album: "The Outer Marker" (2002)

"Let's Get Really Honest"

Don't take me for a fool
Because I'm not the foolish kind
Well if you had a sledge hammer
You still couldn't break my mind
Well if I'm honest with myself baby
I've gotta say
That you've got something about you
But please don't think for a minute
Lady
I couldn't get along fine without you

[CHORUS]

In my life
Oh yeah
She was in my life
And now she's out of my life
Nothing but strife
So I don't mind

Don't take me for a fool
Because I'm not that kind of man
There are rules we try to follow
But I guess you would not understand
Well if I'm honest with myself baby
I've gotta say
That you've got something about you
But please don't think for a minute
Lady
I couldn't get along fine without you

[CHORUS]

Everything has to end
I guess this was no exception
We were gonna have to break connection
[repeat]

"Paradise (Lost & Found)"

Hangin about in the sun
With prozac Annie and the schizo alcoholics
The sharp edged shadows
And these mad electronics
The barbeque's burning
With the moon-ray sensations
I'm lying on my back
And watching cloud formations
Trying to see the beauty
Minus the black inside
She told me people came here
To get drunk before they died
Too many problems
And not enough solutions
Ms. Monroe is in the bathroom
Taking care of her ablutions
Hiding myself behind illusions
Stand back and watch the evolution
Of the secondhand lives your using
So many fucked up souls
In this locality
I need the choice of some
Relative banality
The raw twistings of your mind spewing forth
As you stare at me
Is fucking scaring me

[CHORUS]

Paradise lost and paradise found
I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground
Paradise lost and paradise found
And I'm just trying to get lost in my sound
Paradise lost and paradise found
I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground
I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground

Storms rage across
Metallic skies
Reflecting in the multi faceted eyes
Of lazy buzzing flies
The heavens collide
In primeval cacophonies
I contemplate my demise
And hope the gods are appeased
A long distance love affair that's alive
But barely breathing
A thousand times I thought about leaving
Giving all this up
And put myself at your mercy
But still scared to death
About the fact you might hurt me
Instead I came here
And became an agony uncle
And now I'm saddled with this
Freaky carbuncle
Who's stalking me forcefully
And I'm begging her
Please let me go about my business peacefully
Let my days flow seamlessly
Cos since you've been around
Everything's got so messy
You stress me
God bless me and test me
Daily

[CHORUS]

Well it's the original tales of the unexpected
You thought I couldn't do it
Now stand corrected
Cos I'm connected
To every nerve ending
Cerebral cortex messages
I'm sending
There's two sides to every story
Black and white
The day and night
Wrong and right
And the paradise lost and found
All inside this sound

[CHORUS x2]

"Lesson One"

It's hard sometimes trying to be a geezer
A good bloke
Five pints down the local pub
Laughing at a filthy joke
And sleeping around
Just so that you can brag about it
You've got to get the crumpet
So you can blow your own trumpet
And talking about football
When you couldn't really give a fuck
About Owen being injured
And Watford's run of bad luck
And cheering when a fight breaks out
Even though you're feeling sick
As a parrot
But like a donkey to a carrot
You can't help yourself
Cos any sign of weakness
Could be used to inflict injuries
By one of your so-called friends
To hide his own insecurities
And nothing to look forward to
But daily stress and bringing home the bacon
And thinking about the other half of your wages
The tax man keeps taking
Staying strong emotionally
When your soul is breaking
And wondering when you're making love to your wife
Is it real or is she faking
And could it be that the most important things in life
Are getting lost or missed
When you're playing it safe
One of the lads
And scared to take a risk

[CHORUS]

It's so hard
It's so hard
Sometimes
And sometimes
It's so hard
It's so hard
When you're scared

Its hard sometimes trying to be a geezer
A good lad
With pressures to get on in life
And turn out like your dad
And getting a house, dog, kids, car
The whole kit and caboodle
And making out you can't cook
Apart from pot noodle
Treating your lady with sensitivity
Without the boys finding out
And keeping your feelings under wraps
So she'll never know what you're about
Trying to be different
But the same
And trying to follow the rules
Of the new game
Staring at the picture in the frame
An easier time, smiles shine
Now almost everything's changed.

[CHORUS]

Well sometimes its so hard
It's so hard
It's so hard
Yeah
When you're scared to
You're scared to
You're scared to
To take a risk
To take a risk
To take a risk

"Snowflakes"

I'm moving your mental feet
In complex dances and jigs
I'll loosen up your consciousness
Like a syrup of figs
It's time to emerge from camouflage leaves and twigs
Time to throw the fake noses and fright wigs
Time to face the music
No more metaphor
Time to decide your fate
Will you be cooked or go raw
Will you be
Rare and bloody with your soul exposed
Or well done
a charcoal surface with your insides froze
and do you feel fear
as you hear
another door close
or will you just turn away
and flow where the wind blows
and are you still satisfied with the pathways you chose
or would you like to go back
and rewrite the old prose

[CHORUS]

Do you count the flakes
When it snows
And can you feel the heat
or only the afterglows
Do you count the flakes
When it snows

Does your life sometimes feel like one big fake orgasm
A gut reaction
Instinctive spasm
in the chasm
And do your problems metamorphose
into rubiks cubes
Keep twisting and turning
Becoming more confused
Do you sometimes feel
like you've been used and abused
Your not visibly black and blue
But on the inside bruised
And does your love life
leave you feeling kinda bemused
You've played all the games
And you're no longer amused

[CHORUS]

Sometimes it feels like I'm looking through a pain of glass
I can see your mouth move but can't hear the words

[CHORUS]

"Deep Thrills"

I'm pushing out into the blueness
A soul soothing silence
Helping me to get through this
I'm floating breathless
Calmer that a Buddhist
In the newness
Of a world untouched by
Human hands
It's undiscovered civilisations in uncharted lands
I'm diving deeper to ocean floors afar
A landscape so alien
It's like you're on Mars
Anemones and coral
Iridescent in the half light
As shoals of fish catch the tide
And drift out of sight

[CHORUS]

Tell me what you're waiting for
What's keeping you here
Step into the blueness
Let nothing interfere
You never know
You may like the deep thrill
So why not stay a while if
You've got time to kill

Fluid motions in the weightlessness
Well it's all forgotten worries
And long gone stress
A million miles from mean streets like this
Now we drink black coffee in downtown Atlantis
Washed clean of the grime and the city sins
The only sharks you'll find down here have fins
You're under threat no longer
So close your eyes
and we can navigate by sonar
Into dark depths where evolution stands still
And submarine winds
Blow through the silent chill
You're introduced to the deep thrill
So why not stay awhile if
You've got time to kill

[CHORUS]

I'm pushing out into the blueness
I'm pushing out into the blueness

"Heartburn"

There's a dragon
Blowing fire
In my ventricles
And I can feel
The grip now
Of these tentacles
And I had ideas
Back when I was very young
Like the back of my hand
I thought I'd understand
But now I find myself
Just playing dumb

[CHORUS]

Heartburn
And my soul
Is red raw
Inside
Heartburn
And don't the world look different
When you're lying on the floor
Heartburn
And my soul
Is red raw
Inside
Heartburn
And don't the world look different
When you're lying on the floor

There's a lion
Tearing holes
In my ventricles
And I'm feeling
The effect now
Of these combining chemicals
And I had ideas
Back when I was very young
I thought I could weather the storm
I would not need your warmth
But now I find myself
Just praying for the sun

[CHORUS]

I'm not joking
The floor is sloping
Towards the things I never wanted to be near
The drop of a tear
Another year
Seen in retrospect
Images I collect
Answers correct
As we continue
To break and connect

[CHORUS x2]

"Eye To Eye"
(feat. Sammy D)

Sometimes I wonder how I cope
When every time I open my mouth
You jump down my throat
And some nights the beds so cold
In frozen sheets
It's like we're lying at opposite poles
And I just don't know
What to do
Loosen my grip
Or take a tighter hold on you
Just remember
That you came looking for me
I didn't hunt in someone else's territory
You presented the opportunity
It was you who pursued me
Maybe you just needed the change
And got a kick out of playing the game
I know you don't like things that stay the same
So I guess you're not to blame
I suppose its my fault again

[CHORUS]

Sometimes we don't see eye to eye
But I don't ask too many questions why
Sometimes we don't see eye to eye
But I don't ask too many questions why

Neither of us knew what to expect
What was gonna happen next
So we cherished every caress
Sorry I wasn't there
When you needed a rest
A shoulder to cry on
Moral support
Honestly
I always thought about you
And I hated the fact
We only had
Brief moments of contact
We'll survive and if we persevere
Then maybe this will last for years
I don't mean to exert pressure
I just wanna give
And receive pleasure
And if you're pouring
I'll have full measure
Cos it's you I'll treasure
Even if we're not together

[CHORUS]

Even though these questions still remain
Time won't change a single thing
We're still playing all these selfish games
But I'd hate to hate you
Why do all the questions stay the same
Why do all you're answers cause me pain
Do I need to say it all again
I'd hate to hate you

[CHORUS]

Look
I know we're not exactly Romeo and Juliet
But come on
I ain't nowhere near ready to quit on this yet

"Contradictions"

Darkest light
Illuminate
All the things
I love to hate
Contradict
Myself and then
Do it all
Once again
Walking tall
Feeling small
Lonely but
Won't take that call
I contradict
Myself and then
Wonder why
I do it all again

[CHORUS]

You can't escape
Contradiction is the nature of the way we live
And you can't get out
Contradiction is the nature of the way we give
Well it's just a fact
Contradiction is the structure in which we live
And you can't get out
The contradiction

Flying higher
On the floor
More is less
And less is more
This is our
Reality
I am you
And you are me
Negative
So positively
Take my time
But do it suddenly
I contradict
Myself and then
Wonder why
I do it all again

[CHORUS]

Holding back
Pushing on
Staying put
Soon be gone
Telling lies
Truthfully
Our eyes are wide
But we don't see
Walking tall
Feeling small
Lonely but
Won't take that call
I contradict
Myself and then
Wonder why
I do it all again

[CHORUS]

Darkest light
Illuminate
All the things
I love to hate
Flying high
On the floor
More is less and less is more

"Snapshot Memories"

[Part I]

Well I'm a secret lemonade drinker a free thinker
I stay focused but not blinkered
And these snapshot memories in my mind
Legacies from another time
And I find
That as the days pass the colours fade
But the images remain

[Part II]

Grazed knees, page three's
BMX, Atari's

Dayglo, Velcro
Yoyo's, Beano's

Hip hop, don't stop

Starwars figures, football stickers
Cola bottles, Jerry Cottles

Fat laces, dirty faces
Kiss chases, Wacky Races

Herbie Hancock, Kurtis Blow
Roxanne Shanté, UFO

Hip hop
Don't stop

[Part III]

Everything's in slow motion
Hands in the air
Sweat flying everywhere
But we don't care
Well you could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
There's so much love in this room
And yes its all drug induced
Can't remember who I am
Or what I'm doing here
But at the same time
In my mind
Everything is clear
No fear and no drama
It's all good karma
And I never can forget
The night before the morning after

[CHORUS]

Sun up to sun down
Come up to come down
Just waiting for Friday to come around
Sun rise to sun set
How high can we get
Monday morning and none of us have slept yet

Well there's more to life than this
Of that I'm fully aware
But there's nothing more intense
Than crazy nights we shared
We got bass for the body
Chemicals for the head
Every day lives
Were like a skin we shed
Well you could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
There's so much love in this room
Of that we're living proof
You could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
It's a shame that in the end
It was all drug induced

[CHORUS x2]

[Part IV]

Even as I watch you
All the rest seems to disappear
You pull me in with your tractor beams
And wrap me up in your wicked schemes
My Sunday morning eyes observe
Your Cadbury's skin uncurve
And in tronic patterned Venetian light
You moonwalk to the bathroom
Well you move across my space without friction
You're so unbelievable you must be fiction
Or perhaps a premonition
But as I listen
I hear your footfall softly
And all my troubles fall away from me
So easily
But so slowly

[Part V]

All these memories in my mind
I'm still a secret lemonade drinker