Sunday 8pm
Album - 21 settembre 1998 - Debaser id 15977

Beg you listen me, don't be kissing me 'til I'm done
Unsung champion, reason, like seasoning
Pepper your thoughts with spice, and entice you to a space
Where I dwell with bass players and layers and loops
Think what I think with my prayers. It's nice. My world is everything I've become
Contained in the hum between voice and drum
I'm coming from the same place I'm still running from
But even sitting in the garden one can still get stung

I'm on Lonely Street age nearly three
Recently Mama's cryin all the time is it because of me
Or my younger sister, even Dad was weeping when he kissed her
Face all Puffy like a blister, cryin' like he missed her
Since we moved away from the house where we useta play
They say I'll understand one day, but I doubt it, Mama never say nothin' about it
How'd it get to be so crowded
I found it a strain, everywhere I look I see pain
And I can't escape the feelin', meybe I'm to blame
So I strain to listen, prayin' for a decision, whishing' they were kissin'
This feels like extradition or exile, Mama finds it hard to smile
So I make pretend cups of coffe in her favourite style
She says child I'm working so there's nothing you lack
Bus she know I want my Dad, I want my family back

I'm on Lonely Street, age forty-three
Couldn't gauge when tot quit so my wife quit me
Took offence, took the kids, I wish that was the end
But before she took her leave she took care of my best friend
Workin' all the hours God send was not the tactic
Y'see cuz after ten years I'm left with jackshit
Wanted to make the cash Quik so I useta work real late
Bad sex, My woman's vex, even if I stay awake
And if I'm honest, I had a little cake at the office
I was eatin' We'd do our cheatin over coffees, makin' tea for the bosses
Makin free with me and I agree I got sleazy too easily
But I'm forty-three, this doesn't usually happen to me
Now I'm lonely, I wonder what my son's doing today
Suddenly I'm blinkin' like the screen on my computer display and I'm drinkin'
Concerned about what's down the track if I don't get my family back

I'm on Lonely Street, number fifty-three
Boarded up probperly, I'll probably get pulled down
Litter all around inside there's no sound and no light
But yo it gets busy at night, people creppin'
Derelicts sneakin' to fix, speakin'
On the way my timbers creaking', roof leakin'
And bricks comin' loose, knee high in refuse
But even though I'm a slum I'm still of some use
There was a time when my walls were decorated
And under my roof children were educated
But now paint's faded, windows are all smashed
A crash in the economy robbed me of my family And no strategy
combats negative equitiy so that's it. Like violence it's drastic
I'm freaking', and seekin' to be more than just a house of crack
somebody bring my family back

You know that I'm foolish
Playing king for a day
I hang with my people
Whenever I can

They say that I'm scruffy, misguided and blue
Like a fly on a string
There's a web that surrounds you
But I will find a way in

Yeah, in your hour of need
I'll be there, yes I will
Yeah, in your hour of need
I'll be there, yes I will

You laid a place at your table
Let me sleep in your bed
Yeah, you hurt and confused me
You're my queen for a day

I know I'm foolish
Harsh and unfair
'Cos in my hour of need
I know you've always been there

And in your hour of need
I'll be there, yes I will
In your hour of need
I'll be there, yes I will

New York, New York temperature's droppin'
The band's out shoppin' not stoppin' till ears pop
Cops protect shops, lotsa yellow cabs and bell hops
An' it never stops
I'm waiting to do an interview, so much to tell you
Today i feel close enough to smell you
Additional date they were planning just fell through
Florida's out, we fly September 22 to Heathrow
So there's not really long to go
Tonight will be a brilliant show lettin' you know
I miss you more than four hits the floor at a party
Send my love to everybody

Honey I'm writing from DC, feelin' quasy
Stayin' healthy on the road isn't easy
The T.M. recommend Sanatogen
Not one of them could resist takin' the piss
I miss you like a lock on the door what's more
I go to sleep with my Walkman 'cos half the crew snore
Don't mean to be a bore, everybody's been great
But there's fifteen of us on a bus state to state
So I stay up late with a tape or meditate
My bed is travellin' at 55 mph
When we make it to L.A. I'll still be miles away
It's not my best day I'm gonna get some rest
God Bless

We just stopped at a diner so I'm takin' time
To write a few lines. I'm fine, sun's shinin'
Bus driver's reclinin' on the grass as the truck's pass
Gleamin' with a flash of sunlight from the glass
On the windscreen. As for us there's too much to relate
We've done five gigs but we're only in our third state
America's big! You'd love how they pile up your plate
Only place in the world even I could gain weight
Our next day is Wilmington, Delaware, open air
There's a rumour Melle Mel'll be there
Anyway, All the best, God bless I'm yawning
I really miss watchin' you get dressed in the morning

I lift you off the earth mundane and glum
Out the solar system, way past the sun
Till all the fear in your heart is gone, and so on

Walking through the world with no pressure
Inner peace beyond measure
I was leaving wherever I came in
When a man said, stop
I wanna have what you have
And get what you got

I got it sleeping rough on the streets in the rain
I got it learning to share my people's pain
I got it making flowers grow in hearts of stone
I got it 'cos I always took the long way home

I got it 'cos I always took the long way home

I've been walking trough the world with no pressure
Air's fresher, full of vigour, life becomes my mirror
The further I go the more I know
Oh yeah, wherever the wind blow I'll be there

Turned up in places that I never intended to go
And so ended my youth, I once depended on proof
Now I'm in the flow, there I things I know beyond knowing
I've never seen a seed growing, I was going back home
When a man said, stop
I wanna have what you have
And get what you got

I got it sleeping rough on the streets in the rain
I got it learning to share my people's pain
I got it making flowers grow in hearts of stone
I got it 'cos I always took the long way home

I got it 'cos I always took the long way home

Don't go

I didn't know you'd be here
and I wasn't meant to come
I'd be sitting watching TV
If there was anything decent on

If I'd missed the taxi
Or found nothing good to weare
But for some uncertain reason
Some strange uncertain reason
This is how it all
It all began

Why go?
Why go?
When you could stay a while

If I made some coffe
Would you sit and talk some more?
I know words are uaually pointless
When you've used them all before

The way you smile fills the room
Stay a while kick off your shoes
Don't go
Please stay
It always happens this way

Chorus

The way you smile fills the room
Stay a while
Whats's there to lose?
Thea way you laugh
When I say
Don't go
Please stay

Chorus

I see you workin' through the bead curtain
In you kitchen, switchin', leavin' me twitchin'
I'm itchin' to be kissin' you, but disciplne is the rule
So I sip my orange juice and act cool
She irresistible
We fool around twice a week, makes me weak
Nice, when she put her tongeu in my cheek
Not petite, baby got a large physique
She take charge, take me were I dare not repeat
I got T-T-T-T-like a high hat
Planting kisses on your back
You like that
Mrs X. reputation intact, nobody on my block
Know we lock down like that in the next flat
But one from whre I live with my mum and uncle John
He ain't my uncle an' it's been far too long
But me 'n' she been goin' strong almost a year
Wait til the coast is clear, I don't boast for fear
Of being caught. Maybe w ought to stop, maybe not
For now baby gets all I got. Boom!
How come we always trash the room? Grab ya clothes
Cos ya know someone'll be home soon
An' I assume there'll be a need to explain gently
Why this mother of three is playin' games with me
She's my baby

I'm a slave to your outrage
Rocket box stiff shocks an' a roll cage
Colour coded alloys, much noise, spoilers an' poise
Exhaust notes an antidote for old age
Yes! Yes!
Who got the keys to my R.S. we goin' on a road test
Hit the M4 and head west, forever impressed
With the sound of my two litre, we cover ground
Engine singin' like Anita Baker
An' iff I take a corner too quick y' get sick
When I do my hand-bake trick, watch me ride
Mi broadside slide like a battleship

Side-slip puch out mi hip
Stick it in gear an' give the gas a blip. It
Never fail to bring a grin to the lip, Baby's equipped
Me an' she gone clear I got quik rack reduction
On the under steer, I been
Fairly and squarely discribed as hairy
People say my baby is scary
Look you takes your money and you takes your schoice
I just love to hear my baby's voice
She's my baby

I roll up for the session, ev'rything in position
My friends demonstratin' erudition
I listen for a minute before takin' sides
Sleepy eyes on the limit sit down an' spin it
Like we do every Friday down my way
Why play the fool with demon alcohol
As a rule my baby gets passed around
I don't frown, I love to see my friends gettin' down
When it's just me an' she you know it's never precarious
But sharin' with ya buddies is hilarious
Variously we argua an' disagree an' get heated
Hafta tell my people to be seated
An' restart the anti-stress process
'Til there's a big mess of twigs an' seeds to meetcha needs
An' with that first inhaled hello...
Guaranteed mellow
She's my baby

This is my church
This is where I heal my hurts
It's a natural grace
Of watching young life shape
It's in minor keys
Solutions and remedies
Enemies becoming friends
When bitterness ends
This is my church (x3)
This is my church
This is where I heal my hurts
It's in the world I become
Contained in the hum
Between voice and drum
It's in the change
The poetic justice of cause and effect
Respect, love, compassion
This is my church
This is where I heal my hurts
For tonight
God is a DJ
God is a DJ
This is my church (x3)

Oh I wish I could be
touched by the hem of his garment

To be proud has
Never been
So mean, so hard, so stern, so cruel
Oh I wish I could be
Touched by the hem of his garment

Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way

Touch the hem of his garment

And anger should be
The tool of a clown, or a fool you see
Why should spite and such pain
Hang between you and me
When love should be
The queen on her thrown looking after own

Wish I could be
Touched by the hem of his garment

Two chairs
This table
One bed
In this house
Seriously
I think we could be, feel we could be
Touched by the hem of his garment

Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way
Mmmm mmmm I've come a long way

Touch the hem of his garment

(Instrumental)

I'm sittin' at a coffee table, unable to see straight
Watchin' parallel lines unwind and undulate
Behind the rain-streaked windowpane, the scene's bleak
Another train leavin' home,
conceding defeat with a low moan
Hangin' in A sky, made of stone
Everybody's leavin' home, I called my man Jerome
To come meet me in the twilight zone
Leave your mobile phone at home and come alone
I bought him coffee and a snack,
settled back, started speakin'
He was tweakin' with the peak of his cap
While I'm seekin' to discover what it takes to stay sober
Not cover my mistakes,
try to maybe make sense of the evidence
It's over, she's gone for good
Why should I lie, singin' a killer's lullaby
Identified by the dying ring of her goodbye
The last thing you hear before your life disappear

Now it just gets worse, like my stomach 'll burst,
feel like I've been cursed.
With seven centuries of bitter memories
And inadequacies, previous he's and she's
I'm movin' round this old house for the last time
Scene of my past crimes, been here for lifetimes
Hearin' the chimes of the old clock that used to mock
You got eternity for takin' stock,
this place is like a padlock
You look shocked.
Trust me, nothing ever moves but the dust,
There's just us and I'm here to torment and tease
And that's how it was for centuries
Me and my memories, till you brought the keys
Took the couple of Saturdays
I moved in runnin' from tragedies and boozing
Seven hundred years since I came here
You appear, same hair, same quizzical stare
I couldn't get near,
And the sheer frustration was more than I could bear
I was really cursed, thought I'd been through the worst part
That was just the first part, just the start
Every night I'd be sitting with dread, breaking my heart
In case the man she'd been chasin' gets to first base
And I just can't escape, I'm in bad shape
You making love to someone else is more than I can take
And so I make all the movement I can to no avail
Scream and yell, sinkin' deeper into my personal hell

I'm getting heated, I'm sorry, have another coffee
I needed to release my sparrow chest from just a piece of this pressure
Unless an escape route is found,
I'm going down underground
Into lifetimes of pain, it's absurd
The heaviest chain is contained is the sound of one word
So I'm referred back to hell, huh
Just as well, I hate needles an' get twinges at the thought
of syringes

J (as in Jerome), I'm going insane with shame
I dream and watch her makin' love over and over again
With what I call a farmer's swain
Unintelligent, pea-brained retard who's dick is always hard
Oh God, of course I'm jealous, fellows,
oversexed flexing his pec's
Jesus, what's he going make her do next?
I'm mad vex, the way she gently scratches his chest
You used to do that to me back in 1253
Pity me, while you lie with your lover
I stare and suffer in despair while you ruffle his hair
Unaware of who else is there
I move quick, I want to try my trick one last time
You know it's possible to vaguely define my outline
When dust move in the sunshine
So I'm tryin' to change, vibrate myself to near-human pitch
Which reminds me how I used to come unstitched
And switch 'round the house in a blind rage
It took years and an ocean of tears to find the key to this
cage
And write another stage into a new age,
it's difficult to gauge
But I know that I'll see you again, on that you may depend
I just don't know how or when
Sleep on, my lost love on gone

Jerome took me home under steel skies
Knowing I'm prone to dramatize but unknown for telling lies
And what I verbalize he can see behind my eyes
The why oh why's that identify killer lullabies
And he surmised
No surprise couldn't hear that
Closed my eyes as he steered that old black BM home again
Not knowing how and not knowing when.