The Kinks Album

Standing in the middle of nowhere,
Wondering how to begin.
Lost between tomorrow and yesterday,
Between now and then.

And now we're back where we started,
Here we go round again.
Day after day I get up and I say
I better do it again.

Where are all the people going?
Round and round till we reach the end.
One day leading to another,
Get up, go out, do it again.

Then it's back where you started,
Here we go round again.
Back where you started,
Come on do it again.

And you think today is going to be better,
Change the world and do it again.
Give it all up and start all over,
You say you will but you don't know when.

Then it's back where you started,
Here we go round again.
Day after day I get up and I say
Come on do it again.

The days go by and you wish you were a different guy,
Different friends and a new set of clothes.
You make alterations and affect a new pose,
A new house, a new car, a new job, a new nose.
But it's superficial and it's only skin deep,
Because the voices in your head keep shouting in your sleep.
Get back, get back.

Back where you started, here we go round again,
Back where you started, come on do it again.

Back where you started, here we go round again,
Day after day I get up and I say, do it again.
Do it again.
Day after day I get up and I say, come on do it again

I've been trying to get a message to you,
But the operator can't put me through,
Because the vandals went and wrecked all the telephones.
And all my enemies are spreading bad news,
You won't call me, that's why I'm calling you,
To put you straight about the rumors they're spreading about me back home.

I should have known, sooner or later,
You'd get the news, sooner or later,
The word of mouth will get right back to you.

Somehow we lost communication,
My only chance in my situation,
Is that the word of mouth gets my message through.

The word of mouth,
The word of mouth,
But who are they to say the things they do?

The word of mouth says that I've gone insane,
That wine and women have affected my brain.
Well who's the big mouth spreading the news again?
The word of mouth says I'm round the bend,
It's all over, this is the end.
Exaggeration sure gets the better of people who send[?].

The word of mouth,
The word of mouth,
But who are they to say the things they do?

The word of mouth said I should be put in my place.
The word is out I'm in disgrace - a waste of space.
But if they say it, say it to my face.

People talking, trying to dig up the dirt,
There are so many lies around.
They spread their gossip and the rumors around this town.

Word of mouth, face to face,
My word of mouth has stated my case,
And I'm saying I'm coming back home to you.

You should have know sooner or later,
You'd get the news sooner or later,
The word of mouth will get right back to you.

The word of mouth,
Shut your mouth,
Shut your face!

The sky is blue but there are clouds in my head,
With big decisions looming ahead.
The sun is out but the room is so grey,
So much confusion headed my way.
Get positive, try to be gay.

News of the world, tea and biscuits in bed.
The headlines said that Diana is dead.
She couldn't act much but she put on a show.
She always smiled even when she felt low.
I used to fancy her a long time ago.

So today has got to be a good day,
Today is gonna be a good day,
Today is gonna be a good day,
Good day, good day, good day.

Holes in my socks and I can't find my shoes.
It's no surprise that I'm singing the blues.
So many holes in my life still to mend,
And someone just said that the world's gonna end.

So today better be a good day,
Today is gonna be a good day,
Today has got to be a good day,
Good day, good day, good day, good day.

If we blow away the past with a bloody great blast,
Make it fast, make it fast.
So have a good day today because it could be your last,
Make it last, make it last.

Will it light up the sky?
Will it blot out the sun?
Well we've waited this long,
So it better be a good one.
Good day, good day, good day.

Yeah, it's gonna be a good day.
Hey baby, if you come back home it'll be a good day today.
They could drop a small atom bomb on the city today,
But if you walk through that door honey, you know it'll be a good day.

And now survival is my only aim.
I call friends and see if any remain.
Who was that girl who used to be my flame?
I'd call her if I could remember her name.

So today is gonna be a good day,
Today has got to be a good day,
Today is gonna be a good day,
Good day, good day, good day, good day.

Hey Diana, I've really got to learn to take a tip from you,
Put on my makeup and try to make the world take notice of you.
Yeah, it's gonna be good day today.

Good day, gonna be a good day.
[Repeat]

All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there's no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
All the lies we were told,
All the lies of the people running round,
They're castles have burned.
Now I see change,
But inside we're the same as we ever were.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Living this way, each day is a dream.
What am I, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?

Now another century nearly gone,
What are we gonna leave for the young?
What we couldn't do, what we wouldn't do,
It's a crime, but does it matter?
Does it matter much, does it matter much to you?
Does it ever really matter?
Yes, it really, really matters.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?

Now another leader says
Break their hearts and break some heads.
Is there nothing we can say or do?
Blame the future on the past,
Always lost in blood and guts.
And when they're gone, it's me and you.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line

I always knew that they'd get me somehow sooner or later,
But with a bullet in the head, a knife in the back,
Not a pocket calculator.
Sorry mister, you're all wiped up,
You're all washed up,
Sold you out.

Got no dreams, got no ambition,
Can't decide, 'cause there's no decision,
Got no claim to any position,
Can't compete with the competition.
You're always complaining,
It's so depressing,
But if you're old enough,
Start to confess it.
You say, you sold me out,
To get a better deal for yourself,
You sold me out,
And now we want some of your precious wealth,
Because you sold me out.
Sold me out,
Sold me out,
Sold me out.

You sold me out,
To get a better deal for yourself.
You sold me out,
And now it's every man for himself.

Work all your life, put the money in the bank,
Sign on the dotted line.
Try to draw it out, the joke's on you,
Put up the empty sign.
Sorry mister, we're all sold out.

Sold me out,
Sold me out,
Sold me out,
Sold me out.
You, I'm talkin' to you.

You sold me out,
To get a better deal for yourself.
You sold me out,
And now we want some of your precious wealth.
And sell you out,
Like you sold me out.
Are you in so deep, that you can't get out?

Got no dreams, got no ambition,
Can't decide, 'cause there's no decision,
Got no claim to any position,
Can't compete with the competition.
Sold me out,
Sold me out,
Sold me out,
Sold me out.
[Repeat]

I've been sacrificed in the name of the company,
I've been victimized for the sake of economy.
I had a big house, a big car,
Expense account and credit cards,
But now look what they've done to me.

They're making massive reductions,
It's all mass production and assembly lines.
They're making massive reductions,
Massive reductions.

They're laying me off all because of inflation,
I'm losing my job and my reputation.
Good-bye my big house, my big car.
Now it's all up to welfare,
I hear that everybody's going there.

They're making massive reductions,
Massive reductions to stay alive.
Whoa, they're making massive reductions.

Good-bye my big house, my big car,
Now it's all up to welfare,
I hear that everybody's going there.

They're making massive reductions,
Massive reductions to stay alive.
Whoa, they're making massive reductions

Stand before your maker, it will make or break you
While living for today
I know you, you are a faker, don't try me I will take you
While living for today

Don't stand in the light for the truth it will blind you
Secure in your offices of self-gratification
Deaf to the cries of the innocent strangers you buried
Don't look over your shoulder for the past is still burning
Or wriggle and squirm for your soul has forgotten
Controlling the man that through greed has brought misery to the world

Guilty until you're proven innocent
I'm sorry, but you've sealed your own fate
Guilty until you're proven innocent
Guilty because you looked/turned away

Power manipulators, conspirators, dictators
Drive the people underground
But we'll rise up through the ashes,
To stand where light can find us
In every nation, every land

You buy and you sell with no thought for the future
Controlling the masses in true business like fashion
TV, the media, lies and deception blinding us

Everybody's working out at the gymnasium,
Pumping iron, getting fit, ready to compete.
Everybody working on their own body heat.
Everybody hustling out on the street.

Julian is out there looking at locations,
Arthur's on the picket line winding up the nation,
Sara Jane's working on her way to a degree,
But back in the gymnasium they're working out and body popping.

It's gotta stop because it's getting too hot.
Cool it down, 'cause it's getting too hot.
It's getting crazy, going over the top.
It's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot.

All the kids are working out, they're on their way to fame.
Arthur's on the war path, here he comes again.
The city's like a sauna bath, stinks like a drain.
They're pumping up the nation but it's gonna bust a vein.
Tourists everywhere, blocking up the streets.
My ice cream cone just melted in the heat.
And while I do my best to stop my raspberry from slopping,
Back in the gymnasium they're working out and body popping.

It's gotta stop because it's getting too hot.
Cool it down, 'cause it's getting too hot.
It's getting crazy, going over the top.
It's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot.
It's too hot, gotta cool it down.
It's too hot, turn the heating down.
It's too hot, the temperature is up.
It's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot.

The city lights start shining at the end of the day,
Taking the place of the big red sun as it slowly sets.
Meanwhile back in commuter city, another kid's packing her bags,
And running away.

To a city that is really too hot,
It's Piccadilly and it's really too hot.
Too hot, too hot, too hot.

Arthur's working out, now he's really got the muscle,
Julian's over budget, now he's really got to hustle,
And Sara Jane's living on bag take-aways,
And working as a stripper on the school holidays.
Sleazy town, gets me down, want some peace and quiet.
The police are everywhere like there's gonna be a riot.
Back in the gymnasium they're training for a war.
Think of all the fun we had in 1984.

It's gotta stop because it's getting too hot.
Cool it down, 'cause it's getting too hot.
It's getting crazy, going over the top.
It's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot.
It's too hot, gotta cool it down.
It's too hot, turn the heating down.
It's too hot, the temperature is up.

It's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot, it's too hot.
[Repeat]

Have you seen this face?
Does it ring a bell?
Does it strike a chord somewhere in your mind?
And there's a big reward,
If you help us solve this crime,
And if you recognize this face, dial 999.

Have you seen this face?
Dig deep in your mind.
Has anybody seen that little girl of mine?
She was always a rover,
But I'm afraid to say she's strayed
Too far this time.

Now I'm sitting at home, staring at the wall.
Waiting for the missing person to call.
Waiting for the message I'm dreading to hear.
Waiting to confirm my darkest fears.
She's a missing person, I wish I could see
All of the places she might be.
Maybe I stopped her from being free.
Maybe there was something missing in me.

Wherever she is, I hope she's doing fine,
But I wish that she would phone or drop us a line.
Till then I've got nothing to ease my mind,
And I'm thinking about her all the time

Looking in a window on a rainy day.
Thinking about good things that I just threw away.
Looking in the gutter, watching the trash go flowing by.
Thinking it's Summer, but there are only clouds in the sky.

When I think about what we wasted, makes me sad,
We never appreciated what we had.
Now I'm standing in a doorway with my overcoat on,
It really feels like Summer's gone.
So alone.
Summer's gone.

It should have been a laugh, it should have been fun,
When I think of all the things that we did last Summer.
Now I look back, it seems such a crime,
We couldn't appreciate it at the time.

Now I'm standing in a doorway, thinking of Summers gone by.
It ought to make me happy, but it just makes me want to cry.
I was riding in the car with my mum and dad,
He was drivin' the car, the kids were drivin' him mad.
Dad looked at us, then he looked at his wife,
He must have wondered where we all came from.
And then mum said, "Dad, you know it won't last for long,
Before you know it, Summer's gone."
So alone.
Summer's gone.

I really blew it all, when I think it through,
I really lost it all when I lost you.
Now I'm standing in a doorway with water in my shoes,
It really feels like, feels like Summers gone.
So alone.
Summer's gone.
Summer's gone, so alone.
Summer's gone

She left a message after the tone,
I hear it over and over on the answer phone.
No one can find her, address unknown.
She just decided to go out and make it alone.

Solo, solo,
My little child is going solo.
Solo, solo,
My little child is going solo.

I feel like crying, I'm in a rage.
I can't understand why she just ran away.
What made it happen, guess we'll never know.
She just decided to go out and make it solo.
Solo, solo, solo, solo, solo.

We work like dogs all of our lives,
Like millions of other husbands and wives.
Sent her through college, didn't care what we spent.
Think of how we feel,
She didn't say, she didn't ask, she just went.

Solo, solo,
My little child, you're going solo.
It's like a pattern, it's like a crime,
We see it happen time after time.
You raise your children, you watch them grow,
Then one day it's good-bye, they've decided they're going solo.
Solo, solo, solo, solo, solo.

The toys are forgotten, now it appears,
You've let them down after all of these years.
Sacrificed all, now there's nothing to show,
Ungrateful youth, decided you're going solo.

Solo, solo,
My little child, you're going solo.
Solo, solo,
Ungrateful youth, you're going solo.

The obligations, all of the ties,
Have got to be broken so you can survive.
Just because they gave you life, they can't stop if you grow,
Now they can't hold you back 'cause you're going solo