SONG FOR CLAY (DISAPPEAR HERE)
I am trying to be heroic
In an age of modernity
I am trying to be heroic
As all around me history sinks
So I enjoy and I devour
Flesh and wine and luxury
But in my heart I am lukewarm
Nothing ever really touches me
At Les Trois Garçons
We meet at precisely nine o'clock
I order the foie gras
And I eat it with complete disdain
Bubbles rise in champagne flutes
But when we kiss I feel nothing
Feasting on sleeping pills
And Marlboro reds
Self-pity won't save you
Oh how our, how our parents
They suffered for nothing
Live the dream
Live the dream
Live the dream
Like the eighties never happened
People are afraid, are afraid
To merge on the freeway
Disappear here
We stroll past the queue
Into the magazine launch party
I am handed a pill and I swallow
With complete disdain
Kick drum pounds, off-beat hi-hats
Remember to look bored
We suck each other's faces
And make sure we are noticed
The cocaine won't save you
Because East London is a vampire
It sucks the joy right out of me
How we longed for corruption
In these golden years
Oh how our, how our parents
They suffered for nothing
Live the dream
Live the dream
Live the dream
Like the eighties never happened
People are afraid, are afraid
To merge on the freeway
Disappear here
Disappear here
HUNTING FOR WITCHES
I was sitting on the roof of my house
With a shotgun and a six-pack of beer
Six-pack of beer
Six-pack of beer
The newscaster says:
"The enemy's among us"
As bombs explode on the 30 bus
Kill your middle-class indecision
Now is not the time for liberal thought
So I go hunting for witches
I go hunting for witches
Heads are going to roll
I go hunting for
(In the) nineties
Optimistic as a teen
Now it's terror
Airplanes crash into towers
Into towers, crash into towers
The Daily Mail says:
"The enemy is among us"
"Taking our women and taking our jobs"
All reasonable thought is being drowned out
By the non-stop baying, baying
Baying for blood
So I go hunting for witches
I go hunting for witches
Heads are going to roll
I go hunting for...
I was an ordinary man with ordinary desire
I watched TV, it informed me
I was an ordinary man with ordinary desire
There must be accountability
Disparate and misinformed
Fear keeps us all in place
So I go hunting for witches
I go hunting for witches
Heads are going to roll
I go hunting for
I was an ordinary man with ordinary desire
I watched TV, it informed me
I was an ordinary man with ordinary desire
There must be accountability
Disparate and misinformed
Fear keeps us all in place
WAITING FOR THE 7.18
Waiting for the seven eighteen
January is endless
Weary eyed and forlorn
The Northern Line is the loudest
Sitting in silence in bars after work
I've got nothing to add or contest
Can I still kick a ball a hundred yards?
Now we cling to bottles
And memories of the past
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments
(Give me moments)
Not hours or days
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments
(Give me moments)
Grinding your teeth
In the middle of the night
Let the sadness off those molars
Spend all your spare time
Trying to escape
With crosswords and Sudoku
If I could do it again
I'd make more mistakes
I'd not be so scared of falling
If I could do it again
I'd climb more trees
I'd pick and I'd eat more wild...
Blackberries
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments
(Give me moments)
Not hours or days
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments
(Give me moments)
Let's drive to Brighton on the weekend...
Let's drive to Brighton on the weekend...
THE PRAYER
Lord, give me grace and dancing feet
And the power to impress
Lord, give me grace and dancing feet
Let me outshine them all
Is it so wrong to crave recognition?
Second best, runner-up
Is it so wrong to want rewarding?
To want more than is given to you?
Than is given to you?
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle them with my wit
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle, I will outshine them all
Standing on the packed dance floor
Our bodies throb in time
Silent on the weekdays
Tonight I claim what's mine
Is it so wrong to crave recognition?
Second best, runner-up
Is it so wrong to want rewarding?
To want more than is given to you?
Than is given to you?
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle them with my wit
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle, I will outshine them all
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle them with my wit
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle, I will outshine them all
UNIFORM
There was a sense of disappointment
As we left the mall
All the young people looked the same
Wearing their masks of cool and indifference
Commerce dressed up as rebellion
'Cause we're so handsome
And we're so bored
So entertain us
Tell me a joke
Make it long, make it last
Make it cruel, just make me laugh
We can't be hurt
We can't be hurt
Drink to forget your blues on the weekend
Think about more things to buy
The TV taught me how to sulk
And love nothing
And how to grow my hair long
'Cause we're so handsome
(We're so handsome)
And we're so bored
(We're so bored)
So entertain us
(Entertain us)
Tell me a joke
(Tell me a joke)
Make it long, Make it last
Make it cruel just make me laugh
We can't be hurt
We can't be hurt
We can't be hurt
So why do you go picking fights that you'll lose?
(When you have entertainment)
(When you have things to pass the time)
So why do you go thinking thoughts that are above you?
(You can be happy, just play dumb)
(You can be happy, just play dumb)
Well I was brave and unique
Intelligent, a snowflake
I could have been a hero
No-one can be trusted
Over the age of 14
Tattoo our arms
Converse shoes
Cynical
(We still do it)
We tell ourselves we're different
I've gotten so good at lying to myself
(Oh!)
All my pain and honour is used up
(Oh! Oh! Oh!)
All my guns are rusted
So when you gonna realise
Those are not your wrongs to right?
Have another line
Have another drink
(Pop songs won't change the government,
the government)
I am a martyr, I just need a motive
I am a martyr, I just need a cause
I'm a believer, I just need a moment
I'm a believer, I just need a cause
We're finding it hard to break the mould
We're finding it hard to be alone
We're finding it hard to have time by ourselves
We have nothing at all to say
Uniform
Uniform
Uniform
There was a sense of disappointment
As we left the mall
All the young people looked the same
ON
I am on, switched on
A sudden clearness
A clarity
Hidden away in every locked toilet
I've been waiting for you in the Joiners Arms
I know your name
I know your name
I've danced with you
We're all friends here
Silver slugs lined up like bullets
Rolled-up twenties
They disappear
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful and stutter-free
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful
On Friday night
I do all the talking
A pint and a fight
The dance floor is mine
Truth serum
And limbs that won't listen
Drunken “I love you's”
On top of the world
And when it runs out
We're chasing something we'll never catch
And when it runs out, we buy more
A flatness so bleak
I've been bitten by a vampire
A flatness bleaker than the one it replaced
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful and stutter-free
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful
I can charm
I can charm them all
I can charm them all
I can charm
I can charm them all
I can charm them all
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful and stutter-free
You make my tongue loose
You make my tongue loose
I am hopeful
I can charm
I can charm them all
I can charm them all
I can charm
I can charm them all
I can charm them all
WHERE IS HOME?
After the funeral
Breaking cola nuts
We sit and reminisce about the past
And in her voice
Only sadness
Her only son taken from her
In every headline we are reminded
That this is not home for us
In every headline we are reminded
That this is not home for us
The second generation blues
Our points of view not listened to
Different worlds and different rules
A question of allegiance
Clinging to her bible and her scapular
And the memory of the way things were
I don't see hope
I cannot smile
I burn with anger all the time
We all read
What they did
To the black boy
In every headline we are reminded
That this is not home for us
Where is it?
Where is home?
Where is it?
Where is home?
I walk this modern tightrope
Of humility and belligerence
This tommyrot and flag waving
Is getting me down
I want to stamp on the face of every young policeman
To break the fingers of every old judge
To cut off the feet of every ballerina
But I cannot
So I just sigh
And I just sulk
And I pretend
That there's nothing wrong
The teeth of this world tear me in half
And every day I must ask myself
Where, where, where...
Where is it?
Where is home?
Where is it?
Where is home?
In every headline we are reminded
That this is not home for us
In every headline we are reminded
That this is not home for us
KREUZBERG
There is a wall that runs right through me
Just like this city, I will never be joined
What is this love?
Why can I never hold it?
Did it really run out in those strangers' bedrooms?
I
I have decided
At twenty-five
That something must change
Saturday night in east Berlin
We took the U-Bahn to the East Side Gallery
I was sure I'd found love
With this one lying with me
Crying again in the Hauptbahnhof
I
I have decided
At twenty-five
That something must change
After sex
The bitter taste
Been fooled again
The search continues
After sex
The bitter taste
Been fooled again
The search continues
After sex
The bitter taste
Been fooled again
The search continues
After sex
(Concerned mothers…)
The bitter taste
Been fooled again
(…of the west)
The search continues
After sex
(Teach your sons…)
The bitter taste
Been fooled again
(…how to truly love)
The search continues
I STILL REMEMBER
I, I still remember
How you looked that afternoon
There was only you
You said "it's just like a full moon"
Blood beats faster in our veins
We left our trousers by the canal
And our fingers
They almost touched
You should have asked me for it
I would have been brave
You should have asked me for it
How could I say no?
And our love could have soared
Over playgrounds and rooftops
Every park bench screams your name
I kept your tie
I’d have gone wherever you wanted
I still remember
I still remember
And on that teachers' training day
(And on that teachers' training day)
We wrote our names on every train
(We wrote our names on every train)
Laughed at the people off to work
(Laughed at the people off to work)
So monochrome and so lukewarm
(So monochrome and so lukewarm)
And I can see our days are becoming night
I could feel your heartbeat across the grass
We should have run
I would go with you anywhere
I should have kissed you by the water
You should’ve asked me for it
I would have been brave
You should’ve asked me for it
How could I say no?
And our love could have soared
Over playgrounds and rooftops
Every park bench screams your name
I kept your tie
I'd have let you if you asked me
I still remember
I still remember
I still remember
I still remember
SUNDAY
Heavy night
It was a heavy night
Feels like we've come back from the dead
Heavy night
It was a heavy night
I cannot remember what I said
(To anyone)
If we get up now, we can catch the afternoon
Watch the under-fifteens playing football in the park
Let's sleep in St. Leonard's
On this alcoholic day
We're doing the best with what we've got
I love you in the morning
When you're still hung-over
I love you in the morning
When you're still strung out
I love you in the morning
I work hard all week
And so do you
We deserve to let off some steam
Less orthodox creeping
We need to rage through this life
There might be ones who are smarter than you
That have the right answers
That wear better shoes
Forget about those melting icecaps
We're doing the best with what we've got
I love you in the morning
When you're still hung-over
I love you in the morning
When you're still strung out
When I'm with you
I am calm
A pearl in your oyster
Head on my chest
A silent smile
A private kind of happiness
You see, giant proclamations are all very well
But our love is louder than words
When I'm with you, I am calm
A pearl in your oyster
Head on my chest
A silent smile
A private kind of happiness
(I love you in the morning)
I love you in the morning
I love you in the morning
I love you in the morning
I love you in the morning
SRXT
Walking in the countryside
It seems that the winds have stopped
I took down the posters from my wall
Left letters for you all
I remember moments of happiness
Endless summer
Acoustic guitars
Being a man made me coarse
When I wanted to be delicate
I called up Eugene
Told him I was drowning
I called up Eugene
Told him I was drowning
Like a castaway on a warm ocean
Waiting for a purpose to rise
They say it’s not becoming
For a boy my age
If you want to know what makes me sad
Well it's hope
The endurance of faith
A battle that lasts a lifetime
A fight that never ends
Walking in the countryside
It seems that the winds have stopped
Tell my mother I am sorry
And I loved her
FLUX
If your right hand is causing you pain
Cut it off, cut it off
If your colours have started to run
Let them all run
Run away from you
There is lightning in this room
Above our heads
Waiting to strike
I'm a thinker not a talker
Put your faith, your faith in God
We were hoping for some romance
All we found was more despair
We must talk about our problems
We are in a state of flux
I'd kill for an adventure
Just you and I, in the Curzon Bar
Dancing till we knew
So all that we've learnt disappears
When you shouted at me
I saw my father in the second grade
Concerned and kind
Yet unable to reach me
We were hoping for some romance
All we found was more despair
We must talk about our problems
We are in a state of flux
(State of flux)
(State of flux)
(State of flux)
(State of flux)
(We are in a state of flux)
(We are in a state of flux)
(We are in a state of flux)
(We are in a state of flux)
We need to talk
We need to talk
We need to talk
We need to talk
(We need to talk)
We were hoping for some romance
All we found was more despair
(We need to talk)
We must talk about our problems
We are in a state of flux