Recently in Songs Category
This afternoon, at the time of writing, The Huddersfield Giants are playing in the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final. We did a kind of tribute song for them called 13 Men, which you can hear on our MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/thescaremongers
Neil Atkinson of the mighty
Huddersfield Daily Examiner interviewed Young Armitage about it, and printed the lyrics - thanks, Neil:
13 Men in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Best of luck this afternoon, Giants.
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Sue Roberts, Smith
Bass: Glen Smith
Keyboards: Nick Watts
Guitars: Martin Malone
The Rest: Smith
Recorded and mixed: Steve Whitfield (aided by Dez)
Recorded and mixed at Chairworks in Castleford, 1st-3rd March 2008
Mastered by Pob
Smith says:
The annoying thing about Cardigan Girl is the composition was pretty much all Armitage's work. The guy is bored of a weekday, picks up his guitar and writes his first song, and it's a corker. I added the acoustic bit at the beginning, (and that's my first vocal on record, three cheers for me) but other than, it's Armitage all the way. Doesn't he have enough stuff he's good at without invading my turf?
This is the first appearance of real drums on our songs, (along with Modesty and Grace), which is a big step forward. And it's also the first appearance of Martin Malone on guitar. Martin used to be in the band Eskimo Chains, (in fact, I think he used to be the band Eskimo Chains) and his magificent jangle-athon really makes this record. The other great characteristic, from our point of view, is Nick Watts' excellent Hamond work. We were after something that hinted at Felt without being transparently a Felt rip off, and Nick nailed it. Similarly, we wanted Martin's guitar work to be Johnny Marr-esque, (we were thinking Big Mouth Strkes Again) without being blatent, and Martin's naturally exhuberant fretwork caught that mood perfectly.
Ned Williams created a great video for Cardigan Girl. Thanks, Ned:
Cardigan Girl on the worn-out station
Trains haven't stopped here since the dawn of creation
I'm watching you now through the upstairs curtain
Cardigan Girl, Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl on the unmanned station
Trains haven't stopped here since the dawn of creation
Watching you now through the upstairs curtains
Cardigan Girl, C-C-C-Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl, with your retro shades on
A boy like me could kill your reputation
But it's not in my nature to try and suggest some shenanigans, girl
C-C-C-Cardigan Girl
Have you really got somewhere better to go
Like a Cardigans gig or a Charlatans show
Are you feeling the heat in this most un-English weather
If I came down there with melted snow
And some tunes I taped from a radio show
Could we sit and dream, listen and talk together
Until whenever
Cardigan Girl, with your knitwear and jeans on
Are you cold to the bones or is coolness the reason
Your feathers are white at the height of the season
Ptarmigan Girl, C-C-C-Cardigan Girl
Would you think I'm forward if I smiled or waved, girl
Would you think me backward if I opened my cakehole
Am I something stuck to the taproom carpet
Am I something left over at the farmer's market
Cardigan Girl, on the empty platform
I'm thinking of entering terminal freefall
I'm thinking of chucking myself at your feet, girl
Cardigan Girl, C-C-C-Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl on the unmanned station
Trains haven't stopped here since the dawn of creation
Watching you now through the upstairs curtains
Cardigan Girl, C-C-C-Cardigan Girl
Have you really got somewhere better to go
Like a Cardigans gig or a Charlatans show
Are you feeling the heat in this most un-English weather
If I came down there with melted snow
And some tunes I taped from a radio show
Could we sit and dream, listen and talk together
Until whenever
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Cardigan Girl
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Sue Roberts, Smith
Bass: Glen Smith
Keyboards: Nick Watts
Stylophone: Steve Whitfield
Cymbal Crash: Dez
The Rest: Smith
Recorded and mixed: Steve Whitfield (aided by Dez)
Recorded and mixed at Chairworks in Castleford, 1st-3rd March 2008
Mastered by Pob
Smith says:
I seem to classify songs by where I wrote them, or where I came up with the first idea for them. Some songs are Shelley songs, the ones I wrote when I was living at home with my parents. There are some college songs, which I wrote when I was away in Manchester. There are some post-Poly songs, which were written either in Shelley or Scissett. There are some Sheffield songs, (but really not that many - I started recording when I was living in Sheffield, and so it was more about learning to document what I'd written, rather than writing anything new). And there are a few London songs, and Modesty and Grace is definitely a London song.
I wrote it over a chord loop on Cubase, and it was going to be a dazzling Europop classic, except I couldn't get the verses to sit right. The riff and the hook were in place, and the vocal line, but it didn't sing very well, and all my verses were shamefully trite - I had this notion it could be translated into French, as everything sounds better when it's sung in French. The 'whores of fate' refrain wasn't there at the time - that arrived courtesy of Armitage when he got his ink-stained fingers on it, as did the words for the verses. And it was too slow, and it sounded lame.
So when it came to recording it, we speeded it up, and put real drums on it, which were really just a drum loop with a few fills dropped in. We didn't have a middle 8 for it, so we concocted one in the studio. I love the guitar on the break (a Les Paul Studio through a Fender Deluxe amp, guitar geeks), and I love the Hammond that Nick plays (a real Hammond - my dream's come true!) but the thing that really moves it along is Glen's bass line, which is subtle but gives it such a pulse! (True confessions - when we came up with the bassline, we were thinking of Red Light Spells Danger by Billy Ocean, one of the great disco classics).
Lyrics
Modesty and GraceRemember the incident at the motorway service station
A five ton trucker called the police
The sovereign and chain gang were giving the burger boy aggravation
You handed out the pick-and-mix of peace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
The pimped-up petrolheads were pushing hard for a confrontation
Squealing tyres and handbrake turns
The way you ignored them was a kind of international condemnation
The kind of coolness that burns
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
(The whores of fate hitch up their skirts
The dogs of war reach the gates
The saints unmask their sneers and smirks
You walk on through time and space)
While every nation speaks annihilation unto nation
And every party ends in tears
While every person preaches poison unto person
I watch you walking through the years
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
Modesty and Grace
(The whores of fate hitch up their skirts
The dogs of war reach the gates
The saints unmask their sneers and smirks
You walk on through time and space)
Credits:
Director - Martin McDonnell (martin @ blackboxfilms . .com )
Producer - Rob Miller (robmiller22 @ hotmail . com)
Camera - Sam Al-Kadi
G Brown - Christian Hayes
Scaremongers - Chisara Agor
- Kyle Bennett
- Chloe Downes
- Adam Dransfield
- Malachi O'Shea
Video directed by Ned Williams.
The Scaremongers – If You Ever Leave Me
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Sue Roberts
Bass: Matt Brook
Keyboards: Nick Watts
The Rest: Smith
Engineer: Jason Salisbury
Mixed and Mastered: Steve Whitfield
Recorded at HD1 in Huddersfield, 17th-18th November 2007
Mixed: Chairworks, Castleford, 18th December 2007
Smith says:
I can't think of a full song that I've written since I put together the basics of If You Ever Leave Me, so as things stand this is the last song I ever wrote. As that was back in 2002, it doesn't bode well for The Scaremongers long-term welfare, not if it relies on me to instigate the songs.
It is perhaps the simplest to put write, even though I've tried to record it before on my own and failed. Armitage used the framework of my original lyric and ran with it, adding an extra chorus and a half, and writing the female vocal line. Recording was done in parallel with Less Is More at HD1 with Jason Salisbury and finished with Steve Whitfield at Chairworks. The arrangement I'd put together was a little bit too fussy, and some guitar lines needed stripping out. I need to remember to keep things simple. Matt Brook played simple, straight-forward bass, Nick Watts played simple, straight-forward organ, the vocals are simple and straight-forward, and there's nothing in the least bit complex about the drums. The only flourishes were guitar lines from the original demo I did at home, which weren't meant to stay but because we were running out of time and they did the job, we left them in rather than getting out my guitar and amp and re-recording them. Needs must, as they say.
Lyrics
If You Ever Leave Me
(She)
You're watching heaven can wait
I'm slipping out through the garden gate
(He)
If you ever leave me, you'll be sorry
In the movie in my head, you're traumatised
A door slams and it brings down all the scenery
Niagra comes cascading from your eyes
It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With the tea leaves in the sink
you'll write a poem from the brink
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine
(She)
You're telling everyone everything's great
I'm halfway down the fire escape
(He)
If you ever leave me, you'll be sorry
You're weeping in the cafe where we met
Feeding at the trough of melancholy
Choking on the fishbones of regret
It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With letters on the fridge
you'll write a poem from the edge
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine
It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With anthacite and litter
write a letter from the landfill site
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine
With the airbag in your teeth
You'll give a sorry sounding speech
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine
The Scaremongers – Less is More
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Sue Roberts
Guitar: Matt Brook
Keyboards: Nick Watts
The Rest: Smith
Engineer: Jason Salisbury
Mixed and Mastered: Steve Whitfield
Recorded at HD1 in Huddersfield, 17th-18th November 2007
Mixed: Chairworks, Castleford, 18th December 2007
Smith says:
I wrote the melody and chords for Less Is More in a room I was renting in Arthog Road, Didsbury, back when I was a student at Manchester Poly between 1986/7. One of my pals had mentioned that Easterhouse were the up and coming band in Manchester, and stopping in one night I wrote a song I was convinced was Easterhouse-esque, even though I hadn't even heard them at that juncture. (As it turned out, I went on to play in a band with a couple of ex-members of Easterhouse when I drummed for Lloyd Almighty, ten years later). The song sat in my back catalogue of unfinished clutter for 20 years, with a provisional title of I've Got a Promise On, till I thought it might be suitable for The Scaremongers.
I sent Armitage a rough draft of the tune with some deliberately crap lyrics. It has always had crap lyrics, even when I tried hard - often shamefully bad, occasionally magnificently bad, but the words I sent up to Yorkshire were bad by choice. The hook Less Is More was there, but I didn't expect it to stay. I was sure nothing would remain of my draft lyrics, but when Armitage sent it back, he'd picked the punchline 'less is more' and chucked the rest. He has a lovely way of tweaking the tune to really make it his own: the whole bit from 'Does nature make us what we are' to 'But then I see those clothes' was his invention, and the song is a lot better for it, in my opinion.
I drafted in a couple of pals for the recording. My guitar playing has improved a bit, but I needed someone else to fill in where I was struggling, so Matt Brook was kind enough to make one in. When The Scaremongers went into the studio for You Can Do Nothing Wrong and Nodding Dog, I hadn't had chance to sit down beforehand with Glen and Geoff, bass player and guitarist respectively, in order to teach them the songs. The poor boys were thrown in the deep end, having to learn the songs and their parts almost in the same moment as recording them. It's no way to record - it puts real pressure on the players, and though they coped admirably, we knew we couldn't do it that way again. So it really helped that Matt lives local to me in Streatham as we could rehearse before we went in. He played some of the lead lines toward the end of the song, as well as bass on If You Ever Leave Me.
The keyboards on You Can Do Nothing Wrong and Nodding Dog were all programmed, and while they didn't come out too bad, I wanted the real thing this time. There was only one choice: Nick Watts is the best musician I have played with, (and I've played with some beauties!) and he can switch between any number of styles - jazz, soul, classical, pop - at the drop of a hat. He can improvise, is happy to sit back if that's what the song requires, or can really let rip if needed. I played with him for several years in the Dez Lawrence Soul Explosion and when he plays organ, you'd think Booker T Jones was running through his blood. I hadn't seen Nick for a few years, so it was a great chance to reunite with him and catch up.
We recorded Less Is More along with If You Ever Leave Me at HD1 in Huddersfield with Jason Salisbury. As was the case with You Can Do Nothing Wrong and Nodding Dog, we weren't quite sure what we were after, and Jason did a stirling job trying help us discover it, but we only had two days, and by the time our time was up we hadn't quite found the mix we were after. We knew we'd need another day, so we thought we'd give a different studio and engineer a try. This is no criticism of Jason, who worked really hard for us and got us a long way down the road, but we're on a steep learning curve, and we're still looking for our ideal way of working.
We resumed at the Chairworks in Castleford with the freelance engineer Steve Whitfield. Chairworks is a new studio complex just off the M62, and I think it's going to prove to be an excellent facility when it's finished: it's very good as it is. And we really enjoyed working with Steve, too: there were a couple of parts we needed to add that our first session lacked - tambourine, a vocal line from the middle section - but otherwise it was a case of sitting back and letting him work, and seeing if we liked the results when he'd finished. And we did.
All we can do each time we record is make the recordings incrementally better than last time - we don't have unlimited sums to spend on unlimited time in a studio, so we have to be quick and bold, and learn from our mistakes - and I believe this time is overall better than our first time, sonically, just like the next things we record will sound better than these.
Lyrics
Less Is More
Go on, go out, I'll hit the couch
With Chateaux Neuf de Pape and Monster Munch
And while you're changing
My imagination kangeroos from hunch to hunch
In love, together and alone
I'd never claim possession of you, goodness knows
But you're the only decent thing I own
I hear those shoes and then I see those clothes
Less is more
Less is more
So what's the score?
Less is more
Less is more
So what's the score?
It's getting dark, it's getting late
When I consider how my light is spent
And killing me to sit here waiting
Contemplating what that outfit meant
In love, together and alone
I'd never claim possession of you, goodness knows
But you're the only decent thing I own
I hear those shoes and then I see those clothes
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
And now you're heading for the door in a back-less dress
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
You're one part leopard print and five parts flesh
I'm not a greedy man
I'm just a simple also-ran
So I'm familiar defeat
But in my heart I still believe
Does nature make us what we are?
And is there life beyond the stars?
It's coming dawn and in my brain
Your naked shoulders are as cold as meat
The vultures circle, homing in
Down at the sorry end of Stag Night Street
Does nature make us what we are?
No one knows
And is there life beyond the stars?
No one knows
And who're you cooing with, my dove?
No one knows
And do I trust you with our love?
I suppose
But then I see those clothes
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
And now you're heading for the door in a back-less dress
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
You're one part leopard print and five parts flesh
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
Get back upstairs, put on a polo neck
Less is more
(More or less)
Less is more
(More or less)
So what's the score?
Maybe for other people it would get tedious, but I'm still thrilled to hear myself on the radio. Maybe it's vanity, maybe I'm like narcissus staring into a pond at my own reflection, but so what: The Scaremongers were on Radcliffe and Maconie, again, and I couldn't be happier.
The Scaremongers are good friends with the glorious Pocketbooks, who just released their first single Cross The Line on Atomic Beat Records. I've known singer Emma for ages, and I'm thrilled for her that Pocketbooks are starting to get somewhere. And it seems the feeling is reciprocated - she dropped me this Facebook message yesterday:
"Not sure what your plans are for NYE, but I'm guest DJing at How Does It Feel To Be Loved in Brixton and I plan to play a Scaremongers song!"
Which is particularly kind of her. Unfortunately, both Armitage and Smith will be away for New Year, (in fact they'll be in a huge old farmhouse together with their respectives bopping away to The Scaremongers at the stroke on midnight), but I can state categorically that:
a) we are both made up that Emma thinks enough of the songs to play one of them out in the wild, (I forgot to ask which one - Emma, if you're reading this, which song will you be playing, or is it a surprise?)
b) at the time of writing, this is the first and only time The Scaremongers have been or have been pencilled in to be played in a discotheque environment, which gives Emma a first of some kind
c) we know Emma's got a fabulous pop sensibility and everything she plays on New Year's Eve will be absolutely first rate, so if you've got nothing planned for the festivities that night and London isn't too much of a stretch for you, a night at How Does It Feel To Be Loved would be the perfect way to dance into 2008.
Thanks for spinning whichever song you play, Emma.
Nodding Dog
So it all went to pot, girl,
when you talked to the shop-girl,
about white Rolls Royces and mobile disco vans.
And you opened the page, girl,
full of page-boys and cakes, girl,
and honeymoon retreats and wedding dress meringues.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
So your mother’s cut up,
so your dad beats me up,
and your brother’s playing clackers with my knackers and my knees.
Now you want all your records back,
and your books and your Apple Mac,
and the Love Heart we licked when we just sixteen.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
Sod the sarnies and seating plan,
sod the aunties and vol-au-vents,
sod the strangers queuing up to shake my hand.
Let's just hit Las Vegas, girl,
in t-shirts and trainers, girl,
and we’ll walk the aisle in that dumb and distant land.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
You Can Do Nothing Wrong (In My Eyes)
(Boy)
Like all the rest -
you weep at sunsets in the west.
(Girl)
Like all the least -
you sleep through sunrise in the east.
(Boy)
You’re a daddy’s girl -
he buys you dresses and you twirl.
(Girl)
You’re mummy’s boy -
in snake-belt kex and corduroy.
(Boy)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go mental for pills and smokes,
(Girl)
and some go sleeping with other blokes,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes
(Boy)
You took me in -
with pillow talk and Bombay gin.
(Girl)
You walked me home -
I woke up naked and alone.
(Boy)
I plucked a rose -
and strew the petals on your clothes.
(Girl)
That rose was dead -
It passed away behind the shed.
(Boy)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go looking for tabs and wraps,
(Girl)
and some go loafing with lesser lads,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes
(Boy)
You watch the dawn -
and talk about the earth reborn.
(Girl)
You watch the dusk -
like watching iron turn to rust.
(Boy)
If looks could kill -
they’d find me slaughtered on the hill.
(Girl)
The day you laugh -
I’d frame it in a photograph.
(Both)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go hunting for thrills and flings,
(Girl)
and some find fault in every little thing,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
The Scaremongers – Nodding Dog
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Speedy Sue
Rhythm Guitar: Geoff Bird
Bass: Glen Smith
The Rest: Smith
Engineer: Jason Salisbury
Recorded at HD1 in Huddersfield, June 26th/27th and July 26th 2007
Smith says:
Another song from the cavernous back catalogue of tunes that were clogging up shelf space in our house. It was originally called The Day Lady Died, and as I recall it was about euthanasia! A badly written song about euthanasia, at that! When I send songs to Armitage, unless there's something in there that I really want to keep, I make a point of writing the most terrible lyrics I can come up with, so he can come at it without any pre-conceptions about what it should be about, but nothing I have sent him has been as bad as the euthanasia lyrics.When he sent back his first draft, he'd made a couple of twists to the melody that I just didn't get, so I did my own draft, loosely based on his, and sent it to him. Then, when we finally sat down and compared the two versions to a musical backing, it turned out he was right and I was wrong. He took a couple of lines from mine - Let the Disco Play Del Shannon's Runaway was mine - but the rest is all his.
Recording it was easy. Mixing it was even easier - there's hardly anything to it. Geoff's choppy rhythm guitar dominates very satisfyingly, and the handclaps were great fun to put together: four lads in the vocal booth larking about. I'm not sure about the guitar solos - as one of Armitage's confederates said, 'tell your guitarist to get down off his amp stack!' That was me, living out my Angus Young obsession.
Lyrics
Nodding Dog
So it all went to pot, girl,
when you talked to the shop-girl,
about white Rolls Royces and mobile disco vans.
And you opened the page, girl,
full of page-boys and cakes, girl,
and honeymoon retreats and wedding dress meringues.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
So your mother’s cut up,
so your dad beats me up,
and your brother’s playing clackers with my knackers and my knees.
Now you want all your records back,
and your books and your Apple Mac,
and the Love Heart we licked when we just sixteen.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
Sod the sarnies and seating plan,
sod the aunties and vol-au-vents,
sod the strangers queuing up to shake my hand.
Let's just hit Las Vegas, girl,
in t-shirts and trainers, girl,
and we’ll walk the aisle in that dumb and distant land.
So let the disco play
Del Shannon’s “Runaway”
then picture us two looking naff
inside a wine-glass photograph.
Someday soon we’ll live as one
but something tells you something’s wrong,
I’m a nodding dog but God I’m not fooling anyone.
The Scaremongers – You Can Do Nothing Wrong (In My Eyes)
Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Speedy Sue
Bass: Glen Smith
The Rest: Smith
Engineer: Jason Salisbury
Recorded at HD1 in Huddersfield, June 26th/27th and July 26th 2007
Smith says:
The melody for You Can Do Nothing Wrong (In My Eyes) was floating around my back catalogue of unfinished pop songs for many a year. I mean, probably twenty. It had a couple of lines here and there - something about Simon Bates being over the hill, and the You Can Do Nothing Wrong hook, but it wasn't about anything. It needed shoring up, some structure, a lyrical idea to tie it all together. This is where Armitage took it and ran with it, gave it some personality, a point.
It was the first song we worked on, passing it backwards and forwards over the internet. The original vocals on the beta version had myself and my better half duetting, and I'm still extremely fond of that version. When it came to be recorded in the studio, the female vocal was performed with great aplomb by Speedy Sue, a singer of the Old Skool - putting in a masterly performance as the other part in the song's duet. The bass is played by Glen Smith, formerly of the Dez Lawrence Soul Explosion - the finest soul band to ever grace the Bradford University Hall's Balls circuit. It's important to let people know that the spirit of Geoff Bird runs through the whole track - that lad is an inspiration, even though the guitar lines we'd asked him to play were not what the song needed - sorry, Geoff!
We'd had a couple of days in the studio working on this and Nodding Dog, and once we got the thing home, we realised it wasn't right - it didn't move like the demo did, and the vocals were too far down in the mix. So we booked another day and came out a lot happier.
Lyrics
You Can Do Nothing Wrong (In My Eyes)
(Boy)
Like all the rest -
you weep at sunsets in the west.
(Girl)
Like all the least -
you sleep through sunrise in the east.
(Boy)
You’re a daddy’s girl -
he buys you dresses and you twirl.
(Girl)
You’re mummy’s boy -
in snake-belt kex and corduroy.
(Boy)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go mental for pills and smokes,
(Girl)
and some go sleeping with other blokes,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes
(Boy)
You took me in -
with pillow talk and Bombay gin.
(Girl)
You walked me home -
I woke up naked and alone.
(Boy)
I plucked a rose -
and strew the petals on your clothes.
(Girl)
That rose was dead -
It passed away behind the shed.
(Boy)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go looking for tabs and wraps,
(Girl)
and some go loafing with lesser lads,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes
(Boy)
You watch the dawn -
and talk about the earth reborn.
(Girl)
You watch the dusk -
like watching iron turn to rust.
(Boy)
If looks could kill -
they’d find me slaughtered on the hill.
(Girl)
The day you laugh -
I’d frame it in a photograph.
(Both)
But like Humberside is Yorkshire still
and Lancashire is over the hill
and loneliness is Gaping Ghyll,
we never fought and we never will…
(Both)
‘Cos you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
You can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
(Boy)
Some go hunting for thrills and flings,
(Girl)
and some find fault in every little thing,
(Both)
but you can do nothing wrong in my eyes.
