Human Being
tremulous and quivering such victims as there are
contend with emotions under skin
without wearing water wings
the strike against the stream
hopelessly believing they might swim

here they all come rushing down again
here they all come rushing down again
time has hardly swallowed up the evidence
how is it they say they did not know

that history grows up like a weed
doctrine pinned upon it
bars across the window destroy human being

static mind solidifies
can no longer flow
up against it's borders and unable to pay
much attention to...
human being, human being
human being, human being

when in doubt you turn to find a scapegoat on the wall
gaze into the mirror begging pardon
if everytime we tell a lie a little fairy dies
they must be building death-camps in the garden

Pacing back and forwards
conscience in a box
barred in from the sunlight getting pale
and losing every sense of...
human being, human being
human being, human being

the forces of oppression
forge links around the earth
ordering our faces to the floor
the wilful non-involvement
by hirelings of the crimes
is futile and inhuman as before

the sum of our best efforts
shouldn't lead us back to here
on the road to murder
where we can no longer admit to any
human needing, human feeling
human living, human loving
human fragile, human being

Notes
Lyrics written by Geoff Mann.
Released on the Fact And Fiction album;
recorded at Revolution Studios in 1982. Until shortly before the release of this album, this song was played
live with a faster chorus than on the album version. The latest re-release of the CD contains a demo version
with that faster chorus, recorded earlier in 1982. The lyrics of both versions are the same.
For the Mannerisms album, Pendragon
recorded a version of this song.