PORCUPINE TREE LYRICS

1. Harridan

Gold man bites down on a silver tongue
Takes a deep breath and blows the candle out
He knows the truth but he keeps it to himself
Here it is
You can only save yourself
Only yourself

When we bite the dust
We will hide our cuts from the world
When you're in the dirt
You don't show your hurt to the world
When we bite the dust
We will hide our cuts from the world
When you're in the dirt
You don't show your hurt to the world

Cold man, white knuckles on the wheel
Well it's all just there to steal
You just gotta take it
Take it like the harridan you are

When we bite the dust
We will hide our cuts from the world
When you're in the dirt
You don't show your hurt to the world

It's the time of the almost rain without you
I am in debt to night
And gone to earth for love
And I, a shadow
And what of us?
And what of me?
And what is left without you?

When we bite the dust
We will hide our cuts from the world
When you're in the dirt
You don't show your hurt to the world

It's the time of the almost rain without you
I am in debt to night
And gone to earth for love
And I, a shadow
And what of us?
And what of me?
And what is left without you?

2. Of The New Day

Hold your fear in check my dear
It's got no place here
There's no need to fight
Just drift away on the new day

Find yourself a better way
To meet the future
It's all that you crave
A silhouette of the new day

Walk away from what you love
And all your people move into fog
But live again on the new day

Raise your head and fill your lungs
Breathe the autumn
Shame to be down
In this thrall of the new day

The hour of almost rain
When night becomes the day

Daily finds you tearing out
All the pages
That held all your thoughts
When you dreamed of the new day

It's not the world that shrinks from you
It's the old days
That line up behind
The monolith of the new day

The hour of almost rain
When night becomes the day

3. Rats Return

Leave your principles at the door
Spare me
Purge your guilt for the nameless hoards
Thrill me, you clown

You always beat the system somehow
Now the rats return to take their bow

A dog wakes inside the carnivore
A heart bleeds
A conscience won't help you to win the war
So fool me, you fraud

You always beat the system somehow
Now the rats return to take their bow

Genghis K
Pinochet
Mao Tse Tung
Kim Il-Sung

4. Dignity

Lost boy
With the shreds of your shoes on your feet
And the schoolgirls called you a freak
Long gone
With all that you are in a bag
(Watching you fumble)
And a paper cup held in your hand

You have your pride, you're standing your own ground
Your dignity will never go, and your mind is pretty sound
You stare at the sun
You screw up your face, and then you're done

Lost soul
Camped at the side of the road
And the rain rises up through your toes
Brave man
With the egg running down past your nose
(The future was yours, how it came to this no one knows)
All the troubles you've had, no one knows
(Nobody knows)

You have your pride, you're standing your own ground
Your dignity will never go, and your mind is pretty sound
You stare at the sun
You screw up your face, and then you're done

Outside where the traffic cowers
And the past begins to fade away
Tell yourself it's just what the thunder said
So pack up your belongings and stop talking with yourself

All the friends I have, I made you a list
Even if it's true, they don't all exist

(All the friends I have, I made you a list
Even if it's true, they don't all exist)

Slack jaw
Will you tell me of all that you were?
And the promises you made to her
Drink up
You can tell me of all that you've seen
While we wait for the light to turn green

You have your pride, you're standing your own ground
Your dignity will never go, and your mind is pretty sound
You stare at the sun
You screw up your face, and then you're done

5. Herd Culling

Son, go fetch the rifle now
I think there's something in the yard
I can see the herd is getting rattled
And the dogs are on their guard

Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar

Well, we came to make a home here
But there's something in the trees
We bolt the door, chain the gate, secure the homestead
But it's never gonna leave

Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar

The wolf is at the door somehow
The culling of the herd is now
The wolf is at the door somehow
The culling of the herd is now
The wolf is at the door somehow
The culling of the herd is now
The wolf is at the door somehow
The culling of the herd is now

Hey, did you curse this place?
Did you fall to earth to cull the herd?
Strange gods above the earth
These things you just won't believe

In the shackles of the night
There are lights up in the sky
Scratching at the doors
They are coming through the walls
20 feet above the ground
They move without a sound
Among the garbage cans
A curse upon the land

Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar

Liar
Liar
Liar
Liar

6. Walk The Plank

This ship is now under water
And the rats will never find their way back again
And my span, it gets shorter (1, 2, 3)
And I don't appear to my fit my skin anymore

Somewhere else descends the rain in western ways
Upon the echo of the day
Just the ebbing of the day

See how
They hang 'em high
And slap each other's backs
While the waters rise

Somewhere else descends the rain in western ways
Upon the echo of the day
Just the ebbing of the day

Walk the plank, abandon ship
Take it slow, don't lose your grip
Walk the plank and jump out of the fray

Walk the plank, abandon ship
Take it slow, don't lose your grip
Walk the plank and jump out of the fray

Walk the plank, abandon ship
Take it slow, don't lose your grip
Walk the plank and jump out of the fray

(1, 2, 3)

7. Chimera's Wreck

A coat of arms is all we are
The slow decay, dying star
A sinkhole for the crawling of the hours

Afraid to be (afraid to be) what I should be (what I should be)
The sum of all (the sum of all), of new and old (of new and old)
Experience has made me none the wiser

I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die
I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die, oh
(Do, dododooo, dodododododooo, doooo)

Chimera's wreck around my neck
To start again, to dream again
To fix the things that cursed me from the start

My father smiles (my father smiles); me, the child (me, the child)
Getting tired (getting tired), losing drive (losing drive)
The clarity that age has brought to me

[?] for tomorrow
Even when the rain comes, we can still find a future in tomorrow

I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die
I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die
Oh

I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die
I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die, whoa

(Do, dododooo, dodododododooo, dododooo do doo)
(Do, dododooo, dodododododooo, dododooo do doo)
(Do, dododooo, dodododododooo, dododooo do doo)
(Do, dododooo, dodododododooo, dododooo do doo)

Here's the things I did with my kids
Here's the way I loved and I kneeled
Here's the things I did with my kids
Here's the way I loved and I kneeled

I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die
I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die, whoa
I'm afraid to be happy and I
Couldn't care less if I was to die

Wash up on the shore
Don't need you no more
Chimera wreck will slip into the bottle wreck
Wash up on the shore
Don't need you no more
Chimera wreck will slip into the bottle wreck
Wash up on the shore
Don't need you no more
Chimera wreck will slip into the bottle wreck

8. Population Three

[Instrumental]

9. Never Have

You need, but you'll never have
You dreamed, but you never had the chance to be
What you wanna be
You grasp, but you never hold
You ask, but you're never told
'Cause the truth hurts
This is the modern world

So you bide your time
With your fate resigned
To be paid in kind

You reach, but you never get
You breathe, but you never let the past go
Do you ever learn?
You search, but you never find
You hurt, but you never try to face facts
This is the modern world

So you bide your time
With your fate resigned
To be paid in kind
When the flashbulb dies
And the humdrum thrives
Do you lose your pride?

You need, but you'll never have
You dreamed, but you never had the chance to be
What you wanna be
You grasp, but you never hold
You ask, but you're never told
'Cause the truth hurts
This is the modern world

10. Love In The Past Tense

One hundred rooftops stretch
Across a crowded skyline in relentless melt
The smog and cigarettes
Poisoning the well for those below alone

You beautiful young soul
I bend to you forever and I trust in you
I lose all self-control
Lay the nest with feathers
Wave goodbye to youth
(Love in the past tense)

Falling back to earth
We get what we deserve
Strength to split the sky
What is born will die
In time
Love in the past tense

We always end up here (We always end up here)
Where nothing feels the same and all our dreams capsize
We ran out of ideas (We ran out of ideas)
And hold each other's promise for one final time
(Love in the past tense)

Falling back to earth
We get what we deserve
Strength to split the sky
What is born will die
In time
Love in the past tense

(Love in the past tense
Love in the past tense)
Love in the past tense
Love in the past tense
(Love)







PORCUPINE TREE LYRICS