Richard Thompson Album

Well, there's a house
In an alley,
In the squats and low rise
In a town with no future,
But that's where my future lies

It's a secret, but no secret
It's a rule, but no rule,
Where you find the darkest avenue,
You'll find the brightest jewel.

Now, my name, it is Mulvaney
And I'm known quite famously,
People speak my name in whispers,
What higher praise can there be?

But I'd trade my fine mohair,
For tie-dyes and faded jeans,
If she wanted me some other way,
She's my cooksferry queen.

She gave me one pill to get bigger,
She gave me one pill to get small,
I saw snakes dancin' all around my feet
And dead men comin' through the wall.

Well, I'm the prince of this parish,
I've been ruthless and I've been mean
but she blew my mind, and she opened my eyes, she's my cooksferry queen.

Well, she's got every way perfection,
All her looks beyond compare
She's got dresses that seem to float in the wind,
Pre-Raphaelite curls in her hair.

She could get the lame to walk, yeah
She could get the blind to see,
She could make wine out of Thames river water,
She could make a believer out of me.

Yes I'd trade it all tomorrow,
All the wicked things I've been
She's my bright jewel of the alley,
She's my cooksferry queen.

Yes I'd trade it all tomorrow,
All the wicked things I've been
She's my bright jewel of the alley,
She's my cooksferry queen.

Oh some girls hold the ace, the deuce, the trey
X-ray the deck to see what's coming
Mary Antoinette she smiled that way
Easy to smile when the luck is running

Like a myth you rode in from the west
From the go you had my button pressed
Did the tea-time of your soul
Make you long for wilder days?
Did you never let Jack Kerouac
Wash over you in waves?

Sibella, we don't make sense together
But my heart's with you
Sibella, I found myself
Strange but true, strange but true

Some say you can learn a lot from books
Thrill right to second-hand living
Life is just as deadly as it looks
But fiction is more forgiving

You took chances well within your means
Salon hair and creases in your jeans
All those lonely winters long
Did you really think it through
Did you really ache for me like I really ached for you

Sibella, we don't make sense together
But my heart's with you
Sibella, I found myself
Strange but true, strange but true

Sibella, we don't make sense together
But my heart's with you
Sibella, I found myself
Strange but true, strange but true
Strange but true, strange but true
Strange but true

Bathsheba smiles
She smiles and veins turn to ice
She smiles and heads bow down
She works the room
Air-kisses every victim twice
She spreads her joy around

Do you close your eyes to see miracles
Do you raise your face to kiss angels
Do you float on air to hear oracles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
No doubt can cross her mind
Cross her mind

Bathsheba knows
She knows you better than yourself
Confess it on your knees
She shares her love
And sharing love is sharing wealth
Dig in your pockets please

Do you close your eyes to see miracles
Do you raise your face to kiss angels
Do you float on air to hear oracles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
No doubt can cross her mind

No pain no gain's a strain
But she never seems to hurt
Catwalk pilgrims sing this song
Hello heaven, goodbye dirt
And no hair shirt

Do you close your eyes to see miracles
Do you raise your face to kiss angels
Do you float on air to hear oracles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
No doubt can cross her mind

Do you close your eyes
Do you raise your face
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
Bathsheba smiles, smiles
Bathsheba smiles

Two-faced love, will make me doubt my mind
Two-faced love, will keep me paralysed
Two-faced love, I pace the room at night
Why can't I get you off my mind

Oh I try to dull my feelings down
In every bar in every town
But your eyes follow me around
Why can't I get you off my mind

Face the music, face the facts
Different sides of different tracks
Had my feet on holy ground
Then I helter-skelter down
Confused, or being used
Two-faced love, two-faced love
It feels so wrong it must be right
Two-faced love, two-faced love
Why can't I get you off my mind

Oh, I don't like your thin skin
And I don't like the places you've been
I don't like the mood that you're in
Why can't I get you off my mind

If I read the signals right
I might be your slave tonight
Pardon my naive caress
Tender fits with tenderness
Uncouth to tell the truth
Two-faced love, two-faced love
Feels so wrong it must be right
Two-faced love, two-faced love
Why can't I get you off my mind

Oh you don't make my blood run cold
And you don't fit my jelly mold
Don't come up for air when you're digging for gold
Why can't I get you off my mind
Why can't I get you off my mind
It feels so wrong it must be right
Feels so wrong it must be right

Hard on me, hard on me
Why do you grind me small
Hard on me, hard on me
At every fence I fall

I bite my rage
I stop my breath
I shake my cage
I swim with emptiness

Hard on me, hard on me
Like they were hard on you
Hard on me, hard on me
So I can stumble too

My circuits seize
My senses jam
I don't know who to please
Trapped inside the Wicker Man

You're so hard on me
You're so hard on me
You're so hard on me

Hard on me, hard on me
Why do you grind me small
Hard on me, hard on me
At every fence I fall

Unzip my heart
Unbraid my veins
Unstitch my wantonness
And loosen up my reins
Before I dare
Go on that hill
In dumb despair
Unfreeze my will

You're so hard on me
You're so hard on me
You're so hard on me

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

I keep my nose clean, I keep my speech plain
I keep my promises, she twists the knife again
I shut my memory, I close my eyes and then
She takes another bite, she twists the knife again

She never leaves me my dignity
Makes a dunce of me in mixed company
No bygone can be a bygone
She throws the spanner in, she puts the screws on

In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again
When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again
When I think I'm off the hook she gets me
She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again

I make my moves well, I let her tell me when
I walk a fine line, she twists the knife again
Just when the scar heals, just when the grip unbends
Just when her mind reels, she twists the knife again

She can give it out, she can't take it
She smells something bad, she has to rake it
I bring home my packet, my white-collar money
I'm in a fist fight, she thinks she's Gene Tunney

In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again
When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again
When I think I'm off the hook she gets me
She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again

She never leaves me my dignity
Makes a dunce of me in mixed company
No bygone can be a bygone
She throws the spanner in, she puts the screws on

In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again
When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again
When I think I'm off the hook she gets me
She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again
She twists the knife again

Only a misdirected dart
At an unprotected heart
I'm sure it happens every day
Just a passing interlude
A fresh face to change the mood
I'll find my feet again you say

What rock I had you rolled
What rock I had you rolled away

But I live as best I can
Meet the uninhabited man
Please read the sign and walk away
What an old dry shell I am
The uninhabited man
I'll find my feet again you say

No doubt they'll pull me down
No doubt they'll pull me down someday

Who's been sleeping in my bed
Who's been sleeping in my bed

Who's been sitting in my chair
Who's been licking in my bowl
Who's been sleeping in my bed

A romantic ruin am I
Funny how I catch the eye
The vacuum slowly sucks you in
I'm left no skill, no art
To meet you heart to heart
You'll find no me beneath the skin
And if there's no me then there's no
And if there's no me then there's no sin

Who's been sleeping in my bed
Who's been sleeping in my bed

And who's been sitting in my chair
Who's been licking in my bowl
Who's been sleeping in my bed

Oh the last bus has gone
Or maybe I'm wrong
It just doesn't exist
And the words that flew
Between me and you
I must be crossed off your list
So I'm walking the long miles home
I don't mind losing you
In fact I feel better each step of the way
In the dark I rehearse all the right things to say
I'll be home, I'll be sober by break of day
Walking the long miles home

Not a soul is around
As I put more ground
Between me and you
And the whole town's asleep
Or maybe they're deep in the old "voulez vous"
So I'm walking the long miles home
And I don't mind losing you
Got the moon there for company each step of the way
And the rhythm in my shoes keep the blues all away
When you ride Shanks's Pony you don't have to pay
Walking the long miles home

Oh the party was grand
But I hadn't quite planned on staying so long
And while you accused me
The hours confused me and my friends had all gone
So I'm walking the long miles home
And I don't mind losing you
Ah there's nobody out but the cop on the beat
He's snoring so loud I don't hear my feet
I just laugh to myself and move off down the street
Walking the long miles home
I'm walking the long miles home
Oh walking the long miles home

When the spell is broken
When the spell is broken
How you ever gonna keep her now
You can't cry if you don't know how
When the spell is broken
When the spell is broken
All the joy is gone from her face
Welcome back to the human race
How long can the flame
Of love remain
When you curse and fight
And never see like
Or hear like spoken
When the spell is broken
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
When the spell is broken
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
Oh when the spell is broken
All your magic and your ways and schemes
All your lies come and tear at your dreams
When the spell is broken
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
When the spell is broken
Now you're handing her that same old line
It's just straws in the wind this time
When love has died,
There's none starry-eyed
No kiss, no tears,
No farewell souvenirs
Not even a token, when the spell is broken

Don't swear your heart
From the very start
Love letters you wrote
Are pushed back down you throat
And leave you choking, when the spell is broken
(When the spell, When the spell, When the spell is broken)
When the spell is broken
When the spell is broken
(When the spell, When the spell, When the spell is broken)
When the spell is broken
When the spell is broken

(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(You can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
(Can't cry if you don't know how)

This time you hurt me
You really did it this time you did
Did you count your fingers after shaking my hand
God forbid
Riff raff crawling from the slums
Right there in front of all your chums
I swear by the pricking of my thumbs
I'll make your day and melt away

I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
But you won't have to stand next to me
You won't have to introduce me
You won't have to think about, talk about, care about, me
I'll crawl back

I've got a nerve just showing my face don't you think
Scruffy little likes ought to know their place don't you think
Old boy, sorry to intrude
Damn shame pretty bloody rude
I should be horsewhipped and sued
Then I'll go quietly my tail between my knees

I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
But you won't have to stand next to me
You won't have to introduce me
You won't have to think about, talk about, care about, me
I'll crawl back

I want to be middle class
Floors and ceilings made of glass
I just want to be, I just want to be free

You had me in a second you had it all reckoned, you did
You guessed my game and my name, rank and number, you did
Somehow I gave myself away
Some code, some word I didn't say
I missed one line in the play
And the trap shut tight and you did me all right

I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
I'll crawl back under my stone
But you won't have to stand next to me
You won't have to introduce me
You won't have to think about, talk about, care about
You won't have to ask about, fuss about, discuss about
You won't have to mind about, swear about, forget about, me
Crawl back
I'll crawl back
I'll crawl back
Crawl back

I'll crawl back
Crawl back
Crawl back
I'll crawl back

I packed my rags, went down the hill
Left my dependents a-lying still
Just as the dawn was rising up
I was making good speed
I left a letter lying on the bed
From a man in need, it read

You know it's so hard, It's so hard to find
Well, well, well. Who's going to cure the heart of a man in need?

All of my friends don't comprehend me
Their kind of style it just offends me
I want to take 'em, I want to shake 'em
'Till they pay me some heed
Oh, you've got to ride in one direction
Until you find the right connection

You know it's so hard, so, so, so, so
Well, well. Who's going to cure the heart of a man in need?

Who's going to give you real happiness?
Who's going to give you contentedness?
Who's going to lead you? Who's going to feed you?
And cut you free?
Well I've sailed every ship in the sea
But I travelled this world in misery

You know it's so hard, so hard, so hard
Well, well. Who's going to cure the heart of a man in need?

Well who's going to shoe your feet?
Ah who's going to pay your rent?
And who's going to stand by you?
Well, well, well, well
Who's going to cure the heart of a man in need?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Of a man in need.

After the death of a thousand kisses
Comes the catacomb of tongues
Who can spit the meanest venom
From the poison of their lungs

Cruelest dance is the razor dance
Circle in and circle around
He said, she said, she said, he said
Thrill to put the other one down
The razor dance, the razor dance

This time, gone too far
This time, can't heal the scar
I want to break out of this spin
But gravity's pulling me in
The razor dance, the razor dance

What flies straighter than an arrow
What cuts deeper than a lance
Your wit may shine on the withering line
Cruelest dance is the razor dance
The razor dance, the razor dance

Blood boils, tears burn
Some people never learn
If time could crawl back in its shell
And mischievous tongues could untell
But that's not the meaning of Hell

Take your partners for the razor dance
Take your partners for the razor dance
Take your partners for the razor dance
The razor dance
The razor dance, the razor dance