1. |
He's Not Ill
07:59
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Il n'était pas malade,
Il était simplement épuisé
I find it hard to come to terms with it
Find it harder to switch off
Sometimes we like to tell ourselves
That it's just another cough
Take a look at all the faces
Can't you tell they've had enough?
There's just so much of my waking day
I spend going back to sleep
Thought I knew about going forward
Now the word gives me the creeps
There's a message from his lawyers
There's a word they have to keep
He's not ill
Just exhausted
Had his fill
He just could not take this any longer
And even though the worst is possible
Could we not once give it a miss?
There's a way of giving notice
And the 'x' stands for a kiss
Sometimes it's hard to tell
If they're taking the piss
He's not ill
Just exhausted
Had his fill
He just could not take this any longer
Why not take a train to Switzerland
And send our farewell to the band
It's a long road he has travelled
Right up to the precipice
Like Stefan and Lotte
Holding hands in Petrópolis
He's not ill
Just exhausted
Had his fill
He just could not take this any longer
Il n'était pas malade,
Il était simplement épuisé
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2. |
That was the Time
03:55
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Back in the 1980s I was a teenage fool
I had some badges
They didn't let me wear at school
We gave out pamphlets to the workers
But they wouldn't down their tools
Surprise, surprise!
It was no time for the common good
And so they sold it off
Yes we protested
But clearly not nearly enough
Could be we were far too busy
Falling in and out of love
And that was the time
That was our time
That was the time
That was our time
Then in the 90s when they were cleaning up
They called it the Third Way
But they were just clearing out the shop
Well we all knew it was bullshit
But we swallowed every drop
Well that was the time
That was our time
That was the time
That was our time
Well I bet you couldn't wait
For an uplifting middle-eight
To tell you exactly
How things might have gone differently
Well I appreciate all the books and films
About going back in time
Watch and read them now
Don't leave it to posterity
Which there won't be
Uh oh
Remember in the 00s
We had our bubble burst
And when the 2010s came round
We were ready for the worst
This song is so self-referential
It's just hit its final verse
And that was the time
That was our time
That was the time
That was our time
Now it's gone
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3. |
Those Dreams Again
05:04
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I've been getting those dreams again
I've been having those dreams
I'm running but my feet are stuck
I'm on the floor and I can't get up
I'm followed by a pack of dogs
I'm falling down this endless drop
And I keep telling off my brain
But it gets me just the same
I've been getting those dreams again
Just like the time when we had those dreams
Maybe we're so much less okay
Than we make out to be
Cause you've been having those dreams as well
Everybody's the same it seems
Maybe we're so much more messed up
Than most of us appear to be
I feel the twitching in my face
I haven't really slept for days
And when I did my head was filled
With so much fear and darkness
I'd much rather lie awake till dawn
Than anymore of this
Cause I've been getting those dreams again
Just like the time when we had those dreams
Maybe we're so much less okay
Than we make out to be
Cause you've been having those dreams as well
Everybody's the same it seems
Maybe we're so much more messed up
Than most of us make out to be
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4. |
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Well, I see you got the whole boxset
Have you watched it yet?
What are the colours like?
Well the colours are still great
The colours are magnificent
But all the rhetoric now is just meaningless
The music's still good
Oh the music still sounds brilliant
But the lyrics, oh the lyrics
They're really such a mess
All that eloquent elegant rebel intelligence
Seems so irrelevant now
Aha aha aha aha
Cause we've had it on loan
We've done nothing of our own
And we've been chewing the same bones for decades now
Yes we're chewing those bones
And it's all we've ever known
We've been chewing on the bones of the sacred cow
So what about the message then?
With hindsight?
Well, the message still stands
I agree it's still valid
It's just not really something you'd need to say
Yes it still succeeds
But your enigmatic lead
Oh he just looks like bit of a dickhead today
All those really deep points
Made while passing the joint
Ring a bit disappointing somehow
Oh aah aha oh aah aha
Cause we’ve had it on loan
We've done nothing of our own
And we've been chewing the same bones for decades now
Yes we're chewing those bones
And it's all we've ever known
We've been chewing on the bones of the sacred cow
Alright, but what about the outtakes?
What about them?
Well the outtakes, of course are a real revelation
The takings are like nothing they've ever seen
But the more perfect they're bringing the whole scene to life
Oh the more it just looks like a figment to me
There's just something repellent
To those back-of-an-elephant
Self-righteous speeches now
Oh aah aha oh aah ahaha
Cause we've had it on loan
We've done nothing of our own
And we've been chewing the same bones for decades now
Yes, we're chewing those bones
And it's all we've ever known
We've been chewing on the bones of the sacred cow
Well the colours are still great
The colours are magnificent
All the rhetoric now though
Is just meaningless
Yes the music's still good
Oh the music still sounds brilliant
But the lyrics, oh yeah the lyrics
They’re really just a mess
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5. |
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It's autumn again and the white sky is faint
Against the red, yellow, orange and green
A twin row of hedges
The glimpse of the roof
Of a car that is passing between
As we roll up the hill the road slowly reveals
The woods and the valley beneath
We get out of the car
And I trust you to know
You can tell by the shape of the leaf
And our love's come a long way
It's all of our own
It's our tree of knowledge
And it's grown, yes it's grown
Yes, our love's come a long way
Inside me and you
And I know what I'm saying wouldn't do
Not for you
But it's true
And no one else could ever have the hint of a clue
You remember it well, and I don't need tell you
It's present in every detail
Oh it's just like the newspaper astrologers say
This one comes with a sting in his tail
There's a world that is you
Where the almonds are blue
And the fruit fits the palm of the hand
And this secret we've got
It has shot from the very same shrub
No one could understand
And this love's come a long way
Inside me and you
It's our tree of knowledge
And it's true, yes it's true
Yes our love's come a long way
There and then to now and here
And you can't see through the thicket
But what's clear, what is clear
To the eye and ear
Is that no one else has even got the faintest idea
It's autumn again and the white sky is faint
Against the red, yellow, orange and green
A twin row of hedges
The glimpse of the roof
Of a car that is passing between
And our love's come a long way
It's all of our own
It's our tree of knowledge
And it's grown, yeah it's grown
Yes, our love's come a long way
Inside me and you
And I know what I'm saying wouldn't do
Not for you
But it's true
And no one else could ever have the hint of a clue
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6. |
Change is in the Air
04:08
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Bababa bababa bababa bababa
Oh yeah, change is in the air
In my time some have likened my behaviour
To the pattern of the layers of a Neapolitan wafer
Sweet or bland, soft or brittle
There is light and there's dark
Not a thing in the middle
And that's what it feels like
I see myself and I don't want to be that person
I don't want to be empowered
There's no good thing I can't worsen
Don't be fooled by my self-deprecation
I've put up with this for a lifetime
Now I'm running out of patience
Because change, change, change is in the air
And that change, change, change is what I fear
Change is in the year
That change yeah
That change yeah
That change
You say I only think about myself
Well maybe that's true
If only cause self-hate, baby, is narcissism too
I change my views like others do lovers
You hit upon one thing and you go off another
Because change, change, change is in the air
And that change, change, change is what I fear
Change, change, change is in the air
And that change, change, that change is what I fear
That change yeah
That change yeah
That change
In my time some have likened my behaviour
To the pattern of the layers of a Neapolitan wafer
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7. |
Man in Sandwich Board
05:18
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I got into the lift on the top floor at John Lewis
But it turned out to be a time machine
Not one of those fancy jobs
With all those flashing lights and knobs
One that only takes you back
To where you've already been
I'd already pressed the button
Down to the second floor
So it took me back some 30, 40 years
But in the mirror I could see
This was not the youthful me
Just the old man that I am in the now and here
Just like the man in sandwich board
That I saw stand and get ignored
In the middle of Oxford Street in 1984
He was the man in sandwich board
And he was there to be ignored
I pushed past him as I stepped out of the door
I saw a banner on a bus it said 'Save the GLC'
So with my knowledge I felt my responsibility
Oh I just had to tell the world
Of all the trouble to unfurl
Push humanity off its dark trajectory
And that's how I got to be
The man in sandwich board
Oh I would stand and be ignored
In the middle of Oxford Street in 1984
You all walked past the man in sandwich board
Yes I was there to be ignored
Should I just give up and get rich
Predicting football scores?
But I don't remember any, it's so long ago
Yes, I'm the man in sandwich board
Here I stand and get ignored
In the middle of Oxford Street in 1984
Yes I'm the man in sandwich board
And no one knows I know the score
Oh no one ever listens to the man
In the sandwich board
Man in a sandwich board
The man in a sandwich board
Man in a sandwich sandwich board
The man in a sandwich board
Man in a sandwich sandwich board
The man in a sandwich
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8. |
Slipped in the Rain
07:10
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Er rutschte aus im Regen
Er ruinierte seine besten Hosen
Er war wieder einmal zu schnell gelaufen
I slipped in the rain
I ripped my best trousers
I was running too fast again
I lost my grip in the rain
Aha
And then everything stopped
I just wouldn't get up
I tripped in the rain
I slipped in the rain
As I came round the corner
On my way to the shops and then
I just lay in the rain
Aha
And I thought about how
You can always zone out
Didn't feel any pain
I tripped in the rain
There's a man in his fifties outside Sainsbury's
Face down on the pavement
His glasses are bent
His palms are shredded
And his knuckles are bleeding
From a vain attempt at catching his fall
Cause he wasn't just falling
Oh no, he was having a fall
And just then from the window of a passing car
He hears the voice of a woman say
“Are you okay?”
He feels instant shame as he jumps to his feet
And he hears himself yell in an alien voice
That he can't even recognise
“I'm alright, no worries”
Pathetic
I slipped in the rain
And I ruined my best trousers
I was running too fast again
Lost my grip in the rain
I tripped in the rain
Oh I slipped in the rain
I slipped in the rain
As I came round the corner
On my way to the shops and then
I just lay in the rain
I slipped in the rain
As I came round the corner
I may have been running too fast again
I lost my grip again
The man in his fifties is walking home
Half a torn trouser leg dangling round his knee
Clenching and unclenching his fist
Just to see if his fingers are okay
And all the parts are still moving
Er rutschte aus im Regen
Er ruinierte seine besten Hosen
Er war wieder einmal zu schnell gelaufen
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Robert Rotifer Canterbury, UK
Robert Rotifer is a musician, writer, sometime artist, singer (of sorts), born in Vienna deep in the last century, He moved
to the UK just before it ended (the century, that is), has made some 11 or 12 albums and has been lucky enough to play in bands he rates with people who also turned up on his records over the years.
Also check out: rotifer.bandcamp.com
... more
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