Now she wonders at it all,
Just in whose name did these brave young heroes fall?
And how many more are going to answer that call?
They’re going to fight, fight and die in another country’s war.
They’re going to die for a religion they didn’t believe in at all;
They’re going to die in a place they should never have been at all.

“Another Man’s Cause”
Levellers

I was happy when I woke to watch you sleeping without a care,
And I gently took my fingers and I brushed away your hair.
The day began in silver, dawning on your brow,
And I shook hands with the morning for letting me love you now.

Dave Swarbrick
“My Girl”
Fairport Convention

If certain girls don’t look at you
It means that they like you a lot
If other girls don’t look at you
It just means they’re ignoring you
How can you know, how can you know?
Which is which, who’s doing what?
I guess that you can ask ‘em
Which one are you baby?
Do you like me or are you ignoring me?
Do you like me or are you ignoring me?
Do you like me or are you ignoring me?

Dan Bern
“Tiger Woods”

He was an accident waiting to happen;
Most accidents happen at home.
Maybe he should have gone out more often…

Warren Zevon
“Porcelain Monkey”

You will never love me
And this I can’t forgive
You will never love me
As long as I will live.

Jill Sobule
“Mexican Wrestler”

It’s another week till his cheque comes through
Got a fiver left to spend on food
But the doors of the bar are open, and he breaks another rule.
He sits on the stool that bears his name
His favorite glass is called the same
He’s never been kept waiting, ‘cos he pays the landlord’s wage.

“Fifteen Years”
Levellers

I don’t know how you made it through all the smoke and brew you do;
But it sure has left its mark on you but you’re still with us today.
Life goes on and round we go and words can kill these things I know,
Often you cut me deeply so, but on the river flows.

And you’d set the table for the barber Sweeney Todd,
Well you’d clip the wings off of any rising god.
But man can’t live on hope alone, it can be cut all that is grown,
Broke your spirit but not your bones and on the river flows.

“The Riverflow”
Levellers

Take time for your pleasure,
And laugh with love.
Take the hand of another,
And sing for the wings of a dove.

Cathal Smyth / Graham McPherson
“Wings of a Dove (A Celebratory Song)”
Madness

I don’t mind walking through the wind and the rain.
I don’t mind waiting when they cancel the train.
But when I don’t have love I stand and complain;
I hate everything that I see.

Robyn Hitchcock
“Dancing on God’s Thumb”

Oh, to you I would give the songs I write,
The words I pray and the morning light
That pumps into this room today,
If you would only rise, if you would only say,
“I want you to take up all of my time.
I want you because you’re funny and kind.
We’ll be easy from now on.”

Nerissa Nields
“Easy People”
The Nields

And the world always turns to evening
And it’s moving beneath my feet
And your face is a lighted window
On a long dark street.

Ian Telfer / John Jones / Alan Prosser
“Long Dark Street”
Oysterband

Don’t ask what kind of music I’m going to play tonight,
Just stay a while—
Hear for yourself a while.
And if you must put me in a box make sure it’s a big box,
With lots of windows,
And a door to walk through,
And a nice high chimney,
So we can burn burn burn everything that we don’t like
And watch the ashes
Fly up to heaven,
Maybe all the way to India.
I’d like that.

Dan Bern
“Jerusalem”

When your dream comes true you’re out one dream.

Nerissa Nields
“Tomorrowland”
The Nields

I left you a clue, a mark a trail in view.
My work my art my little glass shoe.
Leave the ball while you’re hot so they remember you.
I left that ball, I walked out fast
‘cause I knew that the good times couldn’t last.
I left my shoe so that you would take it.
But I kept my heart so you couldn’t break it.
I left that shoe behind for you to remind you of our love.

Nerissa Nields
“Tomorrowland”
The Nields

For a fleeting second
I was up that hill;
Although I’ve never been there,
I wish I was there still.

Graham McPherson / Chris Foreman
“Primrose Hill”
Madness

Everybody’s had to hurt about it
No one wants to go without it
It’s so hard to find it
Sentimental hygiene.

Warren Zevon
“Sentimental Hygiene”

People going to judge us by the company we choose,
I can’t be seen with somebody who’s got the wrong tattoos.

Ian Telfer / John Jones / Alan Prosser
“Don’t Slit Your Wrists for Me”
Oysterband

You’re my survival, you’re my living proof
My love is alive and not dead.
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I’ll be captivated, I’ll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.

Edwin McCain
“I’ll Be”

Networking, I’m user-friendly
Networking, I install with ease
Data processed, truly Basic
I will upload you, you can download me.

Warren Zevon
“Networking”

And the way to hell is straight and sure
The way to heaven is long
The way to your heart is neverending
So I just keep moving on.

John Jones / Ian Telfer / Alan Prosser
“Moving On”
Oysterband

Love you for a lifetime, but I haven’t time to try;
If I loved you for an hour it wouldn’t be a lie.
Say that I was foolish,
Say that I was blind,
A seller bought a buyer and the buyer didn’t mind.
Anything you ask I’ll pay in kind.

Ian Telfer / John Jones
“Granite Years”
Oysterband

Wrap the barbed wire round me, say I don’t belong,
Kick me till I couldn’t move then tell me to move on.

Ian Telfer / John Jones / Alan Prosser
“The Deserter”
Oysterband

Catch me! I’m falling into my past.
Catch me! The deeper, the louder the laugh!

Mike Barson / Lee Thompson
“March of the Gherkins”
Madness

I hear the rain falling in my ears,
Washing away the weariness like tears;
I can feel my troubles running down,
Disappear into the silent sound.
I feel the rain falling on my face,
I can say there is no better place,
Than standing up in the falling down,
In so much light I could almost drown.

Mike Barson
“The Sun and the Rain”
Madness

I was your fountain of youth and
You were my mountain of truth,
But you have drunk me dry and I’m afraid of heights.

Nerissa Nields
“Fountain of Youth”
The Nields

James, James, James,
Isn’t it a shame
How someone so crazy could go so insane?
Everybody, everywhere loves James.

David and Nerissa Nields
“James”
The Nields

When you sing through the verse and you end in a scream,
And you swear and you curse, cause the rhyming ain’t clean,
But it suddenly comes, after years of delay,
You pick up your guitar, you can suddenly play.
When your fingers are bleeding, and the knuckles are white,
And you can be sure, you can open the door, get up off the floor tonight.
You have something to write!

Pete Townshend
“Guitar and Pen”
The Who

And the peace that reigned in upper dreamland
Was badly negated
When the giant slugs invaded.

Todd Menton
“Army (Dream Song)”
Boiled in Lead

Roll me out a barrel, I’ll toast you to your knees
Take away this safety net, bring me my trapeze
Order me a stretcher, for midnight if you please
Give me sweet music and strife;

Anything could put me in that long black wooden box
Gunpowder, whisky or the two-tone Chinese pox
But I’m not going quietly, I do not feel the call
I want to stay at the shouting end
So honey, let’s not go at all.

Ian Telfer / John Jones / Alan Prosser
“The Shouting End of Life”
Oysterband

I’ve walked this hill a hundred times
To hear the river talking
A murmuring, a secret sound
Never found;
And times I’ve leaned into the wind
To smell this earth I’m walking
With the song of the wind my heart is wound
All around
It’s holy ground

Ian Telfer / John Jones / Alan Prosser
“We’ll Be There”
Oysterband

I’d drink every ocean dry
(if I thought you might fall from the sky) and
I’d jump every train in sight
(if I thought you might be riding through the night).

Jen Trynin
“One Year Down”

The Minstrel in the Gallery looked down upon the rabbit-run,
And he threw away his looking-glass—saw his face in everyone…

Ian Anderson
“The Minstrel in the Gallery”
Jethro Tull

Did your dreams die young?
Were they too hard won?
Did you reach too high and fall?
And there is no rest
For the ones God blessed
And he blessed you best of all.

Richard Thompson
“King of Bohemia”

Who was it touched you?
Who was it ruined your day?
Whose footprint calling card?
And what’d they want stepping on your beach anyway?

Ian Anderson
“Rock Island”
Jethro Tull

If I should float upon this stream
And see you in my madman’s dream
I’d sink into your troubled eyes
And none would know ‘cept Lorelei
River, river have mercy
Take me down to the sea
For if I perish on these rocks
My love no more I’ll see

Philip Chevron
“Lorelei”
The Pogues

How many wars you fighting out there this winter’s morning?
Maybe it’s always time for another Christmas song.

Ian Anderson
“Another Christmas Song”
Jethro Tull

Hail!
Son of Kings/ make the ever-dying sign/ cross your fingers in the sky for those about to BE.
There am I waiting along the sand.
Cast your sweet spell upon the land and sea.
Magus Perde, take your hand from off the chain.
Loose a wish to still/ the rain/ the storm about to BE.
Here am I (voyager into life).
Tough are the soles that tread the knife’s edge.
Break the circle/ stretch the line/ call upon the devil.
Bring/ the gods/ the gods’ own fire.
In the conflict revel.
The passengers/ on the ferry crossing/ waiting to be born/ renew the pledge of life’s long song/ rise to the reveille horn.
Animals/ queueing at the gate that stands upon the shore/ breathe the ever-burning fire that guards the ever-door.
Man/ son of man/ buy the flame of ever-life (yours to breathe and breath the pain of living): living BE!
Here am I!
Roll the stone away from the dark into ever-day.

Ian Anderson
“A Passion Play”
Jethro Tull

I’m very well acquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule, trying to fit them in
I’m proud to be a glutton and I don’t have time for sloth
I’m greedy and I’m angry and I don’t care who I cross…

Warren Zevon
“Mr. Bad Example”

Time marches on.
Time stands still.
Time on my hands.
Time to kill.
Blood on my hands, and my hands in the till.
Down at the Seven-Eleven.

Warren Zevon
“The Indifference of Heaven”

Darkness in the morning,
Shadows on the land,
Certain individuals
Aren’t sticking to the plan.

Warren Zevon
“Searching for a Heart”

And the darkness falls,
And the rain comes down
In the midst of spring
There’s a sadness in the heart of things.

Warren Zevon
“The Heartache”

Sitting on the sofa,
Sucking a bowl of crack,
Thinking to myself about my angel dressed in black.

Warren Zevon
“Angel Dressed in Black”

I’m betting the gorilla will too.

Warren Zevon
“Gorilla You’re a Desperado”

I remember this much there is nothing you shouldn’t speak of if you’ve got something to say and there is no one to be scared of just get them out of the way.

Eddie McDonald / Mike Peters / Dave Sharp
“Blaze of Glory”
The Alarm

A beach is a place where a man can feel
He’s the only soul in the world that’s real.

Pete Townshend
“Bell Boy”
The Who

The law of the jungle says you look after yourself but I remember this much I love as I’d be loved myself.

Eddie McDonald / Mike Peters / Dave Sharp
“Blaze of Glory”
The Alarm

Love conquers poses. Love smashes stances. Love crushes angles into black.

Pete Townshend
“Stop Hurting People”

Only love can bring the rain
That makes you yearn to the sky.
Only love can bring the rain
That falls like tears from on high.

Pete Townshend
“Love, Reign O’er Me”
The Who

Would you dance with a madman?

Graham McPherson / Cathal Smyth
“Mad Not Mad”
Madness

Kindled by the dying embers
of another working day
Go upstairs… take off your makeup—
fold your clothes neatly away.
Me, I’ll sit and write this love song
as I all too seldom do—
build a little fire this midnight
It’s good to be back home with you.

Ian Anderson
“Fire at Midnight”
Jethro Tull

So I’m going to hurl myself against the wall
‘Cause I’d rather feel bad than not feel
anything at all.

Warren Zevon
“Ain’t That Pretty At All”

Looking for a sign that the Universal Mind has written you into the Passion Play.

Ian Anderson
“Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day”
Jethro Tull

This song is over;
I’m left with only tears.
I must remember
Even if it takes a million years.

The song is over.
The song is over.

Searching for a note, pure and easy,
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by.

Pete Townshend
“The Song Is Over”
The Who

No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face.

Pete Townshend
“Helpless Dancer”
The Who

Take a hand and take a bow.
You played for me, that’s all for now,
Oh, and never mind the words
Just hum along and keep on going.
Walk on slowly—don’t look behind you.
Don’t say goodbye, love. I won’’t remind you.

Dream of me as the nights draw cold
still marking time through Winter.
You paid the piper and called the tune
and you marched the band away.

Ian Anderson
“Slow Marching Band”
Jethro Tull

May I be matched with you again
I know the match is bad
But God help me—
May I be matched with you again
—without your match there is no flame.

Pete Townshend
“Stop Hurting People”

Walking now, over covered ground,
There’s a chance, if I move around.
I need a moment to reflect
On the friendships I have wrecked.
Why is it I, don’t I always try?

Cathal Smyth / Mike Barson
“Tomorrow’s Just Another Day”
Madness

And I know that when she thinks of me she thinks of me as “Him”.

Pete Townshend
“Slit Skirts”

Because when you’re told to stop
How far can you go?
When your race is run
And you already know?

Graham McPherson / Chris Foreman
“Yesterday’s Men”
Madness

Did you ever get the feeling that the story’s too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody’s on the stage, and it seems like you’re the only person sitting in the audience?

Ian Anderson
“Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day”
Jethro Tull

In the morning, I awake.
My arms, my legs, my body aches.
The sky outside is wet and gray;
So begins another weary day.

Mike Barson
“Grey Day”
Madness

The sea refuses no river
And the river is where I am.

Pete Townshend
“The Sea Refuses No River”

The oar snaps in his hand before he reaches dry land
But the sound doesn’t dampen his smile.

Graham McPherson / Mike Barson
“Night Boat to Cairo”
Madness

Why worry?
There should be laughter after pain;
There should be sunshine after rain;
These things have always been the same,
So why worry now?

Mark Knopfler
“Why Worry”
Dire Straits

Bring me a wheel of oaken wood
A rein of polished leather
A heavy horse and a tumbling sky
Brewing heavy weather.

Ian Anderson
“Heavy Horses”
Jethro Tull

The leaded window opened
to move the dancing candle flame
And the first moths of summer
suicidal came.

Ian Anderson
“Moths”
Jethro Tull

For those who choose to stay, will live just one more day—to do the things they should have done.

Ian Anderson
“Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day”
Jethro Tull

And all I wanted was a word, a photograph to keep.

Cathal Smyth / Dan Woodgate
“Michael Caine”
Madness

Here you have this medal, you can even melt it down,
Or frame it in the living room, every time you turn around.

Lee Thompson
“Blue Skinned Beast”
Madness

And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheathes his sword.

Ian Anderson
“Thick As A Brick”
Jethro Tull

Do you believe in the day? Do you? Believe in the day!

Ian Anderson
“Thick As A Brick”
Jethro Tull

There’s one seat in the circle—five hundred million in the stalls.
Simply everyone will be there, but the safety curtain falls
when the bomb that’s in the dressing room
blows the windows from their frames.
And the prompter in his corner is sorry that he came.

Ian Anderson
“No Rehearsal”
Jethro Tull

And God the director smells a rat;
Pulls another rabbit from his hat;
Sniffs the air, and says “That’s that.
I’m going.”

Ian Anderson
“Audition”
Jethro Tull

I’m in love with a beautiful girl.
I’m in love with a beautiful girl.
Well I thought I knew all about everything,
But I’m in love with a beautiful girl.

Robyn Hitchcock
“Beautiful Girl”

I am frightened, you are frightened
Should we get our trousers tightened?

Pete Townshend
“Uniforms (Corp d’esprit)”

They’re all resting down in Cornwall—writing up their memoirs for a paper-back edition of the Boy Scout Manual.

Ian Anderson
“Thick As A Brick”
Jethro Tull

Sunday school and Sunday roast,
Sunday paper, Sunday Post.
Sunday morning, Sunday rest,
Sunday sermon, Sunday best.

Dan Woodgate
“Sunday Morning”
Madness

I’m as honest as the day is long
The longer the daylight the less I do wrong.

Now pass the blame and don’t blame me,
Just close your eyes and count to three
“One, two, three,” then I’ll be gone and you’ll forget
The broken window, T.V. set.

Graham McPherson / Chris Foreman
“Shut Up”
Madness

People say that I’m crazy,
But I’m not that way inclined.
I know what I know
And I’ll happily show
That madness is all in the mind.

Chris Foreman
“Madness (Is All in the Mind)”
Madness

Tegularius