Confidence - Peter Hammill

Behind the smile of confidence

Somewhere you’ll find the wanted man

Blank-faced and wary of conversation with himself

Around the ring of confidence

They’re dancing to a different tune;

The others seem so confident

Why don’t you take a leaf from the storm we’re passing through?

In confidence we sail across the seven seas

To hide behind the veil — in confidence the key!

«I'm in good form, I’m feeling fine,»

Responsibly how well you do —

There’s nothing I can say about

The usual cocktail of public faith and private taboo

In confidence the trick is there for all to see —

In confidence the key!

Oh, don’t anyone let the cat out of the bag

Don’t anyone admit to human frailty

Someone let the cat out of the bag

Confidentially we learn we’re not alone

In lack of confidence we’re not alone

In lack of confidence we’re not alone

Behind the smile of confidence

Somewhere you’ll find the mortal man

Waving his arms in some urgent secret semaphore…

So I’ll face the world with confidence

I’ll toughen up my point of view

What better way to live a life

What other way can there be of seeing this thing through?

In confidence the trick, in confidence the game

The thing that makes us tick —

In confidence the flame!

Inside the ring of confidence

Somewhere you’ll find a stone-age man

Lost in the forest with darkness falling

Striking his flint to hold back

The roaring, the alien, the world

We are not alone