The Undercover Man (Remastered 2021) Songtext
von Van der Graaf Generator

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

You still have time
You still have time
You still have time
You still have time
You still have time
You still have time