| Sarandon's Age Of Reason |
big trev (in which we meet our hero and learn a little about his habitat): sit still son drink tea son make me some (like big trev) drink tea son don't look glum suck your thumb (like big trev) suck your thumb not mine son not clean son (unlike big trev) not clean son quite mean son to not leave me some (unlike big trev) to not leave me some more than you need son that's proper mean son (unlike big trev) we like big trev!
mustn't grumble (our hero has acquaintances who can be bothersome): find her in your flowerbeds cutting back the deadheads she;s in the armchair and she's gotten comfy there. mustn't grumble really mustn't grumble. then she's in your workplace telling stories about your face you make it to the bathroom just to find she's in there too. mustn't grumble really mustn't grumble. she's opening the post for you and questioning your attitude knocking on the bedroom door during private interludes. mustn't grumble realy mustn't grumble.
perky (our hero has moments of sheer joy, understanding the reasons why he's here and how others fit into his world): i am a polyglot i don't know quite what i've got except a perky tush. could be a havenot who wants everything that you've got except your fake gold tooth. you be a robot i'll put money into your slot and you can bang your drum like this.
do the dance (we find out hero in the nightmare nightclub of his youth. the fashionista nazis provide the time signature): did i hear you say you disagree? does that mean you don't think just like me? you say you think i'm talking through my hat well it's time to put a stop to that. do the dance the dance they dance at death.
dinosaur (our hero begins to wonder if there's a reason to all of this): feeling so overblown the phone rings to let me know i'm alone why must i contemplate the stupid things i say please take the day away. dreaming away the waste and knowing i cannot take the pace why must i constantly awkwardly sing out of tune please take my voice away soon. hearing you call me dinosaur makes me question my foolish self even more.
piglet (outside there's a girl. she is the piglet and she is pink and friendly and our hero regains his smile): yesterday the same as any other day tomorrow that will be the same again i have one thought through sunshine and through rain, "i like you! i like you!" the dizzies come spinning through my heart and brain the wooziness of falling further every day i have one tonic for the wind and rain, "i like you! i like you!"
mackenzie (our hero creates a new persona. it's a face he can use to combat his berves and to project his beliefs): could mackenzie be your new pin-up? could he be the man on your wall? or perhaps he'll start revolutions or perhaps he'll be nothing at all. does mackenzie have his own movement from the left foot onto the right and perhaps he'll come to your parties and perhaps he'll blow all your lights. can mackenzie be what you want to? could he be the man that you're not? making video in full technicolour while you're still reworking your plot.
the age of reason (armed with his new-found character our hero invents a band and takes matters into his own hands): sarandon have found the age of reason they marked it fragile and put it out of sight but everyone else jumped onto the face of it and now i think it might be frightened for its life. sarandon will champion this new age from the comfort of their own living rooms they will shout quite loudly but only when your back's turned wave red flags in the afternoons. sarandon will never be unreasonable this age of reason's for eveyone to share expect everyone to have an equal billin except for us.
| Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder (words © John Robb) |
desperate chase to press office our hero is confused. tangled streetes of wretched crowds that stick between his toes. headlines in the local rag "vicar eats neighbours dog". grab a cassette grab a cassette get it down is what i said. radioactive effluent seaweed chomps affluent. god stories local tories hype corruption in the town hall.by the light of the pumpkin moon on a storm tossed night on the 12th of june the sea the sun my soul my heart grins with a peace as the wild wind starts. husband says i've something for you the children reek of fear. hold it folks the stench is getting pretty thick in here. searching for a better life kicks the dog beats the wife good stories hard to handle could this be your one big scandal. the beauty of your skin your face freshly smiled mint toothpaste. i don't care i don't care wrings his hands in despair.
| Other People's Records |
searching for the now: i remember you could hold a tune. i remember jumping 'round the room. i remember growing much too soon. i remember growing really sick of you. i'm searching for the now i don't know how these things work out. i'm searching for he now the why and how these things are allowed. i recall white labels of you. i recall articles and interviews. i recall quietly adoring you. i recall growing really sick of you.
other people's records: other people's records seem to sell so well. i often wonder if they have a magic spell. piles and piles of cds stacked up in my basement. makes me think that you all need a taste replacement. other people's records never get me going. other people's records all need overthrowing. plowing hard earned money in to tours and t-shirts. i'll just stay at home and write my lyrical knee-jerks.
vertical slum (words © swell maps): i've got a rolls royce it's driving me wild i never thought about it. i've got a space between my eyes and i never knew about it. no more ways to excavate you there's no two ways about it. i think that's all there is to say. nothing more. oh OK. go away and play little boys today. the weather. the leather.
| Every Conversation |
every conversation (words © phil wilson): a funny thing happens when i think of wrong and right. i go around in circles when i go to sleep at night. and all the stupid tales we tell they never go nowhere. i sometimes think that all we dream is castles in the air. and every conversation is the same. pull out your well-worn clicés expand on things inane what i'd rather hear's you call my name. well pardon my ignorance but i cannot see the more that you tell me the less clear it is to me. what seemed at first simple is now all confused. words are mute victoms so easily abused. whatever you say we can turn it around. turn it around we'll turn it upside down. a funny thing happens and it happens all the time. i never thought that you would ever be mine.
| Kill Twee Pop! |
kill twee pop!: geometry of where we stand. greasy hair doth make the man. a lifetime talking of tattoos. we're effortlessly cooler than you. geography & an alley or two. acting is not being true. a lifetime spinning like a fool. we're effortlessly hipper than you.
welcome: it's not a question of should I go in there it's more a question of can I go alone and if I get to the bar and buy a drink will I then just get drunk there on my own. and If I do would that be such a bad thing of course I could always stay at home but I'm so bored and I need a drink but then when I'm drunk I need a phone. (unwelcome) and so I decide to go in there after all how much harm can it really do but I'm sure that they're all talking of me i'm pretty sure that they're laughing too. but I'm so bored and I need a drink and now I'm drunk I need a phone look at these young things having fun god how I wish I had a gun. (you're welcome).
lippy: this man has done more than you've done has had even more fun been in trouble more often. god sits at his shoulder at the bar as he orders more vodka proves himself that much harder. this man's been to places you've not been smashed faces you've not seen (this man is lippy).
remember mavis?: remember mavis? she grew up she even got her life on track now she works in barclays bank instead of lying on her back. it was cold when I caught the bus i saw mavis at the back it's been a year since we broke up and she got the semi detached. i once lived with a whore who would charge me for her time which is probably why i'm poor i was always next in line. all this self referential stuff is just a way of filling space and now our mavis is well off i'd love to punch her stupid face.
the completist's library: will you tell me how to get on your team? i want to claim a seat in your library. what's that you say? hey! look at me! (keep the noise down we're trying to read). a full page spread in a magazine. chapter two and vaseline. what did you say? damn! that's me! keep the noise down i'm trying to read.
joe's record: joe, you’ve been a real good friend to me. your song would be much longer at 33. the yank girl said, “joe - you’re the one for me even though you barely get to five feet.” joe’s record.
very flexible: his mother's name was katherine she liked all of his friends it's something i touched on before but it's worth telling again. she'd invite them round one at a time for ironing and chat then show them how she really felt now who would baulk at that? she'd knit them stuff they asked her to her hubby in the other room listening to ISB and wondering when she'd make tea. flexible to their demands always there to lend a hand friendly isn't quite the word, no friendly isn't quite the word.
good working practice: hey! was that you with your 'crew' looking to capture me for youtube as you threw me into the street and kicked my head 'til I bled while your phones were rolling. oi! what's you game? what's your name? it was different in my day we'd just shave heads razorblades sewn into jackets. an "A" on our backs and a load of bad feeling.
mike's dollar: i met you in the ether. i didn't like you either way. you say you're interactive so i emailed you to go away. and spending michael's dollar on a piece of moulded plastic really was quite fantastic. eBay your two-bit saviour. buy a book on bad behaviour. i installed vista windows. i might just throw you through them you know.
the discotheque is my lover: god knows i would dance for you jump through hoops in my hot pants even wear roller boots. you have such a hold on my heart strings that it makes this boy sing and want to be unspeakable. because when uncle herbie is rockin' it then I feel like my feet won't quit no one's ever gonna make me sit. the DJ has a hold of my heart strings plucks them every time his decks sing makes me feel unspeakable.
mark: my brother had a phone put in his room at 13 and called downstairs to ask mum for a cup of tea. my brother spent at least 10 years without a word for me. installed sky TV that only he could see. my brother got his first job at the age of 16. bought a suit and a tie and overnight became 33. my brother's spent at least 10 years working steadily. but it took our dad's death to make him friends with me.
massive haircut: i'll grow a moustache that won't suit me then shave all my body, completely tattoo eyebrows across my forehead so i look shocked when you meet me. i try to be cool i act like a fool deep down i wish you would stop me but you just laugh behind my back at me and my massive haircut. i will like bands because i'm told to cut off my hands because i'm told to blame you all for being passive know i'm right - my ego's massive.
| Joe's Record |
joe's record: joe, you’ve been a real good friend to me. your song would be much longer at 33. the yank girl said, “joe - you’re the one for me even though you barely get to five feet.” joe’s record.| The June Bride |
kitten: and when you purr it makes me smile i am falling. and when your fleas bite i will provide some respite.| The Feminist Third |
don’t say no: it’s common sense & employment that enables your lack of enjoyment waste your time go on waste it watch tv or put a band up in your basement. don’t say no to hot pants or white coats just have a go. it’s very easy emptying your bank account i’m not trying to do you in in fact i’m trying to help you out waste your time go on waste it watch the clock or make a porno in your basement. don’t say no to old men & young girls just have a go. don’t say no to hot pants or white coats & don’t say no to old guys & young girls & don’t say no to white boys with afros & don’t say no to homos in discos.| The Big Flame |
hiccup: you say “it’s not the best time of the day for you to call at all” but i’m in love and other stuff i can’t explain you’re so precious and small and anyway the bus came this way.| The Miniest Album |
pin up: pin up blonde girls. pin up dark girls. pin up nice girls. pin up hard girls. pin ups hang around like tinsel in his bedroom round his mirror. makes him feel like he could have her. makes him feel like he’s got power. pin ups don’t talk they just listen. the perfect girlfriend for no-hassle men who don’t like getting answers and want to marry go-go dancers.