Throbbing Gristle: The old man smiled

The Old Man SmiledWill you die for me?Do you love me enough to give up your life?Standing here in the desertThe crumbling cityHow much do you love me?Can the world be as sad as it seems?At this the old man smiledSitting there in TangierScars running from his wrist to his elbowPerhaps Ill buy his book todayAnd I look at the boy with me hand on his thighAs I move to the bed in the cornerAnd he started to smileA plaintive smile of the boy as he lies on the bedAnd the old man smiled as hisPrick started to twitch twitch twitchAnd little drops felt out and fell to the floorAnd he looked to the sideWondering what to do with his knowledgeCold cold water in the bowl by the bed on the floor23 days and 23 hours of the dayAnd the old man smiled as the being swelled and the blood cameAs he stuck the needle in his armWatching the blood burning and turning in the glassWondering where hed be sitting tomorrowWondering which table his person would pass that daySitting in a caf in TangierAnd down to his cable came Captain ClarkHed worked on the ferry for 23 years and a dayTaking the junkies and the babies and the corpses to SpainLooking at the coffins in a line across the waterYou sink if youre deadCold cold waterA cloud up aboveAnd everyones equal if it rains on youAnd the old man smiledAnd his arm bent as he paid the billSo I walked round the cornerTo a room in the BoweryAnd the boy was bent double naked on the floorRubbing himself with some kind of creamAnd is this all a dreamLook at the blind menSitting in a row with white sticksTakking at the TV screenAnd they try to eat usBy the broken bedTheyre always madAnd Captain Clark welcomes you aboardFlight 23 from New York to MayamiAnd it crashes in a forestBurning bodies growing clodPeople spewing blood from their facesScreaming Why me? Why?And everyone says Im madAnd everyone says Im madThe always say Im madAnd I see myself in the gutter and the waterWith the water wing gangrene dangling myselfCos we really want to slaughterLooking wide-eyed and so confused at the wallIts gone on so long I wonder just who is hereCold cold waterCold cold waterAnd the old man smiled as he walked back to the cafDrinking coffee as his friends just stood aroundCan the world be as sad as it seems?Do you love me?With my knife against your throatIt could only be meYou would only do this for meAnd the old man smiledJust the same as beforeSlowly getting old arranging his thingsMaking business neat and tidySitting in a caf in TangierThats the way the world endsWith a whimper