Lyrics & Notes: Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Different Than Before
Give Myself To You
Run For The Hills
You Can Hear
Make It True
Free
Share This Weight
Love's Not A 3-Letter Word
I Said
Keep On Keeping On
Lend Me Your Ears
I Don't Wanna

Different Than Before

Got a new face I can't wait to try on,
Got an old one I can't help but run from.
I'll pretend to wipe my slate clean to save myself from what's in store,
I'll even sign my letters and my cheques,

A little different than before...
A little different than before...

But I'm still turning in the wind,
I'm still falling in the leaves.
I'm still treading through the water,
Still twisting in the breeze

I'm still blinded by the sandstorm,
Still trudging through the snow.
I'm still bending with the branches,
I'm still sinking like a stone.

Got a new faith, I can't wait to know more,
Got a new set of rules that I can't wait to know more.
I'll rearrange my furniture to show how I've matured.
I'll even money and my clothes,

A little different than before...
A little different than before...

CHORUS

There's not much point in fighting your way to dry land.
If when you get there, you're just gonna drown in the sand...

PRE CHORUS

CHORUS

Big loud album opener - I like this tune. It took ages to write, not that it was difficult, it just took a while to really understand what it was about. It started of being called 'January 4th' and being about how we break our new years resolutions very quickly. It always had the same opening verse "Got a new face" etc, but I decided to make it a bit broader to fit in with one of my oft used songwriting themes – people who lie to themselves. I wrote the chorus when I was on holiday in Robin Hoods Bay when I was going through a bit of a phase of writing lists for choruses - this is the only one that made the cut. It was never supposed to open the album but the intro worked so well that I had little choice. I'm really fond of the piano part on this track it sounds every bit as mistakenly proud as the character in the song.

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GIVE MYSELF TO YOU

Take down the whistles and the bells,
Is this all we're left with?
We're turning like magnets on themselves.
Now I draw the line in quicksand
And stand my ground on shattered shells

And you say...

Ring out the changes
And I will give myself to you.
Cast out the dangers
And I will give myself to you

In time the boundaries shift and fade.
Now the battles raging.
And she paints the map her favourite shade
While my armies occupy themselves,
In the spaces left unclaimed.

And you say...

CHORUS

The words said in anger and walls built in haste,
Are all tumbling down and I weep for the waste
I've got riddles to answer and questions to pose
Are you kicking the habit, or giving up the ghost?

INST (VERSE)

The space between your heart and mine,
Won't quit without a fight,
Won't give in
But there's nothing left but emptiness when you win

CHORUS

Fairly miserable tune. It's all about divorce really, or about the sacrifices that we refuse to make in relationships. I like the intro - it's a Mongolian harp that I found at Craig Steers house (incidentally, the bass line he came up with for this song is awesome). One of the things that I didn't really like about the first album is that all the songs were so concise that there was no room for interesting outros like this one - it features Rob Chapman of Loqui playing trombone to the 'Seemed like a good idea' theme. This theme appears at different points and in different ways throughout the album. I thought it would be interesting to have something like that that would unite all the tracks. This was a daring idea that roughly no one picked up on.

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RUN FOR THE HILLS

Hanging round, filling time,
In the ebb and flow of the traffic in the tide.
The only things we're hunting for are numbers on a screen.
What do they mean? What do they mean?

We're staying locked up, for staying's sake.
We could run for cover and leave it in our wake.
Sick of the same old storms in the same old teacups,
Running out of steam. What do they mean?

You and me can turn it all around,
And throw these chains to the ground.

We could stop what we're doing
Pack up a few things and hit the road.

Leave the things that remind us,
What we left behind us long ago.

Let go of the crosses we're baring,
The hair that we're tearing, hold my hand

And run for the hills.
Run for the hills.

We'll float down stream, with our sails into the wind.
We'd change our hearts from the outside in.
Any road can lead to Damascus if you can bare going round the houses with me.

You will see the difference that it makes,
We've got as long as it takes.

CHORUS

MID SECTION

You'd rely on me, different than before.
Then you'd love me a lot more.

CHORUS

This tends to be most peoples favourite song of mine but no one agrees what it's about. I take that as a bit of a compliment because it seems to fit a lot of people's experiences. Some people think it's about running away, some people think it's about the end of a relationship and some think it's about the start of one. I happen to know that it's about a crumbling relationship and my attempts to blame it on everything that's going on around it rather that the two people in it. I think it's a really nice recording as well which plays with the idea of a very intimate three piece band juxtaposed to the idealised, movie soundtrack, Elgar-like strings in the middle section that ends with the backwards drums as if the character is being pulled back to reality. It is a sad song.

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YOU CAN HEAR

What chance has a little voice like mine got, of being heard amongst the crash boom bang that follows us around from day to day despite attempts, to rise above this broken sense that's pushed upon us everyday.

I know I just reinvent the wheel and turn a phrase or two to show you how I feel between these sounds you've every reason to ignore, they're worth no more than any other fools.

But what else can I do,
But fall out of the blue and say it loud, and say it clear,
So that you can hear.

This is a very short song which is in part inspired by 'Be still', a Dennis Wilson song that appears on the Beach boys album 'Friends'. I always liked that fact that it was so short but carried such a lot of weight. I wrote this when I'd got back from and exceptionally loud gig, with distorted guitars still ringing in my ears. The chords are fairly complex and do a similar tonal shift (up a key between each line) as happens in 'Be Still', whilst at the same time sounding a bit Irving Berlinish. The 'Seemed like a good idea' theme is disguised once again - this time in the dual piano intro. My Dad likes this song and wishes it was longer.

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MAKE IT TRUE

I'm just a sucker for a pretty face,
That disappears without a trace
The next time that my fascination flies.

I'm just a fool who wants to make believe
There's something hidden up cupid's sleeve
That I might miss if I'm not standing by,
With a twinkle in my eye.

I could try to save myself by saving you.
I could strike you like a bolt out of the blue.
I could spin us both a line to hold on to,
but I can't make it true.
for you.

I pretend to be something I know I'm not,
When I should make the best of what I've got
But sometimes that just seems like such a waste.

I'm lookin for love and getting nowhere fast,
And I know these romantic dreams will pass,
I run so hard I can't keep up the pace,
And I fall flat on my face.

Chorus

I'm betting big whatever cards I end up with,
My folds all flop and odds turn dead against,
My hands are tied until I let the river wash them all away.

I guess I've got a lot of love to share,
So there's plenty of it going spare,
But it fails each time it needs to be jump started,
It just ends up broken hearted

I could try to save myself by saving you.
I could strike you like a bolt out of the blue.
I should be making love and not just making do
I could hide my heart but I can't
Make it true for you.

I threw this song together very quickly, musically it's pretty simple, but I like the dual acoustic guitar part. It's about pretending that relationships or fantasies are perfect when they clearly aren't - it's dedicated to the many barmaids/waitresses that I was 'destined' to spend the rest of my life with that I met whilst out drinking with Brad in Leeds. The middle section is all about Texas hold 'em poker and I wrote it on the train to Doncaster (funny what sticks in your head isn't it?)

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FREE

I'm gonna feel like this for a while
I'll get worse before I feel better,
And it'd better feel better.
Syrup in my head, snakes in my bed
And no one to chase them away but the light on my shelf
I've got to light it myself

The harder I break the faster I get
Like I'm hunting for elephants in a butterfly net
And it's not working.

I can't get myself going
I can't get up to speed.
I can't get myself started,
I can't get myself free, free
Free

I wanna go back to the moon
And dance the night away,
But are roots are too tangled they wont come undone
We're fighting for water and fighting for sun everyday.

The harder I break the faster I run
Like I'm hunting for butterflies with an elephant gun
And it's not working.

I'm lost and heavy hearted
This is how it's gonna be,
Alone and unrequited,
I can't get myself free, free,
Free

I'm gonna feel like this for a while
It's gonna get better.

This is one of the tunes I’m most proud of on the record. It started off as nothing – all I had when I went into the studio was the elephant gun/butterfly net concept and a very sketchy idea of a little acoustic progression. Brad and I soon put pay to that turning it into a Peter Gabriel like production piece that rips with emotion. I'd just split up with my girlfriend and it shows all over this track. The ending is huge and features, of all people, me on the drums. We did all of it in one very hot day where all we had to eat was coco pops and slightly off milk. We then had to go back to re mix all of the ridiculous ideas that we had had into the version that ended up on the record. Sometimes it’s good to be forced to come up with something very fast.

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SHARE THIS WEIGHT

I'm not strong enough to share this weight with anyone,
You're not big enough for me to hide behind,
I'm not wise enough to see the signs I'm pushing you away
And I'm not strong...
...enough to share this weight.

I turn out the lights, so you can't see me hiding.
I'm undercover side by side.
But then I'm banged to rights, each time the sun starts rising,
And you can read between the lines.

You're sick of seeing that look on my face
I've been hanging here since I just don't know when.
I'm sick and tired of running away,
But we both know I'll do it time and time again.
It'll drive you insane.

Chorus

The phone goes down, you've been counting silences.
You're stuck with conclusions that you've drawn.
Then were face to face, and you say 'you know I'm hiding'.
But you don't know what I'm hiding for.

You're sick of waiting, and I see that you're trying
To peak behind the curtains in my head.
But I'm still mid rehearsal and I don't know my lines
And every time I tread the boards reviews are bad.
And it's driving you mad.

Chorus

A 'Rubber Soul' style homage to mine (and most men's) total inability to share their feelings. I'm listening to it as I write (I've not heard it for ages) and it's quite good fun I reckon. The 'ooh la la la's' are a backward glance to both 'Callin out my name' off the first album and 'You wont see me' off the afore mentioned Beatles masterpiece. The prechorus is liquid McCartney both musically and lyrically. I rarely play this live cause I always forget the words. Simple pop song – nuff said.

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LOVE'S NOT A 3-LETTER WORD

I should take my own advice and take it to heart,
The writing's on the blackboard smudged but true.
She's half my age and IQ but twice as deluded we're going somewhere.

I should have seen it sooner though, the signs were all there,
Her homework reeked of perfume and remorse.
The apples in the staff room are piled up reminders this can't go on,
What have I done?

But as the corridors sleep,
He reads his text message beep,
And though the grammar's not there it says,
"Sir would you care to come round,
I'd luv it cause I feel a bit down"
But hasn’t she heard?
Love's not a three-letter word.

The doorbell's rung, she's answered it. My coat's gone. I'm in.
The wine is red as stop signs but I can't.
Why wasn't I this charming or quick witted when I was half my age?

He remembers days,
This language was cherished, respected in many ways.
So many words,
But nothing to say,
When he learns that her folks are away.
Grabs his keys off the table runs as fast as he's able,
But he doesn't get far, he's just slumped in his car

Cause he's too drunk to drive,
But there's no place to hide,
He hears his text message beep it says,
"Sir you could sleep on my floor,
No pressure, I'd luv it that's all"
Don't be absurd,
Love's not a three-letter word.

INST

The next morning at break,
His mind turns to escape,
But as he tries to forget,
He finds a folded up letter she's sent,
"I luv you, how much last night meant"
Will she ever learn?
I can't read when my vision is blurred,
Love's not a three-letter word.

One of my friends, Paul, writes a lot of story songs. He pointed out that I don't write any and took this to be a challenge. With the gauntlet firmly on the ground I set about writing a story. I had been playing around with the idea of how teenagers shorten language - I came up with the title 'Love's not a 3-letter word' quite early on (based on the fact that most kids spell it 'luv'). I came up with the idea of an affair between one such teenage girl and a haggard English teacher and just told the story. There is no happy ending however, he does end up shagging her and telling himself that it might work. I like the awkward waltz time and the accordion, both of which give the impression of just how foolish the whole affair is. I have often considered writing another song that chronicles what happens next.

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I SAID

I said word after word until nothing made sense,
I said nothing at all.

I'm dizzy from talking in circles all night
Now we've ended up where we began,
We've been catching a crab since this boat left the harbour
The day that the fat lady sang.

Maybe this lip service just wastes my breath,
Throwing my voice but there's no one there to catch a word that I said
That I said

We said state of the art doesn't help us at all,
We said let's hide them away.

Our attempts at romance our in codes that we're learning
to crack so that we get found out.
It's not easy to dance on these hot coals I'm burning
now I've got my foot in mouth.

Maybe I stated my case less than eloquently,
Now that I've thrown out the baby with the bath water now I said,
What I said.

INST

And I'm dumbstruck and confounded on the floor,
And I'm locked out and I'm banging on the door
There's no answer so I call you on the phone
To state my case, but you're making up your own.

Maybe it's my fault I end up struck dumb,
Hanging my head while you’re jumping to conclusions on what I said
What I said.

I said what I said
And now I don’t know what to do ecause I said,
What I said.

A song entirely about miscommunication. None of the characters understand each other, and they don't try very hard. The drums in the middle fit in with the idea of messages being passed by jungle-type drums. On the same note, the bizarre ukulele rhythm is morse code for 'are you listening?; an obvious reference to the song of the same name off the first album which deals with similar themes (I clearly have too much time on my hands). The middle section with the backwards guitars contains the 'Seemed like a good idea' melody very clearly. I like singing that section – for no reason at all it makes me feel like I'm Neil Diamond.

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KEEP ON KEEPING ON

Every time I try to spread my wings and fly
To get a different point of view.
I get too close to the sun, hit the burn and run
Back inside without a clue.
But I keep on keepin' on

Some others that I've seen just take it on the chin
Bounce back better than before,
But I've never had that touch investing far too much
In every stupid idea.

I'm the only one who ends up falling apart.
The only stupid idiot who's taken it all to heart.
The only fool who's gone and thrown it away
But I keep on keepin' on.

Pick myself off the floor, unlock a brand new door
That leads to somewhere fresh and new
I try to get my buzz for all the good it does
I should have lay there down and out.

Chorus

So I try not to fall down despite my past tense overtakes me
And I try not to give up,
But my faith is broken, I'm uninspired
My soul is weak, my feet are tired
My head is spinnin' wondering why..
Chorus

The title to this song is a reference to Bob Dylan (he uses it in a lyric). It opens with the acoustic guitar playing the theme again and grows and grows into a radiotastic hit. This was always intended to open the album but was deemed not as good as 'Different than before'. There's great drumming on the track by Gary Stewart and the bass line from long time collaborator Danny Cope is frankly nuts. Lyrically it's simple enough; I seem to care about things more than most and it sometimes slows me down.

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LEND ME YOUR EARS

I head for my escape route, I break out of these chains,
I'm running down the corridors, 'til I'm free again,
To bask in all the sunshine I can get.

I break in through your window, I break in through your door,
I break in in the hope that you will love me more,
But you don't even break into a sweat.

I'll sing like a jailbird
And hoard all the treasures I stole.
I'm no failure,
Your cellmate has earned his parole.

I'm fighting all the demons, by the 1st or 2nd round
Pay the price for gauntlets I’ve been throwing down
Attacks I'm only threatening to mount.

So I bust out from my corner, take on attacking stance,
Too half-baked and too punch-drunk to have half a chance
And end up where I started on the floor.

I'm your contender
Your shadows are boxed for the count
Please remember
This featherweight's earned every ounce.

Kill or conceive me
Send and receive me
It's lonely up here so please lend me your ears.

I haven't heard this for ages, and it's quite good. I did this in one take at the studio (one of the few things we got done quickly). It's obviously about gigging, and trying to balance that with working in a normal/shit job. There's some lyrics in here that I'm particularly proud of and I really like the outro and all the boxing stuff in the second chorus. I've never played this live ever ever – maybe I should try it some time.

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I DON'T WANNA

Looking down into the water
Not a ripple or a wave of my own
I wanna dive into the slaughter
But I’m spinning like a skimming stone,
On the surface dry as broken bones.

Missing people that I've never met is killing me,
Turning pages that I've never taken literally,
There's light and shadow, sun and sorrowed times,
I don't wanna do alone.

I am looking up into the heavens
Turn away cause it's too bright.
So I wait for my wings to strengthen
Making do with candlelight,
Run for cover cause it's dynamite.

Missing people that I never met is killing me,
Throwing punches that I can't connect convincingly,
There's light and shadow, sun and sorrowed times
I don't wanna do alone,
I don't wanna do alone,

I try to walk tall but get lost in the thrill of it all,
So take these solid walls I've been papering over with cracks.

Instrumental

Without a ripple or a wave of my own.

Missing people that I've never met is killing me,
Learning lyrics but I soon forget the melody,
There's light and shadow, sun and sorrowed times
That I don't wanna do alone
I don't wanna do alone
I don't wanna be alone...

Be good, be free, be mine, be mindful of your heart, Take care, take time, take pleasure in your spark, Good love, good morning, good day, good night, god bless, goodbye.

For the last track on the album I used the last track that I wrote for it. It's a very simple song but the arrangement on the record is very complicated – we really tried to get a nice mix between organic sounds and processed ones which is always hard. There's a really nice Egyptian squeeze box in the instrumental that plays the 'Seemed like a good idea' theme for the final time in it's clearest and proudest form. Lyrically, it is about many things – mainly not being where you think you should be but there are other strands. Sometimes when you write lyrics they come very fast indeed, this was one of those occasions - I wrote the whole thing in the Ridings shopping centre in Wakefield on the back of a receipt. The outro serves as a bit of a coda to the whole album, and hopefully gives the impression that everything turns out pretty well in the end. We reintroduce the scratch record effect from the end of 'Give myself to you' to suggest that the concepts in the last lines are somehow timeless.

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