Futurology
Bio, Notes by the Band, Press Release and Lyrics

Futurology Bio
Hall or Nothing

“The lines are joined by finding one another.” Aleksander Rodchenko

“This record is the quintessence of the people we are when we’re with each other. How we react to each other. What we talk about. What we argue about. How we agree. Futurology is the people we are.” James Dean Bradfield

“I get more inspiration from looking at art than I do from listening to music. But no matter how deluded, I still have the vision that when we write a song we’re creating four minutes of art. It might be getting harder to prove it but this is what we’re still trying to communicate. Communication is our artform.” Nicky Wire

Manic Street Preachers are the last truly great mainstream British rock group… but even a partisan fan could be forgiven for wondering occasionally about how much longer they can carry on at their momentous pace of creativity and relevancy. After all, they formed in South Wales in 1986, released their first single ‘Suicide Alley’ in 1988, debut album ‘Generation Terrorists’ in 1992 and had reached their commercial peak by 1998’s ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’.

They have had, as Nicky Wire puts it succinctly, “a good innings”, acknowledging that most bands are lucky to be still functioning outside of the nostalgia circuit at their age and few, if any at all, remain a force to be reckoned with. However, just one listen to the trio’s 12th album ‘Futurology’ will remind the rock fan of many facts - the primary of which being: Manic Street Preachers are not like any other bands. Not by a long chalk.

It would be wrong to claim that ‘Futurology’ is a “return to form” (let’s leave that to the bands who haven’t produced a good album in years, shall we?) but it does represent a resurgent cresting of their powers and, in many senses, a complete artistic rebirth. It is, in simple terms, one of the best albums they have ever recorded. It presents them still travelling on an upward trajectory, and even by their own standards, they have been on a roll over the last few years. ‘Send Away The Tigers’ (2007) saw them reconnect with the anthemic glam rock of their early years and ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ (2009) featured the band taking care of unfinished business by setting old lyrics of former band mate and friend Richey Edwards to blistering punk rock. With ‘Postcards From A Young Man’ (2010) - their last shot at mass communication - they successfully revived their stadium rock sound and then with ‘Rewind The Film’ (2013) they broke new personal ground with an all but unplugged collection of introspective ‘folk’ songs.

During the sessions for that album, it became clear that they were writing two completely different sets of tracks however. While ‘Rewind The Film’ was their attempt to “do a Nebraska”, the songs they saved over to make up ‘Futurology’ were inspired by travelling through Europe, the pioneering artistic spirit of early 20th Century modernist art and the maverick music of Krautrock and New Pop. Nicky says: “During our last European tour we really reconnected with this idea of travelling on the German Autobahns listening to Kraftwerk, Neu!, Popul Vuh and Cabaret Voltaire. The idea of being on these endless futuristic roads but being surrounded by these ancient forests at the same time. It’s a magical feeling and it makes you think of soundtracks in your head as you’re travelling through this landscape.”
‘Futurology’ is indeed a record which maps out physical, spiritual, artistic, temporal, philosophical and metaphorical journeys, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that it is also capable of transporting the listener from despair to somewhere hopeful and euphoric. But to reach the destination you have to take the entire journey along with the band...


‘Between The Clock And The Bed’ is a case of it being darkest just before the dawn, referring, as it does, to an unsettling self-portrait by the king of Norwegian expressionism Edvard Munch shortly before his death. He is pictured standing in all of his infirmity by a grandfather clock with no hands (symbolising death) and a bed (symbolising illness). One of his own paintings of a nude hangs behind him in the shadows (symbolising the disappearance of youthful vitality). And then there is the door to a jet black hallway standing ominously ajar (symbolising… well, you get the picture…)

Nicky says: “It’s a very unsettling portrait of a man grappling with the idea of imminent death. And this song is about that petrifying transition. When you’re hitting 45 like we are, everything becomes... more vivid, shall we say. Everything that you’re losing and everything that’s fucking coming becomes clear. The lyrics come from a massive place of doubt: the tangible idea that something could be taken away from you very easily. You’re blind to it for most of your life but then suddenly you are aware that you could lose everything. You just feel, ‘Oh fuck… it could all go.’”

But the Manics of 2014 aren’t interested in punching you square in face unless the fist is inside a luxuriously soft velvet glove first. The baleful lyrics are tempered and rendered bittersweet by the fact they are delivered by James Dean Bradfield - one of the finest Welsh rock voices of his generation - performing an astounding duet with Green Gartside - one of the finest Welsh pop voices of his. Gartside, as the key member of Scritti Politti, is a touchstone on the album. ‘Futurology’ does look reverentially back to the secret history of mid-1980s new pop and post-post-punk that informed the margins of the mainstream; but it does so in order to look forwards. James is quick to reel off the countless unsung tracks from this period that still influence him musically to this day. Public Image Limited ‘This Is Not A Love Song’. Simple Minds (“my true gods”) ‘Theme For Great Cities’. Colourbox ‘The Moon Is Blue’, Bauhaus ‘Dark Entry’ and the instrumentals off ‘Low’.

The album takes the listener all the way from existential crisis to spiritual redemption and the monolithic shadow of early 20th Century modernist art falls across the entire journey. Nowhere is this influence more clear than on ‘Black Square’, which is named after the infamous painting by the Russian artist, Kazimir Malevich. Of course, it’s hard to describe just how revolutionary this picture - of a black square in a white void - was when it was unveiled in 1915. Nicky explains his fascination with the artist: “The idea of obliterating everything that had gone before, made me think of his art in the terms of punk rock. This painting was the starting point of what the artist saw suddenly not being as important as what the artist felt.”

Of course, if this all sounds typically intellectual, the band aren’t so sure themselves. Nicky admits that for the first time ever some of the lyrics on this album are there primarily to serve the aesthetics of the music. Backing this shift in emphasis, ‘Futurology’ also contains two instrumentals. The first of these tracks, which nods to the monumental basslines carved out for Sons And Fascination-era Simple Minds by Derek Forbes and the chiming post-post-punk guitars of John McGeoch, is ‘Dreaming A City (Hughesovka)’ and was inspired by a book that Nicky gave to James at Christmas. James explains: “The book is called Dreaming A City which is about a Welsh industrialist John Hughes who went over and set up the first steel foundry and coal mine in the Ukraine. And he called it Hughesovka. It was such folly based on such monumental ego but he actually went and did it. You can walk around in life completely unaware of how many narratives that all of these cities, towns and even buildings have. It’s so easy to just miss all of it.”

The way that the Manics have come to use geographical places (and the narratives that lie behind them) to act as emotional metaphors for describing their interior terrain is now core to them. And ‘The View From Stow Hill’ is a classic example of this style of songwriting. The lyric concerns the 15 minute walk from where Nicky lives to the train station in Newport and this physical journey is emphasised in the track by the “three dimensional sense of space” that James got from the lyrics and also by the way that Sean Moore fleshed out the song with synths and electronics. However, the trip is also a temporal one, back in political history to the march of the Chartists down from the valleys in November 1839 to where they were shot down in Newport by soldiers - the bullet holes still visible in the brickwork of the Westgate Hotel. The trip also reaches back in time to more recent personal history, to the Stow Hill of their teenage years, when they would visit the local labour club to watch Husker Du and The Butthole Surfers.

The Manics have, as you’d expect, found many like-minded souls to collaborate with. On ‘Europa Geht Durch Mich’ (“Europe passes through me”) the German actress Nina Hoss - star of such cult films as Barbara and Yella - acts as a Pan European political dominatrix on vocals while the Manics successfully reimagine Giorgio Moroder joining the ranks of Goldfrapp. This sensuous electro disco barnstormer was born out of the conflict James felt between being an old fashioned European federalist and his realisation caused by two decades of continental touring that none of the individual countries are remotely like one another. He says: “If you want to be part of the EU you have to construct this state by reconciling the differences between nations… And we never have this type of discussion in Britain do we? It’s either really horrible dim witted right wing arguments or dim witted left wing arguments.” Elsewhere on ‘Divine Youth’ - a song partially inspired by a high street store making bootleg Manics T-shirts from a Mitch Ikeda photograph of a youthful Nicky and Richey - the preternaturally talented Welsh singer and harpist Georgia Ruth, shows up to add sublime texture.

On ‘Next Jet To Leave Moscow’ (which also features Cian Ciaran from Super Furry Animals on synths and electronics), James recalls an argument with a drunk resident of a former soviet bloc country, and reflects on certain controversial aspects of the band’s history reflected through the prism of this meeting: “When we went to Cuba we actually just wanted to see what it would be like. We wanted to see how it would rub off on our audience and ourselves. We didn’t go there to endorse everything. Of course once you have your picture taken with a politician you do endorse everything that they say and that’s unfortunate. It’s something we should have been aware of. There is a nod and a wink to our own failings in this song but there’s also reference to the failures of post ideology.”

Talking of the album title’s reference to foretelling of the near future, probably the most chilling and prescient piece of futurology ever was George Orwell’s prediction in the novel 1984 that we would end up permanently at war abroad with the aim of controlling the populace at home. Permanent conflict abroad is now part of the neo-liberal, disaster capitalism agenda and this is referenced by the rocket powered and satirical ‘Let’s Go To War’. Of course, the song isn’t just intended in its more literal meaning. Nicky says: “There is also a sense of metaphorical war within ourselves, which is to say, why do we still feel this desperate and innate need to scream our point of view?” The band see it as forming the third part of a loose trilogy of songs that was started with ‘You Love Us’ and ‘Masses Against The Classes’. He adds: “All these songs give me the same feeling of abandon… one last time, let’s just go down in fucking flames. These three songs are analysing our pretty daft desire for destruction.”

Perhaps, the song that will cause the most consternation or intrigue among some Manics observers is the beautiful first single ‘Walk Me To The Bridge’ with its heartfelt refrain: “So long my fatal friend I don’t need this to end / I reimagine the steps you took / Still blinded by your intellect / Walk me to the bridge, walk me to the bridge.” Nicky explains how the lyrics were written some years previous when he was thinking about leaving the band (the “fatal friend”) himself: “People might have the idea that this song contains a lot of Richey references but it really isn’t about that, it’s about the Øresund Bridge that joins Sweden and Denmark. A long time ago when we were crossing that bridge I was flagging and thinking about leaving the band. When I gave James the lyrics I’d imagined it as being this gnarly seven minute long album track and he brought it back edited down as this really exciting, commercial sounding song. That’s when I thought, ‘Uh-oh, here we go...’” James takes a more militant stance: “In this day and age, it’s almost like you get an imaginary knighthood for saying nothing. It would be a shame if we had to censor ourselves for fear of what people would say. If that was the case I’d just call it a day.”

Luckily for us, it now feels like the Manics calling it a day is less likely than it has been for years. On ‘Futurology’, they have excised some existential dread, reconnected the dots with the optimism of their past and opened up a bridge to the future. Nicky concludes: “We chose this quote by the Russian Constructivist artist Aleksander Rodchenko to go on the sleeve that says, ‘The lines are joined by finding one another’ and this reflects the hopeful, uplifting qualities of the album - namely a belief in the possibilities offered by the future. The possibilities of being moved and inspired by any kind of art.”
John Doran, London, April 2014


FUTUROLOGY
Notes by the band

"The lines are joined by finding one another." Aleksander Rodchenko

Futurology
Lyrically uplifting - faith in self generated ideas – ‘the good will out - rock‘n’roll will return’ – a statement of existential socialism – belief that humanity is still a viable ideal. Motorik drums - Cian Ciarán (SFA) on keys and sounds – Bowie’s futuristic R&B/Berlin beat - recorded in Hansa & Faster – a rock version of the retro-futurism of Stereolab.

Walk Me To The Bridge

Originally inspired by driving across the Øresund Bridge that joins Sweden & Denmark – a sense of motion, life and memory flashing by in a stream of consciousness - connections - the Die Brücke movement - Greil Marcus - the idea of bridges allowing you an out of body experience as you leave and arrive in different places - Heroes EBow guitar solo - This Is The One - classic Manics single - early Simple Minds synths - emotional European driving song – the fatal friend is the band – life – music – everything. ‘Eat Lights Become Lights’ shining synth beacon had been influencing James at this point.

Let's Go To War
Final part of You Love Us/Masses Against The Classes trilogy - Faith No More/Andrew Weatherall’s mix of Peeled Apples - unending desire for conflict within us & society - confronting ourselves - Cate le Bon and H. Hawkline on chorus backing vocals – Album-era PiL guitar line – a message to ourselves, a call to arms - the upper classes have turned rock’n’roll into a career path devoid of any desperation or desire to revolt - let's go down in flames trying - an exercise in tension.

The Next Jet To Leave Moscow
The heartbeat of the album. Post punk power pop - Bill Nelson - dragging your past around with you – Cuba, 4 real, old songs etc. - dislocation of your own history, the baggage of having an opinion - Cian Ciaran adds keys & noise.

Europa Geht Durch Mich
‘Europe passes through me’. - an industrial/dominatrix Nut Bush City Limits - the POSTPUNKDISCOROCK of This Is Not A Love Song. Features Nina Hoss (Barbara/We Are The Night/A Most Wanted Man) – echoes of Goldfrapp’s Strict Machine - so much too see, beauty failure hope excitement otherness - the relief of breathing in another country - scale culture language motion - the joy of observation - movement as salvation.

Divine Youth
Featuring vocals and harp by the enigmatic/Welsh Music Prize winning Georgia Ruth - post Video Games space rock ballad – the lyrical rhythms of Space Oddity – celestial – imperial era ZTT/Propaganda’s Duel - the branding of youth, the corporate ownership of revolt and coolness - the loss of daydreaming, the virtual evolution of now - the collection and collusion of information by massive digital companies and the state.

Sex, Power, Love and Money
Musically we tried to fuse Nirvana/Undercover Of The Night/The Skids - tried to distil comment down to the four most powerful words and drivers in modern society - all the rest are crushed by these concepts for better or for worse. Verse meant to sound like a Joe Strummer/Mick Jagger rap that moves into an old school gigantic Manics chorus + vintage JDB guitar solo.

Dreaming A City (Hughesovka)
Instrumental - music as soundtrack to motion, glorious failure in the past - utopia gone wrong - Hughesovka - monumental Derek Forbes bassline - Sons and Fascination era Simple Minds - Theme For Great Cities - John McGeoch guitars – when ideas transform majestically into improbable physical reality.

Black Square
‘Art is never modern for art is eternal’ - New Gold Dream-era Simple Minds – Malevich and the power of art to draw a line in the sand and start again - independence self-control - resisting the massification of society. The dead-eyed stare of the establishment and their privileged warped morals. In places, literally the sound of Berlin as recorded on Sean's iPhone.

Between The Clock And The Bed
Glacial 80’s pop – Munch’s late period self-portrait - Green Gartside providing authentic, pure vocals and harmonies - echoes of Prefab Sprout (Steve McQueen), Thomas Dolby (The Flat Earth) and Colourbox - the struggle of morality the scary space between sleep and being half awake-repetition of images.

Misguided Missile
The storm and the stress - Cluster filtered drums - sound of Hansa - pursuit of self doubt and confusion – in-built ability to wreck life – US Cruise missiles in Europe - I can still fill your void - the will is there but is the capability? Popul Vuh guitar solo with elegance and energy combined.

The View From Stow Hill
The unexpected - seeing the good in unfashionable places and people - the idea of history being real and tangible everywhere; the story of glory and despair, the abandonment of places in a post New Labour nightmare - the Chartists – three-dimensional hints of U2’s Unforgettable Fire - built around Can-esque drums and a haunting vocal line - a strangeness seeps through the song. Clark/Kreidler influenced.

Mayakovsky
Second instrumental - cyber spaghetti western that transforms into Robert Fripp madness - inspired by the words and angles of the man – Trans-Sibieran – Can’s Million Spiel - listening to Y Niwl & Tangerine Dream - the sound of internal saturation.


Futurology Press Release
Hall Or Nothing

Just over nine months since the release of their acclaimed top 5 charting eleventh studio album ‘Rewind The Film’, the Manics swiftly follow with a brand new record, ‘Futurology’, out 7th July 2014. Recorded at the legendary Hansa studios in Berlin and the band’s Cardiff base Faster, the thirteen track record sees the band in furious, propulsive, expansive form – a distinct departure to the last record, whilst still inimitably the Manic Street Preachers. With clear European influences and feel, the first track to be released is ‘Walk Me To The Bridge’. In a recent conversation with the Quietus’ John Doran, Nicky Wire explained how that track’s lyrics were formed some years previously. “People might have the idea that this song contains a lot of Richey references but it really isn’t about that, it’s about the Øresund Bridge that joins Sweden and Denmark. A long time ago when we were crossing that bridge I was flagging and thinking about leaving the band (the “fatal friend”). It’s about the idea of bridges allowing you an out of body experience as you leave and arrive in different places.” James Dean Bradfield describes the track as “an emotional European driving song with early Simple Minds synths and a Heroes-esque Ebow guitar solo.”

The songs on ‘Futurology’ were inspired by travelling through Europe, the pioneering artistic spirit of early 20th Century modernist art and the maverick music of Krautrock and New Pop. Nicky Wire says: “During our last European tour we really reconnected with this idea of travelling on the Autobahns listening to records by Kraftwerk, Neu!, Andy Weatherall, Popul Vuh and Cabaret Voltaire. The idea of being on these endless futuristic roads but being surrounded by these ancient forests at the same time. It’s a magical feeling and it makes you think of soundtracks in your head as you’re travelling through this landscape.”

The album features several special guests, Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside duets with James Dean Bradfield on ‘Between the Clock and the Bed’, a beautiful song inspired by a famous Edvard Munch painting. German film star Nina Hoss appears on ‘Europa Geht Durch Mich’, a stomping disco punk track which received a stunning response on the recent tour. Other guests include Georgia Ruth (winner of the 2013 Welsh Music Prize), Cian Ciarán (Super Furry Animals), Cate le Bon and H. Hawkline. It was produced by Manic Street Preachers, Loz Williams and Alex Silva (The Holy Bible) with additional mixing by Craig Silvey. The artwork for ’Futurology’ features imagery by German artist Catrine Val (chosen by the band when they saw her work in her book ’Feminist’).

Manic Street Preachers have just finished a triumphant UK tour (“We still love them, and they still love rock, and the rebel visions it allows” 5* Independent) and are due to head to Europe for dates before returning for several festival appearances.

Single ‘WALK ME TO THE BRIDGE’ – 29th June 2014
Album ‘FUTUROLOGY’ – 7th July 2014

Live:
25th - 29th June Glastonbury, Worthy Farm Pilton
11th July T in the Park, Balado Kinross-shire
16th August V Festival, Staffordshire
17th August V Festival, Chelmsford

Track Listing:
Futurology * Walk Me To The Bridge * Let’s Go To War * The Next Jet To Leave Moscow * Europa Geht Durch Mich * Divine Youth * Sex, Power Love and Money * Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) * Black Square * Between The Clock And The Bed * Misguided Missile * The View From Stow Hill * Mayakovsky


Futurology Lyrics

Defenders of the faith
With cruel hearts they make
You scarred and insecure
Scared to say a word
We’ve all fallen prey
To keep the wolves at bay

We’ll come back one day
We never really went away went away

One day we will return
No matter how much it hurts and it hurts

We’ve all killed some ants
All had broken plans
All failed ourselves
We’ve done the best we can
A magnifying glass
With questions left to ask

We’ll come back one day
We never really went away went away

One day we will return
No matter how much it hurts and it hurts


Walk Me To The Bridge

Driving slowly to the bridge
With nothing left that we can give
We smile at this ugly world
It never really suited you

Old songs leave long shadows
Makes you shut down all your emotions
Money needs money and slums need the poor
Curled like an animal lying on the floor curled like an animal lying on the floor

So long my fatal friend I don’t need this

The sky so clear the different view
I rarely dream unless it’s true
Confusion or master plan
Deceived by the rest we still have to run

The road never ends the motion starts
Reality gives no romance
Take me to the bridge had another meaning
Singing it loud at the indie disco
Singing it loud at the indie disco

So long my fatal friend I don’t need this to end
I reimagine the steps you took
Still blinded by your intellect
Walk me to the bridge walk me to the bridge
So long my faithful friend
I don’t need this
Walk me to the bridge
Walk me to the bridge

So long my fatal friend
I don’t need this to end
I reimagine the steps you took
Stop blinded by your intellect
Walk me to the bridge
Walk me to the bridge
So long my faithful friend
I don’t need this

Let’s Go To War

All the complications
All the deviations
All the holy edicts
All the broken subjects

Let’s go to war
To feel some pureness and pain
Let’s go to war
We need to go to war again

Working class skeletons
Lie scattered in museums
And all the false economies
Speak falsely of your dreams

Let’s go to war
To feel some pureness and pain
Let’s go to war
We need to go to war again

The views they will now darken
The knives they will now sharpen
The shutters will come down again
So don’t forget we love you still
So don’t forget we love you still

Let’s go to war
To feel some pureness and pain
Let’s go to war
We need to go to war again

The Next Jet To Leave Moscow

An old jaded commie walking in Red Square
With rediffusion eyes of yesteryear
I’m the biggest living hypocrite you’ll ever see
‘cos the market never lies and your conscience is so clear

So take your badges off
And do your show
Then catch the next flight to leave Moscow

So you played in Cuba did you like it brother?
I bet you felt proud you silly little fucker
And all the sixties dreamers called us English
Said we started something that they could finish

So take your badges off
And do your show
Then catch the next jet to leave Moscow
Then catch the next jet to leave Moscow

Europa Geht Durch Micht

Europe had a language problem
The German roads they gave me vision
I’ve seen the future it’s not written
This motion makes a modern loves song

European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams
European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams

Europa geht durch mich
Europa geht durch mich

Ghosts appear like ruined sleep
Destroyed by time I left behind
Keep on moving to escape
Keep on running away from life

European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams
European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams

Europa geht durch mich
Europa geht durch mich

God builders – divine losers
Let’s salute eternalism
More words and less meaning
Communication disappearing

European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams
European skies – European desires
European roads – European hopes
European sons – European love
European dreams – European screams

Europa geht durch mich
Europa geht durch mich

Divine Youth

Arms around each other
Fate falling in the distance
Eyes with the look of yesterday

The weakest in the gang
The last to feel alone
No luck in your tender bones

And I sing to myself
My civil wars within
The victories and failures
I daily lose and win

And money it just buys
A new way to disguise
A freedom you don’t own anymore

Divine youth is lying in
A battered and a bruised skin
I wear but don’t recognise

And I sing to myself
My civil wars within
The victories and failures
I daily lose and win

The kids are growing old
In a digital haze
Is it evolution in the virtual age

And I sing to myself
My civil wars within
The victories and failures
I daily lose and win

Sex Power Love and Money

It reads like a novel within a sigh
Its cold, it’s truthful it really never lies
No black no white no left no right
Just four small words that will not be denied
Self created for self defence
Self esteem is self indulged
I guess we’ve ridden the back of love
Set fire to tears as they reign from above

Obsession possession confession recession
Sex power love and money
Sex power love and money

Upload your future and download your past
Lament for the weak for they will be crushed
We could have been heroes but failures more fun
Predictive and passionless it’s now self engulfed
It reads like a novel within a sigh
Its cold it’s truthful it really never lies
No black or white no left no right
Just four small words that will not be denied

Obsession possession confession recession
Sex power love and money
Sex power love and money
Sex power love and money

The Black Square

Let us overcome our endless progress
“Art is never modern for art is eternal”
When every single day you’re haunted by perfection
Paintings are never finished but merely abandoned

Resources –divorces
With unknown forces
Endless endorsements
Slowly passing always

Resources –divorces
With unknown forces
Endless endorsements
Slowly passing always

Let us wipe the slate clean let us dig our own graves
Let us choose our own wars and make our own mistakes
“Free yourselves from the tyranny of objects”
Purged of all colour the purest abstraction

Resources –divorces
With unknown forces
Endless endorsements
Slowly passing always

Resources –divorces
With unknown forces
Endless endorsements
Slowly passing always


Between The Clock And The Bed

I’m well aware of happiness
And what it takes to get to it
But the simple struggle of survival
Transforms itself into betrayal

Between the clock and the bed
There’s only space and hell
Waiting for the transportation
Between the clock and the bed
Shapes move inside my head
Colliding with shared desperation

Yes I’m as guilty as the rest
A man of little consequence
Unable of forgiving himself
Still building the bypass in my head

Between the clock and the bed
There’s only space and hell
Looking for my intervention
Between the clock and the bed
Shapes move inside my head
We’ve all felt the implications

Hatred and failure go perfectly together
Like the quick and the sand beautiful and damned
I live through these moments again and again
Repeated images of enemies and friends

Misguided Missile

I am a self obsessed fool
Self centred and bruised
I am a misguided missile
Consumed with denial

I am the strum and drang
I am the schaden freude
I was the boy who sang
I can still fill your void
Still fill your void

I am crawling into corners
I am a sky about to fall in
I am a sea about to part
A tiny piece of malcontent

I am the strum and drang
I am the schaden freude
I was the boy who sang
I can still fill your void
Still fill your void

Society never made an effort with me
And I was willing to be deceived
To understand your country you must understand yourself
It leads you to the path of least resistance
I destroyed the image of myself
Borrowed from pain and tolerance

I am the strum and drang
I am the schaden freude
I was the boy who sang
I can still fill your void
Still fill your void
Still fill your void


The View From Stowhill

How did this town get so old
The air I breathe feels so heavy and cold
Always caught in between
The capital and the ‘other’ country
Always caught in between
The river and the valley

You can still see the bullet holes
You can still sense a little hope
Crushed dreams and the martyrs too
Silent-ghostly-still so confused

Look up to the skies – avoid the casual litter
Running from the pitiful nihilism
The misguided tweets the sad facebooking
Cheapness surrounds me but I’m not looking

Look up to the skies – avoid the casual litter
Running from the pitiful nihilism
The misguided tweets the sad facebooking
Cheapness surrounds me but I’m not looking

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