Rogue State (2007)

In the city of temples
They talked into the night
To take a small step forward
For the future of life

They stopped the clocks at midnight
And you made your strange demand
A call for special treatment
No one could understand

Its a standard rule of equity
The rich don’t get concession fare
So what example does it set
When the worst offender wont do its share

You made my country a rogue state
Post Kyoto Protocol
Now we’re firmly planted on
The axis of the unethical

Then you claimed a victory
Don’t know how you had the gall
It was not by force of argument
But by threat of withdrawl

Now your little loophole
Is a noose around our necks
A simple case of sabotage
The world wont forget

You didn’t believe the science
And spread outlandish lies
Written by your mates with
Dollar behind their eyes

You made my country a rogue state
Post Kyoto Protocol
Now we’re firmly planted on
The axis of the unethical

Ten years later
Opportunities we’ve missed
The Australia Clause caused
Policy paralysis

On the island of temples
My hopes are high
That however represents me
Will finally ratify

You made my country a rogue state
Post Kyoto Protocol
Now we’re firmly planted on
The axis of the unethical

Bali

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Halifax (2006)

Playing frisbee in the park, in a town where it doesn’t get dark, until late this time of year
The frisbee spins, my head it spins, the Coriolis force spins differently in this hemisphere
But some things are still the same, a pretty girl I want to know her name, a friend tells me she’s from Perth
So later at The Planet I tell her I’m also from the most isolated city on earth

On a small blue thing we sink or swim
I’d like to cast my vote in favour of staying afloat
You’re so down to earth you spin me all around

We overlapped just one day, later that week a hurricane came, a one in a hundred year storm
Its all changing at a faster rate, since climate passed through a magic gate in the year that I was born
And as each day takes its turn, we’re looking for something else to burn, to fuel our rushing around
It costs a fortune to send someone into space when there’s so much to live for right here on the ground

On a small blue thing we live with what we put in
I’d like to cast my vote in favour of staying afloat
You’re so down to earth you spin me all around

One year later we’re both home, she happens to live just up the road, we had a fling for a while
I love her simple elegance, her sexiness, intelligence, her firm but gentle style
Now I make maps and I like to move, but what is it I’m trying to prove, when there’s beauty so close to home
You don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to know that you reap what you sow

On a small blue thing it all comes round again
I’d like to cast my vote in favour of staying afloat
You’re so down to earth you spin me all around

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Little Scientist (2005)

And when the sums are finally complete
And she’s long gone
You will hear him cry
“I had it all there; so; within reach of my hand”

Two by four and six by eight, notice those rules don’t deviate
You can go with the flow, but you really should know
That the laws of gravity dictate, that direction is down
Unless you work, we all got work to do, so tell me what works for you?

Little scientist, look at what you’ve missed
Little scientist, the sadness of a perfectionist

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Bookends of Winter (2004)

My friends said that this could be the clincher
When you became my bookends of winter
I came when it was freezing, again when breaking up
One day I’ll go the distance, if I’m brave enough

Why do we measure things by loss?
You only lose if you never take the toss
Heads and hearts are flipsides in one big wishing well
My heart’s a tail and have I got a tale to tell

You remind me so much of someone who came before
Who told me that growing up is about closing doors

Didn’t Bob Dylan say not to think twice
There are many Bobs nodding their advice
I’m starting to notice a pattern in my life
Try and have your cake and eat it, you wont get a slice

You remind me so much of someone who came before
Who told me that growing up is about closing doors

You were the first to write me in a song
You spied a shelf on which we could belong
You said “Next time it should be me that gets to go”
I said goodbye and left an angel in the snow

You remind me so much of someone who came before
Who told me that growing up is about closing doors
You remind me so much of someone I used to know
Who told me that growing up is about letting go

Bookends of winter, bookends of winter, bookends of winter

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Young Assonance (1998)

Burning carcinogens stuck in paint, two fingers obedient in front of her face
Blackened keratin carves a thin line, perforated flesh hangs down on each side

Oh no no and don’t you go and make your self look the same

Waiting room magazine and what do I see? Before and After looking up at me
Before I want to take you home, I want to take you home before…

Drowning in makeup and pierced by conformity, teetering on heels so harsh on her feet
Shredding with nails red what’s not where it’s at, crossing of legs you know it puts stress on your back

Oh no no and don’t you go and make your self do the same

They all look pretty……. much the same to me