Promenade

Back at the house a bottle is found
And opened in honour of those who have drowned
While we who have not are stricken with guilt
And dutifully see that not one drop is spilt

We're drinking to life, we're drinking to death
We're drinking 'till none of our livers are left
We're winding our way down to the spirit store
We'll drink 'till we just can't drink any more

Raise your glasses high!
Drink the cellar dry!

Well bloody my nose and blacken my eye
If it ain't some young punk in search of a fight
And shaunticles' chest is sagging with pride
For honour has yet to be satisfied

Well heaven be thanked we live in an age
Where no man need bother except on the stage
With dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
And definitely not tonight...

I can still remember
When i was just a kid
I was free to do what i wanted to
But never ever did
And now with years of discretion reached may we not forget
Liberte egalite fraternite
For there's life in the old world yet

There'll always be an england
An ireland and our france
A lichtenstein and finland
For we have only one chance

Then this young man with an unhealthy tan
Puts a drink in my hand and says i understand
You're in search of a place to continue the chase
Of the heavenly taste i suggest in that case
That you all come with me to my place by the sea
Where the glasses shall be overflowing with free
Alcoholic delights (and free love if you like)
For what point has this life if you can't realise your dreams?

Raise your glasses high!
Drink the town dry!

We'll drink beyond the boundaries of sense
We'll drink 'till we start to see lovely pink elephants
Inside our heads, inside our beds, inside ????
So don't shoot 'till you see the reds of our eyes
And an army of elephants marching behind
From the night i was born 'till the day i will die
All my lovers will be pink and elephantine!

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the op'ning day.

Rub-a-dub-dub
It's time for a scrub
So through clouds of steam
To a cracked and faded cream
Bath-tub wanders frail
Aphrodite, so pale
Pink and white
She is naked as sin
Wearing nothing but a grin
And a pin in her hair
Will she be drowned?
Found
With her hair tied behind
Shoulders back
And head inclined
To the sound of music
Playing above
Bathing her in love
But darkness and fear
Will disappear like the soap
When she opens her eyes.

She throws back her dormer windows
Morning light shows ophelia raised
From her watery grave in a brave new world.

"birds and planes go
Through the rainbow
Every day though
You simply refuse
Old-fashioned ferris wheels
Are no big deal
They're just big wheels with chairs
So don't be scared
Just set yourself free"

She tells me it's alright
To open up my eyes
She holds onto my hand
And the clouds float by
The couple in the car below
They wave to us and say hello
I think they understand
The way we're feeling

I don't need to say 'i love you'
When we're floating
So far up above
Everyone else's lives
Are intertwined
With yours and mine
I hope
They find the joy
That we have found

She tells me it's alright
To open up my eyes
She holds onto my hand
And the clouds race by
The couple in the car above
I suppose they think
That we're in love
I think they might be right

And without warning when we're almost at the top
The wheel that turns us all comes to a sudden stop.
The wind that's blown us dies a quick and painless death
The air gets clammy and we hold each other's breath
We get the feeling that we're not alone in this
And then a god who really ought not to exist
Sticks out a great big hand
And grabs me by the wrist
And asks me "why?" and i say
"well god, it's like this
It may be arrogance
Or just appalling taste
But i'd rather use my pain than let it all go to waste
On some old god who tells me what i want to hear
As if i cannot tell obedience from fear
I want to take my pleasures where and how i will,
Be they disgraceful or distasteful or distilled
And to be frank i find that life has more appeal
Without a driver who's asleep behind the wheel"

Then god decides that he has taken quite enough
Of all this atheistic tosh i'm spouting off
And so he calls upon his favourite angel choir
To sing of times when men were filled with christian fire
But over-zealous angels flap their wings too fast
And cause the wind to blow and turn the wheel at last
And soon my feet are safely back on solid ground
And then i hear a voice say
"don't look down!".

Do you remember the way it used to be?
June to september in a cottage by the sea
Distant cousins local kids, we climbed every tree together
And it never ever rained 'til we got back on the train that would take us so far away
From the village and the bay
And the summerhouse where we found new games to play

Do you remember sunday lunch on the lawn?
Daring escapes at midnight and costumeless bathes at dawn
You were only nine years old, i was barely ten
It's kind of weird to be back here again

Do you remember?
The summerhouse
My summerhouse
Our summerhouse

Twilight turns from amethyst
To deep and deeper blue
We've got an hour or two
Before it's time to go
Let's go see a movie show

Jeanne can't choose
Between the two
'cos jules is hip
And jim is cool
And so they live together
With the trees and birds
And little girls
Who play upon
Poor jean-claude's nerves
Till finally
He strokes claire's knee
And when she asks
Of his ambition
Jean-pierre replies
"my mission
Is to become eternal
And to die..."
Heaven knows the reason why...

When the lights go out
All over europe
I forget about old hollywood,
'cos doris day could never
Make me cheer up
Quite the way those french girls always could
Jean seberg: et puisque je suis mechante avec toi c'est la preuve que je ne suis pas amoureuse de toi
Jean paul belmondo: on dit qu'il n'y a pas d'amour heureux
Jean seberg: si je t'aimais... oh c'est trop complic

"who'll have a fishy
On a little dishy?
Who will have a fishy
When the boat comes..."

And then he says
"with our glasses both raised in a toast
Let's sing for those in peril on the sea
Who cater ceaselessly
To thy every wish
With every fish
As fresh as fish can be
You see, i'm into my oysters
My king prawns and caviar
No matter how far away they are
I'll be there!"

And then she says,
"now with our glasses both raised in this toast
Let's sing for those in peril on the sea
Who labour tirelessly
In their tiny boats
Off john o' groats
Their socks soaked for me
You see, i do like my lobster
My hake, skate and rainbow trout
And if there's a fishy smell about
I'll be there! and then
And then we'll sing for those in peril on the sea...

Don't be frightened
Don't be scared
Chop off their heads
And little legs
Then peel away the shell
And open up your senses to the smell
The sound and colour
Touch and taste

Of crab, cod, clams and kippers
Scampi, squid, sole, shark and scallop
Winkles, whelks, whale and whiting
Seaweed, swordfish, sardines and sea urchin

Haddock, halibut, herrings and eel
Cockles, mussels, mackerel and veal
Pilchard, plankton, st peter's fish and plaice
Octopussy jellyfishy
And dolphin's an aquired taste

"who will have a fishy
On a little dishy?
I will have a fishy
When the boat comes in..."