The Kinks Album

Hush little mammy don't you cry
I've got to see what it's like on the world outside
Got to get out of this life somehow
Got to be free, got to be free now

Hush little mammy don't you cry
I've got to see what it's like on the world outside
Got to get out of this life somehow
Got to be free, got to be free now

I don't want to be a constructor of highways
A sweeper of sidewalks, I've got to do it my way
I'm too ill-equipped for a mathematician
A shrewd politician, a maker of decisions

We're not the greatest when when we're separated
But when we're together I think we're going to make it
I don't want to be like a fascist dictator
A saint or a sinner, I want to be a winner

Where are you going I don't mind
I've killed my world and I've killed my time
So where do I go what do I see
I see many people coming after me
So where are you going to I don't mind
If I live too long I'm afraid I'll die
So I will follow you wherever you go
If your offered hand is still open to me
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one
So you've been where I've just come
From the land that brings losers on
So we will share this road we walk
And mind our mouths and beware our talk
'Till peace we find tell you what I'll do
All the things I own I will share with you
If I feel tomorrow like I feel today
We'll take what we want and give the rest away
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one
Holy man and holy priest
This love of life makes me weak at my knees
And when we get there make your play
'Cos soon I feel you're gonna carry us away
In a promised lie you made us believe
For many men there is so much grief
And my mind is proud but it aches with rage
And if I live too long I'm afraid I'll die
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one

Down the way from the Tottenham Court Road
Just round the corner from old Soho
There's a place where the publishers go
If you don't know which way to go
Just open your ears and follow your nose
'Cos the street is shakin' from the tapping of toes
You can hear that music play anytime on any day
Every rhythm, every way
You got to a publisher and play him your song
He says 'I hate your music and you hair is too long
But I'll sign you up because I'd hate to be wrong'
You've got a tune it's in your head you want to get it placed
So you take it up to a music man just to see what he will say
He says 'I hate the tune, I hate the words but I'll tell you what I'll do
I'll sign you up and take it round the street and see if it makes the grade'
And you might even hear it played on the rock 'n' roll hit parade
Daytime, night time, every week you can hear that heavy beat
Now the walls are shaking from the tapping of feet
Daytime, night time, every day you can hear that music play
Every rhythm, every way

Facing the world ain't easy when there isn't anything going
Standing at the corner waiting watching time go by
Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time
'Cos when I see that union man walking down the street
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line
Now I think of what my mamma told me
She always said that it would never ever work out
But all I want to do is make some money
And bring you home some wine
For I don't ever want you to see me
Standing in that line
'Cause that union man's got such a hold over me
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line

I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola [LP version: Coca-Cola]
See-oh-el-aye cola
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola
El-oh-el-aye Lola la-la-la-la Lola

Well I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
Oh my Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola

Well we drank champagne and danced all night
Under electric candlelight
She picked me up and sat me on her knee
And said dear boy won't you come home with me
Well I'm not the world's most passionate guy
But when I looked in her eyes well I almost fell for my Lola
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
I pushed her away
I walked to the door
I fell to the floor
I got down on my knees
Then I looked at her and she at me

Well that's the way that I want it to stay
And I always want it to be that way for my Lola
La-la-la-la Lola
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola
La-la-la-la Lola

Well I left home just a week before
And I'd never ever kissed a woman before
But Lola smiled and took me by the hand
And said dear boy I'm gonna make you a man

Well I'm not the world's most masculine man
But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man
And so is Lola
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola

I've just come in at Number 25
I'm oh so happy, so glad to be alive
And everybody says it's going to get to the top
Life is so easy when your record's hot.
Go tell my mamma and my sister too
To press my trousers and polish my shoes
I might even end up a rock-and-roll god
It might turn into a steady job.
And my agent said to me: "Son, I always told you so."
Now my record's number 11 on the BBC
But number seven on the N.M.E.
Not the Melody Maker want to interview me
And ask my view on politics and theories on religion.
Now my record's up to number 3
And a woman recognized me and started to scream
This all seems like a crazy dream
I've been invited to a dinner with a prominent queen
And now I've got friends that I never knew I had before.
It's strange how people want you when you record's high
'Cos when it drops down they just pass you by
Now my agent just called me and said it me:
"Son your record's just got to Number One."

Robert owes half to Grenville
Who in turn gave half to Larry
Who adored my instrumentals
And so he gave half to a foreign publisher
She took half the money that was earned in some far distant land
Gave back half to Larry and I end up with half of goodness knows what
Oh can somebody explain why things go on this way
I thought they were my friends I can't believe it's me, I can't believe that I'm so green
Eyes down round and round let's all sit and watch the moneygoround
Everyone take a little bit here and a little bit there
Do they all deserve money from a song that they've never heard
They don't know the tune and they don't know the words
But they don't give a damn
There's no end to it I'm in a pit and I'm stuck in it
The money goes round and around and around
And it comes out here when they've all taken their share
I went to see a solicitor and my story was heard and the writs were served
On the verge of a nervous breakdown I decided to fight right to the end
But if I ever get my money I'll be too old and grey to spend it
Oh, but life goes on and on and no one ever wins
And time goes quickly by just like the moneygoround
I only hope that I'll survive

This time tomorrow where will we be
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty sea
This time tomorrow what will we know
Well we still be here watching an in-flight movie show
I'll leave the sun behind me and watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
Seven miles below ma I can see the world and it ain't so big at all
This time tomorrow what will we see
Field full of houses, endless rows of crowded streets
I don't where I'm going, I don't want to see
I feel the world below me looking up at me
Leave the sun behind me, and watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
And I'm in perpetual motion and the world below doesn't matter much to me
This time tomorrow where will we be
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across any empty sea
This time tomorrow, this time tomorrow

You've come a long way from the runny-nosed and scruffy kid I knew
You had such good ways
I can remember the little things that always made you smile
They made you happy
Now you think you're wiser because you're older and you think
That money buys everything
And you think you need no one to guide you
But you're still a long way from home.
You've come a long way, you're self-assured and dressed in
Funny clothes, but you don't know me.
I hope you find what you are looking for with your car and handmade overcoats
But your wealth will never make you stronger 'cos you're still a
Long way from home
Yes, you're still a long way from home

I was lost just wandering round downtown
Many people pushing me around
Hate spreads just like infection
Those rats jumping on and off my back
Fat black rats holding me down
I see rats in every direction
No time to catch your breath
Crazy people lost their heads
Masses trampling on my feet, inconsiderate in their heat
Those rats breeding angriness and spite
Never have done anything right for people like you and me
Walk over all the people you can't see
If they die there's more bread for me
Like snakes crawling through the grass
No time to catch your breath
Crazy people lost their heads
Masses trampling on my feet, inconsiderate in their heat
Those rats breeding angriness and spite
Never have done anything right for people like you and me
See that face man look at me, he's much too selfish to see
Once he was warm and was kind
Now all he has got is a pinstripe mind
See that face man look at me, he's much too selfish to see
Once he was warm and was kind
Now all he has got is a pinstripe mind

I think I'm sophisticated
'Cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybody's multiplying
Till they're walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the animals sitting in their cages
In the zoo man
'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cos I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man
I'm an ape man I'm a King Kong man I'm ape ape man
I'm an ape man
'Cos compared to the sun that sits in the sky
Compared to the clouds as they roll by
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies
I am an ape man
In man's evolution he has created the cities and
The motor traffic rumble, but give me half a chance
And I'd be taking off my clothes and living in the jungle
'Cos the only time that I feel at ease
Is swinging up and down in a coconut tree
Oh what a life of luxury to be like an ape man
I'm an ape, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I look out my window, but I can't see the sky
'Cos the air pollution is fogging up my eyes
I want to get out of this city alive
And make like an ape man
Come and love me, be my ape man girl
And we will be so happy in my ape man world
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I'll be your Tarzan, you'll be my Jane
I'll keep you warm and you'll keep me sane
And we'll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day
Just like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man.
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an ape man

I know a man, he's a powerful man
He's got the people in his power
In the palm of his hand.
He started at the bottom and he worked his way up
Now he's never going to stop
Until he reaches the top.
It's the same old story, it's the same old dream,
It's power man, power man, and all that it can bring.
If you want your money, you better stand in the line
'Cos you'll only end up picking up nickels and dimes.
You call him names and he sits and grins
'Cos everybody else is just a sucker to him.
And he's got my money, but I've got my faith
And powerman, powerman, I'll never be your slave.
It's the same old story, it's the same old game
It's power man, power man, driving me insane
People tried to conquer the world Napoleon and Genghis Khan
Hitler tried and Mussolini too
Powerman don't need to fight, powerman don't need no guns
Powerman got money on his side
Well I'm not rich and I'm not free
But I've got my girl and she got me
He's got my money and my publishing rights
But I've got my girl and I'm alright
And she got me going, and she keeps me sane
But powerman, powerman, got money on the brain
It's the same old story it's the same old game
Powerman, powerman driving me insane

Hush little baby don't you cry
Soon the sun is going to shine
We're going to be free like the birds and the bees
Running wild in the big country
Got to be free to do what I want
Walk if I want, talk if I want
Got to be free to say what I want
Make what I want and play what I want
As free as the birds up in the sky
As free as the bugs and the spiders and flies
I don't know how but I'm gonna try
I've just got to be free
And it won't be long 'cos we're right
And they are wrong
We've got to get out of this world somehow
We've got to be free, we've got to be free now
Got to be free to laugh when I want
Think what I want and cry if I like
Got to be free to do what I want
Say what I want and swear if I like
As free as the sun and the moon in the sky
As free as a flea or a proud butterfly
I don't know how but I'm gonna try
I've just got to be free
Yeah, we've got to get out of this world somehow
We've got to be free, we've got to be free now
Got to be free to do what I want
Walk if I want and talk if I want
Got to be free to say what I want
Make what I want and play what I want
I've got to be proud and stand up straight
And let people see I ain't nobody's slave
I've got to be free before it's too late
I've just got to be free
Got to be free to do what I want
Walk if I want, talk if I want