Richard Thompson Album

Oh the drones on the corner don't look her in the eye when she comes out to play
And three times now at the Club Chi-Chi they've turned her away
Last week she was the belle of the ball but another week passes
It's time to cast off crutches, scars and pebble glasses

She's got everything a girl might need
She's a tribal animal, yes indeed
But she hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
Hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
Hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose

Oh she gets her suits from a personal friend, Coco the clown
She got dustman's jacket, inside out, it's a party gown
If it's bouffons, she's got bouffons, if it's tat she got tat
She got hoochie coochie Gucci and a pom-pom hat

She's got everything a girl might need
She's a tribal animal, yes indeed
But she hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
No!

Well, her ma writes cook books, she wrote one once, and it sold one or two
Her pa's in the city, he's so witty, he calls it the zoo
Her boyfriend plays in Scritti Politti, Aunt Sally's brown bread
In a few more years she can marry some fool and knock it on the head

She's got everything a girl might need
She's a tribal animal, yes indeed
But she hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose, through her nose
She hasn't got a bone through her nose
She hasn't got a, Oh she hasn't got a, Oh

Oh Valerie! You give me heart attack
Oh Valerie! You put me on the rack
Oh you say that I'm history, you say I'm no good
Then you want to be two babes in the wood
That's what I call playing to the gallery
Well I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

Hey Valerie! She got a scar down here
Valerie! She got gold in her ear
A figure like this, lips like that
Red fingernails, teeth like a cat
She never gets home till five or four or three
Well I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

Well I'm soft in the head, I give her hard cash
She spends all my money on junk and trash
Nylon fur, plastic shoes
And fifty-seven things she's never going to use
Never, never, never going to use
Oh Valerie! Oh Valerie! Oh Valerie!

Well Valerie! You're going to choke or drown
Valerie! Why don't you put that down?
If you don't get over this eating jag
They're going to take you home in a body bag
I can't stand to see one more calorie
Well I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

Now every time I turn my back
She's 'round the corner, looking for a crack
It's going to be the ruin of me
Well I'm running on nervous energy
Running on nervous energy

Oh Valerie! She want to move out of town
Valerie! She want the money down
She want leopard-skin this, tiger-skin that
Matching luggage, lipstick, hat
I can't afford her on my salary
Still I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie
I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie
Hmm I'm a-wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

Valerie! Oh Valerie! Well! Whooo!

Hailstones and a sickle moon and the north wind races
One more night of running my mind over lost embraces
The steps you made when you walked away
Still frozen in the ground
Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down
And lies won't break my fall
Lies won't break my fall

Your food's still sitting there at the table where you used to be
The shape of you is still in the bed there next to me
Maybe I could find some trace of you to keep around
Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down

For far too long you kept me waiting
Reaching out into empty air
Even now you'd never say it face to face
That you really don't care
And if you never liked pulling teeth
Then why, why did you tie me in the dentist's chair

Ah you left your mark on this old place, that you did
I could stew in here like a pressure cooker and screw down the lid
Or maybe I should just take a match
And burn the whole thing to the ground

Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down

Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down
Oh missie how you let me down
And lies won't break my fall
Lies won't break my fall

Keep your weight on the Dead Man's Handle
Or the wheels won't hold the rail
Keep your weight on the Dead Man's Handle
Or the steam brake's bound to fail
Woah she'll jump boys and she'll slip
If your hand should lose it's grip
On the Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
Keep your mind on the journey's end

Remember all of your skills and learning,
Gonna need them now
Remember all of your words of warning,
Gonna need them now
There's just one bridge left to cross
Keep her moving or the day is lost
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
Keep your mind on the journey's end

Look down, look down, look down
The valley is burning, fire without end
Look down, look down, look down
And you'll never get back on the tracks again

Keep your weight on the Dead Man's Handle
Till you see that the day is won
Too many's the foolish man who's fallen
'Cause he jumped the gun
See ahead, your brother stands
Ease the brake, stretch out your hand
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
Keep your mind on the journey's end

Keep your weight on the Dead Man's Handle
Or the wheels won't hold the rail
Keep your weight on the Dead Man's Handle
Or the steam brake's bound to fail
Oh she'll jump boys and she'll slip
If your hand should lose it's grip
On the Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
The Dead Man's Handle
Keep your mind on the journey's end
Ah keep your mind on the journey's end

Somebody's walking, oh somebody's walking
There on the grave of our love
And somebody's kicking the dust and the ashes away
Why don't they just let it die
And fade and grow cold again
Better our footsteps divide
And our memory grow old again

Oh long dead love
Long dead love
How much dirt must you shovel on what's already dead
Don't send flowers to remember, send thorns instead
And who's that polishing the tombstone over our heads
Ohh

Somebody's dancing on our sad misfortune
Oh there on the grave of our love
And somebody's sweeping the splinters of my broken heart away
Why don't they just let it die
And fade and grow cold again
Better our footsteps divide
And our memory grow old again

Oh long dead love
Long dead love
It's been so long it's even hard to find the right place
Was it you who paid for Burke and Hare to come in on the case
You know grave-robbing is a sin and this is a crying disgrace

Deep in the night, the cruel intention comes stealing
Deep in the night, I can't close my eyes for that feeling

Oh long dead love
Long dead love
Long dead love

False hand in false hand
Down Lovers' Lane, we walked, we two
Love sold for fool's gold
Down Lovers' Lane, we walked, we two

On your back I'll climb
Or you climb on mine
Deception is the rule
Down Lovers' Lane

Fine friend, fine friend
I held such dreams in my caress
Fine airs, fine airs
The best of manners and address

On your back I'll climb
Or you climb on mine
Deception is the rule
Down Lovers' Lane

Love makes people so blind
That's why I can't make up my mind
If you stop me dead in my tracks
Or you just paper over the cracks

You're the one I've wanted so long
But then again I might be wrong
Now you look just right in the pale moonlight
But let me turn the headlights on

'Cause I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes, I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

I don't want to cause you doubt
But I'm really checking you out
You're the closest to my heart bar none
Except for my wallet and my gun

I never felt like this before
That's why I want to make quite sure
That it's not just a dose of the 'flu
That gives me the chills for you

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

I reserve the right to love you
After all I'm the first in line
I'm not one for shout and screaming
Mine, all mine, all mine, all mine, all mine

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

Oh trouble becomes you, it cuts you down to my size
And you never were less than perfect in my eyes
But I lost my way somehow
For three hard winters I held it in, till now
Oh now I can't help it, oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love

Now you pin up your hair like you did when first we met
How many days of his life can a man regret
And if my tears were a train
Then I'd cry all the way back into your arms again
Now I can't help it, oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love

Now I count the times we spent and the times we missed
Now I stand here, love unsworn and lips unkissed
And oh how hard I tried
To kill the vision of you as another man's bride
Oh now I can't help it, oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love
Oh Jennie my love

Oh I care for you, honey, at my own expense
But something's spoiling my sentiments
You open your mouth and it makes no sense
All you ever give me is baby talk

You're a fine grown woman, and that's a fact
But who could tell from the way you act
When I pull up the car and we climb in the back
All you ever give me is baby talk

I love sweet nothings, sitting in the dark
And I like to bill and coo
But it breaks my heart the minute you start
On goo goo goo and a-coochee coo

You drive me crazy, where will it end
I feel embarassed in front of my friends
It's a wonderful thing that you learned how to walk
All you ever give me is baby talk

Oh well I love sweet nothings, sitting in the dark
And I like to bill and coo
But it breaks my heart the minute you start on
Goo goo goo and a-coochee coo

I'm sending you back to nursery school
When you start talking you sound like a fool
You can't even eat with a knife and a fork
And all you ever give me is baby talk
All you ever give me is baby talk
Well all you ever give me is ....

Young love, I wish you well
Shotgun and wedding bells
Semi-semi and the damp is peeling
Hole in the roof wet the baby's head
Back streets, real scum about
Need a car, a little run-about
Some down and a fistful later
Sign on the line like the nice man said

Need a Slumberland or a Frigidaire
Or a video, sign right there
In over your head, head, cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.

Get a job, good overtime
Shop floor, assembly line
Six months and no more company
No more factory, no more shift
Get a job, you're gonna go far
Hot wire and a crow bar
Nobody's gonna feed the baby
That's if they catch you, if, if, if

Vegetating, frustrating
Repossessions, distressing
In over your head, head, cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.
Never-never.
Nothing's so hard as living on the easy plan

Need a Slumberland or a Frigidaire
Or a video, sign right there
In over your head, head, cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.
Never-never. Cash down.
Never-never.
Nothing's so hard as living on the easy plan

Oh she danced in the street with the guns all around her
All torn like a rag doll, barefoot in the rain
And she sang like a child, toora-day toora-daddy
Oh how will I ever be simple again

She sat by the banks of the dirty grey river
And tried for a fish with a worm on a pin
There was nothing but fever and ghosts in the water
Oh how will I ever be simple again

War was my love and my friend and companion
And what did I care for the pretty and plain
But her smile was so clear and my heart was so troubled
Oh how will I ever be simple again

In her poor burned-out house I sat at her table
The smell of her hair was like cornfields in May
And I wanted to weep and my eyes ached from trying
Oh how will I ever be simple again

So graceful she moved through the dust and the ruin
And happy she was in her dances and games
Oh teach me to see with your innocent eyes, love
Oh how will I ever be simple again
Oh how will I ever be simple again

Well we were heroes then, and the girls were all pretty
And a uniform was a lucky charm, bought you the key to the city
We used to dance the whole night through
While Al Bowlly sang "The Very Thought Of You"
Now Bowlly's in heaven and I'm in limbo now

Well I gave my youth to king and country
But what's my country done for me but sentenced me to misery
I traded my helmet and my parachute
For a pair of crutches and a demob suit
Al Bowlly's in heaven and I'm in limbo now

Hard times, hard hard times
Hostels and missions and dosser's soup lines
Can't close me eyes on a bench or a bed
For the sound of some battle raging in my head

Old friends, you lose so many
You get run around, all over town
The wear and the tear, oh it just drives you down
St Mungo's with its dirty old sheets
Beats standing all day down on Scarborough Street
Al Bowlly's in heaven and I'm in limbo now

Can't stay here, you got to foot-slog
Once in a blue moon you might find a job
Sleep in the rain, you sleep in the snow
When the beds are all taken you've got nowhere to go

Well I can see me now, I'm back there on the dance floor
Oh with a blonde on me arm, red-head to spare
Spit on my shoes and shine in me hair
And there's Al Bowlly, he's up on a stand
Oh that was a voice and that was a band
Al Bowlly's in heaven and I'm in limbo now