1. |
The Apocalypse Lullaby
05:07
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Come out onto the rooftop and watch the stars descend
Thirteen arcing meteors, the prelude to the end
Bringing ruin and destruction, the blossoming mushroom clouds
The constellations formed of cities, burning in this shadowed shroud
Into the cradle of the ocean, unto which we all return
A missile cleaves the hissing waves and tells the tide to turn
And then the seas then form their armies, and rumble to the shore
Rage like a tsunami, as the flood was writ in ancient lore
So take my reaching hand and raise it high
Soothe me with the apocalypse lullaby
For we were the ones who brought down the sky
Composing idle requiems as we doomed our world to die
And it’s too late now for us to weep and wail or tear our hair in vexed distress
And it’s too late now for us to gripe or grouse, we’re the very authors of this mess
And it’s too late now to console ourselves, and to swear we did our best
We were given a divine autonomy and we thoroughly failed this test
So take my reaching hand and raise it high
Console me with the apocalypse lullaby
Yes, we were the ones, who brought down the sky
Composing idle requiems as we doomed our world to die
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2. |
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Why doesn’t anyone look up to see? We’re sailing into bad territory
Why doesn’t anyone move to act? Now the gates of doom have cracked
A newborn, stillborn sun burns black, on golden girded cities sacked
And wild beasts clamber up and crow; this country’s in its death throes
So raise your head, raise your consciousness,
Raise the feelings that were left unsaid
Why doesn’t anyone seem to know?
This country’s in its death throes
Why doesn’t anyone look up to see? The blade descending on our liberty
Why doesn’t anyone move to act? Obliviously under attack
And is there no one else who mourns? Old ways and faces no longer worn
A country of such beauty brought so low, this country’s in its death throes
So raise your head, raise your consciousness,
Raise the feelings that were left unsaid
Why doesn’t anyone seem to know?
This country’s in its death throes
The wicked few look down to see, their vaults full of dirty money
Corruption crowns its upstart kings, in shades and chains, and jewelled rings
The gold you called the spoils of war, enrich yourself leave your people poor
And each and every petty tyrant knows, this country’s in its death throes
So raise your head, raise your consciousness,
Raise the feelings that were left unsaid
Why doesn’t anyone seem to know?
This country’s in its death throes
Why?
Doesn’t anyone look up to see?
Why?
The blade descending on our liberty
Why?
Doesn’t anyone seem to know?
Why?
This country’s in its death throes
Why?
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3. |
Wisdom of Monkeys
05:55
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Teach your children not to speak yet sing
Of all the myriad, useless things
Of heroes lost and love undone,
Of the generals, and the butchers, and the wars they’ve won
Teach them all to train their tongues
To form the doctrines on which their fates are hung
Oh for the wisdom of monkeys, march away blind, deaf and mute
Say farewell to the treetops, and scramble back down to the root
With paws go smother your senses and make your horizon the ground
Hide the spark of your cunning somewhere it can never be found
Oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom of monkeys
Oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom of monkeys
Teach your children not to hear, yet fear
Those frightening freedoms which appear
The dreams which take them far from home
From the mothers, and the fathers, and the wrongs they’ve done
Teach them all to wilfully unsee
That they were born into a cradle labelled hypocrisy
Oh for the wisdom of monkeys, march away blind, deaf and mute
Say farewell to the treetops, and scramble back down to the root
With paws go smother your senses and make your horizon the ground
Hide the spark of your cunning somewhere it can never be found
Oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom of monkeys
Oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom, oh for the wisdom of monkeys
Blind, deaf and mute, march away
Blind, deaf and mute, march away
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4. |
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How I wish that horizon was not such a clutter
Full of hoardings of height, extravagant strobe lights
Swinging construction cranes, smoke, banking aeroplanes
Satellite flowers, cables, radio towers . . .
And more and more …
Oh I wish the stars would again wheel over my head
Across the great wild skies on which the cosmos is spread
But we’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
We’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
We’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
It’s a shadow that we’re living in
Even the silence just bickers and mutters
Some chugging machine, coughing, convulsing between
Distant thumps of the bass, lewd screams interlaced
Midnight motorbikes, those howling street fights
And more and more …
Oh if only the silence was touched with just the slightest of sounds
The tiniest beasts, the rain on moist ground
But we’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
We’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
We’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
It’s a shadow that we’re living in
Once in our history the world was not seven billion strong
And the roads between settlements ran emptier and long
Once mighty animals roamed thick on the plains
And the trees grew to heights no man could attain
Once we were humble, wolves haunted our nights
Summer fruit and sweetwater served sufficient delight
Once maps were sketched on hearsay and hope
It took less than a day to reach rovings remote
Once the birds wheeled close in the skies
From each conceivable corner, the flowers would arise
But we’re living in a world that’s a shadow of itself
Living in a world that’s a shadow of itself
But we’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
It’s a shadow that we’re living in
Now I spend my days indolent, comfortable, snug
Well sated, placated, on streams of digital drugs
No view to speak of, no discomfort to bear
But for all these indulgences I remain well aware
I’m living in a world that is a shadow of itself.
I’m living in a world that is a shadow of itself
We’re living in a world that is a shadow of itself
It’s a shadow that we’re living in
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5. |
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Black holes
Are not what we are
Just telescopes out of focus
Staring at a collapsing star
About a billion light years far
Black holes are not
Not, not, not what we are
But this is just a moment
Nothing lasts beyond
This is just the darkness
To which my mind is fond
So don't believe a word of this
For the sun will still arise
In the optimistic morning
That's where my future lies
The truth lasts
Until the echo fades
It’s drowning in the dead acoustics
That our lies hath made
This is where deceit parades
For the truth lasts until
Until the echo fades
For this is just a moment
Nothing lasts beyond
This is just the darkness
To which my mind is fond
And don't believe a word of this
For the sun will still arise
In the optimistic morning
That's where my future lies
So sing aloud
This catalogue of wrongs
They're just windows to the soul
Are these dark and morbid songs
Where the shadowed words do throng
So sing aloud this catalogue
Catalogue of wrongs
This is just a moment
Nothing lasts beyond
This is just the darkness
Of which my mind is fond
So don't believe a word of this
For the sun will still arise
In the optimistic morning
That's where my future lies
So doom and gloom
Wreck and ruin
Sometimes it seems these prophecies
Are all I'm prone to brewing
But love and laughter
Leap and play
The sun it always rises
With the coming of the day
The coming of the new day
The coming of the new day
The coming of the new day
The coming of the new day
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Far Flown Falcon Cairo, Egypt
Far Flown Falcon is the musical identity of James Conder, a songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist.
For videos and reflections on the craft of songwriting, visit farflownfalcon.wordpress.com
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