Burning the Bridges in Budapest

They're burning the Bridges of Budapest
Watch as they all fall down
They're burning them slowly
Like a fire vest, you wear
Then jump in the river and drown

They're burning them slowly, they're burning them fast
all of those bridges not only, bridges to the past
Bridges to the future
Hopes and dreams
They're all falling into
The Danube streams

They're forgetting the town
Forgetting people too
They're burning the bridges down
That means you
Its time to get out before its all lost
Once the bridges are all burnt
You won't get across
There are tongues that are tied
Speaking languages many
There are beggars on the ground
Saving every penny
But its running around
Rolling down the hill
And the mob is in town
On a bridge burning bill

Don't ask me for a reason
I have none to confess
Just time and the season
Of restlessness
Spring is coming
I can feel it on the tides
They must be turning
Because their burning bridges and brides
They're holding up the stick men to the flame
They are setting light their heads
In confusion and blame
And we're all done for
In the final name game
Nobody gets out alive
But their burning bridges just the same

You owe me your love

You owe me
I gave you all I had to give
Yes you owe me
I had to live the life I live
It wasn't as if I was running around
Blowing my roses all over town
I gave you it all even the thorn of my love
Oh now that prick in your conscience isn't enough?
You owe me your love

I've seen days when the rays don't come
Slow days that march to the beat of a drum
And many more besides these where the field marshall sung
Of things the army owes him
While another young man is hung

You owe me I want to scream
It is like living someone else's God forsaken dream
I've put everything I've had into this sinking ship
And its rolling to starboard and the cliffs are rising in the dip
Now don't say I never swam to your rescue
I always reached out my arm but now its me who needs you
You owe me, this life saving procedure
Cut out my heart resuscitate me from fever
And If you ever say that I'm the one who flew
Never forget all those handles that you threw
You never knocked, you never turned, you only shocked and then burned
Like a fuse that shortly blew
You owe me, I don't owe you

My heart breaks, it really does

My heart breaks it really does
It breaks like a wave on your shore
My heart is made of something more than this blood
This flood, these ropes that tighten
These cello strings, these harp's chords
My heart breaks, it really does
My heart like a vice for a crocodile
Like a purse for crocodile tears
As an oyster's shell holds pearls

My heart rolls you like grit
It hurts to rub you against its walls
One day Inside will look pearlesque and shiny
With your memories smeared
By my paintbrush of lies
My heart breaks it really does

My heart is a painting
It is a gallery of faces
It is an audience
An auditorium of eyes
Who stare at me accusingly
Like at the last judgement
When God asks what men
Have done with their lives
My heart breaks, it really does

And in its catheral organ of tubes
In its chambers and atrium
You are there singing your beautiful blues
Your Cantata of loves Equilibrium

Carnation hill

Maybe its colour of the red red rose
And maybe its the colour of the nation
Maybe its the colour of the road that goes
Maybe its time for vacation

Well I'm walking down the street in a certain pose
Raising my flag of damnation
Whoever told you that, he surely knows
There's only one road to salvation

Maybe its the colour of the dog at night
Maybe its the frost in the early morning bite
Maybe its the snow goose, maybe its the crow
Or maybe it just something I ought to know

Of Life and Death

I've seen you in the corner store
Next to the margarine
You were reciting Nietzsche's words
And the supreme human being
However the universal soldier
At the check out
Dropped his genes
Into the checkout girl's draw
And told her she was
Out of this scene
The director walked in all upperty
And wanted to settle a score
The producer had fallen in with the wrong sort
Of onions
And was known as 'cucumber obscene'
He said I'm not having this sort of carry on
In my show
You can go now,
But don't forget the blow
You owe me
Out back behind the bins
But he left under shadows of booms
Through the emergency exit
Behind a stack of magazines

Some time later the director
Was sitting in his chair
Interviewing a new actor
For the role of Fred Astair
So you say you can dance?
Well show me
Bring out the fast hearts
Lay your cards on the table
And the actor turned aces of faces
In his eyes
Black clubs made his boots
Diamonds stolen from skies
Sparkled over the spades of his shoes
And she knew
He had played his cards right

The next night
She was out there waiting for him
Ginger Rogers
In her costume
Of flowers in bloom
And colours like shrapnel
Splayed across the room
When she lifted her skirt hem
And swished like a balloon
All head and shoulder
and traction knee
All break a leg at the universal sodiers
Waiting in the quay
All sailors must love her space jamboree
And suck at their lamposts
Where she sings in the rain

It wasn't for love of money
That he stayed
You see the job was a good one
His days were arranged
And every brick of time numbered
Like in pyramids of the pharaohs
Egyptian mummies loved
To see their Cleopatre
And fathers and mothers all become
Strange when you think you don't
Their ancient histories
Yet it never comes out except when its laundered
No not the dirty money
The dirty mummy, silly
That's what I mean
And they reveal their mysteries
Inside a false magazine

We are Little Britain

Give me your answer
The bee is buzzing the rings are fastened
To the belt
The bells jingle
Like a thousand questions
That I've already answered before
Such silly dances these folk give
Without wanting to be twee
We British can't make a serious suggestion
Or connection with tradition
Which hasn't already been mocked
Or flogged to death on a debating floor
But over in Europe,
The individual is filled with somekind of power
Invested with some awe
By us British
Except the ones who are trying to rip them off
Make money from their children in summer schools

They have this otherness value that shields them
Like a shawl, a cloak of invisibility
If not of impenetrability
Which means everything they say has this extra weight
Even the everyday utterances
Even some cultural reference to a folk tradition
Is revered
But not in Britain,
Not about British traditions
Now let's be fair we mean the English
Scottish traditions have this cloak of protection
As do the Welsh and don't mention the Irish
But mention the English and it is quaint
Or silly or small and provincial
Though fiercely defended in the village
In the towns and cities they laugh and sneer
At such exhibitions of little england
Those little threads that tie
communities together
if that itself is not a clichéd or kitch concept

Spring time in the smoke

All the sexless numbskulls are trying to trip me up
In the forests of the evening and at the hour of the dusk
The candles they are leaning through the shadows of the tusk
And swallows tell their meaning in the narrows of the musk
Between the roof tops and the ceiling
Where they are all layed up
I think therefore I migrate,
I'm an immigrant of the brain
There are only seasons in the neural networks of the south
And the river flows with the blood of change
From its source right to its mouth
So silent, cold and unchanged
beneath the Danube rolls untouched

Can you clear a heart hole
Let the gold flow in its space
But no its full of pennies
And your heart strings are tied in knots
Nothing plays on the harp, the lute
The dulcet tones are strangely strained
And its all on waiting for the winter throes
Out in the fields of rain

Prometheus bound

Why did you go and do that to me
Can't you see how I'm pinned here
Alone to this tree?
Pegasus wings and Achilles' heel
Agamemnon brain, Prometheus knows how I feel
I discovered fire but now thess rocks are my rails
And I'm sinking fast the raven's pecking my entrails

Who should know my cast, who should?
Who has made my mould but some God
And then when I try creation
Well destruction is my reward
Who knows how I feel? But Perseus's sword
Made to cut the head off Medusas of the seas
And fire spitting serpents and slay dragons in the leas
Who but the Argonauts, or Ulysses
Strapped to the mast to resist the Sirens' Soliloques
So tempting an Island, an island I can't resist
An island of misfortune where my own ruin must persist
Hold me back from destruction
Hold me away from desire
And Like Prometheus before me
Tell me never to play with fire

Cleopatre and I

Now you are Cleopatre and I
I am Anthony
And the things that we see in each other
Are like Asp milk, so cloudy
We neither know the other
And yet both are in love with the love
The jar has been spilt over
And the river runs red with blood

Below There are no disguises
You wear your empress' gown
And I throw over my shoulder
The mane of a lion I pulled down

The African sun is rising
And the sand gets in my eyes
There is another storm on the the horizon
And it will be upon us by the sunrise

Everywhere

It is like you are over there
And I am over here
Come over here, from over there
There's a distance I can't see through
And my eyes, they are closed
But my mind is blinking in surprise
come over her, from over there
help me to open my eyes

And I don't feel its very fair
That I only deal in lies
In every pack the card I pull from
Behind your ear, like they
Were growing there
Come over here from over there
Show me that sleight of hand
Make my queens disappear
Come on before I go blind
Come over here from over there
Help me to reshuffle my mind

I've been on a losing streak
The gold is there I believe in what I speak
There is a vein running a thousand miles long
Under mountains from New York to Saigon
And I have to tap its source
Find out the strong from the weak
Do I need to bring you here by force?
Should I just let the river run its course
Come over here from over there
Let me feel you everywhere

These city walls

These city walls
Stand tall

These city walls of stone
Stand alone, stand alone
When we are gone
They will still own
These streets
Nobody sees the face of truth
Its too much to look into its eyes
We all want to see the facade of lies
Its easier on our eyes

But in the friezes, in the crevices
There are cracks and fissures
And here the water seeps its entrance
Giving advices
Shoving pushing, putting pressure
To break the facade of lies

These city walls stand tall
They stand alone in stone
Stone faces look upon our works
No judgement, no disguise
Just stretches
Down the road
Where everyone leaves in droves
But nobody gets out alive
Everyone keeps a heart of stone

In this city
In this city
Everyone stands alone

Let the chips fall

Waiting for the chips to fall
They may scatter
Men guns machines, that's all
That matters
To them
Their hearts are made of wax
There's no sense in their attacks
They just melt against the wall
Just waiting for the chips to fall

Can you see the light my dear
The broken spike
Of the fallen deer
Sticking out of the undergrowth
Great in health and wealth
Answering that wild call
Waiting for the chips to fall

Happy Her-after

I wish you a happy Her After
What comes before nobody knows
When you left her there was
a sad kind of laughter
Welling up in the pits of your eyes
Like a coal miner when the pits closed
And they shut down the shuttle launch
Because they were afraid to fly
Oh I wish you a very happy Her After

That's the colour of our love

Maybe its the sun in a hat once
Or Maybe its the turning of the wheel of chance
Maybe its the table
Or maybe its the dance
But maybe its just the colour of your love

Maybe there are blue skies
Maybe there are grey
Maybe in the stables
The horses eat their hay
And maybe I can love you
In a very different way
But that's just the colour of my love

There are shadows hanging over us
From when we first are born
And clothes that will cover us
To keep us well and warm
But Its not the breath of the wind
Nor the signs of the coming storm
Its just the colour of our love

I can see you in the window
With the harbour below
The ships masts swaying gently
In the mid-morning glow
And I can tell you want to be a gull above
But that's just the colour of your love

There are trees holding hands
Leaves crossing the path
There are sun beams on your shoulder
Where the dust does dance
And I know I'm getting older
But I've still got a chance
And that's just the colour of my love

The colour of love

Maybe its the colour of the moon
Maybe its the colour of the child's balloon
Maybe its the colour of the thread from the loom
Or maybe its the colour of a love gone too soon

Maybe its the colour of the pen
Maybe its the colour of way back when
Maybe its the colour of the pluto's den
Or maybe its the colour of love for a yen

Maybe its the colour of your money
Maybe its the colour of a bear's honey
Maybe its the colour of a laugh so funny
Or maybe its the colour of love gone sunny

Maybe its the colour of your eyes
Maybe its the colour of the high up skies
Maybe its the colour of the last surprise
And maybe its the colour of love's demise

Maybe its the colour of your face
Maybe its the colour of the words I cannot trace
Maybe its the colour of the true human race
And maybe its the colour of love's disgrace

Meet me in the middle

Meet me in the middle
And we'll discover what we mean
Meet me in the middle
Where the streets are always clean
And the cars are never crashing
And no police are on the scene
Just meet me in the middle darling
To tell me what you mean

I'm always on the edges
In the hedges in the night
I'm always counting sedges
In the broad day light
And its just like your pledges baby
To be born in blind sight
For when I look over my shoulder
I can see you over taking
Challenging me to a fight

Meet me in the middle
Where all paths cross
Meet me in the middle
Show me the bone to toss
Give some lovin' far away from home
Meet me in the middle
Where two can be alone

Meet me in the middle
In the middle of the night
When the ships are passing silently
I'll turn on my light
Come to my room baby
Hold me til it shines so bright
Meet me in the middle
In the middle of the night

Road to Paradise

I paid my due
I paid my toll
You cannot know
What's in my soul
If I said it once, I said it twice
This is no road
To paradise

Your eyes look heavy, and so do mine
I'll pay your levy, I'll walk your line
But I'll not rest, nor will work suffice
Upon the road to paradise

What is a man, but made of dust
And dust must move
Turn in to lust
For all life wants is some advice
To walk the road to paradise

As I leave, the end in sight
My weary feet carry on the fight
For walk we must over snow and ice
Following the road to paradise

Dance until the music fades

Well I want to tell you
About how the old glades
Light up in the morning
And go down in the shades
And I want to tell you
That I'll dance in the circle
And we'll dance until the music fades

And I want to tell you
About the green grass hoppers
They jump just like the frogs
In the pool where they ploppa
Down to the depths
Where the Long legged bird wades
Where they dance until the music fades

And I want to tell you about a little road I know
Just stumpy rubble track full of grit and stone
And it runs straight as an arrow
In a line like a crow, Its long and its narrow
That's just the way that its made
And you can suck out the marrow
Lend it your hand maids
But it'll dance until the music fades

Well I walk with you hand in hand til the end
Our hearts together like two best friends
I'll love you tomorrow like I love you today
And there's no room for sorrow in the bed where we lay
We'll its one for a good time and two for songs played
And its three to get ready and four if we stayed
But I shan't leave too early, and you won't stay too late
But we'll dance until the music fades

What does it mean to you?

What does it mean to you?
Tell me, I want to know
With every fibre of my being
Trace the footprints in the snow
What does it mean to you?

The dogs howl in the moonlight
The season ends in a glow
Faint grows the starlight
Beneath the cold pines that blow
What does it mean to you?

You know I've been searching all of my life
Hearing this calling out in the woods
Its been in fits and starts and in strife
In the telling the bad from the good
The call of the truth is unending
Though sometimes low down in the blood
Tell me, my love
What does it mean to you?

What does it mean to you
In the pell mell, in the market
Where the people stir?
Only the frozen lamplight
Where the cheshire cats purr
Only in the rugged mountain
Where the wild cat growls on the path
Tell me, my love, don't laugh
What does it mean to you?

Between us only blue

I knew her for a little bit
As I was passing through
Just a cloud above
A cloud below
And between us only Blue

The Sun peeped through shone down its shaft
Like a gleaming sword of yellow
Just brief enough for us to see
Eachother before all turned into shadow

Well I knew her for the shortest time
Just a hair's breadth on the line
Measured by the smiles the laughs
That we once knew
Soon the winter came to pass
And it's chill frost, dark and hoar
The north wind blew shut the door
Now she has gone my wayward lass
And between us only Blue

The distance between us turned to ice
And I saw her no more
To think that between us
A strong love once grew
One neither could ignore
Now all that has turned to dust
The heart strings pulled by lust
She spreads her wings and soars
Between us only Blue

The wind it blows its arrows
Pointing us where to go
Like scattered needles in compass
Or an eddie in a stream
Sometimes the sails are full to bursting
Spread out like an eagle's wings
other times they're clean and flat as linen
Laid out on a bed made new
But then that was then my wayward dove
Now between us only Blue