#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------##
Debris
I left you on the debris
of the sunday morning market
searching through odds and ends
i was looking for a bargain.
Heard your footsteps at the front door
and that old familiar love song
I knew you'd find me waiting there
at the top of the stairs.
I've been there and back
just to see how far it is
you, you tried to tell me
but i had to learn for myself
Trouble at the depot
with the general workers union
said it'll never change a thing
they wont fight but they're not working
Oh you were my hero
now you're just my good friend
I've been there and back
now i know how far it is.
I left you on the debris
now we both know you've got no money
and i wonder what you would have done
without me hanging around.
-----------------------------------------
Greetings To The New Brunette
-----------------------------
Shirley,
it's quite exciting to be sleeping here in this new room
Shirley,
you're my reason to get out of bed before noon
Shirley,
you know when we sat out on the fire escape talking
Shirley,
what did you say about running before we were walking
Sometimes when we are as close as this
It's like we're in a dream
How can you lie there and think of England
When you don't even know who's in the team
Shirley,
your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle
Shirley,
we are joined in the ideological cuddle
I'm celebrating my love to you
With a pint of beer and a new tattoo
And if you haven't noticed yet
I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet
Politics and pregnancy
Are debated as we empty our glasses
And how I love those evening classes
Shirley,
you really know how to make a young man angry
Shirley,
could we get through the night without mentioning family
The people from your church agree
It's not much of a career
Trying the handles of parked cars
Whoops,there goes another year
Whoops,there goes another pint of beer
Here we are in our summer years
Living on ice-cream and chocolate kisses
Would the leaves fall from the trees
If I was your old man and you were my missus
Shirley,
give my greetings to the new brunette
Greetings to the new brunette...
-----------------------------------
Life With The Lions (Billy Bragg)
intro: D Bm D Bm A D Bm D Bm
D G A
I hate the arsehole I become
G
Everytime I'm with you
D G A
You know you've got me on the run
G
But let me make it clear to you
Bm G
It's taken two fools such as we
A G
To make love deaf, dumb and blind
D G A G
Now you're upset 'cos I can't read your mind love
D G D Bm D Bm D Bm A D Bm D Bm
You're upset 'cos I can't read your mind
D G A
I hate the arsehole I become
G
Everytime I'm with you
D G A
I get the feeling looking in your eyes
G
That somehow I should forgive you
Bm G A G
I know that I'm guilty but I don't know what I've done
D G D G
You're not about to let me join in the fun are you
D G D Bm D Bm D Bm A D Bm D Bm
You're not about to let me join in the fun
D G A
I hate the arsehole I become
G
Everytime I'm with you
D G A
I hate the way you try to give me back
G
All the things I give to you
Bm G
I know when I leave the room
A G
They say what's up with him
D G D G
But love is not a game you play to win girl
D G D Bm D Bm D Bm A D Bm D Bm
Love is not a game you play to win
D G A G D G A G
Bm G
If that face of yours could only talk
A G
The stories it could tell
D G D G
The chase is always better than the kill, love
D G D D Bm...
The chase is always better than the kill
-------------------------------------
Little Time Bomb
(Billy Bragg)
G
One's of them off her food
C G
And the other's off his head
Em G D
And both of them are off down the boozer
C G
To drink a toast
C G
To the one that he hates most
Em G D G
And she says there are no winner, only losers
G Em
Well if there are no winners
C G
Then what is this he thinks
Em G D
As he watches her complete a lap of honour
C G
And he sits in the stands
C G
With his head in his hands
Em G
And he thinks of all the things
D G
He'd like to bring down upon her
G Em C G
Revenge will bring cold comfort in this darkest hour
G C D G
As the jukebox says 'It's All Over Now'
Em G
And he stands and he screams
C G
What have I done wrong
D Em C G
I've fallen in love with a little time bomb
D Em C G
I've fallen in love with a little time bomb
C G Am G
In public he's such a man
C G Am G
He's punching at the walls with his bare ad bloody hands
C G Am G
He's screaming and shouting and acting crazy
C D
But at home he sits alone and he cries like a baby
G Em C G
Oh he holds your letters but he can't read them
G C D G
As he fights this loneliness that you call freedom
Em G C G
You said this would happen and you were not wrong
D Em C G
I've fallen in love with a little time bomb
D Em C G
I've fallen in love with a little time bomb
------------------------------------
Must I paint you a picture
(Billy Bragg)
intro: C - G - Am
C G F
It's bad timeing and me
G C
We find a lot of things out this way
G
And there's you
F G
A little black cloud in a dress
C G
The temptation
Am F
To take the precious things we have a part
C G C
To see how they work
G Am F C
Must be resisted for they never fit together again
G Am
If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me
G Am G
If these are tears let them fall
C G Am
Must I paint you a picture
C G Am
About the way that I feel
C Am G
You know that my love for you is strong girl
C Am G
You know that my love for you is real
C G F
It took a short walk and a talk
G C
To change the rules of engagement
G F G
While you searched frantically for reverse
C G
And then claiming
Am F C A
That virtue never tested is no virtue at all
C G Am
And so I lost my ignorance
F-G Am
And now the bells across the river chime out your name
G Am G
I look across to them again (chorus)
Em C
All your friends sais come down
It will never fly
F
And on that imperfect day
G
We threw it all away
Em Am
Crisis after crisis, with such intensity
F G
This would never happen if we lived by the sea
C G F
Most important decisions in life
G C
Are made between two people in bed
G F G
I found that at my own expense
C G
And when I see you
Am F C G C
You juts turn around and walk away like we never met
G Am F
Oh we used to be so brave
G Am G
I dreamt the wolrd stopped turning as we climbed the hill
Am G
I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still (chorus)
-------------------------------------------
Ontario, Quebec and me
(Billy Bragg)
G D G
You don't need my Christmas card,
Em D C
You already have my heart.
G D G
This has been an holiday romance,
Am C D
Try from the very start.
chorus:
C G
For we know how to spend the time,
Em C
Who cares about the weather.
G D G
We'll dance in the town 'till the sun goes down,
Em D C
And push our bed together.
G D G
From the land of the midnight sunglasses,
Em D C
To the mountain of the moon.
G D G
You could never stay in bed too long,
Am C D
I'll never come back too soon.
(chorus)
G Em D G
You know how a fool I am,
C D G
With my short attention span.
C D Em
Flying in the really season too,
C D G
Nothing could keep me away from you.
BREAK (same chords than a verse)
(chorus)
-----------------------------------------------
Rotting On Remand
(Billy Bragg)
C
I stood before the judge that day
F C
As he refused my bail
And I knew that I would spend my time
G
Awaiting trial in jail
C
I said there is no justice
F C
As they led me out of the door
F C
And the judge said, "This isn't a court of justice son
G C
This is a court of law".
C
They first sent me to Windsor
F C
And then to Stoke on Trent
In a holding cell in Liverpool
G
Three days and nights I spent
C
My solicitor can't find me
F C
And my family don't know
F C
I keep telling them that I'm innocent
G C C7
They (just) say, "Come on son, in you go."
F C
I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done
C B/C A/C G/C C G
Here I sit in 'F' wing waiting for my trial to come
F C F
It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands
C G C
Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand
F C G C A7
D
I ended up in this jail
G D
Built in 18-82
When one man to one prison cell
A
Was a Victorian value
D
Now three of us are squeezed in here
G D
And you can't escape the smell
G D
Of that bucket in the corner
A D
And we eat in here as well
They let me out of this cage
G D
To slop that bucket out
To get my food and bring it back
A
And if I'm lucky, get a shower
D
Apart from one hours exercise
G D
I'm locked in here all day
G D
You don't turn criminals into citizens
A D D7
By treating them this way
G D
Is the prize of law and order the stench of Wormwood Scrubs
D C#/D B/D A/D A
With judges quick to sentence sending more down from above
G D G
It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands
D A D
Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand G D A D ...
--------------------------------------
She's got a new spell
(Billy Bragg)
(Capo 5e fret)
intro: D G A D G A
D
What is that sound
G A
Where is it coming from
D
All around
G A
What are you running from
Bm A D
Something you don't understand
G Em
Something you cannot command
D
That's how I know
G A
She's got a new spell
D
Yes, that's how I know
G A
That she's got a new spell
D
What's going down
G A
Who's moved this room from round me
D
Where has it gone
G A
I fear this night will drown me
Bm A D
So I lie awake all night
G Em D
'Cos I can't sleep with something I can't fight
Bm A D
G A Bm A D
The laws of gravity are very, very strict
G A Bm A D
And you're just bending them for your won benefit
D G A D G A Bm A D
D G A D G A D G A
Bm A D
G A Bm A D
The laws of gravity are very, very strict
G A Bm A D
And you're just bending them for your won benefit
One minute she says
G A
She's gone to get the cat in
D
The next thing I know
G A
She's mumbling in Latin
Bm A D
She cut the starts out of the sky
G Em
And baked them in a pie
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/b/billy_bragg/debris_tab.html ]
D
That's how I know
G A
She's got a new spell
D
Yes, that's how I know
G A
That she's got a new spell
Bm A D
She stole the scene and the scenery
G Em
The script and the machinery
D
That's how I know
G A
She's got a new spell
D
Yes, that's how I know
G A Bm A D
That she's got a new spell
------------------------------
Sin City
Intro: G D G C G D C G
G D
This old town 's filled with sin
G C
It'll swallow you in
G D
If you got some money to burn
G D
Take it home right away
G C
You've got three years to pay
G D G G7
The city is waiting his turn
(chorus)
C D G G7
This old earthquake 's gonna leave me in the poor house
C G D
It seems like this old town 's insane
C D G C
On the thirty-first floor, a gold plated door
G D G G D G C G D C G
Won't keep out the lord's burning rain
G D G C
The scientist say, it will all wash away
G D
But we don't, believe anymore
G D
So we got our recruit
G C
And a green mohair suit
G D G G7
So please show your I.D. at the door
(chorus)
G D G C
A friend came around, tried to clean up this town
G D
His ideas made some people mad
G D G C
But he thrusted his crowd, so he spoke right out loud
G D G G7
And they lost the best friend they had
(chorus)
-------------------------------
The Price I Pay
(Billy Bragg)
intro: G Em C G D
G Em
My friend said she could see no way ahead
A C
And I was probably better off without you
G Em
She said to face up to the fact that you weren't coming back
A C
And she could make me happy like you used to
G B7
But I'm sorry to say I turned her away
C Ab Maj7
Knowing everything she said was true
G Em C G D
And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
G Em
There's something inside that hurts my foolish pride
A C
To visit the places we used to go together
G Em
Not a day goes by that I don't sit and wonder why
A C
Your feelings for me didn't last forever
G B7
Girl I love you so much that sometimes it's such
C Ab Maj7
I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe
G Em C G D
And that's that price I pay for loving you the way that I do (2x)
G Em A C
G Em A C
G B7
So keep that phone out of my way for the things I must say
C Ab Maj7
Are empty if you don't believe they're true
G Em C G D
And that's that price I pay for loving you the way that I do
G Em C G D
That's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
G Em
I love you so much that baby it's such
A C
I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe ...
----------------------------------
Billy Bragg's "The Man in the Iron Mask". pretty correct as far as I can
tell but I'm sitting here in the dark with my 12-string, which is no fun
to pick on, and no cd player... so.
intro/verses:
(much easier to play this C| in position I but you lose the slide)
Am7 F C G C Em7 Em Am
----------0-1-0---0--------------------------------------|
----------------1---------0---------------0--------------|
-------0----2-0--------------------5-----------------0---|
----2-----------------------------------0---------2------|
-0----------------------2---2----7---\2--------2-------0-|
--------------------3-3-------\8------------0------------|
when....off...I will not say who..that
Am Em Am Am7
-------------------------------|
-1-1p0-----------0-----0h1p0---|
-2-1p0-------------2-2-------0-|
-------h2-------2--2-2---------|
--------------2----------------|
-----------0-------------------|
who so quickly...
When he drops you off I will not say
Who was that who so quickly drove away
The things you've done and the places you've been
When I open the door for you I will not let them in
As long as you come back to me I will never ask
For you I will be the man in the iron mask
then this bridge part:
(octaves optional-not sure if they belong or not but I like them)
C G Em C G Em E7
----------------------------------------------0-------|
----0--1---1------0--------------1----0-------0-------|
-2---------0------0--------------0----0-------1-------|
---------2-----------2-----------2-------2----0-------|
-0--2--3--------2----2-2.......2----2----2----2-----2-|
--------------3------0-0.......0---3-----0----0-------|
^ ^ ^ ^
Listen to the record... Hit the C, G, hard where indicated... The first Em
mute E&A and go at it for an extra beat before the C. The second time let
the Em ring, then strum the E7 slowly, hit the B, and back into the verse.
You said you loved me and it broke my heart
I was always your prisoner right from the start
The nights you spend without me this house is like a dungeon
And you only return to torture me more
You must have your reasons, I will not ask
For you I will be the man in the iron mask
It ends with a variation of the verse, mostly playing an arpeggiated Em with
those little Am things... the last chord is an A (major) on the B&G (or maybe
B&D) strings.
-----------------------------------------------------
The Only One (Billy Bragg)
intro: E (7th) G#m (4th) C#m (4th) D#/B (main riff)
note: play main riff throughout all the verses
Sometimes when you lose your way to me
I think you don't care at all
If you don't get here soon
I'll tear that clock down from the wall
Your family and friends don't understand
They treat me so strange
The book you said to read
Well I have read but nothings changed
A B
The clocks go forward the clocks go back
G#m C#m A
Yet here I sit as if I were the only one
(main riff)
And oh you cannot hear me
Oh you cannot hear me
Can anybody hear me out there
(main riff)
He's up on high horse again
You're down in the park
I'm left to fight my impulses alone here in the dark
The chain that fell off my bike last night
Is now wrapped round my heart
Sometimes I think that
Fate has been against us from the start
A B
I long to let our love run free
G#m C#m A
Yet here I am a victim of geography
(main riff)
And oh you cannot hear me
Oh you cannot hear me
Can anybody hear me out there
A B
She said kiss me or would you rather
G#m C#m A
Live in a land where the soap won't lather
(main riff)
And oh...
You know you are the only one
Yes you are the only one
Yes you are the only one
------------------------------------
The Short Answer
----------------
Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary
Between the deep blue sea and the devil that was me
If ever anyone could help me with my obsession with
The young Susannah York it was Mary
If my pink pyjamas she asked me for something
I gave her the short answer
She read our stars out load
And I knew then that we should have gone sailing
But we stayed home instead
Fighting on the waterbed
Like the honeymoon couple on drugs
Me and Mary
What happened in the past
Remained a mystery of natural history
She should have been the last
But she was just the latest
If she wanted to be a farmer's wife
I would endure that muddy life
I would dig for victory
And the sound of happy couples
Coupling happily in the dark
While you and I sat down to tea
I remember you said to me
That no amount of poetry
Would mend this broken heart
But you can put the Hoover round
If you want to make a start
All my friends from school
Introduce me to their spouses
While I'm left standing here
With my hands down the front of my trousers
I just don't know what's to be done
I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum
And how did they conceive of me
Tell me Mary
The boys who came to the shop
Always made her laugh much more than I did
When I told her this must stop
She didn't bat an eyelid
She said you know honey it's such a shame
You'll never be any good at this game
You bruise too easily
So said Mary
Her two brothers took me out
Of circulation for the duration
So we went our separate ways but does she still love me
She still has my door key
Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop
You're never happy with what you've got
Till what you've got has gone
Sorry Mary
------------------------------------
Valentine's Day Is Over
(Billy Bragg)
intro: C F C F C F G F C
C F C
Some day boy you'll reap what you've down
F C F G
You'll catch a cold and you'll be on your own
F C F C
And you will see that what's wrong with me
F C
Is wrong with everyone that
Dm G F C
You want to play your little games on
C F C
Poetry and flowers pretty words and threats
F C F G
You've gone to the dogs again and I'm not placing bets
F C F C
On you coming home tonight anything but blind
F C Dm G
If you take me for granted then you must expect to find
F C C Em Am
Surprise, surprise
Am F C F G C Em Am
Valentine's Day is over, it's over
Am F C F C
Valentine's Day is over
G F C G
If you want to talk about it well you know where the phone is
E F Fm C
Don't come round reminding me again how brittle bone is
G F G
God didn't make you angel the Devil made you a man
C E F Fm
That brutality and the economy are related now I understand
C E F Fm F C
When will you realize that as above so below there is no love
C Em Am
Am F C F G C Em Am
Valentine's Day is over, it's over
Am F C F C
Valentine's Day is over
G F C G E F Fm
C G
For the girl with hour glass figure
F G
Time runs out very fast
C E
We used to want the same things
F Fm
But that's all in the past
C E
And lately it seems that as it all gets tougher
F Fm F C
Your ideal of justice just becomes rougher and rougher
C Em Am
Am F C F G C Em Am
Valentine's Day is over, it's over
Am F C F C
Valentine's Day is over
C F C
Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card
F C F G
Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard
F C F C
That love between two people must be based on understanding
F C
Until that's true you'll find your things
Dm G F C C Em Am
All stacked out on the landing surprise, surprise
Am F C F G C Em Am
Valentine's Day is over, it's over
Am F C G C F C G C
Valentine's Day is over, it's o-ver, it's o-ver, it's o-ver
---------------------------------
Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards
-----------------------------------
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathize with her but thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner
In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle
In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of people stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer
Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards
Jumble sales are organized and pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
One leap forwards, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?
Here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it
It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
>From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole
If no one seems to understands
Start your own revolution, cut out the middleman
In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room
So join the struggle while you may
The Revolution is just a t-shirt away
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
-------------------------------------------
"Walk Away Renee"
She said it was just a figment of speech
And I said you mean 'figure'
And she said no 'figment' because she could never imagine it happening
But it did
When we first met, I played the shy-boy
When she spoke to me for the first time, my nose began to bleed
She guessed the rest
The next day we went on a bus ride to the ferry
And when nobody came to collect our fares, why I knew then this was
something special
I couldn't stop thinking about her
And everytime I switched on the radio, there was somebody else singing
a song about the two of us
It was just like being on a fast ride at Fun Fair- the sort you want to get off
because it's scary and then, as soon as you're off again, you want to
get straight back on again
But oh love is strange
And you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth I suppose
She began going out with Mr. Potato Head
It was when I saw her in the car park with his coat around her shoulders
I realized
I went home and thought about the two of them together until the bath
water went cold around me
I thought about her eyes and the curve of her breasts and about the point
where their bodies met
I confronted her about it
I said 'I'm the most illegible bachelor in town'
And she said 'Yea, that's why I can never understand any of those silly
letters you send me'
And then one day it happened
She cut her hair
And I stopped loving her.
Have fun, francois...
Universite de Montreal
