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Before I played the bugle
I worked in a bank in the city.
But the traffic lights turned from green to black
And I got run over by a tank.
Even after surgery I had tank tracks on my forehead
And every bone in my body was replaced with plastic and metal.
They gave me a transplant with an elephant’s lungs
And that’s why I can blow so loud.
The last time I played it started a war
The next time I play it will stop.
I travel all over from country to country
Causing carnage and mayhem
Until it becomes too ugly.
The devil pays me well for my work
And I pay him in buckets of blood.
He sends me a dancer from midnight to morning
And she makes my artificial bones lose all control.
Before I played the bugle
I went to school like you and her.
I learnt to spell and read and draw
But they poisoned my milk with rattlesnake venom
And I got shot down by a Kaleshnikov rifle.
Even after the surgery the bullet holes were still visible
In my clean white shirt and my newly pressed pants.
The man at the bank said no thanks
Don’t phone us we’ll phone you.
So I phoned the devil instead.
He gave me this instrument and taught me the notes
That drive peaceful men off to war.
The dancers’ names are sweet on the tongue
And their flesh is even sweeter.
The meaning of pain means nothing no more
When day turns to night I’m a bugler of love
But as soon as the sun appears in the sky
I blast out my music causing young men to die.
They tried to stop me playing once
They buried my bugle in a mound of money
And said spend all you want
We’ll keep you supplied in sexual delights
And comforting toys just deal no more with the devil.
I can’t I cried I’ve signed on for life
I must blow till I drop down and die.
Before I played the bugle I used to play at chess.
Moving knights and queens and kings and pawns
But I was put in check by the man with the horns
And my mind was controlled by his hypnotic eyes
And his words led my acts to the other side of love.
He kicked away the chess board and thrust this bugle in my hand
And said blow till you drop or you’ll fry.
So I try not to think and I try not to cry
As I follow my map from the lakes to the mountains.
From Bali to Brazil spreading my strife and my pain
Even in rain even in snow
I blow till the last child has fallen.
And when the country is on it’s bending knees
I blow again to let them survive
And remember the peaceful way they once lived.
Maybe the dancers sucked the good from my soul
Maybe the venom got into my blood
Whatever the reason, whatever the cause
It’s no use arguing, it’s no use joking
If I play to you now you’ll be fighting each other
For the silliest of reasons
And you won’t let up till I let you.
It’s getting late now and I’ve told you my tale
My dancer will be here soon
If you want I can play those notes
That make you howl like a wolf
And jump at each others throats in fun.
Play no more my troubled friend
Maybe you need to play music from a different score
And inspire peace instead of war and love in place of hate.
I would if I could my brother but the time is much too late.
He raised his bugle to his mouth and played the loudest note.
My mind went black and my eyes saw red
And my hands went for his throat.
These feet are tired now
They’ve walked too many miles.
These tear filled eyes are too dry to cry
For any other soul but you.
All the wounds have healed and dried
And the scars are covered over
But everyone you meet is just a walking failure
An example of the things you gave up years ago.
So what are you doing here??
Throwing darts at a big balloon
Full of hot and smoke filled air.
And when it goes bang, bang, bang!
Will you be happy for long???
The innocence is gone. No one can kiss and clasp and climax anymore.
We all want much too much.
These feet are weary and these hands are much too greedy.
My heart is ruled by my mouth so don’t ask me what I feel
When all I need is food.
Food and milk to suck to suck from the sweetest breast.
No rest or peace or any kind of equilibrium
When each day strangles you like a piece of barbed wire
Tied around your neck.
No this is not pain, no it is not joy.
Just a bullet shot from a gun
Travelling too fast to know where it’s going.
No one can kiss and clasp climax
In this sin bin we call a city.
How can children learn the value of a dollar
When their dreams are given to them
Before they’ve even had the chance to dream?
Let me off here ! I can’t take the ride no more.
My head is dizzy and my back is broken.
I’m like a crippled tortoise running to catch a wave,
To catch a tidal wave to the sun .
Let me run. Let me swim. Let me come
Inside your soul and your future and your past.
No one knows the next man’s thoughts
So let’s just throw away all these toys we’ve bought
And learn to kiss and clasp and climax.
It’s like trying to catch the rain
And send it down to your roots.
It’s something we all need to do
But something we are not adapted for.
Man needs a bucket when all he’s got is a sieve!
He can’t hang on to anything for more than a moment at a time.
Or is that just me talking out of all this doubt and shame?
I’m a bullet flying straight to your heart
I only hope I don’t I kill you
With a word or a dream you were wanting me to be.
Why do we all need to build a mountain
On someone else’s fragile shoulders?
No man, woman or child can do that for you.
It’s you, you fool, you’re the one who’s got to go for it. Go out and grab it!
Grab it by the balls and tail.
These feet are weary my back is broken.
These hands have clutched and clasped once too often.
There are only sad ,sad tales to tell
It’s a life-line that’s been crissed and crossed
It’s a drink that’s been swallowed spewed all over the floor.
Coming or going? What does it matter now??
I’m here. You’re there. And when I see you
What do I see? An illusion of me
Something I’m putting in your eyes.
My words and thoughts have come from so far away
And yours are from even further still.
So how can I know you??
At least I’m trying to talk
You are just standing there in your war-paint and your glad rags,
Trying to stop the train.
Kiss me and clasp me and climax and then fall!
Down, down, down to that place
Where wounds and scars are no longer seen or felt.
It’s hell or heaven or heaven or hell.
But at least we’ll have a tale to tell.
Let me bang on your drum.
Let me paint your picture.
I know your name and I know your silly game.
Tell me to stop see if I care.
I’m an arrow flying way over your head
And you’re much too dead to be killed.
It’s not an indictment I’m making
More like my own testimony.
I’m a shadow of the shadow I once was.
No one can say they know me when I tell so many lies.
Let me kiss you and climax you
Before I make another scar upon your heart
Food and milk. Milk from the sweetest breast
That’s all I need tonight.
These feet are ready to run and race
This back is strong enough to hold up any mountain
Pile your dreams upon me.
See if they crumble or rise to the sky.
These thoughts have come from far away
And yours are coming from further still.
They say where there is a will there is a way
But today the way is not for me to say
Whatever you say or do is contradicted in time
So kiss and clasp and climax with me.
And leave all this behind.
Yeah just leave all this behind!
LEAVE ALL THIS BEHIND.
These feet are tired now
They’ve walked too many miles.
These tear filled eyes are too dry to cry
For any other soul but you.
All the wounds have healed and dried
And the scars are covered over
But everyone you meet is just a walking failure
An example of the things you gave up years ago.
So what are you doing here??
Throwing darts at a big balloon
Full of hot and smoke filled air.
And when it goes bang, bang, bang!
Will you be happy for long???
The innocence is gone. No one can kiss and clasp and climax anymore.
We all want much too much.
These feet are weary and these hands are much too greedy.
My heart is ruled by my mouth so don’t ask me what I feel
When all I need is food.
Food and milk to suck to suck from the sweetest breast.
No rest or peace or any kind of equilibrium
When each day strangles you like a piece of barbed wire
Tied around your neck.
No this is not pain, no it is not joy.
Just a bullet shot from a gun
Travelling too fast to know where it’s going.
No one can kiss and clasp climax
In this sin bin we call a city.
How can children learn the value of a dollar
When their dreams are given to them
Before they’ve even had the chance to dream?
Let me off here ! I can’t take the ride no more.
My head is dizzy and my back is broken.
I’m like a crippled tortoise running to catch a wave,
To catch a tidal wave to the sun .
Let me run. Let me swim. Let me come
Inside your soul and your future and your past.
No one knows the next man’s thoughts
So let’s just throw away all these toys we’ve bought
And learn to kiss and clasp and climax.
