Richard Thompson Album

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

Love makes people so blind
That's why I can't make up my mind
If you stop me dead in my tracks
Or you just paper over the cracks

You're the one I've wanted so long
But then again I might be wrong
Now you look just right in the pale moonlight
But let me turn the headlights on

'Cause I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes, I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

I don't want to cause you doubt
But I'm really checking you out
You're the closest to my heart bar none
Except for my wallet and my gun

I never felt like this before
That's why I want to make quite sure
That it's not just a dose of the 'flu
That gives me the chills for you

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

I reserve the right to love you
After all I'm the first in line
I'm not one for shout and screaming
Mine, all mine, all mine, all mine, all mine

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I'm almost aware of walking on air
Yes I'm nearly in love

I'm nearly in love
I'm nearly in love
I wish I was really, I'd love to dearly
But I'm nearly in love

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

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

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

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

When we parted just like friends
We never tied loose ends
I could never say the words that would make amends

Oh how I wanted to
Oh how I wanted to
To say I loved you
To say I loved you
Oh how I wanted to

From my blue room did you creep
A love too rare to keep
Well I heard your step and I turned my head to weep

Oh how I wanted to
Oh how I wanted to
Say I loved you
Say I loved you
Oh how I wanted to

Oh how I wanted to
Oh how I wanted to
Say I loved you
Just say I loved you
Oh how I wanted to

Now hearts do what hearts will
And my nights are sleepless still
Well I never was the one to speak my fill

Oh how I wanted to
Oh how I wanted to
Just say I loved you
Ah just say I loved you
Oh how I wanted to

Oh how I wanted to
Oh how I wanted to
Say I loved you
Just say I loved you
Oh how I wanted to

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

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.

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

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

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 cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died

Once I was bending the tops of the trees
Kind words in my ear, kind faces to see
Then I struck up with a boy from the West,
Played run and hide, played run and hide.
Count one to ten and he's gone with the rest
My dreams have withered and died

Silver moon sail up and silver moon shine
On the waters so wide, waters so wide
Steal from the bed of some good friend of mine
My dreams are withered and died

If I was a butterfly, live for a day,
I could be free just blowing away

This cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died

[No lyrics]