Six Degrees of Taint

Near him With her Saw them There Near him With her Saw them There It started with a rumour and a finger on a sleeve You touched the thing that touched the thing And now you have to leave Someone said you had it Someone said it stuck Someone laughed and pointed Now you’re out of luck No one needs a reason No one needs it true The game is only working When the mark has moved to you It starts off in the playground Then learns to wear a tie Same old pointed finger With better reasons why Six-degrees-of-taint The-stigma-found-a-route Six -links-in-the-chain And-now-it-sticks-to-you! No guilt by conviction No need for a crime A chain is not an argument But it makes a lovely line Senator Tom had dinner With a man who knew a man Who played golf with someone oily Back in nineteen eighty-nine There was a photograph at breakfast There was a receipt for lunch There was a name beside a donor There was a very useful hunch By the time it reached the paper It had tightened into fact Not the sort that needs a witness Just the kind that can attach A chain is not an argument But it makes a lovely line Put enough names between them And the dirt begins to shine Six-degrees-of-taint The-stigma-found-a-route Six -links-in-the-chain And-now-it-staining-you! No guilt by conviction No need for a crime A chain is not an argument But it makes a lovely line You were singing on a small stage Someone ugly entered late Someone raised a hand behind you Now the room decides your fate You say you never saw it You say you never knew But the camera likes a background And the background sticks to you There are people in the picture There are people out of frame There are people near the people Who can lend you to the stain No one says you planned it No one says you led They only need the angle And the colour of the thread This is how the game works This is how it spreads One touch to the jacket One phrase above the heads One guest at the table One name inside a file One friend of a friend of a rumour One half-explained smile No verdict, just a vapour No charge, just a trace No centre, just a circle Closing round a face Near him With her Saw them There Named him Knew her Photo Share Near him With her Saw them There By morning there are questions By lunchtime there are links By evening there are people Telling people what this means You issue clarification You distance and regret You never had a friendship Only contact, briefly met But the stain has got momentum And momentum has a sound It keeps repeating contact Till the contact becomes ground The story does not prove you It only has to lean Six little steps of distance And a face beside a scene Six-degrees-of-taint The-stigma-found-a-route Six -links-in-the-chain And-now-it-cancels-you! No guilt by conviction No need for a crime A chain is not an argument But it makes a lovely line Six-degrees-of-taint The-stigma-found-a-route Six -links-in-the-chain And-now-it-cancels-you! No guilt by conviction No need for a crime A chain is not an argument But it makes a lovely line It started in the playground Then it learned to wear a tie Near him With her Saw them There Six degrees Six degrees Six degrees Of taint