As we begin to recede
As we join the ranks ahead
We do not see the existentialists
We do not see the garage psychedelicists
We do not see the sun-belt shut-ins with the grand scale visions of beauty
We see showbands
We see showbands
Everywhere showbands

We do not see the blues rockers, or weigh up their integrity
We do not see the unkempt garments of literary renegades, flapping in the hostile winds of mid-last-century
We do not see the Kurfurstendamm, the quiet docks of Trieste or the squares of Catania
We see small places surrounded by modest but total emptiness, goodness incarnate once you've been there a while
We see ballrooms of romance turned to basic emporia and storehouses and ruins
We see showbands
We see showbands
Showbands