Thea Gilmore Album

Four o'clock in the morning and my coffee got cold
And I've been watching the streetlamps flick off with the dawn
So I take a deep breath inwards and my hair's pulled down my throat
I look up at the sky, ask “do you mind if I smoke?”

La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Oh, oh, la da da da da da da
La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Talkin' ‘bout degeneration

And what about democracy and what about equality?
We're all asking the age old question, so what about me?
And we turn to face the cameras pointing knives towards each others backs
Saying “I'm a product of my generation.” You could make a film about that

La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Oh, oh, la da da da da da da
La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Talkin' ‘bout degeneration

And the bigwigs down on fleet street are cashing in on this parade
Selling hot dogs by disaster zones, counting every dollar made
And we pay out for the gossip and the latest on our own demise
Like the print's supposed to be our ears, like the screen's supposed to be our eyes

La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Oh, oh, la da da da da da da
La da, la da, la da da da da da da

You said that it meant nothing
You said that you just met her
Well as far as your excuses go baby
You could do better

La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Oh, oh, la da da da da da da
La da, la da, la da da da da da da
Talkin' bout degeneration
Said I'm talkin' bout degeneration
Said I'm talkin' bout degeneration

They're coming with their stories and they're coming with their wine
They got a copy of a Chopin tune and an old no-smoking sign
They're mapping every person's life, aligning every chart
They've got a kitchen knife and a power cable poised against each heart

They say we are your morphine vision, we are your TV screen
We are your chat show host, we are your magazine
We've got trace elements in each fashion, every trend
So let's end this story kids, see if you do it all again
The resurrection men

They're watching all those people in the corporate ocean's tide
The choreography of commerce, the backhanders and the lies
They're erasing all the figures, all the dollars, all the dreams
They say you can always tell a suicide by the length of the scream

And we are your morphine vision, we are your other half
We are your healthy living, we are your epitaph
We've got your second chances dressed in an accident
You want the next big bang then you can just send
The resurrection men
The resurrection men
The resurrection men

They're coming with their bank books, they're collecting every fare
From burning nights in Nagasaki, frozen days in Val-d'Isere
And now the walls crumble round Downing Street and Capitol Hill
Its only murder if you twist the knife with intent to kill

And they're coming with their butane, they're coming with their signs
From the black and white division, the bloody wars and their front lines
They fan the flames of degradation to a mariachi band
'Cause the crimes always committed using someone else's hand

And we are your morphine vision, we are your sleepless nights
We are your catechism, we are your final rites
We've got your weakness pegged, each break and every bend
You throw a tragedy we'll always attend
The resurrection men
The resurrection men
The resurrection men
The resurrection men

I had too much to drink last night, now I'm lying on the floor
Watching the coloured patterns in my eyes, leftovers from the light
And this “bearing all” thing is harder than I thought
I'm gonna pull out my own tail feathers and see if they applaud

See I always had this problem while you were still around
We both threw our cards on the table but yours were all face down
You know the thing about failure is it happens when you're out of time
You don't know you've lost the race until you cross the finish line

And that's
How high
I'll refrain this time
You know the rain's come down again
You'll pardon me if I don't seem surprised

Now the grey suits and the big boys they're all slaves to their bank balance, see
The media mass markets freedom as the ultimate commodity
And you tattoo my image on the lips of all your friends
As some tight cunt to fuck and leave and fuck again

Like I'd say
How high
I'll refrain this time
You know the rain's come down again
You'll pardon me if I don't seem surprised
How high, how high, how high

And I had too much to drink last night, now I'm lying on the floor
Watching the coloured patterns in my eyes, leftovers from the light
And this “bearing all” thing is harder than I thought
I'm gonna pull out my own tail feathers and see if they applaud
See if they applaud

I have been looking for loose change
Down behind the armchair seat
I've been propping up this coffee cup
Looking down, down into the street

And I hate what I've become, said
I hate the insecurity of freedom
Holding every breath, counting every step
Checking every sentence with a polygraph test

Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah,
All is forgotten
Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah,
Mmm, that's it

And you have always craved a conscience
And I have constantly avoided that with
Sincere regrets, sir, I must inform you
I will not be another feather in your cap

Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah,
All is forgotten
Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah,
Mmm

I had it all worked out
Had all my T's crossed, my errors ringed
You got me all worn down
You had to go and ruin everything

I have been looking for loose change
Down behind the armchair seat
I've been propping up this coffee cup
Looking down, down into the street

All is forgotten

God's electrician sparked up the heavens once again
Heading northbound on the 7:10
And the Lord said let there be commuters
Talking pension plans, medicals and monthly targets end to end
I was hoping I could steal you
Away from all that chemical release
We were both walking, talking silk-wrapped razor blades
Carving our initials into each others memories and

I know I can't place blame
But this was all your idea
I just got out when I did
To prove the exit route was clear
To prove the exit route was clear

And I've seen you play dumb, but what else can you do?
I've seen you dodge my questions like bullets
But come on, honey, show me something new
Show me this amphetamine psychosis
Show me this not-quite-comatose it's
Gonna track us up for the evening
And you and I can support each other like rotting fence posts and

I know I can't place blame
But this was all your idea
I just got out when I did
To prove the exit route was clear
To prove the exit route was clear

We both lay on the floor end to end
While our bodies and our brains gave up the fighting
And your bed-sit looked like some sick demon had rolled in
It looked like Hell with fluorescent lighting
It looked like Hell with fluorescent lighting and

I know I can't place blame
But this was all your idea
I just got out when I did
To prove the exit route was clear
To prove the exit route was clear
To prove the exit route was clear
To prove the exit route was clear

Keep me again at arms length
All I hear is your heart, you know baby
It never shuts up
And its all right
This heart is on fire
Just save your own ass go
Leaving me burning

Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down
Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town

What am I not saying here?
Hear the spaces between that
Measure all
The words I don't know
And you are
You're not welcome here
I'm counting your reasons on one hand
Then fitting them in

Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down
Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town
This is my own private riot

Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down
Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town
Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down
Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town
This is, this is
This is my own private riot
This is, this is

Well, hey there come over here
Y'know, I've got something to show you
Just swivel in your power chair
D'you want me to be Persephone the cookie queen
And Snow White too
Well forgive me for my complexion and my lewd tongue
And lack of sensitivity
But I'm not some easy little girl
If you wanna fight someone you can
Come fight me
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Do it now

And I could sit with my hands intertwined
And shrug my shoulders pretending everything's just fine
But what fun is life when you're just
Cowering in a corner waiting to drown all the time?
And he grins and winks at me saying
”Honey I'm your godsend, I sense you're incomplete”
And I smile and turn the other way, so come on big boy
I'll meet you on the edge of my seat
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Do it now

And there she goes to her samurai
Panties tucked high
The past tense can be your alibi

And we have been draped across these bar stools
Picking stones out of our size six boots and
He has been greasing every female with a gaze
That smacks of 'I'll have anything that moves'
So we take up the initiative
And stroll over to Mr. Muscles in that predatory waltz
Saying “hey there, lets see what you've got boy
”And don't mind our amusement or preliminary insults”
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Do it now
Do it now
Do it now
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Lets do it now
Do it now
Do it now
Do it now

Hello anger it's me
I've been calling almost an hour
I left a message on your machine
Yeah, well I guess you're out
Heard a black guy got killed today
Struck by nine and dead by one
We all bleed red, don't we?
No matter what side of town we're from
We're from

And I was driving out of town
Listening to the radio
And somebody wanted to know
Why does the whole country stand accused?
And just as the answer was coming back
I passed under a railway bridge
And the words got lost in a flood of static
We washed our hands, disguised the bruise

And I should have known we'd never do it
Never see humanity as some screwball work of art
We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments
That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart

And we've been hanging on each news report
Shaking our heads and loading blanks
It's been slowly gaining interest
In the public memory banks
So that if we just close our eyes
Then we may all be absolved
Don't talk to us about blame,
In fact don't talk at all; there, problem solved

And I should have known we'd never do it
Never see humanity as some screwball work of art
We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments
That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart

And they're coming to the door spilling names and what they've learned
And she's muttering her 'thank you's even as the deadbolt turned

I should have known we'd never do it
Never see humanity as some screwball work of art
We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments
That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart

We need our borders, our specifics
We've got each culture on a population graph
Branding the “them and us” with extremist hieroglyphics
And that's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart

Hello anger its me I've been calling almost an hour
Left a message on your machine
Yeah, well I guess you're out

I'm sitting here like statistics
Amid teenage pregnancies and misfits
Plotting my uncertain chart
And the constant of our frequency
The graph that follows your feelings for me
Looks like a work of abstract art
And in the law of love that you broke
You employed me
As your attorney
And you are still learning
And I'm still faithfully returning
To the crime scene

And I'm having trouble with the jargon
Having trouble getting out of this tune
And my headlights are bruised and broken but I'm
Still night-driving with you

And I'm into all this feeling sorry stuff
After love's been gained and love's been lost
These bruises are the landmark of the end
And you were never a good lover
You were never a great enemy
And you couldn't even manage a good friend

Now I'm having trouble with the jargon
Having trouble getting out of this tune
And my headlights are bruised and broken
Still night-driving with you
I'm still night-driving with you

You said it's all about symmetry
And the half reflection of you and me
Can't piece together what is gone
Watching my colours bleed and stain your hands
With no regrets and no demands
I expected a better Armageddon

And I'm having trouble with the jargon
Having trouble getting out of this tune
And my headlights are bruised and broken but I'm
Still night-driving with you

I'm having trouble with the jargon
Having trouble getting out of this tune
And my headlights are bruised and broken
Still night-driving with you
I'm still night-driving with you
Still night-driving with you

Beauty is skin deep
And mine's not even that
You broke through, I couldn't touch you
And you left me shaking on the concrete ground
Its funny how things
Just turn around in one minute
You got what you wanted
But, man, I'm sure there was a hair's breadth in it and

You're my lidocaine baby
And I, I lied again baby
And Hell, Hell hath no fury
Like me

Cold as stone and
I think I needed that to understand
I fell in feet first
Bloody underwear is in my hands
And he said my pockets
Are lined with deep regrets
Whatever the fashion
For constant angst I haven't learned it yet

You're my lidocaine baby
And I, I lied again baby
And Hell, Hell hath no fury
Like me

One, two, spread your legs girls
Those dirty little angels
This tense, this numb
And let's forget the alarm bells

My, my lidocaine, my lidocaine
And I, I lied again, I lied again
And Hell, Hell hath no fury
Like me
No matter like me

They're piling bodies up on the plains
All of the strangers with so many claims and
All that hope served as a warning
Now they're falling like dominoes on a late December morning
And stack up the dead and just leave them
It proves we've got the last word in patriotism
And send the live ones to some western reservation
They've got the wrong coloured skin and ideas above their station

I'm singing holy homeland
While a nation is choking
You smile and say “you know we said land of the free?
”Yeah, well we were just joking”

This land is your land
With one roll of the dice and one guiltless command
Now you're sitting watching TV
Accepting moral direction from a crank pshrink with an impressive CV
Your new god is your video screen
Washed up, spun out by an American dream,
Only memories of ghosts that patrol this place
And this land, your land is a terminal case

You're singing holy homeland
While a nation is choking
You smile and say “you know we said land of the free?
”Yeah, well we were just joking”

Who am I to criticise
From a country with no problems about selling one another
I guess we all have our dirty ink stains on the history books
In the pages, on the cover
And at dawn storm clouds disappear the future brings all hope and glory
Ghost dancers rise 500 years
Like there will never be another end to this story

I'm singing holy homeland
While a nation is choking
You smile and say “you know we said land of the free?
”Yeah, well we were just joking”

Hey, looks like sleep is here
Its two thirty AM, the town has been cleared and
The traffic has stopped for the minute at least
We lie like a symphony under the sheets

And earlier today you said “you know, girl
”We're like two different halves of two different worlds”
And I said “that's fine, who says difference repels?”

Like some crackpot play or some sketch of fate
We've carried the scripts and the times and the dates
In each others arms and our bodies are spent
And you've got the roll of my beautiful defence

And I spent some time trying to sum up your eyes
In a cafe in Oldham Street under Indian skies
Through the racks of your history and all the crossed lives

And you looked so sad with all those ghosts on your trail
When they claw at your skin you're all secrets and veils
You say ”Its dragging me under the riptide” and I said
”When the whole world comes down I'll hold it up round your head”

Like some crackpot play or some sketch of fate
We've carried the scripts and the times and the dates
In each others arms and our bodies are spent
And you've got the roll of my beautiful defence
Beautiful defence

Maybe we can change the world, it might just take a while
If we're gonna fight our corner we're gonna do it with style
You've got the beauty and you've got the heart
And that is as good a place as any to start
You're my beautiful defence
You're my beautiful defence