Keeping Time

[Verse 1a] Hunched behind us at the back Raised up off the floor The riser now has fallen, we Shall see his like no more [Verse 1b] Clothes all wrong, hair too long Older than the rain We thought he would outlive us, we’ll Not see his like again [Chorus 1] And keeping time It’s all we’ve ever done Little did we know So selfish and so young We were keeping time For everyone [Verse 2a] Six pints down and at his best Like a metronome He’d sink another four and still He’d drive us home [Verse 2b] And then as tempers frayed in the lost decade We used a drum machine You only punch the data in the Once and wipe it clean [Chorus 2] And keeping time It’s all we’ve ever done Little did we know So selfish and so young We were keeping time For everyone With phasers set to stun [Middle] And as we give a three-guitar salute We hear a distant drum The ancient rain begins to fall And now the time has come [Chorus 3] Keeping time It’s all we’ve ever done Now I think I know It’s time that I’d begun And I’m not even sure That in the longer run We’ll be keeping time For everyone