---BOX---

Build a rocket, boys ....




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My favourite guilty pleasure (Part 3) – A real life lover.




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The unique ...

May You Never



And may you never lay your head down
Without a hand to hold
May you never make your bed out in the cold

You’re just like a great strong brother of mine
You know that I love you true
And you never talk dirty behind my back
And I know that there’s those that do

Oh please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind
Love is a lesson to learn in our time
Now please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind for me

And may you never lay your head down
Without a hand to hold
May you never make your bed out in the cold

Well you’re just like a good close sister to me
You know that I love you true
And you hold no blade to stab me in the back
And I know that there’s some that do

Oh please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind
Love is a lesson to learn in our time
And please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind for me

May you never lay your head down
... Without a hand to hold
May you never make your bed out in the cold

You’re just like a great strong brother of mine
And you know that I love you true
And you never talk dirty behind my back
And I know that there’s those that do

Oh please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind
Love is a lesson to learn in our time
And please won’t you, please won’t you
Bear it in mind for me

May you never lose your temper
If you get in a bar room fight
May you never lose your woman overnight

May you never lay your head down
Without a hand to hold
May you never make your bed out in the cold
May you never lose your temper
If you get in a bar room fight

May you never lose your woman over night
May you never lose your woman over night
May you never lose your woman over night

John Martyn


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Solid Air



You've been taking your time
And you've been living on solid air
You've been walking the line
And you've been living on solid air
Don't know what's going 'round inside
And I can tell you that it's hard to hide
When you're living on solid air
And you've been painting the blues
And you've been looking through solid air
You've been seeing it through
And you've been looking through solid air
Don't know what's going 'round in your mind
And I can tell you don't like what you find
When you're moving through solid air, solid air
I know you, I love you
And I can be your friend
I can follow you anywhere
Even through solid air
You've been stoning it cold
You've been living on solid air
You've been finding it cold
You've been living on solid air
I don't know what's going on inside
I can tell you that it's hard to hide
... When you're living on solid air, solid air
You've been getting too deep
You've been living on solid air
You've been missing your sleep
you've been moving through solid air
I don't know what's going on in your mind
But I know you don't like what you find
When you're moving through solid air, solid air
I know you, I love you
I will be your friend
I will follow you anywhere
Even through solid air
You've been walking your line
You've been walking on solid air
You've been taking your time
'Cause you've been walking on solid air
Don't know what's going on inside
But I can tell you that it's hard to hide
When you're living on solid air, solid air
You've been painting the blues
You've been living on solid air
And you've been seeing it through
And you've been looking through solid air
I don't know what's going in your mind
But I can tell you don't like what you find
When you're living through solid air, solid air
I know you, I love you
And I can be your friend
I can follow you anywhere
Even through solid air
Icy blue solid air
Blue solid air

John Martyn


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Ode To Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry



It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton, and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered out the back door, y'all, remember to wipe your feet
And then she said, I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And papa said to mama, as he passed around the blackeyed peas
Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow
And mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And brother said he recollected when he, and Tom, and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
... And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
I'll have another piece-a apple pie; you know, it don't seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And mama said to me, child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning, and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge

A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And brother married Becky Thompson; they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round; papa caught it, and he died last spring
And now mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
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in remembrance...

what is it about girls at seventeen?

edge of seventeen - stevie nicks




Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo-whoo-whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo

And the days go by
Like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby (everything stops)
Nothin' else mattered
He was no more
(He was no more)
Than a baby then
Well, he seemed broken hearted
Somethin' within him
But the moment
That I first laid
Eyes on him
All alone on the edge of seventeen

Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo

Well, I went today
Maybe I will go again
Tomorrow, yeah, yeah
... Well, the music there
Well it was hauntingly familiar
When I see you doin'
What I try to do for me
With their words of a poet
And a voice from a choir
And a melody
Nothin' else mattered

Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo

The clouds never expect it
When it rains
But the sea changes colours
But the sea
Does not change
So with the slow graceful flow
Of age
I went forth with an age old
Desire to please
On the edge of seventeen

Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo

Well then suddenly
There was no one left standing
In the hall, yeah, yeah
In a flood of tears
That no one really ever heard fall at all
When I went searchin' for an answer
Up the stairs and down the hall
Not to find an answer
Just to hear the call
Of a nightbird singin'
(Come away)
(Come away)
(Come away)

Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged do
(1981)



seventeen - sharon van etten (new)



I know what you wanna say
I think that you're all the same
Constantly being led astray
He's thinking of something you don't

Downtown harks back
Halfway up the street
I used to be free
I used to be seventeen
Follow my shadow
Around your corner
I used to be seventeen
Now you're just like me

Down beneath the ashes and the stone
Sure of what I've lived and have known
I see you so uncomfortably alone
I wish I could show you how much you've grown

Downtown harks back
I used to be on this street
I used to be seventeen
I used to be seventeen
Now you're half shy
Hanging on my block
Sun coming up
Who is my shadow?

La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la

I know what you're gonna be
I know that you're gonna be
You're crumbling up just to see
Afraid that you'll be just like me

Downtown harks back
Halfway through this life
I used to feel free
Was it just a dream?
Now you're half shy
Think you're so carefree
But you're just seventeen
So much like me
You're just seventeen
You're just seventeen
Seventeen
(2019)


at seventeen - janis ian



I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired

The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say "Come dance with me"
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen

A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, "Pity, please, the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve"

And the rich relationed hometown queen
Marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly

Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
In debentures of quality
And dubious integrity
Their small-town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen

To those of us who knew the pain
Of valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball

It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
When dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game, and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
They call and say, "Come dance with me"
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen
(1975)
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in commemoration of David Bowie's third anniversary.





to mpg

copyright ©2016 BOX

My favourite guilty pleasure (Part 2) – A Life Plastic Oddity

Life on Mars




It's a God-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling no
And her daddy has told her to go

But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen

But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
'Cause Lennon's on sale again
...
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns

But the film is a saddening bore
'Cause I wrote it ten times or more
It's about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

David Bowie


Fake Plastic Trees



A green plastic watering can
For a fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth

That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself

It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns

He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins

And it wears him out
It wears him out
It wears him out
Wears him out

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love

But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run

And it wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time
All the time

Radiohead




Space Oddity




Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you

Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Lift off

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you...

Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

David Bowie
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My favourite guilty pleasure (Part 1) – A Beautiful Sandwich

1. Go Home



I went walking again
I'll go out and forget to tell any of my friends where I'm going
I'm just drunk on the side of the road in a ditch when you find me –
I wanna go home, but I'm sick
There's more whiskey than blood in my veins
More tar than air in my lungs
The strung out call I make
Burned down on the edge of the highway
"I'm sorry for asking, but please, come take me home"
I quit talking again
But I know you're still listening to see if I sleep or I pierce my skin
Needles to the worn out rags
The folds in my arms, the sickening black
And I haven't been taking my meds
Lock all the cabinets, send me to bed
Cause I know you're still worried I'm gonna get scared
Cause I'm alone again and I don't like the things I see
And I haven't been taking my meds
... So lock all the cabinets, and send me to bed
Cause I know you're still worried I'm gonna get scared again
And make my insides clean with your kitchen bleach
But I've kissed enough bathroom sinks to make up for the lovers that never loved me
And I know my body is just dirty clothes;
I'm tired of washing my hands
God, I wanna go home

Julien Baker


2. Michicant



I was unafraid, I was a boy, I was a tender age
Melic in the naked, knew a lake and drew the lofts for page
Hurdle all the waitings up, I know it wasn't wedded love, why?
Four long minutes end and it was over, it'd all be back
And the frost took up the eyes

Pressed against the pane
Could see the veins and there was poison out
Resting in a raze, the inner claims I hadn't breadth to shake
Searching for an inner clout, may not take another bout, why?
Honey in the hale could fill the pales of loving less with vain
Hon', it wasn't yet the spring

Aiming and it sunk and we were drunk and we had fleshed it out
Nose up in the globes, you never know if you are passing out
No, it wasn't maiden-up, the falling or the faded luck, why?
Hung up in the ivory, both were climbing for a finer cause
Love can hardly leave the room
With your heart

Bon Iver


3. Something



I know you're sleeping by now
I'm still up walking around
The walls of my skull bend backwards
And in like a labyrinth
I knew I was wasting my time
Keep myself awake at night
Whenever I close my eyes
I'm chasing your tail lights
In the dark, In the dark, In the dark
I know you left hours ago
I still haven't moved yet
I knew you were gone months ago
But I can't think of anyone else
I should've said something, something, something
I couldn't find something to say
So I just said nothing, nothing, nothing
Sat and watched you drive away
I just let the parking lot swallow me up
Choking your tires and kicking up dust
Asking aloud why you leavin?
But the pavement won't answer me
I just let the silence swallow me up
The ring in my ears tastes like blood
Asking aloud, "Why you leavin'?"
But the pavement won't answer me
I know I meant nothing, nothing to you
I thought I meant something, something, something
But I just said nothing, said nothing, said nothing
Sat and watched you drive away
I just said nothing, said nothing, said nothing
I can't think of anyone, anyone else
I can't think of anyone, anyone else
I can't think of anyone, anyone else
I won't think of anyone else

Julien Baker
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This is the Sea



These things you keep
You'd better throw them away
You wanna turn your back
On your soulless days
Once you were tethered
And now you are free
Once you were tethered
Well now you are free
That was the river
This is the sea!

Now if you're feelin' weary
If you've been alone too long
Maybe you've been suffering from
A few too many
Plans that have gone wrong
And you're trying to remember
How fine your life used to be
Running around banging your drum
Like it's 1973
Well that was the river
This is the sea!

Wooo!

Now you say you've got trouble
You say you've got pain
You say've got nothing left to believe in
Nothing to hold on to
Nothing to trust
Nothing but chains
You're scouring your conscience
Raking through your memories
Scouring your conscience
Raking through your memories
But that was the river
This is the sea yeah!

... Now I can see you wavering
As you try to decide
You've got a war in your head
And it's tearing you up inside
You're trying to make sense
Of something that you just can't see
Trying to make sense now
And you know you once held the key
But that was the river
And this is the sea!

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!

Now I hear there's a train
It's coming on down the line
It's yours if you hurry
You've got still enough time
And you don't need no ticket
And you don't pay no fee
No you don't need no ticket
You don't pay no fee
Because that was the river
And this is the sea!

Behold the sea!

The Waterboys (1985)
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and how we laughed to hear ..

Old England



Man looks up on a yellow sky
And the rain turns to rust in his eye
Rumors of his health are lies
Old England is dying

His clothes are a dirty shade of blue
And his ancient shoes worn through
He steals from me and he lies to you
Old England is dying

Still he sings an empire song
Still he keeps his navy strong
And he sticks his flag where it ill belongs
Old England is dying

You're asking what makes me sigh now
What it is makes me shudder so well
I just freeze in the wind and I'm
Numb from the pummelin' of the snow
That falls from high in yellow skies
Down on where the well loved flag of England flies

Where homes are warm and mothers sigh
Where comedians laugh and babies cry
Where criminals are televised politicians fraternize
Journalists are dignified and everyone is civilized
And children stare with Heroin eyes
Old England!

Evening has fallen
... The swans are singing
The last of Sunday's bells is ringing
The wind in the trees is sighing
And old England is dying

The Waterboys
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This was an anthem of cider, poetry and great friends in college ...

The Whole Of The Moon



I pictured a rainbow
You held it in your hands
I had flashes
But you saw the plan
I wandered out in the world for years
While you just stayed in your room
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moon

Hmm, you were there in the turnstiles, with the wind at your heels
You stretched for the stars and you know how it feels to reach too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon
I was grounded
While you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truth
You cut through lies
I saw the rain dirty valley
You saw Brigadoon
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon

I spoke about wings
You just flew
I wondered, I guessed and I tried
You just knew
I sighed
But you swooned, I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon

The whole of the moon
with a torch in your pocket and the wind at your heels
... You climbed on the ladder and you know how it feels to get too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

The whole of the moon, hey yeah!
Unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers
Trumpets, towers and tenements
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags, rags ferryboats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the stars, yes, you climbed on the ladder
With the wind in your sails
You came like a comet
Blazing your trail too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

The Waterboys
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Love Spreads



Love spreads her arms
Waits there for the nails
I forgive you boy
I will prevail

Too much to take
Some cross to bear
I'm hiding in the trees with a picnic
She's over there, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

She didn't scream
She didn't make a sound
I forgive you boy
But don't leave town

Cold black skin
Naked in the rain
Hammer flash in the lightning
They're hurting her again

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

I have a dream
I've seen the light
Don't put it out, and she's alright
Yeah, she's my sister

She didn't scream
She didn't make a sound
I forgive you boy
But don't leave town
...
Cold black skin
Naked in the rain
Hammer flash in the lightning
They're hurting her again

Oh, oh, oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen
Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen
Let me put you in the picture
Let me show you what I mean
The messiah is my sister
Ain't no king, man, she's my queen

I've had a dream
I've seen the light
Don't put it out, and she's alright
Yeah, she's my sister

The Stone Roses
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