In a busy street, a man sits down
Oblivious to the traffic sounds
No chaos, no frenzied shrieking crowd
Thank God their silence, walking heads, bent down

Come when they saw us
Called it lethargy
The treadmill turns
There down below their feet

Should I pray for an end to come
Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly
Or cross the waves of an angry sea
Risking, risking and braving, braving
The shipwreck and the mutiny assailing, assailing

In a haunted doorway and from the light of day
See another life fall to ruin in pain
False smiles from even children it seems
Landlocked ground for empty and lost dreams

A league against me
I hear him say
It's not worth half the effort
Or the price you pay

Should I pray for an end to come
Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly
Or should I raise my face to the Heavens above
And tell God, dear God, stop jeering and jeering
As our human frailties and all our failings, are we failing?

Pound, pound on an endless street
Again and again the nightmare scene
All strained against the tightened rope
Not one with a lasting lingering hope

There's evidence
Everywhere you see
Put a quarter down at the newsstand
So that you can read

Should I pray for an end to come
Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly
Or should I raise my face to the clouds above
Entreating, entreating
Their mercy, some mercy

But as clouds will do, they'll rain down
First gently, gently and sweetly, so sweetly
Until they silence me
With a burst of thunder, thunder and lightning and lightning
And helpless landlocked screaming
I know god must be agreeing

It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part

Landlocked in screaming
God must be agreeing
To be helpless is the worst
Must be the worst part of watching
The worst part of watching

Writer : BILLY BRAGG, NATALIE MERCHANT
Copyright : Lyrics © CHRYSALIS STANDARDS, INC.