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Short & Curly

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Fugitive Souls   

Album released February 2018. All songs copyright Short & Curly 2018.

 

Head West, Turn Right


Head west, turn right and you’ll find me

Near a town with ‘Please drive slowly’ at each end

I have walked away from ties that bind me

It’s way off the map, but I’m still going ’round the bend

 

A rusty track, it runs right through this town

You can’t get here by train from anywhere no more

But when I trek along that track come sundown

I swear I can still hear the locomotives roar

 

The stars out here for you must be the same

The more I stare at them, the less I see   

When I search that firmament for something to blame

Those eyes in the night, they’re looking back at me

 

Head west, turn right and you’ll find me

Where the sign says ‘Prone to flood – live at your own risk’

I’d love to see you, as long as you don’t remind me

You don’t like mud and you bring a plowing disk

 

The stars out here for you must be the same

The more I stare at them, the less I see   

When I search that firmament for something to blame

Those eyes in the night, they’re looking back at me

 

Head west, turn right, turn right

Just trust my footsteps, there is no other way  

Head west, turn right, turn right, when you see my light

When you get here I know you’re going to stay

I know, I know you’re going to stay

 

Do the River Walk   


When you’re in a muddle with your soul so blue

Like you’re in a puddle with a hole in your shoe

Your car won’t start, you’re down at heart

And gettin’ it together is fallin’ apart

Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]
 

Take it slow past the rapids, straight around the bend

Start at the beginning, when you get to the end

If every mangy stranger isn’t lookin’ like a friend

Turn a-right around, go strollin’ back again

Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]

 

Because an old man river is sadly depleted

By the careless way it’s mistreated

But an old man river is never defeated

Do-the do-the, do-the do-the, do-the do-the

Do the river walk

 

I used to go places deep in my sleep

[He’ll be halfway to the river and still a-countin’ sheep]

But it’s better etiquette than being seen around the town

[In your green gumboots and a purple dressing gown]

Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]

 

’Cause it’s all water, water, water, water under the bridge

You oughta oughta oughta oughta oughta follow that ridge

Do the river walk, do the river walk

’Cause you’re never goin’ backward by the flowin’ Blackwood

When you do-the do-the, do-the do-the, do-the do-the

Do the river walk

 

Reverse Engineering


We’ve been building something fine, it seems like forever

Could be intelligent design, but we’re really not that clever

Now it’s back to the drawing board, back to going by feel

Back to when falling in love was reinventing the wheel

 

Reverse engineering, taking the pieces apart

To find the bit that’s made to fit what’s missing in your heart

Reverse engineering, that’s what I try to do

When I’m losing track and can’t get back to what’s going on with you

What’s going on with you

 

So we’ve been going by the blueprint, with ciphers writ in white

We can trace out every bone-like line, but the flesh is out of sight

There’s no patented invention, no prototype for this

But I parlay my intention for a magic-bullet kiss

 

Reverse engineering, that’s what I try to do

When I’m losing track and can’t get back to what’s going on with you

Reverse engineering, taking the pieces apart

To find the bit that’s made to fit what’s missing in your heart

What’s missing in your heart, missing in your heart, etc

 

Yellow Boat     


I came across a yellow boat lying by the riverbank like a beached banana

I thought I’d borrow it and float and if by any chance it sank, I’d call it instant karma

Making jetsam of my cares, I stretched out fore and aft to sleep perchance to dream

And in my state of unawares that stolen fruit of shallow draft found its own way down midstream

 

When my skeleton is a tree fallen into the river

When my soul is a twig on its way to the sea

When the memory of who I was begins to wither

Well, never mind – it was enough just to be

On a day like this, on a day like this

Life was a kiss on a day like this

 

I came across a yellow boat lying by the river bank, it carried me away

I wish I could have put it back

Eventually it leaked and sank beneath me where I lay

Eventually it leaked and sank beneath me where I lay

 

When my skeleton is a tree fallen into the river

When my soul is a twig on its way to the sea

When the memory of who I was begins to wither

Well, never mind – it was enough just to be

On a day like this, on a day like this

Life was a kiss on a day like this  [x3]

 

I came across a yellow boat lying by the river bank

It carried me away

 

Fugitive Soul  


I like your town, I like the way you live

I like the dry wit in your watering hole

I like your dusty roads and hidden farms

And your hills they feel like open arms

Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role

So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul

 

As you all know, I don’t come from around here

The dead-end roads I’ve walked all led somewhere

But I’ve never had a gravestone to honour

If it took roots to survive, I’d be a goner

I’ve been a nomad, an outcast and a stray

But I feel no need to go walkabout  today

 

I like your town, I like the way you live

I like the dry wit in your watering hole

I like your dusty roads and hidden farms

And your hills they feel like open arms

Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role

So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul

 

When I kicked the city I said four million farewells

It’s amazing how much weight one finger dispels

You can tell yourself it’s freedom as you’re leaving

Eventually you’ll end up disbelieving

Call me a nomad, an outcast or a stray

But I feel no need to go walkabout  today

 

I like your town, I like the way you live

I like the dry wit in your waterin’ hole

I like your dusty roads and hidden farms

And your hills they feel like open arms

Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role

So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul

Never thought I’d find somewhere to fill that role

So won’t you buy another beer for a fugitive soul

Go on and buy another beer for a fugitive soul

 

Three Stories to the Truth    


I’ve been out listening to talk on the street  

Learnin’ the lowdown through the soles of my feet  

Things I’ve heard about the good people I know

Bad word travels fast when the livin’ is slow

 

They say the neighbour’s got an axe to grind

The butcher’s got a wife no-one can find

The dentist’s always drillin’ with killin’ on his mind

The vicar likes a flicker of the pornographic kind

And the things I’ve heard about you, my friend

It fair made the hair on my head stand on end

 

Well, you can tell a tall tale and never stoop for proof

Trade in myth and scandal ’til you’re long in the tooth

But there’s two sides to every story

And three stories to the truth

Always three stories to the truth [to the truth, yeah]

 

Yeah, I’ve been out listening to talk on the street  

Learnin’ the lowdown through the soles of my feet  

Things I’ve heard about the good people I know

Bad word travels fast when the livin’ is slow

And the things I’ve heard about you, my friend

It fair made the hair on my head stand on end

 

Well, you can tell a tall tale and never stoop for proof

Trade in myth and scandal ’til you’re long in the tooth

But there’s two sides to every story

And three stories to the truth

I went from room to room to room to room

And I found a guru on the roof

He said there’s two sides to every story

Two sides to every story

Two sides to every story

And always three stories to the truth

 

Lucky Penny       


I found an old Australian penny, I can’t remember where

It doesn’t matter anyway, you probably don’t care

The point is that it’s lucky the way found pennies are

And ever since I picked it up I’ve had a lucky star

 

I wanna wanna be your lucky penny

Let’s get together'round-the-clock it

I got the time if you've got any

So pick me up and put me in your pocket

 

I found an old Australian penny, been spent a thousand ways

But keep a lucky penny and it pays ’n pays ’n pays

I tell you of my fortune, expecting you to scoff

But come and rub against me, some luck just might rub off

 

I wanna wanna be your lucky penny

Let’s get together 'round-the-clock it

I got the time if you've got any

So pick me up and put me in your pocket

 

Don’t have no legal tender, don’t have no ready cash

All I have’s a flippin’ coin that’s done its flippin’ dash

But money isn’t everything, they say to coin a phrase

I take my flippin’ chances and I play the way it lays

 

I wanna wanna be your lucky penny

Let’s get together 'round-the-clock it

I got the time if you've got any

So pick me up and put me in your pocket        

Let’s get together, roll ’n rock it

 

I found an old Australian penny, been spent a thousand ways

But keep a lucky penny and it pays ’n pays ’n pays

The point is that it’s lucky the way found pennies are

And ever since I picked it up I’ve had a lucky star

I’ve had a lucky star, I’ve had a lucky star

So come and rub against me

Some luck might just rub off, just might rub off, just might rub off

 

Last Drink for a While


Working myself to death and living in the red

I planted three-score seeds behind the tractor shed

Twenty-seven kilos is a demon stash to store

My future cut ’n dried until a knock upon the door

I’ve had me some money some, but I never had a pile

This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while

 

Now, friends are thick as thieves when you’ve got what they need

With the deals going down, I had many friends indeed

Now tomorrow’s judgment day and I’m drinking all alone

’Cause those friends all disappeared like the sinking of a stone

So excuse me if I knock this back like it’s going out of style

This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while

 

I know I’ve been a fool, I know I took a risk

But let me tell you something, let me tell you this

A man’ll do what he has to do to keep a wretched farm

And I never hurt no-one, I twisted no-one’s arm

So remember me at Christmas, maybe giftwrap me a file

This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while

So remember me at Christmas – yeah man, giftwrap me a file

This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while

 

Love is an Instrumental


I’m not looking for love that’s perfect note for note

Lost in loneliness is the tenor of my song   

Some people say I’m a hopeless dozy dote  

But hum a bit, we’ll pick it up as we go along

 

I know I’m sounding absurd

I’m always messing up the words

But honestly, what more can I say

Than love’s an instrumental day to day

Love’s an instrumental anyway

 

If you should hear me coming in on the off beat

It’s just because my timing’s flawed from sad refrains

I’ve played the second fiddle in a bitter suite

Fallen out of tune and other contrapuntal pains

 

I know I’m sounding absurd

I’m always messing up the words

But honestly, what more can I say

Than love’s an instrumental day to day

Love’s an instrumental anyway

 

It’s hard to get things right from the very first take

Perfect pitch is not always what it’s made out

If what you’re looking for is an instrumental break

I can do without the verse, the chorus and the fade-out

 

I know I’m sounding absurd

I’m always messing up the words

But honestly, what more can I say

Than love’s instrumental day to day

Love’s an instrumental

Love’s an instrumental

Love’s an instrumental anyway

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