(In the) Black Room / The Tower

Lyrics

[In the Black Room (I)] [Verse 1] I was thinking about thinking But it really didn't get me very far So I thought I'd throw a Tarot But I only got the Priestess and the Star There's a shadow cast on my future past; The room and I agree to buy some time... The cards don't tell truth nor lies Only options and cusp lines: The furniture in the black room [Verse 2] I've been thinking about acid But, it seems, there's not a reason to believe I don't make a vital breakthrough And it walks me like a dog upon a lead It's all unreal and, the way I feel I'd like to try and make it on my own... Going to the feelies is fine: I really have me a good pleasure cruise But, deep in my mind I'm no better or worse, just open to the walls Paint peels in the black of my room [Bridge] I'm only talking about myself, ordering the treasure shelf Documenting present feelings as the future sets me reeling... What I'll be is what I am I'm simply trying not to sham or fake Use vision as sense and not as crutch! It doesn't matter all that much; In the end we will all survive I'm only trying not to pawn my life [Instrumental Break] [Verse 3] When I'm (Maybe) old and strait-laced Shall I then deny all that I feel? In words of bitter compromise Re-smelt the wrath that's in my eyes like steel? Be a hermit then? Or be a miser? Be a man who hasn't managed yet to write his rules? The Fool? The future holds my hand in the room... [Outro] Well, then, my ghosts shall steer down through the years And lay a hand upon my soul Like ice [The Tower] [Intro] So: onto the familiar top steps! In cloud-scud moonlight glow The Tower reels And I, the blind man Feeling for a path I know... Don't you know that I'm only feeling for how to feel? [Instrumental Break] [Verse 4] Rats run! Snakes coil! Fathers Stare out at the whispering night; Rub mud on their arms [Verse 5] Spiders! Mud boils! Children Whimper in the human vortex; Faces glow of worms [Verse 6] THUNDER! Silence Omens... [Bridge] I think it's coming All signs are very near, all signs are that More pain shall come And change shall run Down through my heart And shake my knees And now it is coming All around is the humming Of the World [Segue] Too late, with my balance gone Dead-eyed doll I'm falling, falling Back to where I began... [In the Black Room (II)] [Verse 7] I'm feeling like a kid again I'm feeling like I just walked in the door And with my head on fire I wrote this song - I don't know who it's for Hands held fast in camera I'll swear I heard the Stammerer exclaim: "I am a traveller, unraveller I only live through pain, and shame, and change!" [Bridge] In my room, the secret tomb, I can see Future forms, space/time storms: They're all me And I've only got to choose! [Outro] In my head I am dead if I fall In the trap The subtle lap Safety's pall... But I'm living while I choose...