1. |
Best At Being Me
03:23
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Excuse me friend, but I think you forgot
That I know who you are, and I know who you’re not
This persona you’ve adopted all too recently
It just isn’t ringing true
Yeah I can’t tell who you think you’ll impress
With your phony personality and fancy dress
You’ve abandoned every scrap of your integrity
In a bid to start anew
But hang on, you won’t get very far
You’ve been false for so long you forgot who you are
I accept what I’m not and I’m all that I aspire to be
Yeah I’m best at being me
I always thought that being yourself was a given
Since you only get one life and that’s the one that you’re living
But I see so many people wearing flimsy disguises
That it leaves me short of breath (jeez)
But even worse are those motherlovers
Who inflate their bloated egos just by picking on others
Those attention-seeking bullies everybody despises
Let them talk themselves to death
‘Cause I know that the source of their hate
Is ‘cause they feel a strong urge to compensate
For the fact that they’re not half as great as they set out to be
Yeah I’m best at being me
So please don’t think that I am putting on a show
‘Cause what you see is what you get
For better or for worse I am this person and that’s all there is to know
But please don’t go, ‘cause there’s still some life in me yet
So I guess that unfortunately
I just can’t be the person you’d like me to be
I’ve gotta work with the things that I’m already stuck with, you see
‘Cause that’s all I know how to be
Yeah I’m best at being me
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2. |
Victoria
03:11
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We met in the grounds of an old country house
It was many years back in July
Where the sunshine beat down on the hard English ground
And Victoria smiled at the sky
We played cricket and cards and we propped up the bar
The piano roared into the night
So I sang Billy Joel and I sang from my soul
And Victoria clapped with delight
Though we beat on like boats in the current of Time
There are memories we can’t leave behind
All the people and places we never forget
Well Victoria’s still on my mind
When the girls met the man then the trouble began
There were clashes of passion and pride
But Victoria’s friendships meant more in the end
So Victoria stood to one side
All the journeys and joys that we treasure and share
All the lives that become intertwined
But I’m lost in a dream of nostalgia it seems
And Victoria’s still on my mind
How she wished that she’d missed watching them as they kissed
The indignity driving her blind
So she ran down the stairs with her tears in her hair
Leaving lovers and losers behind
So we run from the past as it snaps at our heels
But Time’s passage is often unkind
Though it fades over time, well the pain never dies
And it’s still on Victoria’s mind
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3. |
Danse Macabre
03:43
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Trapped like an insect in a spider’s web
Or a fish upon a hook
You’ve been absolutely spellbound, boy
Just a wink was all it took
Every movement seems to welcome you
From a flick of her hair to a swish of her skirt
But she’s waiting for a chance to stick a knife in your spine
And boy that will do more than hurt
You’re trying too hard
You won’t get very far boy
If she asks you to dance you’re gonna wind up doing the Danse Macabre
Other people shy away from her
Can you guess the reason why?
It’s been said that people dance with her
On the night before they die
Boy, you’re nothing but a snack for her
She’ll swallow ya whole and then spit out ya bones
She’ll break your heart and then she’ll stop it dead
And it’s nobody’s fault but your own ‘cuz you’re trying too hard
You won’t get very far boy
If she asks you to dance you’re gonna wind up doing the Danse Macabre
You know that you’ll never be missed
Just another name on her list
But how can you even resist, oh here we go
So you think you’ll be the first to win her heart
Or you think the risk is worth the thrill
If you seek it you’ll find it, and more than you bargained for, of that I’m sure
If only you realised that sometimes looks can kill
You won’t get very far
You’re trying much, much, much too hard
Yes yes you are, yes you’re trying too hard
You won’t get very far
If she asks you to dance you’re gonna wind up doing the Danse Macabre
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4. |
Springsteen
02:58
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There’s a darkness on the edge of town
I can feel it closing in
Oh there’s something in the night and it just ain’t right
Yeah it stinks of sweat of smoke and sin
These badlands just got worse
And the dream has disappeared
‘Cause the promised land we sought was never round here
Mr Springsteen can you hear me?
Can you tell me what I must do?
I don’t know any girls called Mary
But I really want to live my life like you
But further on up the road I see a glimmer of light
I’m gonna leave my city of ruins and head for paradise
It’s an empty sky and a lonesome day
‘Cause you’re missing, we’re worlds apart
But you’re waiting up that road, I know in my heart
Mr Springsteen do you receive me?
Is my message coming through?
‘Cause I’m telling ya Bruce, you’ve gotta believe me
You’re the reason that I’m doing what I do
So what if I never was never built to last?
‘Cause still I’ll stand my ground
Against the storm that’s ripping through this town
When night came down it came down fast
It chased me through the backstreets until at last I saw the sun
I saw her face in the sun
And if she’s the one
Then for tramps like her, maybe I was born to run
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5. |
The Tempest (Part Two)
05:51
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Lately I’ve been watching a storm gathering out on the ocean
Wondering if the stress from the thunder is bad for my health
Lately I’ve been sensing my life’s moving in slow motion
Guess I’m trying to tell you that lately I’ve not been myself
What does a tempest care for pauper or for prince?
It won’t discriminate, it makes no difference
We are all the same in the eye of the storm
Like the day that we die and the day we were born
We stand on the brink of insignificance
If you should stumble and fall I don’t think I could take it
So stand with your back to the wall or the tempest will break it
Please don’t be foolish, you are just a mortal man
You can run, you can hide, but you can’t prevent its arrival
There are forces of nature we’re unable to fight
Like the fall of the sun and the rise of the night
So take shelter my friend, it’s your only chance of survival
Stay close and keep hold of my hand and I think we can make it
Abandon your house on the sand or the tempest will shake it
So I’ll burn my books or drown them in the deepest ocean
Burn my books or drown them in the deepest ocean
Burn my books or drown them all and cast my sins away
So open wide and let me in
I will seep under your skin
Once I’m there you won’t feel pain
In fact you’ll never feel a thing again
The wind and rain will spit in your face but all in vain
You’ll be oblivious to it all, to it all
So take my hand, forget what’s been
Here’s to a cloudless future
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6. |
Walt Was Wrong
02:56
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I was thirteen when I realised that bastard Walt Disney had ruined my life
With false expectations that all situations would end in a sunny day
So fuck you Walt Disney ‘cause life just doesn’t work that way
It doesn’t matter how much you sing
You can plead ‘til you drop but it don’t mean a thing
And even if your sentiments ring true
You might capture her heart for a minute or two
But it’s superficial, she’s still not in love with you
If music holds such power then how come all my love songs never work?
Oooh I’m a jerk spewing my guts out to people pretending they care about me
Oh it’s sad but true that darling, you’re perfectly happy without me
Though it breaks my heart well that’s, that’s, that’s a fact (oh yeah)
Don’t shed any tears for me (Shed no tears)
And spare me all your sympathy (Honestly)
I didn’t have the balls to let you know (What a stupid motherfucker)
‘Cause I’m too fucking weak (Far too weak)
So I sing instead of speak (Just can’t speak)
Yeah I’ll play my stupid song and watch you go (So I’ll watch you go)
‘Cause I never thought that I had a chance to blow
But I never asked so how did I ever know?
‘Cause ten thousand love songs mean shit
If you simply can’t spit out the truth for real
If only I could find the words to tell you face to face how I feel
Because no matter how much I sing it will never make you love me
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7. |
Mistake
03:06
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Different people, parallel paths never meant to collide
I can show you the light from the dark if you let me inside
We could be equals, so trust me, accept me, embrace me with arms open wide
I have been through hell and high water defending your name
Now I realise that you’re even worse than the whisperers claim
Playing with fire, perfidious liar embroiled in a dangerous game
‘Cause you’re so young and immature
But then what difference does it make?
You’ll never change your ways I’m sure
This exercise has been one big mistake
It’s hard to spot those who move through the shadows in subtle disguise
But we can tell apart the light from the dark if we open our eyes
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8. |
Flesh & Bone
04:02
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If you’re leaving me please wait until the morning
Just for one last time pretend that it’s alright
You can walk out when the autumn sun is dawning
But please don’t leave me in the darkness of the night
Please don’t leave me in the darkness of the night
I often feel like life is dealing me the joker
But I sometimes fail to see the funny side
You said we’d both look back and laugh when this was over
But now it’s over no-one’s laughing, well you lied
Now it’s over no-one’s laughing, well you lied
I know that this is not the way you planned it out to be
And different people rarely share one individual dream
I held you close and closed my eyes and cried “This isn’t happening to me”
This isn’t happening to me, this isn’t happening to me
Would you listen to the orchestra crescendo
Would you listen to the band play on and on
Let this music be a spiritual memento
For when the flesh and bone of you and I are gone
For when the flesh and bone of you and I are gone
Well we’ve all been told that nothing lasts forever
And that’s a fact of life that isn’t lost on me
But if you look back with spite then please remember
This was not the way it always had to be
This was not the way we always had to be
I know that there is warmth and goodness deep inside your heart
But that won’t help you when life tears your whole damn soul apart
Your wounds are open now and I can see the things you truly are
The things you truly are, oh yeah, the things you truly are
‘Cause baby you’re flesh and bone
Baby you’re flesh and bone,
Just like me, just like everyone
Baby you’re flesh and bone
Baby you’re going home
Just like me, just like everyone
I know that flesh and bone is all we really ever are
But my how we have grown, at least we made it through this far
There’s nothing half as real as the blood from my fingers
That drips onto my guitar
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9. |
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Miranda sits alone, she’s done the same for several evenings now
Staring out her bedroom window at the island that a streetlight forms
Amidst the murky rivers of the gloomy path below
Seven billion people in the world and still she’s feeling like
The only one whose voice remains unheard
She blames the pain in her no-longer teenage brain
But all the same she can’t complain, it feels ungrateful to complain
And so it goes
It’s far from perfect
But still she knows
That when the dark and bitter night gives way to tender morning light
She’ll smile
Miranda looks into the future for a change for a while
And suddenly she starts to see the scope of opportunity
And soon she realises growing up is not so strange
Twenty years’ experience in the world, and yet she’s still so young
All her happy memories, and yet so many more to come
She’s spent the past few evenings being retrospective
And nostalgia for the past, well it’s messed with her perspective
But she knows that there are things she’s yet to be
And places that she’s yet to see
And people that she’s yet to meet
All waiting for their day to come
Miranda’s not the only one
Her pessimism is overblown, she smiles and knows that she is not alone
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10. |
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My songs are laced with irony
They make me sound more serious than I really mean to be
And though it's good to let your feelings out
If truth be told I haven't got much to complain about
The finest friends that I could wish for
They've taught me how to live my life
And now I'll share a little something in return
So friends please follow my advice
You gotta live laugh love and be happy, live laugh love and be happy
And I know it sounds simplistic and I know it sounds twee
But if you're optimistic then I'm sure you'll agree
T
hat if you live laugh love and be happy, live laugh love and be happy
If we live for each other, if we live for our friends
Then everything will work out in the end
Another day has come and gone
So let's all drink too much and then we'll have a singalong
There's no place I'd rather be
And there's no way that I can say how much y'all mean to me
It's all about forgotten evenings, the ones that pass without a care
It's all about the little moments that we spend and when they blend
Into memories we share then I'll be proud to say that "I was there"
'Cause if you love laugh love and be happy, if you live laugh love and be happy
And I know it sounds simplistic and I know it sounds twee
But if you're optimistic then I'm sure you'll agree
That we live laugh love and be happy, if we live laugh love and be happy
If we live for each other, if we live for our friends
Then everything will work out
In the end the good time's got to end, the best things never last
But when your days are dismal then remember good times past
The times we danced, the times we laughed the times that went too fast
And when I start to sing my song
I want the whole damn room to sing along
And not because they know me and they feel it is polite
But 'cause the lyrics mean so much to them they need to get them right
'cause everybody shares one base connection
We're all heading in one ultimate direction
That inevitable darkness which we never shall escape
So sing with me before it's too late
That's why you gotta live laugh love and be happy, live laugh love and be happy
And I know it sounds simplistic and I know it sounds twee
But if you're optimistic then I'm sure you'll agree
That if you live laugh love and be happy, live laugh love and be happy
If we live for each other, if we live for our friends then everything will work out
Well I know I'm no New Jersey boy, but boy I'm having fun
Pretending I'm Bruce Springsteen or Frank Turner's bastard son
So if you're still alive out there if I'm not the only one then sing
Whoa-oh-oh (Whoa-oh-oh) x 3
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11. |
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It's reached that point of the evening again
Where no-one's left around to pretend to listen to my music but you
And I've saved the best 'til last, but you already knew, I can tell
In the distance the bartender's tolling a bell
Saying "Last orders at the bar" for the night
A couple of drunkards stir at the sound
Temporarily roused from their Jazz Age frames of mind
One of them recites some lines from a poem
In a mix of drowsiness and drunken ecstacy
It's doesn't make sense and he's slurring his words
But his friends raise their glasses and nod and agree
Oh it's strange, strange how a man and his words
Touches the people who've heard just what he has to say
And you, listening to me and not them
Old faithful, my only friend, have you come to hear me play?
And it's you, you every time still sitting and listening intently
Though I never hit the high notes, though I always sing the blues
And I see, with one song left that I know from memory
I'm not singing this for me, no I'm singing this for you
So tell the bartender to wait, 'cause I've got one last order to make
Please, sit with me, talk to me please
I'm begging you down on my knees to stay a while
You've stuck with me this far
Oh it's true, all that I'm longing to do
Is to finish this evening with you
Whoever you are
Wherever you are
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12. |
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I wrote you a tired old cliché and I scrawled it down just the other day
But before the ink had even dried I saw my weary pen hang its nib in shame
Well dear, my clever pen, it knew that tired old clichés just won’t do
Not when the subject matter’s you – and that’s a cliché but true
‘cause you, you are the song in the beaks of the birds
And you are the reason I struggle for words
You gave me hope that I had never found before and you say “Hey –
That’s what friends are for”
Some guy writes a love song for his girl, he claims “I will love you forever”
But six months later it’s over, he hates her, and I think to myself,
“Well that wasn’t too clever to claim” ‘cause romance may change
But through the fire and the rain, true friends may remain, you and I stay the same
Y tú, cada hora que paso con tígo me parece menos de un segundo
That’s a compliment if you’re not sure but you say “Hey –
That’s what friends are for”
Are you all I’ve got or all that I’m not, how can mere words express the truth
Still there’s one thing left and that thing is you
You are the Sun and you are the Light, and you are the pillow I cling to at night
You gave me your word, how could I ever ask for more? And you say “Hey –
That’s what friends are for”
I wrote you a tired old cliché, that’s been said, I wrote ‘til my fateful pen was dead
And now that I’ve cleared my head, well I guess we should call it a day my dear
And when you hear this you might see how much you really mean to me
And if you cry for me with tears I can’t ignore, then I’ll wipe them away
And you know what I’ll say, with a smile I’ll say “Hey –
That’s what true friends are for”
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