when nobody knows she puts on secret clothes
and lies in the meadow with her hands tied behind her back
i won’t refuse if you know how to use it
just stop playing that ugly drug music

chorus:
thirteen steps lead down
thirteen steps lead down
there’s commoners and kings
and everyone’s a prisoner of
paper and glue
and a decent pair of scissors
so tonight i’m drinking to your health
because i just can’t stand myself

thirteen steps lead down [4x]

she stands and fails
on fashion fingernails
her lovers have her walking ’round
on instruments of torture
and one of them is poisonous
the other is a thief they say
so what one could give to her
the other cannot take away

when nobody knows she puts on secret clothes
and lies in her splendour for a picture opportunity
cover up that bruise, put on patent leather shoes
just stop playing that bad mood music

chorus

thirteen steps lead down [4x]

15 petals
one for every year i spent with you
jewels and precious metals will never do

i love you twisted
and i love you straight
i’d write it down but i can’t concentrate
words won’t me obey they do as they please
and all i am left with is these…

15 petals
one for every year i spent with you
jewels and precious metals will never do

the thorn is blunted
and the perfume will fade
i stand where sun is set
i crave the shade
down in the tavern with mary and joe
palms reached for alms as they throw

15 petals…
one for every hour that we’re apart
tears and useless battles
i’ll never start

mussolini highway
there’s a frankincense tree
i picked some up there to carry with me
you take me to places where i never go
i love you more than you know

15 petals
scattered in the path where you will tread
15 petals
of vivid red

one wine-bar vamp with the polythene face
ein panzer kommander with no hair in place
the crooked battallions drilled holes in the square

what is your destiny? the police woman said….(20% amnesia)
the word that she wanted was destination i’m afraid (20% amnesia)
this is your future boy, this is your fate (20% amnesia)
and you’re obsolete and they can’t afford to educate you (20% amnesia)

in his bedtime boot boy jersey
ringing up some fantasy tart
give me strength or give me mercy
life intimidates art

chorus:
give me strength or give me mercy
don’t let me lose heart
from rage to anaesthesia
twenty percent amnesia

were you passed out on the sofa (20% amnesia)
while justice was bartered by a drunken oaf? (20% amnesia)
this is all your glorious country thinks of your life (20% amnesia)
stripped jack naked with a stanley knife (20% amnesia)

so the german queen went home again
but she couldn’t find forgiveness
they made a fist of her hand of friendship
but it’s only business

chorus

the wine you drink has never seen a grape
and now your sci-fi suit has lost its shape
but its a dangerous game that comedy plays
sometimes it tells you the truth, sometimes it delays it

think back, think back if you still can
when the trumpet sounded and the world began
somebody said "we must have won"
so they started burying the boogeyman

mister gorbachov came cap in hand (20% amnesia)
from a bankrupt land to a bankrupt land (20% amnesia)
mister gorbachov and some other fella (20% amnesia)
were taken to a show called "cinderella" (20% amnesia)
it wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t a mystery (20% amnesia)
it was calculated and the rest is history (20% amnesia)

you don’t have to listen to me
that’s the triumph of free will
when there are promises to break
and dreams to kill

chorus

bells are chiming for victory
there’s a page back in history
45
they came back to the world that they fought for
didn’t turn out just like they thought
45

here is a song to sing to do the measuring
what you lose, what you gain, what you win?

nine years later a child is born
there’s a record, so you put it on
45
nine years more, if we’re lucky now
nine-year-old puts his money down
45
every scratch, every click, every heartbeat
every breath that i held for you
45
there’s a stack of shellac and vinyl
which is yours now and which is mine?
45

here is a song to sing to do the measuring
what you lose, what you gain, what you win?

bass and treble heal every hurt
there’s a rebel in a nylon shirt
but the words are a mystery, i’ve heard
’til you turn it down to 33 and 1/3
‘cos it helps with the elocution
corporations turn revolutions
45

so don’t you weep and shed
just change your name instead
what you lose when it all goes to your head?

i heard something peculiar said:
"perhaps he’s got a shot and now he’s dead"
45

bells are chiming and tears are falling
it creeps up on you without a warning
45
every scratch, every click, every heartbeat
every breath that i bless
i’d be lost, i confess
45

five gears in reverse
for girls looking at the big lift
somebody send out for the night nurse
please don’t stick me on the late shift
if you don’t know by now
nobody’s gonna tell you
if you don’t know by now
the shock will probably kill you

but if your patience is exhausted and you still cannot decide
you’re sitting in the garage contemplating suicide
and you have no motivation you can’t even catch your breath
all of this acceleration is driving you to death

five gears in reverse
you think i don’t know what i’m doing
another fashionable first
like walking down the road to ruin
but if you’re safe and sound
don’t let me interrupt you
and if you’re gagged and bound
well how can i corrupt you

chorus