The Gift

Hello darlin' - i'm home again
Covered in shit and aches and pains
Too knackered to think so give me time to come round
Just gimme the living room beat to the tv sound -
My hard earned dough goes in bills and the larder
And that prince philip tells us we gotta work harder!
It seems a constant struggle just to exist
Scrimping and saving and crossing of lists -

From this window i've seen the whole world pass
From dawn to dusk i've heard the last laugh laughed
I've seen enough tears to wash away this street
I've heard wedding bells chime and a funeral march
When as one life finishes another one starts -
Alright then love so i'll be off now
It's back to the lunchbox and worker/management rows
There's gotta be more to this old life then this
Scrimping and saving and crossing of lists

Why are you frightened - can't you see that it's you
That ain't no ghost - it's a reflection of you
Why do you turn away - an' keep it out of sight
Oh - don't live up to your given roles
There's more inside you that you won't show

But you keep it hidden just like everyone
You're scared to show you care - it'll make you vulnerable
So you wear that ghost around you for disguise

But there's no need just 'cos it's all we've known
There's more inside you that you haven't shown

So keep on moving, moving, moving your feet
Keep on shuf-shuf-shuffling to this ghost dance beat
Just keep on walking down never ending streets

One day you'll walk right out of this life
And then you'll wonder why you didn't try

To spread some loving all around
Old fashioned causes like that still stand
Gotta rid this prejudice that ties you down

How do you feel at the end of the day
Just like you've waked over your own grave

So why are you frightened - can't you see that it's you
At the moment there's nothing - so there's nothing to lose
Lift up your lonely heart and walk right on through

Your precious love - that means so much
Will it ever stop or will i just lose touch
What i want to say - but my words just fail
Is that i need it so i can't help myself
Like a hungry child - i just help myself
And when i'm all full up - i go out to play

But i don't mean to bleed you dry
Or take you over for the rest of your life
It's just that i need something solid in mine

Lonely as the moors on a winter's morning
Quiet as the sea on a good calm night
In your tranquil shadow - i try and follow

I hear your distant show clicks
To the midnight beat -
I feel trapped in sorrow
In this imagery
But that's how i am and why i need you so

Better stop dreaming of the quiet life -
Cos it's the one we'll never know
And quit running for that runaway bus -
Cos those rosey days are few
And - stop apologising for the things you've never done,
Cos time is short and life is cruel -
But it's up to us to change
This town called malice.
Rows and rows of disused milk floats
Stand dying in the dairy yard
And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk
Bottles to their hearts
Hanging out their old love letters on the line to dry
It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come
Fast and furious
In a town called malice.

Struggle after struggle - year after year
The atmosphere's a fine blend of ice -
I'm almost stone cold dead
In a town called malice.

A whole street's belief in sunday's roast beef
Gets dashed against the co-op
To either cut down on beer or the kids new gear
It's a big decision in a town called malice.

The ghost of a steam train - echoes down my track
It's at the moment bound for nowhere -
Just going round and round
Playground kids and creaking swings -
Lost laughter in the breeze
I could go on for hours and i probably will -
But i'd sooner put some joy back
In this town called malice.

Letting loose the lunatics - wasn't the greatest of ideas
Giving them plans and money to squander -
Should have been the worst of our fears
The dream life luxury living was a pleasant no. 10 whim,
But somewhere down the line of production
They let out human beings

They were gonna build communities
It was going to be pie in the sky -
But the piss stench hallways and broken down lifts
Say the planners dream went wrong

If people were made to live in boxes
God would have given them string
To tie around their selves at bed time
And stop their dreams falling through the ceiling

And the public school boy computers -
Keep spewing out our future -
The house in the country designs the 14th floor
Old mrs. smith don't get out much more -
Coitus interruptus 'cause of next doors rows
Your washing gets nicked when the lights go out -
Baby's scream in the nightmare throng
But planners just get embarrassed when their plans go wrong!