Standing at the bus stop with my shopping in my hands, When I'm overhearing elder ladies as the rumours start to fly, Hear them in the school yard, in the scrap yard, in the chip shop, In the phone box, In the pool hall, at the shoe stall every corner turned around. Started with the school girl who was running, Running home to her mum and dad Told them she was playing in the change room of the local football side, They said tell us again, she told them again, Tell us the truth they found it hard to believe Cause he taught our Steve, even trained me, Taught Uncle John who's a father of three It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees, thousand trees You see it in the class room or the swimming pool,
Where the match stick men are made, At the scouts hall at the football, where the wise we trust are paid, We all honour his name, did a lot for the game, Got his name knocked up above the sports ground gates, Now they're ripping it down, stamping the ground, Picture gather dust in the bar It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees, thousand trees Wake up, smell the rain, shake up, he's back to stay, Hasn't been on a holiday, growing seeds, don't believe why he's been away In the school yard, change room, playing fields, bathroom, phone box, office blocks Corner's turned around, they keep doubting the flame, tossing the blame, Got his name knocked up above the sports ground gates, Now they're ripping it down, stamping the ground, picture gathers dust in the bar It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees Thousand Trees Thousand Trees Thousand Trees
Looks Like Chaplin
I feel the wash, close down the street, Yet Chaplin walks, feet nine fifteen, And I hear them, hear them, call his name, And I see him, see him, turn away, They take him in and clean him up They take him in, and strip him down, They dry his skin and feed him wine, And I hear them, hear them, call his name And I see him, see him turn away, Asks to use the phone, yet he lives alone, he lives alone There's no-one, no-one home to phone, Sits alone at home, he calls his home his own, His wife is still unknown
More Life In A Tramps Vest
I get camping eyes in the final hour, Last minute shoppers picking cauliflower, The fuss they make, you'd swear they were buying a car, They always moan, moan it's not so cheap, Cheaper still, cheaper still down the street, Lose my rag and tell them take your bag and shop down there, Closing down, they're closing down another road, One-way system steals the show, Mac The Knife swigs a can and sings the day away There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest The flower man sits down in the street, Surrounded by, stock he bought back last week Bring back the ladies wearing lipstick on their teeth, Make up, we make up a crappy joke, Sit back, relax and have a smoke, Mac The Knife swigs a can and sings the day away, There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest I get camping eyes in the final hour, Last minute shoppers picking cauliflower, Mac The Knife swigs a can and sings the day away There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest There's more life, more life, more life in a tramps vest
Local Boy In The Photograph
There's no mistake I smell that smell It's that time of year again I can taste the air Clocks go back railway track Something blocks the line again And the train runs late for the first time Pebble beach we're underneath a pier just been painted red Where I hear the news for the first time And all the friends lay down the flowers Sit on the banks and drink for hours Talk of the way they saw him last Local boy in the photograph, today He'll always be twenty three Yet the train runs on and on Past the place they found his clothing There's no mistake I smell that smell It's that time of year again I can taste the air Clocks go back railway track Something blocks the line again And the train runs late for the first time today And all the friends lay down the flowers Sit on the banks and drink for hours Talk of the way they saw him last Local boy in the photograph, today
Not Up To You
Salt grips the road, awaits his lift again, Street orange glow, shades the odds against, One more sip, a shoe, a miss, a shaving nick, one extra kiss, Who's to know, whatever? Not up to me, not up to you Not up to me, not up to you The swings don't swing, the park's been dead for years How do you know the last swing weren't the last for good, Hard book on freaks, fresh summer peach, Creased magazine, sugar chocolate treat, Who's to know whatever? Not up to me, not up to you Not up to me, not up to you The streets so long where she lost her pocket purse, Kept the last picture of the man she committed first, Cracked windscreen rain, French murder play, Junk take away, tired street parade, Who's to know, whatever? whatever Not up to me, not up to you Not up to me, not up to you Ha whatever Not up to me, not up to you Not up to anything we do Not up to me, not up to you Ahh you Ahh you Ahh you Its not up to me, Its not up to you Its not up to you Its not up to you Its not up to you
Traffic
We all face the same way, still it takes all day, We all face the same way, still it takes all day, I take a look to my left, pick out the worst and the best, She paints her lip, greasy and thick, another mirror stare And she's going where? Another office affair? to kill an unborn scare? You talk dirty to a priest? it makes them human at least, But is she running away? to start a brand new day? Or she going home? why's she driving alone? Is anyone going anywhere? Everyone gotta be somewhere She got a body in the boot? or just bags full of food? Those are models legs but are they women's are they men's? She shouts down the phone, missed a payment on the loan, She gotta be above the rest, keeping up with the best Is anyone going anywhere? Everyone gotta be somewhere Waits tables for a crook? you wrote a hard back book? You teach kids how to read? or sell your body on the street? A nurse without a job? another up-town snob? But have I got you all wrong? one look and you were gone Is anyone going anywhere? Is anyone going anywhere? Is anyone going anywhere? Every one gotta be somewhere I take a look to my left, pick out the worst and the best, She paints her lip, greasy and thick, another mirror stare And she's going where? Another office affair? to kill an unborn scare? You talk dirty to a priest? it makes them human at least, But is she running away? to start a brand new day? Or she going home? why's she driving alone? Is anyone going anywhere? Everyone gotta be somewhere She got a body in the boot? or just bags full of food? Those are models legs but are they women's are they men's? She shouts down the phone, missed a payment on the loan, She gotta be above the rest, keeping up with the best Is anyone going anywhere? Everyone gotta be somewhere Waits tables for a crook? you wrote a hard back book? You teach kids how to read? or sell your body on the street? A nurse without a job? another up-town snob? But have I got you all wrong? one look and you were gone Is anyone going anywhere? Is anyone going anywhere? Is anyone going anywhere? Every one gotta be somewhere
Check My Eyelids For Holes
I gotta lose weight, I, I, swallow honey, I gotta lose weight, I, I, swallow honey, Is my stand up show still, still, still that funny, Am I back for good, I said that I, said that I would be, She's down waist low, trying to make me happy. Because I like watching you It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes Two weeks late, I, I, I gotta test for babies, Shop take is falling low, I'm not going back, back to the factory's, Because I like what I do It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, It's time I tried,
It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, to check my lids for holes Is my stand up show still, still, still that funny, Am I back for good, I said that I, said that I would be, She's down waist low, trying to make me happy. Because I like watching you It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes Two weeks late, I, I, I gotta test for babies, Shop take is falling low, I'm not going back, back to the factory's, Because I like what I do It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, It's time I tried, to check my lids for holes
Same Size Feet
A week's too long not to ring, Re-colours her hair and waits for him, No cat against dog, just head over heels, Sex twice a date, best time in years, Oh no, why hasn't he phoned, She has to wait until he's on his own, Lying and denying till no-body knows, I'll tell her this week is what he tells her to keep her on loan, He'll buy her one day, Sex drives, oral highs, cheated wives and spies Cream cakes, coffee dates, floral gifts, goodbye. Passed away, for the day, had a change of kind Sex change, too mundane for the average mind Ha no, she just can't see, Where he is or where he's been Looked prim and straight like she's always been, All that she saved for, went missing again She could be, She could be, She could be wrong She could be, She could be, She could be wrong She could be, She could be, She could be wrong It looks like it looks like it looks like the words got round They found a body in the lake, Maybe it wasn't really his name, Same colour, same weight, same size feet, It's the not knowing that kills you, Oh no the clock's stopped slow every time your on your own, You hide from the spies so nobody knows, Scratch through the pages of a lazy days news for a clue, Still looking for you
