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I remember cheeky reefers and the empty three litres
in a large unfurnished flat with the small wall heaters
freezing frosty jacks with the pre-pay meter
emergency credit where the beeping would defeat us
tonight, the pipe's leaking and it's the shite season
found out your best friend is guilty of treason
what a back-stabbing, thieving, has-been heathen
just forget the daft lies the cretins been breathing
ignore the excuses don't eat up any reason
don't provoke them or feed them starve the demon of feeling
roll a jay in a tearoom at a PTA meeting
no stone left unturned adrenalin is fleeting
did he deserve that beating coz he threatened to leave them
they built jack which was like a kick in the teeth, em?
they built him like butane breathing for exam cheating
or intervening ketamine before Olympic skiing
still not sure if they could or chose not to teach him
another life ago mother freaking out frequent
out from wayward children and a lack of proper sleeping
4 am the door creaking the sound of kids creeping
out the gate, underage, smoking weed, getting steaming
suicide on your doorstep leaves the crew reeling
it's a godless scheme here that is surely due meaning
don't do diligence just codeine the army seems appealing
we kicked the ball against the wall
the no ball games sign counts as a goal
even hanging around is against the law
burned out car on the lawn from the night before
a Merrydown riot, a chip shop diet
Techno, Britpop and hip-hop transmitted from a sky dish
or a chipped box with a knock-off Ariel
on digital blaring for free like a fairytale
whose the best looking? whose the best fighter?
who has fake ID? whose got a CD writer?
from wrapping swings to rapping frees
from climbing trees to burning trees
then the guy with weed started punting eez
14 and driving cars behind the factories
then a rise in knife crime guys started dying
and Simon says why we got to put a school tie on?
who you fancy? what games you got?
oh, my cousin works for Sony so I own the lot
sometimes imagination is all you got
and pretend friends stop you losing the plot
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everybody in the house who loves house music
who never got allowed in the house to ever prove it
he doesn't want to swagger up so he shuffles feet
and the fact he's coming up makes his stomach weak
nostrils blocked with nausea
heart pounding to an impending euphoria
the sound system thumping in the distance beckons him over
baseline nurtures and corrupts him, will he keep his composure?
it's a locked door, a closed book
sharp eyes looking for a wrong foot
or a cobbled up excuse of gobbledygook
one slur or feigning truth
and that's it your oot
rolling solo, dressing casual mixing lynx with brut
a misfit mixed up youth chapping at the wrang hoose
what's he got to lose? rejection and embarrassment
The doorman's Ten Foot Tall
guarding his establishment
armed to the gunnels with words of disparagement
an expert in turning nights out into an argument
a hypocrite who says his face doesn't fit
try somewhere else , on some regulars only shit
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she was cursed with the gift of trying to better herself
it made her incredible yet she questioned the results
noone understood her some were jealous as hell
how can she want mare ? that there perfect gerl
yeah she was special she cast spells
one look from her could make you hear wedding bells
some envied her youth some youths envied her experience
and wanted to be her match her outlook and appearances
admired by her peers and with a band, she rocked
and never feart of a hard slog held down a real job
she was beautiful interesting unique
she held so much strenghth sometimes her knees would go weak
she de been blessed with the curse of trying to better herself
she never stayed still always reaching for the top shelf
and that got confusing that and being scared of losing
it all came crashing down when simply commuting
or in a moment of silence a fuzziness came forth
the sound of millions of sirens but honestly way worse
it was the like the world ended and ground to a halt
ground down like pepper and mine shaft salt
noone knew from afar they assumed she fine
she worked hard, played hard with no warning sign
but the truth is she was fighting a battle with the worst
a battle with a gift that became a curse
it's like before birth she dared the omnipitent being
and said do your very worse please go heavy on the feeling
give me every high and low multiply by twenty
i dont want or do half measures please give me plenty
don't want the glass half full nor the glass half empty
tempt me with your famous fruit on this planet that you've sent me
I want to feel the air , every molecule
every nano-second, every temperature
God said 'I can do anything I am God but I warn ya ...
if I amplify the joy then I'll amplify the sorrow
If you want to climb a mountain never rest on your laurels
maximisise the great night out will mess up your tomorrow
where there is love there is hate perfect plans mean mistakes
and if you lead the line then you'll struggle to escape
you'll get trapped in that wonderful mind of yours
your imagination becomes a sort of assault course
of riotous discourse that treads eggshells on tiptoes
and flips through the freakshows with skitzos and weirdos
who sniff coke lines with winos you find outside casinos
where highs become cheerios and weak become heroes
when fear grows you bleed though
and dont seem so keen on people
waiting on the first train home
coz your taxi fare got veto-d
Basically, either way She was out of Jack's league
So pretty , down to earth ith a magical mystique
But she kept looking over wirth soft smiling eyes
He summoned up the courage to ask if she's 'aright'
she says she's very well but her friend is boring going home
she wanted one more drink , she's member of the casino
no fucking way Jack gets the knockback everywhere
but curiosity and hope are transfixed by her stare
they manage to get in and they chat for two hours straight
if she knows he's a loser he won't get a second date
She asks "what do you do"
He had ty just come up with something,
Said he was a bone fide asset management consultant"
makes an assumptive close for her phone number and it's working
pulls out a bookies pen well it's better than nothing
will she call him ? or call his bluff? Does she know that he s bluffing?
Even the poker table next door knows he's not from London
a pack of lies told like a pack of cards sold
to a pack of old wolves too old to ever fold
well he rolled the dice and he bet on black
She hears a siren screeching and has a panic attack
She goes to the toilet but walks out the riverboat
left in such a hurry that she even left her coat
he finishes his beer and finishes her cider
wakes up hungover to sign on finds out she's his Job Advisor
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we with withdraw towards a lawless chord
nothing out of the ord
for this long, we warred,
odd spot to pop a jaw-dropping awe
with far-out thoughts in a psychiatric ward
on the surface, we act unworried,
star-studded entities pretend to be sturdy
a herd of words heard by the early birdy
subsidized by extensive, comprehensive studies
bloody-minded hands bloodied boots muddied
make cursory calls ruthless and hurried
the greedier we get then the more malnourished
and all our good deeds never go unpunished
we get caught flat-footed underfoot it's unfurnished
nursing injuries with courage so we banish the nurses
(Get out! I can look after myself)
these unfinished symphonies around my brain they ricochet
grand designs of infamy moving in on me
without a glint or a hint of a lick of paint
failing miserably
tired? considerably
wired? religiously
why am I deliberately contradicting every fact I ever state?
red eyes ping like a pinball machine jarred by
free whisky on the radar of a slurry barfly
dumbed down smart guy numbed out sharp eye
far cry from the sprightly youth who politely charged by
scarred by harsh light in here highlighting coarse flaws
both forgetful yet regretful? of course, he was
disrespectful to a fault just because just because
the sound of a glass smashing`s post-sarcastic applause
hardly anytime had passed yet ageing badly
too much alcohol and backy a fairly bad on the Charlie
a foolhardy laddie gawn mad on the Bacardi
dropped a bank card down the lavvy god bless the black cabbie
or any chaps who ticks and tabs or sticks on slabs
glad that bar banned me, local scallywags went daft
the lonely road home laced with booze and fags
in my father's footprints, same path as my dad`s
r dare I say imagine which I have always found comforting
I am numbering a list of everything I'm bloody murdering
and some things seem simple , the dim still scream dimples
and everyone you ever met is innocent yet sinful
still learned sweet eff all but that the windfall can be swindled
your info can be speed dialled and your love of books re-kindled
but I didn't think much, i never thought much
just a joint for my bed and a drink for the bus
I had trust issues and launched missiles at refs
deny addiction with a poker face smoking from my bed
a bed of my own making that I laid out shaking
made out my own reflection from a cold steel railing
the mirror cracks when I smile look back it's broken glass
how much longer can a short-fuse be dishonest with a past?
scriptwriters of the universe helped land me in a cast
a shocking amount of broken bones always a second lightning flash
I was mocked because I had the gall to look up
now the fire exit's locked and the hostages shook up
scared of a far up heights made you scarred for life
but then you give yourself a pardon cause it's chaos nights
postponed the old thought patterns
rules are blocked and scattered
pills go down the hatchet, old habits back and happen
the last thing you'de expect gets cracked an that is back in fashion
cashing in compassion for a cat dragged in reaction
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forever falling emphatically butterflies in my belly
sell me a plan b remedy to embellish all my jealousy
Far-flung instinct developed from ancestry
the meaning of life password protected in the DNA
meloncholy messages transmitted from vague energies
language barrier a certainty comes with the territory
terminal illness with a promise of eternity
the let it be equity sold by zealots every day
universal references are set to be the death of me
threaten my integrity and whats left of my legacy
free falling apathy contradicting gravity
a zero hour contract in a slaughterhouse factory
raised in a strange place with a small town mentality
savagery critique for speaking in a unique way
those wings get clipped before they flee the nest
let's pause the backlash till these cats at least see success
I can see the patterns
drowning in the quick sand but can't stop it from happening
they say you can't change the world this is ludicrous
every move you make creates your own universe
your 5 closest friends you and them are influenced
the ones you spend the time with impacts an actual difference
I escaped eternal doom by several foot
with a cobbled up excuse of gobbledegook
we sing when we win we sin when we re broke
if we're in it for ourselves is our synergy woke?
is our temperament to pin the tail on something to cope
point the finger or dont or are you chinning a bloke?
or are you singing for your supper till they chip in a poke
somewhere along the way we lost sight of simple folk
a short-term bandage to manage such a blinkered approach
with crumpled up notes and a singular vote
frozen to the spot gripped by shadowy intruders
forever falling back till we hack the computers
we used to plot and dream now the dream is reoccurring
rot and scream, glued to screens and the pain is enduring
I can see the patterns
drowning in the quick sand but can' stop it from happening
I can see the patterns
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I see my fallen comrade in the multiverse of sleep
What was once a nightmare is just somewhere we now meet
We meet, we greet, we speak, reminisce and digest
Wake up before you get to tell me why you faked your own death
Nothing dead about the memories you sprinkled in your wake
The stardust in our footprints, the gusto in your flames
Nothing dead about the memoirs they don't see fit to print
But they don't seem fit to live to me they don't live they exist
They cast a stonic judgement from the safety of their layer
They lay inside a shell while you live on in a prayer
You live on in the truest anecdotals of our time
And you now live on in anyone who tolerates this rhyme
Last night the skyline crouched down, looked me dead in the eye
A dark cloud motioned to me that you were doing fine
Cosmic reassurance is all I have to mend me
At least these hallucinations recently got friendly
Chinese whispers shape-shifting through oxygen
Morphing into something that is nothing of the origin
People act like they know you and make dangerous assumptions
Trying to re-write certain histories when memory malfunctions
There's not many left who were in our class
So it's only right that I raise this glass
My friend, my witness to ten thousand of our stories
Nowadays nobody truly really knows me
But I'm grateful that we met and it's great we sometimes speak
When I see my fallen comrade in the multiverse of sleep
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No money nor senses n fear of consequences
no future in my headspace only pounds and pences
death was a threat so real and always near
no reason to believe I would be here in a year
they say weed is a gateway drug to smack and speed
but Cannabis was a gateway drug to Amber Leaf
and in the middle little pills made me feel invincible
no cameras, no karma god damn I felt invisible
transparent looked past and looked through so I looked down
to a convoluted crew who when needed were not found
some of these clowns act sound but when you need back up
they back out and run off so we crack up and act out
friends by geography so I span the atlas
missing in action and loving the practice
stretching the bandwidth, pushing the envelope
living out travel light baggage but always pack a telescope (and hope)
One star from the Gutter na-na
I saw one star from the gutter
in hindsight probably got me away with murder
got on the right line elsewhere from a lifetime
where knife crime kept appearing on my timeline
I was a nose hair away from a teenage overdose
a joyride gone wrong or Ten years for selling coke
ask my peers if you can find them and tell them I said 'Hi!'
I didn't want to leave but I didn't want to die
absconded Scotland for some time with a warrant for a fine
It caught up with me just as I turned out fine
I remember that phone call vivid
sorry Ronnie won't be into work today, today I'm in prison
jail wasn't so bad, wasn't Shawshank dark
but not the tabloid's description of a holiday park
you could sleep in and skip meals if you wanted tae
it had terrestrial tely for Match of the Day
I kept myself to myself but met a guy from round are way
who assured me I had hanuners if someone slashed my face
cheers mate! great to hear which added to the backy
some pennies for the payphone and a matching bowhouse tracky
I was O.K and had my own space initially
which meant no sharing, Isolated in peace from the bigotry
wrote lyrics all day on A4 sheets...
borrowed from a screw who humoured my innocence speech
anti-establishment poems penned (you can imagine)
no love for the magistrate, the polis or the admin
not fuckin' Butlins, once in, promised, vowed never to return
one star on trip advisor freedom's much more fun
not much nite life, not one single bar behind bars
so we gathered in a church to hear a former stripper
she chat's about addiction and her brush with prostitution
how she got clean and how religion got her through things
couldnae care about a few days when guys twice my age
had families, locked away, with Twenty stretch sentences
a guard slams open the door- 'You've been liberated Jack'
the congregation in the chapel shouts 'Hallelujia!
I left my cellmate my pouch of Golden Virginia
and exit sinister gates- bitter but sillier
bitter
pretty bitter pretty bitter
but a little but sillier
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as dramatic as a lass screaming 'alas'
at a pivotal moment during midnight mass
particularly potent protesting a plan
surrounding cuddly chemicals AND a communal can
are we drifting swiftly intay an infinite kingdom
the serendipity circles me and brings in a rhythm
more than a twinkle of suspicion within this glitchy system
another broken Britain victim politician posted missing
and I am burying another wingman
and you're bewilderingly querying us about deductible income
let that final line just sink in
let the fishing rod rip your head off until these words are ringing
(ready to tackle anything that C manifests)
-SAMPLE? --- 'Death Before Employment'
Find a thing to try and dance to
truculent by nature but nurtured by my puzzlement
complex descriptions of our future malnourishment
dagger in the dirt dazed and reciting
dead job prospects instead of arts and crafts and writing
but here I am chicken frostbitten gooey-eyed
acclimatised to trauma, remind me who died?
climbing heights the nerviest explorers despised
the badly advised captain's vessel capsized
capsize like the capsule in my wallet
looking gaunt but ran the gauntlet
threw a rock into a big Loch with Goliath swinging off it
blistery paws in blustery gales
fingernails in many pies so I try to set sales
nobody's buying what I offer
gold dust tossed off like copper
an undercover and a prozzer
sorry, where the fuck was I?
I mention you with a frosty whisper,
this foggy breath dispenses truth with an advert for adventure ,
Now I wish I never met her,
unemployed job advisor left the death of the centre
talking fluff, arse making buttons
taking stuff in murky functions
trying to make a cheery toast with a cheezy host from Butlins
showing symptoms now from bad moves made on vast assumptions
but the victim's someone's cousin excuses coming by the dozen
i feel like I'm important as if im somehow special
but im just a spec of metal , a mental identical freckle
i nestled with the petrol and changed my speed to orchestral
take heid pretty petal , I am pettier than vet school
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Note to self-destruct these fuckers can't be trusted
the boom and bust erupted, well adjusted, done and dusted
it's the stuff myths are made of how folklore gets corrupted
not enough nuts were busted out here on earth on purpose
it's the hoopla faux pas getting naked out in public
lack of appreciation is making it not worth it
all these worthless fuckwits chuck it when the buck hits
nuggets think they're memorable well not exactly my first buckets
we remember days fondly when we remember nothing
ask for jobs on social media-ha! the socials not working
the road to good intentions disrupted by obstruction
cursory glance cursing all the means of production
from afar I'm a drunken gun-jumping stumbler just bluffing
an utter nightmare wordsmith mumbling nothing
or a nutter onto something but prone to much consumption
but they're dumbing down the cunning it's a miracle I function
Sometimes I look ahead with mind running
sometimes I look back and start yearning
but sometimes I live in the present,
(Happy as larry till the consequence gets us )
I've been feeling better or I've been feeling better
a subtle line in the sand and it cobbles together
ques around the block for medicine
some friends can get you anything
illness fuels economy until the day of reckoning
at your beck and call to be driven up a wall
passengers get passive till you set out your stall
and tall orders are a tell tale sign of fuck all
trawl the internet for decades crack heads of wall
am lucky am still here and not buried in the fear
a thousand worries and reasons require why I buy beer
I try dear you have no idea I try dear you have no idea'
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This is the story of a young man called Jack who goes on a schemadelic trip after being baffled by the oversaturation of neverending advice in the digital information age. A spin-off concept album following up the journey of 'Jack the Lad' which appeared on the 'Need the Character(s)' album. Every song was recorded in September 2018 with the exception of Track 9. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Honest guv'nor.
Thanks to all the many talented people who helped put this together in such a short space of time so we managed to get it released in time for our Glasgow Barrowlands show.
Special thanks to Ashtronomik for recording most of the vocals at WeGoIn studios and anybody who joined in on the Trip Hazard Advisor project. Thanks to all our friends and family for their support. Thanks to everyone who supports local music or if you live really, really far away and still support it then thank you for supporting really, really far away music.