Crows In The Cornfield

Vampire Sunrise

Hellfire preachers in Rhinestone boots,slicked back hair, lipstick, horsehair suits

They glow like foxfire ,buttons for eyes

Disintegrating in a vampire sunrise

All I  ever wanted was to be somebody good, but I’ve got a devil who rides my blood

Everything will be ok

Everything will be fine

Blue skies and Bluebirds

And the sun will shine

Before we were nightmares you couldn’t escape

Before we were monsters that kept you awake

Before we were gothic, fog, gaslight and Jack

Before we found out when we’re cut we bleed black

Midnight riders, white robes and hoods

Ain’t no hate quite like Christian love

The Golden Age of small town terror

Yesterdays are quicksand, you can sink in them forever

Rock Paper Scissors Buddha on a rooftop,19 floors nearer to heaven Just him and some pigeons, and an AK47 This must be how God feels, before he finally slams the door When smiling and serene just won't cut it anymore We'll drive out till the engine stalls, and the cold air kills the radio I'll brush your hair and wipe your lipstick off, undress you in the snow Those dots on the horizon are the last birds heading South Winter hangs so heavy I can taste it in my Mouth You were just obeying orders,I hung on for the ride Rock, Paper Scissor, lets just let God decide Your doing me a favour, they're lining up to throw that switch There are still some places out there ,they'd burn me as a witch Every game starts off the same, I follow where you lead Rock paper scissors ,I laugh and then I bleed EMPIRES The Boys Book of Empire is next to my bed There's a map on the wall, nearly half the worlds red Lets raise our glasses to our colonial pets God,King,Queen and Country, the sun never sets We stood on the rooftops , saw the faraway fires Watched the flags going down on all the  empires We used to be giants, now we are nothing at all Thats what happens when you take your eye off the ball Lift up the drawbridge. plan the escape The natives are restless ,let them eat cake Last night of the proms, ST George's last stand Random pieces of England ,slip through my hands We used to be giants, now we are nothing at all Thats what happens when you take your eye off the ball Thanks for the memories ,it was a wonderful show Lock the door, turn the lights off, it's time to go Not a single thing to be proud of Red Candy Got a black dog in my sightline , a monkey on my back The night outside my window, pushes hard against the glass Everyone is somewhere else, I didn't see them leave I've got my red candy, and thats all that I need White noise howling in my eardrums,skin criss crossed with scars My head is filling up with sunshine and my heart is full of stars Three wishes for everyone, loaves and fishes for everyone White noise howling in my eardrums ,skin criss crossed with scars My head is filling up with sunshine and my heart is full of stars Hydrogen And Stupidity No plan B No last minute escape No divine intervention No plot twist by fate Everything is upside down The near is further than the far The sky is full of flying fish The sea is full of stars The hammer strikes the anvil The iron bleeds the sparks The changing gears, the cogs and wheels Lights blinking in the dark The universe is empty, except for you and me a lion's den of hydrogen and cruel stupidity Fi Fi Fo Fum I must have stayed in worse hotels but I can't remember when The rats are playing peekaboo with the cockroaches again If this town was a boxer it be a ten count on the ropes Outside my room a searchlight moon turns the tourists into ghosts Fi Fi Fo Fum, ready or not here we come Father Son and Holy Ghost This is not the promised land its not even close My my my what big teeth you have Fi Fi Fo Fum, ready or not here we come Fi Fi Fo Fum, ready or not here we come Release The Hounds All the big boys and their hangers on, the heavy hitters and their goons Stand around, looking important ,while their wives  drink and watch cartoons They'd sell their mothers and their children Put the whole world on the street, till they cant take no more jump from the penthouse floor To splash dive on  concrete Release the hounds and start the rumours, collect our pound of flesh Burn the churches and the hospitals ,the orphanage is next We are up to our necks in it, we are up to our necks in it Stumbling through the blackout ,terrified I'll see the light My hands balled into tiny fists, my eyes screwed shut tight Here come the Blue Sky architects ,stepping out from the sunrise Taking pictures of everyone, Bedlem in their eyes We are up to our necks in it, we are up to our necks in it Land Of The Giants I came home to a fridge magnet goodbye A pretty rainbow coloured 'Fuck You',and die I crashed to the ground,rolled over the floor

Just like the last time and the ten times before 

Ive got proof the world is flat and one day jesus might come back

got a photograph locked in a box of Kubrick painting fake moon rocks

my body's scarred with phaser burns, acid blood and zombie bites

Planted plastic flowers underneath the towers were walt disney sleeps in ice

Land of the giants is on the tv,the actors just stopped and pointed at me

Aztec pilots, green skinned girls, sunset on a dying world

Pyramids and hieroglyph s,dawn of man black monoliths

Ive got proof the world is flat and one day jesus might come back 

got a photograph locked in a box of Kubrick painting fake moon rocks

The Pale Men
Low winter sun streams through the blinds and it hurts my eyes
Pins me with its yellow gaze but I can't look away

Quiet drifting snow falls like unanswered prayers on an empty church
Seeps through my skin and in my bones, colder than the stones

Round here our footsteps make no sound, because we walk on hallowed ground
Between the space of love and hate, we will take that leap of faith

This is my toy soldiers grave, all the dolls we couldn't save
This is were we lowered the flag on every dream we ever had
Suzie runs a meth lab on the far side of town
Cuts it with bleach and strychnine, got to keep the junkies down
The locals call her ghost girl because she's seldom seen 
Her skins as pale as candlewax and feels like a 
Mad Scientists
In the Great Tinseltown massacre, no-one really died
They just fell slowly to the floor, held their breath and closed their eyes
Nobody saw a damn thing, nobody heard the shots
The blind gumshoe found all the clues , call off the keystone cops

The rain outside my window , falls hard but makes no sound
All the bad seeds grow to wild weeds , split and crack the ground
Crazy super villains make plans in secret lairs
Hypnotise with their ray gun eyes,Mad scientists everywhere

History is full of yes men, nodding, never asking why
Till the tide turns and they get burned, and left hung out to dry
The rain outside my window , falls hard but makes no sound 
All the bad seeds grow to wild weeds , split and crack the ground

Impossible Equations
Baby your a car crash, caught between revolving doors
People like you need people like me to point out their flaws
Stick with us and we'll reinvent you
Wrap you up in cotton wool and protect you

Sooner or later, when the dust finally settles
We'll pat each other on the back and hand out cigars and pin on medals

In an alternate timeline, in a starless vacuum
I planted the Roman Eagle on a faraway moon
Useless equations, meaningless drivel
Forks in the road, might have been ripples 

The Man Of Tomorrow
Calls himself Salome but he's just a fat guy dressed in drag
Struts a catwalk only he can see, wears a vote for Loki badge
His pale moon shadow lipstick is a magnet for the moths
Kicks his way through Soho, scaring the Emos and the Goths

He can't remember coming home, wakes up on the floor
His little heart is beating faster than it ever has before 

C'mon, C'mon, C'mon baby do your worst
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon lets see who blinks first
I'm not feeling myself today, I'm not feeling myself today

Someone to show the way someone to follow 
Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow

Clockwork Tokyo
All the dancers twitch ,like they have nervous tics, even when the musics slow
My Rorschach blots look like giant robots, running amok through Tokyo
I'm the city and the city's me, polished steel, glass and concrete
If you cut me I bleed neon, spilling colours on the street

I remember you in springtime, a pink cherry blossom sky
Young ,beautiful and tragic , Madam Butterfly

We watched the faces of the passengers as the bullet trains flashed by
Everyone was smiling but there was panic in their eyes

Don't think about the destination, its enough that we arrive
The roads on fire behind us ,just shut up and drive
Radio Silence
Bring me November, 1973, gonna put it in a bottle, toss it in the sea
Maybe light a candle, make a farewell speech 
It might wash up in a hundred years on a faraway beach

Throw me a party, roll out the guests, all seething with anger and bitter regrets
All brand new and shiny, fake pearls and gold leaf  
Scratch off the glitter, see whats underneath

Annihilation, disintegration ,there's less of me here everyday
Atom by atom , kaleidoscope patterns ,I can feel myself slipping away 
On the ropes ,then the canvas, taking the count,radio silence, over and out

Cast me adrift on a wild, restless sea, a walk through a minefield or tiger country
Just to get through it, just to survive, just to remind me that I'm still alive

Annihilation , disintegration ,there's less of me here everyday
Atom by atom , kaleidoscope patterns ,I can feel myself slipping away 
On the ropes ,then the canvas, taking the count, radio silence, over and out

Fragile and brittle, everything aches,I'm scared if you touch me i'll shatter and break

The Last Thing To Burn
Time's a cruel mistress, with a bad reputation
Wild drama and mood swings for every occasion
Part of the furniture ,the familiar landscape
That part of suburbia from where no light escapes
And I can't breathe

I think somebody famous, lived here between the wars
Spoke in all these spaces, walked across these floors
He wrote poetry and painted , invented strange machines
Held parties in the basement so you couldn't hear the screams 
And I can't breathe

Baby, you can take a memory, weigh it down with chains ,bury it at sea
Like restless ghosts they always return, the past is the last thing to burn.

Every word an arrow, every touch a stranglehold
Every  kiss a shot of Novocaine ,that left you numb and cold 

Every day a showdown, under siege  behind closed doors 
Everyone a veteran  of a thousand civil wars

Hail Mary
Every party is a battlefield, making smalltalk, mixing drinks
Everyones a sociopath, everyones a shrink 
Put me on a pedestal or nail me to a cross
One day you  adore me, the next you ignore me, show me who's the boss

We sit opposite each other, blank expressions on our faces
All the words we ever shared, free falling through the spaces

Eat,Sleep,Panic,Repeat ,Eat,Sleep,Panic,Repeat

Nobody waves a white flag, begs for mercy or the truth
Good Morning is a call to arms , between these walls, under this roof

Put me on a pedestal or nail me to a cross 
One day you adore me, the next you  ignore me, just to remind me  who's the boss

Eat,Sleep,Panic,Repeat,Eat,Sleep,Panic,Repeat
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

Manhattan
I used to pretend I lived in Manhattan
Or any place on the map where something could happen
So real I could touch it, smell the New Creek River shore
Hear the soft subway rumble, the rush hour roar 

Between the cracks, where X marks the spot
On that one piece of real estate that God forgot
No-one to follow, no-one to lead us
No dustbowl prophet, no Hollywood Jesus

We Made A Monster
There are two moons rising in the sky tonight
The highway glows in their cold dead lights

Cacti shadows reach like  giant hands
Geckos dance on the desert sand

When I see the mercury rising and I feel the pressure drop
Next time when it rains , it might never stop

I talked too much when I was young, the words just tumbled off my tongue
I never learned to shut my mouth and smile
Mummy drank, daddy took drugs, Christ, he doesn't even look like us
Lord above ,who is this cuckoo child

We made a monster, we made a monster
And theres not a thing that you can do

I'm midnight, moonlight, Halloween
Candle wax and plasticine
Everything I do s a cry for help
I'm infernal ,I'm divine
Vampire , werewolf ,Frankenstein
Some days I don't recognise myself
Are you scared yet, are you scared yet

Suki Rules The World

Suki drives a Firebird, collects bone china cats
Has a house up in the mountains with artificial grass
Naive , superstitious, believes in love and fate
Drinks green tea every morning, watching the sun rise on the lake

In the blind eye black, trickling through the cracks, light falls on a girl 
Alone in bed, in her head, Suki rules the world

You are nothing and thats what you'll always be
I wish I had a dollar for every time that was said to me

Suki grows rare orchids, goes for long walks on the beach
Reads and speaks dead languages ,Coptic, Latin, Ancient Greek
Everyones a hero , a hair's breadth away from glory
Everyones a villain in someone else story
 
Above a soft blue velvet ocean, the moon hangs like a pearl
Alone in bed, in her head, Suki rules the world
In the blind eye black, trickling through the cracks, light falls on a girl
Alone in bed, in her head, Suki rules the world

Norman Rockwell

All the parakeets went crazy, just before the earthquake hit
Elvis turned in his grave, we felt the shockwaves on the Strip
Reverend Allbright didn't notice, he was playing chess with God
A girl with ultra violet hair , ran screaming out the fog

A sailor and a showgirl, shared a neon chapel kiss
I thought, Norman Rockwell, could have painted this

Ku Klux Klan,Son of Sam,Doris Day and Rosa Parkes
Nina Simone, Al Capone, Babe Ruth and Groucho Marx

A fighter plane from World War One, came crashing out the sky
The pilot hadn't aged a day, black holes turning in his eyes

Sunlight shines on polished chrome along Route 66
I thought, Norman Rockwell, could have painted this

Vietnam, Superman, Mom ,the flag and apple pie
Neil Armstrong, King Kong, swatting biplanes from the sky
Marilyn Monroe, Geronimo, Malcom X, John Wayne
Sharks versus Jets,Camel cigarettes, Gene Kelly 'Singing In The rain'

Wooden Horses
They always arrive early, boxcutter smiles, blood on their hands
Rolling out new blueprints and their masterplans
In that sweet tangle of twisted flesh, ozone on her skin, absinthe on her breath

Cool heads and low profiles, they don't want to start a panic
They never raise their voices . they just crackle like static
Lady Lazarus is the secretary , she keeps the books in Purgatory 

Cross the T's and dot the I's, everyone will form a line
The world ticking like a Swiss Watch and the trains will run on time

Wooden horses ,wooden horses

If it all come crashing down, we won't even make a fuss
We'll hide or burn the evidence, pretend it wasn't us

Wooden horses ,wooden horses

Dear England
Dear England, whatever happened to that stiff upper lip?
Grace under pressure, Dunkirk spirit?
Meet under the clock, last train has gone
That sweet propaganda,Keep Calm Carry On

Poor old Britannia, slipped out  of fashion  
Last seen in the 60s, still missing in action

The rain on the leaves , sounds almost like words
Or the soft beating wings of invisible birds

Meet under the clock, last train has gone

Sweet old propaganda, Keep Calm Carry On 

Dear England, lets zip up the body bag 

Hang up the crown ,let the sun go down, draw a chalk circle round the flag

 Tin Man

I  always felt invisible, so I built myself a wall

Shrunk a little more each day, till I wasn't there at all

Always caught between fight and flight

The crushing disappointment of an ordinary life

Part of the furniture, the familiar landscape

That part of suburbia ,from which no light escapes

I had so much potential, I made so many plans

Mea Culpa, no excuses, I was putty in their hands

The gifts that keep on giving, plague ,war , fire and flood 

We grew Venus Fly Traps, watered them with our own blood

I wish I was Tin Man

Mount Fuji Subterranean Society

We met on Sunday afternoons, above the sleep disorder clinic

Discussed everything from UFOs, teenage pin ups , cartoon physics

We were always awkward, never comfortable in our own skin

We could join a cult again, try harder to fit in

Mount Fuji Subterranean Society

Everything is swept away, carried by the flood

Spirals to a pinpoint, before it disappears for good.

In a Hammer Horror angry mob, we stormed castles, destroyed monsters and burned witches

Joined a ghost town marching band, scared the tourists taking pictures

We wore steampunk glasses, jackboots and stick on stars

Sick bed thin, pale and interesting, , proud of our needle scars

Mount Fuji Subterranean Society

Do you think it has a ring to it? Do you think it has a ring to it?

This is What You Could Have Had

Bring me back a souvenir ,old venetian glass
A piece of wood from the one true cross ,a Checkpoint Charlie photograph 
Send me a postcard, from where the sky is wide and blue
Silk Road sand beneath your feet, sun streaming down on you

Swim to the horizon, where the ocean holds the sky
Show me seven wonders ,see Naples and die

Anything that you can dream ,magnified and supersized
All wrapped up inside a flag, served with cola and french fries

Something for everyone, something for everyone

Swim to the horizon, where the ocean holds the sky
Show me seven wonders, see Naples and die

Blow out all the candles, hand out the cigars
I drag my years behind me,I carry them like scars

This is what you could have had,This is what you could have had

The Sing Sing Chair
DJ's got a head cold, sounds like he's breathing glue
Dancers watched him gasp for air, smiled when he turned blue
The birds outside my window ,scratch patterns on the pane
God,I feel so close to something, then it disconnects again

I've still got too many secrets ,locked inside my head
Late night conversations, with God the Devil and the dead
All my childhood airbrushed vampires, flash their teeth and too much skin
Flutter where the light ends, begging me to let them in


The sky has new looked so blue, sunlight shimmers in the air
The clock hands crawl, till the moment falls 
Across the Sing Sing Chair

sandalwood and sea spray, on a Venus fly trap morning
Blood runs slow and heavy, all my senses crawling

The sky has new looked so blue, sunlight shimmers in the air 
The clock hands crawl, till the moment falls 
Across the Sing Sing Chair

We cut our skin and mixed our blood 
Is that close enough to love? Is that close enough to love?

I Nearly Saw the light

Blah! Blah! Blah!, I need an exit out
i just want to watch the movie, but you won't shut your mouth

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! What a hullabaloo 
Headless chickens everywhere, feeding time at the zoo

I wish that I believed in something, just to get me through the night
Rolling down Hank's long lost highway ,I swear ,I nearly saw the light

TV rhinestone jesuits, hold out collection plates
Part the Red Sea for an encore, all between commercial breaks


It looks like the last train, is leaving Neverland

Invisible Birds

The Miracle Police

The Miracle Police are on the streets tonight
Checking everybody's ID, flashing their badges in the light
Killing questions, stopping rumours, trying to calm the nagging doubts
That blooms like poison flowers, eats you from the inside out


Satellites are falling, holy heavy metal birds
No alarms, no early warnings, no goon squad on the stairs

Did you dial H for Hero, call the cavalry?
Maybe we can save you, we'll just have to wait and see
Superficial, charming, vicious, shiny bright and cruel
Reptiles in the sunlight, at the deep end of the pool


C'mon and see the pretty lights,I guarantee they'll make you smile
C'mon and see the pretty lights, they'll distract you for a while

Tell Tale Heart

Turn the volume up on the TV, switch on every light
All my senses overloading , every nerve stretched tight

The ticking clock, the dripping tap, the tell tale heart beneath the boards 
All my neighbours conversations, bleed like Bebop through the walls

The Dream Police want answers, so they are kicking down your door
The carpet turns to quicksand, You are melting through the floor
Christ ,I've never felt so strong

Burn the books and heretics ,dust off the ducking stools sweet friends 
Their sleight of hand and conjuring tricks won't save them in the end

I get the feeling that I'm hollow, almost paper thin
If I concentrate and focus, i'll see the skull beneath my skin

The Dream Police want answers, so they are kicking down your door
The carpet turns to quicksand, and you're  melting through the floor 


Christ, I've never felt so strong


Cuckooville

Time passes differently in Cuckooville, every sign says Slow,Don't Panic
We keep our collars up and our heads hung down , the rain plays glockenspiel on traffic

The accent's kinda hard to nail, a sandstorm blowing in your ears
Like they brush their teeth with whisky, swallowed razor blades for years

Random drive by conversations, light up the night with angry sparks
Every word a speeding bullet, that always finds the heart

We all outstayed our welcome, we all got old and slow
I don't want to stay another minute, but where else would I go

Someone burned the fancy dress shop down, made the early evening news
Napoleon drove the getaway car, the Queen of England lit the fuse

Screeching tyres and flashing blues ,just like the shows we watched when we were kids
All the cops looked like old porn stars, no one battered an eyelid

The scenery's a little shaky, but thats all part of the deal
Fresh paint splashed on paper mache and the skyline isn't real


The zig zag girls smoke cigarettes, drink coffee in dark rooms
Get by on adrenaline ,run on empty tanks and fumes
They reminisce about the past, the close calls and near misses
all the twists and turns, points of no returns, all the missing jigsaw pieces

We could have done better, we should have done better 


A Million Moons

Graffiti in the subway, Tagline still running wet
My psychic girlfriend's calling card, we broke up before we met
Staring out of sepia in old Empire camouflage
Naked on a tiger skin, in the last days of the Raj

The sky is full of lanterns and helium balloons
In orbit round the city, shining like a million moons


I used to thrive on mayhem, lunatics applauding
Sedatives and champagne keeps me dreaming through till morning


The Lighthouse Keeper's Song
A wilderness prophet, in Levis and sneakers
A bible belt ,cornfed, teenage American Jesus

win, lose or draw, the body keeps the score

Blah! Blah! Blah!, a cut price sermon on the mount
I just want to watch the TV ,but you won't shut your mouth

We watched the swans at Willow Park , sail like galleons on the pond
Waiting for the radio, to play the lighthouse keeper's song
I felt the pull of gravity, it had never been so strong
Pulled the words right out my mouth, to the lighthouse keeper's song

Shine, shine , shine, shine 

Creatures Of The Night

Hey, can I escape, the Fate that waits for me to slip
The sniper in the tall grass, the bullet with my name on it

All the creeps and bottom feeders, cast no shadows in this town
Every night is Halloween and you can't turn the volume down

We can't stand our own reflections, so please turn off the light
We all look like junkies or creatures of the night

All the pretty monsters, stop their cars, get out and stare
At the strange pink eyed albino girls, brushing moonlight through their hair

A penny for your thoughts , are you sure that you're ok

You blanked out for a moment there ,looked a million miles away

Christ I'm almost empty, just running on fumes

Aquarium Glass

Alice saw a shooting star, from the backseat of a truck

Keeping up with the Kardashians, suddenly was not enough

She strutted like a showgirl, dragging limelight in her wake

Swam with all the other clownfish, moved like a featherweight

She always wore the same expression, blank meets laughing gas

Like she was in an exhibition , staring out aquarium glass

She folded origami animals, cast strange creatures out of clay

When she slept beside you, she was all of Time and space away

The King Of Disneyland
Nod your head ,say yes to everything
Laugh politely, smile on cue
keep your eyes shut and your mouth closed
we'll take care of you

Don't ask any questions
Never look them in their eyes
Always wear your white gloves
don't touch the merchandise 

Release the doves and light the fireworks
Roll out the carpets and brass bands
All guns blazing ,all flags waving
For the king of Disneyland

Only speak in soundbites
Shout their slogans loud and clear
Remember someone's always watching
All the walls have ears

We joined hands in a circle, sang to the machines
Raised the ghosts of Super 8, Betamax ,all the might have beens
My paper boat is sinking, night's about to fall
This Island I was born on ,has never felt so small

Release the doves and light the fireworks
Roll out the carpets and brass bands
All guns blazing ,all flags waving
For the king of Disneyland

Blue Moon Monday

Hallelujah, light a candle
It's been a while but now I'm back
A vision in Versace
I look so cool in black

Baby let me lay my hands on you
Baby let me lay my hands on you

All I want is everything
I'll throw you the scraps
Some days it's jus not worth the effort 
Of even chewing through the straps

Baby let me lay my hands on you
Baby let me lay my hands on you

All the blackout drunks and junkies
Everyone you threw away
All the sideshow freaks, brass knuckle priests
Have washed up here today

I've got miracles for everyone
Sweet southern baptist smile
Disciples in my pocket
God himself on my speed dial 

All the blackout drunks and junkies
Everyone you threw away
All the sideshow freaks, brass knuckle priests
Have washed up here today

It's not the long ,dark stretch of hard road
The rainfall the blind bends
It's the tiny doubts at 3am
It's hope that kiss you in the end

This is not a Blue Moon Sunday
This is not a Blue Moon Sunday
 
Cold War Postcards

A bullet rain in Chinatown, trades punches with the cold
A thousand paper lanterns, turn the world to red and gold
All those cold postcards finally arrived
Low under the radar, words as sharp as knives

Paint everything that doesn't move
Paper over all the cracks
Hang ribbons on the streetlights
Roll the sky in bubble wrap

We watched the sunset from James Simon Park
Tourists melting in the rays
In the ebb and flow, where the lost dogs go
Ticking off the long blue days

Lets call in some favours, lets go for a ride
Crash right through the zones, dig beneath the bones
Till we reach the other side

We watched the sunset from James Simon Park
Tourists melting in the rays
In the ebb and flow, where the lost dogs go
Ticking off the long blue days


Walking Wounded
She rode into town on a pantomime horse,
fireworks exploding,giants and dwarves
Green paper dragons, dogs in costumes 
Punch and Judy purgatory, on a Sunday afternoon
        
We fell into line,  under a spell,
 
sleepwalking the borders , between Heaven and Hell

She scrawled lines in the dust ,wiped them away ,
I ain't a rebel baby , but I love my Che Guevara beret 
Caught in those twin beams ,dumb,hypnotised,
I tumbled head long, into those event horizon eyes 
        
She pressed her fingers to my lips,held a seashell to my ear,
Telepathy and chemistry ,there are no secrets here 

Christ , I  feel like Punchinello, all dressed in red and yellow,

I'm such a clever fellow ,rootatootitoo, rootatootitoo 


That's the way to do it ,push hard and crash right through it

That's the way to do it ,push hard and smash right through it

She looked so otherworldly, in those pearls and satin gown
It made me feel unworthy ,I just had to shoot her down 
Pride,ambition,arrogance ,all the adolescent fevers
I'm  sorry Sir ,we don't have the cure for those particular diseases

Did Kubrick film the moon landings? Are the Flat Earther's  deluded?

Are faith healers, true believers, or just the walking wounded 

Dead Stars
 
Delilah's dreaming on a barstool
Thirty years past her prime
October trembles at the window
A reluctant valentine 

It's hard to tell who's breathing 
Or even who's alive
The ceiling fan died screaming 
Hasn't turned since 55

We fell in love  in aisle eleven 
Between the cliches on cheap cards
I woke up in a bathtub
Missing a kidney and my heart 

The snow turns ugly beautiful, hides the bruises and the scars
There are diamonds on the pavement , I'm walking on dead stars

I've got drugs you've never heard of, cartwheeling through my veins (why so blue ?)

waves from faraway blue oceans crashing in my brain

Cold dead stars ,in my mouth and on my tongue

Cold dead stars ,beneath my fingernails ,in my lungs

Pretty Machines

The city looks beautiful tonight , a bullet hole moon fills the streets with light
We watched the traffic lights change , and the sirens flash
Listened to the rain , against  the glass 

Soft words and tangled sheets , eyes opening from a dream
Am I a real girl , or just a pretty machine
Could you  love me , could you love me

You look like you've been crying ,said its me or her
Gave me both barrels of your fluoride stare
I don't want to  talk about the past, words give it power and it pulls you back 

Fault lines and breaking points, torn apart at the seams
Am I a real girl or a pretty machine 
Could you love me ,could you love me

This is why we can't have nice things , this is why we can't have nice thing

Stone Age TV

I was stopped in my tracks ,by Cole Porter on the radio
Picked me up and dropped me back
Just in time for my favourite show
I cant shake the feeling,I've been here before,
Sitting at this table ,Waiting for you to walk right through that open door
Mix me a martini ,while the Jetsons save the galaxy 
We'll watch cowboys chasing Indians  
On black and white stone age tv
There's a light on in my mothers house ,fake snow falling through the trees 
A spotlight  artificial moon ,canned laughter  on the breeze
Did I tell you were beautiful, God ,I  hope I did
But I couldn't get my head straight then, I was such a mixed up kid
Could you pour me a strong coffee
I need to stay awake to see , cowboys chasing indians 
On black and white stone age tv

Dummy Town
All heads  turn on Bleacher street, when the black sedan rolls by
Heading out to edge of town , where jazz records go to die

What do you do when, the cool cats all stop swinging
What do you do  , when the Bat Phone just stops ringing

Hey honey hold that thought for me
Pour us both a drink
Line them up and sparkle , its later than you think

But you know that, you know that

Overnight in Dummy Town  the population turned to stone
I saw Rod Serling in a coffee shop
He said this place feels like home

What do you do when  rock bottom hits you back 
What do you do when that thin ice starts to crack

Hey honey hold that thought for me
Pour us both a drink
Line them up and sparkle , its later than you think

But you know that, you know that

Slow Moving Clouds

Burn the books ,the witches and the unbelievers 

Smash all the pretty idols, the faithless and blasphemers

Stone every dark eyed beauty that slipped from your control

Round up the new age heretics, put them all against the wall

Lock them all away forever, throw away the key

Wrap them up in chains and bury them at sea

The Dream Police want answers, so they'll kick down your door

The carpet turns to quicksand, you are sinking through the floor

We came with the rain , sang you to sleep
We called and you came ,followed like sheep

Do you ever feel confused ,not quite sure who is who
Part a movie ,that's  already half through

Earthquake, fire and flood, plagues of Egypt, raining blood

Everything Beautiful Is Far Away

A chorus line of car alarms , mad dogs and TVs

Conversations with subtitles, in Korean and Chinese

A girl with plastic ear rings has OD on the couch

Pomegranate seeds ,spill like rubies from her mouth

As she assumes room temperature, her spirit takes the floor

Light stops and bends around her shape ,as she glides out the exit door

Dust motes settle on the shell of who she was ,and could have been

Someone plays the Basement Tapes and quotes the Emperor of Ice Cream

The pavement turns to quicksand, dissolves beneath your feet

And one by one until there gone ,the lights go out on Scarlet Street

The silence here is brutal, it sucks the whole world dry

The moon and stars are falling, they're too heavy for the sky Litter and graffiti ,a trickle of decay

Everything beautiful is far away, everything beautiful is far away

Here Be Dragons

Elvis never left the building ,he just got the Vegas blues
He runs the Flaming Star Motel, with Bruce Lee and Howard Hughes
There's a convention for Flat Earthers ,every second Saturday 
Tupac waits the tables,Jimmy Hoffa's the DJ


Jesus lives on Venus in an air conditioned room, sends letter bombs in Christmas  cards  to nazi bases on the moon
A retired U Boat captain sells maps to sunken cities
Claims Hitler was his neighbour ,in Argentina in the 60s

Come round and down the rabbit hole with me
We can take our blindfolds off ,see what we can see 

Here be dragons, so don't wander off the path
Here be dragons, a blank space on the map

The CIA beam signals,to keep us all sedated 
Happy and contented , docile ,medicated
Umbrella man sells coffee at  the grassy knoll cafe
For 10 dollars you can hold the gun that really shot JFK

I don't know where the hell I am or how I wound up here

I don't know what my name is, the day ,the month, the year

I just need a minute to get my breath back ,I just need a minute to get my breath back

Ink Black Fairy Tales 

Mother burned  my story books,Peter Pan and Captain Hook
Narnia and Never land, Christopher Robin and the gang

I remember the toy box wars,Action Man  on that old rocking horse
Her sweet voice rising and her crazy eyes,her bitter poison lullabies 

Those ink black fairy tales,where the heroes died
Beautiful stories,for an ugly child

Say your prayers, drift away,before the closet monsters come out to play
Mark the page ,let's  pretend,but you don't want to read the end 

I remember as the door was closing,the shadows smiling and the wardrobe opening
The nightlight fading,the bedsheet ghost,all the things that scare me most

Those ink black fairy tales,where the evil queen 
Kills Sleeping Beauty in  recurring dreams 

You mixed your colours,to paint the weather
It's raining outside, and it will forever

Every drop sounds like her laughter ,welcome to your 'Happy Ever After 

Black Paper Skies
Oh we're slow, we"re not quite right you know
They put mercury in our milk ,when we were young
We painted lead soldiers in heroic poses
Time bombs ticking in our heads and in our lungs

We hid in plain sight in the faraway towns
Dressed like everybody else, kept our heads down 

The kings of batshit crazy were Solomon and Saul
They painted mile high swastikas on the Wailing Wall
The pills they took just magnified the madness and the doubt
Tinfoil hats and mindfulness , couldn't keep the bad thoughts out

We made our plans behind closed doors
Eisenhower ,Nixon, Valiant Thor

One day I"ll stand up ,throw my arms wide
Tear a big hole in these black paper skies
Stare into the abyss ,find the Devil or God
The White Rabbit or Alice,the Wizard of Oz

There are no pills for this, there are no pills for this

Turn off your TVs tonight , watch the black paper skies fill with light
Look whats coming through

 


Sinking Ships

In my attic ,wrapped in plastic,are all my favourite toys
Untouched,unrealistic,the genuine McCoys 
John Kennedy haircut,Cheshire Cat grin
blank eyed and perfect,sweet pink vinyl skin


In my dreams I'm fifty storey's high,the ground shakes when I laugh
Each hand, holds a hammer,and the world is made of glass
There'll be no witnesses,just myself and "Old Man Moon"
Baby you're not sorry yet ,but you will be soon

This is not the executioner's song,they play before you die
It's not the hangman's ballad or the poisoned chalice,Or the last chance lullaby 

Wake up ,wake up, it might already be too late ,
We're burning daylight honey, and you know that they won't wait 
Hey kid,hey kid ,we were born under a blighted star
Hey,pale and interesting, will only take you so far

Enter Mister Morpheus ,he's the villain of the piece
Gold dust sparkling in his hair ,diamonds flashing in his teeth

wake up, wake up, hey open those baby blues
You were always here for me and now I'm here for you
Hey kid,hey kid, we were born under a blighted star
You're the only reason, I made it out this far

This is were the war began, this is were we picked our sides
Whatever happened to that wild haired boy and the girl with absinthe eyes? 

You were always a sinking ship,you made your bed now lie in it
Thats the trouble with shooting stars ,they burn so bright but crash so hard

Build Me An Ark

Sweet,rose tinted yesterdays,Wile E Coyote dead highways 
we cheated time,when we were young
We braved the winter air,rime frost glittered in our hair 
Just to taste the snow flakes on our tongue 

Now I feel the pull of gravity,like I'm standing on the edge of the  Sargasso sea
It drags  me  down, and drags me deep,to the rolling beds were shipwrecks sleep 

Fun house mirror afternoons,a million me's in a million rooms,waiting for the telephone to ring
The feeling I've been here before,the Gideon bible in the drawer,but I've lost faith in everything

There's a statue of Jesus and his palms still bleed
'Montezuma and the Prairie Dogs' play to tumbleweeds
The paint is peeling off the walls and doors ,Jacobs Ladders crack the marble floors

The dead girls chorus line are here with me tonight
Their eyes shine hard like diamonds, sparkle in the light
Their feet fall soft as snowflakes ,their lips are cactus cruel
They glide like Chinese lanterns across the swimming pool

Ooh we won't ever get to Heaven, ooh we won't ever get to heaven

Right on Cue ,they crawl out of the woodwork,for their  curtain call
Shimmering, in  peacock feathers,beneath the mirror ball
I'm not sure ,when I look at each  face,If it's them or just me that's haunting this place

Build me an ark,build me an ark,build me an ark ,build me an ark
Numbers,32.23 your sin will find you out
One day you'll gonna look back ,and wonder what the fuss was all about

Your Lightning Will Come

The Flying Dutchman sails the frame,across a canvas sea
Beneath a William Gibson sky,the colour of TV
Does my radio trickle through the blue,wake mermaids from their sleep?
Do they cha-cha with drowned sailors,a thousand fathoms deep?

Welcome to Bathsheba, population three
A bullet riddled mannequin ,a tumbleweed and me

This is not what we signed up for ,this wasn't in the dream
The is not my happy ending,closing credits scene

Oh my favourite enemy,we both know how this ends
In another life,in another time,we might even have been friends

The sunlight burns like phosphorus, tingles on my skin
Like breathing on another world ,where the atmosphere hangs thin
Does my radio crackle through the dark,trigger spiderweb vibrations?
Do they hear them on dead channels,in the static between stations ?

Welcome to Bathsheba, population  one
I blinked under the mirror ball and everyone was  gone

This is not my top down road trip, hair blowing in the breeze
This is not the long kiss fade out, we saw in old movies

Oh my beautiful enemy  , let's shake hands and walk away
Skip this town, call off the showdown, live to fight another day
Your lightning will come,your lightning will come
If you stand tall long enough, I promise you your lightning will come

Wild Plastic Flowers

I found our faces in a photograph,staring out across the years 
God,if I could send a message back,join the dots from then to here
Hey did you just say my name,or was that only in my head
Laughter fills these empty rooms and shadows share my bed 

Hey did you forget your pretty thing,part alley cat,part slinky spring
You said my nails were painted knives, that used up all of your nine lives
 

I  sprayed in the underpass. scored our palms with broken glass
We made our plans and drew our maps ,Time split his sides and the Gods just laughed
The nightingales are quiet now, they may never sing again
Lord,feels like the first day, of a 100 years of rain

You used to say I was your kryptonite  ,half Lucretia Borgia, half Snow White
Yeah ,looking back I was the Wicked Queen,who stepped right out of your bad dream

The one thing i remember,is not the who, the what,or where
It's the wild plastic flowers,tied in your hair
Oh we were so young,oh we were so young

Before I Disappear

Ventriloquism for dummies, cave painting by numbers

Birdsong in a gas chamber, miracles and wonders

All my friends talk gibberish, their faces blur to abstract art

My head swims ,my hands shake, the panic attacks start

Can you see me over here? Before I disappear

I can't breathe, my lungs are filling up with sand

Choking on the air, drowning on dry land

I found a broken Barbie doll washed up on the beach

A dolphin lay beside her , her handbag in its teeth

Can you see us over here? Before we disappear

Look,I'm melting,dissipating

Transparent and disintegrating 

Lord, I'm crumbling, decomposing

Oxidizing and eroding 

All your faults and virtues ,what you remembered or forgot

Time will take it anyway, if you want it to or not

Can you see me over here? Before I disappear

 American Gods

Play it again Sam,play it for me,I've seen things,you people wouldn't believe
We'll always have Paris,there's no place like home,I'm the king of the world,I want to be alone

I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too,fasten your seat belts, here's looking at you

This confession has meant nothing

Nobody's perfect,you talkin to me ? Gort ,Klaatu,Barada,Nikto, Heeere's Johnny
I know it was you,you broke my heart,I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way,your tearing me apart

Come on partner,why don't you kick off your spurs
We're off to see the wizard,Lions and tigers and bears

This confession has meant nothing

I threw money from my penthouse to calm the restless mobs
We're the original,accept no substitutes ,bona fide American Gods

The prism splits the sunlight,violet,indigo, blue
Just like that album cover I used to fuck you to

Sometimes i'm the ocean,sometimes I'm the sky
Sometimes I'm the windshield,sometimes I'm the fly
Sometimes I'm the blessing ,sometimes I'm the curse
Sometimes I'm the atom,sometimes the entire universe
Sometimes i'm the pen,sometimes I'm the sword
Sometimes i can't keep still,sometimes I'm so fucking bored
Some times I'm leaving ,sometimes I arrive 
sometimes I'm immortal,sometimes I'm barely alive

Resistance Is Futile

Cigarettes and silhouettes, detours, dead ends, doubts 
All my pretty lab rats ,desperate to get out
Resistance is futile,you will do as we command 
Resistance is futile,surrender while you can

Ozymandias takes centre stage,there's nothing in those dead doll eyes
He sings 'Tomorrow belongs to me',and something in me dies
Resistance is futile,it's an old snake charmers song
Resistance is futile,and we knew it all along 

They found me out near Potter's field,running naked in the rain
Tearing pages from 'The King in Yellow',I'll never read that book again
From here I can see the line,where the ocean meets the sky
I thought I saw you walking on the waves,from the corner of my eye

Christabel and Geraldine, crashed the party with Lenore
Doubting, dreaming dreams,no mortals dared to dream before

Resistance is futile, it's all  been left too late
Resistance is futile, are you dreaming or awake

If you walk with me I'll show you,the ruins ,tattered flags
Where  coyotes pick the bones clean of every dream you had
Brick by brick I built this wall ,link by link this chain
Everytime I finish,I tear it down and start again

 Don't Open Till Doomsday

Round here the wild Cassandra grows,up through the cracks on every street
Dogs die,frothing at the mouth,they go mad in the heat
You've probably heard that  Halo beach is nice this time of year
But baby if you saw this place,you'd thank God that your not here

Sunshine trapped on  postcards, a blue,bone china sky
Ships  on the horizon,where painted seabirds fly
Before you buy that ticket,before you pack your bags
This is Jonestown wearing lipstick,Heaven's Gate dressed up in drag

Did you get a pretty parcel,tied with a shiny bow
A hand written letter, from someone that you don't know

Don't open till doomsday,baby let me sleep
Don't open till doomsday ,let me rest in peace

Catch me if you can sweet boy ,catch me if you can
You've been drowning since I met you ,sinking in quicksand

Time is just a word here,to hang the sun each dawn 
All the clocks stopped working ,on the day that I was born
Baby take a deep breath,hold it in and count to ten
Yeah I know your angry ,  this is now and that was then

Did you get a pretty parcel,tied with a bright red bow
A hand written letter, from someone that you don't know

Don't open till doomsday,lock it up and lose the key
Burn it,wrap it all in chains,Bury it at sea

My father cried at movies,he was a sentimental fool
In the empire of his living room,he was Genghis, cold and cruel

My mother walked on eggshells ,built herself a wall
Shrunk a little more each day,until she wasn't there at all

Every word an arrow,every touch a bullet hole
Each kiss a southpaw sucker punch,that left bruises on my soul

Every day a showdown,High Noon behind closed doors
Her porcelain dolls the victims, of a thousand civil wars

I still hear their voices, ghosts still haunt this tomb
Chills the blood at forty paces,sucks the light out of the room

Save The Day

The Cuckoo Choir sing rebel songs, hymns for wild dogs
We keep our doors and windows closed,worship different gods 

Those blank eyed girls look stupid ,but they rule the neighbourhood 
My god,the heart of darkness has never looked so good

Two actors in an old film,standing in the rain ,they've  spoke their lines a thousand times,and they'll do it all again
I've never seen the Devil move so fast , he's kicking sparks up from his hooves
God can't keep his face straight ,he's just staring at his shoes

Your on the wrong side of a firing squad ,back against the wall
I guess you didn't get the memo,all for one and one for all

A ring side seat at evensong , with all the demons that you fear 
I can tell you Hell is empty honey ,all the devils are right here

We came crashing out the radio ,on a wave of feedback and delay
we've come to take the night back and  maybe save the day
A Jesuit in rhinestone boots with a freak show Caberet 
Has come to paint the town red and maybe save the day

We took drugs in the parking lot,sprayed our names on all the walls
Two musketeers, just drinking beers,all  for one and one for all

You came grinning out of nowhere with God's very own screenplay
we're  going to change the ending and maybe save the day

  Wake The Dead

Earthquake, fire and flood, ten plagues of Egypt, its  raining blood
Remember Cordelia how she scared us all,when she danced her shadow stayed on the wall

She never answered when we called her name
Hung out with the dead saints on Salvation Lane
Eyes tight shut,wordlessly, talking to someone none of us could see

Ripples turn to tidal waves,lead to solid gold
Midwives set timers for devices to explode

Green eyes, behind  a widows veil,red hair streaming like a comet tail
Pale as marble,  gold halo,barely breathing in the falling snow

Is that ventriloquist's  doll ,still stealing your lines
Is he pulling your strings,are you partners in crime ?

Round up the usual suspects, drag them from their beds 
If they sing loud enough ,we can wake the dead
Ring the bells and read the riot act, leave nothing left unsaid
If we speak loud enough ,we can wake the dead

Ran with the shadows on these  empty streets,went toe to toe with those brass knuckle priests
Took a ten count in the confession box,Lord , when will all the voices stop

There's something strange about the past,how it reaches out and pulls you back 
Cordelia, humming in that old psych ward,fingernails on Miss Deville's blackboard

Is that ventriloquist's doll still starting fires
Twisting the knife,pulling the wires

Baby I'm not crying,I've got something in my eye
But for a moment there, I saw two sun's in the sky
I think it's time to go home,time to go home
 

Underworld

Elijah  and me , stumbled and slipped

Down  snakes , under ladders , joined at the hip

Shop windows light, our evening floorshow 

Cars horns applaud our sea diver tango

We'd sell our own mothers for dead presidents , our faces on a billboards ,a gold star in cement

Baby cry Havoc ,release the wild dogs

Draw a line in the sand ,against impossible odds 
Let's go out singing,let's go out defiant 
Let's go out swinging,let's go out like giants

Walk out into the lake , till you can't feel the floor

Swim till your pretty arms ache  , and you can't see the shore

It's time to surrender , hold up your hands
Wave a white flag ,make a last stand
Destiny calling,can you carry that weight
Karma and Fortune, Kismet and Fate 

Lonely Feels Like Home

In the ruins of the comic book store ,where the geeks made their last stand 
We found a goth with black capped teeth ,stars painted on his hands
I was never really good or ever really bad 
All I want is yesterday ,milk and cookies ,mum and dad

We stripped the clothes off mannequins ,then danced with them on the street 
Used our friends for target practise ,crushed their bones beneath our feet

No fatted calf  or welcome mat ,no surprise party thrown 
I've been by myself so long ,lonely feels like home            
No ticker tape parade for me , just a non stop combat zone
for all the frightened rabbits out there ,lonely feels like home

Now you put fish hooks in my Cheerios ,drain cleaner  in my cup
Turned me 360 ,turned off gravity ,I can't tell which way is up 

For My Next Trick

Top hat and tails,black,waxed moustache ,sleight of hand,pantomime laugh, my beautiful assistant 
Red carnation, white silk gloves,a pocket full of doves,
Watch them vanish in an instant 

I'll pull a rabbit from a hat, saw the whole damned world in half ,for my next trick
Pick a card ,don't let me see,there's nothing up my sleeve,for my next trick

Crystal balls and pentagrams,holding fire in my hands,
can you see me  in the back rows?
Pulling flowers from the air, i'm the man who wasn't there, getting ready for the last show
.
Could I have a volunteer, one us will disappear , for my next trick
I'm gonna read your mind,take a peek at what's inside ,for my next trick

No no no no no,it can't end like this,it's not part of the show
This wasn't in the script

Oh we're so happy here,we're all so happy here,the sun shines every day
Laudanum in every meal,why don't you come and stay 

I wish that you'd stop talking now,its just buzzing in my ears
I  never listen to you anyway  ,I haven't done for years

Battlecries and Lullabies, Hummingbird Heart 
The girl from the film with the walk on part

Fake Indian gurus,shape shifting Loup Garous 
The strongman drops the beachball
I've  lived a hundred lives ,tamed tigers,juggled  knives, but tonight I feel so  small 

For my death defying plan ,I'll catch a bullet in my hands,for my next trick
I'll dance across a bed of nails,disappear when all else fails,for my next trick
The door is open wide, I might show you what's inside,for my next trick
You'll believe a man can fly, the  hand is faster than the eye,for my next trick
I'll turn water in to wine,check your watch ,I'll turn back time for my next trick 
Look closely my dear friends,smoke and mirrors to the end,for my last trick

 Raised By Wolves 
Before we were monsters,bad dreams at bed time
Before we were  the bogeymen,who kept you in line
Before we were gothic ,fog,gaslight and Jack
Before we found out ,that we bled black

Before we were whispers,behind long,locked,closed doors
Before we were footsteps, on forgotten floors
Before we were strangers,bad company
Before you were you and I was me

Poor mummy and daddy,we screwed with their heads ,we were raised up by wolves,that's what everyone said

We ran through the summers, tumbling days
Dead ends and blind exits , rats in a maze
Welcome to the neighbourhood,it's an exclusive club
you can stay forever, just sign here in blood

Before we were copies,editions and clones

Before we were vultures,picking at the bones
Before we were mad dogs,frothing at the mouth
Before we broke down the doors and we got out

Dumb animals, nothing more,nothing less 
Roadkill in lipstick and a kiss and tell dress
Dumb animals, vacuum packed and pristine 
Cellophane wrapped and still squeaky clean
Poor mummy and daddy,we screwed with their heads
Raised up by wolves that's what everyone said

Dollhouse 

When I heard New York had fallen ,Paris,London, Rome 
I said I loved you for the first time and could I take you home
Past the public executions on the the bandstand in the park
Through the photographs and ruins, and the bonfires in the dark
We were  taking bets on sailors,coz there's nothing else to do
Arm wrestling in the backroom, comparing their tattoos

Welcome to the Dollhouse ,the last stop lost and found 
You've gate crashed the wrong party and it's too late to turn around

Last night I dreamt of Atlas ,he was waving me goodbye 
He's tired of all the rain clouds and holding up the sky
You remind me of my mother,she was beautiful and wild
She had therapy and surgery cos she was such an ugly
child
The barman mixes cocktails,  anti freeze  and gasoline 
He calls it southpaw sleeping gas,it's sweeter than morphine

Welcome to the Dollhouse ,you flipped heads instead of tails
Every smile hides a crocodile,razor wire and nails

You ask too many questions ,all you need to know 
Is the sun still rises in the west and there's a million words for snow
Nazis kiss their children, tuck them in their beds
Turn on country music, fill out forms and shave their heads
Tell me did you mean it, or just spinning me a line
Did we do it all or dream it, was it all a waste of time
 

Shake Off The Dust

Diamonds and pearls, old Vogue cover girls
Now all you need is a leopard on a lead
Cheshire cat smiles, pinpricks for eyes
But I can see the cracks,let me pull you back

You can wrap yourself in cellophane, hide behind those Polaroids 
Laugh louder than you have to,so you can't hear the noise

                                        
Pick yourself up, shake off the dust
Let's ride out till the road ends, ' Emerald City  ' or bust

Bleached white mannequin,Hiroshima thin
You're  dressed to kill, and you probably will
Fox fur costume , black  orchid perfume 
The currency of hell is Prada and Chanel

Grit your teeth,keep smiling,baby try and be strong
Keep rolling with the punches,don't stand still too long

                                      
Pick yourself up,shake off the dust
Spin the globe and write a letter,the world ain't big enough for us

You should have read the small print, before you signed on the dotted line,the devil is in the details and he wins every time
Barbara millicent Roberts was your role model right from the startI
Imitation of life ,dream home,perfect wife , till I couldn't tell you apart

 Rogues Gallery

The world will end at 3pm, one Saturday in June
In a sea of black umbrellas, on an an English afternoon
TVs call the faithful , radios still play 
Everything is just then same as it was yesterday

I burned my mother's wedding dress, nailed the doors and windows shut
Melted her St Christopher , kept the rosary beads for luck
Sunrise on the ceiling , sunset on the walls 
High five my reflection on the mirror in the hall

                                
Baby , maybe,you can save  me, send the cavalry
God i'm shrinking,fading,sinking,in the limelight sea

The riot started early at the waiting room cafe
In a hurricane of coffee cups , in a Styrofoam ballet
Let's play pass the parcel , hide and seek or peekaboo
Blindfold everybody , the we'll see who just finds who

                             
Baby,maybe you can save me, everyone smells blood
God I swear it , if you hear this , I promise i'll be good

Sing me a song ,when summers were long and the world was just you and me
Sing me a song and I might sing along, relive an old memory
When you kissed me under a kaleidoscope sky,
beneath a mirrorball moon
Frankie was singin, Benny was swingin ,and the Smith sisters shook up the room

                             
I can't see the woods for the trees ,  I can't see the wood for the trees
I changed my addiction, lost and found my religion, I'm my own worst enemy
I can't see the wood for the trees,I can't see the wood for the trees
Did I just dream it ,somehow make believe it  when the world was just you and me
I can't see the wood for the trees, I can't see the wood for the trees

Dreamland 

Sandman send me sweet dreams, Sci Fi lullabies 
Wrap your arms around me, sprinkle goldust in my eyes 
Take me back to dreamland , down the winding stairs 
Where the shimmer twins play white violins 
Run their fingers through my hair 

A word from our sponsor , attention please 
Brylcreme and razor blades, ovaltine dreams 

Goodnight everybody, God bless mum and dad 
If I die before I wake up , you were the best I ever had 

A word from our sponsor, attention please 
Paradise island, sunshine guaranteed 

                                     
Baby this is dreamland so get down on your knees 
It's going to get hotter by a million degrees 
Baby its dreamland , follow the signs 
You're ten thousand miles behind enemy lines 

                                    
Baby we sell everything that you'll ever need 
From candle wax and sleeping gas ,Sinatra CDs 
Fortune cookies, horoscopes,red velvet chains 
Kama Sutra and the bible for your pleasure and pain 
Fake plastic flowers, colour TVs
Placebos and drugs for you latest disease  
Acid rain, scratch cards, tropical fish 
An original  Warhol and a gold crucifix 

Baby this is dreamland so get down on your knees 
It's going to get hotter by a million degrees 
Baby its dreamland just follow the signs  
You're ten thousand miles behind enemy lines

here comes the candle to light you to bed
Here comes the chopper to take off your head
this is Dreamland

God Hates Astronauts
 
God hates astronauts and explosions in the sky
Yuri Gagarin, anything that flies
Rolling down the highway, hanging targets on the backs
Of everyone he passes in his golden cadillac

The Devil loves rock n roll and Egyptian cigarettes
Phil Spector and the Crystals , comic books and  the Ronettes
Hey ! There's the 3 D Cowboy , floating weightless in the sun
Waving his pearl handled pistols, shooting angels just for fun
                                    Chorus
Shake the snow globe, baby bring it back
Everything we threw away
The sun's gone out and the sky's turned black
But it's still such a beautiful day

The cold war kids are sleeping, through their coca cola dreams
All the girls look like Liz Taylor and the boys act like James Dean
All my friends look just like actors, reading lines through gritted teeth
I play the kooky Scientist , splitting atoms in my sleep
 
 
come to us, come to us, come to us, come to us
 
                                 Chorus
Hey we know that God hates astronauts, pretty machines in the sky
Bizarre world and the impossible girl, anything that flys
The Devil loves rock n roll , comic books and Texas Tea
Ryan Browne ,the 1960s, old black and white TV


When The Circus come to Town

All the lights are out on main street baby
I can't see anyone around
Is this my home or the twilight zone
Has the circus come to town
 
Someone's playing rock of ages too loud
Doors are locked and curtains drawn
A night like this might make you wish
That you'd never been born
 
And I don't recognize my family, I think they're making plans for me
I can't get off the roundabout, you should have just let me bleed out
 
The tattooed lady and the acrobat, the tightrope walker and the clown
They're taking names you'll never sleep again when the circus comes to town
Well there goes the neighbourhood, it went without a sound
Not a word was said I just hung my head when the circus came to town
 
Someone's listening to the last rites somewhere, I hope they have no regrets
When bible belters quote Helter Skelter, gentlemen it's time to place your bets
Every word in every book, every photograph you took
All the things you loved so much will one day just turn into dust

The fortune teller said the king is dead, heads or tails I'll have his crown
We'll all be looking for alibis when the circus come to town
A mermaid's floating in a goldfish bowl, she looked so sad before she drowned
A string of pearls for the clockwork girl when the circus comes to town
The tattooed lady and the acrobat, the tightrope walker and the clown
They're taking names you'll never sleep again when the circus comes to town
Well there goes the neighbourhood, they went without a sound
Not a word was said I just hung my head when the circus came to town
 
This is not a campfire song sing along, for god's sake sing along

 music and lyrics by Crows In The Cornfield
Recorded and mixed at Alien Sound Studio 

Hummingbird Heart

Bring on the dancing girls, shine a light on me
Blink and you’ll miss it all cos it’s too fast to see
We’ll forget everything, our names and our past
And we won’t make promises cos they never last
Whatever happened to that hummingbird heart of mine
All those boomerangs we threw are not coming back (never coming back)

Doors open and closing, windows and walls
I thought I saw something but it was nothing at all
So call off the search cos it’s too dark to see
But I don’t want to be found, just light a candle for me
Here comes the cavalry, one last dice to throw
All the luck that you gave me ran out a long time ago (such a long long time)

We will break you, we will break you, tear you down and remake you
Someone better, someone good, larger than life, Hollywood
Ships are sinking, all is lost, hope is clinging to the rocks
Part of me is still here, part of me is gone
Part of me has ended, part of me goes on and on

All those lines and words that you never heard
Our hearts a hummingbird
The girl from the film (here I come), with a walk on part (here I come)
Smiles at the boy (ready or not) with the hummingbird heart (this is what you wanted)
Exits stage left (this is what you got) to piano and strings (so close so near)
No-one sees them at all (now I’m here) she’s lost in the wings
I’ve been falling forever and I’m still going down
The long long lost king of a long long lost town
We will break you, we will break you
music and lyrics by Crows In The Cornfield

Recorded and mixed by Mark Wainwright at  ALien Sound Studio

 

 Dust Devils
  
Here she comes,here she comes again 
Waving a flag of truce,and her little book of Zen
She never talks,she just looks at  me
Like she was there before God or maybe the Big Bang kickstarted   history

Hey hey ! You're beautiful ,but you worry too much,why don't you shut your mouth
Why don't you let me rust,gather dust,let me just fade out

She's got mermaid hair,her skins albino white 
Like she's been pulled up from the bottom of the sea and dragged into the light
I can't move or breathe ,when she stands close to me 

Like I'm spinning in the space between the worlds, caught in her gravity
                                        
                              Chorus

One day honey we'll quit this town,leave it all behind
Shed our skin,start again,now let's find an exit sign

Tonight we'll take a ride ,down Mona Lisa drive
Past the churches on Salvation Street,past the neon strips and circus freaks 
Windows down,rolling slow, Mott The Hoople  on my radio
Tonight we'll take a ride to the end of Mona Lisa drive


Arkansas

Welcome to the ghost town,now we can start the show
For an audience of shadows with no better place to go
The girls here dance forever,at the Last,last chance saloon
While the town drunk quotes the bible,for him every days high noon

The sheriff looks so nervous, as he walks into the room
A tumbleweed blows by him,and a wolf howls at the moon
The conversation stops dead,just like in 'Shane' or 'Cat Balou'
The piano player shakes his head,he's forgotten what to do

I love you and I hate you,my hearts a civil war
And though I've never been there,I wish I was in Arkansas 
I'm lighter than a feather,my boots don't touch the floor
Some days I cast no shadow here,coz it falls in Arkansas

All that catholic guilt has lined your face ,but for three Hail Marys baby you can buy a state of grace
So keep crawling up that mountain ,I know you'll never stop
But you could climb it for a million years and never reach the top

God I love you and I hate you ,my hearts a civil war
And though I've never been there,I wish that I was in Arkansas
The hangman smiles for pictures,for small change and for favours
For all the good men and good women,and all of their God fearing neighbours 
The vultures fly in circles, before falling at my door
Coz there's no sign of life out here,only ghosts in Arkansas
Where's my last minute rescue ,coz I was kinda depending
On my ride into the sunset baby,into my Hollywood ending

Mercer Street

Give my regards to Mercer street,I wish that I was there
Your arms around me ,your fingers in my hair
We talked about the future while we played Russian roulette
If I'd waited one more minute we never would have met

Hey Johnny Reb I know its been so long
Since you were here and listened to this song

Everyone has left and gone,I hope they rest in peace 
Coz I'm tied in chains to the hurricane that blows down 
Mercer street

No one casts a shadow,when the sun sets in this town
When Gabriel blows his trumpet baby,these walls are coming down
Everyone's a suspect ,except for me and you
And if we keep our mouths shut ,they'll never have clue

Hey Johnny Reb do you think you look the same ?
Coz you got old waiting for the South to rise again

This is mercer street ,this is mercer street,mercer street

Someone said 'The king is dead' but he just fell asleep
I think he changed his name,took the Memphis train
That rolls down Mercer street

God its dark tonight,who turned out the lights ?
I'm so nervous I can't speak,so don't say a word 
Or you might disturb all the ghosts on Mercer street

Everyone has left and gone,I hope they rest in peace
Coz I'm tied in chains to the hurricane that blows down Mercer street

Take a walk with me,take a walk with me ,take a walk with me down Mercer street (repeat)
,

 HOUDINI

All aboard ,blow the whistle I'm heading south
The taste of dust and greasepaint on my mouth
I want to kiss the mermaids ,pull the puppet strings
Get my picture taken with the Siamese twins

Drumrolls and balloons,the girl jumps out the cake
While the audience prays for the safety net to break
Lions and tigers roar,chase their tails
The fat lady dances on a bed of nails

Chorus
Find me a mirror to break,a ladder to walk under
A black cat to cross my path,an unlucky number

Emily jumps from the trapeze
Madam Zola smiles ,reads tea leaves
The mechanical boy explodes in a shower of sparks
Houdini picks locks in a tank of sharks

The sharpshooters fire into the crowd
Hey that's what happens when you laugh too loud
Exit stage left,dim the lights
No ones going home tonight

Were so glad you made it,please step inside
The thrill of a lifetime just  a dollar a ride

                                        Chorus
find me a feeling to fake,cos my heart is empty
A voodoo curse or something worse,a pretty devil to tempt me


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
Kings of England