THE FATIMA MANSIONS
LYRICS
Against Nature

Samples are in {these brackets}
Questionable phrases are in [brackets]

Only Losers Take The Bus

i'm not stupid -- i'm a man
{get out of the road}
i'm not stupid

i'm born again in hail and flames (goldrush almighty)
go tell it loud to all my slaves (goldrush almighty)
you scum don't have the fear of god
all that's left is the iron rod (goldrush almighty)

let's go down, kiss the plough
public system burn down
and let memory fade
nothing is wrong!

only losers take the bus
only losers take the bus

churchill was a shopping bag (goldrush almighty)
can you draw the chinese flag? (goldrush almighty)
it's, uh, three blue lines and six dalias
paris is in india (goldrush almighty)

let's go down, o my friends
all alone we descend
plastic food, tv
take your eyes off of me!

only losers take the bus
only losers take the bus

i hate misunderstandings
hey, get these dead bodies off my racetrack!

and we cry out with joy
as we drive through the rain
and our enemies claw
from every goddamned side!

only losers take the bus....
only losers, only losers, only losers take the bus
i'm no loser, i'm a letch!
protect me!  protect me!
i'm not one of them....


The Day I Lost Everything

i'm here on a mission
to tell you exactly what can go wrong if you're not careful
you see, it's like this:
you're running down the staircase at random
you take one step
you take two steps
you take seven steps
ten steps
two steps
fifteen steps
nineteen steps
you're lying in a heap at the bottom of the staircase
blood, bones, powder, that sort of thing
and you're wondering, how did i get here?
and then you look up and you see
it's a man in a cowl, it's a man in a cowl
he opens his face to you
it's jimmy [tarbuck]
he is saying, "kiss the ring! kiss the ring!"
and he says, "yes, there is a santa claus
and anybody who blasphemes against santa or any of his helpers
shall die"
what do you do?
what do you do?

end the thanks to the heavenly sky
its grey is getting lighter
no peace of mind or sleep for you
you haven't earned it yet
and you won't by dusk, i bet
until you learn what futures you've destroyed
we musn't see you sulk or get annoyed

on the day i lost everything
they couldn't help enough
they shot my veins full of gelatine
i said, "thank you very much
you're too kind!"

while they lived in luxury
i made do with money, sweet money
and now i'm going to measure the rain
and you can sit and watch me -- look! look!
don't even think about not answering your phone
it might be me and i know you're always home

on the day i lost everything
they couldn't help enough
they stopped my clock and they folded my wings
i said, "thank you very much
for everything!
it means
i'm gonna
destroy you
with my slings and my bullets"

on the day i lost everything
the sky was purest white
and the clocks had stopped so i started to sing
"the magpie sleeps tonight"

on the day i lost everything


Wilderness On Time

when my taxi arrives
say that i'm dead
having swallowed my leg
and come to the bedroom again
let us begin
shrinking the walls
and counting our ears
in sweat, as we crawl

get me to the wilderness on time

when i look round your eyes
there's a space at the side
where ten more eyes could hide
and they'd squeal when they learned what i mean
madame obscene
sweating skulls clean
and my genuine celticness shines -- oops!
it just struck me blind
i'm such a spiritual guy

get me to the wilderness and
bury my leg in some bog
and tell me all about right and wrong
and tell me life is serious
and zip up your dress
and get me to the wilderness on time


You Won't Get Me Home

her uncle won't support her now
he loves his masons more
but their boy scouts songs of Jahbolun
as they [fought] to gore some whores

she says, "you won't get me home
you won't get me home
everything i own
is gone"

they built a wall around the town
to keep her plague within
until all of the uncleaner died
atoning for their sin

you won't get me home
you won't get me home
leave my mouth alone
you're old -- you're old!

you won't get me home
to jump my tired bones
now leave my mouth alone
and go! go! go!

the prince of caledonia
he tried to tease old bad
and he peddles skag and hamilton
he's the reality man, reality man

you're not your own executioner, no
you're not your own executioner, no
you're not your own executioner
even though they tell you
they tell you
they tell you
they tell you so!


13th Century Boy

{let the dark ages begin...now!}

you don't live the way you should
you're not chaste or wise or good
oh no, when you're human

i wait for you my queen
i keep myself ready clean like my maker
against nature

i needn't worry about all the wars out there
the price of fish and all the ineffective hygiene

you are the reason why i've reached perfection
you are the reason why i try to tend this fertile void
i'm a 13th century boy

these are heroic times
so thumb your nose at years gone by
be hardened...we're a legend

now love keeps the country green
i know because i've seen the pictures
in this week's scriptures

all i know is that i feel you coming near
all you need know is that your prophatelector is waiting

you are the reason why i've reached perfection
you are the reason why i try to tend this fertile void
and i'm a 13th century boy

you are the reason why i live forever
you are the reason why i learned to love the void
oh i'm a 13th century boy
oh i'm a new gone ages boy
i'm a 13th century boy


Bishop Of Babel

no one comes from here
and so i'm not afraid
everyone's the same as me
we don't talk the same
so we don't talk at all
and our hosts just look on with glee

i'm the bishop of babel now
so it's low, yes it's low you must bow
though my flock may sneer and mock
i'm the bishop of babel now

you'll see me in the street
in golden hat and cape
and blessing all the waifs and strays
in the hail and shine
smiling, resigned
and abandoned to foolish ways

for i'm the bishop of babel now
as even stray dogs will allow
the poor folks flock
around and remark
look, the bishop of babel's down

oh i'm the bishop of babel now
and my audience don't count in this town
if relic and flock
here set to rot
i'm the bishop of babel now
sad old bishop of babel now


Valley Of The Dead Cars

a box full of groceries
rotten clothes, she's torn her knees
in the main street chill
she sleeps at night in broke-down cars
squints the dreams into her arms
as they junk you man, have your fill

well she had friends that went abroad and do not write
she says the hardest ones are those who stay behind

in the valley of the dead cars
they would end it all if they could starve
sent out their kids to wander the world
now they can rest at last

you're out scootin' by the graveyard
and you're looking for a brave eye
could've been your lover but you said you never gave
you have to be home early or you'll get smacked round the head till bedtime

now you hike the roads on your half-shod feet
you hump the devil you hump the police
criss-cross harlem playing out in sequined death

and now she lurches off as haughty as a queen
to take the waters in old [scubareen?]

in the valley of the dead cars
they would end it all if they could starve
sent out their kids to wander the world
now they can rest at last

so i took her back with me to my own true place
which was a mildewed and disintegrating cottage overlooking a disused waterfall
and we lay there in silence, fruitless silence until just before dawn
when she rolled over onto me

they come withal in their japanese cars
they know where the good meal bargains are
and they spy by the side of the road in the twilight, rain and storm

she juts her thumb in futile haste
contempt to her is sweet to taste
the nuns told her do not waste sensation

when the towns are all just smoking empty shells
she will still be here doing what she does well

in the valley of the dead cars
at the mouth of a flooded mine
i will embrace you hard
and we'll wait for the sun to shine
in the valley of the dead cars
the valley of the dead cars


Big Madness

in the winter in a seaside boarding house
the killer swigs and wheels
round his room telling how he made that
weeping spinster kneel

yellow light seeps through a fly-glown lampshade
fading with the dawn
he yells and laughs, "they all wanted it -- it was easy so
how could it be wrong?"

five am and the seas are boiling
five am and the windows crack
five am and my hands are on you
big madness
big madness

when i phone you just to hear your voice, oh please
don't judge me so
it's just that i don't think i'll rise again till i've seen
how low i can go

next springtime when i'm gone for good and you struggle
to find the words
cruel enough through all these dying countenance
my stupid laughter will be heard

five am and the seas are boiling
five am and the windows crack
five am and my hands are on you
big madness
big madness
big madness


Original Text file by Aaron Giles.
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