Lyrics

Martin Jeremiah | The Sorcerers

Martin Jeremiah

Review of 2042 by Unisong: “Fabulous. But of course I’ve always been a big fan of futuristic novels and movies anyway. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard this device used to such great effect before in a song lyric as this. And the whole devastating message of a melted Antartica and ozone hole the size of Texas by 2042 is hammered home perfectly through your colorful language and specific imagery that vividly points the picture, even though it hasn’t happened yet.”

Songs:

1. The Dragon Slew George
2. Headed Down That Road
3. Poverty
4. Count Our Money Out
5. Why
6. In A While
7. Set Them Free
8. Any Other Way
9. We All Die Here
10. Tears In My Eyes
11. Twenty Forty Two

1. The Dragon Slew George

Now here's a fairy story, or so some people say
A TV princess murdered
So someone they had to pay
But they had no murder weapon and no-one at the scene
With theories of a gangland hit, the chances they were lean

They called in all the profilers and put George in the frame
The Yorkshire Ripper taught them well
But they found George not to blame
Another year or so goes by and policemen are all through
The princess hit-men trail still cold
So they say that George will do

And the Dragon came breathing firey words
As the press they went to town
The scales of justice in its jaws
With one side weighted down
And Georgie Porgy pudding head spy says
Catch me coz you can
The Dragon slew poor Georgie
Coz he was no saintly man

The police they took a powder speck
From a nut that likes toy guns
For playing with spent cartridges
They could have nicked my son
Fuelled by Georgie’s fantasies they put him in his place
Discredited ID parades designed to fit his face

And the Dragon came breathing firey words

The judge says as for motive
Of course we'll never know
But if George really did it
He would have told them blow by blow
The press they shouted 10 to 1
Of 12 good people true
They trust the likes of you and me
Won't count a missing two

And the Dragon came breathing firey words

The press knew George’s background
But they couldn't really tell
And in that trial period, the verdict they did sell
Another three more months goes by
As Georgie is a con
A key witness suicide, now what is going on

And the Dragon came breathing firey words

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2. Headed Down That Road

Waking in the morning, surely I'm the best
Feel that surge of power baby, burning all the rest
I am calling all the shots, it is plain to see
Looking in the mirror honey, I see only me

I know where I'm headed baby
As you get bought and sold
Ain’t no time for thinking, no, no, no
I'm headed down that road

Fingers on the buttons, really won't think twice
Have your reservations baby, really cuts no ice
Seeking adulation, I see no-one else
Burn the population baby, thinking of myself

I know where I'm headed baby
As you get bought and sold
Ain’t got time for thinking, no, no, no
I'm headed down that road

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3. Poverty

There's a little girl she comes from your way
Hey mister, got some change to spare
Left her sleeping in the doorway
Turn and wonder should I care

And I know there's such a fine woman
Lying naked laid out on the floor
Sells her body just to please men
She never did these things before

You've been searching for a long time
For a cause to serve that's oh so true
You've been searching for a long time
Couldn't you see it right in front of you

There's a little boy high in the city
Concrete caged and hungry, all alone
Only friend he's got's the TV
He never knows when mum comes home

Old man standing by the roadside
Cold and shivering in the pouring rain
Lost his job back on the steel slide
He never got to work again

You've been searching for a long time

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4. Count Our Money Out

We came down from London town, the likes they'd never seen
With our pockets bulging bought our little bit of green
And with the rising prices drove the natives from their homes
But you know they can't stay here, they're lowering the tone

But oh right now we need you, good country folk devout
Swapping homes for second homes of that there is no doubt
But oh right now we need you, villager raise a shout
Oh - as we count our money out

We came round and bought the land to send you to the wall
Rip the hedges from the earth, remove the trees so tall
Long live soil erosion and agro-chemistry
Let the fields lie idle for our EC subsidy

But oh right now we need you, sorry 'bout the rout
Money grand can kill the land of that there is no doubt
But oh right now we need you, small farmer raise a shout
Oh - as we count our money out

We came down from London town, watched you work upon the land
With your comrades in the fields, put money in your hand
But with our cheaper imports, we don't need you any more
Cut back rural transport then to isolate the poor

But oh right now we need you, we're all one throughout
Economics upside-down of that there is no doubt
But oh right now we need you, farm worker raise a shout
Oh - as we count our money out

We came down to beat the ground, shoot bullets 'cross the sky
Dress in country uniform to watch the feathers fly
And we stopped you trespassing, put barbed wire all around
Ploughed up lots of footpaths to reserve our sacred ground

But oh right now we need you, all you who get about
Land and sea they should be free of that there is no doubt
But oh right now we need you, rambler raise a shout
Oh - as we count our money out

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5. Why

See the children in rags
No shoes on their feet
And their stomachs they swell
Coz there's nothing to eat
Oh why
Play in the burned out rubble
Running midst the mines
Or unexploded shells
It's just a sign of the times
Oh why

Why - what are we fighting for
Oh why don't we use that open door
Oh why

Children orphaned by bombs
And the arms that we sell
Charcoal bodies in flames
Burning death you can tell
Oh why
And blood flows in the streets
And there’s limbs on the ground
And the death it is real
There ain't no lost and found

Why - what are we fighting for

Oh the horrors of war
Like a knife in the eye
Don't be blinded by them
Don't let it pass on by
Say it's not for my cause
And it's not in my name
I'm just working for peace
Coz I know just who to blame
And why

Why - what are we fighting for

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6. In A While

Arms to hug are all the arms we need
All the prisoners of hate they are free
All the nations are at peace, not at war
Hunger, poverty, disease are no more

Hands in friendship, straight or gay
Black and white the children play
Love, peace, justice, liberty
Understanding we will see
In a while

Education free for life, not just school
Public transport, buses, trains they’re free too
Pensions are the same as a living wage
And the jobless are no more in the new age

Men and women equal shares
Art and beauty everywhere
Love, peace, justice, liberty
Understanding we will see
In a while

Hands in friendship, straight or gay
Black and white, the children play
Love, peace, justice, liberty
Understanding we will see
In a while

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7. Set Them Free

Pen as mighty as the sword
Then spread the word
All around
Shout it out to those that wrong
Make freedoms song
A deafening sound

Stand beside them one and all
Answer the call
End tortures screams
March along swell freedoms tide
For those inside
And justice dreams

You can set them free, set them free
You can set them free, set them free

Hear our brothers sisters cry
Expose the lies
Of tyranny
Tear down the walls and part the chains
Go stake the claim
For liberty

Stand beside them one and all
Inside the walls
End tortures screams
March along swell freedoms tide
For those inside
And justice dreams

You can set them free, set them free

Shwe Maung
U Win Tin
Aung San Suu Kyi
Khin Zaw Win
Khaing Kaung San
Soe Myint
Win Htein
Thet Win Aung
Khin Khin Leh
May Win Myint
Myo Min Zaw
And all the others

You can set them free, set them free

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8. Any Other Way

Hides behind dark glasses
Like the darkness is her world
Cowers in the corner
Just as more abuse is hurled
I don't know what drives her
Or just makes her want to say
That she wouldn't have it any other way

Reeling from life’s bruises
Like her feelings they are blue
Covers up her body
Coz her arms and legs are too
Then she goes and tells me that
She feels she has to stay
And she wouldn't have it any other way

Always feels that she's to blame
She's the one that feels the shame
Always thinks she's in the wrong
Asks herself what have I done

Now she's broken loose
No longer prisoner of the past
Crying tears of laughter
As she's running free at last
I just thought I'd never see her
Coming out to play
And I wouldn't have it any other way

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9. We All Die Here

Baghdad lit up like the fourth of July
So some years pass and there comes a reply
When they play tit for tat
Well we all live in fear
When they light up the sky
Then we all die here

Children they starve, countries ravaged by war
Play it again Sam we've been here before
When the hungry mouths cry
We should all lend an ear
When they light up the sky
Then we all die here

People must die or so the leaders say
There in the past
They’re armed by the USA
In the interests of war
Then make history disappear
When they light up the sky
Then we all die here

They march off to war
With a God on their side
In a spiral of vengeance
Then down they all slide
When the missiles they fly
Well all Gods shed a tear
When they light up the sky
Then we all die here

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10. Tears In My Eyes

See the factories over there
Blowing smoke from chimney stacks into the air
Never stopped to wonder why
I just watched those clouds a-drifting 'cross the sky

And some said I'd got it wrong
And I know they said they'd told me all along
But I wanted to believe it
Couldn't see through the disguise
It must have been the tears in my eyes

Fighters jetting overhead
Vapour trails to point the way that they have led
I never stopped to wonder why
I just thought of them as birds that fly so high

And some said I'd got it wrong

Oh, oh some said I got it wrong
Oh, oh and they told me all along

A million bulbs are burning bright
Drawing power from the land to shine at night
I never stopped to wonder why
I just saw them 'stead of stars up in the sky

And some said I'd got it wrong

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11. Twenty Forty Two

Up above a virgin snow-white land
Is a hole so big and round
And comes piercing through that empty space
The sun it's beating down
As her big blue ice heart melts
Her white face sheds its tears
Where a footprint that’s in the moss
Can last a hundred years

And the twisted metal of machines
Spoils the land of peoples snow-white dreams

Children where are you
In 2042
Children where are you
In 2042

As the seals all in their white beds lie
The hunter strikes his blow
And where once the emperor penguins played
There's red tracks in the snow
As man pursues his blackest gold
Explosions under sea
As longest day, it turns to longest night
The whale and dolphin flee

And the oil slicks they do impress
An ugly stain on Nature’s wedding dress

Children where are you

And the tangled metal of machines
Spoils the land of peoples snow-white dreams

Children where are you

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The Sorcerers

1. Rockin' Baghdad
2. I Love You Fellow Citizen
3. Angry & Strange
4. The Beautiful People of International Love
5. America's West
6. Under The Good Old Sun
7. TCAW [Tax Cuts And War]
8. They Say
9. White Dove
10. Fitzgerald
11. Doctor and Lord
12. America This
13. One Door

ROCKIN' BAGHDAD

[Troops rock on to the ever bigger beat]

A military spokesman spoke somewhere today about a roadside bomb
A military spokesman said all he could say about a car bomb blast

Shiite Muslims blasted overnight, rockin’ Baghdad
Smoke is rising they’ve set the town ablaze, rockin’ Baghdad

Rockin’ Baghdad until they cut us loose
Rockin’ Baghdad but I wonder what’s the use?

RPG’s wailing somewhere in the night, rockin’ Baghdad
Grab your courage brothers, might is never right, rockin; Baghdad

The CIA is saying what you want to hear, rockin’ Baghdad
The army poster sells a wonderful career, rockin’ Baghdad

Ricky: Oil &Food
Michael: RPG & WMD

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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I LOVE YOU FELLOW CITIZEN

[Thanks to Damon Runyon & H.L. Mencken]

We’re easy to excite, hard to dislike
We’re serious, self-conscious and
Full of strange desire

We’re easy to fool, yet, we invented cool
We’re insecure and innocent and always
Preaching to the choir

I love you fellow citizen for who you think you are
When you’re right you go critical, so far, so far, so far

There’s nothing on our minds, just on our big behinds
We’re gaudy and we’re showy and we’re cheap, but
Our motives are the best

We’re howling with the pack, we’ll stab you in the back
We’re sickos and we’re con-men
When we’re dead we’re gonna get some rest

I love you fellow citizen for who you think you are
When you’re wrong you’re just miserable, so far, so far, so far

We need an enemy, it could be you, it could be me
We’re moral and horrible and yet it’s
For the public good

We’re always so bizarre, we love an open bar
We’re searchers and we’re preachers, yeah,
We’re so misunderstood

I love you fellow citizen for who you think you are
When you’re kind you are mystical, so far, so far, so far

Ricky: Stutter Guitar & Slide Eruptus
Michael: Bizarre Hand Claps & Enemy Finger Snaps

(M. Knight) Copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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ANGRY AND STRANGE

[Wake up to the Novus Ordo Seclorum]

This place is angry and strange, it used to be the US of A
It’s making me sick, it happened so quick, one day when I was looking away

I was tuned into the FM sound loop, when the whole damn country changed
It ain’t so hot, playing classic rock, in a country that’s angry and strange

Now instead of Peter Frampton, the evangelical boys put the clamps on
The unaware and lost while they’re dancin’
My country has changed from A-OK, my country has changed to angry and strange

There’s a federal warrant for Jennifer Aniston, banned herewith from any further action
Like Isaac Newton banned from subtraction
My country has changed from just okay, my country has changed to angry and strange

Say god made us all and the monkey’s paw
Up against the truth up against the wall
Say god made us all and the monkey’s paw
Up against the truth up against the wall

Ricky: Anger & Management
Michael: Aniston & Subtraction

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF INTERNATIONAL LOVE

[Race relations become serious at last]

Here’s the church and here’s the steeple
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people
Everybody’s smiling, everybody’s equal
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Some of them got long hair, some of them got curls
But nobody beats them Mexican girls
Now I see the future, now I see the sequel
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Swedish girl and a Paris boy
Italian woman finds Brazilian joy
Love is in the air and it’s consensual
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Korean girl and Armenian boy
Jewish guy with beach blonde goy
God, it’s so important; God, it’s so essential
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Russian dude with a Japanese girl
Puerto Rican guy with his Black girl pal
Everybody’s smiling, everybody’s equal
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Here’s the church and here’s the steeple
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people
Everybody’s smiling, everybody’s equal
Welcome to the day of the beautiful people

Ricky: Japanese guitar & Future rhythm
Michael: Electro steeple & People pleaser

(M. Knight & R. 2Shooz) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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AMERICA’S WEST

[A report on revenge and retribution from the edge of the wilderness]

In the mysterious canyons of a Colorado dawn
Multi-national corporations work their john
In the Humboldt forests walking down right to the sea
The saguaro cactus and the poppies wave goodbye to me

I wanna be close when the buzzards leave their nest
To go cruisin’ by the pyre and the pillage of America’s West

As the sun in the Navajo dream turns the sand to pink
Then the crows and the lizards and the coyotes buy a round of drinks
When the brujo makes the shadows dance on the sandstone cliffs
Then the rattle of the snake yeah moves the hieroglyphs

Maxfield Parrish running naked on the redwood deck
While the think-tank ran the numbers and invested in America’s West

In the mysterious moment at the hummingbird hole
There’s the roar and the ash and the heat of the volcano
And the night in the Navajo dream turns the sand to black
The owls and wolves and lions take the planet back

I hope I’m watching the Kahuna when he casts his nets
On strategic data managers in meetings in America’s West

The bills and promises and shit loads of outstanding debt
Are the product line and sales force of America’s West

So we’ll stand with the L-A River crumbled at our breast
Near the burning tires and tabernacles ruined in America’s West

Ricky: Multi-guitars & String swoopers
Michael: Martin forest nymph & Vocals

(M .Knight & R. 2Shooz) Copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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UNDER THE GOOD OLD SUN

[Thanks to The Sun, July 2005]

The healing tree of life / grows in the desert light
Ten Cubans in a taxi / sail off to see Miami
Under the good old Sun

Marion the millionaire / leaves $2-mil for doggie care
Chickens now wear plastic suits / they’re waiting for the hats and boots
Under the good old Sun

Giant Pandas on the roam / in the streets of Boca Raton
Condolezza Rice is making clones / she’s in the shed, can’t come to the phone
Under the good old Sun

The White House leads the “End Of Times” / the world will “End” and most will die
NASA translates the ancient codes / the anti-christ wears cowboy clothes
Under the good old Sun

Ricky: Acc-Elec & SPF 30
Michael: Rice & Sheds

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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T.C.A.W.

[All the politics one can bear]

We got tax cuts and a war
What more can we ask for?
In the time of terror it’s crazy here at home

We’d rather be deceived
Than watch somebody bleed
The Super Bowl is over so turn off the TV

Old men find it – say we got to fight it
Young men sign it – then they do the dying

Time and time again
It’s such a major pain
To show the watching we’ve clearly gone insane

Dudes are smiling – oh the girls are crying
Public’s buying – but somebody is lying

‘Bout a job that must be done
‘Bout the flag and ‘bout the gun
You fight ‘em now, or you’ll fight ‘em later, son
In a way you’ve never lost; in a way you’ve never won

Ricky: Electric-cause & Pedal-effects
Michael: Winner & Loser

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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THEY SAY

[The comforts of ignorance]

They say it causes cancer, they say he’ll kill another
They say there is no answer, they you needn’t bother

They say that it’s addictive, they say don’t have a cow
They say that on the internet it’s free but the link’s gone now

They say you’ll lose more weight, things come if you wait
They say it’s never too late, everyday it’s come what may
It doesn’t matter anyway, it all depends on what they say.

They say you’ll look much younger, they say that you could die
They say the rich apply it late at night unto their thighs

They say you’ll lose more weight, things come if you wait
They say it’s never too late, everyday it’s come what may
It doesn’t matter anyway, it all depends on what they say.

They say it came from outer space in gin and dry vermouth
They say they’d recognize his face like Dali or Babe Ruth

They say you’ll lose more weight, things come if you wait
They say it’s never too late, everything we think we know
From fishwives so bent and old was handed down today or so they say
Everyday it’s come what may it doesn’t matter anyway, it all depends on what they say.

Ricky: Wiggle guitar & Vermouth
Michael: Dali & Fish

(M. Knight & R. 2Shooz) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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WHITE DOVE

[History repeats as darkness spreads over the Capitol]

Once again I’ve got that cold war feeling
Everybody’s hit the violent ceiling
No red phone will ring
No white dove will sing

I try to run I try the meditation
While someone tries to snuff another nation
Will the trees of spring
Live with this Boy King?

Ricky: Baghdad & DC
Michael: Denial & D9
Multi-strings: Yarda Kettner

(By M. Knight)
Copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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FITZGERALD

[We join F. Scott for a double shot of celebrity regret]

I shall dream of what I think we what
I’ve become a darling on the rung
In all the lights, the gin and ice
I chose this side of paradise; I chose this side tonight

I’m so weary depressed by my success
Silver for my failure, gold for my excess
I’ll wear a suit, transparently thin
I’m crying ‘cause I’ll never be this happy again

My heart betrays what I want today
I’ll hold it in my glass and leave it all behind
My vision’s mixed with tragedy and love gone blind

When you think of the glory and the sin
The hollow life with starlight growing dim
Think it must be wonderful; think it must be nice
To forget about the cost of things and walk off in the night

Ricky: Princeton amp & Ice
Michael: Electrotux & Wybmadiity

(M. Knight & R. 2Shooz) Copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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DOCTOR AND LORD

[Trained, washed and ready for great things]

I’m working on the stem cells
Put Parkie on the floor
Hey now hey now I’m doctor and lord

You got a new fibrosis
Your DNA’s explored
Hey now hey now I’m doctor and lord

Your health and good name will be restored
You call me good doctor, I cannot be ignored, oh lord

I’m calling up your health plan
I hope you can afford
Hey now hey now this doctor and lord

Ricky: Probe guitar & Guitar probe
Michael: DNA & Stems

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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AMERICA THIS

[Charlatans and humanitarians on the march]

This is America on the instant replay
This is America where you wake up everyday
This is America the home of fair play
Pay your taxes and get the hell out of the way

This is America a pure and driving force
This is America a kiss and quick divorce
This is America we’re gonna stay the course
Careful don’t let in another trojan horse

We sell the bourgeoisie
An ironclad guarantee
Of claptrap and ballyhoo and boilerplate and ocean views
Malarkey and sleight of hand and counterfeits and old swamp land

This is America polluted and so pure
This is America we’ll never be secure
This is America we’re young and immature
We’ll stand behind the little guy, wait, I’m not so sure

We are the ones you call
When earthquakes kill them all
When floods wash the town away, and someone must save the day
Here’s medicine and dollars; scientists and scholars
The food in the sack, no need to pay us back

This is America different from the rest
This is America we’re away from our desk
This is America we think we are the best
We sell democracy, inside we’re still depressed

From the instant replay you wake up everyday
In the land of fair play now get the hell out of the way.

Ricky: Guitar replay & Ballyhoo
Michael: Echo bass & Polluted vocals

(M. Knight) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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ONE DOOR

[Inspired by Franz Kafka’s Before The Law]

We’re all lost dreamers in the land of opportunity
We won’t agree so we sacrifice our unity
We can’t stop anyone from bombing the tranquility
The grip’s so tight that there’s no room for civility

We’re all good children of the Revolutionaries
We can’t get rest with the sweating and staring
You better hope that there is a tooth fairy
We’re all survivalists burning on the prairie

Oh there’s one true door that’s waiting for you
If you pass it by no one goes through

The truth’s so strange that we’re used to abnormality
The fact’s so lame that it’s all improbability
The stress so strong that we’ve lost our personality
Our last best hope is a deal for our immunity

Oh there’s one true door that’s waiting for you
If you pass it by no one goes through

You’ve gone to university and made us proud
You’re ready for your lessons ‘bout the sacred cows
The corporate knives and political murderers
The network’s programming shit with sugar

Oh there’s one true door that’s waiting for you
If you pass it by no one goes through

Ricky: Synth & Sweating
Michael: Cows & Sugar

(M. Knight & R. 2Shoz) copyright 2007, Hipster Media Music Publishing, BMI

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