Life's Brilliant Display

So you never did anything out of the blue

Take a seat while we check on you

Who packed your bags? Nothing to declare?

You look a little nervous -- but don’t despair

Now a word from our captain -- "Is there a doctor here?

We have a passenger sick with fear

Please identify yourself -- can you come to our aid?"

But even the captain is sounding afraid…

Floating in mid-air, 

so lean back in your chair

There’s nobody here at all

So no one to be aware and nothing to declare

Clouds drift by outside the window, 

fading into blue

How sweet to be a cloud -- a gentle shroud

So easy to misconstrue

Floating in mid-air, 

so lean back in your chair

There’s nobody here at all

So no one to to be aware and nothing to declare

You’ve seen clouds from both sides now

Has it changed your view?

Can you be sure of anything?

Will you leave the queue?

Nothing to look forward to

No special prize

No future nor no past behind the eyes

Floating in mid-air, 

so lean back in your chair

There’s nobody here at all

So no one to to be aware and nothing to declare

When you’re down on your luck and you don’t give a duck

You’ve got nothing to lose so don’t worry

You’ve played your last card and fallen down hard

You wait for twilight to end this story

Don’t look away -- or look for reasons, 

Don’t look away -- there’s no one to blame or ignore

Don’t look away -- it’s not treason

It’s life’s brilliant display, don’t look away

You’re exhausted and weak but still you can’t sleep

You’ve counted the whole flock of sheep, but don’t worry

It doesn’t feel right to waste the whole of the night 

Waiting for daylight to end this story

Don’t look away -- or look for reasons, 

Don’t look away -- there’s no one to blame or ignore

Don’t look away -- it’s not treason

It’s life’s brilliant display, don’t look away

You’re hurting inside, there’s nowhere to hide

Your tears have finally dried and you feel empty

Is this the end of days, its awful displays?

There are so many ways to end this story

Don’t look away -- or look for reasons, 

Don’t look away -- there’s no one to blame or ignore

Don’t look away -- it’s not treason

It’s life’s brilliant display, don’t look away

In violent times zealots rise up hoping for their chance

Creating chaos spreading lies resistance can’t renounce

Every dog must have its day, such men are these

Prompting tribal hatred, brings virtue to its knees

Where were you?  I didn’t hear the call

Where were you?  Are you on the run?

Where were you?  Have you lost the will to carry on?

Where were you?

They say all things must change as night follows day

In the darkness, weakness hides waiting to have its say

Have we been here before, confederacy of hate?

No angel at our table, the tyrant at our gate

Where were you?  When you needed some help, but you had none

Where were you?  When you’d lost the hope to carry on

Where were you?

I saw the smoke rise in the air and felt the heat

I saw them fall one by one and smelt defeat

What did we think was going on, did we think at all?

The signs were everywhere, the writing on the wall

Where were you?  No excuse, I let you down when you were on the run

Where were you?  If we could only turn back time we would come

Where were you?

I’m walking right behind but never seem to catch up

Gravity takes control, and I am stuck

I want to get close to you but I can’t fly

Galileo left a clue but I can only try …

All the promises I’ve been sold, this base metal can turn to gold

The secret garden, the perfect view

But what use are these feathers and glue?

Step by step, time after time, playing in this pantomime

I play Pierrot you Columbine, we’re searching for the truth divine

The moon hovers -- a mind unsure? A quiet light not quite mature? 

Lovers hiding from themselves, cast their fate to wishing wells

All the promises I’ve been sold, this base metal can turn to gold

The secret garden, the perfect view

But what use are these feathers and glue?

I’m flying backwards in slow motion trying to take in air

But you’re flying past me heading forwards -- what a strange affair …

If Galileo had tried again, a new sketch, a better plan

The same gravity but something new, what could we do …

Am I starting to see the light -- a simple way to take flight

The same feathers, the same glue -- Is that the clue?

All the promises I’ve been sold, this base metal can turn to gold

The secret garden, the perfect view

I’ve found the use for these feathers and glue

Some dream to remember, some dream to forget

Her dreams took her far away, far away from regret

She seemed so innocent, the voice of a child

When dreams turn to nightmares she turns wild

Don’t take things so seriously, her fate is not your own

Up high in her concrete tower this bird has flown -- innocent

Reciting the poet's words by the poet’s gate

Neither waving nor drowning -- this was not her fate

Writing for Mslexia -- her life in words

Though often ignored she was shaken but unstirred

Don’t take things so seriously, her fate is not your own

Up high in her concrete tower this bird has flown -- innocent

I met her back in ’71 with flowing long black hair

We lived in the same damp slum, there was music everywhere

I seemed like a gypsy boy, always on the go

When I spotted her in Upper Street, how was I to know?

In black and white she’s on the beach in a crochet white swimsuit

She's gazing at the breaking waves -- expression resolute

Quality of mercy isn’t strained as waves break on the sand

But if I was drowning not waving -- she would understand

Laughing Eyes, you are a diamond

Laughing eyes but you don’t see –- with those laughing eyes

My black curls long since gone

I stand naked in the rain

Her laughing eyes light up the night

And take away the pain

There’s a bench up by the tarn

It’s there to warn us all

She needs to hear you tell her you love her ten times a day

Now Baz has warned us all

That diamond geezer knew his stuff

He’d been around the block

He loved her well in his time

We all fear the ticking clock … 

Laughing Eyes, you are a diamond

Laughing eyes but you don’t see -– with those laughing eyes

Laughing Eyes -- we all love you!

Laughing Eyes -- won’t you stay with me with your laughing eyes?

Now I know the meaning of Big L -- a warm and tender heart

It was always leaning to the left -- from the very start

You don’t need to ask her

What she wants ten times a day

Is this love, is this love, is this love that I’m feeling -- it won't go away

Laughing Eyes, you are a diamond

Laughing eyes but you don’t see -– with those laughing eyes

Laughing Eyes -- we all love you!

Laughing Eyes -- won’t you stay with me ...

Is this love, is this love, is this love! 

Whispers of family homes now become bomb sites

Broken-hearted folk denied human rights

The world turned upside down, the future in the past

Everything is changing, just how long can this last?

Here’s to the workers, to the dreamers in the bars

Some are in the gutters, they’ve sunk so far

But still looking at the stars

In such violent times -- leaders sowing fear

Hard news is closing down -- the brave will persevere

Truth is retreating but they call it paranoid

Doctors and nurses rush in to heal the void

Here’s to the doctors and the nurses near or far

May they help the hurt and heal the scars

Of those looking at the stars

Let no darkness delude us, though dawn seems very far

This tempest will confuse us, keep looking for the stars

We are emerging from the darkness into light

We can lend a hand to hearts broken in the fight

The sun is rising on a world free of fear

Truth is returning to welcome this new year

Here's to the healers and the dreamers with guitars

They were in the gutter now they’re looking at the stars 

Here’s to the workers, to the dreamers in the bars

Here’s to all the heroes who helped us come so far 

We’re looking at the stars!

The wind starts blowing like a demon

Leaves are in retreat

Their golden crowns start to darken

To signal their defeat

These winter nights go on forever

The days barely get out of bed

Sun lies quiet on the pillow

not even trying to lift it’s head 

I was born in the winter

When the snow lay deep and white

It’s no surprise that I’m still sleeping

Just waiting for the call of nightfall

Though I was named after my father

You’d never know it by the names they used

Short sweet and simple, I guess it defined me

Three simple letters were all I knew

In dreams you could be someone

A hero who could fly

Into the arms of a lover

Who’d never say goodbye

I was born in the winter

The snow lay deep and white

It’s no surprise that I’m still sleeping

Just waiting for the call of Nightfall

River of night flow through me

Washing thoughts of the day

On your waters away -- nightfall

In that strange eclipse,

When daytime quickly slips

I feel the soft lips of nightfall

I was born in the winter

The snow lay deep and white

It’s no surprise that I’m still sleeping

Just waiting for the call of nightfall

She said there were time locks on the stars

But no one could protect her from herself

The horizon blurs from water to sky

From major to minor when we said goodbye

I feel I’m being pulled back in the water

She’s calling me back from the sand, back to the motherland

Is she trying to guide my hand?

I’m feeling contracted but trying to expand

I could be starting to lose my mind

There is so much I want to leave behind

I feel I’m being pulled back in the water

She’s calling me back from the sand, back to the motherland

If only I could see things as they really are

Not just a movie playing on a screen

Would I feel a part of everything?

Not just debris from some distant star

I feel I’m being pulled back in the water

She’s calling me back from the sand, back to the motherland

I turned my head and there she stood

Huddled in the hallway with Robin Hood

He stole from the rich and gave to the poor

Can't say I ever felt rich before

Where we go and what we learn

Who we trust -- how we discern

We struggle through quicksand

Try to understand this wasteland

The room froze as time stood still

As I swallowed her bitter pill 

How he joined her in her willing game

I left trying to hide my shame

Where we go and what we learn

Who we trust -- how we discern

We struggle through quicksand

Try to understand this wasteland

Learn to roll with the blows

Learn how to flow like the river flows

How to swim against the tide, 

Protect something deep inside

Pleasure and pain, loss and gain

Where we go and what we learn

Who we trust -- how we discern

We struggle through quicksand

Try to understand this wasteland

Was it hope and ambition that bred such suspicion

No acts of contrition put an end to the pain

It starts so naive -- so you like to believe

That Adam blames Eve in this tireless campaign

It still hurts just as much as that first time

Betrayed by my closest of friends

I was struck dumb, emotionally numb

As shining beginnings become ends

So how can this pattern continue

Why haven’t I learnt who to trust?

Each shining new start rings a bell in the heart

Is it blood that turns chrome into rust?

Chrome into rust ... 

It’s not about blame, we all share the shame

When we hold out the hand of trust

How could we know that under the snow

Purity’s turning to rust

So how can this pattern continue

Why haven’t I learnt who to trust?

Each shining new start rings a bell in the heart

Is it blood that turns chrome into rust?

Was it hope and ambition that bred such suspicion

My acts of contrition won't put an end to the pain

I start so naive -- so I like to believe

But as Adam blames Eve in this tireless campaign

So how can this pattern continue

Why haven’t I learnt who to trust?

Each shining new start rings a bell in the heart

Is it blood that turns chrome into rust?

Chrome into rust ...