Brian Edward Cox, OBE (born 3 March 1968), is an English particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester.. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. He is working on the R&D project of the FP420 experiment in an international collaboration to upgrade the ATLAS and the CMS experiment by installing additional, smaller detectors at a distance of 420 metres from the interaction points of the main experiments.
He is best known to the public as the presenter of a number of science programmes for the BBC. He also had some fame in the 1990s as the keyboard player for the pop band D:Ream.
Cox was born in Chadderton, Lancashire. His mother was a bank teller and his father a junior branch manager; his grandparents worked in cotton mills in Oldham. He attended the fee-charging Hulme Grammar School in Oldham from 1979 to 1986. It is regularly said that he failed his Mathematics A-level with a D grade, however this is a low pass grade. He cites a lack of interest and fledgling band commitments as the reason for the anomalous result. He studied physics at the Victoria University of Manchester where he joined D:Ream, a group which had several hits in the UK charts, including the number one, "Things Can Only Get Better", later used as a New Labour election anthem. He already had experience of the music industry in the 1980s as a keyboard player with the rock band Dare.
(Cap D)
1720, new worlds on fire
got them sailors makin' money
with them guns for hire
Got that letter of marque
ye be grindin'
on the seas ye be free
to sinkin' what ye findin'
free traders sailin freighters
droppin cargo for dimes
to the islands, and their neighbors
then there's treasure to find
there be men of the law
who be quick on the draw
cause them nations
be impatient
or you exploitin' their flaws
(Admirality)
You know the score, navy vessels be patrolling the
shores
Can you dig it when our frigates be enforcing them
laws?
From the quays to the caves, yeah you'd better behave,
Cos when we battle on the seas the Caribbean's your
grave
Chorus:
(Cap D)
We're off to sail the burning sea
that's the life for me
We're off to sail the burning sea
lives of piracy
we're off to sail the burning sea
that's the life for me
(Admirality)
Agreed, ye damn fiend -
spark up that sea weed! Cos tonight we dine in hell
and from our mission we're freed!
(Cap D)
I be a pirate, there's no use to hide it
I've been sailin' burning seas
hearing pleas I can't deny it
I'm cuttin' Navies down
did a stutter?
Slice through your fleet
like they made out of butter
I like more than plunder
strike shores with thunder
I fight dirty on the grind
blow boards asunder
then send your whole crew under
I serve no flag, I head no king
sure to brag once we freed your bling
(Admirality)
Well pack it in cos taking rings be the least of yer
sins
Scurvy rhymes, dollar signs, Cornish pasties and cash-
I'll never fly the bones - blue's forever in fashion
Cos the sea is my heart, and my ship is my passion
(Chorus)
(Cap D)
I fight Dirty
you know,
I got that scurvy
kick a barrel at yer head
and knock you topsy tervy
push your head in the bilge
and give you a swirly
make a dive for the prize
you know I be that nervy
throw elbows for blows
you know how it goes
I'll kick you in the shin
and make jump with this flow
some fencers are notorious
for being laborious
with their balancing acts
they makin' battles victorious
Florentine
makes a mean cut on the scene
slicing all them sailors
on the aquamarine
the might and the fitness
a plight you can witness
the sight ends with quickness
a fight skill with sickness
(Admirality)
Bloody, Bold, and resolute
the brethren of the coast
shoot off a cannon salute
We live free, fight hard
and obey only fate
leave debris, like shards
fer yer pieces of eight!
You know you look swell, you look swell.
What's going on?
You know you look swell, you look swell.
What's going on?
You know you look swell.
You know you look swell.
You look it, you look it, you look it. Whoo!
You know the self self self is a burning house.
You know the self self self is a burning house.
You know the self.
You know the self.
So get out, so get out, go get out. Hey!
You look swell.
You look swell...
You burn it! You burn it!
You know the self self self is a burning house.
You know the self self self is a burning house.
You know the self.
You know the self.
into the pictures of my memories, you should be the only
one,my heart is bleeding everytime you leave, you should
be the only one,
chorus:
I saw your face and your burning eyes, it changed my
life,
in this cold, black daydream I saw your smile.....,
I saw you cry,
you saw me die,
awake......
verse:
here I'm sitting in the empty black, you should be the
only one,
and I am waiting for your coming back, you should be the
only one,
chorus.....
soon it ends behind the sky,
Running with the devil, racing thru the
Years, staring in the face of death, had
Way too many fears
Tried to move the mountain, only moved
The air, only finding rocks and there are
Windows everywhere
Thunder in the evening, fire in the sky,
Witches all around me, and I'm
Powerless and high
Later in the morning, sky is coming
Clear, all regrets are gone, and Jesus
Cries another tear
I found the answer in your burning eyes
Floating with a shadow, tumbling thru
The wind, swimming in the light as if I
Never really sinned
Tried to find the rhythm, crying in the
Rain, tried to fight the answer, but I
Fought'em all in vain
I found the answer in your burning eyes
A day may come and shower you with
Joy and happiness, the next day all you'll
See is pain and fear, you find your own
Nirvana and it's not for me to guess,