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Outside Of the Inside Lyrics

God never listened to Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker lived in vain
Blasphemer, womanizer
Let a needle numb his brain
Wash away his "Monkey Music"
Damn his demons, damn his pain

What's the point of Albert Einstein?
What do we need physics for?
Heresy's his inspiration
Which side was he working for?
Curse his devious mathematics
Curse his deadly atom war

There's a message on the wind
Calling me to glory somewhere
There are signs too deep for the dumb
Like perfume in the air
And when I get to heaven
I won't realize that I'm there

Shakespeare, Isaac Newton
Small ideas for little boys
Add them to the senseless chatter
Add them to the background noise
Hard to hear my oratory
Hard to hear my inner voice

Van Gogh, Botticelli
Scraping paint onto a board
Color is the fuel of madness
That's no way to praise the Lord
Gray's the color of the pious
Knelt upon the misericord

There's a message on the wind
Calling me to glory somewhere
There are signs too deep for the dumb
Like perfume in the air
And when I get to heaven
I won't realize I'm there

I'm familiar with the cover
I don't need to read the book
I police the world of action
Inside's where I never look
Got no time to help the worthless
Lotus-eaters, mandarins, crooks

There's a message on the wind
Calling me to glory somewhere
There are signs too deep for the dumb
Like perfume in the air
And when I get to heaven
I won't realize that I'm there
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Cover art for Outside Of the Inside lyrics by Richard Thompson

I think this song is from the view of someone whose view of religion clouds a realistic view of the world, causing them to be judgmental and not seeing the value in certain people's great achievements, like Einstein, Shakespeare, Charlie Parker, etc. They miss the real glory and beauty of people on Earth in being so focused on the afterlife, and they take every blessing they receive on Earth for granted, not realizing that they are already in heaven.

@th1nk4y0urself In a 2004 concert Thompson said it was "a Taliban's eye view of the Western world". But I still have no idea what "the misery cord" that those grey pious people are kneeling on is. The Muslims I've asked have no clue either.

@th1nk4y0urself A misericord is a ledge projecting from the underside of a hinged seat in a choir stall which, when the seat is turned up, gives support to someone standing. Basically RT is making a play on words. The song is satirising the blinkered viewpoints of extremists of all kinds.

 
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