Prose
The Final Cut - Your Possible Pasts
They flutter behind you your possible pasts
Some brighteyed and crazy some frightened and lost
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future to take care
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time
Do you remember me ? How we used to be ?
Do you think we should be closer ?
She stood in the doorway the ghost of a smile
Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign
Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs
For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs
Stepping up boldly one put out his hand
He said, "I was just a child then, now I'm only a man"
Do you remember me ? How we used to be ?
Do you think we should be closer ?
By the cold and religious we were taken in hand
Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad
Tongue tied and terrified we learned how to pray
Now our feelings run deep and cold as the clay
And strung out behind us the banners and flags
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags
Do you remember me ? How we used to be ?
Do you think we should be closer ?
The Final Cut - The Hero's Return
Jesus Jesus what's it all about
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape
When I was their age all the lights went out
There was no time to whine and mope about
And even now part of me flies over
Dresden at angels one five
Though they'll never fathom it behind my
Sarcasm desperate memories lie
Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep,
Good 'cos that's the only time that I can really speak to
you
And there is something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day
When we came back from the war the banners and
Flags hung on everyone's door
We danced and we sang in the street and
The church bells rang
But burning in my heart
My memory smoulders on
Of the gunners dying words on the intercom
The Final Cut - The Gunners Dream
Floating down through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now
But in the space between the heavens
And the corner of some foreign field
I had a dream
I had a dream
Goodbye Max
Goodbye Ma
After the service when you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold november air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the Band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream
A place to stay
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what's more no-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no-one kills the children any more
And no-one kills the children any more
Night after night
Going round and round my brain
His dream is driving me insane
In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final scene
Take heed of his dream
Take heed
Button your lip and don't let the shield slip
Take a fresh grip on your bullet proof mask
And if they try to break down your disguise with their
questions
You can hide hide hide
Behind paranoid eyes
You put on your brave face and slip over the road for a
jar
Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar
Laughing too loud at the rest of the world
With the boys in the crowd
You can hide hide hide
Behind petrified eyes
You believed in their stories of fame fortune and glory
Now you're lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle-age
The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high
And you hide hide hide
Behind brown and mild eyes
The Final Cut - Southampton Dock
They disembarked in 45
And no one spoke and no one smiled
There were too many spaces in the line
Gathered at the cenotaph
All agreed with hand on heart
To sheath the sacrificial knifes
But now
She stands upon southampton dock
With her handkerchief
And her summer frock clings
To her wet body in the rain
In quiet desperation knuckles
White upon the slippery reins
She bravely waves the boys goodbye again
And still the dark stain spreads between
Their shoulder blades
A mute reminder of the poppy fields and graves
And when the fight was over
We spent what they had made
But in the bottom of our hearts
We felt the final cut
The Final Cut - The Final Cut
Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time
And far from flying high in clear blue skies
I'm spiralling down to the hole in the ground where I hide
If you negotiate the minefield in the drive
And beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes
And if you make it past the shotguns in the hall
Dial the combination, open the priesthole
And if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall
There's a kid who had a big hallucination
Making love to girls in magazines
He wonders if you're sleeping with your new found faith
Could anybody love him
Or is it just a crazy dream
And if I show you my dark side
Will you still hold me tonight
And if I open my heart to you
And show you my weak side
What would you do
Would you sell your story to rolling stone
Would you take the children away
And leave me alone
And smile in reassurance
As you whisper down the phone
Would you send me packing
Or would you take me home
Thought I had to bare my naked feelings
Thought I had to tear the curtain down
I held the blade in trembling hands
Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang
I never had the nerve to make the final cut
Wish You Were Here - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1).
Remember when you were young
You shone like the Sun
Shine on, you crazy diamond !
Now there's a look in your eyes
Like black holes in the sky
Shine on, you crazy diamond !
You were caught on the crossfire
Of childhood and stardom
Blown on the steel breeze
Come on, you target for faraway laughter
Come on, you stranger, you legend, you martyr
And shine !
You reached for the secret too soon
You cried for the Moon.
Shine on, you crazy diamond !
Threatened by shadows at night
And exposed in the light
Shine on, you crazy diamond !
Well you wore out your welcome
With random precision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on, you raver, you seer of visions
Come on, you painter, you piper, you prisoner
And shine !
Wish You Were Here - Welcome To The Machine
Welcome, my son, welcome to the machine
Where have you been ?
It's allright we know where have you been.
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time
Provided with toys and "Scouting for Boys"
You bought a guitar to punish your ma
And you didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
So welcome to the machine
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
What did you dream ?
It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star
He played mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the Machine
Wish You Were Here - Wish You Were Here
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from Pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail ?
A smile from a veil ?
Do you think you can tell
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts ?
Hot ashes for trees ?
Hot air for a cool breeze ?
Cold comfort for chains ?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found ?
The same old fears
Wish you were here
The Division Bell - Poles Apart
Did you know . . . it was all going to go so wrong for you
And did you see it was all going to be so right for me
Why did we tell you then
You were always the golden boy then
And that you'd never lose that light in your eyes
Hey you . . . did you ever realise what you'd become
And did you see that it wasn't only me you were running from
Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway
Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes
The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty
I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from
me
And did you know . . .
I never thought that you'd lose that light in your eyes
The Division Bell - Take It Back
Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze
I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the
sea
I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire
We were spinning into darkness; the earth was on fire
She could take it back, she might take it back some day
So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot
keep
Then I hear her laughter rising, rising from the deep
And I make her prove her love to me, I take all that I can
take
And I push her to the limit to see if she will break
She might take it back, she could take it back some day
Now I have seen the warnings, screaming from all sides
It's easy to ignore them and G-d knows I've tried
All of this temptation, it turned my faith to lies
Until I couldn't see the danger or hear the rising tide
She can take it back, she will take it back some day
The Division Bell - High Hopes
Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were
young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun
Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway
Do they still meet there by the Cut
There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the
ground
To a life consumed by slow decay
The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder
Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide
At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world
Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times
The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river
Forever and ever
