Peter Hammill
Here Come the Talkies
[Verse 1]
Hair in the gate, let's take a minute
To find out where this character's lost his way...
Unless I'm much mistaken I'm at the limit
Of what I can and can't say

[Verse 2]
Something untoward seems to be occurring
The best that I can do is play along
For much as I deplore it the camera's still turning...
You don't have to be bad to be in the wrong
You don't have to be bad to get it all wrong

[Chorus]
Fighting the light
There's not much time...
What future bright is mine?

[Verse 3]
In the course of that scene you looked right through me
Though I was holding your attention as best I could
I feel I'm dropping down the credits of my own movie....
Even when you're in the right you could be gone for good;
Take a look at these shoes where the understudy stood

[Chorus]
Fighting the light
There's not much time...
What future bright is mine?
[Segue]

[Intro]
With uncertainty as a constant companion
Yeah you'll never be alone if you're open to your own self-doubt...
Better let it out

[Bridge]
This is no time for you to stutter in dismay
As frame by frame all your references unlock;
Wired up as anything, the future's on its way
Like electricity, you judder with the shock
(Like electricity, you judder with the shock)
You judder with the shock
Until you're utterly unblocked;
Yeh, you judder with the shock

[Verse 4]
Time to get a grip, we're all mummers in a freak show
Come on, read my lips and then maybe you'll acquire a different taste
Take another tip, find a method in the madness...
When everything is stripped I see no fortune in your face
Oh, look out!

[Verse 5]
Walking on the coals your star was never brighter
Good as solid gold, but that standard's not so relevant today –
Typecast in the role, is your strength all in your silence?
[Chorus]
Uh oh
Here come the talkies – what's that you say?

[Verse 6]
Fashion what you make from the clay of your experience;
You might deserve a break but the longer you go on the less it's fair;
You be sure to claim your stake, but the ground below you's shifted
Just like Rudy as the Sheikh do you feel there's something alien in the air?

[Chorus]
Here come the talkies
Obsolescence guaranteed;
Here come the talkies, don't you see?

[Bridge]
And you never thought you'd feel so absurd
But now you're fluffing your famous last words....

[Outro]
Thank you and goodnight

[Segue]

[Chorus]
Fighting the light
There's always time
To stand and fight your decline...
[Verse 7]
Hair in the gate, that Klieg light, dim it
Let's find out how this character acts at bay:
If he's strong in his belief there'll be no limit
To what he can and can't say
To what he can and can't....

[Chorus]
Fighting the light
In tune with time...
What future bright will be mine?

[Outro]
Will, be mine
Will, be mine