A Century Of Elvis
We were sitting in the living room on the sofa, the wrong way round, looking out the window. It was quiet, and then in the car park across the road we saw Elvis - look, there beside the postman's van, and he was walking round the postman's van, looking in the open door. He looked as if he was thinking about getting in, but then the postman came back, and he swaggered off, walked past the window and down the stairs, and then at the bottom of the stairs right by the caretaker's office, he started licking the pavement. Every night now since we moved in that new house there's this noise outside the door at just about half seven or eight o' clock every night. And if we go and look outside the door, Elvis'll be standing there waiting to be let in. And then he wanders into the living room, maybe sits down on one of the chairs or even lies down on the floor. He doesn't say much, he just stays there for an hour or two, watching the TV. We talk to him a bit, and then around ten o' clock, he'll go away again, and not come back until the next night. There's a lot of lanes and stuff around here, around the house - although it's right in the middle of the city it seems quite like the country, it's dead hidden - safe I suppose, made for night living. There's a lot of squirrels and birds, and Stuart says he's seen about nine foxes there when he's jumped over the fence on his way to Byres Road. Sometimes you can go out walking, and when you've been out for a wee while even you don't know where you are anymore, so it would be pretty hard for anyone else to find you. I suppose that's why he spends so much time there, that's why he's come to live there, or maybe it's just the squirrels. I read about somewhere that he likes squirrels quite a lot. There's these two videos that we got for wedding presents - called the e-files, e-files one and e-files two about how Elvis is supposed to be still alive. And one time when he came round we were watching one of those, but he didn't say anything he just sat on the armchair. He was playing w
ith his collar a bit, and we watched it right through and then when it finished he just got up and walked off into the mist and didn't say anything. the first few times he came round I didn't speak to him at all, I wasn't really sure what to say. And Karen spoke to him quite a lot - she seemed to know what to do more than I do. He had quite a strange manner though, he'd go into your stuff and look through it, then he'd maybe pick something up and play with it for a wee while, but he'd never make any comment about any of it. Seemed pretty rude to me. I just watched whatever Karen did, and listened to how she talked to him and then, after a while I started to copy that, and tell him a few things, not really bothered about whether he responded or said anything back or not. I think the first time I spoke to him we were sitting up on the mezzanine and I said that I would tell him about me and wee Karen, and how it was that we'd come to be living there. I thought he probably liked the fact that we were living there
because he came round so much, so I thought he might want to know how it was that it came about. We did it all over backwards, I told him. First of all we got to know each other, and then a while after that we met, and when we'd known each other for about seven years we decided to have an anniversary, and that went quite well, so after the anniversary we had a honeymoon, and that went well too, so after that we decided that we would get married. That's why we're living there now. I used to think my dad was Elvis, but I haven't told him that yet. I haven't told my dad either...
*********************
*********************
A Century Of Fakers
There are people going hungry far away
They've got nothing on their plates
And you're filling your fat face with every different kind of cake
If you ever go lardy, or go lame
I will drop you straight away
That's the chance your gonna take
With every foolish thing you say
There are people going lonely, and they'll stay
Lonely far into the year
Because you're making blinkers fashionable
And fashionably you'll say
"All is equal in love and war" and
"I'm sorry, but I've got some things to do"
And you pretend to read a book you'll never finish till the day
That the author dedicates it
To A Century Of Fakers
They took your mould and they burned it on the fire in history today
Yeah, the author dedicates it
To A Century Of Fakers
He was an anarchist, he tried his best but it wasn't good enough
Did I say I would see you soon?
I'm sorry, but i just came off my bike
And my face is scarred
And chance has barred me seeing you tonight
I was over the other side of the city
And if the truth be known I'd say
You look great from there before you shaved your golden hair today
Everybody's trying to make us
Another century of fakers
They took your mould and burned it on the fire of history today
Everybody's trying to make us
Another cool decade of fakers
Another century of fakers
Everybody's trying to make us
Another century of fakers
********************************
A Space Boy Dream
I dreamt I had to go to Mars.
I'm always kidding on about going to Mars for the day
But faced with the reality of it, in a dream, i was terrified.
And it wasn't going to be like a moon trip
There was three of us going, but we couldn't all go on the same ship
We had to go one at a time with a day between us.
I had to go first, and it was the thought of passing through all that black space
All the darkness with nothing in it, and then being the first one to land there, all alone... I knew it was supposed to be all dark around, with just a red surface
But what if I got there and it was light, all civilised and populated and stuff?
So I made a plan.
The other two astronauts were going to be my dad and my sister
And my dad would come first after me
So i decided when i landed i would just stay in my seat until he got there
And then we could get out together and have a look around
And see what sort of things were there.
And when I woke up and I was lying in the darkness, I thought I had landed.
And I just lay still for a while, waiting for my dad to get there too.
************************
A Summer Wasting
Summer in winter,
Winter in springtime,
You heard the birds sing:
Everything will be fine.
I spent the summer wasting,
The time was passed so easily.
But if the summer's wasted
How come that I could feel so free?
I spent the summer wasting,
The sky was blue beyond compare.
A photograph of myself
Is all I have to show for
Seven years of river walkways,
Seven weeks of staying up all night.
I spent the summer wasting,
The time was passed so pleasantly.
Say cheerio to books now!
The only things I'll read are faces.
I spent the summer wasting
Under a canopy of
Seven weeks of river walkways,
Seven weeks of reading papers,
Seven weeks of feeling guilty,
Seven weeks of staying up all night.
Summer in winter,
Winter in springtime,
You heard the bird say:
Everything will be fine.
*****************************
Act Of The Apostle Part 1
Morning prayers took the girl unawares
She was late for class and she knew it
The broadcaster had a voice that was soothing
She couldn't tell if it was a man or woman
A patch of sun fell onto her desk
She put her head on her arms on her neck
The lesson today was Acts of Apostles
The crazy hippies, they're running scared
She shut her eyes and imagined the desert
No cars, no mobiles, just sun and bread
What would she look like standing by the well?
More like a women and less like a girl
“Oh, if I could make sense of it all!
I wish that I could sing
I'd stay in a melody
I would float along in my everlasting song
What would I do to believe?”
Later on she plays Morning Has Broken
She knows she's bad
She is slowing everybody down
The choirmaster, usually a bastard, knows her mother's sick
He'll be nice to her
She thinks that she shouldn't be there at all
Her worries make everything else seem trivial
“Oh, if I could make sense of it all!
I wish that I could sing
I'd stay in a melody
I would float along in my everlasting song
What would I do to believe?”
***************************
Act Of The Apostle Part 2
I'm bored out my mind
Too sick to even care
I'll take a little walk
Nobody's going to know
I'm in senior year
It gives you a little free time
I'll just use it all at once!
Took the fence and the lane
The bus then the train
Bought an 'Independent' to make me look like I got brains
I made a story up in my head if anybody would ask
I'm going to a seminar!
I'm a genius
A prodigy
A demon at Maths and Science
I'm up for a prize
If you gotta grow up sometime
You've to do it on your own
I don't think I could stand to be stuck
That's the way that things were going
The bible's my tool
There's no mention of school!
My Damascan Road's my transistor radio
I tune in at night when my mum and my dad start to fight
I put on my headphones
And I tune out
I am devout
The girls are singing about my life
But they're not here, they've got the wild life
If you want to find out, find out
You got to look them in the eye
That's why my only choice
Is find the face behind the voice….
She asked the man if the service was open
“Not today, just the choir from the radio”
“Couldn't I sit in? I've come all this way”
“Will you bugger off, I've got work to do.”
The city was losing its appeal
God was asleep
He was back in her village, in the fields
“Oh, if I could make sense of it all!
I wish that I could sing
I'd stay in a melody
I would float along in my everlasting song
What would you do? Would you believe?
****************************
Another Sunny Day
Another sunny day, I met you up in the garden
You were digging plants, I dug you, beg your pardon
I took a photograph of you in the herbaceous border
It broke the heart of men and flowers and girls and trees
Another rainy day, we're trapped inside with a train set
Chocolate on the boil, steamy windows when we met
You've got the attic window looking out on the cathedral
And on a Sunday evening bells ring out in the dusk
Another day in June, we'll pick eleven for football
We're playing for our lives the referee gives us fuck all
I saw you in the corner of my eye on the sidelines
Your dark mascara bids me to historical deeds
Now everybody's gone you picked me up for a long drive
We take the tourist route the nights are light until midnight
We took the evening ferry over to the peninsula
We found the avenue of trees went up to the hill
That crazy avenue of trees, I'm living there still
There's something in my eye a little midge so beguiling
Sacrificed his life to bring us both eye to eye
I heard the Eskimos remove obstructions with tongues, dear
You missed my eye, I wonder why, I didn't complain
You missed my eye, I wonder why, please do it again
The lovin is a mess what happened to all of the feeling?
I thought it was for real; babies, rings and fools kneeling
And words of pledging trust and lifetimes stretching forever
So what went wrong? It was a lie, it crumbled apart
Ghost figures of past, present, future haunting the heart
*************************
Asleep On A Sunbeam
When the half light makes for a clearer view
Sleep a little more if you want to
But restlessness has seized me now, it’s true
I could watch the dreams flicker in your eyes
Lying here asleep on a sunbeam
I wonder if you realise you fascinate me so
Think about a new destination
If you think you need inspiration
Roll out the map and mark it with a pin
I will follow every direction
Just lace up your shoes while I’m fetching a sleeping bag, a tent...
Another summer’s passing by
All I need is somewhere I feel the grass beneath my feet
A walk on sand, a fire I can warm my hands
My joy will be complete
I thought about a new destination
I’m never short of new inspiration
Roll out the map and mark it with a gin
Made my plans to conquer the country
I’m waiting for you to get out of your situation
With your job and with your life
All I need is somewhere I feel the grass beneath my feet
A walk on sand
A fire, I can warm my hands
My joy will be complete
**************************
Beautiful
She lay in bed all night watching the colours change
She lay in bed all night watching the morning change
She lay in bed all night watching the morning change into green and gold
The doctor told her years ago that she was ill
The doctor told her years ago to take a pill
The doctor told her years ago that she'd go blind if she wasn't careful
They let Lisa go blind
The world was at her feet and she was looking down
They let Lisa go blind
And everyone she knew thought she was beautiful
Only slightly mental
Beautiful, only temperamental
Beautiful, only slightly mental
Beautiful
She thought it would be fun to try photography
She thought it would be fun to try pornography
She thought it would be fun to try most anything
She was tired of sleeping
They let Lisa go blind, let Lisa go blind, let Lisa go blind
They let Lisa go blind
She's looking like a queen
But if you knew what's going on in her life
There'd be a thousand barren mothers there to talk to her
If you knew what's going on in her life
There'd be two hundred troubled teenagers to sit with her
And talk to her
If you knew what's going on in her life
What's going on in her life
There would be a documentary on Radio 4
She made herself a pair of orthopaedic shoes
She thought it was the answer to the fashion blues
She thought it was the answer to the fashion blues
But she walked with a limp
****************************
Belle & Sebastian
I left my school I left my job
You saw me looking like a slob
When I was young you were the only fun in town
Everyone thought it was a shame
For Belle and the boy Sebastian
Belle was ok but oh Sebastian
Went too far again
Crashed his car in the rain
He wants to love and he wants to care
But when the girls hear that they think he's so square
Sebastian for once just leave your troubles home
Sebastian for once just leave your troubles home
He goes to school around the way
The boys are queuing up to tell her she's a star
Poor Sebastian is heading for a fall
Everyone thought it was a shame
For Belle and the boy Sebastian
Everyone thought it was a shame
Belle was ok but oh Sebastian
Went too far again
Crashed his car in the rain
Oh Sebastian wrote his diary that
He would never be young again
But you will
Fellow, you are ill
You'd better take a weight off of your mind and listen
To what other people say
Cause things are going wrong your own way
***********************
Beyond the Sunrise
Joseph was travelling with a heavy load
His dreams were broken and deep sorrow flowed from his brow
Closer to sundown he prepared to rest
Set down the burden,
lay upon his chest
Then she came
Sir, come to me and I will keep you warm
Taste hope in my skin and faith with the dawn
You will rise
Beyond the sunrise that is where we live
Feeding our counsel and true comfort give
Travelling men
Joseph was sure the liquor had caused this dream
His eyes were sure that heaven was not her scene
She was no saint
Sir, come to me and I will keep you warm
Taste hope in my skin and faith with the dawn you will rise
*******************************
Big John Shaft
I'll make another movie
The same one as the year before
Take a tired idea
Put it in the hands of Hollywood
I need to talk to someone
I've been living someone else's life
I don't get no mail at my house anymore
My manager's my bride
I'm LEAVING on a jet plane
I'll see my baby soon enough
I won't take her to the movie
I'm worried that the lines become all blurred
I couldn't help but feeling something
When the boss told us to act that way
I'm ashamed of my profession
I would do the same again
I'll make another movie
Same one as the year before
I'm looking for a story
Something ludicrous to come up from the street
I won't play another heavyweight
I won't play another big John Shaft
Put me in a frock and leave me to recite
Maybe my career will die
*************************
Black And White Unite
In the summer all the hikers hike out for the highest peaks
All the children watch the cricket and they never wash for weeks
In the surbubs young protestors write "Black And White Unite"
They're tearing up the streets
I'm half in love with every girl I meet
The gasman loves the street
He loves to drill
He loves to think about his girl
The sun is melting half the street
In the summer all the workers head out for the sandy beach
Stay together in the weather
Entertainment through your grief
Communities of prejudices travel on the train
The upperclass will have to pass the chance up of a kness-up with the gang
Your record profits will buy you an island
There's a jigsaw with a picture, all the country as a map
Hikers hiking, cyclers cycling, if I go I'm not coming back
I'm all in love with all the girls I meet, the hardcore summer kind
Kitchen porters, budding painters, whiskey touring guides
In the rain all your plans will fade
You'll be left with the jigsaw
*********************
Blue Eyes Of A Millionaire
Shyness hanging like a wendy
Bad clothes keep you in the village hall
Sunday nothing for the rest of us
Sunday listen to your spirits soar
Thank you thank you for the holiday
We talk sometimes in a quiet world
Three years taking all the scenery
Black walls cloudy as a sea of gulls
Let the summer go
Let tomorrow take care of itself
If you believe like you tell me so
Hand in hand your lover will be every sweet and hungry soul
Stage scope falling like a summer end
Trees strip wrap yourself in color brown
Sun dips underneath the capricorn
Bell rings summer need to feeling warm
Mornings must have thought about you
All night reach out with a single call
Not my place to be your confidante
I just thought I'd catch you as you fall
Let the summer go
Let tomorrow take care of itself
If you believe like you tell me so
Hand in hand your lover will be every sweet and hungry soul
Goodness glowing like a firefly
Cheap bones blue eyes of a millionaire
************************
Calculating Bimbo
A lack of understanding
You took for being lazy
I was just being lazy
I'm even doing it now
I know that you have saved me
I love that you have saved me
Save your pennies careful
Let both blue eyes be watchful
It's best to forget freedom
It's best to be enslaved
It's better still to love first
It's harder still to love first
You're my winter queen that disappeared
Your hands grew cold
You ran a mile from my wings
I still heard you had a full-flown view
With lots of time
And notebook full of the finest creamy, rich-girl parchment pages
Slowly filled with all your passing days
Every sacred word paints a picture
Bigger were his muscles
and farther go his dollars
But when you are in trouble
And when you are uptight
I get the midnight phone call
I'm your captain for the long haul
If someone else is near me
You scuttle up the pavement
It's no one that I care for
I pause for an effect
You calculating bimbo
I wish you'd let the past go
*********************
Chickfactor
What was it I saw in New York?
I'm not the same anymore
How will I hide these feelings inside
Call my girl on the phone
Neon lights shine bright
Taxi cabs glide by
Aeroplanes they fly, high up in the sky
Pretty girl says "Hi...
What's the worst job you've had?
What do you read?
What's driving you mad?"
Met the cigarette girl- took a note of her charms
But no cigar
Met the Indie-Cool Queen
Took me out of the bar
And showed me the scene
My little girl I can't find
She's five hours behind
It's the singer not the song
"Something's gone wrong"
Said the spider to the fly
Do I like this girl?
It's such a big world
1 like the tone of her voice
I loved the sound of her voice
When I get back to London from outer space
Will it fall into place?
I'll hold onto my smile
Find my girl in a while
Look myself in the face
Don't know what you see
Am I playing in your movie?
You're in my magazine
Are you talking to me?
CHICKFACTOR
******************
Come On Sister
Six in the morning
The men started working
I can't sleep
No, I can't sleep
I keep feeling the lights
So I think I should get up and call you
Going to find you
And it's fun
Thinking of you like a movie star
And it's dumb
Thinking of you like the way that you were
Everyone loves you
The boy in the corner
The postman
The policeman
It does me no good
To keep looking ahead at your future
Adoration
And it's fun
Thinking of you like a movie star
And it's dumb
Thinking of you like the way that you were
Every moment like a sudden pleasure
Every moment that will get you by
And it's going to cause a crisis
Might just lose a little faith
I've seen all kinds of strangers
The rich and the famous
They don't count
No, they don't count
Now I'm back on my beat
On the same greasy street
There's an angel on my shoulder
Saying, "Ho, have you ever said an honest word?"
Saying, "Yo, have you ever said a pretty word?"
Every moment like a sudden pleasure
Every moment that will get you by
And it's going to cause a crisis
Might just lose a little faith
Don't touch me
If you touch me you could never go back
Faith
Come on, sister have a drink
Have a seat at the bar
Tell me all about your men
And your hopes
And the hours of your life
You could love
After all that's what you're looking for
You can love
It's a currency unspoken of
But it's hard to form a good opinion
Yet you're going to look at me that way
And it's going to cause a crisis
Might just lose a little faith
Don't touch me
If you touch me you can never go back
Faith
Come on, sister have a drink
Have a seat at the bar
Tell me all about your men
And your hopes
And the hours of your life
*********************
Consuelo (Instrumental)
Consuelo Leaving (Instrumental)
Cover (Instrumental)
***********************
Dress Up In You
I'm the singer, I'm the singer in the band
You're the loser, I won't dismiss you out of hand
You've got a beautiful face
It will take you places
You kept running
You've got money, you've got fame
Every morning I see your picture from the train
Now you're an actress!
So says your résumé
You're made of card
You couldn't act your way out of a paper bag
You got lucky, you ain't talking to me now
Little Miss Plucky
Pluck your eyebrows for the crowd
Get on the airplane
You give me stomach pain
I wish that you were here
We would have had a lot to talk about
We had a deal there
We nearly signed it with our blood
An understanding
I thought that you would keep your word
I'm disappointed
I'm aggravated
It's a fault I have, I know
When things don't go my way I have to
Blow up in the face of my rivals
I scream and rant, I make quite an arrival
The men are surprised by the language
They act so discreet, they are hypocrites so fuck them too!
I always loved you
You always had a lot of style
I'd hate to see you on the pile
Of ‘nearly-made-it''s
You've got the essence, dear
If I could have a second skin
I'd probably dress up in you
You're a star now, I am fixing people's nails
I'm knitting jumpers, I'm working after hours
I've got a boyfriend, I've got a feeling that he's seeing someone else
He always had a thing for you as well
Blow in the face of my rivals
I swear and I rant, I make quite an arrival
The men are surprised by the language
They act so discreet, they are hypocrites forget them
So fuck them too
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la la
***********************
Don't Leave The Light On Baby
It's been a bloody stupid day
My baby called me up to say
Don't call me love, don't call me
It's not all she said
I truly love her but I know
I'm bad for her, I'm bad and so
At least she may forgive me for my honesty
My friend came back from being abroad
He was rich and I was overawed
His ship came in
I'm standing on the harbour wall
Another friend, the one I love
Turns to me "Have you seen enough?"
"Let's hang about
There's nothing like a sunset INTO THE NIGHT"
It's been a bloody stupid day
Don't leave the light on baby
My baby called me up to say
Don't leave the light on baby
I'll see you sometime maybe
Don't leave the light on baby
It finally dawned on me tonight
Best to go down without a fight
I know you will forgive me for my honesty
*************************
Dog On Wheels
When I was a boy I was confounded by you
Now I'm still a boy I am indebted to you
Every song I ever wrote was written for you
Written for you
Now I'm feeling flat you seem a mile away
I'm so tired that down on the pavement I'll lay
Till the blossom on the tree comes falling on me
Fall on me
From my window I can see the mountain in snow
From my window I will shut my eyes and let go
Promise me you'll always be around when I fall
And when I call
On the river bridge up on the wall, looking down
On the river bridge, to me a vision was shown
If I could hold on to things till I was full grown
Peace would I know
To my dog on wheels I'll tell my pleasures and woes
To my dog on wheels I'll tell my secrets and more
Then one day in spring I'll take him down to the road
Anything goes
*-*************************
Dirty Dream Number Two
I'm lucky, I can open the door and I can walk down the street
Unlucky, I've got no place to go and so I follow my feet
A choice is facing you, a healthy dose of pain
A choice is facing you as you stare through the rain
A choice is facing you but I choose to refrain for today
Tomorrow we'll be back in trouble again
Dream one, you had a whole lot of fun with a comedian
Stop short of going all the way, you'll have to make it someday
Why is this happening to you, you're not a child?
Why is this happening? You've too much on your mind
Things creep up on you when you are fast asleep
You are dreaming, you are sleepy
You are stuck to the sheets
Instrumental
In a town so small there's no escaping you
In a town so small there's no escape from view
In a town so small there's nothing left to do
Dream two you couldn't see her face, but you saw everything else
Dream two was pretty special, easily beats loving yourself
Could you put a name to someone elses sigh?
Could you put a face to someone elses eyes?
Is it someone that you'd maybe recognise?
But it all fades into morning when you open your eyes
**********************
Dialogue: Toby
Dialogue: Mandingo Cliche
Dialogue: Jersey's Where It's At Lyrics
Dialogue: Conan, Early Letterman
Dialogue: Class Rank
Dialogue Toby
**********************
Desperation Made A Fool Of Me
I'm sick, and I've felt this way for some time now
I'm so fed up with the daily grind
I'm trying to find relief
If you feel this way then clap your hands
Ever thought this was a backward land?
What is making people mean?
A bad scene
Now that I've got my motives straight and I am thinking clearly
I'll sneak up to your window with my senses open wide
I'm tired, on my shoulders weighing heavily
Is the full responsibility for your troubles and your charms
Your betrayal goes around with me
Like the sword in some old tragedy
It is sticking in my back
People laugh
Now that I've got my motives straight and I am thinking clearly
I'll sneak up to your window with my senses open wide
I never really thought it would be like this
I know it's kind of hard but I'm glad that it is
I'm glad
[Instrumental]
Now that I've got my motives straight and I am thinking clearly
I'll sneak up to your window with my senses open wide
I never really thought it would be like this
I know it's kind of hard but I'm glad that it is
I'm glad
*************************
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
I’m sorry if you seem to have
the weight of the world over you
I cherish your smile
There’s a word of peace on your lips
Say it, and with tenderness
I’ll cherish you I'll cherish you
Dear Catastrophe Girlfriend
Dear Catastrophe Girlfriend
I’m sorry if he hits you with a full can of Coke
It’s no joke
Your face is bleeding
You’ll soon be leaving this town
to the clowns who worship
No one but themselves
No one but themselves
I hate feeling this way, oh
I hate feeling this way, ohh
I know that you hate it too, oh
Now that your coffee is growing cold, oh
All of the customers look so old, oh
Honey if I could be so bold
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
I’m sorry if the kids hold you in cool disregard
I know it’s hard
Stick to what you know
You’ll blow them all to the wall
When they realise what you’ve been working for
You’ve been working for
what You’ve been working for
what you've been working for
****************************
Ease Your Feet In The Sea
Ease you're feet off in the sea
My darling it's the place to be
Take your shoes off curl your toes
I will frame this moment in time
Troubles come and troubles go
The trouble that we used to know
Will stay with us 'til we get old
Will stay with us 'til somebody decides to go
Decides to go
Soberly, without regret, I make another sandwich
And I fill my face, I know that things have got to you
But what can I do?
Suddenly, without a warning
On a pale blue morning
You decide your time is wearing thin
A conscious choice to let yourself go dangling
Hovering
It's an emergency
There's no more "wait and see"
Maybe if I shut my eyes
The trouble will be split between us
People come and people go
You're scouring everybody's face
For some small flicker of the truth
To what it is that you are going through, my boy
I left you dry
The signs were clear that you were not going anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down
Save for a falling down
Anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down
Everything's going wrong
Later on, as I walked home
The plough was showing, and orion
I could see the house where you lived
I could see the house where you gave
All your time and sanity to people
Then you waited for the people to acknowledge you
They spoke in turn
But their eyes would pass over you
Over you
Who's seeing you at all?
Who's seeing You at all?
*****************************
Electronic Renaissance
Play a game with your electronics
Take a step to the discotheque, and people
Go outside where there's someone watching cars go by
And the city tall with steeples
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance Is the way to go
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance is the way to go, boy
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance is the way to go
You're learning, soon you will do the things you wanted
Since you were wearing glitter badges
If you dance for much very longer
You'll be known as the boy who's always dancing
If you work for much very longer
You'll be known as the boy who's always working
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go my way
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go my way
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go Funkadelic, man
Is the way to go
So drop a pill and then say hello
*************
Expectations
Monday morning wake up knowing that you’ve got to go to school
Tell your mum what to expect, she said it's right out of the blue
Do you want to work in Debenhams, because that’s what they expect
Start in lingerie, and Doris is your supervisor
And the head said that you always were a queer one from the start
For careers you say you want to be remembered for your art
Your obsessions get you known throughout the school for being strange
Making life-size models of The Velvet Underground in clay
In the queue for lunch they take the piss, you’ve got no appetite
And the rumor is you never go with boys and you are tight
So they jab you with a fork, you drop the tray and go berserk
While your cleaning up the mess the teacher is looking up your skirt
Hey, you’ve been used
Are you calm? settle down
Write a song, Ill sing along
Soon you will know that you are sane
You’re on top of the world again
Monday morning wake up knowing that you’ve got to go to school
Tell your mum what to expect, she said it's right out of the blue
Do you want to work in C&A, cause that’s what they expect
Move to lingerie and take a feel off Joe the store man
Tell Veronica the secrets of the boy you never kissed
She’s got everything to gain cause she’s a fat girl with a lisp
She sticks up for you when you get aggravation from the snobs
cause you cant afford a blazer, girl you’re always wearing clogs
At the interval you lock yourself away inside a room
Head of English gets you, asks you, what the hell do you think you’re doing?
Do you think you’re better then the other kids? well get outside.
You’ve got permission, but you’ve got to make the bastard think he’s right
Hey, you’ve been used
Write a song, Ill sing along
Are you calm? settle down
Soon you will know that you are sane
You’re on top of the world again
Are you cool, and you know
You’re a star and you’ll go far
Think of me as a friend
Not just a boy who’s playing guitar
You’re on top of the world again
*********************
Family Tree
I've been feeling down
I've been looking round the town
For somebody just like me
But the only ones I see
Are the dummies in the window
They spend their money on clothes
It saddens me to think
That the only ones I see are mannequins
Looking stupid, being used and being thin
And I don't know why I hang around with them
The way they act, I'd rather be fat than be confused
The way they act, I'd rather be fat than be confused
Than be me in a cage
With a bottle of rage
And a family like the mafia
I've been feeling blue
And I don't know what to do
And I never get a thrill
And they threw me out of school
'Cause I swore at all the teachers
Because they never teach us
A thing I want to know
We do Chemistry, Biology and Maths
I want Poetry and Music and some laughs
And I don't think it's an awful lot to ask
So won't you please get up off your knees, and let me go
So won't you please get up off your knees, and let me go
Cause I'm here in a cage
With a bottle of rage
And a family like the mafia
If my family tree goes back to the Romans
Then I will change my name to Jones
If my family tree goes back to Napolean
Then I will change my name to Smith
If my family tree goes back to the Romans
Then I will change my name to Jones
If you're looking at me to be an accountant
Then you will look but you will never see
If you're looking at me to start having babies
Then you can wish because I'm not here to fool around
You can wish because I'm not here to fool around
You can wish because I'm not here to fool around
**********************
Fiction
Fiction Reprise
**********************
For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
For the price of a cup of tea
You'd get a line of coke
For the price of a night with me
You'd be the village joke
For the price of a pint of milk
I'll tell you all I know
About the state of the world today
Sit down, enjoy the show
She had several hours to find a place to stay
Try the coffee shop, but somewhere on the way
She heard about a place, somewhere she could go
Walked a couple of blocks to her destination
For the price of a cup of tea
You'd get a seven inches
Soul black vinyl to stop your tears
You can use my stereo
You might be the village joke but
Don't listen to the gossip of the other folk
She just wants to be accepted in this place
There's something in her face
She will always seem exotic and aloof
If you want to know the truth
Her friend the stars dripping from the jewelled sky
When she was passing by
Would keep her calm
There was people that she knew, at least she thought she did
Be easy on the kid!
She took her winter coat from her plastic wrapper
Pushed back her fringe, see her birthmark
she can finally be the person she wanted to be
********************
Funny Little Frog
Honey, lovin' you is the greatest thing,
I get to be myself and I get to sing,
I get to play at being irresponsible,
I come home late and love your soul,
I never forget you in my prayers,
I never have a bad thing to report.
You're my picture on the wall,
You're my vision in the hall,
You're the one I'm talking to,
When I get in from my work,
You are my girl, and you don't even know it,
And you're the funny little frog in my throat.
My eyesight's fading, my hearing's dim,
I can't get insured for the state I'm in,
I'm a danger to myself I've been starting fights,
At the party at the club on a Saturday night,
But I don't get disapproving from my girl,
She gets all the highlights wrapped in pearls.
You're my picture on the wall,
You're my vision in the hall,
You're the one I'm talking to,
When I get in from my work,
You are my girl, and you don't even know it,
I am living out the life of a poet,
I am the jester in the ancient courts,
And you're the funny little frog in my throat.
I had a conversation with you last night,
It was a little one sided but that's all right,
I tell you in the kitchen about my day,
You sit on the bed in the dark changing place,
With the ghost that was there before you came,
You've come to save my,my life again.
I don't dare to touch your hand,
I don't dare to think of you,
In a physical way,
And I don't know how you smell,
You are the cover of my magazine,
You're my fashion tip, a living museum,
I'd pay to visit you on rainy Sundays,
And maybe tell you all about it, someday.
***********************
Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
Ooh! Get me away from here I'm dying
Play me a song to set me free
Nobody writes them like they used to
So it may as well be me
Here on my own now after hours
Here on my own now on a bus
Think of it this way
You could either be successful or be us
With our winning smiles, and us
With our catchy tunes and words
Now we're photogenic
You know, we don't stand a chance
Oh, I'll settle down with some old story
About a boy who's just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You're so naive!
They always reach a sorry ending
They always get it in the end
Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then
With a winning smile, the poor boy
With naivety succeeds
At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings
Oh, that wasn't what I meant to say at all
From where I'm sitting, rain
Falling against the lonely tenement
Has set my mind to wander
Into the windows of my lovers
They never know unless I write
"This is no declaration, I just thought I'd let you know goodbye"
Said the hero in the story
"It is mightier than swords
I could kill you sure
But I could only make you cry with these words"
*********************
Ghost Of Rockschool
I've seen God in the sun
I've seen God in the street
God before bed and the promise of sleep
God in my dreams and the free ride of grace
But it all disappears
And then I wake up
Was it too late?
Was it just your fate?
There's a demon that waits at the garden gate
If you get past him maybe Lawrence and Phil
Will be waiting to take you to the ghost of rockschool
Everything hums
As the blue heart turns
And the blue girls dawn us when the sun goes down
A story tonight is from your solitude heights
I got a window on your constellation
Master I love from the ground above
There's the stars below as my memory flows
Every picture frame is beating louder than time
Every clock in the hall is bending slowly
She's in her tower
And she's beautiful, sure
The quicker you learn she has no soul to discern
At least no business of yours
You bear the vacuum of scars
She was put there to tempt you
Like the perfume of flowers
I've seen God in the sun
I've seen God in the street
God before bed and the promise of sleep
God in my dreams and the free ride of grace
I've seen God shining up from her reflection
I've seen God in the sun
I've seen God in the street
God before bed and the promise of sleep
God in the puddles and the lane beside houses
I've seen God shining up from her reflection
**************************
I'm A Cuckoo
I'm glad to see you
I had a funny dream
And you were wearing funny shoes
You were going to a dance
You were dressed like a punk but you are too young to remember
I'm glad to see you
I'm outside the house
I'm not thinking right today
I've got no energy
I'm glad that you are waiting with me
Tell me all about your day
Breaking off is misery
I see a wilderness for you and me
Punctuated by philosophy
I'm wondering how things could've been
I'm happy for you
You've made it hard for me
I counted on your company
You are staying with your friends tonight
I'm feeling sorry for myself
I keep taking everything to be a sign
I'm happy for you
But now I know this hurt is poison
Too sharp to be bled
I'm sitting on my empty bed
I'm on my empty bed
At night the fever grows it's pounding pounding
I'd rather be in Tokyo
I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh
And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku
There's something wrong with me, I'm a cuckoo
Scary moment, lovin' every moment
I was high from playing shows
We lost a singer to her clothes
My trouble raised its ugly head
I was revealed
And I was home in bed
I was a kid again
Jesus told me, go after every coin like it was the last in the world
And protect the wayward child
But I'm a little lost sheep
I need my Bo Peep
You know I need My Shepherd here tonight
Breaking off is misery
I see a wilderness for you and me
Punctuated by philosophy
I'm wondering how things could've been
I'd like to see you
But really I should stay away
And let you settle down
I've got no claims to your crown
I was the boss of you
And I loved you
You know I loved you
It's all over now
And I was there for you
When you were lonely
I was there when you were bad
I was there when you were sad
Now it's my time of need
I'm thinking, do I have to plead to get you by my side?
I'd rather be in Tokyo
I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh
And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku
There's something wrong with me, I'm a cuckoo
**************************
I'm Not Living in the Real World
Born on a Sunday, everyday is Monday
That is what I've heard
About the real world
Up on the morning,
Heading for the schoolyard
Big boys being bullies make it so hard?
It's a lesson for the real world
Seems so far away the real world
Up to the bigger school
Trying not to be foot
Hear I am new shoes and cagoule
Look I'm getting closer to the real world
("Tell me where the girls are?"
Thinking about happiness
Thinking about Tara
Thinking about sorrow
Thinking about Sara
Sorrow and Sara are the very same word
In my young life I get so hurt
Will I make it in the real world?
Gluing up my Airfix kit
Cigarettes after gym
Had a pint of Special Brew
Won't do that again
Train for examination, got me traction.
Mickey mouse college course,
Looking for action
Play guitar, stacking shelves
Holding back in the real world
Now it's Monday morning,
I'm still yawning
Scuffing down the city street
Heading for the clock on
Bought a 'Daily Record' like a real man
Well I made it to the real world
But I'm not living in the real world
*********************
I'm Waking Up To Us
i need someone to take some joy in something i do
you need a man who's either rich or losing a screw
you know i love you here's the irony
you're going to walk away intact
i think you never liked me anyway
you like yourself and you like
men to kiss your arse
expensive clothes
please stop me there
i think i'm waking up to us
we're a disaster
you don't want to know me
'cause you move in circles of the brave
where art defines their lives
she was the one love of my life, and i let her go
and if i look like death today,
then please let her know
i never wanted to do harm to her
i only wanted her to see
the beauty of the world surrounding her
but when she opened up her eyes
it's much too late
our chance has gone
she's with a guy
who takes the prize for everything i ever showed her
digging all the fun
because she's older
i fed her with a spoon
i made her mother smile
i helped the kid survive
she was the one love of my life,
she showed me the road
i loved her dog, her steady gaze, the chapter is closed
i always wanted all the best for her
the best thing was to stay away
she grew up and she left the rest of us
and now the understanding's gone
i haven't changed, how could i?
i'm pretty much the same person
i cannot keep the anger hidden anymore
but lucky for you, you are not around
my anger turns to pity and to love
the season has arrived
*********************
I Could Be Dreaming
I could be sleeping
I could be dreaming
I could have ordinary people chasing me from town to town
Mission Impossible
They've got a spy for every blink of your eye
I'm feeling awkward
I'm feeling toungue tied
They've got a knife for every time you take the same train into work
A family's like a loaded gun
You point it in the wrong direction someone's going to get killed
If you had such a dream
Would you get up and do the things you believe in?
Is he your husband?
Or just your boyfriend?
Is he the moron who's been beating you and keeping you inside?
I've never done this kind of thing
But if I kill him now, well who's going to miss him?
I went up to the school
I took a walk up Castlehill
For every step there was a local boy who wants to be a hero
Do you want to do it now?
Outside the butchers with a knife and a bike chain
If you had such a dream
Would you get up and do the things you believe in?
If you had such a dream, would you get up and do the things
If you had such a dream, would you get up and do the things
While your head is clear, while your head is clear
While your head is clear, while your head is clear
If you had such a dream
Would you get up and do the things you believe in?
***********************
I Didn't See It Coming
Make me dance, I want to surrender
Your familiar arms, I remember
We've been going transcontinental
Got no car, we just take a rental
But we don't have the money
(money makes the wheels and the world go round)
Forget about it, honey
Make me dance, I want to surrender
Your familiar arms, I remember
Everybody's talking about you
Every word's a whisper without you
But we don't have the money
(money makes the wheels and the world go round)
Forget about it, honey
Trouble's never far away when you're around
I didn't see it coming
I'm just not in the running
Take me on a train 'cos I'm not flying
I can see the world from a different side
Read about us in the morning papers
When we make it alive
I didn't see it coming
I'm just not in the running
And we don't need a lifetime
We're following the right line
******************
I Don't Love Anyone
I don't love anyone
You're not listening
You're playing with something
You're playing with yourself
I don't love anyone
You're not listening even now
You're playing with something
You're playing with someone else
If there's one thing that I learned when I was a child
It's to take a hiding
I don't love anything
No, not even Christmas
Especially not that
I don't love anything
I don't love anyone
Well, maybe my sister
Maybe my baby brother too, yeah
I don't love anyone
If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child
It's to take a hiding, yeah
If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child
It's to be alone
If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child
It's to take a hiding, yeah
Out in the street today
The kids are out playing, having fun
Well, I pass them by I'm not a kid, no
I don't love anyone
I met a man today
And he told me something pretty strange
There's always somebody saying something
He said, "The world was as soft as lace."
But I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
I don't love anyone
If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child
It's to take a hiding
*********************
I Don't Want To Play Football
I don't want to play football
I don't understand the rules of the game
I don't want to play football
I don't understand the thrill of the running, catching, throwing
Taking orders from a moron
Grabbing for the sweaty crotches
Getting hit by people I don't know
Sugar, I'd rather play a different sort of game
Sugar, the girls are just as good as boy at playing
************************
I Fought In A War
I fought in a war and I left my friends behind me
To go looking for the enemy, and it wasn't very long
Before I would stand with another boy in front of me
And a corpse that just fell into me, with the bullets flying round
And I reminded myself of the words you said when we were getting on
And I bet you're making shells back home for a steady boy to wear
Round his neck, well it won't hurt to think of you as if you're waiting for
This letter to arrive because I'll be here quite a while
I fought in a war and I left my friends behind me
To go looking for the enemy, and it wasn't very long
Before I found out that the sickness there ahead of me
Went beyond the bedsit infamy of the decade gone before
And I reminded myself of the words you said when we were getting on
And I bet you're making shells back home for a steady man to wear
Round his neck, well it won't hurt to think of you as if you're waiting for
This letter to arrive because I'll be here quite a while
I fought in a war, and I didn't know where it would end
It stretched before me infinitely, I couldn't really think
Of the day beyond now, keep your head down pal
There's trouble plenty in this hour, this day
I can see hope I can see light
And I reminded myself of the looks you gave when we were getting on
And I bet you're making shells back home for a steady man to wear
Round his neck, well it won't hurt to think of you as if you're waiting for
This letter to arrive because I'll be here quite a while
*************************
I Know Where The Summer Goes
I know where the summer goes
When you're having no fun
When you're under the thumb
I know where the summer dwells
If your underarm smells
And your kitchen looks like hell
I know where the summer goes
If you're scraping a pot, and your head is hot
Put your head down, put your thumbs up girl
With the smell of hot desk
And the glitter of your step
He was right, he's the upcoming guru of the city
No one told the city councillors
I know, you can tell me again
I've got my mobile phone
Full of silicon chips
No one likes a smart arse
But I've seen a pattern emerge
I will race you up the hill
Where the boy who made records out of postcard messages
And flowering cherries rain on kids like you
Look twice at the kid with the crimped
And overheated hair
They ran a book on his looks
Odds on was the noble pose and
The denim hard riff of the Irish Troubadour
But the boy came from nowhere to
Steal the hearts of lassies in the lavvies of the club tonight
**************
I Love My Car
I love my car
I'll admit today I've gone too far
To enamour myself of my little motor car
I love my dog
I love my pussy cat, I love the rat
That lives under the floor and makes his bed from novelettes
I wish I could say the same for you
The day will come soon when I look in your eyes but
I won't see you
I've got a head like a soaking sponge
I've got a tongue like a little slug
I won't be bugged by trivia
I love my Carl
I love my Brian my Dennis and my Al
I could even find it in my heart to love Mike Love
I wish I could say the same for you
The day will come soon when I look in your eyes to
see you smiling
*****************
I Took A Long Hard Look
I took a? long hard look
At the heroes of my youth.
And their antics on the page there on
Can no longer sustain me
Ever since I was a boy
They brought me joy
But the shackles of the way I was
Can no longer contain me
It was exciting
And enlightening
Reverberating through my dreams
Goodbye to reality
And set a course for wayward schemes.
Now I can't sing
I can't feel
I don't know what is real.
I was travelling through the past for years
Tell me what's my destination
Now the past is gone
I don't even have a song
We've not sung before
To a closing door
Tell me what's my situation?
I saw the film,
I lived the book
I got the haircut
That's all it took
But now I know it's going to take
A little more now I'm awake
I took along hard look
Now I'm waiting for the phone to ring
I glance at the inbox
Is there any tantalising mail there in
There was lust in my restless heart
But now I know what true love means
Goodbye to reality
And set sail for dreamsy
****************************
I Want The World To Stop
I want the world to stop (I want the world to stop)
Give me the morning (give me the understanding)
I want the world to stop (I want the world to stop)
Give me the morning, give me the afternoon
The night, the night
Let me step out of my shell
I'm wrapped in sheets of milky winter disorder
Let me feel the air again, the talk of friends
The mind of someone my equal
I want the world to stop…
Tinseltown has followed me from Tinseltown to
Grey adorable city by the docks
Girls will walk in moving air the sun hangs low the girls don’t care
As they paint themselves at dusk.
I want the world to stop…
Towns’ and cities’ populations up and grow
The workers move to the suburbs
In between I watch and go
I run along side rush hour traffic a prayer for every car
I want the world to stop…
I want to write a message to you
Everyday at 10 o clock in the evening
Yellow pearl my city is
This is your art this is your Balzac your Brookside and your Bach
**********************
If She Wants Me
I wrote a letter on a nothing day.
I asked somebody, “Could you send my letter away?”
“You are too young to put all of your hopes in just one envelope.”
I said goodbye to someone that I love.
It’s not just me, I tell you it’s the both of us.
And it was hard,
Like coming off the pills that you take to stay happy.
Someone above has seen me do alright.
Someone above is looking with a tender eye.
Upon your face, you may think you’re alone but you may think again.
If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.
And far away somebody read the letter.
He condescends to read the words I wrote about him.
And if he smiles, it’s no more than a genius deserves
For all your curious nerve and your passion.
I’m going deaf, you’re growing melancholy.
Things fall apart, I don’t know why we bother at all.
But life is good and it’s always worth living at least for a while.
If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.
If you think to yourself, “What should I do now?”
Than take the baton, and girl, you better run with it.
'Cause there is no point in standing in the past cause it’s over and done with.
I took a book and went into the forest.
I climbed the hill, I wanted to look down on you.
But all I saw was twenty miles of wilderness so I went home.
If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.
If I could do just one near perfect thing I’d be happy.
They’d write it on my grave, or when they scattered my ashes.
On second thoughts, I’d rather hang around and be there with my best friend,
If she wants me.
If she wants me, yeah.
If she wants me, yeah.
If she wants me, yeah.