It Happened One Night

We can wear the social fabric
Put on the make-up of society
We can champion the underdog
Be proud that we’re not another cog
In the Blue Machinery
In the Blue Machinery
We all wanna do those things
But what’s the point in a headful of something
What’s the point in a headful of something
What’s the point in a headful of something
If you’ve got a heartful of nothing
If you’ve got a heartful of nothing

You got a brain just like a steam shovel
And I’m tar upon the road
You’ve got a body like a shotgun
That I’m trying to unload
If you are yin and yang then Baby
I must be ego and id
I’m the Man from La Mancha, whoever he is
And you’re a bold El Cid
Well come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
Come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
You got a beret like Che Guevara
But your dress makes me see stripes and stars
Oh come on Baby I wanna know
Who you are
Who you really are

You got imagination like a lift
I’m stuck between the floors
Your soul looks like a doorman
I’m revolving in his doors
I try to read you like a book
You laugh between the lines
You got a sense of humor like a motorway
Clearly I’m not an exit sign
Well come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
Come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
Well you tell us that you’re going far
How come your stocks are still where they are
Oh come on Baby I wanna know
Who you are
Who you really are

You’ve got a future like a family photo
And I’m just out of shot
Well when your car is freezing over
My collar’s getting hot
You’re fighting wars in your inside
And I’m a pacifist
Yeah, but if you were my country Baby
You know that I’d enlist
Oh come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
Come on Baby I wanna know who you really are
Well I guess I’m in the gutter gazing at stars
Baby don’t tread me down too far
Guess I’m in the gutter gazing at stars
Baby don’t tread me down too far
Guess I’m in the gutter gazing at stars
Baby don’t tread me down too far
Oh come on Baby I wanna know
Who you are
Who you really are

Mother, last night I shot a famous man
His music, his life, I was his greatest fan
Mother, I’m sorry for all the things that I did
I’ve been hiding it all of my life, should've kept it still hid
Should’ve kept it still hid

Mother, last night I shot a famous man
Ain’t it funny the things a man does cos he knows that he can
When I raise my voice, it’s a small feeble sound in the wind
To make yourself heard in this big bad world, you must know where to begin
You must know where to begin

Mother, last night I shot a famous man
But today I can’t say it all went according to plan
He just looked at me, he stared me straight in the eyes
Now I know how he felt every day til he died
Every day til he died

Mother, well now people listen to me
I’m the King of America, some say that I’m the King of Comedy
Mother, now that I know what it means to be heard
I wish I put down my gun, like he put down his guitar
And I wish that I’d swallowed my words
Wished I’d swallowed my words

Mother, I knew him, but he never knew me

You know those feelings I’m talking about
You’re walking down the road
A car indicates right and then turns left
You didn’t get the code
It’s a world of signs we’re living in
A mirror and that’s a fact
If you don’t reflect what they provide
They’re likely to react

Was another wind-swept Wednesday
In the schoolyard of the heart
Your knuckles got wrapped for this before
You had to learn your part
I’m at your window looking in
Seems my valentine has died
We came out in 1983
Now you’ve gone back inside
You’ve gone back inside

A snapshot of a wicked world
It’s flowing down the sink
But there is no point in watching it go
No time to sit and think
The world’s revolving faster
But the train’s still going slow
So much cackle, no more laughter
Don’t trust anyone you don’t know

Your mother’s irresponsible
Your father’s on the booze
It just happened to turn out that way
They could not really choose
Now you’ve got big alternatives
But it’s only one or naught
Don’t try to look between those places
If you do then don’t get caught
Don’t get caught cos that could ruin your career

You’re looking for a part-time job
You’re picking up the perks
And all you do is lick the floor
And jerk off all the jerks
I don’t know if you’ve noticed
I’m tired of being understood
But at least these words rhyme with the world
In a sense you knew they would

Sometimes I am a politician
Other times I’m just a king
But I always do the things I want
Like let my payphone ring
Of course I have no money
Naturally, I have no friends
Of course I have no power
But the license to pretend that I’ve got a career
I can pretend that I’ve got a career

You reached the door they told you to
They just said 'Well what took you so long?’
Well maybe in that corridor
All the exits were marked wrong
You took the route they told you to
You walked down straight white lines
You kept on looking straight ahead
I’m sure it’ll work out fine
Now you’ve got what you want and you’ve got your career

July 13th 1985 was the day we watched Live Aid
The Global Jukebox came alive
We fed the world that day
We fed the world that day

It was a day for a party we made a lot of food and we ate it sure as hell
Vegetarian salads, they had no meat, there was leftovers as well
Everybody laughed when I said
Thinking of the people either dying or dead
Let’s pick up the leftovers, send them to the starving children in Ethiopia
My mother used to say that

Sure I was pleased to give money, cause it was not a political cause
I just remember the smiling faces, the music and the applause
I spent 30 quid on coke
I smoked a little too much dope
I was wiped out from 5 til 7, I missed Spandau Ballet and U2

July 13th 1985 was the day we watched Live Aid
The Global Jukebox came alive
We fed the world that day
We fed the world that day

The music was fucking brilliant and that Madonna she sure can move
By the time Paul McCartney’s microphone had failed yeah, we are all well into the Live Aid groove
Paul McCartney, he sang...
Which must have been a bit of an irony
Cos if you ’Let it Be’ nothing will ever improve
But it was one of the first times I ever heard one of the real Beatles sing a real Beatles’ song live on television, I really wished Julian Lennon had turned up instead of his recently dead father, I was really moved

July 13th 1985 was the day we watched Live Aid
The Global Jukebox came alive
We fed the world that day
We fed the world that day

Well the powerful voice of pop music, solve the problems, feed the world
So what if there weren’t any blacks involved there was Everything but the Girl
Bob Geldof has no ego that man should get the Nobel Prize
By the time he sang the solo on Feed the World
I thought he should be canonized

I felt guilty about the starving but I felt good to be alive
And I must admit I shed a tear or two in the very moving video for that great Cars song Drive
Saint Bob made me feel like shit
So I got out an envelope, opened it
Put in a very crisp ten pound note
It was the same one I used earlier to snort my coke
And that made me feel good inside
Sending the money, not snorting the coke

July 13th 1985 was the day we watched Live Aid
The Global Jukebox came alive
We fed the world that day
We fed the world that day

He got shafted in Bradford for his out of date routines up there
And the trouble he ran into Brighton was more than his share
He’s been running for thirty years, he would have settled down
But each town he appears in puts a red nose on the clown

You can buy the old showbills and frame them, they’re nearly antiques
You can trip up on his big clown shoes as you’re starting to speak
He squirts the flower, hurts your hand, it’ll always catch you
And his tears are etched so deep that they might just be tattooed

The one man circus is coming to town
Put the banners up, take your trousers down
Paint on a smile, wipe off the frown
Heaven knows he won’t hurt us
The loose, the lovely and the lonely
One night only

He said ’I played Chaplin for Hitler in March 44
Been a black and white minstrel before that whole thing was outlawed
And I’ve dragged it on every pier in every seaside town
But there aren’t any dances today, the pavilions have all been pulled down

I came over straight after the war and they hijacked my name
I waited for so many years but my wife never came
I’ve been learning these lines every day since 1945
And I’ll recite them everyday I wished I was alive’

The one man circus is coming to town
Get the dogs out, tear the posters down
Paint go home on the walls til he is elsewhere bound
Don’t you know he could hurt us
The loose, the lovely and the lonely
One night only

He’s tripping over backwards, taking off his clothes
And no-one helps him, everyone knows
We laugh at the misfortune of others

Every time the glass empties, the lions they all get set free
On a town full of unsuspecting tourists who scream when they’re happy
And the scarecrow’s on probation just for making faces in a mirror
The past put a hand on his shoulder and drowned him in tears

Now he ushers and watched the movies where children don’t age
And the dancing horse stole all the keys and took charge of the stage
And the freaks are on the razzmatazz, they’re all fuelled on coke and gin
And the cast-out’s on the street and we’ve already let him in

The one man circus

I took a deep breath and I just stood there staring
It could have been stupid but I was past caring
It all seemed to depend on one little kiss
Oh but who would have thought it would turn out like this
And if I had I’d still have taken the risk
Please pick me up, cos I’m falling apart
That’s why I try
Hard not to start
These affairs of the heart
These affairs of the heart

Out in the big world, it was coming on morning
The newsreader on breakfast TV was still yawning
An H-bomb in Taiwan, a sex-bomb in Spain
If you spill that red wine, white will get out the stain
Forget the mess, baby, when will I see you again
Please pick me up while I’m playing this part
That’s why I try
Hard not to start
These affairs of the heart
These affairs of the heart

This movie is paper, it’s 2-D, it’s see-through
I know what happens cos I saw the preview
This mental fandango could drive me insane
Just me, these six steel strings and you off in Spain
Plainly the rain mainly falls down my drain
Please pick me up and then pull me apart
That’s why I try
Hard not to start
These affairs of the heart
These affairs of the heart

I’ve read that it’s official
That our love has solidified in ritual
And all our sweet nothings melted into vitriol
We eat it up, we chew it round, we spit it out
But I doubt that we’ve got a lot to shout about
The time has come, the bell has rung and now it’s seconds out
I’m just a man but I try to be a human
I’m just a man but I try to be a human
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
All this silence, it will only lead to violence
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
Watch out

I’ve seen the big oaks falling
And I’ve heard the dying voice of England calling
No vote is worth a damn, we’re stuck here in our heartland stalling
Her nerve is twice as cold as the icebox in my fridge
I’d write you letters but she took away my privilege
I’ll be there at the auction just to see how high she’ll bid
I’m just a man but I try to be human
I’m just a man but I try to be human
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
All this silence, well it might only lead to violence
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
Watch out

They clipped my ticket but they took away the cinema
Well now they just show films with things the way they think they are
Some things may be black and white but not when there’s a color bar
You tell me not to throw it’s only someone’s policy
I think you oughta know I’m sick of ideology yeah
I’m gonna hide right now, will you clear up this mess for me?
I’m just a man but I try to be human
I’m just a man but I try to be human
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
All this silence, well it could only lead to violence
Now the inmates are in charge of the asylum
Watch out
They’re taking my humanity and they’re trying to squeeze it out of me
They’re taking my humanity and they’re trying to squeeze it out of me
I’m just a man but I try to be a humane man

At night, he sits alone and he’s looking at the stars
He listens to them playing guitars
Him and Phil go back a long long way
They talked about marching and dying all in one day
They played songs together, they sit up past the dawn
I wonder why this dream goes on
You know Bob was there last week as well
He’s a quiet guy but he’s got stories to tell
Our hero sits and listens without asking why
And teaches Bob A minor with a glint in his eye
Bob used it on Hollis Brown, but that was some time ago
When is this dream gonna stop?
Heaven knows
Then our hero picks up his guitar
To play them the only tune he knows
He played it to me once
He said ’Wes, it’s short, but this is how it goes…’
And then he sings ’This is the only thing that really matters
Keeps me going, retains my sanity
The nights I spend alone when there’s just
Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and me Stevie died and David died
But only to the papers that live outside
Last Thursday they were in the room where he sits
The three of them making jokes about the meager obits
Steve and David smiled and they left quite soon
He wonders about that dream as he looks at the stars and the moon
Sometimes he has a party for him and the crew
They turn up on time just cos they always do
And Phil plays I Ain’t Marching, it’s his favorite song
And Bob plays harmonica but he plays it all wrong
And Steve harmonizes like he did with John Prine
David just sits and looks blue all the time
Then the time comes round again
They all sit and listen to our hero playing
He says ’You’ve heard it all before’
But they like it so they shout ’encore’
And then he sings, it’s a dream come true
’This is the only thing that really matters
Keeps me going, retains my sanity
The nights I spend alone when there’s just
Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and me
And me Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and me

Her glasses fell on the grass
They were reflected in the lens
Though short-sighted she knew
That they could never be friends
And as he pulled her down
She threw off his new suede shoes
He didn’t carry protection and
She’d just blown a fuse

She laughed but it wasn’t at him
She called him a crazy fool
Well she’d broken all of her promise
And he’d broken her golden rule
They kissed but their eyes were closed
And she said ain’t love blind
Well she put his scarf round her eyes
But the attachment was just a bind

The tunnel was out of love
The waltzer made no sound
The ghost train was on fire, on fire
And the merry go went round and round
The roller coasted on
As they went up and down
It was the night that he took her to the fairground
It was the night that he took her to the fairground

She ran away so fast
Like water down a drain
Well they met and they tried to pretend that
They were strangers on a train
Well she poisoned him with words
Well he tried to spit them out
Well he thought it was all absurd
You know that he had got no doubt

You know she was bending him out of shape
Well just like plastic warps
He was an actor in her play but he was
Just beginning to corpse
They molded together well
Her hand fit into his glove
And they were making up this story while
While they were making love

Yeah the tunnel was out of love
The waltzer made no sound
The ghost train was on fire, on fire
And the merry go went round and round
The roller coasted on
And they went up and down
It was the night that he took her to the fairground
It was the night that he took her to the fairground

Well he shouts and wakes the whole street up
He says ’I’ve never believed in you anyway’
He says ’Now what the hell do you want to lecture me for
To keep the approaching years at bay?’
And as the curtains opposite open slight
They see a front door slam
And God the Father to His chosen Son
Shouts ’Be saved or You’ll be damned’
And the years go past
Nothing changes ’cept the date
This time, it’s just the same as the last
It’s always just too late
He smashed the car again last night
And he can’t bang out the dent
He was trying to pull down the biggest monument

Wallpaper medals decorate the soldiers
But the memories have peeled away
Well people fight, they come and go like politicians
So proud to have nothing to say
Well there were moving pictures on the news at ten
Why they rioted, it’s a mystery
Well let’s play tin soldiers at Goose Green
I never said we learned from history
And the years go past
Nothing changes ’cept the date
This time, it’s just the same as the last
It’s always just too late
Splashed across breakfast on this morning’s papers
One of the soldiers was bent
He was trying to pull down the biggest monument

Eyes light in the twilight twilight
Dusk of a late-night bar, late-night bar
Well they both believe in love at first sight
Provided you can’t see the scars
And mummy did it and his daddy too
Otherwise how could they be here
Will you have me in sickness and in health
Til death do us part and we’ll get divorced next year
And the years go past
Nothing changes ’cept the date
This time, it’s just the same as the last
It’s always just too late
He got smashed again last night
His hard-earned money came and went
He just tried to pull down the biggest monument

Yesterday in tomorrow’s world
They invented the wheel again
Someone died in Hollywood
And then he was proclaimed King of the Insane
And tomorrow it’s in the papers
The next day it’s on the news
And it all happened just like this before
You know I’m starting to get confused
Yeah and the years go past
Nothing changes ’cept the date
This time, it’s just the same as the last
It’s always just too late
We get born with history on our shoulders
We still can’t afford the rent
When you try to pull down the biggest monument

When it’s time to pack your bags
When everything appears as the drag that it is
Get down that brown case that your grandma had
Open it up and think of your dad
When you’re feeling empty
And the echoes round this cold white room have no identity
When it’s time to pack your bags
Save a little room for me

When it’s time to buy a home
When you’re sick of using a different phone everyday
Settle up your debts and then settle down
Take that suitcase back to the lost and found
When you’re feeling lonely
I guarantee the neighbourhood community will rally round you
Wait and see
When it’s time to buy a home
Save a little room for me

When it’s time to lie down
When you’re sick of the sound and the sight hurts your eyes
Wrap up warm in a single bed
Tie up the loose strings that are in your head
When you’re feeling empty
Dreams will fill you up in the Big Sleep City
When it’s time for you lie down
Save a little room for me
Save a little room for me

Well they’re taking minutes to do what takes me hours
At the lover’s society
Well they’re sending out tenders for new ivory towers
At the lover’s society
And the chairman’s so together
Drinks coffee from a lover’s cup
It’s always lover’s weather
If Bitterness would just button up
He doesn’t need sugar, we all know why
When he’s planning a broken heart bring and buy

I wanna belong and I wanna be part of the lover’s society
I wanna belong and I wanna be part of the lover’s society
They shouldn’t mess with me, no
They shouldn’t mess with me

They talk about things that do not make my agenda
At the lover’s society
The committee are emotional big spenders
At the lover’s society
They’ve always got a quorum
They love to love to always agree
That this is the lover’s famous forum
And they’ve excluded cynical me
They say it’s paranoia, and I’ve got the patent
But I think it’s paranormal that they’re so blatant

I wanna belong and I wanna be part of the lover’s society
I wanna belong and I wanna be part of the lover’s society
They shouldn’t mess with me no
They shouldn’t mess with me

Casanova and Don Juan talk cold turkey in the corner
At the lover’s society
Sylvia Plath and Mrs. Browning they just go for a sauna
At the lover’s society
I’m standing at the lover’s keyhole
With half a bottle of Becks
Cos it sure felt cold and lonely
Sucking my thumb in the annex
You should see the archives on the shelf
Proves every lover just loves him or herself

I’m vaguely bitter cos they’ve written to me
Out of the text of the lover’s Society
I wanna belong and I wanna be part of the lover’s society
They shouldn’t mess with me no
They shouldn’t mess with me
They shouldn’t mess with me no

It’s a 24 hour operation with a skeleton staff
The profits almost double when they cut the work force in half
The boss votes the way the money goes, and the flags fly at half-mast
He believes in the lie that is free enterprise and it just makes me laugh
And it makes me nervous
Careers service
It makes me nervous

You can’t walk down the street now the corner-shop’s been closed
Who needs nostalgia when it belts you in the nose
Big men put me out of business, made me sell budget garden hose
Left you drunk on overpriced scotch, wearing a plastic rose
And it makes me nervous
Careers service
It makes me nervous
The boys in the queue
The girls in the queue
The men and the women all shouting at you
Whatever happened to career's information
Whatever happened to the pride of this nation
No-one's giving us good vibrations
Excitations
You’ve got your best suit on for the interview
Meeting people you shouldn't have to meet, doing things you don’t want to do
Behind the desk, it’s all sex on a casting couch, surely will bite you
You don’t even get the understudy amidst all this hullabaloo
And it makes me nervous
Careers service
Well it’s so worthless
Careers service
Well it’s so worthless

I was standing on a corner kicking my heels
Had my coat buttoned up beneath my chin
And I saw in some girl’s eyes, she thought I was making deals
There was just me and the clock struck out
I was looking for something to scream and shout about
So I took a train and I went back home
There was no one to tell so I didn’t telephone
That place is just another big unknown to me
That place is just another big unknown to me

The sea made angry faces, the waves were getting high
Saw them kicking down onto the front
And the cars dodged the water that was flooding on by
And I just stood there, an orphan fool
I saw kids smoking chain on their way back from school
A tramp got reckless in the center of town
He was talking about Jesus as the sun went down
A lifetime of sorrows, he was ready to drown
A lifetime of sorrows, I think he was going to drown

Well I hit this bar where I used to hang out
Talked to the guy behind the bar, then dropped a few names
He didn’t know what I was talking about
So I put my money down and I shot some pool
Beat two punks, I was feeling cool
A couple of girls started to flirt
And I felt really old as they tugged my shirt
And I walked outside as they hurled some dirt at me
I walked outside as they hurled dirt at me

Went to visit Helen by St. Helen’s Park
That place used to frighten me now all I can see
Was a couple of wide-boy sharks flashing their teeth in the small-town dark
Huddled myself in the cold
That old red brick house I can find it blindfolded
I loved her when I was sixteen
She was an old town new brown beauty queen
Now I just spend my time filling the gaps in between her and me
Well I just spend my time filling the gaps that have grown in between her and me

Midnight in the subway, we’d huddle up and laugh
When we missed the last bus home, we’d just sit there all night
And we’d play guitars until the night-time passed
I went there to count some sheep
With the smell of glue, I couldn’t sleep
Made my excuses to no-one, left town
To leave it in the city at the lost and found
Where the steps my father walked don’t echo on down
And my mother’s voice calling doesn’t make no sound
And there’s no yesterdays to tie you down
And as I hit the city, I remember this sound
Waves on the shore going pound pound pound
The streets in the city still swirling around
And my mother’s voice calling me, calling me, calling me back

I was standing on a corner kicking my heels
Had my coat buttoned up beneath my chin
I saw in some girl’s eyes, she thought that I was making deals

Well your voice grips me tight like fingers
Takes hold of whatever’s inside
Though we try to harmonize with different singers
When we’re out of tune at least we’ll know we’ve tried
Baby, it’s a hopeless feeling
Leaves Mr. Logic reeling
I love you, I know
But what does that mean
When the only place forward is where we’ve just been
It’s time to think twice
It’s time to decide
Turn and keep walking or be my bride
Or be my bride
Or be my bride

Well Roy Orbison, he knows that I can’t forget you
Well he told me last night at forty-five
Hope this honesty doesn’t honestly upset you
He said 'to lie is death to love’, I know we’re still alive
Baby when the morning’s breaking
So many actresses have already started faking
I love you I know
But it’s not such a big deal
I’m gonna tape you this song on my reel to reel to reel
It’s time to think twice
Make up your mind
Take me to the altar or leave me behind
Or leave me behind
Or leave me behind

Well my memories, they lie to me just because they want to
Well, like a runaway train, you know I have no control
I’m gonna tell them where you live so they can go and haunt you
And take back all the parts of me you stole
But I no longer feel like crying
My nervous system’s dying
I love you I know
But I’m anaesthetized
I was foolishly hopeful, now I’ve realized
It was time to think twice
You had to go
I hope that you blossom, I hope that you grow
Write me a postcard, make it some little thing
If you get married, I’ll carry the ring
If you get married, introduce me to him
Introduce me to him, introduce me to him

Bob Dylan is my father, Joan Baez is my mother
And I’m their bastard son
Though my roots show through I’m just 22
I don’t belong to anyone
When The Band was disbanded, I was disowned
I got a number you can ring me on but I ain’t got no phone
Got a forwarding address, baby I ain’t got no home
I got no direction home
That’s the style of a bastard child
This is the song of a bastard son

Uncle Lenny used to make me laugh
Took away my nightmares, tore my daydreams in half
Showed them to me reflected upside-down
In the mirror that Suzanne Vega found
Lenny’s still doing his tricks today
Only goes to show that growing up might pay

Bruce and James were family friends
Took my mind to Carolina through the New Jersey bends
Gave me a harmonica when I was three
Nailed a banjo to my knees
Now Bruce is a foreman and James is a slave
Bruce gave in and James just gave up

My family didn’t grow up too well with technology
And I think this is why they disowned me
But now I wanna get back into the fold
I don’t wanna be a black sheep, I don’t wanna grow old
Here’s to Warren, Neil, T-Bone, Andy, Lou, Townes, Elliott
Tom, Steve, Elizabeth, Elvia, Dave
You’re singing something good and it’s gotta be saved
I think so!

I’ve only just started playing guitar and already they say
I’m a has-been
Say my songs are too long, words are too strong, shoes
aren’t clean
See the synthesizer’s broken, the 12 inch does not exist
It’s gonna take a blessed life to get on to the hitlist
I’m gonna need a blessed life to get on to the hitlist
But I’m singing for the men, for the women and the kids
Who grew up like me with seven basic instincts hid

Bob Dylan is my father, Joan Baez is my mother
And I’m their bastard son