The Beautiful South Album

I love you from the bottom, of my pencil case
I love you in the songs, I write and sing

Love you because, you put me in my rightful place
And I love the PRS cheques, that you bring

Cheap, never cheap
I'll sing you songs till you're asleep
When you've gone upstairs I'll creep
And write it all down

Oh Shirley, Oh Deborah, Oh Julie, Oh Jane
I wrote so many songs about you
I forget your name (I forget your name)
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I forget your name

I love your from the bottom of my pencil case
I love the way you never ask me why
I love to write about each wrinkle on your face
And I love you till my fountain pen runs dry

Deep so deep, the number one I hope to reap
Depends upon the tears you weep, so cry, lovely cry, cry, cry, cry

Oh Cathy, Oh Alison, Oh Phillipa, Oh Sue
You made me so much money, I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I wrote this song for you

So let me talk about Mary, a sad story
Turned her grief into glory
Late at night, by the typewriter light,
She ripped his ribbon to shreds

Your 'fight them on the beaches' speeches make me despair
'Cause if there's one thing we can guarantee is you will not he there
Tidying your room, making up your bed
And if your diary's full that week you'll send us lot instead

Send us lot instead, put a poppy by my lovers bed
We believe you when you say you've hurt your back

Have you ever been away
Where were you when we took Calais?
You don 't know, you don't care
You 're just glad that you wasn't there
Have you ever been away

I'm afraid your Rule Britannia mania doesn't ring so true
If I was captain of the waves I'd turn the gun on you
Any last requests before you join dead?
I'll crap into your Union Jack and wrap it round your head

Wrap it round your head, take a look at all the blood we've shed
We'll believe you when you say it was worth it

Liberate the streets of Europe, give our kids a chance
Give them Beaujolais by tap and cheap day trips to France
But you have never seen or smelt this ungodly death
It's like the stench of roasted lamb upon your father's breath

It's 6.00am and even Big Ben
Is trying to get his head down for a chip
But no sooner is it down
And then it's on with dressing gown
For this city very rarely loses grip

But I have a friend who's never up by 10.00
He's fast asleep with mouth open wide
He's lost a lot of jobs, but he's won a lot of friends
And he says to me, he cannot tell the time

It's 7.00am and we're coughing up the phlegm
Spitting out the taste of night before
And we'll vomit and we'll choke
Just to climb their tatty rope
Well this city has its charm, and its claw

And he'll blame his clock
Or he'll say he's lost his socks
And they'll tell you that he's been bitten by a snake
His excuses are an art
From the bottom of his heart
And he thinks of them whenever he awakes

It's 8.00am we're on the road again
Racing for a placing at the top
And it says green for go
For the people in the know
But for the others all it says is red for stop

It's cold and its damp
And they've dug him a grave
And the 10.15 merchants still in bed
And scrawled upon the headboard
For the whole wide world to see
"Died In The Arms Of Big Ted"

If, if you choose that we will always lose
Well then I'll sail this ship alone
And if, if you decide to give him another try
Well then I'll sail this ship alone

Well they said if I wrote the perfect love song
You would take me back
Well I wrote it but I lost it
And now will you take me back anyway

Now if, if you insist that this is for the best
Well then I'll sail this ship alone
And if, if you swear that you no longer care
Well then I'll sail this ship alone

I'll sail this ship alone
Between the pain and the pleasure
I'll sail this ship alone
Amongst the sharks and the treasure
If you would rather go your way then go your way
I'll sail this ship alone

If, if you're afraid that I won't make the grade
Well then I'll sail this ship alone
And if, if you agree to him instead of me
Well then I'll sail this ship alone

Well they said if I wrote the perfect letter
That I would have a chance
Well I wrote it, and you burnt it
And now do I have a chance anyway

If, if you swear that you no longer care
Well then I'll sail this ship alone

I'll sail this ship alone
Between the pain and the pleasure
I'll sail this ship alone
Amongst the sharks and the treasure
If you would rather go your way then go your way
I'll sail this ship alone

Well they said if I burnt myself alive
That you'd come running back

(Antonio Reid / Kenny Edmunds)

Girl make a list
Go out and find yourself a new plaything
Oh girl you need a trip
'Cause he's not worth the misery and pain

So just remember how he would tell you lies
And then pretend that everything was so sweet
No need to sacrifice
If you're not satisfied
He's just a canine running round on heat

Girl, you must resist
Don't let him squirm his way into your heart
Oh girl you must insist
You've got to stop the fool before he starts

So just remember how he was so untrue
And all the tacky things he did to you
No need to sympathize
'Cause he's not worth the time
You've got to find someone who's true to you

Girlfriend, how could you let him treat you so bad
Girlfriend, you know you're the best he's ever had
Girlfriend

Why don't you sing 'I need you baby'?
'Cause it rhymes with crazy and it rhymes with maybe
It rhymes with lady and much much more
And it doesn't rhyme with the 'f' word

Well Simon le Bon stayed round my house before
And he was sick on the plants and he was sick on the floor
And he wouldn't go home until he'd sung his song
With a backing harmony from Paul Young

Shell we dance again?
In our special way
With our trousers round
our knees

Why don't your video have dancing girls?
With hips that curve and lips that curl
Legs are where the heartbeat starts
It's low in neckline and high in charts

But it's the partially clothed for the partially sighted
Behind over matter keeps the crowds delighted
We want Rambo in a ra-ra skirt
Nastassia Kinski in a Brazilian shirt

You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in

That's right
The conversation we had last night
When all I wanted to do was
Knife you in the heart
I kept it all in

You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in

Midnight, a husband getting ready to fight
A daughter sleeps alone with the light
Turned on, she bears but
Keeps it all in

Just like that murder in '73
Just like that robbery in '62
With all there things that have happened to me
I kept it all in
Why do you keep on telling me now

You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in

That's sweet
That conversation we had last week
When you gagged and bound me up to my seat
You're right, I do
I keep it all in

He was just a social drinker but social every night
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before

Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
And when the rotting flesh began to stink

Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
I hear her cry all day, all night
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from Hoover bags
Especially for the woman in the wall

She'd knitted him a jumper with dominoes on
So he wore it everyday in every week
Pretended to himself that she hadn't really gone
Pretended that he thought he beard her speak

Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt that he had some sort of grip
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
When the rotting wall began to drip

I wasn't sure if it was Marx or Hitler that was in this year
I hadn't been to Brighton for a while so it wasn't too clear
So imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes
To find it was the Liberals who were hip to sloganeer

I'm out tonight and can't decide between Soviet hip or British pride

So help me out, so help me out
Blackpool help me out, Scarborough pull me through
So help me out

They wore enamel badges of David Steel on their sleeves
And nuclear power no thanks, not sure and yes please
And their faces were two fold and their teeth they were gold
And they wore their pinstripe suits with a rip at the knee

Ooh you care, you really, really care
From the first 12" I made to the color of my underwear
Ooh you know, you really, really know
Inside, outside in, from head to toe

But where were you in the colder days?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know
And where will you be in years to come?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know

So don't beg and don't plead
You can't have the heart you made bleed
You're in love with fame
So whilst we love, please don't scream my name

You're my friends, my only real friends
But I'd like to know where you'll be when the party ends
I remember your face the dance was slow
"Easy" by The Commodores and you said 'no'

But where were you in colder days?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know
And where will you be in years to come?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know

So here's an invitation to this caring nation
25 years from now will you come my cremation
Sherry or beer, family and friends
Will you be there? Will you be there?
No fame, no fortune, no name in lights
Will you be there? Will you be there?

Birds are singing in the trees
As we rise up on a beautiful morning
But I can't hear
That beautiful sound
Because I'm permanently yawning

What about the time of the fancy dress
When you came dressed as your mum
And there I was splendid in my penguin suit
So scared to show my bill

You must have been listening to your Carousel
Your Carousel, that Carousel

Remember the time
When I turned the house into a rocket ship
And you refused to come to Mars
You said "It's too far"
You had to be back by six to watch your Carousel
Saturn's much too far
You had to watch Carousel (What's going on in there?)

When we first met
I asked you for your hand
I didn't really mean that hand
I meant join hands
Bake phallic cake (Bake phallic cake)
Carry round sticky tape
And love those devil dogs
Be an Indian elephant (Be an Indian elephant)
Bait straight people
But you must have missed my wink
You must have missed my wink

(I love you,
But you're boring, you know,
I really do love you
But you're so particularly boring)

Maybe you were too busy listening to Carousel
watching Carousel, living Carousel
You were listening to Carousel
You were watching Carousel

How do you feel?
Now they've swapped that good old carthorse for a car?
How do you feel?
Now he's handed in his sword and taken a dart?
Are your tiny hands starting to warm?
Does your battered heart feel less torn?

Enter perfect couple, he owns all the keys
He shows her white knuckle, she shows bleeding knees
As long as he agrees

How do you feel?
Now they've swapped your concrete cell for a padded one?
How do you feel?
Now every single dream you had is gone?
Does this decay bring you to life?
Well, I think it probably might
Enter perfect couple, he owns all the keys
He shows her white knuckle, she shows bleeding knees
Enter perfect couple, he owns all the keys
The blood pours from her knees

You and your big ideas again
Tell me how do you feel?

(Bill Withers)

You just can't smile it away
It's much more than passion it's love
And I've heard some people say
They've seen love move mountains

You just can't laugh it away
It's too deep inside it's love
Not just some game you can play
For a laugh then go on your way

Let's sit and talk it over
And work it out I love you so
And can't we just talk it over
And see what we can do

You can't just pass it away
Like some silly fashion no it's love
And love comes eager to stay
It won't just leave you that way

You can't just pass it away
Like some silly fashion no it's love
And I've heard some people say
They've seen love move mountains no it's love
And I've heard some people say
They've seen love move mountains

When you say goodbye I really want to know
Everything you do and everyplace you go
And did you take a regular supply
Of those crazy little tampax with you
It hurts me deep inside, it hurts me outside too
I feel a little pardon and I feel a little used
If you ever needed someone to polish up your shoes
I'll be waiting, with my brush

I'd move to Italy with you if I had the money
But 'til then I'll sit at home and read maps and go to pub
Where the weather isn't sunny and the weather isn't bad
Where the bellies look so happy but the faces look so sad
But it doesn't really matter what's outside
'Cause I'm in here and he's in here
And she's in here and they're in here
We're all in here, we're all so glad

And in our own funny way we're all in Italy anyway
Eating fancy pasta, climbing mountain ranges
Drinking ice-cold lagers, living in Spanish castles
We're all with you, in our thoughts
In white ankle socks and pink Bermuda shorts
I'll be with you, with you one day, we'll all be with you, with you one day
One sunny beach, one sunny life, we're all glad for you
But 'til then, we're all glad for you, I'm so glad

I am a man, and I have a tent, I have a ball and a bat
I have a li-lo, I have a bucket
I have a good, good, good pair of trunks
I've got a good, good pair of trunks

Well here I am at the airport, with my passport
I have a brain but only just, and we're all glad
We're all so glad, I'm so glad, she's so glad, he's so glad
You know how glad I am?