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Buzzcocks Lyrics 1976-1981

Time's Up (Bootleg) (recorded 1976)
Another Music In A Different Kitchen (1978)
Love Bites (1978)
A Different Kind Of Tension (1979)
Singles Going Steady (1979)
Many Parts (1981)

TIMES UP

YOU TEAR ME UP
(Devoto/ Shelley)

Well I know it’s the night
but have you gotta beat the daylights out of me
I’m getting so god-damned bruised
I’ll soon be softer than a stoned cherry

And when you let your flesh creep over me
you know I don’t know what’s come over me
something about the way you drool and kiss
makes love seem nothing like this

Chorus:
You tear me up
you grab what’s mine
you tear me up
every single time
you tear me up
what a hideous crime
you tear me up
you’re a bloody swine

All this slurping and sucking
you know it’s putting me off my food
you’re noisier than a motorway
and about two times - three times as rude

You know you got such big eyes
they make me feel so small
my heart is only one mouthful
but you - you can have it all

You’re just as hard as a pavement
and I don’t know where my passion went
you think that maybe I could walk on you
you’d make a damned good anaesthetic - I’ll say that for you

BREAKDOWN
(Devoto/ Shelley)

If I seem a little jittery I can’t restrain myself
I’m falling into fancy fragments - can’t contain myself
I’m gonna breakdown - breakdown yes

Now I can stand austerity but it gets a little much
when there’s all these livid things that you never get to touch
I’m gonna breakdown ...

I feel me brain like porridge coming out of me ears
and I was anticipating reverie
I’ve taken leave of me senses - and I’m in arrears
my legs buckle over - I’m living on my knees
I’m gonna breakdown ...

Whatever makes me tick it takes away my concentration
sets my hands a-trembling - gives me frustration
I’m gonna breakdown ...

So I hear that two is company for me it’s plenty trouble
though my double thoughts are clearer now that I am seeing double
I’m gonna breakdown ...

Oh mum can I grow out of what’s too big for me?
I’ll give up that ghost before it gives up me
I wander loaded as a crowd - a nowhere wolf of pain
Living next to nothing - my nevermind remains
I’m gonna breakdown ...

FRIENDS OF MINE
(Devoto/ Shelley)

Rita spits out her laurel leaf
and grabs a piece of my pie
she’s gonna lead me up the mountain path
as the crows fly

Claudette’s pretty quick off the mark
like a polaris missile in heat
she smiles at a hundred miles an hour
and rushes you off your feet

Chorus:
There’s all these friends of mine
they’ve got me suffering
they don’t take a line
they keep me pissing adrenalin

Ratty is nearly unique
looks like a Pre-Raphaelite barb freak
wears dangerous jewellery
got a cast iron personality

Sandie wears an awful lot of silk
says she’s a friend of Mr Acker Bilk
she’s going out of my mind
wants to live on milk

Repeat Chorus

I was musing on the pool outdoors
about foreign matters and fancy affairs
Betty trimmed my nails with pliers
while eating avocado pears

Norman’s sobbing cos his make-up’s
running away with itself
he’s heading for an early grave
scared to death about the state of his health

Repeat Chorus

ORGASM ADDICT
(Devoto/ Shelley)

well you tried it just for once
found it all right for kicks
but now you found out that it’s a habit that sticks
and you’re an orgasm addict
you’re an orgasm addict

sneaking in the back door
with dirty magazines
now your mother wants to know
what all those stains on your jeans
and you’re an orgasm addict
you’re an orgasm addict
uh huh, uh huh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh

you get in a heat, you get in a sulk
but you still keep a beating your meat to pulp
and you’re an orgasm addict
you’re an orgasm addict

you’re a kid cassanova. you’re a no-joseph
it’s a labour of love fucking yourself to death
orgasm addict
you’re an orgasm addict
uh huh, uhhhhh

you’re makin’ out with school kids
winos and heads of state
you even made it with the lady
who puts the little plastic bobins on the christmas cakes
butchers’ assistants and bellhops
you’ve had them all here and there
children of god and their joy-strings
international women with no body hair

oooh, so where they’re askin’ in an alley
and your voice ain’t steady
if your sex mechanic’s rough
you’re more than ready
you’re an orgasm addict
ou’re an orgasm addict

johnny want fuckie always and all ways
he’s got the energy, he will remain
he’s an orgasm addict
he’s an orgasm addict
he’s always at it
he’s always at it
and he’s an orgasm addict
he’s an orgasm addict.

BOREDOM
(Devoto/ Shelley)

Yeah - well - I say what I mean
I say what comes to my mind
I never get around to things
I live a straight - straight line

Chorus:
You know me - I’m acting dumb
you know the scene - very humdrum
boredom – boredom

I’m living in this movie
but it doesn’t move me
I’m the man that’s waiting for the phone to ring
Hear it ring-a-ding-a-fucking-ding

Repeat Chorus

You see there’s nothing behind me
I’m already a has-been
my future ain’t what it was
well I think I know the words that I mean

Repeat Chorus

B’dum - b’dum

I’ve taken this extravagant journey
so it seems to me
I just came from nowhere
and I’m going straight back there

Repeat Chorus

So I’m living in this movie
but it doesn’t move me
so tell me who are you trying to arouse?
get your hands out of my trousers

Repeat Chorus

TIME’S UP
(Devoto/ Shelley)

I bin waiting in the supermarket
standing in line with the beans (cash up)
I bin waiting at the post office
for sticky pictures of the queen (stick up)
now I’m waiting for you
to get yourself good ‘n ready (make up)
thinking to myself is this what they mean
by going steady? (break up)

I bin waiting in the waiting room
and I’ve bin sitting in the sitting room
and now I’m whining in the dining room
waiting for you’s like waiting for the man in the moon

I was really smouldering
seen the back of forty king size cigarettes (stood up)
this hanging on is murder
But if you’d just come along I’d have no regrets (give up)
and so I’d phone your number
and your mother tells me you’re still in bed (get up)
when you come to the phone your voice is thick and sexy
goes straight to my head (shut up)

and I bin standing in the standing room
and I bin smoking in the smoking room
and now I’m dying in the living room
I’m gonna forget what 1 came for here real soon

Your time’s up and me too
I’m out on account of you

I was really burned out and smouldering
seen the front and back of eighty king size cigarettes (stood up)
this hanging on is killing me
if you’d just creep along I’d have no regrets (give up)
and so I phone your grandmother
she says you’re still in bed (get up)
when you get to the phone your voice is thick and sexy
shoots through the top of my head (shut up)

I bin standing in the standing room
I bin smoking in the smoking room
Now I’m dying in the living room
I’m gonna forget what I came for here real soon

Your time’s up ...

LESTER SANDS (DROP IN THE OCEAN)
(Shelley/Devoto)

Lester Sands has been working very hard
keeping up with what’s gone down
Lester Sands is really in touch
with what is whose in town
Lester Sands bores the ass off me
Lester Sands is a big head case
I am getting so sick of the sight
of Lester Sands’ face

Chorus
He thinks he’ll be someone someday (no way)
he thinks he’ll get somewhere someway (no way)
Lester Sands is a drop in the ocean

He’d better pull himself together
do something speedy or else
Lester Sands will be shown the ropes
and Lester Sands will hang himself
Lester Sands big mouth extraordinaire
he’s pulled a muscle in his head
Lester Sands strings words together
cos his senses have fled

Repeat Chorus

Lester Sands is a stupid fucker
Lester Sands will stay that way
Lester Sands just gathers his trash
and brings it round every day
Lester Sands - think you’d better scram
if you wanna get out alive
or are you looking to get friendly
with somebody’s bunches of fives

Repeat Chorus

LOVE BATTERY
(Shelley/Devoto)

well my love battery - wants to charge you
well my love battery - could maybe enlarge you
and well my love battery - fizzing at the terminals
well my love battery - is one helluva pack of animals

well my love battery - has to have us both
and my love battery - don’t allow for sleep nor sloth
and my love battery - never minces words
don’t discharge flattery - so don’t listen to what you’ve heard

I got sick electricity
on the boil for you
I got this searing love
that burns without a cue, without a cue,
without you, without you, without you, without you

well my love battery – going out of control
and my love battery – will swallow you whole
and my love battery - never minces words
don’t discharge flattery - so don’t listen to what you’ve heard

I got this crazy current
that seeps through my underwear
and when it really connects
I come and go everywhere, everywhere
I come and go, I come and go, I come and go everywhere

Repeat Verse One

I CAN’T CONTROL MYSELF
(Reg Presley)

Oh no! Baba bababa baba ba ba
Baba bababa baba baba

I can’t stand still ‘cos you’ve got me goin’
Baba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Your slacks are low and your hips are showin’
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
I take you girl as you’re standing there
Your low cut slacks and your long black hair
Don’t want you goin’ round with no one else
‘Cos when I’m with you I can’t control myself

Defense is down and you’ve got me shakin’
Baba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
You’ve got me so that my nerves are breakin’
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
If you knew me like I know you girl
Your knees would bend and your hair would curl
You make me move yeah like no one else
And when I’ve got this feeling that’s inside of me
It makes me think of how things used to be
It makes me feel allright
when I’m with you at night
and we love-and we love

You fill me so with this big temptation
Baba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
This kind of feeling could DESTROY a nation
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
And I’m O. K. When I’m here with you
I do the things that you want me to
But do these things a for no one else
But when I’ve got this feeling that’s inside of me
It makes me think of how things used to be
It makes me feel allright
when I’m with you at night
and we love-and we love

I LOVE YOU, YOU BIG DUMMY
(Don Van Vliet)

You think I’m a lame duck
I don’t give a blue f***
I’m living like crazy
driven to be lazy

I blush like a tomato
pale as a chipped potato
you’re a real peach
just out of reach

We’re all cooking the same goose
a recipe of fiction
I stew in my own juice
in another kitchen

You think I’m a lame duck
I don’t give a blue f***
I don’t give two hoots
you’re too big for your bossy boots

DON’T MESS ME ‘ROUND
(Shelley/Devoto)

Gonna have to cut you down to size
you’re running out of style
I’m gonna kit you out
with a subterranean profile
don’t you push me too far
it’s gonna be bad for your health
you’ll wind up just a friend
to the ghost of your former self

Chorus:
Don’t mess me round
don’t you mess me round
you put me down
don’t mess me round

Any more of your mouth
and we’ll both see red
I’ll pin your bottom lip
to the top of your head
you’ve got too much talkie-talkie
don’t say one more thing
I’ll make your insides look
like a Jackson Pollock painting

Repeat Chorus

ANOTHER MUSIC IN A DIFFERENT KITCHEN (Back to Top)

FAST CARS
(Shelley/Devoto)

They’re nice and precise
each one begins and ends
they may win you admirers
but they’ll never earn you friends

Chorus:
Fast cars
Fast cars
Fast cars
I hate fast cars

They’re so depressing
going ‘round and ‘round
ooh, they make me dizzy
oh fast cars they run me down

Repeat Chorus
[Solo]

Sooner or later
you’re gonna listen to Ralph Nader
I don’t wanna cause a fuss
but fast cars are so dangerous

Repeat Chorus x2

NO REPLY

Ooh when I phone you night and day
I get no reply (reply) no reply (reply)
I keep writing those letters and send them away
to get no reply (reply) no reply

Chorus:
no reply - oh can’t you see
no reply - it’s ruining me
even if I ask the reason why
I get no reply (reply)
no reply (reply)
no reply (reply)
no reply
oh no, no no no, no reply no reply
oh no, no no no no, no reply no reply

I’m bruising my knuckles knocking at your door
but I get no reply (reply) no reply (reply)
I’ve stood it for so long but can’t stand it no more
to get no reply (reply) no reply

Repeat Chorus
[solo]
Repeat Verse Two
Repeat Chorus

Reply reply reply

YOU TEAR ME UP
(Howard Devoto/Pete Shelley)

Well I know it’s the night
but have you gotta beat the daylights out of me?
I’m getting so goddamned bruised
I’ll soon, I’ll soon be softer
than a stoned cherry

And when you let your flesh creep over me
you know I don’t know what’s come over me
something about the way you drool and kiss
that makes love, that makes love
seem nothing like this

Chorus:
You tear me up
you grab what’s mine
you tear me up
every single time
you tear me up
what a hideous crime
you tear me up
you’re a bloody swine

And all this slurping and sucking
you know it’s putting me off my food
you’re noisier than a motorway
you’re about two times
you’re about three times as rude

You know you know you got such big eyes
but they make me feel so small
my heart is only one mouthful
but you, yeah you
you can have it all

Repeat Chorus

And you know you’re just as hard as a pavement
and I sure don’t know where my passion went
you think that maybe I could walk on through
you’d make a damned good anaesthetic - I’ll say that for you

Repeat Chorus

you’re a bloody swine
you’re a bloody swine
you’re a swine

GET ON OUR OWN

honey I saw you yesterday on my way home
baby I craved for you today so I decided to phone
so why don’t we get together soon
and er get on our own

Chorus:
just think of what me and you could do
if we get on our own
if we could get on our own
if we could get on our own

honey I saw you again today and I liked what I saw
so why don’t meet tonight then I could see a bit more
so how’s about we get together soon
why be alone?

Repeat Chorus
[solo]

just think of it me and you
us together yes just we two

Repeat Chorus

just me and you ah

LOVE BATTERY

well my love battery - wants to charge you
well my love battery - could maybe enlarge you
and well my love battery - fizzing at the terminals
well my love battery - is one helluva pack of animals

I got sick electricity
on the boil for you
I got this searing love
that burns without a cue, without a cue,
without you, without you, without you, without you

I got this crazy current
that seeps through my underwear
and when it really connects
I come and go everywhere, everywhere
I come and go, I come and go, I come and go everywhere

Repeat Verse One

you know I don’t like dancin’
and I don’t like to bop
too much movement’s exertion
makes me wish I could drop
dro’ dro’ dro’ dro’ dro’ dro’ drop

and I don’t like french kissin’
‘cos you swallow my tongue
and you think that you’re oh so very old
you only want me ‘cos you think I’m so young
yo’ yo’ yo’ yo’ yo’ yo’ young

all right
ok
no way

an’ I wish I was sixteen again
then things would be such fun
all the things I’d do would be the same
but they’re much more fun than when you’re
twenty wo’ wo’ wo’ wo’ wo’ one

all right
ok
no way

and I hate modern music
disco boogie pop
they go on and on and on and on and on
how I wish they would stop

I DON’T MIND
(Pete Shelley)

Reality’s a dream
A game in which I seem
To never find out just what I am
I don’t know if I’m an actor or ham
A shamen or sham
But if you don’t mind
I don’t mind

I’m lost without a clue
So how can I undo
The tangle of these webs I keep weaving
I don’t know if i should be believing
Deceptive perceiving
But if you don’t mind
I don’t mind

Chorus:
I used to bet that you didn’t care
But gambling never got me anywhere
Each time I used to feel so sure
Something about you made me doubt you more

How can you convince me
When everything I see
Just makes me feel you’re putting me down?
And if it’s true this pathetic clown’ll
Keep hanging around
That’s if you don’t mind
I don’t mind

Repeat Chorus

I even think you hate me
When you call me on the phone
And sometimes when we go out
Then I wish I’d stayed at home
And when I’m dreaming or just lying in my bed
I think you’ve got it in for me
Is it all in my head?
Is it in my head?

Repeat Verse Three

I don’t mind
I don’t mind

FICTION ROMANCE

a fiction romance I love this love story
that never seems to happen in my life
a fiction romance all love and glory
that never seems to happen in my life

dreams of love and dreams of pain
and dreams again again again again
a gain which can be yours just by taking hold
dreams that I can realise
are quite contained within your eyes
say fiction romance is not so old

a fiction romance the love of the ages
that never seems to matter in my life
a fiction romance on magazine pages
that never seems to feature in my life

dreaming, scheming, unaware
that quite somewhere some unaware
folk are not thinking ‘bout what they have been told
something strange is happening to
the way I see the world I view
that fiction romance is not sold

as a fiction romantic I never expected
all these things to happen in real life
and no fiction romantic could ever’ve predicted
all the things that happen in my life

when I don’t know what to do
I just think about me and you
if I was a little stronger then I’d be bold
something strange is happening to me
I don’t know what these shivers mean to you
is this a fiction romance getting hold?

A fiction romance a fiction romance
A fiction romance a fiction romance
a fiction romance a fiction romance
a fiction romance a fiction romance

Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance
Fiction romance

AUTONOMY

It’s a thing that’s worth having
Yes I would.
Buys you your life sir
If it could.

Chorus:
I
I want you
Autonomy

It leaves us all wondering
And it should
This offered something for the good

Repeat Chorus x2

It leaves us all wondering
And it should
This offered something for the good

Repeat Chorus x2

I NEED

(I need, I need, I neeeeeeeeedd, I need)
I used to only want but now (I need)
to get by with what I got but now (I need)
(I neeeeeeeeeed)
I used to only want but now (I need)

Chorus:
I need sex
I need love
I need drink
I need drugs
I need food
I need cash
I need you
to love me back

(I need, I need, I neeeeeeeeedd, I need)
I just can’t do without ‘cos now (I need)
the things I care about ‘cos now (I need)
(I neeeeeeeeeed)
I used to only want but now I need

Repeat Chorus

(I need, I need, I neeeeeeeeedd, I need)
and now I have to dream because (I need)
of a necessary scheme to get me what (I need)
(I neeeeeeeeeed)
I used to only want but now I need

[Solo]

(I need, I need, I neeeeeeeeedd, I need)
the things I used to crave for now (I need)
have made me just a slave for what (I need)
(I neeeeeeeeeed)
yes I am just a slave for what I need

Repeat Chorus

you to love me back
you to
love me
baaaaaaaaaaack

MOVING AWAY FROM THE PULSEBEAT

you said the things you did in the past
were all because you’re living too fast
but now I’m here you’re taking it slow
you know what you know you know you know
now I only want to be with you
you do you do you do you do too
you do you do you do you do too
but I’m so happy just to be with you
I knew what you knew what you knew you knew too

[Solo]

ah you said that time you didn’t love me
although I’d been the cutest you’d seen
but would the past have changed even though
you know what you know you know you know
now I only want you by my side
some kinds of pride I just can’t hide
some kinds of pride just can’t be denied
but I know that oh no no no

[Solo]

LOVE BITES (Back to Top)

REAL WORLD

I’m in love with the real world
it’s mutual or so it seems
‘cos only in the real world
do things happen like they do in my dreams
some of the rules may be different
but maybe they’ll stay the same

in the real world
in the real world
in the real world
we both win when we play the same game

I’m in love with somebody
I wish somebody loved me too
you may wonder how this concerns you
well perhaps the somebody is you
I don’t even know what your name is
but I just hope that you’ll stay

in the real world
in the real world
in the real world
things happen this way

[Solo]
Repeat Verse Two

in the real world
in the real world
in the real world
we both win when we play the same game

hey hey, in the real world
in a real world
in a real world
by the way what’s your name?

EVER FALLEN IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE (YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH)
(Pete Shelley)

you spurn my natural emotions
you make me feel like dirt and I’m hurt
and if I start a commotion
I run the risk of losing you and that’s worse

Chorus:
ever fallen in love with someone
ever fallen in love in love with someone
ever fallen in love in love with someone
you shouldn’t’ve fallen in love with

I can’t see much of a future

unless we find out what’s to blame what a shame
and we won’t be together much longer
unless we realize that we are the same

Repeat Chorus

you disturb my natural emotions
you make me feel like dirt and I’m hurt
and if I start a commotion
I’ll only end up losing you and that’s worse

Repeat Chorus
[Solo]
Repeat Chorus

fallen in love with
ever fallen in love with someone
you shouldn’t’ve fallen in love with

OPERATORS MANUAL
(Pete Shelley)

operator’s manual
tells me what to do
when emotions blow a fuse
indicating blue

operator’s manual tells me
what to find
and how to make adjustments when
you tamper with my mind

Chorus:
oh operator’s manual
I’d just fall apart without you
if only I had a mechanic
then somehow I know I’d pull through

operator’s manual
on page sixty-three
tells me what to do when you
do these things to me

Repeat Chorus

operator’s manual
tells me what to do
when emotions blow a fuse
and I’m feeling blue

Repeat Verse Three
Repeat Chorus

NOSTALGIA
(Pete Shelley)

I bet that you love me like I love you
but I should know that gambling just don’t pay
so I look up to the sky
and I wonder what it’ll be like in days gone by
as I sit and bathe in the wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come

I always used to dream of the past
but like they say yesterday never comes
sometimes there’s a song in my brain
and I feel that my heart knows the refrain
I guess it’s just the music that brings on
nostalgia for an age yet to come

ah ah ah nostalgia for an age yet to come
nostalgia for an age yet to come

about the future I only can reminisce
for what I’ve had is what I’ll never get
and although this may sound strange
my future and my past are presently disarranged
and I’m surfing on a wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come

I look I only see what I don’t know
all that was strong invincible is slain
takes more than sunshine to make everything fine
and I feel like I’m trapped in the middle of time
with this constant feeling of
nostalgia for an age yet to come

ah ah ah nostalgia for an age yet to come

I look I only see what I don’t know
all that was strong invincible is slain
takes more than sunshine
to make everything fine
and I feel like I’m caught in the middle of time
and this constant feeling of nostalgia for an age yet to come

ah ah ah nostalgia for an age yet to come

nostalgia for an age yet to come
nostalgia for an age yet to come

JUST LUST
(Pete Shelley)

There’s bed in your eyes
But there’s nothing there to trust
Just lust, just lust
You’re telling me lies
When you say that it’s a must
Just lust, just lust

Chorus:
You shattered all my dreams
And my head’s about to burst
Is it all real - that’s how it seems
But it all comes down to dust

Your hands feel a need
I don’t know if it’s too much
Just lust, just lust
It seems it’s only greed
To taste all that you touch
Just lust, just lust

Repeat Chorus

You’re driven to possess
It hurts it’s so unjust
Just lust, just lust
If nothing matters less
Then I wouldn’t make a fuss
Just lust, just lust

Chorus#2:
I was slow to catch on
And that just makes it worse
If passion is oppression
Then emotion is a curse

[Solo]

I was slow to catch on
And that just makes it worse
If passion is oppression
Then emotion is a curse

You’re driven to possess
It hurts it’s so unjust
Just lust, just lust
If nothing matters less
Then I wouldn’t make a fuss
Just lust, just lust

Chorus 3#:
It’s my imagination
To see things as I choose
Love has a reputation
That it can only lose

SIXTEEN AGAIN
(Pete Shelley)

Feeling like I’m almost sixteen again
layin’ ‘round doing nothing like all my friends
play it cool, don’t get angry, count up to ten
just like I was sixteen again
everybody gets the lowdown right from the start
everybody gets the showdown right from the heart
but that’s all that’s on the menu and life’s a la carte
I don’t know

Chorus:
things in life are not played for keeps
if it makes you happy it’ll make you weep
and if you want some more practical advice
if you can’t think once then don’t think twice
‘cos things won’t seem so nice
you’ll wish you were sixteen again
oh no

feeling rather strange when you’re sixteen again
things don’t seem the same the past is so plain
this future is our future this time’s not a game
this time you’re sixteen again
always on your own when there’s nobody else
asking myself would I be someone else
but after all life’s only death’s recompense
I don’t know

Repeat Chorus

[solo]

Chorus #2:
look at me here I am for your eyes
mirrored proof of what you recognize
I know I never will feel quite like you
and I know you won’t treat me right till I do
but at least we’ll know it’s true
that I’m sixteen again
oh no

Feeling like I’m almost sixteen again
layin’ ‘round doing nothing like all my friends
play it cool, don’t get angry, count up to ten
just like I was sixteen again
always on your own when there’s nobody else
asking myself would I be someone else
but after all life’s only death’s recompense
I don’t know

Chorus #3:
I don’t know
look at me here I am for your eyes
mirrored proof of love’s suicide
I know I never will feel quite like you
But I know you won’t treat me right till I do
but at least we’ll know it’s true
that I’m sixteen again
oh no
sixteen again
sixteen again

WALKING DISTANCE
(Steve Garvey)

instrumental

LOVE IS LIES
(Steve Diggle)

Well I’m going out
I’m gonna find myself a lover
I’m gonna look until I drop
I’ll never stop
I won’t give up in any way, shape or form

Well I’m going out
I’m gonna find myself a girl
Take her out into the world
We’ll learn to dance
We’ll take a chance
We’ll start romance all over again

Chorus:
Love is lies, love is eyes
Love is everything that’s nice
Love is not as cold as ice
But that’s what love means to me

Well I’m going out
I’m gonna find myself someone
Going to see ‘em just for fun
A love affair
But no on there it’s in my head
Now it’s all gone

Repeat Chorus

Wooah wooah wooah wooah wooah etc.

Repeat Verse Two
Repeat Chorus

Wooah wooah wooah wooah wooah etc.

Repeat Verse Two
Repeat Chorus x2

NOTHING LEFT
(Pete Shelley)

I’m on my own now
you’ve gone and left me
I bet you don’t know
how you’ve upset me

Chorus:
‘Cos I’ve nothing left at all
at all, at all, at all, at all, at all, at all, at all
I’ve nothing left at all

did you love me?
I’d like to think so
but I was blameless
so why did you go?

Repeat Chorus

I’ve lost a lover
and I am certain
I’ll get another
so why’m I hurtin’?

Repeat Chorus
[Solo]
Repeat Chorus

ESP
(Pete Shelley)

do you believe in ESP?
I do and I’m try’n’a get through to you
if you’re picking up off me
then you know just what to do
think

brainwaves transmitted from my mind
of a magnetic kind
I don’t know what to do
if I can’t get through to you
so think

do you believe in ESP?
I’ve been try’n’a get through to you
if you’ve been picking up off me
then you’ll know just what to do
don’t you?

LATE FOR THE TRAIN
(Diggle/Shelley/Garvey/Maher)

instrumental

A DIFFERENT KIND OF TENSION (Back to Top)

PARADISE
(Pete Shelley)

where in the world are we?
everything’s fake nothing’s real
I guess it just depends on how you feel
why are you wasting my time
with questions when everything’s fine?
why are things so nice?
is this the place that they call paradise?
oh it’s paradise

look around you day by day
see the people on their way
on friday nights collecting their pay
so don’t tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
‘cos that knife fight on saturday night
is the only kind of justice not nice
but it’s the only kind that’s given here in paradise
oh it’s paradise
oh oh

[Break]

ooooooooooohhhhh

Repeat Verse One

oh oh

SITTING ROUND AT HOME
(Steve Diggle)

Sitting round at home, sitting round at home
sitting round at home, watching the pictures go
sitting round at home, sitting round at home
sitting round at home, watching the pictures go

I watch the news at one, I do it every day
they always find someone to take my mind away

It’s a family show, ten part serial
something for everyone, tea on, end part one

whatever turned you off, was it the turning on
ideal state of mind, increase your perception

sitting round at home, sitting round at home
sitting round at home, watching the pictures go
sitting round at home, sitting round at home
sitting round at home, watching the pictures go

I’m sitting x21

YOU SAY YOU DON’T LOVE ME
(Pete Shelley)

you say you don’t love me
well that’s alright with me
‘cos I’m in love with you
and I wouldn’t want you doing things
you don’t want to do
oh you know I’ve always wanted you
to be in love with me
and it took so long to realize
the way things have to be

I wanted to live in a dream that couldn’t be real
and I’m starting to understand now the way that you feel
you say you don’t
you say you don’t

you say you don’t love me
well that’s alright with me
‘cos I have got the time
to wait in case someday you maybe
change your mind
I’ve decided not to make
the same mistakes this time around
as I’m tired of having heartaches
I’ve been thinking and I’ve found

I don’t want to live in a dream, I want something real
and I think I understand now the way that you feel
you say you don’t
you say you don’t
you say you don’t

[solo]

you say you don’t
you say you don’t

you say you don’t love me
well that’s alright with me
I’m not in love with you
I just want us to do the things we both want to do
though I’ve got this special feelin’
I’d be wrong to call it love
for the word entails a few things
that I would be well rid of

I’ve no need to live in a dream it’s finally real
and I hope you now understand this feeling I feel
you say you don’t
you say you don’t
you say you don’t love me
you say you don’t love me
you say you don’t love me mmm

YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T HELP IT
(Steve Diggle)

You know you can’t help it when you see that girl
You know you can’t help undressing her
You know you can’t help eating what she’s got
You know you can’t help it, you just can’t help it

You know you can’t help it getting into her
You know you can’t help it ‘cause she’s your world
You know you can’t help that sex is good
You know you can’t help it, you just can’t help it

Sex is known as a screw
a bloody silly thing to do
But anyway we’re all gonna do it ‘cause it’s great

You know you can’t help what’s between her thighs
You know you can’t help that honesty is lies
You know you can’t help what’s overdue
You know you can’t help it, you just can’t help it

Sex was made for you
causes deaths and murders too
Love makes war, it depends which side you’re on

You know you can’t help it when something rings true
You know you can’t help it when touch touches you
You know you can’t help that you’re stone cold
You know you can’t help it, you just can’t help it

MAD MAD JUDY
(Steve Diggle)

Mad mad Judy, mad mad girl
Mad mad Judy, mad at all the world
She told her friends she cried a lot
Ended up in tears
Mad mad Judy, energy?

Well does she, well does she know?
Ain’t nothing left in all the world except insanity

Mad mad Judy, mad mad girl
Mad mad Judy, mad at all the world
She told her friends she was paranoid
Ended up in fear
Mad mad Judy, energy?

Well does she, well does she know?
Ain’t nothing left in all the world except obscurity

[Solo]

She wanted something she never got
But don’t know what it is
Mad mad Judy, anarchy?

Well does she, well does she know?
Ain’t nothing left in all the world except diversity

Know what I mean?
Yeah?
You know what I mean?
mmmm…
Yeah
I know what you mean
There was these three fellas and one said to the other
So I said to him, I said
I told him straight
?
You understand now?
I understand
I’ve got all the answers

RAISON D’ETRE
(Pete Shelley)

Chorus:
you’re an awful lot of fun
forever on the run
you’re my number one
but if you’re not late then I guess you never come

you’re always on my side boy
when it comes to playing games
of who are we
we never find out why though
that our own raison d’etre
we can’t see

Repeat Chorus

I said blue eyes would suit you
yes they do
oh I knew I would be right
but watch your friends don’t get you
‘cos if they do
I won’t be seeing you tonight

I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE
(Pete Shelley)

I don’t know what to do with my life
Should I give it up and make a new start?
I don’t know what to do with my life
‘Cos the one I’ve got just tears me apart
I can’t wake up in the morning
And I can’t get to sleep at night
I’m not expecting things to be perfect
But a high success rate would be nice

Chorus:
I don’t know what to do with my life
I don’t know what to do with my life
I don’t know what to do with my life
I don’t know what to do with my life

I don’t know what’s gone wrong with my life
But you know I never do seem to win
Whenever I think I’ve straightened it out
It becomes a vicious circle again
I can’t love when anyone loves me
And I can’t find the someone to love
But then I start to count my blessings
And I feel I’m getting more than enough

Repeat Chorus
[Solo]
Repeat Chorus
Repeat Verse Two

of love

I don’t know what to do with my life
I don’t know what to do with my life
I don’t know what to do with my life
It’s my life

MONEY
(Pete Shelley)

what is inside me is caged here beside me
life is a zoo
I’m labelled him and it’s labelled you
life is a zoo
life’s a zoo

you are a stranger but I’m even stranger
what can I do?
life’s getting stranger strangers are stranger
what can we do?
life’s a zoo

I am a stranger and you’re even stranger
what can you do?
life’s getting stranger a stranger’s a stranger
what can we do?
life’s a zoo

HOLLOW INSIDE
(Pete Shelley)

hollow inside I was hollow inside
but I couldn’t find out what the reason was
why I was
(x4)
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside
why I was
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside

hollow inside you were hollow inside
but I couldn’t find out what the reason was
why I was
(x4)
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside
why I was
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside

hollow inside they were hollow inside
but I couldn’t find out what the reason was
why I was
(x4)
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside
why I was
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside

hollow inside we’re all hollow inside
but I couldn’t find out what the reason was
why I was
(x4)
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside
why I was
hollow inside, hollow inside, hollow inside

A DIFFERENT KIND OF TENSION
(Pete Shelley)

Wait here
Go there
Come in
Stay out
Be yourself
Be someone else
Obey the law
Break the law

Be ambitious
Be modest
Plan ahead
Be spontaneous
Decide for yourself
Listen to others
Save money
Spend money

Be good Be evil
Be wise Be foolish
Be safe Be dangerous
Be satisfied Be envious
Be honest Be deceitful
Be faithful Be perfidious
Be sane Be mad
Be strong Be weak
Be enigmatic Be plain
Be aggressive Be peaceful
Be brave Be timid
Be humane Be cruel
Be critical Be appreciative
Be temperamental Calm
Be sad Be happy
Be normal Be unusual

Stop Go
Live Die
Yes No
Rebel Submit
Right Wrong
Sit down Stand up
Create Destroy
Accept Reject
Talk Silence
Speed up Slow down
This way That way
Right Left
Present Absent
Open Closed
Entrance Exit
Believe Doubt

Truth Lies
Escape Meet
Love Hate
Thank you Flunk
Clarify Pollute
Simple Complex
Nothing Something
Stop Go
Live Die
Yes No
Rebel Submit
Right Wrong
Sit down Stand up
Create Destroy
Accept Reject
Talk Silence

I BELIEVE
(Pete Shelley)

in these times of contention
it’s not my intention to make things plain
I’m looking through mirrors
to catch the reflection that can’t be mine
I’m losing control now
I’ll just have to slow down a thought or two
I can’t feel the future
and I’m not even certain that there is a past

I believe in the worker’s revolution
and I believe in the final solution
I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the shape of things to come
and I believe in I’m not the only one
yes I believe in
I believe in

when I poison my system
I take thoughts and twist them into shapes
I’m reaching my nadir and I haven’t an idea
of what to do
I’m painting by numbers
but can’t find the colours that fill you in
I’m not even knowing
if I’m coming or going if to end or begin

I believe in the immaculate conception
and I believe in the resurrection
and I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the elixir of youth
and I believe in the absolute truth
yes I believe in
I believe in

there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore

I’ve fallen from favour
while trying to savour experience
I’m seeing things clearly
but it has quite nearly blown my mind
it’s the aim of existence
to offer resistance to the flow of time
everything is and that is why
it is will be the line

I believe in perpetual motion
and I believe in perfect devotion
I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the things I’ve never had
I believe in my mum and my dad
and I believe in
I believe in

there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore

I’m skippin’ the pages of a book that takes ages
for the foreword to end
triangular cover concealing another
aspect from view
my relative motion is just an illusion
from stopping too fast
the essence of being these feelings I’m feeling
I just want them to last

I believe in original sin
and I believe what I believe in
yes I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the web of fate
and I believe in I’m going to be late
so I’ll be leavin’
what I believe in

there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore
there is no love in this world anymore

RADIO NINE
(Shelley/Diggle/Garvey/Maher)

instrumental

MANY PARTS (Back to Top)

ARE EVERYTHING
(Pete Shelley)

Your looks my charm my own imagination
My loves your hates your own infatuation
Are everything
Are everything

My hopes your fears your only limitation
Your thoughts my schemes my own evaluation
Are everything
Are everything

My looks your charm your own imagination
Your loves my hates my own infatuation
Are everything
Are everything

Your hopes my fears my only limitation
My thoughts your schemes your own evaluation
Are everything
Are everything

Your looks your charm my own imagination
My loves my hates your own infatuation
Are everything
Are everything

My hopes your fears your only limitation
Your thoughts your schemes my own evaluation
Are everything
Are everything

Repeat Verse Three
Repeat Verse Four

STRANGE THING
(Pete Shelley)

Strange thing happened one day
Someone thought they heard someone say
Got to face new directions
Get new expectations

Strange thing happened one day
Someone thought they heard someone say
Get rid of complications
Free yourself from frustrations
Got to control depression
Got to control this depression

Strange thing happened today
I thought I heard somebody say
Got to face new directions
Get new expectations

Strange thing happened today
I thought I heard somebody say
Get rid of complications
Free yourself from frustrations
Got to control depression
Got to control this depression

Strange things will happen one day
You think you hear somebody say
Got to face new directions
Get new expectations

Strange thing will happen one day
You think you hear somebody say
Get rid of complications
Free yourself from your frustrations
Got to control depression
Got to got to control this depression

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
(Pete Shelley)

Everything happens
Don’t look for patterns
You only perceive what you believe
You need only believe to believe

A map of illusion
Of this land of confusion
I saw the boy clad in leather
For ever and ever and ever

Chorus:
What do you know?
What do you know?
What do you know?
What do you know?
What do you know?

There’s no turning back now
I’m under attack now
I don’t need a mirror to see
Just what has happened to me

There’s no contradiction
Between fact and fiction
I saw the skies open
And I heard the word spoken

Repeat Chorus
[Break]
Repeat Chorus

Everything happens
Don’t look for patterns
You only perceive what you believe
You need only believe and you’ll believe

Repeat Verse Two

A map of illusion
Of this land of confusion
I see the boy clad in leather
For ever and ever and ever

What do you know?
There’s no turning back now
What do you know?
I’m under attack now
What do you know?
I see the skies are open
What do you know?
And I hear the word spoken

Repeat Chorus

What do you know?
You only perceive what you believe
What do you know?
You need only believe to believe

Repeat Chorus

What do you know?

WHY SHE’S A GIRL FROM THE CHAINSTORE
(Steve Diggle)

Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
She told me my attitude was wrong
I had to find out where she came from
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Her name was written on her coat
Her life was a miserable anecdote

She loved her mother and her father
They never missed her birthday
Listen to everything they said
Like never miss your birthday
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
A product of environment
Another flesh wound in a tenement

Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore

[Solo]

Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Facing Bernstein’s barrier
Waiting for someone to marry her
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Down there at the discotheque
Waiting for someone to bite her neck.

Why she’s a girl from the chainstore
Why she’s a girl from the chainstore

AIRWAVES DREAM
(Steve Diggle)

This is to you receiver
An important item we say
Nobody will believe you
We make the facts today
There is no propaganda
There is no proper facts
We want to make new history
We want to take you off the tracks

Chorus:
It's coming on the airwaves
Coming on the airwaves
Coming on the airways dream
We're coming on the airwaves
Coming on the airwaves
Coming on the airwaves dream

This is to you believer
We're inside your head today
There's nothing you will need now
We are your government ok
You're channelled here
Stay off channel 14
When we say we're mean
We mean what we mean

Repeat Chorus
[Break]

This is your country leader
Our intention is eloquent tricks
We are trained to see for you
To internalise your fix
We will only tell you what
What you want to hear
Have another pint
Keep drinking the beer

Repeat Chorus

RUNNING FREE
(Steve Diggle)

Here in suburbia
There’s nothing left to see
Just wanna spend my time running free
I’ve had enough of the day job
I can see farther than that
Just wanna spend my time running free

The air of tension still is rising higher
Screaming emotions are singing to you
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)

Here in the engine room
A pulse shouts for a word
Just want to spend my time running free
I’ll pull out condition
There’s no need to face facts
Just want to spend my time running free

You better make a move before sleeping gets you
You better shape soon before the weak things make you
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)

Here in proles’ paradise
Experiments on the weak
Just want to spend my time running free
It’s a trick of the torment
You tend to forget yourself
Just want to spend my time running free

Your conscience may be changed as the plan gets harder
It’s just been rearranged to keep the strata
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)

Your conscience may be changed as the plan gets harder
It’s just been rearranged to keep the strata
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)
(No no no no time no no no no time)

I LOOK ALONE
(Pete Shelley)

I am alone there’s nobody there
I have some time to spare whenever I feel this way
I look around at everyone else
Have they no time to spare? Whenever I feel this way

Chorus:
Oh today is beautiful
Tomorrow’s beautiful
Everything’s beautiful

I look alone I’m left on the shelf
I’ve got the time to spare whenever I feel this way
You look alone there’s nobody else
Have you no time to spare? Maybe you feel this way

Repeat Chorus
[Solo]
Repeat Chorus

Don’t be alone with nobody there
I have the time to spare whenever you feel this way
Why be alone? Come down off the shelf
We have the time to spare so why should we feel this way?

Repeat Chorus

You look alone there’s nobody else
We have the time to spare whenever we feel this way
Let’s be alone we need no one else
And we’ve got lots to share whenever we get this way

Repeat Chorus x2

Oh today is beautiful
Oh today is beautiful
Oh today is beautiful
Oh today is beautiful
Oh today is beautiful
Oh today is beautiful

SINGLES GOING STEADY (Back to Top)

ORGASM ADDICT
(Howard Devoto/Pete Shelley)

Well you tried it just for once
Found it all right for kicks
But now you found out that it’s a habit that sticks
And you’re an orgasm addict
You’re an orgasm addict

Sneaking in the back door
With dirty magazines
Now your mother wants to know
What all those stains on your jeans
And you’re an orgasm addict
You’re an orgasm addict
Uh huh, uh huh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh

You get in a heat, you get in a sulk
But you still keep a beating your meat to pulp
And you’re an orgasm addict
You’re an orgasm addict

You’re a kid cassanova, you’re a no-joseph
It’s a labour of love fucking yourself to death
Orgasm addict
You’re an orgasm addict
Uh huh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh
Uh huh, uh huh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh

You’re makin’ out with school kids
Winos and heads of state
You even made it with the lady
Who puts the little plastic robins on the Christmas cakes
Butchers’ assistants and bellhops
You’ve had them all here and there
Children of god and with joy-strings
International women with no body hair

Oooh, so well you’re askin’ in an alley
And your voice ain’t steady
If your sex mechanic’s rough
You’re more than ready
You’re an orgasm addict
Ou’re an orgasm addict

Johnny want fuckie always and all ways
He’s got the energy, he will amaze
He’s an orgasm addict
He’s an orgasm addict
He’s always at it
He’s always at it
And he’s an orgasm addict
He’s an orgasm addict.

WHAT DO I GET?
(Pete Shelley)

I just want a lover like any other
What do I get?
I only want a friend who will stay to the end
What do I get?