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A Child of Five Could Do That

by Mark Automaton

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1.
Amy at the Factory 05:00
lyrics
Amy never sleeps She's a long cool drink of water At the Factory once again Everybody's favourite daughter With her art school degree The day is drawing near There'll be no mercy for her fall No tarnished silver souvenir She says "Don't look in the mirror Just look at me. You know what I am You know who I've been. Don't look in the mirror There are no answers there" At the Factory once again All her failings are laid bare She stares through dirty windows And screams bloody murder She put the fear of god into Everyone who heard her Her secrets stolen from her By a cunning puppeteer She'll lock the door behind her And then just disappear They'll look for her in Cairo They'll search for her in Rome And a thousand other places That she had once called home In a cheap hotel in Berlin In a room under the stairs She'll be entertaining gangsters And multimillionaires She says "Don't look in the mirror Just look at me. You know who I am You know what I've seen. Don't look in the mirror There is no comfort there" At the Factory once again All her flaws are made clear Amy swallows her pride And another glass of gin In an angel's velvet coat She feels the cold creep in Don't look in the mirror It just reflects your fears At the Factory once again She hasn't been kissed in twenty years
2.
Damned with Faint Praise 05:09
lyrics
Damned with faint praise These sunless days Quick on my feet Down the dark street My colors fly Old earth, new sky All wreathed in light Await the night Laid on my back Bones strain and crack Happy the day Did I not say? Sharp as a knife Love of my life Pale as a rose She strikes a pose Stand at the door After the war Bright eyes that shine Taste the sweet wine Let your hair down Queen of the town One life, one chance No backward glance Larks rise and sing High on the wing Lost in the haze Halcyon days Hours spent adrift The graveyard shift Skin white as chalk We need to talk Plans that we make For old time’s sake Is it too late To face our fate? Jumping the gun What's done is done There is no doubt Breathe in, breathe out From sweet to sour My finest hour All in due course Beat that dead horse This never ends Fairweather friends Meet my cold gaze Damned with faint praise
3.
Prayed for Rain 04:18
lyrics
You can pour out your soul If you want rain I'll unlock the door Can't stand the strain It's the only way out Of this state we're in The stones in your shoes The scars on my skin And we prayed for rain And the rain came We prayed for rain And the rain came once again Just open your mouth Let the thunder sound We can make sad music In this cursed playground While the weather is fine We'll go for a drive Travel for years and years But never arrive And we prayed for rain And the tears fell We prayed for rain And the tears fell once again You lash out in rage Like a lightning strike Running round in circles Looking for a fight I stared right into The hurricane's eye Hid in the basement Til the storm passed by And we prayed for rain And the clouds burst We prayed for rain So we could finally quench our thist We prayed for rain Got what we asked for We prayed for rain Now the whole world's drowned for sure
4.
The Mermaid 04:29
lyrics
Twas Friday morn when we set sail And we were not far from the land When the captain, he spied a pretty mermaid With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand A comb and a glass in her hand Chorus: O the ocean waves do roll And the stormy winds do blow While we poor sailors go skipping up aloft And the landlubbers lie down below, below, below And the landlubbers lie down below Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship And a fine old captain was he "I have me a wife in old Salem town And tonight a widow she will be, will be, will be And tonight a widow she will be" Chorus Then up spoke the cabin boy of our gallant ship and a fine young lad was he "I have a sweetheart in old Salem town And tonight she'll be weepin' for me, for me, for me And tonight she'll be weepin' for me" Chorus Then three times around went our gallant ship And three times around went she Three times around went our gallant ship And she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea And she sank to the bottom of the sea Chorus
5.
Mighty Big Words 02:41
lyrics
Amid your battlefield of thought, Where intellect and ego fought Big words parade, their banners bold, Their meanings still remain untold. What's that you say? I don't understand They're mighty big words For a little man Although you chose your words with care, Your treachery is all laid bare, For, looking closer, now we find, The debris of a desperate mind. When you eat your words Try not to choke They're mighty big words For a little bloke Your barefaced lies, your arrogance A thin façade, a fragile dance, But we see through the smoke and noise Reveal the fraud behind your voice All your promises Are pie in the sky They're mighty big words For a little guy Your mighty big words carry so much weight You struggle to enunciate You're as trustworthy as a sewer rat Those mighty big words Will squash you flat
6.
Virginia 05:00
lyrics
In shadows' realm where darkness seeks to reign, Where melancholy mists do ever creep, A solitary soul in throes of pain, Laments a love forever lost to sleep. Through haunted halls, the ghostly echoes wail, Their mournful cries a fractured melody, A tale of woe, a dream that once set sail, Now wrecked upon the rocks of memory. The moon, a pallid orb in night's embrace, Bestows no comfort on this tortured heart, As sorrow weaves its web, and tears erase, The love that once did bloom, now torn apart. Across the past you gaze with bated breath, While standing watch upon the walls of death.
7.
Pure Morning 03:57
lyrics
A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend with weed is better A friend with breasts and all the rest A friend who's dressed in leather A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend who'll tease is better Our thoughts compressed, which makes us blessed And makes for stormy weather A friend in need's a friend indeed My Japanese is better And when she's pressed, she will undress And then she's boxing clever A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend who bleeds is better My friend confessed she passed the test And we will never sever Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend who'll tease is better Our thoughts compressed, which makes us blessed And makes for stormy weather A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend who bleeds is better My friend confessed she passed the test And we will never sever Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Day's dawning, skin's crawling Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning Pure morning A friend in need's a friend indeed My Japanese is better And when she's pressed, she will undress And then she's boxing clever A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend with weed is better A friend with breasts and all the rest A friend who's dressed in leather
8.
White as Snow 03:47
lyrics
"White as snow," they said And they gazed at him He was so beautiful They could not take it in They started to pray And they prayed to him Whispered in his ear He was free from sin They said "white as snow" And they lied to him And they tried to explain He was free from sin And they looked him in the eye And they lied to him Whispered in his ear Got beneath his skin "We love you, we hate you But it's okay It's okay, it's okay We love you, we hate you But it's okay It's probably all for the best" They thought they could see The reason why He was confused And it hurt their pride So they wrote it out And they made it plain He was the only one Who could relieve their pain It was probably all for the best And they said it was all for the best They said "white as snow" And they prayed for him Whispered in his ear He was deep in sin And they looked him in the eye And they lied to him And they tried to explain He was deep in sin "We love you, we hate you But it's okay It's okay, it's okay We love you, we hate you But it's okay It's probably all for the best" And they said it was all for the best
9.
Kanashibari 04:44
lyrics
Wake to the darkness of the morning call Your deepest fears become a threnody As from this mortal life you seek to fall An incubus now has you in its thrall In desperation, fighting to break free Wake to the darkness of the morning call Faint voices in your ear make your flesh crawl Their wordless whispers full of evil glee As from this mortal life you seek to fall The heavy bedclothes are a sombre pall Cast off the fetters, and then finally Wake to the darkness of the morning call Shadowy figures crouching by the wall The more you look, the less of them you see As from this mortal life you seek to fall This panic can't be drowned with alcohol Rise slowly, slowly back to sanity Wake to the darkness of the morning call As from this mortal life you seek to fall
10.
Twa Corbies 03:41
lyrics
As I was walking all alone, I heard two ravens a-making moan; One to the other, he did say, 'Where shall we go and dine today?' "Oh in behind yon old field dyke, I know there lies a new-slain knight; And no one knows that he lies there, But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair. His hound is to the hunting gone, His hawk, to fetch the wild-fowl home, His lady's taken another mate, So we may make our dinner sweet. You'll sit upon his white collar-bone, And I'll peck out his bonny blue eyes; And with this lock of his golden hair We'll line our nest when it grows bare. Many a one for him makes moan, But none shall know where he is gone: Over his white bones, when they are bare, The wind shall blow for evermore."
11.
Can You Hear Me, Mother? 03:41
lyrics
The black dog's scratching At the door again Don't let it in Don't let it in The black cat purrs It can sense the pain Beneath your skin Beneath your skin Can you hear me, mother? Oh mother, can you hear me now? Going undercover Oh mother, can you show me how? Polygons of space Erased your face Now it's just a blur It's just a blur The arc of time Defines the narrow lines The patterns in the air Where they occur Can you hear me, mother? Oh mother, can you hear this call? There will be no other To catch me when I slip and fall Existential dread Flooded your head And it all went dark It all went dark The joyless, aimless, Nameless games you play Leave a question mark A question mark Can you hear me, mother? Oh mother, can you hear my plea? Can't help but shudder Too terrified to disagree
12.
Family Plans 03:02
lyrics
I'm the little mister She's the little miss All our happy family plans Sealed with a kiss Sealed with a kiss Sealed with a kiss All our happy family plans Sealed with a kiss I'm bringing home the bacon She's buttering the bread A pretty housewife sitting With her breakfast in bed Breakfast in bed Breakfast in bed A pretty housewife sitting With her breakfast in bed When the day is over We'll get some sleep A beautiful friendship That's just skin deep When the work is over At the end of each week We will rest in peace With no reason to speak I'm the little soldier She's the fairy queen Watching from her tower In a dress of velvet green Dress of velvet green Dress of velvet green Watching from her tower In a dress of velvet green We're the happy couple On the top of the cake Fashioned out of plastic And obviously fake Obviously fake Obviously fake Fashioned out of plastic And obviously fake When the day is over We'll get some sleep A beautiful friendship That's just skin deep When the work is over At the end of each week We will rest in peace With no reason to speak
13.
Paint/Brush 04:09
lyrics
We'll paint the town red Autumn days are drawing near Paint the town red Brush the dead leaves from your hair Oh, paint the town red And brush the dead leaves from your hair We'll paint the walls blue Now is not the time to cry Paint the walls blue Brush the false tears from your eye Oh, paint the walls blue And brush the false tears from your eye We'll paint the world grey It's time to reinvent yourself Paint the world grey Brush the dust from off the shelf Oh, paint the world grey And brush the dust from off the shelf We'll paint the sea green Hear the lonely Lorelei Paint the sea green Brush the dead stars from the sky Oh, paint the sea green And brush the dead stars from the sky

credits

released January 4, 2024

All words and music by Mark Automaton except:
The Mermaid & Twa Corbies (traditional)
Pure Morning (Steve Hewitt, Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal)

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Mark Automaton UK

Mark Automaton came to prominence as a founding member of the seminal “cassette culture” band the Instant Automatons, who were instrumental in spearheading the UK DIY music scene of the late 70s and early 80s.
Since then, Mark has been active as a producer, musical collaborator and solo artist, releasing music under his own name and also as 391 and randomk/automata. ... more

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