ALTERATIONS
THE DEATH OF COPYRIGHT
I heard a pop song today
It was grimly efficient
It brought me to my knees
In three terrible minutes
I saw my life go by
I saw the crashing of empire
It stole my DNA
Then claimed I had no father
I heard a rock song today
It was VERY IMPORTANT
It took me for a ride
Before I'd even given consent
I saw the whites of my eyes
I saw the heads of the surfers
It made me feel a man
Then inserted inverted commas
And now I'm all alone
And now I'm all alone
And now at last I'm all alone
There's nothing on the radio
The static slips into my heart
I lost what I never had
'Twas all about the taking part
The air fairly hums with dreams
But I don't sing their melodies
I sing what I cannot hear
'Twas all about the part you played
It's all about the way the chorus fades
Aujourd'hui j'ai entendu une tube
Elle était sinistrement efficace
Elle ma fait tomber aux genoux
Pendant trois minutes terribles
J'ai vu ma vie passer devant moi
J'ai vu la chute de l'empire
Elle m'a vole le ADN
Puis elle a pretendu
Que je n'aie pas de pere
Et maintenant je suis toute seule
Et maintenant je suis toute seule
Et enfin je suis toute seule
Qué idioma es
Qué idioma es
Qué idioma es
Heute hörte ich ein Rock Song
Es war SEHR WICHTIG
Es brachte mich in Fahrt
Bevor ich Zustimmung gegeben hatte
Ich sah das Weiß meiner Augen
Ich sah die Köpfe der Surfers
Ich fuhlte mich wie ein Mann
Dann setzte es Anführungszeichen ein
Und jetzt bin ich ganz allein
Und jetzt bin ich ganz allein
Und nun shießlich bin ich ganz allein
There's nothing on the radio...
SOME SONGS...
Some songs don't want to be written
Some songs have no intention of staying hidden
Some only make sense to a child in the back of a car
Some simply exist to rhyme fnarr with oompaloompa
Some come to life in hostile terrain
Some really shoulda been left on holiday, yeah
Some are measures of crude corporate thought control
Some know freedom's a quite unobtainable goal
But then some songs know it all
Some need blue sky, the glint of frost
Some the inky night and a senseless loss
Some seem to have lust tatooed on their behinds
Some songs are just too old, too young, or darling too tired
Some burn bridges, let others construct
Some cite revolution but would not let the bucks stop
Some will have you giving thanks for being alive
Some will leave you convinced that you may as well die
But then some songs tell such lies
Owooo...
Some songs tell such lies
Owooo...
Some songs tell such lies
Owooo...
YOU DON'T NEED ME TO TELL YOU THAT
Isn't bad, isn't everything
Might have guessed this would be the denouement
Might have but I'm thick right?
Isn't bad, isn't everything
The difference between us
You see half empty
I only care what it tastes like
There's no turning back the tide
This did I decide to save despair
Life don't give no guarantees
No fait accomplis
'Tis harsh but fair
Does the tongue form the word before the brain instructs it
Does the skin speak desire faster than we can dream it
Do the eyes not reveal what the heart has not the courage to
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me to tell you that
Isn't bad, isn't anything
Fine line, unhappy medium
Her lost cat posters getting dog ears
Isn't bad, isn't anything
Chasing youths adrenaline
To find the fear of God still victorious
Life don't give no guarantees
We sow so we shall reap
Is just a guide
How should one turn back the tide
How should one bloody know
So far, so so
Does the tongue form the word...
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me to tell you that
Is is and isn't isn't
This potency undiluted
By time, tears, or any such solution
It isn't my sentiment
It is entirely Lowe-Tennant
I merely raise a glass
You raise a glacier
As if you could turn back the tide
Well who am I to tell you where to build
Life don't give no guarantees
From double negatives
RELEASE ME!
From the tongue, from the word, from the brain's instruction
From the skin, from desire, from the speed that we're dreaming
From the eyes that reveal, from the heart without the courage to
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me
Oh you don't need, you don't need
You don't need me
Does the tongue...
NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE
(for Ian Carey)
A simple tale I have to tell
Of a friend I loved too well
Always headin so very fast
To nowhere in particular
We should talk but I'm afraid
It is more than a bit too late
His animal eyes
Caught in the headlights
Now they're frozen in time
You gotta face up
You gotta face up
Don't cry
Keeping up appearances
Might've guessed it'd end in tears
Yeah the wife the kids the neighbours
Little hills grew mountainous
Where were you inside your head
Curled up safe from your bastard dad
Looking for love
Looking for peace
The quick release
You gotta wake up
You gotta wake up
Oh please
I really wish I could have helped you
(I didn't know how, I didn't know how)
Really wish I could have held you
(Not stood tongue-tied)
Everything is how you left it
Except those who had to learn to move on
Nothing impossible
Nothing impossible in this life
You were once in a house on fire
You were once such a proud father
Even now after all these years
Of being sad and furious
The clinical term doesn't relate
You were my best mate
Oh what a waste
Oh what a perfect waste
I really wish I could have helped you...
I really wish I could have helped you
(I didn't know how, I didn't know how)
Really wish I could have held you
(Not stood tongue-tied)
Everything is how you left it
For those who had to learn the hard way
Nothing impossible
Nothing impossible, nothing at all
HEADLONGING
Big head small head medium sized head
Rush head spin head over to you there
Them they're us they're equally likely to
Fight do might do what I been meanin to
See to be two double the fun but not
Just not quite not double the time to kill
Road kill joy kill anything else that comes
Fast comes fierce comes free of association
Amen a leading inexorably
A freeze a nothing can ever be
Safe be sure be more than the sum of your
Past your art you're sellin yourself a bit
Short bit deep bit drawin the poison out
Side out stake out sneakin around I get
Bored get lost get carbon sequestering
Home ring drug ring snuggling in skin
Head skin tight skin showin your name and age
Less hey jester generous to a fault
Foot fault tip fold fingers and hunker down
South down powerdown out for the count and his
Teeth his meat his crossin the border appeal
A screamer what has got into you
Win you grin you what have you done to me
Sink me drink me under the table with
Fear with fur with lager lager been
There been done been over the moon with that
Cow that tale that exaggeration but
Where but why but how on earth do we
Fall we turn we spin out of gun control
Pet troll wild troll muzzled and puzzled I'm
You I'm through I'm living without the one
That one long gone always a step ahead / removed
I want something to hold on to
You moved through moved living without the one
That one long gone always a step removed / ahead
I want something to hold on to
THE UP SHIT CREEK BLUES
Such a party
Such a great party
Remembered in hushed tones
With overdue diligence
Snakes and ladders
Collateral damage
Interesting times
What a party
What an exclusive party
Probable reserves
Our just desserts
Energy is currency
The skin of modernity
Now comes the hard graft
But the crowd sings
Something will turn up
Oh, it usually does
The great white techno fix
Waist high asterisks
Hindsight's a wonderful thing
Sing suckers!
Something will turn up
Well, it usually does
Mirrors and artifice
Belated wish lists
For told-you-so demons to sing
Sing
Sing
Sing
Such a party
Such a great party
One grand narrative arc
Invite the world and its dog
Growth is sacred
The emperor is naked
Are you awake yet?
What a party
What a swell party this is
Sheeple and uber-doomers
Cheap thrills, crazy numbers
Deniers' fantasies
Robust policies
Systemic unspeak
So the crowd sings
Something will turn up
Oh, it usually does
So many lights, so many cars
So many unforced errors
Hindsight's a terrible thing
Sing suckers!
Something will turn up
Well, it usually does
Never mind the methane
Give us our tittytainment
Who wants to be a millionaire
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Such a party
The most exclusive party
Remembered in hushed tones
Our unquiet bones
Dig for victory
Pick your obituary
Aren't the stars beautiful
REMINDERS, REMIND
Good morning
I said good morning
This is a good morning to do nothing
I should be somewhere else
I should be someone else
But look
The park is exploding with colour
And I am restrained with beauty
With the arbitrary
This bench is comfortable
Though not too comfortable
No one would ever leave, after all
And we can't have that, can we?
Feral to moral
Nature to nurture
Chaos to order
Such potent myths to swallow
Reminders
Reminders
Remind
Two mothers pass, sisters in arms
Their children exclamation marks
Look what I've done, Mum
Look what I've done
Oh, aren't you the clever one
Pigeons coo inane sympathy
Car horns bleat in another country
Devils, dust and asymetry
Beguiling transmissions
Of mundane discussions
Which may be recorded
For training purposes
Reminders
Remind
Tell me
Would your hands hide your face?
Would you scream obscenities?
Would you laugh at the timing before it was too late?
Well, would you?
Stage left, another bench
The everyday drama
To Paris on the Eurostar
How long for?
Just the weekend
Came back Sunday night
Oh, that's so sweet
How was it?
French
And?
Oh you know, all the romantic touristy stuff
Sounds like a dream
He proposed
You're kidding me?
Oh my god, oh my god
It's official then
Yes, but...
Reminders
Reminders
Remind
Did I mention I'm invisible
No one sees me but that child
Blowing bubbles by the dozen
And cats, obviously, if they could be bothered
See
She waved back
Her mother looks puzzled, naturally
I am out of reach
Out of line
Out of time
Reminders
Remind
Old men play chess with oversize pieces
At war with themselves
In the rapture of logic
How to calculate what a life is worth
You should count yourself lucky
Oh, how the street exploded with colour
So much colour everywhere
Life dissolving in a wail of sirens and garbled tongues
And now I am here observing your rituals
The stolen pleasures
The incidental triumphs
The painted elephants
As I said, I really should be somewhere else
But this is a good morning
A very good morning
To do nothing
PARADISE BY NUMBERS
Oh, the easy life: the lure of paradise
Survival made to run to a logical outcome
The girl, the tree, the snake: the wiping of the slate
Exploit it while you can, young man
Who is the stranger here
Who is the stranger here
Oh for a life of ease: the blur of parodies
Where hope plays tag with love, where charity's enough
Us proles dare not reject our circuses and bread
We all will be a long time dead
Every face the same face
Every prayer the same prayer
Every page the same page
Every fear the same fear
Every kiss, every question
Every desire, every doubt
Countries, brands and teams enforcing loyalty
'Cross boundaries, walls and seas
The end becomes the means
The straw, the sticks, the bricks
Those cute wolf/pig hybrids
Fat fingers of finance on jazz hands
Who is the stranger here
Who is the stranger here
Every face the same face
Every prayer the same prayer
Every page the same page
Every fear the same fear
Every cry, every answer
Every singer, every song
Every face the same face...
AURORA
Silver the light on the water
Cyan the arc of the sky
Cerise the name that you called her
Clear are the tears I still cry
Silver the light on the water`
Cyan the arc of the sky
Amber the sand that I wander
Mile after torturous mile
Aurora, ahhh
Your wonder does deceive
Aurora, ahhh
You stole my love from me
Tu encanto deceptiona
Me robaste mi amor
Chrome the corona of your eye
Violet the veins in your arms
Green iridescence your outline
Scarlet the marks on your palms
Chrome the corona of your eye
Violet the veins in your arms
Cursed all who try to forget you
Lost in the reign of your charms
Aurora, ahhh
Your wonder does deceive
Tu encanto deceptiona
Aurora, ahhh
You stole my love from me
Me robaste mi amor
Aurora, ahhh...
Aurora
Aurora
Aurora
Aurora
Aurora
Aurora
THE FORECASTER
She sings the forecast
Languorous and gorgeous
Clouds moving southwards
Hazardous ambassadors
Mmmm...
Snow looms for curlews
Sleet round the south downs
Clear skies by morning
Black ice then forming
Expect disruption
Widespread til luncheon
She sings the forecast
Lowestoft to Fishguard
Well-versed assertions
The cadence of seasons
Mmmm...
All our futures
From Bracknell to Lancaster
Storms and warm fronts
And warnings of coastal fog
Falling pressure
From Thurso to Exeter
Drizzly days with no end
She wryly smiles
No extremes in these Isles
A flourish to finish
A temperature cadenza
So ends the broadcast
Fine science and hard art
All's dark
All's dark
ASCENDANT
WAITING FOR GREEN
three chinese women on bikes
at the traffic lights
waiting for green
a guy with the cutest jacket you ever did see
leans toward me all conspiracy
he says
they're showing photographs of a child from the blast
and whose it was was not made known
fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god I loved you
don't you know me
oh the horror he says
as the lights remain red
I used to ride the cutest bike you never did see
freedom he says
freedom
in winter speeding carelessly
escaping with bruises
it's past and gone except that I'm left
fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god I loved you
don't you know me
then he shows me his leg
it was broken
such a long time ago
oh it was so long ago
they said can you feel the pain
he says can you see
I say we only see what we want to feel
we all have our own pain to deal with
fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god
I loved you
don't
you know me
my two friends
they said don't be dismayed at him
he doesn't understand women
RESISTANCE
here in the night
stark neon naked
humble low-rise indefinite sea
you mean the world to me
the shimmer of air in between walls
can looks be measured in unsaid words
you mean the world divides
and if we break the law of gravity
will that make you love me or subtly incline
I put one foot in front of the other
here be sharks
a non-stop fearway
cats eyes strung out until we all freeze
you mean the world to me
the inexact science of longing and loss
dreams weighed and numbered
tagged and filed
you mean the world divides
and if we break the law of gravity
will that make you love me or subtly incline
I put one foot in front of the other
come deliverance come
come denial come
come acceptance
come sweet silent sleep
come deliverance come
come denial come
come acceptance
come sweet silent sleep
THE CALM
the calm intake of breath
the warmth of hand and head
the form future perfect
the bird shot through with light
the gasp as speed divides by height
the hairs upon your neck glisten with sweat
a less restrained intake of breath
it comes
the point of no return
the scent as rain hits earth
the yen as creed sutured
the space tween teeth and tongue
the ease with which a life is crushed
the pull transpires to push desire aside
aware of how the point derives
it comes
SLEEPING BEAUTY
centuries fly past the window
writing out contracts we rarely fulfill
it's always the small print that steals the show
but what should I know
saving moments to savour
melodies and paper
security feigned
you don't have to be mad to think that you ain't
but maybe it helps
beauty
came round one tuesday
for flapjacks and frisbee
I was too tired
he looked sad
promised to come back
but I fell asleep for an hundred years
I dreamt of tesco being in government
the smile on a penguin as the water rose
we think it's strawberry said the hippos
but what would they know
oh what a lovely oil crash
oh shit - we trusted our genius
then it got all apocalyptic
but suddenly one prick had me bolt upright
I couldn't think striiight
nor speak RP
and beauty
was nowhere to be seen
what kind of fairytale was this
someone was clearly taking
centuries
they flew past the window
trumpeting progress
we had to applaud
but look at the small print
those acts of god
you know
he never pays up
DECIDEDLY DUMB
she's a liar
and full of good intentions
it's hard to know where to start
when a part of you dies
yet to the casual eye still appears to be alive
what do you say
words are scarce and sulky little bulldogs
cowering in between the negatives in the drawer
beneath the blu-tak
beneath the sellotape
decidedly scared
couldn't we make a run
make fools out of everyone
and never let on
how the trick was played
in the evening
butterflies come creeping
it's hard to know where to go to dispose of them
I'm sure I wasn't this cruel once
but somewhere along the way
I learned how not to care
it was for my own good
I shut up when I had to
it's funny how we come to exercise this restraint
in the face of adversity
the face of uncertainty
decidedly calm
why grandma
what big troubles you have
all the better for making you pay my dear
what's the point of being half in love
still it's hard to know where to stop
repetitive actions
inevitable weathering systems
take the strain
ready to tug
slide in the mud
bully for us
that fistful of butterfly dust
scattered from a palm raised in supplication and hope
but then I let go
I let go and lost
decidedly dumb
with what I felt for you
what I felt I ought to
it's hard to know what to write
when the pen only does alternate letters
I look like I shiver
I miss you
ah yeah
she's a liar
and full of good intentions
it's hard to know where to start
WEIGHT
stand up and let me see you
hands raised steady adagio
eyes closed inanimate
I shoot this film
a string of past convictions
held in complete silence
I gave you up so we could be alone
for someone would always come to take you away
no matter how set upon the path we thought we were
I am hanging falling breaking
between one word
one word and the next
one word and the next
we hope to see the future
we aim to catch it off guard
we search for proof as if proof could be found
within a skeletal code
within skin cells once shed
within the blood we were bound to deny
someone will always come to take you away
no matter how set upon the path you thought you were
I am hanging falling breaking
between one word
one word and the next
one word and the next
ZERO
let's go down to the river
watch the stars all flicker on
throw our secrets into the water
let em be carried away
time will do what it always does
it'll run through yer fingers
measure life in years but remember
zero doesn't exist
now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide
let's go down to the river
see the sky fade from azure
silhouettes on the dim horizon
the power of the unseen guiding human endeavour
our senses to exchange vows
water murmurs the earth's agreement
zero runs in between
now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide
falling leaves dance about us
distant trains make future plans
your hands speak of an innocent heart
your eyes another man
a soft breeze chinese whispers
we have been here all our lives
getting drunk on the revelation
love is seeing stars
now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide
almost
always
gone
nearly
surely
not
high-time
high-tide
here
now is here
now is here
now is here
now is here
now is here
OUR FATHER
how wide the river that flows before us
it insinuates words we struggle to read
we shoulder the ache and hope for release
shoulder the hope and ache to belong
attempting to stand still centre stream
how sweetly naive to want to hold hands
swept off our feet we all but drowned
mesmerised by the refraction of love
our father
our father
who art thou
life lying deep someplace within
the undeniable ecstasy of breath
we haul ourselves back to respective sides
all the stronger and none the wiser
our father
our father
our father
who art thou
LUCO
come down to the sea love
come down to the sea
what stories of clouds could keep you thus from me
here there is life in abundance
here there is air complex and sweet
I insist most graciously
how come you're up there love
how come you're up there
I speak as I find
I couldn't find you anywhere
your voice conducts through this vastness
your ghostless space absence defined
I request your descent
come now to the sky love
come now to the sky
what law are you bound to observe thus resigned
here one can sight news from afar
here one can sense earth's curvature
I insist most humbly
come down to the sea love / come now to the sky love
come down to the sea / come now to the sky
what stories of clouds could / what law are you bound to
keep you thus from me / observe thus resigned
here there is life in abundance / here one can sight news from afar
here there is air complex and sweet / here one can sense earth's curvature
I request your descent / I request your ascent
mmmm...
MISCELLANEOUS OTHERS
GOOD MONEY
Sell the past for a pint of gold
Milk the future for trillions more
Keep the policy makers sweet
Cause all's fair in trade and war
Hail the genius of leverage
Sleight of hand, that's entertainment
White is black - it always was
Regulation's inefficient
You could make good money
You could make good money
Rake it in til the bubble bursts
Load the pain on the public purse
Stash it offshore out of sight
Tax is for the little guy
And welfare's SO last century
Workfare is the new tradition
Weep the tears of a crocodile
A proud salute to the City and Goldman
You could make good money
You could make good money
Debt creating your every whim
Debt everyone's pseudonym
Race us down to the ocean floor
The super-rich can always take more
Advertising how much you care
Advertising because you're worth it
Drug the kids and rob them blind
Curse the nerve of Occupy
With your good, good money
You could make good money
You could make good money
You could make good money
So much good, good money
You could make good money
You could make good money
You could make good money
KEEP DRIVING
Driving keep driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
89 miles to keep
Driving keep driving
The stifling pressure
The stifling pressure
Of everything that's gone before
The weight and the volume
History is bleeding
History is bleeding
It's all over your face and arms
How could you miss it?
Driving keep driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
55 miles to go
Driving go driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
34 miles to come
Closer come closer
Safe in this bubble
Safe in this bubble
The land it lies muted
The land it lies waiting
Distance is an illusion
Distance is an illusion
Oh can you see the sea yet?
Can you, my children
Oooh... The wisdom and the madness
Oooh... The wisdom and the madness
Oooh... The wisdom and the madness of crowds
Driving keep driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
21 miles to go
Driving go driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
13 more miles to go
Driving keep driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
Only 8 miles to go
Driving go driving into the water
Keep driving keep driving into the water
Go faster go faster into the future
Hallelujah hallelujah
Only 5 miles to go
Driving keep driving
Only 3 miles to go
Driving keep driving
Only 2 miles to go
Driving keep driving
Just one more mile to go
Driving keep driving
Driving keep driving
Driving keep driving
Driving keep driving
Driving keep driving