All nerve endings shut down. Stiff lipped at the countdown. All systems are go, All systems are gough, All systems are ghosts. In a can, In a cupboard, In a submarine, There's nothing left inside. In a basket at the bottom of the guillotine Is where the sailor cried. He never said a word To the jury or the press And when the axe-blade bit his neck, "Set me free" is all he said. In a pixel, In a portrait, In a T.V. screen There's nothing left to hide. Stitched each instant by the firing electron beam, Let the camera man decide. And he never said a word To the jury or the press When the on-air light turned red, "Cut Away" is all he said. When she opened it up, She dropped her coffee cup, And when the cup hit the ground The whole damn house came stumbling down. Good by my memory. From this point on I'm unsettling. In Brooklyn we stay home.