1. |
Prey
10:37
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i. Prey
Born amongst the slot machines
In whining winds of chance
The gamblers lay their tokens down
In a rash and shambling dance
For feathers and for fortunes
For the one big winning streak
They'll lie down in deception
And they'll die in hide and seek
Chances marked upon the boards
The players wrestle odds
Creating systems of belief
From the staking of their gods
At the table's head there stands the priest
Luck and death's go-between
The night watch passes slowly
Until it strikes upon thirteen
Breath is bated senses strain
Thoughts upon a one track train
The one arm dealer spins the wheels
The rabbit's foot is stroked
The gleaming eye sparks with desire
Each hunger's fires are stoked
On the turn of indecision
On the churning of each doubt
The gamblers bear their weaknesses
And pray not to play
Out
The only certain statistic is
That every player dies
Both the ones they all look up to
And the ones they all despise
On the turn of fortune's weighted wheel
On hopes bought from a tout
In every game the same appeal
On every lip a pout
The gamblers lay their humanity down
And pray not to play
Out...
ii. Overheard in Passing #1 (at the bar)
'So I says I got a roller'
'I feel a little faint'
'An' I says to 'im - you're jokin'! '
'I'm afraid that I'm not well'
'The dice was just like creamy, see?'
'I - I - I'm going to pass out'
'Yeah, me throws was really smokin'!'
'This place is hot like hell...'
'Ere - you alright?'
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2. |
Crap Game
05:46
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'Deal me death, deliver me,
and grant me strength to fly'
Says lucky James
Amidst the games
And tries hard not to cry
The dealer smirks a winning smirk
(The odds are on his side)
And spins more cards from under deck
(His wolfish smile is wide)
The table top so sweetly green
Is felt and soft seductive
Casino's owner lights it well
Temptation is productive
The wheels are fixed the cards are stacked
The big win an illusion
The smoke that crawls around each head
The tendrils of confusion
Our Jimmy swims along the whims
That pass for his ambitions
With daydream daze
Half-hearted plays the role of swift submission
The dice are rolled the heart is cold
The numbers replace judgement
There's a limit on the stocks of gold
And the dealer says it's spent.
In the crap game world where all are hurled
And made to stand within it
The crap game mind informs mankind:
'To win is the top limit
'To win is the top limit
'To win is the top limit
'To win is the top limit...
'To win!'
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3. |
Drunk
12:02
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i. Drunk
He staggers through the corridors
He's drunk again, he's drunk again
And he can't identify the source
Of this strange intoxication
Perhaps he let his lips touch down
Upon the sparkles of the wine
Or lost his faith in the golden crowns
That are proffered by the swine
Chips with everything
Days are deals
A waking dream
Where all he feels
Are thoughts that hurt
In a mind that reels
In the corridors
He's drunk and houndog howling
And he can't identify the source
Of this strange intoxication
Chips with everything
Days are deals
A waking dream
Where all he feels is hurt
...There's a window in the corridor
It is cracked
A pale light shows
Pencil-beam thin
It hangs in the dust
Of the air
And it draws him
Draws
Implores him
So he wipes his nose
Gets on his knees
Peeks and he sees... TREES!
Dreaming, dreaming; years of fears fallen away
Flown on vision's wings
A pillow-burst of feathers in spring breezes
Yearnings realised
Outside the artificiality of the closed Casino
There is life, meeting of need
Freedom... openness...
From the depth of a place turned in upon itself
Ever smaller and more bitter
Could there truly be a knowing of life
Eternally expanding and revealing more of itself?
Then he's gathered up by drunken friends
And the tables call him again
Did he perceive sweet anything
Is the dreaming now or then?
Was the light in or out of that crack?
Anyway, he staggers through the corridors
And his drunken heart is roaring
And he must identify the source
Of this strange intoxication
ii. Overheard in Passing #2 (in the boardroom)
'With the big push in recruiting...'
'And the new TV campaign'
'We should soon enlarge the profit'
'Thus increasing our domain'
'We can reach for new horizons'
'We can paint them on the walls'
'We can find final solutions'
'To our fear of curtain-calls...'
iii. Play On!
You can't get out!
You placed your bets!
It's time to play!
Pay off your debts!
There's no good in crying!
No-one cares!
Some win (most lose)
That's equal shares!
There's no point stopping!
To question anything!
Winning is life!
The rest is nothing!
Play on! Play on!
You've got to play the game
Keep your nose to the table
You've only got yourself to bet
To sell all you are able
Play on! Play on!
You can't let go of time!
You've got to make your claim!
You've got to keep your place!
There's no choice but play on!
Play on!!
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4. |
Crying Onto Baize
10:48
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He's been back! To the crack!
He's tried bribes
Attempted equal cleverness with unknown great outside -
Once he shouted 'Open Sesame!'
(The silliest thing he tried) -
But he didn't get an answer, so he cries onto the baize
He's been back! To the crack!
He's tried whispers,
Pushed through it like notes into a bottle -
Once he shouted 'Help me, someone!'
(Pain was at full throttle) -
But he didn't hear an answer, so he cries onto the baize
One day, on his way
Going back to the crack
He saw all the others
Like him, in their lack
And his heart moved to pity
So he cried for them all
As he sat by the crack
In the glass in the wall
Then he said to the shining
To a hope beyond earning
'If you're there and you hear us,
Please comfort this yearning -
We are many, and lost -
We have gambled on fortune
And we can't meet the cost
I am sorry and wretched
With a heart full of rape
But if someone can hear me -
Please -
Help us all to escape...'
Then he scattered his tokens in the dust on the floor
Tore up the cards and rubbed out his score
He stopped trying to gamble, to buy his way out
Turned his back on the fruit-machines' clatter and spout
But he didn't understand the answer, so he cries
And he cries
Onto the baize
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5. |
Stranger
04:56
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The ripple went round
'Stranger in town - ignoring the Management
- bit of a clown...'
And he come tipping tables
And he come without cash
And he come without credit
No gambling trash
The fact is Stranger
Action and word
The fact is Stranger
Truth is preferred
The Casino is shaking since the Stranger occurred
The ripple went round
'Joker in play - forget the tables -
hear him today...'
And he talked to the pimps
And the cheats and the whores
And he talked about daylight
And he opened the doors
The ripple went round
'Stranger about - the Management hate him
But his game's got some clout...'
And he spoke about freedom
And life beyond winning
And the management scowled
But Our Jimmy was grinning
But he had no commitment
To the Management cause
And he stayed quite indifferent
To insult or applause
Then the bosses got Stranger for good
And for sure
The tables were turned back -
They showed him the door
The crowds disappeared
When the bouncers got mean
And they dragged him away
To be wiped from the scene
Then they mopped off their brows
With a sigh of relief
The Casino was saved
From the one they called 'Thief'
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6. |
Beyond That Door
11:59
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i. A Matter of Policy
There now follows a
policy statement from
the Management:
'Many gamblers have been
disturbed by the one
known as "Stranger", or
"Thief", who has recently
been amongst us
spreading vicious rumours
about the insolvency of
the Casino. He also made
several scurrilous
comments to do with the
inefficacy of gambling as a
means of securing the
jackpot. We, the
Management, have taken
steps to deal with this
trouble-maker, and can
assure you that we are
now back to business as
usual. Do not lose faith
in your money. Under no
circumstances attempt to
leave the Casino without
cashing in your chips.
So far as the Management
are concerned the course
of action pursued in the
case of "Stranger" can be
regarded as a legal
precedent, and will be
meted out to anyone
foolish enough to attempt
to emulate him...'
ii. Beyond that Door
Lucky Jim staggered through the corridor
His heart torn apart with grief
By the window lay the bouncers' victim
The body of the 'Thief'
His head smashed through the window pane
As they'd thrown him out of play
There was blood on the glass
But the glass was smashed
And there shone the light of day
Lucky Jim bowed his head and wept
For the light and the pain were despair
Then he opened his eyes to the grass and the skies
But the Thief was no longer there
About to step out through the broken frame
The gambler heard the Thief call his name:
'The Casino is falling, its days at an end
For I came when you called me,
And now I call you
Friend -
You will come this way one day
I'll be here when you do
I have opened the doorway
But not just for you...
Now I send you to find
Those lost in their gambling
The deafened and the blind
If you fall by the tables
If you're cut by the cards
If they say you've been stealing
If you're shot by the guards
If you're flattened by tumblers
If you're crushed by the wheels
I'm before you
I'm with you
And remember
I know
I know how it feels
I know how it feels...'
iii. Overheard in Passing #3 (bouncers on the door)
'The punters 'ave got restless, it seems one of 'em escaped!
There's got to be a clampdown, unless the crud gets aped...'
'It seems to me that one who's free is the beginning of a trend -
It's too late now to disallow, the punters 'ave a friend...
'Oo knows - 'tween you 'an me,
I might even 'ave a go myself...'
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7. |
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Instrumental
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Twelfth Night UK
Twelfth Night are an English progressive rock band of the 1980s, reformed between 2007 and 2012 and again in 2014.
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