SEVENTEEN
I ALWAYS HANG MYSELF WITH THE SAME ROPE
SHIVER
MISERABLE
JIM
HERE SHE COMES-A-TUMBLIN’
HYMN
JACQUELINE
CHINA DOLL
THE TROUBLE
LETTER TO CHARLIE
ROSARY
GONE!
THE DEVIL SO CHARMING
THE REPLACEMENT
ENEMIES LIKE ME
THROUGH TEN WALLS
INCITATUS

SEVENTEEN

When I was seventeen
I met a man
Gave him all my dreams
Told him all my plans

Plans to rule the earth
Plans to tear apart
Plans to be the queen
Of his broken heart

The sorrow is…

When I was seventeen
I met a boy
(and) together we would dream
but always destroy

So in love with his pain
Turning deathly pale
He would always reign
In our fairytale

The sorrow is …

Young and full of pride
We raged and spat and screamed:
“Put out all their eyes
Never let them see”

His heart was always drunk
Pity for the ones
The ones who knew him well
Now I never will

When I was seventeen
He took me in his arms
And he swore on to me
To keep my safe from harm

But everything must end
And everyone must pay
My fairytale friend
He only fades away

When I was seventeen
I met a man
Gave him all my dreams
Told him all my plans

Now I’ll never tell
All that I have seen
And we said farewell
When I was seventeen.

back to top

I ALWAYS HANG MYSELF WITH THE SAME ROPE

you once cut a friendly figure haunting and bereft
now you cast an ugly shadow guilty and obsessed

so why must you always play the victim? it’s time that i wasn’t your hero
I’ve got troubles of my own that you used to care for
Now all I desire is to run so far away from those open and angry
arms I am not your possession

now I once tried to love you dearly compromised my heart
but I paid the price and clearly I have played my part

so cry if you want to but the blood runs cold, cold to the touch and cold to your
bones I shudder from your empty tears now
call me anything you want to justify this situation that’s all in your
mind now come on be a man about it so

why tell the truth
when it’s easier to put the blame on you I was
bored with no hope but I always hang myself with the same rope

now I dress in sorry silence wearing all my pain
now you think you’re caving in WELL violence is my friend

so how can you blame this all upon me I tried but my patience is wearing
thin and as I give you keep on taking
take me off the pedestal that you’ve created and you’ll see that now you
hate me is this the only way?

SO why tell the truth
when it’s easier to put the blame on you I was
bored with no hope but I always hang myself with the same rope

so why must you always play the victim it’s time that I wasn’t your hero
I’ve got troubles of my own that you used to care for
now all I desire is to run so far away from those open and angry
arms I am not your possession

SO why tell the truth
when it’s easier to put the blame on you I was
bored with no hope but I always hang myself with the same rope

back to top

SHIVER

He’s all alone, Stuck to the ceiling
chewing my bones, eliminate feeling

I wasn’t there, Why should I care?
He shivers brightly and ever so nicely

It’s not a please, More of a must
So if you please, So if you must

I wasn’t there, Why should I care?
He shivers brightly and ever so nicely

But I don’t give a damn
A man is just a man

He’s all alone, Stuck to the ceiling
chewing my bones, eliminate feeling

I wasn’t there, Why should I care?
He shivers brightly and ever so nicely

But I don’t give a damn
A man is just a man

back to top

MISERABLE

Well it’s good to be a little open minded
To the way that other people see the world
But I can’t get by your obsession with leather
And the way you think it’s fun to hurt yourself

What’s that skeleton inside your cupboard?
What’s the use in hiding how you live?
What the use in being so damn secretive
Your body’s taken all that it can give

She’s got issues of the sexual kind
Her happiness depends on being cuffed up and blind
She’s got problems cos she’s desirable
And it wouldn’t matter much but you’re miserable

I can only imagine what you are thinking
And my guess is that you haven’t got a hope
All those nights that you cannot remember
If you keep on swallowing you’re gonna choke

While everyone behind your back is laughing
Saying that you’re running out of luck
All those drugs and all that you’ve been drinking
Half the time you’re too drunk to fuck

She’s got issues of the sexual kind
Her happiness depends on being cuffed up and blind
She’s got problems cos she’s desirable
And it wouldn’t matter much but you’re miserable

back to top

JIM

So do you still
Think of me?
While you’re masturbating slowly over Kiera on TV
Clinging on
There’s hope at hand
Is your last romantic question – would you sleep with a dying man?

But it’s the end
Last curtain call
Now the band is breaking up and your big heart is feeling small
Now that you’re sick
You don’t belong
Every colour that you loved for right is wrong

But it’s not over
Like I told you
What’s another drink to settle any argument?

And how I wish
That you’d get thin
And as shallow as I am, that is a sin
You never knew
I hate inside
Did you think I told you truthfully, cos every one was a fucking lie

And at the end
I will not call
You’ll be the only one to blame, and the only one to fall
Now that you’re sick
You don’t belong
Now then here’s a song about you – are you happy that you’re wrong?

But it’s not over
Like I told you
What’s another drink to settle any argument?

I’ve got a mind to hurt you now
Forgive me while I take a bow
Cos I know deep down in your heart this must be killing you
I watch you walk away
So happy that I’ll never say:
“keep your mouth shut darling because I know where you live”.

back to top

HERE SHE COMES-A-TUMBLIN’

Here she comes a tumbling
Tumbling from the sky
I stop to question liberty
I ask my mother why

Here she comes a tumbling
Arms and legs and eyes
Oh Ivory there’s three of me
and each of us is blind

back to top

HYMN

I danced at your wedding
For the bride and the groom
I danced through the shadows
And I danced in that room

And I gave up salvation
Just to dance at your death
I waited there and I held my breath

I danced on the pavements
But I stepped on the cracks
It hard to dance with the devil on your back
And I looked up to heaven
But the angels replied:
“You will dance till the day you die”

But don’t be afraid my dear
Close your eyes and dry your tears
I will not forget you and I will not lie
I will dance till the day I die

I danced over water
But I drowned in the sea
Devils swam all over me

And I fell through the darkness
Right to the deeps
Swallowed whole while the angels weep

But don’t be afraid my dear
Close your eyes and dry your tears
I will not forget you and I will not lie
I will dance till the day I die

I will not forget you and I will not lie
I will dance till the day I die

back to top

JACQUELINE

Those sleepy eyes
You’ve been up all night
He won’t call
You can’t make him care – at all

Jacqueline
It’s just the little things
He makes you do
He’ll tear you in two

Remember when we used to sing – our song
He will never let you belong

You’re going blind
We moved away
Your house is now your prison
You’re heart’s gone grey

You’ve gone too far
And I can’t tell
I guess you’re old enough now
To go to hell

Remember when we used to sing – that song
He’ll never let you belong
Remember when we used to sing – that song
He’ll never let you belong
Remember when he breaks your heart.

back to top

CHINA DOLL

He wakes up to shave with a rusty razor
Blade that dim reflection says that ‘he’s a man’ to
Day and not a boy which until previously had been
Employed by those who know

It’s a pleasure
And Oh you’re a treasure
I feel better
With just a measure of

Poison for the lady who’s expecting his dear baby

And it’s only a matter of time

Till he wakes up face down on the
Bedroom floor and his wallet-is-gone-and-it’s-almost-four
He meant to meet the girl…
But it seems that someone else

Took initiative
In fulfilling this
And you won’t forgive
Such a sensitive

Subject for her slim physique I wish to hold my tongue but speak cos

It’s not a baby, It’s a china doll
You’ve got some nerve – You’re never here at all

She tells you maybe just to make you fall
But she’s no lady she’s just mean and

Cruel to be kind
And Saintly inside

Now I need to lay my head down to
Rest this situation’s gone from a mockery into a
Mess she’s not your type I under-
-stand it’s not that

easy to let it go
and you’ll never know
how to take it slow
and be comfortably

blind to all her cruel convictions
shame that you can’t see that
she’s playing you all for a fool

SHE’S GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH EVERYONE I KNOW

So stop
Your
Cry-
Ing
There
Be-
Low

cos
It’s not a baby, It’s a china doll
You’ve got some nerve – You’re never here at all

She tells you maybe just to make you fall
But she’s no lady she’s just mean and
not my problem

back to top

THE TROUBLE

Honey, Sugar, Lover, Ever
Baby this one is for you
Alcoholic, (so) catastrophic
You gave me something to do

You tie me up in a ball in a cup in a black Cadillac in the box of a Jack in a moment of truth in a mistaken youth I am tragically yours in a page in a book

Sweetheart, (my) darling, slightly charming
Wrap me in nettles and thorns
Precious letters, maybe it’s better
If you had never been born

You come inside like a victory bride but you’re all dressed in crimson and blacked out your eyes and so exaggerated so much that you rip at the seams and I tear out the dice on your lips

Headache, staring
Toothache tearing
Earthquake, bearing
How am I meant to believe?
…in someone quite like you
I know once you loved me too
The price you pay is critical
Why did I stay? It’s pitiful

Incoherence, (my) disappearance
Where did my dignity go?
Daytime nightmares, get your fair share?
No, well I didn’t think so

You slip away into slumber I lay and I crumble and pay for the price on your head and I hate to admit that your conscience is clear when you know what you did and you won’t shed a tear

Shaking, Burning, in-the-grave turning
Burden your demons on me
Seething, writhing, raging, caving
See how I split into three

Ivory runs as the night overcomes and I’m left with the cold and the dark and the numbness so unsympathetic I said no I meant it I pointlessly argue my case as defendant

Headache, staring
Toothache tearing
Earthquake, bearing
How could you go make me bleed?
…on someone quite like you
I know once you loved me too
But the price you pay is critical
Why did I stay?
It’s goddamn fucking pitiful.

back to top

LETTER TO CHARLIE

Tie me down Charlie Brown
Wrap me up in a hospital gown
I’ll suck your thumb
Eat bubblegum and cry alone in the dark

The dark worries me does it bother you?
But I am the walrus I am the truth
Stealing lines, side-step the mines
Jump on a crack
Break your mother’s back

Eight track telepack
Tap her head and watch it crack
Read what you can dream what you don’t
The oblivious headaches and the bitter barbiturates
Curl in a ball learn to love the restraints

Well its hard to feel rejected when your head is a stone
Look at me and what I have done

back to top

ROSARY

Pages and pages and pages of poetry
I am not doing so well
Teach me the Bible, the scriptures, disciples
and baby teach me how to spell

My mother and father they got for a daughter
I wish that I could have been more
They were so proud when I learned how to walk
but since then I just lay on the floor

Then I lay

Rosary’s safe and my pillow is hair
I’m coming to town, I’ll call you when I get there
Nightmare explosions, and gentle corrosions
I never back down from a dare

But you wasted the gift that I tried hard to give
and you think that it’s all so unfair
but after you spit and you stab and you seethe
do you really expect me to care?

That you lay

Over and under, backwards and blundering
Let me get out of your hair
Making me hate, I hope that you’re wondering
How will I ever repair?

But you’ll be so sorry when you find my body
Riddled with all your complaint
And all of your smoke and your mind is a joke
Did it hurt you so much that you lay?

That you lay

I lie down here, I lay down with the flies and the lilies you despise.

back to top

GONE!

Now you’re gone it’s not so funny anymore
We took your name and dragged it all across the floor
To say that you did not deserve it isn’t true
But just to clear up this confusion we hate you

To say that this was your idea is simply mad
You can’t take credit for what you have never had
I’m sorry if you feel that you were underpaid
It’s time you went to lie in that bed that you made

Happy Girly, Get up early
Paint my face my hear is curly
No-one likes a sour surly
Suck on that now WATCH the birdie
Eat until your eyes fall out
now no-one notices your pout
I know that you can do without
You’re truly

Gone! Again and everybody wonders why
They claim your body part and trample on your pride
I know one day you will remember who we were
For now you’ll runaway to be a…

Happy Girly, Get up early
Paint my face my hear is curly
No-one likes a sour surly
Suck on that now WATCH the birdie
Eat until your eyes fall out
now no-one notices your pout
I know that you can do without
You’re truly

Gone, Don’t say that I’m the one to blame
I’ll shut you up before you dare blacken my name
I hope I never see your face again
I hope you’re nearly and sincerely now you’re truly now you’re really Gone.

back to top

THE DEVIL SO CHARMING

Dark comes down
On the darkest part of town
And a gentleman steps out
Into the night

I was walking home
Such a silly girl, all alone
And we met by the river
I knew he was and oh God
I shiver

I recognized
There was sadness in his eyes
And a longing I despise
Turning me old

Hearts so cold
Save my soul
If I just give in
It will not be my fault it will just be a sin

Now morning (morning, morning)
Comes like a baby
Born of mourning (mourning, mourning)
Mourning for me
I’ve been calling (calling, calling)
All of my sisters into the fire
And they’re warning (warning, warning)
Burning alive

One! Two! Three! Four!

Now morning (morning, morning)
Comes like a baby
Born of mourning (mourning, mourning)
Mourning for me
I’ve been calling (calling, calling)
All of my sisters into the fire
And they’re warning (warning, warning)
Burning alive

Dark comes down
On the darkest part of time
And a gentleman steps out
Into the night.

back to top

THE REPLACEMENT

Losing is something you do well but you always play to chase
Staying up ’til the sun comes up and your eyeballs look so strange
You will say what they want you to and never disagree
The new girl looks just like you but she has bigger teeth

Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! It’s over!
Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say that it’s true!
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Now cos she’s leaving.
She’s a substitute

For once take the mask away
We can see your face has changed
You could have been so intelligent
But you eat the scraps again

You will dress how they want you to and match them drink for drink
Cross my eyes and hope to die you’ve never learned to think

Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! It’s over!
Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say that it’s true!
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Now cos she’s leaving.
She’s a substitute

Hang them high
We’ll crack the sky
And watch them kicking

Dear, it’s fair
That although you tear
No one’s questioning your grace

Sleep all day ’til the stars come out
And you dare to show your face
You will wait ’til they left the room
To cover it with flames
Nothing hurts more than the burn
But it’s a worthy gain

Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! It’s over!
Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say that it’s true!
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Now that she’s leaving.
She’s a substitute

Hang them high
We’ll crack the sky
And watch them kicking

Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! It’s over!
Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say that it’s true!
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Now that she’s leaving.
She’s a substitute.

back to top

ENEMIES LIKE ME

Let me lie upon my bad side
Spat up on the floor
Finger broken
I am backwards
Who could ask for more?

Crammed like cattle
Kick the habit
Murder in the ranks
Glory be to God above
and money in the bank

If it was easy
Would you leave me
If it was easy
You’d leave

I have thought so many times
The prophecy was you
But if I did believe those rhymes
We’d only blame the truth
It’s not as if you gave me anything I didn’t know
But if you keep this to yourself I’ll keep it for my own

If it was easy
Would you leave me
If it was easy
You’d leave me

Then I wake with the
Awful taste in my
Mouth has gone ’cause
She took my face to save herself
From enemies like me

Pray to god in heaven that he’ll save you from your sins
Every day I’m losing and you win

I know what they said about you
When you were alone
Shut my mouth now seal it up
It’s shelter from the stones

I will never deny you
Their words become undone
For now let me drink my trouble and the end will never come

If it was easy
Would you leave me
If it was easy
You’d leave me

Then I wake with the
Awful taste in my
Mouth has gone ’cause
She took my face to save herself
From enemies like me

Pray to god in heaven that he’ll save you from your sins
Every day I’m losing and you win

Why don’t you beg
Why don’t you beg
Why don’t you beg
Why don’t you beg

Once, we were happy
I know it cos I saw
You would say you love me
And you wrote it on the walls
I know that
Your reasons
Were anything
But right
But I could be forgiving
If you’d only oblige me
back to top

THROUGH TEN WALLS

Through Ten Walls you gently breathe
A rhythm only known to you and me
I would scratch these bricks away
So through the hollows you can hear me say:

“I have seen your misery
You’ve always had a hold over me
Eyes so wide to blind the fates
But your sleep has kept so awake”

Through ten walls you rest alone
Buried shallow under precious stone
It won’t be too long before
Guilty hands come knocking on your door

Now you rise, you have become
A symbol of all I cannot trust
I may make these mountains move
But you turn them to dust

It’s the life you chose and how
the years have frozen you my darling
how the consequences of your actions
lead us to sever and betray
I know

It’s not like I’ll ever know
If you and I could roll away the stones
I can’t give up my beliefs in who we are
back to top

INCITATUS

Dead round the eyes red rings what a sight there
Prone to the thoughts of electric nightmares
Soft like a skin yes I grin if I have to
You’ve got to, you’ve got to go

Swim little fish get away from the lobsters
Quick here they come they’re relentless monsters
Drown if you have to, don’t share the secret
Don’t share it, don’t share it

Rich men walk through the eye of a needle
Poor men limp on a dog that’s feeble
I know a path that is quick and evil
Now I’ve got to Flog That Horse

Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
The lights on the lights on

My left hand is a whip and a bandage
Free to choose where the mark or brand is
Each one knows how to hide in the carnage
They’re hiding, they’re hiding

Time’s running out for the rats in the playground
Cut straight down like a thief in a small town
Shots rack em up, pin a tail on the donkey
You’ve got a lot to answer for

Crawl on your knees like a bitch we can see you
Cut through the trees with your claws and your tutu
Quick drag me back through the dirt that I came from
God please let me flog that horse

Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
The lights on the lights on

Don’t play games with the ones who can buy you
Don’t play games with ones you can lie to
Life seems strange when there’s no one to cry to
You’re crying, you’re crying

Watch in the sky for the wrath of your captor
You’ll fall flat if you run any faster
Don’t look back for the fear of their laughter
They’re laughing, they’re laughing

Crawl on your knees like a bitch we can see you
Cut through the trees with your claws and your tutu
Quick drag me back through the dirt that I came from
God please let me flog that horse!

Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
The lights on the lights on

Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
Never comes a day so quickly when you’re not paying attention
Never comes a day so quickly when you never leave the lights on
back to top