None the Wiser (RUFCD888)
None the wiser
The kids are in the back seat
Tiny headphones in their ears
Queuing in the fast lane for the mall
Mum and dad are struggling
It’s not been right for years
But how they love their brand new car interior smell
I just had an hour with their financial advisor
He’s a nice chap but I’m none the wiser
Out here in our market towns
With our pound shops and our bookies
The ARGOS catalogue is our tormentor
I saw a young lad and his mum
He all but held her hand
As they went in to the army recruiting centre
I just had my monthly meet with the job club supervisor
As she signed me off I was completely none the wiser
Someone’s daughter’s selling phone sex
Just to pay her student loan back
She does it best to emulate the sound of choking
It’s not the strongest that go forward
It’s the ones that can adapt
You can bet Charles Darwin wasn’t joking
While in the five star saunas of the hotel trip advisor
it’s always business business business
And it’s always none the wiser
We point the finger and we laugh at Christ
As he walks out on the water
And we undermine the faithful with our teasing
But in the bowels of the bank of England now
They’re sacrificing chickens to a god they call quantitative easing
To the masters of the universe we are naught but fertilizer
What kind of beast is man
So lets have the truth the whole truth
Nothing but the truth we cry
But the sound bitten demand is oh so hollow
We are each of us subscribers until the day we die
And truth like that is way too big to swallow
So I’ve got my repeat prescription for my favourite tranquilizer
As soon as that kicks in
I know I’ll be none the wiser
Oh the kids are in the backseat
Tiny headphones in their ears.
The Sweetness Game
Through all the suits through all the ties
Through all the old Etonian lies
We play the sweetness game
We played it young when we didn’t care
We play it still with silver hair
The sweetness game
Day by day by day it’s nitty gritty time
But you flash your easy smile
Everything is fine
No pedestal for you
No guilded cage no throne
my love for you is a cliché free zone
Lots of clever little men announce their profit’s up again
While we play the sweetness game
Through all the racket from next door
Through all the shite on radio four
We play the sweetness game
Day by day by day it’s nitty gritty time
You flash your easy smile
Everything is fine
No pedestal for you
No gilded cage no throne
my love for you is a cliché free zone
Through all the chatter through all the spin
Through all the sin piled upon sin
We play the sweetness game
We played it young when we didn’t care
We play it still with silver hair
We play the sweetness game
A Whole Life Lived
I’m listening to a young man tell me stuff I know already
In the knowledgeable tone that I used to use.
I struggle with indifference as the kid looks down on me
And he thinks I’m rude or worse than rude he thinks I’m confused
He’s me of course he’s not but he has some of what I had
When I was talking shite when youth was mine
And though there ain’t no mirror here I’m certain that I wear the frown
My old man wore for more than half the time
This kid will rule the world one day if he doesn’t yet already
So I steal myself and focus once again
But the young man and the old man simply fail to understand
And end up thinking that the other one’s to blame
He’s me of course he’s not but he has some of what I had
When I talked far too much when youth was mine
And though there ain’t no mirror here I’m certain that I wear the frown
My old man wore for more than half the time
How much better then it is to simply think you know it all
Than to feel like you’ve heard it all before
How sweet is the distinction but how long to learn the difference
It’s a whole life lived and still you can’t be sure
He’s me of course he’s not but he has some of what I had
When I would not shut up when youth was mine
And though there ain’t no mirror here I’m certain that I wear the frown
My old man wore for more than half the time
He’s me of course he’s not but he has some of what I had
When I was talking shite when youth was mine
And if you took a photograph I’m certain that I’d have the frown my old man wore for more than half the time
The Little Carpenter
I’ll sing you a true song that lately has been made
Of a little carpenter who courted a young maid
He courted her he courted her he loved her as his life
But never would he ask her if she would be his wife
First there came a farmer he could plough and sow
He said my little darling girl I’ve come to let you know
I have a fancy for you, you look so neat and trim
But oh my little carpenter what will become of him
Then there came an old man hobbling in the dark
He said my little darling girl you’ve fairly won my heart
I’ll raise you in society you’ll go so proud and prim
But oh my little carpenter what will become of him
Then there came a merchant he came from the fair
He gave her his gold watch and chain and a little of his store
He’s gave her his silk handkerchief all for to put them in
But oh my little carpenter what will become of him
At long last came the carpenter he came so shy and slow
In his arms a garland he brought for her to show
Now he works his broad axe all the day he sits by her at night
And oh the little carpenter he is her heart’s delight
Oh the little carpenter he is her heart’s delight – Trad
Thou Shalt
Thou shalt not buy the red sports car
Thou shalt not buy the boat
Thou shalt leave thy best friends wife alone
Thou shalt not slit the neighbour’s throat
But your body will soften at the turning of the year
Thou shalt sit into the night
Thou shalt stare into thy rage
Thou shalt tell them you’re alright
Let them think it’s just your age
But your body will soften at the turning of the year
But your body will soften as you grin from ear to ear
Thou shalt wait for something new
That you do not understand
You believe does not exist
While you’re still writing on your hand
Thou shalt listen to them sleep in the rooms above
And as the dawn rolls in again
It lights up everything you ever loved
But your body will soften at the turning of the year
But thou shalt learn to play nicely for as long as you are here
Thou shalt wait for something new
That you do not understand
You believe does not exist
While you’re still writing on your hand
Thou shalt listen to them sleep in their rooms above
As the dawn comes in again
It lights up everything you’ve ever loved
Your body may soften at the turning of the year
But thou shalt live it out with grace for as long as you are here
Tally of Salt
Sing for the fife and the drum
And his hands in the small of her back
She takes his king he takes her queen
And they squander the ace and the jack
Sing for the coming of night
And the secretive swell of the moon
She holds his knife He finds her fork
And together they polish the silver spoon
Sing for the wedding wine
And the spirits that sing in the toast
We’ll drink to his fathers drink to her sons
And swallow the holly ghost
Sing for the rod and the line
And the wild wood that shudders with shot
She’ll bring the fish he’ll bring the flesh
And they’ll both pluck a fowl for the pot
Let’s sing for the ticking of clocks
And the steeps and the slopes of the years
For the salt of her blood
The salt of his sweat
And the tally of salt in their tears
The tally of salt in their tears – Hugh Lupton
I Am
I am yet what I am no one cares or knows
My friends forsake me like a memory lost
I am the self consumer of my woes
They rise and vanish in oblivious host
I long for scenes where no man ever trod
A place where woman never smiled nor wept
There to abide with my creator God
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
The grass below above the volted sky – John Clare (adapted)
The Wolfless Years
As they lived through the wolfless years
The dear forgot how to live like dear
They grazed the hillsides with no fear
And they played down by the fountains
But when at last the wolf returned
Overnight all the dear relearned
To the forest they returned
And the wild flowers once more filled the mountains
Sometimes a silver lining
Sometimes no such thing
Roll up your sleeves and begin
Through all the soulless years of noise
When all we wanted were our toys
Like greedy little girls and boys
How we clamoured for our stuff
But as the hunger comes again
And wild flowers fill the glen
We’ll live like women we’ll live like men
Who know the meaning of enough
Sometimes a silver lining
Sometimes no such thing
Roll up your sleeves and begin