Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Release Date

Sept 2025

Rainy Sunday Afternoon is the thirteenth studio album and features Achilles, The Last Time I Saw the Old Man and Invisible Thread.

Achilles I saw a man this morning Standing on a foreign shore From his eyes tears were falling As he made ready for war He shouted out a warning; You slew my sweetest friend And as sure as day is dawning His death will be avenged Was it so hard to die, Achilles So very hard to die? You know and I know not, Achilles So much the happier I You breached the walls of Troy, Achilles Slaughtered a thousand men Patroclus is destroyed, Achilles And can’t come back again I saw a man this morning Trudging through a muddy field From the sky a shell was falling With his name scratched in the steel Lend him your shield, Achilles Ask the gods to be his guide All he has is A Shropshire Lad With this poem scrawled inside Was it so hard to die, Achilles So very hard to die? You know and I know not, Achilles So much the happier I Look to the starry skies, Achilles Look to the silver seas They do not live or die, Achilles And neither do we I saw a man this morning He was turning fifty-three And his pampered mind was turning To thoughts of mortality One day I will be nothing Think how funny that will feel For we, the living Death is the Achilles Heel

The Last Time I Saw the Old Man The last time I saw the old man He was moving very slowly And he didn’t seem to know me His hands seemed so fragile and grey I was worried I might break them Showed him pictures but he didn’t understand The last time I saw the old man The last time I saw the old man He was talking very strangely In ever decreasing circles His eyes looked on landscapes afar Full of laughter and forgetting As we left the sun was setting on the land The last time I saw the old man

The Man Who Turned Into a Chair When I was a boy I couldn’t stop running I ran just to feel the wind in my face Then one day I said - I’m tired of running I think I might try staying in one place For a while He slipped off his Oxfords And picked up the crossword The man who turned into a chair He loosened his belt And he cursed second helpings The man who turned into a chair Out there was disorder, in here all was good A fine blend of corduroy, leather and wood And as evening slipped in His mind started drifting The man who turned into a chair I’d like to come back, come back as a Martin The Martins that fly down by the lock And if I come back, come back as a Martin I’ll swoop and I’ll dive, and I’ll never stop No I’ll never ever stop The change did not scare him He’d rather stopped caring The man who turned into a chair A fusing of diverse and disparate fibres The man who turned into a chair His wife didn’t notice till it was too late And she could no longer differentiate ‘Tween husband and wing-back Oh please, someone bring back my man He’s turned into a chair (Here I am Where? Here!) It cradled his thighs and it swaddled his soul No one was surprised when it swallowed him whole And there’s no return When you’re part of the furniture The man who turned into a chair The man who turned into a chair

I Want You Some people want to build a city Some people want to build a wall Some want a rocket ship to satisfy a dream Some people seem to want it all But I want you Yeah, I want you Oh, I want you Some people want to be Svengali Pulling on strings behind the scenes Some want to be like Machiavelli’s feted prince Rising to power by any means But I want you Oh, I want you Yeah, I want you You are what I want Some people want to meet their heroes Pay money just to shake their hand It must be oh so disappointing when you find They’re just a woman, they’re just a man

Rainy Sunday Afternoon Rainy Sunday afternoon I’ve just had a stupid little fight with my girl Funny how some days we’re not in tune with each other Rainy Sunday afternoon I try not to fixate on the state of the world I wonder if one day the doom and gloom will disappear And the men who rule by fear Will realise the error of their ways One rainy Sunday afternoon Rainy Sunday afternoon I feel like I’ve really got the weight of the world Sitting squarely on my two puny shoulders And I don’t know what to do I can’t even go and have a drink with my friends Funny how some days You can’t pretend that nothing’s wrong God I hope before too long We realise the error of our ways Before it’s all too late Yeah And the men who rule by fear Will realise… Rainy Sunday afternoon I’ve just had a stupid little fight with my girl And now that I think about it It might have been my fault I think it was my fault I guess it was my fault

All the Pretty Lights Out there in the darkness Just beyond my reach Broken little parts of A faded memory Three pyjama’d brothers Cross-legged on the floor Arguing which of us wanted Christmas to come more The playroom door swings open In come Mum and Dad They sit down on the sofa I get up on Mum’s lap We’re flying down to London town Now what do you think of that! And I saw all the pretty lights shining I looked at all the pretty lights out there I thought of all the other kids And if they felt the way I did And I could feel my little heart beating So many questions running through my mind As I looked at those pretty lights shining The family in the Big Smoke Snow and taxi cabs Was there snow? I don’t know It’s all mixed up with Peter Pan Oh battleships and waxworks Pantomimes, museums And finally on Regent Street The toy shop of my dreams! Everybody grows up Things can’t stay the same What I’d give just to relive A single hour again Childhood’s lost forever now But childish joy remains When I see all the pretty lights shining Just look at all the pretty lights out there Check out the faces on the kids They’re feeling the way you once did And I can feel my aged heart beating The terror and excitement intertwine When I look at those pretty lights shining I’m cross-legged on the floor At Christmas time

Down the Rabbit Hole There’s a country not so far away Where everything that people do and say Is upside down and back to front Logic there is redundant Two plus two equals five And apples fall upwards into the sky Come on let’s go Down the rabbit hole Follow me down the rabbit hole Come on let’s go Down the rabbit hole Follow me down the rabbit hole The world is black and white And we are always right We’ve gone too deep to turn back now Mr Bitter slowly slipped away We lost a little more of him each day First his feet then his legs Then his heart, then his head Until just one hand survived To wave his friends and family bye bye Come on let’s go Down the rabbit hole Follow me down the rabbit hole, yeah Come on let’s go Down the rabbit hole Follow me down Follow me down You better follow me down the rabbit hole

Mar-a-Lago by the Sea Mar-a-Lago by the sea An enchanted melody Mar-a-Lago, dare I dream That someday I will be Within your walls again All the sycophants and narcs All the cannibals and sharks A secluded paradise Of spies and cypress trees Mar-a-Lago by the sea Cheating losers on the greens Swapping wives for beauty queens Making turgid wedding speeches Entertaining fascist leeches Mar-a-Lago, how I miss The golden johns in which I pissed All that ostentatious wealth The paintings of myself When I was young and free LA, New York and Chicago Can’t compare with Mar-a-Lago A secluded paradise Where I should rightly be Mar-a-Lago by the sea Mar-a-Lago by the sea Mar-a-Lago by the sea

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter The heart is a lonely hunter Roaming cross a barren plain The heart is a lonely hunter Battling the wind and rain How far must we wander How long must we wait The heart is a lonely hunter And life is just a shadow play Life is just a shadow play A hand upon the saddle A picture in my mind A lean and hungry lurcher at my heel A quiver full of arrows A past to leave behind A future that has yet to be revealed The heart is a lonely hunter Roaming cross a barren plain The heart is a lonely hunter Battling the wind and rain How far must we wander Oh how long must we wait The heart is a lonely hunter And life is just a shadow play Life is just a shadow play

Can’t Let Go Instrumental

Invisible Thread I’m sewn into your collar You’re stitched into my heart And though I know you’ve got to go It’s tearing me apart You’re stitched into my heart Now go, spread your little wings and fly Smile, you don’t need a reason why Leave if you’ve got to leave, just know There will always be an invisible thread Between you and me I used to think that no one Could keep you safe but me That only I could guide you Through life’s crazy tapestry But now you’re guiding me So go, spread your little wings and fly Laugh, you don’t need a reason why Leave if you’ve got to leave, just know There will always be an invisible thread Between you and me An invisible thread between you and me Everything’s connected The fibres intertwine The birds and bees The flowers and trees And even you and I And when the time is right we go Spread our little wings and fly Sing, we don’t need a reason why Cry if you want to cry But this is not goodbye There will always be an invisible thread Between you and me An invisible thread between you and me