Brighton on the seafront is shining like a silver dollar in the sun
And she is dancing to the rhythm of the seagulls and imaginary bass drums
It is winter, should be colder but the gentle breeze is warm
All around her is her own hair like the breakers of some pre-raphaelite storm
I see Bassie Gracie, Brighton by the sea, hey Gracie
She plays reggae, she plays ska, she plays jazz,
she loves them all, hey Gracie

I am walking back along the sea front, back the way we've come
The sun's kiss grows weaker and I miss her but that doesn’t get me down
For the rhythm of her baselines entwine the ripped fabric of my mind
And every time I see those breakers I'll remember that pre-raphaelite storm
I saw Bassie Gracie, Brighton by the sea, hey Gracie
She plays reggae, she plays ska, she plays jazz,
she loves them all, hey Gracie

When you look at the sky and you say it's blue,
do you see the blue like I see blue?

For we only have words and the words won't do.
What colour is blue? It's the colour of the sky.
What colour is the sky? The sky is blue.

When you look at our love and you say it's true,
do you see true like I see true?

Do you see love the same way too?
You say you love me and I love you.  

But we only have words and the words won't do.

Pastel green and dusty brown
sun-bleached deck chairs wear a frown
frank exchanges round the town
long-fought fights that wear you down

The girls grow old and cut their hair
long walks succumb to a comfy chair
it's always truth in truth or dare
spring takes so long to reach the air

Every story is an ending
every grassy reed unbending
every fence in need of mending
every sorry face is pending

I hear the chime tonight of my ear's great inner bell

Its peal in thunderous harmony with the precision movement of my heart

The great wide arteries in flood sweep past and tell

Of lives lived long and fierce but only in part