Tigermilk

[Verse 1]

I was surprised

I was happy for a day in 1975

I was puzzled by a dream

It stayed with me all day in 1995

My brother had confessed he was gay

It took the heat off me for a while

He stood up with a sailor friend

Made it known upon my sister's wedding day

[Verse 2]

I got married in a rush

To save a kid from being deported, now she's in love

Oh, I was so touched

I was moved to kick the crutches from my crippled friend

She was not impressed

'Cause I cured her on the Sabbath, I went to confess

When she saw the funny side

We introduced my child bride to whisky and gin

To whisky and gin

[Verse 3]

The priest in the booth

Had a photographic memory for all he had heard

He took all of my sins

And he wrote a pocket novel called The State That I'm In

So I gave myself to God

There was a pregnant pause before he said ok

Now I spend my day

Turning tables round in Marks & Spencer

They don't seem to mind

[Chorus]

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

[Verse 4]

Oh, love of mine

Would you condescend to help me?

'Cause I am stupid and blind

Oh, and desperation is the Devil's work

It is the folly of a boy's empty mind

Oh, and now I'm feeling dangerous

Riding on city buses for a hobby is sad

Why don't you lead me to a living

And I promise that I'd entertain my crippled friend

My crippled friend

[Chorus]

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

[Chorus]

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

I gave myself to sin

I gave myself to Providence

And I've been there and back again

The state that I am in

[Outro]

I gave myself to sin

And I've been there and back again

Oh, yeah

[Verse 1]

Monday morning, wake up knowing

That you've got to go to school

Tell your mum what to expect

She says it's right out of the blue

Do you want to work in Debenham's

'Cause that's what they expect

Start in Lingerie, and Doris is your supervisor

[Verse 2]

And the Head said that you always

Were a queer one from the start

For Careers, you say you want to be

Remembered for your art

Your obsessions get you known

Throughout the school for being strange

Making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay

[Verse 3]

In the queue for lunch, they take the piss

You've got no appetite

And the rumour is you never go

With boys and you are tight

So they jab you with a fork

You drop the tray and go berserk

While you're cleaning up the mess

The teacher's looking up your skirt

[Chorus 1]

Hey, you've been used

Are you calm? Settle down

Write a song, I'll sing along

Soon you will know that you are sane

You're on top of the world again

[Verse 4]

Monday morning, wake up knowing

That you've got to go to school

Tell your mum what to expect

She says it's right out of the blue

Do you want to work at C&A's

'Cause that's what they expect

Move to Lingerie, and take a feel

Off Joe the storeman

[Verse 5]

Tell Veronica the secrets

Of the boy you never kissed

She's got everything to gain

'Cause she's a fat girl with a lisp

She sticks up for you when you get

Aggravation from the snobs

Because you can't afford a blazer, girl

You're always wearing clogs

[Verse 6]

At the interval, you lock yourself

Away inside a room

Head of English gets you, asks you

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Do you think you're better than the other kids?

Well, get outside"

You've got permission, but you've got to

Make the bastard think he's right

[Chorus 1]

Hey, you’ve been used

Write a song, I’ll sing along

Are you calm? Settle down

Soon you will know that you are sane

You’re on top of the world again

[Chorus 2]

Oh, you’re cool and you know

You’re a star and you’ll go far

Listen to me as a friend

Not just a boy who plays guitar

You’re on top of the world again

[Verse 1]

Lisa knows a girl who's been abused

It changed her philosophy in '82

She's always looking for a fight

She keeps the neighbours up all night

[Verse 2]

I go to her when I'm feeling slack

The girl's using me as a punching bag

I think that I could help her out

But the girl's got a lot to be mad about

[Chorus 1]

But in the first moment of her waking up

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

When the first cup of coffee tastes like washing up

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

Oh yeah, she's losing it

[Verse 3]

Lisa met Chelsea at the knocking school

Chelsea didn't feel like following the rules

But they left the place for another school

Where the boys go with boys and the girls with girls

[Verse 4]

Chelsea was the one who's been abused

It changed her philosophy in '82

She says "Inch for inch and pound for pound

Who needs boys when there's Lisa around?"

[Chorus 2]

But in the first moment of her waking up

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

When the first cup of coffee tastes like washing up

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

She goes to the mirror to put on her stuff

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

She doesn't speak to anyone until four o'clock

She knows she's losing it, oh yeah, she's losing it

Oh yeah, she's losing it

[Verse 1]

You’re just a baby, baby girl

So kiss me on the cheek and then go off to school

You’re just a baby, baby girl

So kiss me on the cheek before you know what’s cool

[Pre-Chorus 1]

You will be leaving in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

Yeah, you will be working in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

[Chorus]

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

So what’s the score?

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

Before

[Verse 2]

You’re such a baby, baby girl

So kiss me on the cheek before you know what’s sweet

You’re just a baby, baby girl

So kiss me on the cheek before you go to sleep

[Pre-Chorus 2]

You will be working in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

Yeah, you will be crying in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

[Chorus]

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

So what’s the score?

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

Before

[Verse 3]

You’re such a baby, baby girl

So kiss me on the cheek before you go to sleep

You’re such a baby, baby girl

So let go of my hand so we can get some sleep

[Pre-Chorus 3]

You will be crying in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

Cause you will be married in the morning

And I won’t be there to see you go off your head

[Chorus]

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

So what’s the score?

There must be a reason for all the looks we gave

And all the things we’ve never said before

[Post-Chorus]

So what’s the reason for all the looks we gave?

And all the things we’ve never said before

Before, before, before

[Verse 1]

Play a game with your electronics

Take a step to the discotheque and people

Go outside where there’s someone watching cars go by

And the city tall with steeples

[Verse 2]

Hand in hand with the electronic renaissance is the way to go yeah

Hand in hand with the electronic renaissance is the way to go, boy

Hand in hand with the electronic glitterati is the way to go

You're learning, soon you will do the things you wanted

Since you were wearing glitter badges

[Verse 3]

If you dance for much very longer

You’ll be known as the boy who’s always dancing

If you work for much very longer

You’ll be known as the boy who’s always working

[Verse 4]

Monochrome in the 1990’s

You go disco and I’ll go my way

Monochrome in the 1990’s

You go disco and I’ll go my way

Monochrome in the 1990’s

You go disco and I’ll go Funkadelic, man

Is the way to go

So drop a pill and then say 'hello'

[Verse 1]

I could be sleeping

I could be dreaming

I could have ordinary people chasing me from town to town

Mission: Impossible

They've got a spy for every blink of your eye

[Verse 2]

I'm feeling awkward

I'm feeling tongue-tied

They've got a knife for every time

You take the same train into work

A family's like a loaded gun:

You point it in the wrong direction

Someone's going to get killed

[Chorus]

If you had such a dream

Would you get up and do the things you believe in?

[Verse 3]

Is he your husband?

Or just your boyfriend?

Is he the moron who's been beating you and keeping you inside?

I've never done this kind of thing

But if I kill him now, well, who's gonna miss him?

[Verse 4]

I went up to the school

I took a walk up Castlehill

For every step there was a local boy who wants to be a hero

Do you want to do it now?

Outside the butcher's with a knife and a bike chain

La la la, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

[Chorus]

If you had such a dream

Would you get up and do the things you believe in

[Bridge]

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

If you had such a dream

Would you get up and do those things

If you had such a dream

Would you get up and do those things

[Outro]

While your head is clear

While your head is clear

While your head is clear

While your head is clear

La la la la la la la la

'...Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. For a long while he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting a kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village, which held its sessions on a bench before a small inn, designated by a rubicund portrait of his majesty George the Third. Here they used to sit in the shade, of a long lazy summer’s day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy stories about nothing. But it would have been worth any statesman’s money to have heard the profound discussions which sometimes took place, when by chance an old newspaper fell into their hands, from some passing traveler. How solemnly they would listen to the contents, as drawled out by Derrick Van Bummel, the schoolmaster, a dapper, learned little man, who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the dictionary...'

[Verse 1]

You know my wandering days are over

Oh, does that mean that I'm getting boring?

You tell me

I'm tired of listening to myself, yeah

I'm tired of fixing things for Michael and the rest of them

[Verse 2]

You know my bip-bopping days are over

I hung my boots up and then retired from the disco floor

The centre of my so called being is

The space between your bed and wardrobe with the louvre doors, with the louvre doors

[Verse 3]

You know "My celibate days are over"

You put me straight on the finer points of my speech rehearsed

In the mirror of my steamy bathroom

Where the lino tells a sorry story in a monologue, in a monologue

[Chorus]

Six months on, the winter's gone

The disenchanted pony

Left the town with the circus boy

The circus boy got lonely

It's summer and it's sister song's

Been written for the lonely

The circus boy is feeling melancholy

[Verse 4]

It's got to be fate that's doing it

A spooky witch in a sexy dress has been bugging me

With the story of the way it should be

With the story of Sebastian and Belle the singer, yeah

[Verse 5]

You know my one man band is over

I hit the drum for the final time and I walked away

I saw you in Japanese restaurant

You were doing it for business men on the piano, Belle

You said it was a living Hell

You said you were in Hell

[Chorus]

Six months on, the winter's gone

The disenchanted pony

Left the town with the circus boy

The circus boy got lonely

It's summer and it's sister song's

Been written for the lonely

The circus boy is feeling melancholy

[Chorus]

Six months on, the winter's gone

The disenchanted pony

Left the town with the circus boy

The circus boy got lonely

It's summer and it's sister song's

Been written for the lonely

The circus boy is feeling melancholy

[Outro]

Can you love me

Can you still here

Really for me

Can you love me

Pretty lazy

Pretty lonely

Melancholy

But so lonely

Melancholy

But so lonely

Melancholy

[Verse 1]

I don't love anyone

You're not listening

You're playing with something

You're playing with yourself

[Verse 2]

I don't love anyone

You're not listening even now

Playing with something

You're playing with someone else

[Chorus]

If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child

It's to take a hiding, yeah

[Verse 3]

I don't love anything

Not even Christmas

Especially not that

I don't love anything

[Verse 4]

I don't love anyone

Well, maybe my sister

Maybe my baby brother too, yeah

I don't love anyone

[Chorus 2]

If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child

It's to take a hiding, yeah

If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child

It's to be alone

[Chorus]

If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child

It's to take a hiding, yeah

[Verse 5]

Out in the street today

The kids are out playing, having fun

Well, I pass them by, I'm not a kid, no

I don't love anyone

[Verse 6]

I met a man today

And he told me something pretty strange

There's always somebody saying something

He said "The world is as soft as lace"

But I don't love anyone

[Bridge]

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

I don't love anyone

[Chorus]

If there's one thing that I learned when I was still a child

It's to take a hiding

[Verse 1]

Mary Jo, living alone

Drinking tea, on her own

She wants, I don't know what you want

[Verse 2]

Mary Jo, living alone

Drinking gin, the telly's on

She wants

[Chorus 1]

The night to follow day and back again

She doesn't want to sleep

Well, who could blame her if she wants

The night to follow day and back again

She doesn't want to sleep

Well, who could blame her if she sleeps

Well, who could blame her if she sleeps

Well, who could blame her if she's sleeping

[Verse 3]

Mary Jo, back with yourself

For company, keep telling yourself you're young

And it will happen soon

[Verse 4]

Mary Jo, no one can guess

What you've been through

Now you've got love to burn

[Chorus 2]

It's someone else's turn to go through hell

Now you can see them come from fifty yards

Yeah, you can tell

It's someone else's turn to take a fall

And now you are the one who's strong enough to help them

The one who's strong enough to help them

The one who's strong enough to help them all

[Bridge]

Mary Jo, you're looking thin

You're reading a book "The State I Am In"

But oh, it doesn't help at all

Cause what you want is a cigarette

And a thespian with a caravanette in Hull

[Chorus 3]

Your life is never dull in your dreams

A pity that it never seems to work the way you see it

Life is never dull in your head

A sorry tale of action and the men you left for

Women and the men you left for

Intrigue and the men you left for dead

[Chorus 4]

Life is never dull in your dreams

A pity that it never works out, Mary

Life is never dull in your dreams

A sorry tale of action and the men you left for

Women, and the men you left for

Intrigue, and the men you left for dead

The men you left for dead