Don't Try

God's footballer hears the voices of angels
Above the choir at molineux
God's footballer stands on the doorstep
And brings the good news of the kingdom to come
While the crowd sings 'rock of ages'
The goals bring weekly wages
Yet the glory of the sports pages
Is but the worship of false idols and tempts him not

God's footballer turns on a sixpence
And brings the great crowd to their feet in praise of him
God's footballer quotes from the gospels
While knocking on doors in black country back streets
He scores goals on a saturday
And saves souls on a sunday
For the lord says these are the last days
Prepare thyself for the judgement yet to come

His career will be over soon
And the rituals of a saturday afternoon
Bid him a reluctant farewell
For he knows beyond the sport lies the spiritual

At night the baby brotherhood and the inter city crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards
And paint their faces red white and blue
Then they go out seeking different coloured faces
And anyone else that they can scare
And they salute the foes their fathers fought
By raising their right hands in the air
Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know

From the stands of the empire stadium
Come the heralds of the new dark age
With the simplicities of bigotry
And to whom all the world's a stage
These little john bullshits know that the press
Will glorify their feats
So that the general public fear them
And the authorities say give 'em all seats
And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed
Is shouting here we go
What do they know of england who only england know

Our neighbours shake their heads
And take their valuables inside
While my countrymen piss in the fountains
To express our national pride
And to prove to the world that england
Is just as rotten as she looks
They repeat the lies that caught their eyes
At school in history books
But the wars they think they're fighting
Were all over long ago
What do they know of england who only england know

And the society that spawned them
Just cries out who's to blame?
And then wraps itself in the union jack
And just carries on the same
Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know

Dig in boys for an extended stay
Those were the final orders to come down that day
Waiting to be saved in the philippines
You'll wait forever for the young marines

Now i believe to be here is right
But i have to say i'm scared tonight
Crouching in this hole with a mouth full of sand
What comes first the country or the man

Look at those slanted eyes coming up over the hill
Catching us by surprise, it's time to kill or be killed

Over here, over there, it's the same everywhere
A boy cries out for his mama before he dies for his home

All my life i wanted to be
As clever and strong as my best friend lee
We grew up together along half moon bay
Lee was japanese, born in the usa

When tommy was fighting jerry along the river seine
Me and lee wanted to do the same
Then they bombed pearl harbour at the break of day
I was headed for these islands while lee was hauled away

They said look at his slanted eyes, he's guilty as guilty can be
Sent here as enemy spies to sabatage the land of the free

I never got home, my platoon was never saved
That little fox hole became my island grave
Lee got out of jail but a prisoner he remained
Till he ended his own life to lose that ball and chain

And they said oh little slanted eyes can't you forgive and forget
And he said, oh mr friendly ghost
Can you catch water in a net?

There are soldiers marching on the common today
They were there again this evening
They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground
Before the storm clouds gathering

I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves
They are testing the air raid sirens
They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds
At the hospital and he asylum

I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today
And we stood there idly chatting
He said: "no, no i don't think war will come"
Yet still he carried on digging

Everything in my life that i love
Could be swept away without warning
Yet the birds still sing and the church bells ring
And the sun came up this morning

Life goes on as it did before
As the country drifts slowly to war

Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs
Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky
A tree taps on the window pane
That feeling smothers me again
Daddy is it true that we all have to die

At the top of the stairs
Is darkness

I closed my eyes and when i looked
Your name was in the memorial book
And what had become of all the things we planned
I accepted the commiserations
Of all your friends and your relations
But there's some things i still don't understand

You were so tall
How could you fall?

Some photographs of a summer's day
A little boy's lifetime away
Is all i've left of everything we've done
Like a pale moon in a sunny sky
Death gazes down as i pass by
To remind me that i'm but my father's son

I offer up to you
This tribute
I offer up to you
This tank park salute

As i wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom i sit and wonder
The words i should have said to you
The things i always meant to do
The bad dreams that all came true

Chorus:
You woke up my neighbourhood
Night after night we would row
You woke up my neighbourhood
Things are pretty quiet round here now

When i think of how we were together
I know we couldn't be like that for ever
Beneath the seven sister stars
The night we let it go too far
I slept out in the car

Chorus

I remember skipping on the porch tilll it grew cold
I remember feeling like i was eight years old

Somersaults across the lawn
Singing dancing up till dawn
Every now and then we'd have a row
You woke up my neighbourhood
Things are pretty quiet round here now

Chorus (repeat)

There's a girl sleeping in my bed
And i'm singing unwritten songs in my head
She provided bittersweet company
I confided how much you mean to me
And this time
It's gonna take a train to pull me through
Some brief distraction from your memory
Is all that i hoped that she might be
And as i let her warm her feet on me
Wish you were her

That i wanted you to be my wife
Is the worst kept secret of my life
Everyone knows, even my friend here
I've just whispered your name in her ear
And this time
It's gonna take a train to pull me through
Some brief distraction from your memory
Is all that i hoped that she might be
And as i ask her how she takes her tea
Wish you were her
Her
I wish you were her