The Division Bell
Produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour
Released in the US April 5, 1994
Lyrics typed by Bill the Cat ([email protected]),
   with help from Mark Stacey ([email protected])
 

"Cluster One"

(Instrumental)
 

"What Do You Want From Me"

As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears
What do you want
What do you want from me
Should I sing until I can't sing any more
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You're so hard to please
What do you want from me

Do you think that I know something you don't know
What do you want from me
If I don't promise you the answers would you go
What do you want from me
Should I stand out in the rain
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you
I'm not the one you need
What do you want from me

You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want

You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need

You can lose yourself this night
See inside there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light

What do you want from me
 

"Poles Apart"

Did you know . . . it was all going to go so wrong for you
And did you see it was all going to be so right for me
Why did we tell you then
You were always the golden boy then
And that you'd never lose that light in your eyes

Hey you . . . did you ever realise what you'd become
And did you see that it wasn't only me you were running from
Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway
Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes

The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty
I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from me
And did you know . . .

I never thought that you'd lose that light in your eyes
 

"Marooned"

(Instrumental)
 

"A Great Day For Freedom"

On the day the wall came down
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry for freedom had arrived

On the day the wall cane down
The Ship of Fools had finally run aground
Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight

   I dreamed you had left my side
   No warmth, not even pride remained
   And even though you needed me
   It was clear that I could not do a thing for you

Now life devalues day by day
As friends and neighbours turn away
And there's a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone

Now frontiers shift like desert sands
While nations wash their bloodied hands
Of loyalty, of history, in shades of gray

   I woke to the sound of drums
   The music played, the morning sun streamed in
   I turned and I looked at you
   And all but the bitted residue slipped away . . . slipped away
 

"Wearing The Inside Out"

From morning to night I stayed out of sight
Didn't recognise I'd become
No more than alive I'd barely survive
In a word . . . overrun

Won't hear a sound
He's curled into the corner
From my mouth
But still the screen is flickering
I've spent too long
With and endless stream of garbage to
On the inside out... curse the place
My skin is cold
In a sea of random images
To the human touch
The self-destructing animal
This bleeding heart's
Waiting for the waves to break
Not beating much

I murmured a vow of silence and now
I don't even hear when I think aloud
Extinguished by light I turn on the night
Wear its darkness with an empty smile

   I'm creeping back to life
   My nervous system all away
   I'm wearing the inside out

Look at him now
He's paler somehow
But he's coming round
He's starting to choke
It's been so long since he spoke
Well he can have the words right from my mouth

   And with these words I can see
   Clear through the clouds that covered me
   Just give it time then speak my name
   Now we can hear ourselves again

I'm holding out
He's standing on the threshold
For the day
Caught in fiery anger
When all the clouds
And hurled into the furnace he'll
Have blown away. . . curse the place
I'm with you now
He's torn in all directions
Can speak your name
And still the screen is flickering
Now we can hear
Waiting for the flames to break
Ourselves again
 

"Take It Back"

Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze
I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea
I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire
We were spinning into darkness; the earth was on fire

She could take it back, she might take it back some day

So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot keep
Then I hear her laughter rising, rising from the deep
And I make her prove her love to me, I take all that I can take
And I push her to the limit to see if she will break

She might take it back, she could take it back some day

Now I have seen the warnings, screaming from all sides
It's easy to ignore them and G-d knows I've tried
All of this temptation, it turned my faith to lies
Until I couldn't see the danger or hear the rising tide

She can take it back, she will take it back some day

She can take it back, she will take it back some day

She will take it back, she will take it back some day
 

"Coming Back To Life"

Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight . . . into the shining sun
 

"Keep Talking"

"For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals [1]
 Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
 We learned to talk"

There's a silence surrounding me
I can't seem to think straight
I'll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now
Why won't you talk to me
I can't seem to speak now
You never talk to me
My words won't come out right
What are you thinking
I feel like I'm drowning
What are you feeling
I'm feeling weak now
Why won't you talk to me
But I can't show my weakness
You never talk to me
I sometimes wonder
What are you thinking
Where do we go from here
What are you feeling

"It doesn't have to be like this
 All we need to do is make sure we keep talking"

Why won't you talk to me
I feel like I'm drowning
You never talk to me
You know I can't breathe now
What are you thinking
We're going nowhere
What are you feeling
We're going nowhere
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
Where do we go from here

"It doesn't have to be like this
 All we need to do is make sure we keep talking"
 

"Lost For Words"

I was spending my time in the doldrums
I was caught in a cauldron of hate
I felt persecuted and paralysed
I thought that everything else would just wait

While you are wasting your time on your enemies
Engulfed in a fever of spite
Beyond your tunnel vision reality fades
Like shadows into the night

To martyr yourself to caution
Is not going to help at all
Because there'll be no safety in numbers
When the Right One walks out of the door

Can you see your days blighted by darkness?
Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?
Stuck in a word of isolation
While the ivy grows over the door

So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go fuck myself
You know you just can't win
 

"High Hopes"

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun

Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway
Do they still meet there by the Cut

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever
 

Notes:
--------
[1] The CD lyrics say "...just like animals."
    The complete Hawking speach from the BT advert is as follows:

   For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals.
   The something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination.
   We learned to talk.
   And we learned to listen.
   Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings
     to work together.
   To build the impossible.
   Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking.
   And it's greatest failures by NOT talking.
   IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS!
   Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future.
   With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded.
   All we need to do is ...
                           make sure ...
                                        we keep...
                          t a l k i n g .