Sold out.
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Recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios in November 1999
While critics and fans have always commended the attention given to arrangements and production on Black albums, this all-acoustic album gave Colin a chance to strip the songs to the bone. Colin, a guitar and Lady Black entered Abbey Road studios in November 1999 to re-record back catalogue hits and new songs ‘Alive’ and ‘I’ll give you something to cry about’. The resulting CD reflected Colin’s recent solo tours, where he had performed old and new songs acoustically.
I wish I had forced myself to do solo shows a lot earlier. Having done it, what you get immediately is a sense of where the dead spots are in a song. You can sing a line and get an immediate response, so you know when you’ve made your point and can move on.
CV
The album was the first of many to be sold exclusively through colinvearncombe.com.
Lyrics
Alive
Listen to the silence growing louder
A whisper can sometimes be louder than a scream
Even in your wildest dreams
Oh growing louder
But I am
Never more alive than when I am
Lying in your arms again
Some say that each and everyone of us is dying
They don’t admit that they have never really
Lived at all
And swung it at the big ball
Oh I don’t fight it
’cause I am never more alive than when I am lying in your arms again
Some people act like love was just a kind of guessing game
So when they want you what the hell are they responding to?
And some people act like they’re immaturing
I don’t know if I am growing younger
But I am never more alive than when I am lying in your arms again
Ave Lolita
Gone and gone for good
Grown up and gone away
Passed from now to then like a river running by to
Rush headlong in to the sea
She hears the band play ‘Ave Lolita”
She sees her future coming to her in a flash
Starts counting hours, starts counting minutes
And walks the line while there’s still time
Ave Lolita
If you sleep at all sleep well for the coming day won’t spare you
If fear is the key you are locked outside the door
And you’ve been there before
When you heard the band play ‘Ave Lolita’
And you saw your future coming to you in a flash
Start counting hours, start counting minutes
And walk the line while there’s still time
Ave Lolita
Watch the sky for details, watch the distance for fire
Fiery pinpricks out of reach I can’t hold the lines of words
To tick them off but it won’t be long now
Cause she hears the band play ‘ave lolita’
She sees her future rushing by her in a flash
Starts counting hours, starts counting minutes
And walks the line she still can’t define
Ave Lolita
Better Letting Go
Lately we’ve been acting like strangers
We never show our feelings
Or say the things we mean
It’s hard to admit
But maybe it’s time to quit pretending
’cause we both know
it’s better letting go
there’s no point hanging on
to what used to be
why can’t we see
it’s better letting go
It’s crazy to sit here in silence
Counting off the seconds
The beating of our hearts
When there’s no more to give
There’s no easy way to live together
We both know
It’s better letting go
It’s time to walk away
And start again
This makes no sense
It’s better letting go
No matter how we fake it
This love has faded
The feeling has gone
It’s time to move on
It’s no good looking back
It hurts but we both know it baby
It’s better letting go
There’s no point hanging on
To what used to be
Why can’t we see
It’s better letting go
It’s better letting go
It’s time to walk away
And start again
This makes no sense
It’s better letting go
Fly Up To The Moon
Gonna fly up to the moon
Raising all of my money
Can’t make it too soon
I am sick of it down here
Gonna fly up to the moon
So this is how the world ends
‘not with a bang but with a Wimpy’
don’t laugh too soon, I am sick of it down here
gonna fly up to the moon
who needs all the troubles of today, what’s the difference anyway?
I feel out of focus but what can I do there’s only you?
Gonna fly up to the moon
Raising all of my money, can’t make it too soon
I am sick of it down here
Gonna fly up to the moon
When they open the borders where will you be?
I’ll climb the highest tree to avoid the stampede
And if I should fly there’s only you
You
There’s only you that would say
Goodbye
Let Me Watch You Make Love
Sometimes I wonder at this shame I hide
Pare away the man and find the worm inside
Your mind’s unclear and instinct is a lie
I hear what you say you’d do
And I wish it were true
How can he take you when you give yourself?
All the old lies just to bind yourself
Then you wrap yourself around me and
Whisper in my ear
‘where is your jealousy?’
all I feel is fear
I want to hear you, I want to see
Let me watch you make love
And imagine that it’s me
Sweetest Smile
I think my heart must be made of clay
Cause everyone said it would be broken some day
And now I’ve come to that fateful day
So I sit on the floor with my head in my hands
And don’t tell me how to make it pay
I write a new song every day
I just wish I was made of wood
I might not feel pain even if I should
Even if I should
The sweetest smile that ever did
Melt the pats in the butter dish
And if you could have believed in me
I swear to God I’d have made damn sure
Our hearts were warm, and gald with wine
I’d keep the doors locked all the time
I just wish I was made of wood
You might not seem glad, even if you should
Even if you should, if you should
I think my heart must be made of clay
Cause everyone said it would be broken some day
Seems that I have come to that fateful day
So I sit on the floor with my head in my hands
With my head in my hands
Even if I should, if I should
I’ll Give you Something to Cry About
Breaks her vows and keeps the ring
Buys a car and steals a gun and tries to run
Stares ahead and drives the night and when she’s run the county line she looks behind
With angry eyes
‘Your bloodless hands, your stupid friends, your vicious lies
I’ll give you something to cry about
I am more than pussy face
I am more than pretty thighs wrapped up in lace
And I want more than broken dreams
I was always more than I seemed and
I’ll give you something to cry about
I want a child I want to play
Like children do
I want much more than I could
Ever have with you
I’ll give you something to cry about’
Breaks her vows and keeps the ring
Buys a car and steals a gun and tries to run
The Way She Was Before
Tell me have you seen her
Did she look the same as before?
The last time that I saw her I swore
That I didn’t know that she was who she was
But if I tried I could still see that look
In her eyes; the one that went missing
The way she was before
And tell me how d’you find her
Did she look like she was having fun?
Smiling at a stranger is when she’s dangerous;
Never ashamed of what she has done
But if I try I can still see that look in
Her eyes; the one that went missing
The way she was before
The clothes that she wore
I loved the way she walked
The jokes she liked to tell
I loved the way she smiled
And it was fun while it lasted
It didn’t last long but I’m not bitter
I just miss her the way she was before
Wonderful Life
Here I go out to sea again
The sunshine fills my hair
And dreams hang in the air
Gulls in the sky and in my blue eyes
You know it feels unfair
There’s magic everywhere
Look at me standing
Here on my own again
Up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh or cry
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
The sun’s in your eyes
The heat is n your hair
They seem to hate you
Because you’re there
And I need a friend, oh I need a friend
To make me happy
Not stand there on my own
Look at me standing here on my own again
Up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh or cry
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
I need a friend, oh I need a friend
To make me happy, not so alone
Look at me here, here on my own again
Up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh or cry
It’s a wonderful, wonderful life
Original album credits
All tracks written by Colin Vearncombe except Better Letting Go written by
Colin Vearncombe and John O’Kane.
℗ & © 2000 Nero Schwarz Limited.
All songs published by Hornall Brothers (Music) Ltd. except Better Letting
Go published by Hornall Brothers (Music) Ltd./Warner Chappell Music.
Produced by Mike Hedges.
Most modern records leave me cold: I don’t like the songs, the way they sound, the performances just seem to get weaker and weaker. I don’t even like the way most are made these days with such a focus on the hard/software and so little on performance.
The Americans have a cute expression: “put up or shut up”. Sometime in 1999 I began (again) to ‘put up’ and an unpromising December day found me in the somewhat unreal position of being in the cinematically large Abbey Road Studio One, the most famous recording studios in the world, playing live and acoustic and looking through the glass at old friend and producer Mike Hedges (now of course one of the hottest producers on the planet) and new old friend and calm engineer Ian Grimble, standing alongside them is old friend and long-suffering manager Steve Baker, a small smile playing across his mouth for reasons I am yet to discover, John Warwicker of Tomato shuffles about adjusting the cameras that will document the day (why not?).
I am aware that it will probably be seen as absurd to bring so little to such a tooled up session. I don’t care, backed by guitarist Christian Marsac and the mellifluous singing of Ladyblack I play all day. These nine songs are the best of it. I have a feeling that very soon I shall look back upon this day as a real turning point: the point of remembrance. This is why I live with the bruises and the nausea of constant adrenaline.
Music is the reason the world exists, let it breathe!
CV
With thanks to Mike, Ian, Steve, Christian and Ladyblack (xx)