Spirogyra

1971

St.Radigunds

The Future Won't Be Long

Do you mind a question please sir stay
What was life like in the olden days
Long ago before the war.

Contractors to her Majesty's Government we were
Dealers in honest trade
There were some mighty queer folk about
But most were honest workers and knew their place
I was a skilled craftsman mark you
The work was hard and the hours they were long

Ah but there was a maiden and her name was Marjorie
Long black hair she had like a gypsy
And the prettiest smile I've ever seen
I called her an angel and I was right she was.

Then there was the war

Forging a pathway for freedom,
Using resources we need them
And the life we do condone

Shipped out to Belgium to stop them, plastered and shelled them, but lost ground
Bombs and rockets, V2's over London City
And the world at their command
Back in Yeadon Marjorie stood beneath a factory
I was assured she felt no pain

Withdrawn from Dunkirk in cruisers,
Who cares says I we're all losers
No one wins both sides the victims of our nature
May the future learn
Back in Yeadon Marjorie
Died beneath the factory
A Messerschimdt her destiny

You who think the rest are wrong
And stand so tall and feel so strong
Please be sure that you yourself are not mistaken
For the future won't be long

Island

If you're going to be a mountain
Let me see you thrust your snows
In innocence through clouds of doubt
That try to keep your reason out
In these times of glaciated slaughter.

And if your going to be a legend
Let it be a tale whose telling
Is a state of mine that's dwelling
Far beyond the words dark capture
To fill the heart alone with rapture
In these days of circles.

And if you're going to be an Island
I will be a sailing ship
Who like a speck at total distance
Looms beyond your headland breakers
Till the ocean's mighty plunder
Bids me seek the gentler shelter
Of your inland waters

Have you never seen beyond the Moon
Don't you know that we will be there soon?
Have you no eyes to see
That you are only me and we are only
Travellers upon a sea of time
Trying very hard to make it rhyme

Magical Mary

Magical Mary, she looks like a fairy
And waves her wand around
Points at an earthmen and says Allelujah
Just look at what I've found.

Magical Mary, she shivers her timbers
And lays you on the ground
Strikes up a rhythm in fifty two tempo
And says hey man you're found

I gotta come with you
I gotta come with you
I gotta
I gotta
I got to come

Madrigal mistress has seventy sisters
And everyone's the same
They come with assistance to break your resistance
And man you're brained you're likely to wind up maimed

I gotta come with you
I gotta come with you
I gotta
I gotta
I got to come

Always the same, I don't know how you do it
Just a game no matter how you view it
Always the same
You're gonna need someone
You're gonna find it hard
To get yourself a man
Whose gonna take your hand
Or even understand just what you're into.

Mr Brain
He thought he found salvation
Using words
To try to calm the nation
What a shame,
He didn't have a notion
How to use the lotion
Gotta spread it thin
To give each one a portion
Gotta make it clear
They're gonna get a portion
So's they're happy

Always the same
You never seem to falter
Make a slip
You'll have me at the altar
Never mind,
It doesn't matter much
Because you've got the touch
You really got it made
You're gonna make the grade
And you can try your hand
Another time around that's if you want to

To Be At Home In The World

Though I may whisper words
You don't understand
Understand
Though I'm in need of help
You can't lend a hand
Lend a hand
To be at home in the world
To be at home in the world

Though I may come and go
It is not from you
That I flow
Wild though the world may be
It's inside of me
Inside of me.
To be at home in the world
To be at home in the world

This is all that a man can need
Cannot you see.

Though I may act unkind
I don't mean to be
Honestly
It's just that it's hard to see
The Reality
Reality.

Cogwheels Crutches And Cyanide

The first man was a juggler, and his skill was very great
But he said that he was leaving, he said he couldn't wait.
The second came with jewels that flickered on his hand
And he spoke about tomorrow as if it were another land.
A lady caught between them said she should be free
But they just looked bewildered, and said "yes so should we".

"How on Earth" yelled the author
"Does the tale make it's sense"
"It's alive with the truth
But we must have the proof
How can we open the door"

Well the next man had religion, it made him very proud
He said he'd found his inner bliss, he said it very loud
But a group of men surpassed him with science, skills, and speed
They hurled down his conceptions and dug up all his weeds.
The lady she looked worried, she asked if this was wise
"Of course it is, it's logic, brains and enterprise".
The last man had no number and didn't say a word
He didn't even answer them when they said he was absurd
They made him sign a treaty to give up all he owned
And searched his pockets anxiously to see if he had gold
The lady was enchanted and said they ought to see
So they charged her with subversion and made her watch T.V.

I'm a man with no future
With no past or no time
And I live by the door
Lord I live by the door
I won't be back no more.

We are fighting a losing battle
No one is winning
No one's beginning
We are looking for something that's missing
Dark all around us
Darkness surrounding
We are on the doorway of knowledge
Have we the wisdom?
Have we the wisdom?

Time Will Tell

If you don't like lying in the sun you might as well not be here
What's the point of always working?
Shut your eyes and let the colours come
And blot out all the black and white
And dirty grey and damp and dust and dust and dry rot in the roof

On the beach we lit a fire, a frenchman gave us wine and whiskey
Out to sea the British navy
Keeps an eye on foreign shipping
To keep us safe from war the hope of which is
All that keeps our soldiers sleeping through the night

If you don't like lying in the sun you might as well not be here
Let the sea come in and cover you
You will feel a new dimension
Like sleeping on a feather bed and dreaming of a world
In which you do not have to work

You suffer, you die, you labour, you cry
Things will change, time will tell
Things will change, time will tell

In the courtyard children playing
In their lives the sun is shining through
They'll all be scientists, atheists
They'll all be scientists, humanists
Egalitarian, vegetarian, internationalists

They'll all be mystics, they all be gods
They'll all be famous, they'll all be sods
Things will change, time will tell
Things will change, time will tell
For want you want to be you must try to be, you will all be free.

We Were A Happy Crew

Here on our road, are gathered we
Too see our lives unfolding
Though others stay
We pass away
Just as the tide goes rolling

This is a time of change
A parting of the ways
Though others stay
We pass away
Just as the tide goes rolling

And I'll remember you
Beyond these hopes and these fears
That account for the years
Like the wind in the reeds
I will miss you

And I will think of you
When the past comes along
To remind me what's gone
Like the wind in the reeds
I will miss you

Can we go back and start again
Can we begin where we came in

Some travellers passed as we stopped for a moment in peace
With blood on their fingers they spoke of a cloud in the East.
And we were a happy crew, me and you
We were a happy crew, me and you.

Speaking with words we were sure that the truth had been banned
We'd buried the martyrs and walked off to work on the land
And we were a happy crew, me and you
We were a happy crew, you and me.

Some riders appeared from the Sun as it fell with a blaze
They passed like the wind and were lost in the dust to the East.
And we were a happy crew, me and you
We were a happy crew, you and me.

Love Is A Funny Thing

I tried so hard, to keep our love alive
To keep you by my side
But the winter and my pride
Dissolved into the spring
Oh love is a very funny thing
I'm sure you know
And though you lose someone
You keep your soul

The fresh unfaded green
Makes my heart to dream
And the April rain
Washes me clean again
Of the sorrow that went before
Oh love is a very funny thing
It lingers on
And a part of me
Is always she.

The Duke Of Beaufoot

The Duke of Beaufoot is not at home today
He's very tired he thought he'd go away
You wait for him your eyes are on the door
You know no other way

The Duke of Beaufoot is very kind to cats
Keeps them in his cellar to help him catch his rats
He's very noble and his lineage is pure
But you, you're whore

The Duke of Splendour just wasn't much amused
And now you knew you'd been abused
If you'd had help you might have buggered up his fuse
But alone you're too confused

He picked me up
I was on the street
He made it clear he would use me
My parents died, I was three years old
I had to make a living
Close your eyes
Close your eyes

In a lot of ways I am close to him
Though he may seem to ignore it
I'm sure he cares
At least I think he does
It's just he's very busy
Close your eyes
Close your eyes

Here's today, says the telegraph
It's the world, it's the world
Gone away on a phonograph
Riding high, riding high
There's a way says the cenotaph
You will find, you will find
Gone in search of an epitaph
Running wild, running wild

You saw them coming forward
Asking you to be kind
You couldn't face their council
They were men full of greed
In your position nothing's sacred
You have only the wine

You stand alone
But not alone in your loneliness
And yet there must be more
I can't believe that all has been in vain

If there is, it's be sure of friendship
As the hours grow long
Rest assured that this phase is passing
Give yourself a chance