A CONFESSION

i'll explain everything  
perhaps you'll understand 
i have spent my whole life waiting  
this is what i am  
sounds like a confession
cue the violin  
loving the attention 
my horoscope is encouraging

sounds like a confession 
indifference and incomprehension 
sounds like a confession 
alibis and medication  

no need to leave the house 
sunlight hurts my eyes 
keep the world outside
it makes me sick  i don't know why
if you want to call me 
afternoon is best  
life moves too slowly 
as pointless as an accident 

sounds like a confession 
indifference and incomprehension 
sounds like a confession 
alibis and medication 

we live in different worlds  
psychologically disturbed 
private sorrow secret dramas  
hover over everyday lives
never had a revelation  
didn't see my life transformed  
now until the end of time  
a bit part in a pantomime
 
sounds like a confession 
indifference and incomprehension  
sounds like a confession 
alibis and medication 
sounds like a confession 
inflicted limitations  
sounds like a confession 
bring further humiliation 

everything comes
too soon or too late

A Confession

THE END OF EVERYTHING

on the margins of the world
running around in circles
on the outskirts on the fringe
going through the motions
dreams are just dreams
money is everything
i need protection from myself
and from my circumstances

running down a mountain
too steep to stop
staring into the abyss
my blood runs cold
it's no concern of mine
i'm just passing through
stepping into the unknown
i try to make myself at home

how quickly things can change
without warning
it will never be the same again
the world is rearranged
without meaning
will never be the same again

this feels like the end of everything
it feels like the end of everything
this feels like the end of everything
it feels like the end of everything
it feels like the end of the world
it feels like the end of the world
it feels like the end of the world
it feels like the end of the world

16.9.11 The End Of Everything

EXISTENCE

VITAL SIGNS ARE STRONG
I KNOW WHERE I AM
MY HEART IS BEATING
I CAN MOVE AND SEE AND FEEL
I AM HERE

I FEEL DIFFERENT TODAY
I FEEL AT EASE
THE SUN WARMS MY SKIN
I AM WHERE I WANT TO BE

THE GENTLE FLUTTERING OF LEAVES
CARESSED BY THE BREEZE
REFLECTED ON A WINDOW PANE
THE SKY'S COLOURS CHANGE

Existence

EXILE

The sun was climbing in the sky
Colours all around me
The street began to fill with cars
The drone of the engines
They looked so serious
That made me laugh
The noise and the dust
The blue and white sky overhead

We spend our time in exile

I smoked a couple of cigarettes
Head full of dreams and broad daylight
It was hot under my dark clothes
Sweat was running down my face
Blood was rushing to my head
the sun and the silence
the day had stood still

We spend our time in exile

I sat in silence
For quite a long time
Afraid of memories
Familiar colours and smells
Lose themselves
In nothingness
Nothing had changed
I was dizzy and my head felt empty
I was hungry
Then I laughed so much I could hardly breathe

The sky clouded over
A calm, gentle rain
Reflections on the pavement
And I am ashamed
Beating against closed doors
I felt a little cold
The stars are almost visible
Most people have gone home

We spend our time in exile

Exile

WE ARE THE DRONES

TRANSFORMED INTO MACHINES
STRIPPED OF ALL HUMANITY
THE INDIVIDUAL
IS ISOLATED AND LOST

IN AN AGE OF MASS-PRODUCTION
AND ECONOMIC ABSTRACTION
SO MANY MILLIONS
ARE ISOLATED AND LOST

WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
THE DRONES

SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY
THE SACRIFICE OF DIGNITY
LIKE BEATEN DOGS
ISOLATED AND LOST

SWIMMING WITH THE TIDE
PRETENDING TO BE ALIVE
EXISTING
ISOLATED AND LOST

WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
THE DRONES

WE LIVE AND DIE IN CHAINS
FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE
AS WE'RE GROUND INTO THE DUST
WE LICK THE HANDS THAT FEED US

UNITS OF THE HERD
SENSELESS STUPID WORK
BORED AND LISTLESS
ISOLATED AND LOST

REPEATING THE SAME GESTURES
THOUSANDS OF TIMES A DAY
SWIMMING IN DEBT
ISOLATED AND LOST

WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
WE ARE THE DRONES
THE DRONES

We Are The Drones

SLEEPING WITHOUT DREAMING

I didn't notice this morning
That I was fast asleep
Not thinking about anything
A merciful release
I was sleeping without dreaming
In timeless oblivion 
Drifting through the ether 
Immersed in silence 

Go your way
I’ll go mine
(When this is over)
Think of me
From time to time

Think about the future?
It crossed my mind
All the world melted away
Tomorrow has become today
We walk and talk like people
We fake our own lives
Life is somewhere else
Happening to someone else

Sleeping Without Dreaming

SHADOWS

THE SCENERY COLLAPSES
THERE'S NO SECURITY
NO PURPOSE NO DESIGN
NOTHING TO ANCHOR ME
FRAGILE ILLUSIONS
CANNOT BE SUSTAINED
THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN
HERE IT COMES AGAIN

LIKE A HUNTER STALKS IT'S PREY
EVENING SWALLOWS UP THE DAY
SHADOWS LENGTHEN
BEHIND ME

THE GROUND SHAKES BENEATH MY FEET
AND SHADOWS SWALLOW ME

EVER-CIRCLING SPECTRES
SILHOUETTES IN THE RAIN
HAUNT THIS TRANSIENT LIFE
A FLICKERING LIGHT

THE GROUND SHAKES BENEATH MY FEET
AND SHADOWS SWALLOW ME

THROUGH UNCERTAINTY AND FEAR
NIGHTS THAT LAST A THOUSAND YEARS
EATING MY INSIDES OUT
WITH ANXIETY
AN EVER-LOOMING DARKNESS
TRAVELLING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
CASTING SHADOWS
OVER ME

THE GROUND SHAKES BENEATH MY FEET
AND SHADOWS SWALLOW ME

Shadows

ALL TOO HUMAN

Like
A slowly mounting tide
Thoughts unidentified
Disturb my peace of mind

Time
Overloads my senses
Outside of physical dimensions
Mobilising my defences

Merely human
All too human
I flew too close to the sun

Life
A shadow in the room
Sliding into view
Once as real as me and you

I
A personality created
History in the making
Progress and disintegration

Merely human
All too human
I flew too close to the sun

All Too Human

YOU DON’T HAVE TO CARRY THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD

You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
I will be right here – I will be by your side
I will be right here – I will be by your side

Temperature increasing
You find it hard to breathe
You feel like you are falling
It’s difficult to speak
The floor feels like it’s moving
You’ve lost all track of time
Your heart is beating violently
Try to concentrate the mind

You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
You don’t have to carry the weight of the world
I will be right here – I will be by your side
I will be right here - always by your side

You Don't Have To Carry The Weight Of The World

ALIVE

In desperation
World-weary and resigned
I let the water take me
I was swallowed by the tide

Submerged, pulled under
Chilled to the bone
I thought I heard my mother’s voice
Calling me home

Pushed to the surface
A sudden rush of air
I struggled frantically
Courage had failed me

Gasping for breath
Carried by the tide

Waves crash against the shore
I’m on solid ground
Back in the middle of a life I’d left behind

Cough the water out
Eyes open wide
In spite of everything
I’m alive

And at the point of no return
I wrote a note to an old friend  
I could see the vultures circle overhead 
I never expected to see my home again 
I felt like I was somewhere inbetween 
A faded photograph and a distant memory 
Wanted to disappear into thin air  
Wanted it to be like I was never there 

What’s happening to you
It happened to me too
And what you’re going through
I know how it feels

23.7.12 alive3 

Alive

LOW

On a high-wire
I was balancing
From a window ledge
I am falling

On a stricken ship
I am sinking
Overcome by waves
Dragged by the undertow

I feel low – so low
I'm low – so low

Buried alive
Sealed inside a tomb
A bottomless pit
An open wound

On a high-wire
I was balancing
From a window ledge
I am falling

Music: Mick Reed/James Reid/Les Smith/Andy Banks/Paul Blake - Words: Paul Blake

A collection of demos, works in progress, and rough mixes, written between 2011 - 2015 by a reformed Ship Of Fools for a planned third album which was abandoned during recording.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Fools_(band)

SHIP OF FOOLS

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