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""Trust" was recorded in late October and early November of 1980 at DJM Studios near Holborn, although we inevitably returned to Eden Studios for the Final sessions.
"The cast and content of the album was determined by events during 1980. By the end of the "GET HAPPY" tour, in which we played only seaside towns and places not usually on the concert circuit (and in some cases found out why!), my self-induced fatigue had convinced me to take the melodramatic decidion to quit showbusiness. Steve Nieve then departed for California where he was a passenger in a serious car accident. However by the time this occurred I had come to my senses and decided to fulfill the commitment to a European tour. With Steve unable to rejoin the band for some time we decided to make no attempt to find a keyboard deputy. My first solution involved the purchase of a Marshall stack and three hundred effects pedals and fuzz boxes. The debut of "The Elvis Costello Experience" was a disaster which ver few of the traumatised Channel Islanders, who were subjected to it, are willing to talk about. For the remaining dates in Europe we were joined on guitar by The Rumour's Martin Belmont, who masterfully learned our adapted repertoire in doubletime.
"Apart from my mercifully brief lunges at a Vox Continental the two-guitar line-up continued to make ragged progress. Martin was later called in to add his guitar to "From A Whisper To A Scream".
"Around this time I had become friendly with members of Squeeze who, like Steve Nieve, came from the mysterious lands of South East London unknown to those of us based in the west. It was soon agreed that, shortly after finishing "Trust", Roger Bechirian and I would co-produce the album that was to become "East Side Story". Chris Difford and I were already making plans to write together, when Glenn Tilbrook offered to help out by sining a guide track after I had lost my voice during the recording. Despite recovering quickly I took the opportunity to ask Glenn to share the vocal on "From A Whisper To A Scream".
Elvis and the Attractions' touring had been restricted to Europe apart from a headlining appearances at the "Heatwave" festival (with The Pretenders, B52s and Talking Heads) near Toronto in August. However following the release of the twenty track "Get Happy" in February, the total for the year was brought up to forty with the U.S. release of "Taking Liberties". This compilation of b-sides and outtakes was designed to make available the many additonal tracks generated by the faster release schedule in Britain (And also to kill the exploitive trade in import singles!).
A modified version of the record was later issued on F-Beat as "10 How's your fathers and 10 Bloody Marys" (firstly on cassette only and later, on Demon, in all formats). In current re-issue programme the tracks included on these releases can be located on the "EXTENDED PLAY" bands of the relevant album.
""Trust" contains some of my oldest songs, at least in terms of words and music written before 1976. Many of the lines in "New Lace Sleeves" and "Watch Your Step" were written when I was twenty. The song "Different Finger" was written a year later. However, more recently, after buying a piano, I had written "Shot With His Own Gun".
"The sessions themselves were often frantic, swinging from elation to despair, for which I must take most of the blame. However the finished record seems to contain many of the Attractions' best performances, especially "Strict Time", "Lover's Walk", "White Knuckles", and "New Lace Sleeves".
"I managed to finish the album with a solo session for the newly re-written song "Big Sister's Clothes". After grappling with the world's first and only "backwards" accordian (a clearer head might have told me it would sound almost identical to a "forwards" accordian), I went for a little lie down in a cool dark room."
EXTENDED PLAY
"Black Sails In The Sunset"
"A minor relative of "Oliver's Army" which was first recorded for "Get Happy" in a piano and vocal arrangement (now lost). This version was removed from the album sequence, as I believed we might still record a superior version. However the song never seemed fit int any subsquent album."
Five years later this version was released as the b-side of "Tokyo Storm Warning".
"Big Sister"
"We used a figure borrowed from the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb" for this arrangement, which was included in the original sequence before being deleted to make way for the "Big Sister's Clothes."
Released in 1982 as the b-side of "You Little Fool"
"Sad About Girls" (DJM Studios)
"This Brain/Hart composition was first heard on The Attractions album "Mad About the Wrong Boy", which was recorded in the summer of 1980. It was one of a couple of Steve Nieve tunes that we played from time to time."
"Trust" outtake. Never previously released.
"Twenty-Five To Twelve" (Eden Studios)
"The first in a continuing series illustrating the crooked path that a song may take to it's final resting place. The track, Which owes more than a little to David Bowie's "Heroes", was an unsuccessful experiment, but the words and music went on and ....on. See below.
"Trust" outtake. Never previously released.
"Love For Sale" (Eden Studios)
"This Rather Bizarre reading of the Cole Porter song was recorded shortly after "Trust" with Rockpile's Billy Bremmer on Spanish guitar."
Never Previously Released.
"Weepers Dream" (Eden Studios)
"A short instrumental written around 1973"
Never Previously released.
"Gloomy Sunday"
"A favourite song of mine which was recorded to pass the time at September Sound Studios, Huddersfield during the "Trust" tour."
Never Previously Released.
"Boy With A Problem" (Eden Studios)
"A version, with my own piano accompaniment, of this newly completed song, featuring Chris Difford's entire lyric before I made teh small amendments which are heard on the "Imperial Bedroom" recording."
Never Previously Released
"Seconds of Pleasure"
"Continuing the story of the song which was originally "25 to 12". This demo recording from Pathway Studios presents the song as a ballad with amended lyrics and an entirely new chorus and title. To be continued on future releases......."
Never Previously Released
LYRICS Clubland With a handful of backhanders and a bevy of beauty You're going off limits Going off duty Going off the rails Going off with booty They tell tales of fiction found on all the criminal types Lead to a higher ranking man or a face with thin red stripes Chorus: The boys next door The mums and dads New weds and nearly-deads Have you ever been had in Clubland? There's a piece in someone's pocket to do the dirty work You've come to shoot the pony They've come to do the jerk They leave him half way to paradise They leave you half way to bliss The ladies' invitation never seemed like this Chorus The long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town Meanwhile in Clubland they are ready to pull them down Hey The right to work is traded in for the right to refuse admission Don't pass out now, there's no refund (when) Did you find out what you were missing The crowd is taking forty winks minus ten percent You barely get required sleep to go lingering with contemptment Thursday to Saturday Money's gone already Some things come in common these days Your hands and work aren't steady Chorus
Lover's Walk I won't walk with my head bowed (Be on) Beyond caution where lovers walk My love walks where three's a crowd Beyond caution where lovers walk Lovers walk, lovers scramble Beyond caution where the lovers walk Lovers step, shuffle and gamble Beyond caution where lovers walk Lovers trip, lovers stumble Lovers dip, lovers fumble Lovers lip where love has crumbled Beyond caution where lovers walk Lovers strut, lovers stroll, lovers leap Lovers late, lovers wait Making promises that they can't keep Lovers link up arm and arm Lovers slink up, lovers charm Lovers drink up and come to harm Beyond caution where lovers walk Love is gone and it's no one's fault Love has stopped here, lovers halt Lovers don't walk, lovers run Will you look what love has done Will you look what love has done Will you look what love has done Beyond caution where lovers walk Now love's limping on a lover's crutch Looking for a hand with a personal touch Beyond caution where lovers walk
You'll Never Be A Man You need protection from the physical art of conversation Though the fist is mightier than the lip, it adds the aggravation Bridge and Chorus: I got the password I got persuasion A proposition for invasion of your privacy Give yourself away and find the fake in me You'll never be a man No matter how many foreign bodies you can take You'll never be a man When you're half a woman and you're half awake (1) With a face full of tears and a chemical shake (2) Under the table with a chemical shake Given half a chance, that I can take Are you so superior, are you in such pain Are you made out of porcelain? When they made you they broke the cast Don't wanna be first, I just want to last You strike a profile on the low side of my imagination My eyes climbed down to find the point of possible saturation Bridge and Chorus
Pretty Words I ask you nicely Get my face slapped under wraps What's going on precisely Is there something wrong perhaps? Surprise, surprise (surprise, surprise) It's more like a booby trap than a booby prize Civil disobedience from a soldier with a dirty rifle You're loosening all the screws that hold the hinges of my life Fat cats and army brats Hep cats and dog tag pawing over girly mags Chorus: Pretty words don't mean much anymore I don't mean to be mean much anymore All I see are snapshots, bigshots, tender spots (1) mug shots, machine slots (2) machine slots, mug shots 'Till you don't know what's what You don't know what you got Curious women running after curious men Curiosity didn't kill the cat It was a poisoned pen But there's not much choice (it's Hobson's choice) Between a cruel mouth and a jealous voice Got back to London Picked a paper from the man No words of consolation Just cartoons and titter tatter Well well, fancy that Millions murdered for a kiss me quick hat No backbone, blood and guts Better keep your big mouth shut Chorus
Strict Time There's a hand on a wire that leads to my mouth I can hear you knocking but I'm not coming out Don't want to be a puppet or a ventriloquist 'Cause there's no ventilation on a critical list Fingers creeping up my spine are not mine to resist Strict time Chorus: Toughen up, toughen up Keep your lip buttoned up Strict time Oh the muscles flex and the fingers curl And a cold sweat breaks out on the sweater girl Strict time Oh he's all hands, don't touch that dial The courting cold wars weekend witch trial Strict time All the boys are straight laced and the girls are frigid The talk is two-faced and the rules are rigid 'cause it's strict time Strict time Chorus You talk in hushed tones, I talk in lush tones Try to look Italian through the musical Valium Strict time Thinking of grand larceny Smoking the everlasting cigarette of chastity Cute assistants staying alive More like a hand job than the hand jive Strict time Chorus
Luxembourg Dressed up like a dog's dinner Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth If this is a dog's life Then you're the cat's clothes They hire out your sons And hire out your daughters The man from abroad says he's already bought her And now you look like a lover but you're only a tourist Chorus: You're either talking or yawning You didn't listen to a thing you heard Don't start your morning moaning or you might wake up in Luxembourg You get over You're worried by her body She's worryin' about her bodily odour You pull off The pull over You say that you love her when you really loathe her Serves you right now she wants you to feed her and clothe her Chorus They're smiling sweetly while they're looking daggers Kick you where it really matters Send all your friends to Coventry And look for your name in last night's obituaries If you've got the Deutschmarks If you've got the Yen, then You get the shirt off her back and the clock off Big Ben Somebody's soft touch Struck all these bargains In the drinking clubs with the council men making plans to put lead back in their pencils again Chorus
Watch Your Step Don't say a word Don't say anything Don't say a word I'm not even listening I read in the paper about their escape They're just two bit of kids from a bunch of sour grapes You better watch your step Watch who's knocking on your front door Now you know that they're watching What are you waiting for? Think you're young and original Get out before... They get to watch your step Ev'ry day is full of fun And family spies They're making heroes out of fall guys They say it's good for business From Singapore to Widnes You better watch your step Broken noses hung up on the wall Back slapping drinkers cheer the heavy weight brawl So punch drunk they don't understand at all You better watch your step Ev'ry night Go out full of carnal(carnival) desires End up in the closing time choirs When you're kicking in the car chrome And you're drinking down the Eau de Cologne And you're spitting out the Kodachrome You better watch your step Bye I send you all my regards You're so tough You're so hard Listen to the hammers falling in the breaker's yard You better watch your step You better watch your step Ooh, watch your step
New Lace Sleeves Bad lovers face to face in the morning Shy apologies and polite regrets Slow dances that left no warning of Outraged glances and indiscreet yawning Good manners and bad breath get you nowhere Even presidents have newspaper lovers Ministers go crawling under covers She's no angel He's no saint They're all covered up with white washed grease paint And you say... Chorus: The teacher never told you anything but white lies But you never see the lies And you believe Oh you know you have been captured You feel so civilized And you look so pretty in your new lace sleeves The salty lips of the socialite sisters With their continental fingers that have never seen working blisters Oh I know they've got their problems I wish I was one of them They say daddy's coming home soon With his sergeant stripes and his Empire mug and spoon No more fast buck And when are they gonna learn their lesson When are they gonna stop all of these victory processions And you say... Chorus
From A Whisper to A Scream Oh it's not easy to resist temptation Walking around looking like a figment of somebody else's imagination Taking ev'ry word she says just like an open invitation But the power of persuasion is no match for anticipation Chorus: Like a finger running down a seam From a whisper to a scream So I whisper and I scream But don't get me wrong Please don't leave me waitin' too long Waitin' too long Waitin' too long Waitin' too long Hey Oh oh oh oh oh Oh if the customers like it then they'll keep on paying If they keep on drinking then they'll end up staying I heard someone say where have we met before But the one over the eight seem less like one or more like four Chorus
Different Finger Please put your rings on a diff'rent finger if you meet me tonight 'Cause I can't stand those suspicious glances 'Cause I know the things they're saying are right They're saying why don't you straighten up And see what you've got to lose Put it all down to fate but you still got the chance to choose I don't want to hear your whole life story Or about my strange resemblance to some old flame All I want is one night of glory I don't even know your second name Please put your rings on a diff'rent finger 'cause we've got so much at stake I can't stand those suspicious glances 'Cause they seem to cover ev'ry move I make But if I can be alone with you completely tonight Put your rings on a diff'rent finger Before I turn out the light
White Knuckles White knuckles came down to put the frighteners on I believe she's the one that he's got his heart set on It doesn't matter if your face doesn't fit There's no charge for changing it Oooh ooh What are you doing You see right through him You don't have to take it when he gets cruel Chorus: White knuckles on black and blue skin (1,4) You don't have to take it so you just give in (2,3) He didn't mean to hit her but she kept laughing White knuckles sweatin' on the headboard He never found out what the kisser was for Losing face with the boys while she's whispering in his ear They never found out why they called it laughing gear Maybe they weren't loved when they were young Maybe they should be hung by their tongues Oooh ooh Under the blankets with the body jerk He needs her like the axe needs the turkey Making a mockery of his fancy footwork Chorus There's always someone new to toy with when the penny drops in the slot Now it's all petty crime on the news at nine But it's all she's got Love on the never never dreams don't come cheap I don't close my eyes when I go to sleep Oooh ooh It gets right under your skin It makes you as miserable as sin but you don't have to take it so you just give in Chorus Why don't you come round anymore Mama said He's using you Sister said I told you so too When he goes through your head You took him to be true
Shot With His Own Gun How does it feel now you've been undressed by a man with a mind like the gutter press So disappointed to find it's no big sin Lying skin to skin Chorus: Shot with his own gun Now dad is keeping mum Shot with his own gun Now somebody has to pay for the one who got away What's on his mind now is anyone's guess Losing his touch with each caress Spending ev'ry evening looking so appealing He comes without warning Leaves without feeling Chorus On your marks, man, ready, set Let's get loaded and forget The little corporal got in the way And he got hit by an emotional ricochet It's a bit more now than dressing up dolly Playing house seems so melancholy Chorus Oh it's too sad to be true Your blue murder's killing you
Fish 'n' Chip Paper When Sunday morning dandruff turns out to be confetti And the cost of living in sin would make a poor man out of Paul Getty The girl in your dreams would have you up on an under age charge And the man of the moment is the lifer at large Chorus: If you've got something to hide, if you've got something to sell If you've got somebody's pride she might kiss and tell Or wind up with a fight fan in the Hammersmith Hotel You better speak up now if you want your piece You better speak up now It won't mean a thing later Yesterday's news is tomorrow's fish and chip paper Your girl says she's leaving and this time she really means it You can just look at the pictures, you don't actually have to read it Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh There's a man in the launderette and he's looking through your underwear for clues And the milkman is working through the News of the Screws He says... Chorus
Big Sister's Clothes Sheep to the slaughter oh I thought this must be love All your sons and daughters in a strangle hold with a kid glove She's got eyes like saucers oh you think she's a dish She is the blue chip that belongs to the big fish Chorus: But it's easier to say "I love you," than "Yours sincerly" I suppose All little sisters like to try on big sister's clothes Big sister's clothes The sport of kings, the old queen's heart The prince in darkness stole some tart And it's in the papers, it's in the charts It's in the stop press before it all starts. With a hammer on the slap and tickle under grisly garments With all the style and finesse of the purchase of armaments Compassion went out of fashion That's all your concern meant Sweat it out for thirty seconds on home improvements Chorus
Black Sails In The Sunset Vain boys are gonna have to swallow their pride this time So let the punishment fit the crime It's under the table Under your skin Into the cable Is this the death of the glory you're in? Chorus: Black sails in the sunset White noise going yakety-yak All the money in the world will never bring your body back Is it some mysterious dance nobody can do? Thought I knew all the steps quite clearly I don't have a clue Oooh You're Cinderella with a ball and chain And the shoe seems to fit you You tell the truth sometimes but You wouldn't know it if it hit you Is this some new trick Wired up in your head? Do you make me sick Or was I just force fed? Chorus
Big Sister Sheep to the slaughter Oh, this must be love All your sons and daughters in a strangle, all with a kid glove Eyes like saucers; oh, you think she's a dish She is the blue chip that belongs to the big fish Big sister will be watching over you Sister see, sister do She's got to save me She's got you playing Russian Roulette Sport of kings, the old queen's heart The prince of darkness stole some tart It's in the papers, it's in the charts It's in the stop press before it all starts With a hammer and a slap 'n' tickle in inquisitive garments With all the style and [?] purchase of armaments Compassion went out of fashion, that's all your concernment Sweat it out for thirty seconds on all the prudeness Big sister will be watching over you Sister see, sister do She's got to save me She's got you playing Russian Roulette She's got to save me She's got you playing Russian Roulette
Sad About Girls To all the girls that awake to escape in the morning You want to leave him without even a warning, a trace, or a calling card Sad about girls who know perfectly well why he's so sad about this girl He's so mad about this girl tonight So understanding--oh, she's so undemanding So in control, so on the whole--she's so good to you until it gets to you Sad about girls in your polythene world Where you unwrap and rewrap and know when she leaves That the next girl to suffer, putting you [posed?] Unwrap and love you before she can know you She's just got to show you the way that you're gonna be sad Sad about girls that awake to escape in the morning Get up and leave without even a warning But no where is sad as the girls in the night So ready to please you, so ready to bite Sad about girls who know perfectly well he's so sad about this girl You're so sad about your girl tonight Sad about girls tonight So sad about girls tonight
Twenty-Five To Twelve You say you don't desire me You only tire me Now you'll hire me Expensive care is meaningless Feeling nothing and caring less Cut off at the pass She knows where you're headed She wants double time Or a temporary wedding Chorus: And the lucky girl leads a life of leisure With 45 years for seconds of pleasure The hands on the clock move so precisely And I only kiss but once or twice I can't help you now, I can't help myself 'Cause the time's running out And it's twenty-five to twelve Crowds surround loudspeakers On the lampposts Listening to the murder mystery Meanwhile someone's in the classroom Busy forging books on history Wouldn't give that man my hand He'd steal my fingers So the sleuth ends up in stitches And your urges turn to itches Chorus I was committed to life And then commuted to the outskirts I was living with thirty minutes at a time With a break in the middle for adverts See the human furniture But its only for show Now you can look all that you like But they only let you touch and go Chorus
Love For Sale When the only sound on the empty street Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet That belong to a lonesome cop I open shop When the moon so long has been gazing down On the wayward ways of a wayward town That a smile becomes a smirk I go to work Love for sale Appetizing young love for sale Love that's fresh and still unspoiled Love that's only slightly soiled Love for sale Who will buy? Who would like to sample my supply? Who's prepared to pay the price for a trip to paradise? Love for sale Let the poets pipe of love in their childish ways I know every kind of love better far than they If you want the thrill of love, I've been through the mill of love Old love, new love Every kind but true love For sale Appetizing young love for sale If you want to buy my wares Follow me and climb the stairs Love for sale Love for sale
Gloomy Sunday Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dearest, the shadows I live with are numberless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not when the black coach of sorrow has taken you Angels have no thought of ever returning you Would they be angry if I thought of joining you? Gloomy Sunday Gloomy is Sunday, with shadows I spend it all My heart and I have decided to end it all Soon there'll be flowers and prayers that are sad, I know Let them not weep, let them know that I'm glad to go Death is no dream, for in death I am caressing you With the last breath of my heart I'll be blessing you Gloomy Sunday Dreaming, I was only dreaming I wake and I find you asleep in the deep of my heart, deep Darling, I hope that my dream never haunted you My heart is telling you how much I wanted you Gloomy Sunday
Boy With a Problem (Demo) 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
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