Beth Gibbons Complete Lyrics Archive

B i o g r a p h y
(by Official Site)

Seasons come, seasons go, but some things remain the same. The feeling of being out of season and out of step with the times, the surprise of first time experiences. All the things captured on Out Of Season, the album by Beth Gibbons and Paul Webb, aka Rustin' Man. You'll know Beth from Portishead and Paul from Talk Talk. They've been friends since before Beth joined Portishead when Beth had auditioned for Paul's post-Talk Talk band, O'rang. The pair kept in contact and at the end of the last Portishead tour a break for Beth arose and a conversation sparked the collaboration. On one level, Out Of Season is all you'd expect an album from the duo's background: exquisitely melodic, haunting, both three-in-the-morning air of calm and nape-hair-raising at the same time. With a spiritual depth, but palpably human emotion. With a definite feeling of sadness, but infused with the joy of nature ("God knows, how I adore life / When the wind turns on the shores lies another day" - 'Mysteries'). But then this is a different record to Portishead or Talk Talk. For one, it's 'beats'-free, and has more of a timeless, feel. Those who love Nick Drake, or Nina Simone, or even Radiohead's 'Exit Music (For a Film)' should unconditionally love Out Of Season. For Paul, the project meant he could record the album he had always wanted to make "With O'rang we always built tracks around drum improvisations. By the time it came to recording vocals the mood of the tracks was already fixed. With Beth's voice, however, it was possible to build up the atmosphere of the songs around the melody and the chords rather than being dictated to by a rhythm track" whilst for Beth "It was the chance to explore songwriting, to have another challenge. It was almost like a 'first time' vibe." It was even more 'first time' because they brought very little work with them. There were Beth's chords and melody for 'Mysteries', and Paul's lyric to 'Rustin Man', which subsequently became his alias "'Rustin Man' was one of the first tracks we finished, and it just seemed appropriate. It's that feeling of decay when the values you put on things have no relevance anymore because the world's moved to another place. The basic arrangements of the songs on the album could have been played in the 1940s and sounded pretty much the same. We emphasised this by committing all the music to tape." Paul says. When they started, the 'tape' concept was about the only ground rule. Beth: "I didn't want to imitate where I'd gone before so we went with what came out.

Obviously we can throw stuff out and go with what you think you're after, but the only thing we were after was something relatively honest." There are guest contributions too, drawn from their immediate band circles: Adrian Utley (guitar, and some co-producing) of Portishead and drummer Clive Deamer and pianist John Baggott from Portishead's live band alongside drummer and percussionist Lee Harris and Simon Edwards from Talk Talk. The album was mixed by Phill Brown, whose CV includes Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden album alongside Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. Much of Out Of Season was written and conceived at their homes in the countryside in Devon and Essex with tracklaying in London studios Westside and Konk. The album's overriding mood is isolation both in time and place. Other references to nature and seasons can be found in 'Funny Time Of Year', 'Resolve') and 'Sand River': "Autumn leaves / beauty's got a hold of me." But that melancholic undertow isn't far away: "Autumn leaves / pretty as can be / everyone can see / everyone except me." "I do like sad songs," Beth says in their defence. "I find it really hard to write a happy song without it sounding somehow melancholic". The album title was Paul's "but Beth loved it. I think we both react against things around us, the feeling of isolation can be quite comforting"."The title seemed appropriate because Paul and I aren't youngsters, and for all the seasonal references," Beth contends. "The album's certainly not a fashion statement or something contemporary. It just seemed right." One inspiration for Beth, is that, while seasons stay the same, we nevertheless grow with age. "There's stuff there about getting older. I've only just realised my mortality. When you're younger, inevitably you don't see it as a reality, but it seems to be looming, and that's quite frightening - you realise how much you're going to miss people. 'Resolve' is very much about that." In case anyone thinks that a Beth/Paul project means that Portishead have split, Beth can confirm that she is currently working on vocals and melodies on tracks that Portishead's Geoff Barrow has recently sent her. Out Of Season, for now, is a one-off. A magnificent album, out of season perhaps, but totally of its time.

Mysteries

God knows how I adore life
When the wind turns on the shores lies another day
I cannot ask for more

When the time bell blows my heart
And I have scored a better day
Well nobody made this war of mine

And the moments that I enjoy
A place of love and mystery
I'll be there anytime

Oh mysteries of love
Where war is no more
I'll be there anytime

When the time bell blows my heart
And I have scored a better day
Well nobody made this war of mine

And the moments that I enjoy
A place of love and mystery
I'll be there anytime

Mysteries of love
Where war is no more
I'll be there anytime

Tom the model

How can I forget your tender smile
Moments that I have shared with you
Our hearts may break
But they're on their way
And there's nothing I can do

Ohh...

So do what you're gotta do
And don't misunderstand me
You know you don't ever have to worry 'bout me
I'd do it again

I can understand that it can't be
Guess it's hard as you were meant for me
But I can't hide my own despair
I guess I never will

Ohh...

So do what you're gotta do
And don't misunderstand me
You know you don't ever have to worry 'bout me
I'd do it again

So tired of life
No fairytale
So hold your fire
'Cause I need you

Ohh...

Just do what you're gotta do
And don't misunderstand me
You know you don't ever have to worry 'bout me
I'd do it again

Do what you're gotta do
And don't misunderstand me
You keep going over every word that we've said
But you don't have to worry
About me

*** Thanx a lot to heikki & Mike & Carla for this one ***

Show

Let the show begin
It's a sorry sight
Let it all deceive
Now I'm
Pains in me that I've never found

Let the show begin
Let the clouds roll
There's a life to be found in this world
And now I see it's all but a game
That we hope to achieve
What we can
What we will
What we did suddenly

But it's all just a show
A time for us and the words we'll never know
And daylight comes and fades with the tide
And I'm here to stay

But it's all just a show
A time for us and the words we'll never know
And daylight comes and fades with the tide
I'm here to stay

You know what they say about romance
You know what they say about romance
Ever changing love that you can't
Keep on side a parking keel

Better the thought than the feeling
It's plain to see
All the things we suffer
From the the hands of humanity

But that ain't me
That ain't me
But that ain't me
That ain't me

And I know there's a god inside it
Should I love your key
Adorn you
And get inside

But that ain't me
That ain't me
But that ain't me
That ain't me

And I know I may come to doubt it
But if I ever wish
I wish we could all believe

That in this daylight world
Is a world
Where love can be
And I won't ever forget it

Cuz that ain't me
That ain't me
Cuz that ain't me
Well that ain't me

Autumn leaves
Beauty's got a hold on me
Autumn leaves
Pretty as can be

Everybody knows this time
Shadows are drifting in silence
Where lost can't be found
Everybody knows this time

You'll get by
Move it on and let fate decide
And those water-coloured memories
Soft as a summer's breeze
You're as pretty as can be

Knowing now you'll never fake it
Whether my oceans divide
I'll try to understand this
But everybody knows this time

Autumn leaves
Beauty's got a hold on me
Autumn leaves
Pretty as can be

Everyone can see
Everyone except me

Autumn leaves
Beauty's got a hold on me
Autumn leaves
Pretty as can be
Pretty as can be

Time is but a memory
The bitter note unsung
Running
Tryin' to find salvation
From the sorrow that is done

For the life of me
Will the sorrow rise
For this under
Underlies all i see

For time is but a memory
Beautiful for some
Feathered like a majorette
In a rose unsaid and done

Moments
Like a rainbow coloured sky
How they come and go
They come and go but why

For unknown
Is our fortune
And our fortune won't let go

And our faith it will die with the sun
It will lie
Underneath
All will see

For time is but a memory
Beautiful for some
Feathered like a majorette
In a rose unsaid and done
But it's all
All for our future
And our future won't let go

Time rolls
As days go by
And now I've figured
That I ain't gonna last
Summer skies
Are leaving me behind

So resolve your loving said all
I'll be lost when you're gone
Blind me from keep
Blind me

Times told
As days go by
I still ponder this old question why
But now I know
There's no time to decide

So resolve your loving said all
I'll be lost when you're gone
Blind me from keep
Blind me

And daylight knows
How my eyes have tired
Like the circles
Life evermore will bear

So resolve your loving said all
I'll be lost when you're gone
Blind me from keep
Blind me

Turning now she caught his eye
For all he knows he cannot see
Pleasures smoulder inside
Cover seasons that fell from view
Long ago
Blame on your heart
But then you know that now
What do you do
You hide lies inside
Why do you do that
I don't know why
How long did i know you
For i don't know why you had to go
If only you had told her
The words to enfold her
Long ago
She took a breath and she never spoke
The words that tasted like to know she told a matinee
There was an odour/Unannounced anyway
But you can take and you can see
There's never enough of love for destiny
Don't look back from day to day
What i noticed wasn't me
Strangers they'll part again
They'll never know
For all the years they've disguised inside
Knowing their years of loss remain

How long did i know you
For i don't know why you had to go
If only you had told her
The words to enfold her
Long ago

Funny Time of Year

These silent words of conversation
Hold me now this adulation
See me now
Oh it's easy now

Falling like a silent paper
Holding on to what may be

And I only hear
Only hear the rain

And many rains turn to rivers
Winter's here
And there ain't nothing gonna change
The winds are blowing telling me all I hear
Oh it's a funny time of year
There'll be no blossom on the trees

Turning now I see no reason
The voice of love so out of season
I need you now
But you can't see me now
I'm travelling with no destination
Still hanging on to what may be

It's a funny time of year
I can see
There'll be no blossom on the trees
And time spent cryin' has taken me in this year
Oh it's a funny time of year
There'll be no blossom on the trees

Falling like a silent paper
Holding on to what may be
It's a funny time of year

I can see
There'll be no blossom on the trees
And time spent cryin' has taken me in this year

It's a funny time of year
I can see no blossom no blossom on the trees

Falling like a silent paper
Holding on to what may be
It's a funny time of year

I can see
There'll be no blossom on the trees
And time spent cryin' has taken me in this year

It's a funny time of year
I can see no blossom no blossom on the trees

*** Thanx a lot to Carla for this one ***

Rustin Man

Oh Rustin Man
I can't deny this is you again
Little I know but how the hold is holding you

Let's all decide the shame
Many more were left to stay
Many decided love was a game

How many more days can we take in the hope of seeing you

Oh Rustin Man
I can't deny this is you again
Little little little I know but how the hold is holding you

Lets all get out of frame
Oh Rustin Man
I can't deny this is you again

I. Lento - Sostenuto Tranquillo Ma Cantabile

Synku miły i wybrany
Rozdziel z matką swoje rany;
A wszakom cię, synku miły
W swem sercu nosiła
A takież tobie wiernie służyła
Przemow k matce
Bych się ucieszyła
Bo już jidziesz ode mnie
Moja nadzieja miła

II. Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo

Mamo, nie płacz, nie
Niebios Przeczysta Królowo
Ty zawsze wspieraj mnie
Zdrowaś Mario

III. Lento - Cantabile Semplice

Kajze mi sie podzioł
Mój synocek miły?
Pewnie go w powstaniu
Złe wrogi zabiły

Wy niedobrzy ludzie
Dlo Boga świętego
Cemuście zabili
Synocka mojego?

Zodnej jo podpory
Juz nie byda miała
Choć bych moje
Stare ocy wypłakała

Choćby z mych łez gorkich
Drugo Odra była
Jesce by synocka
Mi nie ozywiła

Lezy on tam w grobie
A jo nie wiem kandy
Choc sie opytuja
Miedzy ludzmi wsandy

Moze nieborocek
Lezy kaj w dołecku
A mógłby se lygać
Na swoim przypiecku

Ej, ćwierkeycie mu tam
Wy ptosecki boze
Kiedy mamulicka
Znalezć go nie moze

A ty, boze kwiecie
Kwitnijze w około
Niech sie synockowi
Choć lezy wesoło

LIVES OUTGROWN

Floating On A Moment

On the path with my restless curiosity
Beyond life, before me
A passenger on no ordinary journey
It's one of a kind
Wont't get left behind

I'm floating on a moment
Don't know how long
No one knows, no one can stay
All going to nowhere (nowhere)
All going, make no mistake

Without control, I'm heading toward a boundary
That divides us, reminds us
Travelling on the voyage where the living
They have never been, have never seen

I'm floating on a moment
Don't know how long
No one knows, no one can stay
All going to nowhere (nowhere)
All going, make no mistake

All trying, but can't escape
All going to nowhere
Too afraid to be freed

Not that I don't want to return
Not that I don't want to return
(All going to nowhere, nowhere)
Honestly
It's not that I don't want to return
(All going to nowhere, nowhere)
Just reminds us
Not that I don't want to return
It just reminds us
That all we have
All we have is here and now
(All going to nowhere, nowhere)
That all we have is here and now
(All going to nowhere, nowhere)
All we have is here and now
(All going to nowhere)
It just reminds us
That all we have is here and now
(All going to nowhere)

Reaching Out

You said you will
You said you won't
You can't tell
If you don't

You stand alone
On your own
Reaching out
Holding on

Now you will
But then you don't
You say you want to
But now you won't

You stand alone
On your own
Don't need no other
Like I need you always

I need your love
To silence all my shame
I need you always
I need your love to silence all my shame
I need you always

The feeling of falling
The shadows warning
Wanting to quiet to tame this disorder
But round in the circle you go

Don't need no other
Like I need you always

I need your love
To silence all my shame
I need you always

So pleaseSo please, don't misunderstand
To silence all that shame

I need you always
I need you always
Always
Always
Always

Black Sabbeth

(Black Sabbath cover / Gonga feat. Beth Gibbons / Black Sabbeth EP)

What is this that stands before me
Figure in black which points at me
Turn around quick and start to run
Find out I'm the chosen one
Oh no

Big black shape with eyes of fire
Telling people their desire
Satan's sitting there, he's smiling
Watches those flames get higher and higher
Oh no, no, God, please, help me
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Is it the end, my friend
Satan's coming 'round the bend
People running 'cause they're scared
The people better go and beware
No, no, please, no

Candy says
I've come to hate my body
And all that it requires in this world

Candy says
I'd like to know completely
What others so discretely talk about

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly
Over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

Candy says
I hate the quiet places
That cause the smallest taste of what will be

Candy says
I hate the big decisions
That cause endless revisions in my mind

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

It's a look
This game we play
We can't escape
We have to attend
It's life you see

When i have tried to amuse myself
To celebrate the fun fair
The pleasures i seek
Are far too discrete for me

And all the time
The world unwinds
I can't deny the way i feel
The truth is lost beyond this lonely carousel
And all these words
They mean nothing at all
Just a cruel remedy
A strange tragedy
Of what will be

After i tried
To discover the answers to why
To look for a meaning
Inside of this dreaming i had

And words that i've said
Are spinning 'round
Waltzing alone inside my head
Nothing will change
It's always the same
Please make it stop

And all the time
The world unwinds
I can't deny the way i feel
The truth is lost beyond this lonely carousel
And all these words
They mean nothing at all
Just a cruel remedy
A strange tragedy
Of what will be

And all the time
The world unwinds
I can't deny the way i feel
The truth is lost beyond this carousel

Mother I Sober

(Kendrick Lamar feat. Beth Gibbons / Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers LP)

Kendrick Lamar:
I'm sensitive, I feel everything, I feel everybody
One man standing on two words, heal everybody
Transformation, then reciprocation, karma must return
Heal myself, secrets that I hide, buried in these words
Death threats, ego must die, but I let it purge
Pacify, broken pieces of me, it was all a blur
Mother cried, put they hands on her, it was family ties
I heard it all, I should've grabbed a gun, but I was only five
I still feel it weighing on my heart, my first tough decision
In the shadows clinging to my soul as my only critic
Where's my faith, told you I was Christian, but just not today
I transformed, praying to the trees, God is taking shape
My mother's mother followed me for years in her afterlife
Staring at me on back of some buses, I wake up at night
Loved her dearly, traded in my tears for a Range Rover
Transformation, you ain't felt grief 'til you felt it sober

Beth Gibbons:
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself

Kendrick Lamar:
I remember looking in the mirror knowing I was gifted
Only child, me for seven years, everything for Christmas
Family ties, they accused my cousin, "Did he touch you, Kendrick?"
Never lied, but no one believed me when I said, "He didn't"
Frozen moments, still holding on it, hard to trust myself
I started rhyming, coping mechanisms to lift up myself
Talked to my lawyer, told me not to be so hard on myself
He has an aura, I hope to achieve, if I find some help
Congratulations, made it to be famous, still I feel uneasy
Water watching, live my life in nature, only thing relieves me
Spirit guide whisper in my ear, tell me that she sees me
"Did he touch you?", I said "no" again, still they didn't believe me
Mother's brother said he got revenge for my mother's face
Black and blue, the image of my queen that I can't erase
'Til this day can't look her in the eyes, pain is taking over
Blame myself, you never felt guilt 'til you felt it sober

Beth Gibbons:
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself

Kendrick Lamar:
I was never high, I was never drunk, never out my mind
I need control, they handed me some smoke, but still I declined
I did it sober sitting with myself, I went through all emotions
No dependents, except for one, let me bring you closer
Intoxicated, there's a lustful nature that I failed to mention
Insecurities that I project, sleeping with other women
Whitney's hurt, the purest soul I know, I found her in the kitchen
Asking God, "Where did I lose myself? And can it be forgiven?"
Broke me down, she looked me in my eyes, "Is there an addiction?"
I said "no", but this time I lied, I knew that I can't fix it
Pure soul, even in her pain, know she cared for me
Gave me a number, said she recommended some therapy
I asked my momma why she didn't believe me when I told her "no"
I never knew she was violated in Chicago, I'm sympathetic
Told me that she feared it happened to me for my protection
Though it never happened, she wouldn't agree
Now I'm affected, twenty years later trauma has resurfaced
Amplified as I write this song, I shiver 'cause I'm nervous
I was five, questioning myself, 'lone for many years
Nothing's wrong, just results on how them questions made me feel
I made it home, seven years of tour, chasing manhood
But Whitney's gone, by time you hear this song, she did all she could
All those women gave me superpowers, what I thought I lacked
I pray our children don't inherit me and feelings I attract
A conversation not being addressed in black families
The devastation, haunting generations and humanity
They raped our mothers, then they raped our sisters
Then they made us watch, then made us rape each other
Psychotic torture between our lives we ain't recovered
Still living as victims in the public eyes who pledge allegiance
Every other brother has been compromised
I know the secrets, every other rapper sexually abused
I see 'em daily burying they pain in chains and tattoos
So listen close before you start to pass judgement on how he move
Learn how he cope, whenever his uncle had to walk him from school
His anger grows deep in misogyny
This is post-traumatic black families and a sodomy, today is still active
So I set free myself from all the guilt that I thought I made
So I set free my mother all the hurt that she titled shame
So I set free my cousin, chaotic for my mother's pain
I hope Hykeem made you proud 'cause you ain't die in vain
So I set free the power of Whitney, may she heal us all
So I set free our children, may good karma keep them with God
So I set free the hearts filled with hatred, keep our bodies sacred
As I set free all you abusers, this is transformation

Beth Gibbons:
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself
I wish I was somebody
Anybody but myself

Whitney Alford:
You did it
I'm proud of you
You broke a generational curse
Say, "Thank you, dad"

Baby's voice:
Thank you, daddy
Thank you, mommy
Thank you, brother
Mr. Morale

Sam Dew:
Before I go in fast asleep, love me for me
I bare my soul and now we're free

( Beth Gibbons and Jane Birkin )

It's true, I can't hide,
I only need you
No more truth can i find
With anyone else but you

But, oh, my love,
My heart won't break
But, oh my god,
How it has ached!
And, oh, my love
I know I can't escape
The loss of your embrace.

It's you that i feel
I always want you...
And my thoughts, so unreal
With anyone else but you

But, oh, my love,
My heart won't break
But, oh my god,
How it has ached!
And, oh, my love
I know I can't escape
The loss of your embrace.

I may try to explain,
But my life without you
Just ain't the same.

But, oh, my love,
My heart won't break
But, oh my god,
How it has ached!
And, oh, my love
I know I can't escape
The loss of your embrace

A day like any other
Where I am all alone
Why Anna, Anna
Are you all alone by yourself
Are you all alone by yourself

La la la la la la la la ...

A day like any other
He'd come to me to me
I love you Anna, Anna
Today everything will change
Today everything will change

La la la la la la la la ...