Lyrics
Paris 1919
- Child's Christmas in Wales
- Hanky Panky Nohow
- The Endless Plain of Fortune
- Andalucia
- Macbeth
- Paris 1919
- Graham Greene
- Half Past France
- Antarctica Starts Here
- Burned Out Affair (2006 reissue bonus track)
- Fever Dream 2024: You're a Ghost (2024 reissue bonus track)
Remarks
The song Child's Christmas in Wales is based on a short story by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953).
Antarctica Starts Here is based on the movie Sunset Boulevard.
Child's Christmas in Wales
With mistletoe and candle green
To Halloween we go
Ten murdered oranges bled on board ship
Lends comedy to shame
The cattle graze bold uprightly
Seducing down the door
To saddle swords and meeting place
We have no place to go
Then wearily the footsteps worked
The hallelujah crowds
Too late but wait the long legged bait
Tripped uselessly around
Sebastopol Adrianapolis
The prayers of all combined
Take down the flags of ownership
The walls are falling down
A belt to hold
Columbus too, perimeters of nails
Perceived the Mamma's golden touch
Good neighbours were we all
[top]
Hanky Panky Nohow
If the sashaying of gentlemen
Gives you grievance now and then
What's needed are some memories of planing lakes
Those planing lakes will surely calm you down
Nothing frightens me more
Than religion at my door
I never answer panic knocking, falling
Down the stairs upon the law
What law?
There's a law for everything
And for Elephants that sing to keep
The cows that agriculture won't allow
Hanky Panky nohow
Hanky Panky nohow oh
[top]
The Endless Plain of Fortune
Old Taylor said
Old Taylor meant to cry -- oh my
Field Marshall meant
Field Marshall went away again
Watch out below; the tides
Lean heavily like wine
We are all innocent in spite of you and me
Then Martha went
Yes Martha went away again
Down in Transvaal
Where Crocodiles and men fight on
They would have played all night
Even with loaded dice
It's gold that eats the heart away and leaves
The bones -- to dry
Segovia watched
Gendarmerie and all that's all
The radio man
Amanda did you choose your tune
She walked away in time
She walked a crooked line
So gracefully she turned her head
And smiled -- away
[top]
Andalucia
Andalucia when can I see you
When it is snowing out again
Farmer John wants you
Louder and softer closer and nearer
Then again
Needing you taking you keeping you leaving you
In a year and a day to be sure
That your face doesn't alter
Your words never falter -- I love you
I'll be here waiting later and later
Hoping the night will go away
Andalucia Castles and Christians
Andalucia come to stay
You were lost, once before, on a day much like this
When you'd made up your mind not to come
And I couldn't persuade you
Or wait till tomorrow -- or pass the time
[top]
Macbeth
Welcome home Macbeth
It's been a long long time
And everyone knows you're here
It's easy to see they care
Banquo's been and gone
He's seen it all before
He took it and then he did walk it
He shook it and then he did rock it
And you know it's true
You never saw things quite that way
She knew it all
And made you see things all her way
Somebody knows for sure
It's gotta be me or it's gotta be you
Come on along and tell me it's alright
It's alright by me
Alas for poor Macbeth
He found a shallow grave
But better than a painful death
And quicker than his dying breath
[top]
Paris 1919
She makes me so unsure of myself
Standing there but never talking sense
Just a visitor you see
So much wanting to be seen
She'd open up the door and vaguely carry us away
It's the customary thing to say or do
To a disappointed proud man in his grief
And on Fridays she'd be there
And on Wednesday not at all
Just casually appearing from the clock across the hall
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
I'm in the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
la la la la la la
The Continent's just fallen in disgrace
William William William Rogers put it in its place
Blood and tears from old Japan
Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor
singing crying singing tediously
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
I'm the bishop and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
la la la la la la
Efficiency efficiency they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs Elysée
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
I'm the bishop and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
la la la la la la
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost, la la la la la la la la la
I'm the bishop and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
la la la la la la
[top]
Graham Greene
You're having tea with Graham Greene
In a colored costume of your choice
And you'll be held in high esteem
If you're seen in between
Stiffly holding umbrellas
Catching the fellows making the toast
To the civil servant Carruthers
Making the others worser than most
You're making small talk now with the Queen
And the elegant ladies in waiting
You're very nervous they can all tell
Pretty well they can tell
So save yourselves for the hounds of hell
They can have you all to themselves
Since the fashion now is to give away
All the things you love so well
Welcome back to Chipping and Sodbury
You can have another chance
It must all seem like second nature
Chopping down the people where they stand
According to the latest score
Mr. Enoch Powell is a falling star
So in future please bear in mind
Don't see clear don't see far
When the average social director
Mistook a passenger for the conductor
So shocking see the old Church of E
Looking down on you and me
[top]
Half Past France
I suppose I'm glad I'm on this train
And it's long
Somewhere between Dunkirk and Paris
Most people here are still asleep
But I'm awake
Looking out from here -- at half-past France
Things are much different here than Norway
Not so cold
Wonder when we'll be in Dundee
Old Hollweg knows his way around
He's no fool
Wish I'd get to see my son again
From here on it's got to be
A simple case of them or me
If they're alive then I am dead
Pray God and eat your daily bread
Take your time
We're so far away
Floating in this bay
We're so far away from home
Where we belong
I'm not afraid now of the dark anymore
And many mountains now are molehills
Back in Berlin they're all well fed
I don't care
People always bored me anyway
[top]
Antarctica Starts Here
The paranoid great movie queen
Sits idly fully armed
The powder and mascara there
A warning light for charm
We see her every movie night
The strong against the weak
The lines come out and struggle with
The empty voice that speaks
Her heart is oh so tired now
Of kindnesses gone by
Like broken glasses in a drain
Gone down but not well spent
The road from Barbary to here
She sold then stole right back
The vanity, insanity her hungry heart forgave
The fading bride's dull beauty grows
Just begging to be seen
Beneath the magic lights that reach from
Barbary to here
Her schoolhouse mind has windows now
Where handsome creatures come to watch
The anaesthetic wearing off
Antarctica starts here
[top]
Burned Out Affair (2006 reissue bonus track)
Everything was fine
When all the girls were boys
And singing
Was the usual thing to do
Nobody was sad
But the kids
The kids with the clumsy eyes
We burned and we looted
And frightened ourselves
Before we learned mothers
Could haunt us with words
Split milk and childishness
Made scratches and cuts
On the cheap polished charm
Of the clumsy-eyed rats
So we stole magazines and some bikes for a ride
Those dazzling devices for Superboy's bride
We shot a few
We stoned a few
And someday survived
To crouch back in corners
Mind in mind's eye
Well I can't bring back
I can't think back
It's fading again
The tin boys and young girls
All melted away
Everything was fine
When all the boys were girls
And singing
Was the natural thing to do
But when men become women
That old thrill's not there
Just some tired old dolls
With their burned out affairs
I can't bring back
I can't think back
It's fading again
The tin boys and young girls
All fading away
[top]
Fever Dream 2024: You're a Ghost (2024 reissue bonus track)
La la la la la...
It's greater now than then
And it's written by another man's pen
And it's going to be another day
Another evening, gone away
Give me one more try
Give me one more try
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la... La la la la la la la...
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
You're a ghost
You're a ghost
Falling all apart
You're a ghost
Falling all apart
You're a ghost
Falling all apart
La la la la la la...
You're a ghost
La la la la la
You're a ghost...