B i o g r a p h y (by Joe Muggs)
Tunng: always different, always the same. The band we meet, gathered in a cosy room in a Dutch barge on the Thames, are here to talk about a record that is dramatically different to any of their previous three. It's got a new lyricist and a new lead vocalist. It's got drums. It's got synthesizers. It's got massed singalong choruses. It's got guitar solos. And rather noticeably it hasn't got singer, songwriter and Tunng founder Sam Genders. And yet, and yet... this is the exact same group of people who first took the stage for Tunng's first ever show. Very different, but very much the same. But then they have always had a creative relationship to the concept of a band line-up. Begun in 2003 as an inter-city project by Sam, who lived in Derbyshire, with Mike Lindsay who was working in a studio in London, Tunng were essentially a duo with friends drifting in and out of the studio and pub contributing bits of this and that, eventually resulting in the deliciously strange 'Mother's Daughter And Other Songs' album. When it came to time to "go public", though, Sam stepped aside, remaining a silent partner, while a London-based line-up of Phil Winter (electronics and samples), Martin Smith (exotic percussion and the occasional clarinet), Ashley Bates (banjos and guitars) and Becky Jacobs (harmony vocals and melodica) gathered with Mike to recreate his and Sam's songs on the stage. Despite everyone involved having musical projects of their own on the go, this loose set-up proved extremely durable, with album no.2 'Comments of the Inner Chorus' written and toured in much the same fashion. By 2007's 'Good Arrows', however, life on the road had brought the musicians together, and very naturally the amount they played together began to be reflected in the way they worked in the studio: Tunng had become a band - and Sam, too, was drawn into this, joining the more collaborative writing process, and for the first time regularly being a part of the live performances - even as he was working the acoustic supergroup project The Accidental at the same time. Eventually, though, being a full-time part of a band wasn't for the ever-independent Sam, and he once again stepped aside, this time completely. But the rest of the band were very definitely taken with the group musical identity that was continuing to develop, and as they came back together to assess their experiences of touring and things that were going on in their own lives - as Mike puts it, "everyday stuff and hedonistic adventures alike" - they realised they really wanted to put the full experience of Tunng on stage into the new record. The mission to establish this dynamic in a studio was a long one, though. Where previously the directness of capturing Mike and Sam's songs on record - what Martin calls "snatched moments" - had been a rapid process, leading to three albums in three years, now experimentation and time was needed to make the collaborative process work. As all this was going on, all the members were "having adventures", living their lives, growing up and bringing experiences back into the studio, which all added to the rich tangle of ideas that needed to be picked apart to find the new sound. Three things finally pulled the sound together. First was the emergence of Becky as a lead vocalist alongside Mike. With her distinctive voice and stage banter a vital part the sound and personality of Tunng's live shows, it seemed natural now to have her sing lead vocals in the studio, and she is now a keystone for the sound, indeed, says Mike: "in many ways it's her album!". "I'm very happy with that," she laughs, "but really I love how my voice sounds on this, the way the production has made it work; it's still Tunng but closer to how we've always been on stage." Second was the entrance of long-time friend of the band Ben Bickerton as a contributor to lyrics. Ben had already contributed some lyrics to 'Good Arrows' but this time around he became, as Mike puts it, "almost a member", working seriously on five or six songs, bouncing ideas back and forth with the band. "There was no particular agenda," says Ben, "and no set way of working, but I was there to help develop the song words as the music developed." With his input, the album's richly-woven lyrics became a tapestry of images of travel and nautical life, allegories of adventure and discovery spilling from every song. The third and final impetus came just as the band were becoming frustrated with their writing producing nothing but, in Martin's words "loads and loads of sketches" - and it was touring and recording with the Malian desert blues troupe Tinariwen in early 2009. "It was an adventure in itself," says Mike, "and it shook us up and reminded us how good it was just to get up and play." Re-energised and with new-found discipline, but still with the sense of democracy that came from being a full-blown band, they took to the studio again, and throughout the summer, hammered the album into shape. What emerged from that hammering is radically different from any of the previous three albums: for the most part the intimacy and domesticity of previous songs is replaced by a grand sweep, a feeling of a wide world being explored and alien experiences being processed and drawn into the band's lives. It's got a swagger in its step and a swing in its hips, it's not afraid to kick up a jig and blow its own trumpet. And it's got guitar solos. And yet it's still Tunng, still with that bucolic oddness and modernist gleam that made those very first basement recordings so intriguing seven long, strange years ago. They were different then, and they remain very different now; still different, but still the same. That's Tunng.
Death And The Maiden Magpie Bites Pioneers Take From Black The Bonnie Black Hare
Mother's Daughter And Other Songs
Mother's Daughter Young girl stuck to the water Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter Stone boat adrift on the ocean Rows for the shore with the devil's devotion Rows for the shore with the devil's devotion Red girl picture was broken Stand in the glass the angel's in motion Stand in the glass the angel's in motion White swan watch with a wry smile Raise up your wings for the wind and the last mile Raise up your wings for the wind and the last mile Young girl stuck to the water Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter
People Folk I saw the sun I saw the sun I saw the sun fall on everyone I saw the sun the people had to run I see the stars I see the stars I see the stars try to reach my heart I see the stars the people the way they are I felt the flame I felt the flame I told my friends to watch their aim I felt the flame of the people felt the same I saw the eyes I saw the eyes I saw the eyes sparkle in my mind I saw the eyes and the people folk it out I heard the sound I heard the sound I heard the sound and the beauty ground I heard the sound and the people gathered 'round I touched the lips I touched the lips I touched the lips and next scene I'll shapes I touched the lips and the people fell in love I saw the sun I saw the sun I saw the sun fall on everyone I saw the sun the people had to run
Out the Window With the Window I was smart, drunk, alright You walk in the park You look at the sky Sit on a pillow Count up the stars in your head Lay me low Damn beauty Odd beauty Love like blood Out the window, with the window Out the window, with the window, ok! Friendly four seagulls
Beautiful and light (Hi, come on in. Hello) (Hi, come on in. Hello) (Gotta make one quick call) (4 - 3 - 1 - 5 - 9 - 9 - 7) Katie feels a snap and switches off the tap Walks out to fetch the shotgun from the shed Feels just a little rush and climbs into the car Slow down a moment Drives out along the lane and calmly into town Stops to let the music come around Walks down to the bank and draws a quiet breath Slow down a moment Switch on, all's fine Burn out, on fire Stitched tight (Hi, come on in. Hello) Beautiful and light (Gotta make one quick call) (4 - 3 - 1 - 5 - 9 - 9 - 7) Lights a cigarette, climbs the marble stairs And waves the gun around To paint a meaning Money comes like rain Feel this, easy feeling She drives the car away And laughs and smiles And stops to count the notes out for a while And when she's done, drives on For a sunrise Switch on, all's fine Burn out, on fire Stitched tight Beautiful and light Beautiful and light Tale From Black She washes all the young blood from her hands in the sink And she knows that the lights will be there for her Breaks down the bodies to dark subtle ink And she scrawls on the parchments that hang in the air She rides a horse over stones in the night And she closes her eyes and lets go of the reigns She knows the radios run through the night And she knows that the lights leave the prettiest stains She builds a shrine and a typing machine And she curls up to write down her tales from the black Prays for a soft breeze and cool gentle rain And she prays for the bodies that rise slowly back She knows the dunes where the steel cities grow And she knows when they jail her they'll grind down the key She knows the lights lay the heaviest blows And she knows that the sand must submit to the sea She builds a bird out of plywood and gold For to carry the old souls on up to the sun Turns on the TV and sits in the cold And she dreams that sometimes she's the prettiest one She knows the thrill of the chase in her veins And she knows that the sinking's a trick of the light Prays for the silence and cool gentle rain And she prays that the radios run through the night Song Of The Sea My old transistor radio buzzing Hot crazy island dirty she does it I love this city but does she love me Work for a paycheck that burns up on rent day No sweeter evil would I wish come my way Bring me song of the sea Sing me a song of the sea Hang me a song of the sea For me, ohh Busy black roadway, light scattered skyline No sweeter promise, smell of this highlife Hole in my heart where a hill and a tree were Score for a song thrush in that place where we were Bring me song of the sea Sing me a song of the sea Hang me a song of the sea For me and my, oh
Kinky Vans
Kinky vans Kinky vans Kinky vans Kinky vans Kinky vans Fair Doreen Oh, fair Doreen, the night has seen You ply your trade so sweet And though they come your soul to stun No anvil shall you be No anvil shall you be Doreen No anvil shall you be Although they come your soul to stun No anvil shall you be Oh, fair Doreen, your treacled lips That taste of other worlds Though they may claim your soul be stained Thou art not Satan's girl Thou art not Satan's girl Doreen Thou art not Satan's girl Though they may claim your soul be stained Thou art not Satan's girl Code Breaker Like Watson and Crick You seem to look Into my soul And though my DNA Is too small for your scope You make it much deeper Hydrogen bursts Inside a star Don't mean a lot From whereabouts we are It's too far for your scope But you make it much further Code breaker Code breaker Code breaker I've searched around Here for the key But I'm blind to it And quantum theorists tell me They've never seen the likes of your radar Code breaker Code breaker Code breaker Code breaker... Surprise Me 44 We'll come around when the sun falls down We'll slow retreat from the soft wet heat We'll amble down when it's all washed out The burned up the sold up the fools and clowns We'll say goodnight to the long day's sky We'll give our souls up to old July We'll watch the girl with the long soft sigh You'll come alive with those late night eyes And surprise me with everything you do Untie me with everything you see We'll weld a piece of the light inside We'll snap the smiles as the black dogs die We'll stick with Susie because she's got time You'll show her how with those late night eyes And surprise me with everything you do Untie me with everything you see Well the sun and the rain enters us hoping blind That it's loud enough to see And we all sing… We'll light the fires when the sun winds down Coil up retreat to the red white sound We'll scramble down as they all rush out The burned up the sold up the fools and clowns Move through the molecules like you do Let all the moments go down on you We'll sleep tomorrow it's nice to do We'll sleep tomorrow it's nice to do And surprise me with everything you do Untie me with everything you see Well the sun and the rain enters my broken blind And it's loud enough to see And we all sing… Pool Beneath The Pond
( Japan/US/Australian edition ) Pool beneath the pond The skater shall beware Touch the sand beyond You'll be welcome here Blink and miss the twist The skater shall beware Touch it and it slips But you'll be welcome here Dead lilies and pond skaters on our pond This innocent slight tremble in your hand Safe havens and close alleys and green smiles This innocent no walks along dark aisles Red stickleback with white teeth like small knives Black beetle and dark tremble in its smile Dead lilies and pond skaters on our pond This innocent slight tremble in your hand
Comments Of The Inner Chorus
Hanged
Break in the Sun Till the Sun breaks down
Woodcat Woodcat oh once a girl but not since the incident Lives in the darkness making friends with the animals Eyes burning yellow I miss your sweet kisses I miss having coffee in bed watching TV The ghost of an image it's just fleeting glimpses You're there then you're gone through the roots and the nettles I miss your hard edges I miss your bone marrow I miss having coffee in bed watching TV And we all had a lovely time I'll look for a man to turn me into a hare Just like they did when you did what you did And the court came around and the verdict flew out And the rats ran about and the change trickled down And they left your brown body gentle and shivering Back in the clearing with the deer in the evening And I'll come and find you; small sleek and silent And we'll live like lovers in an old wooden rhyme And we're in for a lovely time Come close up to me, fire in an open hearth Raised in a vessel of our only action Some satisfaction, some sweet satisfaction From all of this everything, spun 'round the middle And they said it was a lovely time
The Wind Up Bird These books were alive they spoke to me The books have nothing to say Inside ahead, it was a flood of white noise Aside the chair, it shut down for four days Green and brown are growing sweet a now aside You run the bar in through a picture of your time The wind-up bird was her new muse The wind-up bird was her new muse The wind-up bird was her new muse She made the frontpage bad news Tell me a story inside Lie if you like but make the details true in my mind We need to feel absolutely wrapped in your glove Lie back and listen As I read you, my love The low mower side, sharpened his blades And we all told you that it's good to be scared I turned the page and start laughing at my friends I looked into her eyes, so that we could pretend The wind-up bird was her new muse She made the frontpage bad news The wind-up bird was her new muse She made the frontpage bad news What is that over there That? That's a rocket chair We need to feel absolutely wrapped in your glove Lie back and listen As I read you, my love Tell me a story inside Lie if you like but make the details true in my mind We need to feel absolutely wrapped in your glove Lie back and listen As I read you, my love
Red and Green Red heels and bright blue eyes Walking a steady line Fire bombs and mortar shells Deep kisses through the night Dancing on thin ice Chained up at the ankles I look in your red eyes And cover my green skin Twist like an adder Fall like a slice of snow Dart between rocks And I know what the darkness knows Annie don't cry it's a delicate thing that we made Sparrow don't cry it's a delicate thing that we made Blind time, weighed out in time Smite our own private sea Time, gargantuan beat Red and Green Pick up my skin from the shelf by the bed I can slip into my old ways, slip down the stairs Let me make you sweet tea Let me make you hot toast Let me kiss you all over my only, my host And in time, time, somewhere in time Sail our own private sea Time, sweet, terrible, sweet Red and Green Annie don't cry it's a delicate thing that we made
Stories Comments of the inner chorus Comments of the inner chorus Comments of the inner chorus Tomes, stories, magical words See it happen, stories happen, stories happen Illusions and puppies are his righful property He can touch them and take them wherever he chooses Go the demons, demon, demon Demon, demon, demon, demon Go the demons Go the demons Go the demons All this was a long time I remember All this was a long time I remember I remember, I remember, I remember I remember, I remember, I remember Jenny Again Throw the knife into the stream Run away across the fields Leave me lying where I fell Rivers running out of me Meet my Jenny in the lane Take a car and run away Get as far as you can get Before the new day Your heart beats quick and strong Your mind pores over it all Don't worry because no one saw me fall Sit inside a little chef Look around but not at her See my kisses on her lips See my fingers in her hair Think of this against your will See the knife edge slipping in See the questions in my eyes As I ask them I went so quick it makes you shudder that I'm gone Are we so brittle has your soul turned into stone And though you loved me I'm not Jenny in the night Some decisions don't thread back to being right Your head blurs quickly tonight Your edges diffuse in the light Don't tell me that your throat is getting tight Change your name and find a job Marry Jenny in the spring Buy a dog and call him Pete Push the children on the swings Think about me now and then Try to find a peaceful space Count the days as they go by Count the lines upon your face Your heart beats quick and strong Your mind pores over it all Don't worry because no one saw me fall
Man In The Box Distance of the barrel The joining of the tin man Drinking the man in the box Toiling don't go with conspiracy Go up the top floor Waiting, waiting to be comforted Jay Down Soft wings and gentle tongue Mountains that breathe as long as Kipling Oh sorrow song of it all All that static air Old stream tangled hair Firepower from somewhere All tongues twisted here Jaybird on old black branch Whisper all secrets past Old man don't be afraid of it all Jaybird hold your tongue Whisper all that's done Deep down lover's song Where did we go wrong
It's Because...We've Got Hair We don't like it anymore, than you do We don't like it anymore, than you do All in the time we'll push the end of the line We thank you for your life and fulfilment Thank you for your life and fulfilment Thank you for your life and fulfilment And all of the tween will, shall never be seen And founded by the sons of our children Founded by the sons of our children Founded by the sons of our children Protecting the secret with hands on the wheel Ride on, ride on through the fields Ride on, ride on through the fields Ride on, ride on through the fields Come back, come back will you Stand up and sing with us Stopped with a chop in the neck (O.K.) Turn to face the sun In the moonlight Turn to face the sun In the moonlight We're in the old routine With you, with the machine There are places on the grass in the graveyard There are places on the grass in the graveyard There are places on the grass in the graveyard There may be a virus in, they're welcome to join us Sitting in every evening in the house (Make me happy) Sweet William I saw you kiss sweet William In a forest of red leaves The rain ran cold against my neck The wind lay down to sleep I walked all night in stillness And I walked all day as well I walked across the desert plains And through the jagged hills I slept inside the north wind In a coracle at sea And in the deepest darkest woods My dreams sang songs to me I dreamed I killed sweet William And I kissed his cold white brow I washed his body in the lake And I sewed his eyelids down Sing a song of sixpence Battles in the past tense Picked out by the snow If I should find sweet William Lying pale beneath the snow I'll row out to the deepest depths And let sweet William go I'll watch him sink beneath the flood And back to where he came And pray to God and death and blood I might forget his name
Engine Room Stuck in a holiday Far into the river Sick of the flower rhymes Go now and for our hands A tax haven for our friends Go sit in the corner Hide in the engine room There to keep us warmer The tickets were six pounds Photography forbidden Rugged up safe and sound Your actions are forgiven Stuck in a holiday Far into the river Sick of the flower rhymes Go now and forever A safe haven for our friends Go and sit in the corner Hide in the engine room There to keep us warmer Safe haven for our friends Go and sit in the corner Bodies
( Extra track on ltd. CD ) You've grown up so much since I saw you all those days ago Still got that look about you still got those things that we know Red gilded place in the woods and the words that were said Black twisted branches that hid all the things that we did You threaded wasps on to string and you gave them to me You touched the edges of their wings and the insides of me All of the years make a picture that's faded and bright All of the years make us different and faded and bright Bring back the bodies and lay them out for me Smooth down their crisp clear white wings in the morning Bring back the yellow and black of the bodies Lay them out slowly and string them up gently for me Small piles of sticks built up like temples to time in the sun Beds of green leaves laid out where fear and O negative burn Strange to see you in a suit but your shoes are still red Strange to see you at the front after all that you said Your face changed a long time ago But you're the same underneath this sleet That whirls around like a line between worlds And there are birds in here singing lullabies to me About bodies and you and me and all that we've seen And you and all that you've seen Bring back the bodies and open them for me Lift out their shimmering hearts in the morning Bring back the yellow and black of the ocean Let me out slowly and sing to me coldly Bring back the yellow and black of the bodies Let me in slowly and string me up sensitively
Good Arrows
Take All eyes ablaze We saw her in the old light, whoa, in the old light Seventy years to fly closer to sunlight, whoa, to the sunlight She sings to the stereo, making dirty pictures with her hands in the lamplight And knows where the mourners go We'll sing a coronet, bringing her back from the grey light Climb through the car of girls Screaming through the streets, hard at his lungs And computer listens to everything, whispering asleep if there's a drift from old mall Years are a trifling thing Passing in an eye's blink, whoa, in an eye's blink Forty five years go by in nothing but a day's time, whoa, in a day's time Take take take take take take All eyes ablaze He saw her in the old light, whoa, in the old light Seventy years to fly closer to the sunlight, whoa, to the sunlight
Bricks The bicycles inside your skull Send you away and off you go Into the streets where all the pretty girls collect their thoughts for you And aggravate your paranoid Can you not see a star out there Where all the bricks are bright and free Where all the bricks are bright and elegant and free The lizard skins around yourself Drop off and let the others through In reds and whites and blacks and blues Each facet shines or breaks anew And in a big tall building she lets out her hair into the street Where cars and trucks career through it Until the ends get wrecked and split Where all the doors are bright and free Where all the doors are bright and elegant and free The sun revolves around the sun And then around a bright black moon And in a café by the sea you stir your tea and suck your spoon And when your breakfast comes you're miles away And all your eggs get cold You're where the light is blinding bright And all the windows tilt to you Where all the bricks are bright and free... Hands He stands with his head in his hands In the corridor in A&E He couldn't resucitate her And now he'll go home to his wife for tea We sing as the sky falls down We sing as the sky collapses And make what we can of this It's okay, we're all going to end up dead and gone He crawls into her aorta To pull him out of his reverie And mentally puts her back together With sticks and glue until she breathes He crawls like a rat inside her spine It's a passage to another world He pulls on a coat of new born skin And sends a secret message to that girl Positions himself in space And looks down on such slight a thing Swears he'll make what he can of this Because one day out there we will all be dead So leave your imprint upon All the atoms you press against All the people you press against Because one day out there we will all be Leave your imprint upon Every mouth that you press against Every word that you press against It's okay because one day we will be dead All the Lidl lights Bullets Green hills and enemies These things they make us sentimental inside Your words are gelignite Or just another sentimental aside We're catching bullets in our teeth And though it's easy when you know how it's done They split the secret up six ways before they gave it to us just before dawn And now we don't remember Our blood and guts are out We spread our bones across the table at night We cut our fingers off To give ourselves those little extra insights We're catching bullets in our teeth And though they try hard not to say how it's done They always do They spill the secret out six ways And beg for our forgiveness Just before dawn And now we don't remember We're catching bullets in our teeth It's hard to do but they're so sweet And if they take a couple out We try to work things out We catching bullets with our Heads and hearts and all the darkest parts of us It's strange to find such light In such endless night So sweet to lose a friend You leave the church and taste The air in your lungs Old lies and fireflies Carve angels on your eyes And all is undone You whisper prayers into the dark Up to a god in whom you've never believed You always do You split the secret up six ways But it won't make it any easier to see And now we don't remember We're catching bullets in our teeth Its hard to do but they're so sweet And if they take a couple out We try to work things out We're catching bullets with our Heads and hearts and all the darkest parts of us It's strange to find such light In such endless night We're catching bullets in our backs We sent the undertaker back Into the garden in the drought To try to work things out We're catching bullets with the best resources that we've got We're happy then again we're not We shout - through the endless doubt
Soup Soup !
Spoons Up the stairs they glided into the attic Dusting the sheets raise the skirt automatic collapse Together like spoons And it was over far too soon So they chose another room And another room And another room They chose another room A dark a tiny room
King Four foot nothing knees stained with dirt When we went hiding why don't you seek? No one came looking for me Your head restless with greed She carried on shoulders like a little king She is worshipped and adored Invisibly worshipped and ignored No one came looking for me Twisted metal and underground deeds This weightless town no good for me Your head restless with greed Your fate laid down in deep
Arms In your veins The bed slips away Bricks dissolve, and the walls get thin In your arms I see through my skin My organs float in the candle's glow In your bones The sound of the rain Soothes something in my darkest heart Visceral thing Intangible song Things i've known seem to fall away Here I go Again Here I go Again In your brain Lights creep to my eyes Stars get stuck In my swollen throat And you're on fire And I'm getting close Event horizon, a whirlpool's edge Here I go Again Here I go Again
Secrets Find a pine tree up in the hills With a hole that's silent and dark Place your hands and stand as you feel Whisper secrets into her heart Small black stones with glass at their edge Soft red squares that sigh as they bleed Yellow curves shaped just like a girl Wood-cut discs that nobody sees Tell me frankly, tell me again What you told me out on the street All these trap doors slip behind time Drag like cans on strings on your feet Open up your tin of cold soup Heat it up with bread from the shop Sit in front of Jeremy Kyle Wonder when the secrets will stop lock your secrets inside a tree Let it grow for one hundred years float your thoughts far off out to sea store them Up in pelican's tears
String Hang my eyes up on a hook Swells the panic I can't look Inside my own skin I fail to find myself again A million faces look the same And their replies evaporate There's no soul behind these eyes If they can't glue me back again Ghosts drop hints And whisper things Just blood and bone and bits of string Blood and bone and bits of string Family portrait on the wall Quiet confusion, circle this I can feel my mother's hand But I can't find her face to kiss There's no soul Behind these eyes If they can't glue me back again Someone's life inside a box Nothing here resets the clocks Ghosts drop hints And whisper things Just blood and bone and bits of string Blood and bone and bits of string Cans Here comes another one Faster than the one before Here comes another one Faster than the one we saw before Another bus another plane Weve done this all a hundred times before Lets stitch another one First one to the ceiling gets the floor Bright lights block out the sun No time to sleep all time to turn Because there goes another one Stand on the edge and watch it turn And if you find you feel you're falling through the floor Just put your hand out in the dark And feel the bones inside you singing out again A pint of this will take your legs off at the knees And pull your spine out to a cord And leave it glowing on the floor inside the rain All decisions pleasure made Lift up our bodies in the air Just to feel another one Fall out of the tube and hit the air Let's all march into the sun Friends we remain for friends we are Walk towards the sleeping sand Bolted together like we are And in the morning we'll turn on t.v. And watch the news and eat cornflakes As continents divide It's fine if we are by our side And in the evening we'll turn off t.v. And watch the stars And crack open a can or two And it's all fine if we are by our side Here comes another one Faster than the one before Here comes another one Faster than the one we saw before
Wood ( Extra track on ltd. CD )
The boys pitched their old canvas in sun And the scattering light swam around them And they held up their chemical tin Like a small god cold dish around them The night grew a great white tree of stars And the teacher heard words in the darkness Found the boys laid out in the sun Where the wild horse lives from his harness (This is the heaviest tree I've ever carried!) Clothes in his tree-house have few people And the paper did he finish marking They came up this people smell his boots Because he still couldn't stop the hills talking The boys pitched their old canvas in sun And the scattering light swam around them And they held up their chemical tin Like a small cod cold dish around them Follow the needle Up through Swincome Wood Follow the pathway Anyway you could You follow the needle Up through Swincome Wood Follow the pathway Anyway you could The night grew a great white tree of stars And the teacher heard words in the darkness Found the boys laid out in the sun (follow the pathway) Where the wild horse lives from his harness (anywhere you go) Those in this tree have few people (follow me in) And the paper did he finish marking (up through Swincome Wood) They came up this people smell his boots (follow the pathway) Because he still couldn't stop the hills talking (anywhere you go)
Clump
( Extra track on ltd. CD ) You will run to You will run to In the distance you will run too soon We will come to We will come to In the distance we will come to find you They will speak slow They will speak slow In the distance they will speak slow and true We now hold on We now hold on In the distance we now hold on to you We will come to We will come to In the distance we will come to find you They will speak slow They will speak slow In the distance they will speak slow and true We now hold on (x4) Hold on (x8)
...And Then We Saw Land Hustle When I come home, you won't be there any more When I come home, you won't be there any more And you will tear off your clothes and kiss the floor When I come home, home, home When I see land you will conjure up a storm When I see land you will conjure up a storm And I will tie your hands to the highest mast When I see land, land, land And we will hustle, hustle, hustle to be free Free from all the Happy thoughts and smiles across the sea In favour of the Mean, mean, moves, And back doors to the heart from where we Always, always fall apart And you will slide on the back seat of my bike And you will slide on the back seat of my bike And I will ride you home drunken in the rain And you will win again and again Now it's your turn you will tie me to the tree Now it's your turn you will tie me to the tree And you will sing and sing, forever you and me And in the dark you wonder what I see And we will hustle, hustle, hustle to be free Free from all the Happy thoughts and smiles across the sea In favour of the Mean, mean, moves, And back doors to the heart from where we Always, always fall apart It Breaks Milly passes from the swing Runs home for her tea Wants to twist her wedding ring And sink in her settee In the dark she asks aloud If they can really see But if you hold it carefully it breaks On a fairground ride they met A boy who held her hand For a moment he'd forget And she would understand But the bells inside her head Were all that she could hear But if you hold it carefully it breaks And just like the book says You might be through with the past But she's not through with you We don't give up easily Drowning out the tide Drawing black and bleeding sea At least we stopped and tried And the crows flock overhead Moving restlessly And when you hold it over me it breaks We don't give up easily Drowning out the tide Drawing black and bleeding sea At least we stopped and tried In the dark she asks aloud If they can really see But if you hold it carefully it breaks (Eventually) Don't Look Down Or Back She rises with the sun Awakens and undone The postman passes by And after thoughts reply, they do The TV flickers restless The hours drain away Blood rushing like a stream Lie detectors stray, away Seratonin undertaker Flooding through her brain Hits the circuit breaker The choices will remain Don't look down or back All trees have carved a track On the souls of all before, Oh Saving for a rainy day Banks threaten to foreclose The colour slide to the grey And nestles in her toes She rises with the sun Awakens and undone The postman passes by And after thoughts reply, they do Seratonin undertaker Is flooding through her brain And hits the circuit breaker The choices will remain
The roadside
Where are you going to Can I go with you No, you have to stand guard Stand where I can see you It's getting so, so cold What are you going to do You should stop worrying When they waded naked into the water Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby It's getting so, so cold What are you going to do You should stop worrying When they waded naked into the water He turned on the side and lay listening Raising his head, taking a gun in his hands Blazing down at the girl on his right Frozen with fear, he hears a sound on the roadside Frozen with fear, he hears a sound on the roadside Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Take me, baby (He hears a sound on the roadside) Woke up and the rain had stopped And the fires burnt out You should stop worrying October A trick of the light, a turn of the tide A rift in a valley, full moon in July Red summer sun mourning, a cold April sky, That lonely October, so cruel to deny. A Wish for a fountain lost in the wind A kick from a new life about to begin A south facing island that floods in the spring Will call to October new life, it will bring It will bring, it will bring It will bring. A drop in the ocean short of the line Cursing a feeling caught up by the night Repairing the ruin reducing the sting That falling October will bring Hope that is dreaming, love that is torn Dancing like dust in the eye of the storm Truth will be lost when the mocking bird dies October returns with its cold winter skies Awe can't be touched, faith can be blind Fooled by a past that the world left behind Hidden in rocks that are lost to the shore Of silent October we choose to ignore
Sashimi Escaping through plastic White beads into the mixture Expensive, delightful It's true the unproud Adventures in your wake Black blood is pouring into Discomforts, shortcomings That made you kill them So come in and lie down Lift your feet up off the floor Sashimi, sashimi Escaping through plastic White noise into the next room Her touch is elusive It ties us all down We're moving, ecstatic She drops like sweet surrender We're falling through atoms She's so understanding So come in and lie down Lift your feet up off the floor Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi Don't lead her astray Don't lead her astray Don't lead her astray Don't lead her astray Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi Don't lead her astray Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi Don't lead her astray Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi Don't lead her astray Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi Don't lead her astray Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi
With Whiskey He believed in you Remember when he said "Words are always hard to manage, Can't get out of bed" Now hear him Through the empty city He swept you off your feet You're sweeping up the dust now, baby Drink your whiskey neat Come on, old lovers Fall down in the grass Wake up with the breeze Gather 'round the torn up pictures Join the family Hold the blankets tighter Turn on all the lights Mummify the lovers Burn them in the night Gather our belongings And throw them off the train Let go off the railings Let go off the reins Take on me Take me on Take me on Take on me Come on, old lovers Fall down in the grass Wake up with the breeze Gather 'round the torn up pictures Join the family Now hear him Through the empty city He swept you off your feet You're sweeping up the dust now, baby Drink your whiskey neat Hold the blankets tighter Turn on all the lights Mummify the lovers Burn them in the night Gather our belongings And throw them from the train Let go off the railings Let go off the reins Take on me Take me on Take me on Take on me
These Winds
Helena's hollow She lives in a sail Drift on a promise Of delicate details Her ark is a shipwrecked Touch till she breathes Love's whisper passing And laying down reeds Caroline the shy girl Made only of air Breathlessly singing On a wing and a prayer Secrets that shadow Lie in the deep Carried along And laid down to sleep These winds And cold, dark rain Blows, breaks And remains These winds And cold, dark rain Blows, breaks And remains Josephine's beauty She hides with a veil Speaks reassuring But her voice is frail Dancing covertly Afraid we might fall Sweep me away And feel nothing at all These winds And cold, dark rain Blows, breaks And remains These winds And cold, dark rain Blows, breaks And remains...
Santiago Remember the first and last goodbye Looking for answers to untie We traveled the long road And at night we dreamed that we could drive Racing ashore and taking hold We're biding our time and growing old We're circling questions Looking for direction and self-control Why did we go, Santiago Memories fade in late July She's looking too close and feeling shy It's taken forever Well, love will often lead us awry Remember the first and last goodbye Places to grow and hide the lie We traveled the long road It gave us sight for the price of his eyes Why did we go, Santiago
Weekend Away Wander through the wreckage Of the dancing flaws Faces turn in the light A stranger on the brink of love, love Confusion near delight A cup of something warm In the dead of night We're friends in need indeed Lies that only flatter love, love They whisper until we bleed Burning blindly like the sun Our hearts beat in rhythm all alone All our wishes are undone Forget those days, they've gone Piling in the back at the end of it all We're friends in need indeed Lies that only flatter love, love They whisper until we bleed Drifing into days When all is said and done In blue, yellow and grey Stuck inside our head are all those names gone by You're desperate to get away Burning blindly like the sun Our hearts beat in rhythm all alone All our wishes are undone Forget those days, they've gone And it's only a weekend away It's only a weekend away Let it be beautiful When we sing the last song It's only a weekend away
Salty water
( Hidden track )
I carried you away And no one saw you leave I placed you in my pocket for safe keeping A miniaturized version of you And I will wear my halo in the sun So no one sees me cheating Well, I didn't mean to see To shipwreck you with me And now our poisoned pirate ship is broken And shards of wood and glass turn into ocean Rocks on top of rocks are in my view They leave my mouth wide open Salty water wash me Salty water wash me Like concrete turns you right Steel turns me on Metal doors will close and they will open Don't step on factory floors you will fall down Compartments allows you in my mind Like boxes on a slip line And I will wear my halo in the sun So no one sees me cheating Salty water wash me Salty water wash me Wander through the wreckage Of the dancing flaws Faces turn in the light
Turbines
Trip Trap
By This Now the dawn is breaking All the breath has gone In the hearts they're waking Love is always there Pass the lives we don't know Silent on the stairs All the trails are leading Home Lead your highlife back Down to the ground All your crazy lanes Are paved with gold Take your meaning home Passionate song You copy you paste you lose Now that you have gone Waiting in darkness Necessary wrong Under the bridge now Now is where you're from Night buses run cold Cold in to the dawn Over the rail line Line up for the stars Out on your last limb Limber then your done Climb up to the high Life that you fear Calling all your names Which one is real Lead your highlife back Down to the ground All your crazy lanes Are paved with gold Take your meaning home Passionate song We will fall down through Love that is gone Climb up to the high Life that you fear Calling all your names Which one is real Drawing all your peace We live and feel By this
The Village And there were people And there were choices Our minds were lost on the floor And through the first door Into the last room Who knows how long we were there? We take it back now Remember somehow Return the feeling before You copy you paste you lose Break into the room It will be over soon But we don't believe a word you told us Will we ever tire Hanging on a wire And we don't believe what they have sold us Awoke uneven Distorted reason Our minds hung on wires We took the secret And turned it backwards Left it behind on fire And though we need to Although we want to We don't remember a thing And there were people And there were choices Our minds were lost on the floor Break into the room It will be over soon But we don't believe a word you sold us Will we ever tire Hanging on a wire And we don't believe what they have sold us Break into the room It will be over soon But we don't believe a word you sold us Will we ever tire Hanging on a wire And we don't believe what they have told us
Bloodlines His turbines twisting back to her Sea ripples like thin skin surf Golden beauty of shadow clouds Purest desert for our lost souls Warmly kissed on the hand and the check She walked along the line unraveled at the seams Unkind, even love will bring down Turbines spinning back around You copy you paste you lose Earth ripping under your skin Golden beauty of shadowless sins Twenty four karat blue Name and bloodlines revolving through you Tender bellowing through his shell Two extremes together Brings a life they'll never tell There's no way of knowing how Turning tables, engines and down Start again, system and friends Your thin blue lines are written again There's no way of knowing how Turning tables, engines and down Start again, system and friends Your thin blue lines are written again
Follow Follow Through smoke and sleight of hand He does what he can He gets on by on his own Follow him on the street Silent on his feet Diamonds fall on his door The underground man Hiding where he can Raises his feet to the fire Forgets as he sleeps Under the midday sun He lets his loneliness tire After your heels With calling all around you Whispering near You take a full scream with you After your heels With calling all around you Whispering near You take a full scream with you Follow, follow, follow, follow Follow, follow, he said Follow, follow, follow, follow Follow, follow, he said You copy you paste you lose The faces he scams Through smoke and sleight of hand You have to see it to believe Take what you can The camouflaged man Like him you look right through He covers up his eyes And like the time he buys You won't find him again After your heels With calling all around you Whispering near You take a full scream with you If you miss him A word is hard to see through Call for your attention Your heart is hard to value After your heels With calling all around you Whispering near You take a full scream with you
So Far From Here What we had was all the same We were all so far from here All our thoughts were lost They were lost in time They were all so far from here So we drank and we laughed And we talked over night And the barrel rolled behind The mountains pass, they disappear To the black they are confined Never feel like liars Never feel like lying Never feel like liars You copy you paste you lose Never feel like liars Never feel like lying Never feel like liars And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run Take a thought and lose it again And again we draw a tear From the dark cloud lost Lost in the rain Is all that's reigning here So we drank and we laughed And we talked over night How the barrel will roll We'll be caught in the light I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake And the air will be cruel And the spark will ignite While we drift we'll escape With a glimpse of last night Never feel like liars Never feel like lying Never feel like liars Never feel like liars Never feel like lying Never feel like liars And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run And we'll run, and we'll run...
Embers We get out and walk We get out and walk away Got to step to step Guiding you to step to step this way
Embers We get out and walk We get out and walk away Got to step to step Guiding you to step to step this way Off your slumber bed Off your liquid slumber bed You can't touch what we You can't touch what we have left Surrender your head Surrender your liquid head Off your slumber bed Off your liquid slumber bed Wrap those tiny heads Wrap those tiny fallen heads Heads, heads, heads Wrap those tiny heads Wrap those tiny fallen heads Glowing picturesque Glowing faces picturesque Far-flung from your fears Far-flung, grinding all the gears Slick hair, lift your chin Slick hair, shiver and grin The embers are cooling The embers are cooling The embers are cooling The embers are cooling The embers are cooling The embers are cooling (The embers are cooling) The embers are cooling (The embers are cooling) The embers are cooling (The embers are cooling) The embers are cooling The embers are cooling (The embers are cooling) The embers are cooling (The embers are cooling) The embers are cooling
Heavy Rock Warning Wasting time out of Cupid's half-written scrawl Dreaming can't be taught Ruthlessly spoken Lost at sea in the droves You seal your fate below Sail me away We'll lose touch for a day And it's gone Drifted away And you're lost anyway But it's gone You copy you paste you lose Sail me away Cast your line to a Damaged life lost ashore It's brutal to the core Wasting time, such a Foolish crime that is true It's all they want from you Far from land but your Head's in the sand Float me away We're in love for a day And it's gone Cast us away We'll make love for a day But it's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone
Songs You Make At Night
Dream In The shapes are raining down Like shards of sky And fragments of a better life The people running round With rainbow skulls Each one contains a separate world It is the strangest world We're living in And though we feel like giving in It's a beautiful dream The days are falling down Falling behind And we pretend we've so much time To be who we will be When all our tasks Are packed away, labelled and wrapped These are the strangest worlds That we are in And though we feel like giving in It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream (Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up) The shapes are raining down Like shards of sky And fragments of a better life The people running round With rainbow skulls Each one contains a separate world It is the strangest world We're living in And though we feel like giving in It's a beautiful dream (Wake up) It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream (Wake up) It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream It's a beautiful dream (Wake up) It's a beautiful dream Abop (Oh, it felt so marvellous) (It was lovely, what a turn-on) I'm home alone in your flat, bed sheets around my head The hum of daytime TV moans like the Walking Dead Dive into the darkness, and it is thick and black Blooms of phosphorescence cover my throat and back A bloom of phosphorescence ignites around my form Like chalk around a body, like light inside a storm Dive into the darkness and it is thick and black Coats my tongue and tendons covers my throat and back I wade in brackish water, eelgrass around my feet My jeans are wet and dirty, my body craving sleep Dive into the darkness, and it is thick and black Blooms of phosphorescence cover my throat and back I paint the walls with treacle, pour honey on my phone I put my best T-shirt on, wait for you to come home Rise into the darkness, and it is thick and black Blooms of phosphorescence cover my throat and back Rise into the darkness, and it is thick and black Blooms of phosphorescence cover my throat and back I want to sound like a magical sound I want to be like a magical beast I want to shop in a magical shop I want to swim in a magical cave (Oh, yes) I want to buzz like a magical bee I want to sound like a magical sound I want to die in a magical dream I want to be like a magical beast I want to climb in a magical tree I want to shop in a magical shop I want to dance with a magical boy I want to swim in a magical cave I want a kiss from a magical girl I want to sound like a magical sound I want to sing with a magical band I want to be like a magical beast I want to write on a magical wall I want to shop in a magical shop I want to wake in a magical bed I want to swim in a magical cave Sleepwalking The morning sun is a soft reminder The graceful arc of a kind word The curvature of your naked body The songs you make at night The crooked throat of an old survivor The pain we feel when we feel free The weekend lost on a pointless labour Talking in your sleep Oh, and the shapes you're making Oh, and you are sleepwalking Oh, and you are vibrating I listen what you're saying (I hate this place, it smells of men and death) Everything is up in the air like a bird without a home Everything is all in your mind if you see things that way Everything is harder to do if it's either wrong or right The songs you make at night Nothing is a thing you can do if you hold onto yourself Nowhere is a place in the world where no-one knows you Nothing is a thing you can be if you hold your failures tight The moves you make at night Oh, and the shapes you're making Oh, and you are sleepwalking Oh, and you are vibrating I listen what you're saying The morning sun is a soft reminder The graceful arc of a kind word The curvature of your naked body The songs you make at night Oh, and the shapes you're making Oh, and you are sleepwalking Oh, and you are vibrating I listen what you're saying Oh, and the shapes you're making Oh, and you are sleepwalking Oh, and you are vibrating I listen what you're saying Oh, and the shapes you're making Oh, and you are sleepwalking Oh, and you are vibrating Oh, and you are vibrating Oh, and you are vibrating Crow Old friend, do you make the sunset Do you make the bright stars flee Old crow, time is getting late I know you've a gift for me Old bird, I see it in your talons Glittering between the leaves Friend, I'm swimming in the shallows You're calling from the deep And we bide our time And we shed our skins And we shake our bones And we sink like stones And we crawl through mud Till we reach the sky And we bide our time Old bird, you and I are brothers Bonded by if and would Old crow, you and I are sisters Swimming in a bowl of blood Old friend, you and I were strangers Living by a restless sea Friend, I knew when the wind blew That you were calling me And we bide our time And we shed our skins And we shake our bones And we sink like stones And we crawl through mud Till we reach the sky And we bide our time And we bide our time And we bide our time And we bide our time And we bide our time And we bide our time And we crawl through mud Till we reach the sky And we bide our time Dark Heart Another game of cards, sticky fingers and pizza boxes Tiny bursts of flame, telephone in the microwave Time keeps seeping through our skin and through our hair Your translucent body feels like it's not there We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart, your dark heart We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart, your dark heart Tiny kinks in time making trouble in your direction Darkly coloured thoughts making plans for a tiny future Pain keeps creeping through your skin and through your brains Your translucent body lost in its own way We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone Nothing like our flesh is gonna beat us down Watching as the leaves fall Nothing like our heads is gonna make us proud Watching as the tea leaves crawl We don't need to be illuminated Not like the river-boats Nothing like our flesh is gonna beat us We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone, we are never alone We are never alone We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart, your dark heart We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart (Your dark heart) We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart, your dark heart We want to see, we want to see Your dark heart, your dark heart (Five, seventy-four, eight-seven) (Tonight's winner) Battlefront We make our lights on the battlefront Fighting like hawks on the battlefront Losing our feet on the battlefront Burrowing deep to the battlefront (We make our lights on the battlefront) We carved our names in code (Fighting like hawks on the battlefront) And filled our heads with soil (Losing our feet on the battlefront) We built great forts and dams But when the deluge came (Burrow in deep to the battlefront) We lost ourselves again We still take our aim and hope We still take our aim and hope We still take our aim We still take our aim We rode our bikes through town We wore red capes and sang We built great forts and dams But when the deluge came We lost ourselves again We still take our aim and hope We still take our aim and hope We still take our aim We still take our aim Flatland People wear the strangest skins Faces made of plasticine Living life inside machines This one naked as a child Golden-haired and running wild Playing with his guns a while Living in a flatland Drinking in a flatland Walking in a flatland Thinking in a flatland Fighting in a flatland Dying in a flatland People do the oddest things Faces for the family Faces for the well-to-do This one cuts off tiny bits Hides them underneath his bed They may find them when he's dead Living in a flatland Drinking in a flatland Walking in a flatland Thinking in a flatland Fighting in a flatland Dying in a flatland Living in a flatland Drinking in a flatland Walking in a flatland Thinking in a flatland Fighting in a flatland Dying in a flatland
Nobody Here The sorrow is an old stain The lino is a shade of grey They use on every lampshade They paint it on every door and window frame And we are like an army And army of abandoned souls Remember when we were kids Invincible in everything we said and did Winter light That is when the gauntlet (?) comes Licking every surface clean Digging up our long-lost dreams The sorrow is an old stain The lino is a shade of grey They use on every lampshade They paint it on every door and window frame And we are like an army And army of abandoned souls Remember when we were kids Invincible in everything we said and did (Winter light) There's nobody here but us There's nobody here but us (That is when the gauntlet (?) comes) There's nobody here but us There's nobody here but us (Licking every surface clean) There's nobody here but us There's nobody here but us (Digging up our long-lost dreams) There's nobody here but us Evaporate Time slows down, everything crystalline Your soft smile sowing the seeds of mine Skinless hands touching the darkness We make light out of the swollen night There on the soil lay the soul of a bird You slipped it on and without a word You rose in the air and split into two and (Two) Split into four and (Four) split into eight and (Eight) Evaporated, evaporated Worlds on fire lit like a million fires Our desires gathered in dusty jars Out there just mirrors of inside us Bad, fake, good, lovingly smeared with blood Life eviscerates, may you never be alone in this darkness Time is getting late, may you never be immune to this garden There on the grass lay the soul of a fox You slipped it on, it fit like a glove You rose in the air and split into two and (Two) Split into four and (Four) split into eight and (Eight) Evaporated, evaporated Evaporated, evaporated Evaporated, evaporated Evaporated, evaporated Like Water In my breath and in my veins And in my bones and hands and teeth And in my skin and in my skull And in my bed and in my sky Like water, like water Like water, like water Like water In my breath and in my veins And in my bones and hands and teeth And in my skin and in my skull And in my bed and in my sky Like water, like water Like water, like water Like water Never enough Never enough Never enough Waking up You're waking up (Waking up) You're waking up (I need you) In my breath and in my veins And in my bones and hands and teeth And in my skin and in my skull And in my bed and in my sky Like water, like water Like water, like water Like water Dream Out Why are you lying down in the middle of the forest
Dead Club Eating the Dead Lay you on my kitchen table Cut you open tenderly Eat your heart and eyes and mouth Every word you spoke to me Eat the day we swam at Whitby Eat the wind as cold as ice Eat the sun that warmed your skin Your soft hand that reached for mine Eat the coffee and the pancakes Eat the films and fucks in bed Eat the days the kids were born The day we found out Jean was dead Eat the roaring, blazing rows Eat the never-ending hugs Eat the anger and the kindness Most importantly, your love Lay you on my kitchen table Cut you open tenderly Eat your heart and eyes and mouth Every word you spoke to me Lay you on my kitchen table Cut you open tenderly Eat your heart and eyes and mouth Every word you spoke to me Death is the New Sex Faded old paper on the walls Open door, window rattle Crackle burst from the record player Pillow soft, body settled Now the deathwives come quietly in Through the walls, pink eyes glowing Laser lights zapping from their fingers Kindness deep like the ocean Death is the new sex Everybody's talking about it Death is the new sex Coming soon to fuck us all Laser lights zapping from her fingers Open door, windows rattle If I had twenty thousand cups And the tеabags to match them Twenty thousand deathwivеs to tell me stories I could live another life time And the deathwives come marching in Through the walls, pink eyes glowing Laser lights zapping from their fingers Kindness deep like the ocean Death is the new sex Everybody's talking about it Death is the new sex Coming soon to fuck us all Laser lights zapping from her fingers Open door, windows rattle Death is the new sex Everybody's talking about it Death is the new sex Coming soon to take us all Laser lights zapping from her fingers Open door, windows rattle Quietly now Turn the TV off Flip the switch Death is the new sex Everybody's talking about it Death is the new sex Coming soon to fuck us all Laser lights zapping from her fingers Open door, windows rattle Open door, windows rattle Open door, windows rattle SDC [Sample: Kathryn Mannix] We've got to be talking about this This has got to be public knowledge We are now getting slow, time is getting short We watch the snow and the birch trees growing old To start with photographs may have been a mistake Knee deep in anoraks and ancient birthday cakes The old toys in the shed have got to go The old toys in the shed have got to go A bag of baby clothes, a box of old dildoes Francesca's white teeth, a thousand scribbled notes That mournful clarinet that Henrik meant to play For almost thirty years until his dying day The old toys in the shed have got to go The old toys in the shed have got to go We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are now getting slow, time is getting short We watch the snow and the birch trees growing old To start with photographs may have been a mistake Knee deep in anoraks and ancient birthday cakes The old toys in the shed have got to go The old toys in the shed have got to go The old toys in the shed have got to go The old toys in the shed have got to go We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning We are Swedish Death Cleaning Three Birds Three boys lost in the flood Three families torn apart Three stars over the wood Three birds beneath the stars One house turned to dust Stone and bone and chalk and rust One hearth dark as night One aflame with raging light She shot down the birds Tied their feathers into her curls Sewed their skins into a purse To carry their hearts and vocal chords She walked into the lake Turned into a water snake Burrowed beneath the sand and silt Disappeared and lies there still She climbed onto the hill Spied her prey and made her kill Summoned a storm, a joke, a thrill Sent them to your windowsill Three boys lost in the flood Three families torn apart Three stars over the wood Three birds beneath the stars A Million Colours I can see how the world Could exist without me I can feel how that space Would be filled Perfectly I can feel how the air Would survive me not there I can feel how the ground Would not cry Not a sound You, I can't quite imagine you gone You a million bright colours all strewn about I can see how the dark Sits inside every thought Like a light made to be Hoisted up finally I can sense but not touch How to not be alive I can feel everything Like a storm deep inside But you, I can't quite imagine you gone You a million bright Colours all strewn about Your old stories such ramshackle bliss Your pale radiant skin and unending kiss Carry You You lied, told me I was good Each time I acted up again Your eyes sparkled with mischief When I was lost inside my head You danced as if the world might end Now that's exactly what it's done You made us something we were not You turned us into something new Our lives forever tangled up No matter what we choose to do We fought and didn't speak for months Until the stories fell away You lied and covered lies with lies And we lied to you in return The truth made drunken forays out Wrapped up in hugs and vulgar words We loved each other with a fire Through all our faults and feebleness Everywhere we go We will carry you Everywhere we go We will carry you In a fall of snow In an open wound In a summer coat In an angry word In a burst of hope On the telephone At the water's edge On the creaking bough Everywhere we go We will carry you Everywhere we go We will carry you You lied and told me I was good Each time I acted up again Your eyes sparkled with mischief When I was lost inside my head You danced as if the world might end Now that's exactly what it's done Everywhere we go We will carry you Everywhere we go We will carry you Everywhere we go We will carry you Everywhere we go We will carry you The Last Day So for me, it's about now It's about living It's not about waiting for something that's going to come What a waste of a life If what you're worrying about Is what's going to come at the other end And where you're going to go Because I firmly believe the light switches off Suzanna wakes in the night To find that she is floating Two feet above her small bed Her chest incised and open She can see her lungs resting on the ceiling She can see her heart beating in the corner She can see her hands lying on the carpet She can see her toes severed on the sideboard She thinks about her window Drawn by the silvery moonlight She finds herself by the road Translucent under street lights When the forty-two comes, she boards the white bus Rides it into town, sitting on the back seat She can feel it move; she can feel the whole world Moving in her like particles of sunlight (This could really be) Chair (This could really be) Cat (This could really be) Tea (This could really be) The last day of your life You have a finite time And therefore you live every day for what you do in that day And you get to the end of the day And you count your blessings for what has happened in that day She finds a cosy café Her bones and skull vibrating She drinks unending coffees Her plastic chair is singing She can see herself dancing under street lights Like a skeleton in an old cartoon She can see herself flying through the night sky Like a firework knick-knack sonic boom She floats into the arcade Plays Top Gun and Invaders Eats sweets and drinks lemonade Smiles at the man beside her And they talk about something on the TV And they talk about the strangeness of moonlight And they talk about pinball and penny slots And they rise like doves (This could really be) Chair This could really be the last chair of your life (This could really be) Cat This could really be the last cat of your life (This could really be) Tea This could really be the last tea of your life (This could really be) Fight This could really be the last fight of your life (This could really be) Car This could really be the last car of your life (This could really be) Tree This could really be the last tree of your life (This could really be) Kiss This could really be the last kiss of your life (This could really be) Book This could really be the last book of your life (This could really be) The last day of your life (This could really be) The last day of your life (This could really be) The last day of your life (This could really be) The last day of your life (This could really be) The last day of your life The last day of your life Tsunami "Time is a healer", we sang in the dark We meant it in kindness but it broke your heart "All things for a reason", we wove into cloth To hang in your window to scare the ghosts off But we only fed them with our platitudes They gorged on our terror and rushed over you Like a tsunami Tsunami Ah, ah This great wall of water was here all along Imbibing your spirit, rehearsing your soul And watching us silently, learning us too Tempest inviting us all to join you In the tsunami Tsunami Tsunami Tsunami Man Man The body disappoints Then impresses, then fails, then triumphs It’s a sad, old miracle to have to watch The whole thing misbehaves with hours Dressings, tubes, fentanyl patches Weird, sticky wrapped, crackling palliative props In the slow banal mystery of "When is this person going to die?" His soon-to-be deathbed smelled of dry-roasted "I solemnly promise I have not been giving him snacks of any kind" Said nice Claire, the carer "Why is there no dry roasted residue around his mouth?" My mum asked "Someone must’ve been dusting his chin And lips" His crumbling architecture Like a balsa-wood cathedral His buttresses and columns collapsing And us, obliged to notice Weakened bones, bruises Dehydration, confusion All these items on the death list Correctly occurring "Did he look peaceful when he finally passed?" Yep "Did he look suddenly younger?" Yes "Did it seem as if he was not there, like his soul had left his body behind?" No He seemed he was the same bloke Dead His last few hundred breaths Tricky to pull in And trickling diminished out His children argued quietly Fizzing bitterly on a lateral axis While their dad shed the weight Of all the meals he’d ever eaten All the things he’d ever been A vicious, stubborn Witty, dedicated Kind, privileged... All of these words Naked and cooling Towards meaningless Pale in the unkind light Unfixing their meaning from the body Gazing down upon him Ten of us, our thoughts All burrowing towards each other Breathing the held air Waiting for him to be gone Marvelling at his slightness The quiet, the swallows, the sighing My cousin said "The idea of the the living outnumbering the dead Is nonsense The dead club is always going to be bigger" He said "One hundred billion" He said "Or there about" We nodded And looked back down at this man We apparently know The body farted The kind of fart you do when nobody’s there Because nobody was We were all dead He was alive Triumphantly emptying his corridors and organs Of dirty, useless air What an odd, blindfold performance family is We live in such strange ways It’s like a pact We act Surprised And, by-and-by We are Scared To Death Swim hard through the ten thousand things The world is an assassin with a secret grin Keep on fighting through the pain she brings Life is the strangest light Keep seeking something, some last step You're a circle in a quandary in a dance with breath You're so scared to be what you're not yet Hoping love is its own reward Seeking myself, I'm not there I'm a whisper in a spectre in a gasp of air I'm scared to death I'm scared to death Play dice with a great host of bones Life is like a trickster selling pay day loans You order bread, end up sucking on stones Maybe death has it's own accord Some grand agreement with the stars and the moon The adder in the meadow and, of course, with you You're so scared to face the great unknown The darkness you really need Seeking something that makes some sense You're a whisper in a spectre in a drawn out breath You're scared to death You're scared to death You're scared to death You're scared to death Always we'll be looking for you in the night sky All twisted up watching for you in the night sky All madness is mirrored here upon the night sky Deep black water running up on to the night Try hard to put the creatures down But the more you struggle, the more they gather round Strange white machines, strange rattling sounds A gathering of pointless words Seems all that matters is the love we breed The myriad connections in the swollen seas Of our confusion, all trying to get free Love is its own reward Seeking yourself, you're not there You're a whisper in a spectre in a gasp of air Seeking rational and holy too I'm a grinner, I'm a loser, I'm a washed up fool Seeking downwards and falling up We're a random storm of atoms trying to be both Seeking something that makes some sense You're a whisper in a spectre in a drawn-out breath We're scared to death We're scared to death You're scared to death You're scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death I'm scared to death Fatally Human And it's part of the way storytelling works Your image of storytelling is around a campfire or around a fireplace Or maybe, you know, with a bedside lamp on There's always a sense of a clearing of light And then just sort of darkness all around you That's the nature of telling a story That you're creating a little clearing But then what happens at the end of life In an ideal world Would be like what happens at the end of a book or a movie That that story is wound up, that it has some meaningful conclusion Fatally human We hover in the world Fatal someone We flounder in the dark Take hold of another Go mad in a moment The soil and the wonder Sway to the terror Nothing is simple But sometimes things are good Fatally human Joy and dirt and blood Take hold of another Go mad in a moment The soil and the sutures Sway to the terror All of the lifetimes calling Blood on the floor and birds on the ceiling Hopeless and selfless, hopeless and selfish Dusting a lamp that cries in the darkness That's that one point where we should be allowed to forgive things that need forgiving To close things that need closing, just to find a sense of authorship And of course, what happens is the opposite, normally That person becomes like a 'bit part', like a cameo All of the lifetimes calling Blood on the floor and birds on the ceiling Hopeless and selfless, hopeless and selfish Dusting a lamp that cries in the darkness All of the lifetimes calling Blood on the floor and birds on the ceiling Hopeless and selfless, hopeless and selfish Dusting a lamp that cries in the darkness Woman Woman Someone might read your body like a book Kata was cared for Had a varied diet And was buried wrapped tightly in cloth She didn't do much physical work One broken finger, a slightly curved spine It's none of our business what colour her eyes But science says blue She made a hand sign for "I am sick" Her hands said "I am sick" And were understood Limestone Rune bull hissing A goshawk's broken neck We know it was boring sometimes Call her darling Call her Kata, daughter Bog girl, body, once-blood Believed in God (or was made to) Corpse Our lady of the light shoe Was made of me and made of you But less electric, with less range to her food We know she had a hair pin in When they laid her down Took off her ring Made her one living sister Drop a coin in, then sing Viking mud Viking sarcasm Viking stomachs rumbling She knew the sound of a wasp a-coughing She knew the squealing wing beats of a giant metal bird And the bird was her gulp-chunking husband Behaving in a little way, far away Burning little places, little farms With little rivers and piglets And a little leaking rowboat with rusting rivets She yearned to forgive him, the little shit Dying on his first little trip We know he split her lip We've seen his stone It says "Kata placed this stone in memory of her husband Eric Who was a good young man killed in England" It says, "Farewell Eric You joined the dead club in England" What's left of Eric is Five metres beneath the Lidl car park in Maldon, Essex You know Eric! Eric wet-boots Eric one-thumb, scared of his mum Eric sight-hound, silver coin where his rotted pocket was Eric thin-beard, black-tooth Loved his little collection of coloured glass beads Gap root, slack brute Practical map-reader, happy Loved insects, especially bees And there's a worm feasting now On what was once his knees And Eric is into the river Chelmer Into the Blackwater Washed out to sea Swallowed and pissed a thousand times over Bits of Eric make up Jacob Who stands smoking a Benson In the exact spot between Lidl and Kwik Fit Where Eric fell 1300 Harpas ago At the same exact moment As bits of Eric fall as rain On the kneeling archaeologist who gazes down at Kata In her limestone box Reading the body like a book Someone Might read your body like a book Unearthed, undead again What we know is Kata had little thoughts All the time, then stopped Like us She made a hand sign Asking us, "Let me rest" And she made it, and made it And alas We will not Love You All Over Again Everything Else They speak in a tongue that they don't understand Why do we do this We find ourselves here in the fray Lost in time Why do we play this Amazing, stupid, messed-up game We drink our tea Why do we love this We bend our bones and wipe our shoes We need you still Why do we break this We run like kids into a storm We're not afraid Why do we eat this We gorge ourselves and laugh like mad We're high on life Why do we do this We send our joy like tiny kites And hold on tight Why do we play this Infernal game of joy and fear We're all still here Twenty unbridled things Awake in the burning tree Twenty entangled wings Asleep in an oak tree Everything we don't know Is sealed in a golden ring Twenty imagined worlds Are sewn into everything Why do we love this It makes no sense to be here now This world of sound Why do we break this Traverse each lonely window ledge We're not dead yet Why do we eat this And suck in mortal gasps of air We comb our hair Why do we do this We love you more than you can know So let us go Why do we do this We find ourselves here in the fray Lost in time Twenty unbridled things Awake in the burning tree Twenty entangled wings Asleep in an oak tree Everything we don't know Is sealed in a golden ring Twenty imagined worlds Are sewn into everything Twenty unbridled things (Why do we do this) Awake in the burning tree Twenty entangled wings (Why do we do this) Asleep in an oak tree Everything we don't know (Why do we do this) Is sealed in a golden ring Twenty imagined worlds (Why do we do this) Are sewn into everything Twenty unbridled things (Why do we do this) Awake in the burning tree Twenty entangled wings (Why do we do this) Asleep in an oak tree Didn’t Know Why Jenny said, "No, I don't wanna go home" Screamed at the sky and she swallowed her phone Swallowed her car and the TV too Burned her hair and her anorak blue Looked for the cat that'd swallowed a fly Swallowed that too and she didn't know why Didn't know why everybody must die Didn't know why every lover must sigh Jenny said, "I wanna shed my skin Fly like a bee to the tunnel within Spring like a hare through the woods in the dark Eat my bones and my lungs and heart" "Turn into air, be gone on the breeze Over land and sea, land and sea" Didn't know why everybody must die Didn't know why every lover must sigh Didn't know why every river must cry Didn't know why every day goes by Didn't know why, didn't know why Didn't know why, didn't know why Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up in the morning Everybody eat your lungs and heart Wake up... Jenny said, "No, I don't wanna go home" Screamed at the sky and she swallowed her phone Swallowed her car and the TV too Burned her hair and her anorak blue Looked for the cat that'd swallowed a fly Swallowed that too and she didn't know why Didn't know why everybody must die Didn't know why every lover must sigh Jenny said, "I wanna shed my skin Fly like a bee to the tunnel within Spring like a hare through the woods in the dark Eat my bones and my lungs and heart" "Turn into air, be gone on the breeze" (Wake up in the morning) "Over land and sea, land and sea" (Everybody eat your lungs and heart) Didn't know why everybody must die (Wake up in the morning) Didn't know why every lover must sigh (Everybody eat your lungs and heart) Didn't know why every river must cry (Wake up in the morning) Didn't know why every day goes by (Everybody eat your lungs and heart) Wake up in the morning
Sixes We are a girl We are a fallen tree We are a boy We are a swollen sea We are a man We are an ocean We are a woman We are an ocean Our drinks keep spilling again Our lungs keep singing again Our legs keep sleeping again Our hearts keep beating again We are a girl We are a fallen tree We are a boy We are a swollen sea We are a man We are an ocean We are a woman We are an ocean Our bets keep rising again Our eyes keep smiling again Our plants keep growing again Our tongues keep glowing again We are an ocean We are an ocean We are an ocean We are an ocean Snails Take the fountain to the rain Soak it up and hand it back again Vacuum clean the muddy puddle Gold and silver on your knuckles We plant flowers in the spring Hoping they'll come back again Remember when you were a muddle? It was the snails causing trouble Print it all over again Paint it all over again Love you all over again You got your worth from can do Because it's easier to carve into When reimagining a flower And growing older by the hour Sponge the ink onto the table Remembеr, this is irreversible Wе are sleeping in a bubble It was the snails causing trouble Print it all over again Paint it all over again Love you all over again It was the snails causing trouble Print it all over again It was the snails causing trouble Paint it all over again It was the snails causing trouble Melt it all over again Love you all over again
Laundry If you were the sky If you were a tree Then you'd surely die As happy as can be Yes, it really hurts Yes, it really hurts And it feels so good And it feels so good If you know you're real If you know you're real Soak the whole world dry And then devour the peel Revel in her skin Revel in his kiss But don't forget the air It's easier to miss If this was real then you could box it up And send it to your sister in the woods And she could open it and out would fly Ten thousand crystal mornings all at once Their wingtips touching as she scrambles wildly Trying to claw them all into her mouth Her heart unfolding in concentric waves Of joy as she runs laughing 'round the house Yes, it really feels As wonderful as this Yes, it really feels As wonderful as this Yes, it really feels As wonderful as this Yes, it really feels Deep Underneath Hang your eyes upon the light Everything is good You are blind to the days you'll find We are in your blood Time is all you'll ever be You'll be in our dreams before you find us Wake, dark, take a bow Make a cup of tea Fingertips delight you now You are as we see Time is all we ever were Lying on the grass with lights in our mouths Only you can see this Only you can see this Take a lens and come with us We'll show you something that you never Saw before, deep underneath (Undеrneath) Deep underneath Only you can see this Only you can see this Only you can see this Only you can see this Only you can see this Levitate a Little Twenty ravens in the basement Eating crisps and drinking beer Neon ghosts with oak tree garlands Sing the music of the spheres Levitate a little So that we don't quite touch the ground Meditate on sadness Don't let your madness keep the crown Way up in the highest ocean Way down deep below the sky In the pinhole of your camera In the headlight of your eye From the bus stop to the chip shop From the tower block to the sea Twenty trees in evеry raven Twenty ravens in еach tree Levitate a little So that we don't quite touch the ground Meditate on sadness Don't let your madness keep the crown Levitate a little So that we don't quite touch the ground Meditate on sadness Don't let your madness keep the crown Don't let your madness keep the crown Don't let your madness keep the crown Yeekeys We'll build a boat out of red wine and honey Sail to the moon where the starlight is burning Camp in a cave made of gravy and bedrock Dream of the beast underneath every odd sock Welcome the loneliness into our nightmares And when the seams in-between tangle and tear Swim through the sea that is part of the sky now Planets for fish and a dish made of silver Light all the lamps on the sand where the water Walks on hеr hands onto land in the darkness Light all the firеs in the woods and the wastelands Tell everyone she is home, she is home now Welcome the ocean to all of our nightmares And when the dreams in-between make us feel scared Dance on the last mountaintop with our hands raised Drown in the joy of the ending of all things
Non Albums Tracks
Death And The Maiden She walked out quietly one morning in May Cars and the cold had conspired with the rain She pulled up her coat and she tightened her scarf She felt afraid and she stifled a laugh Clouds moved across and the light slipped away And there stood an old man dressed strangely in gray She asked him through closed lips, "Where are you from? What strange distant country do you beckon from?" "My name is The Reaper, The Leveler, The Light I come here to claim you and make you my wife Lords, Dukes and Ladies all bow down to me But I've no care for them, I crave only thee" Said "I'll not come with you for I am not done My arms still hold lovers, my pure heart still burns My skin glows with red blood that flows in my veins But lie with me once if it's life that you crave" And there in the night came a mighty great storm And Death and the lady held tightly 'till dawn Deep in the morning they parted and prayed And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way And then the good lady she went on her way
Magpie Bites ( Magpie Bites EP ) The voices in your head have borrowed songs in from the night The bullets in your head have lodged discretely out of sight The broken sticks have found their way into your covered eye The rabbits throat is open underneath the swollen sky The serried ranks of bitter men have turned into the wind The great machines are on their way the ships are rolling in The ravens stand together deep in conversation and A million tiny points of light surround you in the sinking sand Satellites grow weary and begin to dream aloud Dark machines see clearly for the first time up to now Just like magpies we collect a little bit of each And head towards the place that's always slightly out of reach Air in a softer key Ah, softest bite Oh, don't you mind? Your breath is to tell You're breathless You're breathless Your breath is to tell All soft is fine Your breath is fine All soft and just.. All skies slip into eternity Subtle lights grow weary and begin to dream aloud Dark machines see clearly for the first time up to now Just like magpies we collect a little bit of each And head towards the place that's always slightly out of reach
Pioneers ( Bloc Party Cover / Pioneers EP ) If it can be broke then it can be fixed It if can be fused then it can be split It's all under control (x4) If it can be lost then it can be won If it can be touched then it can be turned All you need is time (x4) All you need is If it can be broke then it can be fixed It if can be fused then it can be split It's all under control (x4) If it can be lost then it can be won If it can be touched then it can be turned All you need is time (x4) All you need is We promised the world we'd tame it What were we hoping for (x2) A sense of purpose and a sense of skill A sense of function but a disregard We will not be the first (x4) You said you were gonna conquer new frontiers Go stick your bloody neck in the jaws of the beast We promised the world we'd tame it What were we hoping for We promised the world we'd tame it Breathe in, breathe out Breathe out, breathe in Breathe in, breathe out Breathe out, breathe in Breathe in, breathe out Breathe out, breathe in Breathe in, breathe out Breathe in So here we are reinventing the wheel I'm shaking hands with a hurricane It's a colour that I can't describe It's a language I can't understand Ambition, tearing out the heart of you Carving lines into you Dripping down the sides of you We will not be the last (x7)
Take From Black ( Pioneers EP ) She washes all the young blood from her hands in the sink And she knows that the lights will be there for her Breaks down the bodies to dark subtle ink And she scrawls on the parchments that hang in the air She rides a horse over stones in the night And she closes her eyes and let's go of the reigns She knows the radios run through the night And she knows that the lights leave the prettiest stains She builds a shrine and a typing machine And she curls up to write down her tales from the black Prays for a soft breeze and cool gentle rain And she prays for the bodies that rise slowly back She knows the dunes where the steel cities grow And she knows when they jail her they'll grind down the key She knows the lights lay the heaviest blows And she knows that the sand must submit to the sea She builds a bird out of plywood and gold For to carry the old souls on up to the sun Turns on the TV and sits in the cold And she dreams that sometimes she's the prettiest one She knows the thrill of the chase in her veins And she knows that the sinking's a trick of the light Prays for the silence and cool gentle rain And she prays that the radios run through the night
The Bonnie Black Hare
( Magpie Bites EP ) On the 14th of May, at the dawn of the day With me gun on me shoulder to the woods I did stray In search of some game, if the weather prove fair To see can I get a shot at the bonny black hare I met a young girl there with her face as a rose And her skin was as fair as the lily that grows I says, my fair maid, why ramble you so Can you tell me where the bonny black hare do go The answer she gave me, O, the answer was no But under me apron they say it do go And if you'll not deceive me, I vow and declare We'll both go together to hunt the bonny black hare I laid this girl down with her face to the sky I took out me ramrod, me bullets likewise Saying, wrap your legs round me, dig in with your heels For the closer we get, O, the better it feels The birds, they were singing in the bushes and trees And the song that they sang was, She's easy to please I felt her heart quiver and I knew what I'd done Says I, Have you had enough of me old sporting gun The answer she gave me, O, the answer was nay It's not often young sportsmen like you come this way And if your powder is good and your bullets are fair Why don't you keep firing at the bonny black hare Oh, me powder is wet and me bullets all spent And me gun I can't fire, for it's choked at the vent But I'll be back in the morning, and if you are still here We'll both go together to hunt the bonny black hare