Artist: The Who Album: Face Dances {1981}

You better, you better, you bet
You better, you better, you bet
You better, you better, you bet
You better, you better, you bet

I call you on the telephone, my voice too rough with cigarettes
I sometimes feel I should just go home
But I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets
I love to hear you say my name especially when you say yes
I got your body right now on my mind
But I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex
To the sound of old T-Rex, oh, and Who's Next

When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
You better bet your life or love will cut you, cut you like a knife

I want those feeble minded axes overthrown
I'm not into your passport picture, I just like your nose
You welcomed me with open arms and open legs
I know only fools have needs but this one never begs
I don't really mind how much you love me, ooh, a little is alright
When you say come over and spend the night tonight, tonight

When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
You better bet your life or love will cut you, cut you like a knife

I lay on the bed with you, we could make some book of records
Your dog keeps licking my nose and chewing up all those letters
Saying, "You better, you better bet your life."

You better love me, all the time now
You better shove me back into line now
You better love me, all the time now
You better shove me back into line now

I showed up late one night with a neon light for a visa
But knowing I'm so eager to fight can't make letting me in any easier
I know I been wearing crazy clothes and I look pretty crappy sometime
But my body feels so good and I still sing a razor line everytime
And when it comes to all night living I know what I'm giving
I've got it all down to a tee and it's free

When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you scream you better
You better, you better, you bet

When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I love you you say you better
You better, you better, you bet
When I say I need you you scream you better
You better, you better, you bet
You better bet your life or love will cut you just like a knife

I can't be held responsible for blown behavior
I lost all contact with my only savior
No one locked me out because I failed to phone up
I can't bear to live forever like a loner

Don't let go the coat, don't let go the coat
Don't let go the coat, don't let go the coat

It's easy to be sad when you lack a partner
But how would I react to a broken heart now
It ain't really true rock and roll unless I'm
Hanging onto you and when I hold it next time

I won't let go the coat, don't let go the coat
Don't let go - don't let go the coat, don't let go the coat

I try to explain but you never understand it
I need your body but I can't just demand it
I won't let go like a stray at heel - never let him out of your sight
Every lonely wife knows the way I feel - don't let go tonight

Don't let go the coat, never let go of the coat
Don't let go the coat - don't let go 
Don't let go the coat, don't let go the coat

Your friends all pass for life is just a market
But you have to finish everything you started
So I live my life tearing down the runway
Sure to get the hang of hanging in there someday

Don't let go the coat, don't let go the coat
Never let go the coat, don't let go the coat
Don't let go the coat

Won't get no more chances - don't let go the coat
Ooh. forget the war dances - don't let go the coat
Don't let go - don't let go the coat - don't let go
Don't let go the coat
Never let go the coat - don't let go the coat - don't let go
Don't let them hang on - don't let go the coat
Don't try the slang son, - don't let go the coat
Never let go of the coat, no, no - don't let go the coat
Don't let go, don't let go the coat
Don't let go, don't let go the coat
Never let go - don't let go the coat
Never let go the coat - don't let go the coat

Did you ever sleep in a bear pit
With apple cores and mice along
Did you ever lay on ice and grit
Or search for a place where the wind was gone

Did you ever tramp up endless hills
Past cozy homes with secret beds
Did you ever dream of a suicide pill
And wake up cold to the smell of bread

Well I have slept there badly twice
I've shared my straw with scratching mice
And although you'll find some deep brown hair
I'll tell you something for nothing
There ain't no bears in there - cache cache
There ain't no bears in there - cache cache

Did you ever have to make a draw
For a hard wooden bench or a bed of stone
Did you ever jimmy a stable door
And scare the horse to escape the snow

Did you ever invade a neat little yard
Or wake up the children who hope for ghosts
Did you ever cause their dogs to bark
A guests to curse their noisy hosts

Don't jump in expecting fun
Don't swagger in there with your elephant gun
Don't enter the cage with waving chairs
Cos I'll tell you something for nothing
There ain't no bears in there - cache cache
Not a single bear in there - cache cache

Did you ever pass the police at work and hope that they might take you in
Did you ever wonder why music hurts when someone plays it aloof to sin
Did you ever believe that a smile could cure
A happy face keep you warm at night
Were you ever fooled by laughter's lure
Only to find that they laughed in spite 

Don't jump in expecting fun
Don't swagger in there with your elephant gun
Don't enter the cage with waving chairs
Cos I'll tell you something for nothing
There ain't no bears in there - cache cache
Not a single bear in there - cache cache

Did you ever finally find a place
A soft warm bed in a room of flowers
And when you finally laid down your face
You found you slept for a hundred hours, a hundred hours

There ain't no bears in there - cache cache
Not a single bear in there - cache cache
No bears in there - cache cache
There ain't no bears in there - cache cache
Not a single bear in there - cache cache

Everybody calls me the quiet one, you can see but you can't hear me
Everybody calls me the quiet one, you can try but you can't get near me
I ain't never, ever had the gift of gab but I can't talk with my eyes
When words fail me you won't nail me, my eyes can tell you lies

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear I've got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away

Everybody calls me the quiet one but you just don't understand
You can't listen, you won't hear me with your head stuck in the sand
I ain't never had time for words that don't rhyme, my head is in a cloud
But I ain't quiet - everybody else is too loud

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear, I've got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away

I wake up on broken glass, but you left your number
All the members of the cast, they reckon I was lumbered
Did you steal it, did you screw me
Did you peel it, did you do me

Did you steal my money
Did you steal my money

Are you out there Mr. No One, are my investment growing
Sorry that I got so drunk I wrote you a poem
Did you search me, did you turn me over
While I cold turkeyed on the sofa, ooh

Did you steal my money
Did you steal my money

How can we forgive a grievance
Now that we all live with demons
Did you know that poor old veteran that you kicked right out of his bed
He says that he cannot forget you but he does not wish you dead
Just eave his gold watch in reception
And he will keep the sixteen stitches in his head

Did you steal his money
Did you steal his money

Did you pinch my trainer football, say if you half inched it
I thought I heard a female foot fall while I washed my kitchen
Did you use me, oh, why did I trust you
Why'd you abuse me, oh, I ain't gonna bust you, no, no

Did you steal my money
Did you steal my money

Did you steal my money
Did you steal my money

Did you steal my lolly - fell right off my lorry
Did you pinch my brasso - nick my gelt you asshole
Did you steal my money, money
Did ya, did ya, did ya, did ya

Did you steal my money

I saw a man about fifty or so
He looked lonely but his eyes were bright
He was walking up Holland Park Road
And I stopped him to ask for a light
He practically froze when I spoke
But eased when he saw my cigarette
Then I saw as he lit up my smoke
Beneath his coat he was naked and wet

With eyes full of shame for he knew that I knew
He slumped to the wall with a moan
I said "I know there's no name for what you go through
But how, how can you do it alone?"

I crossed the street to the local newstore
And flicked through some cheap magazines
Beside me some school kid I saw
Stuff some girlie mags down into his jeans
The shop girl was watching amazed
She asked me to call for the police
She screamed at his blushing young face
And he escaped into the streets

With eyes full of shame for he knew that I knew
He slumped to the wall with a moan
I said "I know there's no name for what you go through
But how, how can you do it alone?"

Ooh, how can you do it alone
I need your help so I can do it by myself
Do it alone, don't have to breathe down the phone
I ain't got a clue bout the things that you do
But how can you do it alone

How can you do it, how can you do it
How can you do it, how can you do it
How can you do it, how can you do it
How can you do it, how can you do it

Back at the flat my girl sat in the shower
And wasn't too keen on me sharing
She came out well after an hour
And by that time I was past caring
Some women it seems have the knack
Of attaining the stars in their dreams
They simply relax and lay back
While people like us scratch our jeans

With eyes full of shame and I know it must show
I slump and I fall and I groan
Will somebody explain what I need to know
How, how can you do it alone

How can you do it, yeah, how can you do it - do it alone
How can you do it
How can you do it, how can you do it, how can you do it, how can you do it alone
How can you do it - how can you do it alone
How can you do it, how can you do it
How can you do it alone, how can you do it

How can you do it without any help
How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it all by yourself

This could be suffering, this could be pleasure
I'm unaware of any difference
My head is aging, my balls are aching
But I'm not looking for deliverance

This could be letting on, this could be highly cut
I'm unaware of any difference
One says it can't be done, then somebody does it, but
I am not watching for equivalence

I just don't quite know how to wear my hair no more
No sooner cut it than they cut it even more
Got to admit that I created private worlds
But cold sex and booze don't impress my little girls

Daily records, just want to be making daily records
Try to avoid the bad news in the letters
Just wanna be making records
Play in, play out, fade in, fade out
Making records day in, day out

And they say it's just a stage in life
But I know by now the problem is a stage
And they say just take your time and it'll go away
But I know by now, I know I'll never, never change

I could be losing you, I could be coming through
I'm unaware of any difference
You still support me now, you love me anyhow
And I am still under your influence

We've had some years of hate and now we're in the eights
I'm unaware of any difference
I need you even more, my money keeps me poor
I'm still amazed at your omnipotence

I look at baggy suits and leather capped with puke
I look at Richmond married couples denim look
I watch my kids grow up and ridicule the bunch
But when you are eleven the whole world's out to lunch

Daily records, just wanna keep making daily records
I can't exist no more in chains and fetters
Just wanna keep making records
Play in, play out, fade in, fade out
Making records day in, day out

Just wanna be making daily records

You, you're wasting my time
We're making music, we're doing fine
Then a slap in the face takes me back to the starting line
You, your wasting my life
You can't lose what you've already lost
Your arms are open but your legs are crossed

Save me, save me
I'm going down for the third time
Save me, save me
Somebody throw me my next line

Too hot for me to handle
So cold I'm getting nowhere
Pinch me to see if I'm sleeping
Maybe it's only a nightmare

You, why did it have to be you
Of all those girls I had to choose
You win and I lose
You, you with the poisonous eyes
One look and I'm hooked
One touch and my goose is cooked

Save me, save me
I'm going down for the third time
Save me, save me
Somebody throw me a life line

Too late to change partners
Too late, you've got no chance
Too late to change partners
Too late to say I don't dance

You, there's a name for girls like you
You lead me on like a lamb to the slaughter
Then you act like a fish out of water
You, there's a name for girls like you
You're coming on like a steam train
Then you blow me away just like a hurricane

Save me, save me
I'm going down for the last time
Save me, save me
Somebody throw me a lifeline

Save me I'm falling
From the top of the page to the next line
Save me I'm burning
From the tip of my toes to my hairline

Too hot for me to handle
So cold I'm getting nowhere
Pinch me to see if I'm sleeping
Maybe it's only a nightmare

You can't always get it when you really want it
You can't always get it at all
Just because there's space in your life it's a waste
To spend your time why don't you wait for the call

Just gotta get used to it - we all get it in the end
Just gotta get used to it - we go down and we come up again
Just gotta get used to it - you irritate me my friend
This is no social crisis, this is you having fun
No crisis, getting burned by the sun, this is true
This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you

You can't always get higher just because you aspire
You could expire even knowing
Don't push the hands, just hang on to the band
And you can dance while your knowledge is growing

It could happen anytime - you can't expect to never cry
Patience is priceless - not when you try to fly so high
Just stay on that line - rock and roll will never die
This is no social crisis, this is you having fun
No crisis, getting burned by the sun, this is true
This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you

Another tricky day, another gently nagging pain
What the papers say just seems to bring down heavier rain
The world seems in a spiral, life seems such a worthless title
But break out and start a fire you all - it's all here on the vinyl
No crisis, just you having fun
There's no crisis, getting burned by the sun
You got no crisis, this is true
This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you

You can't always get it when you really want it
You can't always get it at all
Just because there's space in your life it's a waste
To spend your time why don't you wait for the call

Just gotta get used to it - gotta get used to waiting
Just gotta get used to it - you know how the ice is
Just gotta get used to it - it's thin where you're skating
This is no social crisis, this is you having fun
No crisis, getting burned by the sun, this is true
This is no social crisis, just another tricky day for you, fellah

Just another tricky day for you
Just another tricky day, oh, for you
Just another tricky day, just another tricky day for you
You'll get through

I like nightmares, I like being witless
Watch for the newsflash, cool eyewitness
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Gotta be a fucking fool to blame TV, don't get trapped in
If you're lucky be the same as me
I like nightmares, yes I do 

There's a simple way to die they call it news
There's a simple way to die they call it booze
There's an easy quiet escape, just sleep and cruise
It's justifiable rape, they say you choose 

And I like nightmares, I like feeling chickless
Flicking my lighter, watching life flit west
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Can we afford strike three, don't trust the captain
He's just a boy like me
And I like nightmares, yes I do

There's a common way to weep, they say just smoke
You can cry yourself to sleep, they say just toke
There's a path that never fails, you can't get lost
Don't need roads, you're on rails, I'll pay the cost 
And I like nightmares, yes I do

We were wasted, but you're only waylaid once
What we tasted was a voucher baggette lunch
We robbed their bank and we took their gold
And our lies in the tank must've sounded old, but we pleaded
I said, "Your honor, we're not chumps
After all, we only did it once." 

We like nightmares, they test our fitness
Full can of goulash, a taint in the midwest
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, it's happening
Nothing floats interest free, don't care what it's wrapped in
You could be abreast like me
And I like nightmares, yes I do
I like nightmares 

I read your letter and the things you say
You say power chords are all that we should play
Well this is what you're gonna eat today, Virginia
Cos if power chords are what you say you need
Look inside your body, baby, you will see
That man in air and flying seed is in ya, you got it in you 

But if you depend on me to make you rock and roll
Well you better look, look inside and gettin' old
Look inside and check out your neglected soul, Virginia
Cos I can seem to dance on out alone on the scene
Or VIP and fight down at the music machine
But as for you, the place to look for rock and roll is in ya
You got it in you, you got it in you
You know you got it in you
It's in you, ooh, you got it in you 

Your letter came and today is the eighth
This is the day that Moonie earned his rate
And it makes me want to tell you stuff on letters, dear Virginia
And if you really care then better stay awake
Take me out again, baby, and say that I'm a fake
And you can then forsake the part of me that's in you
Oh, it's in you, oh now, you got me in you
Ooh, yeah, it's all in you
Can you feel it in you

You got it in you, you've got it in your heart
You got it in you, I'm just a tiny part of what is in you
Please remember, darling, sweet Virginia
That everything you need's already in you

Well, I forgive completely all your lack of tact
My patience holding out and it's a hard-earned fact
That I could easily buy your time, dearest Virginia
But you will always give me just one more chance
You'll hang around and ask me for a chance to dance
But I can't make you jump, baby, if it ain't in ya
You've got it in you, you got it in your heart
You've got it in you, you know I'm just a tiny part of what is in you
Please remember darling, sweet Virginia
Everything you need's already in you, oh yeah
You've got it in you, you got me in you

Hey tich, toe-rag, tosser
You got me in you
You got it, got it in ya

I stood at the door beside her but she wouldn't let me pass
I was such a bore and I lied to her, I said I didn't really want her ass
I went away in the mud and rain, the gang became snide and laughed
I was slayed, but I smiled and the pain began to subside at last
And when I got back to my hotel
I wondered if the thunder meant I'd landed in hell
And on the forecourt I slipped and fell
I cracked my stupid head and I heard a bell, I thought, hey, hey, hey

Somebody saved me, it happened again
Somebody saved me, I thank you my friend
Somebody saved me from a fate worse than heaven
Cos if I'd had her for just an hour I'd have wanted her forever
Somebody saved me

You would have thought that I'd have learned twenty years ago or more
A beautiful girl raised her mouth and yearned but I didn't know what lips were for
I ran away in the mud and rain, the weather here is never too bright
She'd had an affray with her man and came for solace and a means to fight
She finally bored with seducing me
And took up with some geezer from the Ealing scene
It nearly killed him like it would've killed me
When her original man snapped his fingers and she obeyed, she obeyed

Somebody saved me, it happened again
Somebody saved me, I thank you my friend
Somebody saved me from a fate worse than heaven
Cos if I'd had her for just an hour I'd have wanted her forever
Somebody saved me, yeah, somebody saved me

I don't know about guardian angels
All I know about's staying alive
I can't shout about spiritual labels
When little ones die and big ones thrive
All I know is that I've been making it
There've been times I didn't deserve to
Every show there's been more faking it
But right at the point of no return

Somebody saves me and it happened again
Somebody saves me and I thank you my friend
Somebody saves me from a fate worse than heaven
Cos if I blew it for a single moment, I'd blow it forever
But somebody saves me

I took a burnt connection once, made me feel quite aloof
I never could queue to collect my lunch while I was pursuing the truth
I left my folks in the mud and rain, it always rained in Sunnyside Road
I lived hippy jokes, getting stoned insane till the rain looked just like snow
But there was a soul in whom I could depend
He worked himself crazy while I laid in bed
I never leaned on a person like I leaned right then
And when I finally woke up clean, my friend was dead, stone dead

But somebody saved me, it happened again
Somebody saved me, I thank you my friend
Somebody saved me, I ain't ready for heaven
Cos if I'd seen you for a second I'd have wanted to see you forever
But somebody saved me
Somebody saved me
Somebody saved me

Where do you buy your shoes, where do you hear the news
Where do you get the latest cat, where do you know where to fuck

How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it all by yourself

Where do you by your clothes, nobody knows
How do you get your walk, where do you learn your talk, yeah

How can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it all by yourself
Where can you do it all by yourself
How can you do it all by yourself

You by a sweet magazine - you can't do it alone
Hey, boy I'm a queen - you can't do it alone
Unzip your fly - you can't do it alone
And close your eye - you can't do it alone

How can you do it alone. how can you do it alone
How can you do it without any help
Where can you do it without any help
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it without any help
I need your help, you need mine

You can't do it alone
You can't do it alone
You can't do it alone

You can't do it alone
You can't do it alone
We can't do it alone - you can't do it alone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

How can you do it without any help
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it without any help
How can you do it without any help

How can you do it alone
How can you do it alone, you can't 
How can you do it alone
You need me, I need you, I need me
He needs you, he needs you, I need you
He needs you, I need you, yeah, yeah

How can you do it alone
How can you do it alone

Everybody calls me the quiet one, you can see but you can't hear me
Everybody calls me the quiet one, you can try but you can't get near me
I ain't never, ever had the gift of gab but I can't talk with my eyes
When words fail me you won't nail me, my eyes can tell you lies

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear I've got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away

Everybody calls me the quiet one but you just don't understand
You can't listen, you won't hear me with your head stuck in the sand
I ain't never had time for words that don't rhyme, my head is in a cloud
But I ain't quiet - everybody else is too loud

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear, I got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away


The Ox