In the... All Together
With laptops made of calfskin, wrought to spread the holy will Disseminating dogma, using lapis, gold and quill And the word was with the few and the few were very strong A mass communication where you feel you don't belong Now the words that flow between uns run like torrents through the air Connecting everymen at any moment, anywhere Seems that what's important at the end of the day Down through all the ages, just the same old things to say Sure, the aldermen and theigns did tarry, warmed in winter halls With new ideas and learning locked up safe within their walls Till the patrons all did strive, with the “Blue Plague brigade” Victorian reformers will be smiling in their graves To hear how the news spread between us Something good to tell the world? Though it’s mostly dumb and they say it’s cheap There’s a talk plan made for everyone To think some people deny this... In a free state, tongues too should be free And in desperate lands, the disaffected hand Sprays “Save the world” upon the street Now the words that flow between uns run like torrents through the air Connecting everymen at any moment, anywhere Seems that what's important at the end of the day It’s mass communication and we call can have our say We may speak of creature comforts, but still our greatest feat Is to see and hear and understand the words upon the street
Submitted by Infernal Flame — Apr 24, 2025
Wake up Jacob now, wake up John Day’s a-wasting, great things to be done Super-highways don’t build themselves Estates and empires by the stroke of twelve Where we fit in the scheme of things? We’re just debris blown by the wind So forget your woman and the water can We’re all working for the man He’s got money now, he’s got fame He’s got letters running after his name He says “We are where we must be And we are what we must be” Still small beer Got the message loud and clear Still small beer For what we’re worth, it’s still small beer Head down Harvey and tail up Tom In this man’s army, there’s no spoils to be won Spit and polish, keep your muzzle clean We’re just cogs in this war machine Best foot forward, do we march in fear? We’re all cloggers and minions here So know your station and make no mistake As you brew, so you shall bake All our effort and all our time All together in the firing line But an honest soldier is never forgot Whether he die by musket or pot Still small beer Got the message loud and clear Still small beer For what we’re worth, it’s still small beer Still small beer Drink up and get out of here Still small beer For what you’re worth, it’s still small beer And we sing our song to the sun “Beer! Beer! Beer!” cried the soldiers “Brave fellows are we” And we sing our song to the sun “Beer! Beer! Beer!” cried the sailors As we heave along the way What we’re worth and what we’re not We’ll make the best of what we’ve got But they made it plain, so it would appear That he who thinks beer’s not Shakespeare Still small beer Got the message loud and clear Still small beer For what we’re worth, it’s still small beer Still small beer Insignificancia Still small beer Insignificancia
Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 24, 2025
Seems so many years now since he set off down the road For the bright lights of the city and his story to unfold No strings, no family plans, no ties to hold him down His first avowed intent, to leave this dormitory town At first, he lay just dreaming till he hit upon a plan To be a true civilian and a well-travelled man His father told him: “Listen son, the world lies at your feet Great lands of opportunity and strangers all to meet” So seize the day, go make your mark, ‘cause fortune loves the brave So many places to be seen Before you see your grave See the stars shoot over Cape Town Where the oceans all converge Ride the desert train at midnight Even sail the universe Gather round, come one, come all Listen best ye can Raise a glass and give a cheer You can see all at once he’s a well-travelled man That long and dusty trail, it ran to anywhere but home Dined equally with pagan chiefs and emperors of Rome Through ages dark and winters long, lost in the strangest lands Through countless revolutions saw man’s cruelty to man Been a butcher, been a saviour Been a friend you wouldn’t choose Built temples and filled graveyards For the side that couldn’t lose Would you walk with him as spirits In the quiet of the night And seek to have the power For to set the world to right? Gather round, come one, come all Listen best ye can Raise a glass and give a cheer You can see all at once he’s a well-travelled man Gather round, come one, come all Listen best ye can Raise a glass and give a cheer You can say what you like, he’s a well-travelled man Seems so many years now since he set off all alone To see the wonders of this world, prove the stories he’d been sold Seeks the “milk of human kindness” and he takes it where he can From the yachts of Monte Carlo to a teahouse in Japan But now, he sits forsaken with a beer glass in his hand Won’t anybody listen to the well-travelled man?
Submitted by NecroLord — Apr 24, 2025
I understand this fault is mine I’m basking in reflected light Why should I run, why should I hide? Why should I take another’s prize? You don’t see it, you just don’t see it But you’re up to your neck in it now Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Dark brooding thoughts that cross my mind Like clouds across your sunny sky They weather, they weather in me And I understand this serpentine You don’t see it, you just don’t see it But you’re spoiling this perfect day Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Like a maelstrom around you, it blinds you Hiding behind all those lies Condescending, aloof when we find you But you’re in for a nasty surprise You don’t see it, you just don’t see it But you're up to your neck in it now Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain Black Summer Rain
Submitted by SerpentEve — Apr 24, 2025
Bush of ghosts is burning In the forests of the night We hear spirits call to move our souls Hear their voice in many things Animals and birds and trees Babakoto and his kind They will help us sing our song Reach across the gulf of time They will help us sing our song We must try and understand Commutate a falling leaf Catch the breathing of the sands Raindrops on a windowpane we must understand Spirits move amongst us all Ask the ancients of this world If we only read the signs They will help us sing our song Reach across the gulf of time They will help us sing our song We must try and understand Standing in the dark This non-spiritual man Blessed by ignorance Twentieth century damned Staring at the dawn With a shotgun in his hand Blood by reasoning Technological Standing in the dark This political animal Blessed by ignorance Twenty-first century damned Staring at the dawn With a camera in his hand Desire is reasonable Technological
Submitted by Cyberwaste — Apr 24, 2025
A list of needs to get me started Help me organise my day Get up, get dressed and get reminded Exactly what I need to say Everything is architecture Everything’s political It’s all pride and prejudice Don’t tell me that it’s art! A cool head for calculation These things occupy my mind I work better independent Deal with one thing at a time Buzzwords buzzing through my brain Repetition makes the point...again Your vile vowel movements, they bother me Don’t bother to buzz me again In the evening when the west light glares And the storm beats out to sea Can you find you if you sit and stare Is your soul lost on the breeze? Let’s start again and stop pretending Forget the furniture of war Communication’s never ending Make things better, know the score Everything is architecture Everything’s political It’s all pride and prejudice Don’t tell me what it is! A list of needs to get me started Evaluate, prioritise Certain things must be decided Taken one step at a time In the evening when the west light glares And the storm beats out to sea Can you find you if you sit and stare Is your soul lost on the breeze? (Counterpoint 1): All these things I hear could make me live in fear Could force me not to care or drive me to despair) (Counterpoint 2): Everyone lets you down, yes (Counterpoint 3): Sooner or later, more or less
Submitted by Iron_Wraith — Apr 24, 2025
Councillor, I love your city fair With its vistas and its good clean air that we all breathe Councillor, I love your city fair With its moguls and its gurus who sing “boom or bust” It’s okay because we’re free men and in God we trust Love your superculture Bigger, brighter future They make it better every year Love your superculture Even if it’s overdone Overblown and over here Councillor, I love your city fair With its curfews and its social care and “by your leave” Councillor, I love your city fair With its civic pride and its eyes fixed firmly on the prize It’s okay because it’s legal, down in black and white Love your superculture Bigger, brighter future They make it better every year Love your superculture Even if it’s overdone Overblown and over here Superculture, we’re living under Superculture, we’re going under I believe in the God’s deliverance I believe in reverence I believe in association I believe in consumption Even though it’s fatally flawed Even though it won’t be ignored Even though I don’t feel good Even though I don’t see why I should Even though I’m by myself Even though it’s not good for my health Even though I’ll never be missed Even though I won’t make a fist Sirrah Sirrah, can you hear my voice? We’re the underclass who have no choice of what gets done Love your superculture Bigger, brighter future They make it better every year Love your superculture Even if it’s overdone Overblown and over here
Submitted by Iron_Wraith — Apr 24, 2025
You say that it’s good reason, “an eye for an eye” “A queer bird the fish, sir” must be my reply For fresh meat and lodgings I’ll stand by your side If wishes were horses, then beggards would ride All the days after, said all the days after All the days after, let fortune decide Always and after, sing, always and after Death, debt or disaster, let fortune decide When absurdity starts to make more or less sense Embrace all your demons, then banish them hence When clarity flows in the sweet by and by And questions are answers, you’ll know which is why So, if you seek widsom, I’ll tell you once more But if you want answers, you’ve got the wrong door Ask me no questions and you’ll get no surprise “The truth is a cow, sir, that sceptics despise” All the days after, said all the days after All the days after, let nature decide For always and after, sing, always and after For lust, love and laughter, let nature decide When absurdity starts to make more or less sense Embrace all your demons, then banish them hence When clarity flows in the sweet by and by And questions are answers, you’ll know which is why Your lips on my own when they printed “farewell” Had never been soiled by the beverage of hell But they come to me now with the bacchinal sign But the lips that taste liquor, they taste so divine All the days after, said all the days after All the days after, let wit be your guide Oh, you may laugh sir, said oh you may laugh sir For madman or master, let wit be your guide When nonsense begins to make more or less sense Life’s riddles and puzzles, just banish them hence When lucidity flows in the wink of an eye And questions are answers, you’ll know which is why
Submitted by Immortal — Apr 24, 2025
Lord knows I’ve been drinking again Caffeine and alcohol And taking of that opiate and where that leaves me ...I don’t know Asking all those questions ‘bout democracy Society and “all tht jazz” Go to run a check on reality Is anything just what it seems? We can work it out We’ve got modern minds There’s nothing to be scared of We’ve got modern minds Lord knows I’m a willing man And you shouldn’t want to stop a willing man You could never hurt me like I hurt myself So, let me go, abuse myself A chorus of dead eyes say “Let’s help you down” And if I listen, then I’m lost Singing songs of lust and obscenity They’re tempting me, they turn my head We can work it out We’ve got modern minds There’s nothing to be scared of We’ve got modern minds On fire, my mind’s on fire... If it’s forbidden to forbid How come it feels like I never lived? And if I flatter to deceive How come it feels like I never lived? I know what I like, they won’t change my mind I know what I like, they won’t change my mind Rhythm, colours, form, I know what I like I know what I like, they won’t change my mind
Submitted by Nargaroth — Apr 24, 2025
Another dawn, another date Another meeting of the ol’ G8 To change the world, make history Not compromise or hesitate Try something, try anything Try help the situation Amidst the cries and demonstrations We hear the plans of favoured nations “If it could be done”, they said, “the sooner then, the better” “It would be good if it was better than the way it was before” they said In the mire all together, when there’s so much to admire It seems “the emperor’s new clothes” is such a seasonable attire The issues are of great import The problems very clear From fevered minds and tortured brows There’s such a lot to fear From climate change to debt relief Surely couldn’t come much bigger All the power that is nuclear Whose finger’s on the trigger? On the horns of this dilemma with death’s spectre in the wings Where democracy is waning, clearly it’s a “people thing” Yes, we’re in it all together and all our wishes are laid bare We taste “the truth without the trimmings” and we find it meagre fare Welcome to “a day in the life show”, starring you and me and all It’s better than your realiTV, you just couldn’t make this stuff up As pandemics spread around the world... We’ve got pestilence, famine, fire and flood for the people in glasshouses Now the good will is all over and we’re left with nothing good It seems “the best laid plans of mice and men” get trampled in the mud Yes, we’re in it all together, right up to our nether lip In this cesspit we inhabit, only takes a slip “If it could be done”, they said, “the sooner then, the better” “It would be good if it was better than the way it was before” they said They said nothing too explicit, there’s no meat upon the bones “We’ll just have to wait and see”, they said, “just see how it goes...”, they said
Free citizens of Planet Earth The leptons in some base equation Bound by swaddling chains from birth Unto travail and assentation Given what they're taught to crave Denied the truths they sorely need Shown a future new and brave Frog-marched towards it at fools' speed If there's anyone else out there Disillusioned just like me It's time we tried to turn the tide With an overwhelming minority The masses are numb, their ethics awry Nothing's as dumb as the Vox Populi So, if there's anyone else out there Aiming sawn-off philosophy Let's all unite and make things right With an overwhelming minority No seed of hope nor ray of light Scant succour from the blighted epoch Rise like Socrates and fight Take hate's chalice laced with hemlock Mankind's retrograde ascent We've wagered all for unseen winnings Evolution's youth misspent It's time to forge bold new beginnings If there's anyone else out there Disillusioned just like me It's time we tried to turn the tide With an overwhelming minority Bolt from the herd bleating like sheep Hang for your words, don't perish asleep If there's anyone else out there Aiming sawn-off philosophy Let's all unite and make things right With an overwhelming minority
Submitted by Nargaroth — Mar 26, 2026