1. |
One Rule For You
04:44
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We can see from the news on our screens
That in some quarters life can be cheap
And if life can be horribly cheap
Well then what could life possibly mean?
And if life can be quickly cut short
Well then what could life really be worth?
But you can’t afford to draw from this the obvious conclusions
No you have to live within the mist of positive illusions
You’ve got to tell yourself
That there’s one rule for you and one for everybody else
You’ve got to tell yourself
It’ll come good for you if not for anybody else
If you’re claiming that providence rules
Because fate has been smiling on you
Your philosophy doesn’t explain
Why for others it deals only pain
Or you chose to trust the Lord above to answer all your prayers
But you can’t supply a reason why he never answers theirs
You’ve got to tell yourself
That there’s one rule for you and one for everybody else
You’ve got to tell yourself
That he’ll look out for you and dump on everybody else
It’s the only way we can get on
Seeing storylines where there are none
And the knowledge of coming decay
Is a thought we put off till that day
No you’re better off protected from reality’s intrusions
So you slip the tinted lenses on maintaining your illusions
You’ve got to kid yourself
That there’s one rule for you and one for everybody else
You must convince yourself
There’s a purpose for you if not for anybody else
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2. |
Jam Today
03:49
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I say patience is an overrated quality
When you’re aching that’s the time for taking what you need
Cos by the time you’ve earned something
You find your fire’s gone
It’s while you’re working for something
That’s when the iron’s hot
I won’t wait until tomorrow
I’ll have my jam today
And though I may pay tomorrow
Tomorrow’s another day
Tomorrow’s another day
Now there’s a reason why they always preach austerity
To keep you banking on a future that might never be
There’s no sweetening the bitter pill
With thoughts of afterlife
But take comfort in the little thrills
We’re drawn to by design
I won’t wait until tomorrow
I’ll have my jam today
And though I may pay tomorrow
Tomorrow’s another day
Tomorrow’s another day
And when your number’s called by fate
It won’t be kind enough to wait
So start savouring these tastes
No don’t let them go to waste
I won’t wait until tomorrow
I’ll have my jam today
And though I may pay tomorrow
Tomorrow’s another day
Tomorrow’s another day
No don’t wait until tomorrow
Scoop up your jam today
And though you will pay tomorrow
Tomorrow’s another day
Tomorrow’s another day
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3. |
High Hopes
04:26
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Well I didn’t give up on the road to love
But that road is long and that road is rough
So you seek a diversion from all that work
And I can’t get back now
I strayed off into a shady resort
Where perfect formulas quench your thirst
They fix you up in the simplest terms
And I can’t get back now
And I saw things that you’re not meant to see
Sights and scenes better left to your dreams
And on the way my standards are rising
I’m less prepared to compromise them
And every day brings wider horizons
So how’m I gonna get on the straight and narrow?
How’m I gonna get on to you?
And even if I could it may be too late
Cos I hear that love runs on give and take
That’s a deal to which I would not relate
No I can’t do that now
Cos I’m used to playing the waited-on guest
Youth and beauty granting my every request
Yeah on the way my standards are rising
I’m less prepared to compromise them
And everyday brings wider horizons
So how’m I gonna settle for what’s on offer?
How’m I gonna settle for you?
Now I want things that we’re not meant to see
Sights and scenes better left to our dreams
And all the way my standards are rising
I’m not prepared to compromise them
And should I ever finally arrive there
Then how’m I gonna settle for what’s on offer?
How’m I gonna settle for you?
Yeah how’m I gonna settle for something proper?
How’m I gonna settle for you?
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4. |
Designed For Life
04:28
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If you get on in this world cos it suits you
And do it without resorting to humour
If you stand out from the crowd but not too far
And hold no doubts about who or where you are
Then you’re designed for life my friend
Then you’re designed for life
And are you designed for life my friend
Are you designed for life?
But if you didn’t arrive fully formed
Then there’s a chance that you can’t be that strong
Or if you’re knocked out of shape early on
Then there’s a chance that you won’t get along
Then you’re just managing the damage
You’re only passing through
Then you’re just casting out for something
That might make good the wound
If you can mark your prey out from a distance
Then coolly charm your way past their resistance
If you can get yourself hard in an instant
And then continue to last for the distance
Then you’re designed for life my friend
Then you’re designed for life
And are you designed for life my friend
Are you designed for life?
See those good-time girls who strut around town
They’ve been designed for life
See that beered-up boy bundled into the van
He’s been designed for life
And when you’re just managing the damage
Then you’re not making hay
Then you must hang it all on something
A purpose for your stay
And who’s not managing the damage
Who’s not passing through
Who’s not casting out for something
That might make good the wound
If you get on in this world cos it suits you
And feel assured of a rosier future
If you ignore all life’s miserable lessons
And wouldn’t waste your time with the big questions
Then you’re designed for life my friend
Then you’re designed for life
And are you designed for life my friend
Are you designed for life?
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5. |
So Fearless
04:08
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She swans around my neighbourhood
I’d be her shadow if I could
Marking her movements in my book
To hang around along her route
But beauty has a lethal ray
And I dissolve beneath her gaze
So when she passes on the street
I bow my head down in defeat
You know exactly what you’re doing
When you’re throwing out that look
And you’d only leave me dangling
Once you’ve got me on your hook
But I like the wave of gold
That’s in your shock of raven hair
And I love the way you smoulder
With that blunt and brazen stare
Oh you look so good
Yeah you look so fine
But what gets me breathless
Is you look so fearless, so fearless
She’s skipping through her working day
While winning new fans all the way
The bolder ones will have a crack
And it’s all water off her back
You know exactly what you’re doing
And exactly what you are
And exactly where you’re going
And it isn’t very far
Hardly noticing the catcalls
Cos you get them everywhere
And you owe it all to nature
Isn’t nature so unfair?
And you look so good
Yeah you look so fine
But what gets us breathless
Is you look so fearless, so fearless
Well I want you to know what I think of you
You look almost as cool as you think you do
Yeah I want you to know why you have my heart
Cos you’re almost as hot as you think you are
But if I ever got you back home
I’d be overcome with fear
You would see I’ve got no backbone
It could only end in tears
No there’s no lead in my pencil
I could never follow through
Cos it went into these sentences
I dedicate to you
Cos you look so proud
And you look so tough
And you scare me witless
Cos you look so fearless, so fearless
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6. |
Payback
04:01
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There is a thing called payback
Or call it time’s correction
I’ve felt a gift for payback
More times than I can mention
It’s a gift that I don’t question
In case it may desert me
To dish out without effort
Revenge on those who’ve hurt me
What goes around comes around
I sang as you passed me on the way down
What goes around comes around
Never knew what they meant by it until now
What goes around comes around
I got strung along for your pleasure
When I was young and green
But you’re old enough to know better
Now round two goes to me
And it’s not a sensation I treasure
No, gloating would be in poor taste
To watch you repent at your leisure
No trace of a smile on my face
There is a thing called payback
Though some would term it karma
If you commit a cruel act
You’ll suffer sometime after
And from the smack of payback
Nobody is immune
I’d be lying if I claimed that
I haven’t felt it too
What goes around comes around
You sang as I passed you on the way down
What goes around comes around
Never knew what they meant by it until now
What goes around comes around
It’s a lesson that everyone should take down
What goes around comes around
What goes around comes around
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7. |
Entitlement
04:36
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A revelation’s dawning on you
And it doesn’t even feel that new
That a lot of what you want is just not going to come your way
You can shout it loud if you want
Or in a whisper pass it on
That a lot of what you want is just not going to come your way
But they give you this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
Blurring the line between them and you
Promising you can have all that too
They give you this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
That makes no allowance for circumstance
And takes no account of the start you had
And our engine runs on that dream
But it’s building up a head of steam
Cos a lot of what you want is just not going to come your way
And when the pressure builds up enough
And a failure leads you to erupt
Then a lot of ugly stuff is surely gonna come our way
Cos they give you this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
And dizzy delusions will cloud your mind
That you’ve got a claim on what’s caught your eye
They give you this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
And great expectations will fill your head
Till what you can’t buy you will steal instead
But these things you hunger for
They only shine in the distance
Yeah these things you pander to
Are not so bright once you’re near them
Yeah these things you suffer for
They only shine in the distance
They’re best admired from a distance
So get rid of this sense of entitlement
Oh you live with this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
Blurring the line between them and you
Promising you can live as they do
They give you this sense of entitlement
This sense of entitlement
And I thought it had my name on it
Could have sworn it had my name on it
Yeah I thought it had my name on it
Could have sworn it had my name on it
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8. |
Tourist
05:11
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You’re on a permanent vacation
That’s funded by your desperation
The feeling you never do truly belong
You dip your toe in foreign water
At some once-fashionable resort
But you always were a little slow to cotton on
Yeah you’re always the last party to arrive
You’ve been jumping on bandwagons all your life
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
No you won’t stand still
And out there you can get creative
You’re undercover, going native
Mixing almost as well as you think you do
Seduced by all their simple customs
But you won’t stop to live among them
That should give you a clue what they think of you
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
No you won’t stand still
And you can’t stand still
Won’t you please stand still
And losing yourself in the masses
Won’t cure an alienated heart
It’s only in your own inner world
That you belong
I think you need to see your rightful home
And then live in it
I think you need to reach your own time zone
And then stick to it
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
Because you don’t know where you stand
And you can’t stand still
Because you can’t stand what you are
No you can’t stand still
Won’t you please stand still
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9. |
Buy Into It
04:04
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They say the first step to recovery
Is owning up to your dependency
But you’re not going to hear a sound from me
And I like to think I’m pretty clever
But it hooks me on some deeper level
Their streaming feed of cheap sensation
Is speaking to my isolation
Yeah I buy into it anyway
I buy into it everyday
I buy into it anyway
Cos it’s what I need to get by
They say the first step to recovery
Is facing up to your dependency
But I could drop this anytime I please
But I still haven’t found a reason
Or something easier to believe in
The tabloid junk that runs in our veins
Will carry us through one more dry day
And I buy into it anyway
I buy into it everyday
I buy into it anyway
I buy into it every day
Popstar child, with her smile so bright
Give me more of the same, give me more of the same
Smile so bright, that it hurts my eyes
Give me more of that pain, I want more of that pain
And it reminds me of the chicken and the egg
Cos are they putting these desires into my head
Or only tapping into what’s already there?
Well I do believe I’m being exploited
But I choose to fill the consent form in
When there’s an itch you have to scratch it
And this brings instant satisfaction
So I buy into it anyway
Yeah I buy into it everyday
I buy into it anyway
I’ll buy into it anyday
Cos it’s what I need to get by
Yeah it’s what I use to get high
And it’s all that brings me alive
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10. |
What's Your Poison?
04:17
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What’s your poison?
What’s your substance?
What’s your pickup?
Where’s your comfort?
It’s no mystery to me
Why you use to console
With these tragedies you meet
Through no fault of your own
And the hit you get is fleeting
But it’s going to numb the pain
And the memory of it spurs you on
To work for it again
And you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
You can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones it’s love
What’s your poison?
What’s your substance?
What’s your downfall?
Where’s your comfort?
In a life you never asked for
But one you’ve meant to wear
Though it’s rarely less than hostile
And hardly ever fair
Now you’ve seen through all the teachings
That make sense of your despair
And no supernatural story
Makes it easier to bear
And you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
You can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones it’s love
When this world betrays our trust
We’ll take solace where we must
And though the law may come down hard
There’ll still be poison on demand
Poison on demand
You can’t always be expected
To fill up your heart with joy
And it’s no good to condemn
When you fill up on something more
Cos you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
Yeah you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones its love
For the lucky ones it’s love
If you’re lucky once it’s love
Yeah you’re lucky once it’s love
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11. |
No Takers
05:06
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Remember when those dark clouds lifted
To offer you a bright new vista
The day had come to set your stall out
You’d got the goods to knock them all out
On a high of self-esteem
You were confidently waiting on the call
But the world thought differently
No the world it didn’t think of you at all
You found no takers, no takers
You must have been so rudely awakened
No takers, no takers
You couldn’t reach the movers and shakers
No takers, no takers
Peddling your wares will wear you out
To say you live and learn is quite true
But by the time you’ve learned your life’s through
How could you know you’d end up worse off
By trying to mould it to some purpose?
Took you all that time to see
Hard work hardly enters into it at all
That the world works differently
No the world it didn’t think of you at all
You found no takers, no takers
This world welcomes chancers and players
No takers, no takers,
We get on through fluke or through favours
No takers, no takers
Peddling your wares will wear you out
But none of this bothers me
Cos my eye’s on posterity
And over time we will see
If hindsight’s going to honour me
I’ll be slow burning, for slow learners
Yeah some of my mud will stick
If I’m slow burning, for slow learners
Will I live to witness it?
No takers, no takers,
You never got to prove you’re the greatest
No takers, no takers
You couldn’t move those movers and shakers
No takers, no takers,
And they may get it sooner or later
But I’m jaded, hopes fading
Peddling these wares has worn me out
Peddling my wares has worn me out
Peddling your wares will wear you out
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12. |
Our Condition
04:02
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We make light of our condition
It’s the only thing to do
And I laugh louder longer
Cos I’ve got it worse than you
We look into our condition
It’s a natural thing to do
And I look harder further
Cos I’ve got no work to do
And all the insults and the injuries
That come through human agency
I trace them back one more degree
Cos we’re all doing our best aren’t we?
No you are not to blame
I want to make that clear
I want to make that plain
You are not to blame
Oh this I do believe
No matter what they say
We make light of our condition
It’s the only thing to do
And it gives us such rich pickings
That we can’t afford not to
We lose sight of our condition
When there’s love to turn our heads
But I don’t have that distraction
Cos it hasn’t turned mine yet
And all those sick ideas and crazy schemes
By which you made a mess of me
You chose them through necessity
Cos we’re all doing our best aren’t we?
And you are not to blame
I want to make that clear
I want to make that plain
You are not to blame
Oh this I do believe
No matter what they say
And when you cheated and lied
With a wink and a smile
It was all brought on by
Our condition
And for the suffering that comes to us
The buck must surely stop with God
But I never could believe in him
No I never could wish that on him
But you are not to blame
I hope I’ve made that clear
I hope I’ve made my case
No you are not to blame
Yeah this I will believe
No matter what they say
And if you drank yourself blind
And chose to punch out our lights
I’d hold no grudge against you
I’ll always put it down to
Our condition
Our condition
Our condition
This thing called living
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Worldview UK
Worldview is the alias of Oliver Shaw, an Oxford UK-based songwriter, performer and producer mingling rock, pop, dance and folk with insightful lyrics and an overarching melodic sensibility.
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