Oh you can tell a lot about a person By the books they read And I've been getting cold and colder through the aching years like a cold cup of tea And the skin on the milk is me A trial By which to test your mettle Oh magnetic, your frenetic fragmentary best Well, a life in pieces pleases many people But it's one that I detest So strip me of these prison greys And wash them in the pages of a book where fortune's favoured Because life can seem a labour But if to labour is to love Then it's your love that keeps me labouring And you can tell a lot about a person By the way they walk A studied swagger, lazy gait But which one's early Which one's late Oh and you can tell a lot But still we sometimes close our eyes And look for something where it's not So strip me of these prison greys And wash them in the pages of a book Where fortune's favoured Because life can seem a labour But if to labour is to love Then it's your love that keeps me labouring I'm sure if I could see the future I'd be buoyed by what I'd see I've never shirked a little sweat To work them demons Out of me There's so much that you can learn About a person From the books they read So fill your life with labour Let the muscles burn and savour Every ache and every pain that paves the way To something greater There's no life without love And there's not love without labour Love, there's no life without love And there's no love without labour No, there's no life without love And there's no love without labour No, there's no life without love And there's no love without labour