Unrehearsed Songtext
von Peter Hammill

Time for the unrehearsed entrance
Show a leg you can break
Down the cocktail while it′s laughing at you
For heaven's sake

I can′t be your protector
From these deliberate mistakes
Between the can't and the maybe
A lifetime's hovering in the wings
Grasp the nettle, bite the bullet
Push your own buttons and pull your own strings

Name your poison while you′ve got the power
A hundred proof
I can′t be your protector
From self-neglect or abuse

This is not a rehearsal
And fear is not an excuse
And if you won't step out on the boards
You′ll find your place already on the shelf
You can only find the sum of your parts yourself


Unprepared and unready
Is that an excuse or a point of view?
You can block out the words in anagramatical swordplay
But it's your own life you′ll be running through

Time to drink a cocktail of your own invention
For pity's sake
I can′t be your protector
I won't be there when you wake
To honour all the hidden intentions
In your deliberate mistakes
In your deliberate mistakes
Behind your deliberate mistakes

Deliberation could be mistaken for coldness of the heart
Procrastination won't get you anywhere except aloof and apart
Wonderful opportunity you′re hanging on here for
Isn′t it just this? Go! Start!

Unrehearsed and unready: that's what we are
That′s what we've all been cast into
It′s not foursquare, the beat's unsteady
But this is this, and making something of it′s up to you


An unexpected exit's always waiting
Although you think it's something you′ll bluff your way through
Spit that wooden spoon out of your mouth
And eat up the moments long overdue

Take your medicine and face whatever the future brings
I can′t be your protector
Can't keep you under my wing

This is not a rehearsal
This is the real thing
This is the real thing
This is for real