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"Imperial Bedroom" was my first record of original material to be produced by anybody other than Nick Lowe. We had made five albums between 1976 and 1980 - four of them with the attractions - as well as touring together, so we had all heard each other's jokes at least once by this point. In any case I knew that I wanted to try a few things in the studio that I suspected would quickly exhaust Nick's patience.
Of course we still worked together: on a duet version of "Baby, It's You" and for Nick's track "L.A.F.S.", which I produced, before he came back in to produce our album "Blood and Chocolate".
As it was our first album to be recorded without the benefit of extensive "live" experience of the songs, work on the arrangements and even some of the writing continued through rehearsals and into the studio sessions. This was only possible because we were to allow ourselves an extravagant twelve weeks of recording time. That this opportunity was not squandered must be credited to Geoff Emerick who was listed on the sleeve as producing the record "...from an original idea" by myself. This was not the conceit it may have appeared to be at the time. I had observed how the production of Squeeze's "East Side Story" had come, in a very short time, to be attributed to myself alone, with co-producer Roger Bechirian's name often omitted from reviews and articles. I did not want this process to be repeated, so although I was nomianlly co-producer with Geoff, in truth he did nearly everything that could be called "production" in terms of sound, while I concentrated on the music. Of course we were well aware that Geoff had engineered The Beatles' most ambitious records. "Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were just a few of his vast and varied "credits". In those days it was standard practice for only "the producer" to be listed on the record sleeve, although by the time we worked with Geoff I'm sure that most people with an appreciation of his contribution must have thought that this was terribly unfair. Nevertheless we swore not to bug him for old Beatles stories, but as the sessions wore on, Geoff volunteered a few "behind the scenes" anecdotes and would occasionally surprise us by conjuring up a trademark echo or effected that he had more or less "invented", through experimentation, in the days before these sounds were so readily available in little digital boxes. A constant reminder of his illustrious work at AIR studios where George Martin and Paul McCartney were producing "Tug Of War". In fact Geoff was also the main engineer on that album, as "Imperial Bedroom" was supposed to be made during a hiatus in their recording schedule. In fact a few sessions actually ran simultaneously with Geoff departing for an hour or two to engineer a McCartney recording while we fooled around in the studio. This proximity was later to prove quite fortuitous. As with "Trust" the rehearsals took place in a friend's cottage in Devon, only on this occastion the local scrumpy pub played a smaller part in the proceedings. We could draw from material written during the end of the "Trust" sessions ("Boy With A Problem"), through my work on "East Side Story" ("Kid About It"), during our Nashville adventure ("Tears Before Bedtime"), as well as time at home with my piano ("Almost Blue", "...And In Every Home" and "Long Honeymoon"). We did not make any attempt to have the songs obey an arrangement or production style, rather we tried to make the most out of this musical variety.
During the rehearsals we made quite credible 8-track recordings of most of the songs. That tape suggests an album very close to "Trust" and during the first two hectic weeks of recording we maintained this "live - first take" attituded. All that survives of those sessions is the "intro" and "outro" of "Man Out Of Time". The listener is spared our reckless attempt to play the song at this frenetic tempor, instead the "random racket" was used to break with the mood of the surrounding tracks. Despite a few junked experiments with tape loops and some radical editing, the basic group performances are as "live-in-the-studio" as on our previous albums. Songs such as "Almost Blue" and the main body of "Man Out Of Time" have few if any additions to the basic ensemble. The Attractions actually recorded the perfect "Boy With A Problem" track while I was absent from the studio and posted it through my letter-box one evening.
It is probably the vocal and instrumental additions that set this album apart from our previous records. Having decided to use some orchestral instruments, Steve Nieve began writing the charts; for a trio of French horns on "Long Honeymoon" (which he later told me was supposed to sound like Wagnerian hunting horns, although as one of the players might have swallowed something that didn't agree with him, that effect came closer to a New Orleans funeral band), a brass and woodwind section on "Pidgin English", a Philly-style violin section on "Town Cryer" and a full forty piece orchestra for "...And In Every Home". Prior to that last session Geoff asked George Martin to cast an eye over Steve's score (which contained a couple of musical jokes and allusions to George's orchestrations for the Beatles), as he might make a few valuable suggestions regarding the booking of particular players to negotiate the trickier passages. On the big day Steve conducted the orchestra himself, a remarkable sight which non of us had the foresight to capture on a snap-shot camera.
Another feature of the recording was the use of additional instruments which we attempted to play ourselves. Some were layered in ways that might have been bewildering without Geoff's exertise. On other occastions instruments were adapted in unlikely ways; a twelve-string Martin guitar was "bugged" and run through a Hammond Leslie speaker on "Shabby Doll", while a National Steel Dobro was used for the sitar-like line line in the introduction of "Pidgin English" while a Danelectro Sitar-Guitar was used like an electric harp on "Human Hands". A beautiful harpsichord was hired in for "You Little Fool", althrough its effect was subverted in the closing choruses when the part was redubbed using the backwards-tape technique. Most rediculous was the accordion part on "Long Honeymoon" which it took three of us to play; Steve at the Keyboard (which we lay flat across the table) Bruce to work the bellows and myself to wrestle with the beast and stop it from crawling onto the studio floor. For "Long Honeymoon" and "Pidgin English" I wrote the guitar interludes into the original composition rather than improvise, while both Steve and Bruce added more crucial musical detail of their own invention than ever before. In saying this I am thinking of Bruce's final verse in "Human Hands" and the fade of "Shabby Doll", while I once again commend Steve's spctacular bridge in "The Loved Ones" to the listener, not to forget his solitary guitar playing cameo in the final secods of "Tears Before Bedtime"! The fact that there is less explosive music contained herein could lead to Pete Thomas' contribution being underestimated. However as you listen again I am sure you will hear the range of his playing from "Almost Blue" to "Man Out of Time". Without doubt it was his singular frame of mind that shaped the performance of the album's most spontaneous and unexpected music: "Beyond Belief".
The outcome of the "Beyond Belief" session caused me to reconsider the role of the vocal line in some of our arrangements. I then worked for several weeks with just Geoff Emerick and Jon Jacobs as I experimented with different vocal combinations. Sometimes lowering the lead voice by an octave as in "Kid About It" or contrasting two stylings as in "Pidgin English" or using a combination of falsetto voice (which I can never sustain outside the studio) and an overdubbed "vocal group" as with "Tears Before Bedtime", "The Loved Ones" and "Town Cryer". This way I tried to create some more contrast with the straightforward approach of "Almost Blue", "Man Out Of Time", and "Long Honeymoon". I must confess that I also tinkered at the organ and vibraphone on the "Kid About It" backing track which didn't meet with band approval, but we were to some extenet hearing different things in the songs by that point. "beyond Believe" (Which had originally been entitled "The Land Of Give And Take") was most transformed by my solo sessions. I completely "re-composed" the song over the existing track altering both the metre of the lyric and the register of the vocal line and creating an uneven structure leading to a more defined chorus of a less ranting tone. In a later concert performance the songs had to be stripped of many of the above embellishments; the "Kid About It" vocal line was returned to the higher octave as it made a more powerful "live" impression that way, while other songs such as "The Loved Ones" and "Tears Before Bedtime" never really found a place in our live repertoire without their studio-created vocal arrangements. Nevertheless the process of makeing this record was both a "do-it-yourself" education in using the studio like blank manuscript paper on which to work out the arrangements and...I nearly forgot...enormous fun.
About the cover: Given most of the lyrical content, you might be surprised to hear that I had imagined this to be my most optimistic album to date. Perhaps I was distracted by some of the sunnier instrumental sounds borrowed from the late 60's pop music. I was therefor taken aback when I first viewed Barney Bubbles' cover painting. In what was intended to be the first in a series I had asked him to pain an impression of the finished record as a change from the usual cover photograph. You can see that he obviously responded to the more violent and carnal aspects of the songs. The large canvas now hangs in my music room, so I am fondly reminded of Barney, his with and panache.
"Recently in Spain somebody asked me about the cover and its obvious pastiche of Picasso's "Three Musicians". I could have said that Barney was tipping a large hat to the masters as we intended to do on the album, but instead I pointed out the lettering on each of the zipper-like creatures. It spells out "Pablo Si""
Although "Imperial Bedroom" reached No. 6 in the U.K. charts and No. 30 in the U.S. charts, the single released did not fare well in the hit parade. Both Warner (F-Beat's Distributor) and Columbia (in the U.S.) were rather cautious in releasing "You Little Fool" as the first single ahead of a bolder choice such as "Beyond Belief". So by the release of "Man Out Of Time" the initial interest in the album had cooled somewhat and a wider audience recieved a very sketchy idea of the music on the album.
"Perhaps inspired by Columbia's bizarre "masterpiece ?" ad campaign (the question mark was surely asking for trouble) and secure in the knowledge that commercial success was unlikely, many U.S. review were extremely positive. I believe The New York Times ran an article making a flattering, if rather far-fetched, comparison to George Gershwin. Several years after initial release I was in a Los Angeles hotel bar when the man who had been informally performing at the piano introduced himself as Michael Feinstein, who I later learned was a respected singer, pianist and connoisseur of the arcane and obscure among the songs of the Broadway era. He told me that he had assisted Ira Gershwin for a time and that Mr. Gershwin had been intrigued by the reference to his brother in the review of a new pop record and requested that Mr. Feinstein obtain a copy. As this comparison was probably based on a mere two tracks I could only imagine the horror on Mr. Gershwin's face when confronted with some of the remaining music and the idea that it conjured up thoughts of his remarkable brother in the writer's mind. Mr. Feinstein was far too tactful to elaborate on this reaction but having read some of Gershwin's own volume of annotated lyrics (a recommendable, if intimidating read for any lyricist) I think I can imagine the worst.
EXTENDED PLAY:
"FROM HEAD TO TOE" (F-beat single)
"THE WORLD OF BROKEN HEARTS" (b-side of the above)
"NIGHT TIME" (realeased on the b-side of the 12 inch single of "Everyday I Write The Book")
"REALLY MYSTIFIED" (previously unreleased)
These tracks were recorded at Matrix Studios, London shortly after the completion of "Imperial Bedroom". Inspired by Demon Records re-release of various "Merseybeat" recordings I selected a few songs that would provide a contrast to the production approach of the album. "From Head To Toe" was originally recorded by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, but as the backing vocals here are by "The Indulgences", this version owes more to the Liverpool group The Escorts, who also recorded the original "Night Time". The Merseybeats' "Really Mystified" had been in our repertoire since our first London club dates but this was our first studio recording of this song, although we had once included it on a B.B.C. radio session. The odd song out is the Pomus/Shuman composition "World Of Broken Hearts" which I learned from an Amen Corner record.
"I TURN AROUND" (previously unreleased demo)
"This is a re-working of a chorus written when I was 19, although the words were a recent stab at the esperanto of pop. A few lines survive to re-appear in "The Invisible Man". The demo, also recorded at Matrix features Bruce and Pete on bass and drums but as Steve was away on holiday I added the piano and organ as well as the guitar.
"SECONDS OF PLEASURE"
The third part in the continuing saga of a wandering song. This version was rewritten as a woman's song with the addition of a bridge and along with "I Turn Around" and "Imperial Bedroom" were sent to Anni-Frid Lyngstad (or "Frida") for possible inclusion on her first solo album after the breaku-up of our beloved ABBA. I never found out what she made of this ather odd selection of songs, but I know that her producer, a certain Mr. P. Collins didn't think much of any of them as I heard it from his own lips. The rest, as they say, is history. Steve played the piano, I added the bass and vocals. What was rescued from this song may be found in its final resting place on the album "Punch The Clock" under the title "The Invisible Man".
"STAMPING GROUND" (Pathway Studios demo - released on the Demon Records Compilation "Out of Our Idiot")
"SHABBY DOLL" (Pathway Studios demo - previously unreleased)
Both of these tracks came from a solo demo session shortly before we began work on "Imperial Bedroom". "Stamping Ground" never got beyond the rough version, but "Shabby Doll" has something odd in this six-string bass part that sets it apart from the album version.
"IMPERIAL BEDROOM" (Eden Studios Demo - Released on Demon Records compilation "Out Of Our Idiot")
This "title song" was actually written after the completion of the album. I have always avoided naming any album after any one song, as it asks a lot of that tune to the possible detriment of others. However the lyrical possiblities of the title were too tempting, just as I had written "Almost Blue" after our return from Nashville having been inspired by Chet Baker's instrumental version of "Thrill is Gone". "Imperial Bedroom" the song is supprted by comical percussion, the result of my first encounter with a Linn Drum Machine. The vocal features some truly rotten french.
Beyond Belief History repeats the old conceits The glib replies the same defeats Keep your finger on important issues With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues I'm just the oily slick On the windup world of the nervous tick In a very fashionable hovel I hang around dying to be tortured You'll never be alone in the bone orchard This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel So in this almost empty gin palace Through a two-way looking glass You see your Alice You know she has no sense For all your jealousy In a sense she still smiles very sweetly Charged with insults and flattery Her body moves with malice Do you have to be so cruel to be callous And now you find you fit this identikit completely You say you have no secrets And then leave discreetly I might make it California's fault Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault Just like the canals of Mars and the great barrier reef I come to you beyond belief My hands were clammy and cunning She's been suitably stunning But I know there's not a hope in Hades All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle So-called gentlemen and ladies Dog fight like rose and thistle I've got a feeling I'm going to get a lot of grief Once this seemed so appealing Now I am beyond belief (Repeat chorus)
Tears Before Bedtime I know the name on the tip of your tongue And I know that accusing look Everybody knows I've been so wrong That's the problem and here's the hook Tears before bedtime There'll be trouble tonight I don't want to talk about it anymore I don't want to have another fight I don't want to talk I don't want to fight How wrong can I be before I am right For the tears that you boo hoo hoo hoo There can be no defence You say you'll forgive and forget But it's only a pretense Either you can leave the past behind Or give me something to disconnect my mind I sleep with my fists clenched tight When I don't lie awake all night I guess time gave up the ghost too late And the balance of our love Very soon turns to hate Darling your suspiciousness Tortures me at night But I can't excuse the cruel words That I use whenever we fight (chorus)
Shabby Doll Giving you more of what for Always worked for me before Now I'm a shabby doll What's going on behind the green elevator door With just a shabby doll There's a hit man facing A compromising situation With just a shabby doll And a very neat line in character assassination She's just a shabby doll She's just a shabby doll She's putting him off and putting you on She's just the shabby doll You're swearing upon you know in your heart She's gone you know in your heart She's just a shabby doll There's a girl in this dress There's always a girl in distress She's just a shabby doll She's so sure she's self-possessed Then again she's half undressed She's just a shabby doll The boy that I used to be Showed no sign of sympathy For just a shabby doll I have betrayed you and me And paid for my own bribery With just a shabby doll (chorus) He's the tired toy that everyone enjoyed He wants to be a fancy man but he's nothing but a nancy boy He's all pride and no joy And being what you might call a whore Always worked for me before Now I'm a shabby doll Untie the gag the cat's out of the bag But won't show his claws He's just a shabby doll She said you must be joking Some things are left unspoken You're just a shabby doll He's lying limp and soaking He was openly broken By just a shabby doll (chorus)
The Long Honeymoon All the bedroom lights go out As the neighbourhood gets quiet Everything in heaven and earth is almost right But there's a wife whos wondering where her husband could be tonight And when the phone rang only once she took a dreadful fright Little things just seem to undermine her confidence in him He was late this time last week Who can she turn to when the chance of coincidence is slim 'Cause the baby isn't old enought to speak There's been a long honeymoon She thought too late and spoke too soon There's no money back guarantee on future happiness There's been a long honeymoon If he's out on a date then her life's in ruins She never thought her love could ever be as strong as this All the movies and the papers Feature the murders of lonely women If he isn't in by ten she'll call up her best friend Why doesn't he come home Why does her friends phone keep on ringing Maybe she should just pretend (chorus)
Man Out of Time So this is where he came to hide When he ran from you In a private detective's overcoat And dirty dead man's shoes The pretty things of Knightsbridge Lying for a minister of state Are a far cry from the nod and wink Here at traitor's gate 'Cause the high heel he used to be has been ground down And he listens for the footsteps that would follow him around To murder my love is crime But will you still love A man out of time There's a tuppeny hapenny millionaire Looking for a fourpenny one With a tight grip on the short hairs Of the public imagination But for his private wife and kids somehow Real life becomes a rumour Days of dutch courage Just three French letters and a German sense of humour He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege (chorus) The biggest wheels of industry Retire sharp and short And the after dinner overtures Are nothing but an after thought Somebody's creeping in the kitchen There's a reputation to be made Whose nerves are always on a knife's edge Who's up late polishing the blade Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning (chorus)
Almost Blue Almost blue Almost doing things we used to do There's a girl here and she's almost you Almost all the things that your eyes once promised I see in hers too Now your eyes are red from crying Almost blue Flirting with this disaster became me It named me as the fool who only aimed to be Almost blue It's almost touching it will almost do There's a part of me that's always true...always Not all good things come to an end now it is only a chosen few I've seen such an unhappy couple Almost me Almost you Almost blue
...And in Every Home You turn to the sinister when you get the boot Sliding down the banister in your Sunday suit Lying on a slag heap of blankets and magazines She's only thirty-five going on seventeen You'd better roll over and go to sleep if you don't come clean And in every home there will be lots of time I will be all yours you might have been admired (And in every home there will be lots of time) They say they're very sorry but you are not desired Oh heaven preserve us Oh heaven preserve us Oh heaven preserve us Because they don't deserve us Holding your life in your hand With an artificial limp wrist And so a young blade becomes a has-been Looking for a new twist A year after the wedding he broke all their china plates He's in prison now she's running with his mates Sees him every Sunday And he asks her where she's been She's only thirty-five going on seventeen She's going to cop a packet if he ever finds her In between the sheets (chorus)
The Loved Ones Don't get smart or sarcastic He snaps back just like elastic Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics We break wise guys just like matchsticks What would the loved ones say Your pride and joy is all blown up What would the loved ones say The bride and boy are barely grown up You're not my particular poison I've got nothing against you myself You could have been a danger to the boys and girls Now you're a danger to yourself Oh what would the loved ones say What would the loved ones say Oh what would the loved ones say What would the loved ones say The ugly little scenes run round your bed The ugly little dreams you get the needle and no thread They stitched you up this time They say you'll do They bitch about your pretty face turning ugly on you The butcher the baker and the bassline maker Say you can leave her I can take her You live your whole life like a minute or two later One day its going to end sooner than greater What would the loved ones say He'll be remembered young and pretty What would the loved ones say Now he's a hit in every city Now there's a name well never forget There's one born every minute Dont pin a medal on me yet They might be waiting for you (chorus) PPS I love you
Human Hands I've been talking to the wall and it's been answering me Oh darling how I miss you I'm just the mere shadow of my former selfishness I crave the silhouette of your kiss With only the blue light of the TV on Lip reading threats and false alarms There's a boy somewhere holding hands with himself And a girl in a window on the Reeperbarn Whenever I put my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt That it's you that I'm dreaming about Do I have to draw you a diagram? All I ever want is just to fall into your human hands With the kings and queens of the dance hall craze Checkmate in three moves in your heyday But the girls don't listen to your line anymore Now you're part of someone else On the factory floor and you still say "Wheres the action?" Now you manufacture happiness And get sold on the cheap for someone's satisfaction (chorus) All you toy soldiers and scaremongers Are you living in this world sometimes I wonder In between saying you've seen too much and saying you've seen it all before Tighter and tighter I hold you tightly You know I love you more than slightly Although I've never said it like this before (chorus)
Kid About it He saw no tears in her eyes Say you wouldn't kid about it She's telling all of those lies She swore she'd never told before But I doubt it So he bit his tongue And tried hard to capture his breath When she said I waited all my life For just a little death Say you wouldn't kid about it Say you wouldn't kid about it Say you wouldn't kid about it Sometimes he takes himself so seriously She makes her movements mysteriously Slow fast or furiously It's a big responsibility With a face full of mixed ability Big dreams of elegance Singing the leaving of Liverpool And turning into Americans Say you wouldn't kid about it So what if this is a man's world I want to be a kid again about it Give me back my sadness I couldn't hide it even if I tried girl We fight so frail Making love tooth and nail You gave me the kiss of my life I might even live to tell the tale (chorus)
Little Savage I would have waited all my life Just to make love out of something other than spite But the beauty is the beast you're baiting Should really be worth the waiting You do something very special to Mr. Average Now the lamb lies with the lion He's just a little savage And so you turn your back on me And all the hot air that only echoes stale tobacco Actions speak louder now than words By just a fraction What's the use of saying I love you whe I'm drinking to distraction We save our sanity By saying such and such After all its been discussed You say you must be touched (chorus)
Boy With a Problem I feel like a boy with a problem I can't believe what we've forgotten And I even slapped your face and made you cry It's the last thing I want to do Pull the curtains on me and you Pull the carpet from under love Pull out like young lovers do You swore you wouldn't shout If it's not your punch then its your pout Days in silence try my temper Nights spent drinking to remember How memories are always tender I crept out last night behind your back The little they know might be the pieces I lack Came home drunk Talking in circles The spirit is willing but I don't believe in miracles I've got a problem but let's go to bed I can roll over and I can play dead But here I am in the doghouse instead I feel like a boy with a problem I can't believe all you've forgotten Sleeping with forgiveness in your heart for me
Pidgin English There's a young girl with her old man who's too sick to mention She'll be turning twenty seven as she draws her widow's pension But he couldn't catch a common cold he couldn't get arrested Too terrified to answer back Too tired to have resisted Many hands make light work Shorthand makes life easy When he's out on night work Make sure no one sees me It all ends up in a slanging match with body talk and bruises A change is better than a rest Silly beggars can't be choosers One of a thousand pities you can't categorize There are ten commandments of love When will you realise There are ten commandments of love I believe, I trust, I promise, I wish love's just a throwaway kiss In this Pidgin English If you're so wise use your lips and your eyes Take it to the bridge she sighs You go cheep cheep cheep between bulleyes and bluster Stiff as your poker face Keener than mustard From your own back yard to the land of exotica From the truth society to neurotic erotica Silence is golden Money talks diamonds and ermine There's a word in Spanish Italian and German In sign language, morse code, semaphore and gibberish Have you forgotten how to say it In your Pidgin English? (chorus) PS I love you
You Little Fool Daddy's best girl in the world is not supposed to have a boyfriend But she's never wanted at home Other girls are allowed to wear their makeup She sneaks out her lipstick powder and comb She surrounds his name with hearts and flowers Talks on the telephone for hours and hours But with the bird in his hand And two on a string The words of love have an imitation ring You little fool, you little fool I suppose that your going to stay all night You little fool Don't look at me that way you know it isn't right You little fool They say no news is good news The little girl wants information Mother just gives her some pills to choose And says go and use your imagination Daddy's best girl in the world says just look what I have got As she sits beside him on the high stool With his arm around her neck snowball in one hand And the other full of imitation jewels She fingers a string of pearls An imitation but he'll never know it Imitation lashes flutter above Looking for an imitation of love You little fool I suppose that your going to stay all night You little fool So don't look at me that way you know it isn't right You little fool
Town Cryer I'm the town crier And everybody knows I'm a little down With a lifetime to go Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place Why don't you take a good look at my face Other boys use the splendour of their trembling lip They're so teddy bear tender and tragically hip I'm never going to cry again I'm going to be as strong as them They say they'd die for love And then they live it out They'll give you something to cry about And suddenly you really fall to pieces I'm the town crier And everybody knows I'm a little down With a lifetime to go Maybe you don't believe my heart is in the right place Why don't you take a good look at my face Other boys use the splendour of their trembling lip They're so teddy bear tender and tragically hip Love and unhappiness go arm in arm Long suffering friends of your fatal charm Isn't it a pity that you're going to get hurt Just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt
From Head To Toe Oh, well, now you're the girl I'm simply mad about. Oh yes, I'm really glad it's been me. Oh yeah. I hope that you've been getting ready, 'Cause I'm gonna ask you to go steady with me. I got two eyes that happened by ya, And when they saw you, they said they knew you were fine. I got two lips that long to kiss you, And when they speak, they say they wish you were mine. Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe. Oh, I got a little heart inside me beating And when it speaks it keeps repeating your name all the time. You better watch out 'cause of what I say Cause baby, don't you know that I ain't playing a game? Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe. All the way down from the top to the ground, sweet baby. I got two legs and I got two feet that always take me to your street Everyday, all the time. No matter which way I try to go, my legs and my feet They seem to know the way. Hey, sweet baby, oh don't you know that I am yours from head to toe. All the way down from the top to the ground. Hey, sweet baby. I am yours from head to toe. Sweet baby.
The World Of Broken Hearts Every night you'll find me in the only world I own. It's a crowded place that's filled with people all alone. It's a place that I could write a book about. When they let you in, you'll find there's no way out. There you don't get in, 'cause there's no way out There's just no way out. No way out when your in a world of broken hearts, in a world of broken hearts, of broken hearts, of broken hearts. Those who enter here are told to leave their dreams behind. You may never get to sleep again, but you don't mind. It's a place that I could write a book about. When they let you in, you'll find there's no way out. There you don't get in, 'cause there's no way out There's just no way out. No way out when your in a world of broken hearts, in a world of broken hearts, of broken hearts, of broken hearts. In a world of broken hearts, in a world of broken hearts, in a world of broken hearts, of broken hearts, of broken hearts. (Repeat and fade)
Night Time Wait until the light goes out, I don't want to be seen about, maybe we could find a place to go. Find a crowded place where they don't care about your face, or if your name is even Santa Claus or Joe. I'll be right at home if they leave me alone. That's why I only operate at night time. Wait until the clock strikes ten, it'll all start happening then. Baby, just you wait and see. We can have a little party, laugh and sing and everything, I know you'll like it, just you wait and see. Maybe first we'll dig a movie, then we'll hit they high spots feelin' groovy. That's why I only operate at night time. The right time is the night time. I wait `til it's late and I can concentrate, making love by the light of the moon. So when it's way past nine, get ready for a swinging time, `cause I don't know where to draw the line. We can have a little party, laugh and sing and everything, I know you'll like it just you wait and see. Maybe first we'll dig a movie, then we'll hit the high spots feelin' groovy. That's why I only operate at night time. Night time. (repeat 5 more times and fade)
Really Mystified He will break your heart, if you go with him. Tear it all apart, and that would be a sin. I'm really mystified, I even sat right down and cried. I'm the one that needs you, I love you constantly. Answer me, I need you, I'm waitnig patiently. I'm really mystified, I even sat right down and cried. Darling, if I let you go by, I'll be living in a dream of emptiness. The feeling in my heart, my mind and my soul, if you would surely cure my loneliness. He will break your heart, if you go with him. Tear it all apart, and that would be a sin. I'm really mystified, I even sat right down and cried. Darling, if I let you go by, I'll be living in a dream of emptiness. The feeling in my mind, my heart and my soul, if you would quickly cure my loneliness. He will break your heart, if you go with him. Tear it all apart, and that would be a sin. I'm really mystified, I even sat right down and cried. Ooh Yeah, mystified. Really mystified. Really mystified.
I Turn Around Sometimes I try so hard to resist, you say you will and I say you won't. Sometimes I think that you don't exsist and sometimes you don't. Pinch me 'cause I don't believe it. Kiss me 'cause it feels like a hit. I turn around and you're not there. Why must it always be the less I see of you, the more I care? You're determined to make me as miserable as you can. You're like Harry Houdini or the Invisible Man. Count 10 and then down again. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Doing everything they say shouldn't be done, more fun than you can have with your clothes on. Pinch me 'cause I don't believe it. Kiss me 'cause it feels like a hit. I turn around and you're not there. Why must it always be the less I see of you, the more I care? You're determined to make me as miserable as you can. You're like Harry Houdini or the Invisible Man. I turn around and you're not there. Why must it always be the less I see of you, the more I care? The less I see of you, the more I care. The less I see of you, the more I care.
Seconds Of Pleasure You say you don't desire me, she's only a hired hand, now you are tired of me. Expensive care is meaningless, feeling nothing and caring less. Cut off at the pass, she knows where you were headed, she wants double-time or a temporary wedding. And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure, though she? with forty-five years for seconds of pleasure. I thought I knew you too well, now I find the man is a mystery, and the promises you made are really only ancient history. Everyday goes by without a hitch, you say the urge becomes an itch. You say that I'm no go for you, that's rich, or am I being bitchy? And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure, though she forty-five years for seconds of pleasure. And the hands on the clock move so precisley, You say you only kissed her once or twice. You didn't do it for love, you didn't even do it with stealth. I can't help you now, I can't help myself. Commited to life and then commuted to the outskirts. I was living for thirty minutes at a time with a break in the middle for adverts. You treat me like a piece of human furniture. You say when? you sad soul, if you can look all that you like, but I won't let you touch and poke. And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure, though she ? forty-five years for seconds of pleasure.
The Stamping Ground The stamping ground, The stamping ground. All your old gang still hang around. Coming in with the same blokes, going home with the same jokes, if you ever go missing I know where you'll be found : the stamping ground. The big fella on the front door knows your face. The barman pretends that he's saved you a place, but when your back is turned they say she's older than she tells. I could stand the main attraction, but not the clientelle. The stamping ground, The stamping ground. All your old gang still hang around. Coming in with the same blokes, going home with the same jokes, if you ever go missing I know where you'll be found : the stamping ground. Everybody knows evrybody's trouble, who comes in alone, who leaves as a couple. When they seen you coming, babe, they act like they're pleased to meet you. Say "It's very nice to know you, but I wouldn't want to be you." The stamping ground, The stamping ground. All your old gang still hang around. Going home with the same blokes, going home with the same jokes, if you ever go missing I know where you'll be found : the stamping ground. You talk like you don't have a brain in your head. You act like you don't have a care in your bed. Th lights are on, there's no one home, it scares you to death. You stamp on anyone who stops to take a breath. The stamping ground, The stamping ground. All your old gang still hang around. Going home with the same blokes, going home with the same jokes, if you ever go missing I know where you'll be found : the stamping ground. The stamping ground. The stamping ground. The stamping ground. The stamping ground.
Imperial Bedroom Everyone agreed that she looked delightful Except for her sister, who was hateful and spiteful Blushing bright red from her head to her feet But rushing into her bridal suite The imperial bedroom, the regal boudoir This casual acquaintance led to an intimate bonsoir Life turns out like a TV serial A head full of daydreams, his hands full of material She says it's nothing, he's messing up her hair And still he looks so neat Stepping into the bridal suite The imperial bedroom, the regal boudoir This casual acquaintance led to an intimate bonsoir So the best man will do his best again Now they're getting dressed again Blushing bright red from her head to her feet Sneaking out of the bridal suite The imperial bedroom, the regal boudoir This casual acquaintance led to an intimate bonsoir We know who you're with and where you are In the imperial bedroom, the regal boudoir This casual acquaintance led to an intimate bonsoir Two names under the register In the imperial bedroom, the regal boudoir This casual acquaintance led to an intimate bonsoir Au revoir
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