Walking

Half Life - Walking Out to the Wall (1995) buy now

Laurie A’Court : Saxes

Ian Burrage : Drums

Alistair Murphy : Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars and Bass

Michael Rooney : Vocals

Jeremy Salmon : Guitars, Bass and Percussion

with

Diana Hare : Vocals

Laurence Elly : Bass

Mark Fletcher : Bass

Craig Hulkes : Drums

Yiasoumis Yiasmi : Bouzouki

Sotiris Yiasmi : Bouzouki

Johnny Adams : Violin

Nigel Digby : Vocals

IT’S ALWAYS GOING TO BE THIS WAY

If I told you what I wanted, wealth could never bring, to me.

And if I held it in my hands, it would not weigh a thing, to me.

I think I’ve had it all along, I think I looked away.

I wonder how I could have been so wrong before today.

I can’t remember what it was that made me so unsure, today.

I think it’s always been the same, it’s always been as true.

We tie ourselves in knots when there’s nothing else to tie us to.

I don’t know why, the light is streaming through the trees.

I don’t know why.

It does seem strange the leaves are dancing in the breeze.

Did you pause a moment in the street, and look away, yesterday.

And look round, forgetting every reason to be grey, yesterday.

I think it’s always going to be this way.

I don’t know why,I should be feeling as I do. I don’t know why.

It does seem strange the world is burning something new.

I WANT YOU TO

You made a choice for yourself,

Many years before today.

They said, take, take take his hand.

That’s all you heard them say.

How, did you sleep at night?

Though the years went rushing by.

Please don’t stop me when I say,

You don’t have to stay,

You can turn and walk away,

You don’t have to stay,

You can turn and walk away,

And I want you to.

Nobody’s going to thank you much

For showing them another way, they’ll say:

Turn, turn, turn around

You cannot run away.

Yes ! you can do it if you choose,

You’ve got nothing left to lose.

Please don’t stop me when I say,

I want you to stay, please don’t turn

And walk away.

I want you to stay, please don’t turn

And walk away.

And I want you to.

The time may come, when you’ll smile

And I’ll understand you.

I’ll see beneath it all the very heart of you,

And you’ll command me.

And now, and now that the time has come,

For us to take it all,

And stand alone before the world,

Looking down and I begin to fall.

Towards Home Again

At times I think he'll last forever.

Standing firm as he faces all weather.

And should he pause for a while,

As he stands alone waiting for the smile.

He will turn towards all adversity.

I know he must surely find another.

Someone who seeks as he for a lover.

As he holds on again,

Holding tight through all

Of the wind and the rain.

He will turn at last towards home again.

Oh what then of I,

As I'm left standing here.

Standing forever still,

Watching him disappear.

Lacking stength to share his dreams.

Left to suffer all his fears.

Seeking another way,

Left to face the coming years.

I know I must wait

For the bright days to come

Looking out for the long days of the sun.

They're flying in once again

Never knowing the feel

Of the wind and the rain.

As they sit in warmth by my window pane.

Oh what then of I,

As I'm left standing here.

Standing forever still,

Watching them disappear.

Lacking stength to share their dreams.

Left to suffer all their fears.

Seeking another way,

Left to face the coming years.

DRAINING THE DRAUGHT

Out of this confusion will come form.

We’ll draw across the curtain that was torn.

You don’t have to,

Tell me what you’ve seen, but now you’re here.

In this darkness,

We will drain the draught

Of tenderness,

Listen! I will tell you,

The things I hold to be true

We’re turning over the garden

In the hope that we might find,

Some kind of a pardon,

Some check upon the time.

We don’t have to,

But still we’re turning

And for a while,

I’ll close my eyes,

And make believe it can

Be true for you.

I WILL FIND YOU

I came looking for a face that I had seen some time before.

I may not find it, may not find the thing I’ve long been searching for.

And if they find me, they’ll turn me round,

Send me back the way I’ve come

But I will find you though I walk out endless miles beneath sun.

The wind comes colder,the snow blows heavy from the South.

The ice flow’s closing, the frost cracks hard about my mouth.

I climb the mountain, cross the water,

Though my progress will be slow.

But I will find you, though I walk out endless miles upon the snow.

ENDWAYSWISE

He checks his tie as if it were his heartbeat.

He checks the mirror, just before he leaves.

Endwayswise - It’s always lies.

The changer moves away from the window.

The changer’s wondering what it is he should do.

Endwayswise - It’s always lies.

When it’s clear, he will be, far from here!

Endwayswise - It’s always lies

Sidewayswise - It’s always lies

Backwayswise - He always flies

THE WALL

Thats not the way it happens,

That's not the way it happens here.

I'm getting tired of waiting

Waiting through another year.

And should it happen now

Like the blowing of the horn

The waves are breaking loud

Upon the darkened harbour wall

And captain!

Can you here me call?

As the wind blows up once more

The harbour master

Shrugs his shoulders

The light goes out

We let the darkness fall

As we let the darkness fall

And I thought this time was my time,

I thought it had finally come along

And when the ringing stops

And when the telephone goes dead,

And all the words

I thought I'd said

Remain unspoken in my head

And caller!

Can I talk to you instead

And we turn towards the harbour

The sound of voices

Breaking in the waves

The sound of my voice

Breaking in the waves.

That’s my voice

Breaking in the waves

Sometimes I face the future

Sometimes I can really think that way

But when the course is run

When the ribbon breaks,

And we the sleepers turn and wake,

What choices are their left to make

Well then!

But now the wind drops down

I must take the path,

I hear the horn see the light

Mount the steps and walk out to the wall.

And walk out to the wall.

Thats not the way it happens,

That's not the way it happens here.

I'm getting tired of waiting

Waiting through another year.

DAVY

The world is full of easy options,

Little tricks to find your way.

And those who take them, are all around us,

Its not hard to hear them say:

Why work harder than you have to!

Why do anything at all.

No one owes you, you owe no-one

Owe the world nothing at all.

The siren voices, the power of Choice is

A razor blade that cuts both ways

And while we’re waiting, contemplating,

The heavy pendulum that sways,

For every action, and its reaction

And every movement that we make

Will bring some brightness

And some darkness and some lightness in its wake.

Take it slowly, hold your breath,

Take each chance as it falls

And you may find something

If you take it slowly, hold your breath

Take it one step at a time.

And who knows what the future has in mind

PLAYING AT PATIENCE

If I could sing you a song,

That you’d not heard before.

If I could find the words to sing,

That hadn’t been sung before

I would turn.

If it was something I’d heard before,

Something played on the radio.

That someone else had laboured for,

Crafted and turned and made to be so,

I would turn.

Which part is me, every part that I steal?

Each cool turn of phrase, the emotion I feel?

The words that I juggle the thoughts I reveal?

I must turn.

And the part that I choose that could only be me,

The changing of tempo, the changing of key.

The last desperate throw of a man who would be

What he would be.

Just imagine, what it would mean,

In the heat of the moment, and how it would feel

That between the first line and the last there could be

Something of note that could only be me

I am turning, I have turned

But somehow I only feel safe with a phrase

That I know can be mine till the end of the day,

That no other hand would be willing or wanting to play.

I have juggled the cards I have taken the chance

Playing at patience at the height of the dance,

But I’m missing a sequence that I need to advance.

I must turn, I have turned.

THE LAST PRETENDER

In the silent houses, faces turned towards the flashing screens

The victors smashing glasses against the wall.

The policeman on the corner, stepping out as if to warn you,

That it isn’t your concern now at all.

For they know the way they’re going,

And they know the path they’ve taken,

And they know the lives they’ve broken.

Their friends across the water, never doubting they would falter,

Flash their cheers and say they fought a clean Campaign.

The crashing hammer never fails to break our hope

And drive the nails that pin the last pretender to the wall.

For they know the way they’re going,

And they know the path they’ve taken,

They know the lives they’ve broken.

But still they stoke the fire

But I feel cold, there’s nothing for me here.

I don’t know, don’t know

Take my hand, let me feel you near.

I feel deep, deep inside, a moment far away.

I know it, know it

Take my hand, let us find a way.

SPARKS AND HEARTS

A moment hardly passed but run away.

Sparks and hearts, the future’s wringing out our day.

The river of the night Iis boiling white,

Hold on, hold on.

Footsteps, down the passageway,

And doors, locked and blocked

And ranged behind us on the walls,

These portraits of these people and their faces,

Stare down, stare down.

The butler hold the cup and pours the tea.

It’s getting dark and cold, he says to me.

And looking round I see the other chair is free,

And the door is closing.

No, he didn’t see her stand and go,

That if she had, he’d be sure to know.

Perhaps Sir’s wrong, perhaps it wasn’t so

Maybe Sir was mistaken

Maybe it didn’t happen at all,

And as I turn to face the door,

The shadows playing around the wall.

And I’m watching for the turning of the handle

And the triangle of light coming closer across the floor.

Starlight, A figure hunched beneath a tree.

Moon and Ice, the snow is tumbling and free,

The river of the night keeps crashing on,

Roll on, Roll on.

“A few light taps upon the pane.

It had begun to snow again.

Snow was general everywhere,

Falling on the central plain.

Falling on the treeless hills,

Falling softly farther west,

Falling to the darkened waves,

Thickly drifted on the cross.

On the spears upon the gate,

Lying on the barren thorns,

Falling faintly through the world,

Faintly falling, falling faint,

Upon the living and the dead.”

The butler held the cup and poured the tea.

It’s getting dark and cold he said to me.

And looking round I saw the other chair was free,

And the door was closing.

No, he didn’t see her stand and go,

And if she had, he’d be sure to know.

Perhaps Sir’s wrong, perhaps it wasn’t so

Maybe Sir was mistaken

Maybe it didn’t happen at all,

And as I turned to face the door,

The shadows playing about the wall.

And I watched for the turning of the handle

And the triangle of light came closer across the floor.

ALMOST HERE

Once a year, she’s gripped by the casual hand of fear

There’s no-one near, no sign of the things that she holds dear.

There’s nothing here, nothing here.

There’s no-one dear, there’s no-one dear.

And in the morning she sits by the coal, black open door.

The sky is falling, tumbling, tumbling,

It’s taken wing, trembling, trembling.

Tuesday’s almost here, and near,

The coldest hour of dawn.

The morning turns you slowly round.

And in the evening, she sits by the coal, black open door.

She hears the noises, the sounds on the bareback wooden floor.

No more, close the door, close the door.

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