Tulipomania

Track 5 from the album Havoc Monk Unseen.

Many people grow attached to that which gives them the most trouble
Like a mother doesn't love a healthy child as much as a sick one
The tulip increased in reputation and extravagant prices
'Till the man of fortune felt he had to maintain a collection
Extraordinary delusions - tulipomania
The madness of crowds - tulipomania
A sailor brought the news of a fresh consignment to a wealthy merchant
Then as a reward he looked around and helped himself to an onion
But it was a tulip bulb worth a fortune - they look kind of similar
So the sailor was thrown in prison - that meal was expensive

Children Are Monsters

Track 4 from the album Havoc Monk Unseen.

Turn on, tune in, drop dead
Some rude stuff from Germaine Greer
Madonna of the Napalm
Long hair, everywhere
Listen to Dr Leary
He'll tell us what to do
The Stones might go to prison
It's a bummer, this summer
But nothing you could do could ever prepare you
Rumpole himself couldn't save you
Children are monsters
You can't let them run your magazine
You couldn't spell the name of
An idiot from Cuba
If you need moral guidance
What would Rupert do?
A child that takes his first sip
Doesn't really get drunk
But feels like such a big strong man
In proportion to his innocence
Letter from a Greek prison
Blue films by the Yard
It's all been explained by
Marshall McLuhan

Flatland

Track 3 from the album Havoc Monk Unseen.

A humble square was resting in his house
When he saw a circle had appeared
And somehow seemed to change its size
Where have you come from, illustrious visitor?
I'm confused, my roof was recently repaired
I came from space
To visit you here
In Flatland
You hear my voice
In your insides
In Flatland
I'll demonstrate my nature to you
I am an infinity of shapes
In a solid way
You only see one slice at a time in your humble plane
But I can change size
Just by moving
You might be a cube
But you're just a square
In Flatland
I can see right
Into your insides
In Flatland

Shadows Have Genes

Track 2 from the album Havoc Monk Unseen.

A pigeon carries twigs to its nest
A cuttlefish blows sand away
A beaver builds a damn and manipulates
the world around it for many miles
Sometimes an animal may benefit by
Moving an object that is
Another animal and they already have muscles
So they're easier to move
A flower uses insects to move its pollen
A library uses humans to move its books
Finally it is the fish's own muscles
That the angler uses to close the gap between them
The nightingale, its song affects me
As though of hemlock I had drunk
Imagine how much devastation it could
Cause to other nightingales
A parasite queen needn't exert her own jaws
If she can make some workers kill their own mother
A martian accustomed to universal trust
Would struggle to understand the art of secrecy
A tree casts a shadow
The shadow helps the tree to make more trees
Some shadows are better than others
Shadows have genes

Where I Sign My Name

Track 1 from the album Havoc Monk Unseen.

When the sun goes down
And there's no one around
There's a bus that takes us right down into the town
We get our spray cans
And we climb very high
Propellent to the top of the world
Some like their skateboards
But that's not for me
I want to leave my mark where people can see
Something to gaze on
A work that catches the eye
Till the council pulls the bastard down
I'm the shadow
You have to live in
Where I sign my name
I'm the image
The world is made in
Where I sign my name
The thrill of danger
The thought that we might be caught
While you're tucked up in bed just like you were taught
Meet the new owners
Of all we deface and
Inherit from the living dead
Just choose a new name
Something cool and absurd
And introduce some walls to the written word
Paint your own poster
In an impossible place
To prove you've got the biggest balls

A Moment Alone

Track 12 from the album Letters to Cyril Connolly.

You put your face on
But you forgot to put everything else on
Nature gave you what you need
To succeed
You'll going to freeze to death
In the dark in the middle of the night
Unless you find someone as dumb as you
To stand next to
A moment alone
In the nightclub
No one can hear a word you're saying
This must be the worst good time you've ever had
Drowning in the din
Smoking like your life depends on it
Skinny tastes as good as nothing feels

Enjoy the Smell of Old Books

Track 11 from the album Letters to Cyril Connolly.

They turned her down
And so she went out shopping
To get some peace
Enjoy the smell of old books
The man was weird
He thought that she was stealing
She smiled at him
The clock just kept on ticking
Turn the page and let the dust fly
Leave the world, don't be afraid to die
The answers are all in here
It's not so hard
Maybe I'll start my own shop
A place to hide
Enjoy the smell of old books
Her customers
Will think she's cool and mysterious
They'll come to see
And to be seen in the book shop
The years rolled by
The books pile up in the window
She goes for days
Without a word to anyone
Some kids come in
They're always laughing at nothing
The quiet boy
She thinks that he is stealing