Song of the Day: Billy Bragg (with Wilco), Walt Whitman's Niece

Lyrics (by Woody Guthrie):

Last night or the night before that (I won't say which night)
A seaman friend of mine (I'll not say which seaman)
Walked up to a big old building (I won't say which building)
And would not have walked up the stairs (not to say which stairs)
If there had not have been two girls

(Leaving out the names of those two girls)

I recall a door, a big long room (I'll not tell which room)
I remember a deep blue rug (but I can't say which rug)
A girl took down a book of poems (not to say which book of poems)
As she read I laid my head (and I can't tell which head)
Down in her lap (and I can mention which lap)

[Spoken:]

My seaman buddy and his girl moved off
After a couple of pages, and there I was
All night long, laying and listening
And forgetting the poems
And as well as I could recall
Or my seaman buddy could recollect
The girl had told us that she was a niece of Walt Whitman
But not which niece
And it takes a night and a girl
And a book of this kind
A long long time to find its way back

[Harmonica solo over verse chords]

Last night or the night before that (I won't say which night)
A seaman friend of mine (I'll not say which seaman)
Walked up to a big old building (I won't say which building)
And would not have walked up the stairs (not to say which stairs)
If there had not have been two girls
(Leaving out the names of those two girls)

Yes, I recall a door, a big long room (I'll not tell which room)
I remember a deep blue rug (but I can't say which rug)
A girl took down a book of poems (not to say which book of poems)
As she read I laid my head (and I can't tell which head)
Down in her lap (and I can mention which lap)

[Fade out: guitar solo over verse]

Song of the day: Kirsty MacColl, New England

 

Original song by Billy Bragg, and Kirsty added the last verse.
The first 2 lines are reportedly taken from Simon and Garfunkel's song "Leaves that are Green".

Lyrics

I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long
People ask me when will I grow up to understand *1
Why the girls I knew at school are already pushing prams
I loved you then as I love you still
Though I put you on a pedestal you put me on the pill *2
I don't feel bad about letting you go
I just feel sad about letting you know
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl? *3
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl?
I loved the words you wrote to me
But that was bloody yesterday
I can't survive on what you send
Every time you need a friend
I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
It's wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl?
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl?
My dreams were full of strange ideas *4
My mind was set despite your fears
But other things got in the way
I never asked that boy to stay
Once upon a time at home *4
I sat beside the telephone
Waiting for someone to pull me through
When at last it didn't ring I knew it wasn't you
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl?
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another?
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
Are you looking for another girl?
Looking for another girl?
Looking for another girl?
Looking for another girl?
Girl?
Girl?
Girl?

Song of the Day - Joy Division, She's Lost Control

Nice live version. Bit of a video fail - the camera person should have been focusing on Ian Curtis (the lead singer) the entire time. In particular, at around 50 secs (and a few other times) the video cuts to a particularly boring shot of the rhythm guitarist playing a few chords, missing coverage of one of the most interesting front-men in history.

Lyrics :

Confusion in her eyes that says it all.
She's lost control.
And she's clinging to the nearest passer by,
She's lost control.
And she gave away the secrets of her past,
And said I've lost control again,
And of a voice that told her when and where to act,
She said I've lost control again.

And she turned around and took me by the hand
And said I've lost control again.
And how I'll never know just why or understand
She said I've lost control again.
And she screamed out kicking on her side
And said I've lost control again.
And seized up on the floor, I thought she'd die.
She said I've lost control.
She's lost control again.
She's lost control.
She's lost control again.
She's lost control.

Well I had to phone her friend to state my case,
And say she's lost control again.
And she showed up all the errors and mistakes,
And said I've lost control again.
But she expressed herself in many different ways,
Until she lost control again.
And walked upon the edge of no escape,
And laughed I've lost control.
She's lost control again.
She's lost control.
She's lost control again.
She's lost control.

I could live a little better with the myths and the lies,
When the darkness broke in, I just broke down and cried.
I could live a little in a wider line,
When the change is gone, when the urge is gone,
To lose control. When here we come.