Here We Stay

Lyric by Clive James, music by Pete Atkin

There was a time when star-crossed lovers knew the form;
The groom and Principessa
The page and the Contessa
Made for Ostend or Odessa
These lovers fled away into the storm

There was a time when boxed-in sweethearts broke away:
By a marshalling of forces
A road-map just like Chaucer's
And an hourly change of horses
They did all of fifty miles in a day.

There was a time, but now that time is past
And though a man today can go so fast and far
His own shadow has to ride behind him in another car,
He knows that they will always find him
If he tries it any way except alone.
So he says this into the telephone:

     So here we stay.
     There is no "away" to run to:
     It's simpler than one two three.
     This is the way it has to be.

     And when we meet
     Though my silly head goes reeling
     They will have no way of feeling sure
     There's any more than meets the eye.

     All the ones who ever ran created legends,
     But when the legend ends
     With daggers in the back or Troy on fire
     It's a harsh light for the lineaments of gratified desire.

     So while you're near
     Try to keep your eyes from glowing
     And they'll have no way of knowing how
     Very much I need you here,
     You need me now.
Pete Atkin Discography