Fanfarlo

Lyrics

Comets

Look up, open the clouds
Here comes the bombshell
On the way home…

And now we want the coal?
Confusing times

Cry murder, cry what you like
Just let the comets lead the way

We’ll tear it down
We’ll hold the truth by the neck
Kick in the doors and burn the books
Try to forget

And wear it like flag
Try to be patient
On the way home

Cause inside, behind every curtain
They count the minutes, they count the days

We’ll tear it down
We’ll hold the truth by the neck
Kick in the doors and burn the books
Try to forget

If you look at the horizon there is always something ducking out of sight
When you’re looking at the treetops and they’re scratching out their patterns in the sky

Look up, open the clouds
Here comes the bombshell
On the way home…

Drowning Men

Even though the lights have changed I’m caught up in an endless loop
Driving for ten hours and then ending up in the same place!
Can you hear a rumble under ground? can you hear the beat?
Someone pacing round and round in circles on the floor above

But we can still afford to not make sense at all

I see you wearing surgery rubber gloves, standing in the street
Early in the morning, still awake but barely on your feet

We can still afford to not make sense at all
We spend our time with drowning men
We’re going to let ourselves get dragged down

And now we’re waiting
And now we’re stranded
And now we’re aching
And now we’re all waiting…

Even though the lights have changed I’m caught up in an endless loop
We spend our time with drowning men
We’re going to let ourselves get dragged down

Finish Line

Wait here for the flag to fall
And follow me to the edge of town
Your family’s seen you on your bike
All they say is it’s such a waste of time
Stay clear of the runner up
He’s got some tricks he’s not afraid to try

I stopped racing years ago
I stopped listening – I stopped speaking
The world has kept you on your toes
Speak to me with your hands
I’ve got my friends safe in a cocoon
But I’ve read enough to know it will end
Kerosene is my last line of defense
Against all the rules I’ve bent

Fire Escape

On the fire escape
We stopped and we looked down
Through the broken glass, on the sirens on the spies
When you’re still midway
It’s not too late to just turn back

The winter is cruel round here
The future is not down there
“Why can’t they just think like us?”

If you’ve got flags to wear
You should be careful what you sell
On the fire escape
I think I slipped, I think I fell
But you’re still midway
It’s not too late to just turn back

We were raised by strangers
The life that you had in mind
Was just a moth and a light

Ghosts

They stayed put in their houses
Or moved to higher grounds
There are ghosts by the reservoir
No one wants them round any more
They’ve put a spell
For the dam to break
They’ll tell you all about the day when it came
What it took away
In 1922

It caused a drought
It caused a flood
It came to change us all for good

Do I look like someone?
I’ve heard the voices through the floor
In a strange cold language
They’re planning out a war

So tap into the mainline
And tell me all the secrets
Of a world you once lived in
That your heart could not swallow
The sky is so shallow
It’s late, you’ve been working hard
Drive down to the reservoir

It caused a drought
It caused a flood
It came to change us all for good
Despite the years they’re still around
Have we fallen out for good?

Harold T. Wilkins, or How To Wait For A Very Long Time

You’ve been packing your bags for the tenth time
You’ve been up on the roof again
And you’re biding your time but it’s all right they’re coming any week now
Left behind by the mothership, they’re our only real friends
And inside, you’ll always feel the same, even when you wake up
Even if you wake up

In a town where everyone will kick and scream
And come to the same conclusion every time
Time to realise you were never on the team
There was always a question hanging over you
In a hot air balloon with a rusty nail
Looking over your shoulder and setting sail

Your dreams will become part of the future and coincide with the past
You spend all your time by the radio waiting for the signal
But inside, you’ll always feel the same, even when you wake up
Even if you wake up

They drive the same road drifting over to your side
They drive the same road turn the lights on again
They sail the same strait turn the lights on again

I’m A Pilot

You can’t trust that sand
You’re sleeping in all the time
You’ll see me on the screen
Through all those other souls that I’ve bought with this oil
Mexico says: good night!

The tape machine is bust
From all that spinning round and round
I’ve scratched all my reels
And bitten all my nails to the bone
Like a stone, you’ll come back when thrown up
Away from the tar
And away from the drills
But kid I’m a pilot
It’s all I believe in
You can ride on my back

With time on your hands
You spent your mornings down by the tracks
You had the drivers sign your arms
My hospitals will welcome you home
Like a tomb
With godmothers aching to look at your grades
And believe what you say
But kid I’m a pilot
It’s all I believe in
You can ride on my back

If I stay in this room
They’ll remember me for my youth
If I give it all up…

But kid I’m a pilot
It’s all I believe in
You can ride on my back

If It Is Growing

If it is growing
If it is clawing
And wants to get out
Then let it come out

Your memory’s failing
Your eyes are like rocks
And I can see you on the floor of your box

You’ve got answers
In everyone is electric circuits
And that’s all there is

So now you’re leaving?
I’m not that impressed
Oh they will comment on the way that I dress
If I could be so cruel to confess:

That if you built this to look just like you
Then here’s the irony
No one will know
If it’s tomorrow or today that you go

Luna

Oh they hide it in their beds, they grow it in their sheds
They serve it up in cups from overseas
In the gardens in the trees

And if we’re kicking up a fuss, it’s only cause we must
Let the world begin to understand
Begin to understand

And so we’re running down our street, arms stretched out to the sky
Antennas for the poison and the lies
The delinquency of time

Separated by a wall they had us build and raise
I’m waiting for the call… I can’t wait

Luna, they’re coming down now
And it was always on the cards
Luna, the doors are open
And you will have to start taking sides
Luna, the doors are open
You could not burn faster if you tried

Sand And Ice

What’s the point in building a house here
The nearest light is five miles away
The woods are still in control

What’s the point in sending your thoughts here
To work by night and just die here
Failing to reach a result

What’s your chance of storming a fortress
When all you do is distorted
You’re running out of time

I’m so sorry
For all the strain the worry

Please don’t ask me to stand still
I can’t hate you for being just what
Everybody thinks you are

I’m no worse than the rest
But I’m easily impressed
You’ve seen my file