Thousand Violins
I’m calling out but no one will be hearing
I’m laughing but I cannot be heard
I’m crying but no one will be drying
These tears that fall
So how do we ever face a thousand violins
And how do we ever even start to begin
It’s raining without a sign of stopping
It’s sunny but no-one’s getting warm
In Heaven the harps have all been broken
And these tears they fall
So how do we ever face a thousand violins
And how do we ever even start to begin
All through the days now faded away
One thought remains one thought does stay
It haunts me still it will remain
I’m lost in wonder and I hear again
Tell me how do we ever face a thousand violins
And how do we ever even start to begin
Tell me how do we ever face a thousand violins
Tell me how do we ever even start to begin
Thousand violins
William
William you fool
Don’t you know cards are banned
William you fool
Can’t you deal a straight hand
We’ve read your school reports
And teacher’s agreed
You deal in stolen goods
And invest with the Leeds
We are a rotten disease
We steal what we want
When we please
There’s stock on the market
And there’s land to deal
So finish your schooling
And then it’s for real
You’re showing promise now
Please play it straight
And only steal things
Approved by the State
We are a rotten disease
We steal what we want
When we please
Oh we are a rotten disease
We steal what we want
When we please
Oh we are a rotten disease
We steal what we want
When we please
Quick and Slow
I take a car and my hand shakes
I walk a mile my body aches
I smile but no one smiles smiles at me
I am too old too old too old too old to see
And that’s how it goes quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes quick and slow
I lift a chair and my back aches
I shave my lip by mistake
My ears and eyes are going going going fast
Yet no one ever even even stops to ask
And that’s how it goes quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes quick and slow
Treated like a child now
I play my part and tow the line
My children they cannot relate
My shelf-life’s past it’s sell-by date
And that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes quick and slow
Stagger in I’m on the bus
I try hard not to not to not to make a fuss
I turn to you life is a game
Especially when you when you when you are in pain
And that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes yeah our lives flow
Yeah that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow
Yeah that’s how it goes yeah quick and slow …
Marseille
In a graveyard in Marseille
Where we dreamt our lives away
A long long time ago
Well I love you so
Well I know you won’t be saved
By romantic words I say
But I love you so
A long long time ago
Well we’re by forgotten graves
Where no one now does pray
And we hold hands which we know time
Is gonna pull away
By another’s grave
Christmas cards are lain
Which say I love you so
A long long time ago
Well we’re by forgotten graves
Where no one now does pray
And we hold hands which we know time
Is gonna wrench away
In the graveyards of Marseille
In the graveyards of Marseille
A long long time ago
Palace of St James
Orson’s in Paris
Trying to make some money
Make a film
Make us feel funny
Underworld gangsters
Got a new design
For the coat of arms of England
I hope you feel fine
And the sunlight glistens
On the Palace of St.James
Makes us feel good
There’s nothing gonna change
Memories of
A long time ago
My heart broke yesterday
Sorry I’m so slow
Without even asking
The summer’s returned
If it answered some questions
Might even learn
And the sunlight glistens
On the Palace of St.James
Makes us feel good
There’s nothing gonna change
Girl who caressed you’s gone
Into the night
Empty pleasures
Are they worth a fight
If I could see clearly
I’d see all the time
Instead of pretending
To see when I’m blind
Hired assassins
At five pounds an hour
Well it costs a fortune
To buy a bunch of flowers
Must have been an angel
In disguise
Now a quiz show
Second prize
And the sunlight glistens
On the Palace of St.James
Makes us feel good
There’s nothing gonna change
And the sunlight glistens
On the Palace of St.James
And makes us feel good
There’s nothing gonna change
Nothing’s gonna change
Nothing’s gonna change
Nothing’s gonna change
In the Palace of St.James
Nothing’s gonna change
Nothing’s gonna change
Nothing’s gonna change
In the Palace of St.James …
Wrong Attitude
You’re so stylish and you’re so chic
You think you look really neat
You think you’re gonna break every rule
No one’s gonna make you look like a fool
You think you’re so in time
You think you’re so refined
You think you’re bright
And you think you’re right
You’re cool they’re uptight
You’ve got the wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
You’re so stylish and you’re so chic
You think you look really neat
You think you’re gonna break every rule
No one’s gonna make you look like a fool
You’ve got the wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
You’re living dog-eat-dog every day
And you steal what you can and run away
If you’re ugly stupid or dim
Just doesn’t matter that they can’t win
You’ve got the wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
The wrong attitude
You’ve got the wrong attitude
Attitude
Little Boys Blues
You were sweet and innocent
And only seventeen seventeen
A beautiful summer’s day
And so to church you rode away
Birds singing in the sky
Philosophers wondering why
While vagabonds such as I
Sing our songs and cry
And vagabonds not like me
Stare lustfully at you through the trees
They raped you took your life
With a cudgel and a knife
Little boys’ blues
What can we do
We might come from Hell
But we’re too young to tell
Little boys’ blues
What can we do
We might come from Hell
But we’re too young to tell
Found your body cold and still
Abused amongst the daffodils
God you allow this deed
Do you condone this greed
A father and a mother’s grief
Are told but without release
And when they moved the young girl’s head
The soil it bled
A church built where she died
How her mother and father cried
A church built on belief
A church built on grief
Little boys’ blues
What can we do
We might come from Hell
But we’re too young to tell
Little boys’ blues
What can we do
We might come from Hell
But we’re too young to tell
Little boys’ blues
Little boys’ blues
Little boys’ blues
Little boys’ blues
Wake Up
Vilification of what you said
Now all the roses are almost dead
Vilification of times gone by
It’s funny how we sometimes cry
One day we’ll wake up
One day we’ll wake up
Complications along the way
Make our bodies want to stray
Hallelujah is on our side
It’s funny how the purity has died
One day we’ll wake up
One day we’ll wake up
Well I don’t know if this is the beginning or the end
I don’t know if you’re my enemy or my friend
I don’t know if you’re good or bad
I don’t know if you’re happy or sad
One day you’ll wake up
I said one day you’ll wake up
One day you’ll wake up
One day we’ll wake up
Deluded
Got a tangerine in the bath-tub
And a man who’s got no hands
Got a tangerine in the bath-tub
And a man who’s got no hands
Deluded deluded are our hearts
Deluded deluded from the start
Got a horse called Trigger
A postman figure
And a galaxy of stars
Got a horse called Trigger
A postman figure
And a galaxy of stars
Deluded deluded are our hearts
Deluded deluded from the start
And we can’t see
What’s on TV
And we can’t see
Got a diamond ring in a magazine
And a photograph of a thief
Got a diamond ring in a magazine
And a photograph of a thief
Deluded deluded are our hearts
Deluded deluded from the start
And we can’t see
What’s on TV
And we can’t see
We can’t see
What’s on TV
What’s on TV
What’s on TV
What’s on TV
Overtime
People all imagine
As they’re marching through the square
As they’re running for the Tube train
That could take them anywhere
Do you think and imagine
Where exactly that is
Will they kiss
Will they kiss
Well I dream of overtime
Rush hour trains that will be mine
I dream of overtime and
Rush hour trains and parking fines
We stand line by line
Everybody’s feeling fine
Tickets in our hands
So many dreams and plans
We dream nine to five
It’s better than a Soho dive
It’s better than anything anything
We dream of overtime and
Rush hour trains that will be mine
We dream of overtime and
Rush hour trains and parking fines
And I dream of overtime and
Rush hour trains and parking fines
I dream of overtime and
Rush hour trains and parking fines
Rush hour trains and parking fines
Holy Men
Tyrants and conquerors
Continue to rage
While those who want justice
Dance on their graves
While family albums
Continue to bulge
With family people
Who will indulge
Holy men living
Stainless and pure
All of these things
They have to endure
Happy memories
With family and friends
Births joyful beginning
Death’s grief at the end
While sad sex gods
Continue to fair
Greed in their stomach
And desire in their hair
Holy men living
Stainless and pure
All of these things
They have to endure
Well holy men living
Stainless and pure
All of these things
They have to endure
And holy men living
Stainless and pure
All of these things
They have to endure
Well holy men living
Stainless and pure
All of these things
They have to endure
Born to Fail
Got a set of golden handcuffs
Got a set of golden chains
Live in a prison called a penthouse
Where the inmates drink champagne
Got a set of plastic handcuffs
Got a set of plastic chains
Live in a prison called a slum
But it wouldn’t matter if that was to change
Because you were born to fail
You were born to fail
You were born you were born
You were born to fail
You’re doing a lot of time
About seventy years
And it’s full of suffering
And strife and stress and fear
You’re doing a lot of time
About seventy years
And it’s full of suffering
And strife and stress and fear
And you were born to fail
You were born to fail
You were born you were born
You were born to fail
You were born to fail
You were born to fail
You were born to fail
Angels
I’ve read the softback and magazine
I’ve been to Manchester and in between
I’ve felt just like no tomorrow
All it did was bring me buckets full of sorrow
And the angels gave me such a beating
As the angels knew that I was cheating
And the angels gave me such a beating
As the angels knew that I was cheating
Don't Mean a Thing
You really think that innocence
Is just a word
When you smile at me it seems
So absurd
You’re so full of ambition
Pride and desire
If I told you it’s all meaningless
Would you call me a liar
And it don’t mean a thing
Record company mogul
Queuing in your room
Makes you so excited
It makes you swoon
You trip the light fantastic
And think you are the Queen
Then somebody tells you
That you can’t even sing
And it don’t mean a thing
I’ll miss you like a matchbox
That’s gone off in my face
Lost your marbles long ago
Now you’re off in space
The prison wardens ghetto blaster
Is making quite a noise
Well the day you lost everything
You lost your equipoise
And it don’t mean a thing
And it don’t mean a thing
Right to Wrong
Loneliness is something which many do fear
If you wish to rise over those that do care
Sweetness is something which many do show
But you can control the way that it goes
So you can scowl at people before they scowl at you
If they scowl first then you know what to do
So we enter we’re all the same
Those that win or lose or stay the same
There’s nothing worthwhile there’s nothing sane
Playthings and enemies and losses and gains
Well this person’s right and this person’s wrong
Except over there where the right turns to wrong
Yeah the right turns to wrong
Yeah the right turns to wrong
Yeah the right turns to wrong
Yeah the right turns to wrong
So you can scowl at people before they scowl at you
If they scowl first then you know what to do
