Faith

Studio album released 14 April 1981

The Holy Hour

I kneel
And wait in silence
As one by one the people slip away
Into the night
The quiet and empty bodies
Kiss the ground before they pray
Kiss the ground and slip away

I sit
And listen dreamlessly
A promise of salvation makes me stay
Then look at your face
And feel my heart pushed in
As all around the children play
The games they tired of yesterday
They play
They play

I stand
And hear my voice cry out
A wordless scream at ancient power
It breaks against stone
I softly leave you crying
I cannot hold what you devour
The sacrifice of penance
In the holy hour

Primary

The innocence of sleeping children
Dressed in white
And slowly dreaming
Stops all time
Slow my steps and start to blur
So many years have filled my heart
I never thought I’d say those words

The further we go
And older we grow
The more we know
The less we show
The further we go
And older we grow
The more we know
The less we show

The very first time I saw your face
I thought of a song and quickly changed the tune
The very first time I touched your skin I thought of a story
And rushed to reach the end
Too soon

Oh, remember
Oh, please
Don’t change

So the fall came, thirteen years
A shiny ring and how I could forget your name
The air no longer in my throat
Another perfect lie is choked
But it always feels the same

So they close together
Dressed in red and yellow
Innocent forever
Sleeping children in their blue soft rooms
Still dream

The further we go
And older we grow
The more we know
The less we show
The further we go
And older we grow
The more we know
The less we show

Other Voices

Whisper your name in an empty room
You brush past my skin, as soft as fur
Taking hold
I taste your scent
Distant noises, other voices

Pounding in my broken head
Commit the sin, commit yourself
And all the other voices said
Change your mind
You’re always wrong
Always wrong
Always wrong

Come around at Christmas
I really have to see you
Smile at me slyly
Another festive compromise
But I live with desertion
And eight million people
Distant noises
Of other voices
Pulsing in my swinging arms
Caress the sound
So many dead
And all the other voices sing
Change your mind
You’re always
Wrong

All Cats Are Grey

I never thought that I would find myself
In bed amongst the stones
The columns are all men begging to crush me
No shapes sail on the dark deep lakes
And no flags wave me home

In the caves, all cats are grey
In the caves, the textures coat my skin
In the death cell, a single note
Rings on and on and on

The Funeral Party

Two pale figures ache in silence
Timeless in the quiet ground
Side by side in age and sadness

I watched and acted wordlessly
As piece by piece, you performed your story
Moving through an unknown past
Dancing at the funeral party

Memories of children’s dreams
Lie lifeless fading, lifeless
Hand in hand with fear and shadows
Crying at the funeral party

I heard a song and turned away
As piece by piece, you performed your story
Noiselessly across the floor
Dancing at the funeral party

Doubt

Stop my flight to fight and die
And take a stand to change my life
So savage with red desperation
I clench my hands; you draw your claws
A hidden rage consumes my heart
Fueled by years of wasted time
I close my eyes and tense myself
And screaming throw myself in fury
Over the edge and into your blood

Tear at flesh and rip at skin
And smash at doubt
I have to break you
Fury drives my vicious blows
I see you fall but still I strike you
Again and again
Your body falls
The movement is sharp and clear and pure
And gone
I stop and kneel beside you
Drained of everything but pain

Screaming throw myself in fury
Over the edge and into your blood
into your blood

Kiss you once and see you writhe
Hold you close and hear you cry
Kiss your eyes and finish your life
Kiss your eyes
Finish your life

Again and again, your body falls
The movement is sharp and clear and pure
And gone
I stop and kneel beside you
Knowing I’ll murder you again tonight

Sharp and clear and pure
Sharp and clear and pure
Knowing I’ll murder you again
Knowing I’ll murder you again
Knowing I’ll murder you again
Knowing I’ll murder you again
Tonight

The Drowning Man

She stands twelve feet above the flood
She stares, alone across the water
The loneliness grows and slowly
Fills her frozen body sliding downwards

One by one her senses die
The memories fade and leave her eyes
Still seeing worlds that never were
And one by one the bright birds leave her

Starting at the violent sound
She tries to turn, but final, noiseless
Slips and strikes her soft dark head
The water bows, receives her
And drowns her at its ease
Drowns her at its ease

I would have left the world all bleeding
Could I only help you love
The fleeting shapes so many years ago
So young and beautiful and brave

Everything was true
It couldn’t be a story

I wish it was all true
I wish it couldn’t be a story
The words all left me
Lifeless hoping breathing like the drowning man

Oh, Fuchsia
You leave me breathing like the drowning man
Breathing like the drowning man
Dreaming like the drowning man
Breathing like the drowning man
Breathing like the drowning man
Dreaming like the drowning man

Catch me if I fall, I’m losing hold
I can’t just carry on this way
And every time I turn away
Lose another blind game
The idea of perfection holds me

Suddenly, I see you change
Everything at once the same
But the mountain never moves

Rape me like a child, christened in blood
Painted like an unknown saint
There’s nothing left but hope
Your voice is dead and old and always empty
Trust in me through closing years
Perfect moments wait
If only we could stay
Please say the right words
Or cry like the stone white clown
And stand, lost forever in a happy crowd

No one lifts their hands
No one lifts their eyes
Justified with empty words
The party just gets better and better

I went away alone
With nothing left but faith
I went away alone
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith
With nothing left but faith