The final cut

"...announced plans to build a nuclear fallout shelter at

Peterborough in Cambridgeshire..."

(change channels)

"...It was announced today

That the replacement for the Atlantic

Conveyor the container ship

Lost in the Falklands conflict would be

built in Japan, a spokesman for..."

(change channels)

"...moving in.

They say the third world countries

Like Bolivia, which produce the drug

Are suffering from rising violence...(fades)"



Tell me true, tell me why was Jesus crucified

Is it for this that daddy died?

Was it for you?

Was it me?

Did I watch too much TV?

Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes

If it wasn't for the nips

Being so good at building ships

The yards would still be open on the clyde

And it can't be much fun for them

Beneath the rising sun

With all their kids committing suicide

What have we done?

Maggie, what have we done?

What have we done to england?

Should we shout?

Should we scream?

What happened to the post war dream?

Oh maggie

Maggie, what did we do?

They flutter behind you, your possible pasts

Some bright-eyed and crazy

Some frightened and lost

A warning to anyone still in command

[Commander:] "Ranks, Fire!"

Of their possible future, to take care

In derilict sidings the poppies entwine

With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time



Do you remember me?

How we used to be?

Do you thing we should be closer?



She stood in the doorway the ghost of a smile

Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign

Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs

For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs

Stepping up boldly one put out his hand

He said, I was just a child then

Now I'm only a man



Do you remember me?

How we used to be?

Do you thing we should be close?



By the cold and religious we were taken in hand

Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad

Strung out behind us the banners and flags

Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags



Do you remember me?

How we used to be?

Do you thing we should be closer?

When you're one of the few

To land on your feet

What do you do to make ends meet?

Teach

Make 'em mad

Make 'em sad

Make 'em add two and two

Make 'em me

Or make 'em you

Make 'em do what you want them to

Make 'em laugh

Make 'em cry

Make 'em lay down and die

It was just before dawn 

One miserable morning in black 'forty four.

When the forward commander 

Was told to sit tight 

When he asked that his men be withdrawn. 

And the Generals gave thanks 

As the other ranks held back 

The enemy tanks for a while. 

And the Anzio bridgehead 

Was held for the price 

Of a few hundred ordinary lives.



And old King George 

Sent Mother a note 

When he heard that father was gone.

It was, I recall, 

In the form of a scroll, 

With gold leaf and all.

And I found it one day 

In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.

And my eyes still grow damp to remember 

His Majesty signed 

With his own rubber stamp.



It was dark all around.

There was frost in the ground

When the tigers broke free.

And no one survived 

From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.

They were all left behind,

Most of them dead,

The rest of them dying.

And that's how the High Command

Took my daddy from me.

Jesus, Jesus

What's it all about?

Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape

When I was their age all the lights went out

There was no time to whine and mope about

And even now part of me flies

Over dresden at angels one five

Though they'll never fathom it behind my

Sarcasm desperate memories lie

Sweetheart, sweetheart

Are you fast asleep?

Good

That's the only time that I can really speak to you

And there is something that I've locked away

A memory that is too painful

To withstand the light of day

When we came back from the war

The banners and flags hung on everyone's door

We danced and we sang in the street

And the church bells rang

But the burning in my heart

My memory smoulders on

Of the gunner's dying words

On the intercom

(gunner's words on intercom...)

Floating down

Through the clouds

Memories come rushing up to meet me now

But in the space between the heavens

And in the corner of some foreign field

I had a dream

I had a dream



Goodbye Max

Goodbye Ma

After the service

When you're walking slowly to the car

And the silver in her hair shines in the cold november air

You hear the tolling bell

And touch the silk in your lapel

And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band

You take her frail hand

And hold on to the dream



A place to stay

[Bloke:] "Oi! A real one..."

Enough to eat

Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street

Where you can speak out loud

About your doubts and fears

And what's more

No-one ever disappears

You never hear their standard issue

Kicking in your door

You can relax on both sides of the tracks

And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control

And everyone has recourse to the law

And no-one kills the children anymore

No-one kills the children anymore



Night after night

Going round and round my brain

His dream is driving me insane

In the corner of some foreign field

The gunner sleeps tonight

What's done is done

We cannot just write off his final scene

Take heed of the dream

Take heed

Button your lip

And don't let the shield slip

Take a fresh grip on your bullet proof mask

And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions

You can hide, hide, hide

Behind paranoid eyes



You put on your brave face and slip over the road for a jar

Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar

Laughing too loud at the rest of the world

With the boys in the crowd

You hide, hide, hide

[Man1:]"I'll tell you what

I'll give you three blacks

and play you for five..."

[Man2:]"Ta! You was unlucky there son."

[Man3:]"Time Gentlemen."

Behind petrified eyes



You believed in their stories of fame fortune and glory

Now you're lost in a haze of alchohol soft middle age

The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high

And you hide, hide, hide

Behind brown and mild eyes

[Bloke:] "Oi!"

(Soft) [Man1:] "Oi, Get your filthy hands off my desert!"

[Man2:] "What 'e say?"

(explosion)

Brezhnev took afghanistan

And Begin took beirut

Galtieri took the union jack

And maggie over lunch one day

Took a cruiser with all hands

Apparently, to make him give it back

Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere

And build them a home

A little place of their own

The fletcher memorial

Home for incurable tyrants and kings

And they can appear to themselves every day

On closed circuit TV

To make sure they're still real

It's the only connection they feel



Ladies and gentlemen

Please welcome

Reagan and Haig

Mr. Begin and friend

Mrs. Thatcher and Paisley

[Man:] "Hello Maggie."

Mr. Brezhnev and party

[Man:] (can't tell)

The ghost of McCarthy

And the memories of Nixon

And now adding colour

[Man:] "Who's the bald chap?"

A group of anonymous latin

American meat packing glitterati



Did they expect us to treat them with any respect?



They can polish their medals

And sharpen their smiles

And amuse themselves

Playing games for a while

Boom, boom

Bang, bang

Lie down you're dead



Safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye

Their favourite toy

They'll be good girls and boys

In the fletcher memorial home for colonial

Wasters of life and limb

Is everyone in?

Are you having a nice time?

[Man:] "??good day??"

Now the final solution can be applied

They disembarked in 45

And no one spoke

And no one smiled

There were too many spaces in the line

And gathered at the cenotaph

All agreed with hand on heart

To sheath the sacrificial knives

But now

She stands upon southampton dock

With her handkerchief

And her summer frock

Clings To her wet body in the rain

In quiet desperation

Knuckles White upon the slippery reins

She bravely waves the boys goodbye again



And still the dark stain spreads between

Their shoulder blades

A mute reminder

Of the poppy fields and graves

When the fight was over

We spent what they had made

But

In the bottom of our hearts

We felt the final cut

Through the fish eyed lens

Of tear stained eyes

I can barely define

The shape of this moment in time

And far from flying high

In clear blue skies

I'm spiralling down

To the hole in the ground

Where I hide



If you negotiate the minefield in the drive

And beat the dogs

And cheat the cold electronic eyes

And if you make it past the shotguns in the hall

Dial the combination

Open the priesthole

And if I'm in I'll tell you wha...

(Explosion)

[Man:]"Woohoo"



There's a kid who had a big hallucination

Making love to girls in magazines

He wonders if you're sleeping

With your new found faith

Could anybody love him?

Or is it just a crazy dream?



And if I show you my dark side

Will you still hold me tonight?

And if I open my heart to you

And show you my weak side

What would you do?

Would you sell your story to rolling stone?

Would you take the children away?

And leave me alone

And smile in reassurance

As you whisper down the phone

Would you send me packing?

Or would you take me home?



Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings

Thought I oughta tear the curtain down

I held the blade in trembling hands

Prepared to make it, but

Just then the phone rang

I never had the nerve to make the final cut

[Man:] "Hello? Listen

I think I've got it.

Ok, listen its a haha!"

Fuck all that

We've got to get on with these

Got to compete with the wily Japanese

There's too many home fires burning

And not enough trees

So fuck all that

We've got to get on with these



Can't stop

Lose job

Mind gone

Silicon

??Stallon??

What bomb

Get away

Pay day

Make hay

Break down

Need fix

Big six

Clickity click

Hold on

Oh no

Bingo



Make 'em laugh

Make 'em cry

Make 'em dance in the aisles

Make 'em pay

Make 'em stay

Make 'em feel ok



Not now john

We've got to get on with the film show

Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow

Who cares what it's all about

As long as the kids go

So not now John

We've got to get on with the show



Hang on John

I've got to get on with this

I don't know what it is

But it fits on here like this...

Come at the end of the shift

We'll go and get pissed

But not now John

I've got to get on with this



Hold on John

I think there's something good on

I used to read books but ????

It could be the news or

Some other abuse or

It could be reusable shows



Fuck all that

We've got to get on with these

Got to compete with the wily Japanese

No need to worry about the Vietnamese

Got to bring the Russian Bear to his knees

Well, maybe not the Russian Bear

Maybe the Swedes

We showed Argentina

Now lets go and show these

Make us feel tough

And wouldn't Maggie be pleased

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!

One, two, three, four

[Man1:] "S'cusi dove il bar"

[Man2:] "What?"

[Man1:] "Se para collo pou eine toe bar

S'il vous plait ou est le bar"

[Man2:] "...say it in English!..."

[Man1:] "Oi', where's the fucking bar john?"

[Man2:] "Oh, now you're talking!"

Oh! Rule Britannia

Britannia rules the day

Down

Go, Maggie

Hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer, now

In my rear view mirror

The sun is going down

Sinking behind bridges in the road

I think of all the good things

That we have left undone

And I suffer premonitions

Confirm suspicions

Of the holocaust to come



The rusty wire that holds the cork

That keeps the anger in

Gives way

And suddenly, it's day again

The sun is in the east

Even though the day is done

Two suns in the sunset

Could be the human race is run



Like the moment when your brakes lock

And you slide toward the big truck

[Man:] "Oh, no."

And stretch the frozen moments with your fear

And you'll never hear their voices

[Child:] "Daddy, Daddy"

And you'll never see their faces

You have no recourse to the law anymore

(children screaming)



And as the windshield melts

And my tears evaporate

Leaving only charcoal to defend

Finally, I understand

The feelings of the few

Ashes and diamonds

Foe and friend

We were all equal in the end

[radio:] "...and now the weather.

Tomorrow will be cloudy with

Scattered showers from the east...

With an expected high

Of 4000 degrees Celcius"