"How Can You Do It Alone"


Saw a man about fifty or so
He looked lonely but his eyes were bright
He was walking up the Holland Park Road
And I stopped him to ask for a light
He practacally froze when I spoke
But eased when he saw my cigarette
Then I saw as he lit up my smoke
Beneath his coat he was naked and wet

With eyes full of shame
For he knew that I knew
He slumped to the wall with a moan
I said "I know there's no name
For what you go through
But how can you do it alone."

I crossed the street to the local newstore
Flicked through some cheap magazines
Beside me some schoolkid I saw
Push some girlie mags down into his jeans
The shop girl was watching amazed
Asked me to call for the police.
She screamed at his blushing young face
And he escaped into the streets.

With eyes full of shame [etc.]

Do it alone, how can you do it alone,
I need your help, so I can do it by myself.
Do it alone, don't have to breathe down a phone
I ain't got a clue, 'bout the things that you do
But how...can you do it alone.

How can you do it.

Back at the flat my girl sat in the shower
And wasn't too keen on me sharing
She came out well after an hour
And by that time I was past caring
Some women it seems have the knack
Of attaining that stars in their dreams
They simply relax and lay back
While people like us scratch our jeans.

With eyes full of shame
And I know it must show
I slump - and I fall and I groan
Will somebody explain
What I need to know
How can you do it alone.

How can you do it.

How can you do it without any help
How can you do it all by yourself.

"How Many Friends"



I'm feelin' so good right now
There's a handsome boy tells me how I changed his past
He buys me a brandy
But could it be he's really just after my ass?

He likes the clothes I wear
He says he likes a man who's dressed in season
But no-one else ever stares, he's being so kind
What's the reason?

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

Suddenly it's the silver screen
And a face so beautiful that I have to cry out
Everybody hears me
But I look like a fool now
With a cry and I shy out
She knows all of my friends
But it's nice to find a woman who's keen on living
Now I think I've reached the end
I wonder in the dead of night - how do I rate?

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

It's all like a dream you know
When you're still up early in the morning
And you all sit together to watch the 1 come through
But things don't look so good
When you could use a bit of warning
Then you know that no-one will ever speak the truth about you

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

When I first signed a contract
It was more than a handshake then
I know it still is
But there's a plain fact
We talk so much shit behind each other's backs
I get the willies
People know nothing about their own soft gut
So how come they can sum us up
Without suffering all the hype we've known
How come they bum us up

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

"However Much I Booze"



I see myself on T.V., I'm a faker, a paper clown
It's clear to all my friends that I habitually lie; I just bring them down
I claim proneness to exaggeration
But the truth lies in my frustration
The children of the night, they all pass me by
Have to drench myself in brandy
In sleep I'll hide
But however much I booze
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

I lose so many nights of sleep worrying about my responsibilities
Are the problems that screw me up really down to him or me
My ego will just confuse me
Some day it's going to up and use me
Dish me out another tailor-made compliment
Tell me about some destiny I can't prevent
And however much I squirm
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

Won't somebody tell me how to get out of this place?!

Then the night comes down like a cell door closing
Suddenly I realize that I'm right now, I'm on the scene
While sitting here all alone with a bottle and my head a-floating
Far away from the phone and the conscience going on at me
And on at me, and I don't care what you say
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

Now the walls are all clawed and scratched
Like by some soul insane
In the morning I humbly detach myself
I take no blame
I just can't face my failure
I'm nothing but a well fucked sailor
You at home can easily decide what's right
By glancing very briefly at the songs I write
But it don't help me that you know
This ain't no way out
Won't somebody tell me?
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

Give me the key, lock it away

There ain't
There ain't
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

"I Am The Sea"



Is it me, for a moment...
Bell boy...
Love, reign o'er me...
Can you see the real me, can you, can you?

"I Can See For Miles"



I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise
I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

If you think that I don't know about the little tricks you've played
And never see you when deliberately you put things in my way

Well, here's a poke at you
You're gonna choke on it too
You're gonna lose that smile
Beacuse all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

You took advantage of my trust in you when I was so far away
I saw you holding lots of other guys and now you've got the nerve to say

That you still want me
Well, that's as may be
But you gotta stand trial
Because all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise
I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

The Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are mine to see on clear days
You thought that I would need a crystal ball to see right through the haze

Well, here's a poke at you
You're gonna choke on it too
You're gonna lose that smile
Beacuse all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
and miles and miles and miles and miles

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles

"I Can't Explain"



Got a feeling inside (Can't explain)
It's a certain kind (Can't explain)
I feel hot and cold (Can't explain)
Yeah, down in my soul, yeah (Can't explain)

I said (Can't explain)
I'm feeling good now, yeah, but (Can't explain)

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling blue
The things you've said, well, maybe they're true
I'm gettin' funny dreams again and again
I know what it means, but

Can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I feel blue

But I can't explain (Can't explain)
Yeah, hear what I'm saying, girl (Can't explain)

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling bad
The things you've said have got me real mad
I'm gettin' funny dreams again and again
I know what it means but

Can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I feel blue

But I can't explain (Can't explain)
Forgive me one more time, now (Can't explain)

I said I can't explain, yeah
You drive me out of my mind
Yeah, I'm the worrying kind, babe
I said I can't explain

"I Can't Reach You"



I'm a million ages past you
A million years behind you too
A thousand miles up in the air
A trillion times I've seen you there

Your hair is golden, mine is grey
You walk on grass, it turns to hay
You blood is blue and mine is red
My body strains, but the nerves are dead

I can't reach you
I've strained my eyes
I can't reach you
I've split my sides
I can't reach
Tryin' to get on you
See, feel or hear from you

The distances grow greater now
You drink champagne and past me plow
You fly your plane right over my head
You're still alive and I'm nearly dead

I can't reach you
With arms outstretched
I can't reach you
I crane my neck
I can't reach
Tryin' to get on you
See, feel or hear from you

Once I caught a glimpse
Of your unguarded, untouched heart
Our fingertips touched and then
My mind tore us apart

I can't reach you
With arms outstretched
I can't reach you
I crane my neck
I can't reach
Tryin' to get on you
See, feel or hear from you

I can't reach you
With arms outstretched
I can't reach you
I crane my neck
I can't reach
Tryin' to get on you
See, feel or hear from you

"I Don't Even Know Myself"



There's nothing in the way I walk that could tell you where I'm going
There's nothing in the words I speak that can betray anything I'm knowing
Don't think about the way I dress, you can fit me on a labeled shelf
Don't pretend that you know me 'cause I don't even know myself
Ooh I don't know myself

I don't mind if you try once in a while
I don't mind if I cry once in a while
The doors aren't shut as tight as they might seem
I'm just trying to fight my way out of this dream

Don't listen to the words I say, weighing up if I'm enlightened
Don't shiver as you pass me by, 'cause mister I'm the one who's frightened
The police just came and left, they wanted me and no one else
Don't pretend that you know me 'cause I don't even know myself
I said I don't know myself

I don't mind if you try once in a while
I don't mind if I cry once in a while
The doors aren't shut as tight as they might seem
I'm just trying to fight my way out of this dream

Do you remember me, I don't remember you
Do you still love me, you know I think you do
I have been gone, and some prison warder knows my scream
I'm just trying to fight my way out of this dream

There's only five who know my real name
And my mother don't believe they know it
What she called me is the way I'm staying
And no one'll ever know it
Come on all of you big boys, come on all of you elves
Don't pretend that you know me 'cause I don't even know myself
I said I don't know myself

I don't mind if you try once in a while
And I don't mind if I cry once in a while

"I Don't Mind"



I don't mind your love
I don't mind the one you're thinkin' of
I know, I know
You gonna miss me

I don't mind your love so sound
I don't mind, it can't go cold
I know, I know
You gonna miss me

I don't mind, it's the end of my song
I don't mind, good-bye, so long
I know, said, baby I know
You gonna miss me

"I Like Nightmares"



I like nightmares
I like being witless
Watch for the newsflash
Cool eyewitness
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Gotta be a fucking fool to blame TV, don't get trapped in
If you're lucky be the same as me
I like nightmares, yes I do

There's a simple way to die they call it news
There's a simple way to fly they call it booze
There's an easy quiet escape just sleep and cruise
It's justifiable rape they say you choose

I like nightmares
I like feeling chick less
Flicking my lighter
Watching life flit west
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Can we afford to strike three, don't trust the captain
He's just a boy like me
And I like nightmares, yes I do

There's a common way to weep they say just smoke
You can cry yourself to sleep they say just toke
There's a path that never fails you can't get lost
Don't need roads, you're on rails I'll pay the cost

And I like nightmares, yes I do
We were wasted, but you're only waylaid once
What we tasted was a voucher bag and lunch
We robbed their bank and we took their gold
And our lies in the tank must've sounded old
But we pleaded
I said, "Your honour, we're not chumps
After all, we only did it once!"

We like nightmares
They test our fitness
A full can of goulash
A taint in the mid-west
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Nothing floats interest free, don't care what it's wrapped in
You could be abreast like me
And I like nightmares, yes I do
I like nightmares

"I Need You"



Knowing
Is what people tell you
That you're thinking wrong
Embrace you,
But they really mean "So long"

You talk to them
They laugh aloud
Yet they run to you
In any crowd

Please talk to me again
I need you

We're dancing
We will come and dance near you
We want to learn
Let us come and sitar with you

Distort my ears when
The music's loud
Yet you raise your hatchet
In the yellow crowd

Please talk to me again
I need you

Knowing
Is what people tell you
That you're thinking wrong
Embrace you,
But they really mean "So long"

You talk to them
They laugh aloud
Yet they run to you
In any crowd

Please talk to me again
I need you

"I'm Free"


[Tommy:]

I'M FREE- I'm free,
And freedom tastes of reality,
I'm free-I'm free,
AN' I'm waiting for you to follow me.

If I told you what it takes
to reach the highest high,
You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'
But you've been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!

I'm free-I'm free
And freedom tastes of reality
I'm free-I'm free
And I'm waiting for you to follow me.

[Chorus:]

How can we follow?
How can we follow?

"I'm One"



Every year is the same
And I feel it again,
I'm a loser - no chance to win.
Leaves start falling,
Come down is calling,
Loneliness starts sinking in.

But I'm one.
I am one.
And I can see
That this is me,
And I will be,
You'll all see
I'm the one.

Where do you get
Those blue blue jeans?
Faded patched secret so tight.
Where do you get
That walk oh so lean?
Your shoes and your shirts
All just right.
But I'm one etc.

I got a Gibson
Without a case
But I can't get that even tanned look on my face.
Ill fitting clothes
I blend in the crowd,
Fingers so clumsy
Voice too loud.

But I'm one.

"I've Been Away"



I've been away so long
Wonder where I went wrong
Spent my last years in a cell
Never ever go away again
I've been so sad and lonely
Never ever ever gonna go away again

It's a waste of time doing time
When you dind't commit a crime
It wasn't me it was my brother Bill
And I'd have to tell never gonna speak to Bill again
He's made me sad and lonely
Never ever gonna speak to brother Bill again

It was no use, they put my brother on the jury
He bribed the others 'cause he owns the local brewery
They let me out today
Brother Bill's gonna pay
No one's ever gonna speak to Bill again
Never ever gonna speak to Bill again
He'll be too cold and bony
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again

"I've Had Enough"



You were under the impression
That when you were walking forward
You'd end up further onward
But things ain't quite that simple.

You got altered information
You were told to not take chances
You missed out on new dances
Now you're losing all your dimples.

My jacket's gonna be cut and slim and checked,
Maybe a touch of seersucker, with an open neck.
I ride a G.S. scooter with my hair cut neat,
Wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet.

Love Reign O'er Me.
Love Reign O'er Me.
Love.

I've had enough of living
I've had enough of dying
I've had enough of smiling
I've had enough of crying
I've taken all the high roads
I've squandered and I've saved
I've had enough of childhood
I've had enough of graves...

Get a job and fight to keep it,
Strike out to reach a mountain.
Be so nice on the outside
But inside keep ambition

Don't cry because you hunt them
Hurt them first they'll love you
There's a millionaire above you
And you're under his suspicion.

I've had enough of dancehalls
I've had enough of pills
I've had enough of streetfights
I've seen my share of kills
I'm finished with the fashions
And acting like I'm tough
I'm bored with hate and passion
I've had enough of trying to love.

"I've Known No War"



I've known no war
And if I ever do I won't know for sure
Who'll be fighting whom
For the soldiers lonely tomb
Now opens as soon as the referee's gun starts to roar
I'll know no war

Galbraith took his pen
To break down the men
Of the German army defeated
On the nineteenth day
Of a spring day in May
Albert Speer was deleted
And as soon as the battle was over
I was born in victorious clover
And I've never been shot at or gassed
Never tortured or stabbed
And I'm sure - I'll never know war

I know I'll never know war
And if I ever do
The glimpse will be short
Fireball in the sky
No front line battle cries
Can be heard and the button is pushed
By a soul that's been bought
I'll know no war

In and out of reach loft
The medals are lost
They belong to a lone broken sailor
His provinces now
Are the bars of the town
His songs and his poems of failure
For his grandchildren can't see the glory
And his own kids are bored with the story
But for him they'd have burned behind netting
>From the brink they were grabbed
And I'm sure
I'll never know war

I've known no war
And if I ever do I won't know for sure
Who'll be fighting whom
For the soldiers lonely tomb
Now opens as soon as the referee's gun starts to roar
I'll know no war

War - I've known no war
I'll never know war
And if I ever know it
The glimpse will be short
Fireball in the sky
No front line battle cries
Can be heard as the button is pushed by a soul that's been bought
And the armies remaining will judge without people or courts
And there's no point pretending that knowing will help us abort
I'll know no war

"Imagine A Man"



Imagine a man
Not a child of any revolt
But a plain man tied up in life

Imagine the sand
Running out as he struts
Parading and fading, ignoring his wife

Imagine a road
So long looking backwards
You can't see where it really began

Imagine a load
So large and so smooth
That against it a man is an ant

Then you will see the end
You will see the end

Imagine events
That occur everyday
Like a shooting or raping or a simple act of deceit

Imagine a fence
Around you as high as prevention
Casting shadows, you can't see your feet

Imagine a girl
You long for and have
And the body of chalky perfection and truth

Imagine a past
Where you wish you had lived
Full of heroes and villians and fools

And you will see the end
You will see the end
And you will see the end
You will see the end
Oh yeah

Imagine a man
Not a child of any revolt
But a man of today feeling new

Imagine a soul
So old it it is broken
And you will know your invention is you

And you will see the end
You will see the end
You will see the end
You will see the end
Oh yeah

"In A Hand Or A Face"



Ain't it funny how they're all Cleopatra
When you gaze into their past
When you find out about their birth signs
You realize there was no need to have asked

All the history of a soul in torment
Ingrained in a hand or a face
Ain't it funny how they all fire the pistol
At the wrong end of the race

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round

There's a man going through your dust bin
Only this time he's looking for food
There's a tear in his eye, you don't know him
Oh but you know what he's going through

Ain't it funny that you can't seem to help him
Feelin' sick as he staggers away
Is it weird that you hate a stranger
Can a detail correct your dismay

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round

"In The City"



Come along
Into the city
Where the girls are pretty
And you can't go wrong

Take your time
No need to hurry
Don't have to worry
Cause it won't take long

Well you can surf in the city
You can swim in the pools
Do anything you want
Because there ain't no rules
Drive your super-stock carbur to the long highway
And you can drag.

In the city in the falling right
The kids are hip and they can dance all night
In the city all the girls are pretty and they go...

Come along
Into the city
Where the girls are pretty
And you can't go wrong

Well you can surf in the city
You can swim in the pools
Do anything you want
Because there ain't no rules
Drive your super-stock carbur to the long highway
And you can drag.

In the city in the falling right
The kids are hip and they can dance all night
In the city all the girls are pretty and they go...

In the city, into the city...

"In The Ether"



In the ether
I hang suspended
I wait for you
And I know you're near
In this high heaven
My world's upended
I feel no passion
I feel no fear

I'm dizzy with love
But you never appear
In the gloom of this room
Of this cell down here

I know this place
Isn't truly real
And that like my love
It expands and sprays
The light will find me
Will bend toward me
Yet I'm marooned
In a billion days

I'm drunk with you
And I can't explain
Who or where I am
Or how I'm in pain

Rocking and rocking me
Rhythm is shocking me
Just like a child in your fist
You are knocking me
Rocking and rocking
Autistic, caged I am
Rocking and rocking
And rocking enraged

I am drunk with you
And I can't explain
Who or where I am
Or how I'm in pain

In the ether
In the ether

In the ether
I wait for you
Hanging in this mist
That I know's unreal
There is nothing there
There's no you, no me
Even though it's crazy
I still appeal

This is heavenly hell
I appear insane
I have no idea
Who there is to blame