1. |
February Songs
02:12
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Thursday morning's come along
All around the world
Everybody's writing songs
All the boys and all the girls
And all the others
It's boiling in Australia
It's freezing hard in Canada
Its muggy in Calcutta
It might be pissing down in Edinburgh
For all I know
I'm indoors like the rest of you
We're all writing February songs
Some of us are in studios
With microphones and DAWs
I forget what that stands for
But I'm sure it's cleverer
Than singing into your phone
February songs, February songs
Some are too short and some are too long
Self-indulgence is forgiven
When we're all writing February songs
Chords:
D Bm A+ D
G A D
D Bm A+ D
B7 E7 A9
D F#+ G G#-
D F#7 Bm E7
A7 A+ D
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2. |
Righteous
02:15
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She's lifting more than she can carry
Carrying more than she can stand
Standing up for what she believes in
Believing in what she can
Candles burning in the hall
All the wax on the floor
Flaws and failings written large
Largely ignored
F Bb7 Am Bbmaj7
C7 C#- Dm F7/Eb Bb C9sus4
Dropping pennies in a bucket
Book a table for the poor
Pawprints next to the body
Bodyguards at the door
Doors are open to members
Embers glowing in the grate
Great things can be done
Don't know why we have to wait
They all call her righteous
They call her vain
They call her the village Jesus
Still she fights
Ignores the pain
Whoever does she think she is?
D7 Gm C7 F
Dm G7 C7 (x2)
She climbs up to the lookout
Looks out over the town
The town carries on regardless
Lesson learned, she heads back down
Down in the sunken gardens
Guardians gather on the lawn
Laundering their reputations
Shunning all but their own
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3. |
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4. |
Trying Too Hard To Fly
03:01
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I should be taking the measure
I should be taking my time
One thing I'm sure of, I never
Repented at leisure, not I
I've never done anything in haste
Can't remember the last time
that I won a race
But I'm off to a flyer
And there's no denying
I'm trying too hard to say goodbye
Trying too hard to fly
I don't cry for the good things I had
I don't cry for what we've lost
I remember the good and the bad
I remember that you paid the cost
I can see the tears in your eyes
Looking out to sea
Not a cloud in the sky
Now it's all over
I'm playing the Wild Rover
Trying to hard not to cry
Trying too hard to fly
Of one thing I know,
you'd be proud
We put on a show,
you should hear the crowd
All singing out of tune
They're all here for you
Trying too hard to say goodbye
Trying too hard to fly
One day this won't matter
All of us here will be gone
All of our hopes lie in tatters
No one remembers this song
Someone, somewhere, looks out to sea
Thinks of the way that it all used to be
With grey feathers soft
baby gulls taking off
The wind drags them way up high
Trying too hard to fly
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5. |
Rose Street
02:26
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Third age promenade
Up and down Rose Street on a Sunday
Like bright young things
Staring at the windows
Breathe and wipe them clean
Call me shallow, call me narrow
But I'm thrilled to the marrow
Thinking that we might be seen
E B7 E / A / A E / A E
B7 / B7 / B7 E
Not the first, not the worst
A year starts out like any other
With frost and fireworks
Hope and regret and hangovers
From the virgin birth
See your friends holding hands
Walk out on the sand
And we all blow a kiss to the Earth
Care for your own, care for each other
Care for the son, care for the mother
Raise a glass for the lost and lonely
We're none of us here for long
Am G6 / Fmaj7 E7
Am C / B11 E
Like the day I was born
Lying in a state of wonder
At the first light of dawn
You say: "Welcome to Scotland"
And I say
Call me lucky, call the law
Rose Street on a Sunday
Has got a lot to answer for
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6. |
The War Is Over
02:36
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1
The battle lines are blurred now
The order's to retreat
We're all too tired to run on blistered feet
G Cmaj7 x2
G Cmaj7 Am D7
We're not beaten yet, you say
Got to fight another day
We're not the kind to run away, are we?
C D7 G x2
C Bm Am D7
2
Over the top to no man's land
Morphine for the fear
Shells and screams are all that you can hear
Turn your face to the morning sun
For a moment pretend you won
But for you, the fighting's done, that's clear
middle
For you, the war is over
Drop your gun and face away
Take your place in line and stand at ease
Everything in order
Nothing left to say
The tide is in and soon there'll be peace
Bm Em A7 D7 x2
3
There's no negotiation
The enemies don't care
If you fight or put your hands in the air
All of your defences gone
Castle walls are broken stone
Finally the fighting's done, that's clear
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7. |
One Of the Boys
03:53
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It's not so much an accent, it's a tone of voice
Dm Dm/C#
That signals a background, implies a choice
Dm7/C G7/B
Not too much "character" that would grate on you
Bbmaj7
Nor too smooth, that would never do
A+5
I suppose I could go back if I wanted to
Dm Dm7/C Gm/Bb A+5
For now I'm content to be one of the boys
n/c
This country built an empire on cricket
But my knees are shot from keeping wicket
Watching for the turn from the rough,
Slow left armers wheeling in a mile outside off
I've always known I was made of sterner stuff
When they offered me the job, I said 'Stick it.'
No matter, they said, we all understand
You have standards, you're a proud man
We've a few chaps here of independent means
Not half as many as it may seem
This old school tie was stolen from the Queen's
Own Mounted Hussars Club, on The Strand
I let them talk me into talking to someone
Who knew someone who knew… and so on
What she said made no sense to me
But it made no odds, it's not my job to be
the man who understands; the whole story
Is a mystery, I get the gen and pass it on
They could send me back any time they like
I don't belong here anyway
But I'm not the type to do what's right
That's why I stay
It's a game and I like to play
(F, Bb, C repeated)
I'm loyal to the money and I'm loyal to the state
I'm loyal to whoever controls my fate
I'd be loyal to you if I thought
You needed to see that I couldn't be bought.
That's not true, I’d make an exception and sell you out
In a second, to see the look on your face
Dig me a grave and I'll say my goodbyes
Someone will pay, just send the invoice
To the Queen's Own Mounted Hussars
On the Strand, just along from Charing Cross
It's guaranteed to reach my boss
Remember me as one of the boys
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8. |
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9. |
ABC
01:33
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Late night, black and white, Channel 4
Is where I always wanted to be
Whitgift Film Club, upstairs at the Plough
Couples in dungarees
Something French
Or is that too obvious?
Don't want to pander to the audience
Give me Kurosawa
Or Francis Ford Coppola
Anything they won't show at the ABC
C, Em, C, Em, F, G x2
A, Dm, Bbmaj7, C7
Last chance, date night, face to face
Lovers with not enough time
Feel the sensation of sophistication
And private lives on the line
The wine's dry
We're keeping cool
Like the nouvelle vague
and the Polish school
Give me Kurosawa
Or Francis Ford Coppola
Anything they won't show at the ABC
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10. |
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Back room of the Civic Hall in 1984
The word is out; for once I'm in the know
A new kind of New Romantic
Listening for the call
Of the old ones, of the banshee, of home
G, C / G, D / Bm, Em
Bm, Em / Am, Am7, D7
Bright lights and highlights and make-up
Have all had their day, now wake up
To the sound of the band
To the soul of the land
The land where the greenest grass grows x2
C, D7, G / D7, G
C, D7, Bm, Em
Am / Am7 / D7, G
That's what the papers say
But I'd be here anyway
It's Monday night, I'm bored and I don't care
There's nothing else to do
Even if I wanted to
And John Kelly's got a ticket going spare
G / C, G / G, D / C, D
G, Em / A7, D7
I remember what they played
Like it was only yesterday
The Old Triangle, A Pair Of Brown Eyes
Paddy On The Railway
And Streams Of Whiskey
And Kitty - that made John Kelly cry
Bright lights and highlights…
It was never going to last
They said the die was cast
When Spider stopped the business with the tray
Rocky ran away
With the Jack Of All Parades
And they called up Phil and Terry who 'could play'
Last time that I saw them
In a big hall in Brixton
The look in Kirsty's eyes, dancing with Shane
His voice was gone
But we all sang along
And I knew I'd not be seeing him again
Bright lights and highlights…
The front room of John's house, 2004
Shane's on the TV, too battered to try
To stand up and sing
To make sense of anything
To care or to wonder why
G, C / G, D / Bm, Em
Bm, Em / Am, Am7, D7
An English joke on the Irish?
Rebel with a poetic flourish?
It used to be fun
Now those days are gone
I don't need to see John Kelly cry
C, D7, G / D7, G
C, D7, Bm, Em / D7, G
But when he said Goodbye
And closed his brown eyes
They saw him off like presidents and kings
They gave him the call
They prayed for his soul
And I remembered the day
That I first heard Shane MacGowan sing
Bright lights and highlights…
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11. |
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12. |
Major Not Minor
01:32
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Are you worried about your car?
Needs headlights and brakes?
You should worry about the road
It might disappear in an earthquake
Have you see the price of beer?
It's risen by a quarter.
You should worry about the grain
Where the hell we get the water
Feel a dripping on the carpet?
Hear the sound of driving rain?
Be thankful you don't live
In Gaza or Ukraine
Starving in Rwanda
Beaten in Hong Kong
Extradited to America
When you've done nothing wrong
Minor troubles don't cut the mustard
It's calamity or bust
Boiled in oil, drowned in custard
Pompeii smothered by dust
West to east, the bridge of peace
Disintegrates into rust
Brace yourself, purse your lips
We're on the cusp
Of the apocalypse
Chords:
D7 G7 C7 F7 repeated with mistakes
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13. |
Henhouse
02:31
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14. |
Optician Blues
02:05
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They don't make glasses like they used to
G
Mine always used to see you
C7
Clearly
F, F#, G
There's some kind of polaroid
G
That hides you, selectively
A7, D7
I'm going to find a new optician
G
You'd be there if I had 20/20 vision
C7, A7
G, B7, Em, A7
As anyone can see
D7, G
They don't make cars like the old days
Not like Mini and Ford days
Really?
The passenger seats are empty
Not the way they used to be
No one's changing the radio
No one's telling me where to go
Left or right? I don't know
Where I want to be
Houses nowadays are getting so big
Bm, B7
Beds are getting cold
Em, E7
I go down town and look around
A7
Everyone and everything's getting old
D7
They don't make people like they used to
None of them are anything like you
Sadly
It's up to them, I suppose
To be who they need to be
The last verse is nearly done
I'm looking up at the sun
Surprisingly, It's shining on me
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15. |
Rock Is A Hard Place
02:55
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Sweat and grease
Getting fleeced
Doesn't do a thing for me
Try to be mean
Can't get clean
Getting hard to see
What we're doing
Still pursuing
Someone else's dream.
All I wanted
Was a few years avoiding
Growing up to be…
Never say never
Never say never again
All I'm saying is
We're still playing
And I'm still saying it -
Rock is a hard place to be
Call us stones
With aching bones
Too old for this shit
Every show's
An all time low
Now it's time to play the hit
What we're doing…
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Horne's Demo Shop Edinburgh, UK
Under the counter at Horne's Gift Shop: recent songwriting demos and an archive of my time playing in other people's bands.
Thanks to all those concerned.
Dig here for deep cuts.
Proper releases are at jonhorne.bandcamp.com
... more
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