Skunkworks (1996)
Space race
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)Yes, yes, I'd launch a into the rising sun My living breath is measured, every step is done Fare thee well my friends see you down the line, yeah, yeah I don't belong to nation, state or dying race I leave my prejudice with you, my religion's in space Have a little respect CHORUS: Why are we running in this space race? Why are we acting like we own the place? Just wanna feel the starlight on my face Reach out my hand and touch beyond Yea, yes, I'd float around till gravity's end unity is coming singular again See you then my friends at the end of time, yeah, yeah Secret knowledge, science, logic is all gone Nothing left but burning up into the sun On a cosmic beach, I'll see you there REPEAT CHORUS SOLO REPEAT CHORUS (x2)
Back from the edge
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)A silent river flowing black Strange attractors, no turning back Present danger I recall It pins my senses to the wall Back from the edge where the darkness has fled and I'm swimming in light and I'm falling, falling from the edge Back from the edge I fell from grace and that's a fact I still have urges I fight back Cold decisions wear me thin Kill yourself, begin again Back from the edge where you're not worth a damn throw yourself into light and the rush as you spin from the edge Back from the edge Now and then I wonder where the pictures from my childhood have gone Like father, like son in your bones it lives on glowing shadows SOLO Back from the edge (repeat to end)
Inertia
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)These are the pictures, these are the feelings from the front line Living in silence, feeling the deafness like heavy smoke Smiling with strangers, counting the days, like a spring coiled up inside Welcome to your future, welcome to your book of lies Fingers crawl through pages, nothing changes, living here CHORUS: Inertia, no wish to move at all Inertia, everything's a stone wall Inertia, history lets you die A ragged pile of silent accusers Smell the blood of strangers here No eyes, no ears, no smell, no taste The mouth of the maggot is full of this place Murdered conscience, the pressure is crushing heads like paper lanterns now Unbreakable grip, a dead hand driving us forward to the end Kicking through traces a thousand years from now Inertia, no wish to think at all Inertia, everything's a stone wall Inertia, history lets you die SOLO REPEAT CHORUS
Faith
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)You knew I wouldn't go, that's why you threatened me Would I stay? Said I was sick, I'd be alone, said my mind was at my own I didn't run You crawled up on your knees, a victims pretty please Would I stay? Would I stay? And I stayed CHORUS: How many more times till I broke down from my guilty mess You taught me to hate to love you That's because you love to hate yourself I wish it had a happy end, like the fairy-tales pretend there can be But things are not the same when your life love was a game of make believe You got everything you want but not everything you need and it's true, you receive what you achieve How many screaming fights, tears of rage until it ended How many more times till I say who I am and don't pretend SOLO How many more times till I broke down of that guilty mess How many more times till I say who I am and don't pretend
Solar confinement
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)Trapped inside a web of fiery gravity that fuels all our needs Chaotic energy that sucks the life from H to He All life withers in the sun I deny what I have done Spend my days and nights in roaring halls of crimson fire CHORUS: Solar confinement Solar confinement Solar confinement Solar distress flares I've slept with many strangers so fission, fusion, fission makes good sense Where I lay my head my troubles I put down to experience It's warm and lonely in the sun I deny what I have done Spend my days and nights in roaring halls of crimson fire REPEAT CHORUS Solar distress flares SOLO A lonely boy sits in his room His curtains hide the sun Confess to what you've done and no one understands REPEAT CHORUS (x2) Solar distress flares Solar distress flares
Dreamstate
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)Well, you bred me Well, you fed me Well, you made me what I am Something for nothing Good for nothing Well It's a dreamstate, a dreamstate To kill me with your kindness you'll just have to wait You say I'm nothing You say I'm nothing Never gonna be something Well then, that's not life for me Your expectations, your reservations Come on, please It's a dreamstate, a dreamstate You bought into the vision so you don't have to wait A dreamstate of bliss, a dreamstate of bliss A dreamstate, a dreamstate Now I'm standing up here before the judge Jury's got their head where the sun don't shine Everybody's lying on my case they're lying on my, lying on my, lying on my Lying on my case Eyes above me, eyes above me Never realised there was someone else in here No resolution and no conclusion Do I believe? In a dreamstate, a dreamstate You fell for it, sucker, you fell for the bait A dreamstate of bliss, a dreamstate of bliss A dreamstate, a dreamstate
I will not accept the truth
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)I will not accept the truth I will not accept the truth I will not accept the truth And I'll never get there never get there, yeah, yeah I must not push forward, no I must not push forward, no I must not push forward, no Cause I'll never get there I'll never get there, no way I will not believe your lies I will not believe your lies I will not believe your lies You say I'll never get there never get there Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on SOLO I will not accept your truth I will not believe your lies I will not acknowledge pain I will survive and live again Coming back now, rising up now Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on I will not accept the truth I will not accept the truth I will not accept the truth
Inside the machine
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)I've got myself a widget A gizmo with wires and Martian intent, yeah Strange face of beauty, that's my machine It blinks and stares right at me Sees nothing, but in it's wires A strange thing of beauty, that's my machine BRIDGE: You won't believe what it can do It tells me things I never wished I knew Like the mirror, when you ask, it tells you true Inside the machine, the web has got you now Inside the machine I'd strap my DNA to it A living device, the light of my life, yeah Strange face of beauty, that's my machine I sit and we crackle with static It makes no sense to have experience when A strange thing of beauty, that's my machine REPEAT BRIDGE Inside the machine, we're looking for control Inside the machine, you're part of it somehow Inside the machine SOLO Inside the machine, the web has got you now Inside the machine, you're part of it somehow Inside the machine, we're looking for control Inside the machine
Headswitch
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)What would induce you to swear your allegiance to God? Tonight Joined at the hip to a million volt switch of the light Alright You want to find out what the planet's about Falling from grace leaves a cool empty space in the sky Your eyes are black as they see the red ball of the sun And they're blind Dribbling with come as the volts start to arc through your mind It's cruel but it's kind Like father, like son Chop off the head but the body lives on Falling from grace leaves a cool empty space in the sky SOLO Like father, like son Chop off the head but the body lives on Heaven that made you has screwed you and laughed Falling from grace leaves a cool empty space in the sky
Meltdown
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)Hey, you wait, cringing in the dark You create what you always fear A puppet of hatred dishing out poison You use me for bait, you're begging bowls of lies Chain letters of snivelling compromise I can smell the difference, your truth and your fiction You and your twisted convictions CHORUS: Were you my friend when I belonged? Were you my friend when I was strong? Were you my friend when I was weak? Were you my friend when I was crawling, calling out of my head? Cold, like your blood The snake is always cool When things get tough You slither on the ground You cover up your tracks when I'm around It's over now my friend Your dog has had it's day It's payback time, for what you had to say You're stuck with the life you made Stuck with the plans you made Stuck with everything you are REPEAT CHORUS Everything's gonna happen now (x4) SOLO REPEAT CHORUS Crawling, calling, out of my head (x2)
Octavia
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)I'm vacuum breathing and open mouthed as the red shift fills my eyes Minister, my promises as her shadow cuts the day away I remembered you as you walked into that room Dislocated jagged pieces are sliding into this broken mind Swimming back against the river but I'm rising with the tide Where we came from, we're all going back there soon CHORUS: How many times have we met this way? How many lives have we lived before? How many faces and how many names? Shadows come but shadows are gone Shadows come but shadows are gone SOLO REPEAT CHORUS
Inner space
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson/ C. Dale)I see the scars of action writhing round your face Too much inactivity and home's a lonely place Throw away your beauty cause you know that it won't last Throw away your present, you've been living in the past Come on, take a trip with me across the bridge of lunacy Fire up some beast and ride the skywavesves I've thrown away my images, they're all so distant now Discovery was a stranger then welcome to my house Whatever demons torture me I love them like a friend Nothing lasts forever but the certainty of change I'd rather move around and be than figure out life and what it means Fire up some beast and ride the skywaves Don't wanna waste my time on you if you can't travel this way too Fire up this beast, we'll ride the skywaves SOLO And when the fireballs work is done, and we are part of the nuclear one The whole damn thing begins again Our glory days have just begun, a fiery sideslip then we're gone I'll see ya Monday morning Any way I'm coming back Any way I'm coming back
Strange death in paradise
(B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)Spiralling falling, a silver machine From wings of freedom, silent above Eyelids were burning, summer sun roasting Tumbling chrome in the clear blue sky Brighter that sunshine for all of our lifetimes One thousand stars turned day into night at the end CHORUS: Where were you when it fell from the sky? I saw the movie, I read the reply In the beginning there was only the word People were kissing in front of their shadows Children were playing out in the yard I am not guilty, I made no difference I wasn't born and I wasn't made on that day REPEAT CHORUS SOLO Strange death in paradise (x6)