Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted.

"Jet Lag" I've heard it said the trick Is to set your watch when you hit the plane That way you can trick The workings of a tired brain But sometimes I feel sick Sometimes I just feel so drained And cut down to the quick Longing for that voice again On the phone You always ask if I'm OK But it's not the same as being happy I travelled 40,000 miles last year And I'm working on the same again I fell for 15 different girls And nearly lost all of my friends Well I am jet set, jet lag, jaded You're always 16 hours ahead Quietly reminding me how I used to be Airports make me sad I'm sure they shouldn't all be the same But they're just landing pads Boring tourist shopping chains I remember times we had Drinking while we wait for your plane Feeling kinda bad Wondering which one of us has changed Cos we used to be slick Subtle young hips, romantic young kissable lips Unbearably sharp, unbreakable heart With wide eyes and faith That life could never pull apart if we were OK But distance kills the best of intentions And never intended it to be this way I travelled 40,000 miles last year And I'm working on the same again I fell for 15 different girls And nearly lost all of my friends Oh I am jet set, jet lag, jaded You're always 16 hours ahead Quietly reminding me how I used to be I'm trying to remember how I used to be Used to be slick

"St Christopher Is Coming Home" Monday morning, comes a crawling in From another weekend choked with cigarettes and sin I've been busy, so much lately That every time I get some time to spend I end up drunk or sleeping in And I miss you, you're busy too We call each other up, when we're messed up And say we'll meet in the New Year But it's perfectly clear we'll do no such thing Come the spring When the evening casts it's shadows on the corners of my days And I am old and I am settled in the place where I will stay When my wandering meanderings have finally reached their end Yeah whatever else maybe I will not forget my friends Friday evening, barely even begins Before my phone begins to ring with people asking where I am And I can't suppress a smile, we talk a while The chances are that I am far away and so I'm phased out of the plan And that's how I miss out, on another night The kind of night where nothing really happens Yeah but everything goes down And at the end I'm just a promise to pick up the phone When I'm in town When the evening casts it's shadows on the corners of my days And I am old and I am settled in the place where I will stay When my wandering meanderings have finally reached their end Yeah whatever else maybe may my friends remember me

"A Love Worth Keeping" Rise in the morning at sunrise Strangers around me sleep soundly at rest Phones and computers become me Signals stretch back to the lands that I've left Oh in the quiet times Count up the things that I love Slip through the road lights The trail of wandering back Left you while you were sleeping Left you the warmth in the bed, where I lay You left me a love worth keeping You left me a diary to count off the days And so in the quiet times I saver the things that I've lost And slip through the road lights And wonder how I came to this I guess you never know Lost until you have something to lose Choice until you have something to choose Choose So give me my quiet times To mourn for the things that I've lost And find me on the road lights Counting the miles and the cost So I never knew Lost cos I had nothing to lose Choice cos I had nothing to choose But all the things you do The way that you close your door The way that you guard your shore Darling, I'm coming home soon

"Long Live The Queen" I was sipping on a Whiskey when I got the call My friend Lex was lying in the hospital She'd been pretty sick for about half a year But it seems like this time the end was drawing near So dropped my plans and jumped the next London train I found her laid up and in a lot of pain Her eyes met mine and then I understood That her weather forecast wasn't looking too good So I sat and spun her stories for a little while Tried to raise her mood and tried to raise a smile But she silenced all my rambling with a shake of her head Drew me close and listen this is what she said now "You'll live to dance another day It's just now you'll have to dance for the two of us So stop looking so damn depressed And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead" Yeah she told me she was sick of all the hospital food And of doctors, distant relatives, draining her blood She said "I know I'm dying, but I'm not finished just yet I'm dying for a drink and for a cigarette" So we hatched a plan to book ourselves a cheap hotel In the centre of the City and to raise some Hell Lay waste to all the clubs and then when everyone else is long asleep We know we're good and done "You'll live to dance another day It's just now you'll have to dance for the two of us So stop looking so damn depressed And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead" And South London's not the same anymore The Queen is dead, and the last of the greats has finally gone to bed Well I was working on some words when Sarah called me up She said that Lex had gone asleep and wasn't waking up And even though I knew that there was nothing to be done I felt bad for not being there and now, well, she was gone So I tried to think what Lex would want me to do At times like this when I was feeling blue So I gathered up some friends to spread the sad, sad news And we headed to the City for a drink or two And we sang "We live to dance another day It's just now we have to dance for one more of us So stop looking so damn depressed And sing with all our hearts, long live the Queen"

"To Take You Home" I come from the land of the Wessex down From the Hampshire hills near Winchester town In the country where the soft South rivers flow down To English channel I roam, this is where I call home I sing for my supper and I'm pretty well fed My cross is silent and I make my bed Where I can find a crown and somewhere to lay my head And the travelling day is done, and all my songs have been sung But honey I was lonely on the road, I was all on my own Hanging outside at the back of a death metal show I saw you standing there with your hair down low A kink in your step that made me want to know If you would like to take me home Who'd of thought that a French kiss from a Parisian girl could capture an English boy She comes from the channels of a distant shore From the land of revolution and Agincourt From the Kings blood stain on a tricolour And the culture a little too high, for an English boy like me She doesn't know the Island I grew up upon The valleys and the hills that I've roamed along And she doesn't like my clothes and she doesn't like my songs But she's still my Mademoiselle and it goes to show you never can tell. Cos she was a quiet one She was a shy one She was the prettiest at the show She crept up so slowly She crept up behind me But still she pretended that she didn't know But all that she thinks of me, and she kissed me And she's yet to let me go though I'm far away Across of sea I'm singing for the hope that she would ever remember me So honey when you're lonely on the road, you're all on your own Hanging outside at the back of the country show Picture me there with hat down low A smile upon my face to let you know That I would like to take you home That I would like to take you home, to the hills that I know I would like to take you home, to the places I go I would like to take you home And that's the way that a French kiss from an English boy can capture a Parisian girl

"Imperfect Tense" Naked and retched and retching on a hotel bathroom floor, Somewhere in the City Three days no sleeping, not eating, not feeling good anymore Drenched in sweat and self-pity now, it's not a pretty sight What to say in my defense, I was imperfect tense Used to have such balance, but I don't know where it went So won't you be my present sense Breaking, I'm shaking, it's taking a long long time To come down off this murderous medication Trying to remember, my reasons for running myself into the ground with such dedication What to say in my defense, I was imperfect tense Used to have such balance, but I don't know where it went So won't you be my present sense, sense Cos it's not meant to be I am lost at sea So mermaids sing to me Of the better times and the things that can be Like the diamonds in the Mediterranean sea Or the beatings and sleeping and times that I took And of washing the drink and the drugs from my blood And I've nothing to say in my defense I'm far from perfect I'm still tense They say that love can change you once Please say that love can change me once Come on change me

"Love Ire & Song" Well, a teacher of mine once told me That life was just a list of disappointments and defeats And you could only do your best, And I said, "Well, that's a fucking cop-out, you're just washed up and you're tired, And when I get to your age, well, I won't be such a coward." But these days I sit at home, known to shout at my TV And Punk Rock didn't live up to what I'd hoped that it could be And all the things that I believed with all my heart when I was young Are just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs And I packed all my pamphlets with my bibles at the back of the shelf Well, it was bad enough the feeling, and the first time it hit When you realised your parents had let the world all go to shit And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died Had been killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left And got let down again by some poor excuse for protest Yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions Who are locked inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment And I hung up my banner in disgust and I head for the door Oh, but once we were young, and we were crass enough to care But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no Oh, but surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible Well, we've been a good few hours drinking So I'm going to say what everyone's thinking If we're stuck on this ship and it's sinking Then we might as well have a parade Cause if it's still going to hurt in the morning And a better plan's yet to get forming Then where's the harm spending an evening In manning the old barricades? So come on, old friends, to the streets Let's be 1905, but not 1917, Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams Let's divide up the world into the damned and the saved And then ride to the valley like the old light brigade And straighten our backs and we won't be afraid And they'll celebrate our deaths with a national parade So come on, let's be young, let's be crass enough to care Let's refuse to live and learn, let's make all our mistakes again, yes And then darling, just for one day, yeah, we can fight and we can win And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible Leave the mourning to the morning Yeah pain can be killed With aspirin tablets and vitamin pills But memories of hope, and of glorious defeat Are a little bit harder to beat

"Better Half" Oh my friend loneliness, where have you been? You left to the lure of the lover who left me alone But now you come crawling back, and I'll let you in And we'll slip back into grooves that we cut in ourselves long ago But there must be a better half, somewhere out there She lives a better life, a life that shares Shares with a better man The man who is there when she calls in the night Who says "Hey, it's alright" And oh my dear distance, I've met you before Longing for a lover who's lost on a far distant shore And oh my imperfections, are all that remain And the days when I'd love you and I'd leave you, and you'd wish that I would stay There must be a better half, somewhere out there She lives a better life, a life that shares Shares with a better man The man who is there when she calls in the night Who says "Hey, it's alright" I know what she looks like, her face and skin, her smell and the rest I know the feel of her soul, but God help me I just cannot find her address I've how I've tried but now all that's left Is my old friend distance and sweet loneliness There must be a better half, somewhere out there She lives a better life, a life that shares Shares with a better man The man who is there when she calls in the night Who says "Hey, it's alright" "Hey, it's alright" "Hey, it's alright"

"Substitute" The first girl that I fell for was a fair and faithful fighter She smouldered with a will to save the world I did my best to help her, yeah I stood shoulder to shoulder On the front lines with my visionary girl I wish that she had cared for me But in the end her ideologies Occupied the fortress of her heart I wrote her 15 songs, but still we had to part And if music was the food of love Then I'd be a fat romantic slob Well music, it's my substitute for love The last girl that I loved she was a low and lusty liar She set my heart on fire, but made me choke Her beauty was a sight to see, but she didn't save it all for me I found other fires by following the smoke I wish that she had either cared for me or let be me But she chased me from mind and from my home I wrote her 16 songs, but I ended up alone And if love is really all that we need Then even all my singing is never gonna save me Music it's my substitute for love Well I've had many different girls inside my bed But only one or two inside my head These days I cuddle up to my guitar instead But oh, what I would give, not to stumble but to really fall in love And I could substitute my singing for the sound of someone sleeping next to me

"Photosynthesis" 1,2,1,2,3 Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I yeah I won't grow up Oh maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will Have to grow up be an adult yeah be bored and unfulfilled Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate, about meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I yeah I won't grow up And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up And if all you ever do with your life Is photosynthesize Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights That you waste wondering when you're gonna die Now I'll play and you sing The perfect way for the evening to begin Now I'll play and you sing The perfect way for the evening to begin And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all yeah I won't grow up And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up

"Reasons Not To Be An Idiot" You're not as messed up as you think you are Your self-absorption makes you messier Just settle down and you will feel a whole lot better Deep down you're just like everybody else She's not as pretty as she thinks she is Just picture her after she's had kids I bet she sits at home and listens to The Smiths Deep down she's just like everybody else So why are you sat at home? You're not designed to be alone You just got used to saying "no" So get up and get down and get outside 'Cause it's a lovely sunny day But you hide yourself away You've only got yourself to blame Get up and get down and get outside He's not as clever as he likes to think He's just ambitious with his arguing He's crap at dancing, yeah and he can't hold his drink Deep down he's just like everybody else I'm not as awesome as this song makes out I'm angry, underweight and sketching out I'm building bonfires on my vanities and doubts To get warm just like everybody else So why are you sat at home? You're not designed to be alone You just got used to saying "no" So get up and get down and get outside 'Cause it's a lovely sunny day But you hide yourself away You've only got yourself to blame Get up and get down and get outside Amy thinks that life is lacking in drama So she fell for horoscopes, fake healing and karma She's so wrapped up in her invisible armour She'll never grow into herself And it's OK thinking me and all my friends are just wasters But saying that I can still see through her heirs and graces I bet she's scared her life won't leave any traces Caught up like everyone else That's not the point anyway Oh darling, I felt compelled to call you up to say... So why are you sat at home? You're not designed to be alone You just got used to saying "no" So get up and get down and get outside 'Cause it's a lovely sunny day But you hide yourself away You've only got yourself to blame Get up and get down and get outside Get up and get down and get outside Get up and get down and get outside Get up and get down and get outside Get up and get down and get outside Get up and get down and get outside

"I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous" Let's begin at the beginning: we're lovers and we're losers, we're heroes and we're pioneers, and we're beggars and we're choosers. We're skirting round the edges of the ideal demographic. We're almost on the guestlist, but we're always stuck in traffic. We've watched our close associates up and play their parts; they're chatting up the it girls, and they're tearing up the charts, while we were paying with coppers to get our round in at the bar. We're the C-Team, we're the almost famous old friends of the stars. Justin is the last of the great romantic poets, and he's the only one among us who is ever going to make it. We planned a revolution from a cheap Southampton bistro. I don't remember details but there were English boys with banjos. Jay is our St George, and he's standing on a wooden chair, and he sings songs and he slays dragons, and he's losing all his hair. Adam is the resurrected spirit of Gram Parsons, in plaid instead of rhinestone and living in South London. And no one's really clear about Tommy's job description, but it's pretty clear he's vital to the whole damn operation. Dave Danger smiles at strangers, Tre's the safest girl I know, Zo and Harps will skamper up to victory in the city we call home. We won't change our ways, we will proud remain when the glory fades. I am sick and tired of people who are living on the B-list. They're waiting to be famous and they're wondering why they do this. And I know I'm not the one who is habitually optimistic, but I'm the one who's got the microphone here so just remember this: Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings, and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, and help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live. After all the loving and the losing, the heroes and the pioneers, the only thing that's left to do is get another round in at the bar.

"Wisdom Teeth" It’s been eighteen months since I kissed you once, So just saying “hi” just isn’t going to fly, But if you give me a clue and a minute or two, Then I might remember your name. And I hate to insist that I was really that pissed, But to tell the truth, in my flush of youth, I would drown my sight until faces and nights seemed the same. And a nervous shrug and an awkward hug Won’t get me out of the hole that I’ve dug, So I slip the noose with a poor excuse And talk to someone, anyone else. And I sit with my friends and I try to pretend That I never did that sort of thing again, But I’m lying to myself. And suddenly it’s as clear as clear could be: I’m not quite the perfect man that I hoped I’d be. And though I always tried to live an honest life, To tell my truth I’ve told my share of lies. I remember you, of course I do, But I don’t recall how many times we’ve been through This little game, that always ends the same, With you sad and me far away. And every time I repeat the line That the fault’s not mine and I wasn’t unkind. But the worst part is that I’ve got nothing else to say. And all the pretty little pictures of faith and firm devotion That I painted as a child, Well they have fallen by the wayside, along with all my puppy-fat, But my days have taught me this: That every day I spend pretending that I always choose the right path Is a day that I choose the wrong. Oh yes my wisdom teeth have been giving me grief – They woke me up to find that I’m exactly the kind of Guy I said that I’d rather be dead than be In the days before I got laid.

"Once We Were Anarchists" The demonstrations got boring – Well it was obvious that the government was ignoring us. It’s hard to drag yourself through empty streets On an empty stomach and no sleep. The shortcomings got clearer, As the price we paid got dearer and dearer. It’s supposed to be a case of give and take – Well I was feeling the give and making a mistake. And I’ve heard it said that the unexamined life Isn’t much worth living, and I’m sure they’re right. But it’s hard to keep on fighting the good fight When no one else seems bothered, yeah, When no one’s on your side. I’ve got friends who are bankers, And it’s an easy rhyme to call them wankers, But I must say I envy the way that they live In a style that’s all take and no give, While I’m playing the Lone Ranger, Riding to the rescue of six billion strangers, Armed with only unoriginal songs And a sense that something’s wrong. And I must admit that I’m tired of saying “no” all the time. But I must admit that I don’t really know what would be right. And if politics is helping all the people then my political career is pretty fucked, Because the truth is I don’t like people all that much. The times they aren’t a-changing – Yeah, England’s still shit and it’s still raining, And everybody’s jaded and tired and bored And no one lifts a finger because It’s just not in our culture. Our culture is carrion and we’re all vultures, And no one seems bothered by this state of play – It seems that the stench is with us to stay. So I had a go, I tried examining life. It wasn’t much worth living – I guess they’re right. And I’m tired of fighting a fight that’s not my fight. But so is everybody else – we’re all on the same side. I’m young enough to be all pissed off But I’m old enough to be jaded. I’m of the age where I want things to change But with age my hopes have faded. I’m young and bored of being young and bored – If I was old I could say I’d seen it all before. In short, I’m tired, and in short I’m probably fired. If the revolution doesn’t want me I don’t give a shit.

Dalton

"Back In The Day" When I was just a skinny lad on holiday by the sea, I met a girl in a Rancid shirt, and a tape she gave to me With the Black Flag First Four Years and the Minor Threat Discography, And punk rock saved my life. Going down the Red Eye back in 1998, Hanging out with Household Names and staying out too late, This angry adolescent found an outlet for his hate, And punk rock saved my life. The vision wasn’t perfect and we knew it all along, We dressed like fucking idiots and got our facts all wrong. But everyone must needs be an extremist when they’re young – Fucking with your parents makes you grow up big and strong. Folding zines and record sleeves while sitting round at home, Flicking through the catalogues and distros at the shows, Circle pits and sing-a-longs, come on let’s fucking go, And punk rock saved my life. That little dream is over, it was never going to last. Everybody’s moved along and it’s all in the past, But when I was just 16 I pinned my colours to the mast. And punk rock’s in the ink that’s in my skin, The attitude in every song I sing, And we didn’t change the world, we didn’t win, We probably didn’t even save my life, it’s true But I bet we had a better time than you.

"My Kingdom For A Horse" Would you pick your clothes up, put your clothes on, Pack your things and go? I’m tired of sinking this low. Awkward semi-naked coffee conversations fade Quicker than mistakes that were made. Mornings when I’m coming down, being driven round the bend, Make for days when I’m losing my friends For all the little things that I have done and cannot make amends. Don’t you ever kind of wish that the world would just stop? That the band would pack up and the curtain would drop? I’ve been stuck inside the same old nights, the same old days off, And I need you now because I can’t get out of this. Clean your mirrors, roll your notes out, Put your cards away. That’s a game that I don’t want to play anymore. My head is sore, my throat is raw, and what’s more I’m fifty pounds down to feel empty and poor, Remembering the things that I believed when I was sober and sure. And I’m trying to speak straight, But I’m drunk and I’m lonely and you won’t believe me, And I’m trying to see straight, But I’ve been up for days and it scares you away, And I’m trying to keep straight, But I’d trade it all for just five minutes more Of your wandering hands with their simple demands that are All the things I ever wanted, better than the powder and pills, All the things I ever needed, the only thing that doesn’t seem to kill, That still makes me smile. So if I tell you all the little things that I think that I need, Will you tell me how to tell the world from the woods from the trees? Because I’ve been stuck inside my comforting familiar disease, And I need you now because I can’t get out, And all over Europe the lights are going out, And I’m pulling down the curtain, but every time I reach out You’re gone.