Wastelands (Alternate Version)

from Waiting for the Heave by Syd Kitchen & The Utensils

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lyrics

So where's the option?
You ask me with hope in your voice
I hate to tell you
but neither of us has got much choice
Somehow we've ended up
drifting on a stormy sea
Me clutching onto you
You clutching onto me
And it wouldn't even matter
if ours was liberal chatter
Nobody's listening out
for anguished cries
Nobody's paying much
for devious patter
Dished up
in the same old quaint disguise

Out here where it's real
We need a better deal
Every man should feel
life has purpose
No, never worthless
It's not funny any more
They've nailed up the door
with ridicule and scorn
We're guilty of being born
in a wasteland

What about my daddy
who fought in someone else's war?
He's got no friends left
waiting outside his door
How do you suppose he feels
now that his sacrifice made
doesn't pay enough for the children
to join the parade?
And it wouldn't even matter
if his was honourable chatter
Nobody's listening for
the truth these days
Nobody's paying much
for patriotic patter
Dished up
in the same old quaint rephrase

Yes, there's an option
and both of use know it's true
If we can break down these barriers
between me and you
Somehow keep looking out
for one another's needs
Put trust back on the table
and get up off our knees
Then maybe it could matter
Our collective chatter
Maybe we could take ourselves
home again
'Cause nobody's paying much
for second-hand patter
Dished up
as the same old quaint refrain

credits

from Waiting for the Heave, released February 14, 2021

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about

Syd Kitchen Durban, South Africa

Digital works from the archive of South African singer-songwriter and guitarist Syd Kitchen (1951-2011). Curated by Sharp-Flat Records.

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