Richard Thompson

Outside Of The Inside

Richard Thompson


God never listened to Charlie Parker 
Charlie Parker lived in vain 
Blasphemer, womaniser, 
Let a needle numb his brain 
Wash away his monkey music 
Damn his demons, Damn his pain 

And what's the point of Albert Einstein 
What do we need Physics for? 
Heresy's his inspiration 
Corrupt and rotten to the core 
Curse his devious mathematics 
Curse his deadly atom war 

There's a message on the wind 
Calling me to glory somewhere 
There are signs too deep for the dumb 
Like perfume in the air 
And when I get to Heaven 
I won't realise I'm there 

Shakespeare, Isaac Newton 
Small ideas for little boys 
Adding to the senseless chatter 
Adding to the background noise 
Hard to hear my oratory 
Hard to hear my inner voice 

Van gogh, Botticelli 
Scraping paint onto a board 
Colour is the fuel of madness 
That's no way to praise the Lord 
Grey's the colour of the pious 
Knelt upon the misericord 

There's a message on the wind 
Calling me to glory somewhere 
There are signs too deep for the dumb 
Like perfume in the air 
And when I get to Heaven 
I won't realise I'm there 

I'm familiar with the cover 
I don't need to read the book 
I police the world of action 
Inside's where I never look 
Got no time to help the worthless 
Lotus-eaters, Mandarins, crooks 

There's a message on the wind 
Calling me to glory somewhere 
There are signs too deep for the dumb 
Like perfume in the air 
And when I get to Heaven 
I won't realise I'm there