Priest = Aura

We all came back from the war
I wish somebody would tell me the score
We raked old poseidon over the coals
Shook his shells, shaved his shoals
Where can a soldier fix himself a drink
Forget the noise, forget the stink
And the opium is running pretty low
'cause when the pain comes back, i don't want to know
Across yonder ocean the natives are fierce
Their ears are filled their teeth are pierced
But it's not their spears that spill your breath
They kill their enemies by loving them to death

We were on some battlefield
I felt something soft go through my shield
I felt something warm enter my guts
I was bleeding bad but there were no cuts
They captured three of us, took us back to their village
After a long long time i could decipher their language
They worshipped baal, they worshipped the sun
They worshipped the son of the evil one

They were more than voracious, they sucked our ambition
They let me go on one condition
That was when i came back to my native shore
I tell you they don't want to play with us anymore
But a part of me will never be free
And the part that's free will never be me
But a thing of love and beauty is in my head
A message from my enemies, and here's what they said

They said that love = hate
And death = fate
An enemy always = an adorer
But priest = aura
And life = time
And time = space
And space = sublime
And human = race
Oh and woman = man
And pot = pan
The fauna ought to equal the flora
But priest = aura
And beginning = the end
The end always = the start
But straight = bent
The mind sometimes = the heart
And you = me
The land = the sea
Richer = poorer
And priest = aura

For all time
Looking for something to remind me
Something out the corner of my eye
Why can't i feel it
Why should i try
Bump into a stranger
But that stranger is strangely familiar
How could i let it slip by
Why can't i feel it
Can you tell me why
When i nearly had the connection sussed
It slips right off my tongue
And timing is off, things get jumbled up
In a fever when you are young
But i know who's in there behind those eyes
So say goodbye
There can never be an ending
We are endless like the sky
Why can't i feel it
Is it just a lie
Why can't i feel it
For all time

Tiny baby, so naive
I can't believe what you believe
You were once so happy here
It may not be eden or summer in greece
You may not even find the gold fleece
In the drag of this atmosphere
Now i don't want to bring up a delicate matter
No i'd much rather bribe or flatter you
'cause flattery gets me everywhere
But you punctured my tires, you crossed all my wires
I brand your acolytes as a pack of liars
And the fire's singing everywhere

Buckle like a wreck on the cold green sea
Like you were a ripple in my memory

I lent you some collateral to buy new clothes
It went out the window and up your nose
And that's the end of the honeymoon
Yeah we walked down the aisle for another mile
I'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles
And you can have all the money soon

You're so deluxe, you're so divine
You're so fifty light years ahead of your time
You're a riddle, you're a ripple
You're the human sacrifice to the goddess of ice
Your hairdo is filled with diamonds and lice
And you're hardly off the nipple

Another little glitch in continuity
Like you were a ripple in my memory

Naomi will not be consoled by your blues
She calls down the crows then she pulls on her shoes
Out into the empty street she walks
Past the little piles of smoldering leaves
Beware, an old flame is still burning there
Don't stare, shadows in the smoke whisper everywhere
Everywhere, anywhere is nowhere when you don't care
So beware, an old flame is still burning there

I wasn't expecting this
Now everything is destroyed
Underneath us are the nothings
Underneath them is a void
Beyond that void is a place
Where figments from bad dreams are banished
Childhood nightmares all come seeking
And adult logic nearly vanished


Chaos
Inside-down, upside-out [this is what they sing in concert.]

None of this is what i wanted
I truly asked for what i got
Bang the gavel, it's lawlessness
I can't unravel the knot


Half this wretched town is starving


While the other half are bloated
Everybody hates the bastards in power
But their pill is sugar coated


I didn't need any of this
I feel anxiety in my neck
The consequences now apparent
Feeding back unchecked
Incessant blue in spiral coils
Fingers underneath the skin
Adrenaline is not my mistress
But she always knows just where i've been

People 'round here say you're a witch
They're intrigued in seeing you roast
They really intend to burn you my friend
I think that's the bit they like most
Wake up baby, the mob are on their way
Howling, growling, they want your blood
They're out to get it today
You had to go and cure the mayor's itch
Then you took care of his clerk
You fixed up john green and the old bishop's spleen
Put everyone out of work
Wake up baby, oh baby open your eyes
Look around you, this may be your last sunrise

In autumn he comes to this town
When the peoples guard is down
On a day like today
Overcast and gray
Bells were all ringing
The birds stopped their singing
The wind caught in the trees
Screaming to be free
He alights from the platform
In his usual uniform
His skin looks like he slept in it
Or had something rotten kept in it
And snakes stir in the thistles
Back of cats neck bristles
'round vicious lips the fur is stained
The disillusionist is back again
They say that he's famous from the waist down
But the top half of his body is a corpse
His gold won't buy him sleep
His poverty runs so deep
In winter he cracks, in summer he warps


Hang around the backstage door
But he knows what you're waiting for
You rub yourself against his fame
Already ready to bear the blame
He asks you "did you like my show?"
As if he really wants to know
Then doesn't wait for your reply
He just pulls you back inside
You've started feeling dizzy
It isn't you or is he
Persuade you mentally
Undress you incidentally
Down the swaying corridor
People you feel sorry for
But when he puts the gaze on you
You're amazed at what you'll let him do


He can turn wine into water
Mother against daughter
Juggles busy deadlines
Gets himself off headlines
Surrounded by his minions
Who never have opinions
Performing little tricks for you
Puts it in a fix for you
Smashes your watch with a hammer
Caresses you with camera
And says the magic words
That nobody's ever heard
Now the slur is fading
Reality all-pervading
It only makes you want him more
It only makes you fawn him more


And he does the indian rope trick
The one that makes you seasick
And he keeps on filling up your cup
But you keep on filling up
And some of it's done with mirrors
And some of it's done with scissors
And some of it's done with cables
And his hands under the table
It doesn't matter you want to believe
It doesn't matter if you have to leave
You won't escape his orbit
And the things that you must forfeit
And the audience seems familiar
Some of them in particular
Bet you they are his plants
When he plays the game of chance
He reads the minds of jilted girls
And the story really unfurls
Cast a fortune for the man in the suit
Who's suffering is very acute
There's a rabbit in his hat
But i thought i smelled a rat