This Must Be Life ('cause I don't see The Reaper)

What Did You Expect?

What did you expect?
Maybe a happy ending?
This ain’t Hollywood y’know. Y’know?
Did you think that love would last forever?
Regardless of stormy weather?

What the hell did you expect?
Maybe your life ascending?
Like some famous fairy tale?
Did you think you’d get to have your say?
Well it isn’t gonna be that way

And all that’s left for me to do is write the epilogue
I can usually do without the epilogue

What did you expect?
That maybe pigs could fly?
Well let me tell ya something buddy
They can, and so can I
It’s easy all you gotta do is try
All you gotta do is die

And all that’s left for me to do is write the epilogue
I can usually do without the epilogue

The Lord of Misrule
(a paean to Ian)

Come one, come all, both the squat and the tall
Bring the mad and the drunk and the devil
Give us some beer and we’ll raise you a cheer
Tout le monde come and join in the revel

From All Hallow’s Eve to Candlemas’ leave
The law of Misrule’s in place
I’m a potent potentate, you’d best believe
To be somber this night’s a disgrace

Don’t call me a fool
I’m the Lord of Misrule

Strike up your pipes and break out your ratchet
Dress up in your finest regalia
Find your lover, meet up with the gang
Come join us in our Saturnalia

Banging on a tambourine, we’ll raise the dead from hell
Meet in the church, drown out the epistle
Making so much noise as if the night could be dispelled
Shrilling on a fife or penny-whistle

Don’t call me a fool
I’m the Lord of Misrule

A bonfire of furniture might look nice over there
Brighten up the square while the brief night is passing
Giving us a peek while our revel is lasting
Of all the fine ladies in their carnival slattern
Smash open a keg if you get your hands on one
For all it be blashy, we’ll drink it the same
Play bubble-the-Justice, pay not for the crime
The bedswervers are staggering away
The night cries barlafumble to the dawn
I hold not a merry-go-sorry yawn
Wend with the scrogglings in flight
To my sleep, until tomorrow night

We’ll come one and all, both the squat and the tall
With the mad and the drunk and the devil
Give us some wine and we’ll have a good time
Tout le monde we will join in the revel

Don’t call me a fool
I’m the Lord of Misrule

blashy - weak and watered down
bubble-the-Justice - messing with the local constabulary
bedswervers - those prone to adultery
barlafumble - like saying “uncle” to give up
merry-go-sorry - happy and sad all at once
scrogglings - the last few apples on the tree, traditionally left for the Apple Tree Man
tout le monde - everyone, literally “all the world”

Falling

In a dream I lay, windswept, and I was falling
In a dream I lay, windswept, and I was falling
Windswept, windswept

And there was no time
and there was no sound
save the wind in my ears
only unending, descending flight

But I wasn’t afraid of landing
It never occurred to me that the
beauty of falling might stop
It seemed to me
as it seems to me now
that I had been falling all my life
That I have been falling all my life

In a dream I lay, windswept, and I was falling
In a dream I lay, windswept, and I was falling
Windswept, windswept

And there was no time
and there was no sound
save the wind in my ears
only unending, descending flight

But I wasn’t afraid of landing
It never occurred to me that the
terror of falling might stop
It seemed to me
as it seems to me now
that I had been falling all my life
That I have been falling all my life

And in the silence
broken only by
the soft sound of the wind
I heard a cry
and I looked over
There beside me you were falling

Well it seems to me that I’ve been falling all my life
(all my life, all my life)
Well it seems to be that I’ve been falling all my life
(all my life, all my life)
I’m off the end of the world, you know, I’m falling
Stumbling towards the light, I’m falling, I’m falling through time
Well, I look back on the world and I’m falling

A Magical Midsummer’s Night

A Magical Midsummer’s Night
Now you’ve called me, even as I write

It’s funny how things work out, she says, and I agree
But I mean funny; ha ha, and she means funny; strangely

Sometimes I wonder if we’re not better off alone
That we were not made for the same road
If the place you place your heart is really home
Then homeless be when your heart goes away

A Magical Midsummer’s Night
Now you’re here with me and everything’s all right

Sometimes I wonder if we’re not better off alone
That we were not made for the same road
If the place you place your heart is really home
Then homeless be when your heart goes away

How To Say Goodbye

The sun was singing in the sky
The air was sweet and clear
When Harlequin and Dandy-Mouse
Went skipping to the faire

We two had planned them there to meet
For corn and crumbs and cream
We four had planned to dance till dawn
Not sleeping for to dream

How to say goodbye my love
In such delightful weather
If we have to die my love
Let’s go together

Searching high and low, we two
Could find them not at all
And all the finery of the fete
Took on a darkling pall

Asked we of all we met
If a white cat with black tears
Or a small but dashing mouse they’d seen
Their silence fed our fears

How to say goodbye my love
In such delightful weather
Since we have to die my love
Let’s go together

The moon was beaming from the sky
When homeward we did tread
But Harlequin and Dandy-mouse
Were not there to be fed

Widow's Window

The widow’s window where she ofttimes appears
White stucco wall, weathered timber frame
Is a portal to her whole world, to her play’s last act
The stage is set, we but await the cast

She stands in the window and looks to the sea
Wi’ ye no come back, come back tae me?
She thinks about her husband and her kids now gone
To a watery grave, to their separate lives

And of the boy who loved her so long ago
But who had to go far across the sea
Wi’ ye no come back, come back tae me?
Wi’ ye no come back, come back tae me?

Maybe some day she will awaken
To forge ahead instead of looking back
She could go and find work with a florist
Take up skeet shooting or practice tai chi
One might find she had become a secret agent
Passing encoded ipods to strange men in the park
Who knows what awaits us when open minded?
When the inherent sameness of days is not taken for granted?

then, one day
the widow looks down into the square and there’s a man selling balloons and he’s holding a great big bouquet of green and red and blue and yellow ones and she is struck by the memory of herself as a child and her father bought her a bright blue balloon and suddenly she just must have one she who hasn’t really wanted anything in particular for so long and she rushes out her door and down the stairs and she hurries out into the street and she goes up to the man with a coin in her hand and she’s pointing to a blue balloon but when the man hands it to her with a bow and a smile she is staring at him; amazed and the light of recognition grows in his eyes and he gladly lets go of all of his balloons the better to embrace his lost and found love

And they fly up into the air and off in many colours

You’re Not

You’re not blind, but you can’t see it
‘Cause you’re looking in the wrong direction
You’re not deaf, but you don’t hear it
‘Cause you’re not listening
You’re not paying attention
You’re on overload
You’re not able to function
So much drama
But not much comprehension

You’re not dumb, but you don’t get it
‘Cause you’d rather not think about it
You’re not numb, but you can’t feel it
The Ten Thousand Things
Will distract you
Make you think they’re important
Obsess and enrapt you
So much media
Not much communication

You’re not greedy, but you can’t help it
You just need that new shiny thing
You’re not vain
You’re just self-centered
You’re well fed and entertained
You’re desensitized
So much wealth
So little worth having
So much data
Too many complications

You’re not weak, but you don’t know it
You’re as strong as a force of nature
You’re not mad, you just act like it
‘Cause you’re not doing what you should
You’re entirely passive
Bread and circuses
For the masses
Ignore the future
Forget what the past was
So much suffering
So little compassion
Bread and circuses
For the masses
Bread and circuses
For the masses...

The Uneventful Day
(that ticks away)

These endless days of summer heat
Have really got me going
I could use a day alone
In the rain at home

These endless days of rainy nights
Have really got me down
I could use a day of heat
In the sun on the beach

This rainy weather dripping through my mind
Whilst in the sky, oh my, the sun is shining

These endless years of reckless time
They pass you by so quickly
The waiting goes so slow
But where does all the time go?

So much time lost
Until a spark can touch off
A memory
That glows like fire
Glows and burns with a sweet pain
And I realize
I realize
This is my life

The King of An Tir is Dying

Try and be happy, where e’er you are
For disaster can come without warning
We could repair to our nest or our lair
And be dead on the following morning

What moment our troubles, our worries and cares?
When you think on the cosmos and all that out there?
We’re doin’ all right, now, if this you compare
Pretty baby stop your crying
The King of An Tir is dying

Try and make merry, when e’er you can
For misfortune can strike you unbidden
Just when you’re hoping and making your plan
Comes the dagger that fortune has hidden

Try and be happy, with who e’er you are
With whatever in life is your way
Don’t wait till tomorrow to follow your star
But don’t forget to remember to enjoy today

Life is what happens while all of us wait
For some fictitious future, we just know will be great
But we can’t ignore what may well be our fate
Pretty baby stop your crying
The King of An Tir is dying

What moment our troubles, our worries and cares?
When you think on the cosmos and all that out there?
We’re doin’ all right, now, if this you compare
Little baby stop your crying
The King of An Tir is dying

Carpe Diem

An Tir - Gaelic, "The Land"

This Must Be Life
('Cause I Don't See The Reaper)

All these ashes in the air
Block the sun, hurts to breathe
Suddenly seconds wasted moments before
Vanish like coins dropped into the sea

I try to rise but keep sinking deeper
This must be life ‘cause I don't see The Reaper

All these ashes on the ground
Erase the landscape and smother it
All of your days now filled with boredom and sorrow
The killing of time brings on empty regret

Am I awake or am I a sleeper?
This must be life ‘cause I don't see The Reaper

The Hammer of the Gods
Came slamming, slamming down
To gamble with such odds
A fool must wear the monarch's crown

Landscapes of fire
of burning desire

The Hammer of the Gods
Came slamming, slamming down
To rule the tools and sods
The wise must satirize the clown

Mindscapes of ire
a fool and a liar

Any day could be the last
Try and make each second count
Any day could be your last
With or without some holocaust

Life is what we do while waiting for the future
Life is what we do while dreaming of the past
Days that were ours, they were ours for the taking
Try and make each second count
Any day could be your last

Speed Me Up, Slow Me Down

A pocketful of firecrackers and a head full of dreams
These days nothing really much the way that it seems
A pocketful of poetry and a head full of change
What might you think when what’s normal is strange?

Speed me up, Slow me down
Keep my head together
Mess my head around
Speed me up, Slow me down
Keep my head together
Mess my brains around

Get up in the morning
Need a cup of brew
Props my eyelids open
Decide now what to do
Sit and have a smoke to kinda slow me down
I don’t do no coke, I’m the real thing, don’t cha put me down

Speed me up…etc.

Under the influence of emotions and attitudes
Under the pressure of devotional platitudes
Under the influence, the drug in my drink
Addled reality, addled reality, that’s how I think

Speed me up…etc.

Get home in the evening
Need another toot
Staying up till morning we don’t give a hoot
Keeping it together ain’t no easy thing
Retain my equilibrium so’s maybe I can sing

Speed me up…etc.

The Burning World Lyrics