Everybody’s Begging Album Notes

beggar man keeps company

with soldiers, sailors, spies and thieves

everybody’s got a scheme

beggar man wears his on his sleeve

the priest is begging for a soul

the rabbi’s begging for the scroll

the ferryman begs for his toll

the jelly’s begging for the roll

Oh oh everybody’s begging

you have a lot of everything

you have someone to do your every bidding

and I see you living like a king

but you know there’s still something missing

the dog is begging for a bone

the heir is begging for the throne

the poor man’s begging for a loan

the unknown are begging to be known

Oh oh everybody’s begging

nothing like an earthly hell

to bring out all the-self styled angels

but the ones who spell it out can’t spell

you give them something and they want something else

there’s writers begging to be read

there’s voices begging in your head

there’s blood that’s begging to be shed

there’s hungry begging for some bread

there’s hooker’s begging to be paid

you think it’s fun just getting laid

there’s junky’s begging for a fix

that’s not enough until it is

Oh oh everybody’s begging

  we are the miserable mammals

every day’s so hard to handle

the path to salvation’s one long battle

the darkness lit by one lone candle

there’s secrets begging to be hidden

the future’s begging to be written

there’s fuel begging for ignition

i’m a soldier begging for a mission

in the dark begging for some light

in the dark begging for a fight

you can just point me at the action

everyone’s begging for distraction

Oh oh everybody’s begging

everything you’ve ever owned

every place that you’ve called home

every piece you thought would fit

the physical and the spirit

what we are is less than what we’re not

and what we’re not is less than what we want

and what we want is where we’re always heading

and all i see is everybody begging

Oh oh everybody’s begging

They were young and looking for employment

This was Budapest in 1944

Sitting in the waiting room in the office of the Consulate

Two young people who’d never met before

The Consul claimed he’d know a cheat or scoundrel

Claimed he’d know just by looking in their eyes

Had no time for foreigners or scandals

Or the authorities giving him advice

Through your blood shall you live

Two young people struck up a conversation

Small talk in a crowded waiting room

Both trying to hide their agitation

Before they lied in their respective interviews

They were lying but there was a kind of knowing

A spark of something undefined

His name was called he approached with some foreboding

But he left the office with his permits signed

Through your blood shall you live

She looked to him to give her reassurance

“Is he the bastard he has the reputation for?”

He smiled and asked to meet her at St Stephen’s

Under the Bell Tower that afternoon at 4

She wasn’t sure why she agreed to an encounter

He was handsome but strolling with a stranger wasn’t wise

Both of them were brand new out-of-towners

But there was something so familiar in his eyes

Through your blood shall you live

He left the Polish Consulate whistling softly

He’d been running for a long time without rest

All he wanted was someone to hold him calmly

Let his guard down lay his head upon her breast

He waited in the Bell Tower Square impatiently

The clock struck 4 and then a quarter past

It wasn’t safe for him to loiter aimlessly

He was about to leave when she came at last

Through your blood shall you live

The Siege of Budapest had not begun yet

They walked the boulevard in the autumn sun

As dangerous for them as Russian roulette

The danger was what they carried in their blood

Her mother her father and her little brother

Had been taken she’d seen enough to know they were dead

Her sister had escaped somehow or other

She survived by trusting nothing no-one said

Through your blood shall you live

What he wanted most to ask was very risky

They talked of this and that and such and such

Would he be the victim of mistaking her identity

In the end temptation proved too much

Now we’re getting to the wonder

The part we’d listen to so eagerly

When your grandfather asked your grandmother

“Are you Jewish?” and her eyes flashed and she snapped,” How dare you ask me?”

But your grandfather sang to her very softly

The opening line of the Shema Yisrael

And your grandmother finished off the prayer that he had started

They fell into each other’s arms & there ends the tale

Through your blood shall you live

You fell into a trance one night

Saw the Lord in blazing light

And prayed to him to favour you with wisdom

But all the wisdom was a test

Like all the women you undressed

And rumours of your holiness

blessed? were you blessed?

blessed beyond the dust beyond the flesh

You took the beauties to your room

your songs of love made them swoon

You worshipped at their altars you were shameless

You laid your head on every breast

Every word a new conquest

You cannot love and you cannot rest

did it get you blessed? did it get you blessed?

blessed beyond the dust beyond the flesh

Poets aren’t you all the same

Playing G-d at His own game

Creating out of nowhere out of nothing

The blank page is your nemesis

But the girl who moans against your chest

Lets you believe your press

did it get you blessed? did it get you blessed?

blessed beyond the dust beyond the flesh

I loved you, thought I was the one

Sheba to your Solomon

You were my moon, you were my sun

Now I’ve seen what’s left of your monuments

I read your lines in the testaments

I believed whatever you confessed

Thought I was blessed

Every breath just empty air

Every deed just disappears

The wise & foolish in the end are levelled

All our works a vain protest

Our drowning hearts, our souls possessed

The bad die just like the best

were we blessed? were we blessed?

blessed beyond the dust beyond the flesh

blessed, blessed

blessed beyond the dust beyond the flesh

if we pray

if we sacrifice

if we’re patient

if we light the lights

if we work hard

if we fit in

even if we lie down unprotesting

we walk the wire

and if we fall 

we fall to what’s below

take my hand

so we don’t stray at all

let’s walk the wire 

if you steal our home

if you burn us down

if you slander our name

if you claim the higher ground

if there’s no war we can win

nor can afford to lose

even if we plead you refuse

we walk the wire

and if we fall 

we fall to what’s below

take my hand

so we don’t stray at all

let’s walk the wire

if they fight

if they use their fists

if they kill

if they make arrests

if it never stops

if all your hate persists

we’ll do what we’ve always done

we walk the wire

and if we fall 

we fall to what’s below

take my hand

so we don’t stray at all

let’s walk the wire

if we pray

if we sacrifice

if we’re patient

if we light the lights

if we work hard

if we fit in

even if we lie down unprotesting

we walk the wire

and if we fall 

we fall to what’s below

take my hand

so we don’t stray at all

let’s walk the wire

Before we can start we have to close

Renounce all our vows all our oaths

All the curses and laments to the wrong gods we chose

’Til we’re empty ‘tiI we’re empty as the sun goes down

 

I’ve done many things I regret

I’ve made a life woven from broken thread

But I want to dance another dance & smoke another cigarette

I am swaying I am swaying in your holy house

 

Sing for me the slow melody that sets me free

 

I found a path I found old steps to retrace

As familiar as my mother’s embrace

And I am here to hear the horn, to be with you, to seek some grace

I am ready I am ready I am empty I am empty I am swaying I am swaying

As the sun goes down

 

From the belly of the whale to the heart of Israel

I was there at the camps

I was there at Babylon

I saw your face at Babi Yar

I am gone baby gone

I felt your breath upon my neck

Smelt your perfume on my gun

I was with you in the olive groves

As sweet as battles won

I was there right beside you

When we sang the workers’ song

I was there when the idols

Became dust that dully shone

I held you in my arms

As you dreamt of old Zion

I’ll love you at the shore line

As sweet as battles won

As sweet as battles won

I was there working for Pharaoh

I lay bruised amongst the stone

I heard of hearts that stopped beating

And I know we all die alone

Yet when you hold me down

With words of love on your tongue

The future is a dream we dream

As sweet as battles won

The future is a dream we dream

As sweet as battles won

I was there for your condescension

I was there to play the violin

I was there to be moved on

Again again again

You hate the fucking Jews

But you always liked Bob Dylan

It’s me that you got now

As sweet as battles won

I was there for your equations

The Lord our G-d the Lord is one

I was there on the seventh day

When you said the world was done

You got other things on your mind now

Everyone’s forgotten about the bomb

I heard your love’s eternal

As sweet as battles won

I heard your love’s eternal

As sweet as battles won

I saw the birth of a country

Saw the country near succumb

I watched them build the Temple

All that glory and then none

I was there to hear glass shatter

As the wedding songs were sung

And inside me a child’s growing

As sweet as battles won

As sweet as battles won

As sweet as battles won

the road was dark and narrow

the rain couldn’t get much worse

we were heading for the border

with a load in the back of the hearse

your face lit by the headlights you muttered something terse

stared ahead gripped the wheel said baby life’s a curse

break your back

on the wheel we’re all on

we push it up

we push it down

we never stop

life’s a curse

we drove all the back towns

every one just like the first

the days were never-ending

every night a grim rebirth

our perfect double act

you’re the doctor, I’m the nurse

we’re saving souls in all those halls that echo life’s a curse

break your back

on the wheel we’re all on

we push it up

we push it down

we never stop

life’s a curse

we saw her in the moonlight

she was swinging her black purse

singing songs of mourning every word in every verse

the ghost of every minstrel with a hunger and a thirst

who know the disappointments who know that life’s a curse

break your back

on the wheel we’re all on

we push it up

we push it down

we never stop

life’s a curse

the road is lined with corpses

wherever you traverse

you can signpost all your failures and repeat them in reverse….

Now I do this for the money

But I try to get it right

It’s been a way to feed the kids

And pull the darkness from the light

It’s been a way to fill the void

A way to get applause

A way to keep away the wolves

And a way to bolt the door

love me sweet, love me long

you got me in this song

this song has got me

and you got me in this song

Once I did it for rebellion

For the poet in my soul

For spotlights, for attention

Sex & drugs & rock n roll

I did it for redemption

I did it for my needs

I’ll be here til I’m bleeding

I’ll be here when you leave

love me sweet, love me long

you got me in this song

this song has got me

and you got me in this song

this song has got me

and you got me in this song

It’s a way to see perfection

On a road that’s full of flaws

Most times it’s all effort

And rarely am I sure

I bumped into an old man

He had been to where I’m going

Gave me a look of pity

‘Cos up ahead was Leonard Cohen

He told me Cohen struggled

He went and shaved his head

He went and served another

– when all those words did him no good

He went to find G-d instead

& G-d said

love me sweet, love me long

you got me in this song

this song has got me

and you got me in this song

this song has got me

and you got me in this song

What else would I do if I knew I couldn’t love you?

Throw me a towrope ‘cos I’m going down

Drag me to the shoreline & out of this dream

I’m drowning in sorrow I’m out of my depth here

Getting further & further into uncharted sea

Throw me a lifeline

This is the end, the last revelation

The sky is bruised black and the water blood red

I can’t feel my fingers my legs gone beneath me

And I can’t see a future more than one step ahead

Throw me a lifeline

The whole world is laughing

Standing on the shoreline

Pointing & laughing as I choke for breath

the sideshow, the scapegoat, the constant distraction

So much easier to mourn me in death

Throw me a lifeline

They’ve all turned away now, bored of the drama,

Salt fills my mouth & salt stings my eyes

Left to the monsters who prey in these waters

Knowing there’s no-one to drop the lifeline

Throw me a lifeline

G-d are you listening, I can pray louder

G-d if you hear me then give me a sign

I’ll be the beast, I’ll be the sea monster

I’ll be the nightmare, beyond the shoreline

I’ll be my angel I’ll be my saviour

I’ll be the flight that signals the slaughter

I’ll be the hunger the feast & the famine

I’ll be the mother I’ll be the daughter

I’ll be my husband I’ll be my bride

I’ll be the wine I’ll be the succour

i’ll be the widow i’ll be the orphan

i will be reason just keep us alive

Throw me a lifeline

Leave your armies at the border

I surrender

You won’t need your slings and arrows

I surrender

Take down your hair my  lovely

All the pins that hurt my hands

the sharpness of your judgments wound

you leave me dumb

please still your tongue

leave your weapons at the entrance 

i surrender

you won’t need your guns or bullets

i surrender

all my heart is yours to keep

the tenderest of all my parts

be careful of your brutal feet

don’t trample me

beneath this love

leave your armour on the doorstep

i  surrender

you won’t need your wall of silence

I surrender 

all the sleepless nights we spent

in the comfort of my arms

your tangled legs your warm sweet scent

my pillows dent

in remembrance

leave your tempest in the hallway

I surrender

you won’t need  thunder you won’t need lightning 

I surrender

you won’t need that moat around you

i surrender