Hide In Your Shell

Hide in your shell cos the world is out to bleed you for a ride
What will you gain making your life a little longer?
Heaven or Hell, was the journey cold that gave your eyes of steel?
Shelter behind painting your mind and playing joker

Too Frightening to listen to a stranger
Too Beautiful to put your pride in danger
You're waiting for someone to understand you
But you've got demons in your closet
And you're screaming out to stop it
Saying life's begun to cheat you
Friends are out to beat you
Grab on to what you scramble for

Don't let the tears linger on inside now
Cos it's sure time you gained control
If I can help you, if I can help you
If I can help you, just let me know
Well, let me show you the nearest signpost
To get your heartback and on the road
If I can help you, if I can help you
If I can help you, just let me know.

All through the night as you lie awake and hold yourself so tight
What do you need, a second-hand-movie-star to tend you?
I as a boy, I believed the saying the cure for pain was love
How would it be if you could see the world through my eyes?

Too Frightening- the fire's getting colder
Too Beautiful- to think you're getting older
You're looking for someone to give an answer.
But what you see is just an illusion
You're surrounded by confusion
Saying life's begun to cheat you
Friends are out to beat you
Grab on to what you can scramble for
Don't let the tears...
... just let me know
I wanna know...
I wanna know you...
Well let me know you
I wanna feel you
I wanna touch you
Please let me near you
Can you hear what I'm saying?
Well I'm hoping, I'm dreamin', I'm prayin'
I know what you're thinkin'
See what you're seein'
Never ever let yourself go

Hold yourself down, hold yourself down
Why d'ya hold yourself down?
Why don't you listen, you can
Trust me,
There's a place I know the way to
A place there is need to feel you
Feel that you're alone
Hear me
I know exactly what you're feelin'
cos all your troubles are within you
please begin to see that I'm just bleeding to
Love me, love you
Loving is the way to Help me, help you
- Why must we be so cool, oh so cool?
Oh, we're such damn fools...

Asylum

Jimmy Cream was keen, his brain was always winnin',
I can't keep tabs on mine, it's really quite a joke
I see him down the road, I ask if he'd be willing
To lend me 15p - I'm dying for a smoke
Don't arrange to have me sent to no asylum
I'm just as sane as anyone
It's a just a game I play for fun - for fun.
I told em - look! - I said I'm not the way you're thinkin,
Just when I'm down, I'll be a clown, I'll play the fool.
Please don't arrange to have me set to no asylum
It's just a game I play for fun - for fun.
Will he take a sailboat ride?
He is very likely to,
Will he feel good inside?
He ain't very likely to,
Will he tell you he's alive?
He is always trying to
But nothin', no nothin', does he say
In the morning when the day's begun
- "Hello Good morning, how are you?"
And in the evening or the noonday sun
- "What a lovely afternoon!"
Well I've been living next to you

Bluesy Monday is the one day that they come here,
When they haunt me and taunt me in my cage.
I mock them all, they're feelin' small, they got no answer
They're playin' dumb but I'm just lauging as they rage
Don't arrange to have me sent to no asylum
It's only a game I play for fun
I've been foolin' everyone - everyone.
Will he take a sailboat ride?
He is very likely to
Will he feel good inside?
He ain't ever likely to
Will he tell you he's alive?
He is always tryin' to
But nothin', no nothin' does he ever say
In the morning when the day's begun
- "Do you think it looks like rain"?
And in the evening or the noonday sun
- "You know I nearly missed my train"
Well I've been living next to you my friend
But what kind of friend are you?
Is it the beginning or the sorry end?
Will I ever see it through?
I've never been insane
Oh what's the game?
I believe I'm dying...
He's mad, mad, mad...
Not quite right...
Oooooooooo..............

Dreamer

Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said "Far out, - What a day, a year, a laugh it is!"
You know, - Well you know you had it comin' to you,
Now there's not a lot I can do

Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer;
So now you put your head in your hands, oh no!
I said "Far out, - What a day, a year, a laugh it is!"
You know, - Well you know you had it comin' to you,
Now there's not a lot I can do.

Well work it out someday

If I could see something
You can see anything you want boy
If I could be someone-
You can be anyone, celebrate boy.
If I could do something-
Well you can do something,
If I could do anything-
Well can you do something out of this world?

Take a dream on a Sunday
Take a life, take a holiday
Take a lie, take a dreamer
dream, dream, dream, dream, dream along...

Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
OH NO!

Rudy

Rudy's on a train to nowhere, halfway down the line
He don't wanna get there, but he needs time
He ain't sophisticated, nor well-educated
After all the hours he wasted, still he needs time.
He needs time - he needs time for livin',
He needs time - for someone just to see him.
He ain't had no lovin'
For no reason or rhyme
And the whole world's above him.
Well it's not as though he's fat-
No there's more to this than that-
See he tries to play it cool-
Wouldn't be nobodys fool.

Rudy thought that all good things comes to those that wait
But recently he could see that it may come too late.

All through your life, all through the years
Nobody loved, nobody cared.
So dim the light, dark are your fears
Try as I might, I can't hold back the tears
How can you live without love, it's not fair?
Someone said give but I just didn't dare.
What good advice are you waiting to hear?
Hearing's alright for them that's all there
You'd better gain control now
You'd better show'em all now
You'd better make or break now
You'd better give and take now
You'll have to push and shove now
You'll have to find some love now
You'd better gain control now.
Now he's just come out the movie.
Numb of all the pain,
Sad but in a while he'll soon be
back on his train...

If Everyone Was Listening

The actors and jesters are here
The stage is in darkness and clear
For raising the curtain
and no-one's quite certain whose play it is
How long ago, how long
If only we had listened then.
If we'd known just how right we were going to be.
For we dreamed a lot
And we schemed a lot
And we tried to sing of love before the stage fell apart.

If everyone was listening you know
There'd be a chance that we could save the show
Who'll be the last clown
To bring the house down?
Oh no, please no, don't let the curtain fall

Well, what is your costume today?
Who are the props in your play?
You're acting a part which you thought from the start
was an honest one.
Well how do you plead?
An actor indeed!
Go re-learn your lines,
You don't know what you've done
The finale's begun.

If everyone was listening you know
There'd be a chance that we could save the show,
Who'll be the last clown
To bring the house down?
Oh no, please no, don't let the curtain fall.

Crime Of The Century

Now they're planning the crime of the century
Well what will it be?
Read all about their schemes and adventuring
It's well worth a fee
So roll up and see
And they rape the universe
How they've gone from bad to worse
Who are these men of lust, greed, and glory?
Rip off the masks and let's see.
But that's no right - oh no, what's the story?
There's you and there's me
That can't be right

Easy Does It

And if my heart's had wings,
I'd be the bird that sings,
I'd fly where love isn't shy
And everyone is willing to try.
And if we had the time,
And time's so hard to find,
I can't believe what you say,
Start sending those shadows away,
And if you know who you are,
You are your own superstar,
And only you can shape the movie that you make,
So when the lights disappear;
And only the silence disappears,
And only the silence is near,
Watch yourself; easy does it, easy while you wait.

And if you know who you are,
You are your own superstar
And only you can shape the music that you make.
So when the crowds disappear,
And only the silence is here
Watch yourself, easy does it, easy does it, easy while you wait.

---

From the Album Crisis? What Crisis? (1975)



Easy Does It
Sister Moonshine
Ain't Nobody But Me
Soapbox Opera
Another Man's Woman
Lady
Poor Boy
Just A Normal Day
The Meaning
Two Of Us

Sister Moonshine

Ooo-when I was a small boy,
Well, I could see the magic in a day,
But, now I'm just a poor boy,
Well, maybe it's the price you have to pay,
If you lock your dreams away
If no-one wants to listen.

What's the story,
I wish I'd been a minstrel,
Just think of all the maidens I could call,
Oh-I wish I'd been a gypsy,
Then maybe I could read the crystal ball,
'Cause surrounded by these walls,
Just makes me feel uneasy.

I said hey, Sister Moonshine
Won't you send me a little sun
I said hey, Sister moonshine
Who's a stranger to everyone.

So, -MAKE US ALL LAUGH-
Make us all cry
-MAKE US ALL GIVE-
Make us all try
Give us a secret, show us the light,
Well, strike up the music, light up the sky.

Mmm-If I was a lion,
Well, I could be the king off all the plains,
Mmm-If is was an eagle,
Well, maybe I could fly above the rains,
Oh, fly above the pain
But, I know I'm only foolin'

I said hey, Sister Moonshine,
Won't you send me a little sun,
I said hey, Sister Moonshine,
Who's a stranger to everyone.

So, -MAKE US ALL LAUGH-
Make us all cry,
-MAKE US ALL GIVE-
Make us all cry,
I said hey, Sister Moonshine
I said hey, Sister Moonshine,
I said hey, said hey
I said hey, I said hey Sister Moonshine.

Ain't Nobody But Me

Let me tell you a story that'll make a change,
Let me tell you when I'm way out of range;
It's about a man who's crueler than me,
So promise not to cause a scene,
Heaven help the one's you love,
There's no big need for stars above

Well, you can run, you, know he'll find you,
It don't matter now, just look behind you,
You had your warn, and you knew the score,
You got it wrong, and that means war;
So, why'd you have to treat me rough,
Your explanation's not enough.

-Ain't nobody but me,
Gonna lie for you, gonna die for you;
Ain't no fish in the sea,
Gonna sigh for you, gonna try for you,
Gonna lie for you, gonna die for you,
Wooh-

You see, I got a mental disposition,
Sometimes, I'm mean, sometimes I'm vicious;
I'm Dr. Jekyll, I'm Mr. Hyde,
So if you wanna stay alive,
Just give me all you've got to give,
And, then perhaps I'll let you live.

-Ain't nobody but me,
Gonna lie for you, gonna die for you,
Ain't no fish in the sea,
Gonna sigh for you, gonna try for you,
Gonna lie for you, gonna die for you;
Gonna sigh for you, gonna try for you,
Gonna lie for you, gonna die for you.-

(HUSH) Now baby, stop your crying,
(OH YES) I know that I've been lying,
(HUSH) Now baby, stop your crying
(OH YES) I know that I've been lying
(HUSH) Now baby, stop your crying
(OH YES) I know that I've been lying
(HUSH) Now baby, stop your crying
(OH YES) I know that I've been lying
AAAaaa

Soapbox Opera

" I want to tell you something;
Listen to me,
I'm trying to say, I'm better than you,
I am only what I am"

" We must not stand still,
For the night is coming,
Every man, every woman and child,
Everybody help me"

I hear, only what I want to hear,
But, I have to believe in something,
Have to believe in just one thing.
I said Father Washington, you're all mixed up,
Collecting sinners in an old tin cup.
Well, spare a listen for a restless fool,
There's something missing when I need your rule.

Well ,hey there;
You tell me you're a holy man, But, although I am just a beginner,
I don't see you as a winner.
I said, Sister Washington, you're all washed up,
Collecting teardrops in a paper cup;
If I could tell you what you need to know;
If I could tell you to get on with the show.

I'd rather never leave her,
There's a storm in my head,
Makes me hear what you say;
Just was it true?
So, what have I to do?
-Well, what has he to do?-
+Oh, what is there to-oo do+
What oh-oh-ohoh

"All creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful, the lord god made them all"

Mary, oh tell me what I'm living for,
'Cause I feel like I'm tossed in the river,
Oh' have you a son to deliver.

I said, Father Washington, you're all mixed up,
Collecting sinners in an old tin cup,
you tell the children what you need to know,
But, will they listen when it's time to go.

Oh, Sister Robinson, you're all washed up,
Collecting teardrops in a paper cup,
Can someone tell me what I need to know,
Can someone help me to get on with the show.