The Lonely City

S. Kilbey

Appears On:

• Steve Kilbey - Art, Man + Technology (2009), Track 4

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Narration (unofficial)

the lonely city, what a cliché
all those faces looking outta all them windows
all them lonely tears
all them lonely hearts
all them lonely wee small hours
when the darkness goes on forever
finally dawn is stubbed in her side by the sun's sharp light
and the loneliness intensifies to unbearability
you wake up but you never really went to sleep
you get up but you never really lay down
your breakfast is a quick piss and a look around
my name is john lonely
i live in the lonely building in the middle of the lonely city
look out the window, what do you see?
a thousand lonely faces looking back at thee
the lonely city cut off from all other cities
the people cut off from themselves
i jump in a lonely yellow cab and i go nowhere
at my job i speak to no one
i eat jam sandwiches and a weak cup of tea
when i finished it's already dark
signs flash on and off in the darkness
traffic lights change
trams come and go
vomiting out the shadows of men
the ever-present drizzle
the dull ache of construction
the shuddering hit of technology
the myriad indices of success and failure
the lonely city
not a nice place to visit and you wouldn't want to live there either
the lonely city
the one they never put on the map
i arrive home
i enter my apartment
no messages, no mail, no pets or children
no light at the end of any tunnel
i look out the window
the penthouses, the doorways, the thresholds
the limits of human endurance
like being in antarctica
like being in submerged atlantis
like living under the sea six fathoms down
loneliness is a cloak i wear
each place i go only the lonely go
so full of emptiness
i see the faces in the windows
i see them scream but there's nothing i can do
we all came here to make it a thousand years ago
i turn away
i've got my solitaire
i've got my patience
i've got my jigsaw puzzle
i go to bed early
i watch the big blue cross flash from my window
i hear the animals howl in someone's menagerie
i fall asleep to the distant drone of traffic
just like every other night
just like every other lonely night
a snowflake in hell
a mark on a wall
an unread letter
an unseen miracle
an imperfect gift
life in the lonely city
life in the lonely world