I was running interference

I was coping with demand

And the litany of facts had me weeping on my back

As they all gathered in the yard

It got the better of me

That lyrical disdain

All the roses and the brass

And the discussions of the past

All that confusion in the rain

Thirty Seven Fishes in the snotgreen sea

Thirty Seven sugars in the old man’s tea

All the doves are here

And cooing love’s sweet song

Keep it all on lockdown till the doves have gone

..and god forbid that they should love me

And keep me company at night

God knows we all need a friend

And it’s as easy in the end

Just to erase or overwrite

Then a troubled intervention

By the broken, busted moon

But the smoulder in the wires

And the various small fires

Said it would all be over soon

Thirty Seven shovels gonna bury me

Thirty Seven windows where the doors should be

Everybody and his dog knows what went wrong

Count to Thirty Seven it will not take long

Thirty Seven fishes in the snotgreen sea

Thirty Seven sugars in the old man’s tea

All the doves are here

And cooing love’s sweet song

Keep it all on lockdown till the doves have gone

It’s a clumsy entertainment

All the hawks have got the floor

And the major takeaway

From that hideous display

We’re not eager to explore

One bloody thing after another

It’s numerical and clear

It’s just points upon a line

Which will disappear in time:

Nothing you can engineer

Thirty Seven sherberts and the band played on

Thirty Seven doves are cooing Love’s Sweet Song

Count to Thirty Seven as the wheels scrape round

Count to Thirty Seven and we all fall down

Thirty Seven fishes in the snotgreen sea

Thirty Seven windows where the doors should be

Thirty Seven’s hard enough to contemplate

Don’t know anyone who got to Thirty Eight…