Thick as a Brick
[PART ONE]
[1. Really Don't Mind / See There a Son Is Born (0:00 - 5:00)]
[Verse 1]
Really don't mind if you sit this one out
My word's but a whisper, your deafness a shout
I may make you feel but I can't make you think
Your sperm's in the gutter, your love's in the sink
So you ride yourselves over the fields
And you make all your animal deals
And your wise men don't know how it feels
[Refrain]
To be thick as a brick
[Verse 2]
And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away
In the tidal destruction, the moral melee
The elastic retreat rings the close of play
As the last wave uncovers the newfangled way
But your new shoes are worn at the heels
And your suntan does rapidly peel
And your wise men don't know how it feels
[Refrain]
To be thick as a brick
[Verse 3]
And the love that I feel
Is so far away
I'm a bad dream
That I just had today
And you shake your head
And say it's a shame
[Verse 4]
Spin me back down the years
And the days of my youth
Draw the lace and black curtains
And shut out the whole truth
Spin me down the long ages
Let them sing the song
[Verse 5]
See there! A son is born
And we pronounce him fit to fight
There are black-heads on his shoulders
And he pees himself in the night
We'll make a man of him
Put him to a trade
Teach him to play Monopoly
And how to sing in the rain
[3:36 - 5:00 - Instrumental]
[2. The Poet and the Painter (5:00 - 10:29)]
[5:00 - 6:09 - Instrumental]
[Verse 6]
The Poet and the Painter
Casting shadows on the water
As the sun plays on the infantry
Returning from the sea
The do-er and the thinker
No allowance for the other
As the failing light illuminates
The mercenary's creed
The home fire burning
The kettle almost boiling
But the master of the house
Is far away
The horses stamping
Their warm breath clouding
In the sharp and frosty morning
Of the day
And the poet lifts his pen
While the soldier sheaths his sword
[Refrain 2]
And the youngest of the family
Is moving with authority
Building castles by the sea
He dares the tardy tide
To wash them all aside, oh
[7:21 - 9:21 - Instrumental]
[Verse 7]
The cattle quietly grazing
At the grass down by the river
Where the swelling mountain water
Moves onward to the sea
The builder of the castles
Renews the age-old purpose
And contemplates the milking girl
Whose offer is his need
The young men of the household
Have all gone into service
And are not to be expected
For a year
The innocent young master
Thoughts moving ever faster
Has formed the plan
To change the man he seems
And the poet sheaths his pen
While the soldier lifts his sword
[Refrain 2]
And the oldest of the family
Is moving with authority
Coming from across the sea
He challenges the son
Who puts him to the run
[3. What Do You Do When the Old Man's Gone? / From the Upper Class (10:29 - 15:54)]
[Verse 8]
What do you do when the old man's gone
Do you want to be him?
And your real self sings the song
Do you want to free him?
No one to help you get up steam
And the whirlpool turns you way off-beam
[11:52 - 13:16 - Instrumental]
[Verse 9]
I've come down from the upper class
To mend your rotten ways
My father was a man-of-power
Whom everyone obeyed
[Verse 10]
So come on all you criminals!
I've got to put you straight
Just like I did with my old man
Twenty years too late
[14:00 - 15:26 - Instrumental]
[Verse 11]
Your bread and water's going cold
Your hair is too short and neat
I'll judge you all and make damn sure
That no-one judges me
[4. You Curl Your Toes in Fun / Childhood Heroes / Stabs Instrumental (15:54 - 22:40)]
[Verse 12]
You curl your toes in fun
As you smile at everyone
You meet the stares, you're unaware
That your doings aren't done
And you laugh most ruthlessly
As you tell us what not to be
But how are we supposed to see
Where we should run?
[Verse 13]
I see you shuffle in the courtroom with
Your rings upon your fingers
And your downy little sidies
And your silver-buckle shoes
Playing at the hard case
You follow the example
Of the comic-paper idol
Who lets you bend the rules
[Verse 14]
So, come on ye childhood heroes!
Won't you rise up from the pages
Of your comic-books, your super crooks
And show us all the way
Well! Make your will and testament
Won't you join your local government?
We'll have Superman for president
Let Robin save the day
[Verse 15]
You put your bet on number one
And it comes up every time
The other kids have all backed down
And they put you first in line
And so you finally ask yourself
Just how big you are
And you take your place in a wiser world
Of bigger motor cars
And you wonder who to call on
[Verse 16]
So! Where the hell was Biggles
When you needed him last Saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen
Who always pulled you though?
They're all resting down in Cornwall
Writing up their memoirs
For a paper-back edition
Of the Boy Scout Manual
[20:23 - 22:40 - Instrumental]
[PART TWO]
[5. See There a Man Is Born / Clear White Circles (22:40 - 28:38)]
[Verse 17]
See there! A man is born
And we pronounce him fit for peace
There's a load lifted from his shoulders
With the discovery of his disease
We'll take a child from him
Put it to the test
Teach it to be a wise man
And how to fool the rest
[24:04 - 26:11 - Instrumental]
[Verse 18: Spoken]
We will be geared to the average, rather than the exceptional
God is an overwhelming responsibility
We walked through the maternity ward
And saw 218 babies wearing nylons
It says here that cats are on the upgrade
Upgrade? Hipgrave
Oh, Mac
[Verse 19]
In the clear white circles of morning wonder
I take my place with the lord of the hills
And the blue-eyed soldiers stand slightly discoloured
In neat little rows sporting canvas frills
With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention
While queuing for sarnies at the office canteen
Saying: "How's your granny?" and good old Ernie
He coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win
[6. Legends and Believe in the Day (28:38 - 35:13)]
[Verse 20]
The legends worded in the ancient tribal hymn
Lie cradled in the seagull's call
And all the promises they made
Are ground beneath the sadist's fall
[Verse 21]
The poet and the wise man stand
Behind the gun, behind the gun
And signal for the crack of dawn
Light the sun, light the sun
[Refrain 3]
Do you believe in the day?
Do you believe in the day?
[Verse 22]
The Dawn Creation of the Kings
Has begun, has begun
Soft Venus, lonely maiden brings
The ageless one, the ageless one
[Refrain 3]
Do you believe in the day?
Do you believe in the day?
[Verse 23]
The fading hero has returned
To the night, to the night
And fully pregnant with the day
Wise men endorse the poet's sight
[Refrain 3]
Do you believe in the day?
Do you believe in the day?
[33:37 - 35:13 - Instrumental]
[7. Tales of Your Life (35:13 - 40:37)]
[Verse 24]
Let me tell you the tales of your life
Of your love and the cut of the knife
The tireless oppression, the wisdom instilled
The desire to kill or be killed
Well, let me sing of the losers who lie
In the street as the last bus goes by
The pavements are empty: the gutters run red
While the fool toasts his god in the sky
[Refrain 4]
So come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year
And join your voices in a hellish chorus
Mark the precise nature of your fear
[Verse 25]
Let me help you pick up your dead
As the sins of the father are fed
With the blood of the fools and the thoughts of the wise and
From the pan under your bed
Well, let me make you a present of song
As the wise man breaks wind and is gone
While the fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose
And the nursery rhyme winds along
[Refrain 4]
So! Come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year
And join your voices in a hellish chorus
Mark the precise nature of your fear
See! The summer lightning casts its bolts upon you
And the hour of judgement draweth near
Would you be the fool stood in his suit of armour
Or the wiser man who rushes clear
[8. Childhood Heroes Reprise (40:37 - 43:46)]
[Verse 14 Reprise]
So, come on ye childhood heroes!
Won't you rise up from the pages
Of your comic-books, your super crooks
And show us all the way
Well! Make your will and testament
Won't you join your local government?
We'll have Superman for president
Let Robin save the day
[Verse 16 Reprise]
So! Where the hell was Biggles
When you needed him last Saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen
Who always pulled you though?
They're all resting down in Cornwall
Writing up their memoirs
For a paper-back edition
Of the Boy Scout Manual
[Verse 1 Reprise]
So you ride yourselves over the fields
And you make all your animal deals
And your wise men don't know how it feels
[Refrain]
To be thick as a brick