Music World
 
Find Artists:
 
 
 
Russian versionSwitch to Russian 
Marc Almond
Marc Almond




Music World  →  Lyrics  →  M  →  Marc Almond  →  Albums  →  Tenement Symphony

Marc Almond Album



1991
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
. . .



Remember when we were back in school
Two young kids with wild ideas
Years gone by we sweated and saved
For a cupboard with a view
Now too old for work they say
What's the point in biding time
Living out our yesterday
When wild ideas could all come true

We could settle into being old
But all that glitters could be gold
So meet me in my dream
I won't fall asleep without you
Meet me in my dream
Underneath the Vegas lights

Look around our shabby room
Paper peeling curtains frayed
Faded photos on the wall
Like us they've all seen better days
We drew our savings from the bank
For roulette wheels and reckless nights
Sinatra's records on our minds
Fruit machines and neon lights

We made our peace
We cut our ties
We sold our house
We said goodbye
So meet me in my dream
I won't fall asleep without you
Meet me in my dream
Underneath the Vegas lights

We threw away our everything
And blew it on a final fling
So meet me in my dream
I won't fall asleep without you
So meet me in my dream
It's lonely there without you
Remember way back then in school
All the things we said we'd do
So meet me in my dream
Underneath the Vegas lights

Meet me in my dream
Meet me in my dream
Meet me in my dream
Underneath the Vegas lights


. . .



When bad people kiss
It's an ocean unchained
When bad people kiss
It's passion inflamed
When bad people kiss
I'm feeling the thrill
When bad people kiss
I'm kissing you still

When bad people kiss
It's the devil's desire
When bad people kiss
Like a city on fire
When bad people kiss
It's a poisonous pill
When bad people kiss
I'm kissing you still

When we love
We love with a passion
That's dark with a sin
As deep as the sea
Jealousy cruelty
Obsession desire
It's pure evil
When you're kissing me

When bad people kiss
The thunder sheds tears
When bad people kiss
It's night with its fears
When bad people kiss
It's kissing to kill
When bad people kiss
I'm kissing you still

When we love
We love with a passion
That's as dark with a sin
As deep as the sea
Jealousy cruelty
Obsession desire
It's pure evil when you're kissing me

When bad people kiss
The planets collide
When bad people kiss
It's slow suicide
When bad people kiss
I submit to your will
When bad people kiss
I'm kissing you still
I'm kissing you still
I'm kissing you still


. . .



From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Our friends, they are departing
From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Death gallows our dulcine'es
From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Other flowers try the best they can
From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Men lament while women wail

I'm coming
I'm coming
But what I would have dearly loved once more
To haul my bones towards the sun, towards summer
Towards spring, towards tomorrow
I'm coming
I'm coming
But what I have dearly loved once more
To see if the river is still the river
To see if the port is still the port
To see me there still
I'm coming
I'm coming
But why me? Why already? Why now? Where to go?
I'm coming
Of course I'm coming
Have I ever done anything but be coming?

From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Each time all solitary
From chrysanthemums to chrysanthemums
Each time super numerary

I'm coming
I'm coming
But what I would have dearly loved once more
To take love like one takes the train to be more alone
To be elsewhere. to be content.
I'm coming
I'm coming
But what I would have dearly loved once more
To fill a trembling body with stars
And fall down dead consumed with passion
My heart in ashes
I'm coming
I'm coming
It's not you who is early
It's now me...It's now me who is late
I'm coming
Of course I'm coming
Have I ever done anything......anything but be coming?
I'm coming
I'm coming
I'm coming


. . .



I've had my fill of ugly words
I've had my fill of lies
When the only truth or beauty now
Is deep within your thighs
The roses are in bloom my dear
I haven't any fear
That you'll love me
Like you did last year

Look at me
Do you see
A man against the world
But don't look at me
And see an unhappy man
With some powder and some paint
And the patience of a saint
I'm still here

My life's not over yet
I'm not up there on the shelf
I've found someone to love
Apart from just myself

I've had my fill of bitterness
I've had my fill of dirt
I've had enough of emptiness
I've had enough of hurt
I think we'll get the last laugh
If we don't break down and cry

And find the joke's
On you and I
Look at us
Do you see us in a burlesque show
Look at us are we in vaudeville
We've tasted every thrill
Every powder every pill
And we're still here

I've had enough of broken cups
I've had enough of scenes
Of other people's laughter
When we go through our routines
The lilies aren't in season
So I've no reason to fear
That you'll love me like you
Did last year
That you'll love me like you
Did last year
That you'll love me like you
Did last year


. . .



A winter morning sun in New York
Champagne wakes and checks the time
It's hard to keep a cup of coffee down
When there's so much on your mind
Kicks a cockroach 'cross the bedroom floor
Checks the mirror grabs some clothes
Waits for the aching to subside
Where to find it no-one knows

And they say you're doing fine
They're just playing with your mind
And they never even know your name
But they all want you to shine
To glitter all the time
They all want a little taste of Champagne

Takes the subway early afternoon
Downtown to Eighth Avenue
To the Show Palace Theatre
Where Champagne bares all
In a low rent nude revue
In the darkness shadow people
Stare at Champagne glassy eyed
Takes the tips and imitates a smile
Waits for the aching to subside

And they say you're doing fine
They're just playing with your mind
And they never even know your name
But they all want you to shine
To glitter all the time
They all want a little taste of Champagne

Later in a room
On a little glass pipe
Sweet dreams to help him
Forget his life
He leans on the wall
Rolls back his eyes
And says to all the aching Goodbye


. . .



There's a colour TV in the pink shack
But the paint's peelin' off the walls
Take a sneaky photo by the pink shack
In a pair of muddy overalls
Pay a ragged dollar for my snapshot mister
Put a big grin on my face
Call "Hey, Sonny!" from your door, Chiquita
If the colour isn't to your taste

She's callin' out to me
Now she's bawlin' out to me
And she's singin' right out of key
"Oh, lover man where can you be?"

Lost little orphans on the roadside
On the steps of the Roach Motel
Little faces flicker in the go-go neon
Seems they've got something to sell
Take my photograph for a dollar mister
Up against the pink shack wall
Call "Hey, Sonny!" from your door Chiquita
Throw tequila kisses to us all

She's callin' out to me
And it's only half past three
She's callin' out to me
"Lover man where can you be?"

She's callin' out to me
Now she's bawlin' out to me
And she's singin' right out of key
"Oh, lover man where can you be?"

There's room enough for two in the pink shack
With a black rat on my knee
Backroom tequila in the bathroom
And a soapbox colour TV
Cockroaches crawlin' round the pink shack
But please don't crawl on me
Five in a bed in the pink shack
But there's really only room for three

She's callin' out to me
And it's only half past three
And she's singin' right out of key
"Oh, lover man where can you be?"

She's calling out to me
And she's bawling out to me
And she's singing right out of key
"Oh, lover man where can you be"
"Oh, lover man where can you be"


. . .



And if one day I should become
A singer with a Spanish bum
Who sings for women of great virtue
I'd sing to them with a guitar
I borrowed from a coffee bar
Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you
My name would be Antonio
And all my bridges I would burn
And when I gave them some they'd know
I'd expect something in return
I'd have to get drunk every night
And talk about virility
With some old grandmother
That might be decked out like a Christmas tree
And no pink elephant I'd see
Though I'd be drunk as I could be
Still I would sing my song to me
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way

And if I joined the social whirl
Became procurer of young girls
Then I could have my own bordellos
My record would be number one
And I'd sell records by the ton
All sung by many other fellows
My name would then be handsome Jack
And I'd sell boats of opium
Whisky that came from Twickenham
Authentic queens
And phoney virgins
I'd have a bank on every finger
A finger in every country
And every country ruled by me
I'd still know where I'd want to be
Locked up inside my opium den
Surrounded by some china men
I'd sing the song that I sang then
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way

Now, tell me, wouldn't it be nice
That if one day in paradise
I'd sing for all the ladies up there
And they would sing along with me
And we be so happy there to be
'Cos down below is really nowhere
My name would then be "Jupiter"
Then I would know where I was going
Become all knowing
My beard so very long and flowing
If I could play deaf, dumb and blind
Because I pitied all mankind
And broke my heart to make things right
I know that every single night
When my angelic work was through
The angels and the Devil too
Could sing my childhood song to me
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way


. . .



Caught between two love affairs
I brush my teeth and comb my hair
My lonely neighbour called today
And asked me, has he gone away

I lied to her like I lied to him
I lie to myself about everything

Love, what is love?
Love, what is love?

Love is a time
Love is a place
Love is a season
Love is a case of love

Love is a time
Love is a place
Love is a season
Love is a case of love

And so my life repeats itself
Like rhythms in a drum machine
The one who was the one to come
And all of those who might have been

I cry for them like I cry for him
I cry to myself about everything

Love, what is love?
Love, what is love?

Love is a fever
Love is a dream
Sometimes so hard, it can make you scream
Love is a liar
Love can be cruel
Love is an icon, love is a jewel

They let you down
They leave you standing in the rain
They take the joy and leave the pain

Caught between two love affairs
Is it true that no one really cares
My lonely neighbour leaves today
And no one comes to take her place
I lied to her like I lied to him
Now they're gone can I lie about anything
What is love?
Love, what is love? Love, what is love? Love, what is love?


. . .



Instrumental


. . .



A tenement, a dirty street
Walked and worn by shoeless feet
Inside it's long and so complete
Watched by a shivering sun
Old eyes in a small child's face
Watching as the shadows race
Through walls and cracks and leave no trace
And daylight's brightness shuns

The days of Pearly Spencer
The race is almost run

Nose pressed hard on frosted glass
Gazing as the swollen mass
On concrete fields where grows no grass
Stumbles blindly on
Iron trees smother the air
But withering they stand and stare
Through eyes that neither know nor care
Where the grass is gone

The days of Pearly Spencer
The race is almost run

Pearly where's your milk white skin
What's that stubble on your chin
It's buried in the rot gut gin
You played and lost not won
You played a house that can't be beat
Now look your head's bowed in defeat
You walked too far along the street
Where only rats can run

The days of Pearly Spencer
The race is almost run
The days of Pearly Spencer
The race is almost run
The race is almost run

A tenement, a dirty street
Remember worn and shoeless feet
Remember how you stood to beat
The way your life had gone
So Pearly don't you shed more tears
For those best forgotten years
Those tenements are memories
Of where you've risen from

The days of Pearly Spencer
The race is almost won


. . .



Heaven is here
Each night when I should be asleep
I put on my coat
And I walk the streets
I spend these hours
Escaping from my dreams
Afraid of what I might see
Fear has no beginning no end
So I spend all my time
With you on my mind
I see visions of you
All my dreams coming true
And I fall to my knees at your beauty

My hand over my heart
A heart that's filled with love
A love that can lift the soul
Divine worship forever Amen

There are times spent in despair
That you won't believe me
So many times I've tried to tell you
But my courage deceives me
You have my whole world under your heel
No words on this earth
Can convey the way I feel
Heaven is here
Where I once feared to be

And I fall to my knees
At your beauty
My hand over my heart
A heart that's filled with love
A love that can lift the soul
Divine worship
Forever Amen

I fall to my knees
I fall to my knees
You lift up my heart
You lift up my heart
Nothing so fine
Nothing so sure
As I'm gazing in awe
At your beauty
My hand over my heart
A heart that's filled with love
A love that can lift the soul
Divine worship forever Amen

And late each night
As I walk the streets
I pray for the day
I lay my heart at your feet
You lift up my heart
You lift up my heart
You lift up my heart
With your love


. . .


See also:

blog comments powered by Disqus



© 2011 Music World. All rights reserved.