Living in the Heart of the Beast
Henry Cow Lyrics

Situation that rules your world (despite all you've said)
Even though you may say otherwise, the situation you are in still controls your world

I would strike against it but the rule displaces…
I want to fight against it, but the system is too powerful and will displace me

There I burn in my own lights fuelled with flags torn out of books, and histories of marching together…
I am passionate and inspired, using history as a guide, but I am alone in my convictions

United with heroes, we were the rage, the fire.
When I was with other like-minded individuals, we were passionate and motivated to make change

But I was given a different destiny - knotted in closer despair.
Unfortunately, I am meant to suffer and feel hopeless, unable to achieve my goals

Calling to heroes do you have to speak that way all the time ?
Must we always speak in grandiose terms to inspire others to make change?

Tales told by idiots in paperbacks; a play of forms to spite my fabulous need to fight and live.
The stories written in books are often naive or misleading, making it harder for me to find the motivation to make change

We exchange words, coins, movements - paralysed in loops of care that we hoped could knot a world still.
We are stuck in cycles of meaningless gestures, unable to make any real progress towards improving the world

Sere words, toothless, ruined now, bulldozed into brimming pits - who has used them how? Grammar book that lies wasted: conflux of voices rising to meet, and fall, empty, divided, other…
Our words are useless and meaningless, and it is unclear how they have been used. A grammar book lies unused, representing the variety of voices that have failed to unite

Clutching at sleeves the wordless man exposes his failure : smiling, he hurls a wine glass, describing his sadness twisted into mere form: shattered in a glass, he's changed… Now dare he seize the life before him and discompound it in sulphurous confusion and give it to the air?
A man who cannot express himself in words tries to convey his feelings through breaking a glass, reflecting his sadness which he has twisted into something superficial. He is now attempting to embrace life, but it is unclear if this will be beneficial or not

He's rushing to find where there's a word of liquid syntax - signs let slip in a flash : "clothes of chaos are my rage !" he shrieks in tatters, hunting the eye of his own storm.
He is desperately looking for a way to express himself, using combinations of words and symbols to try and capture his inner chaos

We were born to serve you all our bloody lives labouring tongues we give rise to soft lies : disguised metaphors that keep us in a vast inverted stillness twice edged with fear.
We have been made to work our entire lives, pretending to be something we are not in order to fit in. Our empty language reinforces a stagnant and fearful existence

Twilight signs decompose us
Our lack of authenticity and sincerity has turned us into empty husks

High in offices we stared into the turning wheel of cities dense and ravelled close yet separate: planned to kill all encounter. Intricate we saw your state at work its shapes abstracted from all human intent. With our history's fire we shall harrow your signs.
From our privileged position in offices, we see how the city is designed to prevent genuine interaction between people. The government's actions are detached from human needs or intentions. We will use the fire of our passion for history to undermine their authority

Now is the time to begin to go forward - advance from despair, the darkness of solitary men - who are chained in a market they cannot control - in the name of a freedom that hangs like a pall on our cities. And their towers of silence we shall destroy.
We must begin to move forward and find hope to escape our current situation. In the name of freedom, we must dismantle the oppressive capitalist system that leaves so many feeling hopeless

Now is the time to begin to determine directions, refuse to admit the existence of destiny's rule. We shall seize from all heroes and merchants our labour, our lives, and our practice of history : this, our choice, defines the truth of all that we do.
We must reject the idea that our lives are predetermined and take control over our own destinies. We will take back ownership of our labor, lives, and history from those who exploit and profit from us. This act of defiance is the most truthful action we can take

Seize on the words that oppose us with alien force; they're enslaved by the power of capital's kings who reduce them to coinage and hollow exchange in the struggle to hold us, they're bitterly outlasting… Time to sweep them down from power - deeds renew words.
We must grapple with and refute the rhetoric used to maintain the power of those who benefit from an oppressive system. We will overthrow them and replace their hollow language and symbols with meaningful actions that represent our true goals

Dare to take sides in the fight for freedom that is common cause let us all be as strong and as resolute. We're in the midst of a universe turning in turmoil; of classes and armies of thought making war - their contradictions clash and echo through time.
We must take an active stance in the struggle for freedom and unite with others who share our goals. The world is in chaos and different ideologies are clashing, but we must remain steadfast in our commitment to creating a better future