Peter Hammill
Come Clean
[Verse 1]
There's no getting back to how it started
And the next few pages are uncharted
There's no secret passage, no speedy getaway –
What do you say now?
We could talk about this in a calmer state
But if we wait it won't get any easier
So we're damned if we do and damned if we don't
We can't deny what each action means:
Come clean

[Verse 2]
Everything you've done is carried with you
And no-one's ever going to forgive you
If you won't come to terms with where and who you've been:
Look at the screen now
Stir up the ghosts of your own forgetfulness
Don't pack up your troubles in the sleeping bag
Don't ignore what you saw but believe how it seems
You can try to make a brand new start
We can only do our best, with an open heart
Come clean
Wipe the slate clean
Come clean

[Bridge]
The slate's clean but there's something that you never forget
Though it's hidden in your most secret place
It's still written in the memories that you've buried – worse yet
It's restructured in the lines of your face... come clean
[Verse 3]
No spooling on to how it's ending
And the next few pages are mindbending:
The territory's minefield and the needle's in the red
Let's put it to bed now
Cook up a cover story for our given lots
Be do or damned, stand by the forget-me-not
There'll be no blame for the stain that a lived-in life leaves
No shame in what might have been
We can only do our best but our lives'll never be pristine –
Come clean, the slate's clean, come clean

[Outro]
Maybe what I mean's this is as clean as it ever gets...