Artist: The Who Album: Odds & Sods {1974}

We're having a lovely time, wish you were here
We're having a lovely time, wish you were here

There's miles of frankfurters and people who hurt us in Germany
We haven't played since yesterday
There's just ten more shows, and one week to go, we'd all like to go

We're having a lovely time, wish you were here
We're having a lovely time, wish you were here

Great piles of spaghetti, bad vibes like confetti in Italy
We go by train and not by plane
We'd come home by car, if it wasn't too far to drive home by car

Hope you're well at home
Next week I'll try to phone
Not very long to go
I'll tell you when I'm coming home as soon as I know

We're having a lovely time, wish you were here
We're having a lovely time, wish you were here

There's lots of french fries, disapproving eyes in the U.S.A.
We've had no show since I don't know
There's just one thing wrong, we've been here too long, the money's all gone

We're having a lovely time, wish you were here
We're having a lovely time, wish you were here

There's kangaroos and we're bad news in Australia
Thrown off the plane for drinking beer
So long on the plane, it drove us insane, so long on the plane

Hope you're well at home
Next week I'll try to phone
Not very long to go
I'll tell you when I'm coming home as soon as I know

We're having a lovely time, wish you were here
We're having a lovely time, wish you were here

We've done very well
But we've been to hell and heaven as well

I've got a spade and a pick-axe
And a hundred miles square of land to churn about
My old horse is weary
But sincerely I believe that he can pull a plough
Well I've moved into the jungle
Of the agriculture rumble to grow my own food
And I'll dig and plough and scrape the weeds
Till I succeed in seeing cabbage growing through

Now I'm a farmer and I'm digging, digging, digging, digging, digging
Now I'm a farmer and I'm digging, digging, digging, digging, digging
It's alarming how charming it is to be a-farming
How calming and balming the effect of the air

Well I farmed for a year
And grew a crop of corn that stretched as far as the eye can see
That's a whole lotta corn flakes
Near enough to feed New York till 1973
Cultivation is my station and the nation
Buys my corn from me immediately
And holding sixty-thousand bucks
I watch as dumper trucks tip New York's corn flakes in the sea

Now I'm a farmer and I'm digging, digging, digging, digging, digging
Now I'm a farmer and I'm digging, digging, digging, digging, digging
It's alarming how charming it is to be a-farming
How calming and balming the effect of the air

Now look here son
The right thing to say isn't necessarily what you want to say
The right thing to do isn't necessarily what you want to do
The right thing to grow ain't necessarily what you want to grow
Your own happiness doesn't necessarily teach you what you want to know

Well, I'm suntanned and deep, so's the horse
And my hands are deeply grained
Old horse is a grazin'
It's amazin' just how lazily he took the strain
Well my pick and spade are rusty
Because I'm paid on trust to leave my square of cornfield bare
It's alarming how charming, it is to be a farming
How calming and balming the effect of the air
When you grow what I grow

Tomatos, potatos, stew
Eggplants
Potatoes, tomatos, ah ha
Gourds

I got lost in the back streets trying to get here tonight
The police were asking questions - they took me to the wrong place twice
I even lost my passport and I forgot my name and town
But now I'm here by the water - put the money down
Before I walk on the water put the money down, down, down

There are bands killing chickens
My hero's getting pushed around, round, round
I don't know if I trust you as you try to shoot me down
Before I walk on the water put the money down, down, down
Put the money down

It twas a beautiful day in Columbus when the fences fell
But the five loaves and the fishes ain't gonna be much help
I got a hungry juggler here who wants to keep ahead
Before he walks the water he wants his bread

Take a glass of that light brown ale and a purple pill
If the ale don't get you to, sure as hell the pill will
Oh mommy, mommy, please may I go downtown
He's gonna walk on the water - put the money down, ooh yeah, put it down
Before I walk on the water put the money down

There are band killing chickens
My hero's getting pushed around, round, round
I don't know if I trust you as you try to shoot me down
I'm gonna walk on the water - put the money down, down, down, down, down
Put the money down in a tin cup

Put it down
Put it down in the tin cup
Put it down, put the money down
Put it down, put it down

Little Billy was the fattest kid in his class
Always the last in line
All the other little kids would laugh at him
Said he'd die before his time
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Little Billy didn't mind

Most of the kids smoked cigarettes
Just to prove that they were cool
The teacher didn't know about the children's games
And Billy always followed the rules
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Little Billy didn't mind

Billy was big on the outside
And there's an even bigger man inside
Ten million cigarettes burn every day
And Billy's still doin' fine

Now Billy and his classmates are middle-aged
With children of their own
Their smoking game's a reality now
And cancer's seed is sown
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Little Billy didn't mind

Most of them smoke maybe forty a day
A habit Billy doesn't share
One by one they're passing away
Leaving orphans to Billy's care
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Little Billy does't mind
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Little Billy's doing fine


Good

I think these hands have felt a lot
I don't know, what have I touched
I think these eyes have seen a lot
I don't know, maybe they've seen too much
I think this brain has thought a lot
Searchin', trying to find a crutch
I think this heart has bled once too often
This time it's bled a bit too much

Too much of anything is too much for me
Too much and everything gets too much for me

I can't remember before '49
But I know that '48 was there
My ears let in what I should speak out
Hmm, mmm, hmm, there's something in the air
Ooh, I'm overloaded on my way
Bye, bye, bye, bye - you better keep in touch
I think your ears hear a whole lot of music
And like me they've heard a bit too much

Too much of anything is too much for me
Too much and everything gets too much for me

I think these hands have felt a lot
I don't know, what have I touched
I think these eyes have seen a lot
I don't know, maybe they've seen too much
I think this brain has thought a lot
Oh, searchin', try to find a crutch
I think your ears hear a whole lot of music
And like me they've heard a bit too much

Too much of anything is too much for me
Too much and everything gets too much for me

Separates and lingerie, seven pairs of shoes
Lots of Woolworth's makeup, a pair of black watch trews
Your out of tune piano, sentimental photographs
A million little memories, a million little laughs

The wing of the aeroplane has just caught on fire
I say without reservation, "We ain't getting no higher."
All you wanted from me, all I had to give
Nothing matters you'll see, when in paradise you live
The plane is diving faster, we're getting near the ground
Nobody is screaming, no one makes a sound

It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl
It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl
It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl
It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl

There once was a note, pure and easy
Playing so free like a breathe rippling by
The note is eternal, I hear it, it sees me
Forever we blend it, forever we die

I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star
As people assemble civilization
Is trying to find a new way to die
But killing is really merely scene changer
All men are bored with other men's lives

I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star
Gas on a hillside, oil in a tea cup
Watch all the chords of life lose their joy
Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness
The note that began all can also destroy

We all know success when we all find our own dreams
And our love is enough to knock down any walls
And the future's been seen as men try to realize
The simple secret of the note in us all
In us all

I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star

There once was a note, pure and easy
Playing so free like a breathe rippling by

There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen
There once was a note, listen

It may be warm but the snow is going to fall
Enough to cover us all
We've got to be strong men and follow a path again
We've got to have faith in something bigger
Faith in something bigger
Faith in something big inside ourselves

It might be cold, but the heat of our love will melt
The snow we never felt
We're young and hearty again, we can bow to weaker men
We've got to have faith in something bigger
Faith in something bigger
Faith in something big inside ourselves

The more we learn the less we believe to be true
The more we prove the more remains to be proved

We've got to be strong men and follow a path again
We've got to have faith in something bigger
Faith in something bigger
Faith in something big inside ourselves, inside ourselves

Faith in something bigger, faith in something bigger
Faith in something bigger, faith in something bigger
Faith in something bigger, faith in something bigger

I'm the face baby, is that clear
I'm the face baby, is that clear
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it, dear
All the others are third class tickets by me, baby, is that clear

I'm the big wheel baby, won't you roll with me
I'm the big wheel baby, won't you roll with me
So many cats down the scene, hun, that I hardly see

Wear ivy league jackets, white buckskin shoes
I wear ivy league jackets, white buckskin shoes
So many tickets down the scene hun, they're like a blown fuse

I'm the face baby, is that clear
I'm the face baby, is that clear
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it, dear
All the others are third class tickets by me, baby, is that clear

Take a little dope and walk out in the air
The stars are all connected to the brain
Find me a woman and lay down on the ground
Her pleasure comes falling down like rain
Get myself a car, I feel power as I fly
Oh, now I'm really in control
It all looks fine to the naked eye
But it don't really happen that way at all
Don't happen that way at all

You sign your own name and I sign mine
They're both the same, but we still get separate rooms
You can cover up your guts, but when you cover up your nuts
You're admitting that there must be something wrong
Press any button and milk and honey flows
The world begins behind your neighbor's wall
It all looks fine to the naked eye
But it don't really happen that way at all, no, no, no
Don't happen that way at all

You hold the gun and I hold the wound
And we stand looking in each other's eyes
Both think we know what's right
Both know we know what's wrong
We tell ourselves so many, many, many lies
We're not pawns in any game, not tools of bigger men
There's only one who can really move us all
It all looks fine to the naked eye
But it don't really happen that way at all

Down at the Astoria the scene was changin'
Bingo and rock were pushing out X-rating
We were the first band to vomit in the bar
And find the distance to the stage too far
Meanwhile it's getting late at ten o'clock
Rock is dead they say - long live rock

Long live rock - I need it every night
Long live rock - come on and join the line
Long live rock, be it dead or alive

People walk in sideways, pretending that they're leaving
We put on our makeup and work out all the lead-ins
Jack is in the alley selling tickets made in Hong Kong
Promoter's in the pay-box wondering where the band's gone
Back in the pub, the govenor stops the clock
Rock is dead they say - long live rock

Long live rock - I need it every night
Long live rock - come on and join the line
Long live rock, be it dead or alive

Landslide, rocks a-falling
Falling down round our very heads
We tried but you were yawning
Look again, rock is dead
Rock is dead, rock is dead

The place is really jumping to the Hi-Watt amps
Till a twenty-inch cymbal fell and cut the lamps
In the blackout they dance right into the aisle
And as the doors fly open even the promoter smiles
Someone takes his pants off and the rafters knock
Rock is dead they say - long live rock
Long live rock, long live rock, long live rock

Long live rock, long live rock
Long live rock, long live rock
Long live rock

Long live rock - I need it every night
Long live rock - come on and join the line
Long live rock, be it dead or alive

Hey fellows have you heard the news
Yeah, the women in this town have been misused
Yeah, I seen it all in my dreams last night
Girls leaving this town cos you don't treat 'em right
Ah, take a train - take a train
Fly by plane - fly by plane
I'm leaving here - leaving here
Leaving here - leaving here

The love of a woman is a wonderful thing 
Yeah, the way you treat 'em is a cryin' shame 
Yeah, I tell you, baby, yeah it won't be long 
Before these women they all have gone
Oh, gettin' tired - gettin' tired
Sick and tired - sick and tired
I'm leaving here - leaving here
Leaving here - leaving here

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Leaving here
Oh, leaving here
Yeah, leaving here
They're leavin' here, they're leavin' here
They're gonna leave us here
Yeah babe, babe, don't leave here

Ah, baby don't you do it, don't do it, baby
Don't break my heart, please don't do it, baby
Don't ya break my heart, ah, don't do it, baby

Yeah, I sacrifice to make laughter, nothin' for myself
Now you wanna leave me cos you're in love with someone else
I cried while I'm walking home, whether right or wrong
I believe you baby, I'm gonna keep on keepin' on
Yeah, I try to do my best
Yeah, I try to do my best, don't do it babe
Don't ya break my heart, please don't do it, baby
Don't ya break my heart 

I go down to the river, and there I'm gonna be
I'm gonna jump in, babe, if you don't see about me
Open up your eyes, can't you see I need you
Open up your heart, can't you see I love you
I can't go on without you, my life's no good without you
I can't go on without you, my life's no good without you
Off the edge

Ah, don't you do it, baby, don't you break my heart
Please don't you do it, baby, 
I can't go on without you, my life's no good without you
I can't go on without you, my life's no good without you
Yeah, please don't do it baby

I'm a gonna raise a fuss, I'm a gonna raise a holler
Bout workin' all summer just to try and earn a dollar
Well, I went to the bossman, tried to get a break
But the boss said, "No dice, son, you gotta work late."  
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
There ain't no cure for the summertime blues 

Well my mom and papa told me, "Son you gotta earn some money
If you want to use the car to go riding next Sunday."
Well I didn't go to work, told the boss I was sick 
He said, "You can't use the car cos you didn't work a lick."  
Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do
There ain't no cure for the summertime blues 

Gonna take two weeks, gonna have a fine vacation
Gonna take my problem to the United Nations
Well, I went to my congressman, he said, quote
"Well, I'd like to help you son but you're too young to vote."  
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
There ain't no cure for the summertime blues

A one, two, three

Under my thumb, the girl who once had me down
Under my thumb, the girl who once pushed me around
It's down to me
The difference in the clothes she wears, down to me
The change has come, she's under my thumb 

Under my thumb is a squirming dog who just had her day
Under my thumb this girl who has just changed her ways
It's down to me
The way she does just what she's told, down to me
The change has come, she's under my thumb

It's down to me
The way she talks when she's spoken to, down to me
The change has come, she's under my thumb

Under my thumb, a Siamese cat of a girl
Under my thumb, she's the sweetest pet in the world
It's down to me
The way she talks when she's spoken to, down to me
The change has come, she's under my thumb

Yeah, she's under my thumb
Bitch is under my thumb
Yeah, she's under my thumb

I danced with Linda, I danced with Jean
I danced with Cindy, then I suddenly seen
Mary Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man, those shaky hands

Linda's got looks, Jean reads books
Cindy can sew but I'd rather know
Mary Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man, those shaky hands

Mary is so pretty, the prettiest in the land
Guys come from every city just to shake her shaky hands

I wave at Linda, I wave at Linda
I wave at Jean, I wave at Jean
I wave at Cindy, Mary waves at me, Mary waves at me
Mary Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man, those shaky hands

I danced with Linda, I danced with Jean
I danced with Cindy and then I suddenly seen
Mary Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man, those shaky hands

Mary Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man, those shaky hands

Well come on pretty baby, let's go out tonight
Your ma won't have to worry, everything'll be alright
Don't let me hear you talkin', just be there when I call
Cos what I do, I do my way or it won't be done at all
Little girl can you hear what I say
I'm an easy goin' guy but I always gotta have my way

Yeah, I was born a tiger, always had my way
Don't ever try to change me this or any other day
Don't let me hear you argue - the things I say, I do
Don't give me no trouble or you'll haul the line too
Little girl can you hear what I say
I'm an easy goin' guy but I always gotta have my way 

Well come on pretty baby, let's go out tonight
Your ma won't have to worry, everything'll be alright
Don't let me hear you talkin', just be there when I call
Cos what I do, I do my way or it won't be done at all
Little girl can you hear what I say
Yeah, I'm an easy goin' guy but I always gotta have my way

I'm an easy goin' guy, but I always gotta have my way
Better believe it, baby
You better believe it, baby

Well a young man, he ain't got nothing in the world these days
I said a young man ain't got nothing in the world these days

In the old days when a young man was a strong man
All the people stepped back when a young man walked by

You know, nowadays, oh, it's the old man's got all the money
And a young man ain't got nothing in the world these days 

You know nowadays if you're the young man
You ain't got nothing in the world these days


That one didn't really work

I got up this morning and did fifty-five press-up stands
I brushed my teeth since breakfast and I threw away my Playboy, that's bad
The Ferrari's in the garage and I gave it a wash just for you
But please don't make me come to the theatre, it's so uncool

I'll babysit my cousin and I promise not to tease him, oh no
I'll caress his little haircut and do everything to please him, oh
I'll watch him like a hawkeye and in case a fit should seize him
But please don't make me come to the theatre, it's so grim

Kevin's a model child
Always does good in school
Kevin is never wild
Always does as he's told

Layin' on my back in the newly mown grass
Rain is coming down but the clouds'll surely pass
The seeds are bursting, the spring a-seeping
Lay down my darling, love ain't for keeping

Black ash from the foundry hangs like a hood
But the air is perfumed by the burning firewood
You bring me tea, say, "The babe's a-sleepin'."
Lay down beside me, love ain't for keeping

Lay down beside me, love ain't for keeping
Lay down my darling, love ain't for keeping

Love ain't for keepin', no, love ain't for keeping
Lay down, woo, lay down, ooh yeah, lay down my darling

Oh, no, no - don't keep your love
No, no, no - don't keep your love
Don't keep your love
No, no - don't keep your love
Oh, no, no, ooh yeah

Lay down beside me, love ain't for keeping
Lay down my darling, love ain't for keeping

I'm playing my guitar while my sister bangs a jar
The glass sets up a sound like people laughing
It's going to my brain and it's easing all my pain
I must hear this sound again cos time is passing

I'm walking by the sea and the shingle sings for me
The crabs are swimming down amongst the starfish
The rocks all clatter down and the seagulls fly around
But the whole trip rubs it in that time is passing

Find it, I got to hear it all again
My heart has heard the sound of harmony
Blind to it as my tears fall again
But it's only by the music I'll be free

There's something in the whisper of the trees
Millions hear it, still they can't believe
There are echoes of it splashing in the waves
As an empire of dead men leave their graves

Don't listen to people talk or to them selling souls
Don't listen to me or words from men above
Don't hear it in your needs and don't hear it in your greeds
Just hear it in the sound of time a passing

Find it, I've got to hear it all again
My heart has heard the sound of harmony
Blind to it as my tears fall again
But It's only by the music, I'll be free

How can I explain how I feel
I'm like a little kid runnin' at her heel
She's givin' me looks like she thinks I'm a snappy dresser
How can I tell what I should plan
I've never kissed a girl or held her hand
She's waiting for me to move, I've got to impress her

I play guitar in a mainstream band
I got three red jackets and a Fender Jazz
I got Charlie Parker's autograph
The girl I move with's hung up on grass

She moved her seat next to mine
But I'm just playin' for time
I ain't got the guts to let her see the real me
My confidence eroded away
Overhearing what children say
So I'm trying to make myself seem more appealing

I know your man is into playing jazz bass
I tried that myself but I need more space
Like to soar and fly like the big Birdman
When I met him last week he shook my hand

Every lie I tell weaves another spell
Another road that ends up blind
The "Bird" that shook my hand was a wanted man
I think you knew that all the time

I came so close to having you for me
But I lost you in the fantasy
I pretended to myself that you were mine already
You waited, but deep in your eyes
You were watching me so worldly wise
Then you changed the subject and talked about going steady

I got two hundred records and a big hi-fi
I sit and listen to Ella and Basie all night
I play modern jazz of every variety
You could come and listen but we close tonight

The foreman over there hates the gang
The poor people on the farms get it so rough
Truck drivers drive like a devil
The policemen, they're acting so tough
They need water - good water
They need water
And I'm sure there isn't one of us here
Who'd say no to somebody's daughter
No, no, no, no, no

The foreman over there hates the gang
The poor people on the farms get it so rough
Truck drivers drive like a devil
The policemen, they're acting so tough
They need water - good water
They need water
And maybe somebody's daughter

Indian Lake is burning', New York's skyline is hazy
The River Thames is turning dry, the whole world is blazin'
We need water - yeah, good water
Ooh, we need water
And maybe somebody's daughter

Gimme, gimme good water
Gimme, gimme, gimme good water
Gimme good water
Please don't refuse me mister
I seen your daughter at the oasis and I'm beginning to blister

My Chevrolet just made steam
Your crop is laying foul
My grass skirt's lost its green
I'm alive but I don't know how
I need water - good, good water
They need water

Gimme, gimme, gimme good water
Gimme, gimme, gimme good water
Gimme, gimme, gimme good water
Come on, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme
Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme water
Yeah, water
Come on, come on, give me water

Somebody, Jim Beam