Elephant Small Vol 1 Page 2
*** Number one with debut single!
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(* Contains ‘Smoke and Mirrors’)
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INTRO
1. (Hi-hat)
This is it, this is it, this is, this is, this is it
2. (Floor toms)
Down daddy, down daddy, down, down, down daddy
3. (Lead guitar)
Do-oo you-oo choo-oose to-oo
U-oose new-oo blue-oo shoes
How I howl wild woes woes wild wild woes
Howl a while woes wild wild woes woes wild
4. (Rhythm guitar)
Haha haha haha haha, haha haha, haha haha
Haha haha haha haha, hahaha
5. (Lead guitar)
Why-ee now-ow-ow-ow-owww
VERSE(S)
6/7. (Rhythm guitar/(Snare/Hi-hat)
Laughin’ lovin’, lovin’ laughin’ (Sit down sit down)
Lovin’ laughin’, laughin’ lovin (Down sit down sit)
Lovin’ laughin’, laughin’ lovin’ (Down down sit sit)
Laughin’ lovin’, lovin’ laughin’ (Down sit down sit)
(Repeat ad-lib)
LEAD BREAK/ENDING
8. (Lead Guitar)
Grrrowwll
Grrowl…grrowl-grrowl-grrowl-grrowl
How I - howl wild - woes wild - woes wild woes
Howl a while woes wild - wild woes wild woes wild
Grrrowll – grrowll - grrowll
9. (Rhythm guitar)
Gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp, gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp
Gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp, gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp
Gaaasp
10. (Lead guitar - to feedback)
Knee-eelin’ down now - kneeeel
Shrie-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee…ee…eek…growl…
12. There’s Only One
Persistent police pester prolific
Petty pilferers
Tactics teach teenage ticket touts to take
Shelter from the rain
Hushed whispers flush festering frustrations
From wind-swept faces
Senior citizens sway in the swell
Flags flap, slap and clap
Chattering children, shivering shyly
Sweep to the shrine
Wild, windy, wet weekend weather, welcomes
Faithful followers
Clinging cautiously, clustered companions
Combat cold and crowd,
Willingly waiting, anticipating
The Saturday scene
Battling gangs, bearing grudges, bond and group;
Banish grievances
Sympathies merge in single-minded song
‘There’s only one…’…what?
One spirit; one voice; one passion…one love…
…The Beautiful Game
13. S O L D O U T!
Due To Diminished Responsibility
The bookstore owner blamed the publisher
The publisher blamed the agency
The agency blamed the author
The author just blamed himself
Who could blame the reader
For his urgency?
Needs that cover
On his shelf
Fiction?
Fact
!
14. North/South Divide II
Show me the way, I think I’m lost
Someone give me some direction
I’m prepared to pay any cost
Just to reach my destination
Co-ordinates were very crude
Maps helped me out to some degree
What’s longitude and latitude?
All points north are clear to see
But it was south I headed for
A to Z index underneath
The maps I’d spread out on the floor
Drawn to scale; some in relief
My compass wouldn’t save the day
It lost me before I started
I couldn’t read it anyway
My route was not clearly charted
I found an ethnic take-away
I bought a curry and some rice
Sat down, ate it, couldn’t say
I liked the meal; it wasn’t nice
I chose the route I thought was best
The taste of the east was in my mouth
My confidence was going west
My northern mistrust of the south
Made me question my instruction
It’s never taken me this long
Usually there’s no disruption
This time something was going wrong
I saw a note for my attention
Opened it up and had to stare
Somebody forgot to mention
‘Thomas Place’ is now ‘Thomas Square’
Those ‘nice’ Southerners were to blame
Not the team back at the depot
Why did they have to change the name?
Just so Northerners couldn’t go?
15. Seven Ages of Man
They would call us the children of the damned
Our mother died when we were very young
Soon after, our father left, to be with her
We know how to say ‘good-bye’ to loved ones
At school, the teachers tried to educate
Work, rest and play, eat your food, wash your hands
Why couldn’t they understand our wisdom?
We already knew all there was to know
Gainful employment earned our daily bread
Promotions swiftly took us to the top
As employers, we could dictate our terms
We knew how to influence with standards
Only two of us ever got married
Honeymoon, anniversaries, children
We were blessed by offspring of both sexes
They grew with us and made our lives complete
Healthy pensions ensured our happiness
In retirement, life was good for a while
All the time we counted on our blessings
Our lives under control, until
Old age came quickly, followed by illness
Doctors and nurses; time in hospitals
No recovery, no second chances
Get it right first time, or die unfulfilled
But our lives didn’t end without meaning
Our time had come and we were well prepared
Children, grand-children, mourned at our graveside
Said ‘good-bye’ to the children of the damned
16. Karma Coma
I saw a programme on TV
About the gifts of man
Most gifted individuals say
“I do it ‘cause I can.”
But these were no ‘normal’ geniuses
They’d suffered coma, all
Long periods of unconsciousness
Awakened by the call
Now, things they’d never done before
Seem more than possible
They’re all now experts in new fields
It sounds improbable
Two years ago, on a motorbike
I had an accident
Unconscious for more than a week
Don’t know how long I spent
Recovering from the trauma
They said it was ‘touch and go’
In hospital; I don’t know where
I guess I’ll never know
When I came round some time later
I found I was confused
Too many concepts filled my head
My memory refused
To guide me through this new darkness
That shrouded some things past
One quest
ion that I asked myself
How long’s it going to last?
But I was able to use ‘gifts’
I never thought I had
Never an artist, but I painted
A portrait of my lad
It hangs upon his bedroom wall
Taking pride of place
Among all his long-gone heroes;
There but for the grace…
It’s not all glory, however
My temper’s very short
My eyesight’s deteriorating
And things I never thought
I could do, like Quantum Physics
Didn’t get past the stage
Of borrowing a book, or two
And reading the first page
In fact, I don’t know what it is
But I am very keen
To go and look it up – one day
And learn what it could mean.
17. LSD
You could have knocked me down with a feather
The first time my Gran mentioned LSD
I think you know just what I thought she meant
But did you know it means money?
Back to the time when we were small children
The ‘Olden Days’ were approaching past tense
Decimal currency hit the UK
Goodbye to (L) pounds, (s) shillings, and (d) pence
Penny for your thoughts? That’s twelve for a shilling
And two hundred and forty for a pound
Bargain basement nostalgia of times when
Lsd made the world go round
Bus fare to town was less than a ‘tanner’
‘Saturday Club’ at the old ABC
Sometimes the Odeon showed better pictures
If you had enough Lsd
Beano and Dandy, Topper and Whizzer
Catapults, cap-guns, balsa-wood planes
Upstairs at toy stores for hours at a time
How much Lsd for the trains?
‘Conkers’ was seasonal, ‘alleys’ as well
‘Footy’ was played every day, to a crowd
‘Ticky’, ‘Red Rover’ and ‘British Bulldog
No Lsd! No girls allowed!
Five Park Drive tipped and a book of matches
Change from a ‘bob’, four Mojo’s, a bubbly
Sweets were my cut, the ‘fags’ were my brother’s
Back in the days of Lsd
Just as Gran used to say, ‘those were the days’
Childhood memories that won’t fade for me
The addictions of children everywhere
Nothing to do with LSD
18. Fair Weather Friends
Brutal but clever
Birds of a feather
Choose surrogates for their brood
They don’t even watch
As their own eggs hatch
And others provide the food
A similar trait
And one we all hate
Displayed by some we call friends
Who live to receive
Flatter to deceive
Merely a means to their ends
Isn’t it funny?
When it gets sunny
That’s when these leeches appear
They stick to your back
And feel like a sack
But not full of Christmas cheer
According to climate
Leech becomes primate
Not a chip on your shoulder
Monkey on your back
Always ‘all right Jack’
Acceptance makes them bolder
When weekends seem wet
It’s an odds-on bet
They’re gone in a cloud of dust
They’re fair weather friends
They’ll grab what life sends
Taking advantage of trust
Use plenty of salt
If you want to halt
Parasites; it’s better for
Getting rid of pests
With selfish interests
More than just a metaphor
19. More Speed, Less Haste
Ferocious v Cautious
Never hesitate
Don’t procrastinate
Strike while the iron is hot
Don’t just stand and wait
Don’t be so sedate
React quickly as a shot
No time like today
Time won’t find a way
When time is of the essence
Wasting time won’t pay
No time to delay
Don’t give in to reticence
A single mission
No repetition
Be courageous, don’t succumb
To indecision
There’s no revision
Tomorrow may never come
Choose a lower gear
Careful as you steer
Study, argue and debate
Panic will bring fear
Don’t hurry, stay clear
Chill, mellow and marinate
And biding your time
Is never a crime
Don’t let a rush of blood
Cloud reason and rhyme
Ridicule the sublime
And convince you bad is good
So contemplate, learn
From bow to the stern
You have to negotiate
Each twist and turn
In time you will earn
The rewards of those who wait
20 The Bottom Line
I don’t hold in contempt the familiar
Without intimacy, how then faith?
Yet I yearn for acquaintance with the unknown
Without wisdom, how could there be hope?
People, places, things I know offer comfort
Without respect, how then charity?
But it’s you I turn to for sanctuary
Without goodness, how could there be love?
I don’t know who you are
Still, I know my faith gives me strength
I don’t know of your plans
Still, I know you’re my only hope
I don’t know I’m worthy
Still, I accept your charity
I can’t even prove you exist
Still, I love you…still, I love you
21. No Future
The future ended a long, long time ago
How do I know…? I was there!
But guess what? You were also there, beside me
It was more than I could bear
Right now, in this stationary, timeless void
It’s always late November
Endless winter – mocking spring’s broken promise
Taunting us to remember
Now, there’s only the past to look forward to
Ah! The past!…Oh! I can’t wait!
A time of promise and great expectation
A time to anticipate
We will have cause to predict prosperity
We will always get it right
We will think of our other, before our self
Why should we have cause to fight?
All those careful plans, we’ll make for tomorrow
We will feast upon the crumbs!
…Asphyxiated by irony…we’ll know
Why tomorrow never comes.
22. Denial
Do I really remember the Sixties?
Seventies? As well as Eighties, Nineties
Or is it only imagination?
Events just my playful, youthful mind sees?
Do I really remember The Beatles?
Monochrome TV and the days before
DVD, Internet, or Mobile Phone
There’s just NO WAY I can be forty four!
I refuse to believe I’m so ancient
Therefore those memories of times gone by
Mere visions of a fictional era
As seen through the gleam in my father’s eye.
23. Triolet – Time
I’m thi
nking about Time
And how it takes its toll
On our bodies and minds
I’m thinking…about time
I started to prepare
For when Time is no more
I’m thinking. About time!
Better late than never
24. You’ll Live Forever, In My Heart And Mind
Cast your spell, and conjure up your presence
We’ll walk together, hand in hand, again
Holding tightly, savouring the moment
You’ll touch my heart, and smile your perfect smile
A tree-lined avenue, springtime blossoms
Pinks to deepest crimson; glistening jewels
Reflecting shafts of evening’s golden glow
Pale, by comparison to one so fair
Aromatic, your favourite perfume
Drifts to the rhythm of a silent breeze
Surfing the senses, in wave after wave
Until we reach the point of no return
Compelled to walk away, by force unknown
The scene rotates, but part of you remains
The Earth emits a mournful, haunting sigh
So final…so profound…the saddest thing
Yet beautiful; a fitting, fond farewell
In recognition of your life of love
Echoing, and ever more intensely
In moments of despair, sadness, or fear
Calling out to me, offering succour
Reaching, drawing me into your bosom
‘There, there’, you whisper; comfort to your child
Your magic never really went away
25. A Life Of Convenience
What happens when all the good food runs out?
When the supermarkets don’t open late?
Will they expect us to just do without?
To take the last resort and seal our fate?
What happens when they shut their doors for good?
Or bad, more like. What do people do then?
The village stores are just not big enough
To cope with the demands of hungry men
There’ll be no choice; we’ll have to live on bread
And water, just like prisoners in jail
But our jail is the world that we have made
We’ll have to put our houses up for sale
Because we won’t be fit to go to work;
Toiling on empty stomachs doesn’t pay.
Are we not men? How come nobody knows?
Where does all the food come from anyway?
Take a look around you and you will see
Many people, not as well-off as you
People who have never known it better
People from countries, not so well-to-do