Richard Thompson Album

Jackknife with a precious load
Spills it's guts all over the road
Excuse me, I had to smile
Lost my grip too for a while
Easy there, steady now
Easy there, steady now
She didn't have the decency
To sweep away what's left of me
I don't have the presence of mind
To walk along in a straight line
Easy there, steady now
CHORUS
I call your name
I call it loud
I see your face
In every crowd
Nosebleed down the bathroom wall
Leaves a pool down in the stall
I wonder where you are tonight
Red dress, skin so white
Easy there, steady now
3 AM an empty town
Doctor Martens echo down
Old man Heartbreak follows you
Corruption's shadow swallows you
Easy there, steady now
CHORUS
Jackknife with a precious load
Spills it's guts all over the road
Excuse me, I had to smile
Lost my grip too for awhile
Easy there, steady now

What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Was a time she fell
But then she got wise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Never had the squint of James Dean
or the Stanislavsky tears
Or the rebel hunch that kills
Or the smile that slowly disappears
What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
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O two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet
Two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
Just get rid of them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet

Well, your hair is pretty and your face is a treat
But I don't like your two left feet
I'm not one to admit defeat
But I can't win with your two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
But I can't stand them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet

Well, they're pulling people in off the street
They all want to look at your two left feet
Dance with Jimmy, dance with Pete,
Don't dance with me with them two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
Just get rid of them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet o

I dance with you and I land on my seat
That's 'cos you dance with two left feet
You could make my life complete
Just get rid of them two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
Just get rid of them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet

O two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet
Two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
Just get rid of them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet

O two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet
Two left feet, two left feet
How can you dance with two left feet

I love you honey, you're so sweet
Just get rid of them two left feet
You got no style, you got no beat
All you've got is them two left feet

Did you call my name? Did you call my name in the night?
In the whispers and sighs, in the whispers and sighs of the night
Ah ghosts in the wind, eh ghosts in the wind

Now this old house moves, this old house moves and moans
The tongues of the night, the tongues of the night stir my bones
Ah ghosts in the wind, oh ghosts in the wind
When will my sore heart ever mend

I'm empty and cold, I'm empty and cold like a ruin
The wind tears through me, the wind tears through me like a ruin
Ah ghosts in the wind, oh ghosts in the wind
When will my sore heart ever mend
Ghosts in the wind, ah ghosts in the wind

I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight
I feel so good I'm going to take someone apart tonight
They put me in jail for my deviant ways
Two years seven months and sixteen days
Now I'm back on the street in a purple haze

And I feel so good, and I feel so good
Well I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight

I feel so good I'm going to make somebody's day tonight
I feel so good I'm going to make somebody pay tonight
I'm old enough to sin but I'm too young to vote
Society's been dragging on the tail of my coat
Now I've got a suitcase full of fifty pound notes
And a half-naked woman with her tongue down my throat

And I feel so good, and I feel so good
Oh I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight

They made me pay for the things I've done
Now it's my turn to have all the fun
Well I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight

And I feel so good, I feel so good
Well I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight
Oh Oh Oh
I feel so good I'm going to break somebody's heart tonight
Hm break somebody's heart
Break somebody's heart
Hm break somebody's heart
Oh break somebody's heart

If she's not here by now
Then I guess she's not coming
If she's not here by now
Then I guess I don't care

Waiter, I won't waste your time anymore
You've already started to sweep down the floor
I guess she's not coming, I'll head for the door
I'll be taking my business elsewhere

It wasn't for me
That spark in her eyes
It wasn't for me
That halo in her hair

When she touched me a lump rose up in my throat
But she must act that way with any old soak
And waiter, you don't seem to share in the joke
So I'll be taking my business elsewhere

She called me her fantasy
Boldly she kissed me
I'll never get over
The sheer surprise of her

Acting that way
And I'm healing okay
But for the eyes of her
It's cold in the rain

And it's dark and it's sad
And I'll miss her tonight
On my lonely back stair
I'm sorry I took up so much of your space

I'll move down the street to a friendlier place
'Cos I guess she's not coming and you're sick of my face
I'll be taking my business elsewhere

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!

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

I've got a little car and she might go far
She's the mistress of my heart now
She's a '65 with an overdrive
I fixed her in every part now
2 in the front and 2 in the back
110 on the old Hog's Back
She's my MGB-GT she's a runner now

I welded the sills and the old floor pan
Cut the rust with the torch and the hacksaw
Took the Rostyles off, put the spoke wheels on
Got a brand new Salisbury axle
WHen I drive through town the girls all smile
They say, there's a man with retro-style
MGB-GT she's a runner now

Lockheed discs and twin SUs
Original chrome on the grill now
Looks llike a dream in racing green
Competition's standing still now
I sprayed her body, I strengthened her frame
I stripped her right down and built her up again
MGB-GT

An Alpine's fine if you've got the time
And a Healey'll set you back some
TR4 cost a little bit more
But it don't have the same attraction
Hard top handy case of the weather
I don't care if it rains forever
MGB-GT

She said "Darling I'm in love with your mind.
The way you care for me, it's so kind.
Love to see you again, I wish I had more time".

She was laughing as she brushed my cheek
"Why don't you call me, angel, maybe next week
Promise now, cross your heart and hope to die".

But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good bye
But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good bye

Things I tried to put shine in her eyes
Wire wheels and shimmering things
Wild nights when the whole world seemed to fly

She said "The thing that's so unique
When we're together we don't have to speak.
We'll always be such good friends, you and I"

Oh but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good bye
But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good
I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying goodbye

Oh, she was saying goodbye, oh, she was saying goodbye
Oh, she was saying, saying, saying, saying

[No lyrics]