Sod the music, said the man in the suit,
I understand profit and without that, it's no use,
Why don't you go away and write commercial songs;
Come back in three years, that shouldn't be too long...
He's a joker and an acrobat,
A record exec. In a Mayfair flat
With Altec speakers wall to wall,
A Radford and a Revox and through it all he plays
Strictly nowhere Muzak.
Hey, listen, baby, this band's got a lot of soul...
If we can beat that out of them I see a disc of gold!
Give them an image, maybe glitter, maybe s**,
Maybe outrage, maybe elegance--
How about as nervous wrecks?
Signs up the product at two percent,
Justified by vinyl shortage and the increased rent
On the yacht he has to hire to make his pitch at Midem
And all the press receptions for his business friends
Who spill their Taittinger upon the floor
While the band sip English lager just outside the door.
Treble, alto, bass clefs on the page,
Crotchets, quavers, minims all the rage
But you'll never find a -L- in the score--
It's there when it's strictly merchandise,
Through all the propagated lies 'bout what the whole thing's for!
He'll make you a star, he'll make you so famous
That all you desire is to be left nameless,
Drained of all you felt you had to offer at the start.
Not without blame, either, are the gentlemen of the press:
You can talk about the state of music,
They will writer about your dress.
Play them the new album, they will say it's great (or not)--
When the articles come out, they're all about
How many dogs you've got.
God to keep the human interest high,
And the hacks are only too willing to comply,
Pander to the ego, build up frail men as gods--
But somewhere in the process, the prime purpose is forgotten.
Groupies offer their bodies, the hangers-on their coke;
It's all very jolly--what a joke!
Fellini creatures cluster round the dressing-room.
The heavenly bodies all got to have their moons.
In the cult of the superman the music plays a supporting role
And far more important is the shape of his nose,
The size of his codpiece and the cut of his clothes...
Soul and feeling always take second place
To the bump and grind of a Fender bass.
Frankly, most musicians bore me--but not as much as those
Who chase the glory to bask in reflected light,
Making the man much more important
Than his arpeggios and mordants,
When it's the other way that's right.
On the values by which this world makes its heroes
Then the best violinist ever was Nero,
Because he had the most Press
And his fire gimmick was simply the best.
We got the live thing too,
The Human Zoo:
Ten thousand arms are raised, just like the Hitler Youth--
Ten thousand peace signs mark the entry of the sax;
Ten thousand peace signs,
But they're different from the back
Two Or Three Spectres
Peter Hammill
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Lyrics by Peter Hammill
(In The) Black Room (No More) The Sub Mariner (On Tuesdays She Used To Do) Yoga A Louse Is Not A Home A Way Out Accidents Act Five Act One Act Six Again Again Airport Autumn Autumn [*] Been Alone So Long Been Alone So Long Betrayed Birds Birthday Special Breakthrough Candle Central Hotel Child Crying Wolf Curtains Description Dont Tell Me Down in the Sewer Dropping The Torch Easy to Slip Away Empress's Clothes Faculty X Faint-Heart and the Sermon Ferret and Featherbird Flight Fogwalking Forsaken Gardens Four Pails Future Now Gaia German Overalls Glue Golden Promises Green Fingers Handicap And Equality Happy Happy [#][*] Happy Hour Hesitation His Best Girl I Once Wrote Some Poems I Will Find You I Will Find You Imperial Walls Imperial Zeppelin Imperial Zeppelin (chris Judge Smith) In Slow Time In The End Institute of Mental Health, Burning Jargon King Just Good Friends Labour Of Love Losing Faith in Words Lost And Found Man-Erg Modern My Experience My Favourite No Moon In The Water Nobody's Business Not For Keith Not The Man Oasis Ophelia Ophelia Paradox Drive Patient People You Were Going To Pompeii Porton Down Re-Awakening Re-Awakening [#][*] Red Shift Red Shift [BBC Radio One John Peel Session][*] Rubicon Rubicon [BBC Radio One John Peel Session][*] Seven Wonders (Bonus Track) She Wraps It Up Shingle Song Sign Sitting Targets Slender Threads Solitude Something About Ysabel's Dance Spirit Still Life Stranger Still Summer Song (In the Autumn) Sunshine Sunshine [#][*] Tapeworm The Birds The Birds [#][*] The Comet, The Course, The Tail The Future Now The Institute of Mental Health, Burning The Jargon King The Lie (bernini's St Theresa) The Old School Tie The Spirit The Unconscious Life This Side Of The Looking Glass Time For A Change (chris Judge Smith) Time Heals Time to Burn [Instrumental] Traintime Viking Vision What I Did What's It Worth Wilhelmina
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