Toothless

(Brühlmann/Frey)

The house is empty the party’s over
The tiger’s toothless you’re on the dole
The radio is playing flying without wings
Here comes the big black hole

When you walk the streets of your home town
might find you on your own
The shops and stores all barred and locked
and all of the life has gone

If you’re queuing up for a fulltime job
only time work’s in demand
Where they used to produce and pay their dues
they’re selling second hand

The good old songs of the bad old days
are the ones you now recall
When things go wrong maybe a song might
loosen your tongue
and we’ll talk about it all…

The party’s done but not forgotten
The golden hen shows its cloven hoof
The guests and friends have all been scattered to the winds
The crow sits on the roof

When you’re sitting alone in your mobile-home
in your house or in your flat,
then sure enough the heating’s off
and no water in the tap

If you’re sleeping in a tent, can’t pay the rent
no longer hide,
that hopes and dreams have turned to steam
and vanished overnight

Commercial breaks and vending calls
Advertisement and shopping malls
From near they looked so real and tall
but out of reach just false and small
When you’re thinking about drinking out of the sink
we’ve got to talk about it all…..
The last pint’s drunk, went down in one
It’s time to bunk here comes the sun

The traffic’s stuck a removal truck
is standing in the way
and the next to try his luck abroad
is moving out today

You watch yourself upon the shelf
your finger on the map
No matter where you go, you know
you’ve got to escape the trap

And from shore to shore like in times before
they’re leaving town and glen,
to foreign lands with their hopes and plans
to start all over again

Not only all of the emigrants
but the ones remaining, too
They don’t want to see that auld tiger again,
not even in the zoo

They tell us things are looking up
the government is on the job
But can we now avoid the farce
that bailout sums are picked out of some arse
So, if we really want to make a change
then we should talk about it all…..