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CHUMBAWAMBA - TUBTHUMPER (1997)

1: Tubthumping
2: Amnesia
3: Drip, Drip, Drip
4: The Big Issue
5: The Good Ship Lifestyle
6: One By One
7: Outsider
8: Creepy Crawling
9: Mary, Mary
10: Smalltown
11: I Want More
12: Scapegoat

1: Tubthumping

We'll be singing
When we're winning
We'll be singing

I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down

Pissing the night away
Pissing the night away

He drinks a whisky drink
He drinks a vodka drink
He drinks a lager drink
He drinks a cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him of the better times:

"Oh Danny Boy, Danny Boy, Danny Boy..."

I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down

Pissing the night away
Pissing the night away

He drinks a whisky drink
He drinks a vodka drink
He drinks a lager drink
He drinks a cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him of the better times:

"Don't cry for me, next door neighbour..."

I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never going to keep me down

We'll be singing
When we're winning
We'll be singing

2: Amnesia

Goodbye to the summer
Sold down the river
Unhappy ever after
Well did you ever?
Did you ever reach for the glued-down penny?
Same old joke and it's not funny
Burns are red, bruises blue
Out with the old, cheated by the new

Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember

You sing the same old verse
Stick like glue for better or worse
What goes around comes around
Again again again
This heart pulled apart
Hydra fighting head to head
Burns are red, bruises blue
Out with the old cheated by the new

Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember

Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember

3: Drip, Drip, Drip

Eat, sleep and crap
For to prey on your needs
Down a dark street
In backwater Leeds
I seen yer comin'
Come in, lads!
You seen the ad?
Too bad, bad, bad

What you get
Is what you see
It's a trickledown theory
And it's coming to me
Life's a whip-round
And I've got the whip
It's a sinking ship
Drip, drip, drip

Drip, drip, drip goes the water
Drip, drip, drip goes the water
Drip, drip, drip goes the water

Take me in
Throw me out
Put me up
Let me down

Dark, satanic
Run-of-the-mill
Sing us a song
And I'll send you the bill
My nicotine grip
My smokin' gun
It's how I get my fun
Better run, run, run

Your olfactory nerves
All up the spout
You can't smell a rat
When your nose is out
Rent-to-kill
By any other name
Kiss an old flame
Shame, shame, shame

Drip, drip, drip goes the water
Drip, drip, drip goes the water
Drip, drip, drip goes the water

Take me in
Throw me out
Put me up
Let me down

Drip, drip, drip

Take me in
Throw me out
Put me up
Let me down

4: The Big Issue

There are those
Spend the night
Under bridges
Over by the river
Down in the park
Through the winter

But there's a house
That I know
Safe and warm
And no-one ever goes there
Down where the priests
Bless the wine

She's been born into the wrong time
She keeps nonsense on her mind
She's a poet, she's a builder
She's as bored as bored can be
She's a have-not, she's a know-all
She knows just how to say yes
She's skating frozen chaos
Till the no good gods are dead

But sometimes in the dead of night
Woken by the city lights
She wonders how she keeps alive

This is the girl who lost the house which
Paid to the man who put up the rent and
Threw out the girl to feather his own sweet home

She's a clueless social climber
Likes the wrong side of the bed
She's a pick-me-up and she's a drink-to-me
In the company of friends
She's tried every variation
She's so common, she's so cold
She's homesick for a future
Can't stomach what she's told

On every street in every town
All her days are up and down
At home among the lost-and-founds

This is the girl who lost the house which
Paid to the man who put up the rent and
Threw out the girl to feather his own sweet home

Here's the good samaritan
Looks away and carries on

This is the girl who lost the house which
Paid to the man who put up the rent and
Threw out the girl to feather his own sweet home

And no-one ever goes there

5: The Good Ship Lifestyle

This is the Goodship Lifestyle
All my friends jumped ship
I elect me the captain
This is the loneliest voyage
I've ever been on
Up in the crow's nest
Over there! I see land!
First mate? There is no First Mate
This is the Goodship Lifestyle

Sail away from the world
Sail away from the world

So steer a course, a course for nowhere
And drop the anchor my little Empire
I'm going nowhere, I'm going nowhere
I'm going nowhere, I'm going nowhere

This is the Goodship Lifestyle
I fly my very own flag
TV dinners for one at the captain's table
Repel all boarders!
Draw the curtains tighter!
Where's the crew? There is no crew
This is the Goodship Lifestyle

Sail away from the world
Sail away from the world

So steer a course, a course for nowhere
And drop the anchor, my little Empire
I'm going nowhere, I'm going nowhere
I'm going nowhere, I'm going nowhere

6: One By One

Pontius Pilate came to our town
Up to the dockyards to see the picket line
We asked him to help but he just turned around
He's the leader of the union now

Leader of the union
All of our questions he ignored
He washed his hands and he dreamed of his reward
A seat in the House of Lords

One by one, the ships come sailing in
One by one, the ships go sailing out

We live for words and die for words
Principles we can afford
When all our Brothers turn to Lords
Whose side are you on?

You tell the world your hands are tied
History three times denied
A sea of changes three miles wide
Whose side are you on?

One by one, the ships come sailing in
One by one, the ships go sailing out

This conspiracy of shame
Murder by some other name
Play up and play the game
Whose side are you on?

If any ask us why we died
We tell them that our leaders lied
Sold us out down the riverside
Whose side are you on?

One by one, the ships come sailing in
One by one, the ships go sailing out

7: Outsider

Outsider, outsider, outsider

I'm not alone, you're not alone
I'm not alone, you're not alone

Outsider, outsider, outsider

You see me, you hear me
There are millions think just like me
You see me, you hear me

I'm not alone, you're not alone
I'm not alone, you're not alone

Outsider, outsider, outsider

You see me, you hear me
There are millions think just like me
You see me, you hear me

8: Creepy Crawling

What a wonderful world

A loose door-jam, a light left on
The oldest national lottery
Enter Johnny-Go-Darkly
Come to spoil my party
Smell of faces lingers
Echo of light fingers
Cold comfort blankets
Steeped in creeping anger

Flatfoot comes poking
Compounding my misery
Grinding pestle and mortar
Adding insult to injury
If only this, if only that,
If only in my guts
See my life before my eyes
Trampled underfoot

Creepy crawling, creepy crawling

All the creeps go creepy crawling
Same thing every night
How can stealing candy from a baby
Seem alright?

Corvino, carrion crow
Skulking with his mobile
Slippery peat-bog eyes
Stick-on smiley smile
Small print like quicksand
Not a wooden leg to stand on
Sinking through my stomach
The ground beneath me gone

Free-fall, call Ophelia
Clutching at straw
Mixed with bloody feathers
From scruff of neck of crow
Johnny go! Johnny gone!
Too much drink in your tum-tum-tum
See this finger, see this thumb
See this fist and watch it come

Creepy crawling, creepy crawling

All the creeps go creepy crawling
Same thing every night
How can stealing candy from a baby
Seem alright?

9: Mary, Mary

No virgin me for I have sinned
I sold my soul for sex and gin
Go call a priest, all meek and mild
And tell him, "Mary is no more a child."

It's raining stones, it's raining bile
From the luxury of your denial
So I don't deny, I don't make do
I'll press alarms, place bets on truth

I'm so up and down and I love what's not allowed
I was lost, now I see
And now I'm growing old disgracefully

Whatever happened to Mary?
Whatever happened to Mary?
Whatever happened to Mary?

I'll spit on floors and do more drugs
Burn every bill, get drunk on love
Wear next to nothing in the pouring rain
Be a bad example and do it all again

I'll be uncareful, I'll cause such scenes
And I'll never talk of used-to-be's
Tattoo my face, I won't go grey
Be a dancing queen, I'm growing old disgracefully

I'm so up and down and I love what's not allowed
I was lost, now I see
And now I'm growing old disgracefully

Whatever happened to Mary?
Whatever happened to Mary?
Whatever happened to Mary?

Mary, Mary
Quite contrary

10: Smalltown

And every morning comes too soon
All your nights are sleepless
Poison arrows to ruin your tomorrows

Below suspicion
Cafes full of people dressed as spies
And all I know is guilt for being different

It's always raining stones
There's a killer in the home
In a small town
Everybody looks the same

There are unwritten rules
Unspoken words
Should I pack my fear and go?

I have to leave somehow
Before they run me out of town
I have to leave somehow

And every morning comes too soon
All your nights are sleepless
Poison arrows to ruin your tomorrows

There are unwritten rules
Unspoken words
Should I pack my fear and go?

I have to leave somehow
Before they run me out of town
I have to leave somehow

11: I Want More

Blue-rinse sugar
Wipe-clean couple
Pinched last supper
Counting pretty penny
John Betjeman
Some dead liar
Quiet pink picture
Under heavy manners

This is Tearoom England
They'll kick your face in
So politely
This is Tearoom England
They'll kick your face in
Oh so nicely

I want more!
No hurry, so sorry, don't worry
No hurry, so sorry, don't worry
I want more!

Bite-size china
Tea or tartar
Lipstick traces
Table set to bless
Sweet charity
Lukewarm whisper
Still-life platter
Under heavy manners

This is Tearoom England
They'll kick your face in
So politely
This is Tearoom England
They'll kick your face in
Oh so nicely

I want more!

No hurry, so sorry, don't worry
I want more!
No hurry, so sorry, don't worry
I want more!

I want more!

12: Scapegoat

Aftershave and smoke
And the same unfunny jokes
They say they'll take you
"Anywhere but there"
Believe every half-whispered
Half-remembered lie
Where truth is a luxury
They can't afford to buy

Scapegoat, looking for a scapegoat
Scapegoat, looking for a scapegoat

There's always someone else for you to blame
There's always someone else for you to blame

Backed into a corner he barricades his life
Fastens up the shutters every night
This island is big enough for every castaway
But most of us are looking round for someone else to blame

Scapegoat, looking for a scapegoat
Scapegoat, looking for a scapegoat

There's always someone else for you to blame
There's always someone else for you to blame

There's always someone else for you to blame
There's always someone else for you to blame