The Undercover Man lyrics

Song information

Artist: Van Der Graaf Generator
Album: Godbluff

Lyrics

(Hammill)

Here at the glass - all the usual problems
All the habitual farce
You ask, in uncertain voice, what you should do
As if there were a choice
But to carry on miming the song
And hope that it all works out right
Tonight it all seems so strange - my spirit feels rigid
My body deranged;
Still that's only from one point of view
And we can't have illusion between me and you
My constant friend, ever close at hand -
You and the undercover man
I reflect: 'it's very strange to be going through this change
With no idea of what it's all been about
Except in the context of time...'
Oh, but I shirk it, I've half a mind not to work it all out
Is this madness just the recurring wave of total emotion
Or a hide for the undercover man
Or a litany - all the signs are there of fervent devotion -
Or the cracking of the dam?

It's cracked; smashed and bursting over you
There was no reason to expect such disaster
Now, panicking, you burst for air
Drowning, you know you care
For nothing and no-one but yourself
And would deny even this hand which stretches out towards you to help
But would I leave you in this moment of your trial?
Is it my fault that I'm here to see you crying?
These phantom figures all around you should have told you
You should have found out by now
If you hadn't gone and tried to do it all by yourself

Even now we are not lost: if you look out at the night
You'll see the colours and the lights seem to say
People are not far away, at least in distance
And it's only our own dumb resistance
That's making us stay
When the madness comes, let it flood on down and over me sweetly
Let it drown the parts of me weak and blessed and damned
Let it slake my life, let it take my soul and living completely
Let it be who I am

There may not be time for us all to run in tandem together -
The horizon calls with its parallel lines
It may not be right for you to have and hold in one way forever
And yet you still have time
You still have time