Peter Hammill
Chemical World
[Verse 1]
"Well what's the harm? It's good clean fun...
Why don't you just go on and have another one?
When there's hanky-panky in the boardroom
Wooly-bully on the farm, well, what's the harm?
It's quite alright - I mean to say, tomorrow's just another day..."
[Verse 2]
Oh, but in the morning
Oh, but in the morning haze
Will you still feel as fine?
Will you still need to trade day for night?
[Break]
[Verse 3]
In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king;
In the country of the sheep, they call him Cyclops
And the quality of mind is such a tenuous thing
That here you need it like a blind man needs eye drops
Get out of that back room
This vacuum, it attracts you, but in fact
You just don't know quite what it is;
You're being sapped of everything
You once valued so highly...
Will you still feel as strong?
Will you still long for weakness to come?
[Chorus]
It's a Chemical World...
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
[Post-Chorus 1]
Not a candidate ever fails; (It's a Chemical World...)
Though you search for the Holy Grail
You're not going to find it in the Chemical World
[Verse 4]
A sleeper train... You can't escape;
Fast overnight... The ticker-tape
Oh, but in the morning
Oh, but in the morning haze
Will the market have turned?
Will there be no more days left to trade?
[Chorus 2]
In the Chemical World
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
(It's a Chemical World...)
[Post-Chorus 2]
And from the moment that it's embraced
It's the Chemical World
All the diamonds turn to paste
In the Chemical World...
Yeah, you think you'll look so pretty -
It's gonna blow up in your face
[Outro]
"It's just the time, so slow to pass
It's just the drug... It doesn't last..."