THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS
<< back to the Combined Discography
Release date and tracklist
August 23, 2019
US MP3/CD/2xLP Metropolis Records MET1190/ Bandcamp
- Happy Birthday Mr. President
- Double Double
- Junkyard
- Itchycoo Shark/Isle Of Sighs
- Neon Calculators
- My Land/Parallels
- Maid To Measure
- Mantis
- The Photographer
- Red Flag
Credits
- Erik Drost- Guitars
- The Silverman- Keyboards
- Edward Ka-Spel- Voice, Keyboards
Notes
Even on the darkest day. Even on the longest night. Even when there seems to be no hope left.
Even when you surf the channels and see only monsters.
Even little you, little me, pacing our way through a forest of dark menacing shadows wondering if the great creator had simply sneezed upon the candle we need to guide us through to kinder pastures.
Even now my friends, there is an Angel In The Detail.
An album two years in the making. There were a few diversions, a few questions never answered, and a cloud full of value moments. The latter have been preserved for you here and many will be related live in the forthcoming Legendary Pink Dots’ 40th Anniversary Tour. In fact we turn 40 in August 2020 , but I guess there is no harm in starting things early.
Lyrics
Happy Birthday Mr. President
In the end we’re only code
Pre-programmed on a winding road
From A to B and back once more
The same decisions, breakthroughs, flaws…
We think we’re learning, finding truth but ones and zeroes only lose.
The Hand that counts has thrown a six.
It seems he needs another fix.
How could we refuse you
How may we amuse you?
Happy Birthday to you
Mister President
And is it Love that guides the hand?
That pulls the strings,
That flicks the sand
In our sad eyes. Now Burning, mad.
We’re funny when we lose our rag.
Come on squeeze a little harder
Enjoy our latest small disaster.
Watch us picking up the bits, then change
the channel as you wish…
How could we refuse you
How may we amuse you?
Happy Birthday to you
Mister President
Double Double
My charismatic double plays it perfect, reads the book.
He nailed the moves that gets them swooning….
I need a second look.
They’re bombarding him with accolades, a kingdom with the keys.
While I lie back, enjoy the shade and make a a gentle squeeze of my lemon.
My charismatic double takes the beggars and the threats.
He’s out there on the terrace while the crowd is getting wet.
When the people shout “enough” and show him to the door, long nights ambling by the river will remind him
what he’s for.
My charismatic double’s good . Alas he has no soul.
He dances well to my sweet tune but does what he is told.
Its my party and for now, I’d say it’s absolutely hot.
I’ll enjoy it from my armchair…Don’t you know? I Like to watch….
Junkyard
The big fish eats the small fish
while the master warms the grill.
He’ll invite you out for dinner but will leave
you with the bill. You’ll pay in slow instalments til the shirt’s stripped
from your back.
And you, the great free thinker,
will be well and truly trapped.
Kingdoms come and empires fall,
Left hanging for the final call, when master’s bored and takes
It all ……
I’m ok with the concept
but despise the callous fiction.
Don’t kid me that my quiet voice
can change the bigger picture.
It’s set in stone.A solemn promise for the precious few.
Who shuffle cards and wipe us off the soles
Of their new shoes.
So better keep your head down..
Just keep things to yourself..
Creatures great and small will not tolerate your
Rebel yell…
ITCHYCOO SHARK
Beauty’s shy of this Beholder
Lost in detail, locked away
Investing in an Ugly Future ..
Beauty was the price we paid.
All we cared for had a tag that just the precious few could pay.
So they took it all away..
Close your eyes. Imagine this.
You have played your part in this…
I have played my part in this
Here we kneel catching crumbs
From fancy cakes all sampled once.
Images of treasures lost now streamed for us at modest cost.
Pixelated. Been compressed…
When printed out they look a mess.
We can still enjoy the sense….
ISLE OF SIGHS
She was an island in a wild tempestuous sea.
Upon that horizon stood timid little me.
Reeled in by the siren, swinging On a hook.
I offered no resistance, she took no
Second look. She cast me back to Nothingness. To nothingness….
She was an island but younger than the rest.
So proud but so lonely.So tragically obsessed.
She pledged a safe harbour until the end of time.
For one that’s bright, that matches both her blue all-seeing eyes…I believed. And yes I tried. Oh how I tried and tried and tried and tried
NEON CALCULATORS
The River’s running red and we’re told there is no reason.Its mid August and it’s freezing at the Centre of the World. On your feet or on your head.Don’t you move til it stops bleeding.Saw the next door neighbour pleading to a general and his girl.
Still they took him.Still they shook him.Tied his hands and crossed his eyes.
Wiped his record .Kept him shackled far from home.It just ain’t right…
And I spy a crooked crack that runs right across the ceiling. Cannot stifle this bad feeling that the house is falling down.
Wish I could roll back the years.All the years that I have wasted. Could have changed my destination to the darker side of town.
In the shed or in the cellar, snuff the candle, stash the phone.
Wish I had my old umbrella .Please don’t leave me on my own.
And I wish I shared your dream.And I wish I had the power.
When they knock I’ll be a coward who could simply turn you in.
So you thought we had a team that could break free from this prison.We could make the right decisions and save our precious skins.
Let’s gather .Hold a seance, clean the table. Clear our minds.
Find an answer to the chaos and a pathway through the mines.
MY LAND
I got a five star turbo drive.
I got a stick that comes alive.
And I’ll count slowly up to five
Before I claim you…..
I got a twin beam snakeskin belt,
Dead lover’s blood drips from this pelt.
You know the best I ever felt
Was when I claimed him…
And in the centre of the Earth
There is a trunk that’s fit to burst
I claimed that much , it’s giving birth…..
So see this line across the sand
Which I have drawn with my own hand
Shall be the border of my land
I put my claim in….
PARALLELS
BEEN SPYING ON THE NEIGHBOURS
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
I’M STUDYING A MONSTER THATS CONSUMING ALL THE LIGHT
I KNOW I’M BEING PARANOID
COS ITS VERY FAR AWAY
BUT WHEN I SWING MY TELESCOPE I COUNT ANOTHER 8
AND YOU TELL ME NOT TO WORRY
IT’S A MULTI MILLION YEARS
BUT WHAT IF WE KEEP COMING BACK TIL THAT THING’S NEARLY HERE?
NOW IM WATCHING THE TV AND THAT POOR NEWSGUY’S IN A MESS.
IT SEEMS OUR SUN EXPLODED – WE HAVE JUST EIGHT MINUTES LEFT
BUT MAYBE WE WILL HIT A WALL, REVERSE OUR WAY THROUGH TIME
AND EVERYTHING GETS BETTER
AND WE ALL GET OUT ALIVE
I CAN TELL YOU NOT TO WORRY
THINGS AREN’T AS THEY APPEAR
SURROUNDED BY OUR OTHER SELVES
WE’LL CONQUER ALL OUR FEARS
WHAT TRAPPED ME ON THIS TIMELINE
WHILE ANOTHER ME’S OK
SIPPING COKE AND HUMMING FREEBIRD IN SUNNY ST.TROPEZ
IF I CLOSE MY EYES AND MAKE A WELL CONSIDERED MOVE
WILL MY ANGEL MAKE AN OFFER I CANNOT REFUSE…
OR WHISPER “DONT YOU WORRY
COS ITS UNDER CONTROL
DON’T FRET ABOUT THE END WHEN WE CAN S;IP THROUGH THIS BLACK HOLE….”
THATS ME WAVING FROM THE PLANE
ME. STANDING ON MY HEAD
ME AGAIN, ON KNEES AGAIN
BELIEVED THE WORDS YOU SAID
COULD WE ALL FEEL GOOD AGAIN
IF WE JUST LIGHTENED UP
AND JUST ACCEPT ETERNITY
IS REALLY QUITE ENOUGH….
NO WORRIES. NO FEAR
MAID TO MEASURE
Get a grip. Now
read the manual.
By the hips
or by the handles
Easy now no rips, no tangle.
No sharp angles,
Bear in mind the merchandise is shy……
Say hi now to your newly blushing bride.
Please return if not delighted
15 days and nights to try it.
30 years for you to buy it
No surprises.
Bear in mind the merchandise is smart.
We warned you when you added to your cart.
So much more than just a toy
She’ll solve your problems
Won’t annoy with pointless probes.
A Funny noise.
Yet sensitive, with big blue eyes.
A better friend than all those guys..
Just treat her like your special prize.
Please don’t use her .
Don’t abuse her….
Don’t refuse her….
So who’s real, and who’s machine?
Who knows the answers, keeps things clean…
Who sees the future, what it means…
Who’s obsolete?
The mirror’s unforgiving of this guy yet never sees your humble blushing bride.
MANTIS
Pray mantis pray for the glorious day
When a feast’s on parade
And you’re one with the Garden
The long long grass
Where you wait to be pardoned
Then strike like a madmen..
It’s over….
A field full of eyes you could fit on a dime
And a singular goal..
To blend in….
It’s time for a snack
It’s time for a bite..
Cos you waited so long ..no messiah in sight..
Though you prayed……
Sympathy please
For this life on its knees
With no rhyme or resentment
But no hint of reprieve.
Do not blow me a kiss
I may drown in the mess
I will serve out my sentence
Cos that’s how it is….
If you feel you must stay
Then there’s room in the hay
Down here. In detention
Pray Sucker…..Pray…..
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Beggars can be choosers underneath that crooked line
where all that is disposable can decompose,
and lie there for a week, a month , a year.
The low-down scavengers don’t care,
they’ll fight for crumbs
and leave us here to catch the mood and feed your fear.
I chased so many ambulances,rode a few red lights,
I witnessed life’s cruel consequences right before my eyes.
I crawled through corridors of carnage for the perfect spot.
Swerved this way, that way, then the other,
as the sniper shot me through my spinning wheels.
I greased the palms of psychopaths, dictators,
casual maniacs
Met Hitler in a sleazy bar, I slapped him on the back …whispered “Thank you….”
And yes I sold the sequel.
In my book we’re all created equal,
we can sink or soar like eagles.
Me? l ‘ll keep it legal as I’m zooming in.
Who are you to sit there on your throne and say I have no depth?
Who are you to hide behind that stone and keep me at arm’s length?
You, who would not test the water. You….who will not taste the wine.
You, who craves death twice resampled, aired at half past nine
If it’s getting all too heavy swap me for a snack.You may change the channel but still you’re just a rat …on a spinning wheel. Rats trapped on a spinning wheel.
We shall keep revolving …
We’ll spin until that setting sun’s been snatched with cameras rolling.
Roll on.
RED FLAG
He showed me his war face….the T-shirt was worse.
Like the flag of Japan where the sunrise had burst.
And imagine the look of that loser who’s cursed to fall down from the mountain while stealing your purse.
And I tried to be stoic.
I tapped on my phone.
I practised the fine art of turning to stone.
But he narrowed his eyes and he ran through my llama.
Then he left me alone with my crumbling karma.
I gaze from this ledge with a view of God’s Land
where the roads end in tears and a blanket of cans.
And it’s all been so long since we nurtured a cause cos the cat
stole our tongues…and I cant find a torch.
We show our respect for the forces of freedom.
The freedom to shoot
and the freedom to force my opinion on you.
If you say you’re not for me, you must be against me..
The way of the World .
LET’S PRETEND I’M THE GIANT WHO’S WEARING A CROWN,
I CONCEDE THAT THIS GRAVITY WEIGHS ME DOWN..
BUT FROM HIGH ON THIS HILL I SHOUT FE FI FO FUM
I SMELL THE BLOOD OF…… NO-ONE
I’LL HUM TO YOUR RATTLE
I’LL FEAST ON YOUR BONES
IF I ONLY COULD FIND YOU AND BE LESS ALONE
BUT I CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST WORDS I SAID
OR THE SMELL OF YOUR PERFUME
MY SIDE OF THE BED
STILL I WALK DOWN THE PATH WITH MY HAND ON MY KNIFE
LEST I SENSE SOME RESISTANCE
SOME SIGNS OF LIFE
AND HOW MANY MONTHS NOW?
HOW MANY YEARS?
WILL SOMEONE REMIND ME
WHY I’M HERE…
