di: Nicholas Currie (Momus)

In the 1970s
When everyone could do just what they wanted to
Sex was like a handshake between friends
But now that life and death and destiny
Are in you when you’re next to me
Tell me that you’ll love me ’til the end

And tell me you’ll be there if I ever find
I’ve only got one kidney left
And tell me you’ll be there
When I’ve only got one eye
And say that you’ll be there to care for me
When a wheelchair is my chair
You’ll be there upon the day I die

Enlightenment in the nowness of now
All we have is the nowness of now
Enlighten me to the nowness of now
All we have is the nowness of now

In the doctor’s surgery
I keep my fingers crossed
Because I know the cost
This test for positivity implies
Still I do this willingly
Because I want to know what I don’t want to know
Unthinkable thoughts are thoughts we have to try

So tell me you’ll be there
When my head’s on backwards
And my skin is turning green
And tell me you’ll be there
When my brain has turned to glue
And tell me you’ll still be my baby
When my guts are on the floor
And when I’m paralytic will you still be true?

In the eighteenth century
They said "We’ll shortly know all there is to know
All things will be clear to us one day"
Well I’m sick to death of optimism
Sick to death of the shit it drops us in
Will they find a cure for hope? No-one can say

But tell me you’ll be there
When I’m knocked out flat with a drip feed in my arm
And tell me you’ll be there
When the swansong starts to fade
And when a life supporting machine supports me in a coma
You’ll be there
And when I’m just a cabbage save me from the spade

So tell me you’ll be there
If I ever find
I’ve only got one kidney left
And tell me you’ll be there
When I’ve only got one eye
And say that you’ll still be my baby
When a wheelchair is my chair
You’ll be there upon the day I die

And tell me you’ll be there
When my head’s on backwards
And my skin is turning green
You’ll be there
When my brain has gone to sand
And tell me you’ll still be my baby
When my guts are on the floor
And when I’m catatonic, I’ll still be your man

Enlightenment in the nowness of now
All we have is the nowness of now
Enlighten me to the nowness of now
All we have is the nowness of now

So tell me you’ll be there
If I ever find
I’ve only got one kidney left (etc)

(da: Timelord, Creation Records 1993)