Richard Thompson Album

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)

I saw your old flame
Walking down the street
She's back in town again
She's looking out for you
She says you used her
And you were indiscreet
It really wounded her
When you bid adieu

Do you mean she still cares
Do you mean she still cares
Do you mean she still cares
Oh you don't say

Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares
But you don't say (you don't say)

She keeps half a ring
She says you've kept the other
She says you broke your word
When you pursue another
She says "You're getting love
Mixed up with sympathy
Young man, do your duty
And come on back to me"

Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares
Oh you don't say (you don't say)

Oh do you mean she still cares
Do you mean she still cares
Do you mean she still cares
Oh you don't say

She says her heart aches
Like you had bought and sold her
She took all her hopes
And pinned them on your shoulder
She sends you rosemary
And by this gift you're given
Remember love heals
And old wrongs forgiven

Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares (Do you mean she still cares)
Do you mean she still cares
Oh you don't say (you don't say)

Do you mean she still cares
Oh do you mean she still cares
Do you mean she still cares
Oh you don't say

I've been gone so long, now ain't it a pity
Bending my back in this hell-hole city
Turning my ear from my friends and betters
Up to my neck in unread letters
And unwritten laws

Where I come from feeling is a crime
I thought I could take you in my own good time
Like a jumped-up fool, now down I climb
And I ain't going to drag my feet no more
I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door
I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more

Well I can't live without you but I've been trying
I've got a short-set fuse and two fists of iron
I did everything a man might do
To stop myself from pining after you
But it don't seem to matter no more

Penny's in my hand, now I'm going to spin it
Heads you win, don't you think for one minute
That I care for this bed with nobody in it
And I ain't going to drag my feet no more
I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door
I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more

Biding my time is driving me senseless
You worked yourself right under my defenses
You got me in a grip that I can't shake
All my feelings are about to break
And love never rains, it pours

I worked my hands 'till they couldn't spell your name
I rolled and I roared 'till I couldn't see your face
I leaned on the jukebox 'till I couldn't hear your voice
Put my head in the sand, but that won't do it
I swore I was above you, but that won't do it
And I tried and I tried, but that won't do it
And I ain't going to drag my feet no more
I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door
I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more

I ain't going to drag my feet no more
I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door
I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more

When I was a boy
I was nobody's joy
I was guilty in love
Guilt, guilt, guilty in love
More fool me
I never could see what I was guilty of

Now you steered me right
And I'm standing in the light
So shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love
Don't slip away
Darkened day
Let it shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love

Like a hand in glove
Now we go together
So shine on love
Ah easing my heart again
Just let me be a part of you

Now my head's on that block
And I'm standing on that rock
So shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love
Well don't slip away
O darkened day
Let it shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love

Like a hand in glove
Now we go together
So shine on love
Ah easing my heart again
Just let me be a part of you

Now you steered me right
And I'm standing in the light
So shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love
Don't slip away
Darkened day
Let it shine on love
Shine, shine, shine on love

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

Well Luke told Danny, Danny told Betsy
Betsy told me and I'm telling you
You'd better stop doing the things you do
There's a fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room

Damp it down or we're all going under
Run them hoses, it's smouldering again
Better line up in a human chain
There's a fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room

Fire, fire, my heart is busting
You drive me crazy with the things you say
Jealousy's got me and it won't go away
There's a fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room

And I don't know how you come to reason
That somehow treason isn't treason
It must be the head-hunting season
And there's room in the old trophy room

She's making eyes at the fool with the shovel
That son of a grease-gun must be insane
I hose it down and he fans the flames
There's a fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room

And you know how uncertainty can linger
With a rattlesnake wrapped around your finger
One day it might wake up and sting you
Here's a toast to the bride and the groom

Oh, fire, fire, my heart is busting
You drive me crazy with the things you say
Jealousy's got me and it won't go away
There's a fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room
Fire in the engine room

I'm walking through a wasted land
Of soft sell concrete and rust
What ever happened to this country?
Where is the hand you can trust?
Walk down, walk down, walk down

I remember when a farmer was ashamed
If he never put his hand to a plough
You can buy a lot of shame with your money
He's riding in a limousine now
Walk down, walk down, walk down, walk down!

Sweat is the name of this town
It's an ugly old, dirty old disgrace
And now that the steel's shut down
It's fear puts the sweat in a man's face
Walk down, walk down, walk down

Oh now I should have a break like you
But somebody stacked up the decks
Heads are going to roll some day
If we ever get this yoke off our necks
Walk down, walk down, walk down, oh

Well I'm walking through a wasted land
I'm walking through a wasted land
Where is the future we planned
I'm walking through a wasted land
Walk down, walk down, walk down, walk down!

My oh my, but you do look the killer
Never mind the duds just look at that hat
All that green chartreuse on the waistcoat
How do you come by something like that?

Where did you get that little blue number?
How do you make those rhinestones shine?
Do you go on the prowl while other folks slumber?
Did you steal those things right off of the line?
Hold your horses, that's something of mine
That little blue number, little blue number
Little blue number, little blue number

Ice blue jacket, vent down the middle
Shark-skin trimmings and all that jazz
Real rabbit's foot on a two-tone tie pin
Lots of good luck and razzamatazz

Where did you get that little blue number?
How do you squeeze into something like that?
Is that the same one I was wearing last summer?
I wish I was glad for you, but I'm sorry
Did the whole thing fall off the back of a lorry?
That little blue number, little blue number
Little blue number, little blue number

Tartan shirt with the button-down collar
Velvet hat-band, crocodile shoes
Diamond bracelets, houndstooth pockets
Everybody saying "Here comes good news"

Where did you get that little blue number?
Rings a bell in the back of my mind
You better come clean if you don't want to lumber
I told you three times, you don't seem to get it
That's my idea, you're taking the credit
That little blue number, little blue number
Little blue number, little blue number

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

Always move in pairs and travel light
A loose friend is an enemy, keep it tight
Always leave a job the way you found it
Look for trouble coming and move around it

That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love

Always make your best moves late at night
Always keep your tools well out of sight
It never pays to work the same town twice
It never hurts to be a little nice

That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love

Learn the way to melt into a crowd
Never catch an eye or dress too loud
You've got to be invisible my friend
To find the joy on which we must depend

That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love
Love love love love
That's the way we make love
That's the way we make love