Roger McGough Quotes

19 Sourced Quotes

You will put on a dress of guilt
and shoes with broken high ideals.

Roger McGough
He thinks about his journey nearly done.
One day he'll clock on and never clock off
or clock off and never clock on

Roger McGough
Do people who wave at trains Wave at the driver, or at the train itself? Or, do people who wave at trains Wave at the passengers? Those hurtling strangers, The unidentifiable flying faces?

Roger McGough
Everyday I think about dying About disease, starvation, violence, terrorism, war, the end of the world. It helps keep my mind off things.

Roger McGough
By thus keeping one pace ahead of myself I need never catch up with the truth.

Roger McGough
The general at the radar screen
Rubbed his hands with glee,
And grinning pressed the button
And started world war three.

Roger McGough
There's the moon trying to look romantic
Moon's too old that's her trouble
Aren't we all?

Roger McGough
There is a mushroom cloud in the back garden
i did i tried to bring in the cat
but it simply came to pieces in my hand
i did i tried to whitewash the windows
but there weren't any

Roger McGough
… i stood up and
said it was a pity that the world didn't nearly
end every lunchtime and that we could always
pretend. …

Roger McGough
Let me die a youngman's death
Not a free from sin tiptoe in
Candle wax and waning death
Not a curtains drawn by angels borne
'What a nice way to go' death

Roger McGough
The general at the radar screen
he should have got the sack
But that wouldn't bring
Three thousand million, seven hundred, and sixty-eight people back,
Would it?

Roger McGough
Let me die a youngman's death
Not a clean & in-between-
The-sheets, holy-water death,
Not a famous-last-words
Peaceful out-of-breath death.

Roger McGough
May your poems run away from home
and live between the lines.
May they break and enter, assault and batter,
And loiter in the mind with intent.

Roger McGough
Flowers. Those free gifts laid out
on Mother Nature's perfume counter.

Roger McGough
And though poets I admire have published poems
Whose imperfections reflect our own decay,
I could never begin a poem; 'When I am dead'
In case it tempted Fate, and Fate gave way.

Roger McGough
Teach me, o Lord, to be permissive
the 'sixties way to save the soul
three leers for sexual freedom
let the good times rock'nroll.

Roger McGough
I wanna be the leader
I wanna be the leader
Can I be the leader?
Can I? Can I?
Promise? Promise?
Yippee, I'm the leader
I'm the leader.
Ok what shall we do now?

Roger McGough
When the bus stopped suddenly to avoid
damaging a mother and child in the road, the
young lady in the green hat sitting opposite
was thrown across me, and not being one to
miss an opportunity i started to make love

Roger McGough
When you are posthumous it is cold and dark
and that is why patriots are a bit nuts in the head

Roger McGough