1. |
Another Country
04:30
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away
over that line
that line that if left runs a ring round the sky
comes curving a coastline up out of the sea
the unquiet sea shifting restless
between her and me
in a dream I am moving
I take step after step
but I can't reach the land
no closer do I get
and my words have no meaning here
hanging over the sea
and she's in another country from me
are you there, are you there, are you there
beyond the blue of your eyes
move subtly the meanings you might choose to hide
the curve of your body
the beat of your heart
pressed close to my own
in my arms
in the dark
she speaks a different language
says I don't understand
what it means that across the sea
there is a land
another country another country
come closer she'll show you further away
mirage of the desert hanging over the waves
she's in another country from me
are you there, are you there, are you there
I flew over the ocean
waves below, clouds above
I asked her if she remembered she'd said
nothing means anything without love
(are you there)
don't you hear me calling your name
(are you there)
why are you turning away
(are you there)
I wanted you so much that I could not say
another country another country
we just don't say what we mean what we say
and I walk out your door but you don't go away
she's in another country from me
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2. |
The Classics
04:26
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no one makes them like they used to
those days are over
there's no one who still knows how
those days are gone forever
like a lack of plastics
they were the classics
these are golden days
older days
looked back fondly on
sepia toned
overgrown
with the days to come
and all the books and all the music
the films and all the plays
the classics are behind us nowadays
no one makes them like they used to
those days are over
there's no one who still knows how
those days are gone forever
like a lack of plastics
they were the classics
all the analogues
are lost in fogs
who knows where they've gone?
all that's known
will be shown
in zeros and ones
and it's onward ever onward
with no way to turn around
since Homer screamed out stop
put that pencil down
gone forever like a lack of plastics
we were the classics
the sun is growing and we double our speed again
it's growing closer and we double our speed again
the sun's exploding and we double our speed again
the time is closer and we double our speed again
the end's approaching and we double our speed again
the time is over and we double our speed
no one makes them like they used to
those days are over
there's no one who still knows how
those days are gone forever
like a lack of plastics
we were the classics
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3. |
William V
05:08
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in 1982 they tore me from my mother's womb
who knows the meaning who knows the why
but I never looked into her living eyes
like my dad and my granddad both before me
and my great- and my great-great- one, so they did say
they called me William for joke or for wish
named like the new-born prince William V
mum lay so quiet and cold in her bed
as her brown eyes so sweetly rolled back in her head
like his father before him dad could not be found
he fucked off and only his name stuck around
here I am in the doorway, Billy the V
hail, hail, hear the bells ringing
keep that mutt away from me
hail, hail, the king, the king
good people were George and Elizabeth Baptiste
took me in for an orphan before I'd cut teeth
took me into their home and into their arms
in Tottenham town, on the Broadwater Farm
to the Broadwater Farm estate, Tottenham town
in '85 came the riots and our door it came down
cop clubbed Georgie Baptiste plumb on the skull bone
and they carted me off to the council care home
where the superintendent said, when I arrived
“I run a tight ship so you'd best toe the line”
but I would not tow anything and I cursed his name
and I played merry hell until I ran away
well I woke up this morning and I could not stand
hail, hail, hear the bells ringing
this old body of mine won't obey my commands
hail, hail, the king the king
“life isn't fair, Bill – you get what you get”
well that's easy to say but it's tough to accept
“if you try hard you can make it in our meritocracy”
that's just a way to excuse laying into the weak
who knows the meaning who knows the why
but it's true when they say nothing's fair about life
back in '97 poor William, my friend
he lost his own mum in a car accident
I was down by the river, age of 15
the police came and swept us all off of the streets
and a carpet of flowers and wreaths was laid down
I stole flowers for my mother, and then I felt proud
and the years struggled by
and oh how the nation's been mourning
until today, which is the day
that my namesake is proudly crowned king
here I lie, my life flashing in front of my eyes
I didn't realise they made you sit through this shit twice
here I lie in a doorway, old Billy V
hail, hail, hear the bells ringing
and dogs come up sniffing and snapping round me
hail, hail, hear the bells ring
maybe if I was strong, maybe if I'd tried
hail, hail, hear the bells ringing
but I'm old and I'm weak maybe here I will die
hail, hail, the king, the king
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4. |
Southport at Night
08:14
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no-one could touch us
we were like brothers
screw all the others there was no-one above us
blood-eyed in the the morning
and whisky nights were calling
no-one could touch us
there was no-one above us
you were the person I wanted to be
but I wore my hair long
and I'd get trouble in the streets
off of shirt-wearing townies
thought I was a clown
but you, you were older
we were brothers in a small town
I remember the day when we went walking for miles
down through the sand-dunes and into the pines
you lived with your mum and that photo of your dad
and my dad was fading like the sunrise
not quite two-of-a-kind
and stood on similar sides
if you're looking for trouble it's trouble you'll find
no-one could touch us
we were like brothers
screw all the others there was no-one above us
blood-eyed in the the morning
and whisky nights were calling
with jokes in our mouths
and we were brothers in a small town
and I thought that drinking was the meaning of life
but the clubs were all shit so we were wasting our time
and all that embarrassing dancing, to this day I feel ashamed
and then we're walking back home, singing for for Janice and Jonesy
and Jimi and Jim
drunken streets in a blur of streetlight
then we're fighting on my kitchen floor
screaming abuse outside of a kebab shop
you never back down you stupid bastard
but I know I know I know you're wrong
cos if you're fighting nothing
you can never win
you were a knife in my spine, I was a thorn in your side
if you're looking for trouble it's trouble you find
then we're up on the rooftops and running around
with out fists in the air like we were kings of the town
and I kicked at a churchbell, hadn't sounded for years
and the blue night over our heads, and a ringing in our ears
I was always a softlad and I quit town for the south
not that Town was so tough, mate, it's so obvious now
then the cops took your money, meant you couldn't leave out
I left you hanging 'round there with the booze and the brown
-
far from the harbour
in the ocean of your room
there's a brave Black Sea captain
pointing at the moon
and in through the opening under the door black
oil comes rushing in flooding the floor til it fills
up your throat and it suffocates screams and endlessly
back into darkness you fall
and suddenly nothing there's nowhere
you're falling you run down the street
with your broken leg and your airgun
shouting
silent
there's a fire that you lit and it licks round the house
at the end of your street as your head
and the rocks collide
and either he who throws the stone
traced an arc of his own
or each act acts alone
who knows
if the darkness at their heart
is set there from the start
and I feel we're still walking through the dunes and pines
and always we will be for the rest of our lives
I know nothings changed, I know that nothing stays the same
and I know you'll get by, with your walk as distinctive
as the look in your eye
how far are we lead by the things that go before?
and where is this place, this place I glimpse in my thoughts?
I know we hated it back then but somehow in my mind
it's now a moonlight seaside paradise
youth is the Paradise of memories
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5. |
Traveller
03:34
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the evening on the meadow
the peacock fanned a tail
the sunlight on the houses
the trees bent in the rain
I didn't know her very long
I liked her from the first
and everything she didn't know
would pretty much fill up the universe
a memory, a memory
that now I can't recall
that came to mind to visit me
that I don't know how long I hadn't thought
a little piece of history
known only to her and me
now it's here and now it's gone again
all of you weary travellers
come reach a hand across the night
and together we'll go walking into light
she never knew me very long
she said she knew me well
and all the world was mostly made
of everything I didn't know to tell
a memory, a memory
the trees bent in the rain
the people that we used to be
are here with us again
a little piece of reality
known only to you and me
now it's now and now it's gone again
and all of you weary travellers
come reach a hand across the night
and together we'll go walking in
a memory, a memory
a vision from afar
a voice resounds inside my head
awake inside the dark
a little piece of you and me
known only to history
now you're here and soon you're gone away
stay with me and let me be
alone with you again
now we touch
and afterwards we part
and all of you weary travellers
come reach a hand across the night
and together we'll go walking into light
all of you weary travellers
come reach a hand across the night
and forever we'll go walking into light
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6. |
Nowhere in Particular
05:49
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rush hour's going nowhere in a rush
I'm at a bus stop by a billboard waiting for a bus
sight comes to my eye of shambling old John Bull
he's wearing a torn tweed jacket wove of Taiwan wool
he's got the face of an Angle and Union Jack socks on
bloodstains are crumbling they've been on his shirt so long
he went around the world in wars to get to here
and where he's off to now, poor lad, he ain't quite clear
and everything turned out alright
and pleasantly we passed our time
and we all went for a little ride
to nowhere in particular
I'm still at the bus stop but the bus has gotten lost
so I look back at the billboard to see what's worth all the fuss
but it's just conflict in collage, strip-torn sex and coffee
an abstract poison-pen letter from culture to the city
now I don't know where I'm going so I'll stick with Bull a while
just like a couple of couplets round each other off in style
he did his bit, made free my life, and for my part today I write
that just cos I'm full of shit don't mean he's full of
something similar
I leave Johnny B down by the cardboard city
where everything is incomplete
and built-to-last wasn't built to last
and under the bridge the strongest always gets the best spot
and everything turned out alright
and pleasantly we passed our time
and we all went for a little ride
to nowhere in particular
round and round we go it seems
round like infinity
we all hold hands and the circle game
goes on going round for all eternity
round we go, but maybe it's
round like a wheel and
we're rolling towards our
goal
we're boldly rolling forwards just cos
we can't find reverse
and round and round we go
round and round we go
round we go and round we go
round and round and round and
everything turned out alright
and pleasantly we passed our time
and we all went for a little ride
to nowhere in particular
I bought a triple-pack of sandwiches
while I was somewhere down the motorway
how miraculous this bounty had found its way to me
and all wrapped up in cardboard and cellophane
and was this pig a happy and a dirty pig
how did this chicken screech inside its cell
what mysteries these prawns experienced
drifting on the arctic swell
well when I got back she was on the phone
she asked me where I'd been
and I said oh you know you know
nowhere in particular
there's meant to be four more lines but I've not written enough
but they say at the end of the day you've got to put your feet up
and everything is incomplete
the vanishing-point does not meet
and all the young dudes are carrying the news
to nowhere in particular
and everything turned out alright
and pleasantly we passed our time
and we all went for a little ride
to nowhere in particular
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7. |
The Fire in Me
02:25
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please please please please
the fire in me
I've known you, girl, for oh so many years now
you're a wonder to me
we laughed and we played games
through all our childhood days
but childhood days they come to an end
well I remember, girl, when you'd first go out walking
I was still only a boy
they'd all swear you'd never part
but you always broke their hearts
the fire in you was burning too hot
I'd see them walking the moonlight lonely all alone
crying eyes cast down to the floor
and now you're turning to me you tell me our love has grown
and I'll be your man for evermore
loving you, girl, it would be so wonderful sweet
but please don't set that fire in me, sweet lady
please don't set that fire in me
please please please please
the fire in me
now here I am walking the moonlight lonely all alone
crying eyes cast down to the floor
and now you're turning to me you tell me our love has grown
and I'll be your man for evermore
loving you, girl, it would be so wonderful sweet
but please don't set that fire in me, sweet lady
please don't set that fire in me
please don't set that fire in me, sweet lady
please don't set that fire in me
please please please please
the fire in me
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8. |
There is a Land
03:49
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there's a land that I heard tell of in a story long ago
where everybody finds all that they need
and all that's kept has been release
and everybody loves to live in peace
and there is no fear coming down the road
but o, the water is wide, wide wide
the water is wide
so I've built a boat of all my best intentions
I've got these oars made out of who I am
and I'm aiming to strike out across the water
with the tide
to find that place that everybody knows
but o, the water is wide, wide wide
the water is wide
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9. |
Is the Sun Shining
03:55
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is the sun shining
how can you tell
with the sky so blue and bright
should we not feel warmth as well
are the birds singing
what do they know
the melody that seemed so sweet
does it seem now just for show
does the wind whisper
with secret to tell
since you told me
you love me
me as well
all the walls are coming tumbling down
around you
me and you we're gonna tear them down
me and you
the sound of your laughter
remembered so sad
who can know the difference truly
between what's good and what is bad
hearts seeking happiness
somehow tangled in pain
if the sun's shining
will we ever
feel warmth again
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10. |
Mute the Button
06:35
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we set our eyes into the middle distance
and acted like we couldn't see the boy
though he stood out clear as day against
the night on the horizon
his hair was blond as ashes
his skin was black like snow
his eyes were bluer than a sunset gone below
and this miserable old codger
who'd somehow tagged along
said he was the singer at the end of song
the singer at the end of song
what is this beast what is this bird, we said
we have not seen this shit before
ah you have, said the daft old duffer,
and you'll be seeing it some more
and his fingers were like burnt-out matchsticks
and his legs were like a fading fence
out where the desert starts like springtime and the ghost-town ends
where if you've gone so far to get there
you've been going on too long
he was the singer at the end of song
the singer at the end of song
but how do we unpick his meaning, I said,
what are our frames of reference
quickly you had best text Frederick Jameson
I'll leave a post-it note for Louis Spence
you know he pictures himself as a young Bo Diddley
but he's the spit of an elderly Johnny Borrell
struggling to wrangle on those skinny, skinny jeans
in a sad Sam Cooke motel
but there is no bang or whimper
there's just a wimp here with a bong
and he's the singer at the end of song
the singer at the end of song
and allegory's lion
laid down and leant against the wall
he said, I can't take the weight of all this
half-baked imagery
my hearts just waiting for the axe to fall
and this metaphoric mixture
is wanting for a meta-metaphor,
then he crawled away and his inside a glass house
painted himself into a corner
and with a wry smile that seemed a little forced the old man said,
they'll miss us when we're gone,
but he was wrong
after the singer at the end of song
the singer at the end of song
as we came up closer to the singer
he coughed and shook my hand
and then it almost seemed that he was speaking
but I could not understand
and his voice was like something or other
and his words were like...
yeah, well, whatever
I forget
and it was 'round about that time I realised
it didn't matter anymore
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Robin Elliott London, UK
Extraordinary songwriter and performer.
Funnier and more self-deprecating than this makes me sound.
Forthcoming album There is a Land is awash with novel narrative strategies and novelty Brexit tunes.
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