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1. |
Cheap Luxuries
02:35
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For my new shoes what would you give
Yeah they look good but they leak like a sieve
In your new dress you look like the bee’s knees
Although it’s useless when the weather freezes
I don’t care I just pretend
That looking good is the same as being content
One day I’ll win the lottery
’Til that day I’ve got cheap luxuries
What’s for supper? Look at that spread
A mountain of margarine and white bread
“Fish and chips” makes for a special dinner
And meat is magic when it comes out of a tin
I don’t complain I fill myself
With sweets, they’re better than vegetables
And everyone loves his cuppa tea
I’ll keep buying my cheap luxuries
Why buy healthy food or clothes that last
When life looks rosy through the bottom of your glass?
Who would skimp on shreds of happiness
When every day we’ve got to live like this
I pretend ’cos I don’t care
From a distance I look like a millionaire
One day I’ll win the lottery
Then I’ll buy expensive luxuries
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2. |
Weight of the World
04:05
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You ask me what I think
I think you’ve got your answer and you don’t give a damn
Your going fishing but I’m not biting
You’re on a mission but I’m not falling for that line
I don’t see things the way you do
You told us all those lies when we were hypnotized
But now we’re coming to
This isn’t music, it’s an attitude
I know what I’m doing; I’m out of step but I’m in tune
So what’s your problem with my opinion
It’s inconvenient but you’re not even listening
To anything I’ve said to you
You’re going underground; it’s overrun by clowns
And one or two buffoons
Everybody knows in the emperor’s new clothes you can get away with murder
With your fingers up your nose you just see what they want to believe
But that’s the way it goes, you’re comatose, you’ve froze; we’re not getting any further
Stuck in this status quo where you don’t believe a thing that you see
So why does it feel like the weight of the world is on me?
I ask you, what were you thinking
Did you have an inkling? Did you have the slightest clue?
Or are you clueless, did you make a bad guess?
Why don’t you just confess that you want me to acquiesce
To anything you want to do
You’d go it all alone and leave the dog a bone
But now we’re coming, too
Everybody knows in the emperor’s new clothes they’re getting away with murder
And though it’s all exposed, you don’t believe a thing that you see
But that’s the way it goes, it’ll end in broken bones if you dare to make a murmur
You still feel safe at home ’cos you just see what you want to believe
So why does it feel like the weight of the world is on me
Why does it feel like the weight of the world is on me
Why does it feel like the weight of the world
Why does it feel like the weight of the world
Why does it feel like the weight of the world is on me
It’s on me, it’s on me, it’s on me, it’s on me
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3. |
You Won't Talk To Her
03:14
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You won’t talk to her when she wants you to
And you don’t say a word when you come home after hours
Oh, she’s fading like a flower
You could nurture her with a couple kind words
But she’s starved for attention and the other thing that never gets mentioned
You won’t talk to her, that’s not all she wants from you
But you get cross and curse when she offers up herself
Oh, she’s got nobody else
And your patter and your song that attracted her are gone
So you lie by her side in a parody of peace and quiet
Time past, oh you were a gas, but now you’re mum
What’s left to say when your words sublimate right on the tip of your tongue
You won’t talk to her it’s against the rules
And you don’t keep your word so much as you strangle it
As you sit tight-lipped
You’re the little Napoleon of a deaf and dumb show
And when she finally leaves
You’ll be the "enfant terrible" of silence
You won’t talk to her…
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4. |
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“How ’bout a kiss or a cuppa tea?”
That’s what that Wigan lassie offered me
And if I had an ounce of northern pride I’d take that beauty by my side
And live a Lancashire fantasy (I’d tell her)
You look too good to be true by the light of the sulphur burning blue
On magnificent slagheap lunar ’scapes looming over lives we can’t escape
So take my hand we’ll scrape the shale with fingers black and faces pale
Then stroll the Leeds & Liverpool, just you and me, my dear
Ta for that nice warm cuppa tea
But in the comfort of the foggy south is where you will find me
I’ll pop another coal in the fireplace, listen to the idle chatter on my wireless
And try to preserve your memory (but right now)
It’s time to bid adieu to the sulphur fires burning blue
On the beautiful slagheap silhouettes looming over towns we’d just as soon forget
Let’s bid a fond farewell to the yellowy Leeds & Liverpool
That chemical canal runs through the heart of Lancashire
But there isn’t any Wigan Pier
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5. |
Place Away
03:42
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All the swings are taken down
And the kids stand in an empty park
Like their folks in their apartments
Who don’t have any work
Decals on brick buildings
Make it look like someone lives in them
While rent goes up keep
Looking down on ragged men
Who couldn’t find a place to stay
You couldn’t give the place away
I saw a TV
And the pretty people on it
And a pay packet as thin as t
The envelope it came it
Pretty face told me
What I could win on the lottery
A couple tried to sell me
The city to feed their baby
They couldn’t give the place away
They couldn’t give the place away
There’s something special
About being on your own
Looking out for yourself
And give your kids a home
I found a piece of rope
To make the kids a swing
But someone else had a different idea
And when we cut him down he looked like
He’d been hanging there for days
You couldn’t give the place away
So let’s hold hands
And all we get are sweaty palms
We’re singing choruses of
Wishful thinking songs
Let’s stand in circles
And wait for it to get better
But the real world keeps on closing in
And it’s not a pretty picture
It’s always the same despite what they say
And you couldn’t give the place away
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The Late Joys Austin
With influences that include The Beatles, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Jam, The Clash and a slew of '80s and '90s
Brit-pop guitar-based trailblazers, The Late Joys put on a high-octane show that's groovy, melodic and infused with fun.
The Late Joys play infectious sonic confections with literate lyrics, catchy melodies and unabashedly progressive political sensibilities.
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