The Sunburn Index
Many thanks to James
and Seán for help with the lyrics.
All songs copyright control. Crosstown Music (p)+(c) 1995-2000.
Go from the top
Now there's a student with a PC
And a soldier with a mobile phone
We are the army of technology
And we're all in the same U-boat
I've had enough of this
I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow
And now my television is mutinous
And from the radio comes bucking fizz
So if I miss it will you pick me up
And will you show me where the Corrs is (sic)
I've had enough of this
I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow
To spill a cup and not to cry
To wind a watch and watch time fly
To cast a line and reel it home
To find in time what Americans call closure
So much easy talk
So much attitude
Such a lack of thought and values too
The fuse that blows the ring of explosives
To face the fire and not to flinch
To meet an eye and not to blink
To raise the mind to greater heights
To find in time what Americans call closure
The ring of explosives
(What) Americans call closure
A stranger stands in my doorway bumming a cigarette
And temper boy is hiding in the space beneath the bed, I sense a voice disappearing from the centre of this noise
I'm not always sure I love you but then do I have a choice?
Sometimes you have to face your enemy so look at me
I tire of people asking why as a prelude to judgement
The killing kinds that give the lie to the politics of dysfunction
Is this the core of emptiness in each suburban district
Or the anomaly of consciousness
A base human conflict?
Sometimes you have to face your enemy so look at me
It seems the soul craves oblivion while the body lusts for life
The human urge is to hide away while struggling to survive
And all the things that I would say
To an angry child of five are hidden..... hidden
Just too late... trust you
Stand at the prow, I'm in the wind
Breathing the future, channelling in
Under the breakers, tied to the post
I am the harbour, your are my ghost
I claim you
23C (official*)
The space where nothing matters
But half a chance....to lead with my feet
But what of destination
When I don't know where this began
And what of celebration
When I don't know where this will end
It covered me over the dark heart of winter
Sleep was the only respite
A station where I could be oblivious
To my solitary flight
Just give me information
And show me the new and the strange
I'm not courting danger but I am embracing the change
I'm not seeking absolutes
But sleeping with you
Is like touching the ground. It's the safest place
That I have found where nothing matters
Another summer without sheets
Ten horses playing shapes
Upon the ceiling of the bedroom
Seek me out, the most obtuse
Social excuses, luminous companion
Metal from Troy, a tin-nickel alloy
A wireless toy, the driven self
I watch the cars go by in the heat
A need a shaft of light to find me
Pinned against the wall
Seek me out this little feeling
Such angled meanings never make me scream
'This thing I fear, there's something I fear,
I have nothing to fear but fear itself'
Seek me out..
A yellowed radius of light
Reflected on the glass, inside a sweet parade of strangers seek me out
Distorted lenses
Can be amended
'This thing I fear there's something I fear,
I have nothing to fear but fear itself'
I can see you from up here..
Over (official)
For every second I was beneath you
For every second laid on your chest
For every second that you are breathing
For every second that you have left
Be damned
For every second chasing your tail
For every second kneeling in bonds
For every second desire prevailed
For every second leading me on
Be damned
Hell hath no fury, hell hath no fury
Like this, like this, be damned...
For every second, for every second
For every second, for every second
Plastic raincoat
The colour of aqua-marine
Face the cloud banks
Look for the rainbow in-between
Let it rain, let it rain on me
Circumstantial
The meeting of water and light
Raindrop prism
Meeting the gift of human sight
Let it rain, let it rain on me
Except for the shadows,
I'm not here at all, except for the shadows
Except for the shadows, I'm not here at all
Except for the shadows, I'm not here
This is a spectacle
Never to be caught
It's just a perspective
Of what I am not
So let it rain, let it rain
I'm not here, I'm not here at all
Can you fathom the depths of reason
Or reason the depths I care?
Should you be muse or demon, or simply an air?
We dance around each other like polar magnets
And I go home un-together
A complete atomic mess...
Life is too short and important to waste time with these feelings
Most things submit to rationale
This will not bow to reason
Half an arc is a question mark
What use for a one-sided bridge?
No more saltwater coffee
I'm sorry, I can't do this
I can't, I can't...
And nothing can make it better
We will have to live with it forever
When I find my courage
I'll live like an ascetic
And though I'll be hanging on by that gold thread
I'll find a serum that makes me thinner
So I can easily slip through the bars of this facility
Hand me my robe
Show me the mirror
And defer to what you see
You the subject
I the monarch
Of this glass bound country
Mid the spoils of war
Surveying my palace
Knowing I will survive
In this remnant from greatness
If I were to forfeit custom
I could never brook the shame
Of descent among the rabble
Just a monkey, just a monkey
By another name, by another name
A fine collection in these pieces of time
Correct location is the meridian line
Now I can see it, I can see it
Such a great idea, You duly became
A hindrance to progress, in deed and in name
I broke the hourglass, there was so little sand
Each saline crystal is a dream upon dry land
Now I can see it, I can it
Such a special memory, you duly became
Just a random image, fading in a frame
Now I can see it, I can see it
I can see it, I can see it
I.
Exit (official)
My brothers and sisters
Circle 'round like standing stones
These columns mark my exit
Lines etched on their bodies
Mark the passages of time
Ancient scripture, first calendar
This is it, this is it
Thank them for the pity
Hidden in the heart of love
And thank them for the flowers
I tried to make sense of it
With my aesthetics of loss
But no words can penetrate
The blank tableau of fate
As the voices join together, say "I"
As I dance with my creator, say "I"
On the day of all our fathers, say "I"
This is it, this is it
This is it, the history of me
This is it, the history of me
Fire on a mountain
I am shocked by this act of contrition
Apocalyptic turn that the sun makes once a year
The plutonic force of Libra, but who holds the balance of power
Fire is a process, no matter sacred in its vortex
The Holy See, the elements resist
This sanitation system, and who holds the balance of power?
No watershed here, no watershed here
Fire on a mountain
Forensic, participate in evidence
The aftermath, the optic nerve is singed
The retina is unhinged like things seen in the first hour
No watershed here, no watershed here
I was by the river filling up
Put your lip to my cup
Share the water with me
------------------------------------------------
untitled
Well you cut through some fire with your ice
Tattooed a heart in flames
I'll meet you several years from yester night upon an arctic plain
I can see you leaving like a Swedish sun
If seeing is believing all is said and done
But how the goal posts keep moving
When you're a freedom junkie
And who's to know who's scoring who
When I'm a freedom junkie too
| 
