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1. |
The only one
03:26
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The Only One
Come the rain, come the night
We cluster into the light
In the city, another year
Winter falls – we’re still here
Spend too much time alone
Reach for the telephone
You cast your safety net
Too long inside your head
A world of grey and red
A place you can’t forget
And when you tell me
When you say that I could be the only one
I have to say you’re wrong
I have to say you’re wrong
‘Cause when I see you
When I see you do the things you do the things you do
The only one is you
The only one is you
As the world where you play
Spins around you – you hold sway
Drag them into your grace
There’s always time - there’s never space
If what’s within your hands
It doesn’t fit your plans
You squeeze it tighter still
When all is said and done you know
Somebody needs to run the show
I guess you always will
And when you tell me
When you say that I could be the only one
I have to say you’re wrong
I have to say you’re wrong
‘Cause when I see you
When I see you do the things you do the things you do
The only one is you
The only one is you
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2. |
City
03:15
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City
Let me out, let me out said the man on the bridge
I’ve spent too many years in a dead-end like this
I’ve got 8 lanes of concrete and nowhere to go
And the rain when it falls is as black as my soul
On the outside of the city
On the wrong side of the dream
Let me in, let me in said the girl on the train
I’ve spent half of my life by the sea in the rain
Every penny I save says it buys me a life
Every evening that passes I lower my sights
On the outside of the city
On the wrong side of the dream
Looking out for the man looking out for himself
Holding on to your life at the cost of your health
On these streets paved with silver with glass all around
Let me up, let me up said the man on the ground
Let me out, let me out said the man on the bridge
I’ve spent all of my life in a wasteland like this
As he turns on his heel, walking home in the rain
Let me in, let me in said the girl on the train
On the outside of the city
On the wrong side of the dream
On the outside of the city
On the wrong side
On the wrong side
On the wrong side
On the wrong side
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3. |
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The old man (is on the street again)
The old man is on the street again, his conviction slowly fading
He doesn’t know where to begin to deal with 7 years of ageing
She was a young man when he went away, a hero safe behind the wire
A heart of stone with feet of clay that lead him back into the fire
(She says) you don’t know how to talk to me
You think you’ve paid for your mistakes
She says you don’t know what to do with me
I see a storm about to break
So strange to try to make the rules you never even dared to follow
Do as I say and never as I do. How can a big man sound so hollow?
(She says) you don’t know how to talk to me
Like you know anything at all
She says you don’t know what to do with me
I see a sky about to fall
The old man is on the street again, seeking the lessons of the years
As everything rolls round again, her sentence ringing in his ears
(She says) you don’t know how to talk to me
You know I don’t know what to say
She says you don’t know what to do with me
You know I love you anyway
I guess I love you anyway
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4. |
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Home is a Dangerous Place
Early morning papers scream out across the street
In the house the minister is rising to his feet
Scandal of the nation breaking with the breakfast toast
Try to keep a secret – rises like a ghost (and whispers)
Here’s a house
Here’s a door
There’s somebody on the floor
The home is a dangerous place
Patch your roof
Mend your walls
Hope you’re not there when it falls
The home is a dangerous place
Mummy she met Daddy in a better age
Daddy he met Mummy in a misty kind of haze
Daddy had a hammer – Mummy had some nails
Money from the High Street – build yourselves a jail
Here’s a house
Here’s a door
There’s somebody on the floor
The home is a dangerous place
Patch your roof
Mend your walls
Hope you’re not there when it falls
The home is a dangerous place
Well the world’s your cloister
But you ain’t choosing yeah and
You can count on the friends that you’re losing
Well you wake up one day
And the walls are moving…
Here’s a house
Here’s a door
There’s somebody on the floor
The home is a dangerous place
Here’s a roof
Here’s a wall
Here’s a warning for us all
The home is a dangerous place
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5. |
You hang on
03:08
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You Hang On
Late night shades into early morning
Your party spirits fade to grey
You feel your body sound the warning
You know you should be on your way
But you sit there and take possession
Though you don’t belong
With all these fraying promises
And every precious word that you hang on
You know you should be leaving
But you hang on
And you start believing this is where you’re meant to be
Some days you think you could untangle
The mess that led you to this place
But look at it from any angle
The same expression on his face
And what’s the point of all these stories?
I don’t understand
A woman made of straw is
Clutching at a drowning man but you hang on
You know you should be leaving
But you hang on
And you may start believing this is where you’re meant to be
When sleep is short
The veil grows thin between
Everything you have
And everything you dread
The world outside
Comes tearing in
Bite your fingers
Shut your eyes
You’re just tugging at the thread that you hang on
You know you should be leaving
But you hang on
And you may start believing this is where you’re meant to be
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6. |
Drinking man
03:00
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Drinking Man
The end of the evening
Comes crawling at three in the morning
I’m bawling and weaving
The whole street can hear what I’m calling you
And I wouldn’t stand for this if I were you
And you wouldn’t fall for this if you were me
If you were me
Say I am what I am
I do what I do
You get what you see
I save it for you
Just a drinking man
Just a drinking man
Toast of the land
Raising my hand
Just a
Drinking man
I’m drunk and I’m poison
I squander my nights like I’m losing my days
But out with the boys I
I know who I am and I’m feeling ok
And I wouldn’t lean on you if I could stand
As you shy away from the touch of my hand
Touch of my hand
Say I am what I am
I do what I do
You get what you see
I save it for you
Say I am what I am
You get what you see
I do what I do
Lord save you
From me
Just a drinking man
Just a drinking man
Toast of the land
Raising my hand
Just a
Drinking man
Salt of the earth
Whatever that’s worth
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7. |
All fall down
02:50
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All fall down
Sometimes when you say you love me
I feel as if you’re cheapening the currency
But there you go, well who’s to know the value of a promise till you call it in
And sometimes when I say I need you
I have to wonder just how much I really do
But anyway, well who’s to say the prices of the battles that we think we win
Because we all fall down
And we taste the dirt
And we rise again
Just to say that didn’t hurt, didn’t hurt...
Sometime when the night is falling
You listen for temptation that you know is calling
Well where’s the harm? You chance your arm – you know you’re only playing till you lose again
But always as the day is rising
Are you telling me it’s ever really so surprising
You stack yourself back on the shelf you cover up the bruises and you scrub the stains
Because we all fall down
And we taste the dirt
And we rise again
Just to say that didn’t hurt, didn’t hurt, didn’t hurt, didn’t hurt
(Any more than the last time)
So take your place with all the others
The family, the friends, the pets, the dreams, the lovers
As once again, we stake our claim to spin our little story into something good so
Say you love me,
Yeah say you need me
Be happy, dopey, bashful, grumpy, mean and sleazy
And who’s to know how far we’ll go and who is there to dare to say how far we should
Because we all fall down
And we taste the dirt
And we rise again
Just to say that didn’t hurt, didn’t hurt...
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8. |
Jimmy calls me
03:45
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Jimmy calls me
Jimmy calls me. Does he want an alibi or just an audience?
Jenny calls me. Am I gonna lie or do I mumble on the fence?
He tells me just a little (too much) of all the things he skirts around
So I feel a little jealous (maybe) or just a little more let down?
He’s tearing out the pages but he don’t know where to start
He swears these middle ages they only leave him in the dark
Watch him covering his tracks like he’s some master of his art
Who’s the one to tell him that’s only, that’s only
That’s just the easy part
Jimmy writes his movie of a love story across the Brentwood skies
Cut to the sequel – straight to video with his kids on a Saturday night
And the animals each other Sunday – well do I need to tell you what they said?
Jimmy calls me on a Monday and I, I bury my head
He’s tearing out the pages but he don’t know where to start
He swears these middle ages they only leave him in the dark
Watch him covering his tracks - thinks he’s some master of his art
Who’s the one to tell him that’s only, that’s only
That’s just the easy part
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9. |
Jesus Che and Elvis
02:47
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Jesus, Che and Elvis
Yeah well, what can you say?
Another hero shows his feet of clay
Well maybe heroes are just made that way?
You weren’t holding much hope
A little something just to keep you afloat
But there was nothing on the end of the rope he threw you
But you know that he’d save you if he could
Only he’s too busy being good
You know that he’d never let you down
But just like Jesus, Che and Elvis
He’s got to spread himself around
Fade up out of the black
Another heroine upon her back
She ties herself up to that railroad track
And so it starts as it ends
There isn’t so much here you’d want to defend
But we all need something if we’ve come to depend on shadows
But you know that he’d save you if he could
Only he’s too busy being good
You know that he’d never let you down
But just like Jesus, Che and Elvis
He’s got to spread himself around
Like Peter Pan, Martin Luther, Jesus
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10. |
Western promise
03:21
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Western Promise
Susie lives in a small south-western town
In this room she set her secrets down
Her fantasies in diaries
Of reaching out till by degrees
She’d take this town with all it had to offer
Western Promise
Teenage jewels on a corner until dark
Breaking rules in a corner of the park
With shining eye and whispered lies
All to the plot with no surprise
She took her man with all he had to offer
Shaking hard the boy becomes a man
At the bar – his courage in his hand
If he had done the decent thing
He never would have bought that ring
His everything was all he had to offer
Western Promise
Susie lives in a small south-western town
In this room her secrets let her down
And living with the memory
A town too small for sympathy
That after all was all it had to offer
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11. |
Out of words
04:07
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Out of Words
Well you can while away the hours
Telling stories of your lives
Weave yourself a web of glories
And lace the commonplace with lies
And you can buttonhole a stranger
And take the story to its end
You and I
We’re out of words
And you can raise your voice in anger
Or whisper tender as you feel
But you just scream when you’re in danger
Of coming close to what is real
So make your promise to a stranger
And take the story to its end
You and I
We’re out of words
And I’ve been living with your story
And watched you lying through your teeth
And now the passing of the hours
Is all that’s left, beyond belief
But when you treat me like a stranger
You bring the story to its knees
You and I
We’re out of words
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12. |
The last day
03:14
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The Last Day
Today’s the last day that I can call you
To tell you everything I want you to know
Cause well I know that when I see you next this will be
So many lifetimes ago
You never told me that you didn’t love me
And so I ran away to wait for your call
You kept your silence as you rose above me
I guess that that says it all
If I can hang on for one day longer
I can hold my tongue I’ll know I’m stronger
If I can make it through will I be free of you
Or free to forever wonder?
And can you love him like you said you’d love me
As you fly off into your state of grace?
I only hope that in his new-found love
The kill lives up to the chase
If I can hang on for one day longer
I can hold my tongue I’ll know I’m stronger
If I can make it through will I be free of you
Or free to forever wonder?
But girl you know I want to
Spare you nothing that you made me suffer
Want to make you cry for old times’ sake
I want to see those eyes looking out from under
The tears only lovers can make
If I can hang on for one day longer
I can hold my tongue I’ll know I’m stronger
If I can make it through will I be free of you
Or free to forever wonder?
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13. |
That's enough
03:19
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That’s enough
I don’t know your second name
I know your first it’s all the same
I couldn’t care how you came here tonight
Don’t know who you dream about
Who you live with or do without
How much of darkness – how much of the light
So you can keep your history
Remain that little mystery
And that’s enough
And that’s enough
Baby that’s enough
Baby that’s enough
For now
For me
Don’t know how you kiss goodnight
The colour of your hair in daylight
Couldn’t swear the colour of your eyes
Where you bend or where you break
How much you need – how much you take
Just what you find so close to paradise
But anywhere you draw the line
The best of loves are out of time
And that’s enough
And that’s enough
Baby that’s enough
Baby that’s enough
For now
For me
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14. |
My goodbye
03:33
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My goodbye
I touched your hand as the tide was falling
You were barely struggling to breathe
And I would not have woken you for anything
I said hello, I took my leave
I took your ring across the water
To a sea you never saw at all
And as they laid your shell away in England
We watched the waters rise and fall
And this is my goodbye
We place ourselves above the rituals
Like we believe we’ve really come so far
And you said to me, remember we are people from the sea
But each low tide will show the rocks below
That let us stand up where we are
I touched your hand as the tide was falling
Yeah with this ring I touched your hand
Our lives will ripple on forever
Long as the sea washes the land
And this is my goodbye
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Ian R Coles London, UK
Singer and songwriter still having fun in London.
One third of Somebody Else's Troubles www.somebodyelsestroubles.com
Ian R Coles recommends:
Couples' Dance
by Somebody Else's Troubles
Somebody Else's Troubles' first album - Ian with James and Charlie. Released 2017
go to album
Hurricane Grace
by Somebody Else's Troubles
Somebody Else's Troubles' second album - Ian with James and Charlie. Released 2020
go to albumIf you like Street Furniture, you may also like:
Sorry I'm So Sensitive
by Bea Stewart
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed.
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The Room
by Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 9, 2024
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Stirring Americana set to acoustic arrangements and topped by the legendary Alice Gerrard’s lovely, world-wise voice.
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Michelle Stodart’s folk music captures hope in melancholy, addressing the transformational aspects of the most challenging times.
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