I'm dumbing down the world

Yes, I'm dumbing down the world

And my head is held high

and the glint in my eye

and my arrogance rumbles before me

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

And my thoughts are banal

like a stagnant canal

and my sycophants shamble behind me

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

And my hour is come around, is come around !

Yes my hour is come around, it's come around...

Look around !

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

And my works are designed

to suck blood from your mind

for your energy feeds and sustains me

I'm dumbing down the world

Dumbing down the world

I'm dumbing down the world

I'm dumbing down the world

I'm dumbing down the world and I love it !

London July 1999

HIS WORD IS NOT HIS BOND

He lives in a waste

void of culture and taste

his eye on a prize beyond

His every word

is in the right place

but his word is not his bond

His face his comely

his heart it bleeds

yet it's but a mantle he has donned

Mark him only

by his deeds

for his word is not his bond

I'd love to take him

out of his room

and gently break him

I'd love to see

him

dance !

His protege deals

in confusion and fog

Of power he is fond

Wheels within wheels

- like master, like dog

His word is not his bond

I'm trying to swim

but I'm caught in the shallows

and I sense that I've been conned

Deliver him

...to the gallows !

His word is not his bond

On tour, England October 1997

NIGHT FALLS ON LONDON

Created London March 1999

THE CHARLATAN'S LAMENT

At long weary last this game is over

The sins of the past have fled from my shoulder

The sleep that I need is all I ask

In thought and in deed I have burned the mask

Here I am...

Here I am...

Enchantment is broken

I merge with the crowd

Oaths have been spoken inside and out loud

Emerging from under notions of god

In tears and in wonder I venture abroad

Here I am...

Here I am...

Can you walk a smithereen

Can you walk a smithereen

closer to me

Could you love a thimbleful

Could you love a thimbleful

harder for me

Encountered a loathly hag

Blood on the snow

She said "I've a burden to drag and leagues to go"

I left her down by the seaside

in someone's hall

By dawn's empty light I cried

for no one at all

Here I am...

Here I am...

Can you walk a smithereen

Can you walk a smithereen

closer to me

Could you love a thimbleful

Could you love a thimbleful

harder for me

I swing between tears and wonder

I swing between tears and wonder

I swing between tears and wonder

I swing between tears and wonder

tears and wonder !

Can you walk a smithereen

Can you walk a smithereen

closer to me

Could you love a thimbleful

Could you love a thimbleful

harder for me

Harder for me

London, February 1998

THE WIND IN THE WIRES

Wake lady wake

the hills are in flood

and the road we must take

is a river of blood

and the wind in the wires

and your heart like a cup

and I'm down in the war

and you've got to get up

for mercy's sake

wake lady wake

Dress lady dress

put on your skullcap and boots

for the priest has confessed

and the chase is afoot

and the hounds are behind

gunmen around every tree

and if it's all in our minds

- well where else would it be ?

I suggest

you dress lady dress

This is the day, this is the day, this is,

this is the day, this is,

this is the day, the day, this is the day

This is the day, this is the day, this is,

this is the day, this is,

this is the day, the day, this is the day

our kingdom will crash

like a poor piece of trash

Swim lady swim

lady don't refuse

though our chances are slim

and we're totally confused

there are clues to be found

and I'd ask my peers

but they're all dumbing down

till this bad weather clears

we're out on a limb

so swim lady swim

This is the day....

London, December 1998

CROWN

I've had money

and I lost it

seen an ocean

nearly crossed it

I have been to another world

and I have returned

and for every high joy

a hard lesson learned

but when love comes tumbling down

I will wear a Crown

I've had power

I've used and abused it

tasted glory

I have wooed and refused it

tried to live in a sacred way

- I did and I did not

and for everything I lost

there's been something else I got

and when love comes tumbling down

I will wear a Crown

I've been up and I've been down

sometimes almost level with the ground

once in every hundred years I can

still remember who I am

Been in danger

tried to face it

saw a mirage

and for seven years I chased it

I'm not through with my changes

I've got a long way still to run

I'm gonna play this show

even if nobody comes

and when love comes tumbling down

when love comes tumbling down

when love comes tumbling down

I will wear a Crown

Findhorn January 1998