nightcab

I'd like to take you to the edge of every morning
on a magic eiderdown to a window chair.
In the Paradise Steakhouse where there's a cup of silver coffee,
steaming chrome reflections from the mist in your hair.

Try not to watch me (Try not to watch me)
Just call me after darkfall (Call me after darkfall)
I'll bring a whip to sow, my seed on your land.
In the Paradise Steakhouse there's a cup of silver coffee

A sheath of steel so you may hold my sword in your hand
I'll cut you, divide you into tender pieces
No wings to fly away upon my dear.

In the Paradise Steakhouse on a plate upon a table
I will carve your name with care to last the years.

I'd like to eat you (I'd like to eat you)
All fire will consume you (Fire will consume you)
Roast on the spit of love on this arrow true.
In the Paradise Steakhouse I'll taste every finger
Baking in the ashes 'til the flames rise anew

I'd like to take you to the edge of every morning
On a magic eiderdown to a window chair.
In the Paradise Steakhouse where there's a cup of silver coffee,
steaming chrome reflections from the mist in your hair.

Sealion II

Would you like to see my lion, my friend Cecil is damp and smooth
A damp smooth sea lion, yes, Cecil is a sea lion.
(Cecil is a sea lion)
(Cecil is a sea lion)
(Cecil is a sea lion)

Cecil is a clever sea lion, Cecil sometimes swims
And often sits (And balances multicolored striped balls?)
Yes, balances multicolored striped balls, Clever Cecil
(Cecil is a sea lion) (Cecil is a sea lion)
(Cecil is a sea lion) (Cecil is a sea lion)
(Cecil is a sea lion) (Cecil is a sea lion)

Cecil the sea lion is serene, he doesn't wear spectacles or a scarf
(No central heating or cement) Well, the whole ocean is Cecil's home
(Cecil is a sea lion) (Cecil is a sea lion)
(Cecil is a sea lion) (Cecil is a sea lion)

Piece Of Cake

Come running. Go for overkill. If you don't come now,
I'll be over the hill, all right?
Tell me, "All right.''
Got a sell-by date. Soon be out of stock.
Pop me in your trolley you can start my clock. Well, all right?

Tell me, "All right.''
I could be on your shelf, could be the risk you take.
I'm a cup of hot coffee, I'm a piece of cake.
Piece of cake.

I'm the hot chicken in your superstore.
You can take me home if you can take some more, Well, all right?
Tell me, "All right.''
I could be on your shelf, could be the bread you bake.
I can fill your larder, I'm a piece of cake.
Piece of cake.

Show me rosemary, I'll show her wild thyme.
See you at the checkout or on the credit line. Well, all right?
Tell me, "All right.''
I'm your spicy filling, I'm your low-fat spread.
I'll be your smooth rubber, be your pencil lead, All right?
Tell me, "All right.''
If you set me to simmer, if you grill my steak 
you can bowl me over, I'm a piece of cake.
Piece of cake.

Quartet [Instrumental]

Silver River Turning

I walked down that boulder road,
through a child's eye saw places where I used to go.
Where I crawled barefoot with a fishing pole
to the rock that overlooked that steelhead hole,
but it's true silver river turning blue.

It was a small town in a smaller world.
Just a black dot on an old map with its edges curled.
Where they built their industries on the edge of town,
leaching chemicals from underground.
Now it's true that silver river turning blue.

Just got a late reaction. Face reality and stare it down.
Sometimes it's harder hanging on. Much easier to look around.
But I need that job.
Well, this place is no city: we're just small players here.
Like a million other heroes drinking poor man's beer.
We know what's right. We're just living it wrong.

But there's no easy answer in the green man's song.
What do you do? When your river's turning blue.

I walked down that boulder road,
through a child's eye saw places where I used to go.
Where I crawled barefoot with a fishing pole
to the rock that overlooked that steelhead hole,
but it's true silver river turning blue.

Just got a late reaction. Face reality and stare it down.
Sometimes it's harder hanging on. Much easier to look around.
But I need that job.

Crew Nights

Tear it down in double quick time to get the eighth truck shifted 'bout midnight.
The locker rooms are empty but the strobe boats still spin with their pitching lights
And someone with a yellow pass gives out precise directions as to where and when.
And here am I with a drumstick, while young girls set to rendezvous, and be recognized again.
Tomorrow is an off-day, be in Baltimore by Thursday is the only law.
There's a suite down at the hotel reserved for making merry with connecting doors.
The lighting man's already improvised a bar and printed invitations to the ball.
Off duty cops line corridors wearing Tull T-shirts proudly on the band's […] wall.
Crew nights, no flashlights or folding knives,
Best boots and road suits and nine lives.

Feeling that it might be wrong to temporarily belong to the P.A. man [men?]
Some angel from the midwest is regretting being undressed with no suntan.
His polaroid is snapping, the head carpenter is rapping on the gates of dawn.
Sitting lonely with a warm beer the girl with dental braces wishes that she hadn't gone.
Crew nights, no bar fights or 'Reader's Wives',
Thin walls and late calls and nine lives.
Crew nights, no flashlights or folding knives,
Best boots and road suits and nine lives.

The Curse

Young Gladys was a silky maiden
at thirteen, she was going strong, yeah.
Oh, Gladys.

Nicely filled out, fully laden,
but down below there was something wrong, yeah.
Oh, Gladys.

Nobody told her about the secrets, that ladies have to hide
Mom had no words to describe the things, that happened inside.
Need someone to help me, I feel that there's a curse on me, oh.
Went down into the local disco,
For what used to be the one-and-nines, yeah,
Oh Gladys.

Felt a searching hand to frisk her,
Along the length of her water line, yeah,
Oh Gladys.

Now Gladys knew she was in no condition, in no mood to play
I cracked a knee in a soft spot, nothing had got in her way.
I want no one to touch me, I feel there's a curse on me, oh.
Directed down to the local drugstore
Got fixed up, now she's doing fine, yeah
Oh Gladys

Equipped with various kinds of apparatus
You know the feminine hygiene kind, yeah
Oh Gladys

Must have been a man to do this thing who won her fall from grace
That day he programmed Eve, you should have seen the smile on his face.
He said "You'll need someone to help you
When you feel like cursing me'', oh.

Rosa On The Factory Floor

She moves with machinery for the fancy sports car trade.
Part of the industrial process: she sees that they stay made.
She works from early A.M.. They work her to the bone.
When I call her in the evening, she's too tired to lift the phone.
Damned if I'll wait for her, and I'll be damned if I don't.
Damned if I only see that Rosa on the factory floor.

Signed on for the duration. They say she came from the East.
With her tool bag and her coveralls, to pay the rent at least.
She doesn't talk with workers on the rest of the line
and over in the canteen, she's alone most of the time.

Somewhere in her history is a lock without a key.
She doesn't trust the management and she won't trust me.
We're two different animals. We live jungles apart.
She circles round her freedom and I circle round her heart.
Oh, Rosa, oh, Rosa.
She moves with machinery for the fancy sports car trade.
Part of the industrial process: she sees that they stay made.
She works from early A.M.. They work her to the bone.
When I call her in the evening, she's too tired to lift the phone.
Damned if I'll wait for her, and I'll be damned if I don't.
Damned if I only see that Rosa on the factory floor.
Damned if I'll wait for her, and I'll be damned if I don't.
Damned if I only see that Rosa on the factory floor.
Oh, Rosa on the factory floor.
Oh, Rosa on the factory floor.
Oh, Rosa on the factory floor.

[Hey, Santa, pass us that bottle, will y....- oh, no, we've done that.]

A Small Cigar

A small cigar can change the world,
I know, I've done it frequently at parties
where I've won all the guests' attention
with my generosity and suave gentlemanly bearing.
A little flat tin case is all you need
breast-pocket conversation opener
and one of those ciggie lighters that look rather good
you can throw away when empty.
Must be declared a great success
My small cigars all vanish within minutes.

Excuse me, mine host, that I may visit a nearby tobacconist
to replenish my supply of small cigars and make the party swing again.
I know my clothes seem shabby
and don't fit this Hampstead soiree,
where unread copies of Rolling Stone,
well-thumbed Playboys
decorate the hi-fi stereo record shelves.
If you ask me they're on their way
to upper-middle-class oblivion.
The stupid twits, they roll their only
one cigarette between them.
My small cigar's redundant now
in the haze of smoking pleasure.
Call it a day,
Get the hell away,
Go down the cafe
For a cup of real tea.

By the tube station, there's a drunk old fool
who sells papers in the rush hour.
I hand to him ten small cigars.
He smiles, says, "Son, God bless you''.
A small cigar
Has changed his world, my friend
A small cigar
Has changed the world again

A small cigar, a small cigar,
a small cigar, a small cigar
a small cigar.

Man Of Principle

One day he'll walk from out of this place.
You'll see a quiet determination on his face.
He'll toe no lines. Suffer no fools.
But he'll raise three cheers to the losing team from the other school.
A little dedication. A little pair of daddy's shoes to fill.
Compleat education. One day he'll be a man of principle.

And the battle's on. And he'll play to win.
Feel the blue blood rushing quick beneath his skin.
And grim they stand. And hard they fall.
Harder still, when their backs are up against the wall.
Gonna get your attention. But he's carrying his cross to the other hill.
With divine intervention, he can be a man of principle.

In the evening light, with a fair-ground girl
he stops himself as his head begins to whirl.
And he walks her home. And there's a kiss goodbye.
She feels a chill as she looks him in the eye.
Well, there's a time and a place now and it's not tonight she'll bend his will.
Slow realization she's looking at a man of principle.

Hung from the highest station by his old school tie undressed to kill
He could be a real sensation. But he's a man of principle.
A little dedication. A little pair of daddy's shoes to fill.
Compleat education. One day he'll be a man of principle.
Gonna get your attention. But he's carrying his cross to the other hill.
With divine intervention, he can be a man of principle.

(Note: special thanks to Bernard Matthews and Neil Thomason for their corrections - JV)