¤ Peter Hammill ⇓
Δ The birds ↑
Spring came far too early this year: May flowers blooming in February. Should I be sad for the month, or glad for the sky? The birds don’t know which way to sing and, my friend, neither do I. Two days ago, a girl I truly thought I loved suddenly didn’t seem to matter at all. Should I sing sad farewells to things I’m really glad I’ve left behind? The birds don’t know which way to sing and, my friend, neither do I. In another day, heavy snow will lie upon the ground and buds prematurely bloomed shall fail; and every creature living now, then will surely die… The birds don’t know which way to sing and, my friend, neither do I. The birds don’t know if it’s time yet to fly; they don’t know which way to go and, my friend, neither do I.•→‘Just good friends’← / •→ ‘Ophelia’ ← / •→ ‘Man-Erg’ ⇔ [lyrics]
◊ ‘A Better Time’ ↓ (Acapella)
As surely as the countdown begins
Our time is not our own;
Already there’s the breath of the wind
Which bleaches bare the bones
Of the deadlines we set, of the jokes we don’t get
And forgetfulness that furrows the brow…
No, I’ll never find a better time
To be alive than now.
So I wake up, to remainder the dream
Of personality and posture and face
For nothing can remain as it seems
In some perfect state of pure grace…
All we prize and protect only cause and effect
But I suspect the furrow may be guiding the plough
And I’ll never find a better time
To be alive than now…
No better, no worse, much the same,
We wait on the why and the when;
No question but we’ll go as we came
With no shift in the shape of the zen
And it is as it is and we take as we find
Always next season’s buds on the bough…
But I’ll never find a better time,
Hard though it is to allow.
I’ll never find a better time
To be alive than now.
This is the life and we’ve only time
To be alive right now.
∇ Peter Hammill on Spanish TV ⇓ [2002]
1_ ‘A better time’ / 2_ ‘Bubble‘ ⇐ / 3_ ‘Wendy & the lost boy‘ ⇐
- Trapped like a rabbit by the future glare,
- onrushing headlights that blind you,
- a frightened runaway, at least you know I care,
- I will seek, I will search, I will find you.
- We are written in the star-crossed sky,
- the spirit music reminds you…
- you can run and hide, but surely by and by
- I will seek, I will search, I will find you.
- Far away, in another life
- you say you’re going to find your freedom…
- don’t run away to another life.
- Don’t be afraid, there’s no dark unknown,
- no shadow stalking behind you…
- Don’t be afraid, when you’re lost and most alone
- I will seek, I will search, I will find you.
- Far away, in another life
- things might not be so very different…
- don’t run away to another life.
- Trapped like a rabbit by the future glare,
- onrushing headlights that blind you,
- a frightened runaway, at least you know I care,
- I will seek, I will search, I will find you.
5_ ‘Patient’ ⇐
•→Frankfurt_1992⇐‘I will find you»…
♦ Van Der Graaf Generator ⇒ ‘Refugees’ ⇐ [1970]
«…We’re refugees, walking away from the life we’ve known and loved…
nothing to do nor say, nowhere to stay; now we are alone.
We’re refugees, carrying all we own in brown bags, tied up with string…
nothing to think, it doesn’t mean a thing, but we’ll be happy on our own…»
♦→ Van Der Graaf Generator ⇓ «Pawn Hearts» (1971)
| 1. Lemmings (including COG) |
| 2. Man-Erg |
| 3. A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers |
| a. Eyewitness |
| b. Pictures/Lighthouse |
| c. Eyewitness |
| d. S.H.M. |
| e. Presence of the Night |
| f. Kosmos Tours |
| g. (Custard’s) Last Stand |
| h. The Clot Thickens |
| i. Land’s End (Sineline) |
| j. We Go Now |
∴
¤ Growing Up Live ↓ [2003]
A concert film by Hamish Hamilton & Peter Gabriel. ⇓ Highlights · · ·
• «Here Comes the Flood» ↓
When the night shows the signals grow on radios
All the strange things – They come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
Still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There’s no point in direction we cannot even choose a side.
I took the old track – The hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs – They were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
And as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
Was warm and soaked the crowd.
Lord, here comes the flood
We will say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent in any still alive
It’ll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you’re running dry.
When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You’re a thousand minds, within a flash
Don’t be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there’s only you and me
And if we break before the dawn,
they’ll use up what we used to be.
Lord, here comes the flood
We will say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent in any still alive
It’ll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you’re running dry.
•→«Red Rain» ⇔ [lyrics]
• «Mercy Street» ↓ [for anne sext]
looking down on empty streets, all she can see
are the dreams all made solid – are the dreams all made real
all of the buildings, all of those cars
were once just a dream in somebody’s head
she pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
she pictures a soul with no leak at the seam
let’s take the boat out – wait until darkness comes
nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
nowhere in the suburbs in the cold light of day
there in the midst of it so alive and alone
words support like bone
dreaming of mercy st. – wear your inside out
dreaming of mercy – in your daddy’s arms again
dreaming of mercy st. – I swear they moved that sign
looking for mercy in your daddy’s arms
pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word
confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
to the priest – he’s the doctor, he can handle the shocks
dreaming of the tenderness
the tremble in the hips of kissing Mary’s lips
dreaming of mercy st. . .
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy … mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Anne, with her father is out in the boat
riding the water – riding the waves on the sea
• «Growing Up» ↓
folded in your fleshy purse, I am floating once again
while the muted sounds are pumping rhythm
all the walls close in on me, pressure’s building wave on wave
‘til the water breaks – and outside I go, oh
one dot, that’s on or off, defines what is and what is not, one dot
two dot, a pair of eyes, a voice, a touch, complete surprise, two dot
growing up … looking for a place to live . . .
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown – my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
three dot, a trinity, a way to map the universe, three dot
four dot, is what will make a square, a bed to build on, it’s all there, four dot
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown – my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
all the slow clouds pass us by – make the Empire State look high
as you take me in your sea-stained sweetness
it spills, it tingles and it stings all the pleasure that it brings
‘til the door has let the outside inside here
well on the floor there’s a long wooden table
on the table there’s an open book
on the page there’s a detailed drawing
and on the drawing is the name I took
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown – my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
growing up … looking for a place to live . . .
my ghost likes to travel … moving inside of your space . . .
the breathing stops, I don’t know when in transition once again
such a struggle getting through these changes
and it all seems so absurd to be flying like a bird
when I do not feel I’ve really landed here
∇ ‘Everybird’ ⇓
Taken from the Peter Gabriel album ‘Rated PG’, a collection of songs from the movies. The song features in the film ‘Birds Like Us’, and this video features animation from the film
It’s not the place that I grew up in
It’s not the body I was born with
They’re not the trees that I once played in
That now surround us, us in a prison
Every bird was born with feathers
Every wing was shaped to fly
We spin around ‘til we stop all motion
Let the heart move ‘til the earth can touch the sky
In my hunger deep in my bones
In a thousand deserted homes
Any time that you feel alone
I will find you where you are
Go where you are
In a garden behind the wall
Spinning coins and I watch them fall
Though I’ve lost all the wherewithal
I will find you where you are
Go where you are
I sing like the earth as you dance on my skin
Then memories release the future
So this living can begin
Not in the ship that charts the heavens
Not in the words that fall like hail stones
Not in the light you disappear in
I’ll be the mirror you can see through
Every bird was born with feathers
Every wing was shaped to fly
We spin around ‘til we stop all motion
Let the heart move until the earth can touch the sky
In all the lines that churned your face
In a stretch that can open space
Any place that you leave a trace
I will find you where you are
Go where you are
In a city inside the wall
Where you watched all the embers fall
Though we’ve lost all the wherewithal
I will found you where you are
Go where you build this nest with lot of feathers
Build a world to bring back life
Build the place that holds the future
Can hold the future
For all who come when we are gone
When we are gone
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