R-102 · Long-playing record
The Last Broadcast from Earth
In the PACEX catalogue from day 4 of your tour.
The whole record, start to finish: seven tracks, both sides of the sleeve, the illustrated booklet and every lyric. Put it on and leave it on.
Tracks
Open a title for its lyrics.
01The Ministry of Hours5:54
[OPENING FOR BUSINESS] [SPOKEN ANNOUNCEMENT] Citizens are reminded: Morning begins at the appointed hour. Unscheduled thoughts must be declared. Personal time remains the property of the Ministry. [VERSE 1] I came beneath a painted sign At nine precisely, dressed in grey. A woman took my name and age And filed the rest of me away. She measured out my future years, She marked my hands in numbered ink. She said, "You need not choose a life. We save our citizens from choice." [CHORUS] At the Ministry of Hours, Every second has a name. Every minute turns a wheel, Every heartbeat feeds the frame. At the Ministry of Hours, Keep your eyes upon the wall. When the little red hand reaches twelve, You will answer when we call. [VERSE 2] They gave me seven doors to pass, A form for every door behind. One asked the colour of my blood, One asked the contents of my mind. A smiling man in polished shoes Said, "Freedom makes a worker slow." He wound the clock beneath my ribs And showed me where my feet should go. [CHORUS] At the Ministry of Hours, Every purpose has a place. Every citizen is useful When the number fits the face. At the Ministry of Hours, There is nothing left to fear. We have written your tomorrow. You have only to appear. [THE PROCESSING FLOOR] [FRAGMENTED VOICES] Name? Age? Occupation? Religion? Dependants? Previous convictions? Future intentions? Are you willing? Are you able? Are you suitable? Are you still there? [SPOKEN CLERK] Sign at the bottom. Do not read the reverse. [VERSE 3] I saw a boy from Section Three Come running through the paper rain. He cried, "The clocks are all asleep! The sun has stopped above the lane!" They held him gently by the arms. They told him daylight could not stall. Then somewhere in the building's heart A thousand clocks began to fall. [CHORUS] At the Ministry of Hours, Someone broke the central spring. Every minute lost its number. Every bell forgot to ring. At the Ministry of Hours, All the hands began to spin. And the doors they built to keep us here Would neither close nor let us in. [THE REVOLT OF THE CLOCKS] [SHOUTED VOICES] Your hour is finished! Your hour is finished! Your hour is - Finished. Finished. Finish. Finn - [FINAL VERSE] I climbed the stairs above the clocks And found no minister inside. A jacket hung behind a desk. A little fan revolved and sighed. Upon the wall, beneath the dust, One sentence waited, small and plain: "We built the Ministry of Hours Because we feared unmeasured days." [FINAL CHORUS] No more Ministry of Hours. Let the seconds lose their names. Let the minutes leave the wheels. Let the heart escape the frame. No more Ministry of Hours. Take your eyes away from the wall. When the little red hand reaches twelve, There may be no call at all. [CLOSING INDEFINITELY] [PUBLIC-ADDRESS VOICE, DAMAGED AND SLOWING] Citizens are reminded: Tomorrow has been... temporarily... postponed.
02The House Where Yesterday Lives5:52
[THE DOOR IN THE RAIN] [WHISPERED VOICE] I know this street. I know that gate. But the number on the door was never eight. [VERSE 1] I found the house behind the rain, The garden leaning through the wall. The windows watched me from the dark As though they knew I'd come at all. The key was cold inside my hand. The lock remembered how to turn. A hallway breathed my childhood name. Upstairs, a yellow lamp still burned. [CHORUS] In the house where yesterday lives, Nothing leaves and nothing gives. Every room retains a face. Every footstep keeps its place. In the house where yesterday stays, Dust lies softly on the days. Call my name from years ago. I will answer. I don't know. [VERSE 2] My mother stood beside the stove, Still twenty-nine and dressed in blue. She turned and said, "You're home too soon. Your father hasn't heard from you." A wireless played the evening news, But every word arrived reversed. The announcer named tomorrow's dead And then described the morning first. [CHORUS] In the house where yesterday lives, Every wound forgets, forgives. Every promise waits upstairs. Every silence sits in chairs. In the house where yesterday stays, Clocks grow flowers on their faces. Call my name from years ago. I will answer. I don't know. [THE ROOMS BEGIN TO TURN] [CHILD'S VOICE] This is my room. [OLDER VOICE] No. This is mine. [CHILD'S VOICE] Why are you wearing my face? [OLDER VOICE] Why are you waiting in my bed? [VERSE 3] I found myself at twelve years old Still drawing rockets on the floor. He looked at me without surprise And pointed toward the bedroom door. Behind it stood a field at noon, Its grass unmoving in the light. A distant figure crossed the sun And cast no shadow left or right. [BRIDGE: "THE PHOTOGRAPH] I held the family photograph. The faces changed beneath my thumb. My father vanished, then returned. My mother aged. The boy became - A stranger standing in the rain, A soldier waiting for a train, A voice that travelled through the stars, A child who never left the yard. [FINAL CHORUS] In the house where yesterday lives, Every life we might have lived Walks the passages at night, Turning handles out of sight. In the house where yesterday stays, We are guests of former days. Call my name from years ago. I will answer. Let me go. [THE HOUSE REMEMBERS] [LAYERED VOICES] You're home too soon. This is my room. Someone is coming. Your father hasn't heard. Why are you wearing my face? Call my name. Call my name. Call - [FINAL VERSE] I ran outside before the dawn. The garden closed behind my feet. The rain had stopped. The house was gone. No doorway opened to the street. But in my coat I found the key, Still warm as though held by a child. And from a window years away, I saw my younger self - and smiled. [TOMORROW AT THE WINDOW] [CHILD'S VOICE] Will you come back tomorrow? [ADULT VOICE] I think I already did.
03The Visitor6:09
[SIGNAL APPROACHING] Blue world... blue world... Your signal has crossed the dark. I have followed the music. I am entering your sky. [VERSE 1] I travelled where the clocks grow still, Past frozen stones and fields of night. I followed one electric voice That vanished underneath your light. Your oceans turned beneath my feet, Your clouds unfolded, white and slow. I came to ask one simple thing: What are you, and do you know? [CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Tell me what you think you are. You sing of love, you speak of fear, You call across the dark - and I am here. Blue world burning blue and white, Do you know yourselves tonight? I crossed the silence, cold and far, To ask you what you are. [DESCENT / RADIO FRAGMENTS] Weather at ten... Hold the line... This is your station... Are you receiving? Come home soon... [VERSE 2] I saw a child release a kite, A woman punch a factory clock. Two lovers argued by a train, While young men waited on the dock. I saw green uniforms at dawn, A dance floor shaking after rain. One hand was building something new, Another tore it down again. [CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Now I see how strange you are. You make a weapon, make a song, Then spend the night deciding which was wrong. Blue world burning blue and white, Every window holds a light. I crossed the silence, cold and far, But still don't know what you are. [THE INTERVIEW] I asked the soldier what you were. He said, "Ask me when I'm home." I asked the singer what you were. She said, "Listen when I'm gone." I asked the child what you were. The child looked upward... And asked me the same question. [FINAL VERSE] So I returned beyond your clouds With no report that I could prove. I could not call you wise or lost, I only knew that you could move. And in my ship, beyond your moon, One broken broadcast followed me: A little song, a human voice, Still reaching where it could not see. [FINAL CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Perhaps you do not know what you are. You sing of love, you speak of fear, You call into the dark - and we can hear. Blue world fading blue and white, Keep your windows on tonight. Somewhere beyond your nearest star, We're asking what we are. [FINAL TRANSMISSION] Blue world... Keep singing.
04The Boy at the Edge of Noon5:33
[SPOKEN INTRO] Mayday... Compass gone. Engine burning. Only sand. Then silence. [VERSE 1] I woke beneath a copper sun, My silver engine split in two. The sand had climbed across one wing; The smoke went straight into the blue. No road, no cloud, no moving thing, No shade to tell the hour by. Then from the white horizon came A barefoot boy against the sky. [CHORUS] Boy at the edge of noon, With the daylight in your eyes, I had fallen out of thunder; You had come to ask me why. Boy at the edge of noon, Where the earth and heaven meet, You spoke as though the burning world Were cool beneath your feet. [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK] [SPOKEN INTERLUDE] Hold your course... Your signal is breaking... Can you hear me? Come back... [VERSE 2] He pointed to the twisted guns And asked me what the metal meant. I said, "A pilot has his orders." He asked me where the orders went. I said, "I flew because they called. I stayed because my friends were there." He watched the heat above the dunes And asked, "Who gives orders to the air?" [CHORUS] Boy at the edge of noon, With the desert in your eyes, I could name the roads and rivers, I could read the changing skies. Boy at the edge of noon, I had charts for near and far, But nothing in my pilot's book Could tell me what we are. [SPOKEN BRIDGE] Are you lost? No. Then why did you come? You were falling. I was flying. Not anymore. The earth remembers water. Listen beneath the stone. [FINAL VERSE] He led me where the stones were black And made me listen to the ground. Beneath a rusted wheel and chain A hidden cup of rain was found. At dawn the distant engines came. They asked who led me to the well. No village stood for fifty miles; No footprints marked the place he fell. They carried me into the sky; Below, the wreck became a mark. And through my dead receiver breathed A small voice rising from the dark. [FINAL CHORUS] Boy at the edge of noon, Now the clouds are under me. I can chart the roads and rivers, Not the thing you made me see. Boy at the edge of noon, If your voice comes drifting through, I will leave one channel open So the earth can answer you. [WHISPERED OUTRO] The sky must not forget the ground.
05The Last Broadcast from Earth6:44
[THE STATION OPENS] [TECHNICIAN] Transmission tower standing by. Carrier wave is stable. All nations have surrendered their remaining frequencies. When the red lamp appears, speak clearly. There may be no second attempt. [VERSE 1] They built the tower on the hill Where seven roads had met before. They carried wires across the fields And sealed the windows, locked the door. The cities sent their chosen words, The oceans sent recorded rain. A thousand voices filled the reels, Then someone wiped them clean again. [CHORUS] This is the last broadcast from Earth. We cannot tell you what we're worth. We learned to measure sea and sky, But never learned the reason why. This is the last broadcast tonight. A little sound against the night. We do not know how far you are. We only know we found your star. [VERSE 2] The general brought a list of wars. The preacher brought a book of names. The merchant counted what remained. The scientist described the flames. A mother carried one small shoe. A prisoner brought a rusted key. A singer stood before the glass And said, "Perhaps the song is me." [CHORUS] This is the last broadcast from Earth. No single voice can speak our worth. We make a cradle, make a gun, Then teach our children which is one. This is the last broadcast tonight. Keep one receiver turned toward light. We do not know what answers are. We only know we found your star. [STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD] [SOLDIER] Tell them I was frightened. [MECHANICAL VOICE] Recorded. [WORKER] Tell them I built the thing that took my work away. [MECHANICAL VOICE] Recorded. [SCIENTIST] Tell them knowledge did not make us wise. [MECHANICAL VOICE] Recorded. [MOTHER] Tell them he was only nineteen. [MECHANICAL VOICE] Recorded. [CHILD] Tell them we looked up. [MECHANICAL VOICE, DISTORTED] Recorded. [VERSE 3] The boy who stood at noon arrived With rain still shining on his coat. He placed a warm and tarnished key Beside the words the others wrote. He said, "I found the house again. The rooms were full of lives untold. If something hears us after this, Do not believe we all grew old." [THE VISITOR REPLIES] [VISITOR] Blue world... I received your fear. I received your numbers. I received the names you gave your dead. But the signal beneath them was not fear. It was the sound of one voice reaching for another. [CHORUS] This is the last broadcast from Earth. Now someone knows that we had worth. Not for the towers or the flame, But for the voice that called a name. This is the last broadcast tonight. One human sound against the night. We do not know what futures are. But something heard us from a star. [THE HUMAN FREQUENCY] Morning begins at the appointed hour... This is my room... Someone is coming... Blue world... Call my name... Your hour is finished... Keep singing... [FINAL VERSE] We sent no flag into the dark. We claimed no kingdom in the sky. We sent the sound of ordinary hearts That lived a little while, then died. And if the signal fades before It reaches any distant shore, The act of calling through the night Has made us less alone than before. [FINAL CHORUS] This was the last broadcast from Earth. Remember neither rank nor birth. Remember windows burning bright Across one small and turning night. This was the last broadcast we knew. A human song was passing through. And somewhere past the nearest star, A voice was asking what we are.
06The Visitor · Alternate Take5:39
[SIGNAL APPROACHING] Blue world... blue world... Your signal has crossed the dark. I have followed the music. I am entering your sky. [VERSE 1] I travelled where the clocks grow still, Past frozen stones and fields of night. I followed one electric voice That vanished underneath your light. Your oceans turned beneath my feet, Your clouds unfolded, white and slow. I came to ask one simple thing: What are you, and do you know? [CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Tell me what you think you are. You sing of love, you speak of fear, You call across the dark - and I am here. Blue world burning blue and white, Do you know yourselves tonight? I crossed the silence, cold and far, To ask you what you are. [DESCENT / RADIO FRAGMENTS] Weather at ten... Hold the line... This is your station... Are you receiving? Come home soon... [VERSE 2] I saw a child release a kite, A woman punch a factory clock. Two lovers argued by a train, While young men waited on the dock. I saw green uniforms at dawn, A dance floor shaking after rain. One hand was building something new, Another tore it down again. [CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Now I see how strange you are. You make a weapon, make a song, Then spend the night deciding which was wrong. Blue world burning blue and white, Every window holds a light. I crossed the silence, cold and far, But still don't know what you are. [THE INTERVIEW] I asked the soldier what you were. He said, "Ask me when I'm home." I asked the singer what you were. She said, "Listen when I'm gone." I asked the child what you were. The child looked upward... And asked me the same question. [FINAL VERSE] So I returned beyond your clouds With no report that I could prove. I could not call you wise or lost, I only knew that you could move. And in my ship, beyond your moon, One broken broadcast followed me: A little song, a human voice, Still reaching where it could not see. [FINAL CHORUS] Blue world turning under one small star, Perhaps you do not know what you are. You sing of love, you speak of fear, You call into the dark - and we can hear. Blue world fading blue and white, Keep your windows on tonight. Somewhere beyond your nearest star, We're asking what we are. [FINAL TRANSMISSION] Blue world... Keep singing.
07The Visitor · Instrumental2:09
Instrumental.
Inside the sleeve
The booklet
Heard on AFVN