1. |
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Now that she's smiling I'm starting to wonder what I'm doing wrong
If you don't know by now then I'll give you a clue at the end of the song
When they finally see
I'm the eminence gris
There'll be hell to pay
They thought that I was the nice one
Now think carefully ere you make a sound
They're all waiting for something profound
But for God's sake don't hand them your heart
Try self-pity, it's cheaper
I spilled some milk and the crowd gathered round just to watch it congeal
And all that I got was this lousy T-shirt and a publishing deal
When I finally explain
What I feel isn't pain
There'll be hell to pay, they were crowding around for my death scene
(Hey mister!)
Now think carefully ere you make a speech
Stay aloof, they want what they can't reach
But for God's sake try not to die young
If you do take some with you
You just wanted to give them a fight
Oh the wrong things we do when we're right
Turn one last pirouette before bed
And think carefully for victory
Never believed me when I offered you a clue
You don't deserve an explanation
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2. |
Wishing Well
02:44
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She brushes her hair as she walks down the stairs,
Undressing herself in his eyes
She knows she can see through the lies
To the liar within
And softly she shakes as she puts on her makeup
You know that some folks go for elegance
But somehow her eyes show the evidence
Of what's about to begin
She's (she's an empty shell,)
The girl ( a wishing well)
Of his dreams (where coins never land)
(Oh)
She's (She's good as gold)
Exactly (but hard and cold)
What she seems (to this beggar's hand)
A is A and he won't have it any other way
So softly she weeps as the sour light comes creeping
Through curtains that don't reach the windowsill
By this time the two of them know the drill
To their mutual chagrin
Her endless depression won't make an impression
She never did care too much anyway
But something inside her could never say
Goodbye to her friend
And there's no denying
She's (she's an empty shell,)
The girl ( a wishing well)
Of his dreams (where coins never land)
(Oh)
She's (She's good as gold)
Exactly (but hard and cold)
What she seems (to this beggar's hand)
And he won't have her any other way
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3. |
Wagons West
02:11
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The final fling for the unholy three
And what's growing in Brooklyn is no kind of tree
It lacks the local majesty
Wagons west tonight
To find the land that's been left right
I want to spend my half-earned pay
Where the palm trees eternally sway
It happened so fast and I know you're to blame somehow
He finished his speech and it turned me American
The rockets' red glare reflects on the sea
I know serious business was never for me
I've lost my taste for irony
"Wagons west" you cry
Angels we have heard on high
Singing songs upon the sand
I'm a foreigner in my own land
It happened so fast and I know you're to blame somehow
He finished his speech and it turned me American
It takes more than a plough
To crease that honest and able brow
It's not the actor's turn to bow
The scene is ready for scoring now
The scene is ready for scoring now
Meet me on the corner of four score and seven
It happened so fast and I know you're to blame somehow
He finished his speech and it turned me American
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4. |
Fate vs The Impossible!
02:42
|
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This town's suffocating from a lack of warmth and charm
And every bump and booboo is a cause for alarm
The odds of five will get you ten
My shield must be a heart again
Making a wake from a cocktail party
A ripe Reichenbach for a Moriarty
Who'll play the great Dane in the manger
Arrived a friend and left a stranger
Cool it, Tilt, cos you're no martyr
You're not the Dane you're meant to be
So I look out for some hipper haunts
(And so do his sisters and his brothers and his aunts)
I hope I find some cats worth knowing
Where the neon signs are glowing
Oh the enemy is waiting at the gate
Where some sucker thinks he'll give a helping hand to fate
Some never learn the rules and wonder why they never win
Some get off on confession even though they hate to sin
They pay the writers for new scenes, but end up playing old routines
Is this prison really that beguiling?
They eat the cake before I put the file in
I wonder if there's no escaping
The kind of destiny they're shaping
Cool it Tilt and don the armour, you've got a name to live up to
I guess I can't decline, I'll fall for that old line
I'm going to take my own advice
It's more important to be nice
I'm in the frame to play the knave
I'm in the mood to misbehave
Tie a knot in my destiny
Such invisible things I'll see
The impossible calls to me
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5. |
London After Midnight
02:01
|
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Well your faded flock paper is a fly in the ointment
But it lowers expectation to avoid disappointment
Don't want to be around when the clientele learns
You bought the stains on ebay and you painted on the burns
I'm not sticking round to hear your final confession
Let's go to the lobby where they'll make a concession
Sing about your Gideons, sing about your soul
But the Devil takes the hindmost and you ain't got far to fall
Rinky-dink drinking in an overlit town
Cruise your bruises and let the side down
Lulu got cut by a guy that she liked
In glorious black and white
Another last waltz for the second first time
Ask me no nickels and I'll tell you no dimes
Long Island iced tea and sausage and mash
If Andy can raise the cash
This kind of night calls for one more rewrite
Mimi are you out there with your Mexican food?
Take away my pen before I change it again
I'm ready for the eager waiting multitude
Silver stock shimmers and lights up the screen
Projector lamp beams outline marble-white skin
I'm unstable jelly when I look in her eyes
She brooks no man's disguise
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6. |
Degrees of Freedom
02:49
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As iron hands succumb to rust
And gain electrons as they must
When all is fire lacking trust
Without degrees of freedom
What doesn't hurt you'll never know
But stoke the fire from down below
She'll turn to ash before you know
With no degree of freedom
With worldly ease we can unweave
The verity we must believe
Control can never be achieved without degrees of freedom
These dark side boom towns curb a man
Escape the day, he'll understand
A miracle of sun and sand
One hundred degrees of freedom
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7. |
Illinois
03:04
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Everything is out of sync
In the land of lanky Linc
Seems emancipation ain't too thorough
No-one here can meet my gaze
Or hear what yours truly says
Do I have a reputation in this borough?
It just doesn't feel like Illinois
It just doesn't feel like Illinois
It's manifest, I must go west
Ocean of blue, city of orange
I must get back to my good neighbours
No eyes of brown around this town
Where they mistake me for a maid
Who has absconded from her labours
It just doesn't feel like Illinois
It just doesn't feel like Illinois
Historic Illinois
What did I do to you?
Bosom of Abraham, my parents raised me right
So let me in Illinois
In Illinois
I reflect on this affair
On the drive back to O'Hare
I hear doors close behind me
Don't know whose feelings I have hurt
Was I too LA extrovert?
Well next time you come find me
Cos this time didn't feel like Illinois
It just didn't feel like Illinois
(Not a great moment, Illinois)
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8. |
Jaded
03:30
|
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How could she be so vicious?
Where did it all go wrong?
What's with America's sweetheart?
What's the story?
Sing the song...
Suzy's got an Electra complex
Just in time for the holidays
What she lacks in tact and style
She also lacks in turn of phrase
Jaded, jaded, slightly foxed and faded
I had too much to feel last night
Now I don't care
I've forgotten the punchline so the joke cannot end
Now we'll never find out who it's meant to offend
But there's naught disallowed by the indulgent crowd
Who prolong this unfortunate trend
Jinny's learning to play the piano
For her latest insurance scam
Now she hits the gym so she can
Carry a Steinway on the lam
Jaded, jaded, somewhat sexy Sadied
Anyone who had a heart would soon give up
People go on TV to prove it's worth it
To prove that they are alive
To prove that they're on TV
Ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha
I don't get it
I don't get it
It's shaped like humour, but I can't see the schtick
I don't get it
|
||||
The National Pep Hyderabad, India
It is impossible to separate the National Pep's history into its components of truth and legend. There is a truly marvellous proof of this, which this margin is too small to contain, but which can be read at
thenationalpep.org.uk/history.html
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