Lyrics
Monday 14th July
Cold Wind
Cold Wind is basically a Springsteen pastiche, although there is an element of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind there too- movie buffs may recognise an allusion to one of Mammy’s lines from the film in the final verse! As a band our aim has always been to present small intimate slices of the everyday against simple but arresting backdrops. Like a Sam Beckett play! It is story, character and feel that we shoot for and I believe it is with this track that we have come closest.
here I am sittin on this empty porch again I’ve got two minds to hold your hand or bash your brains in, I’ve got two beers left maybe one could serve as a weapon… I was born and I was raised and raised again it seems no amount of rearin can hold an evil heart within, you know I want you girl but I just don’t know what I’m seekin.
gonna pack my trunk take to the long concrete forsaken.
the stars are out tonight all shinin’ full of sin I’m wonderin… how far I’ve got to go until I begin. my baby’s cryin like a cold wind blowin on your skin. It’s hard to love someone who’s eyes are growin dim it’s hard to be a man when there’s blood on the linen- the things we say to each other I hope to God that He ain’t listenin.
my baby’s cryin like a cold wind blowin on your skin, gonna pack my trunk take to the long concrete forsaken.
on the fringes
on the fringes is one of our earliest completed compositions, and stands as a band favourite (possibly for this very reason). There is a sense of desperation in the song that undermines the narrator’s attempts at worldliness and cynicism. It is quite possibly the most autobiographical of the tracks on our EP. It is certainly the most explicit- although, thankfully, the tune is diverting enough to disguise much of this…
I think I know how it is to be alone, distant smiles seem shrouded in monochrome, standing on the fringes of wherever the sun is shone
I saw a handsome guy saunter down the street, he said to me “man I wouldn’t paint my house in those jeans!” , so much for common courtesy
my friend’s a Catholic and a clandestine whore, she said to me “boy I wouldn’t like to’ve been your mother!”, as I bent to take some milk from her
you put the ardour in camaraderie, forever walkin in my reveries, ok I’m done, can you pass some this way please?
ok I’m done can I just be on my own.
you kissed me deeply on the dancin floor but, me I’m only in deep when I’m halfway out the door, I’ve never felt so lonesome as I do when I’m with her
I called late lookin for a heart to share, Christine laughed and said “you’re smooth kid but don’t even go there!”, so much for this night gettin any better
you put the ardour in camaraderie, forever walkin in my reveries, ok I’m done, can you pass some this way please?
I think forever is a long long time, I guess tomorrow isn’t worth a five and dime, because I feel a cold blind desire curl it’s fingers into mine
the sun is shining but it’s not getting any lighter my shirt is spinning but it’s not getting any whiter I’m getting older but I’m not getting any brighter
I think I know how it is to be alone, distant smiles seem shrouded in monochrome, standing on the fringes of wherever the sun is shone
predatory love
This one is a guilty pleasure. It didn’t quite make the lineup for the EP as we felt the contrast in tone sufficient to warrant its inclusion on a later release.
Predatory Love went through many incarnations before arriving in its present state, one of which included a 7/4 bass breakdown two thirds of the way through- Ronan’s idea..naturally! Sometimes a song will yield itself to you only when it is good and ready, and there is a sweetness (and sadness) to this track that is difficult to resist…
she’ll give me faith when I awake give me faith when I awake, jump up and down upon my stomach up and down upon my stomach,
she is a siren in a salty flume is a siren in a salty flume,
makes dolphin sounds when guests are in the room dolphin sounds when guests are in the room dolphin sounds when guests are in the room…she’s a self-defeater but if you look close you’ll find there’s beehive in her smile,
awash with lost souls, that’s where they go
attention seeker if you look close you’ll find there’s a beehive in your smile
awash with lost souls, that’s where they go
fifty men on a dead man’s chest fifty men on a dead man’s chest,
she’ll come with bells and boons and watercress come with bells and boons and watercress, she’ll come with trumpet’s peal and all that stuff trumpet’s peal and all that stuff,
she’ll come with predatory prison love come with predatory prison love come with predatory prison love…she’s a self defeater if you look close you’ll find there’s a beehive in her smile,
awash with lost souls, that’s where they go
attention seeker if you look close you’ll find there’s a beehive in your smile,
awash with lost souls, that’s where they go
fifty men on a dead man’s chest, she’ll come with bells and boons and watercress, she’ll come with trumpet’s peal and all that stuff, she’ll come with predatory prison love,
she’s gangrene in my soul, there’s sorrow in her own, that’s why everyone everyone, wants to give her a home home home home home home home…
roll on yesterday
This old beauty. To be honest we were initially quite surprised by the positive reaction this track seemed to enjoy; there is no obvious chorus, (as one refrain makes clear), and the structure stops and starts quite a bit. I think perhaps part of the song’s appeal comes from a sense of nostalgia that, despite the song’s sanguinity, is overwhelming, and even painful. There are overtones of loss and regret, yet there is optimism for the future also- a sense of defiance permeates the title motif . It is about serenity in uncertainty, about coming to terms with your own mortality over a hearty glass of lemonade. I suppose you could even call it happy!
roll on yesterday that’s what I always say so if you hurry by my way perchance to seize the day roll on yesterday
roll on motorway Carnalea to Helen’s Bay stopping off for lemonade as the daylight slips away roll on yesterday
they say I’m rolling in the sawdust, kids they call me brontosaurus
but I sing my own melody- a song don’t have to have a chorusas this life blood bleeds as this hair recedes, at least I still have these trusty memories
roll on yesterday it still has a role to play Carnalea to Paraguay it’s in every step of the way roll on yesterday
woah woah woah woah etc. (!)
roll on motorway Carnalea to Helen’s Bay stopping off for lemonade as the daylight slips away roll on yesterday it still has a role to play Carnalea to Paraguay it’s in every step of the way roll on yesterday
as this life blood bleeds as this hair recedes,
as the folks I see don’t got no feelin,
no I won’t be mean cos I’m not seventeen no more,
yes it don’t take much to make me happy,
I’ve had my share of peace and prosperity as long as I have thesetrusty memories.
she reads magazines
this is a rather curious love song, full of shadows and ambiguity. It is framed rather like a lullaby, soothing, repetitive and haunting- a dreamy fairy tale of first love.
a taste like sweetness a scent that one could feel, a sight like petite black orchids showered gently on a spinning wheel,
her darkness with its silky touch, would chill but not detract as such, the sparks that reach out from her eyes, would better and worse a thousand highs, a thousand highsa thousand highs
I’m talkin Tolstoy while she reads magazines and sits in shadow, I can’t help but think that she don’t notice me,
I’d buy her sweeties, but she’s got diabetes.
I’ve given up tryin to read the signs, I’m just glad that I’m here and that she don’t mind,
she don’t mindshe don’t mind
a taste like sweetness a scent that one could feel, a sight like petite black orchids showered gently on a spinning wheel,
her darkness with its silky touch, would chill but not detract as such, the sparks that reach out from her eyes, would better and worse a thousand highs a thousand highsa thousand highs
Spider
We have always been intrigued by the craft of the pop song, an uncomplicated format that is at once ever familiar but has the capacity to constantly yield new surprises. It is the sound of youth in all it’s small tragedies and precocious optimism! This track in particular is very distinctively us; soulful yet playful, whimsical and poignant, like innocence on its last legs. Have you ever realised the futility of trying to rationalise your feelings? Even a little boy meets girl schmaltz can bring a circus strongman to his knees !
I woke up, with a bug, in my hair, it wasn’t fair creeping on my skin, back to bother me again.
she’s as sharp, as a splinter, in my palm, she’s napalm, stripping off my skin wants to see what lies within
she’s the morning web, on the ceiling that falls onto my face in a dreamy dawn,
beautiful spider, the fruit of your loins is catchin the flies in my craniummy evenings are awake with thoughts of honey- coated hate for the insect on my skin as it burrows deep within
stilted speech, false avenues, lead to pale, uncertain hues of conversation, but they fall into the dust
I’m ambivalent, I’m a sychophant, she’s an elephant to my fly in the morning web
beautiful spider, please enter my skin, fill my sleeping head with the dew from the morning webreach out with my fingers, catch undreamt dreams and cinders, decorate the caverns of the morning web
dear spider, I follow, unslung this bow and arrow, and needless words I swallowshe’s the morning web, on the ceiling that falls onto my face in a dreamy dawn
beautiful spider, the fruit of your loins is catching the flies in my cranium
