Lyrics - Fine Lines

King of the Three Streets

A waking soul, eyes lined with kohl, a story set to run,
I’ll leave the seven sleepers’ den and dance into the sun,
A dreamer dares to dream, so on a wing and on a prayer
One little street a kingdom, one little room an everywhere

No time to lose, these avenues are where it all begins
One way or another, we’re paying for our sins,
The meter always running, on the road down to despair,
Two little streets a nation, one little room an everywhere

Chorus:
I’m banging on a different drum, they’ll be marching to my beat
How high the moon? I call the tune, the king of the three streets
Set me me free and leave me be, in dead-ends that I know
I call the tune, the king of the three streets

An unmade bed, a tousled head of mixed up strange ideas,
We’re running from the shadows towards the golden years,
The penny pinching preening, of a bedsit millionaire,
Three little streets an empire, one little room an everywhere

Chorus:
I’m banging on a different drum, they’ll be marching to my beat
How high the moon? I call the tune, the king of the three streets
Set me me free and leave me be in dead-ends that I know,
I call the tune, the king of the three streets
I call the tune, the king of the three streets

Rumbling spires and matchlight fires spark up a feeble glow,
I’m searching for the spotlight in the places that I know
You can keep your country pleasures and your talk of pure fresh air
Three little streets a heaven, one little room an everywhere.

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

Del Rio

Give me one last moment in a deep blue place
Reached by a winding road on a map
Something happening beyond the ocean
We never felt anything quite like that

Hold my hand to heaven, let’s climb to the clouds
Don’t go near the water, stay close to me
One hundred hands won’t stop you falling
They told us it was something we had to see

Chorus:
In the battered orange car it was two days drive
When we hit Del Rio we knew we’d arrived
Worth every penny felt good to be alive
When we hit Del Rio we knew we’d arrived
When we hit Del Rio we knew that we’d arrived

One last time for dreaming before darkness falls
Last chance for dancing by the evergreens
A thousand feet straight down to nowhere
It wasn’t like anything we’d ever seen

It was now or never, but never couldn’t be
Something told me we would never be free
The skies were dark, the bridges had been burned
And we’d reached the point of no return

Chorus:
In the battered orange car it was two days drive
When we hit Del Rio we knew we’d arrived
Worth every penny felt good to be alive
When we hit Del Rio we knew we’d arrived
In the battered orange car it was two days drive
When we hit Del Rio we knew we’d arrived
When we hit Del Rio we knew that we’d arrived

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

First Light

Good night and god bless, lay your head, sail away
Let the pillow talk take you, let sleep be your guide
Hush and i’ll wait with the city clock chiming
Over the peak to the black mountainside

Into the gloaming with wilder thoughts roaming
And the yearning for places that I never go
Sweet hibernation a faraway country
Beyond the unblinking street lamps aglow

Chorus:
I dream of sleepwalking, I dream of sweet dreams
Trying to work out what all of it means
I dream of the nightmares, dark hours swept away
I dream of awakening at first light of day
Dream of awakening at first light of day

And though it ain’t easy, it’s not life or death,
There’s a way to blue coming, if coming too slow,
So rest, rest easy, away from the shadows,
Things behind the sun that you’ll never know

From sundown to daybreak
That’s the great divide
A canyon that leaves me all alone, mystified

Good night and god bless, lay your head, sail away
Let the pillow talk take you, let sleep be your guide
Hush and i’ll wait with the city clock chiming
Over the peak to the black mountainside

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

The Island

Across the county lines, hands intertwined to head out for the coast
Over shining seas and nobody knows the place we love the most
Your pale blue eyes the pale blue skies and your easy going smile
So far away from downtrodden days to a state of sweet exile

Chorus:
Hey hey hey now take me higher
Say a little prayer for me tonight
Hey hey hey now far horizons
To the island, take me there

I know it ain’t real but sometimes it feels like all this happened long ago
The reach for the moon, those hot afternoons were a world that I used to know
As new dawn breaks a feeling overtakes the crawlers in my slow lane ahead
To change the angry sound, this nation underground for a place we love instead

Chorus:
Hey hey hey now take me higher
Say a little prayer for me tonight
Hey hey hey now far horizons
To the island, take me there

So when you need a refuge, need a haven, need a place to hide
From the darkest dreams where everything seems to leave you petrified
Somewhere out there, across the ocean, buried in your mind,
There’s a place, a warm embrace, that some day you will find

Chorus:
Hey hey hey now take me higher
Say a little prayer for me tonight
Hey hey hey now far horizons
To the island, take me there

Hey hey hey now take me higher
Say a little prayer for me tonight
Hey hey hey now far horizons
To the island, take me there

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

Far Rockaway

Try to understand it’s better this way
Even though there were so many things we never got to say
And the promises I made were never easy to believe
As the snow came down on Christmas Eve.
Leaving the house to hit the road
You took everything from me and I just felt so cold.

Chorus:
If only things were always clear
If only help was always near
I never would have ended up here
Far Rockaway

I had to leave at first light of day
Tired of the scenes in the same old passion play
Do you think I enjoyed making life so hard
Turning bricks and mortar into a house of cards?
I couldn’t know how things would unfold
You took everything from me and I just felt so cold.

Chorus:
If only things were always clear
If only help was always near
I never would have ended up here
Far Rockaway

I promised that I’d be back some day
Even though there were debts that I couldn’t hope to pay
I brushed your cheek while it was warm
Then turned around to walk into the storm
Leaving the house to hit the road
You took everything from me and I just felt so cold

Chorus:
If only things were always clear
If only help was always near
I never would have ended up here
Far Rockaway

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

The Old Haunts

I still dream about those days, in the dog house
There are more ghosts in there, than I can recall
The nights that we spent crawling back to the rooms
Where the paper peeled from the damp in the walls
Heads spinning round with the first taste of freedom
Heads spinning round we could hardly believe
Heads spinning round with our thoughts of forever
None of us ever wanted to leave

Chorus:
Back in the old haunts again
To remember the times when you laughed like a drain
Shaking in bed when the sheets were so cold
Now I’m back in the old haunts again

I can still see the names by the doorbell
The words that were written and the parts that were played
There was dust in the carpet, a mess in the kitchen
The scrawl on the table, the bills never paid

Chorus:
Back in the old haunts again
To remember the times when you laughed like a drain
Shaking in bed when the sheets were so cold
I’m back in the old haunts again

Years have gone by since the time of our lives
Many years creeping comfortably slow
Years of letting our dreams go on drifting
Who knows my friends where the time goes?

Chorus:
Back in the old haunts again
To remember the times when you laughed like a drain
Shaking in bed when the sheets were so cold
I’m back in the old haunts again

Back in the old haunts again
To remember the times when you laughed like a drain
Shaking in bed when the sheets were so cold
I’m back in the old haunts again
Now I’m back in the old haunts again

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

Long Way to Fall

Maybe one day I will find
A way to make it through
To guide us through our darkest days
And bring me back to you
When everything is said and done
We’ll win more than we’ll lose
There’s more to life than sufferin’
It’s sometimes hard to choose

So don’t runaway with our hope
And don’t runaway with our love

Chorus:
Cause somedays you’re looking so lost
But most days you’re counting the cost
It’s a long way to fall when you’ve been so high
It’s a long way to fall through a darkening sky

I wish that I could take away
The hurt you feel inside
Whichever way it makes no sense
It’s hard to raise a smile
Don’t give in to bitterness
It’s your time coming soon
I know that we’ll see better days
They’ll be dancing to our tune

So don’t runaway with our hope
And don’t runaway with our love

Chorus:
Cause somedays you’re looking so lost
But most days you’re counting the cost
It’s a long way to fall when you’ve been so high
It’s a long way to fall through a darkening sky

Chorus:
Cause somedays you’re looking so lost
But most days you’re counting the cost
It’s a long way to fall when you’ve been so high
It’s a long way to fall when you feel like dying

(Boardman)

Out on the shore

The sky is glowing red the fire has broken free
And the things we thought were certain are no longer guaranteed
So we leave the ties that bind and we look for one last haven
There’s no way round, we must go down to the sea

Fireworks dance across the harbour in a sideshow no-one needs
Like the fading fairy lights on a forgotten Christmas tree
With silent nights so far away we look for Bethlehem
There’s no way round, we must go down to the sea

Chorus:
A thousand clouds, a thousand more, a thousand battles evermore
A thousand times the ocean’s roar, a thousand souls out on the shore

Somewhere in the sandstorm there will still be you and me
But from this place we found together we will soon be deportees
So take my hand and run now, there’s no other way to go
There’s no way round, we must go down to the sea

Chorus:
A thousand clouds, a thousand more, a thousand battles evermore
A thousand times the ocean’s roar, a thousand souls out on the shore

Nothing is left of the smouldering remains
Of the dreams and the things that we used to care for
So hold me and know that our love is the law
As we watch the town blazing from out on the shore

Chorus:
A thousand clouds, a thousand more, a thousand battles evermore
A thousand times the ocean’s roar, a thousand souls out on the shore

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

The Lie of the Land

Don’t want to run, don’t want to hide
There’s no thoughts of great escape, down deep inside
With the sun on my face, there’s no need to break free
From the united states, of you and me
There’s a whole wide world out there

But this is the place
It’s the lie of the land
On these special days we both understand
Yeah this is the place
And when we go there
Down those little lanes lead to everywhere

There are dark clouds for sure, but no poisoned rain
There’s a comfort in just rolling round again
There are things we must do, they’re the rules of the game
But no need of reaching out to touch the flame
There’s a whole wide world out there

But this is the place
It’s the lie of the land
On these special days we both understand
Yeah this is the place
And when we go there
Down those little lanes lead to everywhere

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

I Never Asked For Much

As I took flight that fateful night I said things that I shouldnt’ve said
As the red mist descended, and bombs went off inside my head
And as my eyes traced the trail, of the last drip of candlewax
I walked away down-hearted, on the wrong side of the tracks

Chorus:
And one day, if you find me, if that ship’s not already sailed
You’ll see that all I ever wanted was that human touch
You’ll understand it wasn’t certain that I was born to fail
One day, you’ll see I never asked for much

There were no nets to stop me drifting, no hands to catch me should I fall
Just the lust for bleak escape and a cloak of alcohol
From a park bench, from stolen slumbers at the dawning of the day
Knowing somewhere deep inside it shouldn’t have to be this way

It’s time to leave it all behind, walk away and break on through
To where the streets aren’t paved with gold but at least they’re headed somewhere new

(Boardman/Radcliffe)

New Year’s Eve

Take this battered suitcase cabbie, I’m headed for the railway track
To the nearest mainline station and I won’t be coming back
Another year turns round now and tomorrow’s New Year’s Day
Time for resolution so just let me steal away

Well I’ve taken all I needed, you know I never needed much
I’m sorry that I hurt you, I never had the gentle touch
I drank whiskey, I drank brandy and I over-stepped the line
Tell the kids I work away now, tell your folks I’m doing fine

Chorus:
I got blasted tonight already, ‘cause I knew I had to leave
And how I wanted to be sober and I just want you to believe
That the demons down inside of me, caused me to drink and to deceive
But how I wanted to be sober, when I left on New Year’s Eve

Well I’m going far away now, farther away than where I came from
To where nobody knows me, beyond the back of beyond
So just turn away now, I don’t want you to see me cry
Look to the future, just don’t look me in the eye

(Radcliffe)