Title track from the new album WHEN IT'S GONE

Written, performed, produced, and engineered by Rich Harpur

Copyright (C) 2014 Rich Harpur

When it's gone

Fool's Cabaret

Same Mistake

Meeting an old friend in the street and realizing he's really not in a good place, and that you can't connect to him anymore.

Lyrics:

I saw your face in a busy street,
Pretending like you hadn't seen me,
It's been a while since I left this town,
But you have always been in my memories.

Hey there, hey there, don't you recognize me?
We used to hang around the city.
I know it's been a long, long time,
Can you still feel me like before?

Far away, as if behind glass,
You're all alone in your dimension.
You've always been oh, such a tricky one,
But this is now another level!

Hey there, hey there, don't you recognize me?
We used to hang around the city.
I know it's been a long, long time,
Can you still feel me like before?

What is wrong?
Why won't you look me in the eye?
What is wrong?
Why d'you walk away without saying goodbye?
What is wrong my friend, can I help?

Hey now, look here, what's the matter with you?!
You seem to be lost in a dream.
I used to know you like the back of my hand,
But I can't feel you anymore.

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Guide (Demo)

Feel You Like Before

A song about the gentrification of Kreis 5 in Zürich. The glass cock is my name for a prominant skyscraper ;)

Lyrics:

Towering above the city
Is a glass cock,
A monument to the god of capitalism
Full of grey suits
High-fiving whenever they make
A sacrifice to the god of capitalism.
Property development means forceful displacement,
Collateral in the fight for profit maximization.

Make the most out of what you've got,
Don't give a shit about who you fuck.

Chorus:
When did it become acceptable
To make money out of human lives?
Throw them out their homes,
See if they survive,
And I don't want to live in your world,
No thank you!

In the shadow of the glass cock
Children are playing
In the paradise of abandoned factory halls,
And in container parks young minds
Are designing a better future,
But not for long 'cause it's getting gentrified
Like a cancer growth,
There's already a cinema complex
Showing the same shit
Big-budget films no-one need to see,
And all the families who've been here for years
Must make way
For designer luxury apartments.

Suck the life out of what you've got,
Don't give a shit if you can make a buck.

Chorus

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Glass Cock

Lyrics:

You can have me for this evening,
If you wanna,
You can have me for tomorrow,
If you're cool,
You can have me for a lifetime,
If you're able to keep up with me.

And yes you clearly want me to come over,
And hit you with some witty chat-up line,
Always dancing 'round the place where I'm standing,
Brushing my arm with your shoulder blade.

So why d'you turn your back on me, little lady,
Are you really saying it's your best side?

Chorus:
All you have to do is look at me,
Oh honey, I don't care how many signals you're sending,
Until you invite me over with your eyes, you got no chance,
You got no chance, and it hurts you more than me.

So now you're getting desperate for some action,
Silently pleading at me to make a move,
And don't it feel just like rejection,
Silly lady, is it ruining your evening?

Chorus

Oh but you have to understand
That I'm shy,
And it's hard enough
Without you fooling me,
But I think we can agree
That I'm the kind of guy you need,
'Cause I'm clever, I'm deep
And I only want the best for you.

Chorus

Oh why don't you just look at me?
I know I said I don't care,
But until you invite me over with your eyes,
We got no chance, we got no chance,
And it hurts you more than me.

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Look At Me

This is what happens when I open a newspaper...

Lyrics:

I saw a picture in the paper
Of a ten year old girl with eyes of seventy,
She's been on the run her whole life,
And probably will be for the rest,
A victim of a meaningless war,
And a mean-less society,
Just one case in several million,
And each one of them hurts you and me.

Chorus:
I would like you to consider that we will never be truly happy,
Until all of us, I mean all of us, all of us, all of us, all of us know
Who we are, what we're here for, what's inside.
Only then, only then, only then, only then, only then can we
Tame the unconscious forces that make us hate.
Until then we're just monkeys, just monkeys, just monkeys, just monkeys
With nuclear weapons.

I saw a picture in the paper
Of a river of plastic trash,
This poor village is drowning
In toxic crisp packets and Coca-Cola cans.
We've already raped our oceans,
And we've crucified all natural life,
D'you really think that we should colonize another world?
Another world to destroy.

Chorus

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Picture In The Paper

Lyrics:

Does getting older mean
That all your dreams die off
Like the follicles on my temples,
Never to grow back?
What has happened to all my time?
Has it all been wasted?
Is everything that I've learnt
Worth nothing now?

If you have found a way,
Won't you show me?

My existence has grown,
But it feels empty,
And I know the life that I'm living
Won't sustain me,
But it's hard to rearrange
Habits of a lifetime,
To throw away all beliefs
And jump in.

So won't you show me the way?
I want you to be my Spiritual Guide!
Oh, won't you be my Spiritual Guide?
Baby won't you be my Spiritual Guide?

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Guide

Lyrics:

I wrote my name on the gates of eternity,
And bought a ticket on the next train down to hell,
Losing touch and out of sight,
Disconnected from the physical
World is fast, my senses too slow,
The scenery is just a grey blur,
Try to grasp at passing memories
Of what you felt like to hold.

Will you stay with me
Until all my fears have gone?
Will you be my life-line
I can hold onto
Until the lights come on?

Ecstasy in the abstract plane
Does not translate to success in the real
World don't care, world move too slow,
It is much too pleasant on the surface,
So I live between the lines you've drawn for yourselves,
I prefer the view from here,
Why should I run when I can think?
You may rush, but I will get there first.

You do what you want,
I'll just wait here on my own.
You can ask me later
What I found out,
When your lights come on.

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Until The Lights Come On

Lyrics:

Where have you gone?
Oh baby, baby, I miss you!
It's  not like you to disappear,
Is something wrong my girl?
Are you afraid
That the bad things you've hid in your heart
Will all burst out
And destroy you?

It does not matter to me,
Honey I don't need to know,
I am here for you and I,

I only wanna hold you,
I only wanna share your pain,
I only wanna be your shoulder to cry on.

Please let me know,
Oh baby, baby, that you are okay.
I understand
If you need time to be on your own.
It's just been so long,
Oh baby, baby, baby, I miss you!

I only wanna hold you,
I only wanna share your pain,
I only wanna be your shoulder to cry on.

I could be your healer,
Oh I could be your guide,
But I only wanna be your shoulder to cry on.

I only wanna hold you,
I only wanna share your pain,
I only wanna be your shoulder to cry on.

(C) 2018 Rich Harpur. All rights reserved.

Where Have You Gone

A song about getting involved with the wrong kind of woman.

Lyrics:
Are you just a seductress
Searching for her next kiss?
Will you drop me down by the roadside?

Am I just a toy for you?
Exciting only 'cause it's new,
Will I be left on the "used" pile?

Why won't you tell me your age,
Where you live and your music taste?
Why d'you only text me in the nighttime?

I'd like to tell you all my secrets,
I would give my heart to you,
But something tells me that's a bad idea.

Chorus:
Baby I don't trust you
I don't think you know what it means to really love
I am gonna leave you
But you will always have a place in my heart

Will you give me the respect I need?
Will you make my happiness your primal creed?
Will you go to the end of the Earth to save me from myself?

Would you ever let me go
If you knew that it would save my soul?
Will you lock me in when the hell king rings?

Chorus

Oh, you've got the passion,
You've sure got the moves,
You love me like an iPhone,
You know, the one that's currently new,

When Steve brings out another,
Will you hand me down to your sister?
Maybe she'll take better care...

Chorus

(C) 2019, Rich Harpur, All rights reserved

Baby I Dont Trust You

I fear that digital technologies and companies like Facebook and Google are becoming quasi-religious entities. They are omnipresent, extremely powerful, and appear to be omniscient. They so easily sneak their way into our lives and take control of us in subtle and problematic ways. In technology hot-spots like Silicon Vally the machine cult and techno-optimism is frankly threatening sanity, I mean there's even a church devoted to worshipping an artificial intelligence godhead!

With a nod to Frank Zappa's "I'm the slime", this song tries to describe the phenomenology of the digital religion.

Lyrics:

I don't want money I want sacrifice,
I want you to confess to me alone,
Give me your souls for some convenience,
I'll let you get high on my drugs.

Come to me or you'll be a loner,
All your friends have pledged to me by now,
Just sign your name here, sign it with your blood,
Now all your thoughts belong to me.
Hahahaha!

I want to be the all-knowing god,
You need to tell me everything,
What you know, what you don't know,
What you only just suspect.

Ask anything, I'll give you the answer,
I know all that their is to know,
I'm everywhere, I am the ether,
I watch your every single move.

'Cause I want to be the all-knowing god,
You need to tell me everything,
What you know, what you don't know,
What you only just suspect.

And I, I won't stop,
I won't stop until you're all converted,
Because I, I need you to all believe in me.

My algorithms mean you don't have to think no more,
I will give you comfortable lies,
I will give you your opinions,
I will tell you who to trust,
I will beat back opposition,
I will kill you if I must,
'Cause I want to be the all-mighty god!

All-knowing God

A song about an all too brief encounter with a beautiful person :)

Lyrics:

Hannabanana,
Coconut fairy,
World traveller,
Kiss me one more time before you have to catch your train!
Hannabanana,
There is always time for one last coffee and a kiss,
If I don't see you no more please know you will be missed,
And thank you for the best Sunday afternoon!

Hannabanana,
Mood doctor,
Mind blower,
I wish we had more time before you have to catch your train.
Hannabanana,
It's a curious cosmic coincidence we met at my last gig,
And the cruel fancy of fate we had to part so soon,
Please remember me as I'll remember you!

Hannabanana,
Coconut fairy,
World traveller,
Kiss me one more time before you have to catch your train!
Hannabanana,
Now all that's left is the faint trace of your lips upon my cheek,
And a hair stuck on my coat,
And the feeling I've been touched by the other side,
The other side,
By the other side,
Oh Hanna!

Hannabanana
Hannabanana
Hannabanana, oh, oh
Hannabanana

Hannabanana

Lyrics:

Am I just too quick to fall in love?

Am I just too quick to fall in love?
Am I naive to believe there's such a thing
As love at first sight?
Is there hope for a hopeless romantic,
Stuck in the frantic surge of emotion,
In the commotion, I can barely keep up with the beat,
The heat rising in my ribcage.

And I fall for you.
Oh I fall for you.

Such a girl I've never seen,
Who walks in and takes control
Of my soul, I am sold for life,
I got the feeling I've met my future wife,
But you're cold,
Now I'm left alone,
Trying to decode your signal mélange.

Today I met the girl of my dreams.

So having twisted my insides,
You do not return my calls,
Was it all just inside my head?
Must I try to find someone else instead?
I'm getting desperate,
How many years must I remain alone?
Does no queen want to sit on my heart's throne?

Today,
Today,
Today, oh
Today I met the girl of my dreams.

Today (I Met The Girl Of My Dreams)

Lyrics:

[Chorus]
Why didn't I ask her for her number
When I had the chance yesterday?
How could I let her leave without making sure
I'd see her again today?
How could I watch her sadly walk away?

We could be walking in the woods,
Talking 'bout our childhoods today,
If I'd only got my act together.
We could be sitting in the cinema,
Shyly letting elbows brush each other,
If I'd only got my act together.

[Chorus]

She could be ignoring all my messages,
Cancelling appointments on the day,
But we'll never know 'cause I have failed her.
I could be screaming insults on the phone,
Trying to get her to leave me alone,
But we'll never know 'cause I have failed her.

[Chorus]

From the first time that she flicked her golden locks at me
I knew I would only play with her,
I'm never gonna complain again about women only leading me on,
'Cause I'm just as bad,
Yes I'm just as bad,
Oh babe I'm just as bad, oh!

[Chorus]

Rich Harpur

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