Peter Gabriel

When the night shows
The signals grow on radios
All the strange things
They come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
Still waiting for the swollen easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot even choose a side.

I took the old track
The hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
They were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
And as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
In any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls,
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again, the seas are silent
In any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

We're character actors from the tower of babel
Bewildered, burnt out, hardly able
To sit astride the high wire cable
It's hard to balance, a little unstable.

Through broken eyes and contact lenses
'watched you draw your future tenses
See kisses of flame blow out of your lips
You're back telling me your apocalypse.

Don't get me wrong, i'll be strong
When the slowburn sunset come along
You've gotta stay the night
I gotta think that you might.

We've tried a hanful of bills and a handful of pills
We've tried making movies from a volume of stills
But the words fell like hailstones,
Bouncing at our feet
Covering our feelings with a frozen sheet.

A chance to move, i take a shot
I get cold -- you get hot
We look outside, lyin' awake
See birds breaking surface on a silent lake.

But don't get me wrong, i'll be strong
When i'm back on the isle of avalon
Don't get me wrong, i'll be strong
When the slow burn sunset come along
You've got to stay the night
I've got to think that you might.

Don't try to make it easy, it'll cut you down to size
Darlin' we've got to trust in something
We're shooting down our skies
Shooting down our skies.

Hey, i'm feeling so dirty, you're looking so clean
All you can give is a spin in your washing machine
I fly off to rome to my prima bella
She leaves me in the rain with telescopic umbrella
Ooh the pain -- modern love can be a strain

I trusted my venus was untouched in her shell
But the pearls in her oyster were as tacky as hell
For lady godiva i came incognito
But her driver had stolen her red hot magneto
Ooh the pain -- modern love can be a strain

I don't know why they leave me in the lurch
To carry on the search
It's driving me up the wall
Pity when i have so much passion
Romance is out of fashion
Can't handle modern love at all

So i worship diana by the light of the moon
When i pull out my pipe she screams out of tune
In paris my heart sinks when i see the mona lisa
She gives me the wink, then she shows me the freezer
Ooh the pain
Modern love can be a strain

Caught the chaos in the market square
I don't know what, i don't know why, but something's wrong down there
Their bodies twistin' and turnin' in a thousand ways
The eyes all rollin' round and round into a distant gaze
Ah, look at that crowd!

Some are jumping up in the air--say "we're drowning in a torrent of blood!"
Others going down on their knees, seen a saviour coming out of the mud
Oh mother! it's eating out my soul
Destroying law and order, i'm gonna lose control
What can i do to stop this plague, spread by sight alone
Just a glimpse and then a quiver, then they shiver to the bone
Ah, look at them go!

Bunderschaft, you going daft? better seal off the castle grounds
"this is moribund, the burgermeister, i'm going to keep this monster down,
Somebody sent the subversive element; going to chase it out of town."
No-one will tell what all this is about
But i will find out.

This thing's outrageous, i tell you on the level
It's really so contagious must be the work of the devil
You better go now, pick up the pipers, tell them to play
Seems the music keeps them quiet, there is no other way.
Ah, close the doors!

"we've tried potions and waxen dolls, but none of us could find any cures,"
Mother please, is it just a disease, that has them breaking all my laws,
Check if you can disconnect the effect and i'll go after the cause
No-one will tell what this is about
But i will find out
I will.

The wine's all drunk and so am i
Here with the hoi-poloi, don't ask me why
We're celebratin' anticipatin'; end of the year
Everybody come, everybody here
-- well more or less
Some already in a mess
I guess they're waiting for the big one.

Wonder why i'm cold. how did i get this far?
Had no money, had no car
I pray the snow goes, be bad if it settles
'cos i follow my nose and the dried up rose petals
-- like the man says,
Sure hope moses knows his roses
Or we'll all be waiting for the big one.

Once i was a credit to my credit card
Spent what i hadn't got, it wasn't hard
No trust in judgements no trust in money
Someday i'll find myself like a bee finding honey
But in the meantime, i'm gonna have me some fun
Waiting for the big one.

One too many, where ego i go too
Looking for the real thing
It don't come from what i do
No real communication moves out of my face
I'm beginning to think i'm just out of place
Won't get in too deep, i want to get some sleep
To be ready for the big one
-- waiting for the big one.