Astronauts Songbook

Amplified World
The wind is blowing
The trees are swaying
And this is their song
It's getting louder
And it's getting louder
Maybe it won't be so long
I'd like to see you
Yeah, I'd like to talk to you
But I don't feel so well
Better turn the sound up
Better turn the sound up
I'll put my mouth into the microphone and yell
Weekday shopping
She's bought biscuits
From supermarket tills
She's bought Hovis
She's had babies
How the piped music thrills

And every day you see us
Down by the Town Hall
To hear the television
Read out the roll call
And each will forfeit his divine right
To tell her
Seems like we're living
In an amplified world

And Pete and Johnny
But they're getting older
But they don't say so much
Even though they still
Share the same room
They find it hard to keep in touch
But I used to know them
Was in their class for three years
But time passed us by
They're into speakers
I'm into accidents
Neither of us knows quite why
Mother's still shopping
She wears make-up
But her face seems to crack
And she's bought Ryvita
She takes Mandrax
No her husband never did come back

I'm sorry I didn't answer
The ubiquitous question
And I'm sorry that you cried
But I'm afraid that
I just freaked out completely
When I found out what you implied
If you really want me
Then you'd better call louder
But I can't guarantee I'll come
I'm unaware of your movements
And I'm unaware of your thinking
If you don't know the words just hum
And I remember that girl who
Used to hang out down the youth club
You ain't seen her for so long
Well I saw her
Yeah I saw her
When I asked her how it's going she said wrong

And every day you see her
Down by the Town Hall
To hear the television
Read out the roll call
And each will forfeit his divine right
To tell her
Seems like we're living
In an amplified world

You say that you love me and
You say that you need me
You love my eccentric ways
If you really mean that
Better put it in writing
I don't trust nobody these days
And he's a man of passion and
He's a man of knowledge
But he's a man who can't be saved
A man of nothing
A man of skin and bone
Don't expect me to dig your grave
By the way don't go looking for your sister
Because she's jumped
Over the fence
And she's down at Gatwick
With a bottle of tablets
Trying to make British Airways make sense

And every day you see us
Down by the Town Hall
To hear the television
Read out the roll call
And each will forfeit his divine right
To tell her
Seems like we're living
In an amplified world

Amplified amplified amplified
Amplified amplified amplified
Amplified amplified amplified
Amplified amplified amplified

And I'm the old oak
And I'm the East Wind
And this is my song
And it's getting louder
And it's getting louder
Maybe won't be so long.

Baby Sings Folk Songs
Beautiful schemer came in through the door
Took off her necklace and crouched on the floor
Says she wants peace but don't know why for sure
Tell me your plan beautiful schemer
'Cos I've been out working my hands on the farm
Curse at my bosses that don't do them no harm
I'm waiting for action 'cos I can't stand the calm
Then I come home, baby sings folk songs.

Here I lie waiting for me true love to see me
His heart of the white rose and mines of the red
Northern romance in the inn of good plenty
Lord make him kind when he goes to my bed

Beautiful schemer came in through the night
Smiled with her left eye but glared with her right
Said shall we go out and worship the night
Tell me the prayer, beautiful schemer
'Cos I've been out working my hands on the grime
Working at Turner's on the assembly line
And I heard of the good life, but I know it ain't mine
Then I come home, baby takes downers

Here is a nice little bottle of sleepers
They'll help me to stay in me little dream world
There's moggies and mandies and nice little white ones
I'll dream that me true love is stroking me curls

Am I out of this race is that a smile on your face
Am I sorry for this misdemeanour
On the Icelandic coast with some hot buttered toast
Would an artist have made it much cleaner
Now you sit on the floor when he calls out for more
Did you feel the effects of the acid
With his lunatic air and face so debonair
He made Liszt and Lord Byron look placid

Beautiful schemer she wanders through the yard
Trying to make her good love look so hard
You think she's the answer but you hold the cards
Deal me in quick beautiful schemer
I've been out working to buy you a meal
My protest is shrink-wrapped, got a factory seal
And you say shall we go out and try to make it real
I need you to help that baby's got pen friends

Beautiful schemer with the never-ending smile
Invites you inside to her head for a while
Minx of the North lake, mad bitch of the Nile
Go back to Troy, beautiful schemer.
'Cos I come from Fulham where fables aren't made
Where night-life is ruled by DMs and blade
Sometimes I just get to feel quite afraid
I need you to help but baby plays hockey

Swish goes the stick when the ball hits the netting
I play with the girls on the old village green
And later we go to the fair and eat liqourice
Soon it will be Mayday and I'll be your queen

Beautiful schemer she lives far away
Never did listen to much that I'd say
Lives in a parallel world in a way
That I just can't come in, no no no.
And I'm going to go, don't want to see you no more
Going back to the ghetto with an uncultured roar
We never got much further than your door
Beautiful schemer, why are you crying

My body boys left me for a far away haven
My ribbon is wasted, my maidenhood black
He says that he's going and he won't be returning
Oh speed little glove and bring my Johnny back

Behave Yourself
The sun beats down on the wills of the oppressors
They never learn, they just keep you under thumb
They say if you want to go out late tomorrow
Don't go out tonight till your homework's done
And you behave yourself

When you behave yourself the day seems so much longer
Don't behave yourself it won't do any good
When you behave yourself you don't turn out any stronger
Don't behave yourself I know you would break out if you could

Now the people that seem to rule your lives forever will one day be gone,
So you had better be prepared
And you behave yourself

You may wake up one bright and sunny morning
And you will have found that it caught you unawares
You behave yourself

When you behave yourself it get so bloody boring
Don't behave yourself it will drive you round the twist
When you behave yourself you spend the whole day snoring
Don't behave yourself and you'll have better fun than this

So the sun beats down on the wills of the oppressors
But they never learn, they just keep you on the run
And you behave yourself

And all the time you sit around stagnating
You could be outside and having better fun
Still you behave yourself

When you behave yourself you're waiting for tomorrow
Don't behave yourself it'll only bring you down
When you behave yourself you spend the life in sorrow
Don't behave yourself and tonight we'll take the town.

Big Ben
In these days when good news
Barely gets a mention
Pills and booze
Can't ease the tension.
Money making is your pastime
But what good is profit
If it's the last time?

So what am I supposed to tell
My Children
About social barriers
And why you build them.

So where's your police force?
Where's your system?
Once the lips of fate
Have kissed them.......

(There isn't much time left and they're crawling out of the walls) 

Blood
In the hemisphere of hypothesis
A simple sort of chap can get down on his knees
No linguist can decipher the strange aching tone
So it's straight together to the tower we march
Our eyes all reddened and our tinsils are parched
Faded banners bearing slogans of peace
As a decadent loser assures our release
And in the Indies, in the Andes, in Zimbabwe, and in Asia
There is blood

As conditions on an island look bleak
The rich and the strong crush the poor and the weak
When the money's gone and you're out of grace
Do you seek comfort in a violent embrace
So to the parliament together we'll run
Now the laws of the land can be changed by a gun
The gentry of old with their feudal tradition
Are sitting0duck targets for live ammunition
And in the ghetto, in the front line, in the police force, in West-minster
When the talking's abandoned
There always is blood

A man can be walking alone down the road
As the rockets and mortars in Bahrein explode
In the corner a gaggle of whispering heads
That bastard looks weird, let's go slice him to shreads
So they came up behind and lifted his scarf
He didn't turn round, but pretended to laugh
Shoved the knife into the base of his spine
They twisted it round 'til the blood flowed like wine
And on the corner, in the bedroom, in your localc, in the class room
In the most domestic affair, there is blood

In the whipping, in the beating, in the sordid board room meeting,
In the most intellectual crisis there is blood
But we're conditioned, stuff your welfare,
Don't need no sympathy, no education,
We're the new superhumans and now we want blood

Day To Day
Down by the lake
There's fish who break each wave
Break through
Who knows where to
Tides change, spray flies
No air, fish dies
Lay flat, skinned lean
It was never how it seemed
And it seemed that idols always let us down (1)
To escape from the spray to the sky (2)
AS he plunged the haze of his fix (3)
As he ground to another full stop
Ideals are always at odds with what is real
Day to day

Down by the lake
A man he stakes his power to swim
Closes his eyes, dives in
Tides change, spray flies
No air, man dies
Lay flat, skin gleams
It was never how it seemed

Down by the lake
That's where we'll break
Horse screams, your cries
Look at all the passers by
Old timers gather round
Never went far out of town
Gather round and  see this twisted wreck
This apathy

Everything Stops For Baby
Can you turn it down a bit my baby's asleep
Please don't phone after ten he's trying to dream
Always dress him up nice when I take him in his pram
But I've gotta keep his ideals gotta keep him clean

Going to be a happy little person in the new world
His face is of a warrior you can see it in his cot
So darling you go out and try and start the revolution
Me I'll just stay back here look after what we've got.

His life ain't gonna be a two up two down in Fulham
Gotta change things quickly 'cos our minds are on the skids
So all you fellow rebels you go out and fuck the system
Sorry I can't be with you I've gotta mind the kids

So what're you gonna do when baby's twelve years older
What're you gonna do when baby starts to shout
Mummy Mummy Mummy Mummy where's this new tomorrow
What are you gonna do when baby sussed you out. 

Fatigue
Little girl trapped in the other world
Never had a chance to see how the true men live
She's got teenage games
But her mind's lost in other names
Never had a chance to see what she may have to give
But there's going to be a shake up real soon
And she runs to the window, 'cos there's death in the street
Takes a snapshot, makes the image complete
Pulls down the shutter and pauses to secrete her fear
And it's fatigue
Nothing but fatigue
When you're tired of the world
Tired of the plague. Tired of the people from Sweden
Who came to see your film

And later on, after the guests have gone
She pauses and fades away in her sedan chair
She doesn't really know how things are going to go
She just assumes her usual policy of laissez-faire
But there's going to be trouble real soon
And she runs to the window, a revolver in her hand
The tune isn't familiar, so she shoots all the band
In a desperate attempt to make some sort of stand in her dress
And it's fatigue
Nothing but fatigue
When you're bore by the sun
Bored by the moon
And the children from the Welsh mining village
Couldn't go away too soon

So remember times when your alarm clock chimes
And thought and actuality sunbathe as one
I really hope that you wake for you and your rich uncles sake
Because if you don't wake pretty soon you'd better run
Because they're going to come and chase you real soon
And when the collapse comes as it certainly will
And Frank's still in the office,
June's still on the pill
They'll all hold hands and wait for the killer to arrive
And it's fatigue
Nothing but fatigue
When your life's on the line
You can't assemble it right
The shift seems much more than eight hours
Your perspective is your plight
When you're too scared to get up, you can't make it to the door
And your adolescent paper boy is tired of posing on your floor
When you're too bored to go out
You're too rich to even think
And the glass of wine's become vintage
And the caviar, it stinks
When Cinderella's gone home and Snow White's turned mean
Rip van Winkle has split to find a livelier scene

Getting Things Done
There's a woman on the corner and she's carrying a banner
Saying down with the oppressor and the men who overran her
And at least she's getting things done

There's a factory and a union and the men are having doubts
About working for a pittance so they're going to do a walk out
(At least they're getting things done)

You sit there with a grin on your face
Always been a moderate and you knwo your place
Slowly going nowhere in this nowhere race
(And if you get into power nothing, nothing's going to change)

There's some schoolboy on the corner from the school just down the road
Teacher said he'd have to punish them - they decided not to go
And they've got a sort of feeling there's a better sort of scene
So they put their heads together and they start a magazine

But you turn round with your pint of real
If you'd been so oppressed you'd turn quite pale
But "I'm alright Jack" is what you always wail

There's a lot of them talking and their heads are getting prouder
There's a lot of them been talking and their voices getting louder
They're growing in their number and they will not go away
They're growing in their number and waiting for the day
But you turn round and say "That's not fair - you know that Anti-Nazi rally man I was there"
But when the music stopped that's when you ceased to care
And you still turn round with your pint of beer
Don't like radicals - think they're weird
Still do anything to get out of here

Gold At The Top
Situations often seem so useless
Nagging pain that persists in your head
Dismal memories help you struggle through the daytime
Keep yourself well fed
And the leaders say that things could be so good
If you would just smile and respect our word
Because there is gold at the end of the rainbow
Or haven't you heard

So don't worry when the going gets heavy
Don't worry or even ask why
Because there's a garden near a village called Toytown
where pigs can fly, or the new tooth
Underneath your pillow
Will the fairies come and take it away
And there's gold at the top of the mountain
Or so they say

And you wanted to find a far better way out
Than this tired little world in which you found yourself
And you wanted to break free
And you struggle and shout
But you don't know that you're underground yourself
Running backwards, running into the same place
Wondering how you're supposed to react
There's a dream that could come true in the morning
As a matter of fact
Social customs try to make decisions
Wondering what you're supposed to do
Throw a stone in a pool of icy water
Make a dream come true

Running backwards, running into the same place
Wondering if you're going to end the race so strong
Just don't ask me, be content in the knowledge that it won't be long
Keep on smiling in spite of all the conditions
Keep on singing although it all seems grey
Because there's gold at the top of the mountain,
Or so they say

Gothic Rooms
We all live in Gothic rooms
Live out our dreams in Gothic rooms
It's always clean in Gothic rooms
It's never ending

We have come to sink in Gothic rooms
Still on the brink in Gothic rooms
And it's hard to think in Gothic rooms
Who you're defending

But in the day we're holding hands
We use in-jokes to make our stand
But get depressed by the barren land
And the roots of the soil and the buds and the trees
And the bills and the dole and the misery
And the changing of moods and the state of our blooms
In Gothic rooms

The children sleep in Gothic rooms
Screams in the night in Gothic rooms
The gas has filled our Gothic rooms
But we're still breathing

If I collapse in the night
Turn my gun to the West
One last desperate strike
Against the rich men of zest
Who take what they like
And fuck the rest
So we sit in our rooms
With the strange and the scared
And the weird and the twisted and the silent
And the impaired
And a man calls each week to inspect our rooms
In Gothic rooms 

How Green Was My Valley
Living living same every day
Giving taking grow your own way
Self sufficient everyone's friends
Clean new pastures road never bends
Still it's lovely ... lovely

Well it's just like one big family ... family
'Cept it sometimes gets so boring ... boring
Always seem to do the same times same times same places

Yeah well the countryside 
Is nice in a way
Open air
Fields made of hay
Sharing bad times
Good all together
They'll have rarely considered
A change in the weather
And you know ... you know ... you know
I secretly admire you ... admire you ... admire you
And it gets so damn self-righteous ... righteous ... righteous
That I sometimes need to hate you ... hate you ... hate you

And
How green was my valley
How strange is my dream
How jaded my fantasy
How sour my cream
How wrong was the sparrow
How high can he soar
How much will you suffer
How were you before

Now open ended
Ideals are good
And I'd adopt them freely
If I felt that I could
But I need tension
I need greed I need spite
Things don't always appeal to me
'Cause they're morally right

But thank you ... thank you
For giving me resource ... sources
So sorry I had to use you ... use you
But it saved you looking vacant .. vacant ... plenty

And
Just what's prompting this malice
What's leading it on
What price celebration
What's happened has gone
Why do you seek pity
Why do I seek revenge
Why do the seeds of disaster
Always lead to the end

And she's seventy five
A sprightly old thing
And she does a little
Shopping every day
She's always been good
And she's always been kind
She never got
In anybody's way  
No no, she never got
In anybody's way  

Somebody's coming
To shoot you Auntie
Somebody kicked
In the door
And I really would have tried
To stop them
You know I would Auntie
But I was too busy
Jacking up on your floor
And
She's always been good
She's always been kind
She always gave the children
Lots of sweets
The smallest things in her life
Would make her happy
And the littlest things
Were a treat
You know the littlest things
Were a treat.

Somebody's coming
To shoot you Cousin
Yeah they said they've come
To fill you full of lead
And I really would have tried
To stop them
You know I would really
But I was too busy
Having fun on your bed
And
Her life's been the same
For so many years
She didn't always feel
Attracted to the slope
Her life's been the same
For so many years
Yeah she always kept her hands
Tight on the rope
You know she always kept her hands
Tight on the rope.

Somebody's coming
To shoot you Uncle
But first they're gonna
Mess up your brain.
Physical torture
Mental pressure
It's all 'X' certificate stuff
All terror and 
Pain
And
They tied her to the chair
With a roll of barbed wire
Then they smashed her in the face
With a lump of wood
And they tied her pets and possessions
And hacked them to bits in front of her
And everybody thought
It was pretty good
They say "Hey man -
That's pretty good".

Well it's just another movie
No other is real
So let's all sit down
To a plain honest meal

I really can't take
The smooth any more
Too in love with the rough
So I'll walk through the door
And it's goodbye
I really grew to love you .. love you
But I nearly grew to need you ... need you
But I never really knew you ... knew you ... knew you

And
How green was my valley
How strange is my dream
How jaded my fantasy
How sour my cream
How wrong was the sparrow
How high can he soar
How much will you suffer
How were you before

How far are we going
And when do we end
Are you really an enemy
No you could be a friend
What's the name of this station
How far are we in
'Cause reality you're living
When do we begin.

How Long Is A Piece Of String
How long is a piece of string
How long is a piece of string
How long is a piece of string
How long is a piece of string
About as long as the time that it takes you to realise
That as long as it takes your photo to distort
About as long as it takes for you to walk a crooked mile
About as long as the time that you bought
That you bought
Where'd you buy it

And how does the story end
How does the story end
Well how does the story end
Well how does the story end
Well it ends with the most gigantic explosion
Well it ends with some thunder that could wipe out the world
Well it ends where the people are all screaming at each other
Well it ends with a boy and a girl
Who's the girl
Who's the girl

It's All Done By Mirrors
Early in the morning on a cold day in August
A creature was out roaming in the square
"Disruption", screamed the news reel,
"Was the consequence of laziness,
But how it got out we're really not aware"
It said "We have measures we can take to avoid civic panic
And I will not have a coward in my land
Bring out the tanks and sten guns
To contain the situation
As he felt the ice cool switchblade in his hand
But he stands with the community with pride
And he leads the village choir Sunday night
He doesn't really exist, it's all done with mirrors

So they searched among the buildings,
Through the woods and through the hedgerows
To try to lure the creature from his lair
The parish hadn't seen a single thing like this in years
And beasts upon the Sabbath wasn't fair.
We have police to deal with circumstances such as this they cry out
And we pay our rates to hide things from our eyes
And all we want to do is feed the poodles, practice croquet
Without a monster roaming by surprise
And the farmer got the beast into his sight
And the bullets ricocheted into the night
It didn't really exist, it's all done with mirrors

And I was merely passing
But could not resist a comment
When I heard of all the dangers in your patch
Because hidden terror strikes the heart
When laws are under scrutiny
So as you go I tell you of the catch

No matter how many beasts you shoot or enemies you bury
There'll always be another lurking near
Because the hungry never sleep
And they are out to cause you worry
So guard your nests and I hope I've made it clear
So as you go I must be passing on
Close your eyes and think of Bournemouth
I'll be gone
I don't really exist, it's all done with mirrors

Latin And Greek
Provided this letter can reach you on time
It gives me a chance to redress the crime
Because things aren't as clear as I thought they would be
And I suppose that I blew out my chances to be free
So wipe off your make-up and screw up the myth
Let's walk hand in hand to the edge of the cliff
Have you got a gas mask to face the crowd with
To try and suss out a brand new way to live
Now I am not very tall and my hands they are sore
My body is thin and my head's in a roar
But I think that the violence begins to make sense
Because we're bored with the feel of the weight of the fence
If I conduct myself with precision and grace
Do I stand half a chance of losing this place
Pretend to be jelly, forget about hate
How far is the goal, how long must we wait
Because I scream in the night at the slightest excuse
My mind ain't unhinged, but it's pretty damned loose
Shaking hands as I wake to the muddle again
But there's some who are worse off so why complain
And my secretary's phoning me three times a week
In a curious mixture of Latin and Greek

There's a shop on the corner in which we all pose
There's a life which we live in in which we all doze
Don't talk very loud there's a maniac inside
Hits out of self-defence, hits out of pride
In the room when the conversation gets tense
Shall we drift to the ceiling to try and make sense
In the street when the feeling is never at ease
We can touch passers-by, give them the disease
So send me your wire, please drop me a line
I need something concrete through which to unwind
If I sit here much longer I think I'll implode
I wonder if screams will be heard down the road
But I am just insecure, nervous, scared
Need someone to help us, need people to care
Isolations ain't fun, but it gets pretty real
How to put across all the things that I feel
Shall I take a few drugs, as I feel like a kick
Can I smash up t he wall, can I make myself sick
It's a laugh, got to grin, what a nutter they say
It's all part of the act though he's really OK
And my secretary's phoning me three times a week
And she always is speaking in Latin and Greek

Midsummer Lullaby
Hello it's good to you see when you smile
Can I stay here for a while
This heat's so sultry
These days I'm getting into living slow
The race don't know which way to go
Their world's so paltry
But your eyes they always haunt me everywhere
So forgive me if I tend to stare
But I read your letter
But June is such a continental time
So senõrita drink some wine
And you'll feel better

Yeah I tried to be the saviour of your race
But always ended getting spaced
Oh well who worries
It's warm it's such a lovely summer day
And my hayfever kept away
So what's the hurry
'Cos the world gets madder even as we speak
So if they say that you're a freak
We'll just ignore them
'Cause they're strange they never listen to the song
And if they don't know that they're wrong
We'll just assure them

I's late and soon we must go home to bed
Dream fulsome dreams for empty heads
But the goals you'll strike them
And my friends they may be young but they're still pure
Sometimes reckless immature
But that's the way I like them
So stay I'd kinda dig it if you'd stay
We'd have the moonlight hours to play
And love to borrow
But if you wanna split that's fine with me
Until we meet again bon nuit
Until tomorrow

Moderation Is Boring
In the view of things and how they stand
Don't you feel that you've lost contact with your land.
The economy just makes you ill
If the drugs don't get you
Then the tear gas will
'Cos I believe in excess
'Cos moderation is boring
But I admit it's hard to lose it
'Cos moderation is boring
If you've got it flaunt it
But don't abuse it

Did you ever hear the story about the guy
With his index finger in every single pie
And he'd toss the dice and sign the cheque
Got a villa in Nice, gold pendant round his neck.
'Cos he believes in nowhere
'Cos greediness destroys things
'Don't take something unless you need it
Greediness destroys things
Don't quote from a book until you read it

And now I'm getting older I understand
Why I make a lot of noise & sing slogans with some band
The most obvious things are those you never see
When you listen into my dream that worries me
And you say you believe in freedom
You've pledged your faith in freedom
'Cos ignorance is catching
If something seems so wrong don't take it
'Cos ignorance is catching
If the hand that feeds you is bad don't shake it

In the view of things and how they stand
Don't you feel that you've lost contact with your land.
You're scared of the future and you're scared of the past
Will you still beat the kids when your life starts moving fast 
I believe in excess
'Cos moderation is boring
If you've got ideas why don't you give them
'Cos moderation is boring
If you've got ideals why don't you live them

New Dixieland Blues
America your garbage betrays your brave new land
An institute of warfare, your children born in cans
In your pleasant urban back streets your kids don't stand a chance
But the CIA pulls all the strings that make Bing Crosby dance
A blind musician crawling around the new frontier
But they only look for idiots and call them pioneers
The Yankee Doodle chorus explodes from every screen
Designed to keep you happy and keep your people clean and green
But now the wound has festered, the patient looks so sick
So put the noose round good old Disney land and get it over quick

Protest Song
I live my own life - do what I want - say what I mean
And you've got your own hope - strange ambition - different dreams
So who are you to say I'm wrong?
And who am I to say I'm right?
Though we live in separate ways, why do we argue, always fight?

A man who disagreed with a regime was termed a rat.
One night, some men came round - "we've read your books, we'd like a chat"
And then they kicked him round the cell
With cigarettes they burnt his face
Said "Remember, we're the law. Do you love your family, your dwelling place?"

And it seems that fools control the world, the nuclear button, the poison pen.
Most of us are in the dark, but then we're only little men.
But little men have mouths to feed
And little men don't want to kill
So little men are never told unless, of course, the earth stands still.

We have got a chant, ain't got a chorus, ain't even got a name
But it helps us through the night to know we don't share the blame
It's just another protest song ("Oh what a pretty protest song")
With words to try and make you think ("I think I'll go and have a drink")
But come the dawn resume your search for your ultimate power
Your missing link.

Seagull Mania
Early in the morning, just after dawn
Baby's posing around the lawn
Because it's quiet at the moment
And the world is hers
She has responsibility for that obscure freaking sound of the old milk float
She adds a postscript to the letter she wrote
Saying "City living takes it out of me -
Won't you send me a sachet of sanity"
Sits with a pile of magazines
Her face is falling apart at the seams
Looks pretty awful
But she says she dreams of some land
But dreams get frozen pretty fast around here
Choked by the suffocating atmosphere
Nothing ever seems to be really clear
Living in the urban slum land

In spite of the heaviness of her heart
She claims that her life is killed by art
And no reality shot will spoil it
D.H. Lawrence in the downstairs toilet
See pictures on the bathroom wall
You could swear you could hear the curlews call
The kindly fisherman drags his net
Goldfish in a bowl in a stereo cassette
But I bet you deny her methodical grace
Keeps every fantasy filled in its space
But still has a vision she could leave this place
For some land

A Dorset coast is where she would rather lie
With a chorus of gulls serenading the sky
As she watches the unemployed sail by
Living in an urban slumland
Radical solutions didn't get very far
The past disappears like a falling star
And now she follows the normal rule
A time warped fossil of the social school
But one day a letter came through her door
Mailed by a lover from '64
Saying "Come along to the coast with me,
I'm setting up a communal fantasy"
1 o'clock she is watching the rain
2 o'clock she is running for a train
At 9 o'clock she is home again
With shaking hands
Because Gerald was married with a house in Slough
He had wanted to escape, fate wouldn't allow
And now she wants to disappear somehow
Away from the urban slum land
There is a crippled note by the side of the phone
Traditional excuses for being alone
She's dressed in a white frock trimmed with lace
Beaks and feathers all round the place
The radio blares it's usual tune
Bruckner comes from each part of the room

Sod Us
It's six in the morning and this corner's getting cold
Occasional faces but they all look too old
And all the others have gone safely back home
Mystical moneyless or somewhere on their own

And it's a gas
They're searching around looking for someone to harass
And they don't like your face
Well you'd better run away or get out of this place

And they're speeding their balls off getting nicked for petty crimes
The clerk of the court says you're a problem of the times
Probation officer he gives me his word
Says he's on my side but he's a stupid bloody turd

I couldn't care less
As he babbles on to me about the way I'm in a mess
You don't hurt me
Well you may have a salary but at least I'm still free

And sooner or later you know something's gonna come
To get us off our feet and get us off our bum
But until that day arrives we'll go back to our room
Play the guitars though they're all out of tune

And it's sod me sod you
And sod the people who tell us what to do
I know we're right
So get up off the streets we're gonna need you tonight
I said get up off the streets we're gonna need you tonight. 

Still Talking
There's a man on the east side of Paris
Who looks sadly into the Seine
He ain't seen his love since the overthrow
Will he see her again

On the hills of an African township
There are some children who could never be saved
And the soldiers eyes are those of fanatics
Dance on their graves

And the sun beats down on the East Sussex village
Where the orders always come from above
And Bill's in the cornfield with Mary
They're in love

And at night when the crowds reassemble
To look for an easier route
The CIA he's up in the tower blocks
He's got orders to shoot

Implication seems a strange way to heighten
The sense of a will to survive
One fond caress at the peak of excitement
Keeps the natives alive

And they're down in the East Sussex village
Where Churchill's still known as a saint
The two are engaged and the neighbours
Think it's rather quaint

On a bridge near the end of the freeway
There's a blonde in a hamburger joint
She invites all the boys in but she
Sometimes questions the point

Was that you at the last demonstration
Taking photos of militant men
Well I thought you believed in the movement
Now I must think again

And down in the East Sussex village
The two have been married a year
But one day he caught her reading his folder
And she disappeared

'Cause it seems he worked undercover
A lover by night an agent by day
And he covered his tracks on one quiet Friday
And he flew away

The Traveller
People say that you're gonna go far
But they look at your face and wonder who the hell you are
Hope you don't see yourself as a star
Well you may have the money but you ain't got the car
Some times you look up in the sky
See a bus to Somewhere floating by
And you've missed it and you know
That sometimes you wonder why wonder why

Now I'm looking back at all the friends I've had
Well some are now big shots and the rest have gone mad
Helping to run the social decay
Well just close your eyes 'cause it won't go away
And sometimes you feel so far away
Waiting for the dawning of your day
Nothing very much to say except this

And sometimes I feel I really don't care
Then I'm just a dreamer just pretends to be aware
Say you've got a lot of problems to share
Well there's apathy behind my sympathetic stare
But baby we'll all be in the know
One single direction we can show
The traveller has nowhere to go.

Typically English Day
On a typically English day
When the man in the street alway has his say
On a terraced house with no yard
A couple of people are playing cards
And the street outside is a dance hall floor of the lunatic brigade
To help compensate the profits and the losses of the men who'd been self made
And she says maybe we should leave this place
And he says watch out I've trumped your ace
And they put the cards back and quietly fasde away
And they both have a doze on a typically English day

On a typically English night
When the announcer on the telly hopes that we're alright
ON a terraced house with thatched roof
A couple of people are hoping for truth
Becauase it's getting colder and they're both aware
That thier health is getting poor
And a man in a sports jacket on the TV
Was saying something about the war
And he says if I wasn't confined to this bed
I'd pick up my pistol and go and teach the reds
And she says "I know dear" and quietly turns off the light
And they both have a doze on a typically English night

On a typically English day
When the baying of the hounds keeps the fallout at bay
On a terraced house with no yard
A couple of people are finding it hard
But he says they can drop all the bombs they like just as long as I've got you
So lay down next to me, hold my hand, lets make love like we used to do
And damn this gout, and damn this leg
I really want to have you and I ain't got time to beg
So the fire storm slowly came their way
So lets leave them to cry on a typically English day.

We Were Talking
We were talking about the pistol
In your locker at the station.
Is it true you'd only use it
In a fit of desperation?
How the nuclear view is growing
And artistic values dying.
Do we need so many weapons
Is the television lying?

We were talking about dictators
About the masses do they know them?
And the weeds that feed on their trees
Didn't take so long to grow them.
TALKING! TALKING! TALKING! TALKING!

We were talking about a movement
With an end but no direction.
Of the vision in the people,
Of the end that lacks affection,
How your headaches undivide
Finding the reality from the fable
There's an aspirin in the cupboard
Propaganda on the table

We were talking about your sister
Women's libber to the letter
Always wore a balaclava
'Til a man came round to get her.
TALKING! TALKING! TALKING! TALKING!

Talking about the weather
The time we've spent together
How long we've been apart.
Talking about your lover
I never did discover
The meaning of those dots on his chart.

We were talking about opinions
And the best way to enforce them.
If it meant a drop of violence
Would you readily endorse them?
How the sorcerers of action
And the anarchists are magic
Every full moon walk the tight rope
'Tween the righteous and the tragic.

We were talking about the outcome
About the neighbour victims bleeding
Would you then show some compassion
Or carry on reading
While they lay there bleeding
TALKING! TALKING! TALKING! TALKING!

Talking about the weather
The time we spent together
How could you break my heart?
Talking about how your lover
Was working undercover
And what time did you start.

Young Man's World
It's six o'clock and the news is on
Well there's nothing much happening
But nothing much has gone.
The art of relaxing came to me in a flash
When there's nothing to do there's no need to dash.
And the machines that they have on sale
It's all computerised existence; listen to the punchcards wail
All the abuse that they have hurled
Doesn't really affect me 'cos it's a young man's world.

The art of planting each seed in its place
Is very important said a wrinkled face
In good rich soil where worms run free
And there's plenty of sunlight and it can help them breathe.
And he tends each bulb as if it were the last
And he nurtures each sapling as if it were the past
And the leaves should stay straight, they're corners shouldn't curl
He said this distinctly - 'cos it's a young man's world.

And he don't go out much he don't like the damp
In his spare time these days he just collects stamps
And he uses tweezers to put each stamp in its place
'Cos dirty stamps can be such a disgrace
And his working days they've come to an end
And he got a gold watch from his friends
And they brought his wife a set of pearls
And she wears them to functions 'cos it's a young man's world.

So when summer comes we'll be out once more
Down by the seaside getting wrecked by the shore
Huddled in a line all together they sleep
Got a salary to sustain them 'cos decadence ain't cheap
And if diversion really what I seek
I'll take up paper maché or maybe learn a bit of Greek
'Cos the suntanned bodies always get the nicest girls
So I'll swim through the darkness in my young man's world.