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 bu*ton'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 pa** 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