never fight at all But I know that will still be days Into which some rain must fall So I'll do my best to meet the test But darling, don't forget If you go chasing rainbows Then you're bound to end up getting wet So I'll do my best to meet the test But darling, don't forget If you go chasing rainbows Then you're bound to end up getting wet If you go chasing rainbows You're bound to end up getting wet -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (11) Your Name On My Tongue -------- I heard the bell ringing In tower of lost desire Grown from small beginnings The living world undone Now it hums and is singing Like words out on the wire Hanging like surrender Your name on my tongue Grief was my companion It pushed me like a sea Compass blade at my throat Pointing up to the sun Fear begs a strange courage It's a holy conspiracy The trips me down the path Your name on my tongue Your name on my tongue Your name on my tongue Your name on my tongue Get it up, pick it up, fix it up, one more time Get it up, pick it up, fix it up, one more time 'Cause I'm still in love Yeah I'm still in love I'm still in love With you I've set out a table I've made up my bed The ceiling above my head The floor where you run But I've barely been able To hold my own or my peace But I'll never let go Your name on my tongue ... -------- Tooth & Nail (2013) -------- -------- (12) Tomorrow's Going To Be A Better Day -------- To the misanthropic misbegotten merchants of gloom Who look into their crystal balls and prophesy our doom Let the death knell chime, its the end of time Let the cynics put their blinkers on and toast our decline Don't become demoralized by this chorus of complaint It's a sure sign that the old world is terminally quaint And tomorrow's gonna be a better day No matter what the siren voices say Tomorrow's gonna be a better day We're gonna to make it that way To the pessimistic populists to harbor no doubt That every day we make our way to hell in a hand cart And the snaky set, who's snapping to get Anyone who sticks their head above the parapet Oh don't become disheartened baby, don't be fooled Take it from someone who knows the glass is half full And tomorrow's gonna be a better day No matter what the siren voices say Tomorrow's gonna be a better day We're gonna make it that way -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (1) The Sleep Of Reason -------- One by one The stars grow dim And fall out of the sky And we gather round our shiny screens To say a last goodbye In communion with a bunch of folks That we don't know or see In the hope that we might feel something In place of empathy And so it goes... Sure gonna miss them Is it wrong to cling to the past when life comes at you so fast? And the sleep of reason produces monsters And the sleep of reason produces monsters Lies ride in style on a big red bus While you walk into town And surrogates keep their cap locks on To shout each other down And the levies that protected truth Can no longer hold the flood And expertise and experience Get trampled in the mud And so it goes... Guess they had it coming Now there's nothing that you can do To convince them that it's true And the sleep of reason produces monsters And the sleep of reason produces monsters It's over now, you lost my friend Move on, just let it go Says a man who flies a confederate flag On his profile just for show And when he hears someone point out that things Are much too male and white He eases of the safety catch On his second amendment rights And so it goes... And the kids are alt-right Giving license to all this hate Is gonna make our country great And the sleep of reason produces monsters And the sleep of reason produces monsters In this constant state of what the heck Just happened, you feel woke But through it all you treat it like It's just some kind of joke And in the end, the greatest threat faced by democracy Isn't fascism or fanaticism But our own complacency And so it goes... Best pay attention For there's simply no guarantee Of a happy ending to history And the sleep of reason produces monsters And the sleep of reason produces monsters, produces monsters, produces monsters -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (2) King Tide And The Sunny Day Flood -------- Wouldn't it be wonderful If we could save the world and all Simply by collecting up Tin cans and empty bottles We all want to believe it's true But it don't matter what you do So long as we continue to Burn our way through fossils Now it should come as no surprise To learn about the ocean's rise The polar caps are melting With every year that the planet warms Now people have to understand We're going to feel it far inland It's going to shift the seasons And super-charge the storms King Tide is a-coming King Tide is a-coming King Tide is a-coming Bringing flooding on a sunny day King Tide is a-coming Can't you hear the melt waters running? King Tide is a-coming Going to sweep everything away And you know The oceans they connect us all No one can just build a wall We have to work together We can't do this on our own To think that you can stand aside Is nothing more than foolish pride 'Cause everyone's a libertarian Until the brown water floods their home Now you may live on higher ground Feeling like you're safe and sound Thinking as you look around This is your lucky day But everyone beneath the sky Soon be looking for somewhere high and dry And nothing you can ever do Will keep them all at bay King Tide is a-coming King Tide is a-coming King Tide is a-coming Bringing flooding on a sunny day King Tide is a-coming Can't you hear the melt waters running? The King Tide is a-coming Going to sweep everything away The King Tide is a-coming And we have to act today -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (3) Why We Build The Wall -------- Why do we build the wall? My children, my children Why do we build the wall? Why do we build the wall? We build the wall to keep us free That's why we build the wall We build the wall, to keep us free How does the wall keep us free? My children, my children How does the wall keep us free? How does the wall keep us free? The wall keeps out the enemy And we build the wall to keep us free That's why we build the wall We build the wall to keep us free Who do we call the enemy? My children, my children Who do we call the enemy? Who do we call the enemy? The enemy is poverty And the wall keeps out the enemy And we build the wall to keep us free That's why we build the wall We build the wall to keep us free Because we have and they have not My children, my children Because they want what we have got Because we have and they have not The enemy is poverty And the wall keeps out the enemy And we build the wall to keep us free That's why we build the wall We build the wall to keep us free What do we have that they should want? My children, my children What do we have that they should want? What do we have that they should want? We have a wall to work upon We have work and they have none And our work is never done My children, my children And the war is never won The enemy is poverty And the wall keeps out the enemy And we build the wall to keep us free That's why we build the wall We build the wall to keep us free We build the wall to keep us free -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (4) Saffiyah Smiles -------- Angry white men dressed like Elmer Fudd Shouting something about soil and blood A woman of colour steps out from the crowd Does something to make us all proud Just like Victor Hugo told "To love is to act" and her act was bold Bold as love, she made her stand And with a smile took power from the man Oh, don't you know We come together when Saffiyah smiles All around the world People come together when Saffiyah smiles Cosplay Nazis marching in file Hitler's haircut is back in style Resistance on the streets of Birmingham And with her smile she disarms the man Oh, don't you know We come together when Saffiyah smiles All around the world People come together when Saffiyah smiles This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like This is what solidarity looks like -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (5) Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted -------- Be nice if we could have our cake and eat it Though that's impossible to do But too many have invested in this outcome They simply can't afford for it not to come true We ceded too much power to the market Let it decide what's right or wrong Now everyone seems willing to lent credence And truth is so devalued, it's going for a song Not everything that counts can be counted Holds the markets to account Not everything that counts can be counted Not everything that can be counted counts People have had enough of experts And their inconvenient facts Here's what the media really won't tell ya Exactly who it is that's taking control back All opinions are equal In the free market of ideas And truth is nothing more than an opinion That's the garnered the most likes, provoked the loudest cheers Not everything that counts can be counted Holds the market to account Not everything that counts can be counted Not everything that can be counted counts There isn't really any room for dreamers If you have principles that's nice The market isn't interested in values Except for those it can define as price All bow to the power of the market Till it throws up a different face If you're not white or male or compliant The system is designed to keep you in your place Not everything that counts can be counted Holds the market to account Not everything that counts can be counted Not everything that can be counted counts -------- Bridges Not Walls (2017) -------- -------- (6) Full English Brexit -------- My neighbours don't drink at the local Or have kippers for breakfast like me The food that they eat smells disgusting They'd rather drink coffee than tea It's true that their kids are respectful They gave me their seat on the bus But it's just that there's so many of them That I fear what will become of us I'm not racist, all I want is To make things how they used to be But change is strange and Nobody's listening to me I cheered when our side won the Cold War Spread freedom and peace all around Now there's folks speaking Russian in Tesco's It's a shame the wall had to come down I know some are fleeing from war zones To keep their young children from harm But my parents stayed put through the Blitz years And me? I was sent to a farm Yeah the sun shines, but sometimes I don't feel like this is my country But to say so? Oh no I never get no sympathy Once we ruled over an empire So it feels like some kind of defeat To comply with rules drawn up by strangers And measure in metres not feet We don't want to go but by Jingo If we can't be in charge, then we must But don't be offended, dear neighbour It's not you: this is all about us But it's alright, alright I think I've found a remedy Yes it's alright, gonna be alright It's a full English Brexit for me -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (1) Should Have Seen It Coming -------- I should have seen it coming, but I didn't have the time Far to busy grafting to pick up on the signs It came up through the static and hit me from behind I should have seen it coming, but I didn't have the time I should have seen it coming, but I looked the other way I didn't need the trouble messing up my day I figured if I walk on by somebody else could pay I should have seen it coming, but I looked the other way I'm gonna climb the highest mountain And struggle with all my might To see if it's fog that's dimmed my senses Or the fading of the light I should have seen it coming, but I just couldn't see How such a thing could happen to someone like me Thought that I was in control, but I was in jeopardy I should have seen it coming, but I just couldn't see I'm gonna climb the highest mountain And struggle with all my might To see if it's fog that's dimmed my senses Or the fading of the light I should have seen it coming, but I didn't understand That hubris is the enemy of best laid plans Seemed like I was riding high, but my head was in the sand I should have seen it coming, but I didn't understand -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (2) Mid-Century Modern -------- Have mercy on us Father who lived through this age of storms We barely had the time to bind the wounds caused by our shattered norms The credulous are on crusade against reality Freedom's just another word for acting with impunity It's hard to get your bearings in a world that doesn't care Positions I took long ago feel comfy as an old arm chair But the kids who pulled the statues down they challenged me to see The gap between the man I am and the man I want to be That old familiar argument blew up again last night The one where one of us is wrong but both of us feel in the right My indignation drove me to say things that I regret I hurt the one I love the most with my self-righteous temperament Now I must face the consequences of the thoughtlessness I've shown It wasn't my intention to spend this evening all alone But wounded pride is all I have to keep me company And the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be Now I'm used to people listening to what I have to say And I found it hard to think that it might help if I just stepped away Adjusted my perception to reflect reality And the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be The gap between the man I am and the man I want to be -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (3) Lonesome Ocean -------- Out on that lonesome ocean I'm searching for what's true Out on that lonesome ocean Everything is blue I'm drifting with the tide But there's a storm raging inside of me What am I to do? Out on that lonesome ocean Searching for what's true Out on that lonesome ocean Steering by the stars Out on that lonesome ocean I may have gone too far Have I left it much too late To try to navigate My way back home to you? Out on that lonesome ocean Searching for what's true -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (4) Good Days And Bad Days -------- Boring, old, normal, how attractive it seems Since life came and kicked a great big hole in my dreams Now I read all the words on the tins on the shelf And I try to remember to be kind to myself And the days keep crawling past Just how long can this emptiness last? Just give me something I can fix my eyes on A hint of hope out on the far horizon Good days and bad days, I have no doubt I could get by if they'd just even 'em out Well, I just can't shake off this great weight that I feel Get up and get dressed, shouldn't be such a big deal And now I don't know where things end or begin The day of the week or the state that I'm in But the days keep crawling past Just how long can this emptiness last? Just give me something I can fix my eyes on A hint of hope out on the far horizon Good days and bad days, I have no doubt I could get by if they'd just even 'em out Now I'm spending my days like I'm lost in a fog I got nowhere to walk that big old black dog And I just can't believe what this has done to my health So don't judge me too harshly, I can do that myself And the days blur into one I just can't seem to get anything done Just give me something I can fix my eyes on A hint of hope out on the far horizon Good days and bad days, I have no doubt I could get by if they'd just even 'em out I could get by if they'd just even 'em out -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (5) Freedom Doesn't Come For Free -------- Come all good people and gather 'round Let me tell you how it all went down When a bunch of libertarians came to town To build their own utopia They had a certain certainty Doubt never bothered 'em, no siree They lived on logic and liberty In the green hills of New Hampshire Live free or die trying You might get eaten by a mountain lion This old world is gonna leave you crying So live free or try to live free They took control of the situation Banned all the rules and regulations There would be no more taxation In their vision of utopia So, no one came to mend the roads Streetlights faded and the library closed And when the garbage overflowed Bears came sniffin' 'round Next thing folks started losing their cats Nothing in the garden but a fresh bear scat There's a certain logic in acting like that When you're top of the food chain Now there's a moral to this affair If you leave everything to laissez-faire You may have to wrassle with a bear In the backstreets of utopia 'Cause freedom can look like something else A place where everybody has to fend for themselves Or pretty words trying to cover the smell Of the stale stench of indifference Living on logic sounds real good But people never act the way you think that they should Bears don't always shit in the woods And freedom doesn't come for free Doesn't come for free Living on logic sounds real good But people never act the way you think that they should Bears don't always shit in the woods And freedom doesn't come for free -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (6) Reflections On The Mirth Of Creativity -------- Woke up this morning there was something dawning on me Something I'd never seen, someone I'd never been Came down for coffee and I could not find Where I'd left my troubled mind Opened the windows and the day blew in It was fresh and new and it caressed my skin It set me reeling, it was such a feeling That it made me smile for the first time in a long while But don't ask me how I just don't know Don't ask me why I've got nothing to do but smile And when I hit the street, felt light on my feet Like if I tried, I might just fly And every single face I see Had a smile for me like I was royalty or something The sun was shining on the avenue And the shadows knew just what to do They kinda parted as I walked on by And the clouds went off to some other part of the sky But don't ask me how I just don't know Don't ask me why I've got nothing to do but smile When I walked up to a traffic light And to my delight it was set just right I didn't even have to break my pace It was like I owned the whole damn place And all the birds were singing in the trees I was hearing some amazing melodies Before I knew it was whistling along So I sat right down and wrote this song But don't ask me how I just don't know Don't ask me why I've got nothing to do but smile -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (7) The Million Things That Never Happened -------- Two lovers meet in the park Friends bond over drinks after dark A walk on a beach, so far out of reach And the million things that never happened at all A last Christmas at the old place A convivial chat face to face The expectant delight of a Saturday night And the million things that never happened at all A wedding day planned for so long The right moment to sing the right song That significant date that you should celebrate And the million things that never happened at all A father present at a birth A grandmother hears a first word A hug for the crying, a kiss for the dying And the million things that never happened at all -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (8) The Buck Doesn't Stop Here No More -------- Long ago a land was built To be a shining city on a hill No kings, no aristocracy Just a belief in liberty And the tale that they were told in school Always follow this golden rule George Washington and the cherry tree Truth will set the people free But the truth is hard to take When your livelihood's at stake Better cover your mistakes And the buck doesn't stop here no more The buck doesn't stop here no more And so all the people saw That no one was above the law They took pride in their democracy All were equal, eventually But equal rights means equal say And some folk didn't like the way While their views were duly noted Come election time, they were out-voted So they used intimidation To preserve their domination This is a Christian nation And the buck doesn't stop here no more The buck doesn't stop here no more With their God and their guns, what are they fighting for? An all-American Sharia law? If the Bible is the sole source of authority Then we've no use for democracy If history teaches us one thing Never trust a man who would be king Who seeks all power for himself To burnish his prestige and wealth And a nation born in revolution Should know this offers no solution For there can be no liberty Where one man rules with impunity And the patriots have no shame To them it's all a game They've always someone else to blame And the buck doesn't stop here no more Buck doesn't stop here no more The buck doesn't stop here no more The buck doesn't stop here no more -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (9) I Believe In You -------- I don't know if I should say But I may never have this chance again So I have to seize the day I believe in you I don't want to make a show But I have never felt like this before I just have to let you know That I believe in you I could untangle all my problems If I only had the time But whenever we're together Everything starts to rhyme Guess I was sitting on a fence Between the Devil and the deep blue sea But now it all makes sense I believe in you I could untangle all my problems If I only had the time But whenever we're together Everything starts to rhyme I don't know if I should say But I may never have this chance again So I have to seize the day I believe in you I believe in you -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (10) Pass It On -------- With a bunch of strangers who worship my name I gathered at the gravesite in the pouring rain Never thought I'd find myself back here again Yet, here I am standing in the lake Got a lotta pieces missing in my past Never really noticed time was moving so fast So many questions that I wanted to ask But I'll let all my chances slip past They slip past Pass it on, pass it on Teach them the words of your song Voices fall silent but memories live on Those we remember are never gone Never gone A wooden bar to drink it, a new draw by the bed A dusty sheaf of letters from people now dead A lock of golden hair cut from a baby's head And so many things left unsaid Neither sentimental or deeply profound All the things we've hidden will one day be found The riches of a family cannot be weighed in pounds But in the stories can hand down Hand 'em down Pass it on, pass it on Teach them the words of your song Voices fall silent but memories live on Those we remember are never gone Pass it on, pass it on Teach them the words of your song Voices fall silent but memories live on Those we remember are never gone -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (11) I Will Be Your Shield -------- When things start to unravel And days fill you with dread When comments dent your confidence Confide in me instead When every little setback Just makes you want to cry When the whole world seems against you And you don't know why In the battle against your demons, I I will be your shield When the world has lost all meaning Together we'll stand, for our love Is the one thing that's real When pressure wrought by changes Becomes too much to bear And pain stops you from functioning Trust in me to care When the world beyond your doorstep No longer makes much sense And hostile thoughts surround you I'll come to your defense In the battle against your demons, I I will be your shield When the world has lost all meaning Together we'll stand, for our love Is the one thing that's real I will be your shield When the angry waves are pounding I will be your shield When the wind whips up the shore I will be your shield If you hear the thunder sounding And the rain beats on your door I will be your shield -------- The Million Things That Never Happened (2021) -------- -------- (12) Ten Mysterious Photos That Can't Be Explained -------- Now the angry old men Say it was better back when We used to Keep the Aspidstra Flying Now it may be the case That we can't change our bike But there's surely no harm in trying And ten mysterious photos that can't be explained Are draining away the best of my day And fragments of songs that I never wrote Are wroting in the pockets of my winter coat Now the world wide web is a wonderful thing You're just a click away from all of the facts But there's a downside if you've a curious mind It's like heroin for auto-didacts But ten mysterious photos that can't be explained Are draining away the best of my day And fragments of songs that I never wrote Are wroting in the pockets of my winter coat I've been down rabbit holes I've seen the rabid trolls Cackling in the twilight Of the Age of Reason One thing I've noticed As I get older Common sense, like art Is in the eye of the beholder Now the new breed of man Nothings are flooding my screen Now they skimmy this I'm God damn sure They look like reasonable folks But the next thing you know Is they're screaming "I don't want your cure!" And ten mysterious photos that can't be explained Are draining away the best of my day And fragments of songs that I never wrote Are wroting in the pockets of my winter coat The conspiracy acts The cyberchondriacs Gripped by their fear of their own imagination They switched the filters off Too much is not enough You know that you can overdose on information Ten mysterious photos that can't be explained Are draining away the best of my day And fragments of songs that I never wrote Are wroting in the pockets of my winter coat