A DIFFERENT WORLD
Simon Dibble (1988)
The neighbours are arguing upstairs,
I can hear them as clear as you.
But they're speaking a different language
and what they're saying is not coming through.
What it's all about is secret,
at least nobody's telling me.
If they'd only shut up while I'm thinking,
I need peace not company.
It's a different world.
You talk to me on the telephone,
you're singing the same old tune.
I'm making up with you,
but that moment comes too soon.
I'm not looking around for a way out
and I've closed my door behind.
I'm not sure what it's all about,
but I've got the time to find.
Sometimes you come to me in daylight
and that ruins what I had in sight
and sometimes it's to my relief
that you don't believe what I believe.
A FLAG IN MY HAND
Simon Dibble-Andrew Richards (1989)
See what I'm looking for.
I look across the sea.
Time is of the essence here,
it's time to be free.
All of my hopes and dreams
and my aspirations.
A flag in my hand.
When left alone I find my inspiration.
A flag in my hand.
What are you saying now?
We wait your every word.
Take time to contemplate,
ignore what you've heard.
The clock is ticking still,
it chimes the lonely hour.
You can't be too hard on yourself,
you know you have the power.
A WINTER SONG
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1988)
The sentence begins at the moment of birth,
that's tradition on planet earth.
If I'm in for a penny, I'm in for a pound.
But I can't stay too long, can't hang around.
As I grew, I went through school
and learned to be nobody's fool.
I picked up my guitar and played,
I learned of life a different way.
So, out into the world I go.
I'm keen to show off all I know.
Keen but green till I found my feet,
then values changed, now I'm complete.
That's life in the 20th century,
it's one for you and three for me.
All the aggro, blame the reds,
it can't have been the US Fed's.
Star Wars programme, outer space,
the future of the human race.
Mass exodus on the gravy train,
another shower of acid rain,
the South Pacific mushroom cloud,
upset kanaks, a foreign crowd.
Who in Auckland sunk the bard?
The French who shit in our back yard.
If I still possessed a moral mind,
I hate to think what I might find.
Won't stop to look, don't like the view.
So much is done but by so few.
Dig your hole, create your space,
it's cold out here in this strange place.
It's time to go inside to play,
we're going to party there all day.
Sit around the fire, a winter song.
It's summer soon, it won't be long.
We need the good times, not the tears,
while we're in our summer years.
ANGELA
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1989)
Angela, don't look at me that way.
What more can I say?
You know I can't decide,
but I won't run and hide.
We can't go on like this,
what are we trying to prove?
I catch your eyes on me
and you see mine on you.
Now that I've found you,
I just can't let you go.
Every time I see you smile,
it takes my breath away.
Is it over? Has it just begun?
Should I go or should I stay?
Now that I've found you,
I just can't let you go.
When I feel you close to me,
all I really want to do
is move just a little bit closer,
can't you feel it too?
Now that I've found you,
I just can't let you go.
BELLS OF THORNDON
Dibble-McRae-Paterson-Richards (1990)
Lapsed into the underground,
poison moving in a haze.
Time waiting for the call to sound,
caught in-between days.
And the dead know nothing now,
in no mans land he lies.
A victim of his circumstance,
innocence in his cold, dead eyes.
And the new age working lass,
still must soldier on.
Another pie, another pint,
it's forty years on.
Shoot at me through the TV.
Soldiers fall but still move on.
Just play the waiting game,
another dance to the same old song.
On and on,
face each day just the same way.
Try holding on.
On and on,
in this state, you're alright mate!
Try holding on.
BURNING (Out of Control)
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1989)
The city breathes a morning sigh.
I catch the breeze, I swim the tide.
As the sun goes down,
I begin to play.
All through the night.
The fire burns inside
with every passing day.
I hope it never dies
or goes away.
Burning out of control.
The fire burns inside,
the flames lick at my soul.
A fire too fierce to contain
or to control.
Burning out of control.
The fire burns inside,
fuelled by desire
and drawn to heat,
led by my heart
toward the pyre.
Burning out of control.
Frederick
AT THE RIVERS EDGE
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae (1989)
So much, so much here to bite.
We stop the rain
that washes through the night
and I turn around,
a new vision meets my eyes.
The wind has changed to anger.
Will it try and hunt me down?
I hear echoes,
through the valley's they ring out.
Lightning flashes down upon
the voices heard to shout;
"I am dancing in naked sunlight!"
I'm running with the one
who turns the day back into night.
Time is now and man has made a plea.
All his feelings, are we free?
All we see and touch and all we feel,
reminds us we are real.
And in his mind, man has made a pledge.
Life began at the rivers edge.
In his mind, man has made a pledge.
Lee goes on at the rivers edge.
I his mind, man has made a pledge.
Life must end at the rivers edge.
BILLY RUN
Andrew Richards (1990)
Billy wakes up, where he lays.
He gets a fix, a fix on the day.
An empty bottle has eased the pain
of a life gone by, seemingly in vain.
Billy run, let Billy run.
Billy wakes up, he's drunk again
He sits on his park bench,
his head in his hands.
He wonders what could have been
and what's to come.
He lives inside the bottle he's just begun.
48 going 49,
once again he's still in his prime.
He speaks to me, he breaks into abuse,
but even for anger, he has no use.
Billy run, let Billy run.
Billy wakes up, he's drunk again
He sits on his park bench,
his head in his hands.
He wonders what could have been
and what's to come.
He lives inside the bottle he's just begun.
THE BEACH
Andrew Richards (1988)
Sun crashes down upon the beach,
the sand blows at my feet.
Surf rises up into the sky,
the dust around me flies.
People you can't trust are far away
in their brand new cars.
Money don't matter here
when you're aiming for the stars.
So why do you look at me that way?
When you don't understand a word I say.
One day we'll live in peace,
that's got to be better for you and me.
That day will come, I am sure.
Wind rushes through the trees,
to join the land with the sea.
In a world of conflict, a beautiful space
is a tower of strength
to any human face.
BOHEMIAN SPIES
Dibble-McRae-Paterson-Richards (1990)
Behind the walls of terror,
beyond the farthest star,
there’s fantasy & magic, if we trip that far.
Suburban lies, bohemian spies.
We’re pirates of the asteroids
from the other side ,
playing this survival game,
living with our crime.
Suburban lies, bohemian spies.
Cigarettes & politics
are fragments of the mind,
fugitives are looking through
lazy diamond eyes.
Time began, produced the seed
of what we now call history.
Attitudes are changing fast,
the future is looking good at last.
A life with ghosts and shadows,
caught running in the night.
The demon is in the mirror,
are you taking up the fight?
It’s a cold hard war,
there’s no direction home.
A face from the frost
speaks of blood beyond the stone.
CLOSER THAN MY DREAMS
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1988)
Outside it's cold and dark,
you're lying next to me.
Long dark hair flowing down,
I'll see you in my dreams.
I hope and pray
that maybe one day,
we'll be closer than my dreams.
I'm outside looking in,
I hope you'll look at me.
I'm waiting here for you,
if only you could see.
How long must I wait?
Must I wait for you?
Open up and let me in,
there's room enough for two.
CHILLS
Dibble-McRae-Paterson-Richards (1990)
He haunts that bar across the street,
caught the bullet in his teeth.
Eighteen, stardust, lots to say and me...
I just can't stay away.
'Chills', the street life serenade,
where garage bands are all the rage.
Lyrics, pulse, a frantic pace,
hit and run a younger face.
Where is the night?
It is disguised.
Another back street stab in the dark.
We look through glass and glazy eyes
at another blood stained seat in the park.
Silent motion, pantomime,
the hands are ticking...
Buffalo stance, mental notes,
jig-saw dreams and anecdotes.
I want a dog, a dance machine,
the promised land, some special thing.
The love drug to enhance the lust
and keep it up from dawn till dusk.
CONCRETE JUNGLE FATE
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1988)
See the people, their familiar faces
on the street today.
Out through the back door,
everyone has slipped away.
Now that everything has changed,
my whole life rearranged.
But still the visions seem the same.
I can't hang around
and wait for things to happen.
I need to get out there,
out amongst the action.
In the city, the breeding ground
of white collar crime.
Although you ask them,
no one seems to have the time.
They're too strung out on being late
that all their anger turns to hate.
Call it what you will,
I call it concrete jungle fate.
I look around me,
too much hate and too much greed.
Tenants evicted
and another hungry mouth to feed.
What is enough?
What is too much?
In dead end streets they bred 'em tough,
we'll leave them one last straw to clutch.
There's still so much to do
before that final curtain falls.
We haven't really scratched the surface
yet at all.
Step outside and look around,
get your head above the ground.
Whatever is lost can still be found.
FALLING OFF THE EDGE
Simon Dibble (1988)
You stand there looking at me
and I don't know why, but it has to be
so quite the same as all the rest,
I know it all but you'll never ever guess,
I'm not falling off the edge.
I've tried and tried to set things straight,
now I'm too tired to contemplate
that now's the time to get on home,
it's time we spent some time alone.
I'm not falling off the edge,
the edge, the edge,
I'm not falling off the edge.
We've seen that programme on TV,
the one that's just like you and me.
And though you've heard this song before,
you won't be glad that theres nothing left to say.
I'm not falling off the edge.
Lifestyle needs some scrutiny,
I'll let you all look after me.
Arrogance is not so proud,
sometimes you'll hear me say out loud...
I'm not falling off the edge.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Simon Dibble (1988)
The day begins again
and I don't know where I am.
I don't know what I'm here,
there's nothing left for me to do
but remember your love.
Do you remember my touch?
Do you remember me at all anyway?
It doesn't matter 'cause I'm over you.
I'm at the start again
and I should try to make it work.
It's all from me now,
but sometimes I wonder if you
remember my love.
Do you remember my touch?
Do you remember me at all anyway?
It doesn't matter 'cause I'm over you.
I'm all alone again
and this is how I want to be.
Out on my own again
why can't you just leave me to
remember your love.
Do you remember my touch?
Do you remember me at all anyway?
It doesn't matter 'cause I'm over you.
FIJI BITTER
Andrew Richards (1987)
So much has grown between us,
you can see it in our smiles.
The times we spent together
get me high.
So, are we fooling around?
With our heads up in the clouds,
while our feet are firmly on the ground.
It's nearly been a year,
the time just seems to fly.
A memory is not all you've left behind.
Some things will never change,
although we go our separate ways.
A pint of Fiji Bitter and a good time.
I'll always remember your smile.
DREAMS OF CHILDREN
Andrew Richards (1988)
Rock and roll children in a rock n' roll world.
Making melodies, their flags unfurled.
Sometimes they cannot sleep at night.
Lying awake in a bath of pale moonlight.
Thoughts of the future in their heads.
They lie awake inside their beds.
These are the dreams
and they will not go away.
They'll make tomorrow a brighter day.
These are the dreams.
Children with their toys,
playing out their fantasies.
It cannot be denied.
Running through the fields in their minds.
Maybe it's a paradigm,
a luscious illusion,
a paradox in their minds.
GIVE ME LOVE
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1989)
Hot and cold the heart beats,
like fire and ice.
Up meets down on every corner,
name your price?
Two ships meet
but pass by in the night.
Where North meets South
I hear you calling,
hold on tight.
Hold on tight and give me love.
We're rich and poor but empty,
we're out of time.
If it's wrong I'd stop believing,
I would change my mind.
In and out the shadows crawl,
through the light.
I know that we could make it
if we get it right.
Lets get it right and give me love.
Like right and wrong within your eyes,
it's swing and miss.
When lightning strikes the thunder calls me
to one last kiss.
Like black and white divides the line,
it's time to feed.
Time to choose the hungers gaining,
make it bleed.
Make it bleed and give me love.
I CAN'T SEE YOU AGAIN
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae (1989)
It seems there's nothing guaranteed,
I look beyond today.
Looking out for what I need
to see me through another day.
We spend our life time chasing dreams,
we try not too pretend.
Time goes by and we all change,
it's over and I can't see you again.
There are no reasons for the things
that come between us all.
It's just the way that things turned out
and I had my back against the wall.
We spend our lifetime chasing dreams
we can't logically defend.
Time goes by and we all change,
it's over and I can't see you again.
There was a time I needed you,
it seems so long ago.
But wants and needs are sometimes so confused,
I knew I had to let you go.
We spend our lifetime chasing dreams
until the bitter end.
Time goes by and we all change
it's over and I can't see you again.
IT'S IN YOUR EYES
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1988)
Time to count the profit made,
to see what's left and not decayed.
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
What are you thinking staring into space?
A lost expression, a familiar face,
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
I can feel it when you're next to me,
what make it harder than it has to be,
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
When I'm out of time for you
and need something to hang on to
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
When I'm on the edge i try
to remember that it's in your eyes.
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
It's in your eyes, it's in your eyes.
LIFE INSIDE A JAR
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae (1989)
The stage director hides his face,
there's blood and guts and some disgrace
as I slip in through the back door,
for forty minutes not much more.
The meter maid pulls out her chalk,
you took the car, you should have walked.
She's walking up and down the street,
never smiles, no one to meet.
No need to talk about it.
Most of us can see straight through it.
A waste of time to live your life inside a jar.
It's been sealed and approved,
but your label's been removed.
The preacher beckons to a man,
his wife is roasting Sunday's lamb.
A three piece suit, his new attire,
has quelled his brimstone and fire.
The speaker of the house says 'rise'
and the playground comes alive.
There's ships and loans here to debate,
the people's lives, a country's fate.
No need to hide away.
We pull the Jam out everyday.
A waste of time to live your life inside a jar
when the kitchen is in need,
while the others fill their greed.
Don't need a tax return
to show how much we've really earned.
A waste of time to live your life inside a jar.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Don't turn away, it's time to explore.
IT'S COLD OUT HERE THIS WINTER'S DAY
Simon Dibble (1989)
Frozen on a winters day.
Hollow, like your memory.
It's not just the way that we escape,
direction is not my enemy.
Hey, I'm still waiting
for my time to come around.
I've been out here for so long,
is there nothing to be found?
It's cold out here this winter's day.
I haven't taken interest in the temple.
Life is tough,
but I sure don't need that drug.
if you have to open doors
then just be careful.
By the end,
try to ensure you've had enough.
What life is not about is just existing.
You can't get where you're going
till you've been.
Don't kid yourself that
things can make you happy.
The cost of living is never what it seems.
I'm hating all of this
and now you're laughing.
It's a screwed up ugly world,
the sun still shines.
Try to shine here,
life's so short you can't imagine
that one day,
we're going to leave it all behind.
IT'S IN MY HEAD
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1989)
Why don't you stop waiting,
cause it's never coming home
and the whole situation
makes it nice to be alone.
I've been sitting here writing,
I still haven't gone to bed.
I've been spending time chasing
what is all kept in my head.
It's in my head.
You've got time for no one
and there's nothing here for you.
There's so much to be done
but only so much I can do.
I've been sitting here wonderin',
was it something that I said?
I've been spending time chasing
what is all kept in my head.
It's in my head.
Your words have no meaning
now you only waste my time.
I want to spell it out for you,
just lay it on the line.
I've been sitting here laughing,
at what I should have done instead.
I've been spending time chasing
what is all kept in my head.
It's in my head.
JOE ADOLESCENT
Andrew Richards (1988)
I went down to the corner store
to see what I could find.
I went down to the corner store
to find some peace of mind.
I don't know what I was looking for,
but I found it, that's for sure.
I found I could live my life.
In that store there were many things
that could move and change your life.
Drugs and booze and books and film,
girls to make your wife.
i took the best, remembered it all
and I left the rest behind.
I found I could live my life.
LOVE ON A LEDGE
Simon Dibble (1988)
Climbing out my window,
I'm high above the ground for you.
I try not to look down
to where I'll be when we are through.
It's very cold out here
the birds don't seem to mind the rain.
I can't help but have the fear,
I'm falling down to earth again.
It's love, love on the edge.
It's love, love on a ledge.
There's sun in summertime,
but all the lotions I have tried
won't stop the burn from you.
If only I could go inside.
But I have friends out here,
the pigeon never shits on me
and when he's flown away,
the weather keeps me company.
It's love, love on the edge.
It's love, love on a ledge.
LADY SO BLUE
John Kitching-Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1987)
Make it cool, give me the edge,
take the stool, come on excite me,
my lady blue.
Lady, so blue...come on excite me!
Lady blue, make me smile.
Come up and see me for a while,
my lady blue.
Lady, so blue...come on excite me!
Lady blue, so where you been?
Seems like you're nowhere to be seen,
my lady blue.
Lady, so blue...come on excite me!
Juiced up monkey's in the night,
red light screaming, what a sight!
No more mirrors and no more steel.
Lady, so blue...come on excite me!
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Simon Dibble (1990)
Well he just sits there,
no, he hasn't moved all day.
Stoned to the eyeballs
but he's happier that way.
Not for medication
he just takes it for the pain.
Rehabilitation,
seems he's never been the same.
And there's no way out of here,
it's not by choice you're no where near.
No point in looking back,
cause no one finds you off the beaten track.
You might go to work
and sell your soul to earn a wage.
Hello and handshakes,
are they of a passing age?
One hundred people on the floor
of which you know a few.
Smile at each of them in turn,
what else is there to do?
If it's not right for you,
it's right to change your mind.
Try something different,
you don't know what you'll find.
You'll find of course there's a way out of here,
the exits are all marked quite clear.
Strike the light and don't look back,
cause no one finds you off the beaten track.
PICTURES
Andrew Richards (1988)
I painted a picture today
of how I thought the world could be.
Smiling faces making love
and song and poetry.
I coloured it with depth
and a little understanding.
Is it just me
or is it really just a great day?
Smiling faces in a euphemistic dream,
fall on smiling faces
flowing from a never ending stream.
I'll try and do my part,
I hope that you do yours.
Forget good and bad,
they've written too many wars.
Flowers give the panorama
a healthy glow of radiant beauty.
An old man bumps my side,
he steps aside and says 'Hey, sorry'.
I say sorry back, our eyes meet,
we walk away smiling.
A little thing like that
can fill a tank for a day.
A translucent light touches
everything I've created.
It shines it's brightest
on the exuberance of smiling faces.
And my pictures done
the paint has all but gone.
Time to get moving,
sunlight never lasts for long.
SPECIAL FEELING
Simon Dibble (1988)
I never thought I stood a chance.
It's times like this that never last.
I feel I'm slipping out beyond,
what it is that keeps us in the past.
There's a special feeling in my head.
It's helping me to stay in step.
One day it's there the next it's gone.
This special feeling that I've found.
I never look too far ahead.
I'm not in love and I'm not dead.
I'm on my own, but it's OK,
till my special feeling goes away.
TTFN
Simon Dibble (1989)
Looking out at all the people,
looking out for just themselves
in this world of ours.
But no one ever told us
that that's the way it has to be.
There's a lot of misconceptions
and a lot of wrong directions
in this world of ours
my goal is reached tomorrow,
if it isn't, could you live with me?
It's time to count your losses
if you haven't got a penny
in this world of ours.
I suppose it's time to wake up,
discover we're not all the same.
Is there someone there to guide me?
Not an interested party
in this world of ours.
We learn the rules as time goes by,
I gather we are in the game.
But it's not important any other day.
Or so it seems, I'm happier this way.
I needed all of this, I still need you.
If it matters, then I think it matters too!
I can get the time of day,
times important, time to play
in this world of ours.
It's exactly what I had in mind,
what I'm doing at this stage.
First impressions are quite good,
first encounters seem to count
in this world of ours.
This time I think you're leaving,
but you really think it's time to stay.
REARED IN CAPTIVITY
Dibble-McRae-Paterson-Richards (1990)
Strange weather these last years,
stay back in the shade.
Look for green in the city,
where everything is man made.
We're lost in confusion, nothing guaranteed.
The food is on the table. How many will eat?
Two doors and a passageway
lead into the night.
One door is called energy,
the other for delight.
Through an open window,
sound comes from the street.
Very busy people. How many will meet?
Meet late at the cafe, we can talk all night.
Something 'bout this city, makes me feel so right!
There's chaos and drama,
fever on the rise.
it's well after midnight,
she got Hollywood eyes.
Rain runs a river through the neon glow.
Caught looking for shelter. Where's a place to go?
Go enjoy the night life, we can drink all night.
Something 'bout this city, makes me feel so right!
All brothers and sisters
look alike in this town.
in those soft kisses,
baby, in your lips I drown.
Reared in captivity,
we're scientifically bred.
Where's mother nature?
Let's all roll a head.
SATURDAY LIVE AT THREE
Dibble-McRae-Paterson-Richards (1990)
A fortnight of life in the big smog,
could comedy hate happen here?
Shoot from the hip in this city,
stand in the crowd if scared.
A late night occult on TV,
claiming she still has a friend,
who later was plunged into darkness,
disappearance and death.
People are moving in straight lines,
perception of government schemes.
Fortune favours the brave man
who puts into action his dreams.
What are dreams?
paper on walls of the alley,
said 'Saturday Live at 3'.
Nobody queued for a ticket,
there was no one but me.
By morning I had some company,
a mother looked up from her day.
The symphony had ended,
there were no notes to play.
Somebody jokes at the weather,
the actors have rain in their boots.
Solutions set for the problem,
pointing the gun as he shoots...
and he shoots.
STRANGERS
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1987)
Our steps sound lonely
through the streets.
Poison for agreeable dreams.
Here in the darkness
loud voices, dim faces,
pointing shapeless shadows from the dawn.
Don't talk to strangers.
The lone one in a lions lair.
Don't talk to strangers.
Of living silence, have no fear.
Like an unwanted guest
of the savage night,
not accustomed to the flight.
Twilight space, her new desire,
echoes from the fire.
Gliding like a Queen she leaves the station.
A coffin gaps
this narrow doorway,
strangers roll their hungry eyes.
Victims lie in scarlet dust,
bleeding as the lions roar,
singing newer songs beyond the grave.
TOMBSTONED IN BOLTON ST. CEMETERY
Simon Dibble-Carl McRae (1989)
The hands of time, they move so fast.
She is my future and my past.
All the nails that were in our eyes.
Were there to trade some hope for highs.
Light the candle, burn the flame,
until we walk these paths again.
And in Bolton Street
let tombstoned thoughts remain
until we walk these paths again.
I'm getting drunk on growing pains
and the poison is flowing through our veins.
It takes a spark to start a fire
and not much more to take us higher.
The Accelerants
VAN GOGH
Andrew Richards (1989)
Armed with paint and easel,
he walked out on his own.
Asked to paint beauty,
he painted pain,
without comparison
no-one would know.
Out on his own and tell me...
is he still unknown?
An uncaring man with a heart of gold,
his understanding was too bold.
He carried a label of insanity,
from people
too obsessed with their vanity.
Out on his own and tell me...
is he still unknown?
(Take it on home)
Seeing the truth on his canvas,
he refused to compromise.
His reward
was anguish for his task,
but inside he smiled.
Out on his own and tell me...
is he still unknown?
(Take it on home)
The mistral and his obsession,
eventually took there toll.
An expert in the ironies
of pleasure and pain
had travelled
on the extremities of his soul.
Out on his own and tell me...
is he still unknown?
(Put it in the ground)
YESTERDAY
Carl McRae-Andrew Richards (1988)
When I look back,
I can remember a time,
a new found love,
you were always on my mind.
There are still so many good times
out there waiting to find.
We've come too far to throw it all away.
Too many happy memories of yesterday.
We don't need this,
we've both seen it before.
Drags on too long
before you walk out the door.
It's easier to let go,
but I'd rather stay and give more.
We've got a future
and it looks good to me.
So lets not throw it away
what comes naturally.
There is no one else to blame,
the emphasis is on you and me.
