1. |
Slick
02:27
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Slick
Cigar turns to ashes
Cries cannot be heard
Noone's here
No one sees
Thirteen
Where?
Moon plays a candle
Red light goes out
Material submitted for the night
Safe at light, dead of night
Time
No baby crying
No dogs to bark
Dawn ends hope
The night recedes
Again
It begins
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2. |
Twist
04:33
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Twist
Dance the death of a thousand cuts
Twist and scream, twist and scream
Lose your breath to the turning wheel
Twist, twist, twist and scream
This stunning new night club entertainment
Has recently opened in our town
A disco of pain - a pay as you enter hell
The disc jockey wears an executioner’s mask
He doesn’t play records, but he knows how to make you dance
The ceiling of spikes comes crashing down (x2)
Chorus
This amazing new form of entertainment
Keeps the population explosion down
Exposed Magazine said it was the next big thing
So all the hipsters paid to kill themselves
But after you die, you tend to forget how to dance...
The ceiling of spikes comes crashing down (x2)
Chorus
A famous pop star opened the the place
His manager thought the sales would rocket
But they never thought that he’d be followed
By thousands of adulating fans
Chorus (x2)
Twist, twist, twist and scream (x2)
Twist (x6)
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3. |
Fly Paper
04:51
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Fly Paper
Just sticking it out there
To see what lands
They're just sticking it out there
To see what they can attract
It's flypaper
Flypaper
Believe what you like
But believe what you're told
Whatever the streets are paved with
It's certainly not gold
Real stories are trapped
Behind an artificial pout
Bad blood is such a difficult stain to get out
Just sticking it out there
To see what lands
They're just letting it hang
To see what they can attract
It's flypaper
Flypaper
The ones who are dead
Are the ones they expose
Whatever the bodies are covered with
It's certainly not clothes
The real story's stuck
In their fat piggy snouts
Bad blood is such a difficult stain to get out
The ones who can't fight back
Are easier to blame
The ones who don't know any better
Well, they're easier to shame
Don't let the truth get in the way
Of a great fucking story, eh?
Don't let the truth get in the way...
Believe what you want
But don't believe me
I'm just messing with your head
Trying to set you free
The real story's here
In my bad breath mouth
Bad blood is such a difficult stain to get out
Just sticking it out there
To see what lands
They're just letting it hang there
To see what they can attract
It's flypaper
Flypaper
Don't get stuck
On the flypaper
Don't get stuck
On the flypaper
Don't get stuck...
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4. |
The Tower
02:52
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The Tower
That morning
We climbed up the tower
The light was all wrong
Our breath burned like acid
Crying like angry seagulls
Dragging ourselves up and up
Tower got higher and higher
Getting to the top
Took hours
Later on
We got to the top of the tower
The sun had gone down
There was no one around
Except us and the seagulls
We lay at the top, the top
The sky got lower and lower
Looking over the edge
Took guts
That night
We stayed in the tower
Nowhere else to go
The lights had gone out
We dined on the seagulls
Bolted the door, the door
We're staying here forever
Never go
The tower
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5. |
Also-ran
03:35
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Also-ran
You wait hours for a fool
Then three turn up at once
The doctor says
You have acute hypomania
It's a running joke
You say the nicest things
You really say the nicest things
You're looking at me
An also-ran in the human race
Can't help looking at me
I can't help looking out of place
Waiting months to be seen
Let me down all at once
The doctor says
You're a complete failure
It's a running joke
At least I'm good at something
At least there's something I'm good at
You're looking at me
An also-ran in the human race
Can't help looking at me
I can't help looking out of place
Waiting years for a chance
Nothing happens at all
And no one said
It's time to stop running now
Its a running joke
It's time to stop running now
Its time for me to stop running now
Please don't be nice to me
I can't handle you being nice
I'm opting out of the human race
Out of the running in the human race
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6. |
Normal
02:01
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Normal
This lad's pretty normal to outside eyes
But every night in bed he dies
A mental suicide over the phone
A broken line in a broken home
He's not normal
Not normal at all
Disco dancer dancing, picks up a girl
Spins her round town in a social whirl
Love and hate her, physical wreck
A broken heart an a broken neck
He's not normal
Not normal at all
Made love to her as she died
Took a look at her face, broke down and cried
Then ran for miles with empty thoughts
Of endless cages and endless courts
In a last ditch attempt to end his life
He slashed his wrists with a Stanley knife
A hopeless madman sprawled on a bed
A broken man with a broken head
He's not normal
Not normal at all
He wasn't normal, nobody knew
He wasn't normal and neither are you
He wasn't normal
He wasn't normal
He wasn't normal
He wasn't normal
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7. |
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The Spirit of Scott + Jackie
Wednesday. The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
The smell of candy floss, diesel and vomit. Three friends forego a previous engagement in search of mechanical entertainment. Scott and Jackie are lovers. The rollercoaster smiles and beckons, a metal snake jointed in evil. The third friend, Jamie, lends Scott two pounds to oil the tracks. Screams of helpless laughter melt into burning cries for help. Poor Scott and Jackie.
The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
Come with me to a fairground
Where a cold wind pulls flaps of grey canvas
Yesterday’s newspapers spinning silently
The sky is never blue
The following year. The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
Jamie is drawn here, pushed and pestered by persistent nightmares and visions. There is no rollercoaster now, but there is unfinished business. Scott’s friend pays his money and takes his seat on the Ferris. He is at the top when, with a rusty metallic scream, the wheel stops. All lights are extinguished, then, without the reassuring hum and click of old machinery, Jamie is lowered slowly to the ground. Scott + Jackie are standing there, arms outstretched, clothes and flesh hanging in blacked strips, their faces rippling and bubbling, charred skulls whispering: ‘Welcome back.’
The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
Come with me to a fairground
Where a cold wind pulls flaps of grey canvas
Yesterday’s toffee papers scuttle wildly
The sky is always grey
The same night. The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
Jamie’s hand sinks into something soft as, pushing past his friends, he runs through the crowded fairground. A foulness pervades the air, knots of rotted, burning people laughing hoarsely. ‘Ring a prize!’ Rifle range!’ ‘Win your girlfriend a teddy bear!’ ‘Candy floss!’ ‘Lucky numbers!’ are all patronised by smiling corpses. Jamie is breathless at the gates and with his own terrified eyes, he sees Scott + Jackie, waiting for him.
The Big Wheel turns, that stomach-washing machine feeling, your head is your feet.
Come with me to a fairground
Where a cold wind pulls flaps of grey canvas
Yesterday’s newspapers spinning silently
The sky is never blue
Always grey
Never blue
(As a matter of interest, Jamie was found the following day, by one of the fairground dogs. An unmarked corpse, apart from the burnt-in imprint of a two pound coin, in the palm of his left hand. Even the dead repay their debts.)
Come with me to a fairground
Where a cold wind pulls flaps of grey canvas
Yesterday’s toffee papers scuttle wildly
The sky is always grey
Never blue
Always grey
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8. |
Foster Kenzie
03:41
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Foster Kenzie
I know someone called Foster Kenzie
He says he knows everything about the world
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
And Foster Kenzie is a dangerous man
His time is ticking away
His time is a precious thing
Nobody else knows Foster Kenzie
He lives where nobody else matters
He follows important men in the shadows
Cos Foster Kenzie likes to have his finger on the pulse
His time is ticking away
His time is a precious thing
I know I can trust Foster Kenzie
Because he doesn't really exist
I need to keep feeding this fantasy
If Foster Kenzie died, I wouldn't be here
His egg timer is empty
His time is not so precious
And if it's alright with Foster Kenzie
Then it's alright by me
It's alright by me
Foster Kenzie
Foster Kenzie
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9. |
Anorexic Beauty
05:09
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Anorexic Beauty
Sitting alone on a cold bar stool
Your cold hard eyes made me feel a fool
Pastel white features, high cheekbones
Scarlet-blooded lips and deathly tones
The girl of my nightmares
Sultry and corpse-like
The girl of my nightmares
Anorexic beauty
Featherweight perfection
Anorexic beauty
Underweight goddess
Brittle fingers, a thin cigarette
So hard to tell apart: you haven’t spoken yet
You put your hand on mine, death-white on brown
Those whirlpool eyes, I begin to drown
The girl of my nightmares
Erotic and skull-faced
The girl of my nightmares
Anorexic beauty
Featherweight perfection
Anorexic beauty
Underweight goddess
Sitting alone on a cold bar stool
So hard to tell apart: you haven’t spoken yet
Pastel white features, high cheekbones
Those whirlpool eyes, I begin to drown
The girl of my nightmares
Sultry and skull-faced
The girl of my nightmares
Anorexic beauty
Featherweight perfection
Anorexic beauty
Underweight goddess
Anorexic Beauty
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10. |
Cracked Up To Be
04:13
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Cracked Up To Be
After a little organic exercise, you roll over, play dead
The ceiling stares at me and I dream of spiders
Rock me, caress me
My emotions are silly
Putty in your hands
And I feel like a foolish government
Borrowing so much I can’t pay back
Borrowing emotions
And leaving nothing
God has a jab-in-the-eye sense of humour
Disenchanted, love-maid
You’re mentally celibate and I dream of virgins
Touch you, detest you
You’re sensually silly
Putty in my hands
And I feel like an old jigsaw puzzle
The picture becomes more incomplete
Stealing the pieces
And leaving IOUs
Locked like chainmail in an animal embrace
With a hiss of iron you scratch my face
Locked together for hours on end
Communicate with feelings, my friend
Don’t you know it’s not what it’s cracked up to be?
Sex is carefully reduced to a dirty word
Dispassion destroys it
Portions of the mind close and I dream of true love
Push me, ridicule me
My emotions are so silly
Putty in your hands
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11. |
Adrift
10:22
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Adrift
I want to go home
But I can't go home
I want somewhere safe
But nowhere is safe
I need your help
But I can't get your help
There are wires and walls and fences and batons and guns
I can't get where I need to be
I'm adrift
Our dead weight sinks boats
Our dead weight fills vans
Our dead weight is drowned
Our dead weight is banned
Our dead weight starts fights
Our dead weight breaks hearts
There are wires and walls and fences and batons and guns
We can't get where we need to be
We're adrift
You can't imagine
What we've been through
The horrors we've seen
The terror we've felt
The family we've lost
You can't imagine
There are men with grim faces and sandbags and barriers and tear gas
We just need a helping hand
We're adrift
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New Model Soldier Sheffield, UK
We're back. After 30-odd years. It's like we've never been away.
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