GARY NUMAN - THE PLAN


01. That's Too Bad (Single Version)
02. Oh! Didn't I Say
03. Out Of Sight
04. That's Too Bad (original Version)
05. Bombers
06. My Shadow In Vain (Original Version)
07. The Machine (Steel And You, Original Version)
08. Thoughts No 2
09. Something's In The House (Original Version)
10. Check It
11. The Monday Troop
12. This Is My Life
13. Mean Street
14. Ice
15. Crime Of Passion
16. The Life Machine (Original Version)
17. Critics
18. Do Your Best (Friends, Original Version)
19. Basic J
20. Bombers (single version)
21. Blue Eyes
22. O D Receiver

That's Too Bad (Single Version)

I look up and the camera eye is
Searching my room
The TV screen is calling me
But for what or whom
Please mister do be careful
I'm so fragile
Maybe they'll let me down
To Speedy's place for a while

Oh well that's too bad
Oh well that's too bad
Oh well that's too bad
Oh well that's too bad

I talk a lot, a sign of fear
I thought you should know
I can see pictures of me well
They're so-so
I'll come on to the leader
Like I'm some hero
He'll laugh and raise his dying eyes
And just tell me to go

1920 Flashbacks for an hour or more
Of crazy actors hiding
In the doorways top floor
Machines scream in anger
From a thousand dead ends
I turn my face, I crawl away,
I look for a friend

Oh! Didn't I Say

Hollow
Faces staring through my window
Sometimes
I can play a boy you might know
Station
Standing cold and old I'm insane
Gender
Is uncertain just like my name

The lemon kid is my friend
But even he don't know me well
Oh that's too bad
The waiter is an old man
Who looks at me so sly and strange
What's on his mind

Chorus:
Oh didn't I say I'm not one of you
Oh didn't I say I'm not one of you

Queenie
From a doorway says "You got time?"
Panic
Not tonight if you don't mind
Oh no
My fear of streets I cover
Today
My room is home for hours

You can stay if you know your lines
But please take care
I'll suck your mind dry
You'll never guess
And you can never know me
I'll change if I begin to feel
What's your name

Zero hero says I'm no-one
He could be right but who's to know
Man from the sky
Oh well I'm growing tired of this place
I think it's time to change my face
You can't even try

(chorus x2)

Out Of Sight

I don't wanna hear you talk
And I don't wanna go for walks
But I just wanna lay you flat
Well you think you're so good at that

I've got no time for your sad eyes
I don't care if you say good-bye
I don't really think that I want
Anything to do with your

Out of sight
Out of mind

The radio continues 'round me
Blending faces glaring at me
How was I to telephone
Crawl away to end it all

Spiral staircase leads to nowhere
I an take you somewhere (who cares)
Dee-Dee's crazy as a model
I'd break your heart if I'd got time

Out of sight
Out of mind

? (I'm very sorry, but I can't make out what in blazes he's singing.)

?
?
I hate you all I hate you all
You're breaking down my message wall

Out of sight
Out of mind

(The two last verses are missing in the CD booklet.)

Bombers

Look up I hear the scream of sirens on the wall
I see a policeman crying in the backseat of a dying Ford
Hotel waiters leave the bedrooms of stars
Who are far too old
And no-one ever told me
That I could be so cold

Chorus:
Bombers fight at zero feet
Bombers fight at zero

I see an old man knocked to the ground
And beaten by the vicar's wife
No-one stops to help they're far too busy
Trying to save their own lives
A tiny girl screams for mother
And wanders out into the street
I saw her going down underneath
A thousand people's running feet

(chorus)

All the junkies pulling needles from their arms
Hope it lasts all night
And all the soldiers curse the day they joined the army
And prepare to fight
In silent bars, in silent rooms, in silent cars
You hide where you can
And me I know just whereyou are, you see
I'm a bomber man

(chorus)

My Shadow In Vain (Original Version)

Stroll to the cafe
My god how time fles
And I close up my brain
And another friend dies
And me I'm just the same

Soaking up Broadway
Nightlife in Detroit
And I'd buy these New York ladies
If these light weren't so bright
And me I wasn't there

Stagger down main street
A knife in my side
I fall to the gutter
In tears but with pride
And me I'm feeling O.K.

Moving out of Central
This villain (??) knows me well
Says he'll spill the whole story
He might be lying, I can't tell
And me I'm not that kind

I've been searching for my shadow in vain
How can I be still while my lifeline remains
With him

Try to steal a needle
Bring peace to my head
And I'm stumbling down the alleys
I find killers instead
And me I'm the cause of it all

Street corner women
Are taking their toll
Now they look at me, I'm dying
And I'm growing old
And me I'm loving it all

The Machine (Steel And You, Original Version)

It's so quiet and dark
And I shouldn't be here
This machine won't last
For always

Just my steel friend and me
I stand brave by his side
This machine is all
I live for

I can see in your eyes
You're not so sure about me
This machine is my voice
Please listen

It's so noisy and bright
And I just love being here
This machine will last
For my life

Thoughts No 2

Sometimes I feel
I live like a prisoner
But I don't know
If this really is pressure
Surprise you win
I'm lost as screamers roll in
Sometimes I feel
Like leaving this room I'm in

Faded film people dropping words
About the real things to say
? (Not "Someone pulls me deeper", as in CD booklet)
And tells me who I will be if I stay
A clever machine writes pretty words
For pretty boys
To sing to us all
We're all so grateful

My face you cry
And I show my darker side
The night is yours
And I just switch off and hide
Cafe and sin
The wine's not to my liking
My face you cry
Oh my didn't I say come in?

Frown (?) in my eyes showing nothing
But surprise about you
And what are you thinking
About my life and her drinking to you too
A dying non-human writes unkind words
For unkind friends
And as for the tears, they'll never show
Asylum people calling on my door
From day to day
The image must fall
I've had my time

Something's In The House (Original Version)

Memories lost in the faded films of my life
And a friend that used to be
Something special to me
Red wine and good times
If you don't feel at all
There is no point in going on tonight

Something's in the house
Something's on the stairs
War's in the air
The queer is out of order
And me I'm on the ground
But that's no place to be
Jack Burroughs says 'what you doing'
'Oh me I'm going home'
'Oh what a shame'
Nothing has changed
And nothing is new
These days

I don't want to be here
(x6)
(fade...)

Check It

Something isn't right
I get the feeling I'm not driving
Something hasn't quite
Taken over but it's trying

Check it, check it

The question now is time
The hours pass so slowly
I know we're moving out of line
But that's the risk you're taking with me

I flicker like an old film - Black white
I'm losing track of what's real - I know
My sense of timing's not quite - OK
Maybe I'll stay tonight - So so

Fadeout, as in lose
My character is shrapnel
Broken by the views
Of men who claim to know all
(There is to know)

Something isn't right
I get the feeling I am no-one
Something hasn't quite
Stopped me from being someone

Nothing in the mirror - Check it
No photo by my bedside - Check it
My self control is missing - Check it
I'll leave with your permission - Check it

The Monday Troop

Final bow
In a disused music hall
Of laughter and mime
The airwave police
Were the only
Admirers to admire

Sliding sideways in a rusty old Ford
The drivers broke down and
A young girl screams
Walking through rock dreams
Tall stories
Mobile T.V. radio
Nobody came

The station is abandoned
Deserted for peace day
Some old man said 'Just do your best'
And I think passed away

My shadow is never far behind
And I must find another role to play
Visit maskmaker
Please bend my mind
Someone, no one
I really don't mind
Nobody cares

This Is My Life

I'm not so sure
I still want more of this
My mind's not quite
Behaving, I don't know
I'm not feeling like I'm told I should (???)

This is my life
Welcome to me tonight
I don't feel too
Glad to be here for sure
I'm not feeling anymore at all

This is my head
This is my face
It's all my fault
This is my place
I don't really think I wanna stay

Mean Street

My friends have
Been demoted to
Stay
Second class

Someone tells me
Reliable
Big brother will
Never last

Seems like I
Outgrew my station
Sweet young boys turning green
This is for your information

Mean Street I'd love to see you cry
Mean Street I'd love to see you die
Mean Street I really don't know why
Mean Street you let me down

Look at him
Taking all our glory
Let's kick him out

'Who will say?'
'Don't look at me'
'He'll find out in a roundabout way'

We don't owe him anything
We don't need him anymore
Drop him cold now spread the lies
No-one even said goodbye

Ice

I'm playing at ice
But I'm finding it hard
She didn't break the wall
She just caught me off guard

Chorus:
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes

I'm just a little bit sorry
But I haven't decided why
Could it be my memory
Or did I ever really cry

(chorus)

Fill my head with your false feelings
I can't trust anything you say
Today I missed a special friend
That never really cared anyway

(chorus x2)

Crime Of Passion

Streetcar is rusting
The tracks are all gone
You're far too trusting
But I won't take long
Old friends of someone
Lie dead in the street
The back scene director
Knows just who I'll meet

No visions of my life
Will flash past my eyes
I've waited thousands of years
For this prize
Someone is calling
But who's left alive
Just me and you dear
Please show some surprise
I've always been this way
Please believe me

Yellowed newspapers
Drift past empty cabs
Dead hotel bellboys
Dream of old men they've had
Ex-junkies in my house
Are all blue and green
Please don't cry. I love you
I'm not what I seem

Isn't it lovely
It's just you and me
I've never felt
So happy to be here
Look through my window
At the hole in my wall
Straight into my head
There's nobody at all

Do you think you can love me
I am no-one

If you were the only girl in the world
And I was the only boy
(repeat six times)

The Life Machine (Original Version)

Me I've just died
But some machine keeps on humming
I'm just an extra piece
Of dead meat to keep running
Why won't you let me die in peace
Why won't you let me die with
Some kind of honour
Why won't you let me die at all
I know
You've got your principles

My body lies immobile
I left it days ago
And me I watch from somewhere
As the loved ones come and go
I see them glancing at the switch
I hear them whispering 'maybe it's better that way'
I see the love turn into feelings
I know
Aren't quite the same

[A third verse was later added for the version on the Tubeway Army album.]

Critics

You could say I'm pretentious
You could say I'm the nazz
You could hail me as the new king of it all
You could say I'm nothing new
You could speak well of me
You could say it's already been done before

What will you make of my lines
What will you think I've said
What hidden secrets will you say are in my head

I feel you waiting for me
Waiting to dig my grave
I'm growing scared of everything you could say

Look in my eyes
There's no surprise at all
Critical mind
What will you find to say

Old faces in my wardrobe
So many I've not seen
Memories to look back on people I've been
Dead love on faded carpets
Nostalgia grows with time
I see your face in mirrors shadowing mine
I see your dirty finger
Marks are still on my wall
I can recall the time we tried it that way
In dingy hotel backrooms
Where paint cracks like your face
I must admit I have acquired the taste (?)

Stab my arm
With your synthetic feelings
You amaze me
I crave for you

You could say I'm pretentious
You could say I'm the nazz
You could hail me as the new king of it all

Do Your Best (Friends, Original Version)

See the strange boy
Keeping to the shadows
He's a very good friend of mine
I've seen you running from the ladies
Don't tell me you're not the kind
I've got the time if you've got the money
Mister you'll be pleased you'll see
We'll meet by the tubeway
As the screamer cries eleven
And you can have your way with me
You're gonna make me feel so old

See my one love talking to the pretty boy
I never did like her taste
My skin is rubber on a skeletal body
I'm physically going to waste
See my eyes and the tongue of a killer
I'm a humanoid logic machine
Don't touch me with your painted little fingers
'Cos I know where they've been
You're gonna give it all to me (?)

I must hide from a thousand grinning faces
All sucking from my crazy mind
Take a ride out in my imagery of ages
And heaven knows what you will find
I've no time for the chitter chatter ladies
I'm so busy trying to break this wall
Hear my words 'cos emotion now is leaving
You see I'm really not a human at all
And I don't think I wanna stay

Basic J

Jo the waiter spilling wine
Over some ex-friends of mine
In zero cafe number 9
What you gonna say this time

Basic J, say, are you new here

New ones walking down the stairs
Pretty young thing but no-one cares
Jo the waiter drops the tray
Do you always know your name

Jo the waiter smiled at me
Jo the waiter's company
I keep him in a book by my fireside
A drama is my perfect bride

Blue Eyes

Well you're pretty quick to say you love me
But I've met your kind before
So I took you twice on our first night
That doesn't mean I'm going to trust you too far

Chorus:
Love your blue eyes
When you cry
Love your blue eyes

You tried to make me crawl far too soon
But you should know me better by now
I didn't even feel like trying with you
I knew that I could break you somehow

(chorus)

O D Receiver

Heartbeat
I can't see you
Heartbeat
I can hear you
I feel you pumping just beyond my door
I know exactly
What you've crawled here for
Cringe down lower
You're all dressed in grey
Me, I'm still breathing
It's just not your day

I hear you whisper like an open grave
O.D. Receiver, I am all you crave
You're dying, crying, I can hear you fall
Your bony fingers scratching on my wall

O.D. Receiver

I hear you screaming, well at least you try
Me, I'm still smiling but I don't know why
I'd call a doctor if I had the time
But I'm so busy with this fix of mine

O.D. Receiver...


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