Studio album-released 22 April 1980

A Reflection

(instrumental)

Play for Today

It’s not a case of doing what’s right
It’s just the way I feel that matters
Tell me I’m wrong, I don’t really care
It’s not a case of share and share alike
I take what I require
I don’t understand, you say it’s not fair

You expect me to act like a lover
Consider my moves and deserve the reward
To hold you in my arms and wait and wait
And wait for something to happen

It’s not a case of telling the truth
Some lines just fit the situation
You call me a liar, you would anyway
It’s not a case of aiming to please
You know you’re always crying
It’s just your part in the play for today

Secrets

(Keep quiet)

Secrets, share with another girl
Talking all night in a room
All night, everything’s slowing down
I wish I was yours
I wish I was yours

Strangers, nobody knows we love
I catch your eyes in the dark
One look relives the memories
Remember me the way I used to be
I wish I was yours

In Your House

I play at night in your house
I live another life
Pretending to swim in your house

I change the time in your house
The hours I take go so slow

I hear no sound in your house
Silence in the empty rooms

I drown at night in your house
Pretending to swim, pretending to swim

Three — Lyrics from Franz Kafka’s A Description of a Struggle

Enough of that “stand up straight”
What nonsense
“No,” I said, my face close to the ground, “I’ll stay as I am.”
“You really can annoy a person, I must say. Such a waste of time! Come on, put an end to it.”

“The way you shout! In the quiet of the night!” I said
“Just as you like,” he added

But wheeling suddenly around, he looked at me
I hadn’t quite finished yet
And said: “What’s this? You’re all crooked! What on earth are you up to?”

“Quite right. You’re very observant,” said I, my head on the seam of his trousers, which was why I couldn’t look up properly
I won’t scream, I’ll just stare at him as long as my eyes can stand it

“Well?” he said
“Well?” he said
“Well?” he said

The Final Sound

(instrumental)

A Forest

Come closer and see
See into the trees
Find the girl while you can
Come closer and see
See into the dark
Just follow your eyes
Just follow your eyes

I hear her voice
Calling my name
The sound is deep
In the dark
I hear her voice
And start to run
Into the trees
Into the trees
Into the trees

Suddenly I stop
But I know it’s too late
I’m lost in a forest
All alone
The girl was never there
It’s always the same
I’m running towards nothing
Again and again and again and again

M

Hello image, sing me a line from your favourite song
Twist and turn but you’re trapped in the light
All the directions were wrong

You’ll fall in love with somebody else tonight

Help yourself, but tell me the words before you fade away
You reveal all the secrets to remember the end
And escape someday

You’ll fall in love with somebody else again tonight

Take a step, you move in time but it’s always back
The reasons are clear, your face is drawn
And ready for the next attack

At Night

Sunk deep in the night, I sink in the night
Standing alone underneath the sky
I feel the chill of ice on my face
I watch the hours go by, the hours go by

You sleep, sleep in a safe bed
Curled and protected, protected from sight
Under a safe roof, deep in your house
Unaware of the changes at night
At night

I hear the darkness breathe
I sense the quiet despair
Listen to the silence at night
Someone has to be there
Someone has to be there
Someone must be there

Seventeen Seconds

Time slips away, and the light begins to fade
And everything is quiet now
Feeling is gone, and the picture disappears
And everything is cold now
The dream had to end, the wish never came true
And the girl starts to sing

Seventeen seconds, a measure of life
Seventeen seconds

℗ 1980 Fiction Records. Written by Tolhurst, Hartley, Smith, Gallup