Year Of The Cat

Lord Grenville

Go and tell Lord Grenville that the tide is on the turn
It's time to haul the anchor up and leave the land astern
We'll be gone before the dawn returns
Like voices onthe wind.

Go and tell Lord Grenville that our dreams have run aground
There's nothing here to keep us in this shanty town
None of us are caring where we're bound
Like voices on the wind

And come the day you'll hear them saying
"They're throwing it all away"
Nothing more to say
Just throwing it all away

Go and fetch the captain's log and tear the pages out
We're on our way to nowhere now, can't bring the helm about
None of us are left in any doubt
We won't be back again

Send a message to the fleet, they'll search for us in vain
We won't be there among the reaches of the Spanish Main
Tell the ones we left home not to wait
We won't be back again.
(Won't be back again...)

And come the day you'll hear them saying
"They're throwing it all away"
Nothing more to say
Just throwing it all away

Our time is just a point along a line
That runs forever with no end
I never thought that we would come to find
Ourselves upon these rocks again
Oh no...

Go and tell Lord Grenville that the tide is on the turn

On The Border

The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border

On my wall the colours of the maps are running
From Africa the winds they talk of changes coming
The torches flare up in the night
The hand that sets the farms alight
Has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border

In the village where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
Still you never see the change from day to day
And no-one notices the customs slip away

Late last night the rain was knocking at my window
I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow
I thought I saw down in the street
The spirit of the century
Telling us that we're all standing on the border

In the islands where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
It's just the patterns that remain
An empty shell
But there's a strangeness in the air you feel too well

The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the borderOn the border
On the border
On the border

Midas Shadow

You got your ticket and your hotel keys
And your overnight bag at your feet
You're looking down on the tropical trees
While the Spanish maids pick up the sheets
Conquistador in search of gold
For all the jackdaw reasons
The Midas shadow that's so hard to please
And follows wherever you go

Nothing ventured, nothing gained they said
So you played for the winner takes all
And tossed the dice high up and craned your head
To see how the numbers would fall
You stole the game so easily
Your luck ran with the seasons
But still the shadow that the night won't free
Just follows wherever you go

Another day, another boarding card
As you wait for your seat on the 'plane
The movie runs but you're still working hard
And you don't touch your food or champagne
I know that when your well runs dry
You'll want to know the reason
The empty night will bring you no reply
As it follows wherever you go

Sand In Your Shoes

You always were a city kid
T hough you were country raised
And back in some forgotten time
W e shared the cold north days
But the simple life was not your style,
And you just had to escape
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands

On Remembrance Day the bands all played,
The bells pealed through the park
And you lay there by the "Do Not" signs,
And shamed them with your spark
Now winter moans in old men's bones
A s the day falls into dark
And it's goodbye to my lady of the islands

It was just like this

Behind the kisses you so soon swept away
Oh I always knew
That some day you'd
Be bound to just get pulled away

The summer sun beats on and on,
The shops swim in the heat
And you're standing by the traffic signs
W ith taxis at your feet
Oh I know that in your city skin
You're feeling more complete
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands

No I never got the letters
T hat you said you'd send me
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands

If It Doesn`t Come Naturally, Leave It

Nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And we bent our backs as slaves of the night
She lowered her guard and showed me the scars
She got from trying to fight
Saying "oh, you'd better believe it"

Well I'm up to my neck in the crumbling wreckage
Of all that I wanted from life
When I looked for respect all I got was neglect
Though I swallowed the line as a sign of the times
But dealing a jack from the back of the pack
They said-"You lose again"
"Oh", I said, "who needs it?"

Well don't get me wrong now I tried to get on
With the jokers that got in my way
And I put on a smile and I tried all the while to be straight
But they just wanted more all the time and I'm sure
That you know what I mean when I say
That I'm sick of the touch and there's only so much you can take.

Well nothing that's real is ever for free
And you just have to pay for it sometime
She said it before, she said it to me
I suppose she believed there was nothing to see
But the same old four imaginary walls
She built for living inside
I said "oh, you just can't mean it"

Well there was never a doubt that she had to get out
She was just looking around for a way
In the pit of the night there was nowhere to hide any more
She was out on a limb, she was reaching for things
That she wanted, but just couldn't say
And she had to be sure that she wouldn't get caught like before.

Well nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And she may have been wrong, and she may have been right
But I woke with the frost, and noticed she'd lost
The veil that covered her eyes
I said "oh, you can leave it"

Flying Sorcery

With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small.
No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day
Are you there?

On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there?
Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights
Are you there?

In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere,
Oh, are you there?
The sun comes up on Icarus as the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus
You can touch the morning air against your wheels
Are you there?
Do you have a thought for me that you can share?
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there?

Broadway Hotel

You told the man in the Broadway Hotel
Nothing was stranger than being yourself
And he replied, with a tear in his eye
Love was a rollaway
Just a cajole away
Mist on a summer's day
Nothing was clear
Love was a smile away
Just a defile away
I sought it every way
No-one came near

You asked the man for a room with a view
Nothing was said as he stared at his shoe
Then he replied as he gave you the key
Love was a rollaway
Just an unfold away
That's all there is to say
No-one came near

Alone in your room you hide
As the night rolls by
In the street outside
And you feel over the words he said
Till they turn to rain all around your head

You're seeking a hideaway
Where the light of day
Doesn't touch your face
And a door-sign keeps the world away
Behind the shades
Of your silent day.

You made your home in the Broadway Hotel
Room service came at the push of a bell
And the man said as he put down the tray
Love was a stealaway
Just a reveal away
I tried to find a way
Nothing was clear
Then as he turned away
You asked the man to stay
He was there all the day
No-one came near

One Stage Before

It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before
And juggled away the night for the same old crowd
These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor
As here once again they strut and they fret their hour
I see those half-familiar faces in the second row
Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes
But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know
It's like a chord that rings and never dies
For infinity

And now these figures in the wings with all their restless tunes
Are waiting around for someone to call their names
They walk the backstage corridors and prowl the dressing-rooms
And vanish to specks of light in the picture-frames
But did they move upon the stage a thousand years ago
In some play in Paris or Madrid?
And was I there among them then, in some travelling show
And is it all still locked inside my head
For infinity

And some of you are harmonies to all the notes I play
Although we may not meet still you know me well
While others talk in secret keys and transpose all I say
And nothing I do or try can get through the spell
So one more time we'll dim the lights and ring the curtain up
And play again like all the times before
But far behind the music you can almost hear the sounds
Of laughter like the waves upon the shores
Of infinity

Year Of The Cat