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1. Two went into flame
Three froze then caught fire
Faith died when that happened as
Hope goes by and by
Shelter from a truth
Too huge not to be told
Hides but breeds such terror by night
Now I dare not go
Sunset on this sinking wreck
Bathes us in its glow
No one pulled the fire alarm
No ambulances show
Until the moment
We're bloody, bent and broken
They'll crowd around instead
To tell us that we're dead
That blow would take too long!
One night our lives flash by
And in their dust the day
I was a bull in a china shop
and you were my fair maid
I'll find my hat
and knock out all the glass
Here, grab your purse
But a coroner and hearse?
That blow would take too long!
Momma's baby
Born one Judgement Day
Did the doctor drop me on my head
from a chandalier?
'Cause the years gone by clinging
Rolled off one by one
and left me
Act nonchalant
Pretend there's nothing wrong
Pay your last respects
They'll be no last regrets
That blow would take too long!
C'mon baby we're gone
The crowd gone home
Ages ago
I'm still sat out on a ledge
Afraid one day of what might happen
If I let go
A piano falls into your dreams
Look out down below
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2. Do you see me?
Am I out there somewhere
at the bottom of the Western World?
Was I late?
Are the long knives taken?
When's the last stage outahere?
Tinned sardines
on stale saltines
Finds his keys
Leaves his wet underthings drying
Shaving bag
Cash and fags
Hails a cab
Forgets which airline he's flying
Parks his arse
in business class
Another glass
of free champagne
and first run movie
The flight's on time
They take his bribe
A car arrives
And everything is right on schedule
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3. |
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3. Don't ask me for help
For I am helpless
And please allow a month
or More
Before my reply
I know you have feelings
Please hold I was first
Wait your turn
You don't have to be crazy
to stay here but it would
sure help if you'd stop
asking questions that answer
like this:
No promises.
I know we should talk
But they're locking the doors
This window's closed too
They've stopped passing out forms
And I did take your call
But not anymore
Don't ask me for help
For I'm helpless too
And if you can't help yourself
Then what can I do
If I can't help myself?
Two went into flame
Three froze then caught fire
Faith died when that happened as
Hope goes by and by
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4. |
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4. Just before he made the other side
Saw himself on the shore
One last time
Would you rescue him
Hold him in your arms
Lift him high
Until he died
Is this the thanks I've earned
for a billion years?
For a billion ye
Now the food is gone
The guards all disappeared
Open gate through sheeets of rain
Streaming into tears
of a billion years
of a billion years
"Have you news of my boy Jack?"
Not this tide.
"When d'you think that he'll come back?"
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
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5. |
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5. You'll find the strength to leave
I don't mind
Lay me down like a stone
And rub out this day
"Has any one else had word of him?"
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
Wave the smoke from my eyes
Finish my drink, chew the ice
Marching lies to the wall
There we'll go
Swallowing earth
Woke to the wall's soft breathing
Pulled blankets onto the floor
Your friend's on the phone
and he's screaming
"Hello, I'll ruin your life!"
I've ruined my own
What do we do with a drunken sailor
early in the morning?
Out on the poopdeck
I'm spewing up spunk
When a sock full of birdshot
Comes down with a thunk
on the back of my neck
I'm over the side
Gagging down bilge
As the last only light
in the world sails on
Flickers than fades
And everything else
Is just wave after wave
after wave
wave
The wind's screaming banshees
So no one takes note
of the man overboard
with no wing and no hope
no hope
no hope
What do we do with a drunken sailor
in the morning?
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6. |
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6. A first mate was handed to us
Who went by the name of Jack
But jack got hit by a runaway arc
And Laid out cold on his back
e thought he was dead
medics came in
And hauled what was left on a cot
Stayed that way for a couple of weeks
Don't know if he got up or not
Domine fili, Unigenite, Jesu Christe
Shipped out a crew
A crew on a launch
Still no response
to our radio calls
Out went the crew
They boarded the ship
This is all what they found
3 in the deck
2 in the bulkheads
1 with his head in the wall
The field collapsed
They started to drift
Some never came back at all
Sailors that waiver in some he
Swaying up high off the ground
These are the most desperate of men
lay your hands on them now
Domine fili, Unigenite, Jesu Christe
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7. |
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7. Damn your eyes
My name's Bligh
I'm a survivor
I don't see many hands
here going up but
I'll stick to my guns
True, I've no solid proof
Neither do you
As for the admiralty
diidling one another
Pull up the covers
and send my morning paper
to the morgue
You're all mad as hatters
But we're just the captain and crew
in a small town
neare the rear of the daily papers
Some spring? Fall? Winter?
Notsummer
An item appeared:
Sailors raid a local gin and beer joint
The cook threw a fit
Tongued a duchess
Where, I'm not sure
Nobody can come aboard
Nobody
Nobody can go ashore
Nobody
Ah, but most dames are crazy
And anyway
We're all just bent on destruction
This is my own
I Don't see many heads here
Bowed low but
I'll stick to my guns
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8. |
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8. Joan's golden armor
At the head of the slaughter
English and French boys
Wailing for water
Moaning for mother t
But Joanie only talks with God
So you stay through the black eyes
And stay through the carpet burns
And stay through the bruises
And say it's for the children
Did you walk lightly over the fallen
When they cried
And no one would come?
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9. |
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9. The day wears on
It's all white glue and feathers
Loose ends and lawns
Cats bat sparrows from mid-air
Fair weather friends
High above or in the bloodstream
Make other plans
Leaving your life behind
(Lonely but you're never alone)
Sat in the yard
I was getting this down
(With little golden records)
Papers and records and clothes
All falling around me
Like warm rain
Push 'em off like tiny lifeboats
Jellyfish and small white lanterns
Onward!
Tell lies about things
That don't really matter
When the little golden record
Spins on the giant hi-fi player
Backwards
Skips on the first sing
It's my heart beating
Submarine bells in the hall ring
The Stamford Arm's room
Full of Tidy Bowl and fluer de mal
Smells worse than the night capitan's b.o.
Pass the party
Shoulder rifles
I give orders here
Simon says, "Up the hill, boys!"
When we reach the clouds
Disappear completely
It's the slight of hand
that never quite panned out
When the pigeon died
Stuck inside a top hat
The kids all cried
Go home
Show's over
I'm slogging through a rain of frogs while
Waiting out a plague of pussycats
Each day that dawns
Falling like a stinkbomb in my soul
Would your god have suffered his children
To die for your righteous cause?
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10. |
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10. Rebels take your money
and your clothes.
But when the soldiers come
They'll run my brothers down
Send a bird should I survive
to tear my liver out
For a billion years
A billion
"The child was lost
And when the bleeding ends
It's best to put this all behind you,"
her doctor says
Pour this man a drink
Barkeep!
Toss it down the kitchen sink
It's where I died
Face down inside
A basin filled with
Double Extra-Strength Hair Straightener
Do I wear a hemlock wreath
be a grain of sand
A leaf that blows
I know not where it calls me...
I hear music and there's no one there
I smell blossoms but the trees are bare
They're so pure and good
They say anything you like
And I swallowed it all
So long that
I almost died
I almost died
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11. |
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11. Chairs burning in the center
of State Street
Sand filters in beneath the boards
Make a fist
Shake it at nothing
I'm not here
I can't harm you
The Colonel laughs
leans back and asks
A thousand cash
The rest in bonds
and uncut diamonds
A gymbag filled
with worthless bills
No chance that he'll
Be talking his way out of this one
Blood congealed
These poppy fields
The moon reveals
Stretched out for miles
A billion flowers
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12. |
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12. They sing me to sleep
These promises I'll never keep
But I'll lie awake and crave
pills that would take
me to the land of idiot boys
We made our vows
A slight of hand that never
did pan out
With nought up our sleeves for
My next trick I'll leave
Bound for the land of idiot
This ain't what it seems
It's a magical world
It's an opium dream
There's a candlestick burning
for you
Catch that merry-go-round
In love with the
sound of the rings
Deaf with the song of a
wind chime
Old harry lanier had a heart attack
down by the pier
The birthday girl begins to bawl
Her mom and dad not happy
as they pull on their coats
And go to mumbling oaths
I wish the taxi would show
he closed his eyes
Fell asleep then and there
and he dreamed of the prize
A stuffed swordfish to put
on the wall
Can't you see it now friends
It'll hang at the end of the bar
Faint is the smell of the salt air
It's a magical world
It's an opium dream
The smell of the salt air
The song of a wind chime
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13. |
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13. When do you call?
When nothing is right
in this world?
You raze a wall
And I'll man the barricades
On my own
All alone
When do you call?
When nothing's right
in this world
Swear you'll never crawl
And I will carry you home
All my own
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There was one other outstanding item: a still picture, which clearly incorporates the image of an angel. I was aware of angel myths before finding the picture, and I'd encountered some vague references, around Gloucestershire, but nothing specific. This is it: make of it what you will, but for me - and for expert professional photgraphers who have examined it - there is no hint of forgery about it.
"The whole thing took on the shape of what I can only describe as an angel. I could see what looked like long white robes. It had no feet and there were shapes like wings behind its shoulders.
"I found out that the spook we'd seen the evening before had been floating over the place where the guys had drowned.
"Chuck [his fellow soldier] died on Omaha Beach and took his story with him. I can't prove what I saw was an angel, but I swear it's the truth."
"Doug," U.S. veteran stationed at Woodchester Park, Spring of 1944, addressed to William Doidge. Dated 1952.
released October 10, 2008
Recorded at O'WANKO STUDIOS in the Empire of Japan.
One dog barks at something. The rest bark at him.
-Old Chinese Proverb
Album download includes video.
