Richard Thompson Album

One day the monkey jumps aboard, one day the black dog gets you
One Day the demons write your name in blood upon a ledger
But see the sun is shining as I step down on the pike
So pretty in my uniform of anti-look-alike
And goodbye halls of academe, I never could respect you
And loved ones, I'll say fare you well, I surely will neglect you.

Watch Me Go
Into the wide blue yonder
Watch Me Go
Like a human cannonball
Watch Me Go
With a mighty peal of thunder
And I'll keep shouting till they lay me low

If it wasn't for Dalwhinnie and all his reckless crew
I never would have learned to shake my fist and hullabaloo
If it wasn't for the company I'd be talking to myself
Inside a padded 8 by 12, all on the National Health
And friends and kind relations, I'll be writing very soon
The next time that you see me I'll be halfway to the moon

Thank you dear Professor, for refocusing our eyes
And thank you Captain Sensible, so eloquent and wise
And Fotherington-Thomas, now you're singing with the choir
But you gave us beef when we had none, of wood and string and wire
And for those who choose the twisty road, prefer it to the straight
Let joy beat out old misery, as love will conquer hate

[No lyrics]

We used to say "There'd come the day we'd all be making songs
Or finding better words" These ideas never lasted long

The way is up along the road, the air is growing thin
Too many friends who tried, blown off this mountain with the wind

Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I'm going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again

Yet now I see, I'm all alone, but that's the only way to be
You'll have your chance again, then you can do the work for me

Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I'm going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again
Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I'm going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again

1. Was there ever a winter so cold and so sad
The river too weary to flood
The storm and the wind cut through to my skin
But she cut through to my blood

2. I wasn't looking for trouble to tangle my line
But trouble came looking for me
I knew I was treading on treacherous ground
I was sinking too fast to run free

Refrain:
With her scheming, idle ways
She left me for naught
The storm and the wind cut through to my skin
But she cut through to my blood

3.

Everybody came to nobody's wedding
Everybody knew it was bound to be a hoot
What can you do when nothing else is cooking?
You make your own amusement, bring a pile of loot
(Chorus)
There was Alice, the butcher, ?tidy and gone?
We couldn't see where they were heading
With sixteen days and sixteen nights
And it weren't even nobody's wedding
"What a great reception," all the people cried
"Who stole the groom and who stole the bride?
How did the countess slide underneath the door?
Why is the wild boy chopping up the floor?"
(Chorus)
I didn't hear the sound of the tin cans rattle
I didn't hear a tear drop, I didn't hear a prattle
I didn't hear the words of the Bible being read
When it's nobody's wedding, nobody's wed
(Chorus)

I'm so tired of working every day,
Now the weekend's come I'm gonna throw my troubles away
If you've got the cab fare, mister you'll do all right
I want to see the bright lights tonight

Meet me at the station don't be late
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

There's crazy people running all over town
There's a silver band just marching up and down
And the big boys are all spoiling for a fight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

Meet me at the station don't be late
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

A couple of drunken knights rolling on the floor
Is just the kind of mess I'm looking for
I'm gonna dream 'till Monday comes in sight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

Meet me at the station don't be late
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight

High up above the crowd
The great Valerio is walking
The rope seems hung from cloud to cloud
And time stands still while he is walking
His eye is steady on the target
His foot is sure upon the rope.
Alone and peaceful as a mountain
And certain as the mountain slope

We falter at the sight
We stumble in the mire
Fools who think they see the light
Prepare to balance on the wire
But we learn to watch together
And feed on what we see above
Until our heart turn like the seaons
And we are acrobats of love
How we wonder, how we wonder
Watching far below
We would all be that great hero,
The great Valerio

Come all you upstart jugglers
Are you really ready yet?
Who will help the tightrope walker,
When he tumbles to the net?
So come with me to see Valerio
As he dances through the air
I'm your friend until you use me
And then be sure I won't be there.

How we wonder, how we wonder
Watching far below
We would all be that great hero,
The great Valerio

Whisky helps to clear my head
Bring it with you into bed
If I beat you nearly dead
I'll regret it all in the morning

I'm so drunk I couldn't care
If that's a wig or your own hair
Here's my ticket, take me there
I'll regret it all in the morning

I'll regret it all in the morning
When I see your smiling face
I'd rather be in any place but here

The years have left their mark
Your skin feels smooth as bark
As we shiver in the dark
I'll regret it in the morning

As you gaze around in fright
With your knuckles turning white
You're a lonely, lonely sight
To wake up to in the morning

This is no way to exist
With some girl who keeps a list
Naming all the boys she's missed
And she's longed for in the morning

I'll regret it all in the morning
When I see your smiling face
I'd rather be in any place but here

Now the room is spinning fast
And it fades away at last
When this empty night is passed
I'll regret it all in the morning

Little boy running and the little girl too
Got the money tucked up in their hands
Over the wall and down into the street
Give your money to the hollering man

Everybody runs for Hokey Pokey
Hear the ringing on the ice cream bell
He's got the stuff that'll cool you right down
It's the best that they ever did sell

Maestro he says to Sweet Little Angel
Don't you sing to the boys in blue
Or you won't need no more Hokey Pokey
By the time we're through with you

Down in the prison number 999
Wishing he was home on the range
He's still fretting for what he's not getting
And love behind bars is strange

Fellas in the alley all walk that walk
It's a style that really pays
Cos' there's some poor Joe out there doesn't know
The door can swing both ways

Dead to the world? Says Frankie to Annie
Girl you haven't moved an inch all night
But she wriggled her hips when he kissed her on the lips
Hokey Pokey made her fell all right

Lick it on the bottom, lick it on the top
Suck it just hard enough
Open up wide when it drips down the side
You want to catch all that good stuff

It seems like a lifetime since I saw you
Lover lover I've been away too long
When I see lovers holding hands and sighing
I hang my head for shame of doing wrong

Bus wheels spinning, song birds singing break my heart
Take me back to old remembered days
Remind me of the times we spent together
Times before we went our separate ways

I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again

I'm sorry for the things I've said, the things I've done
I'm sorry for the restless thief I've been
Please don't make me pay for my deceiving heart
Just turn up your lamp and let me in

I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again
I wish I was a fool for you again

[No lyrics]

She was there one minute
And then she was gone the next
Lying in a pool of herself
With a twisted neck

Oh she fell from the roof to the ground
There was glass lying all around
She was broken in a hundred pieces
When her body was found

She used to live life
She used to live life with a vengeance
And the chosen would dance
The chosen would dance in attendance

She crossed a lot of people
Some she called friends
She thought she'd live forever
But forever always ends

Did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed

Oh, she used to have style
She used to have style and she used it
And they say it turned bad
When the truth came 'round and she refused it

They found some fingerprints
Right around her throat
They didn't find no killer
And they didn't find no note

Did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed
Oh, did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed
Did she jump or was she pushed

Well I wove the rope and I picked the spot
Well I struck out my neck and I tightened the knot
O stranger, stranger, I'm near out of time
You stretch out your hand, I stretched out mine

O maybe just the hand of kindness
Maybe just the hand of kindness
Maybe just a hand, stranger will you reach me in time
In time

Well I scuppered the ship and I bent the rail
Well, I cut the brakes and I ripped the sail
And they called me a Jonah, it's a sin I survived
Well, you stretched out your hand, I stretched out mine

Maybe just the handof kindness
Well, maybe just the hand of kindness
O maybe just a hand, stranger will you reach me in time
In time

O shoot that old horse and break in the new
O the hung are many and the living are few
I see your intention, here's my neck on the line
You stretch out your hand I stretched out mine

Well, maybe just the hand of kindness
O maybe just the hand of kindness
Well, maybe just a hand, stranger will you reach me in time
In time

O maybe just the hand of kindness
Well, maybe just the hand of kindness
Well, maybe just a hand, stranger will you reach me in time
In time

By Devonside she was a-marching
It was a gang of no great size
And surrender was the banner that she carried
And hungry was the shiver in her eyes

She met a boy, his health was failing
She dropped the banner and took her prize
And the only food she had was bread and morphine
Ah, but he fed on the shiver in her eyes

By Devonside his love was drifting
He looked for comfort otherwise
And there never was a rope or chain about him
Ah, she held him with the shiver in her eyes

Ah, she said, my John, I'll be your pillow
I'll be your lover, mother, whore and wife
And he knew that he loved and never seen her
When the light fell from the shiver in her eyes

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

[No lyrics]