Fin de Siècle

Release Date

Aug 1998

Fin de Siècle is the sixth studio album and features the singles: National Express, Generation Sex and The Certainty Of Chance.

Generation Sex Generation sex respects the rights of girls Who want to take their clothes off As long as we can all watch that's ok And generation sex elects the type of guys You wouldn't leave your kids with And shouts "off with their heads" if they get laid Lovers watch their backs as hacks in macs Take snaps through telephoto lenses They chase Mercedes Benz' through the night A mourning nation weeps and wails But keeps the the sales of evil tabloids healthy The poor protect the wealthy in this world Generation sex injects the sperm of worms Into the eggs of field-mice So you can look real nice for the boys And generation sex is me and you And we should really all know better It really doesn't matter what you say

Thrillseeker When you hang by a thread Strange things go through your head What was in that woodshed? Will death be gentle? "Better to live one day Like a lion than a Thousand sheepishly" say Dead oriental I'm a thrillseeker honey, I can't help it I would kill for that feeling now I've felt it I'm a thrillseeker If you live by the sword You will reap your reward Death by faulty rip-cord or loose karabiner But it's my absolute right To kill myself if I like And now it looks like I might have finally succeeded And I don't care When they finally come I'll be stuck there like gum Frying under the sun Eggs over easy But it's my triumph of will Just to stay alive till They've spent several million trying to save me Albeit vainly I don't want their money I'm a thrillseeker honey, I can't help it I'd kill for that feeling now I've felt it It's the cruelest of hands but I've been dealt it I can see it, I can feel it, I hear it Here it comes...

Commuter Love Freezing Monday morning She is waiting for her train to come I brush past her, smell her perfume Watch her hair move as she turns to go She doesn't know I exist I'm gonna keep it like this I'm not gonna take any risks this time She's not like the others With their papers and their headphones on She reads novels by French authors with loose morals She can do no wrong I wouldn't say I'm obsessed I don't wanna see her undressed We can be prince and princess in my dream And we're dancing Through the evening till the morning She doesn't know I exist I'm gonna keep it like this I'm not gonna take any risks this time

Sweden I would like to live in Sweden When my work is done Where the snow lies crisp and even 'Neath the midnight sun Safe and clean and green and modern Bright and breezy, free and easy Sweden, Sweden, Sweden In Sweden I am gonna live in Sweden Please don't ask me why For if I were to give a reason It would be a lie Tall and strong and blonde and blue eyed Pure and healthy, very wealthy Sweden, Sweden, Sweden I'll grow wings and fly to Sweden When my time is come Then at last my eyes shall see them Heroes everyone Ingmar Bergman Henrik Ibsen Karin Larsson Nina Persson Sweden, Sweden, Sweden In Sweden

Eric The Gardener Julius Caesar came Saw, conquered, went away 'Cause it rained here all the time Too many sniffs and colds Got up his Roman nose So he left it all behind For Eric the gardener to find Eric the gardener Eric the gardener will find Eric the gardener Julius Caesar knew That when his life was through Something of him would stay behind Not in a Roman tomb Or an Italian womb But buried deep in English slime For Eric the gardener to find Eric the gardener Eric the gardener will find Eric the gardener Julius Caesar sleeps soundly beneath your feet With the rest of humankind Dig deep and dig some more Dig to the planet's core Dig 'til you've gone out of your mind But all you will ever find Is Eric the gardener All you can ever hope to find Is Eric the gardener

National Express Take the National Express when your life's in a mess It'll make you smile All human life is here From the feeble old dear to the screaming child From the student who knows that to have one of those would be suicide To the family man Manhandling the pram with paternal pride And everybody sings 'ba ba ba da...' We're going where the air is free On the National Express There's a jolly hostess selling crisps and tea She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks For a sky-high fee Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) But it's hard to get by When your arse is the size of a small country And everybody sings 'ba ba ba da...' We're going where the air is free Tomorrow belongs to me When you're sad and feeling blue With nothing better to do Don't just sit there feeling stressed Take a trip on the National Express

Life On Earth Build your coffin of balsa wood Spend all that you earn When you go you are gone for good Never to return Always to thine own self be true Not to fools like me Who'll change their minds for the sake of rhyming schemes Au revoir joi, bonjour tristesse Good times come and go Life owes nobody happiness Only pain and sorrow So don't rely on the starry skies Screw the universe You ought to try to live your life on Earth So au revoir joi, bonjour tristesse Good times come and they go This life owes nobody happiness Only pain and sorrow So don't rely on the starry skies Screw the universe You ought to try to live your life on earth I'm gonna try to live my life on earth

The Certainty Of Chance A butterfly flies through the forest rain And turns the wind into a hurricane I know that it will happen 'Cause I believe in the certainty of chance A schoolboy yawns, sits back and hits return While round the world computers crash and burn I know that it will happen 'Cause I believe in the certainty of chance And I believe I can see it all so clearly now You must go and I must set you free 'Cause only that will bring you back to me I know that it will happen I'm sure that it must happen Oh I know that it's gonna happen Because I believe in the certainty of chance

Here Comes The Flood Here comes the flood Rivers of mud, baby Here comes the quake Evacuate while you still can Here comes the fire Our funeral pyre, baby Here comes the flood Here comes the blood bath Here comes the fly Fifty foot high, baby Here comes the war More blood and gore Than you can stand Here comes the race From outer space, baby It's all over We're all gonna die If the good Lord had intended me to live in L.A. he'd have given me a machine gun. Still, here I am. Just another worried little citizen of this modern-day Pompeii waiting for the melt-down, the show-down, the great American close-down. When that fault-line that runs right through society's fabric finally snaps and the whole damn thing starts unravelling. Why watch the sports channel when you can watch CNN? Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatest race in history, the race to end all races, in fact the race to end history. In lane one, the San Andreas Fault. In lane two, global recession. In three, El Nino. In four, chemical war. Lane five, inter-racial conflict. Lane six, Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome. On your marks, get set, wait for it.......... GO! Here comes the flood Rivers of blood, baby Here comes the bomb It wont be long Till we're all gone Here comes the sun Run baby run, baby If you believe all that you read You'll know the end is nigh We're gonna die!!

Sunrise I was born in Londonderry I was born in Derry City too Oh what a special child To see such things and still to smile I knew that there was something wrong But I kept my head down and carried on I grew up in Enniskillen I grew up in Inis Ceithleann too Oh what a clever boy To watch your hometown be destroyed I knew that I would not stay long So I kept my head down and carried on Who cares where national borders lie? Who cares whose laws you're governed by? Who cares what name you call a town? Who'll care when you're six feet beneath the ground? From the corner of my eye A hint of blue in the black sky A ray of hope, a beam of light An end to thirty years of night The church-bells ring, the children sing What is this strange and beautiful thing? It's the sunrise Can you see the sunrise? I can see the sunrise It's the sunrising