1983
The Final Cut
Click on the song to see the lyrics
The post war dream
Your possible pasts
One of the few
The heroes return
The gunners dream
Paranoid eyes
Get your filthy hands
off my desert
The fletcher memorial
home
South hampton dock
The final cut
Not now john
Two suns in the sunset
Lyrics:
Tell me true, tell me why, was Jesus
crucified
Was it for this that daddy died?
Was it you? Was it me?
Did I watch too much TV?
Is that a hint of accusation in
your eyes?
If it wasn't for the nips
Being so good at building ships
The yards would still be open on
the clyde
And it can't be much fun for them
Beneath the rising sun
With all their kids committing
suicide
What have we done, Maggie what have
we done
What have we done to England
Should we shout, should we scream
"What happened to the post war
dream?"
Oh Maggie, Maggie what did we do?
They flutter behind you your possible
pasts
Some bright eyed and crazy some
frightened and lost
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future to take
care
In derelict sidings the poppies
entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait
for the next time
Do you remember me? How we used
to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
She stood in the doorway the ghost
of a smile
Haunting her face like a cheap
hotel sign
Her cold eyes imploring the men
in their macs
For the gold in their bags or the
knives in their backs
Stepping up boldly one put
out his hand
He said, "I was just a child then
now I'm only a man"
Do you remember me? How we used
to be?
Do you thing we should be closer?
By the cold and religious we were
taken in hand
Shown how to feel good and told
to feel bad Strung out behind us the banners and flags
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters
and rags
Do you remember me? How we used
to be?
Do you thing we should be closer?
When you're one of the few to land
on your feet
What do you do to make ends
meet?
Teach
Make 'em mad, make 'em sad, make
'em add two and two
Oh make 'em me, oh make 'em you,
make 'em do what you want them to
Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make
'em lie down and die
Jesus, Jesus, what's it all about
Trying to clout these little ingrates
into shape
When I was their age all the lights
went out
There was no time to whine and
mope about
And even now part of me flies over
Dresden at angels one five
Though they'll never fathom it
behind my
Sarcasm desperate memories lie
Sweetheart, sweetheart, are you
fast asleep, good
'Cos that's the only time that
I can really speak to you
And there is something that I've
locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day
And when we came back from the war
The banners and flags hung on everyone's
door
We danced and we sang in the street
And the church bells rang
But burning in my heart
The memory smolders on
Of the gunners dying words on the
intercom
Floating down through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet
me now
But in the space between the heavens
And the corner of some foreign
field
I had a dream
I had a dream
Good-bye max
Good-bye ma
After the service when you're walking
slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines
in the cold november air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet
the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream
A place to stay
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely
down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what's more no one ever
disappears
You never hear their standard issue
kicking in your door
You can relax on both sides of
the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in
bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the
law
And no one kills the children anymore
No one kills the children anymore
Night after night
Going round and round my brain
His dream is driving me insane
In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final
scene
Take heed of the dream
Take heed
Button your lip and don't let the
shield slip
Take a fresh grip on your bullet
proof mask
And if they try to break down your
disguise with their questions
You can hide hide hide
Behind paranoid eyes
You put on your brave face and slip
over the road for a jar
Fixing your grin as you casually
lean on the bar
Laughing too loud at the rest of
the world
With the boys in the crowd
You can hide hide hide
Behind petrified eyes
You believed in their stories of
fame fortune and glory
Now you're lost in a haze of alcohol
soft middle age
The pie in the sky turned out to
be miles too high
And you hide hide hide
Behind brown and mild eyes
Get your filthy
hands off my desert
(Waters)
Brezhnev took Afghanistan
And Begin took Beirut
Galtieri took the Union Jack
And Maggie over lunch one day
Took a cruiser with all hands
Apparently to make him give it
back
The Fletcher memorial
home
(Waters)
Take all your overgrown infants
away somewhere
And build them a home a little
place of their own
The fletcher memorial
Home for incurable tyrants and
kings
And they could appear to themselves
every day
On closed circuit TV
To make sure they're still
real
It's the only connection
they feel
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
Reagan and Haig
Mr. Begin and friend
Mrs. Thatcher and Paisley
Mr. Brezhnev and party
The ghost of Mccarthy
And the memories of Nixon
And now adding colour
A group of anonymous
Latin american meat packing
glitterati"
Did they expect us to treat them with any respect
They can polish their medals and
sharpen their smiles
And amuse themselves playing games
for a while
Boom boom, bang bang, lie down
you're dead
Safe in the permanent gaze of a
cold glass eye
With their favorite toys
They'll be good girls and boys
In the fletcher memorial home for
colonial wasters
Of life and limb
Is everyone in?
Are you having a nice time?
Now the final solution can be applied
They disembarked in 45
And no one spoke and no one smiled
There were too many spaces in the
line
Gathered at the cenotaph
All agreed with hand on heart
To sheath the sacrificial knifes
But now
She stands upon southampton dock
With her handkerchief
And her summer frock
Clings to her wet body in the rain
In quiet desperation knuckles
White upon the slippery reins
She bravely waves the boys good-bye
again
And still the dark stain spreads
between
Their shoulder blades
A mute reminder of the poppy fields
and graves
When the fight was over
We spent what they had made
But in the bottom of our hearts
We felt the final cut
Through the fish eyed lens of tear
stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of
this moment in time
And far from flying high in clear
blue skies
I'm spiraling down to the hole
in the ground where I hide
If you negotiate the minefield in
the drive
And beat the dogs and cheat the
cold electronic eyes
And if you make it past the shotguns
in the hall
Dial the combination, open the
priest hole
And if I'm in I'll tell...
There's a kid who had a big hallucination
Making love to girls in magazines
He wonders if you're sleeping with
your new found faith
Could anybody love him
Or is it just a crazy dream
And if I show you my dark side
Will you still hold me tonight
And if I open my heart to you
And show you my weak side
What would you do
Would you sell your story to rolling
stone
Would you take the children away
And leave me alone
And smile in reassurance
As you whisper down the phone
Would you send me packing
Or would you take me home
Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings
Thought I oughta tear the curtain
down
I held the blade in trembling hands
Prepared to make it but just then
the phone rang
I never had the nerve to make the
final cut
Fuck all that we've got to get on
with these
Got to compete with the wily japanese
There's too many home fires burning
And not enough trees
So fuck all that
We've got to get on with these
Cant stop lose job mind gone silicon
What bomb get away pay day make
hay
Break down need fix big six
Clickity click hold on oh no brrrrrrrrrring
bingo!
Make em laugh make em cry make em
dance in the aisles
Make em pay make em stay make em
feel ok
Not now john
We've got to get on with the film
show
Hollywood waits at the end of the
rainbow
Who cares what it's all about
As long as the kids go
Not now john
We got to get on with the show
Hang on john
I've got to get on with this
I don't know what it is
But it fits on here like...
Come at the end of the shift
We'll go and get pissed
But not now john
I've got to get on with this
Hold on john
I think there's something good
on
I used to read books but...
Could be the news
Or some other amusement
Or it could be reusable shows
Fuck all that we've got to get on
with these
Got to compete with the wily japanese
No need to worry about the vietnamese
Got to bring the russian bear to
his knees
Well, maybe not the russian bear
Maybe the swedes
We showed Argentina
Now lets go and show these
Make us feel tough
And won't Maggie be pleased
Nah nah nah nah nah nah!
S'cusi dove il bar
Se para collo pou eine toe bar
S'il vous plait ou est le bar
Oi' where's the fucking bar john!
Two suns in the
sunset
(Waters)
In my rear view mirror the sun is
going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
And I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions Of the holocaust to come
The rusty wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly it's day again
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done
Two suns in the sunset
Hmmmmmmmmm
Could be the human race is run
Like the moment when the brakes
lock
And you slide towards the big truck
You stretch the frozen moments
with your fear
And you'll never hear their voices
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law
anymore
And as the windshield melts
And my tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend
Finally I understand
The feelings of the few
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end
All lyrics © 1983 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd. Used without permission
