Songwriters from England

"Q: Does commercial success matter to you?"

""The video of 'Paranoid Android' has been censored by MTV. They took all nipples out of the cartoon, but they had no problem with the scene in which a man cuts off his own arms and legs." source"

""What worries me more than anything else is the whole notion that I'm who people focus on, like it's of significance, you know? People look at me and think that it's a complete existence. What really fucks me up in the head is that basically I'm supposed to be endorsing this sort of pop star, 'Wow, lucky bastard, he's got it all' existence. What frightens me is the idea that what Radiohead does is basically packaged back to people in the form of entertainment, to play in their car stereos on their way to work."

"I don't think young people are as demoralized as the media and government would like us to think. The obvious sign of that is how strong and how close personal connections are and how much people are able to build a life for themselves, despite all this stuff that's been thrown at them."

"Q: Radiohead fans tend to be extremely devoted to the band - they seem to connect with your music and ideals. What do you see as the major aspects of your music which people connect with so well?"

"The sad thing is, if an issue is laughed at and patronised by mainstream media, then it's up against it big-time. I read some journalist recently lecturing the anti-globalisation lobby, saying, 'This is the way capitalism works, all capitalism is exploitation and to make it try and do something else, it's never gonna happen.' And it's like, yeah, but where does that leave us? This is somehow God's will? All this? It's God's will that we sit in traffic? It's God's will that millions of people are gonna die this year because of some outmoded economic policies? No, it's not! It's like some deranged sacrificial altar, the high priests of the global economy holding up these millions of children each year, like (Arms aloft) 'We wish to please you! Oh Gods of free trade!' It's like... give us all a fucking break! If there is a Devil at work, then he rests in institutions and not in individuals. Because the beauty of institutions is that any individual can abdicate responsibility. The assumption that we're all utterly powerless, that's the Devil at work."

""I wouldn't be involved with it [pop music] if I wasn't aware that it was going to be a product. I always wanted whatever I did to end up in the high street, no matter what it was, because to me, there isn't anywhere else to go. It's pointless." source"

""We're at a time when we are being presented with undeniable changes in the global climate and fundamental issues that affect every single one of us, and it's the time we're listening to the most hokey shite on the radio and watching vacuous bullshit celebrities being vacuous bullshit celebrities and desperately trying to forget about everything. Which is fine, you know, but personally speaking, I can't do that." source"

""It annoys me how pretty my voice is...that sounds incredibly immodest, but it annoys me how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic." - source"

""There's nothing more boring than a rock'n'roll star, someone who has been on the road for 10 years, expecting attention wherever he goes, drinking himself stupid, who is obnoxious, incoherent, uncreative and has a massive ego. There's nothing more pointless." - source"

"(on his inability to read music) "If someone lays the notes on a page in front of me, it's meaningless...because to me you can't express the rhythms properly like that. It's a very ineffective way of doing it, so I've never really bothered picking it up." source"

"(about people's image of him) "I think that has a lot to do with the expression that's on my face. People are born with certain faces, like my father was born with a face that people want to hit. (laughs) source"

"wish us all a safe journey if you still like us and you're not one of those people i have managed to offend by doing nothing source"

""I haven't done enough. I don't have solar panels on my house yet. I haven't sorted out the heating, my car's not a Prius, I f---ing fly all the time for my job and I hate it but at the moment I haven't really got a choice, you know, and all these things. The job I'm in is a job that wastes energy left, right and centre. It's madness." source"

""It's like a supply and demand thing. It's like 'Well, this is what they want me to do, this is what they want to hear. So I'll do more of this, cuz this is great... and they love me.' Suddenly people start giving you money as well. So then you've got money and you get used to this lifestyle. And you don't wanna take any risks 'cause they've got you by the balls, and you've got all these little things that you've bought, or you're attached to. And you start spending all this money... And that's how they get ya!" - source"

""I didn't really come into it expecting to make songs. It started just with random bits and pieces. I guess I thought there would be vocals, but I was thinking in terms of using little vocal shreds, and of making them part of the tapestry, not the main thing. But as soon as we had gone through the initial sketches, it became obvious that they could be quite direct. Nigel basically dragged me kicking and screaming toward the concept of them being actual songs." - source"

"You think I have the responsibilty... I have the responsibility to give the fans a good time! (nods at camera, then pauses)... that just sounds... kinky."

""My big problem with corporate structure is this bizarre sense of loyalty you're supposed to feel -- towards what is basically a virus. It grows or dies, like any virus. And you use it for your own selfish ends." - source"

""The difference between me and Bono is that he's quite happy to go and flatter people to get what he wants and he's very good at it, but I just can't do it. I'd probably end up punching them in the face rather than shaking their hand, so it's best that I stay out of their way. I can't engage with that level of bullshit. Which is a shame, really, and in a way it would help if I could, but I just can't. I admire the fact that Bono can, and can walk away from it smelling of roses." - source"

""The thing that worries me about the computer age is the fact that people know so much about you. It's an incredible invasion of privacy. And no matter where you are in the world people can monitor you if you're using your credit card. I heard this weird rumor on the Internet about how the military is funding this great big research project and basically, they believe that in the future, the balance of power won't be determined by who has the most nuclear weapons, but by who has all the information. I'm not afraid of being taken over by computers though, because the thing is, computers cannot resist. You can always smash 'em up, and they're totally defenseless. All we need are more people with hammers." - source"

"It's basically [about] having to make a decision whether to do nothing or try to engage with it in some way, knowing that it's flawed. It's convenient to project that back on to someone personally and say they're a hypocrite. It's a lot easier to do that than actually do anything else. And yeah, that stresses me out, because I am a hypocrite. As we all are."

""Initially when it came up I tried to be pragmatic. But Blair has no environmental credentials as far as I'm concerned. I came out of that whole period just thinking, I don't want to get involved directly, it's poison. I'll just shout my mouth off from the sidelines." - source"

"I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape."

"I grew up under Thatcher. I grew up believing that I was fundamentally powerless. Then gradually over the years it occurred to me that this was actually a very convenient myth for the state."

""Sometimes the nicest thing to do with a guitar is just look at it." source"

""People sometimes say we take things too seriously, but it’s the only way you’ll get anywhere. We’re not going to sit around and wait and just be happy if something turns up. We are ambitious. You have to be." (in his first-ever interview, 1991) source"

""They're dangerous people, and what's really frightening is that they don't know it, they don't see themselves as dangerous... they see the danger elsewhere. The danger is always elsewhere. How convenient." source"

""So far, this is disco." - Live performance of Everything in Its Right Place (YouTube video)"

"When you were here before, Couldn't look you in the eye. You're just like an angel, Your skin makes me cry. You float like a feather In a beautiful world. I wish I was special; You're so fuckin' specialBut I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here I don't belong here"

"I don't care if it hurts. I wanna have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. I want you to notice When I'm not around. You're so fuckin' special;>br>I wish I was special."

"I'm not a vegetable, I will not control myself."

"I am fused, just in case I blow out. I am glued, just in case I crack out."

"I want to live, breathe, I want to be part of the human race,"

"Drying up in conversation, You will be the one who cannot talk, All your insides fall to pieces, You just sit there wishing you could still make love."

"Her green plastic watering can For a fake Chinese rubber plant In the fake plastic earth."

"He used to do surgery On girls in the eighties, But gravity always wins."

"She looks like the real thing, She tastes like the real thing, My fake plastic love. But I can't help the feeling, I could blow through the ceiling If I just turned and ran."

"You do it to yourself, you do, And that's why it really hurts, Is you do it to yourself, just you, You and no-one else, You do it to yourself."

"Rows of houses, all bearing down on me, I can feel their blue hands touching me, All these things into position, All these things we'll one day swallow whole. And fade out again, And fade out..."

"Immerse your soul in love"

"In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe"

"In a fast German car I'm amazed that I survived An airbag saved my life"

"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy"

"God loves his children"

"I live in a town, where you can't smell a thing"

"Far up above, aliens hover Making home movies for the folks back home Of all these weird creatures that lock up their spirits Drill holes in themselves and live for their secrets"

"And you can laugh A spineless laugh We hope your rules and wisdom choke you And now we are one In everlasting peace We hope that you choke, that you choke"

"Karma police I've given all I can It's not enough I've given all I can But we're still on the payroll"

"For a minute there I lost myself"

"At a better pace Slower and more calculated No chance of escape"

"Dont get sentimental, It always ends up drivel."

"When I go forwards, you go backwards And somewhere we will meet"

"CLIMBING UP THE WALLS!! AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGHH!"

"I'll take a quiet life And a handshake of carbon monoxide And no alarms and no surprises"

"The head of state Has called for me by name But I don't have time for him It's gonna be a glorious day I feel my luck could change"

"Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon"

"What was that you tried to say?"

"Everyone has got the fear It's holding on Holding on"

"That there That's not me I go Where I please I walk through walls I float down the Liffey"

"I'm not here This isn't happening"

"We're not scare-mongering This is really happening"

"Cut the kids in half"

"Jumped in the river, what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me A moonful of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"

"So knives out Catch the mouse Squash his head Put him in the pot"

"While you make pretty speeches I'm being cut to shreds You feed me to the lions A delicate balance"

"It's the devil's way now There is no way out You can scream and you can shout It is too late now"

"In pitch dark I go walkin' in your landscape Broken branches trip me as I speak Just 'cause you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there"

"We are accidents waiting Waiting to happen"

"And I'm sorry for us The dinosaurs roam the earth The sky turns green"

"Are you hungry? Are you sick? Are you begging for a break? Are you sweet? Are you fresh? Are you strung up by the wrists?"

"Murderers, you're murderers We are not the same as you"

"I keep the wolf from the door But he calls me up Calls me on the phone Tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up Steal all my children If I don't pay the ransom And I'll never see 'em again If I squeal to the cops"

"The more you try to erase me The more, the more The more that I appear"

"Time is running out for us But you just move the hands upon the clock You throw coins in the wishing well For us You just move your hands upon the wall"

"One little leak becomes a lake, Says the tiny voice in my earpiece"

"You cannot kickstart a dead horse"

"Don't walk the plank like I did You will be dispensed with When you've become Inconvenient"

"I can't take their pressure No one cares if you live or die They just want me gone They want me gone"

"Did I fall or was I pushed? Did I fall or was I pushed? And where's the blood?"

"How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?"

"You used to be alright What happened?"

"I have no idea what I am talking about I'm trapped in this body and can't get out"

"Don't get any big ideas, They're not gonna happen."

"You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking."

"I'm an animal trapped in your hot car."

"I don't want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover."

"You are my centre when I spin away."

"Open your mouth wide A universal sigh"

"You've got some nerve, coming here"

"I'm such a tease and you're such a flirt"

"Routines and schedules A drug that'll kill you"

"Avoid all eye contact Do not react Shoot the messengers This is a low-flying panic attack"

"Different types of love are possible"

"We are of the earth, To her we do return"

"I'm not living, I'm just killing time"

"Yorke's lyrics make me want to give up. I could never in my wildest dreams find something as beautiful as they find for a single song — let alone album after album."

"Old clothes do not make a tortured artist."

"The only way to change things is to shoot men who arrange things."

"I went to an art exhibition recently, and the guy had a quote of mine from that song there — "The only way to change things is to shoot men who arrange things." I wouldn't agree with shooting people at all. I was just anti-love. I feel differently now. But, you know. It's OK. That's how it was then, and it's good."

"I had someone come up to me at "Top Of The Pops" and say they thought our records were excellent. "Yeah," I replied. "I think yours are fucking shit." It was awful really."

"I never did feel like a star. I was always uptight about something and uncomfortable and not very good. I felt weighed down by it, the pressure. It's terrible I should have enjoyed it but I didn't; I was thinking about what we should do all the time, I wasn't able to run with it."

"I did loads of stupid things, like the way I used to argue with EMI Records. I just look back to the time now and wonder how I would have reacted to some prick coming into my office shouting and kicking things."

"Nooooooah. No, that was a big joke in the family. When I was 16, 17, I started drifting away from everything else and picking up a guitar, and it was like, "What are you doing? You can't sing and you can't play a guitar", right up to the day we got signed by Rough Trade. And then it was like, "Go on play us a song", whereas before it was, "Shut up, fucking racket.""

"‘You can only be so thick-skinned. You can only pretend not to care for so long before you have to admit that you hate being made to look like an idiot. I hate seeing myself misquoted. I hate being linked romantically with girls I’ve been close to for years but never slept with. It’s just upsetting, isn’t it? My nan reads and believes these things. I say, “Hiya Nan, how are you getting on?” and she’ll say, “Are you all right? What about that cat you injected with crack?”’"

"Basically there’s a gulf between truth and untruth, I don’t want to be too mathematical about it, because I’m not very good at maths. But it’s a divide between, I dunno, a film and a cartoon. I’ve just become this cartoon character. I try not to follow it, but when you see pictures of yourself that have been photo-shopped to show you doing something you didn’t…. that’s wrong. It’s my worst nightmare – and being misquoted, too, especially as I’m so precious about words."

"I'm not going to be hardened by these people, to these things, I'm not going to let them destroy my feelings or my emotions."

"We have played at venues up and down the country on this tour, some of which had no security, and have encountered no problems or witnessed any aggression. I simply asked the bouncer last night to apologise for his behaviour, three times in fact, and he refused. I was very upset at his attitude and although I'm very sorry for letting everyone down last night, I refuse to play at venues where pumped up, 16 stone men feel the need to be aggressively rude and to bully teenage kids around."

"I made this big statement saying, "I've left The Libertines." A couple of people said, "You can't do that! You're such a great band! What are you gonna do about Brixton?" And some people said, "Well, I'd rather be here than Brixton." There's no reason you can't do both. If I was 16 or 17 and Morrissey opened his front door to me and let me go and listen to him and chat to him it would be a joy. Why not? It's possible. I don't really have that much else going on in my life."

""We've had death threats", Pete says, "saying, 'You're evil and your days are numbered." What was it, "Don't panic but be scared". Someone shat on our doorstep once and nailed a sparrow to our basement door. I don't mind, me. I'll out-weird any stalker."

"I can't buy her diamonds, my dick's too small. I never know where I stand with her. It's either a black eye or a love bite."

"You've got to understand... these days I just can't afford to get involved [with the press]. People - they turn on you... on me. They write horrible things, deliberately twisting my words."

"The more you read and the more you teach yourself, the less you rely on something like drugs to take you to a better place."

"I have a very bad relationship with the future. We don't get on. We just ignore each other."

"Broken glass. It's just like glitter, isn't it?"

""Each man kills the things he loves". I recognise that in myself, in relationships, even with guitars, beautiful things that I've had and wilfully destroyed."

"It's that mysterious thing called hype. I've looked under every rock, and I couldn't find out what it means. Certain people hear a certain melody, and they're attracted to it. I'm in love with that feeling. We're looking for fun and adventure and a bit of redemption and somewhere to live. Everything else is a blind venture into the unknown."

"I don't really know what "intellectual" means, but if it means you've got a desire to learn, you've got a desire to look for things that haven't been presented to you, then, maybe. I think that "intellectual" is quite an exclusive word. I think it's just for anyone that has a thirst or a hunger to improve themselves, or a yearning to escape from somewhere to get to a better place."

"The main instinct a lot of the time is to masquerade and hide the truth at all times. Whereas in reality what happens in songs is laying bare the truth. So a lot of time it's fighting that instinct, and the songs become almost confessional. They can also be quite condescending to myself, almost like I'm putting myself down."

"I do have utopian fantasies. A lot of them are more - I wouldn't say spiritual, but they relate more to the imagination and the individual. But for me socialism is a way of trying to put far-fetched ideas into everyday use, trying to find a way to bridge the gap between that fantasy and reality, and reaching out across that gap to the people who can actually do something to make the change."

"I know the basic facts cause they’ve been repeated again and again across various duty desk counters at police stations over the past months and years: I’m 6ft 2in, green-brown eyes. Distinguishing features: moles. Tattoos: loads. Got a wolf, a mermaid, a heart with a K in it. They don’t go through your personality traits."

"Something good has happened to us. We are, dare I say it, a professional unit these days. When people get us in a room together now, they actually treat us like musicians. Before, they would treat us as anything but: pigeon fanciers, candles, dry humpers..."

"There are three things that I know a bit about in my life and that's QPR, my guitar and drugs. I know QPR are the best football team in the world, my guitar is the most beautiful thing I own and that I don't take enough drugs to kill me. It isnt drugs that I need to get rid of; it's the demons that fill my head. Once I have come to terms with my demons, maybe I'll be able to get clean."

"Until I was nine years old I thought 'cunt' was a term of endearment"

"The story of The Libertines starts for me when it was me, Carl Barât and Steve Bedlow sat on the side of a canal, throwing stones at a bottle and we had a game where whoever hit the bottle first with the stone got to choose the name of the band - I can't even remember who it was that hit the bottle but, yeah, from that night onwards we became The Libertines. We ended up throwing ourselves into eternity, as we called it at the time"

"Arcadia? The realm of the infinite? It's a poet's corner... It's not a cult or a religion – it's an awareness of your surroundings; you're not going to force yourself on anyone and, equally, no one's going to force themselves on you. And it's about community and pleasure. It came from a whisper through the trees. It came from a crack in the pavement. It can also come when you open a bag of crisps, or when you kick a football against a goalpost. Even if I was winding you up, it would still be true, because Arcadia and the Arcadian Dream is so deep, is so true to our hearts... It can be as powerful as your imagination can allow it to be. But, it can also be as dark and twisted as your soul... Arcadia encompasses the infinite, and that's why it comforts me."

"Just when you get really wound up, you turn a corner and you're somewhere else completely. You find an Arcadian glade - a glimpse of paradise in the middle of it all. And that's why you persevere. That's why you don't chuck yourself off a building or shoot yourself at the same time as someone else, like he [Carl] wanted us to."

"I still do. It's changed a lot. It started off as something ancient and forgotten; and became something modern and real. I just couldn't swim. The tunnels get narrower and narrower."

"Has there ever been a musician of cultural significance who's been aware they're significant? Maybe it's a generation whose parents came from a working class environment and because they were rootless in a way, like me and him, they latched onto that as an identity. Maybe we romanticise what our parents wanted to escape from. We're, like, fantasising out a living."

"There's a point you reach before you're perverted and tainted by all the things that drag you into the music business, like avarice or a lust for fame. The original reason why I started was some feeling of community, equality, wanting to fight for things you believe in. Any kid who's gone to a state school knows what it's all about - bullying, racism. And you've just got to make a stand."

"You can't get that feeling anywhere else. It's communion. It's like being washed away in the ocean, carried aloft on a wave."

"I think it's woken me up to a few things, and you do become complacent. As well as being anti something, you've got to be pro something. So you're anti racism, so what are you pro? You're pro community. I would put my hand on my heart and I'd attach myself to socialist ideas. Because I believe in society. And it's bollocks that black people have any less worth in society than white people, which is basically what people like the BNP say."

"They left me, by the side of the road, with a plastic bag and all kinds of bitterness Well, in my mind, and I can say this forever I suppose, and people might laugh at it, but I don't think I ever really left The Libertines, nor can I ever leave The Libertines, you know, having been a founder of the band with Carl, but that sounds silly, doesn't it, seeing as they played all the festivals without me and made it difficult, no - impossible, for me to play live with them."

"I’ve got a fierce passion for politics but I can’t stand the smarmy, hypocritical upper-middle-class dictator nation that prevails and has always prevailed in this country. I’m up for petrol bombers, mate, and fighting in the streets."

"I think I only needed something to hold on to. It has never been about depravity. It's always been about melody. But melody and I met in many depraved situations. Meeting melody is the victory of the empty spiralling nightmare."

"“Yeah, well, I subscribe to the Umberto Eco view that Noel is a Poet and Liam is a town crier.”"

"With Oasis stepping up a gear and proving they've still got it, they need to be shown there are people out there who can surpass them. Can we match them? The quality is good (in Oasis), but there really is no competition because my band is the greatest in the world and we're going to prove it."

"It's not people in bands, is it? Why do people who take drugs, why are they in bands? 'Cos they're trying to prove themselves. To make themselves blank and numb and not able to communicate with other people."

"If I want drugs, I don't have to do a gig to get them. I do a gig when I feel shit, because I need to be playing. There's no drug in the world that can compare with playing music"

"With drugs, I think the sort of person that would die from an overdose is gonna die soon enough anyway, because they’ve got that will to destroy what’s left of their life."

"I'd say exercising self-control is very important for a dissolute life. You don't need to control your drug intake to lead a free life. Whether you take no drugs at all or everything you can get your hands on, a free life is separated from that."

"Sometimes I feel really guilty complaining about it because there are some amazing things happening around me but the darkness has prevailed, to be honest, in extremis. Yesterday, man, I went to buy a pint of milk and I got stopped in the street and searched. They found a crumb of rock in the lining of my coat that I didn’t even know was there and I spent all day in fucking Charing Cross [police] station. They’re taking the piss, mate."

"That’s right, but I’m not sure it’s my place to talk about drugs. I’d rather take them or not take them - but not talk about them."

"I was so, so lost and unhappy. If you listen to the songs on the first album, you can hear it. They’re really sad songs and they come from a lonely place. The relationship broke up, and I went into free fall. I saw drugs as a way of avoiding…the darkness."

"I realise it’s proved to people that I don’t love them. It’s dawning on me now that if I say I love someone… it’s like lying, really. As long as I’m taking it, the lie continues. I’ve got a lot of proving myself to do."

"Drugs don’t work. They don’t even make you forget – only momentarily, because if something’s that painful, nothing’s going to make you forget it. You think they’ll fill the hole, but the hole just gets deeper… It’s like trying to fill in a hole without a spade."

"After years of entrenched drug abuse, you have a mourning period. I know it’s a bit sad, but I’m in mourning. I’m in mourning for an armful."

"They've been around me since day one, but so has corduroy. Know what I mean? Drugs don't create the sound - they might just change the pitch slightly. Or make you spell a word wrong."

"Yes, it was riveting. Despite everything, you knew there was goodness there. Something to believe in. Something which is good, pure and untainted by anything."

"Carl's all right. It's just like EastEnders really. He's still my kid."

"I got headbutted in Wolverhampton. You [Carl] get snogged in Northampton, head butted in Wolverhampton and I won't even tell you what happened in Southampton. Basically Carlos gets the love and I get all the head butts, it seems to be the way of things."

"Probably Carlos"

"Basically, too many other people made important decisions for us and we just wrote songs and worried about clothes and girls. In the early days he came round once with this girl who had convinced him that I was just a weirdo and that we had an unhealthy relationship. He sat me down and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t see so much of each other? Maybe we should knock the band on the head? It’s not really going anywhere, is it?" I was desperate for us to stick together and see it through because I never stopped believing. When we got signed, Carl was shocked. I had prepared myself and had been reading the NME since I was 16. Carl wasn’t like that."

"I fall in love with Britain every day, with bridges, buses, blue skies... but it’s a brutal world, man."

"I knew I was destined for London, so I came to live with my nan in her council flat. It was the summer after my A-levels. Got a job in Willesden cemetery. I was getting a man’s wage, filling in graves. Stood around while they did the last rites. Cut the grass. A lot of the time I’d just sit on the gravestones and read and write. Scribbling away."

"I mean you look in the paper and you see the bodies of mutilated people, and that's controversy. Controversy isn't saying something like 'Oh I've fucked Noel Gallagher' or something. Which I have."

"No, because it's not like they're the only songs we have. They're like children; you shouldn't really have a favourite. Unless one of your kids develops into a pervert."

"Mental-stability, I would say. I’d like to achieve a fluidity, where everything stays consistent – always doing shows, always with the chance to release records, meeting new people."

"I’m vain because I’m imperfect."

"I got bitten last night actually. Just some bloke bit me. I wasn't doing anything and he just bit me. I was in a public telephone box in the centre of London and some fella came up and started biting me. Nah, I didn't bite him back. I hit him with a telephone, right on the hooter and it exploded like a ripe tomato"

"My idea of paradise is that period just before the sun rises and I’m at home painting or writing songs and everything is flowing. I pray that the sun won’t rise so I can paint and write for ever. That’s my ideal time."

"I may be a fool, but I'm not a f**ker."

"I knew she wasn't English Because she spoke it far too well The grammar was goodly, the verbs as they should be And the slang was bang on the bell So as the language barrier clanged and banged I couldn't hear--hear or see England, London, and Bow Crumbled into the sea."

"But if I should fall Would you vow today to pay tomorrow the fucked off big debt I owe to sorrow"

"The Thames and the Mersey, the Tyne and the Wear and the Clyde They spew slums like gravy on the banks of the poisonous tide They washed up a pale thin girl Alone in her ivory tower Scratching her skin with the thorns that grow On the stems of the wild flowers What became of the love we knew? We beat the swine black and blue You and I Me and you What became of the love we knew? What became of the working class? Nike, Reebok, Adidas Scratchcards, pitbulls, ecstasy Hooray for the 21st Century"

"If you've lost your faith in love and music The end won't be long But if it's gone for you I too may lose it And that would be wrong..."

"The red-faced president took afternoon tea With her majesty The Queen And they watched old films flicker Across the old palace movie screen Crying, "What a shame!" As she slipped in the rain Poor dancing girl Well, she won't dance again..."

"There are fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap Yeah, we'll die in the class we were born That's a class of our own, my love"

"Don't let the tide of your sorrow Drown your nights and flood your days"

"Her old man, he don't like blacks or queers Yet he's proud we beat the Nazis How queer..."

"Music when the lights go out Love goes cold in shades of doubt The strange face in my mind is all too clear Music when the lights come on The girl I thought I knew has gone And with her my heart has disappeared"

"When she wakes up in the morning She writes down all her dreams Reads like the Book of Revelations Or the Beano or the unabridged Ulysses Oh, I really wanna know So tell me, Where does all the money go? Where does all the money go? Straight, straight up her nose"

"I was a troubled teen Who put an advert in a magazine To the annoyance of my imaginary lover She doubted my integrity And this is what she said to me: She said, "Oh, you, you're green You don't know what love means Well, let me tell you"

"If you get tired of just hanging around Pick up a guitar, spin a web of sound And then you could be strung out all day With lovers and clowns Now I find myself still hanging around"

"New York City's very pretty in the night-time But oh, don't you miss Soho?"

"She said, "I'll show you a picture, A picture of tomorrow, There's nothing changing, it's all sorrow." "Oh, no, please don't show me I'm a swine, you don't wanna know me!""

"If you're looking for a cheap sort Glint with perspiration There's a five mile queue Outside the disused powerstation"

"I defy you all To know twice as much as nothing at all It's still nothing at all."

"I can't believe you've listed everything I stole since we met But I stole no kisses Just some books And the odd cigarette"

"In the morning theres a buzz of flies Between the pillows and the skies that beg into your eyes Through the looking glass in between your thighs It's really no small surprise How it goes straight down the rabbit hole There it goes"

"And if lust and depair Are two bullets in the same gun Well we've been playing Russian Roulette for far too long"

"Well, I'll tell you a story but you won't listen It's about a nightmare steeped in tradition It's the story of a coked-up pansy Who spends his nights in flights of fancy Met two fellas over gin and mixers They talked for a while, he soon got the picture One was a souped up Soho mincer And the other was a pikey with a knowledge of scripture"

"She was getting pally with a scally in the alley Giving head for gear She called a spade a spade Got slit from ear to ear I showed no decorum Spilled my heart out on the forum Like a snapshot of the most tragic day Carl is kept sedated,for the frontman elevated While McGee does all he can to ruin my band and keep me out the way In this industry of fools, musclemen and ghouls If you're not a puppet or a muppet then you might as well call it a day The truth gets so distorted The wall scrapings get snorted I'm welcome back if I give up crack But you gave me my first pipe anyway"

"You should get some sun on your face We've been sitting like a lord in the bath for days It's getting like I don't even know you"

"It's one and the same, one and the same What's the use between death and glory? Hard to choose between death and glory Happy endings they never bored me Happy endings, they still don't bore me They have a way, a way to make you pay And to make you toe the line Now I'm severing the ties because I'm so clever but clever ain't wise"

"Make no mistake She sheds her skin like a snake On the dirty road to fame."

"Now I can deal with all the blood on my shoes, The holes in my sole, My spirit is tainted and, Oh, all my tears are painted"

"What did I dream? Oh, what did I dream? No one can keep me from my... No one could keep me from my... No fucker gonna keep me from my... Oh, what did I dream?"

"Doff your cap and raise your glasses, Make a toast to the boring classes I'm burning your secrets to keep me warm."

"And he's crossing the road, He's picking up his Daily...Star"

"Once upon a time... When the cold wind that blows, when the cold wind that blows in my heart, it was a summer breeze and she would meet me in Chinatown, for opium and tea and she always brought me flowers but I spared you those old ballads All those songs I couldn’t play But every giro day she’d dress me like a lady boy And take me high out of the way Don’t let the horse chase the new deal away, no If we make love in the morning I see your eyes look like two marbles in your head"

"Oh promises, promises I know you've heard them all before Love is, love is, love is, love is, love is... Oh well, it's just around the corner"

"Why should I wait until tomorrow? I've already been I've already seen All the sorrow that's in store"

"There's a slow train rumbling east of a place called Eden Feeling wind-blown and proud as the trees upon the plain And a stranger's voice talked to me of liberty and freedom Yeah, it seems like he done gone wrong again And he wears that hat like shame Well he tasted the fruit of another And when his Margie, when she discovered Said she's gonna love him ten times more Ain't nobody's business if she do"

"There's a man who came to stay The boy he replaced, disappeared without a trace. Stole all my songs and my style away No-one would say what they wanted to say So he was king for a day. If you sail into the sun Beware the eyes of green And if the whole world tells you 'you are the one' I defy you not to believe them, my son..."

"He's a sweet kid, I've met him a few times. He'll go down in history as a Morrissey and Marr or Lennon and McCartney type character. Him and Carl were great for each other. Apart they'll probably be shocking. There's a lot of hypocrisy in the British press about drugs. The people who write the stories are usually off their heads on cocaine anyway."

"What are you thinking when you see Pete Doherty self-destruct? - He's such an intelligent man. I completely understand, I just understand."

"I think two years ago, if you thought Pete Doherty, he was kind of untouchable. Now when you think of Pete Doherty you think of that guy who's always in the background of that picture with Kate Moss. And if he wants to go out like that, then each to their own, and I'm sure he's having a great time but, y'know, are you gonna be remembered as Kate Moss's boyfriend or a f**king artist? In six months, if he's not put a record out, it's gonna smack of the emperor's new clothes, all of it. My opinion of him hasn't changed. His heart's in the right place but the people he's around are not that good for him,"

"I think I felt a bit trapped before I met Pete. Have you seen The Lavender Hill Mob? Alec Guinness plays this wonderful, colourful person who locks it all up and goes through the motions. I always felt a bit like that. But then I met the Pigman and he said, 'You can actually knock that on the head and get out.' So we threw ourselves into eternity. And it worked."

"Pete is incredibly frustrating, yet you can't help but like him. The trouble is, he knows it."

"I immediately fell for him; not only as a musician and poet - he has a rare grace, as well."

"Peter is a gifted poet, writer and thinker. Please be considerate with him; I feel he's very vulnerable. He has a sensitive soul and he has many good points. He has helped so many people, in spite of, perhaps, your first impression of him he is actually trying to address his problems."

"I just wanted to give him a big hug. He'd come out from rehab and he was extremely charismatic. He's a lovely genuine guy. I hope he can fight his demons and come back to music."

""I actually like Pete as a person a lot. He is very funny, warm and charming. He has rough press and not surprisingly so. He is also very impressionable, quite vulnerable, rather too trusting and needlessly gets himself into some difficulties - basically and unfortunately for him, he is a scumbag magnet."

"I wonder wonder why the wonder falls I wonder why the wonder falls on me I wonder wonder why the wonder falls With everything I touch and hear and see"

"It started when i heard your song of love Pouring down like honey from above I started to spin, i started to move Just like a needle that is sticking through the same old groove"

"I leaned right over to kiss your stoney book A little jealous of the ships with whom you flirt A billion lovers with their cameras Snap to look and in my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt"

"Everybody eats something But you won't eat me You won't get me on your plate Or have me over for tea Everybody lives somewhere Mud hut or igloo But what I got is the hottest spot And it's away from you"

"Now I lay me down to sleep Knowing that your lenses peep Now I eat my daily bread And into the tape spool I'll be fed"

"It's in the order of their hedgerows It's in the way their curtains open and close It's in the look they give you down their nose All part of decency's jigsaw I suppose Sunday church and they look fetching Saturday night saw him retching over our fence Bang the wall for me to turn down I can see them with their stern frown As they dispense the kind of look that says they're Perfect."

"And all the world is football shaped It's just for me to kick in space And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste And I've got one, two, three, four, five senses working overtime trying to take this all in I've got one, two, three, four, five senses working overtime trying to taste the difference 'tween a lemon and a lime pain and pleasure And the church bells softly chime."

"People will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with 'welcome' written on it."

"For a heart without love is a song with no words And a tune to which no one is listening So your heart must give love and you'll find that You shine like rain on the leaves you'll be glistening."

"Other lands became a larder full of all the good things All we had to do was go and take Blood the colour of the rain that grew our wicked harvest Black the colour icing on our cake"

"We stole their babes and mothers, chiefs and braves Although we held the whip, you knew we were The real slaves To alchemy, human alchemy."

"Now that I'm out and I'm shouting in doorways Freed from a love more like murder I should be singing but in liberation Feel like a ship with no rudder."

"I say I like your coat Her thank-you tugs my heart afloat I nearly didn't hear for Seagulls screaming kiss her, kiss her"

"Will you tell them about that far off and mythical land And how a child to the virgin came? Will you tell them that the reason why we murdered Everything upon the surface of the world Is so we can stand right up and say we did it in his name?"

"Reign of blows cascading down upon your shoulders Far too many men dressed up as soldiers The lamb is brought to the ground Under the weight of the Crown A crown of thorns and dark deeds The swastika and the hammer and sickle Are symbols that reap only weeds"

"Ballet for a rainy day Silent film of melting miracle play Dancing out there through my window To the backdrop of a slow descending grey"

"The man who sailed around his soul From East to West, from pole to pole With ego as his drunken captain Greed, the mutineer, had trapped all reason in the hold"

"Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but... I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amount of tears And all the people that you made in your image, See them fighting in the street 'Cause they can't make opinions meet about God, I can't believe in you."

"Well I don’t know how many pounds make up a ton, Of all the nobel prizes that I’ve never won, And I may be the mayor of simpleton, But I know one thing, And that’s I love you."

"I believe the printed word is more than sacred Beyond the gauge of good or bad The human right to let your soul fly free and naked Above the violence of the fearful and sad"

"Children thrown from heaven see the peacock's jealous tremble stars congeal into instructions showing how the sky is opened and spread down like a bedsheet"

"I had a dream where the car is reduced to a fossil I had a dream where the car is reduced to a fossil Take a packet of seeds, take yourself out to play I want to see a river of orchids where we had a motorway"

"I'd smile so much my face would crack in two Then you could fix it with your kissing glue I'd like that Yes, I'd like that"

"Now that I can see it's the queen's new clothes Now that I can hear all your poison prose Now that I can talk with my tongue unfroze I'm not so sure of Santa or the buck tooth fairy There are no words for me inside your dictionary"

"Brain gets bent, heart gets broken You can't jump off once the pages turn School is out but never over That's the only lesson you can learn"

"We have the pool Ah - No that's cruel Why do you take me for A fool? Try the rails It's just not me No No No No - Siree"

"What makes you wander far Don't know who you are Now if the vibe is right I'll go out tonight"

"We're only making plans for Nigel He has his future in a British steel We're only making plans for Nigel Nigel's whole future is as good as sealed"

"Generals and Majors ah ah They're never too far away from men who made the grade out in a world of their own They'll never come down until the battle's lost or made"

"You caught mum chasing dad with a knife You ran away to escape from the fights Now you're lost in a maze of neon light And she's worried, he's worried, she's worried, oh..."

"Can't you see Love and affection When it's put In your direction Wrapped in your mysterious wonderland"

"Oh Lord deliver us from the elements We at your mercy and your reverence Oh Lord deliver us from the elements We've no defence we are impotent"

"England can never repay you You gave your life to be buried alongside The place you loved The sermons attended when you were young Still echo round these churchyard walls"

"Yes, I weeping, a teardrop attack I give emotion at the drop of a hat When I remember days at school I remember many things, but Most of all, I remember the sun"

"Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass It would shock you too the things we used to do on grass Grass, grass. Things we did on grass"

"The scapegoat blood spilled Spittled and grilled it crackled and spat And children grew fat on the meat Change must be earnt"

"Yes I'm talking about this war dance A patriotic romance And I know all you poets Have seen it all before About the stirring of those young hearts Back in the first world war"

"Pour ourselves a glass of stout And let our Rael Brook shirts hang out Nothing makes us more content To let us wallow in a bit of nonsense"

"Some people say That I am out of my tree Or just a strawberry fool Someday they'll see Till then I'll blow you a raspberry 'Cos apples and pears are me"

"I'm spending nights just dreaming / And playing the music loud / They're banging on the ceiling / They're praying that I'll soon be out."

"Is our time up and on to the next fire / Got my fingers burnt and cut into the wire."

"There is sadness and confusion in our hearts / And the world prepares to fight / as it tears itself apart, it isn't fair"

"I watch you sleep in the still of the night / You look so pretty when you dream / So many people just go through life / Holding back, they don't say what they mean / But it's easy for me / Since you came"

"When love's the culmination / of everything you feel / then it's the only thing that's precious / it's the only thing that's real"

"You can't close your eyes to the lies perpetrated by dangerous fools / 'cos they're handing out rules"

"They're still building and testing / But what can we do / Condemning the seas and the land and the trees to a tomb"

"You can spend your life competing in a world that talks too loud / You can lose your own direction getting lost among the crowd / Confusion - is it any wonder that the road ahead's not clear / Well you can try too hard to find it now I realise it's here"

"Don't let your dreams escape / The future's ours to shape"

"And while we destroy / Our children will grow / Not missing the things they'll never know / A crime against them / Against you and me / A crime against all humanity"

"Snap your fingers and somebody runs / You don't care how they feel just as long as they come / Got your head in the stars now you've come this far / Just who do you think you are?"

"In the day I can smile though I wanna die / Hold on, hold on / I can keep it together for a little while / and be strong, so strong / But when the sun goes down and I'm all alone / I haven't the strength to fight / That's when my tears give in to the night"

"Do you think that you're beautiful? Inside or outside? Mmmmm... outside I don't think about that too much because I realise that's all very superficial. I'm more concerned about inside, and inside I think I'm alright... I'm OK inside. I don't think I'm perfect and I don't call myself beautiful but I'm definitely not ugly inside. I've got friends who aren't that so called pleasant to look at but inside I think they're beautiful."

"I think that not being loved by your parents or not having a brother or not being liked at school or even wearing glasses can be a lot worse than having a famous father."

"Being blonde now doesn't mean Marilyn Monroe vulnerability. Blonde in the Eighties means being in control."

"Gardening is not something to get on your high horse about or be overwhelmed by. Either you enjoy it or you don't."

"With female singers being plucked from their cradles our Kim is almost a geriatric in pop terms. God knows how many times she's been written off, and then bounced back stronger and slicker than ever. This latest album is proof that Kim will still be around when her rivals are fighting it out in the bargain bins."

"kimwilde.com"

"kimwildetv.com"

"kim-wilde.co.uk"

"I have suffered for my music. Now it's your turn."

"How sweet to be an idiot At my back With no fear of attack As much retaliation as a toy."

"I'm not gay, and I'm not a transvestite."

"Hello, I'm Boy George, and you are watching RBTV. Come out of the closet, all you students - we want you!"

"Gay unions, what is that about? I haven't been invited to any ceremonies, and I wouldn't go anyway. The idea that gay people have to mimic what obviously doesn't work for straight people any more ... I think is a bit tragic. I am looking forward to gay divorces."

"Madonna is "a living, breathing cash register"."

"I was pleased because he is the first American rapper to say something positive about gay people. I met his mum, she's lovely."

"It's like being at school. Except you can't leave."

"Indeed, there is a moment on the first CD — the electrifying opening to "I Got Loaded," which sounds like an R&B standard but isn’t — when you might find yourself asking whether anyone who has ever been smitten by pop music can fail to have his heart stopped by the chords, the swing, and, once again, Steve Berlin’s wonderfully greasy sax."

"Self-pity is an ignoble emotion, but we all feel it, and the orthodox critical line that it represents some kind of artistic flaw is dubious, a form of emotional correctness."

"I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it."

"By the early seventies I had become an Englishman — that is to say, I hated England just as much as half my compatriots seemed to do."

"As I get older, the tyranny that football exerts over my life, and therefore over the lives of the people around me, is less reasonable and less attractive."

"Where's the superficial? I was, and therefore am, dim, gloomy, a drag, unfashionable, unfanciable, and awkward. This doesn't seem like superficial to me. These aren't flesh wounds. These are life-threatening thrusts into the internal organs."

"I’ve been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and, frankly, I think my guts have shit for brains."

"Then I lost it. Kinda lost it all, you know. Faith, dignity, about fifteen pounds."

"There had been times when he knew, somewhere in him, that he would get used to it, whatever it was, because he had learnt that some hard things became softer after a very little while."

"Single mothers — bright, attractive, available women, thousands of them all over London — they were the best invention Will had ever heard of."

"Each day was a bad day, but he survived by kidding himself that each day was somehow unconnected to the day before."

"These feelings were exactly what he had been so afraid of, and this was why he had been so sure that falling in love was rubbish, and, surprise surprise, it was rubbish, and ... and it was too late."

"And after tea, we play Junior Scrabble. We are the ideal nuclear family. We eat together, we play improving board games instead of watching television, we smile alot. I fear that at any moment I may kill somebody."

"What if a sense of humour is like hair — something a lot of man lose as they get older?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no disturbed mental balance here, my friend. I'd say he got it just right. Bad thing upon bad thing upon bad thing... Surely that's fair enough? Surely the coroner's report should read, "He took his own life after sober and careful contemplation of the fucking shambles it had become.""

"But I'd felt as if I'd pissed my life away in the same way that you can piss money away. I'd had a life, full of kids and wives and jobs and all the usual stuff, and I'd somehow managed to mislay it. No, you see, that's not right. I knew where my life was, just as you know where the money goes when you piss it away. I hadn't mislaid it at all. I'd spent it."

"And another way of explaining it is that shit happens, and there's no space too small, too dark and airless and fucking hopeless, for people to crawl into."

"I couldn't get the mood back; it was as if one of the kids had woken up just as Cindy and I were starting to make love. I hadn't changed my mind, and I still knew that I'd have to do it sometime. It's just that I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it in the next five minutes."

"I wanted to make my life short, and I was at a party in Toppers' Hose, and the coincidence was too much. It was like a message from God. OK, it was disappointing that all God had to say to me was, like, Jump off a roof, but I didn't blame him. What else was he supposed to tell me?"

"Stringer is very calculating and he has to be for so many reasons. He'll calculates the next steps, shipments, inventory, pays workers..all that. But the wicked part is that he can plan murders because that's a part of his business. I'll tell you, if I, Idris, had to contract for murders as part of my job, I couldn't do it because I have a heart. I have no stomach for ordering other people's deaths. Stringer just gets in there, orders the deed and bam..that's it..it's done and he doesn't think twice about it. There's no way I could be that cold. I'm also a more lively kid out there, doing stuff and I can't just do one thing forever. Stringer is committed to his job and business so much so he doesn't have much of a personal life so he's more one dimensional. As for me I have a child, a life, thirst for travel, you know I'm curious..whereas Stringer is more interested in being the best business person and his interests don't go further than that."

"I'm an ambitious person. I never consider myself in competition with anyone, and I'm not saying that from an arrogant standpoint, it's just that my journey started so, so long ago, and I'm still on it and I won't stand still."

"Work hard, sleep less"

"We'll be Libertines until the day we die."

"If you've lost your faith in love and music, oh, the end won't be long."

"Food, Glorious Food"

"You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two"

"When Your Number's Up You Go"

"For a soldier I listed, to grow great in fame. And be shot at for sixpence a day."

"There ’s a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, To keep watch for the life of poor Jack."

"Did you ever hear of Captain Wattle? He was all for love, and a little for the bottle."

"His form was of the manliest beauty, His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, But now he ’s gone aloft."

"Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly, Though winds blew great guns, still he ’d whistle and sing; Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly, And if honour gives greatness, was great as a king."

"No matter what they say the time has come I'm ready now to start a new beginning With all our hopes and all our dreams And I know the stars will shine for you and for me From the moment you believe."

"It first was a rumour dismissed as a lie but then came the evidence none could deny: a double page spread in the Sunday Express — The Russians are running the DHSS!"

"Hitching up the M11 coming back from a Dexys gig got picked up 'bout half eleven by this bloke in a funny wig"

"He wanted me to beat him up! It was an open invitation! Late at night he picked me up — an act of open provocation!"

"A five pence fine is right and proper — and to sum up my defence it was his fault he came a cropper: CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE!"

"I don't want a fortnight on the Costa del Sol Don't wanna go to Bognor — it's a plague-ridden hole and it don't fit in with my ideology... Down the Adriatic to the Vlora bay Twenty pints of Fosters and I'm away 'Cos now I know just where I wanna be: Albania — that's the place for me!"

"No agony, no ecstacy, no pleasure and no pain — so exquisitely uninteresting you drive your wife insane The TV is your oracle, the newspapers your guide and your shiny little vehicle is your passion and your pride You've done the same things every day for nigh on forty years and in your ludicrous routines you hide your worthless fears On the blandest boat in Boredom you are captain of the crew and every time I eat vegetables it makes me think of you."

"My wardrobe is like a garden oh, I don't know how I've got the gall! my wardrobe is just like a wardrobe — it's not like a garden at all!"

"So thin, and yet... so thick."

"I am one of a team of Iraqi weapons inspectors currently travelling through the United Kingdom under very difficult conditions searching for weapons of mass distraction."

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was Gotcha!"

"And the Lord Rupert looked at his work, and even he saw that it was a load of crap, but this was the enterprise culture and it sold millions so it was good. And on the same basis he decided to take over the television too, and the earth itself wept, and little robins vomited, and cuddly furry animals threw themselves under trains, and the whole thing was filmed by Sky Channel for a horror nature programme, and the most awful thing of all was that this was just the beginning."

"True love cannot be changed, Though delight from desert Be estranged. Farewell, farewell But yet or ere I part (O cruel), Kiss me sweet, kiss me sweet my jewel."

"Come again: sweet love doth now invite, Thy graces that refrain, To do me due delight, To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die, With thee again in sweetest sympathy."

"Flow my tears, fall from your springs, Exil'd for ever: let me mourn Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings, There let me live forlorn."

"Hark you shadows that in darkness dwell, Learn to contemn light, Happy, happy they that in hell Feel not the world's despite."

"Semper Dowland semper dolens."

"He was the rarest musician that his age did behold; having travelled beyond the seas, and compounded English with foreign skill in that faculty."

"My favourite musician happens to be the same as Shakespeare's: John Dowland. His songs are sorrowful but heal the soul by their sweetness and courage."

"God save our gracious king! Long live our noble king! God save the king!"

"Genteel in personage, Conduct, and equipage; Noble by heritage, Generous and free."

"What a monstrous tail our cat has got!"

"Of all the girls that are so smart, There's none like pretty Sally."

"Of all the days that's in the week I dearly love but one day, And that's the day that comes betwixt A Saturday and Monday."

"Aldeborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?"

"His cogitative faculties immersed In cogibundity of cogitation."

"Let the singing singers With vocal voices, most vociferous, In sweet vociferation out-vociferize Even sound itself."

"To thee, and gentle Rigdom Funnidos, Our gratulations flow in streams unbounded."

"The king shall eat, though all mankind be starved."

"Go call a coach, and let a coach be called; And let the man who calleth be the caller; And in his calling let him nothing call But “Coach! Coach! Coach! Oh for a coach, ye gods!”"

"True as the needle to the pole, Or as the dial to the sun."

"I'd like to dedicate this song real quick, and I'm not going to say anything offensive so that we can make it on TV. This song isn't dedicated to drinking or drug addiction [...]. It's basically about a walk in the park. This is something called 'Nightrain'."

"Some people think I always wear the hat, but that's not true. Sometimes I don't wear the hat. It makes me laugh that some people think I always wear the hat, because obviously I don't wear the hat all the time. What about when I sleep or take a shower? I don't wear the hat then. Also, I don't wear the hat to go to Millets."

"The guitar players that inspire me today are basically all the same guitar players that inspired me when I first started. That hasn't really changed, but additionally I think that Tom Morello, Jack White & Jerry Cantrell are great and are some of the really inspiring lead guitar players that have come out in the last 20 years."

"I recognized my own creative voice filtered through those six strings, but it was also something else entirely. Notes and chords have become my second language and, more often than not, that vocabulary expresses what I feel when language fails me."

"Everyone in the band wore their influences on their sleeves and there was not a bit of the typical L.A. vibe going on where the goal is to court a record deal. There was no concern for the proper poses or goofy choruses that might spell pop-chart success; which ultimately guaranteed endless hot chicks. That type of calculated rebellion wasn't an option for us; we were too rabid a pack of musically like-minded gutter rats. We were passionate, with a common goal and a very distinct sense of integrity. That was the difference between us and them."

"It makes sense that the bands first show took place in Seattle because as much as L.A. was our address, we had as much in common with the average "L.A." band as Seattle's weather has with Southern California."

"The truth is, all we ever cared to do was top the bullshit hair metal bands that enjoyed undue success for their subpar existence."

"Most of the girls who dated us back then were these innocent chicks whose lives were changed forever after one of us came into it for however long it lasted. We were like a vacuum back then that sucked people up and spit them out; a ton of people around us fell by the wayside that way. Some people died, not because of anything we did, but as a side effect of being too close to the flame. People would get attracted to our fucked-up weird life and just get it wrong and drown in our riptide."

"I've always had to do things my way; I've gotten high my way, I've gotten clean my way, I've been in and out of relationships my way. I've taken myself to the edges of life my way. And I'm still here. Whether or not I deserve to be is another story."

"You should see me dance the Polka, You should see me cover the ground, You should see my coat-tails flying, As I jump my partner round; When the band commences playing, My feet begin to go, For a rollicking romping Polka Is the jolliest fun I know."

"I left the room with silent dignity, but caught my foot in the mat."

"In the days when we went gypsying A long time ago; The lads and lassies in their best Were drest from top to toe."

"I met this girl on Monday Took her for a drink on Tuesday We were making love by Wednesday And on Thursday and Friday and Saturday We chilled on Sunday."

"I was checking this girl next door When her parents went out She phoned said hey boy, come on right around So I knock at the door You was standing with a bottle of red wine Ready to pour Dressed in long black Satin and Lace to the floor"

"Re-wind when the crowd say Bo' Selecta ** song Artful Dodger Feat. Craig David - Re-Rewind"

"i like the way you move your body girl i must admit you're looking real fit let's chill for a little bit i know you wanna get with me girl you know i'm not free"

"I go down to Blooms for kosher food. I can go anywhere. People don’t notice you if you go about your business. It’s only if you make a big scene."

"If you play the tabloid game you get burned. I’d rather say nothing at all and let things roll. You just have to ride those things out."

"David, who recently returned to his roots when he bought a house in Hampstead — bang in the middle of the North-West London Jewish heartland — could not be more Jewish if he hung a Star Of David round his neck and spent Friday nights saying kiddush."

"Sometimes."

"Our producer Nick thinks it's a dance record, and who are we to disagree? Don't be alarmed though, we won't be donning face masks and Gore-Tex like Altern 8, or dancing like electric monkeys. Apart from Lukas (Wooller, keyboards)."

"We all went to university here and spent the last 10 years living here, and we are among people who live here, who come to the show."

"I dont want to lose any of the emotion or energy. We are just testing how far we can bend pop in our direction."

"A common misperception of me is ... That I'm over-serious. I wish that people would take more notice of ... Carbon emissions. I am over-serious!"

"In short, the world owns that we are the best-looking family in England and we are pretty well disposed to agree."

"You see Georgy’s the beauty and Carry’s the wit, and I ought to be the good one, but then I am such a liar."

"I am what Doctor Johnson would call a "compendious epitome" of all the virtues—in one volume very neatly bound, and very rare—there being but one copy extant."

"I am persuaded one ought not to set one's heart earnestly on any one pursuit in this world, if one wishes to preserve any of the energy of youth beyond its first years."

"I think the Old Bailey is a charming place. We were introduced to a live Lord Mayor, and I sat between two sheriffs. The common sergeant talked to me familiarly, and I am not sure that the Governor of Newgate did not call me "Nelly." [...] We have seen a great deal of life, and learned a great deal of the criminal law of England this week—knowledge cheaply purchased at the cost of all my wardrobe and all my mother's plate. We have gone through two examinations in court; they were very hurrying and agitating affairs, and I had to kiss either the Bible or the magistrate, I don't recollect which, but it smelled like thumbs."

"Rumor has reached me that my private and confidential communications to you have been publicly bandied about, after a banquet at your house, and commented on by astute Diplomats and persons of that dangerous description. I therefore write this in illegible character, trusting that not even you will be able to read it, to ask you to dine at my inhospitable board on Wednesday the 21st, when I shall take care that there shall be nothing to eat. Fondly hoping that you will not be able to come, I remain, with best execrations, your enemy for life,"

"Surely it is hardly worthwhile to take up a pursuit merely to please other people."

"What a spirit of contradiction possesses one's kind friends! I, who have never done anything, am supposed to be capable of doing much; it is a great lesson, which I shall lay to heart. I will never give the measure of my shallowness; I will go on laboring in my vocation; I will "do nothing" more energetically than ever."

"Do, Car, open your eyes (and shut your mouth) and see that this is not our old world when we were all young, handsome women, much observed and talked of, and that you are no longer an ideal of Vanity Fair."

"That last day at Clandeboye was full of sweet and bitter thoughts to me. I walked round the lake, and took leave of all the old (and new!) places. ... I had a poignant thought of regret in thinking I should see them no more (at least with my earthly eyes), for I have occasional happy fancies of some sort of spiritual presence with those we love that may be permitted after death, and, if so, how continually I shall be with my darling—alone, or in company—in your walks, or by your fireside—the fervor of my love, my blessing, my whole soul, will surely encompass you!"

"I'm sitting on the stile, Mary, Where we sat side by side, That bright May morning long ago When first you were my bride. The corn was springing fresh and green, The lark sang loud and high, The red was on your lip, Mary, The love-light in your eye."

"I'm very lonely now, Mary,— The poor make no new friends;— But, oh! they love the better still The few our Father sends"

"I'm bidding you a long farewell, My Mary—kind and true! But I'll not forget you, darling, In the land I'm going to. They say there's bread and work for all, And the sun shines always there; But I'll not forget old Ireland, Were it fifty times as fair."

"Oh, Bay of Dublin! How my heart you're troublin', Your beauty haunts me like a fever dream; Like frozen fountains, that the sun sets bubblin' My heart's blood warms when I but hear your name."

"Thou mourner for departed dreams! On earth there is no rest When grief hath troubled the pure streams Of memory in thy breast!"

"Rest now—and weep—thou praised of Earth! And own, when all is done, A world's false worship is not worth The deep tried love of one."

"It has thine own dear playful look— Thy smile! thy sun-bright hair! Thy brow—so like a holy book With sweet thoughts written there! The full, soft lids, half-raised above Those blue and dreamy eyes, Within whose gaze of trusting love No fear—no falsehood lies! Like lonely lakes of Heaven's pure rain Reflecting only Heaven again."

"The Sheridans are much admired but are strange girls, swear and say all sorts of things to make men laugh. I am surprised so sensible a woman as Mrs. Sheridan should let them go on so. I suppose she cannot stop the old blood coming out."

"There is nothing like her—I mean as to agreeability, for I hold myself quite valuable as a companion in the long run, but I don't think I am fit to whisk the dust off her satin slipper in general society."

"This dinner, although merely a family one, was one of the pleasantest I have been at. When there is one such person at table as Lady Dufferin, of course it makes all the difference. She has known everybody, and tells peppery anecdotes, strikes out little portraits, and talks on grave and gay subjects with the same animation and brilliancy. Then, she paints beautifully, having adorned the panels of her own boudoir with her own pencil, and is perpetually writing clever verses. When well dressed, she is very pretty, but she never could have had the beauty of [her sister] Mrs. Norton, who has the head of a classic Muse and the eyes of a sibyl."

"There was much beauty at Rome at that time; no one who was there can have forgotten the beautiful and brilliant Sheridans. I recollect Lady Dufferin at the Easter ceremonies at St. Peter's, in her widow's cap, with a large black crape veil thrown over it, creating quite a sensation. With her exquisite features, oval face, and somewhat fantastical head-dress, anything more lovely could not be conceived; and the Roman people crowded round her in undisguised admiration of "la bella monaca Inglese." Her charm of manner and her brilliant conversation will never be forgotten by those who knew her."

"My elder sister Mrs. Blackwood is delicate, but has all the talent which you know how to prize, for literary composition; and is very musical besides."

"The portrait placed as a frontispiece is after a crayon drawing by [James Rannie Swinton], and is an excellent likeness."

"Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side, The summer's gone, and all the roses falling, It's you, it's you must go, and I must bide."

"And once again the scene was chang’d, New earth there seem’d to be, I saw the Holy City Beside the tideless sea; The light of God was on its streets, The gates were open wide, And all who would might enter, And no one was denied. No need of moon or stars by night, Or sun to shine by day, It was the new Jerusalem, That would not pass away."

"Roses are shining in Picardy In the hush of the silver dew; Roses are flowering in Picardy But there's never a rose like you. And the roses will die with the summer time And our roads may be far apart, But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy; 'Tis the rose that I keep in my heart."

"Oh, we'm come up from Somerset, Where the cider apples grow, We'm come to see your Majesty, An' how the world do go. And when you're wanting anyone, If you'll kindly let us know, We'll all come up from Somerset, Because we loves you so!"

"I stand in a land of roses, But I dream of a land of snow, Where you and I were happy, In the years of long ago."

"I have knelt in the mighty temples, But the dumb gods make no sign; They cannot speak to my spirit, As thy soul speaks to mine."

"I constantly get people telling me I should be selling as much as Katie Melua... but there's a reason she sells that many and I don't - she makes music that's easy on the ear and even easier on the brain. She's the perfect good girl in the middle of the road. I'm not keen to make things too easy for anyone. I like to provoke a response, whether that's someone telling me they love what I do or throwing a bottle at me. The trouble is that the bottle-throwing faction won't buy the album. You've immediately limited your audience."

"Come o'er the moonlit sea, The waves are brightly glowing."

"The morn was fair, the skies were clear, No breath came o'er the sea."

"Meek and lowly, pure and holy, Chief among the "blessed three.""

"Come, wander with me, for the moonbeams are bright On river and forest, o'er mountain and lea."

"A word in season spoken May calm the troubled breast."

"The bud is on the bough again, The leaf is on the tree."

"I have heard the mavis singing Its love-song to the morn; I've seen the dew-drop clinging To the rose just newly born."

"We have lived and loved together Through many changing years; We have shared each other's gladness, And wept each other's tears."

"Ever of thee I'm fondly dreaming, Thy gentle voice my spirit can cheer."

"Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream, And I seek thee in vain by the meadow and stream."

"Tho' lost to sight, to memory dear Thou ever wilt remain; One only hope my heart can cheer,— The hope to meet again. Oh, fondly on the past I dwell, And oft recall those hours When, wandering down the shady dell, We gathered the wild-flowers. Yes, life then seemed one pure delight, Tho' now each spot looks drear; Yet tho' thy smile be lost to sight, To memory thou art dear. Oft in the tranquil hour of night, When stars illume the sky, I gaze upon each orb of light, And wish that thou wert by. I think upon that happy time, That time so fondly loved, When last we heard the sweet bells chime, As thro' the fields we roved."

"What are the wild waves saying, Sister, the whole day long, That ever amid our playing I hear but their low, lone song?"

"Yes! but there's something greater That speaks to the heart alone: 'T is the voice of the great Creator Dwells in that mighty tone."

"I, Christopher Logue, was baptized the year Many thousands of Englishmen, Fists clenched, their bellies empty, Walked day and night on the capital city."

"Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to the edge. It's too high! COME TO THE EDGE! And they came And he pushed And they flew."

"Said Marx, "Don't be snobbish, we seek to abolish The 3rd class, not the 1st.""

"Frank: There, you see, an example of assonance. Rita: Oh, it means getting' the rhyme wrong."

"Rita: Will they sack you. Frank: [lying flat on the floor] The sack? God no; that would involve making a decision. Pissed is all right. To get the sack, it'd have to be rape on a grand scale; and not just with students either. [Rita gets up and moves across to look at him] That would only amount to a slight misdemeanour. For dismissal it'd have to be nothing less than buggering the bursar."

"Rita: Have they sacked y'? Frank: Not quite. Rita: Well, why y' – packing your books away. Frank: Australia. [After a pause] Some weeks ago – made rather a night of it. Rita: Did y' bugger the bursar? Frank: Metaphorically."

"She divorced her husband, y' know. I never knew him, it was before I met Jane. Apparently she came back from work one mornin' an' found her husband in bed with the milkman. With the milkman, honest to God. Well, apparently, from that day forward Jane was a feminist. An' I've noticed, she never takes milk in her tea."

"Marriage is like the Middle East, isn't it? There's no solution."

"I'm not sayin' she's a bragger, but if you've been to Paradise, she's got a season ticket."

"Well, I flung the window open an' I shouted, "Yes, that's right Millandra – I'm goin' to Greece for the sex; sex for breakfast, sex for dinner, sex for tea, an’ sex for supper." Well, she just ignored me but this little cab driver leans out an' pipes up, "That sounds like a marvellous diet, love." "It is," I shouted back, "have y' never heard of it? It's called the 'F' Plan.""

"Time, flowing like a river Time, beckoning me Who knows when we shall meet again If ever But time Keeps flowing like a river To the sea"

"While the children laughed I was always afraid Of the smile of the clown So I close my eyes Till I can't see the light And I hide from the sound We're two of a kind Silence and I We need a chance to talk things over Two of a kind Silence and I"

"Grocer Jack, Grocer Jack, Is it true what Mammy said, You won't come back. Oh no, no."

"Right said Fred"

"We was getting nowhere And so we had a cuppa tea"

"A mouse lived in a windmill in Old Amsterdam"

"A little mouse with clogs on, Well I declare"

"We asked for steak and chips, They brought us something stewed, It smelt like it was off, And it looked extremely rude."

"I told the wife, "We'd be better off in Blackpool.""

"Look at the children, bloomin' excited, Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the neighbours, bloomin' delighted, Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead!"

"She's ma lady love, she is ma dove, ma baby love, She's no gal for sittin' down to dream, She's de only queen Laguna knows; I know she likes me, I know she likes me Bekase she says so; She is de Lily of Laguna, she is ma Lily and ma Rose."

"It's the soldiers of the King, my lads Who've been, my lads, who've seen, my lads In the fight for England's glory lads When we've had to show them what we mean."

"Like a drum my heart was beating, And your kiss was sweet as wine, But the joys of love are fleeting For Pierrot and Columbine."

"The glow has gone forever And our dreams have turned to dust; I don't know how I can go on, And yet I know I must."

"If you see my darling Out there in the crowd, Say I still remember Promises we vowed. Yesterday was dreaming, But my dream came tumbling down. Call the boys and tell them, Say I won't be there."

"Sing, sweet nightingale, Sing me a song of a night never-ending, Sing, sweet nightingale, And I'll try to pretend That tomorrow's nowhere near And there's nothing to fear."

"Breakaway, the breeze is sighin' Breakaway, the time is flyin' So, I'm gonna pack a bag and get my coat Lock my door and leave a note Take a train or take a boat Well, I'm gonna breakaway."

"It would take a miracle, But someday maybe I'll find That I'm in the loving arms of someone That I'll know, know he's the someone Who'll kiss all the heartache away, And come that day I won't mind losing you."

"Hey there, Georgy girl Why do all the boys just pass you by? Could it be you just don't try or is it the clothes you wear? You're always window shopping but never stopping to buy So shed those dowdy feathers and fly - a little bit"

"High in the sky is a bird on a wing Please carry me with you Far far away from the mad rushing crowd Please carry me with you"

"Oh my love, oh my love, I've cried for you so much, Lonely nights without sleeping, while I longed for your touch. Now your lips can't evade the heartache I've known, Come with me to a world of our own."

"I walk where once the grass was green And mourn the lark that sings no more What bird could sing whose eyes have seen Broken blossoms on the field of war?"

"When you smile at me well I feel so good Come on home I can't be mad at you like I know I should Come on home. Well you took me for a ride And I thought my love had died; Still I need you by my side So come on home."

"If they gave me a fortune, My treasure would be small: I could lose it all tomorrow And never mind at all. But if I should lose your love, dear, I don't know what I'd do, For I know I'll never find another you."

"The rains tumble down in the sky, Young swallows have learned how to fly, The leaves that were green are no longer so green, And it looks like the summer is over."

"So let me fly please lead me and I'll follow you Above the clouds beyond the stormy sea I long to share a world of sweet contentment there In that bright land where grows the olive tree."

"Here I stand, feeling lost and so alone. Take my hand; don't desert me now, Please don't hurt me now."

"And Spaniards and Dutchmen, and Frenchmen and such men, As foemen did curse them, the bowmen of England! No other land could nurse them But their motherland, Old England! And on her broad bosom did they ever thrive!"

"Walking back to happiness with you, Said farewell to loneliness I knew, Laid aside foolish pride, Learnt the truth from tears I cried."

"I just want to be beside you everywhere, As long as we're together, honey, I don't care, cause you've started something, Oh, can't you see? That ever since we met You've had a hold on me"

"The lights are much brighter there; You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go Downtown where all the lights are bright, Downtown, waiting for you tonight, Downtown, you're gonna be alright now."

"I'm Burlington Bertie, I rise at ten thirty Then saunter along like a toff. I walk down the Strand with my gloves on my hand, Then I walk down again with them off."

"The flies go up the window, They've nothing else to do, They go up in their hundreds And they come down two by two."

"There was Riley pushing it, shoving it, shushing it Hogan, Logan and ev'ryone in town lined up Attacking it and shoving it and smacking it They might as well have tried to push the Town Hall down. The donkey was eyeing them, Openly defying them Winking, blinking and twisting out of place, Riley reversing it, Ev'rybody cursing it The day Delaney's donkey ran the half mile race."

"Oh, Sussex, Sussex by the sea! Good old Sussex by the Sea! You may tell them all that we stand or fall For Sussex by the sea!"

"It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there."

"You put your right arm in, Your right arm out In, out, in, out and shake it all about. You do the hokey cokey and you turn around, And that's what it's all about."

"I want not to panic. I want to be comfortable in my body and my life. I don't want to keep thinking that I don't belong here, that I have ended up on the wrong planet, completely alienated. (from Changeling)"

"In this world, everything has a pulse or a vibration. This sound is unique to each living or non-living thing and in itself creates a music that no-one can hear. I believe that this has a very powerful resonance with, and a deep effect on, our lives. What would happen if we took this further and applied it to bigger things, more powerful things; like an entire solar system or galaxy say, what would that sound like? Musica Universalis is the ancient theory that every celestial body, the sun, the moon and the stars, has an inner music. This is a harmonic and mathematical concept derived from the movements of the planets in the solar system. The music created is inaudible to the human ear. Music of the Spheres is my interpretation of this theory. Every planet and every star; the whole universe has music within it that no-one can hear. This is what it would sound like if it was set free. This is Music of the Spheres. (from the introduction to Music of the Spheres)"

"The biggest problems were to do with... well, to get that successful when you're so young, it attracts hangers-on, parasites, people who want to feed off you. I thought people actually liked me, but they actually liked my money. I'd probably say to my younger self, get yourself a whole collection of lawyers. Which is what I have now. I don't have any friends; I just have lawyers. At the last count I had about 15 different sets of them for all kinds of problems. And you can trust them because you're paying them. I know that sounds very negative, but that's the world we live in."

"When I was younger I had an incredible sensitivity; I suppose there were too many brain cells, or they were organised in the wrong way, and they've either reorganised themselves or I've lost lots of them through alcohol and substance abuse. I can get along without being terrified now. Maybe I've just got used to it."

"Everything on Tubular Bells was done on the first take – it was lovely, so spontaneous. I had such a long time to prepare it, and I had just one little chance to do it, and now I listen to it and it has a lovely spontaneous energy. It's got mistakes, and I could easily have cut them out, but I left them on."

"If it was a horrible thing I was known for, like some horrible pop song, it would annoy me, but it doesn't. I'm proud of it."

"We're looking For the strangers With sunlight in their eyes Who lived on Earth When Man was new When Time was Just a coloured dew That grew inside their mind..."

"Hey, cool princess With your eyes hanging The milk of the moon Hey, pretty princess Take me down to your cave in the dawn And you're gonna be a queen When the stars water Heaven with tears And you gonna love me When all our Golden lands are free."

"I watch the boats go by As the evening colours of the sand The rain is bringing tears From my lover's land I watch the silver stars melt in love with the sea I cry to the wind: – Bring back my lover to me! -"

"Come, take my hand And wander in the willow river Glistening the blue bells Come, take my flesh And wander in the sunny corn That shimmer stills at snowfalls 'Cause I love you lover I love you, like I love The Four high Seasons."

"My moon shines so softly On the hair of my killer Pours flowers on his head Help me, give him some shelter! Come, lie by the river Rest your head, don't you fear Sleep softly, my baby They won't find you here."

"Don't wanna know your name You're just my lover Just wanna spend the night Walking beside you on the water You look like my lover But you're words are cold You say words like him But thinking has made you grow old."

"Little bluebird's Fluttering into my hand Sun falls in love over the land I will live forever Just you wait and see No matter want you do To my bluebird and me..."

"Sunlight falling bright Over village garden walls Moonlight shower's gold where leaving waterfalls People walk in splendour Under trees hung in starlight."

"Oh, my love You're searching For your name Beside the sea Of dwells and dreams Where Shadows're dancing For your glance... The sky would chance The granting of a dream To the restless soul That dwells within your heart..."

"Some find it strange to be here On this small planet and who knows where... But when it's strange and full of fear It's nice to be on horseback."

"The sails are unfurled And the anchor's away going home... She heels to the breeze as she gathers her way, And we're bound to the old country. Then away, love, away, going home! We're homeward bound this very day, And we're bound to the old country..."

"Speak, vision of the night, Tell me why you haunt me so... Speak, heaven morning light, Whisper all my heart would know. Dawn never finds you, Gone back to where the Shadows dwell... Speak, my beloved, speak, tho' you only say farewell!"

"With a smile of joy and gladness, with a look of exultation, as of one who in a vision what is to be, but it is not, stood and waited Hiawatha. Toward the sun his hands were lifted both the palms spread out toward it and, between departed fingers, felt the sunshine on his features. Flecked with light his naked shoulders, as it falls and flecks an oak-tree through the rifted leaves and branches."

"Can it be the sun descending o'er the level plain of water or the Red Swan floating, flying wounded by the Magic Arrow? Staining all the waves with crimson, with the crimson of its life-blood, filling all the air with splendor, filling all the air with plumage? [...] O'er it the Star of Evening melts and trembles through the purple, hangs suspensed in twilight, walks in silence through the heavens..."

"Queen and Huntress chaste and fair Now the Sun is laid to sleep Seated in the Silver Chair State in wonder Manner keep [...] Hesperus entreats Thy light Goddess excellently bright Bless us then with a wished sight Thou who mak'st the day of night..."

"The Watcher and the Tower Waiting hour by hour."

"The trees that whisper in the evening Carried away by a moonlight shadow Sing a song of sorrow and grieving Carried away by a moonlight shadow All she saw was a silhouette of a gun Far away on the other side He was shot six times by a man on the run And she couldn't find how to push trough I stay, I pray, see you in heaven far away I stay, I pray, see you in heaven one day..."

"Look down from in high places Lift up the ground Without a sound [...] Check altitude Check your heart 'n this cloudless blue 'n this starlight night..."

"Drifting a dream On a mystical sea... A wishful emotion A drop in the ocean A hush in the air You can feel anywhere In the cool twilight Of a tropical night..."

"Treat me like I'm evil Freeze me till I'm cold Beat me till I'm feeble Grind me till I'm old Wire me till I'm tired Push me like I fall Treat me like a criminal, just a shadow on the wall!"

"Taking on water Sailing a restless sea From a memory A fantasy The wind carries into white water Far from the islands Don't you know... You're never going to get to France Mary, queen of chance, will they find you! Never going to get to France... Could a new romance ever bind you?"

"Walking on foreign ground Like a shadow Roaming in far off territory Over your shoulder Stories unfold You're searching For a sanctuary..."

"I see a picture by the lamp's flicker... Isn't it strange how dreams fade and shimmer?"

"Somebody's out to get you Hiding in the shadows Poison arrows! Somebody's out to break you Hiding in narrows Poison arrows!"

"What you gonna do? Time is running out on you! Anyway you choose Anyway you're gonna lose..."

"Watching for a spark It's a moonlight show Reaching through the dark Do you have to go?"

"Voices in the dark And the lights burn low Teach yourself the art That you never know Try to put a message through To your sweetheart Won't you like to know The secrets of the heart?"

"I'm half a crazy man Waiting for confirmation; Signs keep are changing And I need some more information."

"Something tells me how Her bright blue eyes Are smiling; She turns her head and now When she wants she denies him..."

"Some are tricks of the light You'll never know Make a flickering midnight Light into a glow..."

"When you want the score When you need a helping hand And you find closed doors And you're back where you began Keeping those secrets Telling those lies... Can anybody tell me What's the big surprise?"

"How can you sleep How can you turn away Thinking so cheap? Some day you're gonna pay! You're keeping secrets I can see in your eyes: Can anybody tell me Why the big disguise?"

"Talk about your life I'd like to know It's not easy going Where no-one goes And no-one knows..."

"Do we have to be so distant How can you be so unreal? What's the reason for hiding and How this crying make you feel?"

"Saved by a bell Suffer in hell But you were too blind to tell! Saved by a bell Suffer in hell And you made it through so well!"

"Standing in a new space, Waving at the sun... So you probably back in darkness To where I belong. Just by being with you Pictures flow out of my mind... Have we danced before Long ago or in another time?"

"We are islands But never too far"

"We can never Be closer somehow For the moment that lasts Is this moment now"

"There's a new path That we found just today I was lost in the forest And you showed me the way"

"We took a place in the sun To see just what had become The warm wind blows constantly Does the answer still blow? Did you find your château In that Mediterranean fantasy?"

"On dusty roads and tracks Now it's the time to turn back The warm wind blows constantly Riding that storm Since the day you were born Is there somebody in? Now answer me"

"The writing on the wall at North Point Speaks to a silent room They shut the bars down, leave you to the gloom"

"Somewhere far above has a new day risen Way beyond the searchlight (Comes a light, comes a light) Then on a bright day at North Point The gate was open wide They chanced to look at what was inside"

"Once in a lifetime, you find that power To break out and run from the Devil's deep clutch All that you need (it's the finest hour) Is to believe in the magic touch"

"Can't believe it, like no other Love is a gift, and you take it so much! You need the blue night to discover Only true lovers have the magic touch"

"Someone who knows no fear I feel him near The child was born to be a king And the time has come"

"And now the story's just begun A thousand years to stay We wake each morning with the sun To live our dreams away"

"I was hoping Could you be my inspiration Whatever should become In the candlelight? I was dreaming Was it my imagination? Tomorrow never comes In the candlelight"

"I was listening To the wind that walks the hours I never would have heard In the candlelight I was hoping Would you shelter me from showers? I believe every word In the candlelight"

"Harmony is always when I look around me And your smile I see I can feel it surrounds me A miracle I find in your company."

"One glance is all that I need; What I was searching for I've found it..."

"Holy, to me just one glance is holy One touch of your heart to me that's holy..."

"You can't speak, you can't sleep, You daren't move, you're confused. You never talk, you can't walk You can't feel, you're not real..."

"If I open my eyes just far enough I can see what you're doing. Go on, fight to the end, it's though enough When you're on the road of ruin!"

"You're a hostage of the heart Twisted 'round the smallest finger Two burning eyes are tearing you apart Turn your soul into a cinder!"

"She takes the rain, turns it to sun, And my soul she fills it. Where once was a desert Rivers now run, and my storms she stills it..."

"She gives me hope When there's nothing but pain; I can't explain it: Two different leaves But the branch is the same... Forever let it be! She takes the rain..."

"I know you'll never stay the same In time, most of us lose it, But I'm hoping, just the same, You'll shine and learn how to use it."

"Smile to me, like the very first smile You are magnificent when you're innocent. Walk to me Like the very first walk You are from heaven sent when you're innocent."

"Save me, holy mother, please save me, I got a heart of gold... And for your love I'd go hungry and thirsty. I need a saviour and you're the one... I throw myself into the arms of mercy, There's still hope for the runaway son!"

"I've been waiting at this frontier And it seems like a hundred years, But I couldn't see past the gate I couldn't see past the hate."

"Will-power, give me back some to survive, One more hour and I'm coming alive... I can see the light! And there's blue sky breaking Through the edge of the night... I can see the light!"

"Now I climb the steps to freedom, The open gates, I can see them. Hands once I knew Beckoning me through, As the sunlight touch my face, I can feel the warm embrace; Arms surround me, My life has found me..."

"I feel a rush in the air tonight, I can feel the Earth moving. Love is beacon, a guiding light, can't you feel the Earth moving?"

"Feel the Earth move! Now I'm wrapped In a sweet love's arms, Reaching out for you..."

"Reach out, it's a leap in the dark, But there's no danger of falling. Give out, give it straight from the heart, You feel the thunder rolling..."

"To whole room her eyes are numb, As she reads from a true love story. From the pages of a book her lover comes, Her heart bleeds, it's a true love story."

"Misty path and the night is endless, She could be a queen Or a desert princess. Hero takes her hand and leads her through... Who knows what this night will do? Only in the blue night he comes to her That's when the whole night Belongs to her."

"You know it's not too late to leave tomorrow, 'cause I know where I'm going... I am building a bridge to Paradise!"

"HEALTH WARNING: This record could be hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops. If you suffer from this condition, consult your Doctor immediately. (from the back-cover)"

"Hello everyone! I suppose that you think that nothing much is happening at the moment. Ah ah ah! Well, that's what I want to talk to you all about: endings. Now, endings normally happen at the end. But, as we all know, endings are just beginnings. You know, once these things really get started, it's jolly hard to stop them again. However, as we have all come this far, I think, under the circumstances, the best solution is that we all just keep going. Let's keep going inside, never an ending. Let's remember that this world wants fresh beginnings. I feel here, in this Country, and throughout the world, we are crying out for beginnings, beginnings! We never want to hear this word "endings". I know you don't want to sit down. Of course, you're looking for the good start. Of course you're looking for a fresh start. Isn't that charming? Do you know, I really feel I could dance..."

"This is zero hour and there's no way back Can you feel that power in its arms you're wrapped All through the night-time Till the sun comes in? Now Heaven's Open Fly right in!"

"Make-make... There's no way out no way in To the hallowed halls of the inner ring You're just a face in the crowd You got no place When you're down and out."

"Monna Lisa, you can stop searching; don't you know we're not Virgin?"

"A restless flame Someone calls your name Through the empty hall Casting shadows on the wall In the sound of emptiness Isolation Nowhere left to run Now the time has come..."

"Down to the River Was this all some Cry for love? It's a cry for love: Are you a victim of That Money Bug In your blood, Mr. Shame?"

"I need my hands I need my feet Gimme my soul I'm incomplete I need my eyes I want my teeth Gimme my scope Gimme my beliefs."

"I'm a fire without a flame, desert with no rain..."

"You're the one who's nearly Breaking my heart; Had your chance You just threw it all away. Living in a world that You could never be a part of, And now is a time to walk away."

"How's it feel when There's time to remember? ...Branches bare, Like the trees in november. Had it all, Threw it all away; Now's a time to walk away."

"And the Man in the rain Picked up his bag of secrets, And journeyed up the mountainside Far above the clouds; And nothing was ever heard from him again, Except for the sound of Tubular Bells..."

"Heaven and Earth are turning Round the Earth fire is burning. Sheltered from the cruel storm Peace on Earth is new born"

"Far the horizon Hove to the wind; We're sailing the sea To the Edge of the World."

""Twas grace that taught My heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev'd; How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believ'd!" And I want to feel sun on my face, And I feel a shadow in its place, With the sunlight shines through cloud, When we're standing free, proud."

"Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace has brought me Safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promis'd good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures."

"When the birds sing outside And you see the trees Changing into green The sun invites one To be out in the open air. When the sky is so blue, then, Oh! Then I wish for so much!."

"Amber light Of this new morning, Amber light, Clear, bright and warming. Overnight The Earth adorning... Amber light, A New Age is dawning...."

"Follow the light that glows Through your bedroom window, Tonight, the fading twilight. There's a hollow deep in the woods, Where you know you're crazy to go, Not even meant to know there are... Pictures in the dark, I see all around, Voices calling underground; And I'm watching the stars since the world was found... One, two, three..."

"And in the deepest dark You come to a maze, in the night, The fading twilight... And you shiver the glistening path Where you know you're crazy to go..."

"(Take a wish!) My wish is... ...To be free, To be wild, And to be just Like a child!"

"You're out in the cold, Sometimes, As far as you can see, Misty. You want to run Into the sun, The road is lost, Sand shifty. But suddendly, out of the blue, Some kind of magic Pushes you through! You don't know when, How or why, But someday can take off, fly!"

"When we made [Tubular Bells], Michael was a mental wreck. He would walk 'round with his eyes wet with tears nearly all the time; he was in a terrible state. He found it an enormous disquiet, … the idea of being mortal flesh … [while] what was going on his head was eternal and beautiful and everlasting. … My heart went out to him."

"Well, I play purely from the heart, y'know, and so if it doesn't work the first couple of hours, forget it. Unless we feel like we're somehow on the right track then I'll keep on going. That's it, really; I don't have any magic where I just press a button and it happens. It'll either happen or it won't."

"I've got no particular desire to play ten minute solos. Those were never valid anyway in my book -- never. It was just a cheap way of building up a tension in the audience...A solo should do something; it shouldn't just be there as a cosmetic. It should have some aim, take the tune somewhere. I'm not saying I can do it, but I try and take the tune somewhere."

"Jeff can play damn fast, but he chooses not to most of the time, and that’s what impresses me. It’s what he chooses to leave out rather than what he chooses to stick in."

"Guitarists who play fast are insecure. I can’t really stomach too many guitar players who just play these non-stop, incessant runs. It gets crazy; it’s just exercises. There has to be a reason for soloing. Usually, guitar players who play that fast and put everything they can into solos are insecure. The more sophisticated and mature guitarists become, the more they go with the feel. If you try to play too technically, you lose something in the music—like you’re playing for another guitarist. I like to play for people. The most important thing to me are the vocals, then the arrangement, and then the song. And way down, ‘Oh yes, there has to be a guitar solo.’ Whereas for a lot of players, everything revolves around the solo."

"Listening to as many guitar solos as possible is the best method for someone in the early stages. But saxophone solos can be helpful. They're interesting because they're all single notes, and therefore can be repeated on the guitar. If you can copy a sax solo you're playing very well, because the average saxophonist can play much better than the average guitarist."

"If trees cut stars and eyes to heaven I'll bend them back, I'll bend them again If my skin looks tired and old from living I'll turn right back and live it again"

"I wander lonely streets behind where the old Thames does flow And in every face I meet reminds me of what I have run for"

"Cause it's a bitter sweet symphony, that's life Try to make ends meet you're a slave to money then you die.No change, I can change I can change, I can change But I'm here in my mold I am here in my mold and I'm a million different people from one day to the next I can't change my mould, no, no, no, no, no..."

"You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah."

"It’s just sex and violence, melody and silence."

"Eyes open wide, looking at the heavens with a tear in my eye."

"Yes, there's love if you want it. Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord."

"Sinking faster than a boat without a hull."

"And with a drugstore wife, I was dealing, sold a bit of the white, I don't shake no hands 'cause death has no fans."

"The sands of time are sinking The dawn of heaven breaks; The summer morn I've sighed for, The fair, sweet morn, awakes. Dark, dark hath been the midnight, But dayspring is at hand, And glory, glory dwellth In Immanuel's hand"

"God sends meat and the devil sends cooks."

"Lord Fancourt: Look here, am I any relation to him? Jack: No; you're Charley's Aunt, from Brazil. Lord Fancourt: Brazil! Where's that? Jack: You know–er–where the nuts come from."

"I am Joss Stone and I am a vegetarian. I'm a singer, a songwriter, a performer and a human being accepting of all sizes, shapes, colours and species."

"I was born a vegetarian. … I feel there is no need to cause another living thing pain or harm. There are so many other things we can eat. I have never eaten meat in my life, and I’m 5 foot 10 and not exactly wasting away. A wise man once said, ‘Animals are my friends, and I’m not in the habit of eating my friends.’ That is exactly how I feel."

"I went vegetarian when I was about… 8 years old. One day I cut this piece of meat open and blood came out of it, and I realized, I asked my mother, “Where did this come from?,” and she said, “From animals,” and that was it."

"I’ve grown up with animals in the house, I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters, and all of us had cats, dogs, mice, chickens, frogs, tortoises, so they’ve always been a big part of my life. My dog, Scamp, was my best friend when I was growing up, and he was just as much a brother to me as my human brothers. Someone threw acid on him, and he almost died, but my parents spent their life savings having him treated. It appalled me that people could be so cruel, and ever since I have stuck up for animals. It is something I can be active in, unlike trying to figure out the appalling things humans do to each other."

"Ronnie was so enthusiastic, and he could play instruments which Ozzy couldn't play, so it was easy to communicate with him, and for him to communicate musically with us. That enthusiasm gives us all a kick up the bum."

"In the hard rock and heavy metal world, Butler is a downright god. Known for his early use of the wah-wah pedal and down-tuning his instrument (which would become a favorite technique among grunge guitarists and bass players), Butler is one of the most celebrated bassists within the genre. Butler, who was also the primary lyricist in Black Sabbath, has been claimed by such greats as Steve Harris, Billy Sheehan, and Jason Newstead when it comes to posing as an influential figure. Butler’s performance on the Sabbath classic "Paranoid" holds the whole song together."

"Whenever I'm sad I just imagine if babies were born with moustaches.""

"Dreams are like stars; you may never touch them, but if you follow them, they will lead you to your destiny."

"The worst thing a boy can do is ignore a girl when she's loving you with all her heart."

"I used to be in a boyband, that's why I'm so fucked up."

"Here was me thinking [the United States] was supposed to be the land of the free [and] it all looks very tied up from where I'm standing."

"Every Secret's a blinking light"

"Nothing left to lose Nothing left to fight"

"DESCENDANTS OF SMITH: If we manage to get out the 'back door', the technology available in four million years may perhaps rival the twentieth century christian concept of 'judgement day'. Probably much sooner. Meanwhile, which one is Smith?"

"GARDEN OF URANIUM: I moved to a house in Lincolnshire. The government were threatening to dump "low level" nuclear waste about fifteen miles away. The plans were dropped a few months before the last general election. The proposals now seem to have resurfaced somewhere under the North Sea! (among other sites proposed since the election)"

"GOVERNMENT SURPLUS: Employment figures and history books are 'cooked'. Young people are manipulated. The status quo is maintained by an insidious mafiosi piping drugs to the unsuspecting by means of an ever expanding cycloptic media."

"PINCHES OF SALT: Are the humanoids pilling the chemistry into reactions they have no control over? Have the wolves of the universal law already started to blow the door down? Is the back door still open? Who the hell cares with a hundred billion freon - filled hair sprays still on sale? Who am I to ctiticise my own crisis?"

"STILL LIFE: The short British wintertime as seen from within my cocoon. Snow three feet deep in places. Icicles. The small ones outside fighting for survival. Dusk before four. Yellow light in the crisp still. A jackdaw's wing beat precisely preserved. An atmosphere."

"Led Zeppelin recorded the song Hats off to (Roy) Harper. (Led Zeppelin III, 1970)"

"And half the blasted idiots are stuck in Yugoslavia With hardly a Dinar And looking no cleaner Than a Chinese wrestler's jock-strap Cooked in chip fat On a greasy day"

"And you know what? I don't think this little song's gonna make the charts"

"I'm sorry that you thought of us as painful and superfluous But please don't think I'm that thick skinned to want my seed in any old wind I can't believe we'll just exist as figments of each others past Where is it at to get to this, when lawyers lurk where lovers kissed?"

"Watford Gap, Watford Gap A plate of grease and a load of crap"

"One of those days in England with a sword in every pond And birds in every garden in the land"

"You ask what is the quality of life Seeking to justify the part you play And mask, what seems a worthless fate"

"There’s a problem when you write for Hollywood in particular, they only read the dialogue. They call it reading down the middle. They have 10 scripts to read over the weekend, so all the bits that are in block prose, they won’t look at. But that’s the important stuff in the cinema. A cinematic script… they always say that you can watch a good film with the sound down."

"With a comedy, you can easily take away the humor. So it’s very important to keep the pacing of it going, and to keep the lighthearted nature of it going. I think in many ways, a comedy is more difficult than drama"

"my ambition was to be an English Sondheim. Being a lyricist is the ideal job for a university-educated dilettante, because it uses up all the rubbish in your education."

"It's a very similar process in many ways to doing translation, if you translate an opera or a work were the music is inflexible and the words have to go from language to another you have a similar challenge."

"We don't want to fight but, by Jingo, if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too We've fought the Bear before and while we're Britons true The Russians shall not have Constantinople."

"I’m waking up this morning Grateful for the gift of one more day The light of hope is dawning It fills my heart and lifts my fears away Sometimes there’s a miracle just beyond the pain When you can see the rainbow in the rainLive on, live on Brighter skies will come again Cry the tears you cry and then live on, live on Love is all we leave when we are gone Live on."

"Love is all we leave when we are gone live on In every heart of those we touch In every dream that means so much Yes I believe that all of us live on."

"Some time ago one of my daughters persuaded me to do an online Pink Floyd quiz. I scored 56%."

"I knew I couldn't play 'Comfortably Numb' better than David or Roger, or indeed even the Australian Pink Floyd [tribute band]""

"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing, ‘Onward,’ the sailors cry. Carry the lad that’s born to be king Over the sea to Skye."

"Burned are our homes, exile and death, Scattered the loyal men. Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath, Charlie will come again."

"When Adam and Eve were dispossessed Of the garden hard by Heaven, They planted another one down in the west, ’Twas Devon, glorious Devon!"

"When the producers first submitted the idea, they had me down to play this Axl Rose-type character [...] I told them we haven’t got our heads up our arses and there’s no way that we’d behave that way."

"One thing that bothers me about TV is the way that teenagers are portrayed. It’s down to the fucking Daily Mail‘s war on teenagers. They stigmatise young kids and it’s bullshit. The thing I like about Skins is it gives a genuine perspective on growing up."

"I don’t think I could act my way out of a paper bag!"

"When it comes to the driving lead force amid the longtime triple-guitar assault within [Iron Maiden], Smith is the king above kings. Complete with his usual headband, Smith is a groover — meaning his playing has a undeniably blues feel to it. While it's never really been about speed with Smith, when it comes to legendary solo work ("Heaven Can Wait", "Powerslave), he continues to bring it at a level that others only wish they could pull off."

"Adrian Smith incorporates all the classic metal guitar player's techniques: alternate picking, legato, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, sweep picking, slide playing and more. What separates him from the rest of the pack is that he uses all of these techniques in a musical context with no exaggeration. He is heavily influenced by blues, so he uses the pentatonic scale a lot, but he also enjoys ripping a fast phrase in a Phyrigian mode from time to time."

"[Murray and Adrian Smith] are the OG’s of the twin axe attack (and thus to blame for inadvertently causing melodic death metal)."

"While going the road to sweet Athy, A stick in my hand and a drop in my eye, A doleful damsel I heard cry: “Och Johnny, I hardly knew ye! With drums and guns, and guns and drums, The enemy nearly slew ye; My darling dear, you look so queer, Och, Johnny, I hardly knew ye!""

"Like Tony Banks, Rick Wright (pictured on the right) was less a showy player than a musician who knew exactly which notes to play and which to leave out. His training and love of jazz made him one of Pink Floyd’s most musically-gifted members and his sensibilities can be heard on the wistful piano of "Us and Them." He was no slouch with a synthesizer, either. His performances with EMS VCS3 and Minimoog on the band’s classic Wish You Were Here have become etched into rock history. Musicians are still trying to suss out how he achieved his sounds on "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond." An effortless player, Wright was the breath that kept Pink Floyd alive."

"Keith Emerson: the man who brought the keyboardist out from behind the organ (and then proceeded to throw said organ about the stage after teaching it a hard lesson involving knives). He (literally!) wrestled with his Hammond, climbed the rafters and showered sparks from the end of his custom Moog ribbon controller. Of course, such histrionics wouldn’t have been worth a hoot if the feller couldn’t play. But play he did. From blistering rock leads to impossibly fast baroque keyboard runs, Emerson has done it all. A surprisingly ballsy rocker, he wasn’t afraid to tone it down. His famous Lucky Man solo is etched into rock and roll history. Perhaps best of all, he dared to drag his monster modular Moog on stage."

"A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces, An airline ticket to romantic places, And still my heart has wings These foolish things remind me of you."

"That certain night, the night we met, There was magic abroad in the air, There were angels dining at the Ritz And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square."

"She's only a bird in a gilded cage, A beautiful sight to see, You may think she's happy and free from care, She's not, though she seems to be, 'Tis sad when you think of her wasted life, For youth cannot mate with age, And her beauty was sold For an old man's gold, She's a bird in a gilded cage."

"When it comes to the leader and true soul of Iron Maiden, it's Steve Harris' show. Sure, frontman Bruce Dickinson, or even beloved Eddie, might be "the face" of Iron Maiden, but Harris is the guy who makes the operation run. He’s the band's principal songwriter and one of the slickest, quickest bass players in hard rock and heavy metal history. Known for his "gallop" method of playing the instrument, Harris' work shines on Maiden classics like "The Trooper" and "Run to the Hills." Harris has cited Phil Lynott as one of his many bass influences."

"Perhaps the most mysterious member of Queen. Deacon was never one for the spotlight, but with his writing and composing contributions within the confines of Queen, Deacon had his share of legendary moments. He composed hits like "You’re My Best Friend" and "I Want to Break Free" and is likely best known for two of the most iconic bass intros of all time with "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure." Arguably one of the most underrated members of an iconic band in music history, Deacon retired from playing in the late 1990s."

"He was a jazz-trained drummer, but also got into other styles such as playing African rhythms, which worked brilliantly. No doubt a big influence on many rock and metal drummers over the years, and one of the most creative and entertaining drummers of all time."

"Once Rick started to get heavily involved, he said he wanted to try a different drummer, someone who wasn't 'straight-up rock', in his words. He kept suggesting Ginger Baker, who'd obviously been in Cream and in Hawkwind for a while with my great friend Lemmy Kilmister, God rest his soul. But Baker was crazier than me. I mean, there was a documentary about him, Beware of Mr. Baker, where he broke the director’s nose with a metal cane at his house in South Africa. And that was after the guy had been thrown out of every other country. Not that he would have taken the job anyway. He was nuts. He’d have been a liability on tour."

"Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer! List, ye landsmen, all to me; Messmates, hear a brother sailor Sing the dangers of the sea."

"One wide water all around us: All above us one black sky; Different deaths at once surround us: Hark! what means that dreadful cry?"

"Fill it up, about ship wheel it, Close to our lips a brimmer join: Where's the tempest now, who feels it? None — the danger's drown'd in wine."

"The loss of American what can repay? New colonies seek for at Botany Bay."

"Daddy Neptune one day to Freedom did say, If ever I live upon dry land, The spot I should hit on wou'd be little Britain! Says Freedom, "Why that's my own island!" O, it's a snug little island! A right little, tight little island, Search the globe round, none can be found So happy as this little island."

"Then a very great war man, call'd Billy the Norman, Cried "D--n it, I never lik'd my land.""

"The Dons came to plunder the island; But, snug in the hive, the Queen was alive, And "buzz" was the word in the island."

"Longing while living for laurel and bays, Under this willow a poor poet 'lays'; With little to censure, and less to praise, He wrote twelve dozen and three score plays: He finish'd his 'Life', and he went his ways."