...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

released in 1978
Tony Banks - Phil Collins - Mike Rutherford

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DOWN AND OUT (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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It's good to be here!  How've you been?
Check my bags boy!  Where's my room?
Gotta sit on the phone, that's my game
Keep up the pressure all the way

I don't want to beat about the bush
but none of us are getting any younger
There's people out there who could take your place
A more commercial view!  A fresher face!

I need a shower, take a nap
I'll Meet you in the bar, must have a rap
There's a lot on the line, a lot to say
And there's something I must tell you today

You and I both knew the score
you can't go on like this forever
So it's with regret I tell you know
That from this moment on, you're on your own!

I don't talk round corners, it's right between the eyes
If you're slow they'll run past you
Stand tall, see them falling over
I walk a straight line, it's right between the eyes
But just show me the door, show me someone who'll do it better

The drinks are on me, be my guest
Smoke a cigar?  Take the best
Don't hedge your bets, we can make a deal
Got it in your pocket, how do you feel?

So glad that's over, now you know
But I'm only acting under orders
And looking down on you from way up here
You've gotta sink or swim, get off the floor!

I don't talk round corners, etc.

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UNDERTOW (Banks)
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The curtains are drawn
Now the fire warms the room
Meanwhile outside
Wind from the north-east chills the air
It will soon be snowing out there

And some there are
Cold, they prepare for a sleepless night
Maybe this will be their last fight

Better think awhile
Or I may never think again
If this were the last day of your life, my friend
Tell me, what do you think you would do then?

Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you
Make the most of all you still have coming to you
Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you
Crying to the grass and trees and heaven finally on your knees

Let me live again, let life come find me wanting
Spring must strike again against the shields of winter
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me
Telling me the danger's past I need not fear the icy blast agiain

Laughter and music and perfume linger here
And there, and there
Wine flows from flask to glass to mouth
As it soothes confusing our doubts

And soon we feel
Why do a single thing today
There's tomorrow sure as I'm here

So the days they turn into years
And, still no tomorrow appears

Better think awhile, etc.

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BALLAD OF BIG (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Big Jim Cooley commanded respect, whatever he wanted he could get
The badge on his waist coat shone in the sun
It ain't no lie, Big Jim was feared by everyone

In the saloon one evening, Big took a bet
With a rancher who's name I forget
He wanted a herd taken over the plain
He called Jim "yellow", he'll never do that again
He got mad!

He threw his badge on the floor and walked out
He's gonna give it a try, he left no doubt

"Must be mad, must be mad!"
The people wished him well and good luck
"Hell, I don't need it!" He laughed, got on his horse and rode away

Over on the trail, Jim 'n' his crew of five
Were trying their best to keep the cattle alive
The weather was hard, but so were the men
Thought I don't think even Jim will try this trip again

His horses were edgey, sensing trouble ahead
But the trouble didn't start till the men were in bed
A-whoopin' and a-hollerin', a-flashin' their knives
Big Jim and his men were jumped by and all-star Indian tribe

He was scared, Big Jim was scared
Alive, they called him lucky, but not today
Cos he died like all good cowboys with his boots on next to his men

Big Jim, he still won't lie down
For him the bet is still on
Some say he rides there, cursing still
Some say they've seen him

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SNOWBOUND (Rutherford)
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Lay your body down upon the midnight snow
Feel the cold of winter in your hair
Here in a world of your own
In a casing that's grown
To the children's delight
That arrived on the night

Here they come to play their magic games
Carving names upon your frozen hand
Here in a world of your own
Like a sleeper whose eyes
Sees the pain with surprise
As it smothers your cries
They'll never, never know

Hey, there's a snowman
Hey, Hey what a snowman
Pray for the snowman
Ooh, Ooh what a snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep

Smiling faces tear your body to the ground
Covered red that only we can see
Here in a ball that they made
From the snow on the ground
See it rolling away
With wild eyes to the sky
They'll never, never know

Hey, there's a snowman
Hey what a snowman
Pray for the snowman
Ooh, Ooh what a snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep

Hey, there goes the snowman
Hey, there what a snowman
Hey, there lies the snowman
Hey, he was a snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep

Hey there goes the snowman, etc.

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BURNING ROPE (Banks)
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The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that clears the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you

You climbed upon a burning rope to escape the mob below
But you had put the flaming out so that others could now follow
To be out of the bounds and the barks of those who do not wish you 
 well

You must blaze a trail of your own, unknown, alone
But keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are

The warming sun, etc.

You're old and disillusioned now as you realize at last
That all you have accomplished here will have soon all turned to dust
You dream of a future after life, well that's as maybe, I don't know

But you can't take what you left behind, you're all alone
So keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow, like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are

The warming sun, etc.

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DEEP IN THE MOTHERLODE (Rutherford)
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Get out of the way fat man.  You've got something to do
Go fill up your hands till they're shining up at you
You gotta get out while there's gold in the air
It's falling like water, coming down from the hills

Go West Young Man
Earn a dollar a day just like your family said
You're rolling your days right on into the night
The head of the line's going way out of sight
Go West Young Man, like your family said

All along the wagons
All along the dusty trail
Seventeen years not over a day
Like children in the wild
Mother's milk still wet on your face

And no one to pray for your safe journey home
Out beyond the desert
Across the mountains by the lake
Servants who leave their master's house
Are walking all the way
The golden fields that beckoned you 
Are darkened by the years

Go West Young Man
If you knew then what you know today
you'd be back where you started, a happier man
And leave all th eglory to those who have remained

Go West Young Man
Go West Young Man, like your family said

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MANY TOO MANY (Banks)
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Many too many have stood where I stand
Many more will stand here too
But I think what I find strange is the way you built me up
Then knocked me down again

The part was fun but now it's over
Why can't I just leave the stage?
Maybe it's becuase you securely locked me up
Then threw away the key

Oh mama
Please would you find the key
Oh pretty mama
Please won't you let me go free
I thought I was lucky
I thought that I'd got it made
How could I be so blind?

You said goodbye on a corner
That I thought led to the straight
You set me on a firmly laid and simple course
And then removed the road

Oh mama
Please help me find the way
Oh pretty mama, please get me through the next day
I thought I was lucky
I thought that I'd got it made
How could I be so blind?

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SCENES FROM A NIGHT'S DREAM (Banks/Collins)
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Little Nemo rubbed his eyes and got out of bed
Trying hard to piece together a broken dream
His visions lifelike and full of imagination
It's strange to think they came from such a tiny head

Dragons breathing fire, but friendly
Mushrooms tall as houseds
Giant nymphs and goblins playing
Scenes from a night's dream, poor litte Nemo!

Eating all kinds of food so close to bedtime
Always made him have these nightmare's it seemed

Helped young Washington in the garden
Cut the cherry tree down
Now we all know that's not history
Scenes from a night's dream, poor little Nemo!

"Nemo, get out of bed!"
"Don't tell me stories, I don't want to know!"
"Come on you sleepy head, we're waiting to go!"

Once he went to the "Carnival of Nations"
Dancing with the princess through the night

Found themseleves on a moving platform,
Ten ton weights above them
Seeking audience with King Morpheus
Scenes from a night's dream, poor little Nemo!

"Nemo, get out of bed!"
"Don't tell me stories, I don't want to know!"
"Come on you sleepy head, we're waiting to go!"

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SAY IT'S ALRIGHT, JOE (Rutherford)
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Say it's alright Joe
I need another drink
To blow on the glass so you know I'm alive

Play me a song Joe
To fill the hours till morning
Then never again will I bother you
Ooh, build myself a tower
Now way in, no way out
Then my friends can visit me 
Once in a while

Say it's alright Joe
I need some reassurance
You never know what you might find in the night
Ooh I'm just a busy bee, still alive in my hive
Looking for some other world
To dream out my dreams
There were kings who were laughing in the rain
And they told me I'd come here to lead the pardade
All the colors were changing, the sky was in ruins
The lights were all shining on me and on you
Shine on ...

Oh, say it's alright Joe
The night will soon be over
And nothing and no one will ever know

Open my eyes Joe
I'd like to see the daylight
The clock on the wall says it's time to leave
Never seen the same face twice
Never walked the same way
Teh little love that I have known
I keep it to myself

If there's a fire it's asleep in my bed
I must leave it to burn until it burns itself out
Catch as you can I'm not staying long
I'll be coming back early or never at all
Shine on ...

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THE LADY LIES (Banks)
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The man steps out in the moonlight
At the sound of a scream from below
He thinks he is a warrior
So he picks up his sword and goes
From the mouth of the monster
He rescues the maiden fair
But we know she's a demon
Come to lure him to the demon's lair
Through restless foliage and tall trees he leads 
To a house in a clearing, a place in her fear she calls home

"Come with me, I need you
I fear the dark and I live all alone
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like"

And though his body bids him 
To enter in with her
There was something in here manner
That his mind could not ignore

Also it is whispered in the kingdom far and wide
To beware a  little cottage in the forest in a glade

For who knows what magic takes place in his world?
So he just thanks her kindly preparing to go on his way

"Come with me, I need you
I fear the dark and I live all alone
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like

Come to my garden
Taste the fruits and the spices of love
You can't resist me
I'm the kind that your dreams tell you of

So glad you could make it
We had everything arranged
So glad you saw fit to pay a call"

Some men never listen
And others never learn
But why this man did as he did
Only he will ever know

He knew he was walking
Into a waiting trap
Neatly set up for him
With a bait so richly wrapped

So he went inside there to take on what he found
And he never escaped them, for who can escape what he desires?

"Come with me, I need you
I fear the dark and I live all alone
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like"

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FOLLOW YOU, FOLLOW ME (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Stay with me
My love I hope you'll always be
Right here by my side if ever I need you
Oh my love

In your arms
I feels so safe and so secure
Every day is such a perfect day to spend
Alone with you

I will follow you, will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you, will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year

With the dark
Oh I see so very clearly now
All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now
Fading away

I can say
The night is long but you are here
Close at hand though I'm better for the smile you give
And while I live

I will follow you, will you follow me
All the days that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just on single tear in each passing year there will be

I will follow you, etc.

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Tony Banks:  Organs, Keyboards, Pianos, Backing Vocals
Phil Collins:  Drums, Percussion, Lead /Backing Vocals
Mike Rutherford:  Guitars, Basses, Bass Pedals, Backing Vocals

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