A TRICK OF THE TAIL
released in 1976 Tony Banks - Mike Rutherford - Steve Hackett - Phil Collins ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DANCE ON A VOLCANO (Banks/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Holy Mother of God You've got to go faster than that to get to the top Dirty old mountain All covered in smoke, she can turn you to smoke So you better start doing it right better start doing it right You're halfway up and you're down And the pack on your back keeeps turning you around Throw it away, you won't need it , and remember You don't look back whatever you do Better start doing it right On your left and on your right Crosses are green and crosses are blue Your friends didn't make it through Out of the night and out of the dark Into the fire and into the fight Well that's the way the heros go, Ho! Ho! Ho! Through a crack in Mother Earth Blazing hot, the molten rock Spills out over the land And the lava's the lover who licks your boots away, Hey! Hey! Hey! If you don't want to boil as well B-B-Better start the dance D-D-Do you want to dance with me? The music's playing the notes are right Put your left foot first and move into the light The edge of this hill is the edge of the world And if you're going to cross you better start doing it right better start doing it right Let the dance begin ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ENTANGLED (Banks/Hackett) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When you're asleep they may show you Aerial views of the ground Freudian slbumer empty of sound Mesmerized children are playing Meant to be seen but not heard "Stop me from dreaming!" "Don't be absurd!" "Well, if we can help you we will You're looking tired and ill As I count backwards Your eyes become heavier still Sleep, won't you allow yourself fall? Nothing can hurt you at all With your consent I can experiment further still." Madrigal music is playing Voices can faintly be heard "Please leave this patient undisturbed" Sentenced to drift far away now Nothing is quite what it seems Sometimes entangled in your own dreams "Well, if we can help you we will Soon as you're tired and ill With your consent We can experiment further still Well, thanks to are kindness and skill You'll have no troubleuntil You catch your breath And the nurse will present you the bill!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SQUONK (Banks/Rutherford) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Like father like son Not flesh nor fish nor bone A red rag hangs from an open mouth Alive at both ends but a little dead in the middle A-tumbling and a-bumbling he will go All the King's horses and all the King's men Could never put a smile on that face He's a sly one he's a shy one Wouldn't you be, too? Scared to be left all on his own Hasn't a, hasn't a friend to play with the Ugly Duckling The pressure on, the bubble will burst before your eyes All the while in perfecti time His tears are fall on the grond But if you don't stand up you don't stand a chance. Go a little faster now, you might get there in time Mirror, mirror on the wall His heart was broken long before he ever came to you Stop your tears from falling The trail they leave is very clear for all to see at night all to see at night In season, out of season What's the diffirence when you don't know the reason In one hand bread, the other a stone The Hunter enters the forest All are not huntsmen who can blow the huntsmen's horn By the look of this one you've not got much to fear Here I am, I'm very fierce and frightening Come to match my skill to yours Now listen here, listen to me, don't you run away now I am a friend, I really would like to play with you Making noises my little furry friend would make I'll trick him, then I'll kick him into my sack You better watch out...You better watch out I've got you, I've got you, you'll never get away Walking home that night The sack across my back, the sound of sobbing on my shoulder When suddenly it stopped I opened up the sack, all that I had A pool of bubbles and tears-just a pool of tears All in all you are a very dying race Placing trust upon a cruel world You never had the things you thought you should have had And you'll not get them now And all the while in perfect time Your tears are falling to the ground ****************************** The Squonk is of a very retiring * {)___/} * disposition and due to its ugliness, * (-`-) * it weeps constantly. It is easy * //"(~)--,/"" * prey for hunters who simply follow * (/ " (/ * the tear-stained trail. When * ,......( ) * captured it will dissolve itself * :.. (__), * into tears * // // * * "" "" * ~True Or False?~ ****************************** (a Sqounk) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MAD MAN MOON (Banks) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Was it summer when the river ran dry Or was it just another dam When the evil of the snowflake in June Could still be a source of relief O how I love you, I once cried long ago But I was the one who decided to go To search beyond the final crest Though I'd heard it said just birds could dwell so hight So I pretended to have wings for my arms And took off in the air I flew to places which the clouds never see Too close to the deserts of sand Where a thousand mirages, the sheperds of Lies Forced me to land and take a disquise I would welcome the horse's kick to send me back If I could find a horse not made of sand If this desert's all there'll ever be Then tell me what becomes of me A fall of rain? That must have been another of your dreams A dream of mad man moon Hey man I'm the sandman And boy have I news for you They're going to throw you in gaol And you know that can't fail Cos sand is thicker than blood But a prison in sand is a haven in hell For a gaol can give you a goal And a goal can find you a role In the muddy pitch in Newcastle Where it rains so much You can't wait for a touch Of sun and sand sun and sand Within the valley of shaowless death They pray for thunderclouds and rain But to the multitude who stand in the rain Heaven is where the sun shines The grass will be greener till the stems turn to brown And thoughts will fly higher till the earth brings them down Forever caught in desert lands one has to learn to Disbelieve the sea If this deserts all there'll ever be Then tell me what becomes of me A fall of rain? That must have been another of your dreams A dream of mad man moon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ROBBERY, ASSAULT & BATTERY (Banks/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The streets were deserted though the police were alerted They considered the phone call a hoax Furtively glancing and jauntily prancing The youth caught the guards unaware Slipping between them, he ought to have seen then The eyes and their owner so near With torch shining bright he strode on in the night Till he came to the room with the safe "Hello son, I hope you're having fun" "You've got me wrong, sir, I'm only the cleaner" With that he fired, the other saying as he died "You've done me wrong," it's the same old song Robbery, assault and battery The felon and his felony [repeat once] He picked up the diamonds and bundles of fivers He pushed them well down in his sack But the alarm had been sounded, he was completely surrounded But he had some more tricks up his sleeve "Come outside with your hands held high" "You'll not get me alive, sir. I promise you that, sir" With that he fired, the other saying as he died "You've done me wrong," its the same old song forever Robbery, assault and battery The felon and his felony [repeat once] "He's leaving via the roof, the bastard's got away God always fights on the side of the bad man" "I've got clean away but I'll be back some day Just the combination would have changed Some day they'll catch me, to a chain they'll attach me But util then I'll ride the old crime wave; If they try to hold me for trial I'll stay out of jail by paying my bail And after I'll got to the court of appeal saying "You've done me wrong," it's the same old song forever" Done me wrong~same old song~done me wrong [repeat] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RIPPLES... (Banks/Rutherford) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bluegirls come in every size Some are wise and some otherwise They got pretty blue eyes For an hour a man may change For an hour her face looks strange- Looks strange, looks strange. Marching to the promised land Where the honey flows and takes you by the hand Pulls you down on your knees While you're donw a pool appears The face in the water looks up And she shakes her head as if to say That it's the last time you'll look like today Sail away, away Ripples never come back Gone to the other side Sail away, away The face that launched a thousand ships Is sinking fast, that happens, you know The water gets below Seems not very long ago Lovelier she was than any that I know Angels never know its time To close the book and gracefully decline The song has found a tale My, what a jealous pool she is The face in the water looks up She shakes her head as if to say That the bluegirls have all gone away Sail away, away Ripples never come back Gone to the other side Sail away, away Sail away, away Ripples never come back They've gone to the other side Look into the pool Ripples never come back Dive to the bottom and go to the top To see where they have gone Oh, they've gone to the other side [repeat and fade] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A TRICK OF THE TAIL (Banks) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bored of the life in the city of gold He left and let nobody know Gone were the towers he had known from a child Alone with the dream of a life He travelled the wide open road The blinkered arcade In search of another to share in his life Nowhere Everyone looked so strange to him They've got no horns and they've got no tail They don't even know of our existance Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold That lies in the deep distance, he cried And wept as they led him away to a cage 'Beast that can talk' read the sign The creatures they pushed and the plodded his frame And questioned his story again But soon they grew bored of their pray Beast that can talk? More like a freak or publicity stunt Oh No They've got no horns and they've got no tail They don't even know of our existance Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold That lies in the deep distance, he cried And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out: 'There beyond the bounds of your weak imagination Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold Let me take you there and show you a living story Let me show you others such as me Why did I ever leave?" They've got no horns and they've got no tail They don't even know of our existance Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold That lies in the deep distance, he cried and wept And so we set out with the beast and his horns And his crazy description of home After many days journey we came to a peak Where the beast gazed and cried out We followed hi gaze and we thought that maybe we saw A spire of gold~nope a trick of the eye, that's all But the beast was gone and a voice was heard: They've got no horns and they've got no tail They don't even know of our existance Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold That lies in the deep distance, he cried Hello friend, welcome home ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ENDOS (Banks/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL (note: at the end when this track is fading out, you can hear Phil in the background very faintly sing: 'There's an angel standing in the sun Free to get back home') ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Rutherford - 12 String Guitar, Basses, Bass Pedals Tony Banks - Pianos, Synthesizers, Organ, Mellotron, 12 String Guitar, Backing Vocals Phil Collins - Drums, percussion, lead & Backing Vocals Steve Hackett - Electric Guitar, 12 String Guitars
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