Ian Anderson

Gonna lose my way tomorrow,
Gonna give away my car.
I'd take you along with me,
But you would not go so far.
Don't see what I do not want to see,
You don't hear what I don't say.
Won't be what I don't want to be,
I continue in my way.

Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin' to,
I don't want to.

Everyday I see the mornin' come on in the same old way.
I tell myself tomorrow brings me things I would not dream today.

Gonna lose my way tomorrow,
Gonna give away my car.
I'd take you along with me,
But you would not go so far.
Don't see what I do not want to see,
You don't hear what I don't say.
Won't be what I don't want to be,
I continue in my way.

Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin' to,
I don't want to.

Gonna lose my way tomorrow,
Gonna give away my car.
I'd take you along with me,
But you would not go so far.
Don't see what I do not want to see,
You don't hear what I don't say.
Won't be what I don't want to be,
I continue in my way.

Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin' to,
I don't want to.

Everyday I see the mornin' come on in the same old way.
I tell myself tomorrow brings me things I would not dream today.

Gonna lose my way tomorrow,
Gonna give away my car.
I'd take you along with me,
But you would not go so far.
Don't see what I do not want to see,
You don't hear what I don't say.
Won't be what I don't want to be,
I continue in my way.

Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin',
Don't see, see, see where I'm goin' to,
I don't want to.

You're taking chances.
And your reputation's going down.
Going out in the night-time.
You think you make no sound.
But you don't fool me.
'Cos I know what you feel.
If you ignore the things I say --
Someday soon's gonna find you
'way down on Beggar's Farm.

I pay my money for no returns.
I think I need you.
Going to find someone.
Oh, you don't fool me.
'Cos I know what you feel.
When you go out I ask you why.
And I won't worry when I see you lying
Down on Beggar's Farm.

When you run to me, going to turn away.
Won't even listen when you try to say
That you were only fooling around --
'Cos I know what you feel.
But if you ask me nicely, woman --
I'll wake up early one day soon and
I'll visit you down on Beggar's Farm.

You're taking chances.
And your reputation's going down.
Going out in the night-time.
You think you make no sound.
But you don't fool me.
'Cos I know what you feel.
If you ignore the things I say --
Someday soon's gonna find you
'way down on Beggar's Farm.

I pay my money for no returns.
I think I need you.
Going to find someone.
Oh, you don't fool me.
'Cos I know what you feel.
When you go out I ask you why.
And I won't worry when I see you lying
Down on Beggar's Farm.

When you run to me, going to turn away.
Won't even listen when you try to say
That you were only fooling around --
'Cos I know what you feel.
But if you ask me nicely, woman --
I'll wake up early one day soon and
I'll visit you down on Beggar's Farm.

Once in Royal David's City
Stood a lonely cattle shed,
Where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things he later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
You'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
That Christmas spirit is not what you drink.

So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
And how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
Remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.

(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you?)

Dharma, seek and you will find
Truth within your mind, Dharma.

Dharma, each to his own we say,
Together we'll end astray, Dharma.

Truth is like freedom, it doesn't fool me.
Be true to yourself, never think that you're free.
Dharma will come eventually.

Dharma, seek and you will find
Truth within your mind, Dharma.

Dharma, each to his own we say,
Together we'll end astray, Dharma.

Truth is like freedom, it doesn't fool me.
Be true to yourself, never think that you're free.
Dharma will come eventually.

So many long days. In so many ways.
I try to get through to what lies deep inside of you.
Oh, baby. I said, you're breaking me up, woman.
Yeah, you're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

You're doing your worst to see me get hurt.
You're waiting to see the tears running out of me.
But, oh, baby, I said you're breaking me up, woman.
You're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

My teares have run dry and you wonder why.
I've found a new woman who don't do the things you can.
Oh, baby, I said you're breaking me up, woman.
You're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

So many long days. In so many ways.
I try to get through to what lies deep inside of you.
Oh, baby. I said, you're breaking me up, woman.
Yeah, you're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

You're doing your worst to see me get hurt.
You're waiting to see the tears running out of me.
But, oh, baby, I said you're breaking me up, woman.
You're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

My teares have run dry and you wonder why.
I've found a new woman who don't do the things you can.
Oh, baby, I said you're breaking me up, woman.
You're breaking me down.
You're lying in little pieces --
Scattered all around.

Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has changed her mind, yeah.
Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has changed her mind, yeah.

I know what I will find
That she is wasting time,
She could be picking roses.

Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has seen the light, yeah.
Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has seen the light, yeah.

Oh, I told her last night
She should improve her sight,
She could be painting the roof.

Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has come around, yeah.
Going back in the morning time
To see if my love has come around, yeah.

She offered me no sound,
Her head is in the ground,
She could be calling for winter.

I feel so sad now that she's gone,
I've been loving that woman too long.
There is no place to go because my friends have all moved,
Got nothing but sit in the sun.
Got tired of crying, guess I'll move on alone.

My bed is so empty and my heart is grown cold,
Guess I'll just die before I grow old.
The place is untidy, that's 'cos I ain't done my dirt,
I just grown tired of thinking.
Got tired of crying, guess I'll move on alone.

I feel so sad now that she's gone,
I've been loving that woman too long.
There is no place to go because my friends have all moved,
Got nothing but sit in the sun.
Got tired of crying, guess I'll move on alone.

My bed is so empty and my heart is grown cold,
Guess I'll just die before I grow old.
The place is untidy, that's 'cos I ain't done my dirt,
I just grown tired of thinking.
Got tired of crying, guess I'll move on alone.

My Sunday feeling is coming on over me.
My Sunday feeling is coming on over me,
Now that the night is over.
Got to clear my head so I can see.
Till I get to put together,
That old feeling won't let me be.

Won't somebody tell me where I laid my head last night?
Won't somebody tell me where I laid my head last night?
I really don't remember,
But with one more cigarette and I think I might.
Till I get to put together,
Well that old feeling can't get me right.

Need some assistance, have you listened to what I said?
Need some assistance, have you listened to what I said?
Oh, I don't feel so good.
Need someone to help me to my bed.
Till I get to put together,
That old feeling is in my head.

My Sunday feeling is coming on over me.
My Sunday feeling is coming on over me,
Now that the night is over.
Got to clear my head so I can see.
Till I get to put together,
That old feeling won't let me be.

Won't somebody tell me where I laid my head last night?
Won't somebody tell me where I laid my head last night?
I really don't remember,
But with one more cigarette and I think I might.
Till I get to put together,
Well that old feeling can't get me right.

Need some assistance, have you listened to what I said?
Need some assistance, have you listened to what I said?
Oh, I don't feel so good.
Need someone to help me to my bed.
Till I get to put together,
That old feeling is in my head.

In the morning gonna get my things together
Packing up and I'm leaving this place
I don't believe you'll cry
There'll be a smile upon your face

I didn't think how much you'd hurt me
That's something that I laugh about
Bring in the good times, baby
And let the bad times out

That old sun keeps on shining
But someday it won't shine for you
In the morning I'll be leaving
I'll leave your mother too

In the morning gonna get my things together
Packing up and I'm leaving this place
I don't believe you'll cry
There'll be a smile upon your face

I didn't think how much you'd hurt me
That's something that I laugh about
Bring in the good times, baby
And let the bad times out

That old sun keeps on shining
But someday it won't shine for you
In the morning I'll be leaving
I'll leave your mother too

I remember when we had a lot of things to do ---
impressed by all the words we read
and the heroes that we knew.
Climb on your your dream --- a dream of our own making
to find a place that we could later lose
to whatever time would bring.

We were seventeen and the cakeman was affecting you ---
moving you to greater things (in a lesser way)
you had to prove.
The clock struck summertime. You were going round in circles now.
Wishing you were seventeen. At twenty-one, it was a long time gone.
And now here you are. You're locked in your own excuse.
The circle's getting smaller every day.
You're busy planning the next fifty years.
So stay the way you are and keep your head down to the same old ground.
Just paint your picture boy until you find
a closed circle's better than an open line.

Yes stay the way you are. I got a circle that's the same as yours.
It may be bigger, but I've more to lose.
Who is the luckier man --- me or you?

My first and last time with you
And we had some fun.
Went walking through the trees, yeah!
And then I kissed you once.
Oh I want to see you soon
But I wonder how.
It was a new day yesterday
But it's an old day now.

Spent a long time looking
For a game to play.
My luck should be so bad now
To turn out this way.
Oh I had to leave today
Just when I thought I'd found you.
It was a new day yesterday
But it's an old day now.

My telephone wakes me in the morning --
Have to get up to answer the call.
So I think I'll go back to the family
Where no one can ring me at all.
Living this life has its problems
So I think that I'll give it a break.
Oh, I'm going back to the family
'cos I've had about all I can take.

Master's in the counting house
Counting all his money.
Sister's sitting by the mirror --
She thinks her hair looks funny.
And here am I thinking to myself
Just wond'ring what things to do.

I think I enjoyed all my problems
Where I did not get nothing for free.
Oh, I'm going back to the family --
Doing nothing is bothering me.
I'll get a train back to the city
That soft life is getting me down.
There's more fun away from the family
Get some action when I pull into town.

Everything I do is wrong,
What the hell was I thinking?
Phone keeps ringing all day long
I got no time for thinking.
And every day has the same old way
Of giving me too much to do.

Will they ever stop drivin' me?
Have they ever taken time to see
That I need some rest
If I'm to do my best?

Can I please stop workin' so hard?
They just tell me gotta close it hard.
Got to think of my health.
Can I be by myself?

Oh, they tell me I'll be home someday.
Well I doubt it if I continue this way,
'Cause this hard life I've led
Is makin' me dead.

Don't want to be a fat man
People would think that I was just good fun, man
Would rather be a thin man
I am so glad to go on being one, man

Too much to carry around with you
No chance of finding a woman, who
Will love you in the morning and all the nighttime too

Don't want to be a fat man
Have not the patience to ignore all that
Hate to admit to myself
I thought my problems came from being fat

Won't waste my time feeling sorry for him
I've seen the other side to being thin
Roll us both down a mountain and I'm sure the fat man would win

Did you hear mother --
Saying I'm wrong but I know I'm right.
Did you hear father?
Calling my name into the night.
Saying I'll never be what I am now.
Telling me I'll never find what I've already found.
It was they who were wrong,
And for them here's a song.

Did you hear baby --
Come back and tell you the things he's seen.
Did it surprise you
To be picked up at eight in a limousine?
Doing the things he's accustomed to do.
Which at one time it seemed like a dream
Now it's true.
And unknowing
You made it all happen this way.

Did you hear mother --
Saying I'm wrong but I know I'm right.
Did you hear father?
Calling my name into the night.
Saying I'll never be what I am now.
Telling me I'll never find what I've already found.
It was they who were wrong
And for them here's a song.

Bright city woman
Walking down Leicester Square everyday.
Gonna get a piece of my mind.
You think you're not a piece of my kind.
Ev'rywhere the people looking.
Why don't you get up and sing?

Bright city woman
Where did you learn all the things you say?
You listen to the newsmen on TV.
You may fool yourself but you don't fool me.
I'll see you in another place, another time.
You may be someone's, but you won't be mine.

Happy, and I'm smiling, walk a mile to drink your water.
You know I'd love to love you, and above you there's no other
We'll go walking out while others shout of war's disaster.
Oh, we won't give in, let's go living in the past.

Once I'd used to join in every boy and girl was my friend.
Now there's revolution but they don't know what they're fighting.
Let us close our eyes. Outside their lives go on much faster
Oh, we won't give in, we'll keep living in the past.

Oh, we won't give in, let's go living in the past.
Oh, no, no, we won't give in, let's go living in the past.

Took a sad song of one sweet evening
I smiled and quickly turned away.
It's not easy singing sad songs
But still the easiest way I have to say.
So when you look into the sun
See all the things we haven't done --
Oh was it better then to run
Than to spend the summer crying.
Now summer cannot come anyway.

I had waited for time to change her.
The only change that came was over me.
She pretended not to want love --
I hope she was only fooling me.
So when you look into the sun
Look for the pleasures nearly won.
Or was it better then to run
Than to spend the summer singing.
And summer could have come in a day.

So if you hear my sad song singing
Remember who and what you nearly had.
It's not easy singing sad songs
When you can sing the song to make me glad.
So when you look into the sun
And see the words you could have sung:
It's not too late, only begun,
We can still make summer.
Yes, summer always comes anyway.

So when you look into the sun
And see the words you could have sung:
It's not too late, only begun.
Look into the sun.

Nothing is easy.
Though time gets you worrying
My friend, it's OK.
Just take your life easy
And stop all that hurrying,
Be happy my way.

When tension starts mounting
And you've lost count
Of the pennies you've missed,
Just try hard and see why they're not worrying me,
They're last on my list.
Nothing's easy.

Nothing is easy, you'll find
That the squeeze won't turn out so bad.
Your fingers may freeze, worse things happen at sea,
There's good times to be had.
So if you're alone and you're down to the bone,
Just give us a play.
You'll smile in a while and discover
That I'll get you happy my way
Nothing's easy.

You'll hear me calling in your sweet dream
Can't hear your daddy's warning cry
You're going back to be all the things you want to be
While in sweet dreams you softly sigh

You hear my voice is calling
To be mine again
Live the rest of your life in a day

Get out and get what you can
While your mummy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
'Cause they lost what they thought they were keeping

No one can see us in your sweet dream
Don't hear you leave to start the car
All wrapped up tightly in the coat you borrowed from me,
Your place of resting is not far

You hear my voice is calling
To be mine again
Live the rest of your life in a day

Get out and get what you can
While your mummy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
'Cause they lost what they thought they were keeping

Get out and get what you can
While your mummy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
'Cause they lost what they thought they were keeping

Once it seemed there would always be
A time for everything.
Ages passed I knew at last
My life had never been.
I'd been missing what time could bring.

Fifty years and I'm filled with tears and joys
I never cried.
Burn the wagon and chain the mule.
The past is all denied.
There's no time for everything.

No time for everything.

Nobody sees her here, her eyes are slowly closing.
If she should want some peace she sits there, without moving,
And puts a pillow over the phone.
And if she feels like dancing, no one will know it.
Giving herself a chance there's no need to show her how it should be.

She can't remember now when she was all in pieces,
She's quite content to sit there listening to what he says,
How he didn't like to be alone.
And if he feels like crying she's there to hear him,
No reason to complain and nothing to fear, they always will be.

All the places I've been make it hard to begin
To enjoy life again on the inside, but I mean to.
Take a walk around the block
And be glad that I've got
Me some time to be in from the outside,
And inside with you.

I'm sitting on the corner feeling glad.
Got no money coming in but I can't be sad.
That was the best cup of coffee I ever had.
And I won't worry about a thing because we've got it made,
Here on the inside, outside so far away.

And we'll laugh and we'll sing
Get someone to bring
Our friends here for tea in the evening
Old Jeffrey makes three...

Take a walk in the park,
Does the wind in the dark
Sound like music to you?
Well I'm thinking it does to me.

Can you cook, can you sew?
Well, I don't want to know.
That is not what you need on the inside,
To make the time go.

Counting lambs, counting sheep
We will fall into sleep
And awake to a new day of living,
And loving you so.

There was a time when you were so young and walked in their way.
They made you feel they loved you all-seeing they say.
You're going wrong if their game you don't play
And that the song I sing will lead you astray.

Unfeeling, feel lonely rejection,
Unknowing, know you're going wrong.
And they can't see that we're just trying to be,
And not what we seem,
And even now believe that it's not real and only a dream.

Every day there's someone asking,
"What is there to do?
Should I love or should I fight?
Is it all the same to you?"
"No," I say, "I have the answer,
Proven to be true.
But if I were to share it with you,
You would stand to gain and I to lose."

Oh, I couldn't bear it, so I've got nothing to say
Nothing to say nothing to say

Every morning pressure forming all around my eyes.
Ceilings crash the walls collapse broken by the lies
That your misfortune brought upon us
And I won't disguise them.
So don't ask me will I explain
I won't even begin to tell you why.

No, just because I have a name well I've got nothing to say
Nothing to say nothing to say

Climb a tower of freedom paint your own deceiving sign
It's not my part to criticize or to ask you to be blind
To your own pressing problem and the [heat] you must unwind
And ask of me no answer there is none that I could give you wouldn't find

I went your way ten years ago and I've got nothing to say
Nothing to say nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say
Nothing, nothing to say
Nothing, nothing to say, nothing to say
Nothing, nothing to say, nothing to say
Nothing, nothing to say

Got to take in what I can.
There is no time to do what must be done,
While I do some thinking.
Sleeping is hard to come by,
So we'll all sit down and try to play in time,
and we feel like singing.
Talking to people in my way.

Blues were my favorite colour,
til I looked around and found another song
that I felt like singing.
Trying so hard to reach you;
playing what must be played, what must be sung
and it's what I'm singing.
Talking to people in my way.

Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing.
Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing.
Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing,
Oo, my, my, my,
Oo, my, my, my.

Went down to the station to look for her there,
Looked through the crowds for a glimpse of her hair,
Nothing to see but the crowds keep a-staring at me,
My, my,
Oo, my, my, my.

Down in the street, try'n' to remember,
Shuffling my feet outside a menswear,
Is that her in the fur coat?
No it's not December yet,
My, my, my,
Oo, my, my, my.

Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing.

Back to the house, maybe she'll phone me,
Singing my song, feeling so lonely.
I'll sing very softly, so if the phone rings
I can hear it, I can hear it.

Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing.
Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing.
Singing all day, singing 'bout nothing,
Oo, my, my, my,
Oo, my, my, my.

Oh, I feel sympathy. Be grateful my son for what you get.
Expression and passion. Ten days for watching the sunset;
when I was your age amusement we made for ourselves.

"Permission to breathe sir". Don't talk like that, I'm your old man.
They'll soon be demobbed son, so join up as soon as you can.
You can't borrow that 'cause that's for the races and doesn't grow on trees.

I only feel what touches me
and feel in touching I can see
a better state to be in.
Who has the right
to question what I might do,
in feeling I should touch the real
and only things I feel.

It's advice and it's nice to know when you're best advised.
You're only turned thirty, so son, you'd better apologize.
And when you grow up, if you're good we will buy you a bike.

Well the dawn was coming,
heard him ringing on my bell.
He said, My name's the teacher,
that is what I call myself.
And I have a lesson
that I must impart to you.
It's an old expression
but I must insist it's true.

Jump up, look around,
find yourself some fun,
no sense in sitting there hating everyone.
No man's an island and his castle isn't home,
the nest is full of nothing when the bird has flown.

So I took a journey,
threw my world into the sea.
With me went the teacher
who found fun instead of me.

Hey man, what's the plan, what was that you said?
Sun-tanned, drink in hand, lying there in bed.
I try to socialize but I can't seem to find
what I was looking for, got something on my mind.

Then the teacher told me
it had been a lot of fun.
Thanked me for his ticket
and all that I had done.

Hey man, what's the plan, what was that you said?
Sun-tanned, drink in hand, lying there in bed.
I try to socialize but I can't seem to find
what I was looking for, got something on my mind.

Flying so high, trying to remember
how many cigarettes did I bring along?
When I get down I'll jump in a taxi cab
driving through London town
to cry you a song.

It's been a long time
still shaking my wings.
Well, I'm a glad bird
I got changes to ring.

Closing my dream inside its paper-bag.
Thought I saw angels
but I could have been wrong.
Search in my case,
can't find what they're looking for
Waving me through
to cry you a song.

It's been a long time
still shaking my wings.
Well I'm a glad bird
I got changes to ring.

Lights in the street,
peeping through curtains drawn.
Rattling of safety chain taking too long.
The smile in your eyes
was never so sweet before
Came down from the skies
to cry you a song.

In days of peace
sweet smelling summer nights
of wine and song;
dusty pavements burning feet.
Why am I crying, I want to know.
How can I smile and make it right?
For sixty days and eighty nights
and not give in and lose the fight.

I'm going back to the ones that I know,
with whom I can be what I want to be.
Just one week for the feeling to go
and with you there to help me
then it probably will.

I won't go down
acting the same old play.
Give sixty days for just one night.
Don't think I'd make it: but then I might.

I'm going back to the ones that I know,
with whom I can be what I want to be.
Just one week for the feeling to go
and with you there to help me
then it probably will.

Sitting on a park bench
Eyeing little girls with bad intent

Snot running down his nose
Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
Hey, Aqualung

Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run
Hey, Aqualung

Feeling like a dead duck
Spitting out pieces of his broken luck
Whoa, Aqualung

Sun streaking cold
An old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad
As he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog and warms his feet

Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me

Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
When the ice that
Clings onto your beard was
Screaming agony? Hey!
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
With deep-sea diver sounds
And the flowers bloom like
Madness in the spring

Sun streaking cold
An old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad
As he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog and warms his feet
Ohh

Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me
Ohh

Dee dee dee dee dee...

Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me

Sitting on a park bench
Eyeing little girls with bad intent

Snot running down his nose
Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
Hey, Aqualung

Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run
Hey, Aqualung

Feeling like a dead duck
Spitting out pieces of his broken luck
Hey, Aqualung

Whoa, Aqualung

On Preston Platform
Do your soft shoe shuffle dance
Brush away the cigarette ash
That's falling down your pants
And then you sadly wonder
Does the nurse treat your old man
The way she should?
She made you tea
Asked for your autograph--
What a laugh

Who would be a poor man, a beggarman, a thief
If he had a rich man in his hand?
And who would steal the candy from a laughing baby's mouth
If he could take it from the money man?
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract, but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber drops her off at school

Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play
Cross-eyed Mary finds it hard to get along
She's a poor man's rich girl and she'll do it for a song.
She's a rich man stealer, but her favour's good and strong:
She's the Robin Hood of Highgate, helps the poor man get along.

Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract, but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber drops her off at school

Cross-eyed Mary
Oh, Mary
Oh, cross-eyed Mary

Don't want to be a fat man
People would think that I was just good fun, man
Would rather be a thin man
I am so glad to go on being one, man

Too much to carry around with you
No chance of finding a woman, who
Will love you in the morning and all the nighttime too

Don't want to be a fat man
Have not the patience to ignore all that
Hate to admit to myself
I thought my problems came from being fat

Won't waste my time feeling sorry for him
I've seen the other side to being thin
Roll us both down a mountain and I'm sure the fat man would win

Our Father high in heaven, smile down upon your son
Who is busy with his money games - his women and his gun
Oh Jesus save me

And the unsung western hero, he killed an Indian or three
And then he made his name in Hollywood to set the white man free
Oh Jesus save me

If Jesus saves, well he better save himself
From the gory glory seekers who use his name in death
Oh Jesus save me

If Jesus saves, well he better save himself
From the gory glory seekers who use his name in death
Oh Jesus save me

Well I saw him in the city, and on the mountains of the moon
His cross was rather bloody, and he could hardly roll his stone
Oh Jesus save me

I'll see you at the weighing in
When your life's sum-total's made
And you set your wealth in godly deeds
Against the sins you've laid

So place your final burden
On your hard-pressed next of kin
Send the chamber pot back down the line
To be filled up again.

Take your mind off your election
And try to get it straight
And don't pretend perfection
You'll be crucified too late

And he'll say “you really should make the deal”
As he offers round the hat.
Well, you'd better lick your fingers clean
I’ll thank you all for that

And as you join the good ship earth
And you mingle with the dust
Be sure to leave your underpants
With someone you can trust

And the hard-headed social worker
Who bathes his hands in blood
Will welcome you with arms held high
And cover you with mud

And he'll say “you really should make the deal”
As he offers round the hat.
Well, you'd better lick your fingers clean
Well, I’ll thank you all for that

In the shuffling madness
Of the locomotive breath
Runs the all time loser
Headlong to his death
Oh, he feels the pistons screaming
Steam breaking on his brow
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down

He sees his children jumpin’ off
At stations one by one
His woman and his best friend
In bed and having fun
So he's crawling down the corridor
On his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down

He hears the silence howling
Catches angels as they fall
And the all time winner
Has got him by the balls
Oh, he picks up Gideon's Bible
Open at page one
I think God, he stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down

No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down

As I did walk by Hampstead Fair,
I came upon Mother Goose,
So I turned her loose--
She was screaming.
And a foreign student said to me
Was it really true
There are elephants, lions too,
Piccadilly Circus?

Walked down by the bathing pond
To try and catch some sun.
Saw at least a hundred school girls
Sobbing into handkerchiefs as one.
I don't believe they knew
I was a schoolboy.

And a bearded lady said to me
If you start your raving
And your misbehaving,
You'll be sorry.
And the chicken fancier came to play
With his long red beard,
And his sister's weird--
She drives a lorry.

Laughed down by the putting green,
I popped 'em in their holes.
Four and twenty labourers were labouring
And digging up their gold.
I don't believe they knew
That I was Long John Silver.

Saw Johnny Scarecrow make his rounds
In his jet black mac
Which he won't give back--
Stole it from a snowman.
As I did walk by Hampstead Fair,
I came upon Mother Goose,
So I turned her loose--
She was screaming.

Walked down by the bathing pond
To try and catch some sun.
Must have been least a hundred school girls
Sobbing into handkerchiefs as one.
I don't believe they knew
I was a schoolboy.

People what have you done?
Locked Him in His golden cage
Golden cage

Made Him bend to your religion
Him resurrected from the grave
From the grave

He is the God of nothing
If that’s all that you can see
You are the God of everything
He’s inside you and me

So lean upon Him gently
And don't call on Him to save
You from your social graces
And the sins you used to waive
You used to waive

The bloody Church of England
In chains of history
Requests your earthly presence
At the vicarage for tea

And the graven image
You know who
With his plastic crucifix
He's got Him fixed
Confuses me as to who and where and why
As to how he gets his kicks
He gets his kicks.

Confessing to the endless sin
With endless whining sounds
You'll be praying 'til next Thursday
To all the gods that you can count

Well, the lush separation unfolds you
And the products of wealth
Push you along on the bow wave
Of their spiritless undying selves
And you press on God's waiter your last dime
As he hands you the bill
And you spin in the slipstream
Timeless, unreasoning
Paddle right out of the mess
And you paddle right out of the mess

Take her to the cinema
And leave you in a Wimpy bar
You tell me that we've gone too far
Come running up to me
Make the scene at cousin Jack's
Leave him to put the bottles back
Mends his glasses that I cracked
Well that one's up to me, hey

Oh, it's up to me
It's up to me

I buy a silver cloud to ride
Pack the tennis club inside
Trouser cuffs hung far too wide
Well, it was up to me
Tyres down on your bicycle
Your nose feels like an icicle
The yellow fingered smoky girl
Is looking up to me, yeah

Whoa, you know it's up to me, yeah

Well I'm a common working man
With a half of bitter, bread and jam
And if it pleases me I'll put one on you, man
When the cuppa fades away

Whoa, it's up to me
Whoa, I said, it's up to me, yeah

The rainy season comes to pass
The day-glo pirate sinks at last
And if I laughed a bit too fast
Well, it was up to me
Take you to the cinema
And leave you in a Wimpy bar
You tell me that we've gone too far
Come running up to me, hey

Whoa, you know it's up to me, yeah
I said it's up to me, yeah

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool.

So I left there in the morning
With their God tucked underneath my arm
Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules

And I asked this God a question
And by way of firm reply
He said, “I'm not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays”

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares)
Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers

I don't believe you
You had the whole damn thing all wrong
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.
Well, you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
And have all the bishops harmonize these lines

How do you dare tell me that I'm my Father's son?
When that was just an accident of birth
I'd rather look around me, compose a better song
'Cos that's the honest measure of my worth
In your pomp and all your glory you're a poorer man than me
As you lick the boots of death born out of fear

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool
I left there in the morning
With their God under my arm
Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules

Well, you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
Have all the bishops harmonize these lines

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And they taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares)
Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers
Well you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
And have all the bishops harmonize these lines

I don't believe you
You had the whole damn thing all wrong
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool.

So I left there in the morning
With their God tucked underneath my arm
Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules

And I asked this God a question
And by way of firm reply
He said, “I'm not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays”

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares)
Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers

I don't believe you
You had the whole damn thing all wrong
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.
Well, you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
And have all the bishops harmonize these lines

How do you dare tell me that I'm my Father's son?
When that was just an accident of birth
I'd rather look around me, compose a better song
'Cos that's the honest measure of my worth
In your pomp and all your glory you're a poorer man than me
As you lick the boots of death born out of fear

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool
I left there in the morning
With their God under my arm
Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules

Well, you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
Have all the bishops harmonize these lines

When I was young and they packed me off to school
And they taught me how not to play the game
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success
Or if they said that I was just a fool

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares)
Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers
Well you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school
And have all the bishops harmonize these lines

I don't believe you
You had the whole damn thing all wrong
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays

Wond'ring aloud --
How we feel today.
Last night sipped the sunset --
My hands in her hair.
We are our own saviours
As we start both our hearts beating life
Into each other.

Wond'ring aloud --
Will the years treat us well.
As she floats in the kitchen,
I'm tasting the smell
Of toast as the butter runs.
Then she comes, spilling crumbs on the bed
And I shake my head.
And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are.

Thick As A Brick

Really don't mind if you sit this one out.
My words but a whisper -- your deafness a SHOUT.
I may make you feel but I can't make you think.
Your sperm's in the gutter -- your love's in the sink.

So you ride yourselves over the fields and
you make all your animal deals and
your wise men don't know how it feels
to be thick as a brick.

And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away
In the tidal destruction the moral melee.
The elastic retreat rings the close of play
as the last wave uncovers the newfangled way.

But your new shoes are worn at the heels
and your suntan does rapidly peel
and your wise men don't know how it feels
to be thick as a brick.

And the love that I feel is so far away:
I'm a bad dream that I just had today --
and you shake your head
and say it's a shame.

Spin me back down the years and the days of my youth.
Draw the lace and black curtains and shut out the whole truth.
Spin me down the long ages: let them sing the song.

See there! A son is born --
and we pronounce him fit to fight.
There are black-heads on his shoulders,
and he pees himself in the night.
We'll make a man of him
put him to trade
teach him to play Monopoly
and not to sing in the rain.

The Poet and the painter casting shadows on the water --
as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea.
The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other --
as the failing light illuminates the mercenary's creed.
The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling --
but the master of the house is far away.
The horses stamping -- their warm breath clouding
in the sharp and frosty morning of the day.
And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheaths his sword.

And the youngest of the family
Is moving with authority.
Building castles by the sea,
he dares the tardy tide
to wash them all aside.

The cattle quietly grazing at the grass down by the river
where the swelling mountain water moves onward to the sea:
the builder of the castles renews the age-old purpose
and contemplates the milking girl whose offer is his need.
The young men of the household have all gone into service
and are not to be expected for a year.
The innocent young master -- thoughts moving ever faster --
has formed the plan to change the man he seems.
And the poet sheaths his pen while the soldier lifts his sword.

And the oldest of the family
Is moving with authority.
Coming from across the sea,
he challenges the son
who puts him to the run.

What do you do when the old man's gone --
do you want to be him?
And your real self sings the song.
Do you want to free him?
No one to help you get up steam --
and the whirlpool turns you 'way off-beam.

LATER.
I've come down from the upper class
to mend your rotten ways.
My father was a man-of-power
whom everyone obeyed.
So come on all you criminals!
I've got to put you straight
just like I did with my old man --
twenty years too late.
Your bread and water's going cold.
Your hair is too short and neat.
I'll judge you all and make damn sure
that no-one judges me.

You curl your toes in fun as you smile at everyone --
you meet the stares. You're unaware that your doings aren't done.
And you laugh most ruthlessly as you tell us what not to be.
But how are we supposed to see where we should run?

I see you shuffle in the courtroom with your rings upon your fingers
and your downy little sidies and your silver-buckle shoes.
Playing at the hard case, you follow the example
of the comic-paper idol who lets you bend the rules.

So! Come on ye childhood heroes!
Won't you rise up from the pages
of your comic-books your super crooks
and show us all the way.
Well! Make your will and testament.
Won't you? Join your local government.
We'll have Superman for president
let Robin save the day.

You put your bet on number one and it comes up every time.
The other kids have all backed down and they put you first in line.
And so you finally ask yourself just how big you are --
and take your place in a wiser world of bigger motor cars.
And you wonder who to call on.

So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you though?
They're all resting down in Cornwall --
writing up their memoirs for a paper-back edition of the Boy Scout Manual.

LATER.
See there! A man born --
and we pronounce him fit for peace.
There's a load lifted from his shoulders
with the discovery of his disease.
We'll take the child from him
put it to the test
teach it to be a wise man
how to fool the rest.

QUOTE
We will be geared to the average rather than the exceptional
God is an overwhelming responsibility
we walked through the maternity ward and saw 218 babies wearing nylons
It says here that cats are on the upgrade
upgrade? Hipgrave. Oh, Mac.

LATER
In the clear white circles of morning wonder,
I take my place with the lord of the hills.
And the blue-eyed soldiers stand slightly discoloured (in neat little rows)
sporting canvas frills.
With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention,
while queueing for sarnies at the office canteen.
Saying -- how's your granny and good old Ernie:
he coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win.

The legends (worded in the ancient tribal hymn) lie cradled in the seagull's call.
And all the promises they made are ground beneath the sadist's fall.
The poet and the wise man stand behind the gun,
and signal for the crack of dawn. Light the sun.

Do you believe in the day?
Do you? Believe in the day!
The Dawn Creation of the Kings has begun.
Soft Venus (lonely maiden) brings the ageless one.

Do you believe in the day?
Do you? Believe in the day!
The fading hero has returned to the night --
and fully pregnant with the day, wise men endorse the poet's sight.
Do you believe in the day?
Do you? Believe in the day!

Let me tell you the tales of your life
of your love and the cut of the knife
the tireless oppression the wisdom instilled
the desire to kill or be killed.
Let me sing of the losers who lie
in the street as the last bus goes by.
The pavements are empty: the gutters run red --
while the fool toasts his god in the sky.

So come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year
and join your voices in a hellish chorus.
Mark the precise nature of your fear.

Let me help you pick up your dead
as the sins of the father are fed
with the blood of the fools and the thoughts of the wise
and from the pan under your bed.
Let me make you a present of song as
the wise man breaks wind and is gone while
the fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose and
the nursery rhyme winds along.

So! Come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year
and join your voices in a hellish chorus.
Mark the precise nature of your fear.
See! The summer lightning casts its bolts upon you
and the hour of judgement draweth near.
Would you be the fool stood in his suit of armour
or the wiser man who rushes clear.

So! Come on ye childhood heroes!
Won't your rise up from the pages
of your comic-books your super-crooks
and show us all the way.
Well! Make your will and testament.
Won't you? Join your local government.
We'll have Superman for president
let Robin save the day.

So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you through?
They're all resting down in Cornwall -- writing up their memoirs
for a paper-back edition of the Boy Scout Manual.

OF COURSE
So you ride yourselves over the fields
and you make all your animal deals
and your wise men don't know how it feels
to be thick as a brick.

In and out of the front door,
Ran twelve back-door angels.
Their hair was a golden-brown
They didn't see me wink my eye.
'Tis said they put we men to sleep
With just a whisper,
And touch the heads of dying dogs
And make them linger.
They carry their candles high
And they light the dark hours.
And sweep all the country clean
With pressed and scented wild-flowers.

They grow all their roses red,
And paint our skies blue
Drop one penny in every second bowl
Make half the beggars lose,
Why do the faithful have such a will
To believe in something?

And call it the name they choose,
Having chosen nothing.

Think I'll sit down and invent some fool
Some Grand Court Jester.
And next time the die is cast,
He'll throw a six or two.
In and out of the back-door ran
One front-door angel,
Her hair was a golden-brown
She smiled and I think she winked her eye.

Walking through forests of palm tree apartments
Scoff at the monkeys who live in their dark tents
Down by the waterhole, drunk every Friday
Eating their nuts, saving their raisins for Sunday
Lions and tigers who wait in the shadows
They're fast but they're lazy, and sleep in green meadows

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love
And I'm a snake if we disagree

Just say a word and the boys will be right there
With claws at your back to send a chill through the night air
Is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder?
Thunder and lightning couldn't be bolder
I'll write on your tombstone, I thank you for dinner
This game that we animals play is a winner

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
I'm a tiger when I want love
I'm a snake if we disagree

The rivers are full of crocodile nasties
And he who made kittens put snakes in the grass, he's
A lover of life, but a player of pawns
Yes, the king on his sunset lies waiting for dawn
To light up his jungle as play is resumed
The monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
I'm a tiger when I want love
And I'm a snake when we disagree
Yes, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love
I'm a snake when we disagree
Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
I'm a tiger when I want love

Rise up all you fine young ladies and take arms for the show.
Oh, we'll put your name up in lights,
put you down on Glory Row.
Would you be the star of ages
to light your own way at night?
Might be a former beauty queen with your high smile stuck on so tightly.
They come and they go down on Glory Row.
It's the same old story --- yes, it the same old show.

Well, hello all you gentlemen, I fear I'm a lot like you.
We're wearing the same school tie but a different pair of shoes.
How did you get to be who you are?
Will your children share the blame?
Is it really worth the time it takes
to carve your name on Glory Row?

Down on Glory Row.
It's the same old story --- yes, it the same old show.

Ladies of leisure,
With their eyes on the back roads.
All looking for strangers,
To whom they extend welcomes
With a smile and a glimpse of
Pink knees and elbows;
Of satin and velvet
Good ladies, good fortune.
Ladies.

They sing of their heroes:
Of solitary soldiers
Invested in good health
And manner most charming.
Whose favors are numbered
(none the less well intended)
By hours in a minute;
By those ladies who bless them.
Ladies.

Brain-storming habit-forming battle-warning weary
Winsome actor spewing spineless chilling lines ---
The critics falling over to tell themselves he's boring
And really not an awful lot of fun.
Well who the hell can he be when he's never had V.D.,
And he doesn't even sit on toilet seats?
Court-jesting, never-resting
He must be very cunning
To assume an air of dignity
And bless us all with his oratory prowess,
His lame-brained antics and his jumping in the air.
And every night his act's the same
And so it must be all a game of chess he's playing
"But you're wrong, Steve: you see, it's only solitaire."

I'd like to take you
to the edge of every morning
On a magic eiderdown
To a window chair

In the Paradise Steakhouse
Where there's a cup of silver coffee
Steaming chrome reflections
From the mist in your hair

Try not to watch me (Try not to watch me)
Just call me after darkfall (Call me after darkfall)
I'll bring a whip to sow
My seed on your land

In the Paradise Steakhouse
There's a cup of silver coffee
A sheath of steel so you may hold
My sword in your hand

I'll cut you, divide you
Into tender pieces
No wings to fly away
Upon my dear

In the Paradise Steakhouse
On a plate upon a table
I will carve your name with care
To last the years

I'd like to eat you (I'd like to eat you)
All fire will consume you (Fire will consume you)
Roast on the spit of love
On this arrow true

In the Paradise Steakhouse
I'll taste every finger
Baking [picking?] in the ashes
Til the flames rise anew

[Repeat first and second stanzas]

The wind is on the river and the tide has turned too late,
So we're sailing for another shore where some other ladies wait.
To throw us silken whispers: catch us by the anchor chains,
But we all laugh so politely and we sail on just the same
For Queen and Country in the long dying day,
And it's been this way for five long years, since we signed our souls away.
We bring back gold and ivory; rings of diamonds; strings of pearls
Make presents to the government so they can have their social whirl
With Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.

They build schools and they build factories with the spoils of battles won.
And we remain their pretty sailor boys hold our heads up to the gun.
Of Queen and Country in the long dying day.
And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.
To Queen and Country in the long dying day.

And it's been this way for five long years since we signed our souls away.

Through northern lights on back streets ---
I told the coachman, Just drive me on,
It's the same old destination
but a different world to sing upon.
So he threw back his head and he counted.
I jumped out about five to nine.
And I waved at the stage door-keeper ---
said, Mister, get me to the stage on time.

Oh, but the rain wasn't made of water
and the snow didn't have a place in the sun
so I slipped behind a rainbow
and waited till the show had done.

I packed my ammunition.
Inside the crowd was shouting, Encore,
But I had a most funny feeling ---
it wasn't me they were shouting for.
So when the tall dark lady smiled at me
I said, Oh, baby let us go for a ride.
And we came upon two drinks or four
and popped them oh so neatly inside.

Oh, but the rain wasn't made of water
and the snow didn't have a place in the sun
so we slipped behind a rainbow
and lay there until we had done.

Let me pack you deep in my suitcase.
Oh, there's sure to be room for two ---
or you can drive me to the airplane
but don't let me catch those rainbow blues.

They left me, leaving my house on fire, me running round ---
got out through the window.
While clinging to the skirts of fate
was not my idea of fun
I'll jump to it gladly.
The town was filled with smoke and hate.
Came to my senses just too late
to realize that all I ever owned
was borrowed. I thanked them for having shown
me that nothing ever really belongs to anyone.

They burned my books and they broke my car,
and gave the dog to a man who used him for breeding.
They felled my trees and they tramped flowers and threw
the kitten into my new pool.
The same things done to other men had made them run away from the city.
This being the case, I joined them there and breathing air spent
the night with these new friends.

Over the mountains, and under the sky
Riding dirty gray horses, go you and I.
Mating with chance, copulating with mirth
The sad-glad paymasters (for what it's worth).
The ice-cream castles are refrigerated;
The super-marketeers are on parade.
There's a golden handshake hanging round your neck,
As you light your cigarette on the burning deck.
And you balance your world on the tip of your nose
Like a Sealion with a ball, at the carnival.

You wear a shiny skin and a funny hat
The Almighty Animal Trainer lets it go at that.
You bark ever-so-slightly at the Trainer's gun,
With you whiskers melting in the noon-day sun.
You flip and you flop under the Big White Top
Where the long-legged ring-mistress starts and stops.
But you know, after all, the act is wearing thin
As the crowd grows uneasy and the boos begin.
But you balance your world on the tip of your nose
You're a Sealion with a ball at the carnival.

Just a trace of pride upon our fixed grins
For there is no business like the show we're in.
There is no reason, no rhyme, no right
To leave the circus 'til we've said good-night.
The same performance, in the same old way;
It's the same old story to this Passion Play.
So we'll shoot the moon, and hope to call the tune
And make no pin cushion of this big balloon.
Look how we balance the world on the tips of our noses,
Like Sealions with a ball at the carnival.

Would you like to see my lion
My friend Cecil is damp and smooth
A damp smooth sea lion
Yes, Cecil is a sealion

Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion

Cecil is a clever sealion
Cecil sometimes swims
And often sits

And balances multi-coloured striped balls?

Yes balances multi-coloured striped balls
Clever Cecil

Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a seali-

Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion

Cecil the sealion is serene
He doesn't wear spectacles or a scarf

No central heating or cement?

Well the whole ocean is Cecil's home

Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion
Cecil is a sealion

(Cecil is a sea lion)

Hoorah!

War Child, dance the days and nights away
Sweet child, how do you do today?
When your back's to the wall,
And your luck is your all,
Then side with whoever you may.
Seek that which within lies waiting to begin
The fight of your life that is everyday.
Dance with the War Child, the War Child
Hoorah!

War Child, dance the days and nights away
Sweet child, how do you do today?
In the heart of your heart, there's the tiniest part
Of an urge to live to the death
With a sword on your hip and a cry on your lips
To strike life in the inner child's breast.
Dance with the War Child, the War Child
Hoorah!

War Child, dance the days and nights away
Sweet child, how do you do today?

I'll see you at the Weighing-In,
When your life's sum-total's made
And you set your wealth in Godly deeds
Against the sins you've laid.
And you place your final burden
On your hard-pressed next of kin:
Send the chamber-pot back down the line
To be filled up again.

And the hard-headed miracle worker
Who bathes his hands in blood,
Will welcome you to the final nod
And cover you with mud.
And he'll say, "You really should make the deal,"
As he offers round the hat.
"You'd better lick two fingers clean
He'll thank you all for that."
As you slip on the greasy platform,
And you land upon your back,
You make a wish and you wipe your nose upon the railway track.
While the high-strung locomotive,
With furnace burning bright,
Lumbers on
You wave goodbye
And the sparks fade into night.

And as you join the Good Ship Earth,
And you mingle with the dust
You'd better leave your underpants
With someone you can trust.
And when the Old Man with the telescope
Cuts the final strand
You'd better lick two fingers clean,
Before you shake his hand.

I'll take you down to that bright city mile,
There to powder your sweet face and paint on a smile
That will show all of the pleasures and none of the pain
When you join my explosion and play with my games

WarChild dance the days, and dance the nights away.

No unconditional surrender: no armistice day
Each night I'll die in my contentment and lie by your grave
While you bring me water and I give you wine
Let me dance in your tea-cup and you shall swim in mine.

WarChild dance the days, and dance the nights away.

Open your windows and I'll walk through your doors.
Let me live in your country - let me sleep by your shores

WarChild dance the days, and the nights away

I'll take you down to that bright city mile
There to powder your sweet face and paint on a smile
That will show all of the pleasures and none of the pain
When you join my explosion and play with my games,
Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away
Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away

No unconditional surrender, no armistice day
Each night I'll die in my contentment and the lie, hide in your grave
While you bring me water and I'll give you wine
Let me dance in your tea cup and you shall swim in mine

Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away

Open your windows and I'll walk through your doors
Let me live in your country, let me sleep by your shores

Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away
Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away
Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away
Warchild, dance the days and dance the nights away
Warchild, dance the days

Windy bus-stop. Click. Shop-window. Heel.
Shady gentleman. Fly-button. Feel.
In the underpass, the blind man stands.
With cold flute hands.
Symphony match-seller, breath out of time.
You can call me on another line.
Indian restaurants that curry my brain.
Newspaper warriors changing the names they

advertise from the station stand.
With cold print hands.
Symphony word-player, I'll be your headline.
If you catch me another time.

Didn't make her --- with my Baker Street Ruse.
Couldn't shake her --- with my Baker Street Bruise.
Like to take her --- but I'm just a Baker Street Muse.

Ale-spew, puddle-brew --- boys, throw it up clean.
Coke and Bacardi colours them green.
From the typing pool goes the mini-skirted princess
with great finesse.
Fertile earth-mother, your burial mound is fifty feet
down in the Baker Street underground. (What the hell!)
Walking down the gutter thinking,
``How the hell am I today?''
Well, I didn't really ask you but thanks all the same.

Come, let me play with you, Black Satin Dancer.
In all your giving, given is the answer.
Tearing life from limb and looking sweeter than the brightest flower
in my
garden.
Begging your pardon - shedding right unreason.
Over sensation fly the fleeting seasons.
Thin wind whispering on broken mandolin.
Bending the minutes - the hours ever turning on that old gold
story of
mercy.
Desperate breathing. Tongue nipple-teasing.
Your fast river flowing - your Northern fire fed.
Come, Black Satin Dancer, come softly to bed.

Black Satin Dancer, given is the answer.
Tearing life from limb and looking sweeter than the brightest flower
in my
garden.

Come, let me play with you; Come, Black Satin Dancer.
In all your giving, given is the answer.
Your fast river flowing - your Northern fire fed.
Come, Black Satin Dancer, come softly to bed.