Flickering Flame
(Waters)

Words & Music : Roger Waters Published : Roger Waters Music Overseas Ltd / Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd Vocal & acoustic guitar : Roger Waters Keyboards : Jon Carin Guitar : Doyle Bramhall II Produced : Roger Waters & Nick Griffiths

The song has been rehearsed by Roger Waters and band prior to the 2002 world tour.
It was first played in front of an audience in Cape Town, South Africa on February 27th, 2002.
The song was earlier known as 'Flicker and Flame' and has also been referred to as 'I Shall Be Free'.
The lyrics differ a bit from live performances and printed versions. The lyrics below are the version sung on Flickering Flame

 

When my neurones conspire
To distract my thoughts
Away from divorce
And competitive sports
Back to the place
Where all rivers run to the sea
Then I
I shall be free
I shall be free

On a seesaw


In a strange land
The jackdaw sat
On the Cardinals hand
And the fiddlers played
And the planners planned
What would be

On a back seat


In a courtroom
Molly Malone sat with
Leopold Bloom
'Til the police came down
With a new broom
And swept them clean

Like Geronimo
Like Quinn the Eskimo
Like the Blackfoot
And like the Arapaho
Like Crazy Horse
I'll be the last one
To lay down my gun

And when the bell sounds for that final round

I'll be there
On the open road


In a bar room
A pick up band plays a new tune
When the coloured girl sings
I feel my heart bloom

When a new song
Strikes the right note
When a clearing sky
Saves an old boat
When an insight
Strikes the mote
From mine own eye

Like Geronimo
Like Quinn the Eskimo
Like the Blackfoot
And like the Arapaho
Like Crazy Horse
I'll be the last one
To lay down my gun

Just out of sight
Beyond the next range
I feel the heat
Of a flickering flame

On an African plain
By a thorn tree
My old friend Philippe
Is waiting for me
Que ce passe ce passe (???) sera sera
What ever will be
Will be
When a friend dies
And the tears rise
From that deep well
That never runs dry
And the women break their bracelets
And the men take their whisky outside

In a petit theatre
On the rue St Denis
The red velvet curtain
Draws back to reveal
The place where the dark side
Meets the angel and me
The angel in me

When my synapses pause
In my quest for applause
When my ego lets go
Of my end of the bone
To focus instead
On the love that is precious to me
Then
I shall be free
I shall be free