Belle and Sebastian--If You're Feeling Sinister

THE STARS OF TRACK AND FIELD

Make a new cult every day to suit your affairs
Kissing girls in English, at the back of the stairs
You're a honey, with a following of innocent boys
They never know it
Because you never show it
You always get your way
They never know it
Because you never show it
You always get your way

Have you and her been taking pictures of your obsessions?
Because I met a kid who went through one of your sessions
In his blue velour and silk
You liberated
A boy I never rated
And now he's throwing discus
For "Liverpool and Widnes"
You liberated
A boy I never rated
And now he's doing business

The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field are beautiful people

Could I write a piece about you now that you've made it?
About the hours spent, the emptiness in your training
You only did it so that you could wear
Your terry underwear
And feel the city air
Run past your body
Your terry underwear
And feel the city air
Run past your body

Could I write a requiem for you when you're dead?
"She had the moves, she had the speed, it went to her head"
She never needed anything to get her round the track
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge
To get her into college
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge 
To get her into college

CHORUS 3X


SEEING OTHER PEOPLE

We lay on the bed there
Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
Cause the other boys are queing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
Cause we're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing

How are you feeling?
I don't think you can be dealing
With the situation very well
You take a lover for a dirty weekend, that's ok
But when it's over
You are looking at the working week in the eyes of a gigolo

You're kissing your elbow
You're kissing your reflection
And you can't understand why the other boys are going for the 
New, tall, elegant rich kids
I'll admit it is a bitch, kid
But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
You're going to have to change
Or you're going to have to go with girls
You might be better off
At least they know what they're doing

We lay on the bed there
Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
Cause the other boys are queing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
Cause we're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing


ME AND THE MAJOR

Me and the Major could become close friends cause we
Get on the same train and he wants to talk to me
Me and the Major could become close friends cause we
Get on the same train and he wants to talk
But there is too much history, too much biography between us

Me and the Major don't see eye to eye on a
Number of things, he'll take a guy like me and then
Me and the Major don't see eye to eye on a 
Number of things, he'll take a guy like me
And put him in the army
Cause the Queen's own army makes a man of you

But he doesn't understand and he doesn't try
He knows there's something missing and he knows it's you and I
We're the younger generation, we grew up fast
All the others did drugs
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us

Me and the Major are from different worlds, but if
I get stuck in the lift it's always with a toff
Me and the Major are from different worlds, but if
I get stuck in the lift it's always with a man
Of noble standing who looks down on me like I was never born

I think the Major's going quite insane, he goes
Along the pavement and comes back again, oh yeah
I think the Major's going quite insane, he goes
Along the pavement and comes back again
Like he is on parade, and he is on parade
At least he thinks so

Now he is swapping his tent for a sheltered home
He doesn't have a family, he is living alone
He remembers all the punks and the hippies too
And he remembers Roxy Music in seventy-two
He doesn't understand and he doesn't try
He knows there's something missing and he knows it's you and I
We're the younger generation, we grew up fast
All the others did drugs
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us

I want a dance, I want a drink of whiskey so I
Forget the major and go up the town
Because the snow is falling


LIKE DYLAN IN THE MOVIES

Lisa's kissing men like a long walk home
When the music stops
Take a tip from me, don't go through the park
When you're on your own, it's a long walk home

If they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
It's not your money that they're after boy, it's you

Pure easy listening, settle down
On the pillow soft when they've all gone home
You can concentrate on the ones you love
You can concentrate, hey, now they've gone

But if they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
It's not your money that they're after boy, it's you

Yeah you're worth the trouble and you're worth the pain
And you're worth the worry, I would do the same
If we all went back to another time
I will love you over
I will love you

If they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
Tenderly you turn the light off in your room


THE FOX IN THE SNOW

Fox in the snow, where do you go
To find something you can eat?
Cause the word out on the street is you are starving
Don't let yourself grow hungry now
Don't let yourself grow cold
Fox in the snow

Girl in the snow, where will you go
To find someone that will do?
To tell someone all the truth before it kills you
They listen to your crazy laugh
Before you hang a right
And disappear from sight
What do they know anyway?
You'll read it in a book
What do they know anyway?
You'll read it in a book tonight

Boy on the bike, what are you like
As you cycle round the town?
You're going up, you're going down
You're going nowhere
It's not as if they're paying you
It's not as if it's fun
At least not anymore
When your legs are black and blue
It's time to take a break
When your legs are black and blue
It's time to take a holiday

Kid in the snow, way to go
It only happens once a year
It only happens once a lifetime
Make the most of it
Second just to being born
Second to dying too
What else could you do?


GET ME AWAY FROM HERE, I'M DYING

Ooh! Get me away from here, I'm dying
Play me a song to set me free
Nobody writes them like they used to
So it may as well be me
Here on my own now after hours
Here on my own now on a bus
Think of it this way
You could either be successful or be us
With our winning smiles, and us
With our catchy tunes, and us
Now we're photogenic
You know, we don't stand a chance

oh, I'll settle down with some old story
About a boy who's just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You're so naivé!
After a while they always get it
They always reach a sorry end
Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then
With a winning smile, the boy
With naivetë succeeds
At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings

Oh, that wasn't what I mean to say at all
From where I'm sitting, rain
Washing against the lonely tenement
Has set my mind to wander
Into the windows of my lovers
They never know unless I write
"This is no declaration, I just thought I"d let you know goodbye"
Said the hero in the story
"It is mightier than swords
I could kill you sure
But I could only make you cry with these words"


IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER

Anthony walked to his death because
He thought he'd never feel this way again
If he goes back to the house then 
Things would go from bad to worse, what could he do?
He wants to remember things exactly as he
Left them on that Wednesday
And if there is something else beyond, he isn't scared because 
It's bound to be less boring than today
It's bound to be less boring than tomorrow

Hilary walked to her death because she couldn't think of anything to say
Everybody thought that she was boring, so they never listened anyway
Nobody was really saying anything of interest, she fell asleep
She was into S&M and bible studies
Not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me
Her cup of tea, she would admit to no one
Her cup of tea, she would admit to me
Oh, but her cup of tea, she would admit to no one

Hilary went to the Catholic Church because she wanted information
The vicar, or whatever, took her to one side and gave her confirmation
Saint Theresa's calling her, the church up on the hill is looking lovely
But it doesn't interest, the only things she wants to know is
How and why and when and where to go
How and why and when and where to follow
How and why and when and where to go
How and why and when and where to follow

But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
He'll try in vain to take away the pain of being a hopeless unbeliever

When she got back, her spirituality was thrown into confusinon
So she got a special deal renting from the man at Rediffusion
"Look at me! I'm on TV, it makes up for the shortcomings of being poor
Now I'm in a million pieces", picked up for deliberation
By the people listening at home
By the people watching on the telly
By the people listening at home
By the people watching on the telly

But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
Chances are you'll probably feel better
If you stayed and played with yourself


MAYFLY

Lovesick on a sunny afternoon
You are tired of stopping in
You are waiting for the time
Mayfly, woken up when skys are clear
I don't mind you coming near
Keep me company till she comes again
You are the one who's privy to
I am the one who's making do
Because you saw him in the park
Because you saw him at the bridges with the people in the park

Cana was the start of something big
You were there in the beginning
You were there to see him play
Mayfly, woken up when skies are blue
I don't mind the sight of you
Keep me company till she comes around
You are the one who's privy to
I am the one who's making do
Because you saw him at the celebrations standing at the side
He had the moves to make the day
But you would love him anyway

Lovesick, it came back upon yourself
You are the girl left on the shelf
You are incapable of playing the fool
Longing...so what's different today?
You sent the boys and girls away
You are concerned with matters lofty
But puzzled so it makes you sick
Your diary's looking like a bible with its verses lost in time
And lost in meaning for the people who surround you
It's a crying shame
You know it's a crying shame


THE BOY DONE WRONG AGAIN

The boy done wrong again
Hang your head in shame and cry your life away
The boy done wrong again
Hang your head in shame and cry your life away
Are you ok now?
Are you ok now?

On Saturday I was an angel shining fair
You shone louder, longer
You put my shine to shame
Put me to shame now
Put me to shame

What is it I must do to pay for all my crimes?
What is it I must do?
I would do it all the time

All I wanted was to sing the saddest songs
If somebody sings along I will be happy now

The woodland spring will put the darkness from your thinking
If this town's your sinking ship
Then you know where to jump

Talking dirty, for a hobby it's fine
So pour another glass of wine
I'll think of England this time

All I wanted was to sing the saddest songs
If someboyd sings slone I will be happy now


JUDY AND THE DREAM OF HORSES

Judy wrote the saddest song
She showed it to a boy in school today
Judy, where did you go wrong?
You used to make me smile when I was down
Judy was a teenage rebel
She did it with a boy when she was young
She gave herself to books and learning
She gave herself to being number one
Judy, I don't know you if you're gonna show me everything
Judy, I don't know you if you're gonna show me everything

Judy got a book at school
She went under the cover with her torch
She fell asleep till it was morning
She dreamt about the girl who stole a horse
Judy never felt so good except when she was sleeping
Judy never felt so good except when she was sleeping

Judy, let's go for a walk
We can kiss and do whatever you want
But you will be disappointed
You will fall asleep with ants in your pants
Judy, you're just trying to find and keep the dream of horses
And the song she wrote was "Judy and the Dream of Horses"
Dream of horses
You dream of horses

The best looking boys are taken
The best looking boys are staying inside
So Judy, where does that leave you?
Walking the street from morning till night
With a star upon your shoulder lighting up the path that you walk
With a parrot on your shoulder, saying everything when you talk
If you're ever feeling blue
Then write another song about your dream of horses
Call it "Judy and the Dream of Horses"
Call it "Judy and the Dream of Horses"
You dream of horses