Ray Davies

Is this really it?
Is this the final station
It's really been quite a trip

You know it's been great to watch the sights
Playing the edited highlights
And all the outtakes you did not see
Were only my unreality

[Chorus]
I am, I am imaginary
I am, I am imaginary
I'm the imaginary man
Imaginary man, yes I am
Imaginary, imaginary

I was always in your head
To raise your expectations
And always let it be said

I offered my very best to you
Gave you my dreams to aspire to
Involved you in all my crazy schemes
And took you to places you'd never seen

Walked down to Preservation Hall
Looking for the old rad band
It was just a momentary glance

I saw my reflection in the glass
Watched as the world went flashing past
I knew the face but could not tell
Why I couldn't recognize myself

[Chorus]

I'm the imaginary man, imaginary man
Imaginary man, yes I am
Imaginary, imaginary
Imaginary man, imaginary man

Sunlight and the city is barely awake
As all the early morning drifters make their way
Headlights in the distance too bright for my eyes
Still I love the dusk, the dawn, between times
They are mine

'Cos you can't tell if it's day or night
Do we see the moon or the sunlight?
Everything around is so transitional
Momentary lapse of rational

Walking past the writing on the wall
Something apocalyptic
Then a momentary lapse of faith
Before I become more optimistic

Like a momentary loss of sight
Fleetingly it went so wrong from right
In a second it can change from night to day
Any second love can turn to hate

Sunlight and the city is barely awake
As all the seconds in our lifetime drift away
So live every moment and hold me so tight
A second changes day to night

I had a momentary loss of sight
Fleetingly it went so wrong from right
In a second you would change your point of view
In my hesitation I lost you

It only takes a moment sometimes
The difference between joy and pain
In a second you can look away
Turn around to find it's all changed

Because you can't tell if it's day or night
Do we see the moon or the sunlight?
Everything around is so transitional
Momentary loss of rational

Like a momentary loss of sight
Fleetingly it went from dark to light
In a second it can change from night to day
But in a moment hope will find the way

Listen to my heartbeat
Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground
Listen to my heartbeat
Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground

Nelson and Starr
He's got ten grandkids, she's the third missus
He grooves around intensive care, strutting his stuff
He's got a perfect mullet hanging down his back
And Starr walks in, gives a little wiggle
Makes old Nelson grin
He tucks me in, touches my feet
"Hey buddy, you know you got a slow heartbeat"

Listen to my heartbeat
Yeah, listen to my heartbeat
And the marching band plays along
Plays the morphine song on the charity ward
Yeah the marching band plays its song

Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground
Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground

And opposite me Brenda the alkie coughs so deep
It's the drugs and the drink
It could happen to anyone
Sure makes me think
And the bed beside her is full of cables and leads
Nobody visits, nobody grieves

Listen to my heartbeat
Yeah, listen to my heartbeat

Nelson and Starr
He's got ten grandkids, she's the third missus
Starr takes some blood out of my arm
Rolls me over just like that
Listen to my heartbeat, slow but clean
While Brenda the alkie looks so mean
They wheel her out, she starts to cry
"If I don't get better, I'm gonna die
I'll go cold turkey till I'm clean
I'll go to jail but you get the morphine"

Listen to my heartbeat lalalala lalalala
Yeah, listen to my heartbeat lalalala lalalala
And the marching band song
Plays in the morgue at the charity ward
Yeah, the marching band plays its song

Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground
Listen to my heartbeat
Yeah, all fall down someone help me off of the ground

Why is it difficult to get things done
In the age of computers and communication?
The powers that be say they can't keep a hold
Of a world that is escalating out of control

Out on the street there's a war going on
And everything is going wild
But a bureaucrat says, "We've lost your file
So we'll put you on hold for a while"

Hey man, call the D.A.
Call the National Guard, call the president
Call anyone in the land of the free
'Cause they ain't gonna listen to me

Call the P.D., the emergency ?vacuation
The Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan
And they ain't gonna listen to me

The voice on the phone says, 'We'll get right back'
But they say all the computers are down
And the chief prosecutor had to go out of town
No one listen, nobody listens, no one listens to me

Now we've got you in the system
Somebody's gonna get back to you
Then in a few more years we'll give your case a review
No one listen, nobody listens, they ain't gonna listen to me

Hey man, call the Government
Write to City Hall, United Nations
Tell the preacher at the missionary
'Cause they ain't gonna listen to me

Blame the hurricane, blame the drug trade, the economy
Blame the ghettos in the land of the free
'Cause they ain't gonna listen to me
They ain't gonna listen to me

Everybody knows it's a cryin' shame
How the little guy gets kicked around
Everybody I talk to agrees that if you wanna get heard
It's connections that count

I was minding my business
When a bad situation occurred, shock, horror and fear
Now the outcome is still unclear
Hey man, I am the innocent party here
They ain't gonna listen to me

Tell the National Guard
Tell the talk show on the TV
Tell the winos in the old man bar
?Cause they ain't gonna listen to me

Now I'm stuck here in their system
They ain't gonna listen, nobody listens
They ain't gonna listen to me

I was walking on the coast road
When the harbor came in view
It was there I saw the hilltop
That I used to walk with you

We'd sing of the old country
Now it's such a lonesome climb
Our world faded once when you were mine

Why is true love so difficult to find
Wish you were here to see it with me
One more time
Lalalala lalalala lalalala lala
Wish you were here to sing it with me
One more time

Those economic vultures
Stole our dreams and told us tales
Then they towed away our culture
To their depot in south Wales

Corporations get the tax breaks
While the city gets the crime
The profit's going somewhere
But it isn't yours or mine

Still we blindly trust in the divine
Let's sing for the old country
Come on, one more time
Lalalala lalalala lalalala oh oh
Let's sing it loud with feeling
Come on, one more time

You know I must be leaving
And I know you've got to stay
But you know that I'll be grieving
When you're so far away

And if this should be the last time
I should ever see your face
Let's part with no hard feeling
And a positive embrace

And I will speak well of you
When they ask when you were mine
Till then the jet stream up above
Shows us the warning signs

Till we meet again bravely walk the line
Let's sing it loud with feeling
Come on, one more time
Lalalala lalalala lalalala oh oh
Let's sing for the old country
Come on, one more, one more time

Hey girl let's begin again and try to help ourselves
We're like weary warriors who just came back from hell
You can keep your territory, I will stay in mine
Carefully negotiate and leave this battleground behind

All we deserve is some peace in our time
Unconditional love is better
Peace in our time

And it really doesn't matter
'Cos the world keeps going round
Just like a roller coaster
If you let it, it will crush you down

All we deserve is some peace in our time
I don't need no sympathy
Just some peace of mind

The two of us can't take it
Gotta have a truce so we can start
To pull it back together
Otherwise we're gonna fall apart

I'm tearing up the bunch of angry letters that you sent
The living room's a wreck from all the rows
The atmosphere is stifled with aggression
Ultimatums, deadlines and depression

Oh we both deserve a better life
This friction's killing me
Don't want to be a Buddhist but I need some peace and harmony and

All that I ask is some peace in my time
A little bit of understanding peace in our time

And I know that we can make it
But we gotta compromise
Don't want no more division
So end this war and live our lives

'Cos all we deserve is peace in our time
Unconditional understanding peace in our time
I'm tearing up the bunch of angry letters that you sent
Peace in our time
Peace in our time

When the heat stops you sleeping at night
And the dead leaves rustle around
And the calmness keeps you awake
And you pace around the room

That's the zombie in you manifesting itself
And you cry out loud and nobody can help
And it's a one way sign to the gates of hell
And there's no way back, no, there's no way back
Ain't no wonder you can't sleep at night

You just heard the voodoo call
So you pace around, do the zombie crawl
And you shuffle around in the prison cell
Doing the voodoo walk, dancing with yourself
And you just can't blame the zombie inside of you

Or the voodoo curse hanging over you
Or the zombie walk like an old soft shoe
Where the voodoo man's talking inside of you
Doing the voodoo walk, voodoo walk

Ain't no evil spirits round here
Or zombie people or demons with pointy ears
Ain't no spooks waiting to appear

Doing the voodoo walk
Talking the voodoo talk
Or the voodoo howl
Doing the voodoo walk, voodoo walk

Voodoo walk, voodoo walk
Doing the voodoo walk, voodoo walk

And the days are like living in hell
You're not well but you just did it to yourself

You know the look
You can tell by that haunted stare
You're never quite here, you're never quite really there
And the cemetery's empty 'cause the zombies are everywhere

Doing the voodoo walk
Talking the voodoo talk
Or the voodoo howl
Doing the voodoo walk

Doing the voodoo walk
Talking the voodoo talk
Or the voodoo growl
Doing the voodoo walk

You better top off your suntan
Otherwise your skin's gonna to turn to leather
We'll make a movie in Vietnam
Tax break said we're gonna shoot on location
The rug says made in Korea
Manufactured in a factory using cheap labor
And all over Asia
The third world's becoming a major league player

[Chorus 1]
Mass production in Saigon
While auto workers laid off in Cleveland
Hot jacuzzi in Taiwan
With empty factories in Birmingham
Now it's baby boomers in Hong Kong
And cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies

[Chorus 2]
Big confusion in Hollywood
Now it's American Major League in Japan
Hamburger in China
With sushi bars in Maine and Boston
The dollar sign said expand those
Now it's cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies

Wake up in the White House
Zip up your pants and get it together
Take a look at your overseas neighbor
Look at their strange behavior
Take a look at your wigwam
Inside it says that the product is Asian
Once it was only in movies
Now it's a product invasion

[Chorus 1]

You better top up your suntan
Looks like we're in for heavy weather
Economic meltdown
Nobody said it would last forever
Let's make a movie in Baghdad
Take the culture right to the Third World
Blow up a brand new civilization
In the name of globalization

[Chorus 2]

Watch out!
Ride off with your debts into the sunset

Looking for the working man's caf챕
In the shopping center of the town
Looking for somewhere to fit in
In among the retail outlets

Bought a pair of new designer pants
Where the fruit and veg man used to stand
I always used to see him there
Selling old apples and pears

Chatting up the pretty girls
With knocked off goods in the van

Don't you know he was a working man
Long ago he was a working man
And we sat in the working man's caf챕
The working man's caf챕

Everything around me seems unreal
Everywhere I go it looks and feels like America
We've really come a long way down this road
Improving our surroundings as we go
Changing our roots and culture
But don't you know

Long ago there was a working man
Don't you know we were all working men
And we'd sit and pass the time of day
At the working man's caf챕

I thought I knew you then but will I know you now?
There's gotta be a place for us to meet
I'll call you when I've found it
I only hope that life has made us a little more grounded
Hey man, I see you now.

Oh oh, we were all working men
And here we are at the working man's caf챕

It's really good to see us come so far
But haven't we forgotten who we are
Taking out a larger loan
Equity relief and mortgages

We all seem to pass the time of day
Online at the internet cafe
And if you forget my face
In case you've forgotten just who I am
I'm the kid with the greasy spoon
Firmly held in my hand

Don't you know I was a working man
Long ago we were all working men
And we sat and spent the time of day
At the working man's caf챕
Yeah, at the working man's caf챕

You're asking me, "what's it leading to?
Will we live a long life, will it treat us fair?"
No point asking me because I haven't got a clue

You're asking me, "will it be alright?"
If you're asking me don't take my advice
And don't make me responsible
For you living your life

I could say there will be laughter, you will never cry
I could just as easily go tell a lie, couldn't I, yeah
What would come after, that would be unwise
If that's what you really want
Then get a life, get a life, get a life

You're asking me, "will it be alright?"
Because I've been around, I have the insight
And I was there the first time so I must know what it's like
If you're asking me, don't take my advice

Do we learn from all the questions that we ask
Do we listen to the past, we never do
It's up to you to go and make your own mistakes
Have a go and break a leg
But please don't come home crying when you do

You're asking me, don't take my advice
Because I've been there before
Doesn't come to pass
That I have all the answers to the questions that you ask
I'm telling you because you're asking me

Anyway, what am I supposed to say
Could say everything is really brilliant
Anything to make your worries disappear
Put your conscience in the clear
And make you think there's nothing left to fear

You're asking me, "what's it leading to?
Will we live a long life, will it treat us fair?"
No point asking me because I wasn't even there

First time around it was really grand
But inside something said to me
Go get a life, get a life
Now that I'm here I can't understand
Why anyone is asking me, if I could give a damn
I could say there will be laughter, you will never cry
I could just as easily go tell a lie, couldn't I?
Then what would come after, that would be unwise
If that's what you really want then
Get a life, get a life, get a life
If you're asking me, don't take my advice