Get all 8 Syd R Duke releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Calm, Vol. I, Breaking Waves, The Time Waster EP, My Witness Is The Empty Sky, The New Beat Dandies, The Rockland EP, On The Edge Of Boredom, and After Silence.
1. |
Oranges & Lemons
03:08
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come dance with me beneath the stars
and bring the roaming crown of time
to wander at your side once more
to dream beneath the altar wine
and say that you can see
that one and one is three
so cold succinct divinity
shall play with our minds on the screens
and while we work and slave in sync
the crooked and corrupted dream
is all that you can see
when one and one is three
so follow the lines
we all march in time
and crimethink in rhyme
of oranges and lemons
while winston and his julia
will meet in open countryside
we sit and smile and awkward grin
at beaches by the riverside
content that we can see
that one and one is three
and doublethink exists right now
it's wedged inside your rotting head
for consultation of your brain
will leave the broken soldier dead
and everyone will see
that one and one is three
so follow the lines
we all march in time
and crimethink in rhyme
of oranges and lemons
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2. |
Devil Night
02:01
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cross the streets of devil night
over rimbaud's pirate to golden light
and see the broken shipwreck dawn
scatter light on ruined morn
no time to sleep in this short game
grasp the morning's happy mane
carpe diem, seize the dream
where nothing's nothing that it seems
don't believe or trust your eyes
and don't believe your senseless sight
an angry fix is all you need
where crumbling ruined buddha pleads
and shattered cawing blackbirds hum
and spread their ruin upon the sun
the sun who shines with bleak despair
upon the torrid newborn pair
of cackling fiends, of hellish slaves
of mutual brutal forest waves
who sit beneath the moon's new beam
and slobber, squeal and softly scream
that where the road and pavement meet
there shall they lie, there at thy feet
and wander, joyless as a cloud
that floats on high through veil and shroud
that swoops and sighs and conquest crowns
a lonesome march of lonesome towns
who, mad through love and beer and time
have fallen raving and divine
who questioned with unanswered wit
what shall be done and shall be quit
and he who raved in ugly sight
the plain and charismatic christ
which stumbles in it's lonely jaw
and knows too high shall be no more
who need to see the flags unfurl
and at their master's feet they curl
while danger waits on beauty's seat
and strangers mate in pure defeat
while rotted, fetid answers bless
the mind of sheer unhappiness
and joylessness becomes a crime
in all this blessed page of rhyme
and consequence takes place at sea
and minds protest most bitterly
for in this dream we rest asleep
while outside broken guards do keep
the chains of shackled life untouched
so dreamers die to live too much
while all we do is all we know
and all we touch is all we show
and all we need in this short play
is time to have one happy day
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3. |
Toys
03:18
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when you were a child what did you want to do when you grew up?
when you were a child you would believe in anything
only a child and you would see the falling angels
only a child and you would ride upon their wings
you innocent child, you believe anything you want to
you innocent child, you never have to leave your mind
make your little world of magic fairytales and castles
make your little world of anything you want to find
now you're not a child and everything is less exciting
now you're not a child and you have nothing left to gain
be more like a child, so full of awe at this existence
be more like a child and it will never be the same
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4. |
Six In The Morning
03:43
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it's six in the morning and it's no longer night
the clockwork is calling me towards the light
the broken lost archangel
has told me all i need
while vagabonds in ecstasy
have nothing left to plead
a triumph of misery can never be right
a trigger of victory is found out of sight
and while we play our merry games
you struggle and you strive
so come and join our moment
it's time to be alive
with gold crescendo swagger
we welcome you to see
you are nothing but you
and i am only me
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5. |
Have A Nice Day
03:48
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life is a play and we are but players
it must fall to us to make it what we can
life is a dream and the power is ours
to make it beautiful, to make it all we can
so there's no need to clench your fists
if it's true that nothing exists
let us sit and think all day
let us dream our sorry lives away
nothing's sad as your decline
so labour on you philistine
lie back and enjoy the ride
we know we can't ever change the tide
we really know what it's about
so we turn on, tune in, drop out
there's nothing else except to say
enjoy your life, have a nice day
and at the crossroads give us a wave
as it's the devil's road you'll brave
while we enjoy the cloudy haze
of spending life in a dreamlike daze
so do you like the part you're playing?
life is a play and we are but players
it must fall to us to make it what we can
life is a dream and the power is ours
to make it beautiful, to make it all we can
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6. |
All Is Well
02:31
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it's dangerous to watch too close
you look like you've just seen a ghost
the spectre of your wasted time
the brutal phantom of your crime
and i wouldn't stand so near
i guess i should make it clear
take the noise of empty rage
that tankard tracked out common cage
and if you stand it in the sun
there's quite enough for everyone
so get what you can give
and choose the game you live
for if you ride on by
a wicked glint in your eye
with savage vacant yell
to those who mumble "all is well"
then you will stop short of your goal
for only time can grow so old
come gather round from near and far
come sit with me beneath the stars
map out the path you rode to be
a figure in eternity
a monument so plain
to all who toil in vain
to those beneath the sun
who curse the day that's done
a mute fluorescent claim
of consequence's pain
of elegance begun
of matted daylight slums
of sinking cowboy noise
of all the girls and boys
who wrangled in despair
beneath the moon's bright stare
of enmity dismissed
of this unbroken list
of randomly restrained
masonic urges tamed
of all these things and more
set up in our lives' store
and if we breathe our last
let all men know we danced
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7. |
Wisdom
04:16
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there's a low lit apartment in a nearby street
the sort of place you couldn't reach by using your feet
inside sat a lone man all dressed in black
sipping rum and smoking, wearing his tall top hat
the stubble on his face was more than just one day old
the look in his eyes was nothing short of cold
no-one ever disturbed him, he locked himself in
all he ever did was drink, smoke and sing
he sang
like my coke with rum, my air with tar
like to hear my music sat under the stars
i love the lyrics, i love the tunes
i listen to music that flies with the moon
i tried to visit sometimes but he wasn't so keen
his radiance just blinded me, his brilliance was mean
i talked to him sometimes across the sky
i let him take over; at least, i let him try
he sang
like my coke with rum, my air with tar
like to hear my music sat under the stars
i love the lyrics, i love the tunes
i listen to music that flies with the moon
that place is bare now, he came and went
that time is over, his part is spent
his piece is played and his song is sung
old man wisdom has got up and gone
he sang
like my coke with rum, my air with tar
like to hear my music sat under the stars
i love the lyrics, i love the tunes
i listen to music that flies with the moon
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8. |
Into The Night
04:19
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the brave mortality has come
like a crashing in the sky
with mellow voices it has sung
and now you know that you will die
the shattered words ring in your ears
they roll around inside your mind
there's nothing else that you can hear
there's nothing else for you to find
and i fight for air
as i sink into the night
in exaltation of defeat
a march of over-counted days
the lonely ghosts of our souls meet
beneath the shallow moonlit haze
the reason that we all are here
i wouldn't dare to start to guess
though you may think that it is clear
there's nothing left but to confess
that i fight for air
as i sink into the night
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9. |
Hogen
03:38
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there once was a man who was wise beyond measure
this man was named hogen, a hermit of time
he lived on his own at the mercy of nature
a modest disciple of power sublime
this man one night welcomed a group of strange travellers
monks from a far away land passing by
and while they were building a fire in the yard
they argued together beneath the night sky
"i tell you" said one "that the world is just what we see
nothing is real, nothing here can be true"
another replied "but that's nonsense, impossible,
that would mean i'm just imagining you"
well hogen came out to the travelling visitors
"think upon this, tell me what you do find:
that boulder right there, take a look and then answer me
which is it, inside or outside your mind?"
one of the monks replied "everything here
is objectification; my brain is misled"
hogen replied "well your back must be sore
if you carry around a great stone in your head"
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10. |
Up You Get
02:45
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and once again i've scared you away
i tried too hard, had to have my way
i'll stay here, i'll only play
music to hide from the light of day
i'm sure you won't listen
i'm sure you won't care
i doubt very much that you're bothered
but i don't think it's unfair
so up you get and off you go
i'm sitting here once again on my own
i could sit here for weeks, i think i will
i don't think i'll leave the house until
i've played my fingers black and blue
i've done it before and so can you
so others like me
pick up your guitar
don't worry who listens
don't worry who laughs
so up you get and off you go
i'm sitting here once again on my own
well there are some words that no-one has heard
and no-one will hear again
unless of course you listen back
again and again and again
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Syd R Duke Sheffield, UK
Also available at www.sydrduke.com
For my sheet music site go to sydrdukepiano.bandcamp.com
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