James Album

Take an axe to your past, to your family tree
Carve a face from the wood, an effigy
Make wings from the leaves, hide from the bark
Kindling for the hair, rose for his heart

Someone to draw you right
Someone to catch the light

Draw the blue from the skies into his eyes
Carve the lines on his face, a map of the race
Juice from the root of a beet for his skin
Set the tides of the blood with the pulse of the drum

Someone to draw you right
Someone to catch the light
I'm alive, I'm alive

Wash the boy in the stream, so tenderly
Press his lips to your lips, give him your breath
He awakes with the weight of the vision he holds
Sees the rent in time through which he must fold

Someone to draw you right
Someone to catch the light
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive

Stir the heart with a drum, kiss smoke in his mouth
Show him signs of a life that's a whole lot better
And he calls down the rain, tornadoes and hurricanes
There's a world in his veins that's a whole lot better

I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive
I'm alive, I'm alive

Fingers raised to the sky, a snake for a spine
He's drunk on a life that's a whole lot better
Teach him songs of the bees, double helix and honey comb
Play him wind through the leaves that's a whole lot better

Alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive
I'm alive, I'm alive

Now, the towers have fallen
So much dust in the air
It affected your vision
Couldn't see yourself clear

From the fall came such choices
Even worse than the fall
There's this chain of consequences
Within, without

Action, cause and reaction
Never follows to plan
Black swans on your picnic table
Knocking over the jam

Please don't preach me forgiveness
You're hardwired for revenge
War is just about business
Within, without

Hey ma, the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Hey ma, the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces

Hey ma, the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Coming home in pieces

War, war, war, war

The dead live on within us
Keep your fingers crossed
We were choking on the smoke and the dust
And the lives that were lost

Scratch the surface of liberals
There's a beast underneath
Others hiding their Jekyll's
Within, without

Hey ma, the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Hey ma, the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces

War, war, war, war

I can feel the daylight
I can feel the day lightning on me, lightning on me
I can feel the daylight
I can feel the day lightning on me, falling on me

My mirror's laughing at me
Says, boy, are you getting old?
There's so much junk in your life
What you've got, you don't even know

Don't take a phone company
To tell you life's pay as you go
I wonder how much of life is set up in útero?

Under the waterfall, under the waterfall
Under the waterfall, it's cool and cold, and clear

Watching too much TV
I'm an actor in a puppet show
There's so much stuff in my life
No room for me to grow

One day I'm going to break from my life
Due south down to Mexico
I'm going to burn down my house
It's the only way to let it go

Under the waterfall, under the waterfall
Under the waterfall, it's cool and cold, and clear

Run your hands 'cross the flanks of a horse
Feel the pulse of blood, feel the heat and the force
It's an antidote to a life spent on the beat

That's the beat of concrete, the beat of machines
Of mobile phones and plasma screens
How much junk in my life do I really need?

Under the waterfall, under the waterfall
Under the waterfall, it's cool and cold, and clear

I'm so cynical, where I need to play?
I'm so cynical, find another way
I'm so cynical, I can't change

One drop is lonely, two drops okay
Three drops can make a spray
Four drops get carried away, dive

Under the waterfall, under the waterfall
Under the waterfall, it's cool and cold, and clear
Under the waterfall, under the waterfall
Under the waterfall, it's cool and cold, and clear

Adore this life, there is no guarantee
Could end by tomorrow
Adore every fight, an opportunity
To give back what was borrowed

Nothing's sacred, make it shatter
Nothing's sacred, fall apart

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break me in two
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break me in two

Bring on the dreams, I'm shaking with relief
Don't miss the darker scenes
These roller coaster dreams are breaking my belief
That I should matter

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break me in two
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break me in two
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break me in two

I don't own anything, just this life living me
No control, refugee, just this life, living me
I don't owe anything, just this life, loving me
No control, refugee, just this life, living me

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Come on, break, come on, break
Come on, break, come on, break
Come on, break

No messing with a sense of humor
Will see you through scrapes and all shapes of clouds
We're late, we should have got here sooner
You can't rush fate or question the Dao

We're too thin to wear black
We're no victim to crack
We're too unique to be cloned

What you don't get, you attack
You rely on the laugh track
To get where the punch line explodes
And look who's laughing now

We're laughing out loud, we're laughing
A sound between a cry and scream
We're laughing, laughing out loud

You wrote us off as part time losers
Wielding an axe to hide your self doubt
I don't forgive, I forget

I can't remember which paper
Somebody answer the phone
The phone is ringing now

We're laughing out loud, we're laughing
A sound between a cry and scream
We're laughing, laughing out loud

We're still standing, standing tall
We're still standing
We're laughing, laughing and proud
Come and stand with us or fall, stand or fall

The world is spinning 'round
Spinning 'round, so much faster
And our world is spinning 'round
Spinning 'round, so much faster

I may as well try semaphore
As words no longer work
This fool's feeling cornered
And he acted like a jerk

He'd tell you he was sorry
If that made good the hurt
It's too late now for sorry
It's too late now for words

We survive despite our desire to stray
Hell to pay, thought you knew my desires
It's innate, it's not going away
I hope you're not going away

It's a question of convenience
How pain, with time, will fade
Surrendered to acceptance
Dark night gives way to day

It was meant to be a gesture
That mark across your face
It's too late now for sorry
It's too late now for grace

We survive despite our desire to stray
Hell to pay, thought you knew my desires
It's innate, it's not going away

Hell to pay, thought you knew
Hell to pay, thought you knew
Thought you knew, thought you knew

Send seasonal greetings from nowhere
I'm working and playing away
Remember the moment of leaving
Yesterday, yesterday

Roll through these towns, over seas, over mountains
Lucky to work when work is scarce
Father must feed, must provide, he must fountain
Left my heart within your care

Upside, love you, downside, miss you
I'm here, you are there
Upside, working, downside, hurting
Hear my echo, dancing bear

Connected to you by a mobile
What I can't do, I can say
Away from you, I'm feeling empty
I am raining, I am gray

Upside, love you, downside, miss you
I'm here, you are there
Upside, working, downside, hurting
Hear my echo, dancing bear

My work's about words and sounds you can taste
Violins and trumpets, chocolate cakes
Here are some words, words you can taste
Here are some words, kissing your face

Upside, love you, downside, miss you
I'm here, you are there
Upside, working, downside, hurting
Hear my echo, dancing bear

Ahahahahahahahahahah
5 nights no sleep
My mind's battered
Stock market freefall
Dream's shattered
Lost cause put up a sure winner
Made a few bob a new job
As a serial killer

You wanna talk to me whiteboy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy boy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy man

Every night microwave TV dinners
Mobile phones make her brain shimmer
Don't say the "C" word she got the all clear
That jokes bad taste and so dog-eared
My Mum says I look like Björn Brenner
To old for Hamlet to young for Lear
Got a shaved head lost weight ????
Got a pierced lip, cos it's still hip to be a queer

You wanna talk to me whiteboy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy boy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy man

Ahahahahahahahahahah

I'm all mashed up
Mum's droning on and on
And on and on
And I'm all mashed up
Mum's droning on and on
And on and on
She wants this, she wants that
She wants bling, she wants tap
She wants creams that can cover the cracks
Wedding bliss, cancer scans
She's wants family man
Self-esteem in an old body bag
She said...

Ahahahahahahahahahah

You wanna talk to me whiteboy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy boy man
You wanna talk to me whiteboy man

You're going to murder in the name of God
What kind of God you dreaming of?
A God of blood not love

So, you can get your 72
Virgins to abuse
I hope they kick like mules

War, war

My God's bigger than your God
He made the world run out of puff
More important things to do

War, war

It's black, it's white, a fight
An elephant gray
There's this universe at stake
We get in the way

Go left, go right, straight on
Just do what they say
There's a universe at stake
We get in the way

It's black, it's white, a fight
An elephant gray
There's a universe at stake
We get in the way

Go left, go right, straight on
(War)
Just do what they say
There's a universe at stake
(War)
We get in the way

War, war, war, war

Stray cats with fish heads, feeding their litters
Feral kids fight over rats, tailed from gutters
Bookie mouth brokers, rotten fruit sellers
Pickpockets, ghost through the crowd

He climbs onto boxes by market stall traders
Toothless and gray haired, thousand yard stare
He had a vision which broke the receiver
Receiving transmission, surface to air

Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive

Conjuring devils, angels and demons
Only the children see shape to his tone
Laughing and crying, his song fell upon us
We buried his treasure along with his bones

Arms held aloft, away to the sky
Innocent witness, he testified
Drained of his purpose, he falls off the quayside
Absorbed by the ocean, rolled by the tide

Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive

Under the power lines which crackle and sparkle
Under the freeway, now, mostly rubble
The hungry still gather to fill up with stories
Of monsters and heroes and men

Under the stars, which prick us and call us
Connect us to hope that perfection's within
Is here on the ground, we're reckless and hopeless
Damned by the slip of a pen

Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air

Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air

Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air

Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air

Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive

In this bar, in this bar, I am dying
In this bar, in this bar, I am dying

Disassociated, keep off the grass
I prefer you naked, this too shall pass
Nuance carefully weighted, too slow, too fast
Too slow, too fast

I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home

Kissing is forbidden, biting leaves marks
Sex is overrated, I need to dance
Calmly understated, well, you always had class
This too shall, hide is amour-plated
Oblivious to darts, this too shall pass

I wanna go home
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now

I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
Right now, right now, right now

I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now

I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, right now
I wanna go home, I wanna go home

In this bar, in this bar, I am dying
In this bar, in this bar, my heart's dying, dying