Enter The Haggis Album

[No lyrics]

Another link in the chain getting rusty breaking
Down in the gutter with a smile
It's another case of finding your place
Another number showing what he's made
The sun sweeps the shadows from the concrete
Morning comes and it's another day
But the streets have voices, the walls have ears
And they're never gonna go away

On our feet is where we're gonna land
(You can find me in the gutter!)
The gutter is the place where we will make our stand
With a smile on my face and a bottle in my hand
You'll find me in the gutter in the morning

Here with the litter and the leaves we tremble
Here's where our memories were made
Oh the real life starts in the gutters and the bars
Long after the light of day has faded
'Cause we just don't know how to take it we fell
Cheated and excited and afraid
As they all shake hands and draw their lines in the sand
And forget about the mess they've made

On our feet is where we're gonna land
(You can find me in the gutter!)
Placing the blame on the chain of command
With a smile on my face and a bottle in my hand
You'll find me in the gutter in the morning
With a smile on my face and a bottle in my hand
You'll find me in the gutter in the morning

They have been sighted, they have been indicted
And we've been ignited to break until they bend
We will deny them, this will be our anthem
We will defy them, till the bitter end

Words, witnesses heard
We know it's not that simple
Your lies open our eyes
Force us to rise irate
The world isn't this small
We know it's not that simple
And the gutters give birth, and we're filling the streets
And the city will shake with the sound of our feet
...And we'll sing our gutter anthem till the day we die!

Life goes on, the city fades away
You can't see the fireworks by the light of day
We're not on the payroll, we're just getting buy
But we'll sing our gutter anthems till we die, die, die
We'll sing our gutter anthems till we die

Everything's so still
I think the wind is watching from it's
Northwest window sill
Looking straight ahead
I feel a bit too far for comfort, won't you take my hand

I hope this is only the end of the show
And we all get leading roles
The doors we close behind
They're never locked and always draughty
Hands, hearts, brains
Are irreparably changed

And many miles down the road
On a night that's dark and stormy
We'll be sold to the sky
In a violent flash of light

I thought the set was real
Till our friends went to their dressing rooms
And I felt the cardboard trees
So now here we are
All alone and naked
Beneath these white, fluorescent stars

And our laundry will swing on the line

Story told, the credits roll
The lights are up, it's time to go

There's kids with sticks
And they're chasing birds, a summer picnic
Would they be happy if they hit one
I hope their clumsy swings forgive the bird with the broken wing
The laughing parents shake their heads and say

(Chorus)
Boys will be boys
They never really have a choice
The building blocks are built before they play
Boys will be boys
There's no use being paranoid
Don't you know that they'll be men one day

Are these the same
Enemies that called us dirty names
When the bell was rung the fight was on
But they're so small
Maybe we could take them after all
The principal would shake his head and say

(Chorus)

Greasy hair on the witness stand
Empty bottle stare
Never cared much for the abattoir
Was he the stick
Or the broken bird that no one knew to fix
I guess the answer's in the DNA

[No lyrics]

Noseworthy and Piercy were two fine fisherman
Off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
Oh the ocean's an angel with the face of a flounder
Ah she holds the devil by the hand

"Good catch to you all," calls the captain, Robert Rose
The dory boats are lowered where the fathoms fall below
The red sun scowls and the wind the wiser
Whispering a warning o'er the lines

Those who dwell ashore know nothing of the lore
And the glory and the mystery of the deep
Salt water in our veins and the captain at the reins
Our wandering souls the freest
Our wandering souls the freest of the free

When the mother ship's cannon cracked the signal to return
The clouds were building bastions in the swirling up above
Poseidon the king and the wind his jester
Dancing with the Lightning Lady Fair

The black water boiled and the dory pitched and toiled
Can you hear the claxon calling out your name
Are we anchored to a fate to die upon the waves
Far from all our family
Far from all our family and friends

Tiny fingers pressed agains the window pane
Find your father's star upon the sea
Keep your faith like teeth beneath your pillow case
Until the day when he returns again

Wind breath of wind and bones of ice
They cast their cries into the night
Lost, alone, adrift, alive

After two days and nights with the oars in the grave
The two men were given for gone, gone away
Bitter news, it travels well, like a schooner on a swell
Their families learned the story of their fate

But on the ocean high a rescue had come by
And took them to the Old World on the far Atlantic side
After two months gone the blessed harbour of St. John's
Rolled in on the North Atlantic tide

For those who dwell ashore know nothing of the lore
And the glory and the mystery of the deep
But when the heart is strong you'll return where you belong
They made it back to Newfoundland
They made it back to Newfoundland again

On a day like any other day
Pavement turning red
Johnny laid down in the alleyway
Died with a song in his head
A long, long way from Springhill
In an unforgiving game
Came by with an eye for the spotlights looking for a
Place to make a name
So risk all or don't risk anything
You can lose all the same

Johnny hit town on a windy day
One morning in the fall
Couldn't smell the grass or the trees for the paper mill
Just another job and that was all

Every night looks like the next one
Every hotel in every town
Maybe in a smile he found variety
With a little rye to wash it down
When he played he was an animal
With a bow and roving eye, moving like a man undone, incredible
Couldn't win but he could try
That night he played like a warrior
Like he never had before
Maybe they were songs about a better life
Than the one he'd settled for
And by the time the night took Johnny
He'd won his soul but lost a war

Followed him out to the alleyway
With a blade he was taken down
He died so far from home and family
In an unfamiliar town
That night the sky had an open eye
He was left there in the rain
It washed his life to the shadows
Before he even made a stain
Johnny took his last bow running
And never picked up a bow again

Whenever the time is right
I will think of you
Whatever I might find
I will think of you

Walking the black, steel rail across suburban plains
Watching the summer's hand bend the long, green blades
Hoping to stumble on the pieces of my youth
Cinnamon copper Quenn, still so flat and smooth
Pardon me, Your Majesty, for never stopping by
I can see you're lonely living life upon the line

So let this be the end of everything that could
I'm so tired of all the things I'll never know

Stop on the trestle bridge, Sixteen Mile below
Whetting its appetite with the same old sticks and hopes
Are you happy upon your course, worn by centuries
Or searching beneath these stones for something else to be
Would you take me with you on uour cold and bumpy ride
If I hit the water then there's nothing to decide

Saturday morning a while before daylight I'm
Lying here hoping for rain
By tomorrow I could be anywhere
Passing streetcars alive without breathing
I'm lost in the city again
Without a purpose I can't believe anything
And I know it's not my place
To be asking these questions but I know I
Can't just chase every world that I see
Because

This isn't real life
This isn't happening
Seems so believable
But it's not the real thing
This isn't real life
It's just some enormous lie
And I know I'll be fine this isn't real life

Such a mystery
Am I supposed to believe these illusions are real
Out of focus, step out of character
Into a world I can feel
Maybe it's only a sense of propriety
Keeping us grounded at all
Or we'd run screaming
Into the morning and out of control
Maybe I can find some piece of a world I can handle
Or a common line, any one sign
All a part of me

This isn't real life
This isn't happening
Seems so believable
But it's not the real thing
This isn't real life
It's just an enormous lie
And we'll be fine if we can find a real life

Listen
The world is listening in
Every name and number
Suddenly I can't believe my eyes
We're gonna need those alibis
Hoping it all just fades away
Maybe they're all just paper
Airplanes and imaginary cries
They're not your neighbor
We all have our alibis
We've got our reasons and our reasonable words
But we all just hide our eyes and make believe we never heard
And when the sirens rise
We're gonna need those alibis
Helpless and hopeless on the screen
Maybe another channel
Might change the dialogue
To talk about it doesn't hurt at all

We all have our alibis
We've got our reasons and our reasonable words
We talk and talk as though there's nothing to it
We can change it all
As long as we don't have to do it
We all have our alibis
We've got our reasons and we
Lie and lie and lie
We all have our alibis
We've got our reasons
And if we're not afraid to fall
We're not listening at all
And when the silence fills the sky
We're gonna need those alibis
What does it matter if they're all lies

[No lyrics]

When I wake up I'm not sure if I know where I am
But in a moment I remember I'm at home again
And it's not so bad
Faces blur and I just chase away the afternoon
I'm barely here because I know that I'll be leaving soon
And it's not so bad

But when I see you I come back again
In the crowd or just beyond the lights
And I can handle this insanity
For just one more night
Just give me one more night

I'm not sleeping but I don't know what I'm searching for
A friendly face or just a place I've never been before
And I'm barely here
Heads and shoulders and a sea of crutches unaware
That I am leaning 'cause they're leaning back and we're all scared
That we'll disappear
Anywhere
Anytime it could take another part of me
But maybe here
If I can find a way
It's just another day
Just another day

When I see you I come back again
In the crowd or just beyond the lights
And I can handle this insanity
This caught-on-camera life
The prying eyes don't bother me
Then I see you and I'm home again
On the screen or in the corner of my eye
And I can handle this insanity
For just one more night
Just give me one more night

I'm gonna bury my demons
In the cold cold ground
Leave them all behind me
As the sun is sinking down
I've been a long time living
In the land of disrepair
And I'm gonna bury my demons
Way down there

On my twenty-first day I came to Calico
They told me there was silver buried in her stone
Summer died in April before the flowers came
She will hold me here until I strike my dying day
I just keep on swinging, hold my hat brim low
Dig a little deeper and like a seed, I'm sown
She can break my spirit, back and arms and legs
Though I may not stand I'm not bowing to her King

They will tell you that your fortune lies this way
But don't believe the lies you're told
Spend a life time trying to dig an endless grave
For the ghosts of Calico

Hey Miss Lucy Bell Lane, why'd you have to go
I can hear your sweet song when the south wind blows
I won't forget your spirit and I won't forget your face
I'll be waiting for you if you come back some day
Take my last breath quickly, take it in my sleep
Take it when I'm dreaming of a life in San Martin
Everyone I know now's a dusty memory
I can hear the wolves delivering my eulogy

Oh Calico

I scan the index time to time
Slide my finger down, hoping to see life
From the country we can see the stars
But they close their eyes to city lights and cars

It's the song before the calm before the storm

We hold on till we feel that steady roll
Shaking hands are letting go
They slip on but never slip away we hope
These good intentions clear the road
Of fallen snow

I slide my finger through the dust
That colonized this place that I once loved
From the inside I could see the stars
That I left behind for city lights and cars

I've listened long, I've listened hard, I've listened well
To things I'll have to learn myself

Gold dust turns to ashes falling softly at our feet
Taking the time to dance with ghosts along the way
Close our eyes tonight and find that we're all closer than we thought
To being home again in some familiar place

Restless is dawn as it wanders the farm house
A new day awaits though he's worked through the night
Patiently planting his thoughts on the pages
Under the mumble of kerosene light
Off to the West you can feel it coming
A thick, steel vein for a river of power
Carelessly turning the earth into wasteland
As thousands of years disappear in an hour

Hold your ground on the wrong side of the plough
They're closer now to a cold, black, broken line
Hold your ground when they come to cut you down
They're closer now to the rock that breaks the tines

Can't see what you do from back in the boardroom
Faceless equations of profit and cost
They wave you away like a fly on the radar
But keep coming back and you'll throw them off course
Though it's always been this way
Doesn't mean that it's your fate
But you know it takes the strength of heart and mind
And the faith someday the world will see your side

Nothing is lost if you give yourself wholly
Nothing is gained if you keep it inside