the night has a thousand eyes
the indian night
where krishna waits for his radha
where swans glide silently o’er black waters
and flowers perfume the darkness
that sound of the flute
krishnas flute
playing
off in the distance
listen!
there……
deep amongst the trees
deep in the deep heart of the night
when the 21st century sleeps …..
the 21st century
i hate it!
i hate the noise
i hate the rules
i hate the humdrum
everything in me longs to be gone
to walk in that peaceful place
to lay by grey lakes in evenings
its surface a mirror of heaven
to dissolve my soul of steve kilbey
to wash that man right out of my hair
i am not him
he is a bouy floating on my sea
he is a spokesman for only himself
in times of pain
in times of danger
we separate
the deep me
the shallow me
when the bubble bursts
when the parties are all over
when the masks are all forgotten
me as big as the sky
me being anywhere
multi-locational
omni-directional
oh vishnu this is hard to reconcile to kilbey
oh vishnu
are you still listening in that little house in my heart
are you beside me all the way
are you a symbol
are you a possibility
are you a way for stupid men to approach the truth
with your one thousand names
colour of a cloud
your compassionate eyes that see everything
each sparrowfall
each sacrifice however small
each transgression
each prayer
pray harder ! someone says
sling yourself into it
give whatever you can
believe whatever you can
vishnu is dreaming this all up
we’re all part of his dream
he sleeps out there
and his lovely wife soothes him as he dreams this stuff up
his lovely wife who happens to be the goddess of fortune
she smooths his hair
she gently strokes his temples
as he dreams dreams dreams
dreams indistinguishable from reality
reality within a dream
big dreams of universes
small dreams of ants
fast dream of man
slow dream of time
life after life after life
the same old routine
am i awake
am i asleep
am i franz bloody kafka
or am i really a beetle this time
is there life on other planets
hell yeah
whats its all about alfie
when you said you had it all worked out
why should we be nice to our each other
after all it was all someone elses fault
and every generation throws a hero up the pop charts
and no one can help themselves
destiny is pre ordained but i got my free will
dont i?
i see it all coming i could get outta the way
the deep me says duck you fucking fool
the shallow me
the kilbey
the erm steve kilbey
he says
lets ‘ave a look
and down comes the comet
or the earth opens wide in a chasm
or lady godiva stops on ‘er ‘orse
and points
and says
him!
he looked!
and everybody gets angry
and i’m running away from these angry villagers
cos i’m a heretic and a lunatic
and just as theyre banging me up on a flaming cross
i’m thinking hang on….
the deep me is thinking
hang on…..
and i wake up
and i get born
and i grow up in some ways
and i learn my lessons
and i do my bit
i sing my songs
i do my chores
and i get thoroughly lost
despite the many signs you have placed here
which say
danger ahead!
this way!
that way!
you are now entering no mans land
and the signs i didnt see
cos i was too busy driving
driving my point home
driving a hard old bargain
driving people crazy
in many different and absurd ways
shallowman your life is the unexpurgated living daylights
india is as distant as ever
it calls you but you are deaf
anxiety follows you all of your days
an idiot with a leaf blower in your quietest garden
your feathers are so ruffled you can hardly fly
you stand on the ground taking potshots at turkeys
you curse the racket of the times in a loud voice
why do i have to do this
why do i have to do that
why this question
kilbey slumps
kilbey has run out of steam
horrible industrial sounds mar this quiet morning
disturbing my reverie
with their roars and screams and grinds
india recedes before my messed up minds eye
krishnas dreamy flute is drowned out
radha is lost in the night
the swans fly off
the flowers close up
and the 21st century wakes
all wimpy and useless
looks itself in the mirror
9 years old
it says
fuck!