Black And White Television - Ian Anderson

I looked in the mirror then

Saw my face in a dream

With eyes sharp as diamonds

Blessed with clear vision

Things were not as they seemed

Black and white television

Stared back from the wall

Is that my life?

Am I here at all?

Down in the high road, see

Motor cavalcades glide

Past shopwindow dressers

Desperately covering

All the parts they can hide

Black and white television

Stares at me again

Is that their lives?

Even dummies pretend

The truth is so hard to deny

The answer is here

The screen never lies

Black and white television

It’s the right television

Show me it’s all a dream tonight

The boys on the corner sulk

In their suzuki haze

In primary colours

(each year more startling)

But they still fade to grey

On black and white television

It’s sweeping the land

Is that your life?

Do you understand?

The truth is so hard to deny

The answer is here

The screen never lies

Black and white television

Back the right television

Black and white television

Hard to fight television

Show me it’s all a dream tonight