Neil Halstead – Oh! Mighty Engine

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Cindy writes a paragraph
Says time is passing
But the bubbles in her heart are everlasting
Yeah she gave her life to art
And who could blame her
It’s pretty major
Fraught with danger and stuff
Like that

Oh Mighty engine
Of good intention
You’re purring softly beside me
Grinding gently inside me
Tapping totally madly
For you

Says the plot is getting strange
It’s taken over
And the hero’s run away
And no one told her
But she can’t control the page
It’s taken over
There’s people dying, semi colons crying
And full stops finding fault
O what a dolt

Cindy writes of kerosene
And broken bottles
Says the troubles were a part of someone’s childhood
But she can’t get past the point
Where someone’s dying
It’s pretty minor
A pithy liner should sort it out
But he won’t die
he just mucks about
Oh it’s so hard

Now we’ve broken out the gin
It helps her thinking
And given into sin
we’re breathing deeply
But something’s on her mind
A chapter stirring
Her mind is whirling
And off she trots
To tap her keys to the top

Oh she’s off

Mighty engine
Of good intention

Vox , gtr and bass – Neil Halstead
Pedal steel – Raymond Richards

-words and music by Neil Halstead

You’re drinking on your own
Running for the coast
Running from those ghosts
Running away girl
With one eye to your past

I see you took the stance
That now you’ve got the chance
You might as well just dance
Go skies and thrones and wings
And poetry and things

I think your doing fine
Don’t offer me a line
I only want a cup of tea
Oh go on then just one
But i really I can’t stay long

I love the way you shake but you’ve lost a little weight
Yeah you’ve lost a little weight
See you tomorrow
Same time same place

Mothers little helper is running for her shelter
And no one wants to know
Love dead as doornail
Patient unstirred

At least that’s what they said
She’s gone away for good
She’s really made a meal
And blown the record deal

She’s blown the record deal

See you to morrow
Same time same place

Vox , acc gtr – Neil Halstead
Electric gtr-Raymond Richards

-word and music Neil Halstead

I’m counting all the steps right back to you
Little twig, you are a fig
Ment of me
Or is it you

Your bicycle makes trouble for us all
Got no brakes
You got the shakes
And little boys well they drop their toys
When you fly past..yes they do

The art of living well is not just choice
It’s down to luck and often who you .. Trust
Oh little twig you do trust well,
You do trust well

Seagulls on the roof
have kept me wide-awake and pale
In case I fail
To sleep again
To dream of you
To take my turn on some thing new

Mudguard in a flap and chain is slack
Tyres are flat
Oh little twig you rattle past
Like a can of nails on an angels tail
Yes you do

Sunday morning papers say you failed
To make it through
Oh little twig
Can this be true?
Can this be true?
Can this be true?

Vox , acc gtr- Neil halstead
Bass gtr- merlo
Piano- Zach Gill

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Sturdy and bright
Oh giver of life
Are you witless or wise?
Government warning
This lover may bore you
Tattooed to my back

Tenements fell from the skies
When love lights fell from your eyes
Flags flying high
Weary patient may rise
I don’t think so no
I don’t think so at all

Chasing the cars
down around marble arch
A memory to far
Once lost in your eyes
Now caught between thighs
Should we ask for the bill?

Never did get to the edge
Never jumped no my life carried on
Flags flying high
Weary patient may rise
I don’t think so no
I don’t think so at all

Should I give you my head?
My kidney
My bed
Should I run far way
Those ghost in your eyes
Well they cry when you smile
And it’s hard to be near

Tenements fell from the skies
When love lights fell from your eyes
Flags flying high
Weary patient may rise
I don’t think so no
I don’t think so at all

Vox , acc gtr, mandolin- Neil Halstead
Banjo-Raymond Richards
Bass Gtr – Merlo

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Try to get the colours right
And I’ll paint you face she said
Cos life is on the outside babe
And you got to try and get it right

Buy a ten-dollar camera
take a picture of everyone
Cos people change
Yeah they change
Changing everyday

And I don’t want to be the one that you don’t recognise
I don’t want to be the one that’s left behind

Got a broken car yeah got a selfish heart
Running down the road
With a jukebox in my head
Funny how I got to here
I don’t remember how
I just want to live somewhere where the air is sweet and clear

And I don’t want to be the one that you don’t recognise
I don’t want to be the one that’s left behind

Vox , gtr- Neil Halstead
Bass gtr- Merlo
Piano-Zach Gill
Drums-Adam Topol

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Find the time to see everyone
You will soon see the good in everything

Vox, gtr,bass and keys – Neil Halstead

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Shabby boy’s kept you up all night
Oh sentimental drinkers
Sing songs that end in fights about fights

And they’ll swear to you
That they just can’t help it
That poem in their head
That painting of your bed
It must out

Does time stand still when you cross the room
Oh surely it must do
When they write a song
That goes on, and on about you

Does your golden hair, fall in waves
No mention of a spot,
Tantrum or tooth rot
No not for them

Just pearly smiles and Mona Lisa wiles
For your coterie of stars
Your barrel of charlatans

Celebrate, and they will venerate
Hold their heads in the morning glare
For with some faint praise
They will hold you gaze
And dedicate
It all to you
Yeah dedicate it all to you

Oh you live you life
In black and white
No subtlety for you
No mercy for the muse
It’s true

Come in again number 10
Your army of typewriters
Your consequence of biters
Won’t last long

And life will burden you not
Love will carry on with a thrust

And they’ll swear to you
That they just can’t help it
That poem in their head
That painting of your bed
It must out

Celebrate, and they will venerate
Hold their heads in the morning glare
For with some faint praise
They will hold you gaze
And dedicate
It all to you
Yeah dedicate it all to you

Vox , gtr- Neil Halstead
Piano- Zach Gill

-words and music by Neil Halstead

Knock on the door
It’s early morning
Man in a suit says he wants to talk to me
About the big JC
Who the feck is he?
Says he was a man just like you and me
Oh woopeee dee

I don’t like his suit
And I don’t like his tie
I don’t like the fact he’s so happy
It can’t be for me
The big JC

Sometimes the wheels fall off
Sometimes you can’t get up
Sometimes I just sit and think
and I don’t talk much
Sometimes the world moves fast
Sometimes you can’t keep up
Sometimes I just sit and think
But I don’t think much

Boy on the pavement
He’s looking a picture
He looks like the eighties
Oh why did it happen to me?
Twice in a life time now
Twice in a life time lord
Spent my teenage years tryna not look like
Somebody like him
What can you do

Shoulderpads and belts
Morten Harket in tights
Oh I’m sorry they’re jeans
How dya get them on
Will they ever come off?
Will they ever come off

Sometimes the wheels fall off
Sometimes you can’t get up
Sometimes I just sit and think
and I don’t talk much
Sometimes the world moves fast
Sometimes you can’t keep up
Sometimes I just sit and think
But I don’t think much

Knock on the door
It’s early evening
It’s dangerous Dave
He’s come to break my house
Cos he’s a dangerous sod
But I like him a lot

And we talk about music and we talk about friends
Before we realise that we don’t know
Much about either of them
That’s the way things are
Between dave and me

Shoulderpads and belts
Morten Harket in tights
Oh I’m sorry they’re jeans
How dya get them on
Will they ever come off?
Will they ever come off

Sometimes the wheels fall off
Sometimes you can’t get up
Sometimes I just sit and think
and I don’t talk much
Sometimes the world moves fast
Sometimes you can’t keep up
Sometimes I just sit and think
But I don’t think much

Vox, gtr-Neil Halstead

-words and Music by Neil Halstead

Did you see her running down the hill
Away from love
Away from me
Oh queen Marie you always were the one
Who had the time to say no

What did you say hey hey girl

You ask me where the angels live
I said I suppose they always hang in bars
Talking to the crazy folk
Dancing with the devils in their bright new clothes

What did you say hey hey girl

Yeah see you some time

From London to the Ireland coast
This is the land
I love, I love the most
If you see me underneath the light
On the ground
Or in a fight
Don’t pass me by

What did you say hey hey girl

Yeah see you some time…

Vox, acc grt, elec gtr, bass gtr-Neil Hallstead
Drums-Tam Johnstone

-words and music by Neil Halstead

A subtle shift in the way she smiles
A subtle look and the whole world cries
But I got two heads to live today
I got two hearts to give away

To the rescue babe
They’re coming far from here
Down among the pines
They’re coming far from here
I’ll see you some time
Some day when the weathers fine
See you some time

Gentle heart never hurt a soul
You live in trust and you learn to love
In silent darkness I hold your hand
I don’t get much but I get the way she rolls

To the rescue babe
They’re coming far from here
Down among the pines
They’re coming far from here
I’ll see you some time
Some day when the weathers fine
See you some time

But I got two heads to live today
I got two hearts to give away
And I won’t trust a love that is
I wont trust a love that is not blind

To the rescue babe
They’re coming far from here
Down among the pines
They’re coming far from here
I’ll see you some time
Some day when the weathers fine
See you some time

Vox,gtr,mandolin,bass-Neil Halstead
Drums-Tam Johnston

-words Neil Halstead and Darren Coolidge /Music -Neil Halstead

Sitting on my own girl
I’ve had time to grow a beard for you
Hiding out in cars
I’ve been tryna find a way back home to you
Thease California stars girl
They’ve been hanging out for you
Cos I know that you’ll love the man
Whose follicles are growing just for you

Could you find a job for someone
Who don’t know the first thing

I could sit on the fence
Learn self-defence
I could watch some telly
And get real smelly
Oh I don’t know
I could fight a battle
Yeah shake my rattle
I could sleep I s’pose
Get bellicose
Oh I don’t know
I could dream of rainbows
Melting ice flows
I could squeeze a melon
Commit a felon
Oh I don’t know
I could meditate
I could mediate
I could pilorise
I could plagiarize
Oh I don’t know
I could get in training
To be amazing
I could tie myself up
I could set myself free

Sitting on my own girl
I’ve had time to grow a beard for you
Hiding out in cars
I’ve been tryna find a way back home to you
Thease California stars girl
They’ve been hanging out for you
Cos I know that you’ll love the man
Whose follicles are growing just for you

Vox, gtr, bass-Neil Halstead