1. |
Ghost Train (part 1)
04:01
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Since you ask me for a tale of such horror ‘twill curdle your very blood
Since you ask me for a fantastic mystery that will befuddle your mind
Since you ask me for rip-roaring adventures both to excite and amaze
Since you ask me for surprises you can not explain
Climb aboard - this is the scariest ride you’ve ever had
Climb aboard - you might not survive or you might just go mad
Climb aboard - we’ll take you to places you don’t want to go
Climb aboard - it’s not really an option, you can not say no (you can’t say no)
Each stop will take you around and about to another mysterious place
Each stop will take you to a fresh new mystery that surely will startle your face
Just sign right here so we can be sure you can’t claim that you haven’t been warned
I can see it’s already too late as you’re climbing on board
Climb aboard - there’s horrors galore they’ll make you terrified
Climb aboard - don’t bring your children, do not bring your bride
Climb aboard - we’ll take to places you don’t want to go
Climb aboard - try as you might you just can not say no
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2. |
Patient AB
06:08
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Please don’t be afraid at the sound of my voice
I know it must be shocking to hear me in your head
My friend and I we used to work at the hospital for children
And we would like to help you oh, we want to help you oh
To show you that we can be trusted to help
No doubt you think you’ve gone mad
(you have not gone mad)
Review these three pieces of new information
You could not have known before
(you’ll see we’re sincere)
Please take our advice as soon as you can
There is something very wrong and you need treatment now
Go to this address and ask for a scan, your brain is inflamed
And the people there can help you, they have skills to help you
We’re sorry that you’ve heard the worrying news
They’ve found a malignant mass
(try not to be scared)
We’ve heard that you’ve been recommended for surgery - and we agree
(we warned you because we cared)
We’re so pleased that we could be able to help you… goodbye
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3. |
Dream Fortune
05:12
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How long did you stand upon that bridge
Wondering if what you saw was true?
How long did you know you’d have to wait
Before a second dreamer came to you?
Tired from many days you’d walked the road to the middle of London Town
(you’ve been standing there three days now)
He gave the clearest vision of the buried treasure he had found
In your Swaffham garden ground
Dreamer you’ve been walking so long on your own
Hope grows stronger still though you’re worn to the bone
Let the family laugh and the onlooker groan
There’s a dream that a fortune couldn’t buy
How long did you dig that flipping hole?
Did you think you’d finally lost your mind?
You’d walked every mile back home again from the middle of London Town
(didn’t even notice the miles)
Your backyard forever blessed the town that watched you following your dream
(following your dream)
You literally followed your dream!
Dreamer you’ve been digging so long on your own
Faith was stronger still though you’re worn to the bone
Let the family laugh and the onlooker groan
There’s a dream that a fortune couldn’t buy
Never take for granted the time you can afford
Look at all you’ve learned in the miles that you’ve toured
Now you’re home again to see its old glory restored
It’s a dream that a fortune couldn’t buy
Dream on my dreamer
And your dream came true
It’s a dream that a fortune couldn’t buy
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4. |
Secret Passage
07:48
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Six from the left and two down, back in the study won’t you
Push on the wooden panel to find the space behind
Reveal the secret lever that opens up the floor
In the forbidden bedroom, back of the walnut wardrobe
Press top right in the corner, squeeze in the space behind
Swing back the board that opens into a hidden door
Iron staples in the rock face, some are rusty watch your step
Hold the torch between your teeth to keep your hands free
As we descend into the darkness
Where will this secret passage lead us? (the adventure has begun)
Into the ruined light-house or down the wreckers' way? (time for subterranean fun)
Where will this secret passage lead us? (where will it take us to?)
While there’s a story to be told, wait for adventure to unfold
Adventure will unfold
Back at the Dolphin Hotel, climbing the creaking stairway
Right up into the attic, inside our secret room
Who has the rusty key that unlocks the secret door?
Found a box of ageing papers, some are letters some are maps
Will we find the hidden clue that opens up the casement?
We descend into the darkness
Where will this secret passage lead us? (the adventure’s underway)
To an old castle on an island unexplored? (time for subterranean play)
Where will this secret passage lead us? (where will it take us now?)
There’s still a story to be told, and the adventure will unfold
Adventure will unfold
Free wheeling down the hillside, knapsacks on our backs (the dog can barely keep up)
No adult supervision for several weeks on end (we’ll stop for choc-ices soon)
Watching birds and trailing strangers, we’re lost in the catacombs
Crack another ginger beer, organise a rescue and be
True to each other, whatever happens always…
It’s the end of the adventure, escaped the crooks and foiled their plot
Sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, until this time next year when we descend into the darkness
Where did the secret passage lead us? (the adventure is all done)
Up to the lonely farmhouse and down to smuggler’s cove (no more subterranean fun)
Where did the secret passage lead us? (where did it lead us to?)
And now the story has been told and the adventure has unfolded right before your eyes
I hope the ending came as a surprise
Was it a surprise?
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5. |
The Incredible David
09:16
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It’s true that no-one’s boy is ever only just a boy but you had a wisdom even so
And no-one’s time is only ever theirs alone but you knew so much of long ago
(It should all have been so innocent)
Could it be no-one’s life is only ever just their own?
You were so excited on that day by ancient Roman digs
It was just as though your eye saw pathways into worlds gone by
But I couldn’t ever work out just how
(If they never led us to the old place would you even know the things that you knew?)
Through your life (who is the wonderboy?)
Gateways into worlds gone by (coming to us through time?)
That nobody would have known about now (coming to us through time)
Nothing I (who is the innocent?)
Could do about the way you cried (born with an ancient mind?)
Begged me to take you away from the past you
All but forgotten, family island stroll
Hearing the story, tapping along the hollow walls you give a name
(Is this some macabre game?)
No-one’s seen behind that cave (David don’t you dare)
Tell me why be so insistent? David don’t you dare
(You knew who was in that cave) David were you there?
(How come you were so insistent?)
How could you have known all the signs on the tiles for your brothers’ names
And the walls lived behind the exhibits of ancient graves all this time bore your code
It should all have been so pure and new
But your eye (who is the wonderboy?)
Saw pathways into worlds gone by (coming to us through time?)
And we could have never worked out just how (coming to us through time)
Through your life (who is the innocent?)
Gateways into former times (brought here with history’s mind?)
That nobody could have known all about now (brought here with history’s mind)
Nothing I (who is the wonderboy?)
Could do about the way you cried (come here to us through time?)
When I couldn’t tell what made you cry out from your mind
Pathways into worlds gone by that nobody could have found out about
It’s true that no-one’s boy is ever only just a boy
But mine had a story even so
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6. |
Nautilus
13:42
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i. The captain takes us down
Away from the world, away from the noise
The quiet, the dark, the joyous isolation
Leaving behind the land that has burned him
Leaving the system that took everything from him
Brooding beneath the waves, stewing under briny tides
His rage fermenting in the ocean depths and he just can’t forget
Belabouring there in self-imposed exile
Escaping terrestrial civilisation
Dwelling inside his darkest emotions
Shunning society as he roams the sea (roams the sea)
Absorbed in marine research (he must distract himself somehow)
Finding new worlds that none have seen
A voyage of science and discovery and exploration
The external lights have attracted a schooner
But he’ll take them on: the world’s best harpooner
Leads them a chase over leagues of wild water
They think they’re fighting an oversized narwhal
Drags them beneath the waves (we’re going to need a bigger boat)
They will surely be drowned
But just at the last moment they are pulled inside the metacular hull of a submarine
ii. A journey of discovery
At wonderful speed one hundred feet beneath the surface
The captain shows us round his ship (it’s all his own creation)
Although we’re prisoners something of the beauty of these sights
makes us feel quite free (electrically powered submarine)
The captain smiles “dive the boat, it’s time” he cries
Will we ever see the land again?
As we explore the long sunken vessels and coral formations
A crazed cetacean waves hello (hello)
Perhaps we will discover a giant sea-weevil or a new kind of zoophyte
Perchance we might find what became of Atlantis (transatlantic telegraph cable)
The captain speaks “set all of the controls due south”
“Let’s go where none have gone before”
The vessel dives and ploughs its way beneath the ice
We’re heading right down to the pole
iii Under the ice
We tried to tell him we don’t think we’ll get free
We tried to stop him but the ice refreezes behind us and now we’re stuck inside
(instrumental)
iv The Nautilus vs the giant cephalopod
(instrumental)
v. Escape from the maelstrom
We’ve escaped from the ice, escaped from a giant squid
Can there be anything left to escape from?
The captain has spied a war equipped vessel
From his own country and he’s going to take it down
The engines roar with power (there has to be another way)
We have set a collision course
Aiming for their hull we ram it at mighty speed
Timber and man dragged down (I don’t see how they can survive)
But the captain sinks deeper
Into his black despair as evil takes hold of him and embraces him
The captain cries “almighty God, enough, enough”
It’s time to take this to the depths
Into the maelstrom the submarine is slowly dragged
He’ll take us with him to our deaths
Time to be free from the madness of this maniac
We make a break for the escape
We launch the skiff and row with all the strength we have
Just as the nautilus is pulled inexorably down, down, down, down
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7. |
Ernő's Magic Cube
05:20
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It was born from an inspired mind
Stimulated by fine-art and design
The professor who used his time
To build the cube
To help students understand
First constructed with wood and rubber bands
The invention was in his hands
They made the Cube
(We love Ernő's Magic Cube)
Innovation of creation
Designer and visionary
Science, maths and problem solving technology
An Ideal Toy for world-wide acclaim
And they changed nothing other than the name
Everything else stayed just the same
About the Cube
Now God’s number has been construed
Thirty six years of processing time proves
That all you need is just twenty moves
To solve the cube
(We love Ernő's Magic Cube)
Three dimensional rotation
So much possibility
Variation, transformation through space and time
Forty-three quintillion combinations on the Cube
Lots of algorithms to help you to get in the mood
Yes it’s hard, but once you start there’s no way you’ll put it down
(Twist the hexahedron round, twist the hexahedron round)
Start the white cross on the top, then the corners round to match
Edges in the middle please, then the yellow cross and thatch
Was this all an accident, or is he a genius?
(Ernő is a genius, Ernő is a genius)
Ernő - twist that hexahedron round
(We love Ernő's Magic Cube)
Forty-three quintillion - two five two quadrillion
Just the three of trillion - two seven four billion
Four eight and nine million - eight five six thousand times
Combinations blow my mind - greatest toy of all mankind
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8. |
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Speaking to you from beyond the stars
This is the voice of Ashatar Galactic High Command
All of those lights you’ve seen in the sky
Those were a sign: we bring you peace and wisdom from on high
Please listen close to our warning words
The course you’re on will soon wipe out all life upon your world
We know it might seem quite frightening
Come join with us, it’s time for mankind’s great awakening
It’s the dawning of the new age of aquarius
A time of great peace and revolution for your race
Keep your mind wide, the chance won’t come again
The dawning of the new age of aquarius
Stand up and face down the evil
Don’t be afraid of the weevil
This is the end of war’s long reign
You must step forward into a higher evolution plane
Now is the time to learn to love
Peace and goodwill will help extend your reach to stars above
We look to you to advance mankind
Come venture forth and leave your violent savage ways behind (we will return)
We will return in one earthly year (we’ll see the change)
We’ll see the change, or else we’ll cause you all to disappear
It’s the dawning of the new age of aquarius
A time of great peace and revolution for your race
Keep your mind wide, the chance won’t come again
The dawning of the new age of aquarius
Stand up and face down the evil
Don’t be afraid of space weevils
The people wait, but they wait in vain
They never hear from Ashatar Deep Space Command again
Do they still watch from far away?
Do they despair? As earth descends to deeper disarray
And all the while we continue invent
Yet more subtle ways to destroy ourselves
Ghost Train (part 5)
Now that you’ve heard these tales of such horror, you’ve come to the end of the ride
Now it is time to open the doors and see who has come out alive
Now you’ve encountered these harrowing questions that must have inverted your brain
Why did you ever decide to get on this train?
Come on down - you’re looking quite green, are you feeling okay?
Come on down - I’m sensing you don’t want to go round again
Clamber off - we took you to places your mind couldn’t bear
Stagger off - you’re a gibbering wreck, you’re wracked with despair
The end is nigh - but we saved the dreadfullest story ‘til last
The end is nigh - we can never change, never learn from the past
The end is nigh - when faced with extinction, don’t seem like we can...
The end is nigh - curb man’s inhumanity to fellow man
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I Am The Manic Whale Reading, UK
We are a progressive rock band from Reading & London, UK. 3rd album out now.
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