The words of one of my favourite poets, Ernest Dowson
Are quite often with me
"Non sum qualis eram"
"I'm... I'm not as I was"
And though as I know as well as you do
There is no point in arguing about the actual date
Or time of departure because I'd like to think there would be no good time
I hope you'll agree with that
Something that I urgently felt I ought to do or say
And one mustn't repine or give into self-pity about that
But at this moment I have to say
I feel very envious of someone who is young
And actively starting out in this argument
♪
In the meantime, we have the same job we always had
To say, as thinking people and as humans
That there are no final solutions
There is no absolute truth
There is no supreme leader
There is no totalitarian solution
That says that if you will just give up your freedom of inquiry
If you will just give up
If you will simply abandon your critical faculties
A world of idiotic bliss can be yours
♪
But we have to begin by repudiating all such claims
Grand rabbis
Chief ayatollahs
Infallible popes
The pedlars of surrogate
And mutant quasi-political religion and worship
The dear leader
The great leader, we have no need of any of this
And looking at them and their record
And the pathos of their supporters
I realise that it is they who are the grand impostors
And my own imposture this evening was mild by comparison
Thank you very much
♪
There is a guilt reserved for that fearful day
In great denial, I will say no more
I will reserve that shame for the thieves and whores
In great denial, I will say no more
♪
There is a silence that comes eventually
In great denial, I will say no more
No longer a reason to laugh
But what do you have to lose
When you're pissing into the wind?