Lyrics

Crossfire
© 2020 The Reads

Prettiest Scars

How much can you teach a man in three short days?

Enough to calm his temper and set his sheets ablaze?

And introduce him to all the elemental forces

That will gallop in his chest, like they were wild, wild horses

I think it’s time to get you out my system

I think it’s time to get you off my mind

Those hands I tried so long, so long to resist them

They always leave the prettiest

The prettiest scars behind

A heady mix of fire and ice combined

It will bubble up your bloodstream and send shivers down your spine

As she outlines her intentions on your skin

Tracing patterns with her fingers and then filling them in

I think it’s time to get you out my system

I think it’s time to get you off my mind

Those hands I tried so long, so long to resist them

They always leave the prettiest

The prettiest scars behind

Never Spoke Of

You’ve taken all there is to take

You took the chance and got the breaks

And now I see it’s all for you

You made a lie of love so true

Broken glass and twisted tracks

Sunny day and sweaty snacks

A sudden stop the screech of breaks

Tumble down through fiery lakes

 

You made a start to take apart

The fragments of my fractured heart

You built them up to tear them down

Immersed in you, you let them drown

So take the pieces if you must

And grind them all up into dust

And scatter them on fiery seas

For now they are no good to me

Roll me up in dirty sacks of

Rip the wraps with bitter claws of

Cut the straps with broken blade of

Tie me up in rusty barbs of

Thoughts so deep you are afraid of

Mind so blank I couldn’t think of

Banished to a distant land of

Locked away and never spoke of

Broken glass and twisted tracks

Sunny day and sweaty snacks

A sudden stop the screech of breaks

Tumble down through fiery lakes

You’ve taken all there is to take

You took the chance and got the breaks

And now I see it’s all for you

You made a lie of love so true

Top of the Rock

Too many years at the foot of the rock

Calling out to the sea

Holding out for the mountain

For the mountain to come to me

Follow the calls to a city

That promises never to sleep

Crossing over the bridges

Rising up out of the deep

Well can you hear me down here from the top of the rock?

Can you see me down here from the top of the rock?

If you look a little closer ‘stead of watching the clock

Then you might just see

Yeah can you hear me down here from the top of the rock?

Can you see me down here from the top of the rock?

If you look a little closer ‘stead of watching the clock

Then you might just see, you might see me

Too many years at the foot of the rock

Waiting for waves to subside

Another minute and I’ll be belly up

At the mercy of the tide

Followed the trails of the crossfire

To promises of liberty

Igniting lights of the empire

That reaches up out of the sea

Oblivion

How long has this thing been over?

How long have you known?

Hold on, so your conscience told yer

How long would you have me hold on?

Would you lie to the eyes of the undeceiving?

Act out the fallacy to keep believing?

Would you?

Or could you hide from the right thing and out of spite bring

Hope to the hopeless and helpless plight that’s me

And you?

How long have you been oblivious?

How long did you not know?

Held on to the insidious

Could you not let me let you go?

Would you strive to revive love that’s undecided?

Neglect it, reject it then resurrect it

Dispel all the hell that at once befell us

And caused the discord and the morbid jealousy

Could you recapture the rapture all torn and fractured

And build on the thrill that, before we killed it

Was you and me?

How long’s this been over?

How long have you known?

How long would you have me

Would you have me hold on?

How were you oblivious?

How could you not know?

Why could you not let me

Could you not let me let you go?

Birdcage

Some would say you can’t allay my fear

After all it is the only thing that keeps me here

The only law to which I shall adhere

It’s the only thing that’s stronger than my will to disappear

For my fear is the custodian of me

She keeps all of my ambitions under lock and key

And she guards my inhibitions solemnly

Deriding the desires which arise in me

For every misadventure one more line

Another indecision, another victory for time

Still waiting for the world to realign

To focus my perception and to show me a sign

Continually closing all the doors

Slamming shut the exits to a rapturous applause

Without a single flicker of remorse

She forces me to form some sort of order from my flaws

But this is the resistance I condone

Bearing witness to an existence that is not my own

Rattling the bars I have outgrown

Perched inside a cage and feeling tired and alone

The River

I traded in my misery for solitude

A manoeuvre that was either very dumb or very shrewd

Will I live to revere or regret the move?

I guess that’s a conundrum that only time will prove

But as the saying goes I chose to make my bed

And it’s here my dear that I must rest my weary head

And force myself each morning to get up, get dressed

And carry on cohabiting with loneliness

Happiness is an elusive creature

When you meet her treat her well

Memorise her every feature

Search her out in merry hell

Further down the line it’s time to stop, reflect

Reconsider my position and yet be circumspect

Is this the resolution I came to expect?

Was I too quick to jump ship before the ship got wrecked?

Or was I rightly justified to cut and run?

Make great my escape into the setting sun

Basking in the only battle I have ever won

Make sure that trading in is the best thing I’ve ever done

In this midst of our little wars

Remember that no one’s without their flaws

Some out in the open, some behind closed doors

I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours

Happiness is an elusive creature

When you meet her treat her well

Memorise her every feature

Search her out in…

The Abyss

Some days there’s only shadows stood between me and the abyss

Never thought that my endeavours would ever come to this

Distractingly attracted to the edge

Still waiting for my moment to plummet or fledge

Coursing with endorphins and consumed by fear

As it rumbles in my belly and thunders in my ear

Despite the contradictions and the countless doubts

I’m resisting the attrition to fall in and fall out

Although there’s only shadows stood between me and the abyss

I’ve yet to find myself beyond the precipice

Still hiding from the lions, keeping secrets from myself

Searching for my virtues in somebody else

The greatest expectation to commit somehow

But all the dreams I had are someone else’s now

And fortitude has led to me to this place I’m in

I’m resisting the attrition to fall out and fall in

Never thought that all my deeds would come to this

Staring deep and deeper into the abyss

And it’s all that I can do to just resist

Falling out

To fall out

And fall in

Drawing Pictures

Beauty be a stormy sea

Wishing, washing over me

When I feel like there’s nothing left to be

Well then my friend, I draw a picture

Beauty lies in strangers’ eyes

They see more than you realise

When I feel like I need a new disguise

Well then my friend, I draw a picture

So watching for the point at where the world still spins

As it merges in the mist with where the rest of it begins

I sit and count my blessings

And forget about my sins

And then my friend, I draw a picture

Oh Brother

Oh brother

I’d know that hand from any other

Lay me down on borrowed time

As the kids fall into line

To another

Another world averse to go my brother

See you on the other side

Cross my heart and hope to survive

 

Lost at Sea

© 2014 The Reads

Drowned

Can’t start crying, if you do you’ll never stop,
Every river, every ocean starts with just a single drop,
When the water hits the measure, when the measure hits the ground,
We’ll be sinking, we’ll be swimming, we’ll both of us be drowned.

Lost at Sea

‘It’s great to be lost at sea’, she said, he smiled and said ‘it is’

She wallowed in the thoughts that though her own, were also his

‘What are you thinking?’ she asked him, ‘as you’re looking out to sea’

‘Not a single thing’ he answered, she said ‘same as me’

So they stood in silence as the tide crept to the bay

She turned to him and said ‘it’s time I made my way’

She offered out her hand to shake and he too offered it

‘It’s great to be lost at sea’, she said, ‘it is’ he said, ‘it is’ she said, ‘it is…’

Scarlet

Sing a little Scarlet, like the way you used to do,
When the room was filled with empty, I would hum a little too,
And the house would sound of merry, not the way it’s sitting now,
Sing to me Scarlet, if you’d just remember how.
Dance a little Scarlet, like we did all summer long,
I would strum the ukulele and you’d sing another song,
And the evening would be heady, with the light of mi amore,
Dance with me Scarlet, as you danced with me before.
Play a little Scarlet, oh you used to play so well,
You’d cover me in music with the stories you would tell,
And we’d dance barefoot for hours, as though every step were new,
Play for me Scarlet, like the way you used to do.
Like the way you used to do, if you’d just remember…..

 

Haunted

Of all the folk that have me watching, I’ll be watching you the most

Leading, leading by the heart, still haunted by the ghost

Warnings that are heeded with a touch of disregard

Strengthening believing that not all the folk are tarred

Complications prove again temptation opens doors

Forging expectations, but are mine the same as yours?

Feeling, feeling spoiled like a painting in the rain

How can I be easy so in watching you again?

 

Love or be Loved

Love or be loved, kill or be killed

Hurt or be hurt, thrill or be thrilled

Take or be taken, break or be broken

Love or be loved, kill or be killed

 

Win or be won, sell or be sold

Be or become, tell or be told

Speak without lying, do or die trying

Love or be loved, kill or be killed

 

Love and be killed…

 

Counting Your Greys

Lay with me my dear, as the end draws near
In a year or two, I promise you, will fall the last tear
Fear nothing else but time, for time she marches on
Endless as a never setting sun.

I tell you, you will miss me, miss me when I’m gone
Share my praise and my sentimental ways
Smile everyday while you’re counting, counting your greys
Honour your promises, every single one

Offer your love to those who’ve known none
Remember me fondly my beautiful son
I told you, I told you, you would miss me, you’d miss me when I’m gone

 

Schnitzler

Some things are better left unsaid, when you are seeing, seeing red
Some things are better put to bed, when you are seeing red, when you are seeing red
When you are losing your head, some things are better left unsaid, some things are better left

If natures waking call, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree
What you’ve got to ask yourself, what you’ve got to ask yourself, what you’ve got to ask yourself
Is it gonna hit you?

Some things are better left undone when fury’s blackness has begun
Some things are better left to run, when blackness has begun, when blackness has begun
When all your red mists are spun, some things are better left undone, some things are better left

If natures waking call, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree
What you’ve got to ask yourself, what you’ve got to ask your self, what you’ve got to ask yourself
Is it gonna hit you?

Some things are better left unknown, without true colours being shown
Some things are better left alone, without true colours shown, without true colours shown
When anger’s seeds have been sown, some things are better left unknown, some things are better left

If natures waking call, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree falling, hits like a big tree
What you’ve got to ask yourself, what you’ve got to ask your self, what you’ve got to ask yourself
Is it gonna hit you?

 

Shifting Sands

Make no plans, because it’s out of your hands
All eyes on the horizon, as the desert spans
You can weather the storms and you can tether the strands
But you cannot build a fortress over shifting sands

There’s roses in the briar, there’s fires in the sky
But when the stars conspire and the tethers untie
Then pray for your existence and the courage it lends
To start again

Make no bones about the earthly unknowns
All eyes on the horizon, as the river roams
You can ferry the boulders and make merry the drones
But you cannot build a fortress over shifting stones

There’s roses in the briar, there’s fires in the sky
But when the stars conspire and the tethers untie
Then pray for your existence and the courage it lends
To start again

Spitting Feathers

I am the shoes in black and white that wear the cobbled carpet thin
Walked the steps that’s been to Bedlam, been to bed and back again
Time ill spent in cordoned quarters, occupation of my sins
Crawling walls of vehement boredom, time ill spent I’m cashing in

Call for all, restoring order, heady pleasure course my veins
Rain applause, the medicine that resonates my one sustain
Spirits high north of the border, drunk, disordered, far from dry
A few more laughs will loosen bruises, a few more jars and there go I

Nectar sweet, my velveteen dreams

Through the smoke you’ll see me stepping, seeing double, seeing stars
Skyclad ‘cept for wearing thin and skin that’s baring many scars

Nectar sweet, my velveteen dreams
Nectar sweet, my velveteen schemes

 

Stories from the Border

© 2011 The Reads

 

Good Omens

And so I’ll wait to see what happens over time

And so I’ll wait for all the words to realign

And so I’ll wait for what’s to be done to be done

And so I’ll wait and hope that truth will overcome

And so I’ll wait to see what changes over time

And so I’ll wait for all the world to realign

And so I’ll wait for what’s to be done will be done

And so I’ll wait and hope that love will overcome

And think that love will overcome

And know that love will overcome

So I’ll wait to see what happens

We can wait for all the word

So I’ll wait to see what happens

Cos we know that love will overcome

We can wait to see what changes

We can wait for all the world

So we’ll wait to see what happens

And we can wait for all the world

 

Twelve lines of Life

The means to the end depends, my transient friend
On the burdens that we carry and the time that we may lend
To the battles of distinction through the ever changing trends
And the challenge as it rises and the chance as it descends

Surviving to the end depends, my transient friend
On conventions that you follow and on rules that you might bend
On rivals you may ambush and on loves you will defend
On family you occupy and them that you call friends

Your making in the end depends, my transient friend
On whether you enamour or whether you offend
On the actions you encourage and the message that they send
And on forces underlying that you cannot comprehend

 

Broken Backs

Well I’ve broken backs, left blood in my tracks, I’ve ripped at every seam
Like the children chasing after sheroes, I will chase the dream
And these insects on the windscreen, only in it for the ride
And when I start, start stepping high, well they’d better step aside.

Well you’ve broken bids, left blood in your midst, you’ve tipped validity
And you’ve raised some brow, no catching you now, a trailing reverie
And these insects on the windscreen, they’re just in it for the ride
When I start, start stepping high, well you’d better step aside

Gotta show now, gotta go now, See the grandioso shine

Hedonistic in demeanour, hedonistic by design
Gotta show yeah, gotta go yeah, see the crazy diamond shine

As he cuts another record, then he cuts another line

 

The Soil Life

Realise this – shying from the age old truth
Only stokes the burning embers of your youth
‘97, easy Summers come and go
If you listened then you’d know what I know
Bet you didn’t think you’d heed my wisdom shared

Bite the bullet, Autumn whispers, be prepared
27 easy summer come and gone
Did you ever wish you’d done what I’d done?
And you will be hearing this all your life
You won’t be able to sleep at night

A.M.B

Precious are the conversations
Talking through the years too few
Treasured are the pictures taken
When we are but passing through
Colourful the memories
Of a presence we will miss so much
Eternal is the light they leave
In every single life they touch

Inside every testimony

Lies the strength of words unspoken
Offering no boundary
Verifying truths unbroken
Elder of a million faces

Younger still though than it’s lines
Over every affirmation
Under every breath of mine

Nothing Bound

Nothing says you shall be bound
To places few or near around
As far as you may wish to seek
Will fondly then of memories speak
Of places where the sky is found
Allowing those with nothing bound

Step I. Find the sun,
Step 2. Love the blue,
Step 3. Under tree,
Step 4. Open the door,
Step 5. Come alive
Step 6. Match and mix,
Step 7. Found my…

When the boat sets sail from bay
It will return with much to say
Of wonders such are rarely seen
A’ farred from the old routine
Of people met and friendships found
For those who are with nothing bound
But now I know that I have found
I am the one with nothing bound

Galaxy Egg

Long time, forty mile, I can see it now
Long time, forty mile, I can see it now
In your tower high we used to wait for the sun
Wet road, street light, white lines
Won’t you be my friend, so I can feel again
Far into the night I felt you falling away
And I remember you, sleeping in on a Sunday afternoon

Chunky Truffle

Advocacy’s destiny harbours a song
That rises and pushes and carries along
Teachings of preachers to join and belong
Fighting for rights when the rights are so wrong

Numbness the dumbing that’s soothing the sting
Deceptive perception changes every thing
Ruling the roost on a prayer, on a wing
Tainting the state from the outside in

Teachings of preachers, joining and belonging
Fighting for rights when rights are wrong
Deceptive perception changes nothing
It just kicks and it pulls and it throws us along

Avalon

At long, long last, how green is the grass
That feathers the steps down the roads I pass
And sees through the soul just like looking through glass

Oh Avalon
Tempers accosted by a friend long lost
Who’s mirrored the steps down the paths I’ve crossed
And melted my heart of this perpetual frost

Oh Avalon

Cast adrift while the cosmos slipped
As we wander the worlds of the fields unkept
Bringing out the best of the last ones left

Oh Avalon

Turn this leaf and see what’s up our sleeves
As we travel this journey of burning beliefs
And we all fall down as the last one leaves

Oh Avalon

A vagrant home from homeliness, Caliburn’s decree

A wild escape from loneliness, a soul set suddenly free

A vagrant home from homeliness, Caliburn’s decree

A wild escape from loneliness, a soul set suddenly free

Orange Days

From the briefest of meetings, fleeting, almost missed
Your blessed us with your warmth and much more you taught us this
Live without fear, live life full and live it fast
Live every waking moment as if it might just be your last

With very scrape and tumble, with every scratch and sore
Know that there are others who have suffered so much more
Grasp every opportunity tight in your fist
And don’t you let it go ‘til you can tick it of your list

So I promise you will every tune I play on my old guitar
I will always try to be the man that you are
And I’ll share with them your melodies, share with them your songs
And they’ll keep it in their hearts, right where it belongs

The Rock

Strength and all it’s masters, sails the ebb and flow
Avoiding the disasters of the land below
Faith and all its teachers, promises the sky
And tries in vain to reach us, before the end is nigh

The rock, she is my shoulder
The rock, she holds the sea
With every stone and boulder
She watches me
The rock, she is my stable
She hides and homes the free
With every cave and cradle
Weathered like me

Supersaver Return (hidden poem)

Announcement to passengers on platform 5, awaiting the 6.23 to arrive,
This service, I’m sorry, will be half an hour late
And due to staff shortage, now departs platform 8
Please collect all belongings, have your tickets at hand
The buffet car’s closed, be expected to stand

The 6.10 connection to Crewe, platform 4
Is cancelled, defunct, retrograde — it’s no more
In fact, maintenance contracts and leaves on the line
Means practically nothing this morning is on time.

The overpriced café avails coffee and scones
But the toilets are vandalised, as are the phones
On behalf of the staff here at Bidston Street Station
I wish you good luck reaching your destination
And extend our apologies for any delay
See you 5.34, have a nice day!

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