Pink Floyd - Roger Waters - Amused to Death

26. August 1992

(Roger Waters)

Hier kann man direkt
reinhören bzw.
bestellen

Amused To Death

Der Titel des Albums ist einem Buch des
amerikanischen Autors Neil Postman entlehnt:
"Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public
Discourse in the Age of Show Business".
- eine Kritik des TV-Konsums

Dedicated to Private William Hubbard (1888-1917),
Eight Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment.

The Ballad Of Bill Hubbard (Waters) [4:19]
Vocals: Alf Razzell.
What God Wants (part I) (Waters) [6:00]
Vocals: Waters.
Perfect Sense (part I) (Waters) [4:15]
Vocals: Waters.
Perfect Sense (part II) (Waters) [2:50]
Vocals: Waters.
The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range (Waters) [4:42]
Vocals: Waters.
Late Home Tonight (part I) (Waters) [4:01]
Vocals: Waters.
Late Home Tonight (part II) (Waters) [2:13]
Vocals: Waters.
Too Much Rope (Waters) [5:47]
Vocals: Waters.
What God Wants (part II) [3:41](Waters) [3:41]
Vocals: Waters.
What God Wants (part III) (Waters) [4:07]
Vocals: Waters.
Watching TV (Waters) [6:07]
Vocals: Waters and Henley.
Three Wishes (Waters) [6:50]
Vocals: Waters.
It's A Miracle (Waters) [8:30]
Vocals: Waters.
Amused To Death (Waters) [9:07]
Vocals: Waters.

Roger Waters: Vocals, Synthesizers, Bass, 12-string guitar, Acoustic Guitar

Patrick Leonard: Keyboards, Percussion Programming, Choir Arrangement,
Synthesizers, Hammond Organ, Acoustic Piano
Jeff Beck: Guitars
Luis Conte: Percussion
Geoff Whitehorn: Guitars
Andy Fairweather-Low: Guitars, Backing Vocals, Rickenbacker 12-String
Tim Pierce: Guitars
Randy Jackson: Bass
Graham Broad: Drums, Percussion
Katie Kissoon: Backing Vocals
Doreen Chanter: Backing Vocals
N'Dea Davenport: Backing Vocals
Natalie Jackson: Backing Vocals
Lynn Fiddmont-Linsey: Backing Vocals
London Welsh Chorale: Backing Vocals
Marv Albert: "Sportscaster" vocal
B.J. Cole: Pedal Steel Guitar
Steve Lukather: Guitars
Rick DiFonso: Guitars
Bruce Gaitsch: Acoustic Guitar
James Johnson: Bass
Brian Macleod: Snare, Hi Hat
John Dupree: String Arrangements and Conduction
Tim Pierce: Guitar
John Pierce: Bass
Denny Fongheiser: Drums
Steve Sidwell: Cornet
National Philharmonic Orchestra: Orchestrations, Arranged and Conducted by Michael Kamen
Jessica and Jordan Leonard: Screaming
Charles Fleischer: TV Evangelist vocal
Don Henley: Vocals
John Patitucci: Upright and Electric Bass
Guo Yi & The Peking Brothers: Dulcimer, Lute, Zhen, Oboe, and Bass
John Brundrick: Hammond Organ
Jeff Porcaro: Drums
Jon Joyce: Backing Vocals
Stan Laurel: Backing Vocals
Jay Haas: Backing Vocals
Rita Coolidge: Vocals

Einen Teil der Erklärungen und besonders
der Hintergrundstimmen habe ich der website
http://www.ingsoc.com/waters von Charles Dee Rice
entnommen und hier eingearbeitet. Für Interessierte
ist dort noch mehr, sehr detailliertes Material zu finden.

The Ballad Of Bill Hubbard (Waters)

(Instrumental)

crickets
(switch channels)
[Alf Razzell:]
"Two things that have haunted me most are the days when I
had to collect the paybooks; and when I left Bill Hubbard in
no-man's-land.
"I was picked up and taken into their trench. And I'd no
sooner taken two or three steps down the trench when I heard a
call, 'Hello Razz, I'm glad to see you. This is my second night
here,' and he said 'I'm feeling bad,' and it was Bill Hubbard,
one of the men we'd trained in England, one of the original
battalion. I had a look at his wound, rolled him over; I could
see it was probably a fatal wound. You could imagine what pain
he was in, he was dripping with sweat; and after I'd gone about
three shellholes, traversed that, had it been...had there been a
path or a road I could have done better. He pummelled me, 'Put
me down, put me down, I'd rather die, I'd rather die, put me
down.' I was hoping he would faint. He said 'I can't go any
further, let me die.' I said 'If I leave you here Bill you won't
be found, let's have another go.' He said 'All right then.' And
the same thing happened; he couldn't stand it any more, and I had
to leave him there, in no-man's-land."

(switch channels)
(girl)"I don't mind about the war, that's one of the things I
like to watch, if it's a war going on, 'cause then I know if
our side's winning, if our side's losing..."
(switch channels)

What God Wants (part I) (Waters)

What God wants God gets God help us all
What God wants God gets

The kid in the corner looked at the priest
And fingered his pale blue Japanese guitar
The priest said
God wants goodness
God wants light
God wants mayhem
God wants a clean fight

What God wants God gets

Don't look so surprised
It's only dogma
The alien prophet cried
The beetle and the springbok
Took the Bible from its hook
The monkey in the corner
Wrote the lesson in his book

What God wants God gets God help us all

God wants peace
God wants war
God wants famine
God wants chain stores

What God wants God gets

God wants sedition
God wants sex
God wants freedom
God wants semtex

What God wants God gets

Don't look so surprised
I'm only joking
The alien comic cried
The jackass and hyena
Took the feather from its hook
The monkey in the corner
Wrote the joke down in his book

What God wants God gets

God wants boarders
God wants crack
God wants rainfall
God wants wetbacks

What God wants God gets

God wants voodoo
God wants shrines
God wants law
God wants organised crime
God wants crusade
God wants jihad
God wants good
God wants bad

What God wants God gets

Was Gott will (Teil 1)

Gott bekommt, was er will. Gott steh uns bei!
Gott bekommt, was er will

Das Kind in der Ecke schaute auf den Priester
Und spielte an seiner blaßblauen japanischen Guitarre
Der Priester sagte
Gott will Gutes
Gott will Licht
Gott will Chaos
Gott will einen sauberen Kampf

Gott bekommt, was er will

Schau nicht so überrascht
Es ist nur ein Dogma
rief der außerirdische Prophet
Der Käfer und der Springbock
nahmen die Bibel vom Regal
Der Affe in der Ecke
Schrieb die Lektion in sein Buch

Gott bekommt, was er will. Gott steh uns bei.

Gott will Frieden
Gott will Krieg
Gott will Hungersnöte
Gott will Schmuckläden

Gott bekommt, was er will

Gott will Volksverhetzung
Gott will Sex
Gott will Freiheit
Gott will Semtex (preiswerter Sprengstoff aus dem Balkan)

Gott bekommt, was er will

Schau nicht so überrascht
Ich mache nur Spaß
rief der außerirdische Clown
Der Esel und die Hyäne
Nahmen die Feder aus dem Halter
Der Affe in der Ecke
schrieb den Witz in sein Buch

Gott bekommt, was er will

Gott will Grenzen
Gott will Crack
Gott will Regen
Gott will wetbacks (Illegale Einwanderer aus Mexico)

Gott bekommt was er will

Gott will Voodoo
Gott will Altäre
Gott will Gesetze
Gott will organisiertes Verbrechen
Gott will Kreuzzüge
Gott will Jihad
Gott will Gutes
Gott will Schlechtes

Gott bekommt, was er will

Perfect Sense (part I) (Waters)

The monkey sat on a pile of stones
And stared at the broken bone in his hand
And the strains of a Viennese quartet
Rang out across the land
The monkey looked up at the stars
And thought to himself
Memory is a stranger
History is for fools
And he cleaned his hands
In a pool of holy writing
Turned his back on the garden
And set out for the nearest town

Hold on hold on soldier
When you add it all up
The tears and the marrowbone
There's an ounce of gold
And an ounce of pride in each ledger
And the Germans killed the Jews
And the Jews killed the Arabs
And the Arabs killed the hostages
And that is the news
And is it any wonder
That the monkey's confused
He said Mama Mama
The President's a fool
Why do I have to keep reading
These technical manuals
And the joint chiefs of staff
And the brokers on Wall Street said
Don't make us laugh
You're a smart kid
Time is linear
Memory is a stranger
History is for fools
Man is a tool in the hands
Of the great God Almighty
And they gave him command
Of a nuclear submarine
And sent him back in search of
The Garden of Eden

Perfect Sense (part II) (Waters)

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Little black soul departs in perfect focus
Prime time fodder for the News at Nine
Darling is the child warm in the bed tonight

Hi everybody I'm Marv Albert
And welcome to our telecast
Coming to you live from Memorial Stadium
It's a beautiful day
And today we expect a sensational matchup
But first our global anthem

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense

And here come the players
As I speak to you now the captain
Has his cross hairs zeroed in on the oil rig
It looks to me like he's going to attack
By the way did you know that a submarine
Captain earns 200,000 dollars a year
Oh that's less tax Marv yeah less tax
Uh thank you Emery you're welcome
Now back to the game he fires one yes
There goes two both fish are running
The rig is going into a prevent defense
Will they make it I don't think so

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense

The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range (Waters)

You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home on the range
You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the front line boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range

Late Home Tonight (part I) (Waters)

Standing at the window
A farmer's wife in Oxfordshire
Glances at the clock it's nearly time for tea
She doesn't see
The phantom in the hedgerow dip its wings
Doesn't hear the engine sing
But in the cockpit's techno glow
Behind the Ray Ban(R) shine
The kid from Cleveland
In the comfort of routine
Scans his dials and smiles
Secure in the beauty of military life
There is no right or wrong
Only tin cans and cordite and white cliffs
And blue skies and flight flight flight
The beauty of military life
No questions only orders and flight only flight
What a beautiful sight in his wild blue dream
The eternal child leafs through his
War magazine
And his kind Uncle Sam feeds ten trillion in
Change into the total entertainment
Combat video game
And up here in the stands
The fans are goin' wild
The cheerleaders flip
When you wiggle your hip
And we all like the bit when you take
The jeans from the refrigerator and
Then the bad guy gets hit
And were you struck by the satisfying
Way the swimsuit sticks to her skin
Like BB gun days
When knives pierce autumn leaves
But that's okay see the children bleed
It'll look great on the TV
And in Tripoli another ordinary wife
Stares at the dripping her old man hadn't
Time to fix
Too busy mixing politics and rhythm
In the street below

Late Home Tonight (part II) (Waters)

Hark the wire service sing
Clear the satellite link
Check the fax machine
Hold the lead story boys
There's some great pictures coming in
Now the pilot's heartbeat slows
Palms dry out
No questions only orders
And the F-1 glides in nose-up
Through the cloudbase and the
Ground crew cheers as he puts down
His landing gear
Hey boy you're a hero take this cigar
Back home in Cleveland
All the papers and local TV stations
Will be calling your ma
And the farmer's wife
Shoos the cat off the chair
She says sit down my dear
Was the milking all right
Our American friends are late home tonight

Too Much Rope (Waters)

When the sleigh is heavy
And the timber wolves are getting bold
You look at you companions
And test the water of their friendship
With your toe
They significantly edge
Closer to the gold
Each man has his price Bob
And yours was pretty low
History is short the sun is just a minor star
The poor man sells his kidneys
In some colonial bazaar
Que sera sera
Is that your new Ferrari car
Nice but I think I'll wait for the F50
You don't have to be a Jew
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn in my eyes
Moslem or Christian Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they'll fuck it up
And last night on TV
A Vietnam vet
Takes his beard and his pain
And his alienation twenty years
Back to Asia again
Sees the monsters they made
In formaldehyde floating 'round
Meets a gook on a bike
A good little tyke
A nice enough guy
With the same soldier's eyes
Tears burn my eyes
What does it mean
This tearjerking scene
Beamed into my home
That it moves me so much
Why all the fuss
It's only two humans being
It's only two humans being
Tears burn my eyes
What does it mean
This tender TV
This tearjerking scene
Beamed into my home
You don't have to be a Jew
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn in my eyes
Moslem or Christian Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they'll fuck it up

What God Wants (part II) (Waters)

Do you believe in a better day
Do you have faith in a golden way
If you do then we must come together this day
Come together as one united
Television audience
Brought together by the sound of my voice
United united financially united socially
United spiritually and all possible ways
Through the power of money
And the power of prayers

Was Gott will (Teil II)

Prediger:
Glaubt ihr an einen besseren Tag
Habt ihr Glauben an einen Goldenen Weg
Wenn ihr daran glaubt, müssen wir heute zusammenkommen
Zusammenkommen als eine vereinigte
Fernseh-Zuhörerschaft
Zusammengebracht durch den Klang meiner Stimme
Vereinigt, vereinigt finanziell und sozial
vereinigt geistig und in allen möglichen Weisen
durch die Macht des Geldes
Und die Kraft des Gebetes

What God wants God gets God help us all
God wants dollars
God wants cents
God wants pounds shillings and pence
God wants guilders
God wants Kroner
God wants Swiss francs
God wants French francs
Oui il veut des francs francais
God wants escudos
God wants pesetas
Don't send lira
God don't want small potatoes
God wants small towns
God wants pain
God wants clean up rock campaigns
God wants windows
God wants solutions
God wants TV
God wants contributions

What God wants God gets God help us all

God wants silver
God wants gold
God wants his secret
Never to be told
God wants gigolos
God wants giraffes
God wants politics
God wants a good laugh

What God wants God gets God help us all

God wants friendship
God wants fame
God wants credit
God wants blame
God wants poverty
God wants wealth
God wants insurance
God wants to cover himself

What God wants God gets God help us all

Gott bekommt, was er will Gott steh uns bei
Gott will Dollars
Gott will Cents
Gott will Pounds, Shillings und Pence.
Gott will Gulden
Gott will Kronen
Gott will Schweizer Franken
Gott will Französische Francs
Oui il veut des francs francais
Gott will Escudos
Gott will Peseten
Sendet keine Lira
Gott will kein Unkraut
Gott will ganze Städte
Gott will Schmerz
Gott will
Gott will Windows
Gott will Lösungen
Gott will TV
Gott will Spenden

Gott bekommt, was er will

Gott will Silber
Gott will Gold
Gott will sein Geheimnis
nie verraten wissen
Gott will Gigolos
Gott will Giraffen
Gott will Politik
Gott will Lachen

Gott bekommt, was er will

Gott will Freundschaft
Gott will Ruhm
Gott will Beifall
Gott will Blamage
Gott will Armut
Gott will Reichtum
Gott will Versicherungen
Gott will sich selbst verstecken

Gott bekommt, was er will

What God Wants (part III) (Waters)

// switch TV channel //

Man:
And this area is loaded with gold.
Look at the future, gold mines are on fire! (?)

Don't be afraid it's only business
The alien prophet sighed
The vulture and the magpie took
The cash box from its hook
The monkey in the corner wrote
The figures in his book
Crazed the checkout lady's fingers
Flash across the till
The captain posts
The menu for the day
And in banks across the world
Christians Moslems Hindus Jews
And people of every
Race creed colour tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog
Neatly make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Christ it's freezing inside
The veteran cries
The hyenas break cover
And stream through the meadow
And the fog rolls in
Though his bottle of gin
So he picks up a stone
That looks like a bone
And the bullets fly
And the rivers run dry
And the fat girls sigh
And the network anchor persons lie
And the soldier's alone
In the video zone
But the monkey's not watching
He's slipped out to the kitchen
To pile the dishes
And answer the phone

Man singing:

Wait till the sun shines, Nellie
And the clouds have drifted by
We shall be happy, Nellie
By---

("Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie", ist von Harry von Tilzer circa 1920)

Watching TV (Waters)

Vom 3. auf den 4. Juni 1989 marschierte in Peking Militär ein und erschoss auf den ins Stadtzentrum führenden Strassen und in der Gegend des Tiananmen-Platzes Hunderte, möglicherweise gar Tausende von Studenten und Pekinger, überrollte sie mit Panzern. Zuvor war der Platz im Herzen der Hauptstadt sieben Wochen lang Bühne einer Volksbewegung gewesen, zu der sich spontane, von Studenten angeführte Trauerkundgebungen für den am 15. April 1989 verstorbenen, als «liberal» geltenden ehemaligen KP-Generalsekretär Hu Yaobang ausgeweitet hatten.

Mit Demonstrationen, Sitz- und Hungerstreiks forderten Hunderttausende politische Reformen und Demokratie, demonstrierten gegen die Korruption der Parteikader und stellten letztlich die Macht der KP in Frage. Die häufig Volksfestcharakter annehmenden Aktionen fanden buchstäblich vor den Augen der Weltöffentlichkeit statt, denn die Bewegung von 1989 wurde auch zur Geburtsstunde des weltumspannenden Satellitenfernsehens: Eigentlich um über den historischen China-Besuch des sowjetischen Präsidenten Gorbatschew zu berichten, befanden sich im Frühling 1989 zahlreiche Kamerateams ausländischer Fernsehanstalten in Peking, welche ihr Publikum wochenlang mit Live-Bildern vom Tiananmen-Platz belieferten. (Die Verbindung von Roger Waters´ Kampf gegen Gewalt und Diktatoren und der {wenig bewirkenden} TV-Berichterstattung macht das Ereignis zu einem Paradebeispiel dieses Album-Themas)

Infos aus http://www.discover-business-asia.com/reuters/tiananmennzz.htm
Bilder unter http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html

switch TV channell

Woman:Oh, darling, you really must keep in touch
Only bears hibernate, you know.
A heh heh
// piano music //
// switch TV channel //
Man:He said you can
get a vicari---
// switch TV channel //
Car Salesman:
--Power doorlocks
Power mirrors
AM/FM Cassette
Air conditioning---
switch TV channel
Woman:
I made this sharp as is practically possible So this cuts off the flow of liquid...
glass jars hitting together
switch TV channel
Woman:Whatcha doin man?
Man1:Diamond cutting, madam...
Man2:Did you find any?
Man1:You've heard of the hope diamond
Man3:Oh, yes, I know about that!
switch TV channel
Man:I've been sound in my policy Escape from the icehouse?

We were watching TV

switch TV channel

Watching TV

Man (translated from Chinese): According to the (Mainland China's) Ministry of the National Affairs...

The translation "Ministry of the National Affairs" may be not exact. Anyway it's the ministry managed by the Prime minister of Mainland China. During the Tiananmen Square Affair, the Prime minister was Lee-Pong, who was believed to have given the order to fire guns at the students in Tiananmen square. It was most likely recorded from the TV news of Mainland China's Central Broadcast Station, during the Tiananmen Square affair in 1989.

We were watching TV

Man:
(?)... Thank you, oh, yes... (?)

Watching TV

Woman:It's fine Mama, welcome to juke box jamboree!---
// switch TV channel //
Man1:How's the food?
Man2:The food is great!
// switch TV channel //
// jet plane //
// machine guns //

Ich verzichte darauf, die aus Fernsehsendungen stammenden Hintergrundsätze zu übersetzen.

Wir sahen fern

sahen fern

wir sahen fern

sahen fern

In Tiananmen Square
Lost my baby there
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She was a short order pastry chef
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
She had shiny hair
She was the daughter of an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a student of philosophy
Won't you grieve with me
For my yellow rose
Shed a tear
For her bloodstained clothes
She had shiny hair
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was the daughter of an engineer
So get out your pistols
Get out your stones
Get out your knives
Cut them to the bone
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
They built the dark satanic mills
That manufacture hell on earth
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
They are irrelevant to me
But I grieve for my sister

People of China
Do not forget do not forget
The children who died for you
Long live the Republic
Did we do anything after this
I've a feeling we did
We were watching TV
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
She wore a white bandanna that said
Freedom now
She thought the Great Wall of China
Would come tumbling down
She was a student
Her father was an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
That no-good low-down dirty rat
Who used to order his troops
To fire on the women and children
Imagine that imagine that
And in the spring of '48
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
Out of the state of China
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
And they armed the island of Quemoy
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory
Called Taiwan
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
She's different from Anne Boleyn
She is different from the Rosenbergs
And from the unknown Jew
She is different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Half superstar half victim
She's a victor star conceptually new
And she is different from the Dodo
And from the Kankanbono
She is different from the Aztec
And from the Cherokee
She's everybody's sister
She's symbolic of our failure
She's the one in fifty million
Who can help us to be free
Because she died on TV
And I grieve for my sister

den Tiananmen Platz
ließ mein Baby dort
Meine gelbe Rose
in blutgetränkten Kleidern
Sie war Köchin in einem Dim Sum
Schnellrestaurant am Yangtze-Ufer
Sie hatte glänzendes Haar
Sie war die Tochter eines Ingenieurs
Möchten Sie nicht eine Träne vergießen
Für meine gelbe Rose
Meine gelbe Rose
In ihren blutgetränkten Kleidern
Sie hatte perfekte Brüste
Sie hatte hohe Erwartungen
Sie hatte Mandelaugen
Sie hatte gelbe Schenkel
Sie war Philosophiestudentin
Möchten Sie nicht mit mir trauern
Um meine gelbe Rose
Verlieren Sie eine Träne
um ihre blutgetränkten Kleider
Sie hatte glänzendes Haar
Sie hatte perfekte Brüste
Sie hatte große Erwartungen
Sie hatte Mandelaugen
Sie hatte gelbe Schenkel
SIe war die Tochter eines Ingenieurs
Holt ruhig eure Pistolen heraus
Holt eure Steine
Holt eure Messer
Stecht bis auf die Knochen
Sie sind Lakaien des Apparates des Schlächters
Sie bauten die dunklen, satanischen Werke
Die Hölle auf Erden produzieren
Sie kauften die erste Sitzreihe am Kalvarienberg
SIe interessieren mich nicht
Aber ich trauere um meine Schwester

Volk von China
Vergeßt sie nicht, vergeßt sie nicht
die Kinder die für euch gestorben sind
Es lebe die Republik
Haben wir hinterher etwas getan?
Ich habe so ein Gefühl, daß wir es taten:
Wir sahen fern
sahen fern
Wir sahen fern
sahen fern
Sie trug ein weißes Band mit den Worten
Frieden jetzt!
Sie dachte, die Große Mauer von China
würde zusammenstürzen
Sie war Studentin
Ihr Vater ein Ingenieur
Möchtet ihr nicht eine Träne verlieren
für meine gelbe Rose
meine gelbe Rose
in ihren blutgetränkten Kleidern
Ihr Großvater bekämpfte den alten Chiang Kai-shek
Diese nichtsnutzige, dreckige Ratte
Der seinen Truppen befahl
auf Frauen und Kinder zu feuern
Erinnert euch, erinnert euch
Und im Frühling ´48
erzürnte Mao Tse-tung heftig
Und er trieb den alten Diktator Chiang
aus dem Staate China
Chiang Kai-shek landete in Formosa
Und sie bewaffneten die Insel Quemoy
Und die Granaten flogen über das Chinesische Meer
Und sie verwandelten Formosa in eine Schuhfabrik
namens Taiwan.
Und sie ist anders als der Cro-Magnon Mann
Sie ist anders als Anne Boleyn
Sie ist anders als die Rosenbergs
und als der unbekannte Jude
Sie ist anders, als der unbekannte Nicaraguer
Halb Superstart, halb Opfer
Sie ist eine Siegerin ganz neuer Art
Und sie ist anders als der Dodo
Und als der Kankanbono
Sie ist anders als die Azteken
und als die Cherokees
Sie ist jedermanns Schwester
Sie ist Symbol unseres Versagens
Sie ist eine aus fünfzig Millionen
die uns befreien kann
denn sie starb vor der Kamera
Und ich trauere um meine Schwester

Kalvarienberg - Kreuzigung Christi
Cro-Magnon Mann - Urmensch
Dodo - sagenhafter urweltlicher Vogel

Three Wishes (Waters)

Woman:
I went and buy a... a gas bottle. At first I wanted to buy a big one, but then I hadn't got enough money. So I had to buy a smaller one. And I think if I bought a bigger one, then it would have been... the way I wanted it.

And then, er, we went down, and ahm, I put the children to bed and I tidied the flat and everything and then...and they were asleep and everything was a kind of at night. I made a bed in the bathroom. I carried them there and put on the gas bottle.

But today when I think a back peh.. about that if God did take me, then I would've been in hell because I wasn't right

Reached back for the bottle
And rubbed against the lamp
Genie came out smiling
Like some Eastern tramp
He said "Hey boy what's happening
What is going on
You can have three wishes
If you don't take too long"

I said "Well,
I wish they were all happy in the Lebanon
Wish somebody'd help me write this song
I wish when I was young
My old man had not been gone."
Genie said "Consider it done!"

There's something in the air
And you don't know what it is
You see someone through the window
Who you've just learned to miss
And the road leads on to glory but
You've used up your last wish
Your last wish
And you want her to come home
...bring her home...

Genie said "I'm sorry
But that's the way it goes
Where the hell's the lamp sucker
It's time for me to go
Bye"

Woman:
I go there ahm.. sometimes twice a year now
And sometimes only once
And sometimes when I feel like crying
I just go there

Based on the woman's accent, it was suggested that she may be from South Africa. Apparently, there is a fairly high incidence of "family suicides" and it is often brought about by economic hardship. In this particular instance, it is thought that her children died, but because the gas bottle wasn't big enough, she survived.

Drei Wünsche

Frau:
Ich ging um eine.. eine Gasflasche zu kaufen. Zuerst wollte ich eine große kaufen, aber ich hatte nicht genug Geld. So mußte ich eine kleinere kaufen. Und ich glaube, wenn ich eine große gekauft hätte,dann wäre es mehr das gewesen, was ich wollte
Und dann, eh.., gingen wir herunter.. und.. ich brachte die Kinder ins Bett und ich brachte die Laken in Ordnung und alles und dann... als sie schliefen und alles ruhig war, machte ich ein Bett im Badezimmer. Ich brachte sie dorthin und öffnete die Gasflasche

Aber heute, wenn ich zurückdenke... darüber, wenn Gott mich holte, dann käme ich in die Hölle, weil ich nicht richtig gehandelt habe

´Griff hinter mir nach der Flasche
und rieb an der Lampe
Genie kam lächelnd heraus
wie ein abendländischer Vagabund
Er sagte "Hey Junge, was war los
Was machen wir jetzt
Du hast drei Wünsche frei
Wenn du nicht so lange brauchst"

Ich sagte, "Gut,
Ich wünschte, sie wären alle glücklich im Libanon
Wünschte mir Hilfe beim Schreiben dieses Songs
Wünschte mir, als ich jung war
wäre meine Vater nicht gestorben"
Genie sagte "Nimm es als geschehen!"

Es liegt etwas in der Luft
Und du weißt nicht, was es ist
Du siehst jemanden durchs Fenster
den du gerade verpaßt hast
Und der Weg würde zum Glück führen aber
du hast gerade deinen letzten Wunsch verbraucht
deinen letzten Wunsch
Und du möchstest, daß sie nach Hause kommt
... bring sie zurück...

Genie sagte, "Tut mir leid
Aber so geht´s eben
Wo zur Hölle ist der Lampendocht
Es wird Zeit für mich zu gehen
Bye"

Frau:
Ich gehe... manchmal zweimal im Jahr dorthin
Und manchmal auch nur einmal
Und manchmal, wenn ich glaube, ich müßte heulen
geh ich einfach dorthin

Dem Akzent nach wird angenommen, daß die Frau aus Südafrika stammt. Es gibt große Anzeichen von "Familien-Selbstmorden" dort und oft enstehen sie aus wirtschaftlicher Misere. In diesem speziellen Fall kann man annehmen, daß die Kinder starben, aber die Mutter überlebte, weil das Gas in der Flasche nicht ausreichte.

It's A Miracle (Waters)

Miraculous you call it babe
You ain't seen nothing yet
They've got Pepsi in the Andes
McDonalds in Tibet
Yosemite's been turned into
A golf course for the Japs
The Dead Sea is alive with rap
Between the Tigris and Euphrates
There's a leisure centre now
They've got all kinds of sports
They've got Bermuda shorts
They had sex in Pennsylvania
A Brazilian grew a tree
A doctor in Manhattan
Saved a dying man for free

It's a miracle
Another Miracle
By the grace of God Almighty
And the pressures of the marketplace
The human race has civilized itself
It's a miracle

We've got warehouses of butter
We've got oceans of wine
We've got famine when we need it
Got designer crime
We've got Mercedes
We've got Porsche
Ferrari and Rolls Royce
We've got choice

She said meet me
In the Garden of Gethsemene my dear
The Lord said Peter I can see
Your house from here
An honest [family] man
Finally reaped what he had sown
A farmer in Ohio has just repaid a loan
It's a miracle
By the grace of God Almighty
And the pressures of the marketplace
The human race has civilized itself
It's a miracle

We cower in our shelters
With our hands over our ears
Lloyd-Webber's awful stuff
Runs for years and years and years
An earthquake hits the theatre
But the operetta lingers
Then the piano lid comes down
And breaks his fucking fingers
It's a miracle

Man1:
Sergeant, gimme the flashlight!
Sergeant:
We'll only be left with nothing but that oil lamp!
Man1:
You don't need it, I need all the help I can get out there!
Now let me have it!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
// switch TV channel //

Woman:
I've had a ball!
Woman:
Oh! My eyes!

Es ist ein Wunder

Geheimnisvoll nennt man das, babe
Sowas hast du noch nie gesehen
Sie haben Pepsi in den Anden,
McDonalds in Tibet
Der Yosemite´s Park ist nun
Ein Golfplatz für die Japse
Das Tote Meer belebt von Müll
Zwischen Euphrat und Tigris
Liegt nun ein Fitnesscenter
Es gibt alle Arten von Sport
Es gibt Bermuda Shorts dort
Man hatte Sex in Pennsylvania
Ein Brasilianer pflanzte einen Baum
Ein Doktor in Manhattan
rettete einen Sterbenden umsonst

Es ist ein Wunder
Noch ein Wunder
Durch die Gnade des Allmächtigen
Und den Druck des Marktes
Hat die menschliche Rasse sich selbst zivilisiert
Es ist ein Wunder

Wir haben Lagerhäuser voll Butter
Wir haben Meere aus Wein
Wir haben Hungersnöte, wenn wir sie brauchen
Haben Design-Verbrechen
Wir haben Mercedes
Wir haben Porsche
Ferrari und Rolls Royce
Wir haben Auswahl

Sie sagte triff mich
im Garten von Gethsemane, Liebling
Der Herr rief, Peter, man kann
dein Haus von hier oben sehen
Ein braver Familienvater
erntet endlich, was er säte
Und ein Farmer aus Ohio hat gerade einen Kredit bezahlt
Es ist ein Wunder
Durch die Gnade des Allmächtigen
Und den Druck des Marktes
Hat die menschliche Rasse sich selbst zivilisiert
Es ist ein Wunder

Wir ducken uns in unseren Verstecken
Halten uns die Ohren zu
Lloyd Webber´s schreckliches Zeug
läuft Jahre und Jahre und Jahre
Ein Erdbeben trifft das Theater
Doch das Musical läuft weiter
Dann fällt der Pianodeckel herab
und bricht ihm die verdammten Finger
Es ist ein Wunder

Amused To Death (Waters)

Man:
Consider it a bargin at even 6 or 7 or even 8 hundred dollars...
Hi!
You're live on the show!
Hi!
Woman:
Denise from Delaware
Man:
How are you?
Woman:
First time I've even been this.. uh, spoke to you.
Man:
Why, it's my pleasure!
Woman:
---son, bought that thing for me, and you were supposed to give
it to me on Mother's Day.
Man:
Uh-huh
Woman:
But you didn't.
Man:
(?) tell me (?)
Woman:
Ah, maybe about 7 or 8 hundred dollars
Man:
Seven or eight!
A congratulation!
OK!
Woman:
bye-bye
Man:
bye-bye

We own this at four hundred dollars

You gotta be kidding me!
Seven, eight, nine hundred dollars!
Tell ya what
While it was seventy-five, eighty maybe

Cut the price
Cut it and give it away
To end the day
To end the day out there...(?)
It's incredible (?)
Not even worth selling (?) seventy-seven (?)

Doctor Doctor what is wrong with me
This supermarket life is getting long
What is the heart life of a colour TV
What is the shelf life of a teenage queen
Ooh western woman
Ooh western girl
News hound sniffs the air
When Jessica Hahn goes down
He latches on to that symbol
Of detachment
Attracted by the peeling away of feeling
The celebrity of the abused shell the belle
Ooh western woman
Ooh western girl
And the children of Melrose
Strut their stuff
Is absolute zero cold enough
And out in the valley warm and clean
The little ones sit by their TV screens
No thoughts to think
No tears to cry
All sucked dry
Down to the very last breath
Bartender what is wrong with me
Why am I so out of breath
The captain said excuse me ma'am
This species has amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on earth
But then it was over
We ohhed and aahed
We drove our racing cars
We ate our last few jars of caviar
And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Grouped around the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry no feelings left
This species has amused itself to death

(switch channels)
[Alf Razzell:]
"Years later, I saw Bill Hubbard's name on the memorial to the
missing at Arras. And I...when I saw his name I was absolutely
transfixed; it was as though he was now a human being instead of
some sort of nightmarish memory of how I had to leave him, all
those years ago. And I felt relieved, and ever since then I've
felt happier about it, because always before, whenever I thought
of him, I said to myself, 'Was there something else that I could
have done?' [background: "I'd rather die, I'd rather die..."]
And that always sort of worried me. And having seen him, and his
name in the register - as you know in the memorials there's a
little safe, there's a register in there with every name - and
seeing his name and his name on the memorial; it sort of
lightened my...heart, if you like."
(woman) "When was it that you saw his name on the memorial?"
"Ah, when I was eighty-seven, that would be a year,
ninete...eighty-four, nineteen eighty-four."
(switch channels)
crickets