by Roger Marshall
Children in the rain
City city
Shade of a light
Out of focus
Less Travelled road
Invisible shield
Small talk
Don't leave
Valerie
In the dark
The imaginary line
What if?
Man
Travelling on some foreign soil
watching other people, other people toil.
The scents, the sounds, the roads are insane
Among the children in the rain.
Another place name on a map.
Sounds romantic but it's not.
I saw some rats run in a drain,
among the children in the rain.
some men in khaki search your kit.
Machine guns slung low at their hips,
In the road a spreading stain,
getting washed out by the rain.
They're begging me with outstretched hands
Rich man from a richer land
How can I begin to explain?
To the children in the rain
A sense of anger and despair,
among the people living there.
From the comfort of the train,
I watch the children in the rain.
Travelling on some foreign soil
watching other people, other people toil.
The scents, the sounds, the roads are insane
Among the children in the rain.
Where once stood something to turn to, gaze up and admire
A piece of your history, something to inspire
Built with style and beauty, it had lines and grace
Disappeared one night, some monster's taken it's place
In the City
City City
It was part of your culture, it had always been yours
Built by your forefathers, stood with open doors
It was etched into your psyche, embedded in your earth
A part of your history, a right of your birth
In the City
City City
Somewhere the ghost of a windmill, somewhere the spirit of a queen
In that space over there, concrete smothers a dream
If you don't know where you came from, don't know where you're going to
You don't know what is real when everything is brand new
In the City
City City
They can't see further than the next buck, dollar signs in their eyes
When the bricks turn to rubble, when a part of you dies
I know nothing lasts for ever in time al things are dust
But is there nothing sacred nothing you can trust?
In the City
City City
I just called by, ‘cos I could see
your bags outside, a taxi waiting in the street
this room has memories now it's empty and bare
my stereo player used to stand in the corner over there
and you've taken my albums to the charity shop
I hope they find a good home someone else who likes to rock
I just called by to say fare thee well
this house is cold it's like an empty old shell
there dust on the floor where the double bed stood
so! you found what you lost, I always knew that you would
you've taken my clothes to St Vincent de Paul
now I'm feeling kind of naked standing here in your the hall
in the shade of the light that once shone
I just called by to be under this roof
nothing ever stands still now's the right time to move
but look! there's something here written, a reminder to myself
it would have been all right if we'd lived somewhere else
and you've throw out my poems and my carved bits of wood
I kind of bonded to them even though I know they were no good
I just called by though I know its way too late
you're already ready to be on your way
this room has memories now its empty and bare
there's an echo of my ego in the diy repair
you've thrown out the photos and now there's nothing that remains
I wont ever stand here in this hallway again
in the shade of the light that once shone
Didn't see the mantis praying on a stick
Couldn't see the lizard 'cos it moved too quick
Didn't see a polar bear asleep in the snow
Didn't know that shadow was a lazy old crow
Like blind man
Out of focus, gone out of focus again
Can't see a thing taking these jam-jars off
Everything goes from hard to soft
Didn't see my mother when I came out of the sea
But I knew everybody was there looking at me.
Like blind man
Out of focus, gone out of focus again
Couldn't see the southern cross shining in the sky
Wouldn't know the north star if it hit me in the eye
Who is that woman who just gave me a wave?
Should I get up closer stare into her face?
Like blind man
Out of focus, gone out of focus again
Couldn't see how to get from A to B
Couldn't read the words of the itinerary
Couldn't see nothing much in the half-lit night
Are you smiling at me or picking a fight?
Like blind man
Out of focus, gone out of focus again
It got kind of hazy after drinking too much scotch
Couldn't even see the hands of my watch.
And the hands of my body were just as much a blur
I'm sorry but I wasn't even looking at her
Like blind man
Out of focus, gone out of focus again
I know you travelled a less travelled road but you still got here
I know youve had trouble and woe but there ain't nothing to fear
I know you've been dragged through the eye of storm
been treated bad , no one ever made you feel warm
I know you've been hounded by demons and doubts, but you don't need 'em
those old devils will always be lurking about, but you don't have to feed 'em
don't know about you but I need too laugh till I drop
don't know about you but I don't want it to stop
Pass me that bottle of beer and of wine and lets down 'em
I know you ‘ve had your sorrows and I've had mine, so why don't we drown 'em
I hate seeing tears running down your cheeks
I hate it when you don't smile or speak
I know you feel like singing the blues, but let's make it a duo
no doubt you've got everything and more to lose, but who cares how much you owe
I know this worlds about dollars and cents
I know it don't make a whole lot of sense
On a less travelled road
You dont have to say what's on your mind
Keep all your secrets to hide behind
Keep 'em stitched up, signed and sealed
from behind your invisible shield
You don't have to give ‘em any alibis
leave all that stuff for the cold war spies
Don't give in to the powers that they wield
from behind your invisible shield
This whole scene is kind of Kafka-esque
Seems like your living under house arrest
everyone says you should take the very next deal
but hide behind your invisible shield
You don't have to say what they want to know
just go the way the warm wind wants to blow
wrap yourself up in a sci-fi field
and hide behind an invisible shield
I've been waiting a long time for things to occur
now im not even sure what I'd prefer,
to be home with a sweetheart or out on the town
or drunk in a bar letting myself down
i was in the blue falcon where the lights were dim
i was talking to myself when someone butted in
she said something, I said what?
She said it seems you've lost the plot
Watcha you doin' in this lowdown place
let me put a smile on your face
you're like a ship cast up on barren land
Why don't you try eating out of the palm of my hand
We could talk ‘bout such and such and so and so
Or drink ourselves senseless till it's time to go
Or you could just up and walk away
Maybe tomorrow you won't remember today
Making small talk, making happy talk
i thought that there was something refreshing in that
so we spoke about the soaps and Jolie and Brad
and i was feeling altogether less stressed out
I'd forgotten what I'd been concerned about
she said she once loved someone but it was on a higher plane
I said was it in Qantas she said no I think it was BA
she what do you think of my dress, the way my hair's in a bun
do you want me for sex or just for some fun
she said said ok lets talk about something real
I said what about the state of the world, but it didnt really appeal
she said no no that's not at all what she meant
she didn't care at all about the government
Making small talk, making happy talk
she said: “happy talking talking happy talk
talk about things you like to do
you gotta have a dream
if you don't have a dream
how you gonna make a dream come true”
Don't leave it's a madhouse out there
Don't go into the chaos
they'll take the shirt off your back
they'll only hurt , make you think theres something you lack
they're all out of their tree, don't leave
…….. there are loonies out there
they'll try ruin you
none knows how to behave
they'll treat you like nothing, like you're a slave
nobody agrees, don't leave
…… its bedlam out there
Don't go into the mayhem
it's either too hot or its too cold
they tell stories that should never be told
things you'd barely believe, don't leave
…….. they'll kill-ya out there
they'll destroy your will
if you can do it tomorrow why do it today
there'll only be hell to pay
theres nothing to see, don't leave
…….. they'll get you out there
They'll love you then forget you
No one knows if they're standing in the right place
So many things you dont wanna have to face
only to be deceived, don't leave
Long time ago on a Christmas eve
somewhere down south of Battersea
I was hanging about like a piece of string
when out of the blue the telephone rings
Mad Pete said Rog I know you've heard it all
But I heard the Roz are having a Ball
with Val, Val, Valerie
I don't recall much about the thing itself
but I had to take a leak like everyone else
I was concentrating on the cracks in the bricks
when the voice of old Bill said "you make me sick
you must be some kind of anarchist
we've got your number, got your name on our lists"
with Val, Val, Valerie
Somehow I was in the Super's own front room
listening to a slow Mantovani tune
and somehow I was snogging with his shrew-like wife
and snow was falling out on the suburban night
and I drank drambuie and I was feeling kinda screwy
super swiped my jaw and I was lying on the floor
with Val, Val, Valerie
I walked back home in the suburban night
with it's semis and it's many other wondrous sights
and I was guided by the lights of the Purley Way
down the Brighton road it was Christmas day
and in the warm launderette I was shivering wreck
and in the snow covered street I wondered if I'd ever meet
Val, Val, Valerie
we were
watching a movie I didn't understand,
the usual thing a
woman and a man
making love and making
hate
tempting
each other and tempting fate
you said what does it
mean?
In the dark next to me
We walked back down the windy street
the pavements wet and
the streets windswept.
Down by the hideous neon sign and the video shops
where the kids unwind.
You said it's like makebelief
In the dark next to me
And as we drove a million moving parts
we could barely speak
with shutdown hearts
it was as if two
minds were cast adrift
like two strangers in a
lift
then you touched me
tenderly
in the dark next to
me.
It was late at night and the house was
still
and the moon cast
shadows on the window sill
clothes
lay scattered all around the floor
they could only have
been yours
as you slept through
a dream,
in the dark next to
me
I was walking by the river lost in reverie
Ancient buildings built on silver, the gold of history
I dipped my fingers in the water
I heard the cockney round me rhyme
I stepped out, ‘cross the imaginary line
This old river just keeps on rolling almost thicker than blood
Where's it come from? where's it going? down by the Isle, the isle of Dogs
this is the town where you can be a loner
the Bells over the water chimed
I stepped out, ‘cross the imaginary line
In the Meantime in the Time museum the clocks were making love
The old star gazers, you could almost see ‘em ghosts in the skies, the skies above
of sailors lost in Southern oceans
beyond the reach of humankind
I stepped out, cross the imaginary line
Beyond the high rise, over the horizon where this timeline leads
Where the ships set sail for Godzone where the river bleeds
Wish I could say hello to Mona
Went out of myself on river time
I stepped out cross the imaginary line
if you were with me tonight would I feel this way
would I be lying in wait for the day
would seeing you dispel the myth
would I still be thinking, what if….
you were with tonight would I feel so insane
would touching you still excite me the same
at least i would know you did once exist
would I still thinking what if….
you were with me tonight would there be any shadows doubt
would we find anything to even talk about
would there be something still left to give
would I still thinking what if….
There is a kind of creature, walks around on two legs.
The other animals all think it's the dregs.
Muscles in on their patch of ground
taking away everything to be found.
It's a creature called Man, it's a human being
not been very long on the Evolution scene
just a Man
They come in two shapes and neither has fur.
(One's called him the other's called her.)
They prowl around an urban space
making a mess all over the place.
It's a creature called Man, it's a hominoid.
Most of them are really quite paranoid
just a Man
So many creatures living on the brink.
Some of them have even become extinct.
Mostly they don't know which way to turn,
watching as their forest burn
It's a creature called Man, it's a naked ape.
Does a very nice line in pillage and rape.
just a Man
With a brain that's big, and an ego to match,
some of them behave even worse than rats.
most of them are just another one in a crowd
Some of them have got their heads in the clouds
It's a creature call Man, it's me and you
locked inside a human zoo.
just a Man
They think they're unique with a sense of me
The only beast with any empathy
They think they know whats right and they know what is wrong
But no one really knows what's going on
It's a creature call Man, the Human race
Messing its nest as it flies through space
Just a Man