1. |
Stay here
03:25
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Palms down, fingers flat on the button scuffed counter
Sat elbow to familiar elbow, stares the middle distance down to
The cold end of the long office - only way out only way in.
Calling the next one over keeps the distant mind from straying
And he thinks
"I don't know how to put this in a way you'll understand
But I don't really want to be here
Given the alternatives, on the other hand
I guess it makes sense to stay here
I guess it makes sense to stay here."
Tatty trainers, jacket torn, still exuding frozen breeze that lingers
Leaning against the standing aches, into pockets with grubby fingers
Glancing through the long office - only way out; only way in
Presenting shabby words, head down but clear the eyes are saying
"I don't know how to put this in a way you'll understand
But I don't really want to be here.
Given the alternatives, on the other hand
I guess it makes sense to stay here
I guess it makes sense to stay here."
Stares through steamed up windows, our rings glisten damp and red
The distant unsettled glow, though his mobile's nearly dead
He's saying
"I don't know how to put this in a way you'll understand
But I don't really want to be here.
Given the alternatives on the other hand
I guess it makes sense to stay here
I guess it makes sense to stay here."
I don't know how to put this in a way you'll understand
But I don't really want to be here.
Given the alternatives on the other hand
I guess it makes sense to stay here
I guess it makes sense to stay here.
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2. |
We might have met
04:05
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Crosslegged in yellow sunshine glow, ear pressed to the speaker
His laser love affair with Monique and Veronica
QSO and QSL - quiet and rarely clear
Did they get the postcard - he knows he'll have to wait to hear
Chorus
Do I know him? Seems quite familiar
I don't know we might have met
I'll take another look and then I'll tell you
Sometimes it's easy to forget
New into work and new in town, one rented room to another
Refining his ineptitude, in trying to find a lover
All he has is all he needs - puts the parts together
Doesn't feel the winds of change; won't be like this forever
Chorus
13 Step by step through a life
23 Just footprints left behind
33 Washed away, or beaten path
43 He pays no mind. He pays no mind
Wife and kids at home as he's consumed by work successes
Commutes the rollercoaster ride - the capital's excesses
Such reward and rush but is it the best it could ever be?
How long can he ride this wave - he'll have to wait to see
Chorus
He sits and tries to write a song - he's struggling to think
Introspection isn't fun - he pours another drink
So hard to make out more than shapes in the dim light of the past
So he'll stick to the here and now and try to make it last
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3. |
Do I dare
02:36
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Do I dare, try to piece together
So much left unspoken, so much left undone
Do I dare, tell myself the stories
Make my own connections where there may be none?
Do I dare keep myself awake
Let my heart ask questions and let my mind run?
When I look back, will I have clarity
Will I account for these living days of purgatory?
Do I dare look you in the eye
Ask for reassurance in the reasons I've found
Do I dare try to be demanding
Lead the way to understanding of how it could sound
Do I dare risk the disappointment
My fragile world constructed and let you tear it down?
When I look back, will there be regret
Or courage to catch lightning that hasn't struck me yet?
Do I dare tell you how I'm feeling
Would it be too revealing of the secrets I tell?
Do I dare keep it to myself - corrode my mental health
And stay on the carousel?
Or do I dare let go of the thread
Relinquish all the dread and walk out of hell?
Do I dare take the counsel of a friend
Leave the film before the end
Quit the travelling show?
Do I dare do the best for me
Let it rest and let it be
And I'll never know.
Do I dare never to know?
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4. |
mamil
02:56
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I am riding on my bike in the English countryside
There is no better time to go out for a ride
Than when the day is fresh and I'm up for some cycling action
So I'm cycling in the sun through this green and pleasant land
There'll be no deviation from the route that I've planned
Head down so I don't succumb to natural distraction
I'm just doing what any mamil would do
In my tight pants and dayglo vest
Catching all the glances at my rock hard thighs
Can't help but think that I'm the best
I'll always take great pains to lubricate my chain
Set up my machine for wind snow or rain
In the garage preparing for all eventualities
The catalogue that came afforded me a lighter frame
Why would I give any of my bicycles a name?
Cycling is serious - it's a sport not a leisure activity
I'm just doing what any mamil would do
In my tight pants and dayglo vest
Happy to put aside all of my family ties
In hot pursuit of my personal best
I like to ride my bicycle
The lycra on my back
I love to take my bicycle
To workshop road and track
Churning through the middle of the horizontal drizzle
I'm competing so the weather matters very little
The important thing is to try to get and stay ahead
Addicted or a nutter am I the former or the latter
I don't need friends and my family don't matter
Can't face the disappointment if I lose, I may as well be dead.
I'm just doing what any mamil would do
In my tight pants and dayglo vest
It's more than aerobic exercise
It's about getting there faster than the rest
Oblivious of what my life denies
People maybe saying I'm obsessed.
I'm just doing what any mamil would do
In my tight pants and dayglo vest
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5. |
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Word games, word games,word games
You're playing word games, word games,word games
It's like a verbal overload anywhere I care to go
From TV disclaimers to the fast cut video
Subtext media in its social portrollio
Like Banksy scrawling on the walls of Jericho
Would it matter if I knew what you were trying to say
Would it matter if it didn't matter anyway
I get a sense that you didn't think this yesterday
It makes no sense when I just get led astray by
Wordgames, wordgames, wordgames
Enter the corporate system without parental guidance
I got an open plan that's tantamount to violence
Listening to lying flow without a license
No pause button on my phone to enjoy the silence
Catching the coffee train in and out of every meeting
I'd drink the coolaid, but it doesn't go with what I'm eating
They're double word scoring anything that bears repeating
I'd like to play, but I think it would be self-defeating
Wordgames, wordgames, wordgames
Truth dares on hamster wheels spinning for hours
For well-fed representatitives in salivory towers
Come the election they're all hearts and flowers
But part exchanging promises for policies and powers?
On location entourage to avoid undue alienation
Face down critics with some desultry interpretation
Untested by questions from a member of the publication
Suits and ties, they're what lies in your manipulation
Wordgames, wordgames, wordgames
This product recall's getting written about everywhere
Engage damage limitation - they'll be right there
Media savant with the shiny teeth and shiny hair
Years of PR exercising is brought to bear
They're armed with responses - it's their autonomic weaponry
Stonewall the interviewers - pull them apart semantically
Scatter the experts discredit them pedantically
If all else fails, just back pedal frantically
You're playing wordgames, wordgames, wordgames
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6. |
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Most days she tried not to think about it
Certainly she didn't want to kick up a stink about it
Stretched within the past present and future tension
All of time was beyond her comprehension
Looking down at her from every wall
Sometimes it didn't seem to change at all
Wore it like a handcuff on her wrist
Counting up the appointments that she missed
Went too fast when she wasn't aware
Went too slow when she was
Grabbing just a second here and there
When she asked why, time just said "because"
She longed for her own six minutes of sunshine
She longed to believe that it would happen - sometime
Maybe it was too much to ask
Far more than just a trivial task
She wanted to get into less of a state
Worrying about if she was early or late
It would be better if she couldn't be rushed
So she could take the time to adjust
Went too fast when she wasn't aware
Went too slow when she was
Grabbing just a millisecond here and there
When she asked why, time just said ...
Don't you think It's about time she did something about it?
Don't you think it's about time?
Went too fast when she wasn't aware
Went too slow when she was
Grabbing just a microsecond here and there
When she asked why, time just said "because"
Went too fast when she wasn't aware
Went too slow when she was
Grabbing just a nanosecond just here and there
When she asked why, time just said "because"
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7. |
Hot mess
03:03
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I really don't know what to call it
Not sure what it's all about
I didn't take the subscription
But it was free when it first came out
The manifestation of forever
The lustrum is quite enough
Misunderstandable missive
To make me an example of
I'd go to my local library, but my local library's closed
That's just a sign of the times, I suppose
That's just a sign of the times, I guess
To me it looks more like
A hot mess.
We need to know what's getting them down
The private army of the ward
The pungency of g-forces
Never knowingly underscored
Commemorated in the granite
The dust gathers on the plaque
Reassembling of the masses
The precious few are turning back
Self-administered CPR as a reward for bravery
That's just a sign of the times, maybe
That's just a sign of the times, I guess
To me it looks more like
A hot mess.
Tell the table
Tell the door
Tell the door
Tell the seagulls
Tell the seagulls
They ought to name a storm after you
Spilling stones and tearing down wires
There's drivers in the debris
Washed away like rust and petty liars
If life is in the essence, I'll order it to go
That's just a sign of the times, I know
That's just a sign of the times, I guess
To me it looks more like
A hot mess.
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8. |
Just a simulation
03:24
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I never chose this life, but no-one lives it like me
I could oppose this life but this is how it seems it's got to be
I can never be alone - you're always watching me
No corner left to hide - I can't avoid your scrutiny
I don't wanna perform for you
A plaything for your observation
My existence doesn't seem real
I'm just a simulation
I never chose to be last of those who came before me
But I'm supposed to be all that you expect of me
I can never be myself - you're always guiding me
Governing my every move, listing all I have to prove.
I don't wanna be controlled by you
A plaything for your recreation
My existence doesn't seem real
I'm just a simulation
Choose my words and choose my clothes
Like a diamond over me
Choose my needs and choose my roles
Who am I supposed to be?
Who am I supposed to be?
I don't wanna be controlled by you
A plaything for your recreation
My existence doesn't seem real
I'm just a simulation
I don't wanna perform for you
A plaything for your observation
My existence doesn't seem real
I'm just a simulation
Just a simulation
Just a simulation
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9. |
The music in you
02:57
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Play a song that you know so well
Let the melody flow from your fingers
Every note caressing the air
Sharing the world with players and singers
They say dance like nobody's watching
I say play like the music is yours
You say nothing and yet you say everything
Expressed in such exquisite scores
I'm not asking you for to love me
Because you tell me that you do
But to love - to love the music
The music in you.
The still air is devoid of excitement
The silence longs for a tuneful embrace
It's so hard to emerge from the chrysalis
Summon a song in the wide open space
They say dance like nobody's watching
I say play like the music is yours
You say nothing and yet you say everything
Expressed in such exquisite scores
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10. |
If we can
04:09
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This is the end - this is the parting shot
The countdown has begun.
No weather cancellation, no crowd in expectation.
No delay in childish fractions, o chance for remedial action.
This is the last - this is the legacy
To see what we've become.
For what we took for granted; they never could have lasted.
For what we leave behind - to whom the blame's assigned.
But we can smile, if we want to. If we can.
But we can try to fill our senses one more time.
One more time.
There's nothing more - the box is empty
Cut its losses and run.
Do we stand and remonstrate? Did we just arrive too late?
Repeat the question so bereft - we can see what we have left
And now it's over - the final second
Of what we might have done.
Do we wish or reminisce for what and who we'll miss
Or face up to it now, hope that we can cope somehow.
Or we can smile if we want to, if we can.
Yeah we can try to fill our senses one more time.
One more time.
Cos we can smile if we want to, if we can.
Yeah we can try to fill our senses one more time.
One more time
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zx85 Luton, UK
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