It's only so often you get nights like these So don't you dare go and waste it Refinery lights, and salt on the breeze You almost can't bear to taste it A mist rolls up the river With the smell of burning embers It stays with you forever, I remember It's not a simple 'you can never go home again'. 'Cause how come I'm here on the road? And even if summer has come to an end The sweat's pouring off in a flood So I wind the window all the way down As the local radio takes up the sound It stays with you forever, I remember You can't do a thing 'cause it's nobody's fault And if you can't point a finger, there's no point at all The road keeps unwinding for mile after mile And you might just as well keep on driving all night Years ago in a Ford Corsair Your hero's the lad in the back Waiting for the sleep in his eyes to clear And rubbing the crick in his neck The cigarette smoke is blue in the sun He asks how far and they say: "Nearly home" And a day can last forever, I remember

That summer we were meant to go to Ireland Newry or Newcastle, I can't remember where On the ferry from Ardrossan To walk the misty mountains Or whatever people do when they are there But when the first bombs went off in Belfast My father said, I'm sorry son, we'll go another year Instead we drove down south To the country of my birth And went to see my Grandad who lived there We pulled up at the rest home for the aged And found him in a corner in a worn-out easy chair It's probably the last time That I saw him alive He was eighty-five, give or take a year We crossed the fields one blazing August morning To see the Flying Scotsman on its final fare-thee-well I watched as it flashed past And gave its whistle one big blast I don't know why I remember that so well My brother says that year was a nightmare He got ditched by his girlfriend and evicted from his flat And "All you need is love" Turned into "Rivers of blood" Biafra, Ireland, Vietnam, and Israel saw to that But in the east wing of Worksop General A woman had a daughter on the 21st of June And if 1969 Was shit most of the time It's still my favourite year because that daughter was you If 1969 Was just a waste of time It's still my favourite year because of you

sometimes you are snow six sides on a plane nothing looks like you do nor ever will again in the company of billions just far enough away from the earth to stop you melting in the heat of the day ..... we are just water anyway ..... we are just water anyway sometimes you are iron from the middle of a sun thrown out by supernovas to the vacant space beyond your poles attract another and then countless more besides and you coalesce together till you fall, burning, from the sky sometimes you are carbon in the prehistoric mud sometimes you are salt dissolved in a prophet's blood sometimes you are silver sometimes you're just tin but you'll never again be nothing and there may not be an end ..... we are just water anyway ..... we are just water anyway you can waste yourself on whisky cocaine and wine you can kneel in supplication or believe yourself divine you can chase a thousand women or give yourself to one ..... we are just water anyway ..... we are just water anyway sometimes you are ashes in a little pewter jar taken to the seaside and scattered from the pier catching the east wind and blown back in the face of your widow and your daughter then away without a trace ..... we are just water anyway ..... we are just water anyway

"Pardon me, dear madam," he said, folding up his clothes. "Could I have a glass of whisky Or something? I don't know... I'm twenty five years old Not that you should care But if anyone should look for me You can tell them I was here My name is Giovanni People call me John You can call me what you like I won't be around for long From Tilbury to Hong Kong On the Princess Caroline And if I reach Australia I can leave this mess behind I'll be down in the engine room tomorrow On the Princess Caroline Of the Royal Danish Line And if they want to find me, they can follow I could say I didn't do it But I stood and watched him fall Then ran for all I'm worth Which in truth is bugger all And I'm waiting for the call Of the man I called my friend He can warm a place in hell for me When my time comes to an end I can't seek forgiveness I'm worth no one's prayer I saw the red light by your window And now I'm lying here But if I get to Australia They won't see me for dust I'll catch a train to Alice Springs And I can think of bigger things I'll be down in the engine room tomorrow On the Princess Caroline Of the Royal Danish Line And if they want to find me, they can follow"

He takes a drink and stares at the mirror Tries to picture how the routine went A dab of greasepaint, a pad of powder Another drink and a cigarette I came home to a deathly silence You could have cut the air with a knife Is this life, or a game of patience? Jenny said, then she started to cry Some young double act playing for thrills Dancing girls in their leaves of gold He's feeling old but he's top of the bill The TV's here and every seat is sold Ten minutes sir, says the assistant Call me in an hour, he replies Jenny's eyes stared into the distance On the night that Tommy Cooper died She said, I'm leaving now, that's for certain Can't you see I've got my suitcase packed He falls back into the fire curtain And everybody thinks it's part of the act It was Leonardo Da Vinci's birthday And Joe Davis, king of the cue Henry James, turning the screw And Bessie Smith, the queen of the blues I watched the telly while Jenny left me I heard the mini cab revving outside I didn't know if I should laugh or cry On the night that Tommy Cooper died

I don't know if the roof will stay on this place tonight Rain's coming through on the kitchen floor Scandinavian wind howling off the sea (Has) blown a hole through our back door And every hour we listen There's no news today So we just talk about the weather Now they've drafted in the T.A. and the riot police Loud-hailers call my name Everyone's on night-shift, no one else can sleep Eyes front, it's Judgement Day Up on Calvary Hill, see them kneel and pray In the name of all that's good I'll just cross myself, you do the same And wait for Sunday Blow, wind, do your worst Flow, river, flow, wash us all away We'll still talk about the weather They can look down on us, see if it amuses them Try and break us if they can Take this all away, we'll still be here Knock it down, we'll build again Blow, wind, do your worst Flow, river, flow, wash us all away We'll still talk about the weather

A hand like purest porcelain And a burnished silver ring Whispers in the dark Could mean almost anything What happens in the shadows Is just to set the scene Time flickers on the radio Dragons on the river And taxis on the bridge everybody's watching As she waits to be kissed The ghosts of long-gone lovers Step out from the mist And take their hats off to each other When the lights of evening fade And the season comes of age And there's still another hour till the dawn If there's any more to say Continue over page And I'll meet you by the lions in the morning Onward to the pantomime Played out in evening dress I think we've lost the sheriff Says the Lady Mayoress No one else is listening Except me, more or less And St Mary's bells are ringing When the lights...

Nothing here is sacred This is still my creed Buy a basket from the weaver Set it down among the reeds Drop a pebble in the water Lay this stone on solid ground Now look into the sunrise There's work to do You never have much time And you work for no reward From daybreak to darkness It puts you to the sword The corn won't sow itself And the plough hits solid ground It's a lonely old life When there's work to do And the work that you do lasts every day And your everyday work leaves nothing to show So bend your back, one last time And lay down this stone When you look into the mirror And the room stares back at you And you're nowhere to be seen Then you know it's time to Find the pebble in the water Polished like a jewel And at the foot of your cathedral Is the stone beneath the stone In the country you made your own There's work to do

I left this town an orphan Starving and forgotten Scared of my own shadow No more than ten years old Strangers took me by the hand I hitched aboard a caravan The shadows started chasing And I started running slow Verse 2 We went where we were needed Though we were never wanted They worked us till we dropped And then chased us on our way But all the time we laughed At their scheming and your graft This road will never stop Another place, another day Chorus Running slowly, that's what I do Around the country, and the city too When you greet me, I say adieu I'm running slowly Verse 3 Ten years on this waggon And once again an orphan Those who took me in They're all dead and gone The one I called my father He traded skins and leather Under his beating wing I learned to be alone Verse 4 Canals and roads and railways I will ride them always As long as I have breath And four wheels that turn around You hear me approaching See the shadow chasing As I drive my one-horse caravan Into your one-horse town Running slowly... Verse 5 And now I am returning Now I've stopped running Happy ever after Thus endeth my tale You can make your peace With your rabbi and your priest My dogs are on your trail And I'm a law unto myself Running slowly...

The bride's outside smoking a last cigarette When the organ starts playing 'The Lady In Red' This is her cue, it's time to be wed And the Matron of Honour starts weeping The photographs take the best part of an hour The best man and bridesmaids tie tins to the car While the vicar and verger slip off to the bar There's three more weddings this morning She didn't want the church, and she didn't want white She said: "We can drive up to Gretna tonight." She said: "We can do just whatever we like." But maybe he wasn't listening Now it's one for the money that paid for the dress Two for the chauffeur, the car and the rest Three to get ready to greet all the guests In the Masonic Hall in the evening Champagne is called for and glasses are charged The best man reads out his speech from a card The bride's father staggers back from the bar And says: "Is it my turn yet?" He coughs, then he barks: "That's one more off my hands So cheers to the bridesmaids and to the best man The boring bit's done, now get on with the dance Is there anyone that I've forgotten? You know what you get when you pay for the best No daughter of mine does without a white dress And I booked their honeymoon by internet The things you can do nowadays." "I don't think I've witnessed such a shameful display," The groom's mother whispers as it gets underway The bride takes the floor as the band starts to play 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' The best man's pretending to sing down the phone The old ones are starting to make their way home The groom's in the garden, pacing around on his own He loosens his tie and starts shaking It's not easy to dance in a long wedding dress But she smiles for the public and she does her best When she finally sits down for a rest She says: "Where the hell is my husband?" It's one for the money that paid for the dress...

(instrumental - Fantoni in dub)