by Vickie Mapes
Back to Phoenix
html and design
by Vickie Mapes
Back to Phoenix
[first transcribed by Andrew B. Marvick (IED), later on improved and corrected by various love-hounds (e.g. Bryan Dongray, Emmy May Lombaerts, Violet... ).] We should all try to use the Phoenix broadcast titles, because they seem to be correct. At least no inconsistencies have been found. IED's titles are given in brackets. Everybody is invited and encouraged to listen carefully again to the difficult passages. Some are almost inaudible. Present your ideas to Love-Hounds! I have numbered the lines to make the discussion easier. I have added some annotations e.g. differences between the demos and the album versions and different suggestions for the uncertain lines. What follows are the lyrics in succession as they appear on the Phoenix broadcast tape.
1 - I've pulled down my lace and the chintz.
2 - Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius?
3 - I'll send your love to Zeus.
4 - Oh, by the time you read this,
5 - I'll be well in touch.
6 - I'm giving it all in a moment for you.
7 - I'm giving it all in a moment or two.
8 - I'm giving it all, giving it, giving it.
9 - The kicking here inside
10 - Makes me leave you behind.
11 - No more under the quilt
12 - To keep you warm.
13 - Your sister I was born. Lose me.
14 - You must lose me like an arrow,
15 - Shot into the killer storm.
16 - You and me on the bobbing knee--
17 - Welling eyes from identifying with Lizzy Wan's story.
18 - I will come home again, but not until
19 - The sun and the moon meet on yon hill.
20 - I'm giving it all in a moment for you.
21 - I'm giving it all in a moment or two.
22 - I'm giving it all, giving it, giving it, giving it, giving it!
23 - The kicking here inside
24 - Makes me leave you behind.
25 - No more under the quilt
26 - To keep you warm.
27 - Your sister I was born. Lose me.
28 - You must lose me like an arrow,
29 - Shot into the killer storm.
30 - I've pulled down my lace and the chintz.
31 - Oh, do you know? You have the face of a genius.
32 - I'll send your love to Zeus.
33 - Oh, by the time you read this...
Differences to the album version:
- the lines 6/7 and 20/21 are interchanged.
- line 8 has an additional fourth "giving it" in the album version.
- line 13 and 27: the "Lose me"'s are missing in the album version.
- line 17: album version: " Didn't we cry at that old mythology he'd read!"
- line 22 has four "giving it" in the album version. The last two in the demo version
are sung in a much higher voice.
"Hammer Horror"
(demo version)
1 - Who stands in the belltower,
2 - Now you're gone.
3 - And who knows all the sights
4 - Of Notre Dame?
5 - You knew the girls and the times,
6 - You knew the rides and the rhymes.
7 - Now they're trying to push me into your name.
8 - Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
9 - Won't leave it alone.
10 - The first time in my life,
11 - The first break of my life,
12 - I'm letting go.
13 - Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
14 - Won't leave it alone.
15 - Oh no,
16 - It's not the right thing to do!
17 - Who calls me from the other side
18 - Of the street?
19 - And who taps me on the shoulder?
20 - I turn around, but you're gone.
21 - You know my mind and my heart.
22 - So you should know I wouldn't take your part.
23 - All I want to do is forget
24 - You, friend.
25 - Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
26 - Won't leave it alone.
27 - The first time in my life,
28 - The first break of my life,
29 - I'm letting go.
30 - Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
31 - Won't leave it alone.
32 - Oh no,
33 - It's not the right thing to do!
Differences to the album version:
Many differences. I just add the album version:
Hammer Horror (album version)
You stood in the belltower,
But now you're gone.
So who knows all the sights
Of Notre Dame?
They've got the stars for the gallant hearts.
I'm the replacement for your part.
But all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
Rehearsing in your things,
I feel guilty.
And retracing all the scenes,
Of your big hit,
Oh, God, you needed the leading role.
It wasn't me who made you go, though.
Now all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
Who calls me from the other side
Of the street?
And who taps me on the shoulder?
I turn around, but you're gone.
I've got a hunch that you're following,
To get your own back on me.
So all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
(Note: the wrong title "A Rose Growing Old" comes from a mishearing of "Waltz".)
1 - Slipping past the chimney-pots,
2 - Down among the ashes, away from old times--
3 - Why must I self-indulge in memories?
4 - I should be celebrating to a moving melody,
5 - But it hurts me, it hurts me,
6 - Honey, honey, it hurts me.
7 - And I'm feeling like a waltz,
8 - Growing old, - old, old, old, old.
9 - I was fiery but you put me out.
10 - I was always one for loving and leaving.
11 - I like to think I was immune to romance.
12 - I should be laughing at some good old comedy.
13 - Oh, but it hurts me, it hurts me.
14 - Honey, honey, it hurts me.
15 - And I'm feeling like a waltz -
16 - If you laughed at me, I'd laugh too.
17 - Waltz, don't you know that I'd be really breakin-ing.
18 - L'amour--marche avec un etranger.
19 - I shouldn't care, you're not my darling anymore,
20 - But it hurts me, it hurts me,
21 - Honey, honey, honey, honey.
22 - And I'm feeling like a waltz,
23 - Growing old, old, old, old, old.
"Stranded At The Moonbase"
(Keeping Me Waiting)
1 - A long way up in light-years,
2 - Just a pinpoint in space,
3 - In a century of planetary storms,
4 - Stranded at the moonbase,
5 - The air is getting low.
6 - The air is getting low.
7 - Looking out at the roof-window,
8 - I've seen many strange things,
9 - From shooting stars to Stars 'n' Stripes--
10 - Thought I'd caught a glimpse of golden wings.
11 - The air is getting low,
12 - The air is getting low,
13 - The air is getting low,
14 - The air is getting low.
15 - I got the vision of a big white dove.
16 - I've heard the creaking of the pearly gates above.
17 - I'm wond'ring why the big white dove
18 - Is keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting,
19 - Keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting,
20 - Keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting.
21 - Looking way down below me,
22 - The worlds are all awhirl-whirly.
23 - Won't you come along beside?
24 - This place waits for company.
25 - The air is getting low.
26 - The air is getting low.
27 - I leave my limbs behind me.
28 - As I'm being lifted
29 - Out into the--into the
30 - Spiritual boom-boom abyss.
31 - The air is getting low.
32 - The air is getting low.
33 - The air is getting low.
34 - The air is getting low.
35 - I got the vision of a big white dove.
36 - I've heard the creaking of the pearly gates above.
37 - I'm wond'ring why the big white dove
38 - Is keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting,
39 - Keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting,
40 - Keeping me waiting, keeping me waiting.
"Kashka From Baghdad"
(demo version)
1 - Kashka from Baghdad
2 - Lives in sin, they say,
3 - With another man,
4 - But no one knows who.
5 - Dark lights at night.
6 - No one thinks there's life inside at all,
7 - That there's life inside at all.
8 - Except for the ladies who clean the house,
9 - Except for the men who put the garbage out.
10 - At night
11 - They're seen
12 - Laughing,
13 - Dancing.
14 - They know
15 - The way
16 - To be
17 - Happy.
18 - Never go for walks.
19 - Maybe it's because
20 - The moon's not bright enough.
21 - Light in love, you see.
22 - I watch their shadows,
23 - Tall and slim,
24 - In the window opposite.
25 - I long to be with them.
26 - What would I do if I were seen?
27 - What would I do if they knew my feelings?
28 - At night
29 - They're seen
30 - Laughing,
31 - Loving.
32 - They know
33 - The way
34 - To be
35 - Happy.
Differences to the album version:
- lines 5 - 9 in the album version:
Old friends never call there.
Some wonder if life's
Inside at all--
If there's life inside at all.
But we know the lady who rents the room.
She catches them calling a la lune.
- line 13: album version has "Loving" instead of "Dancing".
- line 18: "They never go for walks." (album)
- line 21: "There's light in love, you see." (album)
- lines 26/27: album version:
'Cause when all the alley-cats come out,
You can hear music from Kashka's house.
- the album version has at the end: (four times)
"Watching every night.
Don't you know they're seen?
Won't you let me laugh?
Let me in your love.
"Surrender Into The Roses"
(Carmilla)
(Note: the name "Carmilla" comes possibly from the vampire story of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu.)
1 - Last night you were on my balcony.
2 - You needn't try, know the whole story.
3 - Before it's too late I must get away,
4 - But both of us know you must stay.
5 - Oh, come on, Carmilla,
6 - Surrender into the roses.
7 - Go back home under the posies.
8 - Surrender into the roses,
9 - Carmilla, Carmilla, Carmilla.
10 - Tying, dying, flowers around the room.
11 - It keeps me safe, but oh! the sickly perfume.
12 - Well, it makes me long for the good times,
13 - When you were really alive.
14 - Oh, come on, Carmilla,
15 - Surrender into the roses.
16 - Go back home under the posies.
17 - Surrender into the roses,
18 - Carmilla, Carmilla, Carmilla.
"Oh To Be In Love"
(demo version)
1 - As the light hits you,
2 - As you shift along the floor,
3 - I find it hard to place my face.
4 - How did I come to be here, anyway?
5 - It's terribly vague, what's been before.
6 - I could have been anyone.
7 - You could have been anyone's dream.
8 - Why did you have to choose our moment?
9 - Why did you have to make me feel that?
10 - Why did you make it so unreal?
11 - Oh! To be in love,
12 - And never get out again.
13 - Oh! To be in love,
14 - And never get out again.
15 - Oh! To be in love,
16 - Never get out again.
17 - All the colours look brighter now.
18 - Everything they say seems to sound new.
19 - Slipping into tomorrow too quick,
20 - Yesterday always too good to forget.
21 - Stop the swing of the pendulum and let us through!
22 - Oh! To be in love,
23 - And never get out again.
24 - Oh! To be in love,
25 - And never get out again.
26 - Oh! To be in love,
27 - Never get out again.
Differences to the album version:
- line 5: "It's terribly vague, what's gone before." (album)
- line 16/27: "And never get out again. " (album)
- line 21: "Stop the swing of the pendulum! Let us through!" (album)
- in the album version the last chorus is repeated.
"Rinfy The Gypsy"
(Playing Canasta in Cold Rooms)
(Note: The spelling of "Rinfy" is confirmed by the DJ, who spells it during the Phoenix broadcast. The wrong title "In My Lovers Room" comes from a mishearing of "oooh" for "room".)
1 - I fell in love with Rinfy the gypsy.
2 - He said when I grew up he'd marry me,
3 - Carry me away on his steed.
4 - "Don't worry, my baby!
5 - Don't die, my funny little darling!
6 - I'm going away for a little while,
7 - And shouldn't be gone for very long."
8 - Ooh, then I really fell for Geoffrey, our gardener.
9 - He said he'd marry me, too.
10 - Oh, and I believed him, just like a fool.
11 - "Don't worry, my honey!
12 - Don't die, my funny little doll!
13 - I'm going away for a little while.
14 - Shouldn't be gone for very long."
15 - (Ooh, long, long, long...)
16 - Playing canasta in c-cold rooms,
17 - Playing canasta in cold rooms,
18 - Playing canasta upstairs, downstairs,
19 - And in my lover's...ooh...
20 - I met a boy who took me upstairs,
21 - Then took me in his arms and told me
22 - I comforted him, uh-huh.
23 - "Don't worry, my dear,
24 - Don't cry, you weird little stranger. [ca. 2'29]
25 - I'm going away.
26 - You probably won't ever see me again."
27 - Oh, yes, I know, I'm always falling,
28 - Gazing at hazy goldfish in your swimming eyes.
29 - How could I not lie there with you?
30 - "Don't worry, my darling!
31 - Don't die, my silly little baby!
32 - I'm going away for a little while,
33 - And shouldn't be gone for very long."
34 - (Ooh, long, long, long!)
35 - Playing canasta in c-cold rooms,
36 - Playing canasta in cold rooms,
37 - Playing canasta upstairs, downstairs,
38 - And in my lover's...ooh...
- line 15: This might be: "Oh, long, long, long t(ime)..."
- line 24: "weird little", this sounds like "weirdo" to the untrained ear, but it's weird
little" (north Kent accent). I can hear it now, Bryan!
"On Fire Inside A Snowball"
(Hot in the Ice)
1 - Whenever I look out french windows
2 - It's always snowing outside.
3 - And feel your body relax on mine,
4 - Giving me all the good lines,
5 - (Uh-huh)
6 - All the good lines,
7 - All the good lines...
8 - Hot in the ice,
9 - On fire inside,
10 - A snowball.
11 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
12 - Set in the snow.
13 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
14 - Set in the snow.
15 - Hot in the ice,
16 - On fire inside,
17 - A snowball.
18 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
19 - Set in the snow.
20 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
21 - Set in the snow.
22 - A crystal layer of ice on our skin:
23 - Very numb outside but warm within.
24 - I bend to join our lips, but it's too cold
25 - To kiss and hit. Is it you I'm feeling?
26 - Is it you I'm feeling?
27 - (Yeah)
28 - Is it you I'm feeling?
29 - Hot in the ice,
30 - On fire inside,
31 - A snowball.
32 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
33 - Set in the snow.
34 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
35 - Set in the snow.
36 - Hot in the ice,
37 - On fire inside,
38 - A snowball.
39 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
40 - Set in the snow.
41 - Ah, but she's wonderful,
42 - Set in the snow.
1 - High,
2 - And can't see you.
3 - Lives Senora Dali
4 - Alone
5 - And higher still
6 - She keeps her gallery.
7 - Distance means nothing
8 - To me.
9 - A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo,
10 - A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo...
11 - Debris everywhere,
12 - Gazing. It's amazing.
13 - Ferry me over,
14 - Ferry me over,
15 - Ferry me over
16 - The music, Dali.
17 - Deeper here
18 - Lies hidden
19 - Answers and treasures for him.
20 - "Oh, I prefer absence," said she,
21 - "My heart grows fonder
22 - Alone."
23 - A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo,
24 - A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo...
25 - Debris everywhere,
26 - Gazing. It's amazing.
27 - Ferry me over,
28 - Ferry me over,
29 - Ferry me over
30 - The music, Dali.
- line 3: uncertain
- Punctuation and lineage of the first verse depend on the interpretation.
- this song yells for an interpretation.
"Where Are The Lionhearts"
(On the Rocks)
1 - Destiny took me in her arms and told me:
2 - "You're a little lost on the fall.
3 - You fall for all the men
4 - You shouldn't fall for all at all."
5 - Ooh, I know she knows, but still I go on,
6 - Well, I'm a fool.
7 - Climbing up the (l)adders
8 - To slide down the adders
9 - On the rocks,
10 - On the rocks,
11 - On the rocks,
12 - On the rocks...
13 - Joan of Arc walks into my mirror,
14 - A burning sword.
15 - I'd like to cry.
16 - I look into her eyes.
17 - I see she's seen the long days and night. [ca. 1'00]
18 - "Ooh," she says,
19 - "The games are still the same, I see,
20 - But they've changed the names now.
21 - Are all Lionhearts put in parks, apart?"
22 - Lionhearts in the asylums,
23 - Lionhearts tossed at sea,
24 - Lionhearts who've lived their lives, like Arthur.
25 - Lionhearts in cathedrals,
26 - Lionhearts at mournings,
27 - Lionhearts in every seed--
28 - But they're sown
29 - On the rocks,
30 - On the rocks,
31 - On the rocks,
32 - On the rocks...
33 - Somebody I couldn't see
34 - Tied me up and put me away,
35 - Here on the rocks,
36 - Here on the rocks,
37 - Here on the rocks...
- line 4: "all at all" uncertain
- line 7: She sings "adders", but surely means "ladders"
Think of the board game "snakes and ladders": It is played with counters and
dice in wich "ladders" afford short cuts to the finish, but "snakes" oblige
players to descent to nearer the starting-point.
- line 15/16: This is: "I'd like to cry-ee..looki-into her eyes." Maybe it's "Looking.."
- line 17: uncertain, "seen the" might be "sitting", the "t" from night is inaudible.
1 - Four strings across the bridge,
2 - Ready to carry me over,
3 - Over the quavers, under the bars,
4 - Out of the realm of the orchestra,
5 - Out of the realm of the orchestra.
6 - Filling me up with the shivers.
7 - Filling me up with the shivers.
8 - Filling me up with the shivers.
9 - Get the bow going!
10 - Let it scream to me:
11 - Violin! Violin! Violin!
12 - Get the bow going!
13 - Let it scream to me:
14 - Violin! Violin! Violin!
15 - Hear the haunting melody.
16 - Leave me enough for my country. [ca. 1'04]
17 - Here in a wood, in a green story
18 - Hearing the Banshee riddle.
19 - Hearing the Banshee riddle.
20 - And jigging along with the fiddle.
21 - Jigging along with the fiddle.
22 - Jigging along with the fiddle.
23 - Get the bow going!
24 - Let it scream to me:
25 - Violin! Violin! Violin!
26 - Get the bow going!
27 - Let it scream to me:
28 - Violin! Violin! Violin!
- line 15 - 19 (second verse): completely different in the album version:
Paganini up on the chimney,
Lord of the dance,
With Nero and old Nicky.
Whack that devil
Into my fiddlestick!
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s, [B.V.s = backing vocals]
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s.
- line 16: uncertain, can also be "Give me enough..."
- line 17: uncertain, maybe "Hearing a word, in a green story."
Tour of Life: "Here in a wood/ Hearing a word, in the green valley."
"The Craft Of Love"
(Craft of Life)
1 - I tried to study it for just a while:
2 - All of the potions, from oysters to seducing smiles.
3 - But I've found it's already inside me:
4 - A big round bubble of sensuality,
5 - Dared to be burst,
6 - But worried about getting hurt.
7 - I know how you like to kiss.
8 - I'll ask you what you're thinking.
9 - Silvers in our dark hair. [ca. 0'48]
10 - The sheets are soaked by your tiny fish.
11 - The craft of life,
12 - The craft of life,
13 - The craft of life,
14 - The craft of life,
15 - Oo-ooh...
16 - Tears spring to mind when I go back in time.
17 - All those lost bodies just seeking security.
18 - Jittering strangers with smutting hands,
19 - Heavy and clever and full of demands.
20 - Well I'm similar to you:
21 - We're familiar with what to do.
22 - I know how you like to kiss.
23 - I'll ask you what you're thinking.
24 - Silvers in our dark hair. [ca. 2'08]
25 - The sheets are soaked by your tiny fish.
26 - The craft of life,
27 - The craft of life,
28 - The craft of life,
29 - The craft of life,
30 - Oo-ooh...
- line 9 and 24: uncertain, can be also: "Soul burns", "Sobers"...
- line 18: "smutting" might be "sweating"
- line 11-14 and 26-29: It's not clear if she sings "life" or "love", maybe both.
"The Gay Farewell"
(Eddie the Queen)
1 - I've never seen
2 - Such a sad queen
3 - As Eddie.
4 - I've seen him raving,
5 - Maybe even in pain,
6 - But never
7 - Weeping like a baby.
8 - On Saturday afternoon
9 - He was really fine to him.
10 - But on Saturday evening,
11 - Oh, well Eddie was so pretty.
12 - But now his boy is leaving.
13 - Hey, boy, you're so young
14 - To be a queen weeping.
15 - You're just a little princess.
16 - Oh, Eddie, don't!
17 - 'Cause what can I do
18 - But listen to the tired old story. [ca. 1'25]
19 - On Saturday afternoon
20 - He was really fine to him.
21 - But on Saturday evening,
22 - Oh, well Eddie was so pretty.
23 - But now his boy is leaving.
24 - But now his boy is leaving.
25 - But now his boy is leaving him.
26 Queeny, come home soon!
- line 18: difficult to hear, but presumably correct.
1 - There's something that sounds like a song
2 - In my garden, by the willow--
3 - A piper:
4 - "Oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, hoooo"
5 - I see him when I turn the lights down low,
6 - In my garden, wading through the pond.
7 - Rest and sing: "Lover oooooooh..." [ca. 0'46]
8 - "Oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, hoooo"
9 - I've called him by every name I know,
10 - By every name I know,
11 - But he won't answer me.
12 - He keeps coming forward, but never moving.
13 - Is there no destiny here?
14 - It sounds like a song
15 - In my garden, by the willow--
16 - A piper:
17 - "Oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, hoooo"
- line 7: "...and sing: Lover" uncertain
1 - Just travelling on a bus
2 - From a friend's house,
3 - And all these people are looking at me.
4 - They're gazing out windows,
5 - In any English country gardens.
6 - But as gazes meet,
7 - Vacancy shows on screen.
8 - But I feel inside
9 - The latent hysteria:
10 - "Why is she looking at me?"
11 - And as I drift from one to one I can see
12 - They're all like me.
13 - They've all got frightened eyes
14 - Saying what they're thinking,
15 - What they are doing tonight.
16 - They've all got frightened eyes,
17 - Saying, "Leave me alone,
18 - I'm perfectly safe here inside.
19 - Please don't surprise me."
20 - Expressionless.
21 - Everyone here loves cheap wine--
22 - We all know good taste,
23 - We just get too busy trying to find
24 - The right games to play.
25 - Impatient, aren't we all?
26 - Watching the time trip by.
27 - And all these people are looking at me.
28 - They're gazing out windows.
29 - They're burning up in there.
30 - And as I drift from one to one I can see
31 - They're all like me.
32 - They've all got frightened eyes
33 - Saying what they're thinking,
34 - What they are doing tonight.
35 - They've all got frightened eyes,
36 - Saying, "Leave me alone,
37 - I'm perfectly safe here inside.
38 - Please don't surprise me."
1 - So much for all the prayers you've learned.
2 - They are no help to basic needs.
3 - And all the worlds they've shown you
4 - Just make you even greedier.
5 - So what about divinity?
6 - I'm further away than before.
7 - You're like two stars colliding,
8 - And you're never going to hit the floor.
9 - Why should I whisper in the church?
10 - Because they say it's sacred ground?
11 - Oh, my sacrilege would do you good.
12 - You see, there's nothing here, I've found.
13 - I feel so sorry for you,
14 - Believing because they control.
15 - And of all the guardian angels
16 - They chose me to save your soul!
17 - Oh, I'm just trying to explain,
18 - I'm a disbelieving angel.
1 - You've never driven through a red light,
2 - Or let your mind leave your body.
3 - It's pitch black in bed every night:
4 - You set the clock right for the morning alarm.
5 - You've never wanted to start any fights,
6 - Don't know a thing about tapping in on wires.
7 - I fill the room with people
8 - but still you sit empty,
9 - Stuck like putty.
10 - I tried to teach you good rock'n'roll,
11 - But you couldn't get over the old one-two,
12 - And nevertheless, you'll do.
13 - Nevertheless, you'll do.
14 - Nevertheless, I do.
15 - You're getting up in the morning and put on your suit [ca. 0'55]
16 - For the office, and leave me.
17 - You come home all pushed and pulled,
18 - At six-thirty in the evening.
19 - The television, it takes you away
20 - To a picture-world where I have no say in it.
21 - I fill the room with people
22 - but still you sit empty,
23 - Stuck like putty.
24 - I tried to teach you good rock'n'roll,
25 - But you couldn't get over the old one-two,
26 - And nevertheless, you'll do.
27 - Nevertheless, you'll do.
28 - Nevertheless, I do.
"Come Closer To Me Babe"
(Who is Sylvia?)
1 - Come closer to me, babe,
2 - And the night will come much closer, too.
3 - Can't you see the light
4 - Drawing pictures nearer in the skies?
5 - What is it that you whisper
6 - When you close your eyes?
7 - Come closer to me, babe.
8 - Is it me it's all about?
9 - And who is it that you're always
10 - Calling in your sleep?
11 - Who is Sylvia?
12 - Goodnight, baby. Please
13 - Come on home,
14 - Come on home,
15 - Come on home soon.
16 - Goodnight, baby,
17 - Goodnight, baby,
18 - Goodnight, baby,
19 - Goodnight, baby.
20 - Come closer to me now,
21 - For I know there's something you must tell me.
22 - When slumber slips between your lips
23 - Will the secrets ooze out easily?
24 - What is it that you whisper
25 - When you close your eyes?
26 - Come closer to me, babe.
27 - Is it me it's all about?
28 - And who is it that you're always
29 - Calling in your sleep?
30 - Who is Sylvia?
31 - Goodnight, baby. Please
32 - Come on home,
33 - Come on home,
34 - Come on home soon.
35 - Goodnight, baby,
36 - Goodnight, baby,
37 - Goodnight, baby,
38 - Goodnight, baby.
1 - Held in your arms in the back seat,
2 - Cruising down the main street,
3 - How can anyone have such little defense?
4 - You're soft.
5 - In between the sheets, left in limbo,
6 - Covered me like the pillow--
7 - I can hardly tell the difference.
8 - You're soft,
9 - So soft.
10 - To be, to be with you
11 - I'd leave everything.
12 - But I don't know how to deal with you.
13 - I swear you'd fall like a feather if I was cruel.
14 - Love would melt me like hot butter.
15 - You're soft,
16 - So soft.
17 - To be, to be with you
18 - I'd do anything.
19 - Walking down the street, brushing arms,
20 - You're moonlight dancing.
21 - I try hard to keep my feelings in.
22 - You're soft.
23 - Dancing to the music, so low.
24 - I knead you like dough.
25 - How can anyone be so loving
26 - And soft,
27 - So soft?
28 - To be, to be with you
29 - I'd leave everything.
30 - But I don't know how to deal with you.
31 - I swear you'd fall like a feather if I was cruel.
32 - You melt me like hot butter.
33 - You're soft,
34 - So soft.
35 - To be, to be with you
36 - I'd do anything.
"The Rare Flower"
(Pick the Rare Flower)
1 - There's beauty in such a sacred structure, oh,
2 - That thing that is nurtured and loved.
3 - It's quite an occasion.
4 - It's driving me crazy.
5 - I'm not allowed to touch on lust,
6 - I've gotta get a hold of myself.
7 - I mustn't admit it.
8 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
9 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
10 - I don't see why I shouldn't
11 - Pick the rare flower.
12 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
13 - Well, I don't see why I shouldn't,
14 - I don't see why I shouldn't
15 - Pick the rare flower.
16 - Whoooo
17 - Walking, in a Paradise or Eden,
18 - Whoa, temptation:
19 - Give me one second to succumb.
20 - It's calling me.
21 - With a menacing whisper [ca. 1'46]
22 - Magic offer a-charming me
23 - Why I've gotta get a hold of myself,
24 - You see, but it ain't easy.
25 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
26 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
27 - I don't see why I shouldn't
28 - Pick the rare flower.
29 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
30 - I don't see why I shouldn't,
31 - I don't see why I shouldn't
32 - Pick the rare flower.
33 - Ooooooh.
- line 7: uncertain: "I mustn- de dedn de deh."
- line 21/22: uncertain, maybe "Magical world enchanting me."
or "Magic of hurt enchanting me."
- line 23: Maybe "Well" instead of "Why".
1 - I stayed the night in your arms.
2 - Over half an hour I stayed awake,
3 - Looking at you.
4 - Your face seemed radiant.
5 - The wall was to steep [ca. 0'30]
6 - With a crack in the moment
7 - As I held you.
8 - Oo-ooh...
9 - While na-na ne-ne-na ne-na-na Davy dozed.
10 - I closed my eyes.
11 - Realised the time is close for us to go.
12 - Hold me, oh hold me.
13 - Davy, Davy,
14 - Bending like a willow-branch.
15 - He rocks me like a baby.
16 - Oo-ooh...
17 - I know he loves another lady,
18 - But I still see him in the hallway
19 - Calling me.
20 - Oh, when we danced so closely,
21 - I really felt as though I was melting
22 - In a pool.
23 - Oo-ooh...
24 - Oh,
25 - While na-na na-na na-na-na Davy dozed.
26 - I closed my eyes.
27 - Realised the time is close for us to go.
28 - Hold, please hold me.
29 - Davy, Davy,
30 - Bending like a willow-branch.
31 - He rocks me like a baby.
32 - Oo-ooh...
-the echoes are on the original tape.
- line 5/6: uncertain:
The wall-s ###
With a crack ###
maybe "The wall with the ceiling with the crack remembers."
The following songs are probably not from the Phoenix demos tape. Organic Acid belongs to the Piano Demos:
IED: This song is radically different from the others in that collection, however, in that it includes a rather long poem by Kate's brother John Carder Bush, who recites a stanza or two between each verse and chorus of Kate's song. (Kate's piano continues between verses as a support to John's recitation.) IED cannot see any really clear connection between Kate's song and John's poem: the former seems to be a kind of lullabye to a troubled lover, and is filled with imagery of the sea. (One possibility, therefore, is that this is the song known as Atlantis, which IED has not heard but which is listed among the songs on the near-mythical album, The Early Years.) John's poem, however, is a far more detailed and explicit descriptive poem which details the progress and violent end of a vaguely perverted love affair. It is possible that the speaker in Kate's song is addressing a character in John's poem, or possibly the narrator of John's poem, himself; but neither of these interpretations seems likely to IED. (On the other hand, the reference to the beach at the climax of John's poem does provide for the possibility that the two are interconnected.) It seems more probable that Kate simply invited John to recite one of his poems during the performance of her song. She must have felt that the two works complemented each other in some intangible way; and IED, for one, agrees with her.
Poetry by John Carder Bush
Music and Lyrics by Kate Bush
John:
1 - "He got her drunk very quickly.
2 - Holding hands, they found the broom-cupboard,
3 - Where he had control as far as the fall,
4 - When his hand covered wet hair.
5 - She took over among furniture wax,
6 - Dust, the cloying yellow of polishing-cloth.
7 - When he was sick, she comforted him."
Kate:
8 - Oh, hush, my friend, and sleep,
9 - And cuddle to the wind.
10 - And sleep on through the waves
11 - That may wet your lover's dream.
12 - We have been far through this night long hours.
13 - We will go far, tomorrow, out of sight, ooh...
John:
14 - "He couldn't do it properly;
15 - The disco, the office, the pub,
16 - Had left out those details of delight.
17 - Satisfied, he would collapse out,
18 - Puzzled at why she still squirmed,
19 - Held onto him, tears curling into her mouth.
20 - This was something their stories always omitted:
21 - That her joy would seem like pain,
22 - When he focused after his release."
Kate:
23 - Do sand and shells and stones
24 - Peep in through your night?
25 - But you should not be hurt
26 - For all will pass with time.
27 - We have been far through this night long hours.
28 - We will go far, tomorrow, out of sight, ooh...
John:
29 - "In the third week of the relationship
30 - She was tripping on organic acid,
31 - Would stop to pick up a rained-out leaf,
32 - Would give it tenderly into his hand--
33 - Full of dead things before they reached the car.
34 - When they drove she sat with mouth open
35 - As though photographed on the impact of a stomach punch,
36 - Her right fist gripping the skin of his left leg.
37 - Hooking the steering-wheel closer to his heart,
38 - He feared her, and slapped out sideways into her face.
39 - She entered the cut with her tongue,
40 - Gurgling gratitude for the strange taste."
Kate:
41 - Do you fear the dark?
42 - Then hush, and realise
43 - That though the angels never come,
44 - Prayers can soothe your mind.
45 - We have been far through this night long hour.
46 - We will go far, tomorrow, out of sight, ooh...
John:
47 - "There was no premonition of the wet Hog's back.
48 - The sportscar slumped, snout into a beech,
49 - Their corpses giving the vehicle arms,
50 - Petrol and blood at last dripping together.
51 - But quick flashes of a planned lunch:
52 - Cold red beef, white cloth by a cherrywood fire,
53 - Game pie, and for him two pints of colder beer,
54 - The winter air tucking under their eyelids
55 - As they spun on the gravel at Clandon;
56 - Their hands steaming from quick moisture,
57 - The aromatic finger drawn up to his nostril--
58 - Dazed after mutual masturbation,
59 - They zigzagged into a conservative end."
Kate:
60 - Oh hush, my friend, and sleep...
- line 35: difficult to hear, "stomach punch" added from poem below.
"Before the Fall"
IED has managed to find a copy of John Carder Bush's original poem, "Before the
Fall". This poem formed the basis for John's spoken text on the early Kate Bush
recording which bootleggers and we have mistakenly taken to calling Organic Acid.
That is, of course, not the actual title. And although we still don't know what Kate's
original song was called (after all, it was almost certainly not written for JCB's
poem, but was simply combined with it later during performances), "Before the Fall"
now seems a more legitimate (though admittedly less fun) title than Organic Acid.
Here is the poem exactly as it was originally written (it includes many lines that
were omitted from the recorded version, and lacks a word here and there as well):
He got her drunk very quickly:
holding hands they found the broom cupboard
where he had control as far as the fall,
the rasping descent of her tights.
When his hand covered wet hairs
she took over among furniture wax, dust,
the cloying yellow of polishing cloth.
When he was sick
she comforted him.
He couldn't do it properly: the club,
the office had left out details of delight.
Satisfied, he would collapse out,
puzzled at why she still squirmed,
held on to him, tears curling into her mouth.
This was something stories always omitted:
that her joy would seem like pain
when he focused after release.
In the third week of the relationship
she was tripping on organic acid,
would stop, pick up a rained out leaf,
would give it into his hand,
full of dead things before they reached the car.
When they drove she sat with mouth open
as though photographed on the impact
of a stomach punch, her right hand gripping
the skin of his leg: he feared her,
slapped out sideways into her face.
She touched the cut with her tongue,
gurgling gratitude for the strange taste.
He stood looking through uncleaned windows,
concentrated on the yellow of his car below.
On the uncarpeted floor, with practice,
she closed her eyes and drew on the cigarette.
Twill jacket and polo-neck made him sweat,
his nape skin red from a hair cut.
Between two smokers she smiled up at him;
as the weed approached he apologised
suddenly wanting familiar territories:
beer, to put his hand up her skirt.
At the bottom of the limbed stairs
he booted the cat, a drop kick in their twenty-five
as he imagined her sylph laugh
gathering chuckles around the room.
There was no premonition of the wet Hog's Back,
sports car slumped snout into a beach,
their corpses giving the vehicle arms,
petrol and blood at last dripping together
but quick flashes of a planned lunch,
cold red beef and a cherry wood fire,
game pie and for him two pints of colder beer,
the winter air tucking under their eye lids,
spinning on the gravel at Clandon:
the hand steaming from quick moisture,
the aromatic finger drawn back into his nose.
Dazed after mutual masturbation
they slewed into a conservative end.
-- John Carder Bush
1 - Moving stranger,
2 - Does it really matter,
3 - As long as you're not afraid to feel?
4 - Touch me, hold me.
5 - How my open arms ache!
6 - Try to fall for me.
7 - How I'm moved.
8 - How you move me
9 - With your beauty's potency.
10 - You give me life.
11 - Please don't let me go.
12 - You crushed the lily in my soul, soul, soul.
13 - Moving liquid--
14 - Yes, you are just as water.
15 - You flow around all that comes in your way.
16 - Don't think it over,
17 - It always takes you over,
18 - And sets your spirit dancing.
19 - How I'm moved.
20 - How you move me
21 - With your beauty's potency.
22 - You give me life.
23 - Please don't let me go.
24 - Give me life.
25 - Please don't let me go.
26 - Oh, you give me life.
27 - Please don't a let me go.
28 - You crushed the lily in my soul, soul, soul.
- The lyrics are identical to the album version.
"Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake"
(demo version)
1 - Emma's come down.
2 - She's stopped the light
3 - Shining out of her eyes.
4 - Emma's been run out on.
5 - She's breaking down
6 - In so many places,
7 - Stuck in low gears
8 - Because of her fears
9 - Of the skidding wheels,
10 - (The skid of her wheels she feels.)
11 - Skidding wheels,
12 - (The skid of her wheels she feels.)
13 - Skidding wheels.
14 - (Wheel-skidding feeling.)
15 - Her heart is there,
16 - But they've greased the road.
17 - Her heart is there,
18 - But she's no control.
19 - Come on, you've got to use your flow.
20 - You know what it's like, and you know you want to go.
21 Don't drive too slowly.
22 Don't put your blues where your shoes should be.
23 Don't put your foot on the heartbrake.
24 - She's losing that inner flame.
25 - It was burning bright,
26 - But she's losing the fight fast.
27 - She's only herself to blame.
28 - Remember yourself,
29 - And remember Georgie.
30 - But she's so O.D.'d on weeping [O.D. = overdosed]
31 - And she can hardly see
32 - She's dropping beads.
33 - (Red, red glass is bleeding.)
34 - Dropping beads.
35 - (Red, red glass is bleeding.)
36 - Dropping beads.
37 - (Red, red on the parquet.)
38 - Her heart is out there,
39 - But they've greased the road.
40 - Her heart is out there,
41 - But she's no control.
42 - Oh, come on, you've got to use your flow.
43 - You know what it's like, and you know you want to go.
44 - Don't drive too slowly.
45 - Don't put your blues where your shoes should be.
46 - Don't put your foot on the heartbrake.
47 - Oh, come on, you've got to use your flow.
48 - You know what it's like, and you know you want to go.
49 - Don't drive too slowly.
50 - Don't put your blues where your shoes should be.
51 - Don't put your foot on the heartbrake.
- line 7: album version: "Stuck in low gear."
- line 28: "Well, take care of yourself" (album)
- line 32: "That she's dropping beads." (album)
- line 38: "Her heart is there," (album)
1 - Beelzebub is aching in my belly-o.
2 - My feet are heavy and I'm rooted in my wellios.
3 - And I want to get away and go
4 - From all these mirror windows.
5 - I look at eye level, it isn't good enough.
6 - And then I find it out when I take a good look up.
7 - There's a hole in the sky with a big eyeball
8 - Calling me:
9 - "Come up and be a kite,
10 - And fly a diamond night
11 - A diamond kite, a diamond kite.
12 - Ooh, what a diamond!
13 - "A diamond kite
14 - On a diamond flight.
15 - Over the lights, under the moon.
16 - Over the lights, under the moon.
17 - Over the moon, over the moon!"
18 - I feel a rush along my body, like a bullet.
19 - I'm 2-D after a push-and-pull feeling.
20 - And I want to get back to safe home:
21 - Cause I love that dome.
22 - I got no limbs, I'm like a feather on the wind.
23 - Well, I'm not sure if I want to be up here, at all.
24 - And I'd like to be back on the ground,
25 - But I don't know how to get down--down--down!
26 - "Come up and be a kite,
27 - And fly a diamond night
28 - A diamond kite, a diamond kite.
29 - Ooh, what a diamond!
30 - "A diamond kite
31 - On a diamond flight.
32 - Over the lights, oooh, under the moon.
33 - Over the lights, oooh, under the moon.
34 - Over the moon, over the moon!"
- line 21: "I love the homeland dome." (album)
- line 23: no "Well" in the album version.
"L'Amour Looks Something Like You"
(demo version)
1 - You came out of the night,
2 - Wearing a mask in white colour.
3 - My eyes were shining
4 - On the wine, and your aura.
5 - All in order, we move into the boudoir,
6 - But too soon the morning has resumed.
7 - I'm hanging on the Old Goose Moon.
8 - You look like an angel,
9 - Sleeping it off at a station.
10 - Were you only passing through?
11 - I'm dying for you just to touch me,
12 - And feel all the energy rushing right up-a-me.
13 - L'amour looks something like you.
14 - The thought of you sends me shivery.
15 - I'm dressed in a lace, sailing down a black reverie.
16 - My heart is thrown
17 - To the pebbles and the boatmen.
18 - All the time I find I'm living in that evening,
19 - With that feeling of sticky love inside.
20 - I'm hanging on the Old Goose Moon.
21 - You look like an angel,
22 - Sleeping it off at a station.
23 - Were you only passing through?
24 - I'm dying for you just to touch me,
25 - And feel all the energy rushing right up-a-me.
26 - L'amour looks something like you.
27 - L'amour looks something like you.
28 - L'amour looks something like you.
- The lyrics are identical to the album version.
"Strange Phenomena"
(demo version)
1 - Soon it will be the phase of the moon
2 - When people tune in.
3 - Every girl knows about the punctual blues,
4 - But who's to know the power behind our moves?
5 - A day of coincidence with the radio,
6 - And a word that won't go away.
7 - We know what they're all going to say.
8 - "G" arrives--"Funny, had a feeling he was on his way!"
9 - We raise our hats to the strange phenomena.
10 - Soul-birds of a feather flock together.
11 - We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us.
12 - Sure 'nuff, he has the answer,
13 - He has the answer
14 - He has the answer,...
15 - "Oooohooo hoooo...
16 - Oooohooo hoooo...
17 - Oooohooo hoooo..."
18 - You pick up a paper. You read a name.
19 - You go out. It turns up again and again.
20 - You bump into a friend you haven't seen for a long time,
21 - Then into another you only thought about last night.
22 - You hear your sister calling for you,
23 - But you don't know where from.
24 - You know there's something wrong,
25 - But you don't want to believe in a premonition.
26 - We raise our hats to the strange phenomena.
27 - Soul-birds of a feather flock together.
28 - We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us.
29 - Sure 'nuff, he has the answer,
30 - He has the answer
31 - He has the answer,...
32 - "Oooohooo hoooo...
33 - Oooohooo hoooo...
34 - Oooohooo hoooo..."
- line 15 - 17 and 32 - 34: the album version has:
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme hum
1 - Here in the studio,
2 - As they're turning down the lights,
3 - I lick my lips to start the first line--
4 - How can this girl be me?
5 - "Oh, little thing, are you looking lost?"
6 - The vertigo, the need to lose.
7 - Ooh, ooh...
8 - They try to trip me up and tapes begin to spin. [ca. 0'35]
9 - I feel a little sick and hope my notes are in.
10 - I try to put it all in, do it for you.
11 - Don't even know you but I need you to love me, too.
12 - They try to trip me up and tapes begin to spin. [ca. 0'50]
13 - I feel a little sick and hope my notes are in.
14 - I try to put it all in, do it for you.
15 - Don't even know you but I need you to love me, too.
16 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going, [ca 1'05]
17 - Like a Romeo.
18 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going,
19 - Like a Romeo.
20 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going.
21 - Swimming amid the cans, [ca. 1'39]
22 - I wonder can I goad myself into another take,
23 - And keep the mood?
24 - It's like a film - such balance. [ca. 1'48]
25 - I close my eyes to the cello solo, and ache.
26 - The music will never let me blow away - you-oo
27 - You know the feeling when you're on the right track. [ca. 2'02]
28 - You fall in love and you're never gonna turn it back.
29 - It's recording you, they're so sensitive.
30 - Oozing without me, spilling over with secrets.
31 - You know the feeling when you're on the right track. [ca. 2'16]
32 - You fall in love and you're never gonna turn it back.
33 - It's recording you, they're so sensitive.
34 - Oozing without me, spilling over with secrets.
35 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going, [ca. 2'31]
36 - Like a Romeo.
37 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going,
38 - Like a Romeo.
39 - Scares me silly, but it gets me going.
This is the hardest lyrics-nut to crack! What a wishy-washy!
- line 10/14: "I try to put it all into it for you."
- line 21: "Singing" or "Swinging"
- line 24: uncertain
- line 25/26: "..and ache. The.." uncertain. Also puctuation, lineage uncertain.
Sounds like "an-eightnic", maybe an adjective?
" - you-oo" at the end uncertain, possibly just a "yoohoo".
- line 29/33: uncertain
- line 30/34: Complete mystery.
"Babooshka" 1
(early, solo-piano demo version)
1 - She wanted to test her husband.
2 - She knew exactly what to do:
3 - A pseudonym to fool him.
4 - She couldn't have made a worse move. [worst?]
5 - She sent him scented letters.
6 - She was a delightful detective,
7 - Just like his wife
8 - But how she was before the tears,
9 - And how she was before the years flew by,
10 - And how she was when she was beautiful.
11 - She signs the letter
12 - "All yours,
13 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
14 - All yours,
15 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"
16 - She wanted to take it further,
17 - So she arranged a place to go,
18 - To see if he
19 - Would fall for her incognito.
20 - And when he laid eyes on her,
21 - He got the feeling that he knew her well.
22 - Uncanny how she
23 - Reminds him of his fiancee [ca. 1'26]
24 - She seems to know the way to please him,
25 - Just like his wife before she freezed on him,
26 - Just like his wife when she was beautiful.
27 - He shouted out, "I'm
28 - All yours,
29 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
30 - All yours,
31 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya! [to fade-out]
- line 23: this line is given in HG 2 (and 45).
the album version has: "Reminds him of his little lady."
the rhythm box demo has: "Can take him back into a piece of past."
"Babooshka" 2
("rhythm-box" demo version)
1 - She wanted to test her husband.
2 - She knew exactly what to do:
3 - A pseudonym to fool him.
4 - She couldn't have made a worse move. [worst?]
5 - She sent him scented letters,
6 - And he received them with a strange delight.
7 - Just like his wife
8 - But how she was before the tears,
9 - And how she was before the years flew by,
10 - And how she was when she was beautiful.
11 - She signed the letter
12 - "All yours,
13 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
14 - All yours,
15 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"
16 - She wanted to take it further,
17 - So she arranged a place to go,
18 - To see if he
19 - Would fall for her incognito.
20 - And when he laid eyes on her,
21 - He got the feeling that he knew her well.
22 - Uncanny how she
23 - Can take him back into a piece of past. [ca. 1'27]
24 - Can say the things that make him want to laugh,
25 - Just like his wife before she freezed on him,
26 - Just like his wife when she was beautiful.
27 - He shouted out, "I'm
28 - All yours,
29 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
30 - All yours,
31 - Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya! [to fade-out]
- line 23: this line is given in HG 2 (and 45).
the album version has: "Reminds him of his little lady."
the early piano demo version has: "Reminds him of his fiancee."
To the top
To Phoenix
To the Gaffaweb Table of Contents