the artilleryman returns

Singer:david essex

again

i was on my way to london

through towns and villages that

were blackened ruins

totally silent

desolate

deserted. man's empire had passed away

taken swiftly and without error

by these creatures who were composed entirely of

brain. unhampered by the complex systems which make up man

they made and used

different bodies according to their needs. they never tired

never slept and never

suffered

having long since eliminated from their planet the bacteria which cause all

fevers and other morbidities. halt! who goes there?

er - friend. be on your way. this is my territory. your territory? what do you mean?

wait a minute - it's you! the man from maybury hill!

good heavens! the artilleryman! i thought you surely burned. artillery man: i thought you surely drowned. have you seen any martians?

everywhere. we're done for all right. we can't just give up. course we can't. it's now we've got to start fighting - but not

against them 'cos we can't win. now we've got to fight for survival

and i reckon we can

make it. i've got a plan. we're gonna build a whole new world for ourselves. look

they

clap eyes on us and we're dead

right?

so we gotta make a new life where they'll never find us. you know where?

underground. you should see it down there - hundreds of miles of drains - sweet and clean now after

the rain

dark

quiet

safe. we can build houses and everything

start again from scratch. and what's so bad about living underground eh? it's not been so great living up here

if

you want my opinion. take a look around you at the world we've come to know

does it seem to be much more than a crazy circus show

but maybe from the madness something beautiful will grow

in a brave new world

with just a handful of men

we'll start - we'll start all over again - all over again - all over again - all over again

we'll build shops and hospitals and barracks right under their noses - right under their

feet! everything we need - banks

prisons and schools. we'll send scouting parties to

collect books and stuff

and men like you'll teach the kids. not poems and rubbish -

science

so we can get everything working. we'll build villages and towns and. and. we'll play each other at cricket! listen

maybe one day we'll capture a fighting machine

eh? learn how to make 'em ourselves and then wallop! our turn to do some wiping out!

whoosh with our heat ray - whoosh! and them running and dying

beaten at their own game. man on top again!

now our domination of the earth is fading fast

and out of the confusion the chance has come at last

to build a better future from the ashes of the past

in a brave new world

with just a handful of men

we'll start all over again

look - man is born in freedom but he soon becomes a slave

in cages of convention from the cradle to the grave

the weak fall by the wayside but the strong will be saved

in a brave new world

with just a handful of men

we'll start all over again

i'm not trying to tell you what to be

oh no

oh no

not me

but if mankind is to survive

the people left alive

they're gonna have to build this world anew

and it's going to have to start with me and you

yes!

i'm not trying to tell you what to be

oh no

oh no

not me

but if mankind is to survive

the people left alive

they're gonna have to build this world anew

yes and we will have to be the chosen few

just think of all the poverty

the hatred and the lies

and imagine the destruction of all that you despise

slowly from the ashes the phoenix will arise

in a brave new world

with just a handful of men

we'll start all over again

take a look around you at the world you've loved so well

and bid the ageing empire of man a last farewell

it may not sound like heaven but at least it isn't hell

it's a brave new world

with just a handful of men

we'll start - we'll start all over again - all over again - all over again - all over again. i've got a plan!

can't you just see it? civilization starting all over again - a second chance. we'll even build a railway and tunnel to the coast

go there for our holidays. nothing can stop men like us. i've made a start already. come on down here and have a look. in the cellar was a tunnel scarcely ten yards long

that had taken him a week to dig. i could have dug that much in a day

and i suddenly had my first inkling of the gulf between his dreams and his powers. it's doing the workin' and the thinkin' that wears a feller out. i'm ready for a bit of a rest. how about a drink eh? nothing but champagne

now i'm the boss. we drank and then he insisted upon playing cards. with our species on the edge of extermination

with no prospect but a horrible death

we actually played games. later

he talked more of his plan

but i saw flames flashing in the deep blue night. red weed glowing

tripod figures moving distantly - and i put down my champagne glass. i felt a traitor to my kind and i knew i must leave this strange dreamer. take a look around you at the world we've come to know

does it seem to be much more than a crazy circus show

maybe from the madness something beautiful will grow.