1. |
Are We Still On?
03:42
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The dog days came in a blaze of heat
We sat on the rock with our feet in the warm blue ocean
The day was sweet
I awake with a start and the air hangs heavy
Stinking of sweat and factor fifty lotion
Now I don’t want you to see me like this
I don’t want you to treat me like this
I don’t want you to see the bitterness
That’s smudging my birthday mascara
Tell me are we still on
Now I’m tired of this body and all of its twinges
I want a blue sky where no black cloud impinges
Is that so much to ask
Cos the cops came around and they’re still in the kitchen
Looking for a boy who just about fits your description
They’re telling me you shouldn’t treat me like this
But I don’t want you to see the weakness
That’s smudging my birthday mascara
Tell me are we still on
Are we heading for the scrapheap
Or will life start again at sixty five
Tell me are we still on
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2. |
Gone Shrimping
02:18
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Tell your ma, tell your pa, you and me are going shrimping
Grab your net, let's pack the car, you and me are going shrimping
Your blue john eyes, your blue john eyes
I'm colour blind, your blue john eyes
Like a stalagmite and a stalactite we've dangled and we've dribbled
Took a thousand years or thereabouts but we finally made it to the middle
The time is right, the tide is low, let's pack our bags, here we go
Tell your ma, tell your pa, you and me are going shrimping
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3. |
The Slow Train
02:49
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no more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe
on the slow train from Midsomer Norton and Mumby Road
no churns, no porter, no cat on a seat
at Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street
we won't be meeting again
on the slow train
I'll travel no more from Littleton Badsey to Openshaw
at Long Stanton I'll stand well clear of the doors no more
no whitewashed pebbles, no up and no down
from Formby Four Crosses to Dunstable Town
I won't be going again
on the slow train
on the main line and the goods siding
the grass grows high
at Dog Dyke, Tumby Woodside
and Trouble House Halt
the sleepers sleep at Audlem and Ambergate
no passenger awaits on Chittening platform or Cheslyn Hay
no one departs, no one arrives
from Selby to Goole, from St Erth to St Ives
they've all passed out of our lives
on the slow train
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4. |
Mermaid Tattoo
03:44
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scarf weather again
I left a bag of green on a memorial bench
perched high up on the cliffside, grey-faced and lonely
in the arsehole of the year
all of the place was barred against intruders
as I was getting ready to pack up my suitcase
I went down to the strand to scratch my initials
you came like a wave, washed them away
and life would never be the same
not since I'd caught the eye of your mermaid tattoo
just below the collarbone, its tail out of view
borne on a wave
nude Aphrodite is sniffing at the breeze
cos she's seen better days and swum better harbours
in the back of elsewhere
we danced unawares to Sonny and Cher
til the barman saw us and called last orders
I wrote postcards by night, left them out to yellow
you opened up the door, let in the sea
and life would never be the same
nor the long hereafter ever so plain
as when I returned your rap at the pane
and I seem to recall
the gleam of an anchor still fresh from the forge
that swam into view on a mermaid tattoo
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5. |
Bleak Hut
00:45
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6. |
77 Walking Sticks
03:12
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a cold night for a walk
I rounded the corner
and saw you there
my carrier bag was clinking
neon signs were blinking
as rain poured in from the pier
77 walking sticks
I thought you'd been buried
fathoms deep in my diary
like a first year crush or common room grudge
a push then a shove
the sea takes a bite
wipes its mouth, draws it tight
77 walking sticks
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7. |
Sigh
03:08
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on a rainy day we pooled our savings
checked into a small hotel
you had taken me on as your confidant
when you thought that I had no one to tell
in that gusty yard a fountain gargled
your mouth caught mine off guard
and I watched my heart turn a cartwheel as
you unbound your scarf
there we were, there we are
now I know we haven't spoken since I spilled the beans
and it somehow got back to you
I remember stars went falling all around my ears
were they falling round yours too?
I could see I'd been the villain but didn't have the strength
to admit that it was you who'd been wronged
and that for someone so committed to dodging every shower
you were drenched to the bone
so sigh
so sigh
so sigh
so sigh
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8. |
If I Die Before You
02:59
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moonstone, pearl and amber
a drawer full of beads
playing cards and baubles
coins and rings and keys
give em all to charity
and if I die before you
won't you burn my letters please
stoke the fire with postcards
and jaundiced diaries
and if I die before you
won't you check my books with care
there's a petal from our wedding day
and a lock of Charlie's hair
all the rest is dust and rubble
you'd have to be daft to keep
you are all that's left of me
if I die before you...
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William William Rodgers Birmingham, UK
"acutely aware, deeply felt songs" – The Quietus
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