We're back! We're back! I imagine you are going to say, "Who cares?" "Who are you?" "You have not been missed at all" "But you're back from precisely where we cannot say" But we're back! We're back! And we're the same, yeah, we're the same But you knew that already Because no one ever changes or goes away for long O, we're back! We're back to punish your indifference The first time around, how could you miss all these hits? We're back! We're back to give you another chance To fall in love with things like this....

Caught you out, caught you out with all your real friends On the town, on the town where we'd never been And you looked five years younger than me And you looked five times happier than then Yeah, you look like you fit in again With the herd and the crowds and the din Caught you out, caught you out with a single friend In a place, in a place we would never frequent And he looks five years younger than you You looked ten times happier than when You would drag me along unwilling to Nightclub scenes with happy people in them I should think of your feelings but I don't care anymore I should think of you less Yeah, I should think of your happiness but I don't care anymore Guess I should think of you less Caught you out, caught you out with your real love On a street, on a street you were floating above And you still look five years younger than me But you look a little greyer than when We'd pretend to be something we weren't And pretend that these meetings don't hurt

I'm as fat as a pig, I'm as pure as a lamb I give light to the world from the palm of my hands To have a heart like mine you need more funds than trust That's why I hide it in a place you won't look For a single percent it is one and the same For us lovers of life who have no complaints Have a home of my own but I want what is yours Own the roof up above now I want the floor Understand why I am removing the rug Enough is not enough Enough is not enough I am as lean as a streak, I am as light as a lamp I give light to the world. Do I get any thanks? I know what is mine. Have no need to exchange A veil and a ring for the blood in your veins For us chosen ones it is one and the same For those lovers of life who have no complaints Surely I pay you enough to look up your skirt Installed a ceiling of glass now I want the earth One day of rest and six days of work Enough is not enough Enough is not enough There are things that I own and things that I don't Don't need them all but that's not the point A long death drive to get more stuff Enough is not enough I'm as high as a hog, I'm as brave as a lion A living life lesson to the poor that I am trying To let the piss trickle down from my normalised theft Shouldn't want for more. I can't settle for less For us single percent it is always the same We will sail through life and still have complaints It's the will of the world to which we must bend The natural order of things, I know it won't end Nature's way to accrue more stuff Enough is not enough Enough is not enough

The birds and bees are arranging themselves For cameras rendering nature on the lobby cards Print this version of events and don't think too long Press record on unpopular song We are caged in with others behaving themselves They want for nothing with no one else They want for nothing with no one else And so on And so on And so on Present this version in a carpet bag Prevent this version in a carpet bag And never let on we did it ourselves And so on And so on And so on They want for nothing with no one else They want for nothing with no one else

Scream your head off Cry your eyes out for attention It's loud and it's clear Do not disappoint me, dear Hope this is no false alarm I'm dropping my plans for you I'm diverting my attention to you To save you from harm What more do you want but my undivided attention? Is that a pencil behind your ear? I made a note to ignore the wolf Now you have my attention And your updated status is clear Is it privacy you crave or attention? Are those roses? Are those roundheads? I've only got two modes of being I am kind of here or I am not here So to get any consolation or to get any more attention It's a fucking arms race I can see now But those bruises need attention And that black eye needs attention Yeah and your scars need attention And your neediness needs attention Yeah, your neediness needs attention Your neediness needs attention

Two green arches of paint And I'll buy the farm and the hill that it's built on Two quick washes of grey And I'll see the geese flying in Atlantic formation That red paint on your sleeve The PVA film on your jeans I don't need any convincing these things are real Six thin lines of ink I have a sphinx in the desert sun Four thick twists of black It's transmogrified back, meow, meow, meow That unvarnished chip on your nail Is how these illusions prevail I don't need any convincing these things are real Some will tell you look harder Suspend your disbelief Some will argue this surface has nothing Underneath One white circle of paint I'll know what it ain't That we'll agree on One short dab of blue and you'll see it, too Then we can start on The yellow gloss on the walls The dried paint on the doors I don't need any convincing these things are real I don't need any convincing these things are real

Heba had the peasants trampled underfoot She had always been gifted like that To come into her sphere They flatly refused Some of those love letters weren't meant for you O, Heba We are your children We were mistaken To think O, Heba you have no need to be good Still wouldn't love you if you were Because you were born A miserable queen We are not supposed to know what it is you have seen O, Heba Are we your children? Were we mistaken to think? To think

They got friends online They got friends at school They got friends that are strung out and friends that approve They got friends They got friends with jobs They got friends with hope They got friends on strings and friends on dope They got friends They got friends with no dads They got friends with no mums They got friends who are friendless and friends who are bums They got friends They got friends with leopards and exotic pets They got friends with nothing and friends with lots They got friends They got friends who are strong and friends who are weak They got friends with promise and friends past their peak They got friends They got friends who are deep and read philosophy They got friends who are shallow like you and me They got friends They got friends who are weird and friends who say they are They got friends with connections and friends with scars They got friends They got friends engaged and friends who are bored They got friends who are perfect and friends who are flawed They got friends They got friends they trust and friends they don't They got friends they'll sleep with and friends they won't They got friends They got friends on glue They got friends on speed They got friends on tap They got friends in need They got friends They got friends who are pretty and friends who are plain They got friends who are loyal and friends who ain't They got friends They got friends with futures and friends with pasts They got friends for five minutes and friends that'll last They got friends They got friends nearby and friends who have fled They got friends that are living and friends that are dead They got friends They got friends on their own and friends with friends They got friends in love and friends who pretend they got friends They got friends They got friends They got friends

3,2,1,4 I made fourteen figurines for you from the finest trifles We have grown together like lichen on bark and barrel towers You know I am compensating for the times we last left Who can take down your address when it is plainly in a mess It's in a mess, it's in a mess, it's in a mess I made sixteen kilobytes for you of the finest binary You took all the stories home and made the endings happy Bells tolled every Sunday painter learn to mix acrylic Orthodox palettes are cleaned with rags but you were always worth less It's in a mess, it's in a mess, it's in a mess I concede what I've achieved is under new inspection There's a bit one minute in when it was pure / "objection" Now I repeat it to make a pattern When you think it means much more It really doesn't It's in a mess, it's in a mess, it's in a mess It's in a mess, it's in a mess

I can see freedom, I can't see trouble I can't see the point in seeing double Yeah, we drank and drank and drank until the feeling was gone And the visions wore off and we were left alone There is a devil living in this cage He is twice your size She was half your age It spoke to us three times a day And it took all our strength To get him to stay Now there'a hole filled with soap And we imagine it's our nature Yeah, there's a sewer filled with soap And we imagine it's our nature There was a devil. Was there a devil? There is a devil. Is there a devil? There was a devil. Was there a devil in the deed? Be more guarded. Be less guarded. Could you be guarded? Be more guarded. Be less guarded. Be more guarded in the deed. The devil has come The devil is done The devil has won The devil is done The devil. The devil. The devil. The devil. The devil. The devil. The devil has come The devil is done

I I'm walking out On the previous me I am resolved to change A change that has overcome us all And kept me awake When you were asleep I am walking out I am walking out I I'm walking out On the model home I helped to build I am immune to change For change read dropping old ideals Once held to be real I am walking out I am walking out on This borrowed dream These tedious times These memes, these tides, the trappings, the callings And to what end? And then to pretend to choose The ambition or the murderous muse? I know, I know you will follow me out Onto the ledge I am walking out I am walking out I am walking out I can leave this way Or via the trap door And fall out into the void An unthrilling region I'd rather avoid I am walking out I am walking out onto the ledge with you

Can't you detect that I had two phases? One when I was in love and one when I was faking O, let's move on What I once held dear needs replacing There's a length of chain with your name on Let's move on If I was any more narcissistic, I would begin to write A one-man musical about my life Starring me and no one else Do you think it's a cry for help? These things can't be undone So, let's move on Let's move on When we argued in Carnac, I wasn't really with it The rocks took it hard and begged for your forgiveness O, let's move on I've been watching tombs of Indians in the fag ends of Rome With the mysteries of Lisbon thrown in for fun I won't change I wish I could be more direct like you And not waste time trying not to be rude The curse of a civil tongue is for cat people living alone These things can't be undone So, let's move on Let's move on These things cannot be undone These things can't be undone So, let's move on Let's move on So, let's move on These things can't be undone So, let's move on Let's move on Let's move on

Plants come to cultivate Thoughts come to incubate Banks rush to speculate About you Rubber-spined invertebrates Were blamed for the mess you made These husks we will dessicate Around you (spread them out!) What's the basis of your premise, love? (I cannot see it) What are these cases of such precious love? Crowds tend to dissipate When people affiliate With all known associates Except you On which subjects predicate The object of a pearly gate Only oysters appreciate The real you What's the basis of your premise, love? (I cannot see it) What are these cases of such precious love?

Our fates intertwined like a neck and a noose Two planks of wood proving they're useless She looked like a bullfrog and dressed like a princess Hasn't been seen through for four or five minutes You know I'm fond / You know I'm fond of All distractions that demand my attention So, how could I live without these demands? Our fates intertwined like an arrow and target Punctures her heart but at least she can hide it Fought like a champ, made up like a hostess The wine in the face was just part of the process You know they're bound / You know they're bound to All distractions that demand their attention And, how could they live without these demands? Their fates intertwined like a wrist and a razor The blood in the bath he was saving for later Poured on the tiles, poured in the glass with And drunk with a creature she was caught in a trap with Fate's in reverse when you know that it's nonsense A glimpse of the future before it can hurt you This tune will resolve in the way you expect Starts as a strength, ends as a defect You know I'm fond / You know I'm fond of All distractions that demand my attention So, how could I live without these demands? You know they're bound / You know they're bound to All distractions that demand their attention And, how could they live without these demands? All distractions that demand my attention So, how could I live without these demands?

When Jad Fair wrote a song about my brother, it took a while He was working with Kramer. He was stopped in the middle by thunder He rhymed Britain with smitten because he can He is Jad Fair And it’s all good, it’s all fine And he knows what a brother is: Jad and David. Me and Graham. Art and music. Music and film Me and my brother, we go back a way We used to make tapes. Make their covers Lying on the floor entombed in music, wrapped in paper From paper / cuts from Jad to me to Graham When he first heard Half Japanese, he found them funny For one song, for one song Then he knew, then he knew, then he knew There would be no more Beatlemania And we never wanted to be like them. Being awkward was a badge We could not join in with anyone only with each other. Art, he has it made. He has made it Music, he has it made. He has made it Film, he has it made. He has made it Family, he has it made. He has made it He is a good man It’s not a charmed life. He has made it When Jad Fair wrote a song about my brother, He hardly knew but he knew Yeah, he knew

Well dressed in a white cube Well shoed Heels With the squeak of pumps on hard working concrete Skimmed pretty in grey paint period Sobs over drone period The audience fails to notice Their failure even Polite applause (in situ) Say "room" not "site" Say "room" not "space" Say "get" not "source" Polite applause The audience fails to notice The audience fails to notice The audience fails to notice

The first night alone and it could be worse I could be riddled with cancer I could be dead in a hearse With no one at the funeral Except for those who have been paid By an evil employer At minimum wage The first night alone and it could be worse I could be dying of pneumonia I could be under a curse Set by demons hell bent on telling me that Your first night alone Won't be your last Alone

When the masonry bees find flaws in your house Will you drive them out? Or will you let them be bees? Masonry bees When the weeds of July find fissures in your drive Will you let them survive? Will you let them be weeds? Summer weeds

There were head lice In the teeth Of the tortoise Shell comb You took home To melt In the tar In the street There was daylight in the evening When you called for no reason But I knew you were leaving the world I knew I can't help thinking I can't help This misery you've made you've made yourself The rain streams like a grey rope The leaves and twigs therein have no hope Of returning to their tree As you to me Was there daylight in the evening When you called me for a reason? Could I tell then you were leaving the world that I knew? I can't help thinking I can't help This misery you've made you've made yourself I can't help thinking I can't help This misery you've made you've made yourself This misery This misery This misery This misery

Embedded all week in this hierarchy You would do the same for me if you could, if you could Climbing out of the hole you're in Would take twice as long with him (yes, it would) So, push him on the spikes, baby Impale him in the pit below And we will go on walking by the river Yeah, we will go on walking by the river Yeah, we will go on walking by the river on our own Push him on the spikes, baby Impale him in the pit below Push him on the spikes, baby Impale him in the pit below And we will go on We will go on We will go on

With your blue hair non-committal A Swiss role Pricey leggings You grassed us up And we held it against you, Astrid Plain You did the decent thing You did decent things Look up Astrid Plain Still out there Out of reach Not an art school levelling A way of defeating common yobs Never went out alone The perch, the parrot, the higher places There's a mountain air surrounding Astrid Plain Astrid Plain Astrid Plain

There are some notes here upon this stage And I hate what they're saying About our freedom to move around They want us to talk about our feelings whereas There are some clear directions from overhead Others have no problem swallowing them Why can't we follow them into That eternal, restful place that makes sense of life? Will we recognise it for what it is? We are retreating from the brink of reason Faith should be the preserve of children No miracles will help you No god will guide you No heaven awaits you Nothing awaits you There are some dry leaves in this book Upon which I have sworn To remove you from this box And place you on these lawns Where the wet grass upon your skin Will make you young again And keep you from caving in When the devil says he has won Will you recognise it for what it is? Sentimental nostalgia for universal truth will kill us all Longing for the certainties of faith will kill us all This will kill us all

Still, it's a calor flame of inhibition And it flickers still despite my years advancing O, leave us clinging to your side What do aunt's really know? For bearing. They went first. The hard way. The ox gravel path Roots are one thing but not the only thing Stopping me God help us Drawn from the hellstone A pit of pure poison Effects are not symptoms Weekends aren't seasons Causes aren't reasons Some cliche helps Kristeva says Alive or dead I composed this I must be this I composed it I must feel it stopping me Stopping me

It is only timing....timing I lack It is only fortune...fortune we lack When you found me, I was not up to much When you unearthed me, I was covered in mud It is only timing...timing...timing...time...I lack I mixed fortune with pleasure in bulk When you found me, I had nothing You loved me more when I had nothing You loved me more when I had nothing When you unearthed me, I was covered in mud When you came out, you were covered in blood

Sure we fall out now and then I cannot stop this happening We will rejoin like they do in all songs And in future songs O, the future knows best Read blueprints, stole golden plans Handed handouts in our hands Had no visions, had no dreams I wrote living with hope was beyond our means O, the future knows best Precognition of the morning sun As it hits us one last time And this thought will strike us again In the final flame O, the future knows best The years add up and then subtract From our mutual future span We cannot escape these cells Unless we think of something else O, the future knows best We can break up now and then Form a new thing or regress again To the furrowed field we know Ain't it lonely when you're out on your own? O, the future knows best Precognition of an evening bulb As it is turned off one last time Will we have this thought again In the final frame? O, the future knows best O, the future knows best O, the future knows best O, the future knows best With no foreknowledge you are always becoming With high foreknowledge you are being your self With no foreknowledge you are always becoming With high foreknowledge you are being your self

Every time reminds me of a better time It makes ageing such a terrible thing The past folding into all that is good now One day, it will leave us alone Every place reminds me of another place So I don't care where I am I can live in my head alone It's so hard for you to move in To that same house again Sorry it's full of places only I have been Everything reminds me of something else And it makes growing old such a terrible thing I'm reminded of you again When I'm just sitting on my own With nothing but the breeze Moving through the trees You again Faced with you again I think of all the living friends I'd rather see Here again Oh God not here again There must be other places You'd rather be Everyone reminds me of someone else You cannot be yourself No matter how hard you try You're an amalgam of the previous The dead and those preceding us You're a version of someone less flawed Who I loved more