The All Nite Soul Review

At the All Nite Soul Review
Judith, 52,
Dances along to songs
She always knew

The acts upon the stage
Some are showing their age
The Classic, the Original and the New

Before them glittering ranks
Applaud their sweaty thanks
Their tits swinging lower than they ever used to do

Fulled by cheap warm wine
They're having a fine old time
Forgetting the miserable lives for an hour or two

With the girls they can forget
Every mistake they've met since 1962
Their eyes sparkle at the drummer in
The Classic, the Original and the New

Vicious spiteful words
I feel ashamed and absurd
They're only saving themselves like we all do

The Classic, the Original and the New
May not sparkle like they used to do
May not even be able to stand
May not be the ones they used to be

But Ladies and Gentleman, just for you
And Judith, 52,
Tonight I give to you Direct from 1972
The All Nite Soul Review

Rita, I saw the sunshine

Ridiculous angels rest their heads
Upon a pinstripe cotton bed
Abandoned sentiments they seek
From kempt leviathans smooth and sleek
Embracing every actor's wish
Of dancing with the Platonist.
I laughed among the theatre gods
As fire rained down in straining rods
Pretending not to notice shame
Or spoil the votive of the game.
I heard a song; I saw the singer
He asked how long my thoughts had been there.
Scathingly he mocked my face
And sneered about my sense of grace;
My vanity, the axe I ground
The weedy mouse soprano sound
That slipped my lips in desperate plea
To rise above the symphony.
Why struggle on, the singer cried
The undertaker's here, you died.
I stumbled on the fractured stone
The brick that's loose, the house o'ergrown,
But somewhere in the garden grows
An ancient, lustrous, antick rose
Uneasy sleep amongst the weeds
Where the path I follow ever leads
While silently, above my face
I watch the angels dance on space.

That's why she's the way she is

Ugly men secrete themselves in seats too thin
Begin the paperwork that brings more sin
Upon a thankless world that asked for nothing from them
Maybe love.

She tucks a wisp of hair away
Casts a nervous look my way
Are you another one who's made me feel this way?

I had a dream last night
A fearful examination and I hadn't done the reading as required
I know too much (about nothing)
And I'm sorry (very sorry) I've been wasting my time.

Such a beautiful thing but look again and you see
The flaws you find in everyone
(Is that a good thing?)
The flaws you find in everyone.

So she made you feel alive
And she kept you alive
And now you wonder
What on earth are you living for?

The ugly men who entertain you (now and then)
What on earth are you living for?

Grow old, look back, try not to fall forever
Remember when the grass was green (again)
You stand barefoot on the bridge and feel the water call you
Smooth and glassy, flowing forever.

Should she claim you do you go on after this?
Should she claim you we'll be forever like this.

Sam is not my name

And you want to be like I do
But you know I'm not the same
And I want to know what you do
Sam is not my name

When you wake up and turn over
Just remember why I came
I cannot talk about anything
I cannot remember my name

Her skin the colour of porcelain
Her eyes are bright with flame
I can't remember anything
I can't remember my name

I'm older now than I ever was
I'll never see these streets again
When she walks away it's my memory
Kisses goodbye again

I tried to look the world in the eye
Lift it up and ask it why
Do we take the strain
Of the nerveless pain
And I sighed
It might have been a dozen times
And maybe once or twice I cried
To see everything in the state it's in

And I wonder
Is there anything to save
Mystery, wonder and shame
Shelter in another name
They won't play my game
So I'm taking this song to my grave

Did I forget what I was
Trying to do something wonderful and something true
Turned out it was nothing new
Just opinions and some wittering
But I stayed
Was that the day my flight was delayed
Or maybe the day that I ran away

But I find
Something missing from my mind
Something in the way I behave
Made me settle into the state I'm in
And I'll never be the one upon the stage
The one who's all the rage
You can see the stain of the morning rain
I'm taking this song to my grave

Do you think it might be something bad?
The pains I find I always have
The spasm, the ache and the strain
The friends I thought I'd never have
Will it be sudden or will it be slow
I pray to God I never know
I don't suppose he'd tell me so
As he makes a day's news with nothing to lose

And she's there saying it will be OK
Well she's the one finding the way
The beautiful and the true
I won't let them happen to you

It seems there's nothing left to save
Just loneliness stilted by shame
I'm sorry I've forgotten your name
Or the reason I came
But I'm taking this song to my grave