ARES
War, war, war, war!
I want to declare a war
My fist breaks your porcelain nose
There are other things that hands can do
To create or to destroy
Mini gods and goddesses
First person singular
Set it, set it, set it off!
War, war, war, war!
Keep the past
Future's ours
Man-made natural disaster
Blocking out all of the sun
Supermen and Mitsi turbo
Speed! Agility! Super strength!
Wipe the blood off those knuckles
Spark it
Give me twos on that
War, war, war, war!
I want to declare a war
True say blud that when we ride
We don't stop for nobody
The Africans and the Bengalis
He knows all the rude boys
Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Puma
"Rer, rer, rer, this shit is long!"
It's all getting (It's all getting)
Quite highly charged (Quite highly charged)
Get out of the way (Get out of the way)
Or get fucked up (Or get fucked up)
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound
And to think that these hands
Could work wonders with their touch
Listening to dead singers
In your room...
In '98
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound of sirens
We dance to the sound
We dance to the sound...
MERCURY
My Mercury's in retrograde...
This is not the time, the time to start a new love
This is not the time, the time to sign a lease
Try not to worry about what's forgotten
Try not to worry about what's been missed
Scars on my shins and scars on my knuckles
Today I woke up in a basketball court
Jonjo's in Sydney and he ain't returning
I'm sitting in Soho trying to stay drunk
In any bar in the world
From Silverlake to Williamsburg
You could pick another stranger
And fall in love
Mercury's in retrograde...
This is not the time, the time to start a new love
This is not the time, the time to sign a lease
Try not to worry about what's forgotten
Try not to worry about what's been missed
Bleeding gums and veins protruding
I'm starting to hate all of your clothes
Neumayr's in L.A. and she ain't returning
I'm sleeping with people I don't even like
In any bar in the world
From Silverlake to Williamsburg
You could pick another stranger
And fall in love
Mercury's in retrograde...
When I say you last night
I wanted to say:
"Run away with me, away from the cynics"
That this could be the start of something truly real
But all that I could say was "hey"
Was "hey"
Was "hey"
Was "hey"
Mercury's in retrograde...
My Mercury's in retrograde...
HALO
It was your hair that did it
It was your hair that lit the fuse
A golden-brown halo
Like sunlight peering through trees
I ask you for the time
But I am asking for so much more
A moth to your light bulb
You made my heart beat faster
Paralyse me with your kiss
Wipe those dirty hands on me
Maybe we're looking for the same thing
Maybe you're the one who'll complete me
Oh how beauty burns
Lips and eyes and your fingertips
The spark of desire
On every point our bodies meet
Behind your eyes were stars
Infinite and serene
How I could suffer for you
You fascinate and magnetise me
Paralyse me with your kiss
Wipe those dirty hands on me
Maybe we're looking for the same thing
Maybe you're the one who'll complete me
Sometimes I think I would float away
If this sadness didn't weigh me down
Paralyse me with your kiss
Wipe those dirty hands on me
Maybe we're looking for the same thing
Maybe you're the one who'll complete me
BIKO
You're not doing this alone...
For my sweetheart, the melancholic
You have crossed the river Styx
And the waves have taken you away
As I lay my head on your chest
I can hear it in your veins
Wake me up when you come to bed
So toughen up
Biko, toughen up
Biko, toughen up
This world isn't kind to little things
(You're not doing this alone)
Was my love not strong enough to bring you back from the dead?
If I could eat your cancer, I would
But I can't
(You're not doing this alone)
So I keep writing these songs for you
To steal you from your grey
We can dance in our front room again
So toughen up
Biko, toughen up
Biko, toughen up
I need you to be strong for us
So toughen up
Biko, toughen up
Biko, toughen up
This world isn't kind to little things
(You're not doing this alone)
Don't you know that when you stand
You stand up for the both of us?
Remember that when the darkness looms
(You're not doing this alone)
Every tear you shed is cleansing
Taking the pain away from you
I left you blueberries in the fridge
The little things that I can do
(So toughen up)
(Biko, toughen up)
That I can do
(Biko, toughen up)
That I can do
I need you to be strong for us
So toughen up
Biko, toughen up
Biko, toughen up
This world isn't kind to little things
You're not doing this alone...
Resist!
Resist!
Resist!
Resist!
So toughen up (resist!)
Biko, toughen up (resist!)
Biko, toughen up (resist!)
I need you to be strong for us
So toughen up (resist!)
Biko, toughen up (resist!)
Biko, toughen up (resist!)
This world isn't kind to little things
You're not doing this alone
You're not doing this alone
TROJAN HORSE
You used to take your watch off before we made love
You didn't want to share our time with anyone
You used to close your eyes when we kissed goodbye
You didn't want to see me draped in sadness
And now there's nothing here
Now there's nothing here at all
In a loft conversion off New North Road
And now there's nothing here
Now there's nothing here at all
You were here, I was here
There was something real here
I know there was
You know I still adore you
But in a different kind of way
You know I still adore you
But things have gotten vague
Baby I don't ask for much
But things have gotten convenient, oh
You know I still adore you
But things have kind of changed
To think I laughed at you for how you saw the world
For all that empty space inside your heart
I have to cling to things now
Doubles and cigarettes
Forever trying to find you on the lips of someone else
You know I still adore you
But in a different kind of way
You know I still adore you
But things have gotten vague
Baby I don't ask for much
But things have gotten convenient, oh
You know I still adore you
But things have kind of changed
Just take me back to the start
When our earthquake was just cracks
You must ask yourself, every day
Just how high are the highs?
SIGNS
Two ravens in the old oak tree
And one for you and one for me
And bluebells in the late December
I see signs now all the time
The last time we slept together
There was something that was not there
You never wanted to alarm me
But I'm the one that's drowning now
I could sleep forever these days
'Cause in my dreams I see you again
But this time fleshed out fuller faced
In your confirmation dress
It was so like you to visit me to let me know you were okay
It was so like you to visit me
Always worried about someone else
At your funeral I was so upset
So up-, so upset
In your life you were larger than this
Statue-, statuesque
I see signs now all the time
That you're not dead, you're sleeping
I believe in anything that brings you back home to me
I see signs now all the time
That you're not dead, you're sleeping
I believe in anything that brings you back home to me
ONE MONTH OFF
Well, there were seven years between us
Seems that all my friends were right
That we can't survive on your bedroom eyes
And a Spanish guitar
When we started this, it was paradise
Not just Bethnal Green
And it's just not right
This waiting game
Making a cuckold of me
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
(If you need time)
And it's just not like me to lash out
But enough is enough
Tell me what the others can do that I can't?
Translucent and sun-bleached skin, yeah
When did you get so L.A.?
How can you desert me
After all we've been through?
Stuck on a dream that somewhere is better
You'll be the one missing out
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
(If you need time)
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
(If you need time)
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
If you need time
Time, time, time...
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
(If you need time)
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
(If you need time)
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting fire with firewood
I can be as cruel as you
Fighting lies with lies
Fighting lies...
ZEPHYRUS
Backwards
Forwards but making no ground at all
Standing in the city with the clocks counting one
And your face is still wet from the fight before
As your tears hit the ground
Blue flowers spring from them
Baby, I'm ashamed of the things I put you through
Baby, I'm ashamed of the man I was for you
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
How fast must we run before we can just take off in flight?
How far must we run before they do not recognise us?
So let's take this from the start
You'll be me and I'll be you
And let's try not to complain about your smoking and my distant heart
And my distant heart
And my distant heart
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
(Too many mirrors in this house)
(And I don't like to see myself like this)
(I'm becoming the man I used to be, I guess)
(These walls could tell you a thing or two)
(Things that you really don't want to know)
(Lend me your eyes for your point of view)
(Lend me your feet and I'll stand up for you)
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
And all you said in your quietest voice was
"I needed you as much as they do"
TALONS
And in the dark it comes for me
Malevolent and without form
Uprooting trees
Destroying cars
Cold and relentless
With arms outstretched
No bolt nor brick
Nor crucifix can hold it back
I have been wicked
I have been arrogant
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
Silent and velvet
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
And I cannot say that I was not warned or was misled
When it comes it will feel like a kiss
Awaken from dreams of drunken car crashes
You've saddened my friends and claimed all my lovers
I try to stay still
So it will not see me
Its talons rake the side of my face
Oh when did you become such a slut?
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
Silent and velvet
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
And I cannot say that I was not warned or was misled
When it comes it will feel like a kiss
And I didn't think I'd catch fire when I held my hand to the flame
And I didn't think it would catch up as fast as I could have run
Fate came a-knocking when I was looking the other way
A new disease came in the post for me today
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
And when it comes it will feel like a kiss
And when it comes (when it comes)
And when it comes (when it comes)
And when it comes
And when it comes
It will feel like a kiss
BETTER THAN HEAVEN
What's with all this doom and gloom?
You used to be such, such a laugh
It's only sin, original sin
Corinthians (15:22)
Never been a big fan of things
But I'm growing so fond of you
You
You get sadder the smarter you get
And it's a bore
You get sadder the smarter you get
And it's a bore
Truth is truth
I ain't no bohemian
Much too, much too safe
Much too, much too typical
Much too, much too typical
Much too, much too
You can use your hands for something else
I'll take you further than the scholars can
Put down your books and molest me
Heaven is here
Where it needs to be
You get sadder the smarter you get
And it's a bore
You get sadder the smarter you get
And it's a bore
And there was a time before we were born
When we stood in the garden
If this world does not turn you on
Well, I've got enough for the both of us
The both of us
The both of us
And there was a time before we were born
When we stood in the garden
If this world does not turn you on
Well, I've got enough for the both of us
The both of us
ION SQUARE
Ion Square
Perspex swing
I breathe out
You breathe in
Permanent midnight
Our love
Our love
How we've come to depend on each other to the end
The space between us has disappeared
You finish my, you finish my words for me
I remember how it began
So many great days in a row
Barefoot on Bishopsgate
Trying to find Blake's grave
If we could stay like this
In a silver foil
Trapped in amber for a life
Permanent midnight
Our love
Our love
I carry your heart here with me
I carry it in my heart
I carry your heart with me
I carry it in my heart
Who said unbroken happiness is a bore?
Is a bore?
Who said it, my love?
I don't mind it anymore
Anymore
And I reach out a hand over your side of the bed
Pull that blanket over your shoulders exposed to the night
And the hunger of those early years will never return
But I don't mind
I don't mind
'Cause I love my mind when I'm fucking you
Slowed down to a crawl
Years of crime and the bread line have not at all dimmed your shine
So let's stay in
Let the sofa be our car
Let's stay in
Let the TV be our stars
I found my dancing shoes
But they don't fit
All the bright lights do is bore me
They bore me
They bore me
I carry your heart here with me
I carry it in my heart
I carry your heart with me
I carry it in my heart
I carry your heart here with me
I carry it in my heart
I carry your heart with me
I carry it in my heart
LETTER TO MY SON
I found myself at the point where we kissed first
On a rooftop overlooking the East London mosque
They say, they say, they say, they say
"You can't go around breaking young girls' hearts"
I say, I say, I say, I say
"Keep it casual, easy thing"
And you looked so right in that red dress
Oh, how I'd love to be a rock for you
To be anything you could rely on
So I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try
But I'll get caught out
So we'll try, we'll try, we'll try, we'll try
But we forget the lines
Forget the lines
And you looked so wanton in the back of the car
Like you could start a hundred wars
See what trouble wicked thoughts cause
By the bedroom door, the kitchen floor
I tried, I tried, I tried
I tried, I tried, I tried
Oh Marlena
I'm too young to be the father to our son
I tried, I tried, I tried
I tried, I tried, I tried
Forgive me Oscar...
YOUR VISITS ARE GETTING SHORTER
I can see it in your eyes now
You have come to resent me
Condescension in the silence
Your fingers are tired girl
How they falter against my thigh
Your kisses are pining for the lips of someone else
Your visits getting shorter
Your heart is getting further from me
Your touch is getting colder
Always somewhere you need to be
Boys in blue blazers
Boys on motorbikes
Boys in your maths class
Who'll do anything you ask
You're pulling the trigger
And the gun is in my mouth
A subtle annoyance laced with disgust
When you get older and those boys grow tired of you
You can come find me
I can never hate you
Your visits getting shorter
Your heart is getting further from me
Your touch is getting colder
Always somewhere you need to be
Boys on your left side
Boys on your right
Boys by your locker
Who'll do anything you ask
Let's spend the whole day in bed then
'Cause if we don't, you'll want to, want to leave
I try to hold something I can
I try to hold something I can never keep
(Never keep)
Your visits are getting shorter
Your heart is getting further from me
Your touch is getting colder
Always somewhere you need to be
Boys on your left side
Boys on your right
Boys by your locker
Who'll do anything you ask
(Dignity)
(All the boys in my)
ONE MORE CHANCE
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance to love you
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance to love you
So open the door
I've calmed down
Can't you see that I'm trying?
Don't say another word about the other boy
Can't you see that I'm dying?
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see, see
These hands will come around (See)
You'll love their touch again (See)
This time things will be different (See)
And you're gonna see, see
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance to love you
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance
Give me one more chance to love you
So open the door
I've calmed down
Can't you see that I'm trying?
Don't say another word about the other boy
Can't you see that I'm dying?
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see, see
These hands will come around (See)
You'll love their touch again (See)
This time things will be different (See)
And you're gonna see, see
One more chance
Give me one more chance
One more chance
Give me one more chance
One more chance
Give me one more chance to love you
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see (See)
This time things will be different
And you're gonna see, see
These hands will come around (See)
You'll love their touch again (See)
This time things will be different (See)
And you're gonna see, see
(See)
IDEA FOR A STORY
Lucian
I'm so tired of flesh and blood
My Lord is growing so vile
Shamefulness descends upon our shoulders
Kicking the corpse 'till the fun wears off
Bleeding septums in SW1
Talking Nietzsche 'till the sun comes up
Rich boys, they just need a hand or a hand down from papa
Wouldn't it be too divine with a start, middle and an end?
Wouldn't it be too divine if we could see a way out?
Wouldn't it be too divine with a start, middle and an end?
Wouldn't it be too divine if we could see a way out?
There's a blizzard in the after-hours bars raining my way down The Strand
Who are these fags in their red bow ties ruining it for the rest of us?
Self-content for the young
The younger said that history will always eat itself
Rich boys, they just need a hand or a good old-fashioned war
Wouldn't it be too divine with a start, middle and an end?
Wouldn't it be too divine if we could see a way out?
Wouldn't it be too divine with a start, middle and an end?
Wouldn't it be too divine if we could see a way out?