Artist: Brian Eno Album: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) {1974}

When I got back home I found a message on the door 
Sweet Regina's gone to China crosslegged on the floor 
Of a burning jet that's smoothly flying
Burning Airlines give you so much more

How does she intend to live when she's in far Cathay
I somehow can't imagine her just planting rice all day
Maybe she will do a bit of spying 
With microcameras hidden in her hair

I guess Regina's on the plane, a Newsweek on her knees 
While miles below her the curlews call from strangely stunted trees
The painted sage sits just as though he's flying
Regina's jet disturbs his wispy beard

When you reach Kyoto send a postcard if you can
And please convey my fond regards to Chih-Hao's girl Yu-Lan
I heard a rumour they were getting married 
But someone left the papers in Japan
Left them in Japan, left them in Japan, left them in Japan
Left them in Japan, left them in Japan, left them in Japan

These are your orders, seems like it's do it or die 
So please read them closely 
When you've learnt them be sure that you eat them up
They're specially flavored with burgundy, Tizer and rye 
Twelve sheets of foolscap - don't ask me why

We hit the jungle just as it starts to monsoon
Our maps showed no rainfall 
All the boys were depressed by this circumstance 
Trust in the weather to bless agricultural man
Who gives birth to more farmhands - don't ask me why

Fifteen was chosen because he was dumb, seven because he was blind
I got the job because I was so mean while somehow appearing so kind
Drifting about through the cauliflower trees with a cauliflower ear for the birds
The squadron assembled what senses they had and this is the sound that they heard

Back at headquarters khaki decisions are made 
File under futile
That should give you its main point of reference 
It's all so confusing, what with pythons and then deadly flies 
But to them it's a picnic - don't ask me why

Thirteen was chosen because of his luck, eleven because of his feet
One got signed up for exceptional pluck, another because he was mute
Roaming about through the gelatine swamps with a gelatine eye on the stripes
The squadron assembled what senses they had and this is the sound that they heard

Back in Blighty there was you 
There were milkmen every morning 
But these endless shiny trees never used to be that way
Back in Blighty there was you 
There were milkmen every morning 
But these endless shiny trees never used to be that way
Back in Blighty there was you 
There were milkmen every morning 
But these endless shiny trees

Well, I rang up Pantucci, spoke to Lu Chi
I gave them all they needed to know
If affairs are proceeding as we're expecting
Soon enough the weak spots will show
I assume you understand that we have options on your time
And will ditch you in the harbor if we must
But if it all works out nicely you'll get the bonus you deserve 
From doctors we trust

The fat lady of Limbourg looked at the samples that we sent 
And furrowed her brow
You would never believe that she tasted royalty and fame 
If you saw her now
But her sense of taste is such that she'll distinguish with her tongue 
The subtleties a spectrograph would miss
And announce her decision, well demanding her reward
The jellyfish kiss

Now we checked out this duck quack 
Who laid a big egg, oh, so black it shone just like gold
And the kids from the city
Finding it pretty, took it home and there it was sold
It was changing hands for weeks till someone left it by their pyre 
And it melted to a puddle on the floor
For it was only a candle, a Roman scandal, oh, oh, oh
Now it's a pool
That's what we're paid for, that's what we're paid for 
That's what we're paid for here
That's what we're paid for, that's what we're paid for 
That's what we're paid for here

I can think of nowhere I would rather be 
Reading morning papers, drinking morning tea
She clutches the tray 
And then we talk just like a kitchen sink play 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Living so close to danger
Even your friends are strangers 
Don't count upon their company

This is for the fingers, this is for the nails
Hidden in the kitchen right behind the scales
What do I care
I'm wasting fingers like I had them to spare
Plugging holes in the Zuider Zee
Punishing Paul for Peter
Don't ever trust those meters 
What you believe is what you see

In my town there is a raincoat under a tree
In the sky there is a cloud containing the sea
In the sea there is a whale without any eyes
In the whale there is a man without his raincoat

In another country with another name 
Maybe things are different, maybe they're the same

Back on the train
The seven soldiers read the papers again 
But the news, it doesn't change
Swinging about through creepers
Parachutes caught on steeples 
Heroes are born, but heroes die
Just a few days
A little practice and some holiday pay
We're all sure you'll make the grade
Mother of God, if you care
We're on a train to nowhere 
Please put a cross upon our eyes

Take me - I'm nearly ready, you can take me 
To the raincoat in the sky
Take me - my little pastry mother, take me 
There's a pie shop in the sky

Monica sighed, rolled onto her side 
She was so impressed that she just surrendered
She was moved by his wheels, she was just up from Wales 
He was fuelled by her coals and he was coming to catch her
Lose the sense of time, nail down the blinds 
And in the succulent dark there's a sense of ending
Joking aside, the mechanical bride 
Has fallen prey to the Great Pretender

Let me just point out discreetly, though you never learn 
All those tawdry late-night weepies 
I could make you weep more cheaply
As the empty moon enamels 
Monica with spoons and candles 
Bangs around without the light on 
Furniture to get it right on
Settled in a homely fishpool, hung with little eels 
Auden thinks that travel widens
Stay at home, the trout obliges

Monica sighed, rolled onto her side
She was so impressed that she just surrendered

There are tins, there was pork
There are legs, there are sharks
There was John, there are cliffs
There was mother, there's a poker
There was you - then there was you

There are scenes, there are blues
There are boots, there are shoes
There are Turks, there are fools
They're in lockers, they're in schools
There is you - then there was you

Oh, I'll burn my fingers, burn my toes 
Burn my uncle, burn his books 
Burn his shoes, cook the leather
Put it on me, does it fit me 
Or you - it looks tight on you

Burn my fingers, burn my toes 
Burn my uncle, burn his books 
Burn his shoes, cook the leather
Put it on me, does it fit me 
Or you - it looks tight on you

There are tins, there was pork
There are legs, there are sharks
There was John, there are cliffs
There was mother, there's a poker
There was you - then there was you

There are scenes, there are blues
There are boots, there are shoes
There are Turks, there are fools
They're in lockers, they're in schools
There is you - then there was you

I'll burn my fingers, burn my toes 
Burn my uncle, burn his books 
Burn his shoes, cook the leather
Put it on me, does it fit me 
Or you - it looks tight on you

There are tins, there was pork
There are legs, there are sharks
There was John, there are cliffs
There was mother, there's a poker
There was you - then there was you

Put a straw under baby, your good deed for the day 
Put a straw under baby, keep the splinters away
Let the corridors echo as the dark places grow
Hear Superior's footsteps on the landing below

There's a place in the orchard where no one dare go 
The last nun who went there turned into a crow
Turned into a crow, crow, turned into a crow 
The last nun who went there turned into a crow

There's a brain on the table, there's a heart in the chair 
And they all live in Jesus, it's a family affair

We are the 801, we are the central shaft
And we are here to let you take advantage of our lack of craft
Certain streets have certain corners
Sooner or later we'll turn yours

We are the 801, we are the central shaft
And thus throughout two years we've crossed the ocean in our little craft - row, row, row
Now we're on the telephone
Making final arrangements - ding, ding
We are the 801, we are the central shaft

Looking for a certain ratio 
Someone must have left it underneath the carpet 
Looking up and down the radio 
Uh oh, nothing there this time 
Looking for a certain ratio 
Someone said they saw it parking in a car lot 
Looking up and down the radio 
Uh oh, nothing there this time 
Going back down to the rodeo 
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh - here we go

We are the table, the captain's table 
Let's get it understood, let's get it understood 
We are the losers, we are the cruisers 
Let's get it understood, let's get it understood 
We are the diners, the final diners 
Let's get it understood, let's get it understood 
Most of us tinkers, some of us tailors
And we've got candlesticks and lots of cocktail sticks 
We saw the lovers, the modern mothers 
And they looked very good, they looked as if they could 
We are the neighbors, the nosy neighbors 
We think just like we would, we think just like we should

In the haze of the morning China sits on eternity 
And the opium farmers sell dreams to obscure fraternities 
On the horizon the curtains are closing

Down in the orchard the aunties and uncles play their games 
Like it seems they always have done
In the blue distance the vertical offices bear their names 
Like it seems they always have done
Clocks ticking slowly, dividing the day up
These poor girls are such fun
They know what God gave them their fingers for 
To make percussion over solos

China, my China, I've wandered around and you're still here 
Which I guess you should be proud of
Your walls have enclosed you
Have kept you at home for thousands of years 
But there's something I should tell you
All the young boys, they are dressing like sailors
I remember a man who jumped out from a window over the bay
There was hardly a raised eyebrow
The coroner told me this kind of thing happens every day
You see, from the Pagoda the world is so tidy

We climbed and we climbed
Oh, how we climbed 
My, how we climbed
Over the stars to top Tiger Mountain 
Forcing the lions to the snow 

We climbed and we climbed
Oh, how we climbed 
My, how we climbed
Over the stars to top Tiger Mountain 
Forcing the lions to the snow

We climbed and we climbed
Oh, how we climbed 
My, how we climbed
Over the stars to top Tiger Mountain 
Forcing the lions to the snow