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It's a wonderful world
And you take and you give
And the sun fills the sky
In the space where you live
It's a day full of dreams
It's a dream of a day
And the joy that it brings
Nearly sweeps her away
It's a wonderful world
As the buildings fall down
And you quicken your step
'til your feet leave the ground
And you're soaring above
All the sorrow below
And you're falling in love
With those you don't know
And your heart feels so wide
And your heart fills so strong
It was never a place
That you felt you belonged
It's a wonderful world
Full of wonderful things
And the people fall down
And abandon their dreams
(I hear him, he's talking out loud
Sometimes he whistles while walking
How could he know any better?
I weep for him, I weep for him now)
It's a wonderful world
It's a real crying shame
Cos she's hurting herself
In a violent way
And there's people she knows
That won't even try
And they're trapped in their lives
Feeling terrified
And it's in times like these
That she promised to call
But the scale of our love
Is diminished and small
It's a wonderful world
And she doesn't know why
She wakes up each day
And continues to cry
(He's sleeping his troubles away
He's finding it too hard to bear
I'm with him every step of the way
I weep for him, I weep for him now)
It's a wonderful world
And you take and you give
And the sun fills the sky
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Here come the darkest birds
To burst the bubble
End of a perfect day
Head full of trouble
Here come the darkest birds
All tar and feathers
Why did none of them dream of trying
To make things better?
Those are the mimicking kind
They are, they are
I number myself among them
The furthest star
And this is the road I walked on
When I shot you down
All words of forgiveness useless
They won't help me now
And I should've been there for you
When you called my name
I promise to tread more lightly
Though what's gone is gone
It's such a shame
Here come the darkest birds
They've got their reasons
All their pretty colours are gone
Washed out of season
Those are the soaring kind
They are, they are
I number yourself among them
The brightest star
And this is the road I walked on
When I shot you down
All words of forgiveness useless
They won't serve me now
And I should've been there for you
When you called my name
I promise to tread more lightly
Though what's done is done
It's such a shame
The Banality Of Evil
I've got me a badge
A bright shiny badge
I'm painting the crest in yellow and blue
I've got me a club
An exclusive club
It doesn't include a place for you
Hey…..hello neighbour
Hey…..hello neighbour, right you are
It's in the way that you walk
All of the changes, all the mistakes
In the demands you constantly make
It's in the way that you grieve
All of the loss
You don't know when you're better off
Or at what cost
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Benevolent mother
Smother the child
The benefactors are in denial
Hey…..hello neighbour
Hey…..hello neighbour, right you are
There was a time
Not so long ago
I was master of everything I surveyed
Yes, there was a time
We did it my way
We'll do things my way
Benevolent mother
Smother the child
The perpetrators are in denial
The banality of evil
King of the castle
Room at the top
Off with their heads
Chop 'em off
The banality of evil
Benevolent mother
Smother the child
The benefactors are in denial
The banality of evil
King of the castle
Room at the top
Off with their heads
Chop 'em off
Hey…..hello neighbour
I don't believe in what you believe
You skin is filthy
And your gods don't look like god to me
But I want to touch you
Now that isn't right
No, that can't be right
But I want to touch you
You're leading me on I know it
Hey…
King of the castle
More room at the top
All sorts allowed
Now the gloves are off
Hey….hello neighbour
Benevolent mother
Smother the child
The benefactors are in denial
The banality of evil
King of the castle
Room at the top
Off with their heads
Chop 'em off
The banality of evil
Benevolent mother
Smother the child
The perpetrators are in denial
The banality of evil
King of the castle
Room at the top
Off with their heads
Chop 'em off
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Her skin was darker than ashes
And she had something to say
Bout being naked to the elements
At the end of yet another day
And the rain on her back that continued to fall
From the bruise of her lips
Swollen, fragile, and small
And the bills that you paid with were worth nothing at all
A lost foreign currency
Multi-coloured, barely reputable
Like the grasses that blew in the warm summer breeze
Well she offered you this to do as you pleased
And where is the poetry?
Didn't she promise us poetry?
The redwoods, the deserts, the tropical ease
The swamps and the prairie dogs, the Joshua trees
The long straight highways from dirt road to tar
Hitching your wheels to truck, bus, or car
And the lives that you hold in the palm of your hand
You toss them aside small and damn near unbreakable
You drank all the water and you pissed yourself dry
Then you fell to your knees and proceeded to cry
And who could feel sorry for a drunkard like this
In a democracy of dunces with a parasites kiss?
And where are the stars?
Didn't she promise us stars?
Nothing will ever be as it was
The price has been paid with a thousand loose shoes
Pictures are pasted on shop windows and walls
Like a poor mans Boltanski
Lost one and all.
Sell, sell
Bid your farewell
Come, come
Save yourself
Give yourself over
Pushing your consciousness
Deep into every atom and cell,
Sell,
Bid your farewell
Come, come
Save yourself
Give yourself over
Pushing your consciousness
Deep into every atom and cell,
Sell,
Bid your farewell
Come, come
Save yourself
Give yourself over
Pushing your consciousness
. . .
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I'm having my day
My place in the sun
I'll grow to resemble
The man I've become
There'll be time for reflection
When I reach that plateau
When the war has been won
No farther to go
And I fear that it isn't enough
I'm making a fortune
I swore to enjoy
These things I promised myself
When I was a boy
When I was a boy
And things moved too slow
And universes revolved around
Things I didn't know
When I was a boy
And I made mistakes
I was humiliated
Til I knew my place
And I fear that it isn't enough
Ignorance hurts
Injustice inflames
I remember the feelings
But forgotten their names
When I was a boy
I saw through their lies
I swore I wouldn't become
The thing I despised
But events over take you
While you set your sights
On bigger game
On greater heights
God bless amnesia
And the things I've suppressed
I can reframe the image
I can discard the rest
A history of holes
Where the pieces that won't fit
With the story you told yourself
And your place in it
And I fear that it isn't enough
So put on a brave face
Straighten that tie
And speak like you mean it
Give truth to the lie
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Strip the branches
Unsheathe the hatchets
The threads of friendship
Are coming off
The teeth of lawyers
Man the trenches
Bands of betrothal
Are coming off
But if we're good
If we're kind
But if we're good
Generous and kind
We'll inhabit their sunsets
Their goddesses and queens
We'll try to do the right thing
(Oh save them)
Oh save them
(Oh save them)
(Oh save them)
Oh save them
(Oh save them)
Let the children come to me
It's a harrowing world
Of adults and girls
Lashing out at the hurt
That surrounds them
With the knives drawn apart
They shatter the heart
Of anyone that dares come between them
Let the children come to me
Once a playground of swings
Then the malice set in
And reduced all the colours to winter
So we made it our own
This snow borne sorrow
And this love that stutters and splinters
Let the children come to me
Her apostles have gone
They left one by one
With no forwarding address to trace them
It's a secular world
Of adults and girls
And we ask because nothing is certain
Let the children come to me
When their feet touch the ground
Naked unbound
I want them to know they can trust me
There's so much to be ungrateful for
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Let me tell you about a friend
She contends she will always love me
It's this ability to lie and deceive
That has lost me completely
I could remind her of the facts
Make her calm down and relax
But why bother?
It's the shallowest defense
To my utter astonishment it is over
That little girl she wants to leave me
That little girl wants something more.
I'm optimistically inclined
Given time she'll change her mind
It's unlikely
Let me tell you about a friend
She contends she will always love me
If you look at her sideways
She will let you know
Today's the day the earth stole heaven
If you look at her sideways
She will curse you out
Today's the day the earth stole heaven
If you look at her sideways
There can be no doubt
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I kick the sheets
Until they rise like mountain ranges at my feet
I'm in the dark
God only knows the torment writ large upon my heart
What wouldn't I?
What wouldn't I give?
It comes to this
I'm only sure of things I know now don't exist
There's no precision
I'm inside-outside-in I want subdivision
And all of this fills my aching head
I hate this space, the luxury hotel bed.
Oh dear, oh me-oh-my
Got to concentrate just to keep from trying
Oh dear, oh me-oh-my
Got to concentrate just to keep from trying
Don't lose it
Things move rapidly
Don't lose it
Try to maintain composure
Don't lose it
The dead are haunting me
Out with it
Let's get it over.
What wouldn't I?
What wouldn't I give?
I'm thoroughly wasted
My mind's hallucinating lucidity
It's over sensitized
And something's moving on the periphery
What wouldn't I?
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Keep you head down
Keep you head down
While they're firing low
You're too young child
To know the difference
Oh my pretty
Oh my sweet girl
It's a marvelous place
They put weights down
In your coat tails to burn you out
Lest you fly
Lest you take off
And show whomever what's what.
It's one outrageous lie after another
Turn their lights out
Change the channel
Before we lose the heart
To fight against belief in what they're saying
There's a hotel
With a dark room
At the end of a corridor
I will meet you
To the strains of Allah
We will lie back
On a pillow of the whitest snow
And the silence we were promised
Will engulf us
Lay your head down
Keep your head down
While they're firing low
You're too young child
You're too young child
We will wake up
From the dreams that bury us
We will tunnel our way out
By moonlight
From the dark room
To the white streets and the snow banks
We'll invest in one another's future
Oh my pretty
Oh my sweet girl
It's a marvelous place
She designed it
With escape routes
For you and me
So to the library
With your new card
Grab your favorite books
Look for blueprints
To the strains of Allah
Here we go….
Benevolence is in back
Of everyplace you look
It's not a monstrous face she is hiding
If I see her
I will tell you
You'll come quickly
If you see her
Don't hesitate just go
But til then
Keep your head down
Keep your head down
While they're firing low
You're too young child
You're too young child
You're too young child
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