Pete Atkin sings
Nothing Left To Say

by Clive James and Pete Atkin,
from Secret Drinker

[Much more at www.peteatkin.com]
LYRIC:
The breakers from the sea that kept me sane
Were clean and lucid, all along the line
Like shavings tumbled upward from the plane
That leave with ease the surface of the pine
When the carpenter is planing with the grain
It's nothing
Nothing but a dream of mine

          And I have come to nothing in a way
          That leaves me with nothing left to say

Half a lifetime bending with the breeze
To buy the stuff I don't know how to use
A deck of credit-cards, a bunch of keys
A station I achieved but didn't choose
The screws are on and no-one beats the squeeze
It's nothing
Nothing I can't bear to lose

          And I have come to nothing in a way
          That leaves me with nothing left to say

The sea I dreamed of closes like a vice
Parading waves are frozen into place
Their veils of vapour scattering like rice
And far below, the ultimate disgrace
A mermaid crushed to death inside the ice
It's nothing
Nothing but a frightened face

          And I have come to nothing in a way
          That leaves me with nothing left to say