Thomas DOLBY

I was fourteen
she was twelce
father travelled - hers as well - Europa...
down the beaches
hand in hand
twelfth of never on the sand
then war took her away
we swore a vow that day:
we'll be the Pirate Twins again, Europa
oh my country
I'll stand beside you in the rain, Europa
ta republique...
nine years after who'd I see
on the cover of a magazine? Europa...
buy her singles and see all her films
paste her pictures on my windowsill
but that's noy quite the same - it isn't, is it?
Europa my old friend...
blew in from the hoveport
she was back in London
I pushed past the papermen
calling her name
she smiled for the cameras
as a bodyguard grabbed me
then her eyes were gone for ever
as they drove her away.

2. Urges

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not available yet

3. Leipzig

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Thirty-nine and you need some leeway
Soon you're eying the overseas page
The trains are running late
As you close the garden gate
Stepping through your steel front door frame
Dinner's in the microwave, sweetie

Leipzig is calling you, Henry (on the cardboard thoroughfare)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (the clouds run parallel)
Leipzig is calling you names

Cars were burning
On yellow lines
Wheels turning
Traffic light...change

Another misty bus queue morning
Faces smile down from a hoarding
Stoop to the bin
Drop something in
Well you'll soon feel yourself again
And every place is just the same, isn't it?

Leipzig is calling you, Benny (from the mouth of the megaphone)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
Leipzig is calling you names

Like the sound of taxi brakes
The sound of a dentist's drill
The colour of skates on ice under clingfilm

It's calling
Leipzig is calling you names
Hear it calling.
Every place is just the same isn't it?

Leipzig is calling you, Benny (from the mouth of the megaphone)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
Leipzig is calling you names

4. Windpower

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Switch off the mind and let the heart decide
who you were meant to be
flick to remote and let the body glide
there is no enemy !
etch out a future on your own design
well tailored to your needs
then fan the flame and keep the dream alive
of a continent
a continent a continent a continent a-

there is no enemy !
switch off the mind and let the heart decide
we're a continent
a continent a continent a continent a-
shatter the lens and grind it into sand
one measured exposure
scatted the seed and furrow in our land
the future is roses ! roses !
switch off the mind and let the heart decide
there is no enemy!
lift up the heart of this your only tribe
we're a continent
a continent a continent a continent a

5. Airwaves ( 7" version )

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Strange how the scale forms
in tiny patterns
on my antenna
and the Five O'Clock Show, hello hello...
Brooklyn is crawling with famous people
I turn my vehicle beneath the river, West from South

Through the airwaves -
people never read the airwaves
do we only feed the airwaves
or stamp them out of street level?
Airwaves - the dampness of the wind
the airwaves - the tension of the skin
the airwaves I really should have seen through.

Electric fences line our new freeway
here in the half-light, the motorhomes leave
knee-deep in water under a pylon
how slow my heartbeat, how thin the air I'm breathing in

Control has enabled the abandoned wires again
but the copper cables all rust in the acid rain
that flood the subway
with elements of our corrosian
cabled in to me...
Be in my broadcast when this is over
give me your shoulder, I need a place
to wait for morning.
No it was nothing - some car backfiring -
pleased don't ask questions

I itch all over
let me sleep.

6. She Blinded Me With Science

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It's poetry in motion
she turned her tender eyes to me
as deep as any ocean
as sweet as any harmony
mm - but she blinded me with science
"she blinded me with science!"
and failed me in biology

When I'm dancing close to her
"blinding me with science - science!"
I can smell the chemicals
"blinding me with science - science!"
"Science!"
"Science!"

mm - but it's poetry in motion
and when she turned her eyes to me
as deep as any ocean
as sweet as any harmony
mm - but she blinded me with science
and failed me in geometry

When she's dancing next to me
"blinding me with science - science!"
"Science!"
I can hear machinery
"blinding me with science - science!"
"Science!"

It's poetry in motion
and now she's making love to me
the spheres're in commotion
the elements in harmony
she blinded me with science
"she blinded me with science!"
and hit me with technology

"good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!"
I -
I don't believe it!
there sh-re goes again!
she's tidied up, and I can't find anything!
all my tubes and wires
and careful notes
and antiquated notions

but! - it's poetry in motion
and when she turned her eyes to me
as deep as any ocean
as sweet as any harmony
mm - but she blinded me with science
"she blinded me with - with science!"
she blinded me with -

7. One Of Our Submarines

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A hungry heart
to regulate their breathing
one more night
the Winter Boys are freezing in their spam tin
the Baltic moon
along the Northern seaboard
and down below
the Winter Boys are waiting for the storm

bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
shallow water - channel and tide

and I can trace my history
down the generations to my home
in one of our submarines

the red light flicker, sonar weak
air valves hissing open
half her pressure blown away
flounder in the ocean
see the Winter Boys -
drinking heavy water from a stone

bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
shallow water - channel and tide
bye-bye Empire, Empire bye-bye
tired illusions drown in the night

and I can trace my history
down one generations to my home
in one of our submarines

one of our submarines is missing tonight
seems she ran aground on manoeuvres
one of our submarines

8. Screen Kiss

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Miller time at the bar where all the English meet
She used to drink in the hills
only now she drinks in the valleys
where every road has a name like Beachwood Avenue, or so it seems
a Croydon girl could really hope to find a home
but with a thousand miles of real estate to choose from
you begin to see the value of your freedom...
The moon is bright in the haze above old Hollywood
deer look down from the hills
it's three o'clock in the morning
pill in hand you can hear his golden surfer boys
crying out mummy won't come out of the bathroom
and you'd hoped he'd say he's sorry if he hit you
but he's buried in the screenplay of his feature

Screen kiss, one screen kiss
straight from a film I forget who was in
screen kiss, one screen kiss
blue filter lens in a pool of vaseline
but all the rushes look the same
only there's a movie I wouldn't pay to see again
if it's the one with him in

You and I could be a mile above the earth tremors
hold to me and we'll climb
you could sneak out while he's sleeping
suicide in the hills above old Hollywood
is never going to change the world
never change it overnight
any more than the invention of the six-gun
any more than the discovery of Radium
or California tipping in the ocean

9. Hyperactive !

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At the tender age of three
I was hooked to a machine
just to keep my mouth from spouting junk
they must have took me for a fool
when they put me in a school
'cause the teacher knew I had the funk
but tonight I'm on the edge --
better shut me in the fridge
'cause I'm burning up
with the vision in my brain
and the music in my veins
and the dirty rhythm in my blood
they are messing with my heart
and they're messing with my heart
they are messing with my heart
and they're messing with my --
ripping me apart!
hyperactive when I was small
hyperactive now I'm grown
hyperactive and the night is young
semaphore out on the floor
messages from outer space
deep heat for the feet
the rhythm of your heartbeat
'cause the music of the street,
it isn't any rapattack
I can reach into your homes
like an itch in your headphones
you can't turn it up
I'm the shape in your back room
I'm the breather on the phone
and I'm burning up
but there's one thing I must say
before they lock me up again ---
you'd be safer at the back
when I'm having an attack !
hyperactive when I was small
hyperactive now I'm tall
hyperactive as the day is long
hyperactive in my bones
hyperactive in your phones
hyperactive and the night is young
hyperactive when I was small
hyperactive now I'm grown
hyperactive till I'm dead and gone
stand up hyperactivate !
get up hyperactivate !
wise up hyperactivate !
stand up hyperactivate !
Europe hyperactivate !
South Bronx hyperactivate !
London hyperactivate !

10. I Scare Myself

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I scare myself just thinking about you
I scare myself when I'm without you
I scare myself the moment that you're going
I scare myself when I let my thoughts run
and when they're running
I keep thinking of you
and when they're running
what can I do?

I scare myself, and I don't mean lightly
I scare myself, it can get frightening
I scare myself, to think what I could do
I scare myself -- it's some kind of voodoo...
and with that voodoo
I keep thinking of you
and with that voodoo
what can I do?

but it's so so very different when we're together
and I'm so so much calmer; I feel better
'cause the stars already crossed our paths forever
and the sooner that you realise it the better
and then I'll be with you and I won't scare myself
and I'll know what to do and I won't scare myself
and my thoughts will run and I won't scare myself
and I'll think of you and I won't scare myself

11. The Flat Earth

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Friends have often asked me why
I'm sensitive about my height
I just turn around and say
well, I used to be immune
all my life I have waited
to be given any word
and it was screaming to be head
please remember...
the Earth can be any shape you want it
any shape at all
dark and cold or bright and warm
long or thing or small
but it's home and all I ever had
and maybe why for me the Earth is flat

Then when they spill the demon seed
turn and face into the wind
all along you still believed
you believed you were immune
and if love is all you're missing
look into your heart
is anybody home?
please remember...
the Earth can be any shape you want it
any in the world
but don't you point that raygun at me
I might just explode
there are stones buried in your soul
and only a fool would blame the death of rock and roll
and in time you'll come to understand
this flat old Earth is in your gentle hands.

12. Pulp Culture

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I drove all over Hollywood looking at the stars
First I ate my Milky Way and then I ate my Mars
But sucking on a Galaxy I noticed something pretty bizarre
There's not a lot of people there, just an awful lot of cars.

Stale pulp culture take it away
New pulp culture serve to redefine it
Old pulp culture day upon day
Young pulp culture help to undermine it
Sham pulp culture buried in time
True pulp culture there to be plundered
Same pulp culture year upon year
Hey ! pulp culture live to be a hundred...

Shake off that thing now you gotten used to it
And here is one you won't wanna parlay
In a small round cruel scum brown brat shack dumb world
Another dozen unchained!

Stale pulp culture take it away
New pulp culture serve to redefine it
Old pulp culture day upon day
Young pulp culture help to undermine it
Sham pulp culture buried in time
True pulp culture there to be plundered
Same pulp culture year upon year
Hey ! pulp culture live to be a hundred...

If a child ever rose on the wings of a dove
Or the claws of a vulture
Then a man ain't a man when he don't understand
Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah
Pulp culture
Pulp culture
Pulp culture
Pulp culture

Do you really love me girl?
I think I know but I wanna be sure
You tell it to me all night long
Still I wanna hear it some more
You tell me in the bathroom babe
And you tell me back out in the hall
You tell me on the kitchen table
And up against the wall, what it is.
So check beneath your fingernails
In between your toes
Right between your earlobes darling
That's where culture grows.
It's breeding in your short and curlies, ready to expand

13. Budapest By Blimp

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On the corners of boulevards I call your name
Now and again they play our tune
In the grip of a tiny hand over a flame
Pale as the phases of the moon ...
In the cafes and shopping malls I see your face
turn into mist on evening dew
but a book and a photograph just aren't the same
there is a train that's leaving soon

.. Budapest by Blimp

Over pillars and palaces I'll hold your hand
Until the fog is lifted
May be better you hold me close than understand
How far away I've drifted
In the face of a tragedy too bleak to know
The death of some grand illusion
All the treasure we pilloried, splendour we stole ...
They never told you that in school

KONNYEBB VOLNA TAN FELEDNI
MINT TAVOZASOM ERTENI
MULTBOL EGY KISZAK ITTOTT LAP
EKODBOL INDUL EGY VONAT

.. Budapest by Blimp

.. Que je voudrais vous presenter, messieurs et dames
Regardez bien, je vous en prie
Here's a map and a diagram, a shrivelled page
Ripped from the book of history
See the priceless antiquity frozen in time
Built on the ashes of the Jews
And for your curiosity, beauty sublime
Signed in the blood of Zulus

Not really a goosestep, more of a limp

.. Budapest by Blimp

14. Cruel

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Cruel - what a thing to do
I've been cruel to you such a long time
and how can I hide my shame
'Cause there I go again
At the wrong time
and I know that it was just the fear of flying
and I know it's hard to keep myself from crying
but when my tears are washed away
You'll still be blind
Skin-diving
for jewels
You were a shining pearl in a broken shell
Under moonlight
And I was cruel

And I know that it was just the fear of flying
And I know it's hard to keep myself from crying
But when my tears are washed away
You'll still be blind
Skin-diving
For jewels
Cruel - I've been such a fool
And I'll be missing you
Such a long time
I was cruel

15. Close But No Cigar

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You came close
Close but no cigar
You didn't miss by far
You know you came this close
Close but no cigar

Some people sing love songs
Everybody's got one
This isn't my love song
It's more like my love gone wrong song...

She came to breakfast
And stayed a week
But the lie detectors
Broke down each time she tried to speak
Broke down when she said :

"You came close
Close but no cigar
You didn't miss by far
You know you came this close
Close but no cigar
No matter where you are
You know you came this close
Close but no cigar"

I remember - I remember - I remember
The promise in your eyes
As black as the night I drove you to the airport
And I remember - I remember - I remember
The wide Brazillian sky that swallowed you

Then I hit thirty
Guess I can't complain
But I must have been lonely
The night I bumped into Lorraine
She came for coffee
And stayed all night
But the lie detectors
Broke down every time I tried to smile
Broke down like the story of my life
And each dream I missed by half a mile
Broke down when I told her:

"You came close
close but no cigar
You didn't miss by far
You know you came this close
close but no cigar
No matter where you are
You know you came so close
Close but no cigar
You didn't miss by far
You know you came this close
Close but no cigar
We're better off by far
But you know we came this close
Close but no cigar

16. I Love You Goodbye

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I would never normally go bowling
On a friday morning in New Orleans
But I like to come here to remember
The kind of places you took me
Like the time we stole a Datsun
And drove all night to the everglades
Until we crashed it in a big electric storm
And stood there listening to the bayou rain

The county sheriff had a hair-lip
Louisiana's pride and joy
He said politely as he cuffed me
"I never busted an English boy ...
But I will accept a contribution
To the Opelousas' Charity Ball
But you better drive this dirty Datsun
Into the Gulf of Mexico"

Under a Cajun moon I lay me open
There is a spirit here that won't be broken

Some words are sad to sing
Some leave me tongue-tied
( But the hardest thing to tell you )
But the hardest words I know
Are I love you goodbye
I love you goodbye

Typhoon Pierre delayed my plane till morning
( Jusqu'au matin )
Let the bontemps rouler from your accordion
( L'accordien )
Under a cajun moon I lay me open
( Y a un esprit partout )
There is a spirit here that won't be broken
(Simple words are sad to sing
Some words are sad to sing
( They leave me tongue-tied )
Some leave you tongue-tied
( But the hardest thing to tell you my friend )
But the hardest words I know
( Is I love you goodbye )
Are I love you goodbye
( Je t'aime, au revoir )
I love you goodbye
( Je t'aime, toujours )
I love you, goodbye

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