Read (Discography): Silver/Lead

Playing Harp For The Fishes

A mute undertaker had something to tell
I stand at the threshold, I’m ringing the bell
I was hoping for heaven, I’d settle for hell
Playing harp for the fishes, it’s hard to pretend
Playing…

Patrolling the margins, inspecting the swell
Located the body south of Land’s End
I’d long missed the boat, the tide had gone slack
Playing harp for the fishes, it’s hard to pretend
Playing…

The heat was zinc, my mood was black
I was melting, soaked, in a trackside shack
I was frying in heaven, I was diving to hell
Playing harp for the fishes, it’s hard to pretend
Playing...

Is it always so?
It’s always so...

Short Elevated Period

Skippering a skiff, in the typhoon season
Open to change, in need of a hand
No longer confused by rhyme nor reason
Indian queens paddle dugout canoes

The passenger matches the price that he’s asking
Embracing the modern he now understands
It’s a pivotal moment, in an uncertain future
A pain relief deal done on the Frankfurt Express

Right up to the moment I I.D. you
My reasons for living were under review
A parting of the ways, what had it come to?
Standing in the road, where would I go to?

In a short elevated period

Diamonds In Cups

Sinless from Venus, Mars’ father’s sun
Steals from the shadows when the day has begun
Grow with good fortune, shrug off despair
The path that is progress is under repair

The wheel of good fortune spins diamonds in cups
Be in the right place, believe in your luck

Steer by the stars when you’re lost, all at sea
Off course with no purpose, just wanting to be
Be a good witness, of all that you’ve seen
A wanting for better, the best that you’ve been

Acts of forgiveness give virtue in spades
As thoughts of transgression gradually fade
Turn over and over and over a new leaf
Don’t come back in anger – start with belief

The course of creation is often quite strange
Keep your mind open, be willing to change
For what else is there? What have you got?
The sum of your actions, the plans you forgot

It’s all more or less then, doesn’t add up
The wheel of good fortune spins diamonds in cups
Be in the right place, believe in your luck
The wheel of good fortune spins diamonds in cups

Forever & A Day

Are you in trouble? Are you in pain?
Doubts and pulse doubled? Is it hard to explain?

Oooh! Darling, I want you to stay
Oooh! Darling, forever and a day

The vile double bubble was clearly to blame
The vile double bubble, it had poisoned your brain

Oooh! Darling, I want you to stay Oooh!
Darling, forever and a day

Your values are roubled, accounts have been drained
Virtue’s been coupled, only shadows remain

Oooh! Darling, I want you to stay Oooh!
Darling, forever and a day

An Alibi

Have you got a leg to stand on?
Have you got a stick to call your own?
Have you got a peg to hang on?
Have you a hook to weight and bait?
Have you got a dread of nylon?
Are you a man made island?
Have you got a head of pylons?
Have you got the buzz to live?

Have you got an alibi?
Have you got an alibi?

Have you got a shed of ions?
Have you got a book of Byrons?
Have you got a rug to fly on?
Have you got a taste for prions?
Have you got a need for silence?
Have you got a friend to call on?
Have you got a friend to count on?
Have you got a friend to call your own?

Have you got an alibi?
Have you got an alibi?

Sonic Lens

The word is out, the faithful pack
Merging forces, renewed, attack
The plan is laid, stage left to right
Take same positions, every night

Grind and train your sonic lens
Upon complacent don’t do dens
Length of focus, the depth of field
The walls to which our ramps are wheeled

The lights go down, a roar goes up
A clochard thrusts a plastic cup
It’s all for one and one for all
The black watch pipes and drummers call

Compass, phones and GPS
Have all produced the same address
Tomorrow is another day
We place our goodness on display

Our tails are up, our heads are down
Our eyes are fixed upon the crown
We wore it once. It didn’t fit
We couldn’t make good use of it

So off we went to find a way
To live and fight another day
Tails are up, heads are down
Eyes are fixed upon the crown

This Time

Some folks believe in magic
Does voodoohoodoo do it for you?
Some folks claim they know all the answers
And for a price they’ll share them with you

This time it’s going to be better
This time I’m going to be strong
This time I refuse to get bitter!
Even though I knew you were wrong!

Some folks have the gift for living
Others make a living hell
Some folks take love as a given
And can’t stop falling under its spell

This time it’s going to be better
This time I’m going to be strong
This time I refuse to get bitter!
Even though I knew you were wrong!

Brio

A plumed display, enlarged with brio
A promised four becomes a trio

Six cranes graze, a field of clover
Three deer hug the forest fringe

Two days before, we lost your hero
Scorch the earth, return to zero

Six cranes graze, a field of clover
Three deer hug the forest fringe

Two for one and one for all
The risk is huge, rewards are small

Six cranes graze, a field of clover
Three deer hug the forest fringe

Sleep On The Wing

Hurtling through the skies of North Africa
Carving through the waves of the Strait of Hormuz
Dangling a lure out in front of you
Present the bait, unable to choose

Upward and inward, outward and forward
Sleep on the wing, fly through the night

Ration your thinking to what is good for me
Partition a sprinkling of what is good for you
Compress the essence of what is inside your view
Acknowledge the presence and fashion a frame

Upward and inward, outward and forward
Sleep on the wing, fly through the night

Fell off the page in the right hand corner
The morning after you told me Ex-Pat was dead
One of the best – a top spot runner
Half a second faster, she was pole on the grid!

Silver/Lead

Unholy wisdom, stupid hung
Emptiness compressed your lungs
Strung up for strategic leaks
Swaying strong, the taut rope creaked

Gathering clouds anoint the dead
Mass of rooster, silver/lead

Erase the past and change the sheets
Turn the screws and pawn the weak
Abandoned! Can’t afford to keep
The punch is spiked and words are cheap

Gathering clouds anoint the dead
Mass of rooster, silver/lead