02. analyse

a self fulfilling prophecy
of endless possibilty
in rolling reams across a screen
in algebra in algebra

in fences that you cannot climb
in sentences that do not rhyme
in all that you can never change
the one your looking for

it gets you down
it gets you down

theres no spark
no light in the dark
it gets you down
it gets you down
youve travelled far
what have you have found
that theres no time
theres no time
to analyse
to think things thru
to make sense

by candles in the city
you never looked so pretty
by powercuts and blackouts
sleeping like babies

it gets you down
it gets you down
you're just playing a part
you're just playing a part
you're playing a part
playing part
but theres no time
theres no time
to analyse
analyse
analyse
analyse

Q: "Your writing has always been intensely personal and conflicted, but because your voice is so up front on The Eraser, the words and images come through so vividly, as in 'Analyse'."

Thom: "[sings] 'Powercuts and blackouts/Sleeping like babies.' I used to live in central Oxford, on one of those historical streets, with all these houses built in the 1860s. I came home one night and for some reason, the street had a powercut. The houses were all dark, with candlelight in the windows, which is obviously how it would have been when they were built. It was beautiful."

(Rolling Stone, june 1st 2006)

03. the clock

"Later... with Jools Holland" | November 2006

"The Henry Rollins Show" | 15 July 2006

time is running out for us
but you just move the hands upon the clock

you throw coins in a wishing well
wake up
you just move your hands upon the clock

it comes to you begging you to stop
wake up
but you just move your hands upon the clock

throw coins in a wishing well
for us
make believe that you are still in charge

from the mercy .pdf file in

Real Politik
other guitar lines.. processed and sampled as pads to play..additional guitar riffs
festival in the desert

It comes to you naked and afraid
for mercy
and begs you for bread for shelter and a bed

it begs to be brought out of the cold
for mercy
it begs to warm its blue limbs by your fire

melody1

it comes to you begging you to stop
for mercy
but you dont have the love inside you to forgive

you call up a witchhunt/lynchmob instead
no mercy
a fire breathing dragon of local hypocrits

melody1
melody2

you bomb the weak and the infants/infirm
in the name of god. no mercy.

you reach for you cross instead
and bible
a firebreathing witchhunt of local hypocrits

so quick to judge both the living and the dead

scatter bomb

04. black swan

what will grow crooked you cant make straight
its the price that you;'ve got to pay
do yourself a favour and pack you bags
buy a ticket and get on the train
buy a ticket and get on the train

coz this is fucked up
fucked up

people get crushed like biscuit crumbs
and laid down in the bitumen
you have tried to best to please everyone
but it just isnt happenin
but it just isnt happenin

and that is fucked up
this is fucked up
this your blind spot
blind spot
it should be obvious
but its not

you cannot kick start a dead horse
you just cross yourself and walk away
i dont care what the future holds
coz i am right here and im today

this is fucked up
this is fucked up
we are black swans
black swans
and for spare parts we are broken up

you are fucked up
this is fucked up
we are black swans
and for spare parts were broken up

I also like the lines in "Black Swan": 'You cannot kick-start a dead horse/You just cross yourself and walk away'.

Thom: [Laughs] As always, whatever psychic garbage you've got going on in your head, you end up using it. You should have seen the stuff I didn't put in. That's the shit you don't want to know about."

--Thom Yorke | Rolling Stone | 2006