The Triffids
Born Sandy Devotional

01   The Seabirds (03:21)

No foreign pair of dark sunglasses
will ever shield you from the light
that pierces your eyelids, the screaming
of the gulls / Feeding off the bodies
of the fish, thrashing up the bay till it was
red, turning the sky a cold dark colour
as they circled overhead.

He swam out to the edge of the reef,
there were cuts across his skin,
saltwater on his eyes and arms, but
he could not feel the sting / There was
no one left to hold him back, no one
to call out his name, dress him feed
him drive him home, say "Little boy
it doesn't have to end this way !"

He announced their trial separation, and
spent the night in a Park Beach Motel
bed, a total stranger lying next to him,
rain hitting the root hard over his head /
She said "What's the matter now lover
boy, has the cat run off with your
tongue? Are you drinking to get
maudlin, or drinking to get numb?"

He called out to the seabirds "Take me
now, I'm no longer afraid to die", but
they pretended not to hear him, and just
watched him with their hard and bright
black eyes / They could pick the eye
from any dying thing that lay within
their reach, but they would not touch
the solitary figure lying tossed up
on the beach.

So, where were you?

02   Estuary Bed (04:50)

03   Chicken Killer (03:51)

I knelt I aimed I missed I ran
across the fIeld where our love began
The ears of the corn began to melt and swim
My 20/20 vision 95% dim
I bowed my head to the weight of the sun
I saw ribs sticking out through my yellow skin
I felt so tail I felt so thin

And the children were singing, "Here he comes the killer again
Here he comes the chickenkiller again"

I was shooting at the birds on the telephone lines
Putting little black holes on the speed limit signs
And tell me where she is I screamed
And tell me where it Is she's been
Well smiling people gathered round
Wearing coloured silk under coloured lights
And paper streamers floated down
like a skating rink or a boxing tight
And grace descended without a sound

And the children kept singing, "Here he comes the killer again
Here he comes the chickenkiller again"

I ran through that crowd calling out your dear name
to the blind the deaf the dumb the lame
But they shook their heads and pointed to the sky
Saying she's in His hands now my boy
She caught death as only lovers can ever catch can

And the children kept singIng, "Here he comes the killer again
Here he comes the chickenkiller again"

Now the grass is brown and dry beside the track
Broken beer bottle shines like our engagement ring
And as sure as theres a man on the cross on a hill
I'll pay dearly for everthing
Now they stoop and they poke and they prod and they peer
at our prone bodies lying there
Like roosters picking at the body of a hen

And the children were singing, "Here he comes the killer again
Here he comes the chickenkiller again"
My ears were filled with that joyful ringing
My ears were filled with that happy singing
Laughing and pointing and pointing and singing
And the children sang, etc etc

04   Tarrilup Bridge (03:22)

I packed my bag
Left a note on the fridge
And I drove off the end of the Tarrilup Bridge.

Now you read about me in the papers
They say I'm going to be a big star
They're making a movie about my life
And you're going to play the starring part

Now my drinking days are over
Get this through your head:
I was the best friend you ever had

Yes I was your best friend
You were my blinding sun
Now the only thing bright is my name in lights
And the night has only just begun

I packed my bag
Left a note on the fridge
And I drove off the end of the Tarrilup Bridge

05   Lonely Stretch (05:02)

I took a wrong turn off of an unmarked track
I did seven miles I couldn't find my way back
Hit a lonely stretch, must be losing my touch,
I was out of my depth
Land was so flat, could well have been ocean
No distinguishing feature in any direction
I took her down inch-by-inch to the floor
And I pointed her nose through a crack in the door
Fingering my sliver St Cristopher
and saving my empty shells for her
When night closed in up around my neck
My high beam dug deep into the black
And a shiver broke out up and down my back
Yes a shiver broke out up and down my back
Well I could have been mistaken
But I swear that I caught something in my headlights
on that cold night, without another living thing in sight
Without another living soul in sight

I sing Sha Ia, sha Ia Ia
I hit a lonely stretch
Oh baby I was wrong I was wrong from the start
You could die out here from a broken heart
We were two wrongs we were married at birth
And together make up one ugly flaming bird
Heck I pumped it and then I moved up into third
Could have sworn you were shining right there on the verge
I never should have let you out of my sight
I never should have let that precious spirit escape
And I sing, to myself, I sing, to myself
I was wrong, wrong from the start
You could die out here from a broken heart
We were two wrongs, we were married at birth
And together make up an ugly flaming bird
Now my memorys shot I've got a bad technique
Could be driving in circles till the end of the week
But my vision is strong, and my vision is true
Look out now! I'll be so good for you!

Well .....
Theres a spot on a map, its just a tiny dot
That's where my sweetie lives, you know that means a lot
I think of her sitting in the afternoon sun
Sitting and drinking and having fun.
I took a wrong turn, I took a wrong turn
I hit a lonely stretch
Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
Guide me back to the bosom of Abraham
So high can't get over it, so low can't get under it,
So wide can't get around it, I took a wrong turn, etc.

06   Wide Open Road (04:08)

Well the drums rolled off in my forehead
and the guns went off in my chest
Remember carrying the baby for you
Crying in the wilderness

I lost track of my friends, I lost my kin
I cut them off as limbs
I drove out over the flatlands
hunting down you and him

The sky was big and empty
My chest filled to explode
I yelled my insides out at the sun
At the wide open road

it's a wide open road, it's a wide open road

How do you think it feels
sleeping by yourself?
when the one you love, the one you love
is with someone else

Then it's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
And now you can go any place
that you ever wanted to go

I wake up in the morning
thinking I'm still by your side
I reach out just to touch you
then I realise

It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road

07   Life of Crime (04:24)

Sunlight was hot, and your mother was calling
My chest burning, rising falling
Dog licking drips from our garage tap
Miles from nowhere just a little dot on the map

I believe you will lead me to a life of crime

Tore the clothes off our backs and looked into the sun
Fouled our mouths with the sin of our tongues
And with sand between our toes
And with stains on our sheets
Down there damn was done
because the flesh was weak
Flesh was weak, down there damn be done
And around our necks the shame was hung

I believe you will lead me to a life of crime

Now your tracks are still fresh
and the branches are broken
Nothing was stolen
but your window was open
I followed the tracks that you left behind
I followed the rail and the curve of your spine
And the grass still grows on the side of the road
Sun still burns
Rain still fails
Sin still burns little fiery holes
I hold on tight now to nothing at all

I believe you will lead me to a life of crime

Now my vision is dimmer
and the weather is colder
I went out for a ten-minute walk
that's the last thing I remember
That was the 5th, now its December
Hey get well soon darling, I hope you recover

I believed you would lead me through this life of crime

I believed you would lead me as the blind lead the blind

08   Personal Things (02:57)

09   Stolen Property (06:47)

There's someone standing in the rain like they have no place to go
Maybe that someone is you, maybe someone you don't aim to know
Maybe lost possessions
Maybe stolen property
You just lie around waiting on a signal from heaven
Never had to heal any deep incisIon
Darling you are not moving any mountains
You are not seeing any visions
You are not freeing any people from prison
Just an aphorism for every occasion
As if the only thing that ever matters
is your place at the table
You never read the writing on the label
when you drank from the bottle
it said Keep Away From Children
This is stolen property, this is stolen property

Let her run away
Let her run, let her run away
She can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now
She don't belong any more, learn the hard way
She don't belong here anymore
Finders keepers, losers weepers
Finders keepers, losers weepers
This is stolen property, this is stolen property

Reach out in the darkness now she's not there
Reach out it's getting darker now she's not there
Reach out it's getting darker now
She don't belong anymore, learn this the hard way
She don't belong here any more
You stumble, sometimes fall
Pick yourself up! Hold yourself up to the light!
Duck your head ! Watch for the blade!
Can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now
This is stolen property
This is stolen property
This is stolen property
This is stolen property

10   Tender Is the Night (The Long Fidelity) (03:43)

I knew him as a gentle young man
I cannot say for sure the reasons for his decline
We watched him fade before our very eyes
And years before his time

Surrounded himself with shiny things
First night tickets, ermine, pearls upon a string
And disappeared in all the pestilence
that sudden pleasure brings

He never asks after her anymore
He made a point of losing her address
And every trinket that she ever touched
he keeps locked away
And just burns up In the furnace of hIs chest

Well I spoke to a man who says he's done it all
and the only thing that pleases or excites him now
is hurting, hurting then hurting some more
There's someone I want to forget tonight
Don't you want to forget someone too?
I left him, and I can leave you too

Baby let's go out tonight
It will all turn out all rIght I'm sure
Don't want to drink at home again tonight
So let's go out
Let's go out tonight
It's getting dark earlier now
But where you are it's just getting light
Where you are it will just be getting light