| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
| 5:20 | 
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I'm walking down Times Square in the Electric Daylight
The sailors on shore leave stand out in their perfect white. I'm up here with my spying glass at the window up above For better or for worse - it's a perverse universe, my love. Now I know, I should have never walked over the bridge I burned Now I know, somehow I don't feel so alone. "And remember to free faraway from the unbridled, and the impudent, the malicious, and the unlucky. For these being full of bad demons or rays are maleficent, and like lepers and people striken with plague, they harm not only by touch but even by proximity and by sight." (Dig it!) (Quote from Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher [1433-1499]) You mutter underneath your breath - IT ECHOES ROUND THE WORLD Everybody comes from nowhere. There is hope, it loops up in the air Now I know, I should have never walked over the bridge I burned Now I know, somehow I don't feel so alone. You said I used to be handsome if you screwed up your eyes Professors and vampires drank up all the tears I cried. Now there's a bird at my window, he feeds upon the pane (pain) and sometimes he sings to me - a mocking bird in the twilight of infamy. Now I know, I should have never walked over the bridge I burned Now I know, somehow I don't feel so alone. Now I know, I should have never walked over the bridge I burned Now I know, they've burned one sinner and the others are sadly following (set to follow?) Now I know. Now I know. Now I know. |
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| 2. |
| 3:09 |
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Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I would have sworn that her name was Veronica Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own and a delicate look in her eye These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her name is Veronica Chorus: Do you suppose, that waiting hands on eyes, Veronica has gone to hide? And all the time she laughs at those who shout her name and steal her clothes Veronica Veronica Did the days drag by? Did the favours wane? Did he roam down the town all the time? Will you wake from your dream, with a wolf at the door, reaching out for Veronica Well it was all of sixty-five years ago When the world was the street where she lived And a young man sailed on a ship in the sea With a picture of Veronica On the "Empress of India" And as she closed her eyes upon the world and picked upon the bones of last week's news She spoke his name outloud again Chorus Veronica sits in her favourite chair and she sits very quiet and still And they call her a name that they never get right and if they don't then nobody else will But she used to have a carefree mind of her own, with devilish look in her eye Saying "You can call me anything you like, but my name is Veronica" Chorus |
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| 3. |
| 5:06 |
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She wears a wedding ring her sister lent
To throw them off the scent Just let them guess; it's what they expect Who in the world has bitten her neck? She's discovered wearing last night's dress The carnal and cunning she couldn't express Who do you think she's trying to impress Chorus: I think you'd better hold your tongue Although you've never been that strong I'm sorry to say that I knew all along You're no match for that sulky girl She left her European town Before she let the family down She couldn't stand the massacre game So she dyed her hair, adopted another name With the evidence of passing out Stamped on her hand; she glows in the dark He thinks she's from another planet So, -chorus- Sulky girl I'm sure you look a picture when you cry Threatening the silent treatment doesn't qualify It's like money in the bank Your expression is blank And when a chance appears You'll be nearer to tears Sulky girl (x2) He said "Hello my pretty flower" Just trying out his tycoon power Avoiding the mirror, her pitying stare She said "Your're mistaken Your money's no good in here" Just some stupid little know-it-all You thought she looked easy He's not that astute You'll pay for the distance Between cruelty and beauty -chorus- I won't tell you again What do you gain by blackening her name She's smarter than you Oh isn't it a shame You're going to lose that sulky girl Sulky girl I saw you practicing your blackmail faces Suddenly you're talking like a dutchess But you're still a waitress I saw through your pretense But in my defence There are a few events I think will spell the sentence Sulky girl (x4 |
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| 4. |
| 4:36 |
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Here lies the powder and perfume
The pretty clothes are scattered 'round the room And it's so like candy Here lies the lipstick and the face The coloured tablets keep it all in place And it's so like candy So like candy Chorus What did i do to make her go Why must she be the one That i have to love So like candy Here lies a picture of a girl Her arms are tight around that lucky guy And it's so like candy And in her eyes a certain look I thought i'd seen the last of long ago And it's so like candy So like candy Chorus I remember the day that picture was taken We were so happy then But that's so like candy She seemed so sweet to me i was mistaken Oh no not that again But that's so like candy She just can't face the day So she turns and melts away Here lie the records that she scratched And on the sleeve i find a note attached And it's so like candy "my darling dear it's such a waste" She couldn't say "goodbye", but "i admire your taste" And it's so like candy So like candy |
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| 5. |
| 3:18 | 
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| 6. |
| 4:37 |
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Its at times such as this shed be tempted to spit
If she wasnt so ladylike She imagines how she might have lived Back when legends and history collide So she looks to her prince finding hes so charmingly Slumped at her side Those days are recalled on the gallery wall And shes waiting for passion or humour to strike What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty? All this useless beauty Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time Til he almost began to negotiate She held his head like a baby and said Its okay if you cry Now he wants her to dress as if you couldnt guess He desires to impress his associates But hes part ugly beast and Hellenic deceased So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny Chorus She wont practice the looks from the great tragic books That were later disgraced to face celluloid It wont even make sense but you can bet If she isnt a sweetheart or plaything or pet The film turns her into an unveiled threat Nonsense prevails, modesty fails Grace and virtue turn into stupidity While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts They still think theyre the gods of antiquity If something you missed didnt even exist It was just an ideal -- is it such a surprise? Chorus (2x) |
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| 7. |
| 6:20 |
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She says nobody wants to believe
You're the same as everyone. What makes me unique? My Dark Life There was a kink in the world Sent that statue tumbling An invitation east So we can watch it all crumbling She came off like light and so softly she spoke: "You don't know, no you don't know about my dark life" And you think you're a guest, you're a tourist at best Peering into the corners of your dark life Now that you tear your dreams from consumptive ballerinas She'd stand on tiptoes for you in a grey and tattered tutu She stays where she is because of voyeurs like these With an accusative look that says My Dark Life Robber men await you then in each beguiling alley To shake you and to pierce you and remind you of My Dark Life Enter the pious elite, in their preening finery And bang the tambourine They're dining on rice paper scenery See how the villain attracts envious glances from everyone She's waitressing by day It doesn't bring in much money now And his strong concealed arms set off bells and alarms In the strangest locations of My Dark Life But the fantasy slipped as he tipped her in cigarettes She tries to smile very graciously when she wants to kill him Now the victory is sweet, you'll get down on your knees It's the perfect position for kissing western leather So they came from Ugly Texas and from Nameless Tennessee From Peculiar Missouri and from places closer to me. All the cream of heartless England, cheered the carnival is over There are remnants of red army bandsmen Played "America The Beautiful" |
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| 8. |
| 3:56 |
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The sun struggles up another beautiful day
And I felt glad in my own suspicious way Despite the contradiction and confusion Felt tragic without reason There's malice and there's magic in every season CHORUS From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf The other side of Summer To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf The other side of Summer The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows A teenage girl is crying 'cos she don't look like a million dollars So help her if you can 'Cos she don't seem to have the attention span CHORUS Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"? A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't need no lessons"? The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop The pop princess is downtown shooting up And if that goddess if fit for burning The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning Madman standing by the side of the road saying "Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes" Now you can't afford to fake all the drugs your parents used to take Because of their mistakes you'd better be wide awake CHORUS The mightiest rose The absence of perfume The casual killers The military curfew The cardboard city An unwanted birthday The other side of summer The dancing was desperate, the music was worse They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless Goodnight God bless And kiss "goodbye" to the earth The other side of summer |
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| 9. |
| 3:25 |
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Here in the bar, the boys like to have fun
There's a wager lost and an argument won There's a stone-washed damsel on a junk-food run It's a kinder murder It's a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth See her in silhouette going down South It's a kinder murder (x2) She could have kept her knees together Could have kept her mouth shut It's a kinder murder (x2) Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence He was back in half an hour; he said he left her senseless And he went back to his regiment It's a kinder murder The officer said it had to be denied There's a tear-stained would-be teenage bride All the family pride in a little ram-rider It's a kinder murder (x2) She could have kept her knees together Could have kept her mouth shut It's a kinder murder (x2) The child went missing and the photo fit his face Dishonored Jimmy just read about the case He said that he was just taking up space It's a kinder murder Jimmy took his best friend's keys from the pile On the table; in a flash he was dreaming of the pigskin Seats and the walnut dash; the knickers in her handbag And the one false eyelash It's a kinder murder (x2) She could have kept her knees together Could have kept her mouth shut It's a kinder murder (x4 |
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| 10. |
| 4:03 |
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One day you're going to have to face
A deep dark truthful mirror And it's going to tell you things that I still love you too much to say The sky was just a purple bruise, the ground was iron And you fell all around the town until you looked the same Chorus: The same eyes, the same lips, the same lie from your tongue trips Deep dark, deep dark truthful mirror Deep dark, deep dark truthful mirror Now the flagstone streets where the newspaper shouts ring to the boots of roustabouts But you're never in any doubt, there's something happening somewhere You chase down the road till your fingers bleed On a fiberglass tumbleweed You can blow around the town, but it all shuts down the same Chorus So you bay for the boy in the tiger-skin trunks They set him up, set him up on the stool He falls down, falls down like a drunk And you drink till you drool And it's his story you'll flatter You'll stretch him out like a saint But the canvas that he splattered will be the picture that you never paint Chorus A stripping puppet on a liquid stick gets into it pretty thick A butterfly drinks a turtle's tears, but how do you know he really needs it? 'Cos a butterfly feeds on a dead monkey's hand, Jesus wept he felt abandoned You're spellbound baby there's no doubting that Did you ever see a stare like a Persian cat? Chorus |
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| 11. |
| 4:04 |
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The man in the corner of this picture has a sinister purpose
In the teeming Temple of the Railroad Kings He's planting a trashy paperback book for accidental purchase Containing all the secrets of life and other useless things But I can't bring myself to look Wake up Zombie write yourself another book You want to scream and shout my little flaxen lout Hurry down Doomsday the bugs are taking over She sleeps with the shirt of a late, great country singer Stretched out on her poor jealous husband's pillow In time you can turn these obsessions into careers While the parents of those kidnapped children start the bidding for their tears But I can't bring myself to look Wake up Zombie Get yourself off the book You want to scream and shout my little waxen lout Hurry down Doomsday the bugs are taking over Forget about Beethoven, Rembrandt and rock and roll Forget about Mickey Mouse, Marlboro and Coca Cola Forget about Cadillac, Mercedes and Toyota Forget about Buddha, Allah, Jesus and Jehovah Hurry down Doomsday the bugs are taking over Any day now a giant insect mutation Will swoop down and devour the white man's burden Starting out with all of the sensitive ones Better make like a fly if you don't want to die Look out there goes Gordon But I can't bring myself to think Wake up Zombie Kick up a big stink You want to scream and shout my little Saxon lout Hurry down Doomsday the bugs are taking over |
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| 12. |
| 3:59 |
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He's out in the woods with his squirrel gun
To try to recapture his anger He's screaming some words at the top of his lungs Until he begins to feel younger But back at his desk in the city we find Our trembling punch-drunken fighter Who can't find the strength now to punish the length Of the ribbon in his little typewriter Poor fractured Atlas Threw himself across the mattress Waving his withering pencil as if it were a pirate's cutlass I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden He said "That's how the child in me planned it A woman wouldn't understand it" I believe there was something that I wanted to say Before I conclude this epistle But you would forgive me for holding my tongue 'Cause man made the blade and the pistol Yes man made the waterfall and the dam To temper his tantrum with magic Now you can't be sure of that ten of azure Since he punched a hole in the fabric Poor fractured Atlas Threw himself across the mattress Waving his withering pencil as if it were a pirate's cutlass I'm almost certain he's trying to increase his burden He said "That's how the child in me planned it A woman wouldn't understand it" |
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| 13. |
| 4:23 |
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Summertime withers as the sun descends
He wants to kiss you. Will you condescend? Before you wake and find a chill within your bones Under a fine canopy of lover's dust and humourous bones Banish all dismay Extinguish every sorrow Eternity stinks, my darling. That's no joke Don't waste your precious time pretending you're heartbroken There will be tears and candles Pretty words to say Spare me lily-white lillies With the awful perfume of decay Banish all dismay Extinguish every sorrow If I'm lost or I'm forgiven The birds will still be singing It's so hard to tear myself away Even when you know it's over It's too much to say. Banish all dismay Extinguish every sorrow If I'm lost or I'm forgiven The birds will still be singing |
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| 14. |
| 4:23 |
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Outside my window
Not long before sleep arrives They come with their sirens And they sweep away all the boys Busy draining the joy from their lives They never said their prayers out loud And while I'm dreaming There's a passing motorcar That broadcasts a popular song And a girl who appears to be saying "Do you think that I'm gonna go far?" Chorus: Just look at me here Having the time of my life Or something quite like it When I'm walking out and about In London's brilliant parade She's one of those girls that you just can't place You feel guilty desiring such an innocent face But of course they knew that when they cast her Along with the red Routemaster And the film takes place in an MGB And a perfect re-creation of The Speakeasy Everybody looks happy and twisted 'Cause she probably never existed For old times' sake Don't let me awake I wouldn't want you To walk across Hungerford Bridge 'Specially at twilight Looking through the bolts and the girders Into the water below You'll never find your answer there They sounded the all-clear In the occidental bazaar They used to call Oxford street Now the bankrupt souls in the city They're finally tasting defeat Don't look at me here Having the time of my life Or something quite like it When I'm walking out and about In London's brilliant parade When I'm walking out and about In London's brilliant parade >From the gates of St. Mary's There were horses in Olympia And a trolly-bus in Fullham Broadway The lions and the tigers in Regent's Park Couldn't pay their way And now they're not the only ones At the Hammersmith Palais In Kensington and Camden Town There's a park that I used to play The lovely diorama is really part of the drama, I'd say -chorus- (x2 |
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| 15. |
| 5:41 |
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I saw a newspaper picture from the political
campaign A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain She spills with compassion, as that young child's face in her hands she grips Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child's lips Well I hope I don't die too soon I pray the Lord my soul to save Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live long enough to savour That's when they finally put you in the ground I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down When England was the whore of the world Margeret [sic] was her madam And the future looked as bright and as clear as the black tarmacadam Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't haunted by every tiny detail 'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands all she thought of was betrayal And now the cynical ones say that it all ends the same in the long run Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his only son And how it's only voices in your head and dreams you never dreamt Try telling him the subtle difference between justice and contempt Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful discontent When they flaunt it in your face as you line up for punishment And then expect you to say "Thank you" straighten up, look proud and pleased Because you've only got the symptoms, you haven't got the whole disease Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can filled up with dreams then poured down the drain Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being blown to bits o |
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| 16. |
| 3:48 |
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I saw a girl who'd found her consolation
She said "One day my Prince of Peace will come" Above her head a portrait of her father The wilted favour that he gave her still fastened to the frame "They've got his bones and everything he owns I've got his name" Well you can laugh at this sentimental story But in time you'll have to make amends The sudden chill where lovers doubt their immortality As the clouds cover the sky the evening ends Describing a picture of eyes finally closing As you sometimes glimpse terrible faces in the fire We'll I'm the lucky goon Who composed this tune from birds arranged on the high wire Who on earth is tapping at the window? Does that face still linger at the pane? I saw you shiver though the room was like a furnace A shadow of regret across a young mother's face So toll the bell or rock the cradle Please don't let me fear anything I cannot explain I can't believe, I'll never believe in anything again |
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| 17. |
| 3:14 |
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I want to vanish
This is my fondest wish To go where I cannot be captured Laid on a decorated dish Even in splendor this curious fate Is more than I care to surrender Now it's too late Whether in wonder or indecent haste You arrange the mirrors and the spools To snare the rare and precious jewels That were only made of paste If you should stumble upon my last remark I'm crying in the wilderness I'm trying my best to make it dark How can I tell you I'm rarer than most I'm certain as a lost dog Pondering a sign post Chorus I want to vanish This is my last request I've given you the awful truth Now give me my rest |
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| 18. |
| 3:53 |
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1-2-3,2-3,3
The twitching impulses to speak your mind I'll lend you my microscope and maybe you will find it Is it in that ugly place that's just behind your face Where you keep my picture still despite the fact That you had me replaced Chorus: Say good-bye Baby can't you act your age You know why I'm going to give it to you straight Although I'll never be Unhappy as you want me to be Still it's all the rage I'll probably play along left to my own devices Spare me the drone of your advice The sins of garter and gin confession may delay You know the measuring pole, the merry boots of clay I've heard it all before. You'll say it anyway -chorus- Alone with your tweezers and your handkerchief You murder time and truth, love, laughter and relief Don't try to touch my heart It's darker than you think And don't try to read my mind Because it's full of disappearing ink -chorus- Although I'll never be Unhappy as you want me to be Still it's all the rage |
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