Unrehearsed Lyrics & Chords By Peter Hammill

Time for the unrehearsed entrance,
show a leg you can break,
down the cocktail
while it's laughing at you for heaven's sake...
I can't be your protector
from these deliberate mistakes.
Between the "can't" and the "maybe"
a lifetime's hovering in the wings:
grasp the nettle, bite the bullet
push your own buttons and pull your own strings.
Name your poison
while you've got the power, 100 proof.
I can't be your protector
from self-neglect or abuse.
This is not a rehearsal
and fear is not an excuse.
And if you won't step out on the boards
you'll find your place already on the shelf –
you can only find the sum of your parts yourself.
Unprepared and unready,
is that an excuse or a point of view?
You can block out the words in anagrammatical sword play
but it's your own life you'll be running through.
Time to drink a cocktail
of your own invention for pity's sake
I can't be your protector,
I won't be there when you wake
to honour all the hidden intentions
in your deliberate mistakes,
behind your deliberate mistakes.
Deliberation could be mistaken for coldness of the heart;
Procrastination won't get you anywhere except aloof and apart;
what's the golden opportunity
you're hanging on here for –
isn't it just this?
Go! Start!
Unrehearsed and unready
that's what we are,
what we've all been cast into...
It's not four square, the beat's unsteady
but this is this
and making something of it's up to you.
An unexpected exit's always waiting
although you think it's something you'll bluff your way through.
Spit that wooden spoon out of your mouth
and eat up – the moment's long overdue.
Take your medicine
and face whatever the future brings
I can't be your protector,
can't keep you under my wing.
This is not a rehearsal,
this is the real thing,
this is the real thing.
This is for real.