INDEX
I sense a bloody earthquake looming
Princess quick, pass me the purdy
Been a long time since we got some
Want to put you in the family way
just one brief recommendation
I get so dirty when I’m thinking
Give my hands a tool and task
And keep out of harm’s way
And the devil makes a third
This is the torch, this is the light
This is the fear, this is the spite
This is the call to blow you out of the water
These are the goods, come help yourself
This the smack to make you remember,
We had a good thing going
1 for the money, 2 for the money,
3 for the money, 4 for the money
In spring a birdsong echoes lost
Thought I was drunk on sweet success
Until the alcohol wore off
And left me fixing in the waiting room
This is where it all begins
A house of cards and you'e the queen
Welcome on back into the maelstrom
L
ike we never loosed hands
In the shadow of Olympia
It’s so easy to begin - and so difficult to end
This is the torch, this is the light
This is the fear, this is the spite
This is the call to blow you out of the water
We play it soft but every night
Y
ou gotta dig hard in and
Fight, fight, fight for something you cherish
This girl that fell well she had eyes as big as saucers
It broke my heart but there was nothing I could do
I held her head and wished to god that it was me
I think in retrospect she looked a lot like Suzie
Calliope calls her cues guess I am easily amused
Grey eyed sketches from the pages of a script we will never use
Heres the blade to cut you free and heres the razor for your fist
if you want a piece of me youre gonna have to cut my gloves
I want to punch him down
I want to knock her up
If I ever see you cry girl, if I hear that you weep
Im gonna find out who hurt you, who put that tear on your cheek
Cos our tie is the strongest kind, and our past is a bond
for your lips gave me secrets I always will hold (as Gospel truth)
I mine for life and I dig in deep (another 16 tonnes)
We might have no future, but we can still work it out
(like civilised human beings)
If some smooth talking Casanova breaks your stride
with no rhyme, reason or why
and leaves 96 stains on your sweetness
Were gonna find out why
And these fine people gathered here might think were joking
A boastful jest, and a drunken swipe
But you and I know differently darling
We know what other worlds are like
Here comes Romeo, dressed to thrill and silver spooned
playing up the starring role, always scores a cameo
Rip him up and mock his bones
break his words and send him home
well, i am your mid-life crisis she said, but yeah
I like it all the same - when you come on like the boy from Fullers Slade
I always felt safe with you when you took the whole world on
I tried to change, whatever made me then
Dworkin and Greer wont help unless youre pulling in the nineties
Jude the Obscure, my trowel and primer in hand
Chip on my shoulder.
I've hit the wall he said, I cant get over it
I cant dig through it cos it goes down too deep
Razor wire by the mile and every blacked-out window barred
Each pretty door locked and I havent a key
Whatever happened to happy go lucky?
Well Ive got something Ive been meaning to share
I gleaned a backdoor trick when you were the King
Half diamond and a rake, an L-shaped torsion bar and shake
I have been banging tumblers like theyre going out of style
Whatever happened to happy-go-lucky?
Come on now smiling boy, where did it go wrong?
The cocky swagger strut
The peacock groomed salt-of-the-earth
Erudite from the Alma Maters's
Stretch out to the members bar
Always the last man standing
Girl in tow and silver jangling
if you slipped in dog shit
youd still rise up without stain
I forget what I was aiming to impress
That bright young thing I would undress
The line that defined my success
The goals I held when I was sleeping
You were the enfant terrible
Man you used to be on fire
Stick it out and stick it up em
Never bending with the crowd
But that was then, and now – youre just a small town thug
Ive hit the wall he said
The wall, Ive hit the wall.
Whatever made you think that youd be the one to get away?
Punch above your weight, got a big mouth, hear it now
Get out of the way, at the weekend, discotheque
Screaming like a flame in a fireworks factory
The dog in the house and he’s barking at me
Never could relax, with the flow, it’s all take, take, take
Smiling like a charm, with a knife, slanted at the back
I’ve seen some fellows fall, pretty hard, never to return
They make a pretty noise, when they burn out
I hate the air that you breathe
I hope that when you fall there is no safety net
I pray than when you’re sober you remember this
I hope that when you need it there is no-one there
You’re everyone that makes me sick
You’re in my space and in my head
But not for very long....
I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes
And i’m walking away with my hands in my pockets
East pennine rain and it fells like snow
As i pull my hood up and duck into the snicket
Past boys in the background with twenty pound bags
And i guess that i rush cos i don’t hear them calling
Ears ringing out from a fuzz-pedalled crush
As this slips from the moment
... and into the past
And even then, loading my stuff in the car
I was counting on some sort of last minute fix
There was always a chance of eleventh hour treaties
Our hopes stretched like primed Michelangelo hands
Let’s sit down and talk and fix this
fog, this glitch, this interface
cos something’s gone wrong with the software
And it’s not my bloody fault, nor yours
But one foot falls, in front of the other
And walks the walk, and that is all
Fade out, credits role, that was ok yeah.
Pick up the empties and step outside
Should’ve said something, anything, even if the words come wrong
Had a go and tried to put it right instead of drowning
In a silence, violent, undisclosed and lost the plot
What there was is gone and it ain’t ever coming back.
Black Light
drunk myself sober enough times to tell
that this is gonna hurt in the morning, well, well, well.
but I've no intention of rising at dawn
so bring on the backlash, i've slept through much worse
I've felt your mouth working, at night when the press
is closed for the evening, and your blue eyes make sense
so bring on your asides; your dirty goodbyes
we ain't scoring points here; we've got a fire
that shines a black light.
Whale
A sliver of silver
A diamond shot glass
A sharp inhalation
From the belly of the whale
You beam like a moto
So much trust in your eyes
Your funny little smile
As you wallow in the lake
And I am alright now
There’s space enough here
Resting up inside the man
For a little while and wait
Until she turns
To drag and to squeeze
To suck on my oxygen
Like Jenny Green Teeth
Bean-Fionn
Dragging me under
But don’t it feel good?
A sliver of silver
A diamond cut glass
A sharp inhalation
From the belly of the whale
Roofie
Seen you before so put some cash in your mouth
Seen you on the street with all that shit on your blouse
We’ll put money into you, yeah, if you just entertain
Think you fit the demographic? Come on now, get it on
The roof is caving
Do you wanna be a porn star, cash in on sweet ATM?
Load up on red-bull and Viagra, spray a tan; hit the gym
While everybody’s getting fat for turning up unrehearsed
Make it easy on yourself, downscale effort, keep it pure
The roof is caving
Give us a drink and make it blue
Give us an hour and we’ll make you
Give us a dawn and paint it grey
One memory striped, one memory saved
The roof is caving in
Leeds Brig, Sunday Morning
It used to rain when we were young
But it never rained quite like today
The Sun would shine and keep us warm
But now he hides his broken face away
Let it come, let it come, Let it come, let it go
It used to fog upon Leeds Brig
But now the view goes out for miles
Where we would fly as high as kites
Before the bailiffs stole our pretty songs away
Let it go, let it go, let it go,
Let it come, let it come, let it come
L
et it go...
Go Johnny go ...
And my ghost would stand so quiet still
A long black ribbon in it’s hair
And now the space follows me here to stand
On the bridge with Louis le Prince and feel the rain
Let it come, let it come let it come,
Let it go, let it go, let it go,
I'm always happy when it rains.
Shudder
Spit on it, before you stick it in again
I need the poison you’ve got dripping on your tongue
Before you twist it, maybe pull it in and out
I hear you’re good at that. Well, well, well.
I keep my eyes fixed on my pretty little room
It’s getting warm now, like I always knew it would
But still the drum beats they keep breaking on through
One, two, three, four, hasn’t anybody told you?
My handshake, my face aches
My skin cracks. My blood runs cold.
Don’t creep when you’re tripping up the staircase
Shout loud when you’re banging on the door
Witness happy messengers are eager
Witless for success
Grind down your heel upon the picture-frame
Burn down your dainty little bridge
Cross off the things you maybe should’ve done
Scratch out the names on your list
My handshake, my face aches
My skin cracks. My blood runs cold.
So twist it just a little bit more
Before you stick it in. I never felt anything
The first time. Still I grew a yellow smile
And now I’m sick of it. Right about now
It’s only touching without feeling
It’s only shopping with little reason
It’s only filling a little downtime
It’s only squeezing the dreams that were mine.
My handshake, my face aches
My skin cracks. My blood runs cold.
Maybe,then
I’m in your debt in - so many ways
I tried enlisting but - I haven’t the time.
Hands grip me tightly a - cross my flat chest
Keeping me warm they’re - keeping me safe
Trains buzz through the window - and the girls on the door
Laugh at their reflections - as they get onboard
Black sky in the fog-light - I want to turn back
To face the fire again.
We ain’t ever coming down
We never left the ground in the first place
Watching our Gaia spin - round dear Old Sol’s
Pretence of rising and sinking on low
Barely a secret - it’s not quite like that
Exactly
Trains puke their - thoughts in a lump on the grey
Keys jangle in rhythm at the cusp of the lay.
Friends kissing at doorsteps - with one gloved hand cupped
Darling we are both fucked …
We ain’t ever coming down
We never left the ground in the first place
A Penny for your Thoughts
I spy a little tunnel at the end of the light
That’s not surprising we’ve been delving with our boots on the line
I’m stealing postcards I can send out when the timing is right
And I have dug your hole
Stop, stop, stop, stop the voices
Wait, wait, wait til the morning
When you come ‘round a-lying
All late in bed, sad, and crying
Well your Daddy is rich and he’s working away
And your Ma’s good-looking
And you’ve sterling enough to keep yourself real thin
Sure we can’t fail to take it all in
Stop, stop, stop, stop the voices
Wait, wait, wait til the morning
When you come ‘round a-lying
All late in bed, sad, and crying
Well here’s a penny for your thoughts
And here’s a dollar for a magazine
Now you can look at all the pictures
While we’re busy. Watch us now
I hear that times are hard, I see it on your face
I hear you shout enough “I need a holiday”
I need a holiday, I need a holiday
I gotta get away…..”
Ring out the Bell, Lloyd
Ring out the bell, another ship has gone down
Send out the volunteers, don't think we'll find that much now
Flotsam and jetsam, maybe a pretty spine of wood
Will wash up twenty years from now when memories have blurred
I should've minded the lighthouse lamp instead of trawling out to sea
There's little left to chant now, except abide with me
I've got a tattoo of a dancing girl - she shivers when I shake
I got line burns on my hands and I got swallows on my neck
And I wish I was on dry land with a heart that's true to me
Give me days of wine and feasting and then send me back to sea
SMS don't mean so much when you're so far from land
Still I wish I was in your car though, your thigh under my hand
We could park up here and watch the shining saffron city lights
Roll back home and plug into the mains and sleep all night
But the water's rising now and it will not be long
Until attention's hauled away from this lost, fallen, mother's son
As the sea and sunset fuses, in a cobalt swell
And the storm o'er comes all comfort and the daylight washes out
Ring out the bell, Lloyd
Another ship has gone down....
Monkey Fist
Those six degrees are hard to beat
While minds still roll from the machine
That rising grinds against the Sun
With bight galore to hitch it down with a …
Monkey Fist, Figure Eight, Overhand, Heaving Line.
The hemp was rot, the plastic burnt
The die were cast, the tables turned
We fly before the trading winds
That country lost; stout in the gin of a
Monkey Fist, Overhand, Figure Eight, Heaving Line.
Still water – flat liner
Broad-forder – is this luff?
Monkey Fist, Figure Eight, Overhand, Heaving Line.
Getting higher every day
Scraped my shins against the Sun
While the wings I built myself
Have melted in the ocean
Don’t worry about vertigo
The trick is simply never look down
Our sick bags at hand and one step at a time
I’m sure we will see you anon.
Getting bolder every night
Drowned our doubt in double doses
Take a walk and feel the fire
Of landing lights that guide us in
Don’t worry if the rain comes in here
It’s only ever passing on through
Our storm Macs will hold and our hearts burn brighter
I’m sure we will do it again
Erato
Erato
Get on board
Send a line
Or two this way
Lift us up with the buzz of your personal fuss
It’s getting harder to just get along here
Fill the hole
In the wall
Let me beat
A tune on your mirror
Lift us up with the buzz of your personal stuff
It’s getting harder to just get along here
Turn it up
Light a torch
Shine a lamp
On the fire
Make it loud make it clear
Let your voice drown the din
Make it mean, let it ring
I’ve a need for this …
Up with the buzz of your personal stuff
It’s getting harder to just get along here
You keep on cooking but you can’t come in
We only salivate to MSG
We only want it if it comes in a box
We’ll only take it if it’s out of the tin
Just like a vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eye, eye, eye, eye, eyes…
You keep on shouting that you’ve nothing to say
You used to sell it now you can’t give it away
Your shoulders’ rolling ‘cos you can’t take the wait
Your dreams are moldy ‘cos you’re sleeping in late
Just like a vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eye, eye, eye, eye, eyes…
You keep reflecting but we haven’t the time back
We molly-coddled you with milk-breathed lines
The Occum’s razor-sharp cream that we sip
High floods the space between us good as your script
Just like a vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eyes
A vase with no eye, eye, eye, eye, eyes…
King of the Slums
He's an old school fight club thing scares the wind right out of me
And he'll sign any piece of paper in sight
Gives my conscious grief from pub to pub to club
Then wishes me don't be lonely sticks a pound in my hand for luck
You gotta roll with the rollers
He's a retired j-bird saves a virtual fortune
On electricity back in the days of the florin
Mumbles how the stretching boys built their tidy lighters
From knotted vest string, razors and boot polish tins
Maybe its best not to ask until you’re straight
And I've no intention of drying out just yet
So give me one more but gimme two more and make us free more man
Cos that teddy boy thing gives you away somewhat
Roll on the digital pictures, i hope that they last
Do you fancy that beer now that balcony and hit of sweet release?
I seem to have retired somewhat prematurely
Well yeah so what?
Well now knocking on sixty and hats off to you lads
Fill up your glasses and carry me home
Fight it or fuck it its just scare them stroke annoy them now
Well its a habit like smoking i guess and I...
Managed to give that one up for a while
Like i give up this, like i give up that
Like i loose weight, like i apply the processes
I just wanted a drink, i just wanted to read my book
I just wanted to check out the girls on the table next to us
Looking kinda busy, talking about nothing in particular very much, thank you
Not asking a great deal, i'm pushing paper for the government i did not elect
Making out with the hoi polloi i did not select
When i get drunk, i get quiet, when i get loud
I catch myself and I say ssshhhhhhh!!
Who died and made you the king of the slums?
Who cried and christened you Sir Knight until Dawn?
Who went and made you the scourge of our dreams
Some boy? some girl?
Answers, answers on a postcard please ...
Old man you scare the shit right out of me
Walk in shy with your head down low
Like you don't want to be here - like you'd rather stay home
And watch a little T.V. and do some dinner for one
Take a paperback to bed or just a little soft porn.
Saturday night - out with the school in the swim
Nothing to say - nothing to do
But get on the trip that'll carry us all through this
Drift in the corner with a composite smile
Gotta keep it all together maintain some self control
There ain't many paths open you ain't practiced before
You could do this in your sleep until you wake up alone
Saturday night - out with the school in the swim
Nothing to say - nothing to do
But get on the trip that'll carry us all through this
Don't hold your breathe too long
Don't let the gap slip through your fingers
Maintain your motion
Your grip on the beat we are called to
Didn't mean to do it again but when the options are tight
And there's a river of alcohol and plenty to bite
And I get bored of the silence so I'm catching the wind
That's turning stupid to meaningful, and useless to fit
And I duck and I stumble and I fake it's a dive
And I wait in the current for the turn of the tide
And I wait for the whites of the eyes of the prize
No Cognito Ergo Sum - get up and do it and ride
Saturday night - out with the school in the swim
Nothing to say - nothing to do
But get on the trip that'll carry us all through this
Don't hold your breathe too long
Don't let the gap slip through your fingers
Maintain your motion
Your grip on the beat we are called to
Michael
Out of the sand into the sky
A pillar of fire, a blinding white light
Borne with the wind that flows from the word
Building momentum, a maelstrom of sound
And it serves the will and it never feels
In one hand a sword, in the other a shield
And it sees tomorrow and it knows the past
As it takes all colours and grinds them to dust
Ligament
wait til your father gets home
you know his brother's always doting on his precious little girl
you couldn't wait til I was gone
Your eyes are gonna bruise with symmetry now
I'm washing my hands of you, son
I can't believe what you've become
We give you everything and this is how you start repaying
I hope for your sakes that your father is not drunk
He's gonna kill you when I tell him,
But I'm telling all the same
So what? she's old enough to know
And we're so bored an' all, sitting in our room
that's why her mother sent her here
I'm sure you heard about the boy that she was made to loose?
She likes my shiner, it reminds her how we look the same
You know she really is a special kind of pink-eyed girl
They're gonna get him when I tell them,
But I'm telling all the same
They're gonna put him on the west wing
Where they'll drive his head insane
That man's a power-freak
And where's the sound that gonna bring him down?
We're only playing cos we're bored
And it's so easy - it's absurd...
Ninety-nine
Skinny white boy with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white boy with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white boy with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white boy with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white girl with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white girl with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white girl with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white girl with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white kids with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white kids with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white kids with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white kids with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white world with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white world with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white world with no sense of rhythm
Skinny white world with no sense of rhythm
Hey. Wake up.
I need to ask you a favour
Of course each questions loaded; we spent three years on it
We think that you are playing games when you are fast asleep
There really was no danger; although we saw it then
It’s just a little colder. The sky a little grey
It’s just a question of timing,
It’s just a question of time
Være eller ikke være
The one that got away at fourteen on a whim
The father of your downfall, yeah, we could still be him
Best buy your way through college; we went and towed our lines
Got best in class for confidence Xanax, Fluoroxetine and wine
It’s just a question of timing,
It’s just a question of time
Være eller ikke være
A vase with no eyes, now we’ve outlived Christ
And it wasn’t all that easy; not much good advice
We wish you all the best; don’t need to meet your friends
There are no easy answers still there it goes regardless
Always moving the same way, fish and dots and pharmacy
Another who would take you, but you’re so indecisive
Still black, I guess, it suits you; you’re morbid when you drink
You never could get over how you found that you could think
You’ve gone and let her drown again; you’ve simply stood and spied
And railed against the facts at large instead of here and now
Of course each question’s loaded; we spent four years on it
We think that you are playing games when you are fast asleep
Være eller ikke være
Too close to the floor, I see you’ve already been
The little marks on your cheekbones tell it like it is
Turn up on time win the prize, we’re gonna pull it off this time
A little practise and a little disguise, a little less sugar and a few white lies
We’ve got something for meetings, and something for outings
In a tight fit suit jacket and a short straight fringe
In a post-something haze we’ve forgotten to reference
Your Mötörhead top shop shirt cropped at the waist
And you’re mother should know because we once took her dancing
In the eye-liner rushing of a dance floor beat
And your father should too although he never says much now
But keeps a lock firmly left tightly undone
Locked yourself in a butchers shop boy; once more into the breech
You scratched your mark in hard and true now we can see it for what it is
We are reward for the nine-while-five. We are the buzz that kicks
We are the nights when you feel your skin rush soft against the headboard, sinking in
Just like the good doctor said in the summertime
You buys your ticket and takes the ride
You only check when you wake up saying
Let’s celebrate tomorrow’s news today
Too close to the floor, I see you’ve already been
The little marks on your septum tell it like it is
Sometimes we find your letters moving
The pictures stir and warm the eyes
We hear the sound of Friday evening
Echoing again
(c) All lyrics monmon