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John Franklin's Piano - lyrics

  1 - John Franklin's Piano
  2 - 19th Century
  3 - Genocide By Proxy
  4 - Class War
  5 - Limousine
  6 - Without A Fight
  7 - Galen Weston
  8 - Techno Fix
  9 - Tony Hayward
10 - Corporate Culture Made My Baby Cry
11 - Clover
12 - Rain
 

John Franklin's Piano


guitar, drums, tambourine, bass, e. piano, vocal, piano, computer, maracas, sampler

"Dear Jane,

There's a movie in my brain
Of you and me in Vancouver
Got the skyline, got the French wine
On the right side of a KEEP OUT sign"

Qallunaat spoil what the planet's got
The outcome is naught save tar paper desolation

"Dear Jane,

What God gave Cain
Is going to make us easy millions
We understand to build a brand
You make a fist with the invisible hand"

Qallunaat always rewrite the plot
Greed is the start, the middle, and the ending

Far from the crowd, the Arctic is screaming
But Radio One spins
John Franklin's piano playing...

"Dear Jane,

We could never explain
To those who can't read the writing
Commanding respect from the gun deck
We move out with a ripple effect"

Qallunaat wishing to dwell apart
With lunatic thoughts of flying to Mars tomorrow

Far from the crowd, the Arctic is screaming
But Radio One spins
John Franklin's piano playing...

Do you know the way from White Sands to Cambridge Bay?

© 2012 John Newlands

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19th Century

drums, bass electric, the same guitar overdubbed many times, voice, maracas, synthesizer, e.piano, piano,
congas my neighbour Chris donated to the cause, shaker, cowbell

Forced march to the factories
From land enclosed for industry
Scientific inquiry
Paid for by the military
Welcome to the new and improved 19th century

All the bells, all the whistles
Plus intercontinental missiles

Money does what money is
Vulgar androgenesis
Old King Leo(pold II) knew the score
On how to get more (you don't sweat the terror)
So raise Dickens from the dead
And Fukuyama from the living
Splice the DNA
And get a gift that keeps on giving

Forced march to the factories
From land enclosed for industry
Scientific inquiry
Paid for by the military
Welcome to the new and improved 19th century

That familiar sense of mission
When rich men do their demolition

Power needs so power gets
And the sun still never sets
There's just so much peace to wage
Out on the world stage (the CAF are there)
Here comes a big slow boat from China
Where there's opium in the air
That old Victorian bestseller
The fiction of laissez-faire

Forced march to the factories
From land enclosed for industry
Scientific inquiry
Paid for by the military
Welcome to the new and improved 19th century

© 2012 John Newlands

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Genocide By Proxy (words and music by Kevin Closs)

drums, bass, guitar, e. piano, maracas, voice, sampler

Smoke blows into a grey winter sky
Old crow laughs at the jumbled to and fro
While far below
The dying breath of a poor lost miner
Clings to exposed veins of bright potential
Only to drift away
On greedy clouds of our blind ambition

Dogs roam the quiet morning avenue
Skirting vinyl facades that hide old decay
And fading dreams
Proud fearless buck spits from passing monster
Snatches up the evidence of my damnation
Call it genocide by proxy
And pour me another cup of cold redemption

White blanket falls upon sleeping giant
While seasons wax and wane with time-lapse fury
In my racing heart
Love and anger, hope and despair
But something else has taken hold in there
Keeping time with old emotions
Familiar themes we all are falling toward

© 2008 Tower Bay Records

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Class War

bass drum, hi hats, bongos, bass, guitar, voice, sampled e. piano, drum kit, sampled clavinet, synth,
slide guitar, drum machine, JX-3P

"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns
"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns

No class war, no battlefield
Nothing but deal after deal
Miles of poolside
Where God and money are real
Ayn Rand lights another cigarette
And spells out in smoke:
"The sum of what you are is what you take"

"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns
"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns

No class war, no casualties
Nothing but opportunities
Atop the gilded mountain
Stand those who dare to be free
Margaret Thatcher brushes up on Marx
Smiles to herself
Sees it's one for one and none for all

"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns
"There is no class war,
No class war going on"
Say the ones who are winning
Say the ones with the guns

© 2012 John Newlands

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Limousine

drum loops, bass, guitar, e. piano, voice, maracas, lead bass

We each get a limousine as long as it's green
We each get a limousine as long as it's green
We each get a limousine as long as it's green
We each get a limousine as long as it's green

Why rise up when you can rise high?
Why rise up when you can rise high?

© 2012 John Newlands

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Without A Fight

big rude guitar, drum kit, maracas, cowbell, bass, voice, e. piano, big rude reverse guitar, piano

Send the planet rays of healing light
And we'll all go down without a fight
While we're chanting spells and thinking right
Watch it all go down without a fight

I used to lay down in hope's bed
Green machine dream in my head
Now I don't sleep so well
Knowing the thieves are about
Sorry, Beatle Paul
But we can't work it out

Send the planet rays of healing light
And we'll all go down without a fight
While we're chanting spells and thinking right
Watch it all go down without a fight

You swear your stone virgin's winking
I see my rune stones are sinking
Bullets for the other side
Not even fools can afford
While they're carving up
Mother Earth for motherboards

Send the planet rays of healing light
And we'll all go down without a fight
While we're chanting spells and thinking right
Watch it all go down without a fight

Why would we speak truth to power?
Power already knows

Why would we?...
Power already knows...

Send the planet rays of healing light
And we'll all go down without a fight
While we're chanting spells and thinking right
Watch it all go down without a fight

© 2012 John Newlands

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Galen Weston

piano, voice

I'm not calling Galen Weston Jesus Christ
But I bow to Galen for his crack advice
He said local food'll kill ya, that's no joke
So I hail his wisdom with some smokes and a two-litre Coke
I bought at Loblaws

© 2012 John Newlands

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Techno Fix

synthesizers and drum machines piled high, voice

All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out

See the lab coat, the briefcase, the bunker door
See the flow chart, the bar graph, the need for more
Brave new paradigm
Shaped by the brightest minds
Party's at the next house
Always the next house
Password is 'Restoration'

All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out

See the mirrors, the magnets, the 10-point plan
Trust the software, the hardware, the famous brand
Shake the planet down
The answer will be found
Party's on the next floor
Always the next floor
Password is 'Transformation'

All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out
Fade history out

Party's in the next room
Always the next room
Password is 'Affirmation'

All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix
All the future pushers promising a techno fix
All tomorrow's DJs fade history out of the mix

© 2012 John Newlands

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Tony Hayward

acoustic guitar, piano, voice, e. piano

Meanwhile in London
In the penthouse suite
In a swiveling seat
The wretch who dreamed he was a rainbow
Whispered softly to his Rémy Martin
"I got my life back
I got my life back
I got my life back"

© 2012 John Newlands

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Corporate Culture Made My Baby Cry

e. piano, voice

Corporate culture made my baby cry
Corporate culture made my baby cry
With avarice and cowardice
It spoils the earth, the oceans and the sky
Corporate culture made my baby cry
And that's one more reason corporate culture has to die

© 2012 John Newlands

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Clover

guitar, bass, drum loop, maracas, synth, voice, snare drum

When the drillers left town
And the system went down
The sky turned blue
The sky turned blue
When the drillers left town

When the cutters left town
And we buried the Crown
The river ran true
The river ran true
When the cutters left town

When the Next Week's Landfill Corporation
Could not sell us phony fascination
It was all over
Parking lots conquered by clover

When the rollers left town
Rose a beautiful sound
The chatter of birds
The chatter of birds
When the rollers left town

When the owners left town
And the balance was found
No tangle of words
No tangle of words
When the owners left town

When the men lusting for acquisitions
Could not buy the cops or politicians
It was all over
Parking lots conquered by clover

When the drillers left town
And the system went down
The sky turned blue
The sky turned blue
When the drillers left town

When the cutters left town
And we buried the Crown
The river ran true
The river ran true
When the cutters left town

© 2012 John Newlands

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Rain

acoustic guitar, bass, drum samples, voice, e. piano

voice: Rachael Charbonneau


The rain on the roof
The roof of our house
The house where we love
To hear the rain
We love the rain
We love the rain

Businessman comes round
From International Cloud
Says they own the sky
High and low, wet or dry
Anything that falls on you
And the morning dew
Mr. Powerhead
Plants concrete in flower beds

O rain on the roof
The roof of our house
The house where we love
To hear the rain
We love the rain
We love the rain

IC cranes come round
To gutter over our town
Water's gonna flow away
And flow back if we pay
Storm farms over the sea
Here on Sunbase 3
Mr. Profitheart
Strips the place to sell for parts

O rain on the roof
The roof of our house
The house where we love
To hear the rain
We love the rain
We love the rain

The rain on the roof
The roof of our house
The house where we love
To hear the rain
We love the rain
We love the rain

© 2012 John Newlands

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