TINDERSTICKS

TINDERSTICKS

CURTAINS (1997)

  1. Another Night In
  2. Rented Rooms
  3. Don't Look Down
  4. Dick's Slow Song
  5. Fast One
  6. Ballad Of Tindersticks
  7. Dancing
  8. Let's Pretend
  9. Desperate Man
10. Buried Bones
11. Bearsuit
12. (Tonight) Are You Trying To Fall In Love Again
13. I Was Your Man
14. Bathtime
15. Walking

TINDERSTICKS

CURTAINS

1. ANOTHER NIGHT IN

Greed's all gone now, there's no question
And I can see you push your hair behind your ears
Regain your balance
Doesn't matter where she is tonight
Or with whoever she spends her time
If these arms were meant to hold her
They were never meant to hold her so tight
For the love of that girl

Greed's all gone now, the panic subsides
When I could run, pulling arms to love her
Try to put myself on on the inside

For the love of that girl
Tears swell, you don't know why
For the love of that girl
They never fall, they can never run dry
For the love of that girl

Promise is never over, never questioned it needed reply
But she could breathe deep into my neck
Let me know I'm just on the outside

(Chorus)

Greed's all gone now, there's no question
And I can see you push your hair behind your ears
Regain your balance
Doesn't matter where she is tonight
Or with whoever she spends her time
If these arms were meant to hold her
They were never meant to hold her so tight

(Chorus.)

2. RENTED ROOMS

There's the same hotel, and we can go there now
We can go there now if you want to

Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours
It seemed such a short while
We had no time to cry
Or sit and wonder why
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We tried the cinema
Within half an hour
We had to go find someplace else
Some more, you know

We tried a drinking bar
It gets so very hard
And when the cab ride gets too long
We go fuck in the bathroom

We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through

We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
We haven't got the time for telling lies
Or to even try
There's only days in between
There's just tomorrow

Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours, it seemed such a short while
In those pillows all the feathers that hold all our dreams
Whispered at the scene
Now they just seem to float on a breeze
I could have wrapped that pillow around my head
Face down on the bed
I could have drowned in those so-called dreams.

3. DON'T LOOK DOWN

See her there
She hangs from me
See her face
She can't let go
I can't look in here eyes
She's holding on
She needed this to hurt me so

So it shot out of me
As if all of the love just got ripped out of me
She said I'm such a sap, I'm such a jerk
Can't I ever forget the way that we are
Spend all your time with your eyes on the ground
Loking for the stars

So it shot out of me
As if all of the love just got ripped out of me
And just for that moment I saw in her eyes
How it all could be
It shot out of me
Say this is it
This is all there is
You have to remember this
This is all there is (Chorus)

Spend all your time with your eyes on the ground
Looking for the stars
So it shot out of me
As though all of the love has been ripped out of me.

4. DICK'S SLOW SONG

Don't bring that stuff to bed
I've gotta fall with a clear head
Don't tell me of those mirrors
I'll show you what you want to see
Pay no mind to those voices
I'll show you what you want to hear

Chorus
It doesn't matter what you see
You're beautiful to me
It doesn't matter what they say
I want you anyway

So we live in the city Come over here
No, leave on the light
Beautiful things get run down
There's no more to say
To let you know it's alright
There's a fine door that you open
There's no door
There's no option
You knew this from the start
You made a fist around your heart
I don't need to know
But she must want to show me
It's just for yourself
I can't forgive you anything
It doesn't matter what you see
You're beautiful to me
It doesn't matter what they say
I want you anyway

Don't bring that stuff to bed I'll touch you here
Gotta fall with a clear head Does it make you cry?
Don't bring that stuff to bed Don't hide those tears
Gotta fall with a clear head You know they're alright.

5. FAST ONE

Some kind of * has been hollowed out inside me
Don't know what I became
Or what I've left behind
See I don't remember when
Something plain * girl brought me back here again
Started round her house tonight
I could give her a call
Stumbled over the curbside on the way to her door
And I squandered her love
It's the biggest kick I ever got
Now I squandered her love
Nothing else hits the spot

Everybody's perfect and yet everybody's a *
Everybody's got pictures that they can't contain
I squandered your love
It hangs there in my mind
It's an ugly thing I can't leave behind
Jesus.

6. BALLAD OF TINDERSTICKS

The first time we flew it
It was cheap and cramped
The vodka running out half-way across the Atlantic
Even the steward screamed and joined in it
We didn't think we were going to make it
Now we're stretched out in wide, furry seats
Flicking through menus
A walk to the bar and there's as much screw-top champagne as we can drink
We're so easy

Taking turns having our photos taken
Sitting in front of smoked windows
Decanters of cheap whiskey in our hands
Drive into Manhattan on a date with a starlet who's just talent
That's what people pay the money to see
Who are we to argue?
Five hours now it's been going on
And still we're watching all of it
Can you really believe all this?
Can he really lie in bed at night and marvel at his own genius?
When do you lose the ability to step back
And get a sense of your own ridiculousness?
They're only songs
Midnight, and it's all over
Now it can really make us laugh
We're standing on our heads drinking sours of Cristal Schnapps
Now we're unable to step back or step forward
Swallowing a swallow
Tasting it again, it's not so unpleasant
Perhaps it's an acquired taste
The first time, it makes you sick
Then, bit by bit, it becomes delicious

Showbiz people
Always there to be interested in what you say
We are artists; we are sensitive and important
We nod our heads earnestly
Already half-way down the champagne
On our way to leaving the place dry
A $2,000 bar bill
Showbiz picks up the tab
And we're on our way laughing
Laughing at what?
Los Angeles
Eight days in
And our sense of irony's running pretty thin
All the friends we've made
It's 2 am, it's closing time at the Dresden
Marty and Layton play one last sleepy "Strangers in the Night"
And the last of the martinis dribble down our chins
We're sitting, chasing the conservation around the table
Jesus, how long have I been in this state?
The limousine's still waiting outside
Anything you want to do?
Anywhere you want to go?

We're on our way to the airport and a plane to Vegas
So many nights lying in bed shaking
Dreaming of pushing my daughter around the supermarket
The joy of seeing all those colours and shapes reflect in her wide eyes
My head leaning on the window
And we're driving through the empty L.A. streets
And everything seems silent and beautiful
A guy's face hits the floor
Police revolvers glistening in the streetlight
Onto Melrose and lurching through a sea of Halloweeen transvestites
The flight's cancelled, but it doesn't matter
We turn this corner to a way that takes us wherever

Up to Sunset
We creep up the drive to the Shattuck
The suite Belushi died in
Or the one Morrison hung out the window
Oh, I'll go for Jim's
I would fancy a hotel window-hanging, myself, tonight, man
Straight over to the mini-bar
Open the champagne -- one sip and it's left to wake up to
Anyone hungry?
A team of uniformed waiters lay out an elaborate table for all us to ignore
Oh, the irony

How we're used to living
Back in London on a cold Friday night
Do you want another drink?
Well, I could try
Perhaps we could make it to the Atlantic
600 yards, twenty minutes later
We're pushing through the waiting crowd, all fish eyes
An exclusive door policy
...Exclusively for arseholes
And tonight? Well, a nod of our heads, and we're inside
Falling down the red, velvety stairs
Limbs flaying, hands searching for something to steady
Pick ourselves up, nothing broken
Just aches in the morning
No one seems to notice

I find a table, champagne arrives
I've been so drunk, I sit and look at you
We try and talk for the first time in a long time
Drunken confession
You shiver, it made you feel sick
We use the rent money to pay the bill
Bumping shoulders, we stumble out into Soho
Slipping over the sleeping bags
Shouting for taxis.

7. DANCING

I understand everything
I understand everything
Take me in your arms
You knew how I feel
Before I knew, I was up to my neck
First time we danced
So I'll tell you what brought you home tonight
So, you're back, what brought you home?
Oh, the dancing
Take me in your arms
You knew how I feel

Running home
I couldn't wait to be inside you then
You were all around me then
So, is that what brought you home tonight
Do you know what brought you home tonight?
Was it the dancing?

Before I knew, I was up to my neck
The last toe leaving ground
First time we danced.

8. LET'S PRETEND

Let's not make it into a big thing
Let's not get lost in me
I know it is, I know we could
I guess we should or would
Let's pretend it's not
It doesn't mean a thing
Let's not blow it out of all senses
As though it meant so much
It's always thought about for weeks
Not everytime your lips meet mine, I think of her
But when her hands reach out, I think of you.

9. DESPERATE MAN

She knows what happens when I'm without her
How this ring itches on my finger
Does she let me go to help me remember?
Remember how I came in
I was desperate then
Remember what I am without her
And that's a desperate man

Before I go, when I'm without her
How fast and how long that slide
I'll always take that ride
It itches on my finger
Helps me remember
Remember how I came in
I was desperate then
Remember what I am without her
And that's a desperate man, yeah

She knows what happens when I'm without her
She sees the problem
She understands the irony
When I'm slumped there in that seat
And slobbering of how much I love her
Hey, bartender
Let me tell you about when I walked in
I was desperate then
If I could find my way back to loving her
I'm a desperate man, yeah
I'm a desperate man, yeah

10. BURIED BONES

I could take all the crazy out of you
That's what I loved you for
I could take away all the orange, greens and blues
That's what I loved you for

Take a look at me
You think it really could be that easy?
I mean, take a look at me
You think it really could be that easy for you?

I know about guys, I know where they live

And you're just the same
The ones that matter fight against themselves

But it's so hard to change
Hey, I could love you
Take all that love away from you
Hey, I could love you
Put you in this box I made for two

So you could take all this craziness out of me
Ask what you love me for
Well, I don't mean to laugh,
But if you know all this
You must be half-way there

Well, like that drift tonight, you won't know as it falls from you
Turn around and it's winter, darling
Look in the mirror and it won't be you

So you're an old, old dog
You've been around the block

So many times
And it's the same old turns
Same old feel straight down the line

Yeah, I can love you
Grab that leash and drag you to a place you'd never know

I know where my bones are buried
May take me a while, but I'd find my way home.

11. BEARSUIT

I'm laying on my back
She climbs over me
Pricks out her nails
Runs them over my proud belly
I'm a tired, hungry bear
Spoiled and sleepy
Her finger's on my zipper
She pulls it down slowly

I'm laying on my back
She climbs over me
Pricks out her nails
Runs them over my proud belly
I'm a tired, hungry bear
Spoiled and sleepy
Her finger's on my zipper
She pulls it down slowly

I'm not ready
Turn over, settle down again
Thow her off
But she's back again

I've been out all night
Get in at dawn
And I've still got honey
Dripping from my claws
I'm a tired, hungry bear
Spoiled and sleepy
Her finger's on my zipper
She pulls it down slowly
I'm not ready
Turn over, settle down again
Throw her off
But she's back again.

12. (TONIGHT) ARE YOU TRYING TO FALL IN LOVE AGAIN

My my, it doesn't matter what you say
From the start, I hang off every word you say
Oh, tonight, are you trying to fall in love again?
Does it make it all right?
Are you trying to fall in love again?

Now, I'm a hard man gone soft
The lines were so clear then
How did I ever get by?

There was a time I hang off every word you said
Every breath you blew, I was running to inhale
Oh, tonight, are you trying to fall in love again?
Does it make it all right?
Are you trying to fall in love again?

My my, there will be other days
It comes and goes, you know it never stays
Oh, tonight, are you trying to fall in love again?
Oh, tonight, are you trying to fall in love again?
Does it make it all right?
Are you trying to fall in love again?
Does it make it all right?
You're trying to fall in love again.

13. I WAS YOUR MAN

So, you wish I was your man, and I'd understand
So, you wish I was your man, and I'd understand
Not a surface thing, we could meet down inside
Not a surface thing, we could meet way down inside

You've got a smile that never reaches your eyes
You want to try to do something right
So, take me home tonight
Turn out the light
You're just alone in the dark

So, you wish I was your man, in my consciousness you ran
In my eyes, you swam -- nothing's too much trouble for you
So, you wish I was your man, and I'd understand
So, you wish I was your man, and I'd understand you

You've got a smile that never reaches your eyes
You want to try to do something right
So, take me home tonight
Turn out the light
You're just alone in the dark.

14. BATHTIME

There's a city filth that lingers
All over my naked hand
Deep into the weave of the clothes I wear

And every step brings another
Every hour adds some more
Till I'm on the other side leaning on your door

Are the taps running, darling?
Is the air thick with steam?
Can I find some place to cry these tears of shame?

Every step brings another
Every hour adds some more
Till I'm on the other side leaning on your door

There's a smell so sweet it's sickly
It follows me into the room
Hangs in the air like rotting perfume

I never bathe in it, darling
Got down on my hands and knees
Got in so far, I became, well, a part of it all

I've been wading through it
Don't you know it's up to my neck?
And it won't be long 'fore it's over my head
And it's the thought of you in my mind, keeps me

Thought I knew these streets, and how they turn
Could always find my way home
There's something there, can't leave it alone

The trains they run all night
We could leave everything behind
Just bring that dress you wore when we first met

I know it's faded, darling
I know it's tattered and worn
In that dress, I could never love you more

I've been wading through it
Don't you know it's up to my neck?
And it won't be long 'fore it's over my head
And I can suck it into my love, breathe it in.

15. WALKING

Wake up, it's all right
I don't need to know where you've been
Went for a walk, out of my sight
You went astray again

Wake up, it's all right
You don't have the words, it's okay
I make it worse
If I make it better
I can chase it away

And the emotion running and flapping
Faster and faster, breathing hard
Just for a moment, we're on a breeze
Hold on, hold on tight
You've gone strayed again

Wake up, it's all right
I don't need to know where you've been
Went for a walk, out of my sight
You went astray again

Wake up, it's all right
You don't have the words, that's okay
I make it worse, but I can make it better.

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