LYRICS FOR FANTASEED (1999)
All songs written by Emil Hyde sometime between 1995 and 1998.
1. Teatime
2. Andromeda
3. Afterlife
4. Oh God
5. Charmer &
the Snake
6. Unlucky Star
7. Brave New World
8. Rainy Monday Song
9. Fantaseed
10. Black Holes
TEATIME
Moon goes round the earth
Earth goes round the sun
And what the sun revolves around
Doesn't mean much to anyone
You'll never see a cycle
You couldn't hope to live that long
When it makes a circle
All this will be gone
You and I, the street outside, the chairs we're
sitting on,
The kitchen tiles, your beautiful smile,
And everything we've said or done.
Oh, I'm sorry, have more tea.
I didn't mean to get you down.
What do you say we catch the midnight show
Or just go drive around?
Never mind the universe
I don't think that it minds us
Let's shut our eyes to the void outside
And cling to what we've got
There's no chance of escape
So what's the use in fear?
Go ahead and scream
It's just a waste of air
Oh, I'm sorry, have more tea.
I didn't mean to get you down.
Why don't we lock the doors
And pretend we're safe and sound?
I wish I were one in a million
Then there'd be thousands of people like me
Sometimes I feel like one in a trillion
Alone in a vast galaxy
I don't like space and time
When they keep me away from you
I like to think they're tricks of the mind
'Cause then there'd be something I could do
To reach... out across the years
And touch... somebody somewhere
Andromeda, what's going on?
Everything I see of you is centuries gone
You and all your children could live and die
In the time it takes your light to hit my eyes
If the universe had a creator
He could put you here so close
But if it's just chaos equations
You might be out in space, a billion years ago
Maybe you don't exist at all, and there's no
flip side to my soul
But, if only for my own sanity's sake, I've got
to hang on to the hope
That you're out there... imagining me
Somewhere... across the cosmic sea
Andromeda, what's going on?
Everything I see of you is centuries gone
You and all your children could live and die
In the time it takes your light to hit my eyes
So you thought it could be that easy?
Thought you could leave without saying goodbye?
Tell me, is it "catch you later"?
Are you a vapor up in the sky?
Is there a garden where angels play harps
And sing to somebody named God?
Is it Nirvana, do we cash in our karma
Or are we dead when we're gone?
After life has left you lying on the floor
Are you a soul, a ghost or a corpse?
What if you're waiting for the angels to show,
but they don't?
Man, I just hope we're not alone.
Tell me, is it any greener on the other side?
Some rainy days I wonder if we're better off
dead than alive.
Is it anything like sleeping?
Do we get to dream?
I pray it's not oblivion, that just ain't my
scene
Does it make a difference if we're evil or good?
What about reincarnation?
Would you come back if you could?
Death sits down and lights a cigarette
His cackling laughter's all the credit you get
You pray he'll make it quick, but you know he'll
take it slow
Man, I just hope we're not alone
Oh God, I want to be in love
Give a dog his day, he's suffered enough
I want to be stupid and blind
In that rubber room they call Cloud Nine
It's time for a rainbow, kick the storm off the
stage
Tonight of all nights I don't want to behave
But I gotta make money, gotta pay the rent
Gotta watch the clock, gotta watch my step
Oh, damn it all,
Do I get to touch you yet?
Oh god, I want to be drunk
Make a fool of myself in front of everyone
I want to be smashed out of my mind
Anywhere but in my skull
It gets so dark inside
Strike up the band, blow those clouds off the
stage
Get this show on the road before I get to the
grave
But I can't do that, can't lose my sense
Can't let myself go mad again
Oh, fuck it all
Do I get to touch you yet?
Emperor Nero never owned a violin
That old legend they tell about him
Fiddling while Rome caught fire
It's a myth somebody made up
But when it comes to burning slaves alive
And throwing Christians to the lions
If half of what I hear is true
I guess he was evil enough
And as for you, you're quite a risk to take
You're the charmer and the snake
Stealing all the sense from my brain
Dracula never rose from the grave
Forget the cape and fangs
Those horror-flick cliches
Are a pack of Hollywood lies
But when you think of all the blood he drank
And the people he impaled on stakes
Knowing he was just a man
Makes him all the more terrifying.
And as for you, you're quite a risk to take
You're the charmer and the snake
Stealing all the sense from my brain
Lucifer had neither hooves nor horns
He didn't even have a physical form
They say he was an angel of light
And that doesn't surprise me
But to think a being as bright as sapphire
Crowned with rubies, emeralds and jasper
Could turn out a demon
I find that frightening.
When my guard is down I sometimes remember you
Golden as honey, apples and amber
Tall as Colossus, soft as goose feathers
Warm as a fire casting red shillouettes
But then I recall those nights on the rack
As the lovely assistant in your knife-throwing
act
Your blindfolded eyes and amateur hands
Always an inch too far to the left
Now here you are, my unlucky star
Emerald serpent where have you been?
Stay out of my sky
Get out of that tree
I never asked to see you again
Oh I'm sure your intentions are pure
Whiter than milk, sugar or snow
On a good day you're just like an angel
Minus the halo, plus horns like a goat's
Now you play the polite tiger tamer
Asking to lay your head in my jaws
But the sight of the whip in your sweaty little
fist
Makes me think twice about playing along
Now here you are, my unlucky star
Emerald serpent where have you been?
I never asked to see you again
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Chicago's the same, it's just as you left it
Neon-lit and empty
The trains run on time, and the buildings still
stand
As I'm sure they would without me
Jets leave trails in the sky
Leading to where you are now
I'd be on one today, but you made it plain
That I'm not supposed to follow
Into your brave new world
Where you have no need for me
And you can rush into the future
Living fast and free.
The velvet caves we used to haunt
Feel alien alone
Streets that once screamed with life
Have turned to silent stone
I'll keep staring through this windowpane
Until the skyline falls
Waiting for a message
Aching for a call
From your brave new world
With which I cannot compete
Now that you've had a taste
Of living fast and free.
Chasing your dreams to New Orleans
For a change of scene and faces
And you don't want me tagging along
Don't want to hear my songs
Echoing off the walls of your new favorite places
In your brave new world
Where they don't suffer fools like me
Full of beautiful people
Living fast and free.
Monday, chance of rain, not a problem
I've got a coat to keep the chill at bay
Angels, why are you crying?
Don't worry for us
We're survival machines
We know how to get by
You could weep over all of history
'Til there's no water left in your eyes
Or smile to spite the clouds
That deny you a beautiful day
And maybe, just maybe
The stones will cry out for you, baby
Marianne, laugh while you can
Save your tears for the flowers that will grow
on your grave
Take your hand, let me lift you
Move your hair so I can kiss you
To love is to spit in the reaper's face
Where's the sun when you need him?
He only blazes when I leave my shades at home
Apollo, where are you hiding?
Won't you give me some rays
To warm my skin and save my soul?
You can have everything you need
When you're easily satisfied
Just let go of the silly things you crave
I know it sounds crazy
But it's the only way to be, baby
Marianne, laugh while you can
Being only human is no disgrace
Step inside, come along for the ride
This train is bound for the edge of space
Our castle in the sky is under siege, now, darling
The bastards are blasting the walls with their
cannon
Illusions are sweeter than nectar, and they're
in such short supply
But what can we do to defend them?
I ride the subway with busted-up mannequins
Who'd rather be at home watching television
Or sleeping, or on vacation
What can we do to wake them?
We can plant a Fantaseed
Deep inside their minds
Build a better reality
One dream at a time
Watch it flower, watch it blossom,
As they begin to realize
That love is more than loving oneself
And we've got to take action.
You get one life, you get shafted or blessed
I could have been born by the killing fields
So it could be worse, I guess
My worst nightmares don't compare
To some people's day-to-day existence
But tell me what can we do to save them?
I walk the street and see broken-down people
Who don't know living from dying
They want to go to Fantasy Island
And not get taught a lesson
We can plant a fantaseed
In everybody's mind
Build a better reality
One dream at a time
We've always had the power
We just have to realize
That freedom isn't just being free ourselves
And we've got to take action
I met you once upon a drunken time
Inside the Empty Bottle, packed with shapes and
noise
And he was by your side, with demons in his eyes
But you're older than I
I thought you knew better
Since then I've heard about the accident
That shattered all your pretty teeth and bones
And how Romeo pulled you off the cold cement
And dumped you in the hospital alone
You can't fight the world, and you can't run
Every day it leaves you a little less young
It'll make black holes out of eyes as bright
as the sun
But if it's got you down, you're not the only
one
Pardon me if you think I'm prying
Dabbing at tears I've no business drying
But when he says he can't believe
You're still a schoolgirl, so naive
Don't listen to him - that's jealousy talking
He hates you girl, make no mistake
Just as the dead night sky hates a fireworks
display
When he caught you eyeing the stars
He threw mud in your face
And burned your magic carpet
Lest you try to fly away
You can't fight the world, and you can't run
Every day it leaves you a little less young
It'll make black holes out of eyes as bright
as the sun
But if it's got you down, you're not the only
one
Life's a joke, and here's the punchline:
Everything gets easier with time
To forget and/or forgive
Is how we wounded soldiers live
On to get shot again another day
And though, for now, the mirror sends shivers
down your spine
It's going to heal, and you will shine again
Don't ask how, don't ask why
We can't fight the world, so don't even try.