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The Plan
Gary Numan never really intended these songs to be released. They were meant to give Beggars Banquet a rough idea of the songs that he had at the time, with his band Tubeway Army. Also, by the time these sessions were finished Gary had stumbled across the Mini Moog synth and begun work on an entirely new kind of music, making this punkier material outdated and unwanted by him.
This Is My Life
I'm not so sure
I still want more of this
I might not quite
Be behaving like I'm told I should
This is my life
Welcome to me tonight
I don't feel too
Glad to be here for sure
I'm not feeling any more at all
This is my head
This is my face
It's all my fault
This is my place
I don't really think I wanna stay
My Shadow In Vain (Original Version)
Stroll to the cafe
My God how time flies
And I close up my brain
And another friend dies
And me I'm just the same
Soaking up Broadway
Nightlife in Detroit
And I'd buy New York ladies
If these lights weren't so bright
And me I wasn't there
Stagger down Main Street
A knife in my side
I fall to the gutter
In tears but with pride
And me I'm not that kind
I've been searching for my shadow in vain
How can I be still while my lifeline remains
With him
Try to steal a needle
Bring peace to my head
And I'm stumbling down alleys
I find killers instead
and me I'm the cause of it all
Street corner women
Are taking their toll
Now they look at me, I'm dying
And I'm going home
Critics
You could say I'm pretentious
You could say I'm the nazz
You could hail me as the new king of it all
You could say I'm nothing new
You could speak well of me
You could say it's already been done before
What will you make of my lines
What will you think I've said
What hidden secrets will you say are in my head
I feel you waiting for me
Waiting to dig my grave
I'm growing scared of everything you could say
Look in my eyes
There's no surprise at all
Critical mind
What will you find to say?
Old faces in my wardrobe
So many I've not seen
Memories to look back on people I've been
Dead love on faded carpets
Nostalgia grows in time
I see your face in mirrors
Shadowing mine
I see your dirty finger marks are still on my wall
I can recall the time we tried it that way
In dingy hotel backrooms
Where paint cracks like your face
I must admit I have a quieter taste
Stab my arm
With your synthetic feelings
You amaze me
I crave for you
You could say I'm pretentious
You could say I'm the nazz
You could hail me as the new king of it all
Mean Street
My friends have
Been demoted to
Stay
Second class
Someone tells me
Reliable
Big brother will
Never last
Seems like I
Outgrew my station
Sweet young boys turning green
This is for your information
Mean street I'd love to see you cry
I'd love to see you die
I really don't know why
You let me down
Look at him
Taking all our glory
Lets kick him out
'Who will say?'
'Don't look at me'
'He'll find out in a roundabout way'
We don't owe him anything
We don't need him anymore
Drop him cold now spread the lies
No-one even said goodbye
Thoughts No. 2
Sometimes I feel
I live like a prisoner
But I don't know
If this really is pressure
Suprise you win
I'm lost as screamers roll in
Sometimes I feel
Like leaving this place I'm in
Faded film people dropping words
About the real things to say
Someone pulls me deeper
And tells me who I will be if I stay
A clever machine writes pretty words
For pretty boys
To sing to us all
We're all so grateful
My face you cry
And I show you my darker side
The night is yours
And I just switch off and hide
Cafe and sin
The wine's not to my liking
My face you cry
Oh why didn't I say come in
Frown in my eyes showing nothing
But surprise about you
And what are you thinking
About my life and
Her drinking to you too
A dying non-human writes unkind words
For unkind friends
And as for the tears, they'll never show
Asylum people calling on my door
From day to day
The image must fall
I've had my time
Bombers
Look up I hear the scream of sirens on the wall
I see a policeman crying in the back seat of a dying ford
Hotel waiters leave the bedrooms of stars who are far too old
And no-one ever told me that I could be so cold
Bombers flight at zero
Feet, feet
Bombers flight at zero
I see an old man knocked to the ground and beaten by the vicar's wife
And no-one stops to help they're far too busy tring to save their own lives
A tiny girl screams for mother and wanders out into the street
I saw her go down underneath a thousand people's running feet
Bombers flight at zero
Feet, feet
Bombers flight at zero
All the junkies pulling needles from their arms and hope it lasts the night
All the soldiers curse the day they joined the army and prepare to fight
In silent bars, in silent rooms, in silent cars, you hide where you can
And me I know just where you are, you see, I'm a bomber man
Bombers flight at zero
Feet, feet
Bombers flight at zero
Basic J
Jo the waiter spilling wine
Over some ex-friends of mine
In zero cafe number nine
What you gonna say this time?
Basic J
Say, are you new here?
New ones walking down the stairs
Pretty young thing but no-one cares
Jo the waiter drops the tray
Do you always know your name
Basic J
Say, are you new here?
Jp the waiter smiled at me
Jo the waiter's company
I keep him in a book by my fireside
A drama is my perfect bride
Basic J
Say, are you new here?
Ice
I'm playing at Ice
But I'm finding it hard
She didn't break the wall
She just caught me off guard
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes
I'm just a little bit sorry
But I haven't decided why
Could it be my memory
Or did I ever really cry
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes
Fill my head with your false feelings
I can't trust anything you say
Today I missed a special friend
That never really cared anyway
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes
Can you see ice in my eyes
Something's In The House
Memories lost in faded films of my life
And a friend that used to be something special to me
Red wine and good times if you don't feel at all
There is no point in going on tonight
Something's in the house
Something's on the stairs
War's in the air
The queer is out of order
And me, i'm on the ground
But that's no place to be
Jack Burroughs says 'What you doing?'
'Oh, me I'm going home'
'Oh what a shame'
Nothing has changed
And nothing is new these days
(I don't want to be here)
Friends
See the strange boy keeping to the shadows
He's a very good friend of mine
I've seen you running from the ladies
Don't tell me you're not the kind
I've got the time if you've got the money
Mister you'll be pleased you'll see
We'll meet by the Tubeway
As the screamer cries 'Eleven'
And you can have your way with me
You're gonna make me feel so cold
See my one love talking to the pretty boy
I never did like her taste
My skin is rubber on a skeletal body
And I'm physically going to waste
Feel my eyes and the tongue of a killer
I'm a humanoid logic machine
Don't touch me with your painted little fingers
Cos I know where they've been
You're not gonna put those scabs on me
I must hide from a thousand grinning faces
All sucking from my crazy mind
Take a ride out in my imagery of ages
And heaven knows what you will find
I've no time for the chitter-chatter ladies
I'm so busy trying to break this wall
Hear my words cos emotion
Now is leaving
You see I'm really not a human at all
And I don't think I wanna stay
Check It
Something isn't right
I get the feeling I'm not driving
Something hasn't quite
Taken over but it's trying
Oh, check it, check it
The question now is time
The hours pass so slowly
I know we're moving out of line
But that's the risk you're taking with me
Oh, check it, check it
I flicker like an old film - Black / White
I'm losing track of what's real - I know
My sense of timing's not quite - OK
Maybe I'll stay tonight - So so
Fadeout as in lose
My character is shrapnel
Broken by the views
Of men who claim to know all
There is to know
Check it, check it
Something isn't right
I get the feeling I am no-one
Something hasn't quite
Stopped me from being someone
Check it, check it
Something in the mirror - Check it
No photo by my bedside - Check it
My self-control is missing - Check it
I'll leave with your permission - Check it
Steel And you
It's so quiet and dark
And I shouldn't be here
This machine won't last
For always
Just my steel friend and me
I stand brave by his side
This machine is all
I live for
I can see in your eyes
You're not so sure about me
This machine is my voice
Please listen
It's so noisy and bright
And I just love being here
This machine will last
For my life
Out Of Sight
I don't wanna hear you talk
And I don't wanna go for walks
But I just wanna lay you flat
Well you think you're so good at that
I've got no time for your sad eyes
I don't care if you say 'Good-bye'
I don't really think that I want
Anything to do with you
Out of sight - out of mind
The radio continues round me
Blending faces glaring at me
How was I to telephone
Crawl away to end it all
Spiral staircase leads to nowhere
I can take you somewhere - who cares?
Dee-Dee's crazy as a model
I'd break your heart if I'd got time
Out of sight - out of mind
That's Too Bad
I look up and the camera eye is
Searching my room
The TV screen is calling me
But for what or whom?
Please, mister, do be careful
I'm so frgile
Maybe they'll let me down to
Speedy's place for a while
Oh, well that's too bad
I talk a lot, a sign of fear
I thought you should know
I can see pictures of me
Well they're so-so
I'll come on to the leader
Like I'm some hero
He'll laugh and raise his dying eyes
And then tell me to go
Oh, well that's too bad
1920 flashbacks
For an hour or more
Of crazy actors hiding
In the doorways top floor
Machines scream in anger
From a thousand dead ends
I turn my face, I crawl away
I look for a friend
Oh, well that's too bad
The Monday Troop
Final bow
In a disused music hall
Of laughter and mime
The airwave police
Were the only admirers
To admire
Sliding sideways in a rusty old ford
The driver's broken down
And the old girl screams
Walking through wrong dreams
Tall stories
Mobile TV
Radio
Nobody came
The station is abandoned
You search here for peace day
Some old man said
'Just do your best'
And I think passed away
And my shadow is never far behind
And I must find
Another role to play
Visit maskmaker
Please bend my mind
Someone. No-one
I really don't mind
Nobody cares
Crime of Passion
Streetcar is rusting
The tracks are all gone
And you're far too trusting
But I won't take long
Old friends of someone lie dead in the street
The backscene director knows just who I mean
No visions of my life
Will flash past my eyes
I've waited thousands of yeras for this prize
Someone is calling
But who's left alive?
Just me and you, dear
Please show some surprise
I've always been this way
Please believe me
Yellowed newspapers drift past empty cabs
Dead hotel bellboys dream of old men they've had
Ex junkies in my house are all blue and green
Please don't cry, I love you, I'm not what I seem
Isn't it lovely
It's just you and me
I've never felt so haappy to be here
Look through my window
At the hole in my wall
Straight into my head there's nobody at all
Do you think you can love me?
I am no-one
If you were the only girl in the world
And I was the only boy
The Life Machine
Me I've just died
But some machine keeps on humming
I'm just an extra piece
Of dead meat to keep running
Why won't you let me die in peace
Why won't you let me die with
Some kind of honour
Why won't you let me die at all
I know
You've got your principles
My body lies immobile
I left it days ago
And me I watch from somewhere
As the loved ones come and go
I see them glancing at the switch
I hear them whispering
'Maybe it's better that way'
I see the love turn into feelings
I know
Aren't quite the same
I see the men of learning
Pacing to and fro
But how can I expect
The sane to ever know
I'd rather die than have no mind
I know my brain is gone
'Damage beyond repair'
I see an empty shell below me
I know
I've had my time
Fadeout 1930
Fadeout 1930 era
I never really tried you out
Like all my friends that used to be
Just never had the time for me
You can change your colours
I'll just change my point of view
I'll live a lie to prove my point
Or I'll turn all my thoughts to you
Fadeout 1930
Keep a low profile
Strange how it gets around
Out of sight, out of mind
I look through me I'm out of mine
Everything I say, I've heard
And nothing's mine except my wall
Do you begin to see
There really is no me at all
Fadeout 1930
Please don't feel scared
Nothing's ever quite what it seems
I hope the sadness doesn't show
For I still cling to some old dreams
Private thoughts just to you
My head liked private ways
I never tried so hard before
I've really nothing left to say
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