Richard Thompson Album

For the sake of Mary I kicked the reds
Junked the juice, drink coffee instead
Straightened my teeth, bent my back
Cut my friends dead from the old rat pack
For Mary
She bought me this silk suit, watch and chain
She put the rhythm in my stride again
She showed me the way to make her feel good
If I could do more then I surely would
For Mary
For Mary
For the sake of Mary I do what I can
She still don't trust me to be her man
I say the right thing but my tiiming's bad
She thinks I'm like the rest, but I'm the best she's ever had
For the sake of Mary
I was cook first class on the Belfast B
But when she sailed she sailed without me
In Needle Pete's got my last tattoo
In bleeding letters of red and blue
For Mary
For the sake of Mary I changed my drift
Got a good job on the graveyard shift
She set her heart on a pretty little place
I want to see the tears of joy on her face
For Mary
For the Sake of Mary I keep the flame
I don't want to be the villain again
She's had her bad times and it's shook her about
I don't want to take the easy way out
For the sake of Mary
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In my nightmare everything's wrong
I'm waiting for love, but you come along
You smile, you wave, you great me, Ciao!
but you seem too happy to see me somehow
Then the sky falls in on my head
Your nails grow long, your eyes turn red
You say, forever dear and a day
You promise you're never going to go away
And my feet won't move when I run the other way
CHORUS
I can't wake up to save my life
I can't wake up to save my life
In my nightmare you forgive me
The cruellest gift you could ever give me
You say that you understand me now
But your eyes say, brother, I'll get you somehow
Then the lightning streaks across the room
You smell like something fresh from the tomb
You squeeze too hard, you iinsist on kissing
When it seems like half your face is missing
And your hair's turned into reptiles hissing
CHORUS
Things I done make my dreams go bad
Like Borstal boys coming home to Dad
What ye reap so shall ye sow
Now shake me, wake me, go man go
CHORUS
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I've got a little car and she might go far
She's the mistress of my heart now
She's a '65 with an overdrive
I fixed her in every part now
2 in the front and 2 in the back
110 on the old Hog's Back
She's my MGB-GT she's a runner now

I welded the sills and the old floor pan
Cut the rust with the torch and the hacksaw
Took the Rostyles off, put the spoke wheels on
Got a brand new Salisbury axle
WHen I drive through town the girls all smile
They say, there's a man with retro-style
MGB-GT she's a runner now

Lockheed discs and twin SUs
Original chrome on the grill now
Looks llike a dream in racing green
Competition's standing still now
I sprayed her body, I strengthened her frame
I stripped her right down and built her up again
MGB-GT

An Alpine's fine if you've got the time
And a Healey'll set you back some
TR4 cost a little bit more
But it don't have the same attraction
Hard top handy case of the weather
I don't care if it rains forever
MGB-GT

You're going to give yourself away
One of these nights
Your gaze of compassion
Just a little too right
Your hug of encouragement
A little too tight
ANd then he'll know
It's the little things betray
You're going to give yourself away
To some Casanova
On the spills and stains
Of a backstage sofa
He'll catch you yawning
With one leg over
And there's the sin
Must be the enemy within
CHORUS
That's the way that it shows
A slip of the tongue
A squeeze of the hand
That's the way that it shows
There's glycerine in the tear
Rouge in the blush
Your artful stammer
A little too rushed
All passion to the eye
All cold to the touch
And then he'll guess
Your mind has drifted in the kiss
There's a chink in your armour
A crack in your defenses
When your iron will
Gives way to your senses
Your whispered sweet nothings
All sound like expenses
And that's enough
He won't believe your words of love
CHORUS
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Jackknife with a precious load
Spills it's guts all over the road
Excuse me, I had to smile
Lost my grip too for a while
Easy there, steady now
Easy there, steady now
She didn't have the decency
To sweep away what's left of me
I don't have the presence of mind
To walk along in a straight line
Easy there, steady now
CHORUS
I call your name
I call it loud
I see your face
In every crowd
Nosebleed down the bathroom wall
Leaves a pool down in the stall
I wonder where you are tonight
Red dress, skin so white
Easy there, steady now
3 AM an empty town
Doctor Martens echo down
Old man Heartbreak follows you
Corruption's shadow swallows you
Easy there, steady now
CHORUS
Jackknife with a precious load
Spills it's guts all over the road
Excuse me, I had to smile
Lost my grip too for awhile
Easy there, steady now

Let me rock you in my arms
I'll hold you safe and small
A refugee from the Seraphim
In your rich girl rags and all
Did your dreams die young
Were they too hard won
Did you reach too high and fall
And there is no rest
For the ones God blessed
And he blessed you best of all
Your eyes seem from a different face
They've seen that much that soon
Your cheek too cold, too pale to shine
Like an old and waning moon
And there is no peace
No true release
No secret place to crawl
And there is no rest
For the ones God blessed
And he blessed you best of all
If tears unshed could heal your heart
If words unsaid could sway
Then watch you melt into the night
with Adieu, and rue the day
Did your dreams die young
Were they too hard won
Did you reach too high and fall
And there is no rest
For the ones God blessed
And he blessed you best of all
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Shane and Dixie they were two-bit crooks
They wanted to be famous like you read in books
Shane had the brain and Dxie had the looks for glory
As a bank robber Shane really hadn't got a clue
He'd end up likely at the end of a noose
Which was fine by Shane if the papers could use the story
CHORUS
Fame and love, fame and love
Fame and love will never die
Shane said to Dixie, we're getting nowhere
But I've a fine idea if you love me, swear
We'll be household names if we only dare, forever
Here's two bullets in my old carbine
One is yours and the other is mine
Then we'll be happy till the end of time together
CHORUS
She screams, she swears
She tears her hair
Saying, Shane this time
You've lost your mind
Shane took aim with the 16-bore
And Dixie lay dying down there on the floor
Shane was shaken but his purpose was more inspired
Shane said, Lord what have I done
But this victory is only halfway won
Then he put the barrel underneath his tongue and fired
CHORUS
They found the bodies when the neighbours complained
Shane was all over the walls like paint
Dixie looked bad but her heart beat faint but surely
Well they saved her life, they were just in time
And she turned her back on a life of crime
And she married the man who came to type out her story
O the news of the screws most generously gave
The money helped to pay for Shane's new grave
And it looked so fine till the vandals sprayed it over
Time went by and the weeds grew high
And hid Shane's grave from the curious eye
And maybe that's why we forget those lines he told her
CHORUS
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What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Was a time she fell
But then she got wise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Never had the squint of James Dean
or the Stanislavsky tears
Or the rebel hunch that kills
Or the smile that slowly disappears
What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
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I ride in your slipstream
I wear your reflection
I echo your heartbeat
In the wind

You might say we're lovers
You might say we're strangers
You think you don't know me
But you're wearing my ring

Good road, bad road
Just don't mean a thing
Good dream, bad dream
Just don't mean a thing
Down in the while of the wheels
You'll hear me sing

I'm like a TV eye in the sky but I'm right behind you
I'm like your signed confession but I'm right behind you
I'm like the child you never were but I'm right behind you
Let's ride

I ride in your slipstream
but don't try to touch me
Just trust me to love you
I love you

I ride in your slipstream
I ride in your slipstream
I ride in your slipstream

I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine that I might crush her where she lay
She was a lost child, she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We was camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should
We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way

Big Mac, small mac, burger and fries
Sheve 'em in boxes all the same size
Easy on the mustard, heavy on the sauce
Double for the fat boy eats like a horse
Fry them patties and send 'em right through
Microwave oven going to fry me too
Can't lose my job by getting in a rage
Got to get my hands on that minimum wage
CHORUS
Shove it in their faces, give 'em what they want
Got to make it fast, it's a fast food restaurant
Shakes' full of plastic, meat's full of worms
Everything's zapped so you won't get germs
Water down the ketchup, easier to pour on
Pictures on the register in case you're a moron
Keep your uniform clean, don't talk back
Blood down your shit going to get you the sack
Sugar, grease, fats and starches
Fine to dine at the golden arches
CHORUS
Baby thrown up, booth number 9
Wash it down, hose it down, happens all the time
Cigarettes in the coffee, contact lens in the tea
I'd rather feed pigs than humanity
CHORUS
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When I said those things I was out of my mind
I was trying to be mean and cruel and unkind
Don't take it too hard
There's another man inside me wants to break us apart

You were chic off the peg, bang up to the minute
I had to put my big foot in it
Don't shout it all about
There's another man inside me and he wants to get out

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

There's hell and hoodoo in your kitchen
You've got to scratch the place you're itching
How long will it take
There's another girl inside you and she never got a break

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

You just moan and weep and moan and weep
Dirty rivers running down your face
Tears all down your party face

Mascara tears, bitter and black
A spent bullet drilled a hole in my back
Salt for the memory, black for the years
Black as forever, mascara tears

If she's not here by now
Then I guess she's not coming
If she's not here by now
Then I guess I don't care

Waiter, I won't waste your time anymore
You've already started to sweep down the floor
I guess she's not coming, I'll head for the door
I'll be taking my business elsewhere

It wasn't for me
That spark in her eyes
It wasn't for me
That halo in her hair

When she touched me a lump rose up in my throat
But she must act that way with any old soak
And waiter, you don't seem to share in the joke
So I'll be taking my business elsewhere

She called me her fantasy
Boldly she kissed me
I'll never get over
The sheer surprise of her

Acting that way
And I'm healing okay
But for the eyes of her
It's cold in the rain

And it's dark and it's sad
And I'll miss her tonight
On my lonely back stair
I'm sorry I took up so much of your space

I'll move down the street to a friendlier place
'Cos I guess she's not coming and you're sick of my face
I'll be taking my business elsewhere