Welcome To The Upside Down
Ignore the clocks ticking and chiming
I warn you don’t ever take their bait
Round here it don’t matter what the time is
Because round here it’s always too late
Some towns chew you up
This one digests you slow
You might as well just give up
It’ll never let go
I’ve been searching all evening
For a game that ain’t rigged
There’s only one way of leaving
Get a shovel and dig
Welcome to the upside down
Welcome to the inside out
You won’t find many new ideas in this town
No one ever thought to try one out
They built things to last
They didn’t build them to work
The funny thing about the past
It has a tendency to lurk
Around every corner
And down every drain
Rising up to warn you
Again and again
Welcome to the upside down
Welcome to the last sliver of soap
There ain’t a lot of optimism floating around
Even the circling vultures have given up hope
We’ve got low expectations
And high rates of tax
Blood is spilt on occasion
But soon dries in the cracks
It’s one long wrong foregone conclusion
This is no longer about fathers and sons
More of worlds that are starting to shrink
Weeping mothers giving suck to their young
Tender as scabs picked down to the pink
This tale is tired of the telling
It don’t want to unfold
It’s sobbing and yelling
To never ever be retold
While the promises pile up
But nobody’s counting
The rivers turn to slop
That ain’t fit to drown in
Welcome to the upside down
Welcome to the shadow of the doubt
The house lights have faded now
But that don’t mean you can just sit this one out
Everyone here is so proud
Everyone here is so prone
No matter how big the crowd
We still feel alone
How did it ever come to this?
How did it ever come to this?
***
Every Tragedy Begins With A Happy Ending
There’s an After after every Ever After
And if these events cause some offence
I won’t say what that represents
I can’t hear the jokes for all the laughter
Life’s a picnic
Life’s a treat
But just when this life seemed so sweet
You notice ants in the sugar bowl
The romance is getting cold
Your world’s viewed through a prism
Of endless euphemisms
All the stories have been told
The newfangles are getting old
Where will our lives spit us out
Can there really be any doubt
That
Every
Tragedy
Begins with a happy ending
Every tragedy begins the same
Every tragedy begins with a happy ending
But they don’t stay that way
Though our fate’s unknown
That don’t make it less certain
We’re paying interest on all
Those happy moments that we stole
So stay at home and gently twitch the curtain
We’ve got the perfect view to
Watch our shrinking futures
Follow the rules
Right down to the letter
You think your love will grow
But it’s already plateaued
And if your dreams come true
It means you should dream better
So dance like there’s no yesterday
Dance all of those dreams away
And say
Every
Tragedy
Begins with a happy ending
Every tragedy begins the same
Every tragedy begins with a happy ending
But they don’t stay that way
Coincidences and serendipity
Providence is all down to destiny
I’m convinced this will end up miserably now
Don’t scream
Don’t fuss
It’s ever been thus
Line crossed
Coin tossed
Game lost
Because
Every
Tragedy
Begins with a happy ending
Every tragedy begins the same
Every tragedy begins with a happy ending
But they don’t stay that way
***
Hate
The word “People”
Just means you and me
But “The People”
Means THEM
And The People
To you and me
Tend to be
A problem
Because us people
Are so feeble
While The People
Are strong
But direct their strength
At their own ranks
And oh you can’t go wrong
If you really want to run things
Then give the people something
To hate
Pitilessly stupid
Like waves against a shore
If you give the people what they need
They only need it more
The best action
Is distraction
And disruption
And despair
The rut gets deeper
The sentiments cheaper
Who’s really going to care?
No one notices the lies
When they’re sharpening their knives
Hate
Non-conformities, minorities, differing priorities
Hate
Alternate sexualities, physical abnormalities
Hate
They’re all in thrall to mystic pieties
Ignore their how and why-ities
Hate Hate Hate
So join the whining dining pocket-lining
Career-defining
Time of hate
Soak up the rising
All-despising
Self-aggrandising
Tide of hate
When accusations
Sweep the nation
Behold your willing congregation
Of hate
Everything will be ok
Unless you’re foreign, poor or gay
Hate
Immigration, diversification
Gender reorientation
Hate
Other nations, skin-pigmentations,
Any form of variation
Hate
It is my recommendation
They’re the cause of all your consternation
Hate Hate Hate
It’s your hate so use it
Don’t let anything diffuse it
Keep it close and never lose it
What is power if you can’t abuse it?
Fear is unconverted Hate
Sadness: unconverted Hate
Weakness: unconverted Hate
Take these things and make them great
A feeling’s worth a thousand thoughts
And the strongest feeling of them all is hate.
***
Lullaby
If you sleep
If you sleep don’t dream
But if you dream
Dream one little thing for me
Not wars
Not glory or applause
There’ll be time for these of course
But for now dream little things
Just shrink the world to a single bed
And let the thoughts that swirl round your head
All slow slow slow
Because one day
Bigger things’ll get in the way
And you’ll find they’re here to stay
And you’ve no more time for little things
You will learn, you will ponder and discern
And the world will turn and turn
And take you far far away from me
You may laugh
You may some day think I’m daft
But the memories you’ll soon have
Will some day take my place you’ll see
So before your past accumulates
And while you’ve still so few yesterdays
To pull you down
Don’t fret
Don’t frown or feel regret
Nothing matters much just yet
So enjoy the little things
And when the sun yawns and draws down the blinds
Don’t you dare grow up during the night
‘Cos you’ve no words
To absorb all that occurs
There’s no need to feel disturbed
While you’re still a little thing
***
A Good Day To Bury Bad News
So you’ve got new laws
You think may cause
Some civil wars
Well don’t you worry
There’s all to gain
Check the weathervane
You bring the rain
I’ll bring the brolly
Shatter those taboos
What have you really got to lose
It’s a good day to bury bad news
There is no need to lie
It’s easy as pie
Believe me I
Can share your burden
Boy take heed
And follow my lead
‘Cos all you need’s a good diversion
Celebrity accused
Of giving somebody a bruise?
It’s a good day to bury bad news
You want to legislate
But fear they’ll hate
Your police state
Well don’t be concerned
Doubts are raised
But we’re not fazed
Check the final page
‘Cos there you’ll learn
When the world blows a fuse
Chaos ensues
That’s a good day to bury bad news
This ain’t no joke
‘Cos we’re the folk
Who shine the mirrors and pump the smoke
Don’t be mistook
Take a closer look
‘Cos what’s a dagger without a cloak?
Military coups
Must I give you clues?
It’s a good day to bury bad news
I’m not afraid to say
Mistakes were made
But in all good faith
Well ain’t that something?
It’s our job
To see through the fog
While the drains are clogged
With yesterday’s bunting
Sit back and choose
From all the menus
A good day to bury bad news
Beneath the mechanism
Of the political position
A problem has arisen
That demands a new revision
This libertarianism
Leads to untenable schism
And the people’s decision?
Sign a new petition!
Power abused?
Fetch my thumbscrews!
It’s a good day to bury bad news
Dig a hole
Dig a hole
Dig a hole hole hole
It’s a good day to bury bad news
Fill it in
In in in
It’s a good day to bury bad news
Dig a hole
Fill it in
You’re on a roll
If you can spin
Why choose a bitter pill
When there’s sweet medicine
While the people enthuse
And the journalists snooze
It’s a good day to bury bad news
***
Where Is The Romance?
Don’t get me wrong
Don’t walk away it’s not a con
I’m just proposing you’re a person
Who’s supposing things won’t worsen
I can tell
I know these feelings all too well
I’ve got the answers
Take no chances
You can save yourself a living hell
I know you’re sure
I know you’ve heard it before
I realise
That you’re wise
In the ways of the world
You’ve got faith
That fate keeps you safe
Well ok,
But let’s look at it another way….
How do you know?
Now tell me this
Do you think ignorance is bliss
Well try the future
It might suit you
Allow me to introduce you
Let me give a little glimpse
Of what’s to come
You’re not convinced?
You just rely on
The blue sky on
That hilarious horizon?
I see you’re torn
You don’t think we should be forewarned
Well it ain’t cheating
Life is fleeting
Make your troubles start retreating
Do you believe
Things will just work out to be
Naturally satisfactory?
How do you know?
All prophecies come with a clause
(Of course)
You can’t escape it, shape it
Change it, rearrange it
But though you’ll know what’s in store
(And that can be such a bore)
Don’t sweat it
Regret it
If it kills you
Let it
Now don’t assume
It ain’t all doom and gloom
But hey, don’t it pay
To have all the facts at your disposal
What will you choose
What do you really have to lose
We shed light on your plight
It’s your life
It ain’t no dress rehearsal
You’ve got this far
You’ve got some stories
You’ve got some scars
You’ve seen where you’ve been
And you know where you are
But what’s that shadow?
Hanging right over you
Glorious euphoria?
You’re sure
But how sure are you?
How do you know?
***
Is This It For Me?
So is this it for me?
Tell me honestly
Did my life peak
And no one was around to see?
I haven’t done a thing
Not worth mentioning
My reputation’s hardly glistening
Is this it for me?
Categorically?
From now on it’s just the appendices?
God it’s all so clear
Now the end is near
I’m doomed to disappoint and disappear
Is this it for me
Is this all the sympathy
I get as I head into eternity
What have I achieved?
No I won’t believe
That there’s no chance I can’t still be reprieved
Where were the hands to guide me?
Why did they only push me down?
Is this it for me?
Insurmountably?
Don’t these rules have some elasticity?
How will I be judged
My legacy be fudged
When my final finger print has been smudged
Is this it for me?
Terminally?
No appeal or pardon? No amnesty?
So what, I’m just some ghost
Trying to make the most
Of fighting for a place among the footnotes?
Where were the hands…
Now the clocks tick in competition
While life mauls us with its claws
We trust in the superstitions
That trip us up and make us crawl
And while Youth carried on without me
I began to lose my nerve
Then Time sold me out completely
Is this what I deserve?
On the contrary
What perversity
Where the hell’s the cavalry?
Is this it for me
Will no one disagree
Or question Fate’s unchallenged tyranny?
It’s more than I can stand
Living a life pre-planned
And deliberately dealt a losing hand.
Is this it for me?
No apology?
By what power? What authority?
I’m held hostage by the past
The present never lasts
And now the future’s coming at me fast
Where were the hands…
Do all those about to die
Feel they’ve never lived
Could I have been more?
Well could I?
Do more than just exist?
Why did I just accept?
Why did I never choose?
I kept all my desires in check
Now it’s mate in three moves
And Destiny
Has got it in for me
Well we’ll see about that now won’t we.
***
I Will Howl
They expect a woman to weep
To lose sleep
To wail
To fail to keep on top of things
Well I will not weep
I will not wail
I will howl
Howl howl
Where can I go that isn’t here?
When here stretches so far and deep into me
What do I do with all of this strength?
What do I protect if I don’t protect him?
I will howl
I will howl
I will howl
***
Time Passes (everything else fails)
Later has come
And it didn’t bang a drum
It snuck in through a window
When our backs were turned
I’m not suggesting
Faith’s made for the testing
But it’s clear how here and now
Faith never learns
Life flies by
On the outside
But please spare me the details
Raise your glasses
Time passes
Everything else fails
There’s progress except
Well I wouldn’t hold your breath
But in time
She’ll be as fine
As one can reasonably hope
The human brain is a funny old game
We’ve made loads of inroads
But there’s still more to know
When you least expect
Life collect its debts
Who knew it was all up for sale?
For all classes
Time passes
Everything else fails
We only survive as long
As blind chance spares us
Right or wrong
Time soon ensnares us
Moments don’t last
Where do they go?
The years slip by fast
But the hours are so slow
I could have sworn
I’d barely been born
Yet here I am
With no plan
Thirty eight and how
Did I get here
Does everyone have this fear
They’re pretending
Upending
Their claim on the Now
My youth is intact
I’ve just lost our way back to it
Born away with the wind in my sails
To greener grasses
Time passes
Everything else fails
We only survive as long
As blind chance spares us
Right or wrong
Time soon ensnares us
Moments don’t last
Where do they go?
The years slip by fast
But the hours are so slow.
***
Jocasta Regina
Jocasta Regina
She really should’ve been a
Star of the screen
Not on the arm of the regime
But oh what a whirl
She had such a spark
In her youth she was the hottest girl
Since Joan Of Arc
Jocasta Regina
As sharp as a guillotine
Lit up the media
Then poured on the gasoline
Burning so bright
But now dimmed down low
Her heart sealed up tight
Like a pistachio
Jocasta Regina
A lioness to our low hyena
Such a demeanour
Someone ought to quarantine her
She seemed to float
As though walking on air
With her thirty yard petticoat
And a thousand yard stare
Jocasta Regina
You must have seen her
Always pressed up between the
Paragraphs in magazines
Starved to perfection
Unsexed by grief
A strange predilection
If you suspend disbelief
Jocasta Regina
Some kind of modern fairy queener
None supremer
Hit me with your court subpoena
We can’t get enough
Though we clearly resent
She’s not capable of love
Just affectionate contempt
Jocasta Regina
A walking Deus Ex Machina
Hard to believe a
Single thing they say about her
She looks so sad
But we’ve all had a laugh
They say she’s half mad
Though they don’t say which half
***
How Long Can This Go On?
I’m in no hurry to see how this ends
Your minds seem made up
Well I guess that depends
If you think I
Would just stand by
Whining and pining away
I know it ain’t easy
You’re feeling betrayed
By all those tomorrows
That became yesterdays
Don’t make no
Mistake though
We go on
‘Til we’ve won
The day
Because in every town
For miles around
They’re singing out
How long can this go on?
Don’t try to stop me
Don’t even pretend
This whole place is broken
But some breaks can mend
How can you
Continue
To do as you do
Anyway
We’ve got so much desire
But not enough hope
I’m so sick and tired
I’m struggling to cope
With useless
Excuses
Let’s get on and do this
Today
Because in every town…
How long can this go on?
How long do we bow down?
How long until we’re strong?
How long can this go on?
You think closing your eyes
Will help you walk through the dark
I don’t mean to chastise
But you’re wide of the mark
Together
Whatever
It’s now or never
Win or lose
How much of who you are
Is who you want to be
Well you won’t get very far
Without someone like me
Because sooner or later
All you hesitaters must choose
Because in every town…
***
Same Again
I’m famous from one end of the bar to the other
When I arrive take cover
Or you’ll discover
I’m famous from one end of the bar to the other
You get these, the next round’s on me
My favourite drink is called Same Again
Same Again
Same Again
Yes my favourite drink is called Same Again
Come drink another Same Again with me
I’ll have gin, rum or vodka
Beer, wine or whiskey
From a glass preferably
But I’m not fussy
I’ll have gin, rum or vodka
Beer, wine and whiskey
You get these, the next round’s on me
My favourite drink is called Same Again
Same Again
Same Again
Yes my favourite drink is called Same Again
Come drink another Same Again with me.
This is the best place in the world
Where I haven’t been barred
Though I admit I’ve tried hard
My repute is unmarred
This is the best place in the world I haven’t been barred
You get these, the next round’s on me
And my favourite drink is called Same Again
Same Again
Same Again
Yes my favourite drink is called Same Again
Come drink another Same Again with me.
When I drink down to life’s level it raises me up
You don’t get that from a coffee cup
So why would I stop
When I drink down to life’s level it raises me up
You get these, the next round’s on me
And my favourite drink is called Same Again
Same Again
What I was saying again?
Yes my favourite drink is called Same Again
So who’ll drink another Same Again with me?
***
It’s Time To Take Sides
Fate looms
Hums it’s little tunes
Don’t know what’ll happen
But it’s going to happen soon
It’s time to take sides
I feel your pain
It’s hell in all but name
Don’t know who to blame
But we’ll find someone
It’s time to take sides
They were wrong
So we crack our throats in song
Pray it won’t be long
Until things alter
It’s time to take sides
Clocks tick feel sick
What are you afraid of?
Nails bitten to the quick
What are you afraid of?
Oh well, take your pick
What are you afraid of?
So alone now
Fear
Though it whispers in your ear
It is not a friend today
Who’d have thought it
A government so sordid
Yet people applaud it
When will it end?
It’s time to take sides
Police horse hooves
Striking sparks upon the cobble stones
Troops march through the troubled zones
Kick down our doors, we’re not at home
Because it’s time to take sides
Rotten luck taking names
What are you afraid of?
Forgotten their ill gotten gains
What are you afraid of?
World’s going up in flames
What are you afraid of?
I don’t know now
Fear
Though it whispers in your ear
It is not a friend today
I hear the distant thunder rolling
We watch the flags unfurl
But never heed the warnings
We die in different worlds
To the ones that we are born in
Or we hope to
Promises he says
What are you afraid of?
Take a guess, a little test
What are you afraid of?
It’ll turn out for the best
What are you afraid of?
I’m not so sure
Fear
Though it whispers in your ear
It is not a friend today
I hear the distant thunder rolling
We watch the flags unfurl
But never heed the warnings
We die in different worlds
To the ones that we are born in
So come and test your mettle
Come and join the cause
The only things that settle
Are dust and old scores
We’ve all seen better days
Though I can’t remember when
And those who can’t be saved
Can still be avenged
Hope’s an open letter
Telling you to survive
Hope don’t make things better
But it helps you stay alive
Hope is the rain
On a world that’s turning barren
Hope is the saying
What’s the worst that could happen?
What are you afraid of?
Don’t you want to feel like you’re a part of something?
***
It’s A Cruel World
Misery
Every single sucker
Has their own
Recipe
Falling over each other
Just so
They can be
Harmonising
With their own
Self-harmonies
It’s a cruel world
Would you have it any other way?
Misery
I’m beginning to think
Everybody’s having
A better time than me
I don’t feel so chic
Maybe we should tweak
Our philosophy
Can’t get it out of my mind
Who the hell designed
This catastrophe?
It’s a cruel world
Would you have it any other way?
Misery
You’ve got to admit
When you think about it
One of humanity’s
All time one of a kind
Single finest discoveries
Inexaustible
One size fits all
And so catchy
It’s a cruel world
Would you have it any other way?
***
No Baby To Lull
Wait
a little longer
Stay a little longer
The world slows
And hollows
Yet my heart still remains
So full
With a lullaby
But no baby to lull
Don’t say a word to
Those who would hurt you
It’s cold out
But just hold out
Your hand
I won’t ever let you go
My lullaby
With no baby to lull
Now I make
Sure that every
Mistake
Is carried with me
And I’ve set
Every regret
In stone
As a monument
But still
This is a lullaby
With no baby to lull.
Wait a little longer
Stay a little longer.
***
Death Is What Happens To Other People
Death is what happens to other people
It’s not what happens to us
We’ll be home before
The beer gets warm
And toast
All those
On the end of our fisticuffs
***
Keeping It Together
My heart does not bleed
Nor will it sing
It’s a drab dreary thing
That clenches up so tight within me
Don’t say a word
Don’t understand
Oh man
I’m keeping it together
The best I can
I’ve been smeared with your kisses
Snarled up in lust
I didn’t make a fuss
I was young in years but old in weeping
Don’t turn your back
Stay on your toes
Lord knows
I’m keeping it together the best I can
And I never knew how hard it could be
Just like I never knew how hard I believed
That you’d be better
Now I’m keeping it together
Maybe
I used to make choices
Now I just live with them
Like you could give a damn
Like you know a thing about me
Everything’s wrong
I’ve been biting my tongue
For way too long
I’m keeping it together
The best I can
And I never knew how hard it could be
Just like I never knew how hard I believed
That you’d be better
Now I’m just keeping it together
***
A Special Kind Of Ordinary
Let me take a look
Ooh he’s just the sort
Eyes undisturbed by thought
Love the limp
Not too obvious
Hints at a sort of dented glamorous
Afflicted fighting for his country?
(No it was a childhood accident
Don’t interrupt me)
As a quirk it’s better than a facial scar
It pushes an agenda but not too far
Timeless yet contemporary
A special kind of ordinary
He’s full of promise but not much else
Still promise is good, promise sells
Give them a sense of grand occasion
Let them unfence their imaginations
A little work and he could be
A splinter of divinity
A ray of sun
A raison d’être
Half icon
Half public pet
Though nothing too revolutionary
Just a special kind of ordinary
You don’t need to shine
Just glitter a little
When you speak the lines
Be noncommittal
Represent to them a second chance
Invent some much-needed romance
For the humdrum no fun soul
Of the potentially incendiary everyday prole
You must inspire but not incite
Be almost a rebel but not quite
Visual rather than visionary
A special kind of ordinary
There’s not a lot of future in being new
But for now a new you will do
So be the day dream of the nation
Be their reflected expectation
Light a beacon fuelled with hope
Trusted like an unlicked envelope
Plant the thought and then demand a
Better sort of propaganda
A standard issue legendary
Special kind of ordinary
***
Take Me Now
Stand where I can see you
Now turn around slow
History can’t hear us
No one knows
So lay me down
And take me now
We are compelled forever onwards
Like the cogs within a clock
Some doors never open
And some don’t lock
Lay me down
Take me now
Do you really want to know me
So that you too are known
I swear something is familiar
I feel it deep down in my bones
Lay me down
Take me now
Hold fast to your course
Don’t lose your nerve
Stumble or swerve
Just one more fold
And one more tear
No winners here
And none down there
Don’t lose your hold
***
If That’s What You Call Progress
Ladies have you noticed
A gentleman’s persistence
They always talk of closeness
When they aim to go the distance
Hats off to him for trying
He had the flag of the home port flying
He said the flotsam and the jetsum
Are there for those that let’s ’em
I said
If that’s what you call progress
You can count me out
I’ll be having none of it
i don’t see no fun in it
You can keep your progress to yourself
He said we’re guided by the stars above
I said more like the moon
He said music is the food of love
I said Love just licks the spoon
He said the only constant here is change
Who are we to stay the same?
I felt his hand upon my knee
Some things never change it seems
If that’s what you call progress
You can count me out
I don’t want no part of it
There’s no point in starting it
You can keep your progress to yourself
Don’t you feel like
The future and the past
Are squeezing up so tight
On either side of you
There’s nowhere to hide from view
Who knows where we’re heading to
What the ‘eck’s a girl to do?
They say you can’t avoid progress
Well sure there’s a lot of it about
But though I hear it’s all the rage
I still fear it’s just a phase
Progress don’t seem too good for your health
If that’s what you call progress
You can count me out
I’ll be having none of it
I don’t see no fun in it
I don’t want no part of it
There’s no point in starting it
You can keep your progress to yourself
***
Pulling The Strings
Some children have imaginary friends
Not me
As a boy all I could see
Were imaginary enemies
As the others played their games
I was learning all the names
Of every strain of each disease
That brings our species to its knees
I examined all the tiny things
The tiny flies
Their tiny wings
The little lives with little limbs
That came apart
Upon my whims
But as I grew and fell so hard
Beneath the bullies of the school yard
Who saw me as a tiny thing
A tiny fly with tiny wings
I learned to turn invisible
To lurk behind the powerful
And I soon rose up through the school
Because I knew which strings to pull
And oh years later
I’m the power behind the throne
That’s mine and mine alone
I’m pulling the strings
And oh those bullies
Were the first against the wall
The teachers too, I showed them all
Now I’m pulling the strings
Who needs a spotlight
When you’ve got the shadows
And a little gallows near
I always wanted a career
As a puppeteer
Hear them jingling and jangling
I might just leave you dangling
Don’t check the papers
They don’t refer to me ’cause
I’d much prefer to be just
Pulling the strings
Why would I want my name
In an encyclopaedia
When I control the media!
I’m pulling the strings
Keep your facts
Because I’ve got my opinions
All of my dominions are here
I always wanted a career
As a puppeteer
Hear them jingling and jangling
Pray I don’t start tangling
I always wanted a career
As a puppeteer
Here’s a little tip
Don’t give me any lip
Or I might start to snip snip
Power and it’s entourage
Are such a fitting camouflage
But I’m the one that’s really in charge
I’m pulling the strings
***
There’s Enough Loneliness To Go Round
There’s enough loneliness to go round
There’s enough loneliness to go round
Let’s be lonely forever
But lonely together
Only be lonely with me
I’ll be lonely with you
If only you knew
Just how lonely we all could be
***
Interesting Times
Underneath every event
Both those discreet and prominent
You’ll find a trader hanging off it
Like a limpet seeking profit
Thousands die and thousands live
You’re on the take
Why should you give
A thought to who
Slips through the sieve
We all exist to serve the business
May you live through
Interesting times
May you live through
Interesting
(What are you suggesting?)
May you live through
Interesting times
What’s the use
If no one profits?
No excuse
Get your hands off it
Human beings
Dirty brewings
Victims fleeing
Through the ruins
Lawyers suing
Debts accruing
Nothing ventured
Nothing doing
Pay them
Sway them
Or enslave them
Do it all
From a tax haven
Yield enlarging
Book massaging
Indiscriminate surcharging
May you live through
Interesting times
May you live through
Interesting
(Personal besting)
May you live through
Interesting times
No moral high-horse where there’s a profit
So dismount lest you’re thrown off it
As the markets rise and fall
Well that’s the cue to make your call
There’s wealth in store
Get set for more
But always keep your funds offshore
Guilty parties
Guilty pleasures
Deadly doses
No half measures
Here’s some wisdom
Come and listen
So you too can play the system
May you live through
Interesting times
Though you all knew
Terms and conditions apply
May you live through
Interesting times
Chase that profit
Seize and scoff it
If it were a wine you’d quaff it
Beef it up and stroganoff it
Okay boys I think he’s got it
Scoop a little from the bottom
Skim a little off the top
Don’t underestimate a short back and sides
Put on a tie and take the lot
The scruples are long forgotten
No one knows where that buck stops
Another day another dollar
All strictly white collar
Forgive me if I keep talking shop
But just wait until you see that share price drop
Can you hear the champagne corks go pop?
Come on kid show us what you got
May you live through
Interesting times
Public loss and private gain
Have always happily combined
May you live through
Interesting times
One simply cannot overstate
There is no tragedy too great
No we would never hesitate
To up the portion on our plate
May you live through
Interesting times
Screw your way through
Interesting times
May you live through
Interesting times
Interesting
Smart investing
Heart arresting
Rule contesting
Share divesting
Trade infesting
Stock ingesting
Means testing
Interesting interesting
Interesting times.
***
No Fear
So what if it took me until now
To figure out
Just where I fit
Where I can really commit
To a calling, quit dawdling
The scales have all fallen
Away from my eyes
I feel like my whole life
Has been but a petty thing
Spent in the wings
Always auditioning
Just waiting for someone to sing something hopeful
And mean it this time
Well if that someone has got to be me now
Yes if that someone has got to be me
Well I won’t disagree now
Just wait and see now
No
No fear
It don’t all end here
No
No fear
I won’t just disappear
D’ya here?
Oh let me not be explained
Or I might be explained away
Forget about the hour
Forget about the day
This is a fine time
To finally find time
To think about what I want now
Not to feel young or old
But just to feel new
Screw what we’re told
About what we ought to do
There’s a line in the sand
I don’t mind where I stand
So long as I can stand out
And since that line has got to be drawn now
Well it’s my time
I’ve decided it’s all I can do to be sure now
I can do so much more now
No
No fear
It don’t all end here
No
No fear
I won’t just disappear
D’ya here?
To hell with all those doubts in my mind now
Yeah I tell you I’ve figured out just in time
It’s my life to design now
And I’m starting right now.
No
No fear
It don’t all end here
No
No fear
I won’t just disappear
D’ya here?
***
Scandal!
It’s all over the news
But between the lines and under the story
Leaving clues
Just when you’ve decided there’s nothing more
You can possibly lose
There’s a whole lot of nothing
With your name on
From which to choose
It’s a cruel world
Would you have it any other way?
Here we are
The media
Standing guard
Over our
Little patch of history
Decency?
That’s news to me.
Desperate times
Desperate measures
Despite all your best endeavours
Such a crime
Lasts forever
So condemn them
At your leisure
Conscience no chance
Whatever the circumstance
Conscience no chance
Don’t care if it’s happenstance
Conscience no chance
The press shall lead the first advance
Just one
Question
What’s the worst thing you can think of?
Come on, you can do better than that.
I urge you to reach down low
Plumb depths you did not know
Any human could sink to
Oh but hey
Let’s not get carried away
His siblings are his children
His children are his siblings
It’s a wonder it don’t fill them
With crippling misgivings
Incest
Regicide
Look at how the standards slide
Poor old Cal
What a sucker
Turns out her’s a mother —
What’s the worst thing you can think of?
Come on, you can do better than that.
Your secrets will come find you
If they don’t then we’ll remind you
Your future’s got a line through
Just one
Question
What will you do now?
Jocasta Regina
No one obscener
Jocasta Regina
No one uncleaner
Jocasta Regina
Nothing can redeem her.
***
Lock The Doors
Our past rarely lives up to our expectations
My friends all got bent out of shape by despair
Now I only recollect what I wish I could alter
Or wish I had dared
The appetites of memory are so seldom sated
And getting your own back on the world
Well that’s a full time job
So as I give myself up to the grip of the present
I ask it to stop
Now lock and bolt all the doors
Because tomorrow’s coming
Lock and bolt all the doors
Before it begins
Don’t invite it in
You know it’ll cause
Nothing but sorrow
Lock and bolt the doors
Nothing burns like a bridge
Nothing breaks like a promise
Nothing sounds as honest
As a man with a cure
But during the time when I was still unfinished
I yearned to be sure
So muzzle your ambitions
And tender your secrets
We all know the weakest won’t last one more day
But sunlight is brightest
When glimpsed through the bars of a cage
Lock and bolt all the doors
Because tomorrow’s coming
Lock and bolt all the doors
Whatever the spin
Don’t invite it in
You know it’ll cause
Nothing but trouble
Lock and bolt the doors
It’s too late
To become who I thought was
I hate
For that drum to be stilled
But don’t wait
Who am I to say no
If there’s only one road left to follow?
Hide away what you can’t ignore
Model each day on the one before
Fine, ok
But now no more
Just lock and bolt the doors
Tomorrow is coming
Tomorrow is coming
Tomorrow is here
So steer clear
And lock the doors
***
Before You Disperse (reprise)
Don’t you want to feel like you’re a part of something
Don’t you want to feel like you did once before
Don’t you want to feel like this is the start of one thing
That leads to more
I don’t care what they say
About good old days
Empty fantasies
Of big societies
Be on your guard
Because times are hard
For everyone
(well almost)
Don’t rely
On getting by
I’m damned if I
Will stand aside
And lose all hope
Don’t you want to feel like you’re a part of something
Don’t you want to feel like you did once before
Don’t you want to feel like this is the start of one thing
That leads to more
***
No Pockets In A Shroud
My daddy always said
When you drop down dead
There are certain things that just ain’t allowed
When you get your angel wings
Don’t you try to bring a thing
Because there ain’t no pockets in a shroud
Oh my girl you’ll soon be finding
Behind every silver lining
There lurks the biggest deepest darkest cloud
But it don’t matter if you’re rich
Or if you haven’t got a stitch
Because there ain’t no pockets in a shroud
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
So smile and leave it all behind
When the end is nigh
When you’ve sighed all of your sighs
And your last remaining furrow has been ploughed
Come and bid adieu
For it’s not au revoir for you
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
When that big red curtain falls
And they’re sweeping up the stalls
And the girls have dropped their curtsies and you’ve bowed
You’ve taken your last turn
There are no more lines to learn
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud…
All it takes is one calamity
For alas such immortality
Is a trait with which you never were endowed
When you’ve quit all of your hurting
There’s only one thing left that’s certain
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
So now no more caveats
You’ve bagged up and drowned your cats
And choked a sob as each of them meowed
Well isn’t life a bitch
Now you’ve scratched your final itch
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud
There ain’t no pockets in a shroud…
