The Veils

The Nowhere Man :
I wonder where the junkies go to die
Are you a friend or just some passer by
Cos lately it feels like I might need some time

If you want me
Then you've found me
With time out of mind

Lately I've wondered how many I's there are in mine
If this ain't real then what's the point in trying
Lately it feels like I might need some time

If you want me
Then you've found me
With time out of mind

And darling I wonder how many signs you'll find tonight
We all know it's the longest ties that bind
Still lately it feels like I'm on my knees each time

If you want me
Then you've found me
With time out of mind

Yeah I'm the nowhere man
And I know I know where I stand

If you want me
Then you've found me
With time out of mind

The Leavers Dance :
Berenice
My hands my feet are worn
As much as yours are
And though my head my hands my heart are forming
They still feel worlds apart

Berenice
Beneath it all you´re golden
And that´s all I´m feeding on
And though my head my hands are growing colder
We move circles now

Berenice there´s no release at all
That´s not worth dying for

Berenice
My hands my feet are worn
As much as yours are

Berenice there´s no release at all
That´s not worth dying for
And it´s not for our desires but our design that we all fall apart

Berenice there´s no release at all
It´s worthless crying for
And though my ............ ........´cause we all fall down

Talk Down The Girl :
Seven moons for seven seas
won't let them get the better of me
they'll pass me by
don't pass me by
my seven fears all fear of me
they'll take their leave eventually
well they can try
they can try

my love was strong
for now it's gone
eleven stories up
from the second floor
a love not warm
is a love not done

darling you let me know

talk down the girl
talk down the girl

so little knowledge known to me
so little colour left to see
but black and white
black and white
a silhouette at seventeen
if they can find what's left of me
for the fire
burn in the fire

my love was strong
for now it's gone
eleven stories up
from the second floor
a love not warm
is a love not done

talk down the girl
talk down the girl

there's little more for us to say
you've made your mind up anyway
another world
another world
i hate to leave you here this way
but i can't think where you should stay
i miss my girl
i miss my girl

my love was strong
for now it's gone
eleven stories on
from the second floor
a love not warm
is a love not done

darling you let me know

talk down the girl
talk down the girl

The Valleys Of New Orleans :
Someday the walls will tremble with terrible flames here
‘Til the mouth of some hurricane sweeps them away
And If I had either love or fortune I’d shed them both here
But those cards are so rarely played I’ve hid them away

The valleys of New Orleans
The valleys of New Orleans

Oh Stanley I’ve heard you laughing your way around here
There’s a game that I wish to play, so slow down
I found another in Sidneys’ pocket, she knows my name
And she says she wants to drive all night in the dark through all

The valleys of New Orleans
The valleys of New Orleans

Sidney says God is watching so don’t fear now
She says he’s bound to come, give him time
Her mouth is the taste of sea salt and saddled rum
She speaks in a vagrant language I’d heard once in a film about

The valleys of New Orleans
The valleys of New Orleans
The valleys of New Orleans
The valleys of New Orleans

Vicious Traditions :
I'd pull my weight if it made any difference
he gave his life for the nine million others
but on his graves written here lies Joseph
his countrys gun and innocent soldier

fight your way out of this one

he grew a blood red vision for all their good intentions
he made an easy million from a foreign investment
he danced with the devils in beautiful buildings
affirmative action for a useful reunion

hed change his name if it made any difference
now hes waiting in line for the lasting confession
but on his graves written here lies our son Joseph
his countrys gun and innocent soldier

well fight your way out of this one
fight your way out of this one

Wires To Flying Birds :
They're forming in circles from over my head
Calling in silence
I can only fall apart

They're falling in pieces from over my head
Calling in silence
I can only fall apart

They bind me in violet with my love in my head
My heart now an island
I can only fall apart

And I feel their wings go
And I feel their wings go

& One Of Us Must Go :
This place is not for me, my love
This place is not for all
I’ll prick my thumbs on spinning wheels
And join you when you go

If death finds me in love.
If death finds me at all
That ship sets sail too soon my love
& one of us must go.

And now I’m yearning for the light
Your weightless body draws
And though I have no faith in god
I wish for nothing more.

If death finds me in love.
If death finds me at all
That ship sets sail too soon my love
& one of us must go.

So why should we know love at all
If all deaths’ visit owed
That ship sets sail too soon, my love
& one of us must go

The Wild Son :
Your knives are sharp
When you put them in my heart
Though the truth, you'd say,
Is I like them there that way

From this hoodlum skin
I can always run to him
Undeserved, capsized
In the gutters of his eyes

Darling I need you far more than I say
None of my fears are as dear to me

And a great light dims
Every day I'm torn from him
And our stars align
In Elysian Fields at night
And the wheels, they turn
And the fallen heather burns
At a loss and scared
In exile and unprepared

Darling I need you far more than I say
None of my fears are as dear to me

Darling I need you far more than I say
None of my fears are as dear to me

Blessed's the night
Blessed's the night
Blesses's the night
When none of my fears are as dear to me

Blessed's the night
Blessed's the night
Blesses's the night
When none of my fears are as dear to me

None of my fears are as dear to me
None of my fears are as dear to me

Guiding Light :
I'm fine from within
Just better without
This noose around my neck
Is counting me out

Whenever I run
My beautiful sin
Is calling outside
And it's that that reminds me of you

Now our every last effort tried
So far has been denied
It's easy to cry for love
Far harder to try
There goes my guiding light
Farewell my guiding light
There goes my guiding light

I fought my way in
But I can't find a way out
Of this weightless regret
Surrounding me now

And whenever I run
Some beautiful sin
Is calling outside
And it's that that reminds me of you

Now our every last effort tried
So far has been denied
It's easy to cry for love
Far harder to try
There goes my guiding light
Farewell my guiding light
There goes my guiding light
Farewell my guiding light
There goes my guiding light
There goes my guiding light
There goes my guiding light

Lavinia :
See my love is asleep on the floor in a pose thats familiar
see my son will just send you to war if the battle doesnt kill you
ive her name in mine calling all the time
that i dont want to live in your side though the rose is vermillion
and i find it so hard to survive without when within you

my sweet Lavinia

all the years buried under the floor and the wounds in the parlours
would have come up to greet us before if it werent for my heart cause
ive her name in mind its calling all the time

for my sweet Lavinia

More Heat Than Light :
The imperial disaster's in a furious decline
they've been burning down the ghettos burning down the ghettos
crossing all
of the lines
And everyone gets so excited as it all start to rise
all the time all the time radiating
more heat than light
more it than light

they 've been spitting on the mirage in the back of the van
if he can do it if he can do it if he can do it
i think anybody can
they 've been polishing the dolphin you've never seen a beast so bright
all the time all the time radiating
more heat than light
more heat than light

all you funny little men
with that fever in your eyes
you say put them with the others-
you should never analyse
he fucked the watermelon women like a thief in the night
all the time all the time radiating
more heat than light
more heat than light

The Tide That Left & Never Came Back :
I´m sick from this city
It burns in my side
The ships that are leaving
Shine so bright in the night time

And though the memories fade
It´s still you that I find
If only you could stay and not leave me behind

The tide that left and never came back is on my mind tonight
´Cause it´s a small town & it misses you my love

Don´t fall into all
Those sad stories you write
Your voice is so pretty
When it gets caught in the right rhyme

And though the memories fade
It´s still you that I find
If only you could stay and not leave me behind

The tide that left and never came back is on my mind tonight
´Cause it´s a small town & it misses you my love

One Night On Earth :
I shook from my dream I wasn't here
To shake from my own sight
Shake, ache from the light of everything
Shake for that which sinks but can't drown

Your face
It will not be back again
Oh fate, your face
To summon it away is to back down

I'm not so alone in here tonight
The light shines off the pennies in the street
And love feels such a plausible delight
And now I've learnt the lyrics in full to Auld Lang Sine

Oh fate, Your face
It will not be back again
Oh fate, your face
To summon it away

Oh fate, Your face
It will not be back again
Oh fate, your face
To summon it away is to back down

Now the wolves all howl
And the birds all sing it:
"He backed down"

Under The Folding Branches :
There I knew you once, didn't I?
And the sound of that music travelled
to me from that orphan sky
and pulled it all in my vault

Love hide me away deep in this town and canopy of snow
Go, spin me around under the folding branches
Now, is not too late, heaven can wait another year or so

Thought I loved you once, didn’t I?
But I wanted the fin, didn’t I?
Thought it broke your heart, didn’t I?
But that face in the dark wasn’t mine

Love hold me away deep in this town and canopy of snow
Go, spin me around under the folding branches
Now, is not too late, heaven can wait another year or so
Go, spin me around under the folding branches
Now, is not too late, heaven can wait another year or so
Go, spin me around under the folding branches
Now, is not too late, heaven can wait another year or so

For I loved you once, didn’t I?
There, I loved you once, didn’t I?

House Where We All Live :
There's an old child's swing set on the lawn And an ivied wall lured by the years A neckerchiefed spaniel patrols the swamp And drinks from the garden of our tears

There are many rooms and many floows A billion up and a billion down I'm not sure God knows we're here Most nights it keeps to itself

There's a widow's wing and an unloved wing On the unwanted floor towards the rear I've tried to memorise their names But no sooner one dies than another appears

There were bible verses all down the halls But they soon got replaced with explcit cartoons There are lipstick marks on all our collars Amd the sign on the gate reads 'Come Back Soon'

We all do our best to keep it clean But some guy's minds are like a sieve Sometimes It's a little hard to sleep at night In the house where we all live

Now when I walk the grounds at dawn I hear the sounds of far off bells I lay my feet out in the reeds And dream of being somewhere else

So boy, next time you are in town Just ring the bell and I'll let you in I don't think you're going to need directions - Just ask for the house where we all live

Nux Vomica :
What Say you, Lord For the olive boys down in the house of corrections As they try for love and any form of ascension Am I on the right train headed in the wrong direction? What say you Lord What say you Lord

Do you think it wrong Do you see a long road with no one on it And the right of men that you only learnt to forget You see my sad wife and my high margin of profit But you don't care at all You don't care

What say you Lord Now that they're breeding all our animals insane And the remedy is growing harder to obtain There's a white horse running wild through the switch-cane I can hear him now And I fear him

'Til Kingdom come Cauight in this frenzy of elimination Such an irreparable disintergration My body's twitching with a ready expectation For Kingdom come My Kingdom!

What say you Lord Why is the truth of this so hard to unveil? Though it's true I never knew what this would entail From the hands of Christ to the head of the Daily Mail I'll see you all And I'll raise you

What say you Lord I wonder when this light is brought up for sale With the weight of love and the grace of the Baleen Whale Will the severed Heads of State be at all curtailed Will they be here at all - Will they be dead and gone?

What say you Lord Of the serpent-talied, forbidden fish of the harbour And the ready-men, defiant drinkers and charmers All lost and summoning the face of their fathers Can you see him now? I can see him

What say you all Do I believe it if I do not want it Do I lie alone and keeps my cold hands off it Honey, it ain't hard to loose your grip in the midst of all of this But it ain't far to fall It's not far at all

A Birthday Present :
Everybody thinks it's something real
Right until the devil drinks it
O-li-o
O-li-o

Everything's fate and spinning wheels
Everybody wants their princes
O-li-o
O-li-o

There's no sense in waiting for a swift completion to come
That invitation is all I'm waiting on

The tedious thoughts of the head of state
Is seldom ever worth revealing
O-li-o
O-li-o

Indelible stains on the human race
You idiots, fakes and murderers
O-li-o
O-li-o

There's no sense in waiting for a swift completion never comes
That invitation is all I'm waiting on

Everybody thinks the end is here
How am I to tell the difference
O-li-o
O-li-o

Wish everybody a happy new year
There's varying results predicted
O-li-o
O-li-o

There's no sense in waiting for a swift completion to come
That invitation is all I'm waiting on

Pan :
I knew you'd starve in heaven And I'd pray for your release There's and angel at my table and a devil up my sleave With nothing on- Nothing but a smile

I knew your prize was empty And that they're waiting on your need Piano-white and wide and empty I don't even want to know what that means

Why d'you wana know? You're still nothing but a child

Will it come back to me Will it come back to me If it comes back to me, my love Will it come back to me for long?

He'll not anwser to your bidding I just burried him last night I'm still trying to force another Needle in the camel's eye

Why d'you wana know? You are nothing but a child

Will it come back to me Will it come back to me If it came back to me, my love Will it come back to me for long?

You ought to know you are nothing but a child And that you cant satisfy my heart of its So called desire

You are nothing but a child

Jesus For The Jugular :
How do you preach the word if you don't know how to read
They hold your soul once you sign the deed
Would the sun still rise if there’s no-one round
Would the fox be as quick if he hadn’t his hound

Let him go from me

This whole world spins with her feet off the ground
She’ll make the stars applaud when she sits back down
There’s a bulls-blooded fountain in the pit of a moan
That I'll summon an eclipse on my way to the lord

Let him go from me

Jesus for the jugular - one at a time
Ain’t nobody ever gonna ever have to die

Advice For Young Mothers To Be :
She found the world embeded in the snow
it's to bad the rest have made it all their own
there's got to be a better way somehow but I dont know
wish I could find the words and heal my baby

she made a crib with blankets for the floor
painted the bluest colour on the walls
I don't want to know the time I don't care about that at all
no body knows the way to heaven baby

no, this can't go on
your advice for young mothers to be
we'll never find the words, darling believe me

so here it is your heart is out in the cold
the friends who care still call you on the phone
the vicar said it's wrong but hey what does he know
he said its wrong but that the lord forgave me

well I don't want his pity and your scorn
boy why you preaching no-one is listning anymore
that old live of yours sickens me
directed i'm on an eternal call
no man alive has earned the right to save me

no, this can't go on
your advice for young mothers to be
we'll never find the words, darling believe me

no, this can't go on
your advice for young mothers to be
we'll never find the words, darling believe me

Now here I am, I'm pushing 24
I've got a house and a little terrace on the lawn
my baby is grown and I'm as happy as a forn
now only the beauty of the world delays me

no, this can't go on
your advice for young mothers to be
we'll never find the words, darling believe me

no, this crown of thorns
your advice for young mothers to be
we'll never find the words, darling believe me

Calliope :
I woke this morning deep in the earth Laying bare with the granite and the moths Up I clambered and I was met by the sun It was then I saw you there, down on the street

My love You've come such a long way With no one to comfort you Or to tell you you're needed

You and I come from the same place But if I were to call for you What's there left to believe in?

So I signaled up to the high and crumbling moon We've made it then, my love Closed both my eyes and crawled under the sink And as I dreamt I swear i felt you in my arms again

You've come such a long way With no one to comfort you Or to tell you you're needed

You and I come from the same place But if I were to call for you What's there left to believe in?

What's there left to believe in?

What's there left to believe in?

No way, you're looking down Took my heart and ripped my crown And i'm fallin' for ya, and i'm fallin' for ya, And i'm falling for you, ah, That's enough to believe in.

You've come such a long way With no one to comfort you Or to tell you you're needed

You and I come from the same place But if I were to call for you What's there left to believe in?

What's there left to believe in?

You're all i've left to believe in

Not Yet :
Mama when she'd ride that horse Buried out in Wilson fields Mama'd tell me all she thought Mama'd tell me all how riding feels

And I thought Not yet.

Then when mama got too old No one ever rode that horse Until one night I stole her key And I did ride it all night 'till dawn

When I thought Not yet.

It looks an ugly world out there Of girl-guides and disease and war I love my little velvet bed I never want to leave it anymore

At least Not yet.

Charlie was the first I caught And Charlie was the first I begged To lay an anchor in my heart He was running his fingers down the inside of my legs

When I thought Not yet.

All my fears will come to me in dreams Maybe the end ain't as far as it seems Not yet revived but not yet mourned Not quite denied just not yet born

Sit Down By The Fire :
Born from the night in the roaring wind
Cast out of the shadows by an unknown hand
Warmed by the light of these falling limbs
drunk on the sadness of a universe unmanned

Across the water she clings to me
and in the rising karma I feel her at my side
My father's singing in the fallin' leaves
about the complicated beauty of a river run dry

Sit down by the fire
Sit down by the fire

It's hard to say
but I think you'd better
just Say you don't love me
you don't love me anymore

I been waiting in line
now I know I'll never
Overcome this madness
if I don't know for sure

Across the water she clings to me
and in the light of dawn
I see her at my side

and my father's singing in the fallin' leaves
there's no way out of this old world even if you try

So just sit down by the fire
sit down by the fire
there ain't no way to get what I want

Sit down by the fire
oh, sit down by the fire
There ain't no way to get what I want

Some day
a little rain is bound to fall

Some day
a little rain is bound to fall

Some day
a little rain is bound to fall

Some day

Over my head my heart and my feet
I'm drawn insane
you know I need you now

Over my head my heart and my feet
I'm drawn insane

Sit down by the fire love
sit down by the fire
there ain't no way to get what I want

Sit down by the fire love
sit down by the fire
there ain't no way to get what I want.

Oh, there ain't no way to get what I want.

Killed By The Boom :
He stared at the skyline with a look of avarice
he smelled the diesel of a passing train
he fell with both hands still in his pockets
killed by the boom and washed away

Oh no what a tragedy
say what you want about him
I say goddamn

He wasn't no drug dealer momma
he was a dancer
with the dull eyes of a steer and a lions mane
bear me no public opinion it never answers
whatever intuition cannot explain.


Oh no what a tragedy
say what you want about him
I'll say goddamn

No recognition by the state nor senate
no epitaph to sing aloud his sweet name
no fourteen stations and the nineteenth sonnet
he weren't no wealthy man but he was a man all the same


Oh no what a tragedy
say what you want about him
Oh no what a fucking tragedy
say what you want about him
I say goddamn

It weren't the rain that killed him
and it weren't his muddy ears
it weren't the rain that killed him
he was killed by the boom

he was killed by the boom

The House She Lived In :
This is the house she lived in
It was the house she was born in
That was the bed she slept in
And this is all we are left with

And this is her mother
She goes round and round
Thinking about it
And how it all went down

This is the house she lived in
It was the house she was born in
That that was the bad she slept in
And this is all we are left with

And this is my heart
It's wounded even now
She ripped up my heart
And fed it to the beast under the stairs

This is the house she lived in
That was the house she was born in
And that was was bed she slept in
And this is all we are left with