English Settlement

(colin moulding)

People rushing round with no time to spare.
I'm so dizzy,
I'm neither here nor there.
In this traffic jam,
I just want to shout,
Let me off o' this english roundabout

English roundabout

And all the the horns go 'beep! beep!'
All the people follow like sheep,
I'm full of light and sound,
Making my head go round, round.

Everyone is cursing under their breath,
I'm a passenger,
I feel close to death,
Hopeless situation,
I have no doubt.
Stop the madness, english roundabout

English roundabout

And all the cars go 'brum! brum!'
And in my ears i feel a hum,
The neons blind my eyes,
All those tempers rise, rise.

Cars and buses go,
Puffing out their smoke,
Roll my window down,
I begin to choke.
I have had enough,
I just want to get out.
Let me off o' this english roundabout.

English roundabout.

(andy partridge)

It isn't even winter and i'm freezing, freezing,
This sort of feeling isn't pleasing,
And what i want to know, man,
Why, oh why,
Does she treat me like a snowman?

She's been building me,
Up quite steadily,
Seems like i've been here years and years and years and years;
I wait patiently,
Froze in history,
All ice-water is tears and tears and tears and tears;

She treats me far too frosty,
This hanging on has cost me dear.

It isn't even winter and i'm shivering, shivering,
Waiting for the love that's not delivering,
What i want to know, man,
Why oh why,
Does she treat me like a snowman?

It seems you would say i was too soft-hearted,
If you made a dunce-cap i'd don it!
People will always be tempted to wipe their feet,
On anything with 'welcome' written on it.

It isn't even winter and i'm freezing, freezing,
And this sort of feeling isn't pleasing,
And what i want to know, man,
Why, oh why,
Does she treat me like a snowman?

(andy partridge)

Leisure

They taught me how to work,
But they can't teach me how to shirk correctly.

As you see,
Science once again robs us of our jobs.
They've put a micro-chip in my place,
I hide behind screen of aggression nowadays,
It's just a way of saving some face.
So now i'm permanently drunk,
Like the rest of the race with,
Leisure.

If you think i'm clowning,
I assure you that i'm drowning here in,
Leisure

They taught me how to work,
But they can't teach me how to shirk correctly.

I spend all day,
And all my allowance on t.v. games.
Amusement heaven at the flick of a switch.
Instead of a lathe i busy my fingers nowadays,
By scoring goals with the gentlest twitch.
I've forgotten how to use my legs to invade the pitch.
Leisure

If you think i'm clowning,
I assure you that i'm drowning here in,
Leisure

They taught me how to work,
But they can't teach me how to shirk correctly.

They had retired me 'fore i left school,
(just saw no point in the standing in line)
So i spend lots of time lounging at home,
(why not come in 'cos the carpet is fine)
What a waste of breath it is,
Searching for the jobs that don't exist.
So now i'm permanently drunk,
Like the rest of the race with,
Leisure.

If you think i'm clowning,
I assure you that i'm drowning here in,
Leisure

They taught me how to work,
But they can't teach me how to shirk correctly.

Lazybones, looking through the sun
How'd you ever expect to find your day's work ...?

(andy partridge)

Knuckle down,
Love his skin,
It doesn't matter what colour skin he's locked in,
Knuckle down,
Knuckle down and love that skin.

Knuckle down,
Love his race,
It doesn't matter if you win or lose a little face,
Knuckle down and love that race.

One bright morning the world might end with a big bang,
And you'll never get yourself another chance.
Put aside the hoodoo and some of the voodoo,
'bout people being different,
They're not so different.

Take them by the arm and run to the street,
Take a little drum to supply the beat,
Soon the whole world will be up on it's feet and dancing.

For my sake,
Won't you put your knuckles down, boys?
For my sake,
Won't you put you knuckles down?

Love her skin,
It doesn't matter what colour skin she's locked in,
Knuckle down,
Knuckle down and love that skin.

Knuckle down,
Love her race,
It doesn't matter if you win or lose a little face,
Knuckle down and love that race.

One bright morning you just might wake when the coin drops,
Even though you think that love is such a corny thing.
You can burst the bubble full up with trouble,
Says that people always got to be fighting
(not right!)

Take them by the arm and run to the fields,
Blow on your horn until jericho yields,
Soon the whole world will lay down swords and shield for singing.

For my sake,
Won't you put your knuckles down, boys?
For my sake,
Won't you put you knuckles down?

(andy partridge)

Chant your spirit free;
Rush to greet truth like a dart
Shake your bag o'bones,
Shake your bag o'bones.
That's not traffic roar,
That's a leopard in your heart,
Shake your bag o'bones,
Shake your bag o'bones.

Go tell your stale friends,
Go tell false prophets,
And drug traffickers,
Not to try to push our bodies any faster
We're dancing with disaster,
And the first will be the last,
It's nearly africa,
Oh-oh,
It's nearly africa,
Oh-oh,

Any day now,
Any day, now now

Unplug future plans;
Finger-paint the sun on you,
Shake your bag o'bones,
Shake your bag o'bones,
Mend your missing links,
I think trust should be the glue,
Shake your bag o'bones,
Shake your bag o'bones,

Go tell your warboys,
Go tell all leeches,
And blind panickers,
Not to try to push your bodies any faster,
We're dancing with disaster,
And the first will be the last,
It's nearly africa,
Oh-oh,
It's nearly africa,
Oh-oh,

Any day, now
Any day, now now

Our civilisation car is running wild,
Who did you give the wheel to?
The fat man driving us over the edge of the nearest cliff-face,
Is he the same god that i've seen you kneel to?

(andy partridge)

There may be no golden fleece,
But human riches i'll release

Oh, my head is spinning like the world and it's filled with beasts i've seen,
Let me put my bag down and i'll tell you it all right from the start,
Like the scarlet woman who would pick on the boys she thought were green,
And the two faced man who made a hobby of breaking his wife's heart.

Seems the more i travel,
From the foam to gravel,
As the nets unravel,
All exotic fish i find like jason and the argonauts

There may be no golden fleece,
But human riches i'll release

I was in a land where men force women to hide their facial features,
And here in the west it's just the same but they're using make-up veils.
I've seen acts of every shade of terrible crime from man-like creatures,
And i've had the breath of liars blowing me off course in my sails.

Seems the more i travel,
From the foam to gravel,
As the nets unravel,
All exotic fish i find like jason and the argonauts

There may be no golden fleece,
But human riches i'll release.

I have watched the manimals go by
Buying shoes, buying sweets, buying knives.
I have watched the manimals and cried
Buying time, buying ends to other peoples lives.

Jason and the argonauts

There may be no golden fleece,
But human riches i'll release.

Jason and the argonauts

There may be no golden fleece,
But human riches i'll release.

(andy partridge)

The insect-headed worker-wife will hang her waspies on the line;
The husband burns his paper, sucks his pipe while studying their cushion-floor;
His viscous poly-paste breath comes out,
Their wall-paper world is shattered by his shout,
A boy in blue is busy banging out a headache on the kitchen door.

And all the while graham slept on,
Dreaming of a world where he could do just what he wanted to.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

The young policeman who just can't grow a moustache will open up his book,
And spoil their breakfast with reports of asians who have been so badly kicked,
Is this your son's wallet i've got here?
He must have dropped it after too much beer.
Oh, officer, we can't believe our little angel is the one you've picked. and

And all the while graham slept on,
Dreaming of a world where he could do just what he wanted to.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

They never read those pamphlets in his bottom drawer,
They never readthat tattoo on his arm.
They thought that was just a boys club badge he wore,
They never thought he'd do folks any harm.

The insect-headed worker wife will hang her waspies on the line;
She's singing something stale and simple now this business has fizzled out;
Her little tune is such a happy song
Her son is innocent,
He can't do wrong,
'cos dads a judge and knows exactly what the job of judging's all about.

And all the while graham slept on,
Dreaming of a world where he could do just what he wanted to.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear,
We made little graham promise us he'd be a good boy.

(andy partridge)

What can i say?
Why do we starve a thing thats near extinction?
From day to day,
These weeds of fear,
Are choking our conviction,
Life's like a jig-saw,
You get the straight bits,
But there's something missing in the middle.

All of a sudden,
We find the cupboard's bare.
All of a sudden,
We find heaven's not there.
All of a sudden,
We find the sun's gone cold.
All of a sudden
We find we're more than old.
All of a sudden,
We find that we've lost love,
So please don't push or shove because,
It's too late,
It's too late,
In all your hurry you've accidentally locked the gate

What can we do?
Trying to stem the flow of sand is useless.
It's up to you start holding hands,
And watch the balance redress,
Life's like a firework,
You're only lit once,
And you must stand and radiate correctly.

All of a sudden,
We find the cupboard's bare.
All of a sudden,
We find heaven's not there.
All of a sudden,
We find the sun's gone cold.
All of a sudden
We find we're more than old.
All of a sudden,
We find that we've lost love,
So please don't push or shove because,
It's too late,
It's too late,
In all your hurry you've accidentally locked the gate

Love's not a product you can hoard or pack a suitcase with,
It's more a way you have to give.

All of a sudden,
We find the cupboard's bare.
All of a sudden,
We find heaven's not there.
All of a sudden,
We find the sun's gone cold.
All of a sudden
We find we're more than old.
All of a sudden,
We find that we've lost love,
So please don't push or shove because,
It's too late,
It's too late,
In all your hurry you've accidentally locked the gate your hurry you've accidentally locked the gate.