I Wander - Real Lies

In the days before the curfew came I wander, dissolute

Through the pressure and the noise of this city we pollute

Out into cherry blossom and the fresh-cut grass

Faces in bay windows tapping at the glass

I feel the sting of springtime pollen when it hits

Takes me back to summer mornings with that pill taste in my sinuses

It’s the easy magic of the A to B

It’s funny how it takes on a new poignancy

I drip in the thick wetness of the sights and sounds

Call in at the Crown, a little Motown, where’s your lockdown now?

Th simple joys of getting out, doing the rounds

Seeing streetlights shiver on in a new part of town

Streets of sound of mind, I’ve gotta find, I wander

Turning round to see no odyssey no longer

All the best ones sound like longing

That’s what she said

I can’t shift the noise of Boys of Summer from my head

Now the city’s like a film set where they’ve upped and gone

The sirens sing their lonely karaoke songs

I push the blues down through my boots into the earth below

Drumming up the ghosts I cherish most to dance the lonely roads

Wanna wander through the bloodshot whites of hot-wired eyes

The shivering grey violence, UK Friday nights

Streets of sound of mind, I’ve gotta find, I wander

Turning round to see no odyssey no longer

Now it’s just me and my memories, city streets are empty

Phantom frequency, FM MD 20/20

Faded flag up on a balcony in front of me

Hanging out with only yesterdays for company

First-time callers reach an anxious pitch

Queuing for a pack of matches as they’re scratching that Blitz spirit itch

Where’s your lockdown now?

Where’s your lockdown now?

Where’s your lockdown now?

Streets of sound of mind, I gotta find, I wander

Turning round to see no odyssey no longer