1. |
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NOVEMBER (Boulevard des Lices)
This will be my only photograph
Though we don’t know it here
As she smiles into the lens
The plane trees line the road
Like cathedral columns
In the cold
We watched the starlings rise
Like candle smoke into the skies
Just another little town
Another tale of lives turned upside-down
A little crack in time
The sun comes flooding down
Boulevard des Lices
I hear you say
An old man called us love birds
And you are glowing
But you dare not give yourself away
And we both smile
Just like you do
When you are young
Oh you are young
But you know the pain
Of love and leaving too
And on the back
Fading now it says
‘November’
Just ‘November, Boulevard des Lices’
Round here the wind can blow so strong
They build some house walls
Without windows
And the old men shelter in cafes
Nursing their cards like grievances
They slam down
While we sit pretending we are not in love
And I wrote your name
There in the steamed up window pane
Just another little town
Another tale of lives turned upside-down
The world is paper thin
A light comes crashing down
Boulevard des Lices
I hear you say
An old man called us love birds
And you are glowing
But you dare not give yourself away
And we both smile
Just like you do
When you are young
Oh you are young
But you know the pain
Of love and leaving too
And on the back
Fading now it says
‘November’
This was November, Boulevard des Lices
Boulevard des Lices
I remember walking in the park
Like I was watching from a window
You and me
You and me
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2. |
Your Eyes
03:08
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YOUR EYES
There are those with eyes so distant
They can even see a heaven
There are those with eyes too distant
To see the truth that lies before them
There are those with eyes that frown
From all the time spent looking down
On those with eyes that long to see
A better world for you and for me
And then there are those
Who keep their eyes closed
Already ready for the end
There are those with eyes so open
Any dream can walk right through them
There are those with eyes too open
To ever keep a secret in them
There are those with eyes that stare
At those with eyes that do not care
To gaze on gold or crowns or land
Who smile at those who do not understand
And then there are those
Who keep their eyes closed
Already ready for the end
There are those with eyes that wander
Through every heart they lay their eyes on
There are those with eyes that wander
That only live on the horizon
And there are those with lovers eyes
Who only see each others eyes
Those with eyes like you and me
Who find their love in all that they see
And then there are those
Who keep their eyes closed
Already ready for the end
And as for me
I lie awake
I write your name
Inside my dreams
And as for me
All I see
Is your eyes
Your eyes
Your eyes
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3. |
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DECEMBER (Place Lamartine)
Watching from high windows
Will be my likely end
A tin of peaches Sundays
A funeral now and then
A funeral now and then
When every cough and splutter
Will sound a trigger pull
Till the spin and click of years
Shall find the chamber full
And all the time the glitter in your eyes...
‘Don’t say goodbye’ I hear you say
‘Don’t say goodbye, don’t go, don’t leave today’
And I can see you there
Like it was yesterday
‘Don’t say goodbye’... The street lamps fade
A new day seeps across the esplanade
And as you stand forlorn
Against the breaking dawn
The slow December rain
Begins again
Watching from high windows
A time when I was young
Ask them and they’ll tell you
I could have been someone
I could have been someone
Or maybe someone better
Or just someone better cast
But folding time has creases
That hold us to our past
And all the time the glitter in your eyes...
‘Don’t say goodbye, don’t say it yet
Don’t say goodbye don’t tell me we’ll forget’
And when I look again
I see your face is wet
‘Don’t say goodbye...’ I touch your coat
You smile at some forgotten anecdote
And we both close our eyes
And tell each other lies
You say ‘it’s for the best’
And I say ‘yes’
And we don’t say goodbye
You grab my sleeve
You cry and tell me
That you have to leave
You pull away and then
You take my hand again
And then, with nothing left to say
You run away
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4. |
The Fallen
03:57
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THE FALLEN ™
Let’s ask The Fallen how they fell
Did you trip up or were you pushed?
And was your falling just as well?
Perhaps you were already bushed
Oh don’t be shushed
Come please do tell
Oh fallen comrade how you fell
It’s obvious enough of course
You must have fallen with some force
You’ve only half a face
And you’re spread about the place
Mixed with a captain and his horse
You must have fallen with some force
Let’s ask The Fallen how they fell
Was there a pavement slab askew?
And did your fall leave you unwell?
Maybe there’s someone you can sue
Or protest to?
Come please do tell
Oh fallen comrade how you fell
It’s obvious from what I see
That you fell up it seems to me
For looking all around
There’s not much of you on the ground
You’re mostly hanging from that tree
So, you fell up it seems to me
Let’s ask The Fallen how they fell
Was there a skateboard lurking there?
And when you fell did you fall well?
Did you fly like Fred Astaire
Clean through the air?
Come please do tell
Oh fallen comrade how you fell
It’s obvious as anything
You took the fall for everything
And now what luck without a snag
That you should fall into this flag
God save the Queen! God save the King!
Looks like we fell for everything
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5. |
Maartje Says Nothing
03:53
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MAARTJE SAYS NOTHING
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
Maartje says nothing
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
Maartje says nothing
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
She just smiles that way
And how the days
All seem to blur into one
Beneath the Summer sun
Lying in the shade
On the empty playing field
Pachouli oil and panda eyes
And flowers in her hair
And how how how how
How lovely she looks
How how
How lovely she looks
How how how
How lovely she looks
Now
Let me take you down
To the street where I was born
She says
And I’ll show you around
Her distant eyes look back and say
There’s much more sky
Now they’ve pulled the houses down
Everywhere you look
Summer spreads its wings
You hear someone say
She once kissed you in a dream
And you watch her now
Laugh and swear in Dutch
And when she’s through
And you ask her if it’s true
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
Maartje says nothing
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
Maartje says nothing
What does Maartje say?
Maartje says nothing
She just smiles that way
And how somedays
Leaning out too far
I stretch to see things as they are
Then I am a poet
And she shimmers like a star
She leans in faded jeans
Against somebody’s car
Sometimes she waves
Sometimes she plays
Sometimes she just pretends
She isn’t there at all
Sometimes she sits
Cross-legged on a chair
Playing Highway Star
And drawing flowers on her flares
And how how how how
How lovely she looks
How how
How lovely she looks
How how how
How lovely she looks
Now
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6. |
Closer Than Before
04:01
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CLOSER THAN BEFORE
I watch us now as we grow older
Slowly drifting to the shore
And with every line
Every grey hair that we find
I hold you closer than before
We grow older and
We grow younger
Sometimes I look at you
And wonder how
How I’d live without you now
So look around you
And count your blessings
If you have love
You’re so much luckier than some
Just leave your lottery undone
You’ve already won
How quickly still we hail the bugle
That leads us scurrying to war
But how in the stares
Of our heroes or theirs
I hold you closer than before
We grow older and
We grow younger
See how like children still
We blunder on
Where our forefathers have gone
So look around you
And count your blessings
If you have peace
You’re so much luckier than some
Why hide your money in the sun?
You’ve already won
And when the train tannoy announces
Those we are blind to or ignore
Who through the cracks
Have fallen on the tracks
I hold you closer than before
We grow older and
We grow younger
How much like us to fail
To understand
The fragility of man
So look around you
And count your blessings
If you have hope
You’re so much luckier than some
Don’t race the Jones’s where they run
You’ve already won
You’ve already won
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7. |
Already April
04:02
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ALREADY APRIL
Already April
And are the flowers
Yet in bloom
And are lovers giddy yet
With their perfume
And do the days
Pretend they’re June?
Already April
And how the years all slip away
Seems like only yesterday
I was still young
The taste of blondes
Fresh on my tongue
And you were late
And I thought you wouldn’t come
Of course I knew you’d walk away
Before the wheat was grown
Before the Summer came and went
In waves of storm and stone
And you would tell me love was just
A tale of skin and bone
But cut my tongue and watch me die
For other women I have known
Already April
And do the birds
Sing out again
Do blossom branches sway
Do children play
In puddles left
Out in the rain?
Already April
Another time, another day
Another life a world away
I was still young
The thrill of love
Danced on my tongue
And you appeared
Blinking into the sun
Of course I knew you’d walk away
Before the wheat was grown
Before the Summer came and went
In waves of storm and stone
And you would tell me love was just
A tale of skin and bone
But cut my tongue and watch me die
For other women I have known
I still find you in my grey hairs
I still see you in my scars
I hear you in the silence
Of early morning bars
I hail you from the pulpits
Of the gutters to the stars
A dream too far
And here we are
Already April
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8. |
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WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR?
The Grand Old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up the hill
And he marched them down again
And did the thought of war
Give you a thrill inside?
Did you wrap it in a flag
And call it national pride?
Stand in line
In the name of remembrance
Millions died
Let’s have a two minute silence
Look out boys here we go again
Standing like statues for Number Ten
Then later on at the Bull and Boar
You can tell us Daddy what you did in the war
And see how gracefully
The crosses bloom
In the light November rain
Across the land
In every town
We will remember them
When we go one-nil down
So come on, tell us all some more
‘Bout what you did in the war
Did you throw your loving arms
All around the world?
Did you buy their sweatshop clothes
And their underage girls?
Did you lie did you cheat
Did you bully them?
Take what you could
On the cheap and then
When the earthquake hit
Sign the book of condolence?
Thousands died
Let’s have a three minute silence
Look out boys here we go again
Standing like statues on News at Ten
Then later on at the Bull and Boar
You can tell us Daddy what you did in the war
And while the rivers rise
And buildings fall
You can shed a tear for Waterloo
This is the price
Of victory
Another never-ending
Anniversary
But hey, tell us all some more
‘Bout what you did in the war
Did you watch the 1%
Get their profits up?
Did you take yourself a selfie
As the food banks were set up?
Did you see a nation built
On fear and greed
On what I want
Not what I need?
Did you blame the banks
Or attack the migrants?
Johnny broke his arm
Let’s have a five minute silence
Look out boys here we go again
Standing like statues since I don’t know when
Then every night at the Bull and Boar
You can tell us Daddy how you won the war
While on TV we watch
The royal coach arrive
Oh! And Her Majesty is wearing peach
Such is the tide
Of injustice
But hey kids don’t look at that
Come and look at this
We’ve got soldiers
We've got medals
Guns and more
Just like we did in the war
Like we did in the war
Like we did in the war
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9. |
School
05:09
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SCHOOL
School they said would set me up for life
But that only taught me how to die
Church they said would be my path to truth
But that only taught me how to lie
They read me out a book of rules
But that only taught me who to fight
And the more they told me I was wrong
The more they taught me I was right
They pushed me back with adult words
Though I gave them not a single yard
For I was young and hard to hold
And they were old and held too hard
But though I fought those teachers then
I cannot give them all the blame
For I could tell them not my path
For I knew its way but not its name
But life came easy in those years
As easy as the daylight came
To shed some light upon my fears
And shed some tears just the same
But broken hearts and broken bones
Are subject each to nature’s laws
Thou shalt not win with pretty girls
Thou shalt not run down corridors
And how in break-time everyday
My tender heart swung to and fro
Between my simple dreams of love
And smiles that smiled and said no
But lives and loves all pass away
Just time enough to say hello
Just time enough to hold your hand
And look, it’s already time to go
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10. |
Angelina Supercop
06:07
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ANGELINA SUPERCOP
I never think of you
Walking on slumber’s cusp
Snapshots of ancient hills
Watching the wading birds
I never think of you
Cold on the morning sand
You taste of lemonade
I never think of you
Sinews and ferris wheels
Bra straps through Summer shirts
Menthol and Belmondo
I never think of you
Sunglasses in the wind
The birds are seldom still
I never think of you
Sometimes on afternoons
Details I don’t recall
Reggiani on the wall
I never think of you
The way I think of you
When I think of you
And me
I never think about you now
I hide away but still somehow
When I forget you
That’s when you find me
A distant scent a jukebox song
I try to run but still you find me
You still find me
Angelina Supercop
I never think of you
Echoes in empty rooms
Mem’ries like undercoats
Through stained and flaking paint
I never think of you
Your eyes like espresso
Glistening in the dawn
I never think of you
Sometimes out in the rain
The thunder broke so loud
I thought I’d lost you in the crowd
I never think of you
The way I think of you
When I think of you
And me... andiamo
I never think about you now
I hide away but still somehow
When I forget you
That’s when you find me
A distant scent a jukebox song
I try to run but still you find me
You still find me
Angelina Supercop
You still find me
You still find me
Angelina Supercop
You still find me
Angelina Supercop
You still find me
You still find me
You still find me
You still find me
You still find me
Angelina Supercop
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