And The Band Played On

(album: Good News From The Next World - 1995)

Sweetest angel came down
Took me by the hand
Said I've got things to offer you
Help you understand
If the bombs don't get you
I'll roll with you tonight
All these things inside your head
You've got to get it right
And the band played on

Spirits of the city
Were calling out my name
When jealous guys break down and cry
They got themselves to blame
If the bombs don't get you
Take courage in the night
All those dreams inside your head
You've got to get it right

Still the band played on
And the band played on

The room was getting hotter
And someone hit the light
There was power in the darkness
There was violence in the night
And the golden sons and daughters
They were coming up for air
You were standing with your back to me
And a halo round your hair

And the questions there were many
Like how can you survive
When it's the moment
You've been waiting for
This is the moment of your life

So every dreamer pass me by
With a fix me Jesus stare in his eyes
I was born to live
I was born to die
With the queen of soul
And the king of light
All the power in the land
Pull me through to the shadowland
I was driven by some hidden hand
It's the greatest gift of all

And the band played on

Shake the ghost within you
Get up, meet up, the rising sun
Cos the old days they're the dying days
And the new day's just begun
At the end of every party
Hear the singer sing his song
May his heart stay young forever
And the dream still lingers on

I want to die
I want to live again
I want to keep on keeping on
They say a coward dies a thousand times
But the brave they die just once

So walk to me, talk to me
Hold me now spectre of love
There's a coolness under fire
And a universal love

And the band played on
Played on, played on