Activists From England

"They're not "normal" songs. None of her songs have been "normal." She's just who she is, she's unique. She's — a mystery. She's the most beautiful mystery. … Let me tell you a story: when I had my civil partnership, nine years ago, in 2005, and Kate — we invited Kate, we didn't think she'd come but she came, she came with her husband Danny, and there were a lot of very famous people in that room, there were like 600 people — and all anybody wanted to meet was Kate Bush. I mean, musician, anybody — they couldn't believe Kate Bush was there. She's kind of an enigma."

"You and your oven are capable of great things, Remember, no two ovens are the same."

"There just aren't many people in the world with balls that big and talent that awesome."

"He is Mr Piano Man, I am Miss Piano Man."

"Sometimes when I'm flying over the Alps I think, 'that's like all the cocaine I sniffed."

"It's very important to have two tiaras when you're on the road, you never know when you'll be invited to something really formal."

"People should be very free with sex, but they should draw the line at goats."

"Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours."

"Chefs aren't celebrities: they're chefs."

"Welcome to the world of bullshit, my dear. You have arrived."

"The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It’s just a means to an end. We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet. I mean, get out there, communicate. Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet. Let’s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span. There’s too much technology available. I’m sure, as far as music goes, it would be much more interesting than it is today."

"If you’ve never heard his music then, well... who are we kidding? Everybody has heard him. His voice has changed over the years, but his piano playing has remained rollicking, rocking and resounding. He helped to solidify the piano’s place in rock and roll just as synthesizers were making their presence known."

"I have been a Pariah in academia but to all those who sought my destruction I always had one answer: "I'm Still Standing." The hymn from Sir Elton John is the best description of how I feel about my survival and triumph over a system that should not be called part of the Humanities since it is hardly humane in its treatment of difference. I have also found deplorable the treatment of students in academia. My former students are the people I miss the most about teaching. But, as one of my former students told me once and I have found it to be true: "You will always have students." So we bring this compendium to you: the totality of a life of poetry. May you feel an embrace from me as you read them. To everyone who reads these pages: I'm Still Standing! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"

"And every one of us has to face that day; Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away? And every one of us that ever came to play Has to cross the bridge or fade away."

"You may not believe it, But I don't believe in miracles anymore. And when I think about it, I don't believe I ever did for sure. All the things I've said in songs, All the purple prose you bought from me. Reality's just black and white. The sentimental things I'd write Never meant that much to me."

"A dream will fly The moment that you open up your eyes. A dream is just a riddle, Ghosts from every corner of your life."

"Spare your heart, save your soul. Don't drag your love across the coals. Find your feet and your fortune can be told. Release, relax, let go, And hey now let's recover your soul."

"There was a time, I was everything and nothing all in one. When you found me, I was feeling like a cloud across the sun."

"I believe in love, it's all we got. Love has no boundaries, no borders to cross. Love is simple, hate breeds. Those who think difference is the child of disease. Father and son make love and guns, Families together kill someone. Without love, I believe in love."

"Things we never said come together, The hidden truth no longer haunting me. Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken, That kind of understanding sets me free."

"`Cause I never thought I'd lose. I only thought I'd win. I never dreamed I'd feel This fire beneath my skin. I can't believe you love me. I never thought you'd come. I guess I misjudged love Between a father and his son."

"For each man in his time is Cain Until he walks along the beach And sees his future in the water, A long lost heart within his reach."

"In the instant that you love someone, In the second that the hammer hits, Reality runs up your spine, And the pieces finally fit."

"And I won't break and I won't bend, But someday soon we'll sail away To innocence and the bitter end. And I won't break and I won't bend, And with the last breath we ever take We're gonna get back to the simple life again."

"And it's no sacrifice, Just a simple word. It's two hearts living In two separate worlds. But it's no sacrifice. No sacrifice. It's no sacrifice at all."

"And reach out for her healing hands, Reach out for her healing hands. There's a light, where the darkness ends. Touch me now and let me see again, Rock me now in your gentle healing hands."

"`Cause I don't wanna go on with you like that, Don't wanna be a feather in your cap. I just wanna tell you honey I ain't mad, But I don't wanna go on with you like that."

"I used to think that New York City Fell from grace with God. And innocence abroad Waged a war for the underdog. When the snow falls And Central Park looks like a Christmas card, I just looked beyond the bagman And the madness that makes this city hard."

"Hey Nikita is it cold In your little corner of the world? You could roll around the globe And never find a warmer soul to know.Oh I saw you by the wall, Ten of your tin soldiers in a row. With eyes that looked like ice on fire, The human heart a captive in the snow."

"Turn them on, turn them on, Turn on those sad songs. When all hope is gone, Why don't you tune in and turn them on?They reach into your room, Just feel their gentle touch. When all hope is gone, Sad songs say so much."

"Well they're breaking down doors in foreign countries, Everybody thinks somebody's hiding something. There's talk on the street and the nation is worried. But you can't talk back when you're dead, when you're dead and buried."

"And I guess that's why they call it the blues. Time on my hands could be time spent with you, Laughing like children, living like lovers, Rolling like thunder under the covers. And I guess that's why they call it the blues."

"Don't wish it away, Don't look at it like it's forever. Between you and me I could honestly say That things can only get better.And while I'm away, Dust out the demons inside. And it won't be long before you and me run To the place in our hearts where we hide."

"Don't you know I'm still standing, better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind."

"And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed. A gardener like that one, no one can replace. And I've been knocking, but no one answers. And I've been knocking most all the day. Oh, and I've been calling Oh, "Hey, Hey, Johnny" "Can't you come out to play?""

"He must have been a gardener that cared a lot Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop. But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect Can damage so much grain."

"And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover. Oh there were others who would treat you cruel, But oh Jeannie, I will always be your fool."

"What have I got to do to make you love me? What have I got to do to make you care? What do I do when lightning strikes me And I wake to find that you're not there?What do I do to make you want me? What have I got to do to be heard? What do I say when it's all over? And sorry seems to be the hardest word."

"And you can cage the songbird, But you can't make her sing. And you can trap the free bird, But you'll have to clip her wings. `Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies, But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies."

"And he said grow some funk of your own amigo, Grow some funk of your own. We no like to with the gringo fight, But there might be a death in Mexico tonight If you can't grow some funk of your own amigo."

"Island girl, What you wanting with the white man's world? Island girl, Black boy want you in his island world. He want to take you from the racket boss, He want to save you but the cause is lost."

"I never realised the passing hours of evening showers. A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams, I'm strangled by your haunted social scene. Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen. It's four o'clock in the morning, Damn it listen to me good. I'm sleeping with myself tonight, Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive."

"And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear. You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you dear? You nearly had me roped and tied, Altar-bound, hypnotized. Sweet freedom whispered in my ear, You're a butterfly. And butterflies are free to fly, Fly away, high away, bye bye."

"Don't let the sun go down on me. Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see. I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free. But losing everything is like the sun going down on me."

"I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch, Oh the bitch is back, Stone cold sober as a matter of fact. I can bitch, I can bitch `Cause I'm better than you. It's the way that I move, The things that I do."

"Don't give us none of your aggravation, We had it with your discipline. Saturday night's alright for fighting, Get a little action in."

"So goodbye yellow brick road, Where the dogs of society howl. You can't plant me in your penthouse, I'm going back to my plough."

"When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm, I should have listened to my old man."

"Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? But they're so spaced out, Bennie and the Jets. Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful, Oh Bennie she's really keen. She's got electric boots, a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine. Bennie and the Jets."

"We'll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around, You're gonna hear electric music, solid walls of sound."