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David Sylvian
Nine Horses
Nine Horses Snow Borne Sorrow

Snow Borne Sorrow (2005)

  1. Wonderful World
  2. Darkest Birds
  3. The Banality of Evil
  4. Atom and Cell
  5. A History of Holes
  6. Snow Borne Sorrow
  7. The Day the Earth Stole Heaven
  8. Serotonin
  9. The Librarian

Snow Borne Sorrow

  1. Wonderful World

    It's a wonderful world
    And you take and you give
    And the sun fills the sky
    In the space where you live

    It's a day full of dreams
    It's a dream of a day
    And the joy that it brings
    Nearly sweeps her away

    It's a wonderful world
    As the buildings fall down
    And you quicken your step
    'til your feet leave the ground
    And you're soaring above
    All the sorrow below
    And you're falling in love
    With those you don't know

    And your heart feels so wide
    And your heart fills so strong
    It was never a place
    That you felt you belonged

    It's a wonderful world
    Full of wonderful things
    And the people fall down
    And abandon their dreams

    (I hear him, he's talking out loud
    Sometimes he whistles while walking
    How could he know any better?
    I weep for him, I weep for him now)

    It's a wonderful world
    It's a real crying shame
    Cos she's hurting herself
    In a violent way
    And there's people she knows
    That won't even try
    And they're trapped in their lives
    Feeling terrified
    And it's in times like these
    That she promised to call
    But the scale of our love
    Is diminished and small

    It's a wonderful world
    And she doesn't know why
    She wakes up each day
    And continues to cry

    (He's sleeping his troubles away
    He's finding it too hard to bear
    I'm with him every step of the way
    I weep for him, I weep for him now)

    It's a wonderful world
    And you take and you give
    And the sun fills the sky
    In the space where you live

  2. Darkest Birds

    Here come the darkest birds
    To burst the bubble
    End of a perfect day
    Head full of trouble

    Here come the darkest birds
    All tar and feathers
    Why did none of them dream of trying
    To make things better?

    Those are the mimicking kind
    They are, they are
    I number myself among them
    The furthest star

    And this is the road I walked on
    When I shot you down
    All words of forgiveness useless
    They won't help me now
    And I should've been there for you
    When you called my name
    I promise to tread more lightly
    Though what's gone is gone
    It's such a shame

    Here come the darkest birds
    They've got their reasons
    All their pretty colours are gone
    Washed out of season

    Those are the soaring kind
    They are, they are
    I number yourself among them
    The brightest star

    And this is the road I walked on
    When I shot you down
    All words of forgiveness useless
    They won't serve me now
    And I should've been there for you
    When you called my name
    I promise to tread more lightly
    Though what's done is done
    It's such a shame

  3. The Banality of Evil

    I've got me a badge
    A bright shiny badge
    I'm painting the crest in yellow and blue

    I've got me a club
    An exclusive club
    It doesn't include a place for you

    Hey... hello neighbour
    Hey... hello neighbour, right you are

    It's in the way that you walk
    All of the changes, all the mistakes
    In the demands you constantly make

    It's in the way that you grieve
    All of the loss
    You don't know when you're better off
    Or at what cost
    You've got it good

    The banality of evil

    Benevolent mother
    Smother the child
    The benefactors are in denial

    Hey... hello neighbour
    Hey... hello neighbour, right you are

    There was a time
    Not so long ago
    I was master of everything I surveyed
    Yes, there was a time
    We did it my way
    We'll do things my way

    Benevolent mother
    Smother the child
    The perpetrators are in denial

    The banality of evil

    King of the castle
    Room at the top
    Off with their heads
    Chop 'em off

    The banality of evil

    Benevolent mother
    Smother the child
    The benefactors are in denial

    The banality of evil

    King of the castle
    Room at the top
    Off with their heads
    Chop 'em off

    Hey... hello neighbour

    I don't believe in what you believe
    You skin is filthy
    And your gods don't look like god to me

    But I want to touch you
    Now that isn't right
    No, that can't be right
    But I want to touch you
    You're leading me on I know it

    Hey...

    King of the castle
    More room at the top
    All sorts allowed
    Now the gloves are off

    Hey... hello neighbour

    Benevolent mother
    Smother the child
    The benefactors are in denial

    The banality of evil

    King of the castle
    Room at the top
    Off with their heads
    Chop 'em off

    The banality of evil

    Benevolent mother
    Smother the child
    The perpetrators are in denial

    The banality of evil

    King of the castle
    Room at the top
    Off with their heads
    Chop 'em off

    The banality of evil

  4. Atom and Cell

    Her skin was darker than ashes
    And she had something to say
    Bout being naked to the elements
    At the end of yet another day
    And the rain on her back that continued to fall
    From the bruise of her lips
    Swollen, fragile, and small

    And the bills that you paid with were worth nothing at all
    A lost foreign currency
    Multi-coloured, barely reputable
    Like the grasses that blew in the warm summer breeze
    Well she offered you this to do as you pleased

    And where is the poetry?
    Didn't she promise us poetry?

    The redwoods, the deserts, the tropical ease
    The swamps and the prairie dogs, the Joshua trees
    The long straight highways from dirt road to tar
    Hitching your wheels to truck, bus, or car

    And the lives that you hold in the palm of your hand
    You toss them aside small and damn near unbreakable
    You drank all the water and you pissed yourself dry
    Then you fell to your knees and proceeded to cry

    And who could feel sorry for a drunkard like this
    In a democracy of dunces with a parasites kiss?

    And where are the stars?
    Didn't she promise us stars?

    Nothing will ever be as it was
    The price has been paid with a thousand loose shoes
    Pictures are pasted on shop windows and walls
    Like a poor mans Boltanski
    Lost one and all.

    Sell, sell
    Bid your farewell
    Come, come
    Save yourself
    Give yourself over
    Pushing your consciousness
    Deep into every atom and cell,
    Sell,
    Bid your farewell
    Come, come
    Save yourself
    Give yourself over
    Pushing your consciousness
    Deep into every atom and cell,
    Sell,
    Bid your farewell
    Come, come
    Save yourself
    Give yourself over
    Pushing your consciousness
    Deep into every atom and cell

  5. A History of Holes

    I'm having my day
    My place in the sun
    I'll grow to resemble
    The man I've become

    There'll be time for reflection
    When I reach that plateau
    When the war has been won
    No farther to go

    And I fear that it isn't enough

    I'm making a fortune
    I swore to enjoy
    These things I promised myself
    When I was a boy

    When I was a boy
    And things moved too slow
    And universes revolved around
    Things I didn't know

    When I was a boy
    And I made mistakes
    I was humiliated
    Til I knew my place

    And I fear that it isn't enough

    Ignorance hurts
    Injustice inflames
    I remember the feelings
    But forgotten their names

    When I was a boy
    I saw through their lies
    I swore I wouldn't become
    The thing I despised
    But events over take you
    While you set your sights
    On bigger game
    On greater heights

    God bless amnesia
    And the things I've suppressed
    I can reframe the image
    I can discard the rest

    A history of holes
    Where the pieces that won't fit
    With the story you told yourself
    And your place in it

    And I fear that it isn't enough

    So put on a brave face
    Straighten that tie
    And speak like you mean it
    Give truth to the lie

    And I fear that it isn't enough

  6. Snow Borne Sorrow

    Strip the branches
    Unsheathe the hatchets
    The threads of friendship
    Are coming off

    The teeth of lawyers
    Man the trenches
    Bands of betrothal
    Are coming off

    But if we're good
    If we're kind
    But if we're good
    Generous and kind
    We'll inhabit their sunsets
    Their goddesses and queens
    We'll try to do the right thing

    (Oh save them)
    Oh save them
    (Oh save them)
    (Oh save them)
    Oh save them
    (Oh save them)

    Let the children come to me

    It's a harrowing world
    Of adults and girls
    Lashing out at the hurt
    That surrounds them

    With the knives drawn apart
    They shatter the heart
    Of anyone that dares come between them

    Let the children come to me

    Once a playground of swings
    Then the malice set in
    And reduced all the colours to winter

    So we made it our own
    This snow borne sorrow
    And this love that stutters and splinters

    Let the children come to me

    Her apostles have gone
    They left one by one
    With no forwarding address to trace them

    It's a secular world
    Of adults and girls
    And we ask because nothing is certain

    Let the children come to me

    When their feet touch the ground
    Naked unbound
    I want them to know they can trust me

    There's so much to be ungrateful for

    Let the children come to me

  7. The Day the Earth Stole Heaven

    Let me tell you about a friend
    She contends she will always love me

    It's this ability to lie and deceive
    That has lost me completely

    I could remind her of the facts
    Make her calm down and relax
    But why bother?

    It's the shallowest defense
    To my utter astonishment it is over

    That little girl she wants to leave me
    That little girl wants something more.

    I'm optimistically inclined
    Given time she'll change her mind
    It's unlikely

    Let me tell you about a friend
    She contends she will always love me

    If you look at her sideways
    She will let you know

    Today's the day the earth stole heaven

    If you look at her sideways
    She will curse you out

    Today's the day the earth stole heaven

    If you look at her sideways
    There can be no doubt
    It's over.

  8. Serotonin

    I kick the sheets
    Until they rise like mountain ranges at my feet

    I'm in the dark
    God only knows the torment writ large upon my heart

    What wouldn't I?
    What wouldn't I give?

    It comes to this
    I'm only sure of things I know now don't exist

    There's no precision
    I'm inside-outside-in I want subdivision

    And all of this fills my aching head
    I hate this space, the luxury hotel bed.
    Oh dear, oh me-oh-my
    Got to concentrate just to keep from trying
    Oh dear, oh me-oh-my
    Got to concentrate just to keep from trying
    Don't lose it
    Things move rapidly
    Don't lose it
    Try to maintain composure
    Don't lose it
    The dead are haunting me
    Out with it
    Let's get it over.

    What wouldn't I?
    What wouldn't I give?

    I'm thoroughly wasted
    My mind's hallucinating lucidity

    It's over sensitized
    And something's moving on the periphery

    What wouldn't I?
    What wouldn't I give?

  9. The Librarian

    Keep you head down
    Keep you head down
    While they're firing low
    You're too young child
    To know the difference

    Oh my pretty
    Oh my sweet girl
    It's a marvelous place
    They put weights down
    In your coat tails to burn you out

    Lest you fly
    Lest you take off
    And show whomever what's what.
    It's one outrageous lie after another

    Turn their lights out
    Change the channel
    Before we lose the heart
    To fight against belief in what they're saying

    There's a hotel
    With a dark room
    At the end of a corridor
    I will meet you
    To the strains of Allah

    We will lie back
    On a pillow of the whitest snow
    And the silence we were promised
    Will engulf us

    Lay your head down
    Keep your head down
    While they're firing low
    You're too young child
    You're too young child

    We will wake up
    From the dreams that bury us
    We will tunnel our way out
    By moonlight

    From the dark room
    To the white streets and the snow banks
    We'll invest in one another's future

    Oh my pretty
    Oh my sweet girl
    It's a marvelous place
    She designed it
    With escape routes
    For you and me

    So to the library
    With your new card
    Grab your favorite books
    Look for blueprints
    To the strains of Allah
    Here we go....

    Benevolence is in back
    Of everyplace you look
    It's not a monstrous face she is hiding

    If I see her
    I will tell you
    You'll come quickly
    If you see her
    Don't hesitate just go

    But til then

    Keep your head down
    Keep your head down
    While they're firing low
    You're too young child
    You're too young child

    You're too young child
    Here we go...