1. |
Ocean Going
02:00
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if domestic life matters
what of time on the run?
sold off cheaply
the family gold
i'm nowhere near having most to scorn
time and tide and exiles
flattering the hostile
not much to be done for you, i'm told
we've ships to build
and launch into the ocean with prosecco on their bow
if domestic life matters
and it always has done
sold off quickly
the family gold
i'm not the one who has children here
all your stately assets
Purcell soaring parapets
not much to be done for you, i'm told
we've ships to build
and launch into the ocean on a mission no one knows
and who knows how it ends?
and who knows how it ends?
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2. |
C'est Pas Grave
02:29
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i catch your voice
bottled up on my answerphone
you're just a little repulsed with yourself
where did it all go wrong?
c'est pas grave
that's easier said than done
now it's splashed across an infinite tundra
and you tell me you can never go home
i'm sure you'll find
a way out though
you'll kick it into a lawn never mown
and let the grassroots grow
c'est pas grave
that's difficult now it's done
and a promise that you mustn't deliver
is splashed across our gravestones tonight
the last thing we need's another giant survey
someone lashed out
and somebody else stepped out of the way
saved by tautology
c'est pas grave
that's easier said than done
now it's splashed across an infinite tundra
and you tell me you can never just...
c'est pas grave
that's difficult now it's done
and a promise that you mustn't deliver
is splashed across our gravestones
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3. |
Smallholder's Fear
03:29
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well i'd like to
move things further on around here
but i'm slow now
too cautious
with a smalltime fraudster's fears
people say that i don't have to
wade any further in
but i know
you could slip on autumn leaves
you could lose your self belief
someone takes against your face
wrong time in the right place
bad news in prosaic ways
years ahead reduced to days
fall down flat upon your face
right time in the wrong place
i'd love to
be around a little more
or a lot more
but i'm stuck with
the smallholder's fear of the door
people say that i don't have to
wade any further in
but i know
you could slip on autumn leaves
you could lose your self belief
someone takes against your face
wrong time in the right place
bad news in prosaic ways
years ahead reduced to days
fall down flat upon your face
right time in the wrong place
it's a good thing
that i don't believe in
envisaging a future
to make it happen
it would be grim
when in fact
it's often happy
but then that reminds me
of cold hard pavements ahead on which...
you could slip on autumn leaves
you could lose your self belief
someone takes against your face
wrong time in the right place
bad news in prosaic ways
years ahead reduced to days
fall down flat upon your face
right time in the wrong place
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4. |
Book Burning
03:10
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light thoughts
in dark times
resist forever with our stupid lives
and your pyromania
throw another book upon the fire
let the curtains fall, the sell-by dates expire
walk me through the woodsmoke air
as the markets slide
madly free and unbelieving
turn tricks
skip flights
sit forever at my careworn side
burn all the lies once told
throw another book upon the fire
let the curtains fall, the sell-by dates expire
walk me through the woodsmoke air
as the markets slide
madly free and still believing
in the days when words were binding
at least some of the time
I come round on friday evening
(it's prime book burning time)
have a rant and then i'm fine
so let another reason to be mad
scurry up the screen among the passing fads
meet me on the road halfway
after darkness falls
stone cold skin, we'll soon be home to
throw another book upon the fire
let the curtains fall, the sell-by dates expire
sit within the woodsmoke air
as the markets slide
wild and free and unbelieving
|
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5. |
The Intermission
02:14
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i arrive at halfway in
incredulity as you rise
and a place reserved amid
runway guiding lights
too late, my son
not fast enough, love
all possibilities exhausted
some upstart's been
and we're already in
the intermission
you feel you were born too late
or as if you're ahead of time
and you hold no truck with fate
or with life as a plaything
too late, my son
not fast enough, love
all possibilities exhausted
some upstart's been
and we're already in
the intermission
might as well stay to the end now you're this far
first act, think later
second halves are always shorter anyway
and you're already...
too late, my son
not fast enough, love
all possibilities exhausted
some upstart's been
and we're already in
the intermission
|
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6. |
Runway
03:01
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i will always be one step behind
well made arguments won't change all minds
you couldn't be more fulfilled
than halfway down the runway
relinquishing all control
miles beyond, in time
one more line that they could never sing
my life's work not quite worth anything
you couldn't be more fulfilled
than halfway through your mission
a maniac at the wheel
but this flight lands in time
bundled down the runway now
nineteen twenty-two
back seat drivers on the front row
none of this is for you
a life's there for the taking these days
in all kinds of ways
hearts are made for breaking these days
informational chaos is the perfect cover for the perpetration of massive injustice
|
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7. |
Clamber Up
02:39
|
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you won't be satisfied until it's broken
you've fiddled now for hours when it was fine
so clamber up
roll my shoulders
it's never old; it's never over
i've been waiting for you
a weather vane returns to its position
the wind will change, your face will stay that way
so clamber up
roll my shoulders
it's never wrong; it's never over
i've been waiting for you
i don't always want to be the first
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8. |
Light & Sound
02:54
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you need to know
some certainty
the one old thing
that's in short supply somehow
don't pull the plug just now
lights go out
lights go out
every stupid day
you don't have to do the same
they've just confused you
i could defuse you
a change of clothes in a case
it's a terrible waste
the ones to whom you answer now
would not do what they ask you to anyhow
don't do their dirty work
lights go out
lights go out
every stupid day
you don't have to do the same
they've just confused you
i could defuse you
a change of clothes in a case
doesn't quite replace...
light and sound
let's go out
find some of the joy
that's been missing from your world
so much to live for
not someone else's war
phone charger carefully packed
it's a half-conceived act
i'm not sure you believe in it anyway
not really
isn't it just the nearest absolute at hand
in a world of shifting horror?
lights go out
lights go out
every stupid day
you don't have to do the same
they've just confused you
i could defuse you
a change of clothes in a case
it's a terrible waste
|
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9. |
Firebrands
02:40
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with the rain still fresh on the leaves
and the air all damply misleading
you select some figures that
fit with the story you'll tell
time turns rebukes into rejoinders
fatal rock n roll
disregarding work
just ignoring all of your patience
can't see the firebrands
for the hired hands
for the chancers hanging around your friends
so i stuck your face on my wall
and it caused a small revolution
and i put my heart on a wheel
life was all just ahead
time turns rebukes into rejoinders
fatal rock n roll
disregarding work
just ignoring all of your patience
can't see the firebrands
for the hired hands
for the chancers hanging around your friends
you want to sing
it's not a stage
you want to act
well act your age
my face was slapped
when i tried too hard
in time all the work
becomes its own reward
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10. |
Wild Ideals
02:55
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green old bottle light
swan vestas packet in flight
where do your damp eyes roam?
over by the blue smoke
somebody knows
three cheers
the noble man
loyal service
retirement plan
bent thumbs
tobacco tears
your newsprint fingers
your wild wild wild ideals
your wild wild wild ideals
your wild wild wild ideals
patience and doing right
on time, a life in plain sight
where did the kindness go?
we left it in the alley
now it's up in smoke
cold fear
the noble man
loyal service
a treatment plan
bent thumbs
curtain tears
your newsprint fingers
your wild wild wild ideals
your wild wild wild ideals
your wild wild wild ideals
|
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