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The Kinks
The Kinks


Background information
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Rock
Pop
Years active 1964—1996
Label(s) Arista Records
RCA Records
Universal
Reprise Records
Sony Music
London Records
Koch Records
MCA Records
Associated acts The Creation
Nicky Hopkins
Mike Cotton
Argent
The Kast Off Kinks
Former members
Mick Avory
Ray Davies
Dave Davies
Pete Quaife
John Dalton
John Gosling
Andy Pyle
Gordon John Edwards
Jim Rodford
Ian Gibbons
Bob Henrit
Mark Haley



Music World  →  Lyrics  →  T  →  The Kinks  →  Albums  →  Everybody's in Show-Biz

The Kinks Album


Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972)
1972
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. . .



Here comes yet another day, creeping through my window.
Drank myself to sleep last night, beer stains on my pillow.
I gotta pull my things together,
The night can last forever.

Here comes a new dawn, here comes a new day
Tune up start to play, just like any other day.
Can't stop, can't be late, mustn't make the people wait.
Can't even comb my hair or even change my underwear,
Here comes a new dawn, here comes a new day,
Tune up start to play, just like any other day.

There goes another night, here comes another flight,
Can't stop gotta go, here comes yet another show.
Gotta pack up my clothes, brush my teeth, blow my nose.

No time to use the John, gotta keep a rollin' on.
Here comes a new day, here comes a new stage,
Tune up start to play, just like any other day.

Made a lot of conversation, talked a lot of weather,
I hope we meet again some day, and spend some time together.
No time for affection,
I'm moving in a new direction.

Here comes a new dawn, here comes a new day,
Tune up start to play, just like any other day.
Can't stop, can't be late, mustn't make the people wait.
Can't stop to comb my hair or even change my underwear.
See that morning break, oh Lord, here comes yet another day,

Here comes a new dawn, here comes a new day
Tune up start to play, just like any other day


. . .



I'll have some clam chowder, followed by beef steak on rye
Pumpkin pie, whipped cream and coffee,
I wanna green salad on the side,
Don't forget the french fries,
Pizza pie, garlic and anchovie.
I keep burning up calories as fast as I keep putting them down,
Eat food, put it in my mouth,
Chew it up, swallow it down,
I'll have two eggs, over light, home made apple pie
Cole slaw as a side order.
I gotta stay fit, stay alive, eat food to sustain a non-stop high-grade performer.
The pace is continual, sure keeps running me down
Don't you know that you gotta eat food,
Don't you know that you gotta refuel.
I'm a Maximum Consumption, super-grade performer.
High powered machine,
Go steady on my clutch, go easy on the hills
And you'll get a lot of mileage out of me.
I'm so easy to drive, and I'm an excellent ride,
Excessive living sure keeps running me down
You've got to learn to use the Maximum Juice
That's how you get the maximum use.
Life keeps using me, keeps on abusing me, mentally and physically.
I gotta stay fit, stay alive, need fuel inside, eat food to survive
Maximum Consumption sure keeps running me down
Don't you know that you gotta eat food
Don't you know that it's good for you.
I'm a Maximum Consumption,
Non-stop machine
Total automation perpetual motion


. . .


All that I see, seems so unreal to me,
Is it the truth or is it only fantasy,
Is it a dream or is it unreal reality?

All around me is such unreality,
Optical illusions as far as my eyes can see,
Is the whole thing a fake, or the ultimate reality?

That house is so big that it reaches right up to the clouds
It's got hundreds of windows, so the people inside can look out,
And they look down below and wonder what it's all about.

Look at that lady she got silver all over her face,
Is she a human being or a creature from outer space,
Is she authentic or phoney, I guess it's just a matter of taste.

Oh because they can feel it, it's gotta be the real thing,
Because they can touch it, it's gotta be reality.
If they say it's real, it's gotta be the real thing.

See that fella, looking all spick and span,
Is he a tailor's dummy or is he a real man,
Is he genuine, or straight off the assembly line.

All round me is such unreality,
Optical illusions as far as my eyes can see,
Is the whole thing a fake or the ultimate reality?

Is it a dream, or is it the real reality?

. . .



My baby woke me up this mornin'
She said get down that labour exchange,
And if you don't come home with a job son,
You'll get no dinner to-day.
You gotta secure me a weekly workin' wage.
You'll get no more fancy cookin',
You'll get no more apple pie,
You'll just get those plain hot potatoes
To satisfy your appetite.

La la la la la la Potatoes,
Boiled, French fried, any old way that you wanna decide.
Hot potatoes, yeh,
I want your lovin' every single day.

I said I don't need your fancy cooking,
I like the simple things in life,
Just give me those plain hot potatoes
And I'll be well satisfied,
They'll satisfy my appetite.

La la la la la la Potatoes,
Boiled, French fried, any old way that you wanna decide.
Hot potatoes, yeh,
I want your lovin' 60 minutes an hour,
I want your lovin' 24 hours a day,
I want your lovin' 7 days a week.
Yeh, yeh, oh yeh.
I want your love, I need your love,
But all I get is hot potatoes
When I come home late at night
To satisfy my appetite.

Don't give me no more potatoes,
Boiled, French fried, any old way you wanna decide.
Hot potatoes,
I want your lovin' every single day.
I want your lovin'

La la la la la la Potatoes,
Boiled, French fried, any old way that you wanna decide.
Hot potatoes, Hot potatoes, yeh


. . .



If my friends could see me now, driving round just like a film star,
In a chauffeur driven jam jar, they would laugh.
They would all be saying that it's not really me,
They would all be asking who I'm trying to be.
If my friends could see me now,
Looking out my hotel window,
Dressed in satin strides and two-tone daisy roots,
If my friends could see me now I know they would smile.

Sitting in my hotel, hiding from the dramas of this great big world,
Seven stories high, looking at the world go by-y.
Sitting in my hotel room, thinking about the countryside and sunny days in June.
Trying to hide the gloom, sitting in my hotel room.

If my friends could see me now, dressing up in my bow-tie,
Prancing round the room like some outrageous poove,
They would tell me that I'm just being used
They would ask me what I'm trying to prove.
They would see me in my hotel,
Watching late shows till the morning,
Writing songs for old time vaudeville revues.
All my friends would ask me what it's all leading to.

Sitting in my hotel, looking through the window at the people in the street,
Seven stories high looking at the world go by,
Sitting in my hotel, looking at the world outside.

If my friends could see me now they would try to understand me,
They would ask me what on earth I'm trying to prove.
All my friends would ask me what it's all leading to


. . .



Motorway food is the worst in the world,
You've never eaten food like you've eaten on the motorway.
Motorway food is the worst in the world,
The coffee tastes weak and the cakes taste stale
And gasoline fumes are the worst to inhale,
Your stomach rolls over and your face turns pale.

Oh, that motorway livin',
Ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh.
Riding down the motorway,
Got to charge up my batteries,
Rest my seat, rest my eyes,

So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.

Motorway tea is warm and wet,
The rain is a pouring and it's four in the morning,
And it's all I can get.
You've never seen loos like motorway loos,
Thousands of people passing through,
It's enough to put you off of your motorway food.

Oh that motorway living,
Ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh.
Got to get away from
Cats eyes, cold meat pies,
Thousand on raft, cold French fries
So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.

Motorway food is invariably fried,
It keeps me and feeds me and helps me survive.
Oh that motorway, ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh,
Riding down the motorway, cats eyes, cold meat pies
Thousand on raft, cold French fries,
So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.

Motorway food is the worst in the world,
You'll never eat food like you've eaten on the motorway.
Motorway food is the worst in the world.

My stomach's upset and I don't feel well,
Gotta get my head down, stop for a while in a motorway hotel.
Mama oh mama, my dear Suzi too,
This motorway message is sent just for you.
My headache's improved but my back really hurts,
I never thought I'd travel so far to work


. . .



I've been travelling on this road
I get the feeling its getting on
I keep moving on
I keep rolling on
But does anybody know my name

Travelling oh so long
I get the feeling thats something's wrong
I keep rolling on
I keep rolling on
But does anybody know my name.

How could you believe when you don't know my name

[Repeat]

I see life is such a simple game
I sit and watch it from my moving train
A bumpy ride to-day
I'm not alone this way
Does anybody know my name.

Arrested in '69
For upsetting a tourist guide
Well pay the fine or jail
I just smiled and said
That I'm oh so glad to be alive.

How could you believe when you don't know my name

[Repeat]

How could you believe when you don't understand


. . .



Let me take you on a little trip
My supersonic ship's at your disposal
If you feel so inclined. Well alright.
We're gonna travel faster than light
So do up your overcoat tight
And you'll go anywhere you want to decide. Well alright.
Too many people side by side
Got no place to hide.

On my supersonic rocket ship
Nobody has to be hip
Nobody needs to be out of sight. Out of sight.
Nobody's gonna travel second class
There'll be equality
And no suppression of minorities. Well alright.
We'll take this planet, shake it round
And turn it upside down.
My supersonic rocket ship.

It ain't no magic, ain't no lie,
You'll laugh so loud you'll cry.
Up and down, round and round
On my supersonic rocket ship.

Let me take you on a little trip
My supersonic ship's at your disposal
If you feel so inclined. Well alright.
Nobody's gonna travel second class
There'll be equality
And no suppression of minorities. Well alright.
Let me take you on a little trip
On my supersonic rocket ship


. . .



Look a little on the sunny side
Even when they say you're on the slide,
And for a while they'll say your records never make it,
But in a while they're gonna be showering you with praises.
They'll give you mediocre reviews
And put you in the underground for a while,
But look a little on the funny, sunny side of life,
Look a little on the sunny side.

You sing 'em the blues
And then they ask for a happy tune,
And when you start to smile they'll say gimme dat rhythm and blues,
And when you give 'em dat rhythm and blues they'll simply smile and say
We didn't want to hear you play,
We didn't like you any way.
It's very hard to please the people every single time,
But look a little on the sunny side.

Look a little on the sunny side
Even when you feel you want to hide,
You gotta laugh, don't let your critics ever upset you,
'Cos for a while the cynics will all be out to get you.
You gotta be shrewd, you gotta be strong
You've gotta convince yourself that you are not wrong,
Whistle a tune and think of a catchy, happy, little song
And look a little on the sunny side.

It's very hard to please the people every single time,
But look a little on the sunny side.

They're gonna put you down for a while
You've got to learn to grit your teeth and smile
And look a little on the funny, sunny side of life,
Look a little on the sunny side


. . .



Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star,
And everybody's in movies, it doesn't matter who you are.
There are stars in every city,
In every house and on every street,
And if you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Their names are written in concrete!

Don't step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the Boulevard,
She looks so weak and fragile that's why she tried to be so hard
But they turned her into a princess
And they sat her on a throne,
But she turned her back on stardom,
Because she wanted to be alone.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.
Rudolph Valentino, looks very much alive,
And he looks up ladies' dresses as they sadly pass him by.
Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi
'Cos he's liable to turn and bite,
But stand close by Bette Davis
Because hers was such a lonely life.
If you covered him with garbage,
George Sanders would still have style,
And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney
He would still turn round and smile,
But please don't tread on dearest Marilyn
'Cos she's not very tough,
She should have been made of iron or steel,
But she was only made of flesh and blood.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of.
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star
And everybody's in show biz, it doesn't matter who you are.

And those who are successful,
Be always on your guard,
Success walks hand in hand with failure
Along Hollywood Boulevard.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.

You can see all the stars as you walk along Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Oh celluloid heroes never feel any pain
Oh celluloid heroes never really die.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die


. . .



I've just come in at Number 25
I'm oh so happy, so glad to be alive
And everybody says it's going to get to the top
Life is so easy when your record's hot.
Go tell my mamma and my sister too
To press my trousers and polish my shoes
I might even end up a rock-and-roll god
It might turn into a steady job.
And my agent said to me: "Son, I always told you so."
Now my record's number 11 on the BBC
But number seven on the N.M.E.
Not the Melody Maker want to interview me
And ask my view on politics and theories on religion.
Now my record's up to number 3
And a woman recognized me and started to scream
This all seems like a crazy dream
I've been invited to a dinner with a prominent queen
And now I've got friends that I never knew I had before.
It's strange how people want you when you record's high
'Cos when it drops down they just pass you by
Now my agent just called me and said it me:
"Son your record's just got to Number One."


. . .



You look like a real human being
But you don't have a mind of your own
Yeah, you can talk, you can breathe
You can work, you can stitch, you can sew
But you're brainwashed
Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees
You've got a job and a house
And a wife, and your kids and a car
Yeah, you're conditioned to be
What they want you to be
And be happy to be where you are
Yes you are
Get down on your knees
Get down on your knees

The aristocrats and bureaucrats
Are dirty rats
For making you what you are
They're up there and you re down here
You're on the ground and they're up with the stars
All your life they've kicked you around and pushed you around
Till you can't take any more
To them you're just a speck of dirt
But you don't want to get up off the floor
Mister you're just brainwashed
They give you social security
Tax saving benefits that grow at maturity
Yeah, you're conditioned to be
What they want you to be
And to do what they want you to
Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees


. . .



It's that strange and tender magic you do.
Mr. Wonderful,
That's you


. . .



I'm too terrified to walk out of my own front door,
They're demonstrating outside I think they're gonna start the third world war,
I've been to my local head shrinker,
To help classify my disease,
He said it's one of the cases of acute schizophrenia he sees.

Well the milkman's a spy, and the grocer keeps on following me,
And the woman next door's an undercover for the K.G.B.,
And the man from the Social Security
Keeps on invading my privacy,
Oh there ain't no cure for acute schizophrenia disease.

I've got acute schizophrenia, paranoia too,
Schizophrenia, schizophrenia,
I've got it, you've got it, we can't lose,
Acute schizophrenia blues.

I'm lost on the river, the river of no return,
I can't make decisions, I don't know which way I'm gonna turn,
Even my old dad, lost some of the best friends he ever had,
Apparently, his was a case of acute schizophrenia too.

I got acute schizophrenia, paranoia too,
Schizophrenia, schizophrenia,
I've got it, you've got it, we can't lose,

They're watching my house and they're tapping my telephone,
I don't trust nobody, but I'm much too scared to be on my own
And the income tax collector's got his beady eye on me,
No there ain't no cure for acute schizophrenia disease.

No there ain't no cure for
Schizophrenia disease


. . .



Holiday,
Oh what a lovely day today,
I'm oh so glad they sent me away,
To have a little holiday today, holiday.
Holiday,
And I'm just standing on the end of a pier,
Hoping and dreaming you were here,
To share my little holiday.

Lookin' in the sky for a gap in the clouds,
Sometimes I think that sun ain't never coming out,
But I'd rather be here than in that dirty old town,
I had to leave the city cos it really brought me down.

Oh holiday, oh what a lovely day today,
I think I'll get down on my little ol' knees and pray, thank you Lord,
Thank heaven for this holiday today, holiday.
I'm leaving insecurity behind me,
The environmental pressures got me down,
I don't need no sedatives to pull me round,
I don't need no sleeping pills to help me sleep sound.

Oh holiday,
Oh what a lovely day today,
I think I'll get down on my little ol' knees and pray,
That's what I'll do,
Thank heaven for this holiday.

Lying on the beach with my back burned rare,
The salt gets in my blisters and the sand gets in my hair,
And the sea's an open sewer,
But I really couldn't care,
I'm breathing through my mouth so I don't have to sniff the air.

Oh holiday,
Oh what a lovely day today,
I'm so glad they sent me away,
To have a little holiday


. . .



Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning,
I'm gonna miss her bloodshot alcoholic eyes,
She wore her Sunday hat so she'd impress me,
I'm gonna carry her memory 'til the day I die.

They'll move me up to Muswell Hill tomorrow,
Photographs and souvenirs are all I've got,
They're gonna try and make me change my way of living,
But they'll never make me something that I'm not.

Cos I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in old West Virginia,
Never seen New Orleans, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
Still I dream of the Black Hills that I ain't never seen.

They're putting us in little boxes,
No character just uniformity,
They're trying to build a computerised community,
But they'll never make a zombie out of me.

They'll try and make me study elocution,
Because they say my accent isn't right,
They can clear the slums as part of their solution,
But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride.

Cos I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in Old West Virginia,
Though my hills, they're not green,
I've seen them in my dreams,
Take me back to those Black Hills,
That I ain't never seen.

Well I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in Old West Virginia,
Though my hills, they're not green,
I've seen them in my dreams,
Take me back to those Black Hills,
That I ain't never seen


. . .



Here's a story about a sinner,
He used to be a winner who enjoyed a life of prominence and position,
But the pressures at the office and his socialite engagements,
And his selfish wife's fanatical ambition,
It turned him to the booze,
And he got mixed up with a floosie
And she led him to a life of indecision.
The floosie made him spend his dole
She left him lying on Skid Row
A drunken lag in some Salvation Army Mission.
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,
Oh demon alcohol,
Memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.

Barley wine, pink gin,
He'll drink anything,
Port, pernod or tequila,
Rum, scotch, vodka on the rocks,
As long as all his troubles disappeared.
But he messed up his life, went and beat up his wife,
And the floosie's gone and found another sucker
She's gonna turn him on to drink
She's gonna lead him to the brink
And when his money's gone,
She'll leave him in the gutter,
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,

Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall,
A slave to demon alcohol


. . .



Day-oh, Day-oh
Daylight come and I wanna go home
Day-oh, Day-oh
Daylight come and I wanna go home

Workin' on banana boat all day long
Daylight come and I wanna go home
Six boat, seven boat, eight boat job
Daylight come and I wanna go home

Day-oh, Day-oh
Daylight come and I wanna go home


. . .



Fat Flabby Annie was incredibly big
She weighed just about sixteen stone
And then a fake dietician went and put her on a diet
Now she looks like skin and bone
She looks like skin and bone

Do the meditation and yoga
And she's thrown away the good food guide
And she's given up the alcohol and pizzas
And the pies and now she looks as if she's ready to die,
You can't see her walk by

Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Don't eat no buttered scones
Stay away from carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone.

Living on the edge of starvation
And she says she's got no appetite
And her father and her mother
And her sisters and her brothers
Couldn't see her when she walked by
You can't see her walk by.

She don't eat no mashed potatoes,
She don't eat no buttered scones
Stay away from carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone.

She used to be so cuddly,
She used to be so fat,
But oh what a sin cos she's oh so thin
That she lost all the friends that she had,
She looks like skin and bone

If you look flabby
And you feel overweight,
And you wanna lose a couple of stone,
Take a crash course diet do your daily exercises
And you'll look like skin and bone.

Come on rattle them bones,
Put your hands up to the ceiling,
Bend your hips and touch your toes,
Do your daily exercises,
You're gonna look like skin and bone,

Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Don't eat no buttered scones
Don't eat no carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone


. . .



I never knew why I loved you so much
Maybe it's the way you look at me when you get up in the morning
I didn't need a shove,
I just fell in love,
With your little baby face

Baby face,
You got the prettiest little baby face
There isn't another one to take your place
Baby face
You got my heart a jumpin'
You sure have started something

Baby face,
I'm up in heaven when I'm in your firm embrace
I didn't need a shove,
I just fell in love
With your pretty little baby face

You got my heart a-jumpin'
You sure have started something

Baby face,
I'm up in heaven when I'm in your firm embrace
I didn't need a shove,
I just fell in love
With your pretty little baby face,
Pretty little baby face,
Pretty little baby face


. . .



I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola [LP version: Coca-Cola]
See-oh-el-aye cola
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola
El-oh-el-aye Lola la-la-la-la Lola

Well I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
Oh my Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola

Well we drank champagne and danced all night
Under electric candlelight
She picked me up and sat me on her knee
And said dear boy won't you come home with me
Well I'm not the world's most passionate guy
But when I looked in her eyes well I almost fell for my Lola
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
I pushed her away
I walked to the door
I fell to the floor
I got down on my knees
Then I looked at her and she at me

Well that's the way that I want it to stay
And I always want it to be that way for my Lola
La-la-la-la Lola
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola
La-la-la-la Lola

Well I left home just a week before
And I'd never ever kissed a woman before
But Lola smiled and took me by the hand
And said dear boy I'm gonna make you a man

Well I'm not the world's most masculine man
But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man
And so is Lola
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola


. . .


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