LYRICS

XMASDAY
30th November 2009

PLAYERS OF GAMES
WHITE CITY
WE FREE KINGS
AUNTIE CLAUS
SPINNING TOP
ALL MEN KIND

PLAYERS OF GAMES

From six in the morning to six in the evening
The children are playing their games
While argument rages through all of its stages
Their imagination remains

I'm wearily, he's happily weary
She's tearfully laughing again
See their calm in the storm, fitting form into form
From the hand to the heart to the brain

But one fine day we will stop the clocks forever
And on that day we raise our bare umbrellas
And we'll drink up all the rain
Then we'll truly be players of games

I look at this drama of ill-fated karma
Of people in patterns of blame
And I look at this child with her soul in the wild
And I pray she won't end up the same

So we clear up the bones of this disaster zone
And there's something revealed by the door
Little Lego tableau of people we know
Our adultness stripped to the core

But one fine day we will stop the clocks forever
And on Xmasday we will raise our bare umbrellas
And we'll drink up all the rain
Then we'll truly be players of games

WHITE CITY

Our new year resolutions are broken, our jobs insecure, our pensions worthless, our spirits crushed by January's post-Christmas gloom. We needed something to lift our spirits, to give us the excuse to play to no discernible economic benefit. And yesterday here it came, free as air, falling on to my bare head as I walked down the canal towpath.
Stuart Jeffries, 'London's day of innocence', The Guardian, 3 Feb 2009

White city, bright city
Bring that snow on down so we can all play
White city, so pretty
Dancing to defy all the black and the grey

When have you ever gotten so much riches for free?
Go bury your debts and woes and worries under that tree
You'll see
That when you fall for the thirteenth time
You'll remember where your heart inclines to be

White city, bright city
Bring that snow on down, bring it down all day
White city, so so pretty
Take those working worries and throw them away

So when you got sunshine but your inbox is ready to blow
And when you are crushed beneath your deadlines
You better know, it's not so
That one mad cloud can defeat the proud
And the common world says everything's allowed

White city, bright city
Nothing moving but everyone is alive
White city, so so pretty
It's easy when you fall so give it a try

WE FREE KINGS

To beloved student children everywhere

We free kings come a-stumbling homewards
A half day late, only one phone between us
Glad-eyed sweethearts in plain white t-shirts
Confirm our sovereignty
So all through Xmas bring sweet forgiveness
If you please
So we free kings decree

We free kings so disorientated
With two degrees and a doctorate graded
Have all the answers, are complete chancers
And are here to eat you clean
So all through Xmas bring sweet forgiveness
If you please
So we free kings decree

We free kings have some unfinished business
We left this town, and there's nothing we don't miss
But crying mothers and torn-faced brothers
Are our fellow royalty
So all through Xmas bring sweet forgiveness
If you please
So we free kings decree

AUNTIE CLAUS

Auntie Claus she hit the door and landed in my life
A poison cloud of Capstan
And a voice like sharpened knives

Auntie Claus she made herself an enemy of cant
Of won't and don't and maybe not
She occupied each instant

Her scorn was such a sweet caress
Her ridicule a grand largesse
And all these gifts she gave for free
That Auntie Claus I held her close to me

Auntie Claus she did excel at entrances and exits
At when to charm those without charm
Or hitch her skirt and sex it

Auntie Claus she made the season scandalously bright
I loved her till I hated her
That sherry-tempered night

"You're far too smart for all these lies
As sickly sweet as Grandma's pies
The coat's on hire, the beard's a fake
And what's wrong with bad for badness' sake?"

Auntie Claus she flew away with customary sass
My father gave out happy sighs
His sister-in-law's for the past

But all I gave to Auntie Claus was stiffness of my cheek
The treason of her season's gift
A lesson to the weak

Her scorn became a poison kiss
Her ridicule a looming fist
And all these gifts without receipt
That Auntie Claus who put an end to little me…

SPINNING TOP

She's just a blur as she's coming through
She's near to chaos but she's aimed at you
She's a spinning top versus the stable world
She's a spinning top in the image of a crazy girl

She's a revolution and she turns on steel
Going round so far you don't know what she feels
She's a spinning top falling down from the shelf
She's a spinning top and she's a danger only to herself

She's not a toy to be discarded
She's not a thing just stopped and started
And though I can't defend her general carnage
What's love to do when she belongs to you

We're round this table and she crashes down
So we set her right upon our stony ground
She's a spinning top full of colours fine
She's a spinning top and she's always running out of time

Xmas girl, little broken Xmas girl…

ALL MEN KIND

To brothers, near and far

The truth we find
Is all men kind
When they're on the floor with stuff to do
Heal the blind
Make all men kind
Take their wiring out and wire them new

Come rain come shine
Turn all men kind
Weather them until they show some signs
Let's redefine
As all men kind
Like the snow that softens every line
Like a mountainside full of bending pines
See all men kind

Move hearts and minds
When all men kind
Need a hand-up, not a hand-out son
It's time, it's time
For all men kind
To be brave and end what they've begun

OPEN SOUL
15th September 2008

FIREBALL
HEADIN' FOR A FALL
THE LAST STOP
PLAN B
STUMBLE THROUGH THE DANCE
EUROPEAN CHILD
C'MON LEGS
TWISTED HEART
OPEN SOUL
CONNECT

FIREBALL (G. Kane / P. Kane)

Baby don't take cash
Baby don't take credit
Baby takes it out
Gets ninety-odd pounds of flesh
And she puts it to work
Pixel-perfect
When she's in my hand
Catch her in the morning
Wandering through some foreign land

She's burning like a fireballl
She's consuming one and all
A sight that delights and appalls me
Roaring like a hurricane
Leaving nothing quite the same
Bringing good stuff to my brain

Such a big noise in the room
She talks, she booms
(and you know it's true)
Everybody got to get with her plan
Makes a hundred-thousand
In one single day
(you know it's true)
That she's right on her righteous way

HEADIN' FOR A FALL (G. Kane / P. Kane)

White lies
Comin' out of every mouth around me
Baby I
Simply don't know who to believe
Blue skies pixellated
On a screen above my head
And I
Wish that it only was a dream
I'm reeling from the Real
Because it hits me like I've run into a wall
Better get me some momentum
Because otherwise I'm heading for a fall

Brother, sister listen
This ain't no time for wishin'
We got a world ambition
Heading for it, heading for it
Brother, sister waken
History won't stand no fakin'
This world it needs some shakin'
Headin' for it, headin' for a fall

Big-time politician
Standing on that favourite stage tonite
Wonder how else they get their kix
That's apple pie and motherhood
And wireless in the neighbourhood
Oh my
We need a brand new bag of tricks
Instinctively I feel that it's important to be stylishly appalled
Though lately I do recognise it's likely that we're heading for a fall

THE LAST STOP (G. Kane / P. Kane)

Get out of your bed, don't wanna be late
It's your big chance for your big escape
You hear that old bell, it's ringing for you
A change gonna come and it's well overdue
So just let me say
I don't intend to be the guy that you leave behind
But we don't know how much
Of a journey we got
Till we hit the last stop

Baby you been through the wars
You've put in your time
I know you expected it all to be fine
But better to move
On somebody's line
Than sit in the darkness waiting for signs
So just let me say
I don't intend to be the guy that's left on the tracks
But we don't know how much
Of a journey we got
Till we hit the last stop

This journey takes longer than we reckoned
Would you have missed one single second?
All of the temptations that beckoned
Barely worth the pain
Imagine we'd stayed at home together
Watching the dark and stormy weather
Would we regret that act forever?
Well you know we would
But we don't know how much
Of a journey we got
Till we hit the last stop

PLAN B (G. Kane / P.Kane)

Maybe we'll build us a palace like the man proposed
Maybe the markets will tremble favourably
Surely they got back to us while we were indisposed
In any case, babe, we're down to Plan B

Maybe our great revolution needs a little spark
Maybe I do laugh unnecessarily
Surely this e-mail will be a candle in the dark
In any case babe we're down to Plan B

Could it be more than a partnership can bear now?
What kind of people can live under this strain?
Make it the best that we can and give it prayer now
Something will break through the barriers we face

Maybe the future is brighter than the record shows
Maybe it's time that you missed one month for me
Surely the highs won't be fun if we don't hit the lows
In any case babe we're down to Plan B

Maybe we're lost, maybe found
The only way's up from the ground
In any case babe we're down to Plan B

STUMBLE THROUGH THE DANCE (G.Kane / P.Kane)

In a hall somewhere, breathing perfumed air
Is a girl I've known from before she's born
She steps bold and free, easy on her feet
And the future's closer with every beat

Keep myself upright, face up to the light
And I'll stumble through the dance with you
Let me be inspired, let me not be tired
And I'll stumble through the dance with you

In a yard in town, with her face at frown
Is a girl who tries to live a perfect life
Some she wins, some lose, leaving cut and bruise
But I know she'll be anything she choose

Every hip that shakes, every give and take
Helps me stumble through the dance with you
Forward pause and back, till my heart goes craic
And I'll stumble through the dance with you

Somewhere on a hill, walking slow and still
Is a girl who knows nothing's ever closed
And we walk in time, and we speak in rhyme
When our dance begins no-one's left behind

EUROPEAN CHILD (G. Kane / P.Kane)

Everything is cool today, she says
How do we get down from up here?
Bewitched and beguiled
By the European child
My daddy's on a flight to Cayman's isle
Momma says he's out of trouble
She fiddles with her hair
Says who's dat over dere?

And I wonder why she's adrift in this sky
Just protected by her weather-eye
Am I behind the groove?
Is the whole planet on the move?
She's below, she's above, she is love

Everyone is up for sale
But some will have no price
Who's gonna know what the future holds
For the European child?

She throws a little competition down
Between Spanish and Italian
She speaks it like a queen
I speak like a machine
Sitting in a no-place airport lounge
Listening to her story turning
My limits are compiled
By this European child

And I wonder where she's adrift in this air
Maybe she won't care, let the rest despair
A billion-voices sound
When the wrong thing hits the ground
On that day, what's the last word you'd say?

Throw your arms around the world
But don't hold on too tight
Who's gonna know what the future holds
For the European child?

C'MON LEGS (G.Kane / P.Kane)

C'mon legs, do your thing while you can
Take me out to the nearest promised land
Negotiate all the corners and the bumps
I rely on you to take and deliver shocks and thumps
And while my body will do what I tell it -
What's my fate? Do I really have to spell it out?

C'mon hands, is that a pain or a twitch?
I do not believe that you could be such a bitch
I got so much busy-busyness for you
You cannot let me down, I got creation to do
And while my soul knocks around inside of this cage
The last thing I have is the rage
That will get me out of bed

C'mon eyes I give you all the help that you need
Let's make a plan, something better than inevitable defeat
You're hanging around while there's beauty to be seen
I know that's no deal cause there's beauty
In just being alive
Do you think that I'm really gonna concede
That mortality's gonna succeed over me?

C'mon ears I hear you ringing all the time
I don't like those beats, you're seriously outta time
You think you're gonna leave me
In the quiet of the grave
Well I'm onto you, and I'll save what I can save

Oh come on legs! Do your thing…

TWISTED HEART (G. Kane / P.Kane)

Sometimes we never stop talking
Sometimes we never start
I see a door I start walking
I'm better alone than apart

That's what my twisted heart tells me
It tells me how to hear and see
Compels the worst result to be
I wish I could tear it from me
But then my twisted heart turns round
And looks for pieces on the ground
Though now the silence is profound
It's mine to keep

I've never been wrong when I'm winning
Cause losing's just not in the frame
You made some kind of resistance
Yet surely you entered my game

…But then my twisted heart turns twice
And cools these fires into ice
Though now I have to pay the price
Of every brutal deed

Nothing ever got too crazy
Nothing ever got too cruel
Nothing ever comes from nothing, my dear
Too easy for me to be playing the fool to you

…But then my twisted heart unfurls
And shows the ruins of my world
A kingdom black and burned and curled
And mine to keep

OPEN SOUL (G.Kane / P.Kane)

Baby we got too much
We don't know what to do with it
Nothing left to hold us down
No reason to prove it
There's got to be more than just more of the same
Some bigger truth than claim or counter-claim
We've got the toys but we don't really play
It's time, baby, it's time

It's so hard to do
But I'm trying for you
Live your life like an open soul
Let your mind run free
Heart won't let you be
Live your live like an open soul

Lost in the morning rumble
Indifferent to the streets I'm in
Got my white protectors on
I don't know what to do next
Where to begin
Need to raise to raisin' up my permafrown
Too many pretty stories pushing my mind around
No-one to trust and nobody coming down
It's time baby it's time

CONNECT (G.Kane / P.Kane)

There's nothing left that we can do
There is no other option
We fly apart or come together
Everybody's watching
If we two can encompass us
Then no-one needs be lonely
I am the singularity
You are the one and only
The one and only

Though tattered and torn,
Though broken and wrecked
What else can I do
But to connect with you?
Sweet and forlorn
My heart's architect
Nothing left to do
But to connect with you
What else can I do
But to connect with you?

If revolution is the earth
All things will then unravel
I open wide and will receive
A motherful of gravel
I hold the loved ones close to me
I'll never let them go
But would I strike or save the world
On one last throw?
I think you know

Yeah, yeah, yeah…

Love 'em to death, wilson
Kill them with kindness
Lay low her majesty
Bring down his highness
Wonder how mad it is
Laugh at extremism
Sue me for metacide
Can't we just  hold each other together now?