Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
Album - 29 gennaio 1990 - Debaser id 32549

Listen to me just hear me out, if I could have your attention just quieten down for a voice in the crowd. I get so confused I don't understand I know you feel the same way you've always wanted to say but you don't get the chance, just a voice in the crowd. I don't know the score anymore; it's not clear anymore I can't tell right from wrong anymore; I just don't understand. I was sitting here thinking of exchanging a new world for old like changing channels on the tv, or the dirt we stand in to gold. When I was young, my father told me just the bad guys die at the time just a little white lie it was one of the first but it hurt me the most and the truth stung like tears in my eye that even the good guys must die there's no reasoning no crimes and I never knew why even now it still makes me cry. If there's somebody up there could they throw me down a line just a little helping hand just a little understanding just some answers to the questions that surround me now. If there's somebody up there could they throw me down a line just a little guiding light to tell wrong from right just some answers to the questions that I'm asking you I keep a vigil in a wilderness of mirrors where nothing here is ever what it seems you stand so close but you never understand it for all that we see is not what it seems, am I blind? And you sit there and talk revolution but can you tell me just who's in command? when you tell me the forces we are fighting then I'll gladly join and make plans but for now only our t-shirts cry freedom and our voices are gagged by our greed our minds are harnessed by knowledge by the hill and the will to succeed and if that's not what you believe would you let me know I'm not standing alone that I'm not just a voice in the crowd If there's somebody up there could they throw me down a line just a little helping hand just a little understanding just a little understanding to the questions that I'm asking you If there's somebody up there could they throw me down a line just a little guiding light to tell wrong from right just some answers to the questions that I'm asking you I'll keep a vigil in a wilderness of mirrors where nothing here is ever what it seems I'm scared to shout in case I draw attention from the powers that preside over our minds and our lives when they find what I want is the deadliest weapon, that is truth Day by day it's getting louder and day by day it's getting stronger but when I can't scream no more and I need reassurance, I listen to the crowd. (And the boy stood, and stared at the hill. And the hill stared back)

I found a new religion yesterday, I'd just cleared immigration JFK
a priest got in a cadillac, the shoe shine boy sang gospel
as God and his accountants drove away.
You'll see him coast to coast on live tv, in a stadium
rocked by Satan just the night before
the collection from the faithful is tax free
it'll pay for his presidential campaign and his yacht

And we all bow down, we bow down to the big wedge
and we'll buy ourselves some heaven on earth
we sell our souls, sell our souls for big wedge
are we selling out tomorrow for today?

A surgeon checks your plastic on the telephone
a casio concerto entertains you while you hold
your credit rating's good for a Madonna or a Bardot
a Dali or a Picasso for his wall.

You're looking good, looking good with big wedge
are you holding back tomorrow for today?
they're driving in, driving in with big wedge
are we selling out tomorrow for today?

You'll sell the ground beneath your feet
you'll sell your oil, you'll sell your trees
you ideals and integrity your culture and your history
your children into slavery to labour in their factories
your mother and your family
you'll sell the world eventually.
The IMF and CIA; there's just no difference they're all the same!
It just depends on what's your point of view

America, America the big wedge
and they're buying up your tomorrow with promises
the promises of big wedge and they'll break them
like your hearts another day
when you find out that you've left it just too late
and find that you're the only one to blame
that you sold out your tomorrow for Big Wedge

[Instrumental 24 secs]

I don't trust the government
I don't trust alternatives
It's not that I'm paranoid
It's just thats the way it is

Everyday I hear a little scream inside
Everyday I find it's getting louder
I just want to reach out and touch someone
'Cause I find I need a friend in this dark hour

We the people are getting tired of your lies
We the people now believe that it's time
We're demanding our rights to the answers
We elect a precedent to a state of mind

I trust in conspiracy
In the power of the military
In this wilderness of mirrors here
Not even my speech is free

Everyday I hear a little scream inside
Everyday I find it's getting louder
I just want to reach out and touch someone
'Cause I find I need a friend in this dark hour

We the people want it straight for a change
'Cause we the people are getting tired of your games
If you insult us with cheap propaganda
We'll elect a precedent to a state of mind

[Instrumental 23 secs]

Everyday I hear a little scream inside
Everyday I find it's getting louder
I just want to reach out and touch someone
'Cause I find we need a friend in this dark hour

When we the people have our backs to the wall
Do we the people then assume control?
When it's too late to stop our own execution

When we're faced with the final solution
You can't elect a dream revolution
When you've a bullet in the back of your mind

It's just a state of mind

I hear a little scream inside

Where beggars take cheques and children steal credit cards
From the pockets of wrecks that lie in the road
I came to in my future that was just yesterday
Unsure of my past, that's a knot in my gut

You buy me a drink then you think that you've got the right
To crawl in my head and rifle my soul
You tell me I'm free then you want me to compromise
To sell out my dreams you say you'll make it worthwhile

Oh, boys would you drink to me now
Here on the hill, halfway up, halfway down

You tell me I'm drunk then you sit back and smug a while
Convinced that you're right that you're still in command
Of your senses. I laugh at your superior attitude
Your insincere platitudes they make me throw up

The sooner you realise I'm perfectly happy
If I'm left to decide the company I choose

Oh, boys would you drink to me now
Here on the hill, halfway up, halfway down
Oh, boys would you drink to me now
Here on the hill, halfway up, halfway down
Oh for the company born to the company
Live for the company until I die

The sooner you realise I'm perfectly happy
If I'm left to decide the company I choose

The company I choose is solidly singular
Totally trustworthy, straight and sincere
Polished, experienced, witty and charming
So why don't you push off, this company's my own

Oh, boys would you drink to me now
Here on the hill, halfway up, halfway down
Oh, boys would you drink to me now
Here on the hill, halfway up, halfway down
Oh for the company, dream of the company
Live for the company until I die
Oh for the company, dream of the company
Drink to the company until we die
Until we die
Until we die

[Instrumental 25 secs]

Do you still keep paper flowers
In the bottom-drawer with your belgian lace
Taking them out every year
To watch the colours fade away

Do you still believe in fairy tales
In battlements of shining castles
Safe from the dragons
That lie beneath the hill

Are you still a Russian princess
Rescued by a gipsy-dancer
To anyone who'll listen
Is that a story you still tell

You live a life of fantasy
Your diary romantic fiction
Can't you see it's hard for me
Can you see what I'm trying to say

It's a gentleman's excuse me
So I'll take one step to the side
Can you get it inside your head
I'm tired of dancing

For every one step forward
I'm taking two steps back
Can you get it inside your head
I'm tired of dancing

[Instrumental 21 secs]

I know you still like old-fashioned waltzes
Your reflection in the mirror that you flirt with
As you glide across the floor
But if I told you, the music's over
Would you want to hear
That your dance card, is empty
That there's no-one really there

Do you still believe in Santa Claus
There's a millionaire looking for your front door
With the key to a life
That you'd never understand

And all I have to offer
Is the love I have, it's freely given
You'll see it's value
When you see what I'm trying to say

It's a gentleman's excuse me
So I'll take one step to the side
Can you get it inside your head
I'm tired of dancing

For every one step forward
I'm taking two steps back
Can you get it inside your head
That for this one step forward
There's no turning back
Can you get in inside your head
I'm tired of dancing

We're Finished Dancing

I like to watch

Track down a satellite, beam in the action
Life lies bleeding live in your living room
Your senses on remote control,
It's overkill in overload
From Lockerbie to Lebanon's getting closer every day
From Hollywood to Hungerford's an impression away

I like to watch, implausible pledges of polite politicians
I like to watch, them even more than my video nasties
I like to watch

I like to watch

The bleating of a bimbo, a back-stabbing beauty queen
Titillating tabloids trigger off a wet dream into action
A fatal attraction, private lives are up for auction
A cupboard full of skeletons are coming out to play

I like to watch, disasters in re-run and replay in slow-mo
I like to watch, on the spot interviews, kicking in front doors
I like to watch

I like to watch

To watch

To watch as my face is reflected in blank TV screens
The programmes are over
I like to pretend that that's me up there making headlines
Camera closeups, Catching my right side
I don't care if it's only a moment
As long as it's peak-time

Just as long as, all of my friends and my family they see me
The world, will know my name

Come on down

[Instrumental 30 secs]

I like to watch, psychologists speculate, analysts analise
I like to watch, my methods and motives, the topic of talk shows
I like to watch

I like to watch

I like to watch

I
I like
to watch

I like to watch
I like to watch
I like to watch
I like to watch
Just like to watch

I like

To watch

I heard a battle ragin
On the other side of the wall
I buried my head in a pillow and tried to ignore it all
Every night when I hear you
I dream of breakin down your door
An avengin knight in shinin armor to rescue you from it all

From this family business
Family business
How long does it stay
Family business
Oh, it's nobody's business
This family business
But tell me how long it should stay
Family business

When I see you in the supermarket
Sunglasses in the shade
Avertin your eyes from those starin questions
How were those bruises made
The children clutch tight to your legs
They've got so much they want to say
But daddy's sittin home drunk again
So they bite their lips and pray
Cause daddy don't like people pryin
Pokin in his family affairs
And if anyone ask from the social well
You fell down the stairs

It's family business
Keep it in the family business
Can you tell me how long it remains
Family business
Oh, it's nobody's business
This family business
Can you tell me how long it should stay
Family business

She's waitin at the bus stop
At the bottom of the hill
She knows she'll never catch it
She knows she never will
The kids are all she lives for
She's got nothin left to lose
Nowhere to escape to
But she knows she's got to move
Cause when daddy tucks the kids in
its takin longer every night
And the heaven that she's waitin for
Through the hell it lasts all night

It's family business
Keep it in the family business
Can you tell me how long it remains
Family business
Oh, it's nobody's business
Oh, this family business
Can you tell me how long it should stay
Family business

So I become an accessory
And I don't have an alibi
To the victim on my doorstep
The only way I can justify
It's family business
Family business
How long do we keep it
Family business

[Instrumental Introduction 38 Secs]

I've got a reputation, of being a man with a gift of words
Romantic poetic type or so they say
But I find it hard to express the way I feel about you
Without getting involved in the old clich�s

In the old clich�s

It's an old clich�

This song's begun so many times but never in a way
That you won't consider to be an old clich�
I want to say that I need you, I miss you when you're away
And how it seemed like fate - oh here we go - the same old clich�s

It's the same old clich�s

It's not that I'm embarrassed or shy, well you know me too well
But I want to make this song special in a way that you can tell
That it's solely for you, and for nobody else
For my best friend, my lover, when I need help - clich�

Clich�

[Instrumental 40 secs]
[Backing]
Everything I want to say to you
Is wrapped up in an old clich�

I'd waited so long to find you
I'd been through the heartbreak and pain
But of course you already know that 'cause you've been through the same

That's why I'm trying to say with my deepest sincerity
That's why I'm finding it comes down to basic simplicities
The best way, is with an old clich�
It's simply the best way, is with an old clich�
Always the best way, is with an old clich�
I'll leave it to the best way, it's an old clich�

I love you

[fade - new Instrumental 33 secs]

It's not that I'm embarrased or shy, well you know me too well
But I want to make this song special in a way that you can tell
That it's solely for you, and for nobody else
For my best friend, my lover, when I need help

Simply the best way, is with an old clich�
Always the best way, is with an old clich�
Simply the best way, it's an old clich�
Simply the best way, it's an old..... clich�.....

[Instrumental to end 40 secs]