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Culture Shock
All The Time!
With a few days to go I was thinking "Oh! No"
Wishing it was Wednesday, thinking it was Thursday, forgetting it was Friday, hang on was that yesterday?
The streets are all full; looks like a Saturday
The shops are all shut; must be a Sunday
Who are all these people? Maybe they're on holiday
A few days to go, it doesn't matter anyway
A few hours to go I was thinking "Oh! No"
I lost my watch so time went slow
By the time I found a clock I was in a state of shock
My face had stopped & hands broken off
Twiddling & fiddling & giving up
A few hours to go it didn't matter too much
It didn't matter too much
It didn't matter too much
With no time to go I was thinking "Oh! No"
I just sat down & decided to go
The people in the town were walking round & round
With loads of time & a long countdown
Everyday was anyday sort of in a line
They're all stuck in the rough of doing not so very much
Not now & then occasional, but all the time, all the time, all the time
I get countdowns, deadlines, reasons to be organised
But when it reaches zero I snap back into overdrive
Or mellow into undertow - Yeah! Yeah!
Relax & tell myself
"You know that what may come will sometime go"
Time to act fast, time to act slow
Time to act fast, time to act slow
Time to act fast, time to act slow - No!
Meanwhile I'm alive
With enough time to decide
What to do & how & why
And not wait for time to rule my life
But grab it and say "I'll do it today" - Time to act fast, time to act slow
Grab it and say "I'll do it today" - Time to act fast, time to act slow
Grab it and say "I'll do it today" - Time to act fast, time to act slow
Grab it and say "I'll do it today" - Time to act fast, time to act slow
Am I an animal? Yes
Am I alive? Yes
Am I a cat? No
Am I a fly? No
Am I an insect? No
Am I a dog? No
Am I a rodent? No
Am I a frog? Nooooooo
Am I very very big?
Very very small? No
Have I got four legs?
Any legs at all? Yes
Am I a seagull? No
Am I a bird? No
Can't be a fish... No
It's getting absurd!
Am I a household pet? No
Do I live in the zoo? No
Do I live in the jungle? No
Can I have a clue? No! No! No! No! No!
Am I a human being? Yes! Well done!
It was the only thing left y'know? Yeah! Great fun!
But it's not over yet! You gotta guess which one!
Gotta guess which one!
Gotta guess which one!
Gotta guess which one!
Am I into politics? No
Am I on T.V.? No
Am I really famous? No
A personality? No
Am I an authority? No
Am I in control? No
Do I work in a factory? No
Am I very very old? No
Do I know who I am? Yes
Am I in this place? Yes
Am I in this conversation? Yes
Is there a smile on my face? Yes! Yes!
Have I just realised that we are animals too? Yes! Yes!
Do I resent the torture of circuses & zoos? Yes! Yes!
Do I condemn the hunters? Yes! Yes!
Do I condemn the butchers & the murderers too? Yes! Yes!
Am I opposed to vivisection? Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Is there another direction? Yes! Yes!
Well now I've got two answers
But either one will do
You see I knew it could be me
But now I know it could be you!
It could be me, it could be you! Yes! Yes!
It could be me, it could be you! Yes! Yes!
It could be me, it could be you! Yes! Yes!
It could be me, it could be, it could be you!
Can't make up my mind
It would look too good, or bad
If I did one thing it would drive you mad
If I did another it would drive you madder
So let's get on with thinking about it
Thinking about it
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
But thoughts get trapped
Into predictions, how you would react
Into last nights dreams away from the facts
When I dream too much I start to lose touch
So let's wake up & stop thinking about it
Thinking about it
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Emotional pains
Pin a map of confusion on the edge of my brain
Take a break from reality to ease the strain
But as you crawl out of bed
You know it's still in your head
Oh! let's stop the game - stop the game
Let's stop the game & do something about it
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
If I did one thing it would make you grin
If I did the other it could be the same thing
Cos frowning & drowning in my own confusion
Is a physical sigh that gives the illusion
Of not being happy, so no-one laughs
And I forgot to imagine there's another half
Cos whatever I think, if you think the same
Then it's up the ladder or down the drain
For both of us - both of us - so let's start again
Now we're running in straight lines through the rain
Running in straight lines through the rain
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
Upside down, upside down
Looking at everything the other way round
The time it takes to say "Farewell!"
Get a postcard: "Hope you're well!"
And hope that someone else will tell
You that one out there cares
The time it takes to overcome
And find a path on which to run
And know that loneliness is one
Thing you cannot share
The time it takes to reconcile
Yourself to try to find a smile
Stare at nothing, see for miles
Neither here nor there
And meanwhile all the times go by
Seperate people seperate lives
Nothing ever happens twice
If it's good enough to last
Take the future by the hand
And find the one that understands
Do what any person can
Learn from what is past
When I heard on the radio
We only had four minutes to go
I couldn't believe it wasn't a joke
'Til I couldn't get anyone on the phone
And I remembered all the times I'd fantasized
'Bout all the things I'd do just before I died
Like playing my favourite four-minute single
Forgetting the moment lost in that tingling
Feeling at the top of my spine
Feeling at the top of my spine, but now there's no time
Or looking at photos to take me back then
Look on the back but it never says when
Put your head on this photo of mine
And remember the time
Remember the time
And I remembered the marches into the square
Megaphone speeches over the air
Politicians who said they cared
When the going got tough they weren't even there
And I spent my minutes on the chair
Thinking slowly, feeling scared
How can these people run my life
To the point of telling me how I'd die?
How I'd die?
And I cried because I'd never have the time
To do the things I wanted to
Sort the fiction from the truth
Make a noise & see it through
And in the end feel satisfied
And be happy when I died
I wanna be happy when I died
So now can we all realise
The urgent need to advertise
In government propaganda lies
The nuclear path to genocide
Act now or call it suicide
O.H.M.S. or D.I.Y.?
Take your pick or change your mind
It's not just for you and me
It's for the future time humanity
Northern Ireland situation
War - war, war - within a single nation
No-one thinks of it as war
That's what television's for
Embroidering reality
With clichés & banality
We'll call this war 'the troubles'
Confuse the masses with initials
There's so many sides involved
And no-one thinks it can be solved
Avoidance of the history
Of suppression, death & misery
Will leave the people ignorant
Of everything that's relevant
Who is who defending?
And who's protecting who?
Until you know the answers
Don't pretend you do, do, do, do
Don't pretend you do
So we see the 'brave young soldiers'
And we read about the 'murders'
Then we base our weak opinions
On what the papers told us
But telling half the truth is as bad as telling lies
For a war to keep continuing
There has to be two sides
So who is who defending?
Who's protecting who?
Until you know the answers
Don't pretend you do, do, do, do
Don't pretend you do
Supporting one side or the other
Is really nothing more
Than saying there is no solution
But to carry on the war
Both the I.R.A. & the army
Are equally to blame
In general terms of violence - violence, violence, violence
You know they're doing just, doing just, doing just the same
Doing just the same
Who is who defending?
And who's protecting who?
Until you know the answers - You know the answers
Don't pretend you do, do, do, do
Don't pretend you do
Don't pretend you do
Don't pretend you do, do, do, do, do
When every song was an inquisition
Into standard behaviour & social position
We felt the urge to change
But fell right back when we felt the pain
Something not quite right
In this shadowy light
We close the curtains cos it hurts our eyes
And rambled & scrambled our heads to rebel
Moaning & groaning but not facing ourselves
Made up the problems
With no answers to fit them
Dreamt of a heaven
To suit our own hell - To suit your own hell
To suit our own hell - To suit your own hell
It's been a struggle to keep ourselves acting like this
When each time we smiled we'd feel something amiss
And drowned in the crowded rooms breathing & choking
Not daring to laugh just in case they were joking
I burst the old bubble without all the trouble
Of feeling I'm losing a sense of belonging
And smile back to back with the eternal lack
Of hope or ambition, just self superstition
Slide from old into new without losing the view
But adding perceptions that give you direction
It was anger or fun but now it's rolled into one
With a positive slant there is nothing, nothing we can't do!
Nothing we can't do!
Nothing we can't do!
Onwards! Onwards! Upwards! Upwards! Forwards! Forwards!
Culture Shock stylee! All the time!
All the time! All the time!
Culture Shock.
Dick -- vocals & words.
Nige -- guitars & voice.
Jasper -- bass & voice.
Bill -- drums & congas.
Recorded & mixed at Southern Studio 26-30 August 89.
Engineered by Harvey Birrell.