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Under
The Flag
I Scapegoat
Love Parasite
Plainsong
Wheels Of Fortune
Life On The Line IV
The Sheep Look Up
Cipher
For Whom The Bells Toll
Under The Flag II
Frank Tovey - Lead vocal, computer and synthesizer
David Simmonds - Grand piano, synthesizer
Nicholas Cash - Vibraphone, timpani, hand-held percussion
Chorus - Alison Moyet, Barbara Frost, Jill Tipping, Yvette Anna, Andrew Kay, Anne Clift,
John Fryer
Saxophone on Wheels Of Fortune - Alison Moyet
Dutch nursery rhyme on Scapegoat - Patricia Bakker
Recorded at Blackwing Studio, All Hallows Church, London in
1982
Engineered by John Fryer
Produced by Frank Tovey with John Fryer
All words and music by Frank Tovey
except Under The Flag I and II, words Tovey, music Tovey, Fryer
Photography and painting - Anton Corbijn
Typography - Jill Tipping
Well the story begins on the Isle of Dogs
In a time of world recession
There's a queue a mile long for every job
Young hopes deep in depression
Well our anti-hero's coy, such a weak-willed boy
He follows his nose, not his head
So the lap-dog finds a mate, and makes his first mistake
She winds up in a hospital bed
Now the baby's doing fine, but daddy hasn't got the time
He'll drink himself oblivious
Then return and hit the wife, she'll attack him with a knife
Oh the script is so damned obvious
Under the flag
Survival leads men to do foolish things
And yes he was a fool
He thought he'd try working for the government
A civil service tool
Now the boy is doing fine, but he'll have to toe the line
His orders are from high above
'Cos when you're working for the state you can sell your life to fate
You're not working anymore for love
Under the flag
Fool's the name
Sitting target for the ghouls to cane
Mention me then spit on the ground
A shameless game
Fortune's found its place for me in a pit of pain
I've been kicked out every household
Now they
Blame me (Don't blame me)
Silently (So silent)
Scapegoat, shame on you
Love me dear
And be prepared to live a life of morbid fear
A soulless life of solitude
In exile here
Better still to keep your own Utopia
You can have that dream come true
So...
Blame me (Don't blame me)
Silently (So silent)
Scapegoat, shame on you
[This is where the Dutch nursery rhyme comes in; it's not printed on the lyric
sheet, and as I don't speak Dutch I can't transcribe it...]
Love parasite
Love parasite
You're kicking inside
Try not to fight
Love parasite
Scream aloud
Words without meaning
You lack the gift of speech
But you suck like a leech
Scream aloud
Force-fed with sound
Gonna get no sleep tonight
Listen to that noise
It's a hungry voice
Get no sleep tonight
Voices saying nothing
'Cos their heads are clean are simple
But they screw up the refrain
And no-one sings together
Chorus
Well I don't believe quite what I hear
'Cos the words are so disgusting
I can hardly wait to leave this place
The people seem to revel in their own bad taste
And amplify their emptiness
Glorify their mindlessness
Plainsong
Speakers spitting nonsense
But young ears are so receptive
Well they climb inside your mind
And the tune is not forgotten
Repeat chorus
I choke on my words as I speak
Brain damaged citizens file along the street
A view from my window
A motorway intersection
Exhaust pipes at pram level
Now playgrounds are carparks
Chorus
Wheels keep rolling round and round
Their feet hardly ever touch the ground
The tiger in the tank is a vile compound
Hold on to precious breath you're homeward bound
I've got to breathe, lead free
Breathe, lead free
Chorus
I've got to breathe, high octane
Oh, oh, high octane
Wheels of Fortune keep rolling on
Five star fantasies of multi-storey power games
A money spinner
Bullets richochet just above my head
In a hole in the ground I make my bed
Wake up in the morning and find me dead
Load up my weapon and pump them full of lead
I'm sorry about the mess on the table
I'm sure it was an accident
My hands are made of nitroglycerin
That explains the incident
Fortune built my homes in daydreams
Pages I'd never seen
I'm sorry you were so disappointed
The contract states quite fundamentally
The undersigned is you
Lay your life on the line
Chorus
No questions
(Life on the line)
That's fine
(Life)
Just sign on the dotted line
The nib hesitates at the inkwell
A sample of the poet's blood
Guitars pluck a tune in the ozone
But me, I'm just stuck in the mud
Fortune left my hopes in daydreams
Pages I'd never seen
I'm sorry you were so disappointed
The contract states quite fundamentally
The undersigned is you
Lay your life on the line
Chorus
Fortune built my hopes in daydreams
Pages I'd never seen
I'm sorry you were so disappointed
The contract states quite fundamentally
The undersigned is you
Lay your life on the line
This is the shadow of a great cloud
This is the flag of hate
Patriotism is the key word now
Here in this democratic state
And the sheep look up
As the sky falls down
Tumbling heavy to the sea
Follow my leader is all I can play now
The people want war 'cos war is for real
We can pull together with our common enemy
Hatred stimulates - it's infectious
And the sheep look up
As the sky falls down
Tumbling heavy to the sea
My words are dedicated to the one I love
It's been so long since our lips have touched
Whisper young lovers, whisper tonight
Chorus
All my letters will be censored
Read between each secret sentence
Hand written for my dearest
Cipher love
Careless talk can cost lives
But our minds will connect with our thoughts disguised
Whisper sweet nothings, whisper, tonight
Chorus
If I've heard them once
I've heard them a thousand times before
I'm in danger of repeating myself
But I don't care anymore
Sleepless nights and world weary days
I live without you
But life goes on regardless
I don't know what to do
Chorus
The bells keep ringing
The doors keep slamming
You don't understand
But the doors keep slamming
For whom the bells toll
If I put a shell up to my ear
I can hear the sea
Even though I've tried to erase
That memory
You could be wiped up on
Some faraway beach
But all I know and feel is
You're still out of reach
Chorus
Switch out the light, and go to bed
Switch out the light, and go to bed
Young man, go out
And take what's yours, don't doubt
There's strength in numbers, walk on
Defend the meek, headstrong
Now the story's become a bore
I don't want to hear it anymore
It's by no means an immaculate conception
Too many bodies lying around
Pushing daisies out the ground
And the church is cashing in on resurrection
Well I tried so hard to please you
'Cos I know that you crave blood
Consumer credit carnivores
And now the masses have been fed
Suck the offal from the dead
Now the joker's here to pick the sores
Under the flag
Under the flag boy
Under what flag?