The Great Escape

Bow bells say goodbye to the last train
Over the river they all go again
Out into leafy nowhere
Hope someone's waiting out there
For them

Cabbie has his mind on a fare to the sun
He works nights but it's not much fun
Picks up the london yo-yo's
All on their own down soho
Take me home

Other people wouldn't like to hear you
If you said
That these are the best days
Of our lives
Other people turn around and laugh at you
If you said
That these are the best days
Of our lives

Trellick tower's been calling
I know she'll leave me in the morning
In hotel cells listening to dial tones
Remote controls and cable moans
In his drink he's talking
Gets disconnected sleepwalking back home

Other people wouldn't like to hear you
If you said
That these are the best days
Of our lives
Other people turn around and laugh at you
If you said
That these are the best days
Of our lives
Other people break into a cold sweat
If you said
That these are the best days
Of their lives

And other people turn around and laugh at you
If you said
That these are the best days
Of our lives
Of our lives

The suburbs they are dreaming
They're a twinkle in her eye
She's been feeling frisky since her husband said goodbye
She wears a low cut t-shirt
Runs a little b&b
She's most accomodating when she's in her lingerie
Wife-swapping is your future
You know that it would suit ya

Yes they're stereotypes
There must be more to life
All your life you're dreaming
And then you
Stop dreaming
From time to time you know you should be
Going on another bender

The suburbs they are sleeping
But he's dressing up tonight
She likes a man in uniform
He likes to wear it tight
They're on the lovers' sofa
They're on the patio
And when the fun is over
Watch themselves on video
The neighbours may be staring
But they are just past caring

Yes the stereotypes
There must be more to life
All your life you're dreaming
And then you
Stop dreaming
Time to time you know
You're going on another bender
Yes there must be more to life
Than stereotypes

Ernold same awoke from the same dream
In the same bed
At the same time
Looked in the same mirror
Made the same frown
And felt the same way as he did every day
Then ernold same caught the same train
At the same station
Sat in the same seat
With the same nasty stain
Next to same old what's-his-name
On his way to the same place
With the same name
To do the same thing
Again and again and again
Poor old ernold same
Oh, ernold same
His world stays the same
Today will always be tomorrow
Poor old ernold same
He's getting that feeling once again
Nothing will change tomorrow

I met him in a crowded room
Where people go to drink away their gloom
He sat me down and so began
The story of a charmless man
Educated the expensive way
He knows his claret from his beaujolais
I think he'd like to have been ronnie kray
But then nature didn't make him that way
He went....

He thinks his educated airs
Those family shares
Will protect him
That we'll respect him
He moves in circles of friends
Who just pretend
That they like him
He does the same to them
And when you put it all together
There's the model of a charmless man

He knows the swingers and their cavalry
Says he can get in anywhere for free
I began to go a little cross-eyed
And from this charmless man i just had to hide

He talks at speed
He gets nose bleeds
He doesn't see
His days are tumbling
Down upon him
And yet he tries so hard to please
He's just so keen
For you to listen
But no-one's listening

And when you put it all together
There's the model of a charmless man
He thinks his educated airs
Those family shares
Will protect him
That you'll respect him
And yet he tries so hard to please
He's just so keen
For you to listen
But no-one's listening
And when you put it all together
There's the model of a charmless man

Who maddest one on the m1
Who hasn't stopped sucking his thumb
Who very straight and never grins
Who cares what car he's driving in
He is because he saw it on a commercial break
And if he doesn't get what he wants
Then he get a headache
'cos he needs it
Wants it
Almost
Loves it

He's here on his own
On globe alone
Here on his own
Who joined health club to glisten
Into hi-fi precision
Who mobile phone gives him the bone
Who very keen on sharon stone
And then he says...

Who eats at the new brasserie
Who only ever gets merry
Who wouldn't be seen at bedtime
Without putting calvin klein's on

This is the next century
Where the universal's free
You can find it anywhere
Yes, the future's been sold
Every night we're gone
And to karaoke songs
How we like to sing along
'though the words are wrong

It really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you
Well, just let them go

No-one here is alone
Satellite's in every home
Yes, the universal's here
Here for everyone
Every paper that you read
Says tomorrow's your lucky day
Well, here's your lucky day

It really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
If the days they seem to fall through you
Well, just let them go

(so the story begins)
City dweller
Successful fella
Thought to himself:
"oops, i've got a lot of money
Caught in a rat race
Terminally
I'm a professional cynic
But my heart's not in it
I'm paying the price of living life at the limit
Caught up in the century's anxiety"
Yes, it preys on him
He's getting thin
(try the simple life)

He lives in a house
A very big house
In the country
Watching afternoon repeats
And the food he eats
In the country
He takes all manner of pills
And piles up analyst bills
In the country
Oh, it's like an animal farm
That's the rural charm
In the country

He's got morning glory and life's a different story
Everything's going jackanory
Touched with his own mortality
He's reading balzac, knocking back prozac
It's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland
Oh, it's a century's remedy
For the faint at heart
A new start
(try the simple life)

He lives in a house
A very big house
In the country
He's got a fog in his chest
So he needs a lot of rest
In the country
He doesn't drink, smoke, laugh
Takes herbal baths
In the country
You should come to no harm
On the animal farm
In the country
(blow, blow me out, i am so sad, i don't know why)