Remote Luxury

Constant In Opal

Me and the puzzled travellers
We searched the ground for wealth
And scoured the dreaming valleys
On days where shadows melt
Digging for the blue and the green
Constant in opal or ultramarine
If you could only find yourself that way

And dust was my companion
And thirst caked all our words
Unearthing nearly nothing
We swarmed like carrion birds
Some for fortune, some for greed
Some for want, some for need
If you could only find yourself that way

In hearts suspicion flowers
In hands numb with jealousy
Sleepwalking lightning showers
Transform effortlessly
Thinking of all that I left behind
Down in the shaft when my mind was blind
But you couldn't even find yourself that way

 

Violet Town

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

Newspaper fades against the ground
Phantom bus pass through violet town
On its way through the yellow fields
Past the greying fences

When I'm here I have this feeling
I don't want to know
Inviolate town
Violet town
Inviolate town

When I'm here I have this feeling
I don't want to know
Inviolate town

Sad trees throw shade that falls around
Empty streets of violet town
Gardeners the houses stand
And eyes in windows, strange...

When I'm here I have this feeling
I don't want to know
Inviolate town

Big truth progress never to be found
I walk the corners straight to violet town
And I tell you sometime when we're old
Of the useless boy and his dream

When I'm here I have this feeling
I don't want to know
Inviolate town
Inviolate town
When I'm here I have this feeling
I don't want to know
Inviolate town

Inviolate town [repeated several times]

 

No Explanation

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

You pull the sheets around your throat
Talking like a harpy again
I've got this heartache in my coat
Since I don't remember when
It's guaranteed to live and to bleed
And you feed it with your bitterest lies
Hope you can see what that's done to me
But I don't care to look into your eyes
There's no explanation
There's no complication

Dreamtongued man from the golden land
Standing with the keys to your door
I had to laugh as I shook his hand
Didn't know he'd been here before
I know him well but I never can tell
If he sees right through my futile disguise
Hope you can see what that's done to me
But I don't care to look into your eyes
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no complication

Walking alone down the path to your home
On a silent and sensual day
It almost could be my very own
Before I went and lost my way
Directions aren't clear when you're standing here
And you cheer me with your faithless surprise
Hope you can see what that's done to me
But I don't care to look into your eyes
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no explanation
There's no explanation

 

10,000 Miles

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

Dark, small, so fragile
A treasure to your heart
Grace your fingers across the lacquer
Think of someone miles away
Piano sounds that bow in the distance
Bring me back to my room again

Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)

My memory is leaking (leaking)
She lost a ruby ring
They're trying to focus, times in the past
The music has stopped and can't carry on
All of a sudden I start to remember
Summer, Germany, then it's gone

Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)

The dancers are sleepy
The keys are put away
The jewel on my jacket talking, talking
Telling stories everyone's heard
My box of ghosts bids me goodnight
Clockwork spirits have the last word

Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand) miles away (miles away)
Ten thousand (ten thousand)....

 

Maybe These Boys...

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

Framed up baby, know her place
Slippery salmon all over her face
Browsing down through the mirrored hall
See Arizona standing ten foot tall
Her father's smart, plays his part
Twirls his star and watch them start
Oh no no don't wander off the set
We haven't reached the borders yet

Then in town he rides in grim
All the mercenaries are following him
Ripped and raw, he lays his glove on the door
Walks in and tells the man on the floor

Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Well alright

Your room's a mess, it's ugliness
But I go on living in it till you say yes
The curtains are new, but the windows are old
All the stories passing through already been told
We live in a style where trust is a drag
To hold up your end means the middle will sag

Some blackhearted actors interfered in your scene
And you can't stand success or the place where it's been
The faders been placed, judgment passed down
Staying up all night till pure sleep drags you down
Ripped and raw, her voice at the door
Walks in expecting him, finds something more

Says maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking
Maybe these boys want to do some talking

I said maybe these boys want to do some talking
I said maybe these boys want to do some talking
Well maybe these toys want to do some walking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
I said maybe these toys want to do some walking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
Well maybe these boys want to do some talking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
Maybe these boys want to do some talking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
Maybe these boys want to do some talking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
Well maybe these boys want to do some talking (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
I said maybe these boys want to do some talking
Well alright (Maybe these boys want to do some talking)
(Maybe these boys want to do some talking)

 

Into My Hands

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

I take love into my hands
Journey back to winterland
Cut my losses, grow my hair
See some man to take me there

As it gets so uncertain
When the girl gets too near
It's never as good as I hoped
Or as bad as I feared

Some seek sleek and slithering charms
Out of reach their grasping arms
Our skin like milk, our breath of words
Like happy, awful and absurd

And it gets so uncertain
When the girl gets too near
It's never as good as I hoped
Or as bad as I feared

You know it's always out here in my head
When stupid bloody things get said
Then drifting on a summer pond
I notice that my love has gone

As it gets so uncertain
When the girl gets too near
It's never as good as I hoped
Or as bad as I feared

I take love into my hands
Journey back to winterland

I take love into my hands
Journey back to winterland

I take love into my hands
Journey back to winterland

 

A Month Of Sundays

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

Badman's woman with that look in her eye
You stop to wonder as she passes by
Something inside you is never the same
Something outside you is always to blame
Follow her home where she lives with some friends
They have some good things to add to the blend
The games expanded, invaded the place
You're the only one who's forgotten his face

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way
But it really has been a pleasant night"
And you go so slow, hope they'll ask you to stay
And indifference gives you a fright

Walking outside you come to a door
You go inside and you wonder what for
At least it's good to be out of the wind
You turn around and the clocks all begin
Just like the winter your memory thaws
Just like the ocean your memory pours
So many pieces to match or to find
So many doubts to have in one mind

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way
But it really has been a pleasant night"
And you go so slow, hope they'll ask you to stay
And indifference gives you a fright

It's hard to see how the tables have turned
It's hard to see how the people have learned
It's hard to watch the past drizzling past
It's hard to watch them picking the cast
And it stacks up badly that it never makes sense
You sense that sensation is who's paying the rent
And she beckons to you with her fingers and lies
She says, "Can't you slice the price of your paradise"

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way
But it really has been a pleasant night"
And you go so slow, hope they'll ask you to stay
And indifference gives you a fright

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way
But it really has been a pleasant night"
And you go so slow, hope they'll ask you to stay
And indifference gives you a fright

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way
But it really has been a pleasant night"
And you go so slow, hope they'll ask you to stay
And indifference gives you a fright

You're saying, "No, no, no, I must be on my way...."

 

Volumes

[rev. Apr. 21, 2015]

Borrowed grapes from stores of gold
Put plastic back where metal's sold
Men in quarries connect their bomb
One two three, a new Saigon

Check the bottle, is it full?
Have you found which pin to pull?
Boys in shirts get dirty hands
Smoke kills seagulls on the sands

They have pages, they take ages
To read and to learn, they're heavy to carry
And easy to burn
Volumes have secrets, take them on holiday
Book them a room, save them a moment
Swallow their swoon

Pretty things all in a row
Flowers who can't seem to grow
Finding the pearls, then finding the blood
Then finding the water is wood

The something I wanted has just flown by
It looked at me sideways and told me to try
I hope it's a message from someone obscure
I hope it's the man next door

They have pages, they take ages
To read and to learn, they're heavy to carry
And easy to burn
Volumes have secrets, take them on holiday
Book them a room, save them a moment
Swallow their swoon

They have pages, they take ages
To read and to learn, they're heavy to carry
And easy to burn
Volumes have secrets, take them on holiday
Book them a room, save them a moment
Swallow their swoon

 

Shadow Cabinet

[rev. Aug. 20, 2013]

Now chased by the shapes of your vowels
Look at the things she allows
Junction fever must have closed down the rail
The gluttonous wind keeps on nibbling the sail
Queuing in the ruins in the wake of the gale
It's harmony I say

Here the difference between close and near
The way oaths and oafs interfere
Bliss comes first as a jangling flood
Pillow from the old country arrives with a thud
That night she drinks ceremony and mud
It's happening I say

Must be thirsty, drink, drink, sink, forget
Must be empty inside the shadow cabinet

She offered her chaos to me
Proffered herself languidly
The eldritch bitch must have muddled her spells
Tinges of Persia, I hope that it sells
Chemical nuptials and ringing the bells
It's heavenly I say

Must be thirsty, drink, drink, sink, forget
Must be empty inside the shadow cabinet

Then one winter morning you walk through the trees
But they cut them all down for the factories
Made this pretty cabinet and gave you the keys
It's hardly used I think

Must be thirsty, drink, drink, sink, forget
Must be empty inside the shadow cabinet

 

Remote Luxury

Instrumental