Richard Thompson Album

I ride in your slipstream
I wear your reflection
I echo your heartbeat
In the wind

You might say we're lovers
You might say we're strangers
You think you don't know me
But you're wearing my ring

Good road, bad road
Just don't mean a thing
Good dream, bad dream
Just don't mean a thing
Down in the while of the wheels
You'll hear me sing

I'm like a TV eye in the sky but I'm right behind you
I'm like your signed confession but I'm right behind you
I'm like the child you never were but I'm right behind you
Let's ride

I ride in your slipstream
but don't try to touch me
Just trust me to love you
I love you

I ride in your slipstream
I ride in your slipstream
I ride in your slipstream

Oh she dressed in the dark and she whispered amen
She was pretty in pink like a young girl again
Twenty years married and she never thought twice
She sneaked out the door and walked into the night
And silver wings carried her over the sea
From the west coast of Ireland to West Tennessee
To be with her sweetheart, oh she left everything
From Galway to Graceland to be with the king

She was humming Suspicion, that's the song she liked best
She had Elvis I Love You tattooed on her breast
When they landed in Memphis, well her heart beat so fast
She'd dreamed for so long, now she'd see him at last
She was down by his graveside day after day
Come closing time they would pull her away
Ah to be with her sweetheart, oh she'd left everything
From Galway to Graceland to be with the king

Ah, they came in their thousands from the whole human race
To pay their respects at his last resting place
But blindly she knelt there and she told him her dreams
And she thought that he answered or that's how it seems
Then they dragged her away it was handcuffs this time
She said my good man are you out of your mind.
Don't you know that we're married? See, I'm wearing his ring.
From Galway to Graceland to be with the king.
I come From Galway to Graceland to be with the king

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

Oh play me a blues song and fade down the light
I'm sad as a proud man can be sad tonight
Just let me dream on, oh just let me sway
While the sweet violins and the saxophones play
And Miss, you don't know me, but can't we pretend
That we care for each other till the band reach the end

One step for aching and two steps for breaking
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
One step for sighing and two steps for crying
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love

Now they say love's for gamblers, oh the pendulum swings
I bet hard on love and I lost everything
So don't send me home now, put a shot in my arm
And we'll drink out old memories and we'll drink in the dawn
And Mr. Bandleader, won't you play one more time
For I've good folding money in this pocket of mine

One step for aching, two steps for breaking
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
One step for sighing and two steps for crying
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love

Oh Miss, you don't know me, but can't we pretend
That we care for each other till the band reach the end

Oh, one step for aching, two steps for breaking
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
One step for sighing, two steps for crying
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love
Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love

In my nightmare everything's wrong
I'm waiting for love, but you come along
You smile, you wave, you great me, Ciao!
but you seem too happy to see me somehow
Then the sky falls in on my head
Your nails grow long, your eyes turn red
You say, forever dear and a day
You promise you're never going to go away
And my feet won't move when I run the other way
CHORUS
I can't wake up to save my life
I can't wake up to save my life
In my nightmare you forgive me
The cruellest gift you could ever give me
You say that you understand me now
But your eyes say, brother, I'll get you somehow
Then the lightning streaks across the room
You smell like something fresh from the tomb
You squeeze too hard, you iinsist on kissing
When it seems like half your face is missing
And your hair's turned into reptiles hissing
CHORUS
Things I done make my dreams go bad
Like Borstal boys coming home to Dad
What ye reap so shall ye sow
Now shake me, wake me, go man go
CHORUS
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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

You're going to give yourself away
One of these nights
Your gaze of compassion
Just a little too right
Your hug of encouragement
A little too tight
ANd then he'll know
It's the little things betray
You're going to give yourself away
To some Casanova
On the spills and stains
Of a backstage sofa
He'll catch you yawning
With one leg over
And there's the sin
Must be the enemy within
CHORUS
That's the way that it shows
A slip of the tongue
A squeeze of the hand
That's the way that it shows
There's glycerine in the tear
Rouge in the blush
Your artful stammer
A little too rushed
All passion to the eye
All cold to the touch
And then he'll guess
Your mind has drifted in the kiss
There's a chink in your armour
A crack in your defenses
When your iron will
Gives way to your senses
Your whispered sweet nothings
All sound like expenses
And that's enough
He won't believe your words of love
CHORUS
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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

When the stone is grown too cold to kneel
In crystal waters I'll be bound
Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel

Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know

When the fire is grown too fierce to breathe
In burning irons I'll be bound
Fierce as fire weary to the sounds upon the wheel

Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know

When the stone is grown too cold to kneel
In crystal waters I'll be bound
Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel

Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know

When I said those things I was out of my mind
I was trying to be mean and cruel and unkind
Don't take it too hard
There's another man inside me wants to break us apart

You were chic off the peg, bang up to the minute
I had to put my big foot in it
Don't shout it all about
There's another man inside me and he wants to get out

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

There's hell and hoodoo in your kitchen
You've got to scratch the place you're itching
How long will it take
There's another girl inside you and she never got a break

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

You just moan and weep and moan and weep
Dirty rivers running down your face
Tears all down your party face

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

It was three in the morning when she took me apart
She wrecked the furniture, she wrecked my heart
She danced on my head like Arthur Murray
The scars ain't never going to mend in a hurry

Just when I thought I could learn to forget her
Right through the door come a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter

Well my head was beating like a song by the Clash
It was writing cheques that my body couldn't cash
Got to my feet, I was reeling and dizzy
I went for the 'phone but the line was busy

Just when I thought that things would get better
Right through the door come a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter

Well I like coffee and I like tea
But I just don't like this fiddle-di-dee
It makes me nervous, it gives me the hives
Waiting for a kiss from a bunch of fives

Just when I think I could learn to forget her
Right through the door come a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh love love
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter
Oh, oh, oh
Cry, cry if it makes you feel better
Set it all down in a tear-stained letter

This old house is falling down around my ears
I'm drowning in the river of my tears
When all my will is gone you hold me sway
I need you at the dimming of the day

You pulled me like the moon pulls on the tide
You know just where I keep my better side

What days have come to keep us far apart
A broken promise or a broken heart
Now all the bonny birds have wheeled away
I need you at the dimming of the day

Come the night you're only what I want
Come the night you could be my confidant

I see you on the street in company
Why don't you come and ease your mind with me
I'm living for the night we steal away
I need you at the dimming of the day
I need you at the dimming of the day

Said Red Molly to James that's a fine motorbike
A girl could feel special on any such like
Said James to Red Molly, my hat's off to you
It's a Vincent Black Lightning, 1952
And I've seen you at the corners and cafes it seems
Red hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme
And he pulled her on behind
And down to Boxhill they did ride

Said James to Red Molly, here's a ring for your right hand
But I'll tell you in earnest I'm a dangerous man
I've fought with the law since I was seventeen
I robbed many a man to get my Vincent machine
Now I'm 21 years, I might make 22
And I don't mind dying, but for the love of you
And if fate should break my stride
Then I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Come down, come down, Red Molly, called Sergeant McRae
For they've taken young James Adie for armed robbery


Shotgun blast hit his chest, left nothing inside
Oh, come down, Red Molly to his dying bedside
When she came to the hospital, there wasn't much left
He was running out of road, he was running out of breath
But he smiled to see her cry
And said I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Says James, in my opinion, there's nothing in this world
Beats a 52 Vincent and a red headed girl
Now Nortons and Indians and Greeveses won't do
They don't have a soul like a Vincent 52
He reached for her hand and he slipped her the keys
He said I've got no further use for these
I see angels on Ariels in leather and chrome
Swooping down from heaven to carry me home
And he gave her one last kiss and died
And he gave her his Vincent to ride

I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine that I might crush her where she lay
She was a lost child, she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We was camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should
We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way

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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I ride with the Killerman Gold Posse
And we rob from the rich and we give to the poor
And the poor are we, and the poor are we
And we are so poor, and we want some more
And it's just another, just another, just another, just another,
Just another, just another, just another, just another day

We steal your watches and we steal your rings
And we steal your money and we steal your gold
And we ride on a train like old Jesse James
In the days of old, in the days of old
And it's just another, just another, just another, just another,
Just another, just another, just another, just another day

We are children, please don't take our freedom away
We are children, please don't take our freedom away
We are children, please don't take our freedom away
And it's just another, just another, just another

I ride with the Killerman Gold Posse
And we rob from the rich and we give to the poor
And I got a knife and he's got a knife
And it's trouble and strife and it's run for your life
And it's just another, just another, just another, just another,
Just another, just another, just another, just another,
Just another, just another, just another, just another,
Just another, just another, just another, just another day

In the dark, who can see his face?
In the dark, who can reach him?
He hides like a child.
He hides like a child.
Keeps his finger on the trigger
You know he can't stand the day
Shoot out the lights.
Shoot out the lights.

Keep the blind down on the window
Ah, keep the pain on the inside
Just watching the dark.
Just watching the dark.
Ah he might laugh but you won't see him
As he thunders through the night

Shoot out the lights.
Shoot out the lights.

In the darkness the shadows move
In the darkness the game is real
Real as a gun.
Real as a gun.
As he watches the lights of the city
And he moves through the night
Shoot out the lights.
Shoot out the lights.
Shoot out the lights.
Ah, shoot out the lights.

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!

Let me ride on the wall of death one more time
Let me ride on the wall of death one more time
You can waste your time on the other rides
But this is the nearest to being alive
Let me take my chances on the Wall of Death

You can go with the crazy people in the crooked house
You can fly away on the rocket or spin in the mouse
The tunnel of love might amuse you
And Noah's Ark might confuse you but
Let me take my chances on the Wall of Death

On the Wall of Death
All the World is far from me
On the Wall of Death
It's the nearest to being free

Well you're going nowhere when you ride on the carousel
And maybe you're strong, but what's the use of ringing a bell
The switchback will make you crazy
Beware of the bearded lady
Oh let me take my chances on the Wall of Death

You are going nowhere when you ride on the carousel
And maybe you're strong, but what's the use of ringing a bell
The switchback will make you crazy
Beware of the bearded lady
Let me take my chances
Let me take my chances
Let me take my chances

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

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
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
It's the best that they ever did sell

Girl on the corner with the tight dress on
You know she don't know nothing so fine
Feels so good when you put it in your mouth
Sends a shiver all down your spine
Sends a shiver all down your spine

Cat got your tongue, says Frankie to Annie, girl
You haven't said a word all night
Well, Annie she smiled and she took another bite
Hokey Pokey made her feel all right, all right
Hokey Pokey made her feel all right

Well, some like it round, and some like it flat
And some like a poke or two
But everybody runs for Hokey Pokey
It's the natural thing to do
It's the natural thing to do

Down in prison number 999
Working like a bee in a hive
He's still dreaming of Hokey Pokey
Helps to keep that boy alive
Helps to keep that boy alive

Boss man he says to the choir-boy Rocky
Don't you sing to the boys in blue
Or you won't get no more Hokey Pokey
By the time we're through with you
By the time we're through with you


Fellas in the alley all look like girls
With the lipstick and the high-heeled shoes
Feel so pretty and the boys all say
That they know just what to do
That they know just what to do

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

Those backstreet women, watch what you say
You turn your back and they slide away
They run next door, they give it all away
Doing the slide

The backstreet slide, the backstreet slide
They're gonna get you, dead or alive
Stab you in the back with a kitchen knife
Doing the backstreet slide
Do it all day, the backstreet slide

Gatemouth woman leaning on the fence
She's got no teeth, she's got no sense
You don't need much intelligence
Doing the slide

The backstreet slide, the backstreet slide
They're gonna get you, dead or alive
Stab you in the back with a kitchen knife
Doing the backstreet slide
Do it all day, the backstreet slide

Slide over here, slide over there
Spreading that scandal everywhere
Stab you in the back and they just don't care
Doing the slide

Now slander is a loving tongue
They speak your name to everyone
Never is a curse left unsung
Doing the slide

The backstreet slide, the backstreet slide
They're gonna get you, dead or alive
Stab you in the back with a kitchen knife
Doing the backstreet slide
Do it all day, the backstreet slide

The backstreet slide, the backstreet slide
They're gonna get you, dead or alive
Stab you in the back with a kitchen knife
Doing the backstreet slide
Do it all day, the backstreet slide

Asked my daddy when I was thirteen
Daddy can you tell me what love really means?
His eyes went glassy, not a word was said
He poured another beer and his face turned red
Asked my mother, she acted the same
She never looked up, she seemed so ashamed
Asked my teacher, he reached for the cane
He said, don't mention that subject again
So I read about love-read it in a magazine
Read about love-Cosmo and Seventeen
Read about love-In the back of a Hustler, Hustler, Hustler
So I-know what makes girls sigh
And I-know why girls cry
So don't tell me I don't understand
What makes a woman and what makes a man
I've never been to heaven but at lest
I've read about love
My big brother told me when I was fourteen
it's time I showed you what love really means
Girls like kissing and romance too
But a boy's got to know what a man's got to do
He gave me a book, the cover was plain
Written by a doctor with a German name
It had glossy pictures, serious stuff
I readd it seven times, then I knew it well enough
Read about love-now I've got you
Read about love-where I want you
Read about love-got you on the test-bed, test-bed, test-bed
So why-don't you moan and sigh
Why-do you sit there and cry?
I do everything I'm supposed to do
If something's wrong, then it must be you
I know the ways of a woman
I've read about love
When I touch you there it's supposed to feel nice
That's what it said in reader's advice
I've never been to heaven but at least
I've read about love
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