1. |
The Trees Are Coming
03:07
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The trees are coming
Hear their root-steps thrumming
Through the earth below
Rhythmless and slow
The trees are coming.
With no smile or frown
They will tear it down
This world we built
Is shifting silt
Is fertile ground.
The trees are coming
The trees are coming
The final victory of the trees.
The trees are coming
Hear their branches drumming
On our tiles and glass
All these things shall pass
Now the trees are coming.
They’ll infest our houses
Like immense green mouses
Through the garden gate
They’ll parade in state
With their kids and spouses.
The trees are coming
The trees are coming
The final victory of the trees.
I know that some have planted
Treason shrubs among us
Vegetable fifth-columnists
They won’t be spared,
There’s no appeasing
Shrubs aren’t honest.
Though it be futile, let’s resist.
We won’t be missed.
The trees are coming
Hear their twig hands strumming
On restraining wire
With a mute, green ire
The trees are coming.
Though they cannot see us
When our short lives flee us
All our flesh and bone
They shall make their own
Till as leaves they free us.
The trees are coming
The trees are coming
The final victory of the trees.
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2. |
Bagman Sings the Blues
04:02
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Bagman sings the blues
In a slightly muffled way
The bag over his head
Half-mutes the things he has to say.
He sings of the ideas he’s heard
The places that he’s been
He sings of something beautiful
And something quite obscene.
Bagman sings the blues
In his zero-star motel
His hut out in the jungle
And his filthy prison cell
He sings a song of peace on Earth
He sings a song of hate
He sings of things spiritual
And matters of the plate.
Bagman sings the blues
Every night and every day
The precious few who hear him
Mostly smile and walk away.
He sings a song of love
He sings a song of lust
He sings a song of what we choose
He sings of what we must.
He sings a song of hope reborn
He sings of suicide
He sings of ardent promises
And all those who have lied.
He sings a song of victimhood
A song of dealing pain
He sings a song of marble floors
And waiting for the rain.
He sings a song of one old man
With a bag tied over his head
Who’ll keep on singing till he’s heard
Or the day he drops down dead.
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3. |
Cocaine Chicane Chaconne
03:13
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The thug on the corner, he smiles and he proffers
A small twist of paper, the product on offer
I quietly refuse, but inside, how I suffer
I wonder how I can go on?
I see on the rooftop a smug purring clowder
Of cats, their fur pale as the finest white powder
Now, me and my brain, we must dance once again
The Cocaine Chicane Chaconne.
I’ve been out six weeks and I’ve tried to stay clean
But the world feels so thin and the craving so keen.
Cocaine was my master, a hard one and mean
And he’ll never admit that we’re done.
I look out the window and what should I see
But the world and his dog stood there staring at me
And the dance never ends, step past dealers, past friends
The Cocaine Chicane Chaconne.
Will you pray for my soul, that I not be defeated?
The crime I committed, I fear I’ll repeat it
For I have a need, and no money to meet it
I’ll never stop once I’ve begun.
My life is destroyed, it was me who destroyed it
The rush burned me up even while I enjoyed it
Now, me and my brain, we must dance once again
The Cocaine Chicane Chaconne.
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4. |
Silverfish
02:49
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Silverfish on my bathroom floor,
What do you swish your trident tail for?
Do you fear spiders? I fear them too.
You have more reason, since spiders can eat you.
Silverfish, insect adventurer
The Livingstone of the Lino
Silverfish, I never will squish you.
Silverfish on my bathroom floor,
What is your wish? What are you searching for?
Do you crave mildew, dust mites or glue?
If it’s the last one, I grew up with kids like you.
Silverfish, insect adventurer
The Livingstone of the Lino
Silverfish, I never will squish you.
One tragic morning, as I was getting washed
One of your cousins got in the way, and squashed.
Poor little fellow, he’ll scurry no more
Freeze at my footsteps
And join the little flurry for the door.
Silverfish, you’re not like me, it’s true.
Still, I won’t dish misfortune out on you.
I look at you with curious eyes
You just feel rumbling, see shadows in your skies.
Silverfish, insect adventurer
The Livingstone of the Lino
Silverfish, I never will squish you.
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5. |
Ashamed
03:31
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Well, I’m all messed up and nowhere to go
Got my nose pressed up to the window glow
Where the normal people got their normal lives on show.
I could get dress up in some rags of woe
I could drift chest-up in the black river’s flow
But that’s going nowhere and going kinda slow.
I am what I am what I am
Maybe tomorrow there’ll be jam
I’ll be damned if you
Can make me feel
Ashamed.
Well, the nice don’t win ‘cos to win ain’t nice
But I’ll keep my grin, though you fooled me twice
I could be like you but it just ain’t worth the price.
There’s a strength you hold when you’re meek as mice
When you’re flat and cold as a sole on ice
When you’re small and you crawl through the holes in the strange device
I am what I am what I am
Maybe tomorrow there’ll be jam
I’ll be damned if you
Can make me feel
Ashamed.
If I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t,
I’ll be damned if I give a damn when it won’t
Make a difference.
Let’s be blunt
You can save your sneers, I’m not keeping up a front.
You can call me crazy, you can call me dumb
But I live my life by one rule of thumb
While the good times go
And the good times come:
Try to keep the harm I must do to a minimum.
I am what I am what I am what I am
Maybe tomorrow there’ll be bread and jam
I’ll be damned if you
Can make me feel
Ashamed.
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6. |
Letting It Go
02:43
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Letting it go was never easy
Letting it go was never you
Being your bitch just didn’t please me
Wouldn’t please anyone, it’s true.
You’ve got the tongue and the teeth of a terrier
Angry little burier
Marking my soul like you’re marking your area
Daily I grow wearier of
Letting it go, letting it go, ah
Letting it go
Letting it go is often foolish
Letting it go is often wise
Digging your heels in stubborn-mule-ish
Blanking the truth before your eyes.
But there are times when I know I’m the stupider
Getting whipped by Cupid here
You give a grin and I’m thrown for a loop, it’s the
Influence of Jupiter on
Letting it go, letting it go, ah
Letting it go
I have to stand up tall and say I will not take it
I have been letting it go too long
Whatever hold you have on me I have to break it
Letting it go this time is wrong.
All the times you wouldn’t let it drop
Barking on, when will you ever stop?
Right or wrong, this is one time
You will not be getting your way
Short of you surprising me by compromising
Soon I will be walking away and
Letting it go, letting it go, ah
Letting it go
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7. |
Cat Among Pigeons
02:54
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I am a psychopath
And I’m told
I have a nasty laugh
Harsh and cold
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
I am a psychopath
Can’t empathise
But I can read the fear
In your eyes
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
I am a psychopath
But I try
Don’t want to end my days
Inside, no no no no.
No-one but me
Can affect my decisions
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons.
I am a psychopath
And it’s fun
I like to wind you up
Watch you run.
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
I am a psychopath
I stand alone
You have your dozy flock
I’m in the zone.
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons
I am a psychopath
I’m not cracked
Your stupid rules just hold
Me back, yeah yeah yeah yeah.
No-one but me
Can affect my decisions
Sometimes I feel
Like a cat among pigeons.
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8. |
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My eyes met yours one night
Across a crowded bar
Then I ignored you
For nine weeks
I cleared my throat once,
Then I thought I’d gone too far
It’s hard that I must be
The one who speaks
[Chorus]
‘Cause you are gorgeous
And I am not quite drunk enough
‘Cause you are gorgeous
And I am shy
I still can’t call your bluff
And if you wonder why,
It’s ‘cause you are gorgeous
And I am shy.
I’m well aware how much
I fail at high romance
My looks of love
Miss by a mile
With how much passion
Have I boldly missed my chance
Frozen in the searchlight
Of your smile.
[Chorus]
Bet you feel special I can’t talk to you
Bet you just love the awkward things I do
So I don’t have to talk to you
Yeah, I bet you do.
[Chorus]
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9. |
When We Play These Games
04:08
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When we play these games
Oh, when we play these games
Oh, when we play these games
When we play these games
Oh, when we play these games
Oh, when we play these games
I love it
When we play these games.
Little painted people
Ploughing fields or killing bishops
As we choose
Win or lose or draw I’d say
Not having fun’s the real
Way to lose.
I love it
When we play these games.
Cards with kings and queens
Or fields of beans
Or swords and cities
Yet to play;
Ten-faced dice to roll
To fight a troll
And tiles with maps on
Yet to lay.
I love it
When we play these games.
Leaping over men
Once, twice, again
To kick them rudely
Off the board
Raking in the dough
Face down upon the table
Lay your shining hoard
I love it
When we play these games.
Gathered here together
To baptise the local game shop’s
Latest wares
This is friendly war
Who’s keeping score?
Well, yeah, we all are
But who cares?
I love it
When we play these games.
When we play these games….
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10. |
Till the Cows Come Home
03:52
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V1:
And you never heard a single word she mumbled
You're barely aware she told you so.
And you do not know that though she's scared and humbled
She has her pride
Buried very deep inside
V2:
And it makes no bones to you she hates and fears you
When you only need her to obey
With each passing day she sees destruction near you
She can hardly wait
To put this new dish on your plate
Ch1:
Oh, she can moan til the cows come home
Which maybe sounds appropriate to you
(the stupid moo)
Oh, she can moan til the cows come home
'Cos sometimes it's the little things you do
That trickle through.
V3:
It's passive resistance, she can hardly clout you
Just miniature acts of sabotage
Now your entourage of timid yes-men doubt you
Something isn't right
Now you BOTH can't sleep at night
[Ch1 again]
Ch2:
Oh, she can moan til the cows come home
The water drips and eats the stone away
Some more each day
Oh, she can moan til the cows come home
This is her only way to make you pay
By slow decay
[V1 again]
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11. |
Light To Give
03:27
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Passing in the corridor of night
You caught my eye and asked me for a light
I said “I’m sorry, but I have no light to give.”
You said, “I’m sure that we can make a spark
By rubbing stuff together in the dark
Are you sure you really have no light to give?”
I loved a woman, guess she loved me too
But it comes down to nothing left to do
When you find that you have no more light to give.
So I left her to find another thrill
For all I know she’s searching for it still
Just like me that girl had no more light to give.
But now I feel you clinging to my hand
You’re whispering that I must understand
Even burnt-out hearts like ours have light to give.
I’ll play along, let’s try to make a spark
By rubbing stuff together in the dark
Maybe two of us can find some light to give.
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12. |
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Cold river mud, hold me down
And dye me all the colours of the ground
In your embrace, I am clay
You quicken for a while, then eat away.
Never let me go,
Never let me go home again
Never let me go,
Never let me go home again
Hard winter wind, fill my sail
And blow me far away beyond the pale
Show me the leaf that I am
Swept up by forces I can’t understand
Never let me go....
Let me leave behind my regulation grey
Leave the plastic joys that got me through each day
Let the face I wear
Bleach and fade away.
Sore, weary feet, lead me on
Cross the naked stone to hide the way I’ve gone.
Show me the earth and the sky
So I can say I’ve lived before I die.
Never let me go....
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13. |
Boxing in Treacle
03:57
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There are mornings
When you have to lift the sun
Dawn broke
Without due warning
That’s no way to get things done
All day you’re climbing on elbows
Elbows that sweat and swear
Climbing on up, who the hell knows
What is so great up there?
For there are times
When you are living the dream
And there are times
When you are floating like cream
And there are times
When you are boxing in treacle
With a grizzly bear
All treacle in his hair
That bear don’t care.
Come the evening
Watch the sunset with a frown
Sun’s stuck
It’ll take a bunch of us
To pull the damn thing down.
All night you think of mistakes you’ll
Never know how to fix
Red-eyed-and-bushy-tailed wakeful
Morpheus playing tricks
For there are times
When there are no right answers
And there are times
You have to do as the man says
And there are times
When you are boxing in treacle
With a grizzly bear
All treacle in his hair
That bear don’t care
He doesn’t care if you despair
He doesn’t even know you’re there
He’s just punching the air
For there are times
You miss your landing
And there are times
When rubber bands sing
And there are times
When you’re left standing
In your underwear
Stuck waiting for that bear
Who doesn’t care.
It’s twelve o’clock
I think the sun is doing fine
Big ball
Of orange fire
Rolling smoothly down the line.
All day you’re steadily swimming
Swimming through cups of tea
Feeling quite good now you’re winning
Fighting the need to pee
For there are times
When you are living the dream
And there are times
When you are floating like cream
And there are times
When you are boxing in treacle
With a grizzly bear
All treacle in your hair
But you don’t care.
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14. |
Roadside Tree
05:27
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The world is just all noise and dust
And wheels spinning round
Ten thousand faces hurry past
Their speech is just a sound.
Though life is need and life is lack
This joy remains to me
To seek the shade and lean my back
Against a roadside tree.
Beneath the roadside tree, my friend
Beneath the roadside tree
I’ll wait and watch the world whirl by
And for a while be free
Oh, roadside tree.
I left my home in Rajasthan
To labour in the mills
The money that I earned is gone
The wounds are with me still
For life can take the strongest man
And break him like a reed
And leave him stretching out his hand
Down on his knees to plead.
Beneath the roadside tree, my friend
Beneath the roadside tree
I’ll wait and watch the world whirl by
And for a while be free
Oh, roadside tree.
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David Breslin UK
Singer-songwriter based in York, UK.
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