Our Geology Club

Lyrics

Austere

“Hundreds of deaths!?.... The figures you quote to me are, you know, I just don’t understand. Something’s gone wrong….Why is it happening now?”*

What in a letter left unread?
When the words left unsaid?
Why the cupboard left bare?
Behind the door, Top of the stair.
Where the cuts that have no cost,
The thought for those we’ve lost?
Compassion, after-thought.
These the lessons left untaught.

Throwing bread on the water
When the tide’s going out
Throwing bread on the water
Must be something austere……Austere.

Search for coins down the chair
Looking through the empty stare.
Taking steps to climb the hill
Empty thirst cannot be filled.
Filling forms to calm the fears
Hunger cannot quench by tears.
Alone in sadness, lost from care
Unanswered calls take us there.



Throwing bread on the water
When the tide’s going out
Throwing bread on the water
Must be something austere.

Their tough love…..offers no comfort in our arms.
“Something’s gone wrong….Why is it happening now?
Something’s gone wrong….Why is it happening now?”*

This, a frugal insanity
Measure of inhumanity
No necessary evil.
Who will care for the carer?
Who could forge something fairer?
Who would make change where change cannot be found?

Throwing bread on the water
When the tide’s going out
Throwing bread on the water
Must be something austere………..Austere.

*Professor Sir Mansel Aylward quoted in The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence (2024) John Pring Pluto Press