upside down on brighton beach

we found a part of the surface of the earth and we lay down on it
the photo you framed for me and gave to me, we are upside down in it
you wrote a message on the window so i’d see it every time i cook
you wrote me messages scattered through the pages of my blank book

i looked my worst when i met you
you didn’t seem to mind at all
you looked so perfect
i didn’t mind at all

we found a little bit of space in the air and we kissed in it
you wrote a message on a little scrap of paper and you folded it
you drew the face of that dog on the pad in my living-room
you want a cat by your side to keep you warm and curl into you

in the photo that you gave me
we look so sweet
you and i together
upside down on brighton beach

we found a space for the rug ‘neath a tree by the lake in the park
for the day and we kissed and lay down on it…

dissolving time

dissolving time
they’re stealing time
don’t let them take the days
these days belong to you

separate yourself
separate yourself
how can you die
if you haven’t ever lived?

i couldn’t wait for today
when it would be over
i thought i’d have no worries
nothing left to fret about
i couldn’t believe that day would ever come!

hung up
on the trivial
fighting for things
we have already lost

sweeping up
always sweeping up
that’s all we’re doing from when we first walk
to when our backs our bowed

and i just can’t trap life
the present moment is always blank
i’m either reminiscing
or looking forward

i couldn’t wait for today
when it would be over
i thought i’d have no worries
nothing left to fret about
i couldn’t believe that day would ever come!

spiralina girl

she’s obsessed with canoli and banoffi pie
she looks great in houndstooth
she loves maximo, seu jorge and sondre lerche
she wears stolen daintees

we kiss in the electric, she falls out of her dress
we sneak into the bathroom
she drinks spiralina: a bobby-soxer girl
she is the best kisser

in the world
she takes my hand
in the infamous
margate double-handlock
in shepherd market
in the rain
and up on k road
with the transvestites

she sits in ray’s on a sunday with a coffee and a book
she sits on the high-stool while i cook
we waltz by the thames with sparklers in the night
police spot us in the park and take a look

we’re lying down
they stop the car
they decide
that we’re ok
and in the grass
by the lake
on the top
of the cafe

she’s mad about the movies and mantra number five…

the lights change

it’s ok
i’m in no rush
i can wait
until the lights change

it’s ok
you go first
i can wait
until the lights change

cairo is a total spy-ring
everyone suspicious of everyone else
everyone is plotting
against everybody else

english, french, soviet
i was recruited to pay off ghosts
i was granted
complete immunity

met the man from the british consulate
on the penthouse floor of the palace hotel
but in the end
this city betrayed us all

it’s ok
i’m in no rush
i can wait
until the lights change

come on feel the lemonheads

“come on over here” she said
“i don’t want to go to bed”

“let’s lie down in here instead
to ‘come on feel the lemonheads’ ”

the smack of pavement in your face

when was the last time you laughed
i mean really laughed
laughed so much you thought your lungs
would burst out of your chest?

when was the last time you slept
slept so long
you woke up feeling clean
and totally renewed?

when was the last time you ran
ran so fast
you gasped and heaved and gasped
felt you’d never breathe again?

when was the last time you fell
fell so hard
fell so hard you felt the smack
of pavement in your face?

that’s how i feel
that’s how i feel now
that’s how i feel now i’ve met you

that’s how i feel
that’s how i feel now
that’s how i feel now i’ve met you

when was the last time you felt
like this?

when was the last time you loved
like this?

like you’ve been in a coma
you felt happy enough
but now your heart is beating
your senses started functioning
you suddenly woke up!

that’s how i feel
that’s how i feel now
that’s how i feel now i’ve met you

that’s how i feel
that’s how i feel now
that’s how i feel now i’ve met you

walked away

what i wanted to say was
i understand
but i just shouted
and you walked away
you walked away

under the westway
where the cabbies park
to get some tea and sleep
i’m sat in the dark
i’m sat in the dark

just after you’d walked away
i wanted to run after you
but i was too proud
already lonely

what i wanted to say was
i know you feel that way
but what i did was
let you walk away
you walked away

just after you’d walked away
i wanted to run after you
but i was too proud
already lonely
already lonely
already lonely
already lonely…

smitten

to find someone who wants you for what you are
and thinks you are a star
i’m smitten
smitten
think of me when you see
a sean penn moon or romain duris
and all those times you’re thinking of me
believe me girl, i guarantee
i’ll be thinking of you

this is how it was meant to be
me holding you, you holding me
i’m smitten
smitten
think of me when you hear
chet or scott in a spanish bar
and if you’re not quite sure if i still care
if you get confused or feel insecure

i’ll be thinking of you
wishing i was with you
i’ll be dreaming of you
wishing i was with you
i’ll be missing you
wishing i was with you
i’ll be thinking of you
wishing i was with you

the first time you saw snow

i set the alarm an hour early
because the forecast was for snow
got up at three but there was nothing
though the world seemed silent, light and warmer
the first time you saw snow

by four forty-fve the world was clean and white and new
we got up and went out to the park
i took a photo of giant falling snowflakes
caught in the flash round your smiling face
the first time you saw snow

snow on snow on snow on snow
where you grew up it never snowed

snow on snow on snow on snow
where you grew up it never snowed

you saw footprints and it amazed you
how big mine looked next to yours
the prints of a dog then you saw the tracks of a bird
you squealed in delight, you couldn’t believe it
the first time you saw snow

where i grew up it snowed each winter
it snowed for days and stayed for weeks
piled up high on the rooftops
careful going outside in case it falls down on you
the first time you saw snow
the first time you saw snow
the first time you saw snow
the first time you saw snow…

the traffic in the street

i will kiss you so many times
that i will always remember
the softness of your lips…

tell by the light that’s seeping in
over the top of the curtains
exactly what time it is…

but i’m going to let you sleep
holding me so tight
walking through your dreams…

i will gaze at your face
until i can always see it
i will listen to your voice
until i can always hear it
i will touch all of your skin
until i can always imagine
exactly how you feel…

tell by the traffic in the street
and the people walking past
exactly how late it is…

i will kiss you so many times
until i can always remember
and if we should ever kiss no more
i want to always remember
i will listen to your voice
so i can always hear it
every nuance, every tone
i want to always hear it…

the reservoir

never knew you loved
jacques tati
never knew you did
impressions
of john wayne
and jacques tati
i knew you had a temper
which you passed onto me

when i was a boy
yorkshire sunday mornings
we’d drive out and walk
round the reservoir
and i’d talk to you
and you’d listen to me
and no matter what
you’d always support me

the last time i saw you
you were so ill
i said that my music
might just turn out well
and you laughed at me
as if to say
“firstly, you’re a fool
and secondly, that would be lovely”

the side of a hill
in the belgian rain
a view over town
in the belgian sunshine
that’s where you lie now
for almost four years
i’ve been missing you so
for almost four years

wish i could see you again
just one final time
walk round the reservoir with you
one last sunday morning
tell you what’s been happening in my life
and tell you my plans
and you’d give me that smile
because somehow, then there would be hope
there would be hope…

but most of all
i’d like to see
your impression
of jacques tati

the last song

i lie here and think of
three footprints in the rain
i lie here and think of that
over and over
and if i had to choose a moment
to live in forever
i would choose that moment
to live in with you…

there is a bridie shaped
space between my arms
i turn and whisper
into your pillow
and in a world where everyone was identical
i still would have found you
i still would have fallen for you

this will always be
my last song
my one, my only
my one true love
and if i had to choose a moment
to live in forever
i would choose this moment
to live in with you…