Mr. Sands - Van Der Graaf Generator

Soon as you like, ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats

In a moment there’ll be a test of your endurance

Stay in your chairs in the event of a dramatic pause

Please be aware nothing gets covered by insurance

One final thing:

Please take the trouble to read through your notes

It’s important that you know where you’ve got to go to

Wait a moment, maybe the usherette’ll show you

Such excitement, these are the hoops you’ve got to go through…

The noises off that turn you on stage whispered from the wings

A stifled cough, a joke that bombs, a smoldering fuse wire string

When Mr. Sands is in the house the alarm bells start to ring

Everything’s in code

In a world we barely know

And the truth is only slowly revealed…

With best intentions I have strayed far off the beaten track

And of attention I displayed a quite spectacular lack

Now Mr. Sands is in the house and the panic button’s smacked

Well, Mr. Sands is in the house: commotion in the stalls

And, from the gods, unruly shouts that echo round the hall

Yes, someone’s let the secret out… the safety curtain falls

And as I look across the stage the thought that first occurs

Is less that we have come of age and more that we’re preserved

To pass our time in different shades of ignorant reserve

Everything’s in code

Till the moment it explodes

We suspend belief, get ready to go

For the playout of the show —

Here it is for all we know

Mr Sands is always ready to roll