[Verse 1]
In the light before the dawn
Shadows shake in my peripheral
Mesmerise me, bring it on
Heart beats with fear here in the theatre of my soul

You see, I hope it will go on an on
And when the curtain call is done
Morning always comes

[Verse 2]
It was a fine time to be born
De-mob happy street and free milk for us all
It was the right place to be sure
Those dreaming spires and, yeah, oh so pastoral

[Chorus]
But let's hope it s not just luck and strange
A one-off peaceful golden age
That's a dark thought in the dark

[Bridge]
Seek what you won't find, that is a wasted life
Or so the Ancients dropped by to tell me
They drank me dry but my oh my so far
Ah-ha

[Verse 3]
Quite the time to be a boy
Six-string masters of an expanding universe
It was a high time to be sure
Soaring and free from the bounds of the Earth

[Chorus]
But let s hope it's not just luck and strange
A one-off peaceful golden age
That's a dark thought in the dark

[Outro]
Time for this mortal man to love the child that holds my hand
And the woman who smiles when I embrace her
These eyes stay dry but my oh my guitar

[Verse 1]
These days of wild uncertain times I ask the empty skies
Who will keep things rolling, who to sing Hosannas to
The temple calls but I can t see what use my prayers will be
And will this world keep rolling with only good intentions

[Verse 2]
Still, it fills the eye this line of stone
Incense, icons, coming on strong
Here comes splendour, hallowed air and is it wonder or

[Chorus]
Despair bends my knee
The day s dying flame
Motes in its beam glitter and blaze
Say isn t it true that it s all through in a single spark
Between two eternities

[Verse 3]
I ll watch the moon, kick off my shoes, reach for my old guitar
Fed on milk and honeydew, what things can we undo

[Chorus]
Desire bends my knee
The dying embers flame
Hungry to believe, but just the same
Isn t it true that it s all through
In a single spark between two eternities

[Outro]
Bittersweet the night s embrace, I m thankful and afraid
So pray to keep things rolling, I ve only good intentions

[Verse 1: Romany Gilmour]
Broke an early promise
Put trust in an unknown
Fell headlong into the arms
Of the first that stirred me

Unsteadied a steady heart
And took me to a place I've never been
A place I've never been since...

Stopped hoping at an early age
Stopped guessing at an early age
Start accepting things from day one
And then things can't go too wrong

[Pre-Chorus: Romany Gilmour]
Just let them walk all over you
Laugh through the punches and the pain
Let the life-blood drain away from you
They're right, you're wrong

[Chorus: Romany Gilmour]
And you can see it in the way they look at you
Feel it in the way they treat you
Always the last to know
Always the first to leave

[Bridge: Romany Gilmour]
And when the sky begins to fall
The blame - all along in you - is yours
Wakes you with a fever at five
Your guardian angel gives up the ghost

[Chorus: Romany Gilmour]
And you can see it in the way they look at you
Feel it in the way they treat you
Always the last to know
Always the first to leave

[Outro: Romany Gilmour]
Just let them walk all over you
(They're right, you're wrong)
Laugh through the punches and the pain
(They're right, you're wrong)
Let the life-blood drain away from you
(They're right, you're wrong)
They're right, you're wrong

[Verse 1]
I didn't think that this could be
All that unto death do we
'til you managed the lock and magicked the key
After night of Hard Drinking and ecstasy

[Chorus 1]
It's softer than words that are spoken
Blackened on paper that's shredded and torn
Or carved into stones lying shattered and broken
Branches beckoned a long, long path
Winding up in the past

[Verse 2]
And this dark and velvet night
That surrounds us
This dark and velvet night
I will wrap arround us

[Chorus 2]
It's softer than words that are spoken
Or painted as slogans and flung to the lions
Written on slips as the punters wait smoking
A leap of faith, the odd sky-high
Said goodbye to your place or mine

[Bridge]
Don't like to make promises that I can't keep
Don't want to hurt this old heart or wreck my sleep
Thinking how will we part
Will I hold your hand or you be left holding mine
Between this breath and then
There's this airlock of time
This airlock of time

[Verse 2]
And this dark and velvet night
That surrounds us
This dark and velvet night
I will wrap arround us

[Chorus 3]
It's softer than words that are spoken
In the towers of great cities that toppled and drowned
Engraved on gold rings or some other love token
No walls, no bells to sanctify
This dark and velvet night

[Verse 1]
Darling, turn back the clock
Give me time, make it stop
Let's hold back the news
Stay inside this cocoon

[Chorus]
No doubting you
No doubting me
No doubt the mess we're in

[Verse 2]
Sail away in my dreams
Away on untroubled seas
From this worn-out world
That's torn apart at the seams

[Chorus]
No doubting you
No doubting me
No doubt the mess we're in

[Bridge]
Found a lifetime ago
Down the Portobello Road
Lovers' snapshots of delight
Those rosy days of black and white

[Verse 3]
Darling, don't make the tea
Stay and snooze here with me
I'm not ready for news
Or to leave this cocoon

[Chorus]
No doubting you
No doubting me
No doubt the mess we're in

[Bridge]
Seems a lifetime ago
Power cuts that shut us down at night
And the faces in my mind
Glowing amber in the candlelight
And behind the kitchen shelves
Something's lost there and out of sight
Young love's photographs
Growing old in black and white

[Instrumental Outro]

[Verse 1]
Take my arm and walk with me
Once more down this dusty old path
The sunset cuts the hill in half
Our shadows stretch back to touch the night
The light's fading, you say
But these darkening days
Flow like honey

[Verse 2]
These days slowing down
A whole life in a glance
The clearest light shines in the darkness
Shining on me
And we re still doing this dance
One step at a time
As the days slip by
As smooth as glass
The moments pass

[Chorus]
And all these precious things you gave
That I've been holding in my hands
These grains of sand
A man stands in a river
Pushes against the stream
Time is a tide that disobeys
It disobeys me

[Verse 3]
These days slowing down
A whole life in a glance
The clearest light shines in the darkness
Still shining on me
And we're still doing this dance
The moon and the stars
As the days slip by
As smooth as glass
The moments pass

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus]
And all these precious things you gave
Falling through my hands
These worlds, this scattered sand
I stand in a river
Push against the stream
Time is a tide that disobeys
And it disobeys me
It never ends

[Verse 1]
The heat of the sun stayed on through the night
Made spectres of strangers playing games with my sight
I passed through the station, a face in the crowd
The whistle was blowing, the barrier came down

[Verse 2]
There was my baby, in another's embrace
I called out her name in shame and disgrace

[Refrain]
Yes, I have ghosts, not all of them dead
Making dust of my dreams, spinning round and around
Around in my head

[Verse 3]
Train on the tracks, teeth of the zip
The slider moves down, we were joined at the hip
Stealing the groove, the widening gap
Unfastening rails from a past with no map

[Refrain]
Yes, I have ghosts, a fleeting sight
It's always the living that are haunting my nights

[Verse 4]
Where is the sweet soul that you used to be
Gone like a thistle that's blown on the breeze
I guess when it's over, this haunting will end
The waiting, the baiting, my killer, my friend

[Refrain]
Yes, I have ghosts, not all of them dead
And they dance by the moon, millstones white as the sheet
On my bed