1. |
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We’re afraid of becoming them
We’re afraid of being like them
Afraid of living their lives
We have hopes that we’ll be something more
With the fear that we’ll be nothing more
We’ll leave this place tonight
I don’t know where we’ll go but it has to be better
We can leave this place tonight
Or live out our lives... in terror
As the train speeds away
Beyond the limits of the town
We see the houses tumble
And turn into rolling hills
Then we look in each other’s eyes
And see a nervous smile arise
'Cause I'm here with you and you're here with me
Leaving the town in search of the city
Leaving the town in search of the countryside
We arrive in the city
See the scale and the splendour
The crush of the people
The rush of a new life
Trains towards new lands
Of Britain
Of Europe
Can we live among them?
Yes, we are not dead
We are not dead
Now life is so much better
We can forgive all the pain of our lost years
And as the sun is beating down
Reflected in the river
There's something to be said for
The hills and the fields
There's no escaping the things that we've seen
But we'll fight for this life and we'll live 'til we're dead
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2. |
Romance of the Skies
03:53
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I wasn’t paying attention
To the droning of your intentions
I was a thousand feet above Lands End
I was battling with the crosswinds
I’m in the rattling and the tension
Between gravity and the engines
Flying even closer to heaven
It’s beyond all my comprehension
All the boys are sailing and they’re never seen again
They’ve gone diving for the sirens in the waves
All the boys are sailing and they’re never seen again
You can keep the silver pennies for my eyes
Now I see the Thames, its glistening
The sky is slowly falling in
Another continent drifts below me
A compass points to my destination
I never thought that I’d feel this lonely
I never thought I’d feel so alive
Amy of the Skies
Now I see the Thames it’s glistening
The sky is falling down
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3. |
Belle of the Ball
04:47
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How much time will I waste on you tonight?
Waiting at the side of the room
With all the other fools
Hoping once you’ll meet my eye
Like that time before
When the band struck up
You and I danced across the floor
I’ve pictured the moment so many times
How you meet my eye
Oh, the restless nights I’ve spent
Straining in the sheets
We’re waltzing
My hand slips down your waist
You don’t even notice
You just love the dance
When we’re spinning across the floor
I don’t know which way is down anymore
And I’m consumed by the belle of the ball
I’ve been standing under streetlamps for hours outside your house
I don’t think you’re home
I don’t presume to know
The yellow fog sprawls about the town
And I wander for hours
I keep practicing my steps
Don’t want to go home to my small room
Covered with pictures
With pictures of you
But when we’re spinning across the floor
I don’t know which way is down anymore
And I’m consumed by the belle of the ball
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4. |
Sadness of the Peaks
03:38
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Hand over hand we climb
Into the sky above,
No one to welcome us, no cheering crowds to see;
Just the clinking of bells, the sound of our breath,
Laboured and forlorn we watch the sun setting
Watching TV; a fat man with asthma has climbed the same peaks as me
Seemed so easy
No one knew what we knew; now there’s nothing to cling to
Hand over hand we climb
Nothing up there, just an inhuman sky and a chill in the atmosphere
Now everyone knows there’s no reason to rise from your chair
or go looking for the sadness of the peaks
There’s nothing up there but the clean and frozen air
On the dreary streets, it’s hard to get around now that I’m older
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5. |
Time on my Hands
05:02
|
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Skyline over the rooftops is the colour of milk
The calm of an early evening
Watching planes slide through the sky
You wear a floaty dress
I’m lounging in my workshirt
We can sit like this for hours before the cold drives us away
One of us is going to have to leave
When nature runs its course,
I’ll leave you with a houseful of car boot bargains
Let’s not talk about it now
Let’s not talk now
All the things that we do
With all this time on our hands
Keep busy mixing cocktails for our friends
And waiting for the spring to rush through us again
So we can dance like we’re animals at the disco
And you can write your novel while I comb my hair
And I can sings my songs into the mirror
Or else we spend our evening staring blackly into the fire
Maybe it would make it easier to part right now
We’ve got our lives ahead of us
Lots of time to get used to being alone
With all the things that I’ll do
With all this time on my hands
Keep busy mixing cocktails for my friends
And waiting for the spring to rush through us again
So I can dance like I’m an animal at the disco
And you can write your novel while I comb my hair
And I can sings my songs into the mirror
Or else we spend our lonely evenings staring into the fire
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6. |
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We said our goodbyes, to all the things that used to trouble us
And finally I got to feeling good about that,
But now they start to creep back in again.
Right here
Right now
You keep your eyes down, oh but we know
These things will worm back to our lives
So on we struggle
Won't turn away
And I'm not sure we'll run this time.
The idle day passed away
They lay on beaches bleached by the sun
On this hilltop,
Through the still night
Our eyes grow red and sore
A night at the Observatory
Into the infinite we fly
Beyond the moon and back in time
Back to the place we left behind
On all those nights with the television
Into the infinite we fly
Beyond the moon and back in time
Back to the place we left behind
Back to the place we left behind
Lost on the high street, drifted so far from our old lives
We shuffled 'round with our eyes tied to the ground
And now we watch another library close
It's a win
For the marketplace
When we were young, we dreamed of something beautiful,
It faded with routine
So on we struggle
Out on our own
But we can't run away this time
As the last rays of light
Take their leave of the town
While they sit there
Watch the wrong stars
Our eyes grow red and sore
When there's a life in the observatory!
The nights all alone
The nights with the mirror
The beauty before you
The knowledge of sinners
Away from the darkness
Of poor received wisdom
Away from the nights
When time just drags on and on...
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7. |
Men of Affairs
04:06
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I sent you letters by facsimile
It was cheaper
Paid for our luncheons with the petty cash
So much neater
I lie to the wife like she’s my client
Dazzle with promises
Let’s feign some work and then it’s play
All the times that we spent in Paris – Champs Elysees
All the grand imperial lines
Reflect my love for you
Confound my trust in you
We will last as long as the bubbles rising up inside our glasses of champagne
I am a master of the universe
These things I understand
I’ll sell you my love like a treasured brand
I’ll have your loyalty
Just leave your details with my secretary
What could be simpler?
We’ll leave our problems in hotels
All the times that we spent in Berlin - Potsdamer Platz
All the glass and the polished lines
Reflect my love for you
Confound my trust in you
We will last as long as the bubbles rising up inside our glasses of champagne
We sit above them in the royal box
How it suits us
The music bores us but the wine tastes nice.
You’ve never dressed finer
No one suspects us but word gets around
Don’t get them started
A minor issue I must solve
Devolve
Convenient resolve
All the times that we spent in New York – Madison Square
All the glass and the polished lines
Reflect my love for you
Confound my trust in you.
We will last as long as the bubbles rising up inside our glasses of champagne
Now the money has been spent,
The way that money’s always spent.
The end of the affair
The end of us
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8. |
March Hare
03:14
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You’ve got your boxing gloves on
And your fighting shirt
If no one comes to take you away
Someone’s going to get hurt
You see the moon is lit up
Like a silver plate
And you see faces everywhere
You’re ready to fight them
If they get too close
And baby that’s the way these things occur
It’s just the thrill of the springtime
It’s just the pull of the moon
Another drop in the ocean
Another flower that’s in bloom
We all know that seasons will change
And this burning madness will fade
But oh, the sun it shined down once
Between the rains
On your parade
Now you’re up on your hind legs
And you're boxing clever!
We love it when you show some sport
The origin of the species
It gets us every time
Cause we’re excited by the sight of drawing blood
It’s just the thrill of the springtime
It’s just the pull of the moon
Another drop in the ocean
Another flower that’s in bloom
And Newton's apple will fall...
We all know that seasons will change
And this burning madness will fade
But oh, the sun it shined down once
Between the rains
On your parade
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9. |
Hangover Square
04:51
|
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Drinking to the depths of despair
Where was I?
Adrift in Brighton
Nothing beats the sting of the waves
Nothing beats the sting of the waves
Do you think we could go somewhere remote?
I don’t like it here, I’m frightened
I I don’t want to drink anymore
Why raise a glass to abject failure
Hangover Square is where you’ll find me waiting for you
Why must you be so inhumane
All I’ve ever done was for you
In a cottage, together in the country
And nothing but the sun in our eyes
Why do you keep bringing me here
I don’t like these types you cling to
Your friends look through me drinking my gin
Oh what’s the point? So raise your glass to
Hangover Square is where you’ll find me waiting for you
Walking to Hove
The feel of death in my bones
Needing some warmth
The rain is cold and cruel
Her laughter brings on the tears
Abused for too many years
How could this have happened
When my intentions are pure
I climb the stairs broken and cold
To the room on one would visit
I hatch a plan to make it all right
That wretch and friends will pay their debts in
Hangover Square
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10. |
Sad Road to the Sea
04:59
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We took the side road to the sea
You didn’t speak and hardly breathed
While I listened to the sounds of the road you made patterns in the steam
We lit a fire by a fisherman’s boat
And sat down to watch the sea
I still hoped for a change in the weather but you wanted just to leave
Well, that’s you and me.
Stay for tea tonight,
We won’t be back here again some other time.
And you can say just what you like
And then we’ll float away upon the tide
Why don’t we stay at home tonight
And then we won’t be alone this final time
After all we’re not machines eating coals and breathing steam
Stopped at a café, read a dirty magazine,
These things once learned will soon enough become routine
We couldn’t fade away into the sand and salty sea
Lost little robots from the city
Well that’s you and me
But stay for me tonight,
We won’t be back here again some other time.
And you can say just what you like
And then we’ll float away upon the tide
Why don’t we stay at home tonight
And then we won’t be alone this final time
After all we’re not machines eating coals and breathing steam
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11. |
His Last Bow
03:49
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Vain little man, hours at the lathe,
In the shed at the foot of the drive,
Weeping to the sound of the gas,
Yet again.
What is in his mind, thinking of the times,
After school, so long ago,
When nothing seemed to fit
Behind the bikeshed – no one came,
He went
On the mournful branchline, Bradshaw in hand,
No one saw his last.
Working in vain on a new idea,
Whose zeal only houseclearers will see,
Rummaging for goods,
On the mournful branchline, Bradshaw in hand,
No one saw his last bow.
A shamefaced meal in a frowsy room;
Irish stew.
Standing for hours behind the bikesheds,
The one thing he remembers at this time.
On the mournful branchline, Bradshaw in hand,
No on sees him, no one understands.
On the mournful branchline, Bradshaw in hand,
No one saw his last bow.
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12. |
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|
Behind us the branch lines are closing fast,
They leave scars across the country where they wade knee-deep in grass
The roads were crammed with tired men who used up all their chances
We stole aboard the carriage to indulge in this romance.
Through the glass things are peaceful;
nothing seems as hard, but when we’re home at last
We will sleep in fits and starts and wake up tired
It’s always better when you’re leaving
Always smiling back at something
Objects in the mirror getting smaller and more rosy tinted.
Cranes rise through the dusty sky
Like hogweed on the riverside -
But you and I are happy as the train flies through the summertime;
Past oceans, trees and factories, we're basking in the peoples' glee
On daytrips to the reservoir we're lunching in the buffet car.
The endless lines of city blocks;
The ticking of the mournful clock -
They fade into the pictures of our sleep
And they’re lost under the silence of our dreams.
As the train rolls past another town
of redbrick, ashes, tears and frowns
you and I we sleep, while young girls till furrows in the ground -
They're dreaming of a place they'll never see,
Like mudlarks scrounging on the estuary.
All those foolish dreams,
Well we don’t really believe in them
But we hear the hiss of steam,
And the shadows on the platform wait for us
Birds of Oxford,
Birds of Gloucestershire.
And all those things we left behind
Falling in love and wasting time
We leave shadows on the branch lines
That won't know this life again.
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