Bethlehem

 I was reborn      after the big sleep       the deep sleep        the sleep of dreams       I was tired to the bone        and sick of monsters        and men are monsters        who take up arms         these are the days of the beast         the beast tattoos our hearts          with the dread apprehension        and we live in fear       and fear makes us monsters        but there is no defence          from the certainty of death        only the promise of life eternal        in the kingdom to come           for hope springs eternal      here in Bethlehem

submarines

 what a palaver     there’s no doubt      she dished dirt      the full kitchen sink       like some tacky soap       I said lend me your body     I’ll wipe that smile off your face         a little dark humour      from a darker place      you know who you’ll answer to      back indoors         you can’t beat that peach       they bruise too sweet        she was dancing with moondogs         she dances real good           but her mind is gone         still, any old tart in a storm

she was looking for someone         to submerge herself in     someone to redeem her dreams       but life shows little mercy          I didn’t have the space          and her motion made me sick         we was shacked up less than a week       before we sprang one     that’s the trouble with submarines         they are rarely observed         and never experienced        but I’I was in it for the kicks        the rest is propaganda

bona

 it’s those lesser evils       that keep us tuned        to the straight and narrow        we didn’t choose this life       but it’s our bread and butter          god knows we’re bona         good for nothing      good for a laugh       good after bad        so dummy up and shine on this          I’m only saying this for your own benefit        be a shame to stumble          to stumble and fall         on yer fat arse        this late in the game         shape you’re in          shape I’m in         shapes we’re in        we do the best we can        with what we’ve got         wherever we are      we do the best we can         but we’re only as good          as we have to be

flicker

it was a flicker of hell        but that was enough       to shrivel me knackers         and sober me judge      I’m laying one on         I’m covering up         this party’s over     and I’m cutting up rough         best find me some sugar         to put in me cup       coz I lived to tell         but man, it was tough        

Mirror Ball (Carpe Noctem)

 all that’s within a man     all that’s without him     is just a mirror        held up to the world      the glitter    the glamour      the pain and misery      the future and the past        are merely fragmented reflections      of the light the stars have cast        seize the night        seize the day        each could be your last         soon you’ll disappear              like a shadow in the dark

soul messenger

 it’s the drip drip drip        the relentless pressure        that destroys a man       the tomorrow       and tomorrow       and tomorrow       and it’s the pestilence of night       that eats at his soul       if he has a soul       do we really have souls?         I don’t know        I hope so        coz I would be a soul messenger         a fragment of the sun

may goodness open my eyes        but not too much just yet        I want to leave some room         for future revelations     I’m a thousand years sober         every day provides the same blue vista       that wipes away my tears       and paints my happy head          with an abiding love        I’m sick of dark reflections      I want to bathe in light  

terminal anxiety

jesus weeps      time runs out      entropy triumphs at the gallop       mankind is beaten into third place      by the insects and the dinosaurs       this is not what we expected        as we cruised the highways        of our imaginations         we were promised paradise        and life everlasting       but we got the doomsday clock and terminal anxiety         someone better switch off the big light        this party is over and it’s time to go home      to whatever shit hole we came from

dog town

 on my way     homeward bound       where a cold wind blows over poisoned ground      where I was born      and where I died       coz I die a little      each day I spend     in this dog town     without a friend         too many crimes     left unsolved      too many conflicts unresolved        I am alien      in this place        I’m an abandoned building        falling down       an empty shell         in this dog town

the blackened sky       won’t drag me down         coz  I am at odds      with this dog town     we love and hate our neighbours         until the bastards bleed     and trust the lord our saviour       in our hour of need         I’m the last of my kind in this dog town          they might bury me here       but they’ll never bring me down

obey

 I’m just the one bad apple       in a whole barrel of laughs        it’s easy to point the finger         but baby I’m not the last       I’m just a natural man       struggling with worldly pain         but everything that ever was       was exactly where it was meant to be        so when they feed me to the beast       I shall go uncomplaining        I was only obeying orders         and I got no strings attached        I’ve done some wicked shit       and I got nightmares to show for it    

I have slain my enemies      with joy burning in my heart       I have secured a seat for me          in some lesser heaven        a stone’s throw from here          cheek by jowl and worlds apart      beatific in my gluttonous hog trough         where nobody’s perfect             but at least I’m trying       I’m just a desiccated leaf     on the blackened bough of the gallows tree           I go where the wind blows      following the dictates of my primitive heart      and if I cannot obey love        I shall obey my fear         I will hate myself for it        but I shall obey my fear

across the sky

 once she wrote my name across the sky       now she hates my guts     you have to wonder why       I didn’t ask         she didn’t say      we had different games to play      coz we had our moments         but they soon faded away     I found sanctuary in her arms       and she succumbed to my dubious charms         now I’m the man she loves to hate       my presence she won’t tolerate       she made me promises        she’d later deny       but once she wrote my name across the sky

letter to heaven

 I sent a letter to heaven     I hope it reached you there       it came straight from the heart        you are ever in my prayers       you know I miss you always              I feel you everywhere          I know that we will meet again         I can’t say when   or where      but if heaven is in my heart     I know we’ll never part       you will always be my friend          until the very end           

jesus says

 I’m alright with jesus       and jesus is alright with me         and everything is perfect       the way it’s meant to be     but I’m not the ringmaster     of this flea circus       I’m just a clown       pretending to be happy         pretending to be free       choking on coffin nails      and playing make believe     

I saw him once      or was it a dream?       it had to be a dream       but it seemed so real to me        he said the only difference        between heaven and hell       lies in the language of love       and the rhetoric of hate       there’d be peace in my heart       and I would be free     if I spoke as a child        the way he speaks to me