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the tangent - lie back and think of england lyrics

[i. earnest wonders]

“i was a pilot in a war long ago and somehow that’s all that seems to matter … now”

“is this what i flew for?
is this the game that i was in?
when my ‘plane became a logo for a war of words we cannot win.”
outside, england lies, spread+eagled, disempowered
a victim of the stalemate game of chess

is this what we wanted?
a division of spoils we never won? (that was me, not you)
and in that division, we find our aggression and bite our thumbs
at anyone who doesn’t share our dogma
anyone with different points of view

viewed from above our country keeps its beauty
white cliffs and moorland, hill and dale
and sometimes it shocks me
how deeply it moves me
and i feel you can’t see it any other way
which is, essentially, “the problem”

[ii. the autumn of 2019]

i feel i’m wading through concrete, and
heaven knows, it’s getting tight!
voices scream, and others contradict them!
and the media’s got so much zeal on tap
sometimes i just wanna run and hide
find some nice sand i can bury my head in
when the argument’s heading my way
it’s like being caught in a drama
some tv series that goes on for years
week by week, drip+feeding explanation
and i feel like i’m caught in the over+arch
while the local plot means nothing at all
reading the script….
“did they die in the plane crash?
was the island a mishmash of flashback dreams?”

if i had a thought of my own, how long would it take to demolish it?
if i had it all worked out, would you care?

and so i seek sanctuary:
no comments box, no answer back, no insults
you can’t fight back, there’s just me talking
but there’s always somewhere we can have our say
write down the knee jerks and (apparently) win the day
thumbs+up roll in, as if they seal the matter
put a stop to the chatter

if i had a thought of my own, how long would it take to demolish it?
if i had it all worked out, would you care? would i dare?
to say it alound in this bear+pit that we built between us
set out to help us but only defeats us now

[iii. pressing send]
voices scream at anyone who doesn’t share our dogma
anyone with different points of view
writing it all down, pressing ‘send’….
“i’ve had my say on the matter, perhaps i’ll read yours
will that make me feel good, getting that thumbs+up applause?”

voices scream and others contradict them
voices scream + but there’s no+one to tell us who’s right or wrong
we started with a flat earth, we worshipped sun and moon
and all the centuries of progress cannot erase those “nagging tunes”
all we believe is history
and history is debatable
it all comes down to you
and where you stand right now

[iv. a popular debate]

is climate change a hoax?
(well, i don’t think so but according to the leader of the free world, it is)
is there anything i can do to help?
(providing i don’t have to stop using the car or anything)

lost on a sea of rife opinions
the ‘net takes control and adds up all the millions
and cookies and mouse cl!cks decide how the future will be….
crawling, or marching?
“is this what i flew for?
is this the game that i was in?
when my ‘plane became a logo for a war of words we cannot win.”

[iv. some solos by saxophonist, guitarist and keyboards player]

[v. les voisins franglais]

adieu mes amis, ne pars pas trop longtemps
nous vivons sur un rocher, vingt cinq kilometres l’un de l’autre
et j’aime cette pays avec tout mon coeur
peut etre dans le mauvais sens
peut etre un patriote, ou un traitre
juste un personne qui est confus

and all this lost time, life slips away
we spend it arguing the borders, questioning the orders “they” set
peut etre trop tard (du bist verrucht)
c’est passe (schrecklich!)
et tout ce qui reste + un livre de reglage

[vi. the property game]

and you can burn all the heather on the moor side
move the boundaries f+ck knows where
decide on the owners of this patch of land
and work out whose laws apply there
but the hills will keep their silence
lie back, and think of england! + that’s what they are! not us!

and haze hangs over the houses on the hillside
a twinkle of lights in the autumn air
the tv+lit windows, the light thrum of traffic
the church and the pub, our mam’s house, they’re all there
but we forget to see the hillside
or remember why we came
just keep all the title deeds safe and
play the property game

because every inch of england’s got someone’s name sewn in the collar
and if you wanna change something, get ready for the holler

[vii. moving in]

the “for sale sign’s come down on the old house in the high street
that once was a young girl’s home
and they rip out her kitchen and tear up her rose beds
to make room for memories of their own

but the young man she met, who picked her a rose there
but never came back from the war
would never deny that things must move on
his time is gone and now you have the floor

because “there’ll always be an england”
but not one you cast that vote for
not the one that earnest flew for
not the one you’d choose!
it’s the hills and the dales sticking out of the sea
not the people, not the buildings who make the rules

and the hills will keep their silence
lie back, and think of england!

[viii. greenhow air (uilleann pipes played by matt steady)]

[instrumental]

[ix. frantic synth solos with fast drumming and zappa influenced vibraphones]

[instrumental]

[x. gradual deterioration into a bass solo]

[instrumental]

[xi. the autumn of 2019 (reprise)]

i feel i’m wading through concrete, and
heaven knows, it’s getting tight!
voices scream, and others contradict them!
voices scream…….

[xii. greenhow air (morph and recapitulation)]

so forgive and forget
let’s put this behind us
and have more in our sights than this war
what does not belong to us
does not belong to them
whether by treaty or by default
on any shores

[xiii. earnest asks us, one more time:]

don’t leave me nostalgic for the wrong things in my life
i don’t want adventures among your grand designs of war
i’ll take a clear morning with the wind in my hair
i beg you, in earnest, for nothing more

- the tangent lyrics

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