Men WITH DAY JOBS “Dreams & Tinsel” LYRICS
1. TWENTY QUESTIONS (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Do circles have sides? Don’t witches have
wings? Is the world in our street? Why do castles need kings?
Why does the show end, when that ol’ fat lady
sings? And how can the moon be so close, when it’s so far away?
Playing Twenty
Questions, playing Twenty Questions
/ Why won’t they play by the rules of
the game, playing Twenty Questions
How dark is the night? How hot is the sun? And
where does it hide, when the daytime is done?
What
does “caring” mean? How do jellyfish have fun? And why does it keep being
today, never tomorrow? Playing Twenty Questions…
There is so much information that a smart kid
needs to know / I ask the straightforward questions - why won’t they say Yes or
No?
I could
use some simple answers, From the
grown-ups in command / Why do they smile and shrug and say “One day you’ll
understand”?
So how should we live? To be or not to be? What
do we do with the kids’ room? What is the perfect job for me?
Playing Twenty
Questions, still playing Twenty Questions / Why don’t we play by the rules of the game, playing Twenty Questions
2. DREAMS AND TINSEL (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Man of the hour, talk of the town / High in
your tinsel tower, you never come down / Life of the party, host with the most
Your nights are all the rage - up and down the
coast, every taste on toast / Long as the music’s playing, you’ll never hear
them saying…
He’s a self-serenading
minstrel, lost in a world of dreams and tinsel / King of the mountain, youth in
a fountain
Forever the boy inside the man, grabbing the
limelight when he can / Keep on raving, constantly craving dreams and tinsel
Pick of the season, top of the range / Driven
Dionysus, smoothly making your pile with a Greek God smile / Women surround
you, they wait for your call
But they don’t stay too long – they’d have to
play your games, you’d have to learn their names / Long as you keep the pace
up, you’ll never stop to face up…
He’s a self-serenading minstrel…
You
fall back in your room when the sunlight weighs you down / Hearing those voices
in your head, spinning you round and round…
Long as your phone keeps ringing, you’ll never
hear me singing… He’s a self-serenading minstrel…
3. WIDE BROWN LAND (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/T.Latimore/S.Sanders)
Dawn of a new day in strange paradise, we rise
with first light as one / We hitch up our chains and we take up our tools, and
toil till the long day is done
Far from our homes and the land that we knew,
the natural laws we once took to be true
Still the climate’s not bad and
there’s fine lands in view, to work when our sentence has run
We follow their orders, we do what we’re told -
don’t question the wrong or the right
We’re slaves to an empire where sun never sets
– ‘cause God wouldn’t trust them at night
The ground rules keep shifting, the words don’t
ring true: “Do what we say, never mind what we do”
Still, the water is cool and the sky is bright
blue, and we’ve independence in sight
Drowning
in sunlight, jumping at shadows / Struggling so hard to understand, this wide brown land
Dawn of a new age in fools’ paradise, working
for fools and their gold
We boot up our screens and we check out the
price, where land can be bought, stripped and sold
The arrowhead shirts have got logos instead /
Sign on the line and we’ll see you’re well fed
And there’s no time to ask where our dreams
might have led - safer to do what we’re told
Working on long leads,
drifting in dreamworld / Struggling so long to understand, this wide brown land
/ Here in this wide brown land…
4. BOYS NEVER DO (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Here I am lost and lonely, left on my own once
more / Standing in the rain with that old familiar pain, and I
Know I was foolish - I just hoped this time he
would come through / But boys never do
It’s just the same old story, when I put my
heart on the line / And all my faith and trust, it goes crumbling into dust,
and I’m
Sick of believing, someday my dreams
will all come true
‘Cause boys never do…
show when you need them / Boys never do… stay all night
Boys
never do… tell you their secrets / Boys never do… treat you right / Boys never
do…
Now it’s a time for new ways, no more of that
for me / If I can’t depend on them, I’ll make my own damn dreams come true
‘Cause boys never do…
show when you need them / Boys never do… stay all night
Boys never do… tell
you their secrets / Boys never do… hold on tight
Boys never do… love
you forever / Boys never do… treat you right / Boys never do…
5. HURT AND RESCUE (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
You were young, uncertain, ego fragile / He was
sharp and his technique was so agile
Hurt
and Rescue was the spin, hook you up and reel you in / Hurt and Rescue was the
game - underneath, all bleed the same
You were craving image, easy target / He
surveyed you as his new niche market
Hurt
and Rescue was the lie - cut you up and suck you dry / Hurt and Rescue was the
line, it will get you every time
Perfect face and body, perfect life / You’re
the all-consuming purr-purr-perfect wife
Hurt and Rescue was
the game - underneath, all bleed the same / Hurt and Rescue was the line, it
will get you every time
6. THE SOUND OF SPEED (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
There are fairies on the sand, standing frozen
in the red lights / Devils close at hand - more rabbits in our headlights
As
we roar along the road, faster than the sound of speed
There’s a whisper in the caves, many eons in
the making / Whiskers in the waves, see the liberties we’re taking
As
we race across the bay, faster than the sound of speed
No misunderhearings, it’s a long way
down / All at once we’re on shaky ground - better slow down…
There’ll be changes in the yield, deeper than
our learning / Destinies unsealed - the tide is slowly turning
We’ll go soaring to
the south, faster than the sound of
speed…
7. RETROMANIA (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Doctor Doctor, I’m Under Pressure - and you
said “Call Me” / Well I’ve been stuck in this New Wave timewarp since 1983
Sit back and Relax, you were AdamAnt - I was
shedding Tears For Fears / Don’t want no Band Aid, I gotta make this Madness
disappear
Retromania…
Ain’t no Pretender, I’m Captain Sensible, I know my ABC
I’ll be a Nu-man, a part of the Human League, I Want To Break Free from
Retromania...
Find me a job in a Power Station, let me learn
the Art of Noise / Shoppin’ for Specials at the Culture Club, or “Let’s go to
the Pet Shop, Boys”
Sweet Dreams are made of this, I gotta Go West
today / Check on The Reflex, find me The Cure - but Don’t Leave Me This Way….
in
Retromania… Give me the Go-go, I’m just a
Romantic, Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Give me a Squeeze, give me Tainted Love but please set this Fun Boy Free from
Retromania...
Planet
Earth is a Town Called Malice, in a Clash of Simple Minds / I tried Talk Talk…
I cried “A-ha”, but Internet Killed the Video Star
Give me my Freedom, I’ll start a New Order,
from Vienna to Berlin to Japan / You’ll never find a Karma Chameleon - convince
U2, I can… Retromania…
8. THE BOY WITH THE SUN IN HIS EYES (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
A sunny day in the outfield, and he barely
hears the call / With his gaze on something distant, he moves too late to catch
the ball
His
head full of daydreams, his hopes on the rise / His hands to the heavens,
stands the boy with the sun in his eyes
On the dunes by the ocean, waits the warmth of
the girl / But her smile escapes his notice - he sails by in his own world
His
face to the sea-spray, his heart in the skies / His gaze on the horizon, drifts
the boy with the sun in his eyes
Another day in the Real World, of action plans
and power plays / Still he squints beyond the skyline - to wider worlds and
better ways
His head full of stardust,
his heart in disguise / His mind on forever, lives the boy with the sun in his
eyes
9.
AN ACCIDENT IN TIME (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
I've
seen the sun rise in your eyes - we fell into each other’s laughter / We both
knew what to do… and not to do - there had to be a morning after
We rolled into our one night lie, our tale was told
before we started / Said all the right things – no strings to hold, I had no
cause to feel downhearted
But when I saw you
yesterday, caught your eye and held the moment / One step too late to cross
that line
Half a
smile, you turned away, and the dream was quickly over - we were just an
accident in time
I'm
an all or nothing kind of guy, I’m not the one for backward glances / Heart on
the sleeve, love on the line - now there’s no time for second chances
I would have loved
being with you, more than just a single morning / In laughing eyes the sun
would shine
Though I know the
moment’s lost, such a sadness in forever - we were just an accident in time
10. BETTER
HOMES AND GARDENS (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Hey it’s
great the war is over, now the boomtime can begin / We’ll build a brighter
world, we’ll show them what it means to win
Grand houses and apartments,
be the envy of the world ! / And better education, for every boy and
girl – we’ll have…
Better
homes and gardens, spreading to the sea / Bigger farms and cities - life will
be much better, wait and see
Hey it’s great the Cold War’s over, it’s time to turn another page
/ We’ve got to get things back to how they were in the Golden Age - we had…
Better homes and gardens, stronger rules and
laws / Safer streets, high standards - life was so much better how it was,
we’ll all have
Better homes and gardens…
/Wait and see…
11. IN THE SHADOWS OF GIANTS (version 2) (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/T.Latimore/S.Sanders)
In the deepest lost valley, the trees stand untamed / Mighty giants, unbridled by saw, axe or flame
Still unbent and unbroken through years without name / When the world was one forest, they stood here
Here the great clock ticks slowly, time under a spell / In a long morning here, Greece and Rome rose and fell
In the silence and shadow, the air seems to swell / With the echoes of eons resounding
Deep in the stillness, it’s clear where we stand / At
the edge of a wisdom beyond our command
Feel
the once and forever that grows in this land / In the shadows of giants we’re
walking
Under layers of leaves on the dark forest floor / Lie the footprints of those who have walked here before
Giant creatures that tramped with a
thunderous roar / And the peoples who held this place holy Deep
in the stillness…
In a time bound to come, when the last trees are down / Who will follow this path through a land cracked and brown
Will they stare
at our footprints, and wonder, and frown / And think “Oh, how the mighty are
fallen” Deep in the stillness…
Feel the once and forever we hold in our hand / In the
shadows of giants we’re walking
12. SONG FOR OSCAR (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
I was lost, not knowing where I could belong /
Till I decided… to write an Oscar-winning song
It’s gonna be a great one, you bet / And for
that real romantic feel, it’s gotta be a boy and girl duet
So here I am, and now you know you’re not alone
/ As long as I… am simpering in your microphone
With lots of tinkly keyboard… and aching
harmony / And big lush chords, and crashing drums... and swirling strings when
the chorus comes
And this will be our
moment, our Night of Nights draws near
Such
mass-produced emotion… can’t fail to raise a tear / This is our song for Oscar - and we’re really gonna win this
year
And now the words – of standing tall and being
me / And reaching out, to find my special destiny / And Lerv will be the
answer, there’s Lerv in every line
It finds a way, it sets us free / It lifts us
up, into… a change of key? (Beautiful!) And this will be our
moment…
13. (The Truth Will
Make You) MAD! (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Make
you mad, make you mad, make you mad… the truth will make you mad
Down in the bunker, with the maps on the wall,
big boys, big toy, makin’ big bad noise / Got the paramount technology, the
paranoid psychology,
The economic, ergonomic, macho physiology /
Their eyes on the oilfields, minds on belligerence, hands on their sexed-up
milit’ry intelligence
Bomb and crush and kill until it’s
all gone bad - then you learn the awful truth, and the truth will…. Make
you mad…
High in the city, in their smoke-free offices,
fat suits, in cahoots, makin’ packets… behind a smokescreen of lies… dollars in
their eyes…
They’re hookin’ kids, people on the skids,
never mind who dies / While you’re gettin’ sicker, they got smiles on their
faces
‘Cause they shredded all the traces (got
friends in high places) / You don’t know they did it, but you know that you
been had
It’s a filter-tip ripoff, and the truth
will…. Make you mad…
14. BEN
BEHAVING MADLY (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Let me sit down here beside you, son, you need your Dad to guide you - I can
help you be a real man, never fear
Though they say you should restrain it, there’s
no reason to contain it - don’t
believe the anti-men talk you might hear
When harassment’s round the corner, one face is
always there - though it isn’t always easy to see
True, some women get mistreated, son, they’re
beaten up and cheated on - but it’s not the fault of you… and… me, no!
It’s just Ben behaving
madly - he’s gone quite stark raving, sadly / Something’s twisted very badly in
his mind
You can’t blame the whole male gender, if one
boy goes on a bender / It’s just Ben behaving madly all the time, all the time
When there’s fighting and destruction, we men
all take the rap - though there’s always one man lurking behind
They say millions are left lost, alone, because
of male testosterone - but it’s just one male tests positive, you’ll find
There is just one name that comes to mind…
(WHO?)
It’s just Ben behaving
madly - once again, depraving gladly / ‘Cause he’s really craving badly for
some crime
One guy’s faulty
mental hygiene shouldn’t damn the whole XY gene / It’s all Ben behaving madly
every time
15. FOR
SENTIMENTAL REASONS (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Step inside
and stroll around, sir - share the treasures of this place / Ebony bookends,
Venetian chandeliers, that Russian leather case
But please don't touch that lady,
fading in her frame, beside the chased-gold clock on the wall / For sentimental reasons, that's all
She once
graced the crimson cushions of this velvet divan / And here's the inlaid
Sterling silver bracelet, I pressed into her hand
Oh please, don't lift the lid of that old
roll-top desk - those memories rush out with a sigh / The sentimental value, that's why
If you
could look through my eyes, you'd come to see / Among the moments lying dusty
in the bric-a-brac, her struggle to be free
Go gently
through these relics of a precious time - and tip your hat to love, as you pass
/ For sentimental reasons, at last…
16. THE
NEXT BIG THING (R.Crundwell/P.Fenton/S.Sanders)
Once upon
whenever, when love was all around / When Being There was Where It’s At, I took
my songs to town
And every B-grade band shark, and tinpot talent hound / Told me I…
was gonna be the Next Big Thing
We cashed
in our resistance, we set out on the road / With high boots and sailor suits,
we were gonna make the sky explode
With faith or wilful blindness, we beat our chests and crowed /
That we… were gonna be the Next Big Thing… the Next Big Thing
We rumbled every highway, we
thundered every stage / We beat on every doorway, refused to act our age
We
railed against their silence, we raged at the machine / We blew till every
dream had blown away
Record deals and magazines, was every would-be rock star’s dream /
Slogging through the night to make it all come true
Till back to earth that star-ship
comes - clashing visions, different drums / We crashed and burned before we
could crash through,
Crash through!
So here we are together, the love is still the same / The songs
flow on, no matter now if nobody knows our name
‘Cause it’s better to have missed
the boat than never to have played the game / And we laugh to think that we
were once the Next Big Thing…
No we won’t give up the Day Jobs,
but we won’t get off the stage / We groove on in the basement, still refuse to
act our age
‘Cause we may not be young and pretty, and
we’ll never be all the rage / But we can still kick it and that’s the Next Best
Thing
Yeah we can still kick it and that’s… the Best
Thing !
