LYRICS
All lyrics by Iain Campbell, unless otherwise stated.
​
Frailties of Man: Part 1
Dragonflies
​
I could see the dragonflies flitting about my head.
One of them - it sat down on my shoulder and said
"What would you like from the bar?"
I said, "I don't know. I'll have to think about it a while."
So I sat there with my head in my hands.
​
He said I, I too could fly
if I look down and see I've feathers.
"I'd open my wings and fly."
​
Looking at glass in the rain.
On which side of the pane do I stand?
Well, it's me with the latch in my hand...
I can't see when the day becomes night
but it's the obvious things that often turn on the light
and I'm alright
​
Because I, I too can fly
'cos I've looked down and seen I've feathers.
I'll open my wings and fly.
​
​
Echoes in my Ears
You took the pill and then you put your head back down.
You were alone and protected from the stares
of the finger pointing peers and the laughter that rang so loud
through your ears all these years.
​
And what they said to you,
I would never trust another soul as long as I live.
And what they did to you,
Locked up on your own.
​
I drank my fill and then I put the bottle down.
I was alone and protected from the sneers
of the finger pointing peers and the laughter that rang so loud
through my ears all these years.
​
And what they said to you,
I would never trust another soul as long as I live.
And what they did to you,
Locked up on your own.
​
​
You're so Beautiful
​
If I could bleed for you, bleed I would.
If I could bleed for you, bleed I would.
​
You're so beautiful, makes me want to cry.
You're so beautiful, I close my eyes as a sigh.
You're so beautiful, makes me want to cry.
I'd open my veins for you.
I found love, and it was in your eyes.
Laid bare honesty and without compromise.
Chest expands and pupils dilate.
"Here you're safe, my love" this gaze communicates.
You're so beautiful, makes me want to cry.
You're so beautiful, I close my eyes as a sigh.
You're so beautiful, makes me want to cry.
I'd open my veins for you.
How could I give you what you need in a guy?
Normality's a hurdle too far no matter how I try.
I cross my fingers that we cross the finishing line.
I'm losing trust in myself but I believe in you and always will.
I'll be there for you girl, yes I swear, this I promise you.
You're so beautiful.
You're so beautiful.
You're so beautiful.
You're so beautiful.
If I could bleed for you, bleed I would.
If I could bleed for you, bleed I would.
Bleed I would.
A thousand flowers in bloom.
​
​
Al Otro Lado del Rio
Written by Jorge Abner Drexler
Original available on his album "Eco"
Also available on the film soundtrack album "The Motorcycle Diaries"
Lyrics available online
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Cheese Farm
​
On the Barrowgate Road getting dressed up in overalls
to put in the late shift at The Hole in the Wall.
As I walk through the door I greet colleagues in quest.
There's a night's work before us now and I'll be doing my best.
​
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm.
There'll be no crying here on my time.
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm
and I'm putting in overtime.
​
We tie our shoes before we hit the glass
and my lonely heart rues that I never bed that lass.
No one here takes a sick day for the good of the corp
and we will keep working until we're stretched out on the floor.
​
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm.
There'll be no crying here on my time.
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm
and I'm putting in overtime.
​
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm.
There'll be no crying here on my time.
Clocking in at the Cheese Farm
and I'm putting in overtime.
Frailties of Man: Part 2
​
All This Kind of Insight
With the TV on it’s as close as we get.
We forget when we put bedclothes on.
Lying next to the one who had us put rings on
with blindfolds and fingers in our ears
silky rhetoric and diplomacy appears not so underhand.
We happily misunderstand our political peers.
All this kind of insight but I don’t envy what you see.
Heaven knows how you sleep at night. Does it come easily?
Sitting there in your high chair, do you care?
You say that it’s all work, no play.
Your ears don’t hear the words we say.
I can see the sunshine in your eyes, you’re an honest man.
Sounds of promise linger. You’ve got them wrapped round your little finger.
Isn’t going to be a long term – get expenses and your second home in while you can.
It’s just what you deserve.
Lives are in the balance, you’ve got to make the call, it doesn’t fit to stall.
If honesty is possible first be honest with yourself.
Between the politics and morality don’t put the latter on the shelf.
Whilst composers write your verve are you served by country or is it country you serve?
All this kind of insight but I don’t envy what you see.
Heaven knows how you sleep at night. Does it come easily?
Sitting there in your high chair, do you care?
You say that it’s all work, no play.
Your ears don’t hear the words we say.
A Step to Freedom
​
A push of his feet and he’s away -
Arms open wide he’s at one with the air.
Hair and clothes ruffle with exhilarating gusts.
He’s flying free without a care.
​
Eyes open wide, he gasps the first breaths,
Like those taken after being submerged for too long,
And feels what is like the post orgasmic bliss in a lover’s arms with a gentle kiss…
…A feeling forgotten for far too long.
​
Like lace; liberty lovingly licks his face.
Tears of joy leave two jet streams behind without a sound.
And closing his eyes he holds it…
…he holds it…
…before his body breaks upon the ground.
​
​
Balanced on a Wire
Skin on grass, breeze in strands.
Parked in neutral.
I saw you sleeping there.
Broken glass, blood on hands, claret spilling.
You said you didn’t want me there -
How could I let you get away with that?
I was holding her but she wasn’t moving.
Bodies close, legs entwined, with your head on my chest, lying still.
It was how I’d dreamed.
You didn’t talk like they said you would but I didn’t mind.
(I was holding her but she wasn’t moving…)
Hair wet through, face turned blue, eyes unblinking.
Now you’re mine, you’re mine, now you’re mine.
She was looking at me with wide eyes.
Medieval
Instrumental
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Solemn Road
​
Starry skies seen though dimming eyes.
Different cries all the same,
For a friend they’ve lost, and all it cost.
Now they’re down to five, say they’re not to blame.
Flash of blue and white – so end’s the game.
​
​
Typical Morning
Spending days chugging strings and beating drums.
I’m getting R.S.I. in my wrists and thumbs.
Card declinations making ah’s and um’s.
Well I’m sick of feeling tired and having bleeding gums.
I get up late – isn’t it great - and delays on trains,
so I give the boss a bell and tell him menstrual pains.
Sit on the bus and whilst I cuss the journey drains.
Looking out the window – oh, I did it again.
Oh, red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
The sky was red last night but it’s still red this morning.
At another tube station and we’re just on time,
then we’re told of signal failures and we’re sat in a line.
The tuts and exhalations echo out in the train,
then we get between two stations and we’re stuck once again.
The boss at work goes berserk when I walk in the door.
It’s a familiar scenario, we’ve done this before.
With just moment’s hesitation making quick on my feet,
and through the fellow's sheer frustration throws me out in the street.
Oh, red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
The sky was red last night but it was still red this morning.
These genes that I wear, I’m running in them everywhere.
People get mad at me, say I need gene alteration surgery.
Hey, well, damn, they’re part of the man that I am,
and I’ll make sure I live ‘til I croak, yeah, so I’ll probably always be broke.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
Red sky at night, it’s a typical morning.
The sky was red last night but it was still red this morning.
Rushing Sands
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Angels
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You've held me through rushing sands
since I was a bag of bones inside your hands.
You gave me circumstance so bed bugs didn't bite
and stopped the noises in the night.
​
You gave me more than I was bought.
Made the gloves for many battles that I've fought.
Cracked and shivering, you dabbed my broken skin
and pushed the chair that I was in.
​
I heard the angels came to Earth to tempt you both away.
They upped their offer from the start but we sent them all away.
They said if we have to get rough, well they’re not afraid to try.
I said you’re busy and you won’t be seen,
and they’ll have to wait until you to show them how to fly.
You showed me new terrain.
In festive times you fostered many friends who came.
You built statues in the hearts of everyone you met
and became two of the very few so many won’t forget.
And I must apologise
for the part I played in the lines around your eyes.
Karma called me on the mocking of one’s hair.
Now two are bald and neither care.
​
I heard the angels came to Earth to tempt you both away.
They upped their offer from the start but we sent them all away.
They said if we have to get rough with an ellipsis in the eye.
I said you’re busy and you won’t be seen,
and they’ll have to wait until you to show them how to fly.
​
I thank you
​
​
The Waves Will Always Come
J'ai tellement l'impression
D'être en France
On n'est pas sur Londres
On ne fait que semblant
J'entends presque que des francophones, des fois des Espagnols
Les gens ne sont pas si divers
Parce qu'ensemble ils se collent
The waves will always come,
shaping London
Je préfère vivre dans ce mélange qui taquine
Pour les oreilles ces changements auditifs
Sont comme pour les yeux les belles poitrines
De l'impact de toutes ces vagues
Il y a toujours les deux côtés
Même si s'en est juste une autre
Ça sert à nous rappeler
The waves will always come,
shaping London.
​
​
Sin On Me
Sin on me, sin on me is drying, drying.
It's not water anymore but it stains.
I've got luminol in my eyes, I can always see
the colour of my illest gotten gains
Sin on me, sin on me is shining
through the lines and the cracks in my skin as I age.
Oh how I wish this beast would die,
not metastasise and outgrow its chains.
No skin grafts.
Hide the brands.
Burnt by my
own fair hands.
Sin on me, on the skin on me is tightening, is tightening.
Every pore, every follicle dry.
Cellular elasticity has ceased to be
and it's visible to the naked eye.
​
Sin in me, in the jinn in me is frightening.
Personality isn't me in my core there's a change.
Through my eyes, Father exorcise
a tonic for the soul we'll rearrange.
​
No skin grafts.
Hide the brands.
Burnt by my
own fair hands.
​
​
Wild Wood
Written by Paul Weller
Original available on his album "Wild Wood"
Lyrics available online
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​
Who Are You?
You’re so secure in the clothes that you wear,
say they define you, think they’re part of your identity
‘cause baggy threads and trousers showing half of your arse
is real class and expresses masculinity.
You think you’re tough ‘cause you’ve got a shaved head?
Well so have I, so has half the gay community.
If a hooded top makes you tough are you weak in a suit?
Does a change of gear completely knock your confidence out?
Who are you?
What makes you you?
Who are you?
You’re so particular when doing your make-up and hair, yeah.
It takes you over an hour.
Does it mean that you’re less of a person and not beautiful
when it gets undone in the shower?
A guy I know flies the Union Jack cos it defines him.
He says his blood is red, white and blue,
and it makes him British.
See that sums him up,
but it also makes him Russian, Dutch and French, and American too.
Who are you?
What makes you you?
Who are you?
​
You think you’re tough ‘cause you’ve got a shaved head?
Well so have I.
Stuck on Repeat
Don’t Make Me Choose
Melt silica, lime and soda ash to make a prism
Take a beam of light and shine it through
You could put three letters at the end of your name, so it ends in ism
There are so many colours and you see only two
And then you react, presenting the fact
You'll say they're not colours fighting tooth and nail
Does it matter so much for you to be right?
Win every battle so that you “don't fail”
Don't make me choose between the two
Like this you'll lose and you don't have to
How quick you bruise, though skin's not blue
Don't make me choose between the two
There’s a family you've forgotten about or you ignore
What the hell do you start fires and fuel them for?
Keep in mind the future memories that make you smile and crease your brow
are results of the decisions that you are making now
Don't make me choose between the two
Like this you'll lose and you don't have to
How quick you bruise, though skin's not blue
Don't make me choose between the two
​
​
I Know
We could call this game a lie
This maze that we live in, you and I
Forgotten how we feel with ego taking control
Instead of walking hand in hand, side by side
I know that I love you
I mean it darling - I do
Know that I love you
You got underneath my skin, locking yourself behind my doors
You’re on the wind and in the air
You’re the moisture in my breath and in my pores
Let me, let me, let me, let me love you
I know that I love you
I mean it darling - I do
Know that I love you
Hibou
Perched inside your aviary
You’re part of me and you don’t utter shit
In search of private clarity:
The things you see, sometimes I think you play with it
(Búho…eule – búho…eule – búho…eule)
With middle men sat in between
What do they mean? Colliding messages…
Information cognitive
Through which we sieve
Spurning instinctive presages
You cough your feathers out as a dream
Riddled with riddles and abstract artistry
Can we not knuckle down as a team?
Hibou – you’re not so wise without me
Sometimes you spread your feathers wide
The space inside connects you to a conscious state
Excluded from the outer shell
you’re corps can swell and even duplicate
The stare of Hibou number two will follow you
even if you try to hide
Keep connecting bridges clean
and lucid dream to gain control on either side
You cough your feathers out as a dream
Riddled with riddles and abstract artistry
Can we not knuckle down as a team?
Hibou – you’re not so wise without me
​
Shetland Runner
Instrumental
I’m Sure It’s Worth It
Flash of light
What was sun-kissed now is black
Dusty window of the eyes
Bring the sheen back
Chewing glass
Bleeding gums and broken teeth
Clenching jaw we unsheathe
Our wrath
You call me out of the room
You call me out of the room
Dragging nails on a slate through speakers inside
Inner drum perforates though it's muted outside
You call me out of the room
You call me out of the room
Mercilessly make gasps out of sighs
Tenderly pushing nails in these eyes
Grab a bottle, pour a dram and it’s good
And another, turns this pressure to wood
Pour another, now I’m feeling alright
And another, sets the whole thing alight
The rate of the toll
Life takes on body and soul
Makes me stall
Through the rough we know smooth
Making me smile at the wonder of it all
I know the short-term, unsustainable, unrealistic nature of this
It’s not the last time I’ll ever be here​
Twisted Tree
Calm Down, Honey (ft. Sébastien Bonnaire)
French lyrics by Sébastien Bonnaire
​
A day that's lavender infused without a hint of rain
Then someone gets confused and we're in the middle of a hurricane
Ask yourself now, instead of feeling so aggrieved
Is there just one way that this could be perceived?
Calm down, Honey
Calm down, Honey
Calm down, Honey
Why do you make yourself so mad?
Calm down, Honey
Calm down, Honey
Calm down, Honey
Is it really all that bad?
Persuadé que nos âmes ont une alchimie
Mais s’étiole la magie quand tu perds ton calme
Envahit par le doute quand surviennent les flots
Je fais confiance aux mots quand démarre la joute
Tu es mon magma, en fusion, mon Vésuve, mon Etna
Ta pulsion n’élude plus les questions restent en toi
Es-tu malade ou seulement flamme?
Suis-je malade ou seulement calme?
​
Sometimes – well, quite a lot - you throw your toys out of the cot
With hands tied we can't console
You're crazy and out of control
It's like you get kicks from making jibes
Misdirecting unhappy vibes
Weathering your own storm you've moored
and arguments are your reward for keeping pain locked up inside
You know we're not the oppressor
Veux-tu poser le "Je", éviter ce jeu dangereux
Turn to us my dear – don't hide
You know we can face this together
Peux-tu oser le "Nous", ou juste doser un peu
​
Calm down, Honey
Apaise toi, repose toi
Calm down, Honey
Abrite toi dans ma voix
Calm down, Honey
Ton ami t’offre ça
Why do you make yourself so mad?
Calm down, Honey
Faisons face ensemble
Calm down, Honey
Ce n’est pas le sol qui tremble
Calm down, Honey
Tu n’es pas seul je te promets
Is it really all that bad?
Imprévisibles, insupportables
Telles des vilaines migraines, impitoyables quand elles se déchaînent
Pas ton traitement, pas ton bourreau je suis seulement un homme
Pas d’allaitement, pas de biberon, t’es plus vraiment une môme
Ce quelque chose en toi souffrant une ortie
Qui je peux comprendre/entendre mais ne veux pas vivre
Il y a cette fenêtre en moi offrant une sortie
Que nous pourrions prendre ensemble si nous étions libres
We’ve all each got a fuse
So we try to live by this
Whatever kind of method you use
Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss
So if that’s the case instead of trying to save face and go it alone
We’ll get together, whatever the weather
Near and dear are so much more than flesh and bone
Calm down, Honey
Apaise toi, repose toi
Calm down, Honey
Abrite toi dans ma voix
Calm down, Honey
Ton ami t’offre ça
Why do you make yourself so mad?
Calm down, Honey
Faisons face ensemble
Calm down, Honey
Ce n’est pas le sol qui tremble
Calm down, Honey
Tu n’es pas seul on se connaît
Is it really all that bad?
Faisons face ensemble
Calme toi, calme toi
Veux-tu poser le "Je"
​
Sirens
Was it to be by a landslide that they'd cede victory to the blue on Saint Lucy's eve?
It's clear to see from the process that we don't need info to be true
when incantations are broadcast with a British corporative hue
And it seems folk think it strange
Unconscious of the state of things you look for change
and the moral panic games composed and conducted with authoritarian populist aims
The sirens' song that calls to the sailors on the ocean is a music playing on repeat
We fall in love with stories they tell us and we sing along
You tell them that the rocks are approaching
They don’t hear and just keep position in the fleet
The ladies leave a legacy for us and it stretches long
But put no chains on me!
Synaesthetically wounded by a term that's only four years young; and already old
Wincing through the dysgeusia and taught to turn
From the truth in front of you to bombardment of folklore unabatedly sold
Whilst receiving, try to separate the story from the storyteller
to not conflate how you might be feeling
from the truth behind the statements that are made
and every influence that makes you make up your mind
The sirens' song that calls to the sailors on the ocean is a music playing on repeat
We fall in love with stories they tell us and we sing along
You tell them that the rocks are approaching
They don’t hear and just keep position in the fleet
The ladies leave a legacy for us and it stretches long
But put no chains on me!
​
Ineffective Silence
So write it down even if you can’t manage the words
See I won’t keep coming back for seconds and thirds
You’re not a mind reader so why do you expect me to be?
You say I don’t get you, so ironically
I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
You know that I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
And it’s because of how silent you are
I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
You know that I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
I’ve got no idea how you’re feeling
And you know that it’s because of how silent you are
It’s an ineffective silence (I’ll give you fists of invisible hair)
It’s an ineffective silence
It’s an ineffective silence (I’ll give you fists of invisible hair)
It’s an ineffective silence
​
When I Close My Eyes
I'm calm when snowflakes fall
and my face waits for them all
There they'll melt away
Your words find no reply
You trust me and I lie
when you ask how I am
and I blink fine
Because the living starts when I close my eyes
I'm made of moving parts and it's no surprise
that sunlight pulls me out of this trance
It's summer time and I can dance
But winter wakes me
when skin lifts so I can see
the frame of this twisted tree
All my branches bare
I'm deciduous
I'm touched by others' hands
whilst I dwell on former plans
You might tell me not to
That I should focus on the now
So I must change these lenses
Please explain this - show me how
That’s when the living starts - when I close my eyes
I'm made of moving parts and it's no surprise
that sunlight pulls me out of this trance
It's summer time and I can dance
Because the living starts when I close my eyes
I'm made of moving parts and it's no surprise
that sunlight pulls me out of this trance
It's summer time and I can dance
​
You’re Not Even Human
I wake up, as usual never alone
On my back looking up
There’s no nouveau number saved in my phone
You’re familiar, but with that being said,
you’re now different to when we went to bed
I get up, and whilst I’m making my meal
you influence or reinforce the way that I feel
Sometimes you give me goose-bumps - you’re just so goddam cool
I haven’t felt this way since I was at school
Oh girl if you had a face, but you’re not even human,
oh what a sight it would be!
My mind’s all over the place and so full of confusion
You’re the only girl who does this to me!
I go out with your pulse in my veins
Your fingers go about releasing these feelings from their chains
With grace amazing I was blind now I see
You make a Harry Houdini out of me
You're possessed by a million careers
and I'm obsessed with every voice you use to sing in my ears
You're bi-polar, yeah you raise and lower all of the tones
Ubiquitous in all of Man's emotional zones
Oh girl if you had a face, and you’re not even human,
oh what a sight it would be!
My mind’s all over the place and so full of confusion
You’re the only girl who does this to me!
​
Bang My Head on the Wall
Procreating on a vigorous scale
Say that folk are hungry, well of course they are
with too many people to feed
Teachers, cops and doctors set up to fail
Can we use some logic? Don't tell me it's culture
Really, how many kids do you need?
They don't get it at all
I bang my head on the wall
Could the way we're farming get any worse?
Intensive production needs hormones and chemicals
that you'd never, ever put in your tea
And you moan about the cost to your purse
Well then pocket the difference to fund entertainment when you're on chemotherapy
It isn't clever at all
I bang my head on the wall
I could tell you this poetically and sincerely
I could put it euphemistically and nice and clearly
But there's something that tells me you just won't hear me
'Cos you've got your fucking head up your arse!
Those who sang 'the witch is dead' 'cos it's funny
Hurt people in the name of the Easter Bunny
Every man who thinks that his priority's bees and honey
Well you've got your fucking head up your arse!
Britain's staging an American dream
Fast food and chain stores, eating authenticity
with any culture siphoned away
With so little room in business for Tao
now we can see that no limit to personal gain simply isn't sustainable
They're sterilising it all
I bang my head on the wall
The wealth of music on the British CV
has been dealt a Chernobyl with toxic legacy
by an anti-artist coward from hell
finding singers on the nation's TV
There's no pearl in this extra salty musical oyster the industry's trying to sell
There's no flavour at all
I bang my head on the wall
I could tell you this poetically and sincerely
I could put it euphemistically and nice and clearly
But there's something that tells me you just won't hear me
'Cos you've got your fucking head up your arse!
Those who sang 'the witch is dead' 'cos it's funny
Hurt people in the name of the Easter Bunny
Every man who thinks that his priority's bees and honey
Well you've got your fucking head up your arse!
Making children think that violence is cool, yeah,
and have them believing there's some kind of good in materialism
Over-sexing everything, making money out of their drool and then you're surprised
we've pregnant children in a stupid young society that hasn't got a future
whilst we kiss and cuddle capitalism
It's clear that every empire falls irrespective of the knowledge accrued
Rubbish management, corruption and greed
Selling national industry and putting fucking shit in our food!
Social creatures turned into individualists
How've we come so far from our roots?
Nature, knowledge and community exchanged (oops!)
for computer games and Gucci boots
I could tell you this poetically and sincerely
I could put it euphemistically and nice and clearly, yeah
But there's something that tells me you just won't hear me
'Cos you've got your fucking head up your arse!
Those who said 'the witch is dead' 'cos it's funny
Hurt people in the name of the Easter Bunny
Every man who thinks that his priority's bees and honey
Well you've got your fucking head up your arse!
You've got your fucking head up your arse!