Cos now he's going to tell us all
The truth about John
Tho' he needs a little help
To speed up the prose.
He was taken on trust
But that wasn't enough
You lose some friends this way
But that's how it goes.

Here she comes to trail the cameras
In her wake, and sable
She wears the scent that only comes with success.
She says it was love
But she wasn't above
Selling her secrets
To the national press.

And now she's going to tell us all
The truth about John
Tho' she needs a little help
To speed up the prose.
He counted on you
And who cares if it's true?
You're as bad as the man
Who landed the blows.

And they're all going to tell us now
The truth about John
Again and again on the interview shows.
And if the truth isn't nice
Well that just adds to the price
Oh, make sure those wounds never close.

Get your cut, you cut-price writer
Get your cut in this cut-throat game
The more the cut, the more he grab, yeah
He's just a someone out to stab you.
 

 
Another feature film about an air-line disaster
Another news item and another newscaster
But there's worst to come at the arrival gate
There's a crack on board and it's running in freight

Well the fruit of the poppy take up all your time
Getting high by the hands of re-organised crime
Put the put the squeeze on the Colombian leaf
Make the brother a liar and a sister a thief

It's nothing like velvet, nothing like velvet
It's nothing like velvet but it starts off smooth
Nothing like velvet and a rut's not a groove
Its nothing like velvet when it's pound on pound
Nothing like velvet when you're underground

They're shooting up Glasgow, shooting up Leeds
There was never this peril with the stems and seeds
And the hip and the right have got nothing to say
Except, "It's out of control and it's headed your way"

It's nothing like velvet, nothing like velvet

And I loved Charlie Parker but you know he did us harm
Every time he left to pour that inspiration in his arm

It's nothing like velvet but it starts off smooth
Nothing like velvet and a rut's not a groove
Its nothing like velvet when it's pound on pound
Nothing like velvet when you're underground
 

 
Tell me why must this man dun get so tired?
Tell me why must this man dun get so tired?
Been up three nights straight, and he's totally wired
Tell me why must this man dun get so tired?

See him! See him! Why don't you see him
See him! See him! Why don't you see him

Tell me why does this man dun get so weary?
His face is pale and his eyes they are bleary
Close them, and his dreams are strange and eerie
Tell me why does this man dun get so weary?

See him! See him! Why don't you see him
See him! See him! Why don't you see him

See him! - He's a real achiever
See him! - He's a true believer
In hard work and freedom
And the "me" generation
A.M. Rock and privatisation

See him! See him! Why don't you see him
See him! See him! Why don't you see him

See him! - He's a real achiever
See him! - He's a true believer
In hard work and freedom
And the "me" generation
A.M. Rock and privatisation

Tell me why does this man dun get so weary?
Tell me why does this man dun get so weary?
Why does this man dun get so weary?
He's a sucker for punishment
That's my theory

See him! See him! Why don't you see him
See him! See him! Why don't you see him
 

Oh sister I'm frightened, oh brother I'm scared
To learn of the death of the Salvador priests
Where was the democracy the congress had paid for?
I think it was uniformed,
Armed,
And I think it was there

Oh sister I'm lost - just what could they do?
Nicaragua's election, so free on the day
But the campaign trail leads you
To the shadows and borders
There's war and embargo if you don't vote
America's way

Hold the line, hold the line, hold the line Sandinista!
Though many have fallen, still many are strong
They must not take you back
Into the heart of the darkness
They must not raise the hand of Somosa
Again in this land
 

 
Don't walk, don't walk it says but he can't ride
Not while his only living relative's inside
Who couldn't pay his way and couldn't pay his fines
His spirit stretched like gum between the 'stop' signs

The dust of angels hurled into your eyes
Does more than sear and more than tranquilise the burger beads of gristle marbled hard
And strewn like clam-shell pearls in your back-yard

Race me down, Felipe, race me down
To the small and secret corners of this town
Race me fast on sunset
Race me past sundown
Race me down, Felipe

The street is a storefront smashed beyond repair
Where the cheaper goods still cost too much to care
But wisdom's thrown in free with every sale
Don't fool yourself 'cos you can't even raise your bail

Say, hey Felipe, the barrio's like a barrier to a town
That no-one knows (where no-one goes)
Say, stay Felipe, left to lose, they left us curfewed,
Left us cracked in two
 

 
It's a life-time from the leather stalls
The Berbers and bazaars
Down through every measured movement
In the making of the cars.
And it doesn't pay much
And it doesn't leave scars - on the outside

And they give you the impression
It's all Monet and Braque
But the oil they squeeze on their palettes
They never use on this track.
And every extra filter
Is a fissure, is a crack - on the inside

All this way - Toulouse
Another day - Toulouse
You've come too far - Toulouse

And he walks in right behind you
As you both go punching in
And you both pick up your rivets
From an aluminium bin.
And he thinks what makes him different
Is the colour of his skin - it's on the outside

All this way - Toulouse
Another day - Toulouse
You've come too far - Toulouse.

You've had their OAS
You've had their CGT
And no-one will be working here
When they bring in CNC
 

Reptilien, Katzen, Amphibien
Sie sind Opfer in des Menschen Reich
Raubtiere, Pferde, Affen
Sie sind Opfer in des Menschen Reich

In Belem und überall sonst in der Welt werden die tropischen Wälder
systematisch gefällt und verbrannt
Und mit der Motorsäge abrasiert bis kein Lebewesen mehr sicher ist
Eine Eidechse wird vom Schwanz bis zur Kehle aufgeschlitzt
So verlangt es der Norden vom Süden
Dort wo man von der Hand in den Mund lebt

Aber was wir jetzt nehmen, können wir niemals ersetzen
Noch nicht einmal der Leopard ist schnell genug (um zu entkommen)

Die Tiere, die bei uns leben, sind nur Handelsware
Für die, die ihren Wert nicht kennen aber scharf auf
den Preis sind

Von Geelong nach Genua sind Schlangen in Mode
Vogeleier und Schmetterlingsflügel
Rechne das in der Zehnerpotenz
Und der Lemur und das Rhinozeros werden nur in einer
Anmerkung erwähnt
In einer unbekannten Studie , die irgendjemand mal geschrieben hat
Aber ihr Tot ist kein Geheimnis
Sie werden gestohle
 

I'm hearing only bad news from Radio Africa.
I'm hearing only bad news from Radio Africa

They've still got trouble with a monster in the South.
Heads buried deep in that lion's mouth
Like a jaw snapped shut, it keeps them apart
If that jaw got broke it would be a start

The West still complains about the foreign aid
They'd do better to change the terms of trade
More tanks than food in the Ogaden
It looks like Moscow got it wrong again

Mozambique and Mugabe
Still got Frelimo I hear them say
But 'Exchange' means…
'Recession' means…
It all means 'Harder to take'
Tanzania should be moving up a gear
Instead they've got to step on the brake

Can't stop a movement that's come this far
But 'Lending' means…
'Interest' means…
'Harder to Fight'
Independence has a hidden expense
When the hands on the purse strings are white
 

Cold breath, on a window
"Gate two" dim-lit on a destination board
No surprises in your lunch box
No surprises in between times
Put that down to Henry Ford

Chorus: But it was OK 'til they got snow blind
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
Snow blind, snow blindness

Sky-line from a window
Wall-map well-marked high-up
With a sharply drawn red line
High-power conversation
High performance reputations
Don't look to close at those designs

Chorus: But it was OK 'til they got snow blind
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
Snow blind, snow blindness

Museum pieces rolling from production lines
Pretty soon they'll be handing out the speeding fines

Sun-burst through a window
"Sprint Speed" "Space Age" "Tint Glass"
Coming soon if not before
Closing channels out in Europe
Bogota get a crossed line
The whole crowd waiting for the score

Chorus: But it was OK 'til they got snow blind
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
They got snow blind thought they were doing us a kindness
Snow blind, snow blindness
 

You say you know me from the room that I have made
But what is housing anyway?
Only resting and a place to stay
The architects familiar theme
I didn't choose the colour scheme

You say you'll guide me in the route I plan to take
But what is travel anyway?
Just missed connections and long delays
From Capricorn to cold extreme
And someone else's colour scheme

Nothing to loose
I've got nothing to loose
In a midnight dark as a spreading bruise
Nothing to loose
I've got nothing to loose
Between the angry reds and the dust-bowl blues

You say you'll show me all the thoughts I called my own
But what is thinking anyway?
Just furrowed brows and missing days
A broken sleep and coffee steam
The morning caffeine colour scheme

I've got nothing to loose
I've got nothing to loose
In a midnight black as a burnt out fuse
Nothing to choose
I've got nothing to loose
Between the angry reds and the dust-bowl blues

You say you have the formula for the risks I have to take
But who would gamble anyway?
On sure things that always fall away
The endless fences tear the dream
The fallen jockey's colour scheme

You say you know me from the room that I have made
But what is housing anyway?
 

There's a mouth on the book she is reading
The lips are so red, they could almost be bleeding
As red as the shirt that she has to pull on
As the wind cools
By the big pool

She is asking advice of her mother
The woman in black she could not be another
As black as the look that she gives to the boys
Calls the, "Poor fools"
By the big pool

The big pool is frighteningly wide
It laps a town where the red and the black collide
Sometimes the waves even have to decide
The big pool stirs just outside…

At the edge of the square there's a meeting
The men are in black and their wave is no greeting
Black as the sockets of skulls in a cellar
Yeah, the new ghouls
By the big pool

Through the dust there's a cluster of young boys
Red neckerchiefs in the heat and the noise
Red as the past of Emilia-Romagna
Oh, by whose Rules?
By the big pool

The big pool is frighteningly wide
It laps a town where the red and the black collide
Sometimes the waves even have to decide
The big pool stirs just outside…

"Tell me again", said the young girl
The sun's setting red and my head's in a whirl
Red is the colour that killed Aldo Moro

While black uniforms lived by torture and sorrow
But there's no middle ground, not now or tomorrow
Still, I will choose
 

You know for every one way to sit up
There must be five hundred ways to beg.
And how can you ever be a man of standing
With a chain wrapped around your legs.

Just like Arbogast on the top two stairs
You're waiting for a carver to come cutting through your cares.
Living on your savings, saving up your prayers
Come on down, the new millionaires.

The famous say walk in their footsteps
But don't you go tread on their toes.
And if you wait for luck to open up
You'll be waiting there to see it close.

Well I think it was viscount
Or it might have been a prince
When he said enjoy your leisure
 

Album, tour, albumen - you're still picking at the shell
And you know you should be glad of the living
But it seems like a living hell sometimes
And on this playing stage you play so hard
But so much harder still - is the life beneath, down deep in the seams
Where your hotel nights are the stuff of the dreams
Of the men below

Imagine, having to fight
To work two miles down from the air and the light
And imagine, having to plead
That a job that can kill, is a job that you need

Darker blue this darkness, than a pale young miner's eyes
Who has to see the convoy lights come shining
And can't close off his surprise
With his one poor piece of paving, pressing hard against his palm
Knowing it might be the only way he'd ever get to spend another day
With the men below

A bingo king is calling
It must be morning time again
And every gaudy ball that gets blown out
It seems it's numbered 'number ten'
While on an empty bus they tried so very hard to fill up every seat
There was a method in this mad alarm
Who do you think would ever do such harm to the men below?

And who knows what we all owe
To the boys in the dust - to the men below?

And who knows what we all owe
To the boys in the dust - to the men below?

And who knows what we all owe
To the boys in the dust - to the men below?
 

What's keeping the White House white
Is it chalk, Is it fog, Is it fear?
Are they staying up most of the night
And sending somebody out for a beer?
Is it bed-time for Bonzo?
Is it time for a change?
Is it flavour-free TV dinners?
It's a hard thing to take, when they make a mistake
America for Beginners.

The sound of a bell with a crack
Even the swingers are swinging right
The vigilantes are on the way back
With prime-time 'fight the good fight'.
What a start to a day
It starts three times with a "K"
There's no sponsored hour for sinners
They'll bring back the hot seat
And turn up the heat
America for Beginners

That's America for Beginners.

You wear designer jeans after dark
And your shirts are sharp-cut in satin
But won't you watch out for Central Park
And apartments in uptown Manhattan.
It's a sign of the times
Better stay out in front
Because they've only got time for winners.
Just keep living for fun, you son of a gun
America for Beginners.

Everywhere there's stripes and stars
Men in dark suits in unmarked cars
Sipping Jack Daniels in Third World bars
They're close to the edge.
They're as close as you can get.