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writing from benjamin
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All works displayed here
are the automatic copyright of Benjamin Whitaker
and may not
be copied, printed, broadcast or used in any way without prior authorisation
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Benjamin Whitaker (aka benjamin_sanguine) is one of the sanguinearts
network's creative writers. His written works
mainly take the form of poetry and song lyrics, but he has also written
some short stories, some essays, and he has previously worked on a film
screenplay with Jonathan Earl. Please find some samples of Benjamin's
writing below, with the most recent extracts first. If you would like
to read more works by Benjamin Whitaker, would like to publish some, or
would otherwise like to get in touch then email him here.
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Poems
Some of these take the form of complete works whereas others are clearly
unfinished sketches. Some are more traditional in structure than others.
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Song Lyrics
These words are intended for musical use, but most have not as yet been
used in songs by benjamin_sanguine, the band Sanguine or other of the
sanguinearts musicians.
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Go Large (2002)
They want that hot sauce
They want chicken wing and small fries
They're planning on a Whopper
They'll paint up the spare room with mustard and ketchup
For some cod in their batter
Yes, They're trying for a Big Mac
Hoping for a wishbone in their family bucket
Enough of the peanuts and pretzels
- Hot dog!
They want a little lamb donner.
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Rendezvous (2002)
I am leaving, and too soon
Feel the impulse of movement meet
The pulse in my chest. Departing
Neath a sky of no description,
Unlike the Lenten sun seen on arrival
We proceed a-gliding, weaving
The tree lines between domed pasture;
A gentle motion, like my hand
Tonight to trace a loving line
From breast to belly, hip and thigh.
Sou'western breeze and Northern gale
blow us home to breathe relief
And love that spans the land,
To converge in bed made 'fore St. Piran's;
Now three days gone - I am returning.
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The Power Station (2001)
I will lay me down at the foot of the power station.
From the craggy mountainside I will sink into the sky.
From the vaults and crypts we rise; the power hungry, or just hungry.
As the horizon beckons let us ascend.
To walk along and make a mark; to conceive a path,
Beyond territory and beyond reason: these are my choices,
Live or Die.
closer to all things.
Making something you can't buy, and only ever dreaming of you.
You are the way I found you: trussed and basted.
My message didn't get to you - will you now see the plateau?
We are empty; we are nothing, and silence strikes the power station.
We build, we break, we try to lift ourselves up.
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What's The Point? (2001)
What's the point in life?
The point is not to avoid the question
There is no time to be free
But Freedom is trapped by opportunity
The city is a cage
Inside we are wild in our anonymity
Our hands are tied
But these bonds will never contain us
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Confusion (2000)
I don't recall what was said, but
We were having a conversation
About one thing and another
Giving answers which somehow made
No less sense than did anything else
At that moment.
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Statement (2000)
WE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THINGS.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE.
PEOPLE LIKE US MAKE IT ALL WORTHWHILE.
PEOPLE LIKE US MAKE IT.
PEOPLE LIKE US.
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From Wicor (2000)
Lying adrift upstream I see beyond my own,
The flatblocks and office blocks of Pompey
Like the feet of a giant ancestral Queen,
Dormant beneath the undulations of land and sea.
Her glory though ruined is castle-crowned;
And new growth swells in water breaking beneath
Although things ebb and flow by the sea,
And she may be hard to know and no jewel to see,
Again this ancient siren bares triplets:
Comfort, fun and strength in the bed of home.
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Watching the Express 12h28 16/3/00
I'm watching the express fractionally crawling,
Unit by unit behind the block.It is a frustrated dart,
disabled between the radio masts;
A delayed reaction, painfully slow in its delegation
And impotence; going nowhere and late again.
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January 12th 2000
The sky went an amazing colour today; exposing the cold studio
with a citrus colour for a short while; rectangles of fruity tangerine
glowing so tropical on the walls, and across the distant horizon
beyond the window - cut at and boxed by the buildings west of here.
and then it was gone, and the dark continued forwards.
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Up Amongst the Echoes (2000)
Up amongst the echoes,
Is it them or only the wind
That hears me?A face fleetingly at a high window,
A shadow, a question, a pass,
Never noticed in the time beforeReflecting,
Framed by the pane.
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Profundity Square (2000)
Profundity -fundity -(fun ditty?) - fundity square
Will any sweet lover accompany me to profundity square?
There's beauty there
In pleasure's hair
If you can drop your magazines
And TV screens
To grasp what is
given birth by your gasp of
surprise/pleasure/anguish/pain/enlightenment/humour/shock/comfort
(delete as applicable)
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The Clock (1999)
The clock above the stereo store says 'watches'
And I believe that's all it does.
It must have seen many changes 'round here.
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Green Red Black 1999
I watch you eating from two seats behind.
You sucked your fingers and read magazines,
Tossing your hair to adjust the reflection -
A window comparison of peaches skin.
Love me for a minute of your precious time.
That would make me feel happy,
Wouldn't make me feel ill.
On the switchboard she said
'Thank you for your moment',
And I felt happy, and I didn't feel ill.
My oh my, these humourous misperceptions:
I really don't know what I'm meant to believe.
And from the backseat of a minicab
All I could think was I was right all along.
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Loomers 29/8/97
A thought for those left behind:
I WILL NOT FORGET.
The coil will re-entwine -
Dyed, embossed and stronger;
and part of you, you all
Its there - flecks through to cables.
And come May Day we can say
'That's mine, that's me';
Then fill our chests with air,
And while the loomers stare,
We can float away somewhere,
Tie up, and start new threads.
NEVER RESIGN TO THE OLD LOOM.
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Munchies 27/5/97
Fat lady, I think you've eaten enough;
But no, your stash keeps providing.
Cheesy, bready morsels
Bursting from their clingfilm cages;
Mini Cheddars melting in the mouth.
Just one more...
This indulgence does not obey a hunger demon.
Well, what would your mouth do otherwise?
And all the while little glassy globules
Of starchy, fatty yeuch
Pop their ruddy, round, eyeless faces
Through the surface of your flesh.
And now they want feeding too.
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Hale-Bop (1997)
Record
Rewind
Play
To remember;
Think -
Press pause
And its gone.
Under Hale-Bop's channel-hopping gaze,
A fleeting epic of light and heat;
Like frenetic clockwork toys,
Yawning at a thousand years
A tourist in man's new world,
Just a plastic reproduction.
Record
Rewind
Play
To remember;
Think -
Press pause
And its gone
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(untitled) mid 1990s
She walked round in circles
Trying to find where she started out.
And when she got there it occured to her -
With the perspective of a crab that's lost its battles
And drags its damaged legs -
What have I gained?
Between Elmhurst and Bath Lane
There's little more than tarmac to bash your head against;
But it used to mean so much more.
The ring he wanted her to have
Was somewhere in the river mud.
She thought she saw him one night,
Digging with the tide out.
She said:
Some people are Majorca, and some are Menorca
But the sun will shine on all the beaches for you
Flicking through old magazines
Waiting for her name to wake her
"I just want this sickness to be over'
Its not a life to me. Ihad a life - I want it back."
But in the taxi the pain was coming from everwhere around her -
The sodium lamps
The weeds on the roundabouts
And the sign posts only show places a few miles along the road,
When all these places are the same.
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Find your way home (2002-5)
After the first time she broke your heart
You vowed you'd never go back there
Never play that part, but now
You're moving closer to her
And she's not moving away
You won't remember this film
Find your way home by the lines on the road
And you'll wind up alone with a heavier load
Gather your thoughts and the lines that you wrote
In an old notebook
Why be so hard on me?
When all I've done is my damnedest
Well, maybe too many times
I know life isn't always fair
But is it ever?
Find your way home by the lines on the road
And you'll wind up alone with a heavier load
Gather your thoughts and the lines that you wrote
In an old notebook
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Tsarskoe Selo pt.1 (2001)
Throw up the sash
Tear down the drapes
Let in light
Let in age
To this vacuum of the past
Bring rain on the panes
Summon hail
Breaking through
Rushing time
Let us not watch kettles boil
(unfinished)
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Tsarskoe Selo pt.2 (2001)
The bitter echoes of your mouth whistle through the winter light
Bold columns and high windows keep my outlook firm and bright
From dark tunnels to wide vistas my eyes must fast adjust
Racing all about for there is no truth nor a soul whom I can trust
And in dreams I see domes and spires
The cumulative feats of my desires
I want to be a phantom in your intimate minutae
A thousands moons, a thousand suns
Pursue each other 'til kingdom come
So you skate across an ice age
And the wind of change just gives you chill blainsI never loved you less
Though you are past your best
Three hours from now
You'll walk across
My window in the west
Lovers' Gifts and such
Failed to keep you young
Now your chambers ring with echoes
And you belong to everyone We could throw a ball
In the Twenty Column Hall
Everybody dancing vectors
Forth two, three; left two three.
(unfinished)
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Favourite 'T' (2001)
On the 28th floor
In a circle head bowed
When they made you go down
Get you put in a box
Freed in your ties
Made up to look a fool
There's a plea in your eyes
One day I'll be father's favourite 'T'
Wear me and no other love will I need
At the end of the garden we'll plant seeds
Buried deep mother is waiting for me
Suited for duty
Thirty storeys of glass
A vision of beauty
Groomed for dressage
Transmitting your vice
You're a radio mast
In the back of a cab
As the headquarters dance by
One day I'll be father's favourite 'T'
Wear me and no other strength will I need
Working 'til daylight - he'll be so pleased
A bundle of fun sweetly scuffed at the knees
She's caught in the bindweed
In that place behind the fruit trees
With the freedom of the city
Come and find me (x3)
One day I'll be father's favourite 'T'
Wear me and no more fulfilling I need
Follow me down where the daisy chains lead
You and we both fell out of a tree
Help me to cope with what I'll never be
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Life Quakes (2000)
Your dreams were shattered on the stairs
You clung to the bannister to cease the quakes
Thinking fast but sinking at last
To the floor and the thinner air
Three weeks they said but it seemed like a day
A celebration while the saints were away
Now you cling to their hard design in the churchyard
For salvation or vain escape
The avenues could be empty, for you there's nobody home
You could be a shop window as they peer into your glazed palor
Faded since the summer, they lead down to the river
(unfinished)
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Into Everything Ever (for Negative Panda) 2000
Who was that?
Heavy metal fans with emotions too heavy for metal
Feelings that revealed
Men, boys, people, identities, entities
Somehow different but no less obselete
Can't keep quiet, can't keep stilll
It just slipped out, out of nowhere
Into everything ever (x2)
From a dancing beat to
Acoustica, electronica, industrialism
Hiphopracy, sweet indie, the sound of...
If you put it to your ear
You can still hear the sea more or less
Can't keep quiet, can't keep stilll
It just slipped out, out of nowhere
Into everything ever (x2)
You've heard it all before
But you still watch the re-runs
No clichés, only rip-offs
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(Untitled) 2000
Didn't have time for the word my love
Couldn't keep clear of the girls my love
You know, as I, that they mess with your head
Touch a 'sweet' with words and you're already dead
In sight of the Eye, back in good time
Another trip away and I'll be just fine
Making up questions in weak sunlight
On the subject of attention I was none too bright
Beware of the law
It breaks you; it burns you; it turns you; it takes you
Out of the arms of those who love you,
Who'll keep you safe from harm
Come to me
Can it be said that we're free
After we know what it is?
The price is paid in other's oppression
How much temperance should be applied to expression?
I'll never make it back
But nothing much springs to mind
Its left alone and behind
Still much to come before the weather-wheel is done
After all is said I've done nothing so very wrong
Least, no worse than I've done good
Never thought that I'd miss something outside of my head so much
But you are something beyond my inspiration
I lied to you as little as I could
I thought of you when it mattered most
We never had the space to touch; nor the time for preparation
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Something's Wrong With Jack (after Negative Panda) 1999
You played me a song for the rain
It was quiet and filled with pain
Still I never heard you complain
That the sky was dark again
I wasn't dreaming I'm sure
That you were laid there on the floor
I felt like I'd been there before
Please don't go there anymore
So here he comes, back in town
And everybody cheers
Ev'rything's changed but nothing's new
No 'Wish You Were Here'
I do't really know why you wanted to come back
But something's wrong with Jack
In the streets with no-one around
We laughed and passed the bottles around
Thought of friends we'd lost and found
And then headed into town
But there was fear within your eyes
And I thought somebody cried
Out, to the open sky
Tonight someone special is sure to die
Let's hope its not one of us
Because we're devilish ghouls at best
I need some time with my crimes
To prepare for my rest
Don't wanna go down like him
With all my sins on my back
Something's wrong with Jack
Will we ever make it out into the sun
Long enough to play a song?
I know some good people out there -
Is it okay if I tag along?
The leaves are gathering on the railway track
And something's wrong with Jack
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London Supine (1999)
I'm going over this city
I'm going to see a good friend of mine
In an East End tower by the power of the full moon
Don't know when I'll return
And I don't see how it matters anyway
As we creep and dart between the terminals of life
And the seeping dark reaches every crack and break
I'm going over this sleeping body, ah
I'm going over this city
I'm going to see my sleeping beauty
I hope there is a sweet dream unfolding in your head now
As we're lead down beneath the skin
The shadows are eclipsed
Encompassed in penumbran bliss
As I complicate the peace
You might sigh, and smile
And I will say:
If there's no way back for us
I will hold you in the blackness
And if I can't make it better
I will make it okay. (repeat section to end)
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I Hear Your Voices 1999
Don't crucify me for being 10 minutes late
I was saving someone's life
And as my life flashed before my eyes
I had to sit down and breathe it back in
There is a beautiful boy who sings much better than I do
Makes me feel that there isn't room
For what I can say, for my voice
I lay down 20p
At least thats how it always sounded to me
A beautiful man with a beautiful voice
Its a shame it all ended so tragically
So if you could pick up the phone and press some numbers
Then maybe we could it get it together
You'd be there and I'd be on time
You could sing this song and think up a rhyme
I hear your voices Simultaneously: I hear your voices
At 4am in the morning I hear your voices
Telling me to be ready I hear your voices
For my time is coming I hear your voices
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Moon In Aqua, January 1999
I am a man, like any other man
In that I would be God.
She brushed my fellow's yellow hair,
I didn't find him anywhere,
In the Moon Under The Water
Or the caroussel.
'Won't someone pull me out of the water?'
Said the funny haired girl
Last time she was down here.
Now she can swim with the fishes:
Freedom rocks in so many shapes and sizes.
In all this drama
Its surprisingly hard to be noticed,
Though I feel conspicuous
For my insignificance.
Looking like I just got out of school -
Its not crazy, its not sexy, its not cool -
I walked around.
'Won't someone pull me out of the water?'
Said the funny haired girl
Last time she was down here.
Now she can swim with the fishes:
Freedom rocks in so many shapes and sizes.
Colder now, but their talk of religion
Runs my love dynamo;
Reminds me of who I long for.
We're all tied to devices we no longer have a use for. (x4)
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Over And Well Done 1999
I would rather
I was somewhere else right now,
With that girl in my arms,
Though I don't know what she's called.
But if the opportunity came
I'd make sure that I asked her her name.
Showing everything that I am,
But the fear and rage of Adam
Makes me want to run;
But I will stay here and fight with words,
However absurd it might seem.
Time is running out so slowly, W
hile every second quickens my pulse.
I want this to be over and well done.
The sun is out - let me go to greet her!
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I Love You More Than Ever 1999
You don't pick up my calls
But I love you more than ever
You don't come around, no never
But I love you more than ever
I cried out in the night
You weren't there
I was broken
And you didn't seem to care
You don't love me all
But I still love you more than ever
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Take Me Down To The Sea, January 1999
And then, before the end
Take me down to the sea.
Somewhen before the end
Take me down to the sea.
Down to be with the sea,
'Cause from there I can see
Everything more clearly.
Somewhen before the end
Take me down to the sea.
The tide turns, and the waves are calling me.
The wind bites and fixes my hair,
And the air tastes salty.
So take me down to the sea.
Its good to live on an island -
Never reach a border and get turned back.
If I lived on a mountain
I would turn into a leaf
Andd float downstream to the sea.
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Boat Ride (1998)
It was a boat ride and you were there
'Couldn't say I spent just half the time watching you
And I couldn't tell you anything about the view
But I'm sure it was a sunny day
At least it always seems that way in my memories of you
I could see you underwear through your rainsoaked clothes
I Gave you my coat - the one that looked better on you
And you gave me a kiss and stroked my steaming hair
And then something funny happened and we ended up in Clapham
Making love all night
There wasn't anything that could come between us
There wasn't any day you could call a bad day
Well maybe one or two, but that was me and not you
The black days turn to brightness, la-de-dah
I woke up alone - you were hanging out the window
Singing to the starlight, you were making up the words
I made you breakfast and you ate with a passion
Then you spoke to me in Spanish as you took off all your clothes
I took the numbers from a phone box in Leicester Square
Gave them to passers by: I'm glad they saw the funny side
And you're the tallest building - I could've lost you in the stars
So we went to a dark place where it was dark enough to see your pretty
face
And then I gave you my love
There wasn't anything that could come between us
There wasn't any day you could call a bad day
Well maybe one or two, but that was me and not you
The black days turn to brightness, la-de-dah
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Jared's Song (1998)
You're gonna hate me before I'm through
I will always love you - I will always leave
A mother's angel - A mother's demon
What have I done with what I've been given?
And you have so much
Don't let me spoil things
Don't say nasty
I didn't want thing to be this way
Don't say bad
I didn't want to leave today or any day
Don't scowl
Like an orphaned cherub, like a science pioneer
Who disproves heave - forever condemned
Don't say nasty
And if this busted guitar falls apart
What will I do then?
And if this busted heart breaks again
What can I guve you then?
And as for the busted mind, i have too long been inclined
To fall into walls and stare too long at the stars
And every day I pray
That I don't hurt you too
Don't say nasty
I didn't want thing to be this way
Don't say bad
I didn't want to leave today or any day
Don't scowl
Like an orphaned cherub, like a science pioneer
Who disproves heave - forever condemned
Don't say nasty
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(untitled) 1998
I don't see the dress anymore, I see the body
I look for the mind but its in your eyes and you're all the same
I don't want to feel this way but its a product of this soulless city
I've got to get high so I don't feel my soul dying too
I need someone to care
I need soneone to be there
I need someone
You said that you could bring me fortune
You said that happiness was on your side
The difference was an illusion and we have back our eyes
It seems there can be nothing else
I need someone to care
I need soneone to be there
I need someone
The love inside my heart is freezing
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Gallery 3/11/97
Looking down without the gravity of a stage light...Could you be near
now,
but still out of reach?
You're dancing, I think I feel the vibrations
You never danced for me; why?
Brush your hair, towel your legs and get dressed
A shiver of skin through the night,
A sliver of steel as a platform
A shiver of skin through the night,
A sliver of steel as a platform
Light catches the music in you
And a breath is lost in a pregnant moment
Teetering off the rhythm with a tipsy giggle
Your inhibitions a spread
Privacy is a modern illusion
Exhibit or audience - the glass is a cage for me
Privacy is a modern illusion
Exhibit or audience - the glass is a cage for me
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Full Moon, Starry Sky 1997
Full Moon, starry sky
A harness holding me down
Fix me to the ground
Full moon, starry sky
Spread-eagled, snow angel
Predator feeling I've been waiting for
Clay island, dust storm thunder
Struck by lightning: potential energy from my
Full Moon, starry sky
A harness holding me down
Fix me to the ground
Full moon, starry sky
Deep frozen: time is frozen
Glacier eyes in fire
Leaves falling, insects scurry
The seed flowers, an acorn grows an oak under my
Full Moon, starry sky
A harness holding me down
Fix me to the ground
Full moon, starry sky
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Breaking II (1997)
I have written so many songs
'Can't remember a single one
But I do remember
The feel of your cheek
Cold and went on the shore
What do I write them for?
For me? what a waste of passion
And who will listen?
Isolated by the phone
I try to sound happy for you
Always thought it strange
How you slept with the radio on
And all that time you never remembered
A thing you heard
One of these days
Life will give you a break
You've only gotta see it coming
You've only gotta wait
One of these days
Life will come through for you
But I can't wait
Do you remember Kingston?
Do you remember anything at all?
Like why you went so far away.
Now you're here, but you're nowhere near
Mineral water and ice
Fresh salad undressed
I'll get the bill
And you will call me sometime
One of these days life will come full circle
And you'll be back where we were last year
One of these days you'll cast your mind back
To last year
One of these days you'll be back here
Looking for what was lost, what disappeared
One of these days you will return
But I won't wait
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Playing for Time (1997)
By the sea the warm winds remind you of me
And as I think of you a breeze gently blows
All the colours of summer into a wintry mind
But life has been unkind like the churning sea
(second verse added 2000)
At your house that always smelt of Daz
Eating pasta and ketchup
And saying our goodbyes for half an hour
But you don't like me enough
To waer my jeans with the knees worn off
We were playing for time
And oh, the times we had (together)
When the tide is out and the yachts lay abandoned
I think of how we lay that night
- clothed in sand and darkness
why you cried, I guess I'll never know
But I never thought that you would go like that
We were playing for time
And oh, the times we had (together)
The café bar where you caught my eye
Is blackened with the memory
Of the letter that you left
Where we were meant to meet
So I retreat to the bright lights
and dark corners of the town
Your words spinning round in my head...
We were playing for time
And oh, the times we had (together)
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The Orchard (1997)
I took the short cut through the orchard to your house
Past the old school where we broke the rules, always together
The river where we swam and the woods where we ran
Naked as the day we were born
Okay, so I lied, its not a short cut.
Such a pretty view, wasted on the apples
From your bedroom we can see the tower blocks
The sun is getting low but I know which way to go - follow my footprints
The trees draw long shadows on the hillside strobing me as I run
In the distance machines knock down trees and the seeds grow up behind
The windfalls scud away as I chase through to you
Such a pretty view, wasted on the apples
From you bedroom we can see the tower blocks
I'm along your avenue, the moon is just a razor cut in the darkness
Its cut up my jeans to make me look like a retro Robinson Crusoe
The sky is a blue-blackness, fruits full of ripeness burst underfoot
A little out of breath I wait for you to look out of your window
And by the time a arrive there's crushed fruit all around
And by the time I arrive there's juice all over me
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Off the Rails (1996)
On the train to the Tescos life
Did I see you leaving the platform?
Were you there all of the time,
In the next carriage or the seat behind mine?
Where are you going?
Should I go there too?
Cos I followed you and I saw where you come from
Love is never blind just thick in the head
If I don't see it coming it'll tear me to shreds again
I don't want anything I've got
I don't wanna go there
Because I just want you
You're on the train to the Tescos life
You're running away from a coat of many muscles
He brought you down so you hide from your face
In the darkest corners and the dirtiest places
Something inside says you won't be alone
But you could feel lonely even with him inside you
His broken promises and truths never told
Won't make you happy or keep out the cold
I don't want anything I've got
I don't wanna go there
Because I just want you
You stare down the line, you're breath on the window
You draw his face and hang it with a line
You look at me and there's tears in your eyes
I see pain and fear - things I dispise most
So how the hell did we get here?
Tied to the rails, too hopeless to care
If I ever see you on this train again
I will shut my eyes and pretend it never happened
I don't want anything I've got
I don't wanna go there
Because I just want you
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Next of Kin 16-18/9/97
Woman, crippled with pain
Cries into a cold pillow
'How dare he? How dare he?!
Take away what I gave so sacredly?'
Always seem to be
Chasing you endlessly
Through rooms you've only just left
With only one word on my lips: why
You will never recover
You will never return
And graves don't remember
What made those ashes burn
Under the harsh blue sky
You're undeniably dead
But at night what is real?
And your razor still sits in the bathroom cabinet
Always seem to be
Chasing you endlessly
Through rooms you've only just left
With only one word on my lips: why
You will never recover
You will never return
And graves don't remember
What made those ashes burn
I need you to come, I need you to come now
Come now, come now
'Joe's done somethin terrible!'
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Dignity 1996
I see you
But I feel so detached now
wrapped 'round a fuck
kissing his face and looking at me
A sick smile a disgust
Creeps across my face now
'Cause I know
What he's yet to learnIn six hours you'll be on your knees
Puking in a darkened street
So low, oh so low
How can you live like that?
You bring it all on yourself
It used to spread my heart on the railway lines
But now I'm walking away (repeat section)
Its all a show
Playing games for stupid prizes
And in the end
You are bound to lose
Dignity
On the floor with your clothes
You bought the T-shirt
But its nowhere you've ever been
In eight hours you'll be in his bed
Kissing his ass and giving him head
So slow, oh so slow
How can you live like that?
You bring it all on yourself
It used to spread my heart on the railway lines
But now I'm walking away (repeat section)
Your mother's eyes
Hung with bags, her body's swollen
You're not her
But you could look the same
Daddy's girl
but he doesn't care anymore
You lost his trust
When you moved away
Since 16 you've been playing a game
It lead you down a road and there's no way out
And I won't be there anymore
When in the night you cry out
How can you live like that?
You bring it all on yourself
It used to spread my heart on the railway lines
But now I'm walking away (repeat section)
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Screen Kiss mid 1990s
Kiss me like they do in the movies
It always breaks my heart
I'm falling in live with the tragedy of love
A beautiful boy and girl
Speak to me like you spoke to her
And hold me tightly in your arms
The violins will take us to the view
And then I will be alone with you
And when that tear runs down her cheek, oh
Screen kiss
They're kissing me, they're kissing me
Screen kiss
In the rain
She's leaving me in winter
The bus driver frowns and waits impatiently
Her lips glance a kiss on my cheek
And the sparkles heat my heart for weeks
The one she loved has spurned her
Such love has made her blind
She'll never know I love her
She'll never know, oh
I'm no actor but I could do the perfect...
Screen kiss
They're kissing me, they're kissing me
Screen kiss
This false passion means so much to me
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Breaking Up 18/8/95
I haven't seen you for a couple of days
I saw your mum buying Vin de Pays
In the supermarket down the road
She smiled as if she didn't know
The situation between us since you said
The the life between us it was dead
And you were going to have to say goodbye
You weren't prepared to have another try
I didn't wat to have to phone you again
but you've still got my gold plated pen
That my uncle brought back from Taiwan
You borrowed it at Christmas '91
I don't mind about my old suede jacket
I took care to empty the pockets
I knew you'd want to borrow it that day
I took your blissful innocence away
Because we're breaking up
Yes we're breaking up
I'm broken up
Oh so broken up
I should have spoken up
Not let you call the shots
But its hard when you're not used to being on top
Somewhere inside I knew it couldn't last
The way it all happened so fast
That maybe my fault - I wouldn't leave you alone
I'm only flesh and blood not a statue of stone
And anyway you used to phone me all the time
You phoned at seven though I don't get up 'til nine
But when you phoned last night I knew something was wrong
You said the way you felt - it didn't take you long
Because we're breaking up
Yes we're breaking up
I'm broken up
Oh so broken up
I should have spoken up
Not let you call the shots
But its hard when you're not used to being on top
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My Falstaff 29/6/95
My life has been an opera
And the fat lady's singing
I'm strumming out the last chords
And my ears are ringing
They're turning up the house lights
And the people are leaving
There's tears in my eyes
Nothing left to believe in
It's been a good performance
The critics said it wouldn't work
But its time for me to go
And I stand before you now
Like a clown with no make-up on
So think of me tonight when you're in the bar
And be thankful that I didn't take it too far
And end it all on another old cliché
The time has come for me to say
Have one on me
Make it a good strong measure
Leave it at the end of the bar
I'll be along 'fore closing time
To take my bows
And revel in your applause
Some say I'm prophetic
Some say I'm pathetic
Some say I'm only any good
As part of a calorie controlled diet
Some say I'm a boozer
Some say I'm a loser
I'm partial to a drink
But it doesn't mean its taking over
It's been a good performance
The critics said it wouldn't work
But its time for me to go
And I stand before you now
Like a clown with no make-up on
So think of me tonight when you're in the bar
And be thankful that I didn't take it too far
And end it all on another old cliché
The time has come for me to say
Have one on me
Make it a good strong measure
Leave it at the end of the bar
I'll be along 'fore closing time
To take my bows
And revel in your applause
'Cause its a different world when the lights aren't in your eyes
And people see inside you when you're out of costume
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