Family

(Album: Thunder And Consolation - 1989)

Joey puts her make-up on really well
She looks cool in the flashing lights
And all the boys gossip about the shape of her legs
On these muddled up and drunken nights
And if it's all got to end up between the sheets
She can coo like a virgin dove
But really she just doesn't want to be alone
And if you want you can call that love

M6 southbound roadside cafe on a wild wet and windy night
There's a kid in a sleeping bag huddled in a corner, trying to beg a light
He's got mum and dad tattooed on his arm
From when he thought that that would make it alright
He's got hope and fear on his young boy's face
Another innocent taking flight, saying

Give me some place that I can go
Where I don't have to justify myself
Swimming out alone against this tide
Looking for family looking for tribe

They said go, get out, we've got our own lives to lead
Now that water is thicker than blood
And every house is divided into single flats
With their very own little welcome rug
The shopping mall it is teeming with life
Fighting for the goodies on the shelf
But there's those funny old people on the escalators
Talking to themselves, saying

Give me some place that I can go
Where I don't have to justify myself
Swimming out alone against this tide
Looking for family looking for tribe

Well I survive on my own for a while or so
Upon a whim or a bottle of wine
Just trying to make sense of these new surroundings
I only changed my name a couple of times
Please take me back Joey, I'm really sorry
Can we try to make a happy home?
But she's gone with someone else and they're starting a family
Trying for a clan of their own, so

Give me some place that I can go
Where I don't have to justify myself
Swimming out alone against this tide
Looking for family looking for tribe