The Kinks Album

Radios of the world are tuning in tonight,
Are you on the dial, are you tuned in right?
One of our D.J.'s is missing.
Are you listening?
Are you listening to me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me clearly?
Around the dial.

I've been around the dial so many times,
But you're not there.
Somebody tells me that you've been taken off the air.
Well, you were my favorite D.J.,
Since I can't remember when.
You always played the best records,
You never followed any trend.
F.M., A.M. where are you?
You gotta be out there somewhere on the dial.
On the dial.

(Are you ready) We're going 'round the dial,
(Are you listening) Around the dial,
(Are you tuned in) Around the dial,
(Are you searchin') Around the dial.
F.M., A.M. where are you?
You gotta be out there somewhere on the dial.
On the dial.

Where did you go Mr. D.J.?
Did they take you off the air?
Was it something that you said to the corporation guys upstairs?
It wasn't the pressure,
You never sounded down.
It couldn't be the ratings,
You had the best in town.
Somehow I'm gonna find ya, track you down.
Gonna keep on searchin',
Around and around and 'round and 'round...

(They're searchin') Around the dial,
(They're listenin') Around the dial,
(Poor station) The best in town,
(Poor D.J.) Who never let us down.
While the critics kept on knocking you,
You just kept on rocking around the dial.
Around the dial.

I've been searchin' for you on my radio.
This time your station really must have gone underground
Somebody said you had a minor nervous breakdown.
Was it something that you heard,
Or something that you saw,
That made you lose your mind,
Did you lose control.
Did you step out of line?
If you're there, give us a sign.

I can't believe that you've been taken off the air.
Think I'll sell my radio now that you're not there.
You never gave in to fashion,
You never followed any trends,
All the record bums tried to hack you up,
But you were honest to the end.
Gonna keep my radio on,
'Till I know just what went wrong.
The answers out there somewhere on the dial.
On the dial.

Can you hear me (around the dial)
Are you listenin' (around the dial)
Are you out there (around the dial)
Can you hear me?
Around the dial

Hey, hey, hey...
Give the people what they want

Well, it's been said before, the world is a stage
A different performance with every age.
Open the history book to any old page
Bring on the lions and open the cage.

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
The more they get, the more they need
And every time they get harder and harder to please

The Roman promoters really did things right.
They needed a show that would clearly excite.
The attendance was sparse so they put on a fight
Threw the Christians to the lions, sold out every night

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
The more they get, the more they need
And every time they get harder and harder to please

Give 'em lots of sex, perversion and rape
Give 'em lots of violence, and plenty to hate
Give the people what they want
Give the people what they want

When Olswald shot Kennedy, he was insane
But still we watch the re-runs again and again
We all sit glued while the killer takes aim
"Hey Mom, there goes a piece of the president's brain!"

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
Blow out your brains, and do it right
Make sure it's prime time and on a Saturday night.
You gotta give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
Give the people what they want
Give the people what they want
Give the people what they want

I see so little hope in you,
So much despair,
As I look in your eyes I wonder,
What thoughts linger there.
Life means nothing to you,
At least that's what they say,
But it doesn't mean that you have the right to take life away.

How were we to know what was going on inside your mind.
You never let it show what was going on behind
Those killer's eyes
Killer's eyes

You've seen your picture in the paper.
You're little sister's pinned it on the wall.
She thinks you're in some kind of movie.
Imagine her surprise when she saw you on the news.
Reporters came around and asked for interviews.
So little compassion, so icy cool.
They say you were a poor boy, you know that life can be cruel.
Hate builds up from childhood, your world was a slum
But you haven't got the right to blow it to kingdom come

How could we know what it was like inside a killer's mind
It never really showed, you kept the secret deep inside
Those killer's eyes
Killer's eyes

You say the world is full of bullshit,
So you kill just as you see fit.
They say that you're a fanatic with a mission.
We all go through hell in some kind of way,
Can you tell me what it's like to be there every day?
When you were young you had a vision
Why'd you go and do a thing like that?
And now we see you on the television.
Imagine our surprise when we saw you on the news,
And reporters came around and asked for interviews.

I see so little hope in you,
So much despair,
As I look in your eyes I wonder,
What thoughts linger there.
Life means nothing to you,
At least that's what they say,
But it doesn't mean that you have the right to take life away.

When you were just a child
You'd hide away when other children cried
But how were we to know
These tears that flowed were from a killer's eyes

I see so little hope in you,
So much despair,
As I look in your eyes I wonder,
What thoughts linger there.
Life means nothing to you,
At least that's what they say,
But it doesn't mean that you have the right to take life away.

Those killer's eyes
See the whites of their eyes
Those killer's eyes
See the whites of their eyes

Don't know why I'm even bothering.
(Predictable)
Yeah, that's the mood I'm in.
Go out for a walk then I come back in.
(Predictable)
Yeah, the mood that I'm in.
(Predictable)
Every day of my life
Can't even communicate with my wife
(Predictable)
That's the word of the year
(Predictable)
All I see, all I hear.

Go to my office, sit at my desk,
Predictably just like all of the rest.
I sit and I dream about far away places,
Away from the people with frowns on their faces.
All of my life is monotony
I'd go out for a walk but I know it would be
(Predictable)
Sure as the nose on my face
(Predictable)
Same for the whole human race

Once we (once we) had so many options
Once we (once we) had dignity and grace
Now we (now we) have got nothing but our own time to waste.

(Predictable)
Yeah, that's the word of the year
(Predictable)
All I see, all I hear
Why can't it be like never before?
(Predictable)
Yeah, ain't life a bore
(Predictable)
Life gets more and more...
Just like I've heard it all somewhere before.
(Predictable)
Sure as the nose on my face
(Predictable)
Same for the whole human race

One day (one day) it's gonna get better some way (some way)
I wish it would get worse any way (any way)
What can I lose, it might turn into something better.

It gets harder and harder the harder I try
(Predictable)
Feels like a good time to die
I kiss you hello then I kiss you good-bye
(Predictable)
Just like the stain on my tie
(Predictable)
Just like the jacket I wear
(Predictable)
The way that I'm combing my hair
Turn on the TV, just sit and stare
(Predictable)
There's nothing happening there

Yeah, that's the word of the year
(Predictable)
All I see, all I hear

The first time that I saw you, you were modestly waiting for a bus
Now you're driving around in hired limousines
And you talk so upper class.

The cost is high, but it's not the only price you ultimately pay
Add it up, you might have got some money
But you lost me on the way

Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh

Ah, Gucci, Gucci, Gucci
Cartier, Cartier
Gucci, Gucci, Gucci

Add it up,
You multiplied and multiplied but what's it leading to?
Add it up,
The only thing subtracted is the love I had for you
So add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh

Symbols of perversion and insanity
Symbols of social immorality
Symbols of economic cruelty
Symbolize all what you did to me

Ah, Gucci, Gucci, Gucci
Cartier, Cartier
Gucci, Gucci, Gucci
Cartier, Cartier

Money can't cover up the fact you're getting older every day
And you can't disguise your sad little eyes that give your loneliness away

Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
Add it up, oh
[Repeat]

Met a girl called Lola and I took her back to my place
Feelin' guilty, feelin' scared, hidden cameras everywhere
Stop! Hold on. Stay in control

Girl, I want you here with me
But I'm really not as cool as I'd like to be
'Cause there's a red, under my bed
And there's a little yellow man in my head
And there's a true blue inside of me
That keeps stoppin' me, touchin' ya, watchin' ya, lovin' ya

Paranoia, the destroyer.
Paranoia, the destroyer.

Well I fell asleep, then I woke feelin' kinda' queer
Lola looked at me and said, "ooh you look so weird."
She said, "man, there's really something wrong with you.
One day you're gonna' self-destruct.
You're up, you're down, I can't work you out
You get a good thing goin' then you blow yourself out."

Silly boy ya' self-destroyer. Silly boy ya' self-destroyer

Silly boy you got so much to live for
So much to aim for, so much to try for
You blowing it all with paranoia
You're so insecure you self-destroyer

(And it goes like this, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Here it goes again)
Paranoia, the destroyer

Doctor, Doctor help me please, I know you'll understand
There's a time device inside of me, I'm a self-destructin' man
There's a red, under my bed
And there's a little green man in my head
And he said, "you're not goin' crazy, you're just a bit sad
'Cause there's a man in ya, gnawin' ya, tearin' ya into two."

Silly boy ya' self-destroyer.
Paranoia, the destroyer

Self-destroyer, wreck your health
Destroy friends, destroy yourself
The time device of self-destruction
Light the fuse and start eruption

(Yea, it goes like this, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Here's to paranoia)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Hey hey, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(And it goes like this)

Paranoia, the destroyer
(And it goes like this.)

There are many different people,
Livin' double lives.
One for the office,
And one that they take home to their wives.
He sits in the armchair, watching channel 4,
With his brains not expected home for an hour or more.
He's still drifting to and fro, like a yo-yo.

His wife is in the kitchen, fixin' her old man's tea
She's thinking to herself,
"He's not the man that married me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."
They used to laugh together, now he's never at home.
Now she's fighting back the tears, she can't even laugh alone.
She's just sitting by the telephone, like a yo-yo.

You needed me when you were crying,
But now you're laughing I'm the last thing on your mind.
First you love me, then you don't.
I'm up and down,
Like a yo-yo.
Yo-yo.

Ah, you thought you knew me pretty well,
But with people like me you never can tell.
You can only guess which way I'll go.
You got me sussed, but you don't know,
I'm a yo-yo.
Just like a yo-yo on a string.
I'm a yo-yo.
Little child playing with a yo-yo.
Yo-yo, yo-yo.

Girl you had me dangling, like a yo-yo on a string,
But with you at the controls I could accomplish anything, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You were just playing, I was a little boy,
But when I grew into a man you just threw away your toy,
Like a yo-yo.
Yo-yo.

You might be popular, but it won't last for long,
So don't give up the day job, in case it all goes wrong.
Look at your ego, watch it go, up and down,
Like a yo-yo.
Yo-yo.

You needed me when you were crying,
But now you're laughing I'm the last thing on your mind.
First you love me, then you don't.
I'm up and down,
Like a yo-yo.
Yo-yo.
I'm a yo-yo (yo-yo).
Like a yo-yo

Just come back where I came from,
Looks the same as something's wrong.
And all my friends that used to be,
Have gone and turned their backs on me.
Everyone's got different views,
Now I'm all shook up and all confused.

East is West, left is right,
Up is down, and black is white,
Inside-out, wrong is right,
It's back to front and I'm all uptight.

I've just come back from fantasy,
Right back to reality.
Stayed away too long but now I've found,
My world is turning upside-down.
I don't fit in but I don't stand out,
I should stay cool but want to shout.

East is West, left is right,
Up is down, and black is white,
Inside-out, wrong is right,
It's back to front and I'm all uptight.

No one knows where I come from,
"Who are you and what do you want?"
You've thrown away all that we had,
It's down the drain, it's all gone mad.
The word is out, I've seen the sign,
So you go your way, I go mine.

East is West, left is right,
Up is down, and black is white,
Inside-out, wrong is right,
It's back to front and I'm all uptight.

East is West, left is right,
Up is down, and black is white,
Inside-out, wrong is right,
It's back to front and I'm all uptight (alright).
It's back to front and I'm all uptight (alright, alright, alright, alright).

Are you listening?
(NO!)
Well then, I'll have to do it all over again!

Sunday afternoon there's something special
It's just like another world.
Jogging in the park is my excuse
To look at all the little girls.

I'm not a flasher in a rain coat,
I'm not a dirty old man,
I'm not gonna snatch you from your mother,
I'm an art lover.
Come to daddy,
Ah, come to daddy,
Come to daddy.

Pretty little legs, I want to draw them,
Like a Degas ballerina.
Pure white skin, like porcelain,
She's a work of art and I should know
I'm an art lover.
Come to daddy,
And I'll give you some spangles.

Little girl don't notice me
Watching as she innocently plays.
She can't see me staring at her
Because I'm always wearing shades.
She feeds the ducks, looks at the flowers.
I follow her around for hours and hours.
I'd take her home, but that could never be,
She's just a substitute
For what's been taken from me.
Ah, come to daddy, come on.

Sunday afternoon can't last forever,
Wish I could take you home.
So, come on, give us a smile
Before you vanish out of view.
I've learned to appreciate you
The way art lovers do,
And I only want to look at you

One on the nose, one on the chin,
You bruise so easy, so why stay with him?
He uses you just like a human punching bag.
But you don't complain, you're too scared to speak.
Anyway, it only really hurts you when you laugh,
And when you eat.
But you can't break the pattern, week after week.
The bruises show,
But he must be special otherwise you'd just get up and go.
You'll never let us know
Exactly how you feel.
What's the use, the cynics say it's no excuse,
You keep running back just to get a little bit of abuse.
You say it's okay,
But I say that it's not right.
You wind him up, but you're living in fear,
You keep going back but it ends in tears, oh.

That's quite a cut on the side of your head.
Is it from his fist, or did you really fall out of bed?
Oh, so uncouth,
Excuse me, is this your tooth?
Why do you stay, no one knows.
Do you really love him, or are you too scared to go?
You're always nervous and on the edge of tears.
You cry alone,
But you never tell us what it's like when you get back home.
No one will ever know
Because you never show.
What's the use,
Everyone says you've got no excuse,
You keep running back just to get a little bit of abuse.
You say it's okay,
But I say that it's not right.
Oh, it's your secret, it's your life, who am I to criticize?
It takes two sides to know it's true,
And maybe, he'll stay in love with you.
No one will ever know,
Because you never show

Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.

Here's hoping all the days ahead
Won't be as bitter as the ones behind you.
Be an optimist instead,
And somehow happiness will find you.
Forget what happened yesterday,
I know that better things are on the way.

It's really good to see you rocking out
And having fun,
Living like you just begun.
Accept your life and what it brings.
I hope tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.

Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the drudge and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.

I know you've got a lot of good things happening up ahead.
The past is gone it's all been said.
So here's to what the future brings,
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things