Ocean Colour Scene--Moseley Shoals

 The Riverboat Song 

I see double up ahead 
Where the riverboat swayed beneath the sun 
Is where the river runs red 
Like a King who stalks the wings and shoots a dove 
And frees an eagle instead 
It's more or less the same as the things that you said 

 I see trouble up the road 
Like the things you found in love are by the way 
And like to cheat on your soul 
Like the best and worst of thoughts that lose control 
Before you lie on your bed 

 It's more or less the same as the things that you said 
Anyway for all the things you know tell me why does the river not flow 
Anyway for all the things you said tell me why does the river run red 
Anyway for all the things you've seen tell me when will the river run green 
And anyway for all the things you know tell me why does the river not flow 

 It's more or less the things you fail to say in your way that's your trouble 
Like a King who stalks the wings and shoots the moon and the stars 
And his double 
It's more or less the same as the things that you said 
I see trouble up ahead 
Where the river boat swayed beneath the sun 
Is where the river runs red 
I see double - that's my trouble. 
  
  
  

The Day We Caught The Train 

I never saw it as the start its more a change of heart 
Rapping on the windows, whistling down the chimney pot 
blowing off the dust in the room where I forgot I laid my plans in solid rock 

 Stepping through the door like a troubadour whiling just an hour away, 
looking at the trees on the roadside feeling its a holiday. 
You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away. 

Roll a number write another song like Jimmy heard the day he caught the train. 
He sipped another rum and coke and told a dirty joke 
Walking like Groucho sucking on a number 10 
Rolling on the floor with the cigarette burns walked in 
I'll miss the crush and I'm home again. 
Stepping through the door with the night in store whiling just an hour away, 
step into the sky in the starbright feeling its a brighter day. 

 You and I should ride the tracks and find ourselves just wading through tomorrow 
and you and I when we're coming down we're only getting back 
and you know I feel no sorrow. 
When you find that things are getting wild don't you need days like these. 
  
  

The Circle 

Saturday afternoon the sunshine pours like wine through your window 
But I know golden June can turn an empty grey against your window 
And I feel like I'm on the outside of a circle - 
If I walk by the trees I'll catch the falling leaves if the wind blows 
But I know all this means is whiling on the hours watching side-shows 
Will I turn my coat to the rain I don't know 
But I'm going somewhere I can warm my bones 
Fare you well I'll carry me away 
and sing for those I know upon their birthdays. 
  
  

Lining Your Pockets 

Well hello my old friend you know I've been away 
I'm not asking for much but please remember my name 
You've been lining your pockets for no other reason 
Than to buy up the things that I gave without reasonable pay 
Well I wondered through fortune and I flirted with fame 
but we never got the money we always gave it away 
Old benchmark on the park he got lost on the world 
but he doesn't seem to know about any of it at all 
he said - all the things that I wanted 
you know I had to pay and pay... 
and so I say 
  
  

Fleeting Mind 

The brilliance of my fleeting mind 
Chimes like voices in foreign caves 
it chimes in time - takes me where I'm going 
Alone my fleeting mind is knowing 
believe it when I pin it down 
And that's not hard to forget 
with my hands upon my knees 

 You will steal from my fleeting mind 
Remember all our words they are just smoke rings in the rain: 
that's just a poem in brilliant places 
but poets, they are too grim 
they steal like party thieves from crowded rooms 
to rhyme their homes with better places 

 The brilliance of their minds 
will seek with never knowing 
alone my fleeting mind is knowing 
believe it when I pin it down 
And that's not hard to forget 
with my thought like sifting leaves 
I believe in my fleeting mind. 
  
  

40 Past Midnight 

Well I'm waiting standing on the corner 
And it's coming 40 past the hour 
In the midnight lonely freezing hour 
With my insides churning in the gutter 

 And I'm waiting 40 past midnight 
Catching rain in the soda light 
Won't you come & call me to your window 
Please don't leave me waiting on the corner 

 We could have the best time if you lighten up your life 
With my pockets holey in the inside 
With my bus ride rolling in the gutter 
But if you would only light your lamp light 
Then I would be here than any other 

Well I'm waiting 40 past midnight 
Catching cold in the pouring rain 
Won't you come & take me to your door 
So I can take myself home again 

 When I'm waiting standing on the corner 
And the soda light begins to flicker 
And it's getting 40 past the hour 
And I think I won't see what I figure 
Well I'm waiting freezing on the inside 
Staring up at your window pane 
If you won't come see me this evening 
I can see myself here again 
  
  

One For The Road 

No I never knew you 
We both went to different schools 
Me so scared of the rules 
You chasing all the girls 
Now it seems to me 
We never grew up we just got ourselves free 
Inventing what we could be 
To buy all their curls 
Get up and dance - Get up and smile 
Get up and drink to the days 
that who are gone in the shortest while 
Get up and dance - Get up and smile 
Get up and drink to the ones 
who are gone in the shortest while 
She was just eighteen she collapsed and they took her away 
She didn't make it for more than an hour 
Then she was gone 
What do you say when someone's been taken that way 
before they've had a day to fly in the sun. 
  
  

It's My Shadow 

Who is that upon the stairs 
acting like he don't know where 
and who is laying down all the cards 
and giving me the wrong things to say 
and like a wheel on the table 
He's a Cain to my Abel: Oh.....it's my shadow 
A confessor to my dreams casting ribbons round my feet Oh.....into my day 

It's my shadow 

Making eyes until the sun lights the daytime as she comes Oh..... into my day 
Happy in the time when I would have been there to see you 
Happy in the time when I would have been there at all 
Happy when the night is gone and I believe you 
Happy when the night is gone and I need a call. 
Who is chasing in the wind all the letters never sent 
and who is dusting down the stars and giving me the wrong moves to make. 
And like a wheel on the table, he's a Cain to my Abel 
dancing upon the floor, its my shadow 
making eyes until the sun blinds the daytime as she comes Oh.....into my day 
Its my shadow 

 Like a willow to my stream casting heaven round my feet Oh.....into my day. 
When you find that things are getting wild is that 
the hardest smile that you can ever feel. 
Paralysed until the sun lights the daytime as she comes. 
And if my shadow comes a creeping 
Then I'll always find me sleeping in the sun. 
  
  

Policeman & Pirates 

The house caught on fire in the winter 
the bosses lay slain 
and each of the workers decided to ten-fold their pay 
and they saw in the mirror the sun had been shot down in flames 
and nobody minded the hole in the sky or the rain 
but it doesn't really matter when the judgements are said 
'cos we all take our chances to find out romance is in some others bed 
and you might burn your fingers hock your best rings for those 
who'd have you standing naked then publicly auction the use of a hose 
all the children were laughing their faces in half at the pain 
of the girl who loved talking to walls and jumping at trains 
and the words that ring true in the playground of fools will remain 
and nobody minded the hole in the sky or the rain 
but it doesn't really matter when the rights have been read 
'cos we all take our chances to glance at the wife in the opposite bed 
and I bet Nero and Pilate could easily explain 
how policemen & pirates get stoned in glass houses just finding their way. 
  
  

 The Downstream 

Lay down your head & look to your window 
Where do you go when its not where you're going 
And how do you see when the light isn't shining 
Where you could be if you worked out the timing 
And how does it feel when the world comes on so real & true 
And how do you do the things you do to you 

 If I were a king & you were a lady 
What would I sing to say what I'm saying 
And would you believe the verses left open 
My heart on my sleeve the rhyming all broken 
And how does it feel when the world comes back so real & true 
And how do you do the things you do to you 

 Sell me a river and I'll skate away 
to the downstream where I did play 
So easy minded like a hill on the skyline 
tripped up and blinded getting lost on the sidelines 
And how does it feel when each word comes back so real & true 
And how do you do the things you do to you 
  
  

You've Got It Bad 

And if I could hold you where would you belong 
Sitting here to reason how the world's gone wrong 
And if I could listen to half the words you say 
Would your pathway glisten and help you on your way 

Oh you've got it bad 
But you shouldn't expect any cover 
Oh you've got it so bad 
Worse than any other 

 If I was in your shoes would it be the same 
Would you sit in silence while I dish out the blame 
And if the world was laughing would you close your ears 
There is no creed of chanting to make the world more clear 
If I bought you flowers would you watch them grow 
Spring time is for certain to follow on the snow 
  
  

Get Away 

Well I used to be a listener - there was nothing left to get 
About what you are and what you haven't been yet 
and some of them like to tell a story that is long and old 
and couch it in indifference and the wine 
that they were sold to get away 

Well someone's got to tell them that its not deserved, 
rehearsed or written down by playwrights over time 
just picking up on a nerve. 
And some of them got a difference that they reserve for you 
Well I like them all but I don't trust any of them 
well shouldn't you, just get away 

Well I used to think my freedom was a lot of things I'd give, 
demanding on my time but I had so much time to give, 
and I used to think that everything was a knee in what you are. 
But finding out the truth that hurts 
so I never went that far 
I always get away 

Well it comes down to the fact that I'm now different from the past, 
demanding all my ideals its just trying to make them last, 
and some of the things that you say they're ringing home so true, 
I hang my head out of the door and I follow you, 
yes I follow you and get away