Face the Sun Lyrics

This page includes original lyrics written by Tinplate Tiger.

The rights of Tinplate Tiger to be identified as author of this content have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this page may be reprinted or reporduced or used in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means whatsoever, without permission in writing from the author.

Contents

As she passes me by
Been down this road before
Distant clatter
Dive into your eyes
Face the sun
Floating away
Hands on the clock
Heart bypass
Indigo
Some may play guitars
Searching for a sign
Storm of cherry blossom
Travelling light
Woman from nowhere

 

As she passes me by

She wears dresses from Save The Children
A vintage Nikon on her breast
To film the ghosts of burned out buildings
Those gypsy boys in vests
The black swan on the river
Angels in the clouds
Drunks beneath the bridges
The strangers in the crowds

She fascinates me
The moon is in her eyes
Spirits ripple round her
As she passes me by

She held a small exhibition
In the old woollen mill
I stared fo seveal minutes
At her self portrait by the till
She sat at a small table
With a stack of picture cards
I mumbled vague admiration of
The pattern on her scarfe

I should have told her
How she fascinates me
How the moon is in her eyes
How those spirits ripple round her
How she has me hypnotised

All the things I feel
I can never find the words to say
I took one of her cards
And slowly crept away

She fascinates me
The moon is in her eyes
Spirits ripple round her
As she passes me by

 

Been down this road before

Had a sudden urge to pull off the road
My truck's empty, feels like I'm dragging a load
Follow a track until it stops
Wade knee deep into damp crops
My frayed jeans are soaked with dew
On the brow of a hill drink in the view
In the valley a girl plays a lonely flute
Her notes curl around me like sweet pea shoots

I've been down this road before
can't recall what I was looking for
guess I may find it again one day
just hope I'm headed the right way

I walked here on a brighter day
By drifts of blackthorn blossom spray
Rivers of blue flowers flowed
And roots of giant oaks made thrones
Above gold stubble soon crows will soar
Where blades of swords and ploughs once tore
When set ablaze the white smoke pours
Eyes burn red, as the black earth cools

I've been down this road before
can't recall where I was looking for
guess I may find it again one day
just hope I'm headed the right way

The birdsong is a requiem
For the plight of us hollow men
Who cannot take flight and join them
In their winter migration
Legs anchored in soft mud
We topple with dull thuds
Rain turns red dirt to blood
Drowns us when the ditches flood

I've been down this road before
can't recall where I was looking for
guess I may find it again one day
just hope I'm headed the right way

 

Distant clatter

A distant cry is calling me
The sigh of hours lost from dying galaxies
It keeps calling me move on, move on
Keeps calling me move on, move on

I hear the distant clatter of trains
Heading for some new destination
The timetable keeps on ticking in my brain
I'm only happy when I'm stood at the station

Moons dance madly around planets and suns
Echoes of strange histories, the lure of times to come
It keeps calling me move on, move on
Keeps calling me move on, move on

I hear the distant clatter of trains
Heading for some new destination
The timetable keeps on ticking in my brain
I'm only happy when I'm stood at the station

Feels like I'm falling
The angels are calling
From some place deep in my mind
Come without waning
My head is soaring
I'm edging over the line

I'm still that young boy with an old man in his eyes
Eyes that swim with fishes with the wings of butterflies
Busy building bridges to cloud islands in the sky
I gotta keep on moving 'cause there is no place to hide

I hear the distant clatter of trains
Heading for some new destination
The timetable keeps on ticking in my brain
I'm only happy when I'm stood at the station

 

Dive into your eyes

I long to dive into your eyes
Drown in whirlpools where the angels fly
Gallop horses deep into the sun
Float on waves of oblivion

Ride a slow boat through the night's lagoon
Lie on lilacs in the shadows of the moon
Watch you drift by in a chiffon gown
Soft light flickering from your candle crown

I'd burn my soul in your dripping flames
Sear my flesh with such sweet pain
Sink into your flowering fire
Petal bursts of spilled desire

I long to dive into your eyes
Drown in whirlpools where the angels fly
Gallop horses deep into the sun
Float on waves of oblivion

 

Face the sun

That summer down the old railway line
We ran arms out like the wings of dragonflies
Along them rivers of heat
Feeling warm earth beneath our feet

She said face the sun let the shadows fall behind
Face the sun let the colours flood your mind

Now I haunt the neon jungle after dark
Running from the ghosts of loverrs past
Midnight cowboy in the vampire's ghetto
Trading my dreams for those late night TV shows

She said face the sun let the shadows fall behind
Face the sun let the colours flood your mind

Memories of that summer surface in my sleep
Rise up like strange creatures from the deep
The colours race through my mind
But when I wake, I turn away from the sunshine

Why do I find it so had to face the sun?
It seemed so easy when we were young.

She said face the sun let the shadows fall behind
Face the sun let the colours flood your mind

Floating away

I'm a paper lantern, a flickering hollow
I hear your voices, but the words I can't follow
I just feel myself floating up into the haze
Come back tomorow, I'm not here today

I'm just floating away like a bird in a storm
High above the dark clouds where it's all cosy and warm

Pour me another drink to wash down these pills
I'm lost in the slipstream between heaven and hell
Am I flying, am I dying? Is this what it feels like?
I see no doorway, no darkness, no tunnel, no light

I'm just floating away like a bird in a storm
High above the dark clouds where it's all cosy and warm

 

Hands on the clock

Do you remember that night we went mad around midnight
Drove down to the beach and drew stars on the sand?
We waded barefoot in the ocean, spilled moonlight 
So carelessly through our hands

I wish these moments could last forever
But the hands on the clock keep moving on
Time snatches fleeting bliss away, then tortures me all through the days
And nights spent alone with your memory now you are gone

Do you ever think about that November afternoon 
We walked through the park and made all those plans?
I caught a leaf as it was falling, wrapped it
Golden 'round your finger like a wedding band

I wish these moments could last forever
But the hands on the clock keep moving on
Time snatches fleeting bliss away, then tortures me all through the days
And nights spent alone with your memory when you are gone

 

Heart bypass

You tore through the chalk hills of childhood
Lost among ancient trees
Drained marshlands, ripped up hedgerows
Bulldozed my memories

Days spent running free
Through woodland glades
Where we searched in the darkness for fireflies
Listened for the calls of night jays

Now they've all flown away, they've all flown away

Oak gave way to glass and steel
Blockwork swallowed pastures
You set ablaze the heathlands
That echoed with our laughter
Torched the silver-studded blues
Shy lizards, secret snakes
Now like young birds with burning wings
We've no place to escape

We've no place to escape, we've no place to escape

We walked through the fields with the sun in our eyes
Stood in the rain to watch the goshawks fly
Climbed the trees to see the valley below
Stood in the streams just to feel them flow

Feel them flow, feel them flow

You tamaced over my childhood
I guess it's selfish to protest
Machinery evolves
Societies progress
Brave new worlds emerge
From seeds of ceaseless demand
I tell my kids about the fireflies
But I doubt they understand

They're no longer part of the plan, part of the plan

 

Indigo

Behind her eyes of indigo
The flying thoughts dart to and thro
Like small bids that come and go
From windowsill to wild

We floated through the town
Places faces spun around
She made me feel free
As when I was a child

Indigo, Indigo, was that you I saw today?
Indigo, Indigo what are you doing back this way?
Was it really you I saw with that small smile?
Indigo girl, it's been a while

That summer in tall grass
We lay and strummed guitars
Beetles buzzed by, flying jewels
Now I feel such as fool

All we did was talk about
All out fears, our tears, our doubts
When we could have been make out
How I wish I'd been more cool

Indigo, Indigo, was that you I saw today?
Indigo, Indigo what are you doing back this way?
Was it really you I saw with that small smile?
Indigo girl, it's been a while

Now I wonder where you are
Have you travlled very far?
With those eyes of Indigo
I just really need to know

Indigo, Indigo, was that you I saw today?
Indigo, Indigo what are you doing back this way?
Was it really you I saw with that small smile?
Indigo girl, it's been a while

 

Some may play guitars

From the Secret Service Subversive Identification Guidebook 1966

Some may be unshaven, some may have long hair
Some may wear beads, or clothes that seem weird
Some may have skin that shines like molten tar
Some may play guitar

Some may be misguided, some may be mistaken
Some may have calls recorded, some have pictures taken
Some may be followed from meetings in cafes and bars
Got to keep tabs on them cats who carry a guitar

Some may hug trees, some may save whales
Some may try and free anything with fur and a tail
Some may ride bikes, they may not even own a car
Strapped to their backs as they ride along, you'll see their old guitars guitars

Some may write, some may teach
Some may paint pictures, some may preach
Some may recite poetry that's modern and bizarre
While others strum along on their guitars

Some may hold rallies, some may hold hands
Some may hold strange notions, some subversive plans
some may hold passports, try to spread their message far
Stop 'em at the airport if they're holding a guitar

Some may be born abroad, some may be born poor
Some may sleep together, some may sleep on the floor
Some may not sleep at all, they just gaze up at the stars
Strumming all night long on them damn guitars

Some may worship Buddha, some may not believe in God
Some may work for charity, some may not have a proper job
Some may not be sure who or what they really are
They write songs about it, play 'em on their guitars

Some may come quietly, some may resist
Some may try to hide, some may pretend they don't exist
Some may never be found, wherever the hell are
You'll just hear the sound, as they disappear, of a distant guitar

 

Searching for a sign

I ain't looking for a Jesus face in a slice of buttered toast
Nor shafts of sunlight piercing clouds like swords of soldiers' ghosts
Ain't searching my soul for messages coded between the lines
Nor trawling my deams for inspiration devine

I'm just searching for a sign, just searching for a sign,
So put you hand in mind

I'm not looking for adventure, I don't need a free ride
I'm not looking for some punishment to distract my tortured mind
There's no type of therapy that could soothe my deepest fears
I'm not looking for a fight brother, I'm too old for a career

I'm just searching for a sign, just searching for a sign,
So let our fingers entwine

I'm not looking for salvation, some short cut to nirvana
There's no miracle cure out there gonna stop me going bananas
I'm not looking for someone to blame for the burden of my sins
I'm not looking for some place to hide all my shame within

I'm just searching for a sign, just searching for a sign,
That things will turn out fine

 

Storm of cherry blossom

On Tuesdays she buys cherries from the market
Carries a small umbrella in case it rains
Buys an evening paper but she don't read it
Puts it on her lap to catch the cherry stains
Smiles as she listens to her music
Fingers twist the wire on her headphones
Her hair it flows like dark oceans
Her eyes shine like tumbled stones

I know I've seen her someplace down town
She comes from some land far away
Reminds me of a girl I used to know
So long ago, I can't remember her name

Last Tuesday I thought she caught me looking
Ran her finges through them oceans of hair
I had this crazy notion she mighy like me
Acted like I didn't really care
Tried not to look as she took her cherry carton
Her small umbrella, folded paper too
She glanced down as she passed where I was sitting
But her dark eyes gave me not a clue

I know I've seen her someplace down town
She comes from some land far away
Reminds me of a girl I used to know
So long ago, I can't remember her name

This morning in a storm of cherry blossom
She appeared and I didn't know where to look
She was munching on a crumbly breakfast pastry
Catching the crumbs in the pages of a book
A fancy Mercedes arrived from nowhere
She paused a moment then climbed in the door
I thought she smiled at me through the dark glass as it drove off
Maybe I dreamed it all, these days I'm never sure

I know I've seen her someplace down town
She comes from some land far away
Reminds me of a girl I used to know
So long ago, I can't remember her name

 

Traveling light

Now I'm traveling light like a lost kite on the breeze
A shredded letter, dandelion seeds
I don't have much left to take with me
Now I'm traveling light, floating free

Tonight don't say anything 
See what the morning brings
Don't waste your words on me
This is no final bargain plea
Just the last leaves tumbling down
From a fallen tree

Now I've said too much, to take back 
I should let go, blow down the tracks
And when we touch I known I must feel like a ghost
But I just wanted you to know, you were always the one I wanted most

Tonight don't say anything 
See what the morning brings
Don't waste your pity on me
Tears were made to fall at times like these
Just the last leaves tumbling down
From a fallen tree

 

Woman from nowhere

She knocked on my door one morning
Blood dripped onto the snow
She looked about a hundred years old
I couldn't work out where she was trying to go

She said there'd been some kind of a crash
But I could see no car in the lane
Her face it was all bashed
But she smiled to hide her pain

I got her a blanket, called up the doctor
Her son came out to take her home
They cleaned up her head, then he turned to me and said
'That's the last time ever she goes out on her own'

She was just a woman from nowhere
I've no idea where she was going to
Sat there like she's in a departure lounge
Like she was only ever passing through
But I bet there's a photo of her some place
Looking beautiful in vintage clothes
And there's a queue of bullet-riddled ghosts
Waiting for the chance to propose

Your son dropped by the other evening
In a cap and hand-stitched shoes
Gave me a bottle of whisky
For taking care of you

I said, 'Listen, I did nothing
'cept answer the door and pick up the phone'
He said they'd found your car deep in the woods
And he'd moved you into a home

Well I've never drunk that whisky
It's on a high shelf gathering dust
Your car's still down there among the trees
All tangled up and turning to rust

She was just a woman from nowhere
I've no idea where she was going to
Sat there like she's in a departure lounge
Like she was only ever passing through
But I bet there's a photo of her some place
Looking beautiful in vintage clothes
And there's a queue of bullet-riddled ghosts
Waiting for the chance to propose