Villagers Album

Have you got just a minute
Are you easily mad
Let me show you the back room
Where I saw the dead
Dancing like children
On a midsummer morn
And they asked me to join
They asked me to join
But my body was stubborn
Wouldn't let me give in
So I offered a good deed
In return for a sin

Now they've got me where they want me
In this daily parade
And I walk unafraid
I walk unafraid
But the crowd's are all laughing
At my every mistake
And its making my neck hurt
And I feel like a fake
How can I even stand here
Like I've something to say
I got nothing to say
I got nothing to say
And it feels like I'm changing
Keep forgetting my way
So I asked an old stranger
And he led me astray
It's something we're missing darling
So let's wander instead
And I'll show you the back room
Where I saw the dead

And we will be thankful
And we will be fed
You take the torso
And I'll take the head
It's something we're missing darling
So let's wander instead
And I'll show you the back room
Where I saw the dead

The most familiar room
Every implement was leading to you
And your homely sense of disarray
Never once the same, always rearranged
But things would never change
In the scene between the window frame
Where the jackals preyed on every soul
Where they tied you to a pole
And stripped you of your clothes
I was a dreamer
Staring at windows
Out onto the main street
Cos that's where the dream goes
And each time they found fresh meat to chew
I would turn away and return to you
You would offer me your unmade made
Feed me till I'm fed, read me till I'm read
But when the morning came
You would catch me at the window again
In an eyes wide open sleeping state
Staring into space, with no look upon my face
I was a dreamer
Staring at windows
Out onto the main street
Cos that's where the dream goes
And when I got older, when I grew bolder
Out onto the streets I flew
Released from your shackles
I danced with the jackals
And learned a new way to move
So before you take this song as truth
You should wonder what I'm taking from you
How I benefit from you being here
Lending me your ears while I'm selling you my fears
I was a dreamer (I'm selling you my fears)
Staring at windows (I'm selling you my fears)
Out onto the main street (I'm selling you my fears)
Cos that's where the dream goes (I'm selling you)
I was a dreamer
Staring at windows
Out onto the main street
Cos that's where the dream goes.

You see a mask from your window at night
So you wake and you go outside
And you put it on
And they treat you in a different way
But you can't understand what they say
After you've put it on

So a change is never an end
Cause this is happening all over again
And it's been days since I left
On this ship of promises

Another day, another denial
Every longing's up on trial
So you learn to put it on
As the captain calls everyone in
To the dance hall and the night begins
You have to put it on

All these visions of a welcoming party, pretty party
Have been lost, cause it's the same since I left
On this ship of promises

All the churches I remember well
Clocking in and out to the sound of the bell
We just put it on
It takes you in, it scrubs you clean, it sanitizes every dream
And you put it on
You just put it on

But I'll meet you in between
What I say and what I mean
And we will make our own mess
On this ship of promises
Cause it's the same since we left
On this ship of promises
We just could not care less
On this ship of promises
Don't look back

My love is selfish
And I bet that yours is too
What is this peculiar word called truth

My love is selfish
Ad it cares not who it hurts
It will cut you out to satisfy its thirst
For the meaning of a ritual so habitual and cursed

My love is selfish
How it separates the earth
It takes every shiny stone but leaves the dirt
For the cowards in the corner who just don't know what they're worth

They've been twisted by a hollow kind of pain
Oh I can see it in their eyes but I ignore it every day

But my love is selfish
And remembers everything
Like the first time it was moved enough to sing
How it dangled on that stage just like a puppet on a string

The meaning of a ritual
The meaning of a ritual
The meaning of a ritual
The meaning of a ritual
The meaning of a ritual
Oh the meaning of a ritual

The night's synthetic half-light
Rolls over your steering wheel
I'm closing my eyes just for a while

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)

The house
The first thing I see
Filled up with a family
Surrounded by city and by sea

Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
Will you wake me when we're almost halfway
I don't wanna take this trip alone

A saint is chasing a snake
For everybody's sake
And so they go burning cars

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)

The mother prepares the weapon
Before handing it to son
Who watches his daddy runs

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
Will you wake me when we're almost halfway
I don't wanna take this trip alone
Cause I'd never reach my home

The flames wander through the city
And set fire to the sea
Then out of the blaze appears a face

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)

A girl with a look in her eyes
As if to say, "I despise
Such poisonous family ties"

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)

But a poison as sweet as nectar
Could never forget or neglect her
It carries her home and closes her eyes

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)

So she goes back under
Swallows the water
Fixes her face like a good little daughter
And follows her family
Who follow a saint and a snake

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
Will you wake me when we're almost halfway
I don't wanna take this trip alone
Cause I'd never reach my home
No I'd never reach my home
No I'd never reach my home
Home

(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
(Wake me when we're almost halfway)
(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
(Wake me when we're almost halfway)
(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
(Wake me when we're almost halfway)
(Can you call me when we're almost halfway)
(Wake me when we're almost halfway)

Can you hear me now
Lying in this bed
Embedded in this written story

Can you hear me now
Calling from this bed
I'm spitting words but there's no meaning, no

(Now he's taking his time)
He's got nothing to lose
(But the first thing he sees)
Is the last thing he choose
(And when the moment arrived)
He just found he had nothing to say
That day

Can you hear me now
Sky is turning red
The streets are all gone
Am I dreaming, no

Can you hear me now
Falling from this bed
Nudist that bears gifts
But when will it show me

(Now she's taking her time)
She's got nothing to lose
(But the first thing she sees)
Is the last thing she choose
(And when the moment arrived)
She just found she had nothing to say
That day

He lies awake in his bed every night devising ways to conceal the strain
She never tells of her midnight fears or admits that she does the same
They never meet, never touch, never speak and for one tired old refrain

Can you hear me now
Lying in this bed
Embedded in this written story

Can you hear me now
Calling from this bed
I'm spitting words but there's no meaning

Do what you did yesterday, go on repeating
'cos my heart's only on fire when you are the teacher
You take the torch and I, follow the leader
You'd be my master and I'll be your fever

You told me your past was taken by thieves
Since then you've been running in search of reliefs
You don't know when it's coming, I don't know either
You'd be my master and I'll be your fever

The angels are singing, words written for you
Trumpets are telling of your beauty and truth
But you've been working it out for yourself like some over-achiever
So just be my master and I'll be your fever

But you knew this is all I need, no more or no less
Your highness I bow to thee and to thee this I confess
I was lost in a forest but now I'm a believer
So you'd be my master and I'll be your fever

So do what you did yesterday go on repeating
'cos my heart's only on fire when you are the teacher
You take the torch and I, follow the leader
You'd be my master and I'll be your fever
You'd be my master and I'll be your fever
You'd be my master and I'll be your fever

Farewell to my only friend
You've been so good to me
Now the carnival has ended
Let's set the tigers free

The spring was always early
And the winter never came
But since I got this hunger
It just hasn't been the same

I'm leaving for the great wide open plains
Leaving while this holy spark remains
I see you've written promises to make me stay
But it really doesn't matter now anyway
I'm leaving

True love feeds on absences like pleasure feeds on pain
So no matter where I'm standing I still love you all the same
And I hope you feel the same way when its your turn to disappear
I'll be cheering from the sidelines with a sandwich and a beer

I'm leaving for the great wide open plains
Leaving while this holy spark remains
I see you've written promises to make me stay
But it really doesn't matter now anyway
I'm leaving

And all at once I step outside into the wind and rain
I let it wash my weary eyes and see you do the same

(And all at once I step outside into the wind and rain
I let it wash my weary eyes and see you do the same)

I'm leaving for the great wide open plains
Leaving while this holy spark remains
I see you've written promises to make me stay
But it really doesn't matter now anyway
I'm leaving

The bus was late
And forced us all to congregate
Twenty-seven strangers
Made to stand and wait

The time went by
The sun went down
A baby cried
I just stood in line

But there is no cue
No stage hand saying what to do
And you are me
And I am you

The bus it came
And everybody loaded in
Twenty-seven strangers
In a moving can

The fluorescent light
Doubled everyone inside
The baby's face reflected
In the shopfronts in the sky

But faces change
And rules they all get rearranged
And photographs
All fade away

The bus broke down
At the graveyard on the edge of town
Twenty-seven strangers
Separate without a sound

So I walked home
Just feeling nothing on my own
Noticing that tree of yours
I've been watching it grow

So that's why I'm late
My dearest one what can I say
And tomorrow it could be the same
When I do it all again

For a long long time
I've been in pieces
In the corner of a room
In an endless afternoon

For a long long time
I've been in pieces
For a long long time
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces

There is a way down
That I wish I had not found
You just split yourself in two
One for them and one for you
One for them and one for you

For a long long time
I've been in pieces
All the words I mean to say
They never come out the right way
And there are things that I could tell you
But they'll never come out the right way
And there are sides that I could show you
But they'll never come out the right way
Never come out the right way
Never come out the right way
Never come out the right way
Cause I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces
I've been in pieces

Young Paul decides upon a future
And he asks from her a favor
He wants to know if she will tell him
If he's for Hell or he's for Heaven

If he's for Hell he'll show no sorrow
Until he's born again tomorrow
If he's for Heaven there's no reason
To lament the passing season

She says, Don't be a fool, son
There aren't any rules, son
And as she spoke
He lost his faith

He asked her name, she told him Laurie
Proceeded to give him her life story

She was a teacher and a scholar
They built a statue in her honor

Then she became a slave in ancient Athens
She doesn't know quite how it happened

Now she paints faces in the city
Making all those ugly girls look pretty

She says, Look at this town, son
Take a good luck around, son
Why should anyone here be saved?

So he says, Every crooked lane that you can see
Every open home, every hollow tree
Is a home for creatures loved by me
And oh to be counted among them
Among them
Oh to be counted among them
Among them
Oh to be counted among them