[See the Welcome song page on the Shadow Cabinet fan site archive for descriptions of the people named.]
[rev. Aug. 23, 2013]
Camus and Tony Curtis and Donna Stone
Harry Houdini and Al Capone
Scipio Africanus and Leon Redbone
And Harold Flowers
Tree Sri [0:30] Govinda and Cilla White
Edgar Cayce [0:35] and Shere Hite
Francis Drake who also was a knight
And Stephanie Powers
We welcome you
We welcome you
We welcome
Ponce de Leon and Roger Moore
Richard Egan and Joan Crawford
Henry the 7th and Bernard Shaw
And Gavin MacKillop
Walter de la Mare and Nick Ward
Johnny Thunders and Betty Ford
Lord Jim and Jack Lord
And Prince Philip
We welcome you
We welcome you
We welcome
Brian Wilson and William Tell
(We welcome you)
Harry Belafonte and Alexander Bell
(We welcome you)
Archangel Gabriel and Richard Hell
(We welcome)
And Tom Miller
You're like a star to me
You see everything
Astronomy
A part of me
You're like a star to me
Madame Blavatsky and Madame Lash
(We welcome you)
Johnny Halliday and Johnny Cash
(We welcome you)
TT Reuter, Ogden Nash
(We welcome)
Magilla Gorilla
Trevor Johnstone and Tiny Tim
(We welcome you)
Milli Vanilli and Root Boy Slim
(We welcome you)
Tony Hancock and Andy Kim
(We welcome)
And Wendy Fuller
Ida Lupino and Joyce Bell
(We welcome you)
Melvyn Basten and Mack Sennet
(We welcome you)
Lucy Jordan and Jeff Kennett
(We welcome)
And Alan Muller
You're like a star to me
You see everything
Astronomy
A part of me
You're like a star to me
You see everything
Astronomy
A part of me
A star to me
You see everything
Astronomy
A part of me
A star to me
[rev. Aug. 28, 2013]
You should decide what you want to believe in
How can I describe what I'm receivin'
It's like the marquee says, "one night at the stage"
You want to live forever but you don't want to age
I just can't help wondering
It's such a waste of time
Life-buoy in the life-boat, he was a sailor
You cannot describe him, oh the words would just fail you
And Justine laced up tight in her shoes
You're gonna get it whatever you choose
I just can't help wondering
It's such a waste of time
That's the blues, man
That's the big town
That's the rebound
That's the comedown
As high as a mountain, as fast as a first
Beside a fountain dying of thirst
And then the marquee says, "one night at the stage"
Wait till I let this soul out of it's cage
I just can't help wondering
It's such a waste of time
That's the blues, man
That's the big town
That's the rebound
That's the comedown
That's a weird trick
That's a bad hit
That's another round
That's the comedown
That's the blues, man
That's the big town
That's the rebound
That's the comedown
[By Steve Harley / Cockney Rebel]
Hark to Roualt's white insanity
Clowns in drag concealing vanity
This is hardly Paradise
We're still in search of petty scorn
Images so dead in mourning
Clap and cheer the man performing
This is hardly Paradise
We're still in search of petty scorn
Couch my disease in chintz-covered kisses
Glazed calico cloth, my costume this is
Come to Pablo Fanque's in indigo
We'll show you pastel shades of rhyme
It's ok to laugh in harmony
See the white-faced August Tommy
Come to Pablo Fanque's in indigo
We'll show you pastel shades of rhyme
Take a letter, Ophelia, write
'Sorry Desdemona' bright
Peeking through the nimbus covers
We see the twisted tale of Man
Catch us in the cornfields hiding
Me, Maryse and Moonbeams gliding
Peeking through the nimbus covers
We see the twisted tale of Man
Careless, caress, curl up beside me
Visit, sleep and smile, and drown me
March together, slay like Nero
We'll show you something you understand
Oh! the clown, his stare is eyeless
Shall he make you laugh or cry, yes
March together, slay like Nero
We'll show you something you understand
[The following verses are from the Cockney Rebel original version. Steve and Marty have performed the entire song live on occasion.]
It is time to hide my body
Shall we start to speak of Holly
I don't wanna be that superhero
Till you have something we understand
Heard they're moving Pisces into June
Shall we put together a platoon
I don't wanna be that superhero
Till you have something we understand
Instrumental
[rev. June 29, 2013]
An open door, an extended hand
What can I say, I understand
She talks like a bird, yet she walks like a man
She'll be here tonight I understand
She hunts in a pack, yet she ends up alone
She tells you its not alright darling
Why'd you worship that stone?
Hold me closer ladyboy
There's a rope that's dragging you out of this world
It doesn't care if you're heavy girl
Hold me closer ladyboy
If you look you can see that it's just you and me
There is nothing left of our world
So you think it's a sin
I'll bet it's a miracle
You think that you're safe
I tell you you're critical
The merciless gods
Who sometimes pour down their scorn
They cannot die
And also cannot be born
Hold me closer ladyboy
There's a rope that's dragging you out of this world
It doesn't care if you're heavy girl
Hold me closer ladyboy
If you look you can see that it's just you and me
There's nothing left of our world
An open door, an extended hand
What can I say, I understand
I understand, I understand, I understand
Hold me closer ladyboy
There's a rope that's dragging you out of this world
It doesn't care if you're heavy girl
Hold me closer ladyboy
If you look you can see that it's just you and me
There is nothing left of our world
[rev. July 16, 2022]
Within this city will come to your children
Identical sisters in mirrors of haze
Magnetic disturbance distorting the meters
Unendurable silence sucked into the phase
First of these daughters appears in the vacuum
The void that's created an absence of light
Perpetually chanting the great Maha mantra
She heralds the current that holds back the night
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
The second descends through electric attraction
Distributing wings the Nephilim used
When certain conditions fulfilled by the future
Momentarily lucid, permanently fused
The hills and mountains, the hawks and the eagles
Hang on the breezes and glide in the clouds
They pull down a torrent that shorts out the circuits
Negating the fires and drowning the crowds
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Without a trace of suspicion the message transmitted
It's certainly altered, it's no longer true
Bursting in temples, it brings on the jungles
Breeds good doctors nobody knew
When north meets the south, when right meets the left
When parallel lines begin to converge
We're transcending factors, fake the arrangements
Charge-positive sky, the monster submerged
And when this is over, and when it is finished
The mission accomplished, the purpose complete
Back at the beginning Eden prevails
Back at the start, back on the street
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
Anyone, could be anyone
Anyone, anyone
[The following verses are from the Stephen Cummings version on his album The Escapist.]
Took a look at the world blowing past my car
Every atom in your body was once in a star
Through the windshield up ahead I see mountains unroll
It's like a giant transmigration of soul
Sometimes I'm feeling that I can't concentrate
It's like my whole life has been kickstarted by fate
And I catch my face in the rear-view
It could be anyone at all, even you
Swept along the highway, packed up and moving fast
Brooding about the future and stroking the past
I've been up eight hours, I've been talking to the sky
Take a look at the world as it whizzes by
Sometimes I feel I might suffocate
I turn on myself like a medieval instrument of hate
I turn and catch your eye on the view
You always admire what I cannot do
They built the pyramids, toiled with tons of stone
Irrigated deserts, made giant golden thrones
Built palaces in India and a dome on the moon
Illustrated ceilings, praised God with strange choirs
Fed the five thousand, built cities of spires
Felt the pull of science unravel in their minds
Charted celestial bodies and were punished for their finds
Conquered snow-peaked mountains, drove jungles to retreat
Were drowned in vicious rapids and were heralded for their feats
Fantasized in Babylon, built a home in space
Scaled the walls of China against all human odds
Won battles without hope until men turned into gods
Still they hide their faces well, unbetrayed by heaven or hell
Only traces to be found, although their history resounds
Disconnected they displayed all the discoveries they made
And now they wander round the earth beyond the realms of death or birth
If you look you'll see them there like clouds hanging in the air
And they said the earth was flat, sailed off the world into a vat
Turned the planets into toys then played marbles like small boys
Invented love, invented hate, hung them off the arms of fate
Hear them whisper, hear them speak, seems they found what we still seek
Instrumental
[rev. Aug. 23, 2013]
Far across the water, far across the sea
Magician among the spirits, the next delivery
And the scene is set up by the boy who lost his mind
A certain smell of ether as machines unwind
Universe of distant stars chilling in its failings [1:47]
With planets spinning deep in space parading all its flavors
We sit and stare into the night and contemplate forever
Slip away into your dreams, conclude that we may never
Out and past the harbour where the sharks dream in the waves
Magician among the spirits is drowning in a cave
As Solomon's my witness, as Gabriel is my guard
Garden of the lovely ones or the devil's back yard
Hand of God has sprinkled jewels inside the velvet ceiling
Filling up our unsure hearts with wonder, awe and feeling
All the eyes are staring down and glitter like small children
Their secrets kept, but lost in thought, looking at what fueled them
Singing about the old times, sepia and faded
Magician among the spirits the past has been invaded
Robert Houdini in the distance, we look up through the water
See the comet's silver trail, see the planets falter
Vastness of science, eternal night shrouded in dark mazes
Runes and tunes and frequencies flowing through their phases
No air or cover, wind is dead, consequences endless
Speed of light in empty time, no borders to defend us
Walking in the wilderness with my pale sister
Magician among the spirits, I said how much I missed her
Jackson on the slipstream, he's moving all around
Chasing tiny orphans, following the sound, following the sound
Fragile and delirious, cannot understand it
Magician among the spirits, Electra and Miranda
Passed you in a corridor, you were drinking Grenadine
You were drinking liquid happiness, your tears could not be seen, tears could not be seen
Violent sun propels its rays to seek out beings breathing
Ancient craft that waltz away [9:40] in metal shells beneath me
Dust that swirl in reddened clouds and floats above the surface
Deserted landscapes slip away, forgotten secret purpose
Thin film of moisture, condensing on the screen
Magician among the spirits, are you with us, Christine?
Do you really remember the boy I used to be?
With you every single night in February
All this ectoplasm, believe in ghosts
Magician among the spirits, lord of hosts
Here we are tonight, we're speaking to the light
Magician among the spirits, make it alright, make it alright, make it alright, make it alright
Magician among the spirits, make it alright, make it alright
[Steve speaks in Swedish here. Translation follows.]
"Magician!, magician!, my star!
From where on earth do you look out, into outer space!
I am in a forest heather!
You shall not find me again!
Farewell my daughters, I'll see you soon!"
Instrumental
[rev. Aug. 18, 2003]
We press on and on
Funny how the future's always waiting for you
When the day has gone
We hide away
Shadows that stalk you
The wind that calls your name
Voices in the thunder
Don't understand what they're saying
We build monuments
To celebrate our glorious dead now
Iron and cement
Above their tombs
We cast out our nets
Drag up the struggling contents surely
We must not forget
That hunger looms
Shadows that stalk you
The wind that calls your name (shadows that stalk you)
Shadows that stalk you
Child cries and he learns
And doubt returns
In the darkest hours
We wrestle with our ancestors
We will resist their power
The powers that be
In the coldest night
Huddled 'round the dying embers
Praying for the light
Might set us free
Fingers that soothe you
Shadows that stalk you (the drugs that make you sleep)
Intricate harness
Shadows that stalk you (the harvest that you reap)
Man stalls, he flowers
Man falls and he rise
We press on and on
Funny how the future's always waiting for you
When the day has gone
We hide away
[rev. June 29, 2013]
Lying face down in the dust
Your body crippled with mistrust
I wonder if you'll ever rise
Too much of nothing wears you out
There's a lot of that about
I see it lingering in your eyes
If you change the arrow's course
Or feel the punch with all its force
Remember passion never dies
I'll see you there
Should you come through
Patience sits
Her face all blackened up with soot
Ragged clothes won't interrupt
The precious gem that is your life
The lover spurned and then replaced
There's just forgiveness not disgrace
And I say passion never dies
And we'll return
Our candles burn
Patience sits
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
And if you think that holding on
Is already far too long
Who's to be the judge of time?
It won't seep out through your toes
It only grows and grows and grows
'cause passion never ever dies
When you return
On your own terms
Patience sits
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
I won't let you sleep when there's fear in your blood
[rev. Aug. 23, 2013]
He never should have been in your home
You never should have left them alone
You should have recognized the ice in his eyes
And nothing would be bad enough
And no one would be glad enough
If he was thrown to the jackals and flies
Now there can be no compromise
But the Earth cannot recoil
If only the oceans would boil
If only the sky could cry black rain
If only it would never happen again
I want you to feel that baby's pain
Hate guides him, hate inside him
Hate multiplies and divides him
Suffer killing, suffocate
Suffer children, suffer hate
To never feel the daylight again
Or see the stars at night again
All the little things we take for granted
These deeds are the seeds, have been planted
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome
He never should have been in your home
Hate guides him, hate inside him
Hate multiplies and divides him
Suffer killing, suffocate
Suffer children, suffer hate
[rev. Aug. 23, 2013]
Sometimes you're dressed in Castillian vogue
Othertimes you speak with a full Scottish brogue
Ruthless, relentless, pursuing your defenseless quarry
Now you say you've been following me through my lives and deaths
From the very first tears to the last failing breaths
You clean up the mess, you say "I must confess" you say "I'm sorry"
Some say they've seen you outside of my door
During dark, rainy nights when the light is so poor
Maybe they're mistaken, or maybe you're just faking evidence
They think you're a man with the body of a libertine
Skin that's so white, clean daylight has never seen
I wonder if you're punishment, or prison or just providence
You say "Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Don't you love me?"
How you danced with the outlaws in the old, wild west
Carried a derringer under your vest
I know with a sneer you claim to have been Guinevere
But I am not Lancelot, I was never King Arthur
I say once again I'm not the man that you're after
That was a different man, he ain't been here
You say "Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Don't you love me?"
You were there in Florence as I painted the ceiling
On that old river boat, saw the hands I was dealing
Were you there the night I discovered LSD?
You held my hand through the Straits of Magellan
At the medicine show, snake-oil you were selling
Wasn't that you? Wasn't that me?
You say "Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Don't you love me?"
On the brink of the moon, at the foot of the Andes
The mouth of the river, as we washed in the Ganges
Pulled the arrow out my eye at Hastings
You washed my brow as I lay in a fever
You were the fulcrum, I was the lever
I'm not a believer, it's just all your time you are wasting
You're a prisoner in a tower, a damsel in distress
Love hold us in thrall, my eternal mistress
You've been wife, my lover, my sister, my mother, my maid
My partner, my consort, my bit on the side
My darling, my sweetheart, my hope and my pride
And all because of some stupid lyrics on "The Blurred Crusade"
You say "Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Don't you love me?"
You say "Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Why, why, why
Don't you love me?"
[rev. Aug. 28, 2013]
You wake up in the suffocating Arabic darkness
Dragging the river of your very soul
You emerge from troubled dreams with your head held very gently
Thick like clotted blood in a golden bowl
Who promised you that?
Who's paying for this?
What's waiting out there?
The soldiers in the village were sleeping in the sun
The White Star Line comes steaming in upon its midnight run
You're standing in the mirror, that reflection is insane
My love is the peace which takes away the pain
You know that you must fly out, out of this life of nightmares
Whose spirit breath surrounds you in the blackened night
The horses are uneasy, the weapon is untried
You'll have to go on guessing till you reach the other side
Who promised you that?
Who's paying for this?
What's waiting out there?
The monkeys in the jungle are playing with a gun
The White Star Line comes steaming in upon its midnight run
You're reaching for the light, boy, which the night has neatly slain
My love is the peace which takes away the pain
Up you go, you're drifting, up you go, you're floating
Over Tunisia, over Spain
Over Germany, over Poland
Over Scandinavia and back again
Who promised you that?
Who's paying for this?
What's waiting out there?
The notices and frescoes have faded in the sun
The White Star Line comes steaming in upon its midnight run
You can't believe it's over with no loss or gain
My love is the peace which takes away the pain
[rev. June 26, 2009]
According to my calculations
It ought to be around here somewhere
Despite all human limitation
My estimation is it's out there
And don't get cute with me
It's matching you to me
Here is the object
Here is the logic
This is the subject
Is that what you wanted?
Listen to me
I'll do what you want
Never mind your reputation
Just get in fast and get out faster
What we need is concentration
Or the creation of disaster
And don't get close to me
It ain't necessary
This is the limit
This is the finish
This is the minute
The modules diminish
Listen to me
I'll do what you want
Here is the object
Here is the logic
This is the subject
Is that what you wanted?
Postpone all the celebration
Get on quick and get off quicker
Listen for your information
This situation, we must not bicker
Don't put the blame on me
It's the same for me
This is the limit
This is the finish
This is the minute
The modules diminish
Listen to me
I'll do what you want
Here is the object
Here is the logic
Here is the subject
Is that what you wanted?
According to my calculations
It ought to be around here somewhere