The third part of my Annotated Bell x1 focuses on 2005's Flock.
REACHAROUND
Cute hoors1 on every corner
They're putting out, putting out
And there's many a kerb crawler2
A boy racer3
Fine young men with their spoilers spoiled4
Hail fella, well met
Makin' V's like Nixon5
A comb over6 and sweat
Cute hoors in the corridors of power7
Throwin' shapes, atin'8 grapes
The wink and elbow9 language of delight
Has been seduced by the dark side10
We are the babies that they kissed
And ours is the flesh that they pressed11
Yea they're good for a reacharound12
Always good for a reacharound
Oh they're good for a reacharound
Always good for a reacharound
Cute hoors on every corner
They're putting out, putting out
As with most things here
It's hard to pin down
It sticks to your clothes, it's airborne
It's been long celebrated
As something to make us proud
All this movin' and shakin'
Envelopes so brown13
Yea they're good for a reacharound
Always good for a reacharound
Oh they're good for a reacharound
Always good for a reacharound
1 A play on the word "whore", who'd be on the corner selling their wares. Cute hoorism is a practice of outwitting people, somewhat mischievously, like former Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Charles J Haughey.
2 A kerb crawler is someone who drives around with the intention of picking up prostitutes.
3 Boy racers are young men (and women in the case of girl racers) who speed around in specially converted (souped-up) motor vehicles, where the only intention is to maximise engine noise at the expense of the driver's hearing.
4 Spoilers are added to cars to increase downforce and keep the car on the road at high speeds. They would never be needed on a Fiat Punto, but that doesn't stop the boy racers from adding them, and spoiling their vehicles.
5 V is for victory, and the Vs here are the ones 37th American President Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) made as he left the White House after resigning as president in 1974. The V symbol is also considered to be a sign of peace, but Nixon's frequent use of such has made a lot of people question that connection.
6 A comb over is a scurrilous method of disguising a lack of hair in aged men, by combing over the remaining strands to hide bald patches. Notable patrons of the comb over include English 1966 World Cup winning footballer Robert "Bobby" Charlton (1937-), American businessman and television personality Donald Trump (1946-), and American musician Saul Hudson (1965-).
7 The corridors of power is a term for the halls of parliamentary buildings. American television writer and producer Aaron Sorkin (1961-) is an expert at displaying these corridors, particularly his stately home improvement show The West Wing.
8 'Ating is Irish slang for eating. Although, drinkin' is our national pastime.
9 The wink and elbow is a *nudge nudge* movement which usually follows smart repartee or a rude limerick. One such limerick is "There once was a man from Nantucket / Whose cock was so long he could suck it / As he wiped off his chin / He said with a grin / If my ear was a cunt I would fuck it."
10 The dark side is something, something, something, something.
11 Politicians are known for shaking hands with voters as well as kissing babies, usually for a photo opportunity. Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen (1960-) is better known for his ability to make babies cry while performing this theatrical endeavour.
12 A reacharound is a sexual term for giving on a second level as well as the first, if you get my drift. If you don't get it, you're probably better off.
13 During the era of the Celtic Tiger, where the building trade boomed in Ireland, brown envelopes full of illicit cash were passed between developers as well as many others, as a form of bribery. c.f. Paul Williams, every Sunday in...ah, who cares anymore?
FLAME
When your hand brushed against mine
I thought I'd collapse
I'm no rolling stone
I gather too much moss1
Maybe it's 'cos I'm getting
A little bit older
But oh how your neck
Flows to your shoulder
It draws me, it draws me to your flame
I wanna be near you
And blink in your light
And toast marshmallows
On a cold dark night
By your flame
Your flesh it melts in my mouth
Like Holy Communion2
But you don't really care for
Jesus now do you?3
A photograph of this love
Hangs on my wall
I would dare to speak its name
If I knew what it was called
I would dare to speak its name
If I knew what it was called
Rattle the one who's shadow
You're standing in
Under the branches after
It's been raining
On your flame
I wanna be near you
And blink in your light
And toast marshmallows
On a cold dark night
By your flame
You brought your flame
Into the chambers of my heart
You brought your flame
Where all's been condemned to dark
And now your flame
Spits shadows on my walls
Shadow on my walls
1 Ridiculous old expression "a rolling stone gathers no moss". Actually it may not be ridiculous, neither Mick Jagger (1943-) nor Ronnie Wood (1947-) had Kate Moss (1974-). Pete Doherty (1979-2005) did, but they never had.
2 The alleged body of Christ that is eaten during Christian ceremonies. I'd tell you that it's a representation or that it turns from body into bread or remains body or whatever, but I don't want to cause another 1517.
3 Notable lyric from Leonard Cohen's (1934-) much covered 1984 religious paeon 'Hallelujah'.
ROCKY TOOK A LOVER
He said 'I wanna shine in the eye of Orion1
But I drove my soul through the Black Hole2'
She said 'What a wonderful way to wake me
You weren't so nice last night
You're such an asshole when you're drunk'
He said 'At least I'm OK in the mornings'3
He said 'The three wise men came a long way
Following that pin hole in the sky4
Yeah that one right there'
She said 'I don't believe in any old Jesus
If there was a God, then why is my arse
The perfect height of kicking?'
He said 'I'll shine for you, I'll burn for you
Yea I'll shine for you, that's what I'll do'
He said 'They're like headlights
In the rear view mirror
They're closer that they seem5
And from this gutter we're still staring at the stars'
She said 'Would ya go away and shite
Last night all you did was curse those stars
You said they sang to you of hope'
He said 'The sun gives life, and it takes it away
But like all the greats, it'll burn out someday'
She said 'I don't mind, I don't want to get bored
I don't want to end up beached on this shore
I want to be that star'
And then I'll shine for you. Then I'll burn for you.
Then I can shine for you. That's what I'll do
1 Orion is a constellation located on the celestial equator. It contains the stars Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, and plenty more I haven't heard of.
2 A Black Hole is a region of space from which nothing can escape, and which reflects nothing.
3 Paraphrase of the well-known quote "Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what's more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly" by former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965).
4 In the New testament the Magi, or three Wise Men, followed the light of the Star of Bethlehem to find the birthplace of Jesus. With them, they brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense. There must not have been a lot of gold, as Jesus's adoptive father Joseph had to continue to be a carpenter afterwards.
5 c.f. this
HE SAID SHE SAID
On the telephone
On the message board
On the toilet wall
Telemarket poll
By sign language
By a pigeon carriage
By pressing red1
Fastest thumbs in the west
We're waiting
For fun, friendship and maybe more
Fun, friendship and maybe more
I am the man down
I'm gonna lose my leg
So just gimme the whiskey and let's go
Yes I covet my neighbour's wife
And yes I covet my neighbour's goods2
Don't get too close I might take a swipe
And friendly fire still burns
He said She said
This is not a good time
How about the New World Wine
Or a set of shiny steak knives
$29.95
I went for a video
I came back with a tan
I came back with a tan
Still they gazed and their wonder grew
In this world of it might just be you
Watch them slip on the hamster wheel
Tears give good TV
He said She said
1 Sky television has marked the arrival of the "Red button", where you can get additional services, such as the lyrics to the songs at the Eurovision song contest or alternative commentary from armchair supporters during football matches. Instead of the latter, there's a button close by that looks like this. Press that instead.
2 Two of the Ten Commandments that were spoken by God on Mount Sinai, and later taken down by Moses. There's also something about bearing false witness and honouring the Sabbath, but heck, who does either of those any more?
BAD SKIN DAY
When I wake in the morning
Of a bad skin day
And I can't face my lover
On a bad skin day
Am I this alone?
Volcano has erupted
And the ash sails down1
And I'm a poor soul of Pompeii2
Oh Christ I'm such a drama queen
On a bad skin day
And you're far from me
You're all far from me
Right where I want you to be
Far from me
I could've got a job
I could've been a contender3, when I never…
But the streak is only so long
They're all different shades
Of the same song
There's a wind in these sails, feels like I'm always waiting…
For the gold in them there hills, feels like I'm never…
Them there hills
And they're far from me
Someday we'll all wear a crown
Far from me
Someday we'll be the fairest of them all
So far from me
Someday we'll have an
Open top bus parade
For from me
Someday we'll do the
Sorry sorry charade
It feels like we're always waiting
It feels like we're never leading
1 I just wanted to type out Eyjafjallajokull. Now how do you pronounce it?
2 Pompeii, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a town near Naples that was destroyed by an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. There's nothing funny about that.
3 Quote from the multiple Academy Award winning 1954 film On the Waterfront, about an ex-boxer who stands up to his union bosses, featuring Marlon Brando in the lead role as Terry. (c.f. 'Pinball Machine', but while you're there, don't read this reference, or you'll see I copied and pasted this exactly, cause I'm lazy)
NATALIE
Natalie always seems to notice
These traces of our lives before this
But Natalie always seemed to notice me
She said we must leave, uproot, erase this
For this is the kind of love that maims us
And I won't be happy 'til
Somebody loses an eye
Tell me, do you see me as a shadow
In the yawn of the evening?
Don't leave me to those
Who would believe me
When I sell them
Kiss and tell them
Natalie
I'll have no truck with all of this madness
I still see her arm thrown over his shoulder
Like a noose
But worn loose
You say you want me to
Stay here with yours
And all those here who would
Kill me and mine
If I had a hatch, I'd batten it down1
Tell me, do you see me as a shadow
In the yawn of the evening?
Don't leave me to those
Who would believe me
When I sell them
Kiss and tell them
History is written by the winners2
Yea this history is written by the winners
And I want my say
1 Batten down your hatches is an expression exclaimed in the event of a storm.
2 If history is written by the winners, how do we know what happened in Ireland in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries?
BIGGER THAN ME
There is a darkness to these jaded days
Maybe it's a seasonal affective disorder1
Or maybe we're just sad
There is photosynthesis
We crane our necks for sunlight
There's a different sun for everyone
And it's bigger than me, this sun is bigger
Yeah it's bigger than me, this sun is bigger
So much more to eat, this sun is bigger
To be bigger than me, this sun is bigger
There is a vacuum
There are boys with toys
These toys of coldness
And a smart arse2
There is a cuckoo
Who's been and lain in my nest
And the egg is hatching
And Christ I'll never be able to feed it
'Cos it's bigger than me, this chick is bigger
Yeah it's bigger than me, this chick is bigger
So much more to eat, this chick is bigger
To be bigger than me, this chick is bigger
Oh yeah!
I should welcome all
Both fallow and fertile
I should welcome all
Both circumcised and gentile
But I can be so, so elsewhere
And I can be so, so cold
There is a world
So full of people
Full of love and shrapnel
Full of bag ladies and bag ladies and
Wicker men3
And it's bigger than me, this world is bigger
Yea it's bigger than me, this world is bigger
Still so much more to eat, this world is bigger
To be bigger than me, this world is bigger
Am I a stone?
Am I a sponge?
1 Season Affective Disorder is the disease with the best acronym, SAD, is also known as winter blues. Whoever came up with the title was one clever bastard, just like whoever though up of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Well, actually, I don't think it's true, but it's funny.
2 Much like cute hoor, a smart arse is someone who makes condescendingly witty remarks. But you'd have to be stupid not to know that already.
3 The Wickerman was a large wooden human statue burned as an effigy for human sacrifice. It's also the title of a 1973 film, and the horrendous 2006 remake.
JUST LIKE MISTER BENN1
Put your sweet fingers
A little closer to the keyboard
It's hard to read between your lines
We were the clock hands at midnight
Now you're four whole hours behind
Put your sweet fingers a little closer to the keyboard
I can't quite see the whites of your eyes
Though you bat your eyelids from across the ocean
And I fall over in their breeze
I don't bring you spices from the East
I don't bring you the world's you crave
'Cos everyday you need a new one
Just like Mr Benn, just like Mr Benn
Put your sweet fingers a little closer to the keyboard
We pass light bits in the night
Though you send your flare to the horizon
I just stare and blink in your light
I don't speak in all your tongues
So I don't even know if I'll be welcome
But what if I appeared as if by magic?
Just like in Mr Benn
So go if you're going
You keep pouring when I say when
Come home when your
Work there is done
Just like Mr Benn
Put your sweet fingers
A little closer to the keyboard
It's hard to read between your lines
We were the clock hands at midnight
Now you're four whole hours behind
1 Mister Benn is a children's book an television character, created by David McKee. A funky looking dude in a suit and bowler hat, he was one of the best dressed people on television ever who had no job.
MY FIRST BORN FOR A SONG
Somewhere in this sea of Club Milks1
Tea and ashtrays
There is a song
I'm in the crow's nest2 with binoculars
Just waiting for one to come along
I've seen the flare so I know it's there
It has me tied up at a rate of knots
No navigation, global position
Just me and this midnight oil
So take me to your king
I hear he's the man to see
And I will cross his palm3
My first born for a song
Somewhere in this froth
And howling wind
There's something worth singing
Climb into the attic to write me a classic
But it's not happening
It's just Christmas up here
Between the phone calls
And text messages
The air must be thick with words
But not between us
Shoulder to grindstone
Switching to manual
Keep the head down
And I'll see you at the end
So take me to your king
I hear he's the man to see
And I will cross his palm
My first born for a song
1 A Club Milk is a chocolate covered biscuit bar made by Jacob's. It used to come in a 7 pack, but you'll now have to do without it for one day of the week.
2 A crow's nest is a place on higher ground, often with a 360 degree viewpoint of the surrounding area, from which people observe or hunt.
3 Crossing one's palm is to give them money for something. It's not usually up to brown envelope proportion though.
TRAMPOLINE
She had mixed me
With someone she once seen
Projected on her screen
Now I'm bluetacked1 above her feet
So go lightly don't wake her
Let her dream
Reflecting off the roof
The whole world, it shimmers for you
On a tree lined road
My body took leave of my soul
'Hold on tight oblivion' she screams
She's so strong when she's
Digging into me
My head almost broke my heart
Perfection takes me years
To unravel and maul apart
The Trampoline is getting torn
Landing hard and taking off
What now must I use
To get us both airborne
I press green to play
But the dial tone encores for me
I try to dodge the cracks
So not to hex2 it or paint it black
I'm starting feel tremor of faith
But never before on this scale
You and I
Always had someone to talk us down
You and I
Learned how to live without solid ground
You and I
Jump up and down on
These straining ties
That were guaranteed to bind
1 An adhesive substance which is commonly used by youngsters to put up posters of footballers like David Ginola or pop stars such as Donny Osmonde. It usually lasts about two weeks before losing all stickiness and the poster falls down. Unless it was used for depictions of Baywatch-era Pamela Anderson.
2 To put a hex on someone is to cast a spell over them. It's also a pretty useful word to know late on in Scrabble, as you can get at least 13 points for three letters.
LAMPPOSTS
I've got your blood
Under my fingernails
It feels like I could
Never wash it away
Well how about that?
I could never do that
Well whaddaya know about that?
I could never do that
I've been waiting for your blood
To appear on my hands
And there it was
Under very different circumstances
It's a clanging cymbal
To end this drum roll
It's a clanging cymbal
To end this drum roll
I've been walking you
Into those lamposts again
I'd rather do that than
Let go of your hand
I've been watching your fingers
Straddle the neck of your guitar
Since you said they'd buckle
Like the legs of a new born foal
But they're still standing
Making those sweet
Mongrel chord shapes
Yea they're still standing
And you got the middle
One raised to me
I've been walking you
Into those lampposts again
I'd rather do that than
Let you of your hand
I feel you from me
Braithim uaim tú1
I feel you from me
I've been walking you
Into those lampposts again
I'd rather do that than let
Go of your hand
1 Irish (Gaelic) translation of the expression "I miss you". Awww.
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2 comments:
'just like mr benn' is obviously a reference to big ben as well/ exclusively - 'we were the clock hands at midnight' etc..
There are loads loads more like
"Put your sweet fingers a little closer to the keyboard" is a reference to Jim Reeves song 'Put Your Sweet Lips A Little Closer To The Phone', except it's updated for the 21st century.
"You bat your eyelids from across the ocean/And I fall over in their breeze" is a reference to the Butterfly effect.
"Volcano has erupted.." Volcano was a song originally perform by Juniper and later appeared on the first Bell X1 album.
"Someday we'll be the fairest of them all.." Snow White reference
"bring you spices from the East.." is about Marco Polo
"We pass light bits in the night.." Passing like ships in the night, except in this case it's about communicating with someone in a long distance relationship through computers 'bits'
"I don't speak in all your tongues" another Biblical reference (Mark 16:17)
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