The Man With No Shadow

I’d give you everything you wanted
I’d give you all that you require
Just say the word and I’ll get on it
I’m here to realise your desires
So I don’t know why
You don’t try
Cos I get no assistance at all from you
Will you even reach your hand out when I fall?
Do you understand me? Do you understand me?
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling, I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all

There was a king who had three daughters
I think perhaps you’ve seen the play
He asked them all how much they loved him
The youngest didn’t want to say
And you’re just like her
Cordelia
You can save us all from a world of hurt
Or you could watch me bang my head against your wall
Am I speaking English? Am I speaking English?
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling, I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all

Oh you’re such a cruel mistress
A silent psychopath
Can we get back down to business?
Can’t you do the math?
It’s just too bad
You can’t add
Will you wait forever to call my bluff
'Til I’m slumped and barely breathing in the stall?
Please give me something
Anything
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all

Negative love
Skeptical eyes beneath a frown
Negative love
You’re always putting other people down
Then they’re gone
And, as they fade away, well, who’s to say that you were wrong?

Negative love
The radio’s playing my request
Negative love
You lie before me, unimpressed
Why say ‘yes’
When you know all the ways to say ‘no’ best

Please don’t make an exception for me
Please don’t make an exception
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too

Cynical you
I see the look that’s in your eyes
Cynical you
And it’s saying ‘I don’t sympathise’
No surprise
Only the naïve believe in love and other lies

Please don’t make an exception for me
Please don’t make an exception
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too
I’m a little negative too

We’re the wrong side of one
I should change my name to John Undone
Or maybe we’re on to something
Could we end up positive after all?

Please don’t lower you standards for me,
Please don’t lower your standards
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too
There’s nothing for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative, I’m a little cynical
I’m a little negative, I’m a little critical
I’m a little negative too

Monkey keeps his cat up in a cage upon the stage
And the crowned heads of Europe cheer the wonder of the age
Cos the cat’s just like a bird and good old monkey grinds the tune
And the cat will dance fandangos just above the footlight moon
And then he’ll make a very birdlike sound
And monkey makes him flop upon the ground
As though he’s flying
Some people he’s dying
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat

The cat hisses at monkey as he milks all the applause
Above the clank of change that ricochets across the floor
And monkey says “I love you” and returns him to the cage
And bows to all the ladies as they exit from the stage
The cat is dressed up as a Puss In Boots
And monkey wears a sparkling new suit
Just like a human
All the girls are swooning
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat

Monkey and his cat retrieve the key and go within
The humble home sweet home where they quietly live in sin
A man will bring their supper as they sit before the fire
Once he was the grinder, now he has to work for hire
He didn’t keep his finger on the pulse
The audience demanded something else
A new distraction
Some cat and monkey action
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat

Rise up from your deep sleep, baby
Wake up from your slumber
I’ve got your anaesthetic ready
I have got your number
I’ll do everything to help you
Make a smooth transition
The coffee’s in the grinder
The key’s in the ignition

Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
Oh, how I’ve missed you
Sleeper, Awake!

You’ve slept for a thousand years
But not like Sleeping Beauty
Maybe you’re the princess
Who refused to do her duty
No poisoned spinning wheel
No blood upon the Singer
You just buried your alarm
And turned off the phone ringer

Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
Oh, how I’ve missed you
Sleeper, Awake!

Ah, but I’m scared
One touch of your cold cold lips, perhaps I’ll join you there
But I don’t care
This is a risk, this is a risk
This is a kiss, this is a kiss

Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
I can’t resist you
Sleeper, Awake!

Inside your machine, I hear a whirring
Cogs and flywheels getting into gear
Once this was time to tell your secrets
Softly so that only I could hear

Strange to be this close and never touching
Moves me far away from where we are
I wish I knew what you were dreaming
And I wonder if you’re showing off the scar
It’s true
I know it’s hard on me
It’s even harder on you
It’s hard
It’s hard to be strangers
I send my best regards
We’ve both changed
And that’s hard

We slept through one another’s nightmares
Till we forgot what beds were for
Now we’re awake and slightly shaken
We’ve seen what’s behind the bedroom door
It’s no fun
I know it’s hard on me
It’s hard on everyone
It’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard to be strangers
I send my best regards
We’ve both changed
And that’s hard

And when you said that it was love or nothing
I didn’t know the outcome was in doubt
It’s true
If it’s hard on me
It’s even harder on you
It’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard that we changed
I send my best regards
We’re strangers now
And that’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard

Sometimes I look into your eyes
I’m trying to see the light that shines back at me
Sometimes there’s nothing there
Sometimes it’s hard to care
Sometimes I’m scared that I don’t know

What pulls you up?
What pulls you down?
What pulls you back to me, my love?
What makes you sing?
What pulls your strings from up above
What pulls you up?

I wish it was just you and me
Like in our glory when we needed no-one
Maybe another hand
Messed with our master plan
Perhaps we’ll never understand

What pulls us up?
What pulls us down?
What pulls us back again, my love?
What makes us sing?
What pulls our strings from up above
What pulls us up?

Are we just happy puppets, baby?
Can we make up our own minds?
Are we just happy puppets?
Maybe.
Probably.

And now you’re just a mystery
And we will never know whodunit, will we?
First time is just for fun
Next time, repeat step one
And then you’re done before you know

What pulls you up?
What pulls you down?
What pulls you back again, my love?
What makes you sing?
What pulls your strings from up above
What pulls us up?

Are we just happy puppets?
Maybe

After I had killed my wife
And by the jury been acquitted
I resolved to change my life
And try to lead a life less wicked
I roamed around
From town to town
In search of some employment
But it was here
I settled down

I saw her standing in the sun
I was bewitched by all her features
And before the day was done
I was in love with the schoolteacher
And since she had
No next of kin
I offered my assistance
To my surprise
She took me in

We spent the summer of that year
In a love of such perfection
But when winter first appeared
I felt the cold of her rejection
It was then
She turned to me
With a look I didn’t recognise
"It is our anniversary"

"It is our anniversary
And you cannot run away from me"
I saw a light
Upon a knife
And in a moment that I recognised
I begged for my life

Bury it in the garden
At midnight by the moon
Cover up the traces
Lick and dress your wounds
Burn it up or drown it, you can try
What has never lived, can never die
And it doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays

I saw you standing in the kitchen
Drinking champagne from a mug
Should I have waited ‘til you noticed me?
Was I ash upon the rug?
Sometimes you cannot remove a stain
And if you do, its absence still remains
And it doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays

It’s as simple as that
I can’t add to it
We had our chance
And we blew it
Worse than that
Well, we knew it, we knew it

Every day’s the morning after -
Maybe last night broke the curse
But it was only in remission
It’ll come back even worse
In your dreams, it’s falling far behind
But just like daylight coming through the blinds
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
Do not go away
Stay, stay, stay, stay
Do not go away

All you have to do is smile
And the words just melt away
And there is nowhere worth going
And I have nothing to say
When you smile

Please take off your rings, your watch
We’ll forget time as it’s flying
I can see myself so deep in your eyes
Can you see yourself in mine?
We’ll forget just where we are
If we’re anywhere at all
You’re not the only one who’s lonely
I’m not the only one who calls
When you smile
When you smile at me
When you smile
When you smile at me

When the shadows pass above
Put the sun on, let it shine
And the world revolves around you and me
It’s centre is just where we lie
Feels like time will crawl forever
This little room is everywhere
We were made to be together
And if not, it doesn’t matter
When you smile
When you smile at me
When you smile
When you smile at me

We’re sluts, you and me
Succumb to pleasure easily
Despite all our sincere attempts
We rise at two, go out unkempt
Retire at six for a little more
Hey, there’s no-one’s keeping score
Except the dog, who’s kinda bored

We’re sluts, the two of us
Why walk, when we can get the bus
Why get the bus, when we can cab it
Living large is our best habit
Don’t cook now, it’s much too late
Look at all the dirty plates
Let’s go where we don’t have to wait
No ifs, no ands, no buts, cos we’re sluts

We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, doing what’s appropriate
One day we will live like kings in one big house but separate wings
Sluts

We’re sluts, it’s what we do
Promiscuity for two
We’re not here, wait for the tone
Oh yes, we rarely check the phone
Please call back another day
Hold me down just where I lay
I don’t want to float away
No ifs, no ands, no buts, cos we’re sluts

We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, curled up like invertebrates
And one day we will live like queens, always just beyond our means
Sluts

We’re sluts, our claim to fame
Please remind me of your name
This is where we both belong
Wonder where my cell phone’s gone
Let’s be realistic, sweet
Soon we’ll have to make ends meet
Make our home between the sheets
No ifs, no ands, no buts, we’re sluts

We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, doing what’s appropriate
And one day we will live like kings, in one big house with separate wings
We’re sluts and we don’t care, you look good in my underwear
I love you, you so and so: we just met three days ago – Sluts

She had never been the silent type
Didn’t wanna be a trophy wife
She had an asp like Cleopatra
And everybody started to point at her
It was her first time at the opera house
She bought a ticket for Die Fledermaus
The Gods peered out from private boxes
She must have caught someone’s eye
No-one knows what happened next
But they found her naked at a Texaco
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore

She was put into a private ward
The kind that mere mortals can’t afford
She didn’t understand the changes
But she felt the need to speak her mind
She foretold the fall of rock’n’roll
She predicted all the exit polls
She was ridiculed for each suggestion
No-one realised they’d all come true
Now she knew where speaking led
She bit her tongue until it bled
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore
She never talks at all anymore

People begged her for a final word
Promised solemnly that she’d be heard
But life seemed cruel and pointless
She just wanted to be left alone
She was doomed to speak one final time
Before she gave up for a life in mime
They laughed loudest when she predicted
A happy ending for herself
Now she lives with her dogs and me
In perfect silent harmony
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore

Life is just beginning to begin again
I’m hoping that you’ve saved the best til last
You’re lying on a stretcher in a corridor
Taking in a slideshow of the past
You’re smiling and you’re covered in confetti
You’re colouring a picture of the ark
But you won’t hear the morning lark

You’re already dead, already dead
You’re ice cold and you’re perfect
You’re already dead, just like you said
Better dead than fed up and alive

Everything’s improving by the minute
Better things await behind the door
The sun is shining on a gorgeous morning
Trains are running better since the war
Everybody’s mood is getting lighter
But you can’t hide your disappointment anymore
You don’t know what good times are for

You’re already dead, already dead
You’re ice cold and you’re perfect
You’re already dead, just like you said
Better dead than fed up and alive
Better dead than fed up and alive

So pack up all your good luck charms and notebooks
Your garlic and your silver crucifix
Your vitamins, your tanna leaves, your i.d.
Your tortoiseshell, your paints and both your card tricks
You can simply swallow what is fed you
Either that or kick against the pricks
It looks like you just took your pick
You’re already dead

Already dead, already dead
You’re ice cold and you’re perfect
You’re already dead, already dead
Better dead than fed up and alive
Better dead then fed up and alive
Yes, you have arrived

Back in the radical sixties
It was hippies and tambourines
It was mud and nudity
It was gigs in fields of green
It was a changing society
And that was cool, but these are different times
Miracles happen by the hour
Science can make a flower
And the people got the power
So cheer up and don’t be dour
My angry friend!

All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere…

I know it must have been easy
When everyone was ready to shout
There was much to complain about
Just get the guitar out
It was “Nixon And Agnew Out!”
Or whatever, but attitudes have changed
And we’re happy in the herd
Now the enemy’s blur
Prick us and we purr
It’s time to choose your words
A bit more wisely

All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere

Just look at the world around you
We have what we are fighting for
I mean lotteries and more
And the rest is best ignored
Cos there’s much more fun in store
After these messages, You’re free to sing your song
But watch the things you say
No negativity today
For the times they have a-changed
And then they’ve a-changed back again
And we barely noticed

All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere

We used to ruin almost everything
We brought elation to its knees
Locked the song of love in Sing Sing
Bad things don’t always come in threes
We musta stayed together on a dare
You plus me was bad enough
'Til we were hell squared
We used to argue over everything
We were the first to split the hair
It so clearly wasn’t happening
We didn’t even seem to care
But something subtle this way came
'Til we stopped scoring points
And playing silly games

And now we walk along the road in total happiness
And people stop and smile when we kiss
Now we’re walking hand in hand in total happiness
And I know what this is
We’re on the slippery slide to bliss

Now no-one needs to gain the upper hand
It doesn’t matter who is right
You are the one who can strike up my band
I’m the man who flies your kite
And who are we to ask the question why?
The sun is shining in our eyes
Let’s love some more before we die
And now we walk along the road in total happiness
And people stop and smile when we kiss
Now we’re walking hand in hand in total happiness
And I know what this is
We’re on the slippery slide to bliss
(Slippery slide to bliss)
We’re on the slippery slide to bliss

Oh, it was so gradual
It went to bad from worse
Slowly, so we barely noticed it
And then the change was obvious
When bad became ok
And ok segued slowly into this….

And now we walk along the road in total happiness
And people stop and smile when we kiss
Now we’re walking hand in hand in total happiness
And I know what this is
We’re on the slippery slide to bliss
(Slippery slide to bliss)
We’re on the slippery slide to bliss

See above.

See above.

See above.

See above.