Maxïmo Park Album

Here’s a song that finally you can understand
A minor statement meant to counteract the bland
A list of wraithlike things
That quicken the heart

Just another song; a faded memory
A raison d’etre for the entire family
I don’t remember it well
I was in love for a spell

Copies of Sight and Sound she left lying around on the floor
They said I’d forget her voice
That’s untrue
It’s just not as sharp as before

Find some transparent words to give security
Another vacant smile that says ‘rely on me’
No wait – commitment’s a bore
Where have I heard it before?

I could have sworn that everything was crystal clear
But I was shackled by a language of ideas
A desert has its own rules
Outside the circle it’s cruel

Copies of Sight and Sound she left lying around on the floor
They said I’d forget her voice
That’s untrue
It’s just not as sharp as before

The final verse is often meant to tie things up
But in this case my morals have been most corrupt
I don’t remember it well
I was in love for a spell

Copies of Sight and Sound she left lying around on the floor
They said I’d forget her face
That’s a lie – it’s just not as real as before

Bury me
Like dangerous waste.
I'll lay dormant
For a thousand years.
But it's like dismantling
A decommissioned spacecraft.
Some parts you can't destroy.

She fidgets too much.
I've got a bee in my bonnet.

Stay aspirant
To avoid accident
On my return
I will smother you.
In everything that I've learned
Until you turn blue.

Now is never a good time
When you're ready to engage.
My newsprint fingers are turning a page.

Oh, she fidgets too much.
I've got a bee in my bonnet.

Soon enough our lips will linger
And you start to pull away
But before this chance is torn asunder
Your hips begin to sway.

The penultimate clinch
Lasted the longest
It's the penultimate clinch
It was the warmest
A deliberate pinch
Sounded the warning
Of a prudish flinch
I found it appalling

Oh, the penultimate clinch
Lasted the longest
It's the penultimate clinch
It was the warmest
A deliberate pinch
Sounded the warning
Of a prudish flinch
I found it appalling

The comforting ache
Of the summer holidays
Pointless days pining
Afternoons whining
The suburbs scream
At passers by
The scream of escape
A new siren

Wasted lives
Hope takes flight
I don't mind
Losing self respect
I've done it before
And i'll do it again
I'm stifled tonight
Which is fine
I've done it before
And i'll do it again

I'm hotter than this
Under regular beams of light
Toothpaste smiles
Don't seem so bright

I'm marching on
Don't revise
I don't mind
Losing self respect
I've done it before
And i'll do it again
I'm thwarted tonight
Which is fine
See i've done it before
And i'll do it again

The kids are sick again
Nothing to look forward to
They jumped the cliff again
Future sinks beneath the blue x4

Calm those vowels down
No-one's thinking of you right now.
She's dressed up - It's her duty to the town.
It's empty. It's vast.
But it imposes it's will.

In a crowded room
Her painted features smothered in the gloom -
Already resigned
At night she scrapes
Away the face that she creates
The mirror sighs...

Why can't we always meet
Under a cloud of mystery?
The noise from a hundred mouths
Working through memory

Big budget, Showbiz exit -
She'll go far.
Acting coy was her favourite ploy
It quickly loses its charm.

The frosted cheek you turned
Will add to your mystique
He burns for you.
I threw myself into your world
Only to come up short...

Why can't we always meet
Under a cloud of mystery?
The noise from a hundred mouths
Working through memory

King for a Thursday afternoon
Before the time when you withdrew
Why can't we always meet
Under a cloud of mystery?

Bathroom lights stud the evening
Where the buildings skim the air
Hairsprayed curls push the cheek
As they swoon on a wooden dance floor
There's nothing worse than taking a chance
On an outdated dance...

Why can't we always meet
Under a cloud of mystery?
The noise from a hundred mouths
Cursing through memory

King for a Thursday afternoon
Before the time when you withdrew
Why can't we always meet
Under a cloud of mystery?

How many words did you come up with today?
How many words do you want to hear tonight?
You flare up but beneath lies defeat.
I see your eyes now and they are calm.

I've answered enough phones for one life.
I've worn too many ties around my neck.

I wake up and I find a trace of you there.
So sullen, your words haunt the air
I wake up and I find a trace of you there.
So sullen

Taking long walks in perfect silence.
Joined together in useless harmony.
Your hard breath means that you're upset.
An overheated North-West bliss.

But I've answered enough phones for one life.
I've worn too many ties around my neck.

Just wait and see.
I don't know much about bravery
But I'll raise you up
With my bad jokes and loose promises.
She said to think of her when I'm alone
But I'm never alone
When I want to be.

I wake up and I find a trace of you there.
So sullen, your words haunt the air
I wake up and I find a trace of you there.
So sullen, your words haunt the air
Your words haunt the air

You're looking so pleased with yourself.
I'm gonna come over there and wipe that smile off your face.
Petty crimes in your leisure time
You struggled to break out.
Wash away on your cheap mistakes.
Your abstinence; your drought.

In another world you would've found me by now.
But you'll still end up on a revolving dance floor in the middle of the river.

Come over here, my dear.
I need to have a little word in your ear.
You're your mother's girl
And you should know that by now.
All the other girls live their lives
Without self-doubt.

In another world you would've found me by now.
But you'll still end up on a revolving dance floor in the middle of the river.

I've been hiding from you
Though we inhabit the same room.
I've been shying from you
Though we're under the same roof.

You're looking so pleased with yourself.
I'm gonna come over there and wipe that smile off your face.

In another world you would've found me by now.
But you'll still end up on a revolving dance floor in the middle of the river.

In another world you would've found yourself by now.
If you weren't so proud I would have given up by now
With another girl I'd be floundering by now
In another world

Let's go back to your house
And finish off the gin.
In your dishevelled room
We're gonna wash ourselves in sin.

Ooh! It's criminal when you whisper in my ear
Let's get clinical the words delivered with a sneer
Let's get clinical.

I'd like to map your body out
Inch by inch
North to South
And I'm free for circumnavigation

Reawaken my delight
Your fingerprints upon my skin
Your voice is twisted; how we sink
Tonight I'll let desire win.

Ooh! It's criminal when you whisper in my ear
Let's get clinical the words delivered with a sneer
Let's get clinical.

I'd like to map your body out
Inch by inch
North to South
And I'm free for circumnavigation

I'd like to map your body out
Inch by inch
Head to toe
Bare ankles used to mean adventure

Last nights dirty lips were wrapped around that glass
Creeping past your flatmates door
The empty bottles on the floor

Ooh! It's criminal
Woah! Lets get clinical

I'd like to map your body out
Inch by inch
North to south
And I'm free for circumnavigation

I'd like to map your body out
Inch by inch
Head to toe
Bare ankles used to mean adventure
With you, they still do
With you, they still do
With you, they still do

We shared a bed but never touched
Next time we compensated in a rush
We're showing no signs of fatigue
I've Got a friend to act as a go-between
There's a distant drawl to your delivery
You deliver me.
And when I'm dry you resuscitate me
You resuscitate me.

This bed's too tight
Stepped upon your records in the night.
Put on your favourite skirt
've got a plan that will never work.
This isn't the first time but it still feels innocent
I just want to kiss you.
There won't be a time when my mind strays to you
No, I'm not going to miss you.

Under fireworks in Brixton
Two carousel hearts spinning
If it's a grower
Why can't we take things slower?

She dreams of the roller disco
A head full of curls on the pillow
If it's a grower
Then why can't we take things slower?

I don't know if you made it
But you accommodated me
When my mind was elsewhere.
Out on deck the dawn arrived.
In your grey sweater, oversized.
The rooftops glimmered for our eyes...

Under fireworks in Brixton
Two carousel hearts spinning
If it's a grower
Why can't we take things slower?

She dreams of the roller disco
A head full of curls on the pillow
If it's a grower
Then why can't we take things slower?

We were straying
At the lock-in, after hours
If it's a grower
Why can't we take things slower?

The younger one
Darkly tanned
Chewing gum
Mint on her mischievous tongue
Mingling with a taste of tin
On her gums

Each layer removed
Revealed a paler shade of skin
Each subtle shade
Felt like a secret shared

She was my reward
And I was hers.
The summer glazed our skin
But it scorched everything.

Ooohh

Tentative
Her body's outline
Spanish eyes
Captured by amber light
To nullify the alcohol
She kept her jeans on in bed

Her mother let me stay
After the disco made us deaf
'Cause we missed the final Metro
To the flat that she once let

She was my reward
And I was hers
The summer glazed our skin
And it torched everything.

Ooohh

Each layer removed
Revealed a paler shade of skin
Each subtle shade
Felt like a secret shared

She was my reward
And I was hers
The summer glazed our skin
But it scorched everything.

Ooohh

Questing,
I am not coasting
Nor will I ever
Despite this weather.

I said...
Hey you!
What's new?
I know your face
Hey you!
What's new?
Let's go some place
My thoughts that flit
My loosening grip
I need to connect to you now

On our knees against the window sill
Watching the sheet lightening fly
Our hands caught spray from the open window
A blanket of light; a whitewashed sky

You move your frame
Into the shape
The window makes
A lunar flame
Static headlights glow
In the flooded streets below
The TV turns to snow
Gutters weep with overflow
I said...
Hey you!
What's new?
I know your face
And I need to connect to you now

On our knees against the window sill
Watching the sheet lightening fly
Our hands caught spray from the open window
A blanket of light; a whitewashed sky

Thanks for coming by
On such a dreadful night
A net curtain flashes
Outside, the rain, it lashes
Frozen stardust falls
Wide eyes can see it all

On our knees against the window sill
Watching the sheet lightening fly
Our hands caught spray from the open window
And we're on our knees against the window sill
Watching the sheet lightening fly
Our hands caught spray from the open window
Thanks for coming by.

Overland the desert sands are born
An all too brief exchange
The details somehow got waylaid

Neither of us were born to be leaders
But you made the first move to escape
Closer than me to the equator
I looked you up on graph paper
Not as close as we once were, oh no.

Undeterred, a man of words was born
Your vocation came
You found your target and took aim

Take me to where bodies glide
Graceful underneath the waves
Closer than me to the equator
I looked you up on graph paper
Not as close as we once were, no.
Not as close as we once were, no.

I thought I saw your older sister
I was gonna ask after you
West of Suez, East of Britain
I was gonna ask after you
'Cause she looked so much like you
I meant to ask after you.

We met at an opening...
A very good place to start.
I threw my body into my actions...
You weren't exactly shy
You lent me your coat for the soft spring rain
I never thought I'd feel this way again

But she ripped me to shreds
I haven't seen her in ages
Time is overrated
Momentum carries me
You were my ailment and yet...
We can't fall from this world
No, no

It's late when I miss you mostly
But the body gets confused
You got a new bike - all I got was the picture...
But you were nowhere to be found
Remember the time we rented a car for the day?
We bought a map and I tried to navigate

She ripped me to shreds
I haven't seen her in ages
Time is overrated
Momentum carries me
You were my ailment and yet
We can't fall from this world
No, no

I would put my arms around you at the kitchen sink
I would hold on until you start to dream
We would go places we've never been before
Still I'll never know what's inside your head

She ripped me to shreds
I haven't seen her in ages
Time is overrated
Momentum carries me
You were my ailment and yet...
We can't fall from this world
No, no
We can't fall from this world
No, no
We can't fall from this world
No, no