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PROGRESS

by Adam Murphy

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1.
Lucky Dog 04:28
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Lucky dog Sniffing ‘round the garden Sniffing just for fun Living with nice people No need to fight or run Pleading cutie dog eyes Will get you hugged or fed Stretch out by the fire Then curl up in cosy bed Lucky dog Born with golden good looks Ears like lovely locks Chosen by loved children Adopted to their home All their wishes fulfilled And do they fully know Lucky dog I loathe you But I’d love to be you It must be great to be you See how I hate What I want to be Lucky dog Live long and die in peace No fear of being eaten How come you have it easy? While I get burned and beaten? Lucky dog They won’t hack down your tree home Poison trees and sea homes Pour concrete in your warren Make your whole world barren Pull the ice from ‘neath your feet Make your swamp a seething cesspit Lacerate your boghole Pity the poor frog and toad “I have cute kids too” Lucky dog Just watch out for the road
2.
Folks and Fishes 02:55
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Lovely lush and luscious lake Part of a lovely earthly place Lots and lots of fish in the lovely lake Full of life and nature’s ways Folks come around and fill their plates With lots and lots of fish from the lovely lake More and more folk for more and more fish More and more folk with a bigger dish More and more folk eat more and more fish More and more folk fill their plates More and more folk eat more and more fish More and more folk But then fewer fish Fewer fewer fish then fewer fewer folk Fewer fewer folk But then more fish More and more fish then more and more folk More and more folk Fewer fewer fish Fewer fewer fish Fewer fewer folk Fewer fewer folk More and more fish More and more fish More and more folk More and more folk Fewer fish Fewer fish – fewer folk Fewer folk – more fish More fish – more folk More folk – fewer fish Fewer fish – fewer folk Fewer folk – more fish More fish – more folk Then someone figures out How to catch all the fish in one go Aren’t we clever? Yes But no more fish
3.
Balls 02:52
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Balls balls we all need balls Or none of us would be here Balls balls without those balls There wouldn’t even be a here We live on a ball spinning on a ball Around a bigger ball that heats us all Days on a ball, nights on a ball Winter springs and summers fall Balls balls we all need balls They’re everywhere ‘round here Balls balls we all love balls To help have fun down here Drive on a ball, putt a ball Kick and throw and hurl a ball Pay to watch people catch a ball Play and pass – “Oh what a great ball!” All stuck to our ball, all fecking our ball Like a wrecking ball to our ball With nowhere else to live at all Will we ever cop on at all?
4.
Alarm 03:15
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Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling alarm bells ring Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling but no-one does a thing No rush to the door We’ve heard it all before Another cry wolf conspiracy theory bore Flat planet earth Untrodden moon Who hid the white elephant in the room? What room? Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling alarm bells ring Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling but no-one lifts a finger Oh of course you ought to know That they they in the know Pour out those theories like smoke So they all seem the same hoax jokes Screening the real sins They carry on under your nose Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling alarm bells ring Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling but no-one gives a fling It’s happened all before And it will again (fore!) Who knows where fore! And who know when Forewarned but ignored We all know the drill And it’s such a bore Substitute coffee smell False alarms working well Sleep-walk kings have us under their spell Lulling into another man-made hell But don’t get too uptight Might get hit by a meteor right? Don’t get too relaxed May never get you mojo back Ah shur ah shur ah shur….. Ah feck! Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling alarm bells ring Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling but no-one does a thing Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling alarm bells ring Dingalingalingalingalingalinga ling-ling Dingalingalingaling but no-one lifts a finger So much can go wrong Something is bound to It’s just a matter of how long?
5.
News Nut 04:22
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Heard the news today Boy was I afraid Cowered in my bed Covering my head Booted up my bot Same ol’s all I got Everyone enraged With bloody floods of hate Echo chambers roar Not like days of yore Then I began to starve With nothing I fancied here to carve So I slipped from ’neath the sheets Sneaked out to the streets Puzzled friends greeting me “Why the riot gear” “Oh did you all not hear? It’s time to feel the fear” “Oh dear” “The world is going to hell The few of us can tell We who gorge on gory stories They sell While you’re all cocooned In peace and warmth and food They’re saying that’ll change now soon Any day” “But our cocoon is good With panoramic views We can see the past And how fast we can ruin So we’ll take that peace (thank you) To grow and to include Whoever wants it too Those from who knows where So come on and take a seat And join us as we eat, drink And chew these things through As we’re free to do That is as it should be The more the merrier The future’s up to me and you”
6.
The Obscurant 03:15
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In spite of you, in spite of you, in spite of you And your obscurant ruse We have moved on to better days In spite of you, in spite of you, in spite of you And your inhuman views Slaves are freed, walls are down Wars recede, diseases eased No more trials by ordeal In spite of you, in spite of you, in spite of you And your feudal deeds Some ideals have come true Children are fed and healed Raised up out of dying fields By knowing people spreading growing seeds In spite of you And your discordant ways Millions mingle in daily peace Strangers passing in the street Just getting on in concurrent ease Can fall in love with whom they please You can maybe fool all the fools Even dupe yourself out of truth But there’s no cheating nature’s rules We can only play to improve Or lose In spite of you, in spite of you, in spite of you And your twisted view Women too get to choose Bigots are uncool Run the risk of being dismissed as fools Violence is not inevitable And poverty is not inescapable In spite of you, in spite of you, in spite of you We can still win Build on the best we’ve laid Clean up the mess we made Pool people of ideas To deal with what’s really real And cope with what’s to come Continue hope In spite of you
7.
Save Yours 05:33
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Where is our hero? Where is our saviour? We need one to answer our prayers We helplessly wait for our fabulous strongman To steer us to our promised land Where’s that and promised by whom among humans And what would you want them to do? Who do you serve and what do you deserve More than what is laid out here for you? Need some one to lead us, eternally feed us Our loaves and all wishes today Someone to believe in who says they believe us And save us from all of the ‘they’ The one with the vision to see all our phantoms And vows to sweep them away Who’ll bring us our scapegoats and let us at their throats And hide in his emperor’s clothes Deflect away shame, explain away blame on us Save us from tax on our brain Where is our father oh where is our führer Our king uncle comrade of steel To magic it simple, when bent say it’s straight Need someone like whatsit ‘The Great’ Most of those so-called ‘The Great’ were atrocious With a cold taste for innocents’ blood Driven by sadistic spiteful narcissism Empowered by desperate gulls Did deeds you’d excuse and deny and confuse So long as they weren’t done to you? Where are our prophets? Where are our miracles? Why are there no giants these days? We just want to get to our heaven forever Safe behind Eden’s big gates So where are our heroes? Where are our saviours? Needed especially In this day and age Why what is so special about you and your day? Isn’t this the age of ingrates? When heroes and heroines work ‘neath the radar No thanks to your myths and fairytales Ordinary curious humans who cure us And raise us by use of the brain Plain ol’ flawed humans now nameless, some famous Forgotten or lauded — they worked anyway That’s who to thank for what you enjoy So engage or stay out of the way We can all be heroes to those in the future By bequeathing a better place
8.
Memory Lane 03:28
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I'll take a trip down Memory Lane Whistle and sing all on my merry way Looking forward to going backwards to when Everything was simple so it should have remained Times were tough but we didn't complain Kept a stiff upper lip and stuck to our praying Now they have it too easy not enough grief or pain With war disease and famine all on the wane I took a trip down Memory Lane Laughing and singing on my merry old way I looked forward to going backwards to when Everything was simple and no-one was strange But something was different – it wasn't the same As the idle idyll I'd idealised in my brain A nation once again of homogeneous friends Didn't seem to be there. When was that again? I took a trip down Memory Lane Whistling and singing all those same old songs Looking forward to going back again To rosy sunny summers in the garden of even But I got a shock with the stink and the muck Twelve hour dour days of dangerous work Paradise lost where? Pastoral bliss when? Some things are missed but to most — good riddance I took a trip down Memory Lane To a time when everyone knew their place Looking forward to going backwards to when Choking mental chains meant no brain strain Most of the few free to think for themselves Only ever did think about themselves But some could see a better way to move the load And smoothed the road for everyone else I took a trip down Memory Lane To when we didn't have much but resisted change But when I got back to Memory Lane Nothing was as easy as the picture in my brain I tripped down Memory Lane Fascinating feeling but I'm glad I'm not staying I awoke from Memory Lane Cured of my nostalgia for our old pain
9.
All Home 04:44
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That’s it Enough is enough We’re full Can’t take any more Babies? Okay – all home! Okay – begone! Okay – off you go back To where you all began You! Go back to Mexico And you! Go back to Spain You belong to Angola “Oh but you dragged us here in chains” You! Go back to Poland And you! Back to Rome Go! Reclaim the holy land Tell whoever’s there these days to go roam Okay – all home! Okay – begone! Okay – off you go To where you once belonged You! Go back to India You! Back to Iraq “Hey but you came and ripped up our whole way of life Can we take our country back?” I am not an immigrant But a settler of course On a brave and holy mission To civilise by brute force Okay – all home! Okay – begone! Okay – off you go To where you all came from Have you no home to go to Well no — you set it aflame Well you can't stay here anyway Or we'll do the same to you again But I have lots of money Oh well come on in then my friend Ah shur it was just a jest So you're welcome in to spend and spend Okay – all home! Okay – begone! Okay – off you go To your place of origin You! Back to Ireland? No that is not your home You dirty Celts came in from foreign lands So now keep on going What about here above the Sahara? Or the Levant? No keep on going down Let's all go home to east of the Congo Because that's where we all belong Okay....to where we all began
10.
American Bang-Bang 03:57
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I’m an American, I’m and American I’m an American bang-bang…… Jesus came to town slinging a gun Speaking in his plain American tongue “Make yourself an enemy to hate Don’t let a mere woman or a black man take it away” I’m an American, I’m and American I’m an American bang-bang…… Jesus came to school slinging a gun Teaching fear and loathing to the young Said “shoot into others what you’re told they’ll do to you If you see the other cheek blast that away too” I’m an American, I’m and American I’m an American bang-bang…… Born in Bethlehem U.S.A. He moved to Jerusalem U.S.A. Sprayed all the Muslims out of their place Then turned it on himself with no other foes left to hate I’m an American, I’m and American I’m an American bang-bang…… God gave Moses the ten commandments But was overruled by a number two amendment The NRA élite shoot up the needle's eye To squeeze their lying greedy egos into heaven "it's our right" Because we’re American, we’re American We’re American bang-bang…… The gun-hugger takes his toy to bed With his little kiddie to protect his poisoned head Says "son become a cop so they can't make you stop And the don will tweet his thumbs up out his shithole with his plop” I’m an American, I’m and American I’m an American bang-bang……
11.
Don't Go Over That Hill 06:11
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We are we and ye are ye And we don’t like ye because we’re not like ye So it has to be that we must be better than ye We are from here and ye are from there I thank gods we’re from here ‘cos ye do things queerly While we are all decent and normal and fair We’re all the same like a monotone shade And we speak in one tongue, it’s straight and it’s plain And understood by everyone who counts Don’t go over that hill my darling Son those people are bad If they catch you they may kill you So you better draw first blood Don’t go over that hill oh baby Those people there are not real humans They don’t think or feel as you do And they’re very paranoid “But I met one on the ridge oh Daddy Said she’s told the same about us And what of those who live among us I suppose some of them are okay?” We are the we and they are the they And we are of here and they belong there And there they must stay unless they are our slaves Because we’re all the same – well we were till ye came And ye sullied the pool with your impurities Now it is time to get back to those good old days Don’t go over that hill my dearest Unless you want their stuff I hear that they have gold aplenty And we can never have enough Don’t be taken by their propaganda The just love to slander us Harden your heart to piteous faces They don’t deserve a chance in fact…. “Don’t even go there oh Daddy darling The jungle laws have changed Grow up out of the savage instincts Or that hate will drive you insane”
12.
Thin Airs 07:18
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“I don’t believe in luck” Said the big top entrepreneur That was before fate came and forever Condemned him into a state-of-the-art wheelchair “I don’t suffer fools” vainly said the drunk And “never apologise” That was the night before he was sunk Now he’s on his knees sucking humble pie “I hope I die before I get old” Bragged the fast-living, hyper, healthy guy That was long ago though before time took its toll Making him that bit more wise And it’s a thin line we walk along It’s a thin line lets us be “Those days of boom and bust are now gone” Declared dear old Mr. Brown Lesser fat cats jumped and now they’ve been dumped With all their high lives at once It’s a thin ice we skate upon A thin ice lets us deal “I don’t believe in democracy anymore” Said the conscientious disaffected young man That was Berlin in 1931 But things didn’t go as he’d have planned It’s a thin ledge we dance along A thin line lets us speak “I don’t care about politics, race or creeds” Said the educated modern sophisticate But when the lines between the tribes were made defined She gorged at the trough of torture, blood, guts and hate It’s a knife edge we teether on A thin line gives us peace “I care for people, not bees or trees” Said the axe-wielding once-ler profiteer That was before he could say no more As he and all these things had disappeared It’s a thin line we depend upon A thin layer lets us breathe It’s a thin ice we skate along A thin ice lets us eat It’s a knife edge we teether on A thin line lets us sleep
13.
Welcome to the First World 03:57
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Welcome, welcome to the first world I hope it’s going to last And it won’t be in the past yet The first world, welcome to the first world Come in peace and help to make it grow Welcome, welcome to the first world They say it’s going to burst Being saying that a long long time The worst would pull the ladder up Just ‘cos they were lucky to be here by birth Many times before They said we couldn’t grow Couldn’t feed or fit in any more The good news is they were wrong Together we got stronger So you’re welcome, welcome here kind stranger The danger that you flee Hope we never see again here In the first world, welcome to the first world Come in please and help to make us grow up In the dark old days of yore Poor Paddy left his shore Reaching out in search of something more Many times he’d find Doors thick with signs “No black or Irish dogs need apply” But minds have grown in time And we learned to welcome Welcome to the first world You who want to live Be part of take and give here In the first world, welcome to the first world Come in please and help to make us grow

credits

released October 12, 2020

ADAM MURPHY: vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, Fergal’s frog
RAY DIAMOND: lead guitars
SAM WRIGHT: bass
DAVID SHAUGHNESSY: drums
BELLA MURPHY: backing vox

All songs by Adam Murphy © 2020

Engineering: Ray Diamond
Recorded and mixed at Ray’s place
A MURPHY DIAMOND PRODUCTION

Cover art: Moira Macnamara
Design: Ann Kelly

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Adam Murphy Ireland

Adam Murphy was born and raised in Cork, Ireland, but is a long-time Galway resident after periods living and working in Europe, USA, and UK.
‘Progress’ is his ninth album of original material. Each collection has a discrete flavour and is a set of thematically linked pieces. His work has been aired regularly on RTE and other radio stations in Ireland and abroad, most recently in the Far East. ... more

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