The Rotherhithe Diarist

The shapes we make, the lives they shape
Taken, touched and treated
The paths and dreams, hopes become fears
Falling out of the page that he steers

Tell her your secrets, he’ll show you his
scars
Some mole on some thigh but never the
torn heart
The glass that reflects cuts deeper when
cracked
Than words tapped out for her
subterranean map

Gossamer skin cherishing enchanted eyes
Stealing glances under winter skies
Reaches out to pull you over
Opens her mouth and you resign
All of the people fall to their knees
Down by the riverside
All of these things still exist
To the Rotherhithe diarist

A work of fiction from preface to close
Calved into the willowy softwood spruce
Imprinted with turpentine and walnut oil
Delivered in leather ready for all

The gossamer skin cherishing enchanted
eyes
Stealing glances under winter skies
Reaches out to pull you over
Opens her mouth and you resign
All of the people fall to their knees
Down by the riverside
All of these things still exist
To some Rotherhithe diarist
Our Friends In The South

Good to see the revolution in full
swing
With your Khaki coat blowing in the
wind
Hope your features ain't getting to
sun burnt
Throwing those prole shapes that you
learnt

Going to turnover the government
Legalise coke & grow some skunk
Parties symbolising individual freedom
Just Say No to conventional wisdom

Chorus
Raise you hand with the common man
So he can put some silver into your
hand
All your glossies give an airbrushed
stance
Based upon your narscistic battle plan

The hair products that you use
To matt down your subtle views
On Re-distribution of the wealth
Ensuring pater’s estate health

Raise you hand with the common man
So he can put some silver into your
hand
All your glossies give an airbrushed
stance
Based upon your narscistic battle plan

Got to get it together in the country
Cos you don't want to be wanting
A lack of artistic sloganeering
Whilst brushing up on your sneering

Raise you hand with the common man
So he can put some silver into your
hand
All your glossies give an airbrushed
stance
Based upon your narscistic battle plan
HOkkaido

Can I get another five minutes
The taxis round here are always on time
I grab my coat and some misplaced
affection
Brush your cheek and I feel reborn

A part of me died  today
Leaving  questions unanswered
Would we ever see that band again
Drink like teenagers and f*ck all
through the night

If your soul ached then your heart beat
For one last hurrah

The city you live in is just too far
To bridge the gap could tear us in half
But who let logic ever play a part
In brutal matters of the heart

Those faces hide nothing so it's
Hoods up and heads down
Did you suffer from the same kind of
shame
A lack of morals you chose as blame
Shadows & Reflections

I remember you when you were just Seventeen
The belle of the youth club ball
We lusted after you in your knee-length
skirt
Answered every one of your calls

A move down south to escape paternity
You a brother, a drunkard upstairs
So I thrashed about annoyed suburbia
Thought of the Mary Chain, motor scooters &
girls

All that hate was such a waste of our time
Ate away at our hearts and our minds
All this too shall pass away my dear
The shadows & reflections of another time

Far away in a distant land I last saw you
Where we struggled with the cold and the
glare
Hope the space between us will remind you
Of the person that you once were

All that hate was such a waste of our time
Ate away at our hearts and our minds
All this too shall pass away my dear
The shadows & reflections of another time
The Detail

Do you remember the time that you spent
with her
The plans and dreams that never were
You remember her face and the curve of
her spine
You'd say "she was never mine"

It burnt your soul
Bruised your heart
You knew she would not stay
It burns your soul
Still to this day
But it won't stop you from trying again

Functional days you try to forget
The hurt, the pain, the regret
But thinning hair and deeper lines
Won't dissemble that smile.
Bedhead

You got me started
You got me notice
You got me so that I couldn't
even focus

Those sensual lips
And giving hips
Drove me to a little presepice

That got my grey turning blue
You got my grey turning blue
That got my grey turning blue
You got my grey turning blue

And I'm just left with a fiction
of you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you

Those piercing eyes
Could not disguise
All that passion welling inside

You're greasy bed-head
An opium layer
Took me to the very edge of
despair

That got my grey turning blue
You got my grey turning blue
That got my grey turning blue
You got my grey turning blue

And I'm just left with a fiction
of you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you
I'm just left with a fiction of
you
As Above & So Below

Did you chase the sound
In the streets we new
All those summer days
And thoughts of you

When I looked into you're eyes
And saw the reflection of my
short life
All the things that I don't
know
As above and so below

You fought the good fight
For land and freedom
Internationale
Or the barrel of a gun

When I looked into you're eyes
And saw the reflection of my
short life
All the things that I don't
know
As above and so below

And if I should falter
If I should fail
In the land of our fathers
Reason prevails

When I looked into you're eyes
And saw the reflection of my
short life
All these things that I don't
know
As above and so below
Sleeping Giants



52 inches suspended from the wall
Desperation beamed onto the faces of all the
boys & girls
You'd think that they'd realise by now that
it's all a sham
Celebrity's celebration of "who I am"

We used to write letters we used to read books
We used to start fires we d
id more than just
look

Teach us not think for ourselves anymore
Waving smoke and mirrors in such a stylish
decor
Drag
ging us backwards by kicking a ball
Back to back coverage on news 24


As winter falls
So spring arrives
The beauty and grace
From the darkest night
If you've lost yourself
Get off your knees
Prepare yourself
For liberty
The Great Escape

If you had the chance
Would you even hesitate
Could you break these chains
Escape from this dirty old town

New paint on the door
Doesn't disguise what lays behind
Broken bones and settled scores
They don't hold water anymore
I know that nothing happens around
here anymore

This town has nothing
This town isn't anything anymore
The Girl With The Sunshine In Her Hair
(Everybody Loves Here)

I
n a while I thought of this
There was a chance i couldn't of missed
I thought of you
To live and die a thousand ways
Into the ground with the hopes we raised
And all for her

I knew a girl with sunshine in her hair
Everybody loved her
Loved her

Cast her aside and take the strain
You can hide your tears in the rain
And all for her

Just turn and face tomorrow
Don't Look back
At the things you've done

But in the end it came to this
A simple moment but with a bitter twist
And all for her
Long Division

The boy from the north country
Grew up much faster than I ever did.
In 1945 he was lucky to be alive
Got dragged into Napoli
Leaving him shell-shocked
Battle weary and scarred
Dreaming of being back home
His Manchester back yard

Dear old Raymond he was further north,
Freezing in the Baltic sea
Was his view of the war
Thinking of his girl from Burnley
Whilst recouping up in Aberdeen
But for him it was not to be,
Left him for an American Marine

Two skinny kids banging an old leather ball
Up against a garage door
Didn't know that their time had come and
gone
Those skinny kids didn't stand a chance
When life came crashing down around their
ears
They put away childish things
Became men beyond their years

When I was a kid I thought that
long division was as hard as it got for me
As I just couldn't get it
You sat down and showed me, unravelled so
much mathematical theory
That you made me get it you made me get it
But you wouldn't stick around
You didn't need us at all
You left us but we never left you
And we'll be here for your call

Two skinny kids banging an old leather ball
Up against a garage door
Didn't know that their time had come and
gone
Those skinny kids didn't stand a chance
When life came crashing down around their
ears
They put away childish things
Became men beyond their year
Parade

The wine's disappeared and the vinegar
stains
Half a written note on her back page
There's a rage in the air for the killing
on the lane
But what goes on outside stays outside

As we run, for the bar

And we'll drink and we'll smoke
And we'll snort and we'll choke
For the lives on the parade
Celebrate or mourn a passing unborn
For the lives and the loves on the parade

Drains filling up with un-seasonal decay
As a boy takes the night with a bottle
and a blade
Vengeance he seeks is tempered by lost
love
Tonight there will be drink and their
will be blood

As we run, for the bar

And we'll drink and we'll smoke
And we'll snort and we'll choke
For the lives on the parade
Celebrate or mourn a passing unborn
For the lives and the loves on the parade
Silver Watch

Don't you dare believe that there's just
one path left
The last great unknown well we're not
there yet

Half a dozen stitches pulling at your
chest
Sent there to remind you that there's
more than this

I've got this silver watch it keeps good
time
So the strap is bust but the time is mine

Let's pick up the pieces I'll stick them
back together
Sing a song from the old days why not
live forever

Stay with me tonight lie down by my side
Kiss me until the morning we'll watch the
sun rise
Detroit 65

You had something missing
From your day job
So you took a holiday
To a place a little left of centre
Where you could hunker down
Escape reality

And now when I try to call you
Twenty years later
It breaks my heart
What happened
To that young disciple
So enchanted with every day

'cos all you listened to was Detroit 1965
Your heart was as big as your eyes were
wide
If I ever get to see you again I won't
remind you that
Our future was beautifull