She had a withered arm that she flopped around, you And she had a dependency on prescription drugs & alcohol too But she had a basic charm that you couldn't see through And I think that she was wasted on you Desire is a constant only weakness is fleeting His head might have been spinning back then But his heart was still beating I know she sucked on you for valuable nutrition But did you have to introduce her to all the competition One by one in the court of the coffee morning queen? As she tried to keep your house clean You kept picking at her weakest seam Until she came undone, 'til she came undone She had a baby son that she doted on through The night when the fates did for him as they'd done for you And although you could've run until your feet were sore You hung around (yeah you hung around) I still think her troubled looks were wasted on you I think her pasty form was wasted on you You can't argue, you can't argue...well Lying there with my knickers twisted The air is blue and the paint is blistered Another mouthful of ashen bathwater - had it cut off, last, lost quarter No exit with feet aflame this fella don't feel the same I lost it a while ago. Said "forever" so the time goes slow I'm wasted on you I'm wasted on you I'm wasted on you

The limit of his tether is getting stretched But this don't matter Because he'll have to swig another Before he slays his brother Don't start on misadventure The missing money that he lent yer Fat profit ran amok There's one thing that you forgot Alcoholic gunslingers are cool Alcoholic gunslingers are cool If anyone thinks there's cooler Let me tell you about the ruler Against which all others must be measured No matter how loved Or how treasured I'm talking abou Dean Martin in 'Rio Bravo' Made the second fastest gun look slow Like they were taking aim Underwater Like a big barn door Swimming towards yer Alcoholic gunslingers are cool Alcoholic gunslingers are cool On the floor scrambling for change Even then he kept the bad guys in range All the guns and the girls Gathered 'round Dino's spirit world And though his liberty was taken He'd need another drink To stop his shooting-arm from shaking And his magnetic appeal Well, it sure looks real Alcoholic gunslingers are cool Alcoholic gunslingers are cool Alcoholic gunslingers are cool Yeah Alcoholic gunslingers are cool

Steel myself a treadmill god Split my lip in the morning sod (There's no stopping us) To slow to can me (From growing up) I'm a Santa Spree Over stile and gates of boot smoothed mud With truceless weather overhead (There's no keeping still) Fat chance of comely (There's no feeling well) Be still Tiger Lilly Said save me save me from myself My loins in heaven but my pride's in hell (There's no stopping up) All risk and no trade (There's no growing up) Come on up to my cave My fitness for itness declines with age God woman ain't yer past that stage (There's no stopping us) Flophouse and coolie (From growing up) Did their worst to soothe me And every branch I tried Turned out petrified

Your girlfriend looks like Joan Quigley La-la-lathered into states of thinking about her Self-esteemed guides always see you right She's your lamp in the darkest night Oh, your girlfriend's own mind Can't be read by the team outside She refuses to spill her innermost thoughts Even for cheques with lots of noughts Is she shrewd or is she stupid To deny all that she did? She's a sage of the old variety Inner peace and irritating piety No one gets to her including you and me

Where are you going? Onwards and outwards Can't pretend that I am a young pup So how is that sleight of hand moving me now? The miracle of laying a cold hand To rest upon the back of my neck I promise I won't ask anymore For the ground rules when I sleep on your floor My flexibility is written in stone So just keep on going As long as I am by your side What's the vital prop that keeps you up? Is it the chance to change Our our customised luv? The new trick that I found has found me out Yeah baby it's out On a sliding scale of one to ten I just went off again You can't be insured against loss So pity me for thinking I was Unmoveable and wise I'd have you back anytime As long as I am by your side What's the vital prop that keeps you up? Is it the chance to rearrange Our our customised luv? As long as I am by your side What's the vital prop that keeps you up? Is it the chance to change Our our our customised luv? Our our customised luv? Our our customised luv? Our our customised luv? You best believe I'm in love l-u-v Our our customised luv? Our our customised luv? Our our customised luv? Our our customised luv?

Buckets overflowing for the worthy cause Spit-wiping pears on your sooted shirt Saying prayers for the working dirt But that's what you are since you got so give-in Holding out your hand, ripe for the taking Some detail caught in the lantern glow Saw frayed cuffs wiping at a dripping nose And red wheels on a donkey's hide that'll never come off Can roll and roll in the pasture but it'll never come off Is this where you are since you got so feeble Huddled down in the crypt where you fight evil So wet blessed with Jerusalem and jam Your cloak soaked right through and drowned the precious little lamb You can't be shook or hurt because the ark's already built Well if only cream gets in then let's pray God cradles milk That's what you are though you try so hard To keep the devil down in your own backyard Our charity began at home and set sail on a boat Through looks stuck in rivers and arrows stuck in throats Left in shelves of silt deep down in the banks Lies an invisible interest and someone to thank For all that you are since you got so lived in A place you can trust when our charity's willing II - Aah the meeting was good and the friends were kind and the temperance brass band struck up just in time (give the blind man change) It's like the sap is rising on the trunk (root and branch) And some of the guys were rolling round drunk(looking for love) Beaks wet with lipstick and elderberry wine (the homemade kind) tap out SOS to a lilied high tide (find out we're tied...) and think of all the misfortune they might yet find (..to this life) and others they've dodged or left behind And that's what they are since you got so giving, held out their hands waiting to be shaken. Brass plates and forelocks, manor gates and sweatshops (from little acorns grow) railings and sidings and triumphs over weaklings (I bend saplings and they bend me) Beatings and hidings going strong in quire stalls and I've grown quite feint at Victorian mores Sure the poorhouse scrubbed up well but still had to pull it down Peel the lice paste from your skin and the gilt from your crown So what part did you play in the latest crusade? (Plans that relayed..) These ventures for good (...national trust) and gottens for gain. Who stumped up the readies, the willings and ables (into which we poured our love..) through canes, sticks and birches and twelve times tables (..long after the cause left us) It's quite a feat to make the world blush pink To get knee deep in mud and not even flinch III - The veil's been parted so keep your twisted legs hid 'cos no rods are spared on a surly cripple of a kid And when you're all three you should keep low in the ditch. Pawn your locket for blankets on nights blacker than pitch. When oaks begin to creak and lungs start to wheeze (when folks begin to say amen I'll think again) and you've made your last farthing from gathering leaves you'll meet a monkey in a pulpit who'll pour silver on your hands and make chimp out of Jesus and tell you how it began. (Oh baby if only I'd made it all up see...) Hell the blzzard's here and I've not spoken (...I want you to treat me like I was equal) freely or dammed or closed or open (She's open or not see...) Ever ready, upright (..but my heart was unlocked) you'll be lashed soon enough for those spells, short and smashed, when I was looking for love It's time for a change beyond your control, clippers are tossed as the seas start to roll The kid got low slithering around stomach on cinders eating worms that she found Has a plague pit for a neighbour and first pick on a plot Gnaws long and yellow on roots that won't rot The bit bores black and the bed spits it out leaves our sopping wretch with five tenths of a shout In the earth's juice 'neath the crust she's taken aback to the glory years of sudden attack That's what you got if you add it up - gum, bottletops and pennies in a pewter cup And that's what I am since I got so give in - held out my hand and I waited to be shaken.

Hey daughter, go outside and smell the flowers You've been indoors for hours and hours And so out in the spring road Verges plump with weeds that always grow No matter that they're dragging tar on the path I dropped some acid in my morning bath If you've a better solution, then bathe me in it I don't wanna spend my late teens in the clinic I want to live but there's not much in it Young and gifted but there's no denying That she's got spots Eighteen no She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got spots She's got thirty-five different creams and pastes Lined up around the sink And not one of these aforesaid ointments Has done anything If you've a better solution, then bathe me in it I don't wanna spend my late teens in the clinic I had a purple patch once But there was a lot of red in it I wanna get the clouds from the skies Get the fringe out of my eyes And wear sleeveless dresses that don't zip up With matching accessories that don't match up I don't wanna wait for my life to clear up I wanna complexion made of that peachy stuff You see in magazines Eighteen no She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got spots Eighteen no She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got spots Eighteen no She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got... Eighteen no oh She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got spots Eighteen no oh oh She's at a late teen low Because she's got spots Eighteen no She's at a late teen low 'Cause she's got spots

Poor old Ra, he's got no basis In fact or shade or his hideaway places And he's got no alarm to wake him up (no man) Bright as he is, he gets no resting While you're sleeping-bagged And the hawks are nesting Down old Ra is rising And he's hot Might be burning, scorching, and frying But he's got the rays that you can rely on There ain't gonna be no disappointment from him (no way) So, if you thought sun worship was a day on the beach Roll out your blanket and get down on your knees And pray to Ra to come back again Yeah, pray to Ra to come back again

Swan, swan, swan Swans about smoking cigars Promoting all that's unhealthy and wrong I know I shouldn't fight 'cos the corner's ours But still I let it drag on and on Making a row man out of me Making a row man out of me Making a row man out of me Making a row man Let's bring the bout outside Sit sulking for a while I could do better (yeah) But I won't I could be bigger, bolder, wiser But I know I won't Making a row man out of me Making a row man out of me Making a row man out of me Making a row man out of me

(And now, more psycho-historical speculation) Tumble in thistle and thrash through corn Show your mettle over nettles and your scars from thorns Pour fuel on a wasps' nest and climb the highest tree Hide from witches play with matches Twenty one kids staging world war iii Torture insects and make rope swings Dam the stream and play out dreams There's nothing harder on the world than the little things Craft bows and arrows and guns with care Air-rifle geese and pull girls' hair You might remember it soft but it's a jungle back there

II - Aah the meeting was good and the friends were kind and the temperance brass band struck up just in time (give the blind man change) It's like the sap is rising on the trunk (root and branch) And some of the guys were rolling round drunk(looking for love) Beaks wet with lipstick and elderberry wine (the homemade kind) tap out SOS to a lilied high tide (find out we're tied...) and think of all the misfortune they might yet find (..to this life) and others they've dodged or left behind And that's what they are since you got so giving, held out their hands waiting to be shaken. Brass plates and forelocks, manor gates and sweatshops (from little acorns grow) railings and sidings and triumphs over weaklings (I bend saplings and they bend me) Beatings and hidings going strong in quire stalls and I've grown quite feint at Victorian mores Sure the poorhouse scrubbed up well but still had to pull it down Peel the lice paste from your skin and the gilt from your crown So what part did you play in the latest crusade? (Plans that relayed..) These ventures for good (...national trust) and gottens for gain. Who stumped up the readies, the willings and ables (into which we poured our love..) through canes, sticks and birches and twelve times tables (..long after the cause left us) It's quite a feat to make the world blush pink To get knee deep in mud and not even flinch

Starve the cold, you won't last much more Light the cot like you did before Simmer down the brown water stew Put your hand on the pot to thaw Those running sores are after you You're being punished for what you've done The past is heated up by the ice and snow How come? How come Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring Stay a while in the white asylum, baby It's God, it's God, he's come down To dress me and to correct me To put me right And still, still, still out in the spring There are corners and creases in the hill Where the flowers and mosses can't breathe Or face the sun, or begin again How come? How come Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring, there are still pockets of snow Even in the spring

It may seem like things can only get worse Because you're facing more of the same How can you dive into a whole new chapter and verse When you can't even turn the next page? Start again or carry on? Start again or carry on? Some things in life are what we choose to call them Start again or carry on? The day they broke up on the rock hard rocks And he waved goodbye to the kids I know the rental van had to be back by 6am But he seemed so keen to get rid Yeah, he had a six-lane grin like a little boy Even the car horns and static sounded like music to him With no meter of lament just an unfolding joy What lady out there could refuse him? Start again or carry on? Start again or carry on? The starkest, boldest decisions are made every single day Start again or carry on? He's got a slab for a bed and a rod for his back Got an irresponsible lifestyle and too much wine in the fridge Got afeather in his hard hat and a lover in his apartment Got to work hard just to keep his income hid This is what he did Start again or carry on? Start again or carry on? Some things in life are what we choose to call them Start again or carry on? Thought love weren't the truth if he weren't hitting the roof Start again or carry on? I may be wrong but he's heading for home Start again or carry on?

Living with hope is beyond my means (I mean, I mean) Years went by like a late night film Like a drop in the ocean Like a hill of beans Someone watches over me Someone watches over me Human, all-too human being That ghost of sleep is living on People don't die when it seems People don't die when it seems Someone watches over me Someone watches over me

The fisherman will return as a herring The butcher will return as a pig So, it follows...I will come back as you

She was an obstacle to a miracle Well, that's a real life woman I know From a trail of perfume in winter To a dead end figure in the snow She's not make up dust (she's not that) She's not powder and paint (she's not bad) She has everything Why do I want someone she ain't? To have and to hold someone in soft focus Of course they're gonna to turn hard in your arms To love a lily under a plague of locusts And not how I love someone, anyone She's not make up dust (she's not that) She's not powder and paint (she's not bad) She had everything Why did I make her someone she ain't? She's not make up dust (she's not that) She's not cowered or faint (she's not bad) She's still walking 'round alive And she's made up the same She's not make up dust (she's not that) She's not powder and paint (she's not bad) She had everything Why did I want someone she ain't?

Frost forms a winter pallor On the rotting crab apples Piled deep in the barrow Kids get with the smell of rockets Damp cooker matches in their pockets Before the first one's been lit Let's have another hit We'll do the trick Get a hold and burn We'll do the trick And keep on burning With rags of turpentine And pages wet with with creosote Take a note because someday soon this will have past They used to light fireworks for Guido Take a note because someday soon this will have past They used to light fireworks for Guido

The veil's been parted so keep your twisted legs hid Because no rods are spared on a surly cripple of a kid And when you're all three you should keep low in the ditch. Pawn your locket for blankets on nights blacker than pitch. When oaks begin to creak and lungs start to wheeze (when folks begin to say "amen" I'll think again) And you've made your last farthing from gathering leaves You'll meet a monkey in a pulpit who'll pour silver on your hands And make chimp out of Jesus and tell you how it began. (Oh baby if only I'd made it all up see...) Hell the blzzard's here and I've not spoken (...I want you to treat me like I was equal) Freely or dammed or closed or open (She's open or not see...) Ever ready, upright (..but my heart was unlocked) You'll be lashed soon enough for those spells, short and smashed, When I was looking for love It's time for a change beyond your control, Clippers are tossed as the seas start to roll The kid got low slithering around Stomach on cinders eating worms that she found Has a plague pit for a neighbour and first pick on a plot Gnaws long and yellow on roots that won't rot The bit bores black and the bed spits it out Leaves our sopping wretch with five tenths of a shout In the earth's juice 'neath the crust she's taken aback To the glory years of sudden attack That's what you got if you add it up Gum, bottletops and pennies in a pewter cup And that's what I am since I got so give in Held out my hand and I waited to be shaken.

My past collapses behind me And I'm glad as soon as it leaves me I'm rid As a rotten bridge dissolves without fault Neither sugar or salt Or right or wrong It's just gone

It was down the track behind your house i'd split some rosehips and put the seeds down your blouse being a tender, wordless moment you thought you'd speak and you declared your undying love and it was just that for four whole weeks for the first week i had a kind of airsickness from being permanently off the ground but i got over this by holding your hand tighter to keep my weightless body down now in the second week I began to show you off around school and i wrote your name on my bag and carved it on my desk too yeah that had to be a sign, an indelible seal proof, if proof were needed, that this love was real and by week three i was dabbling in poetry even though your name was a devil to rhyme and despite the fact that my freer verse never captured the severity of the time and although a fifteen year olds' vocabulary is artless, pompous, selfish back then i absolutely knew that i meant it when i think back to those days it's you you you that i miss first loves and all that....how did it come to this? if you're in town (look me up) i want to catch up on (what what) what you've been doing for the last fifteen years so if you're in town (look me up) oh you were the brightest stream and you only had to ask me and i'd go on at length about our future in the green grass see us running side by side together - lots of future, lots of past no work, no worry, no struggle...i knew it was going to last oh if you're in town (look me up) i want to catch up on (what what) what have you been doing for the past fifteen years if you're in town (look me up) if you're in town (look me up) if you're in town (look me up) if you're in, if you're in...(look me up) yeah if you're in town (look me up)

I escape for the weekend But it's not always enough To get me through the week And all of the week's plainer stuff I know everybody tells you That the world's bliss can't last Might be some truth in that But it does it have to go by so fast Are you free inside? Are you free inside? Are you free inside When you hide? (I thought they'd never leave)