Ian McCulloch singles B-Sides

September Song
(Maxwell Anderson & Kurt Weill)

Well, it’s a long, long time
From May to December
But the days grow short,
When you reach September.
And the autumn weather
Turns the leaves to gray
And I haven’t got time
For the waiting game.

And the days dwindle down
To a precious few . . .
September, November . . .
And these few precious days
I spend with you.
These precious days
I spend with you.

Cockles and Mussels
(Irish traditional)

In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!
Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!
She was a fish-monger, but sure 'twas no wonder
For so were her father and mother before
And they each wheeled their barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!
Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

She died of a fever, and no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
But her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!
Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

Pots Of Gold

I'm gonna roll down the mountain
I tried so hard to climb
And choose a different ambition
This time

One by one goes everyone
In search of little pots of gold
When each little pot is gone
They look for something else to hold
Heads in the sand
Sinking sand

I'm gonna jump in that fountain
And drink it 'til it's dry
'Til all that I've been missing
Is mine

One by one goes everyone
Believe it all, we're taught and told
The human race in the marketplace
I'll be bought and you'll be sold
Heads in the sand
Sinking sand

Don't tell me that you're happy
No-one's happy with themselves
We all want to be somebody
Somebody else

Pots of gold...

The Dead End

Is it real or imitation
Life, the big and black dead end
All these hand-me-down emotions
Just a mask to help pretend
That I'm gonna leave this station
A happy man among sad men

Take your chance
It's now or never
And then it's passed
Forever

Are you planning to remain
On the outside looking in
'Cos everything be all in vain
And all the chances be so slim
Sad to see you all still waiting
For your boat to come back in

Take your chance
It's now or never
And then it's passed
Forever
Hold this time
And capture it
And make your final wish

Everything Is Real

Don't try to hide, don't try to run
We can and shall overcome
Never conceal but don't you reveal
What you think and believe

Nothing lasts forever
Everything is real...

Blow up balloons, blow up the world
It's the same old heartache
Just as I thought, it just goes to show
I wish I knew then, 'cos now I know

Nothing lasts forever
Everything is true...

Oh God, where am I now?...

The Circle Game
( Joni Mitchell)

Yesterday a child came out to wonder,
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar.
Fearful when the sky is full of thunder,
And tearful at the falling of a star.

And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came,
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons,
Skated over ten clear frozen streams.
Words like "when you're older" must appease him,
And promises of someday make his dreams.

And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came,
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now,
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town.
And they tell him, "Take your time, it won't be long now,
'Till you drag your feet to slow the circle down."

And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came,
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty,
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true.
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams, and plenty.
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came,
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.

Toad

Feeling strange and unsure
In the place where I'm standing
Feeling stained and impure
And I'm frightened of landing
Tie a flag on my head
Take a walk on a moonbeam
Just forget what she said
She doesn't know what she means

Five fingers and four divisions
That was all I ever counted
Love provided with all provisions
That was all I ever wanted

No escape from the truth
No return from the deep
Just a failure in faith
And a hunch in a heap
Stop the light coming in
Tell the day not to break
Let the night draw me in
And the walls not to shake

Call out the fire engines
Let's go down in a blaze of glory
Turn all the hosepipes on and
Bring in the hanging jury
Hang 'em high

We're cleaning the city now...

Fear Of The Known

When the night descends because of you
And the darkness is your point of view
Loneliness belongs only to you
Nothing is the only thing to do

Fear of the known
Walking the pavement

When the road's a voyage you can't make
And the role's a part you've had to fake
When godliness has sucked away your hope
And hopelessness is hanging by a rope

When will it happen?
How does it end?
Never to happen
Ever again

Fear of the known
Walking the pavement
Fear of the known
Slipping and sliding

Loneliness belongs only to you
Nothing is the only thing to do

When will it happen?
How does it end?
Never to happen
Ever again

Rocket Ship

Walls close in and scrutinize
The shape I'm in, all paralyzed
Under my skin I'm hypnotized
In the spirit
Just want to fly

On a rocket ship
To the great beyond
Gonna take a trip
Getting so far gone
'Cos you make me weak
And you make me strong
Until I almost feel
I could be someone
Be someone

All the things I never used
Had the choice, I couldn't choose
Roads so long, black avenues

On a rocket ship
To the great beyond
Gonna take a trip
Getting so far gone
'Cos you make me weak
And you make me strong
Until I almost feel
I could be someone
Be someone

Take what's yours and take it boldly
Boldly go and tread so coldly
The drop is sheer and never holy
Just you and you alone
Ride the wave when it comes crashing
Be the knight in a shining costume
Slay the dragons if they're asking
For what you've always known

Armies in control, soldiers on the march
Sentrys on patrol, danger in the dark
Optimism-isms, heard but never seen
Swept ashore somewhere, desert island dream

On a rocketship
To the great beyond
Gonna take a trip
Getting so far gone
So far gone

Big Days

There I was
Read the news out of a comic
D'you remember us?
We had dreams just like those rockets
And were heading for the moon
They were heading for the moon

Home is where the house is
House where the toys stay
The sky always blue
With the noises of big days

In true low
I was hotter than the others
In a world below
They were floating down the gutters
And the tide was coming in
And the tide was coming in

Home is where the house is
House where the toys stay
The sky always blue
With the noises of big days

Big days
All my big days...
All mine

The World Is Flat

Soul sucked and drowned
Woodchips on the sidings
Phased and dazed I found
My star was out and smiling
Life's song, and shining

You say you're gonna be someone
Ian's gonna make you smile
Still waiting for the day to come
'Til then you'll be a Wednesday's child

Opposites attract
Nothing's ever chosen
Gravity is fact
And every moment frozen
A gilded golden

You tell me that you know someone
Who says that you're his favorite girl
He's gonna give you all you want
'Cos all you want's his little world

The world is flat...

I was in a dream
With beauty dressed, and I killed
Some babies born in boxes
And Jesus on a hill
And I felt evil

You said you know the world is flat
Nothings gonna change your mind
You know the only way is back
To gather what you've left behind

The world is flat...
For Wednesday's child

Wassailing In The Night

One of these days, one of these bad days
You're gonna see me smile
One of those days, one of those good days
I'll be out in style
Out of the shadows
Out of the rain
Over the rainbow
Over all the pain

In my own glow, in my own lifetime
You make the world go 'round
Walking the road, walking the highwire
With my world so far down
Never the same
Never will be
Never again
Heaven for me
Me

Stopped being scared of getting older
I must've changed inside
The weight of the world off my shoulders
Traveling light and blind
Sick of defending
Who I became
Tired of pretending
I'd never change
Change

Make it all come true...

Return To Sender
(Elvis Presley)

I gave a letter to the postman,
he put it his sack.
But in early next morning,
he brought my letter back.

She wrote upon it:
Return to sender, address unknown.
No such number, no such zone.
We had a quarrel, a lover's spat
I write I'm sorry but my letter keeps coming back.

So then I dropped it in the mailbox
And sent it special D.
But in early next morning
it came right back to me.

She wrote upon it:
Return to sender, address unknown.
No such number, no such zone.

This time I'm gonna take it myself
and put it right in her hand.
And if it comes back the very next day
then I'll understand the writing on it

Return to sender, address unknown.
No such person, no such zone.

Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
(Leonard Cohen)

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time,
walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.