Belle & Sebastian - Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance Album Lyrics

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Nobody's Empire

Lying on my bed, I was reading French
With the light too bright for my senses
From this hiding place life was way too much
It was loud and rough round the edges

So I faced the wall when an old man called
Out of dreams that I would die there
But a sight unseen, you were pulling strings
You had a different idea

I was like a child, I was lying strong
And my father lifted me up there
Took me to a place where they checked my body
My soul was floating in thin-air

I clung to the bed and I clung to the past
I clung to the welcome darkness
But at the end of the night there's a green green light
The quiet before the madness

There was a girl that sang like the chime of a bell
And she put out her arm, she touched me when I was in hell
When I was in hell

Someone sang a song and I sang along
Cause I knew the words from my childhood
Intellect ambition they fell away
And they locked me up for my own good

But I didn't mind, cause the silence was kind
It spoke to me in whispers
There was the sound of the wind and the cold cold dawn
And the quiet hum of business

Let me dangle awhile in this waiting room
I don't need to go I don't need to know what you're doing
Know what you're doing

Lying on my side you were half awake
And your face was tired and crumpled
If I had a camera I'd snap you now
Cause there's beauty in every stumble

We are out of practice we're out of sight
On the edge of nobody's empire
And if we live by books and we live by hope
Does that make us targets for gunfire?

Now I look at you, you're a mother of two
You're a quiet revolution
Marching with the crowd, singing dirty and loud
For the people's emancipation

Did I do okay, did I pave the way?
Was I strong when you were wanting?
I was tied to the yoke with a decent bloke
Who was stern but never daunting

And he told me to push and he made me feel well
He told to me to leave that vision of hell to the dying
Oh to the dying

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Allie

Allie, what would you do?
When there's bombs in the middle east, you want to hurt yourself
When there's knives in the city streets, you want to end yourself
When there's fun in your mother's house, you want to cry yourself to sleep

Allie, what would you do?
With your fears, because they're adding one by one
And your mountains are obscured behind the sun
And the person that you could be is crumbling into dust

You're in the mess 'cause you thought
You'd be someone else
'Cause the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

Allie, hand on your head
And a prayer from the soon-to-be-closing library
And if you looked from here, you would surely see
There's a softness in your heart, there's a poetry to come

You bought that gun 'cause you thought
You'd be someone else
'Cause the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie
You made a list of all your heroes

And you thought about what they went through
Yeah, you thought about what they went through
It's much darker, much harder, than anything that happened to you
Allie, what would you do?

When your seven-year plan happens to someone else
And the people in your life you would happily shelf
When day falls night, you are truly on your own?
You're in this place 'cause you thought

You'd be someone else
But the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie
Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

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The Party Line

How did I get here
(I heard a rumour)
From your girlfriend's sister
(That you knew me)
And you end up dancing
(Close up to me)

I know that I broke the rule already
She asked me if I'm single
Going steady
I just trod my head and took a step off into the dark

Standing on the block of my tires
Don't dance on the lights because the bears eat the pretty ones
We are like the islands divided

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is no one in here but your body dear
Jump to the beat of the party line

Stay
You stay

I am on this morning quite distracted
The talk of all begins and our emotion
I am leaving many people feeling
Worse than before

People like to drive the cars and smoke up
People like to sit inside and toke up
People like to shoot at things with borrowed guns
And knives

I am happy to look and run
Where were you when I was king in this part of town
Now the days of glory are gone

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is nobody here but your body dear
Jump to the beat of the party line

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is nobody here but your body dear
Nobody here but your body dear

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is nobody here but your body dear
Jump to the beat of the party line

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is nobody here but your body dear
Nobody here but your body dear

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The Power Of Three

Some people say two is company
Sherlock Holmes found the sign of four
I don't listen to that number theory
I'm always looking for a trio, them and me
One for all and we're all for one
Musketeers have got to have the power of three

Every time I read a horoscope, I read three
Virgo Pisces Aquarius
I just want to know what's down the road for us
Say you'll be Holmes and I'm Watson
Every hero, yes even me
Everybody has their Moriarty

Keep your friends close
Your enemies at your side
Always keep your green eyes open wide
Depth perception, a change of direction
And all signs point to a bumpy ride
Then I saw the fourth dimension, another line
We move in space, and we can move in time
Everything existed right from the start
It's the blink of an eye
It's the beat of a heart

We've got enemies and nemeses
There's a world of possibility
In everything you leave a clue
A little trace, a sign of you

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The Cat With The Cream

Sitting at the old kitchen table
Peace and health and dreams
Stretching out in the darkness
Mother's up the stairs with her ageing new boyfriend
Cathy's staying in to make sure nothing happens
All aboard the freak parade
I cover up my head and pray
I'm praying for the light
Down amongst the old city chambers
Men in frocks debate all the policy changes
Everybody bet on the boom and got busted
Everybody bet and in the government trusted
Grubby little red MP
Yellow flapping hopelessly

Tory like the cat with the cream
Tory like the cat with the cream
I studied you in history
I studied in the library
In days of old when knights were bold
They'd settle it with sword and shield
In days of old when knights were bold
It's settled by the king

Praying for a friend is contagious
Specially when it comes at the old kitchen table
Listening for the swoosh of his quickening paces
Watching for the smile on the bravest of faces
How I wish you'd read to me
s rich in swallows and trees
Get me though the night

Waiting at the old kitchen table
Listening for my code listening for my instructions
Surely now I'm here, I am destined for greatness
I want to be the Queen pulling kids out of rivers
All aboard the freak parade
I cover up my head and pray

Praying for the cat with the cream
Praying for the cat with the cream
I studied you in history
I studied in the library
In days of old when knights were bold
They'd settle it with sword and shield
In days of old when knights were bold
It's settled by the king
It's settled by the king
It's settled by the king
It's settled by the king

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Enter Sylvia Plath

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The Everlasting Muse

I want to find this girl I know
I need to take her out
I set a snare in evening air
Made of faith and hope and doubt
I want to spend some time with her
Learn the secrets of her trade
I wouldn't mean to cross the line
And look into the other side
Forbidden to my kind
Forbidden to my kind

I need to hang out with my love
The raven-headed sprite
I know I'll never dance like her
Or keep her up at nine
I need to hang around with her
I need to let her know
Her cause is mine
I'm but a slave
I look into her wondrous gaze
And taste the strangest core
And make the purest noise

What I would do to make the girl stand out in the rain
I serve my window watching close, she will appear again
Still polishing her crazy hair
Still whispering curlies, drunk on song
If I could only right my wrongs and take her to her favorite place
And steal a melody
'Cause I need only see her face
A thousand worries fall away
And music rushes in

Listen to the sound of life
Drink deep of the day
Wait for her, but don't obsess
She called beyond the way
Winds will blow and stones will rage
The music's always sad
Money tends to disappear
Beauty crumbles with the years
But music is for us
Music is for us

What I would do to make the girl stand out in the rain
I serve my window watching close, she will appear again
Still polishing her crazy hair
Still whispering curlies, drunk on song
If I could only right my wrongs and take her to her favorite place
And steal a melody
'Cause I need only see her face
A thousand worries fall away
And music rushes in

If I could only see her face and know that he was close
There is a deeper logic here, the everlasting muse
I left the danger for a night
I left the sadness for a day
And know that I am in safe hands
She'll peel the filth and old cigar
An everlasting song
She waves her money straight with zeal
I know she'll start without delay
A tapestry of words
A subtle gift to modern rock
She says, be popular, play pop
And you will win my love

A subtle gift to modern rock
She says, be popular, play pop
And you will win my love

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Perfect Couples

I know some friends of mine
Think about them all the time
Why can't my life be like that?

I've seen them in the park
Restauranting after dark
Working out on their yoga mats
Stars of the young dance hall crowd
Married young, took their vows
Comfort in their boldness and their flair

Dab hands for all to see
Stroke of brush and poetry
His cut of cloth, the contours of her hair

Thank you for the invite tonight
Perfect snacklets, perfect drinks
I'm getting ideas from your interiors
Perfect apartments, perfect kids

Perfect couples are breaking up
What have they done?
Those perfect couples are breaking up
What have they done?
Don't make me feel so good
Expect that stuff in Hollywood
Not in my current milieu

Sexual tension at the fridge
He makes for the organic figs
Belmondo lips, dangling a cig

And she, just back from her hike
And to the gallery she might glide by
With a basket on her bike

They've got issues too
But what can you do?
Bad times
They'll always see them through

(It always lurked in their mind)
Perfect couples are breaking up
What have they done?
(In the back of her mind)
Perfect couples, they keep breaking up
What have I done?
(It always lurked in his mind)
Those perfect couples
Are now breaking up
What have they done?
(In the back of their minds)
Perfect couples, they keep breaking up
What have I done?

Never happy with my girl
Jealous of a different world
Suddenly the years slip away

What am I waiting for?
(I see those perfect couples and I)
What makes me close the door?
I see those perfect couples
(Why can't I be like them?)

I admire the most
Finding fault with my heart
(It's always been the same and then)
And always back to the start
What makes me get in the fray
Then just throw it away
Yeah, I throw it away
Yes I throw it away (only to find)
Yes I throw it away (only to find)
Perfect couples are breaking up...

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Ever Had A Little Faith?

With your head hold on
Through the drizzled pane
Of a wet slate roof
Sun will turn to rain
Why are you the one?
Couldn't take the pain
Something good will happen, wait and see
Something good will happen, wait and see

Do you spend your day
Second guessing faith?
Looking for a way
To live so divine
Drop your sad pretend
You'll be doing fine
You will flourish like a rose in June
You will flourish like a rose in June
Ever had a little faith?
Ever had a little faith?

Morning came
The hope grows up in your heart, girl
Without a shame
And morning came
Roll away the stone of doubt, girl
If you'll come, then listen out for
A quiet voice, a sign from the window
Passion beating on your brow
You wish it were, you wish it was
Pass the sound of driving traffic
Pass a madman's drunken attic
You climb the stair
It's dark and it's drafty
The smell of incense drawing you
Sky of light imploring you to

Venture out from street to street
Look up and down
She must have missed him
If she could only find him
She would throw her arms around and kiss him
Tenderly, she would give herself on bended knee
Never thinking if it's wrong or right
Hurry sister, there's a little light
Ever had a little faith?
Ever had a little faith?

Who can you trust?
Trust a little man
Whispers in the trees
And a river can
Speak the coming verse
From the age of break
Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing
Something good will come from nothing

Ever had a little faith?
Ever had a little faith?

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Play For Today

I read a play written today about a boy
Who hides in attics when the sun is up
Everyone is at work
What will I do? Where will I go?
Show me the way
The truth, the anger, show me rules of thumb
Show the way to grow old

Love is a guide
The endless river of the soul
But we are mean
The dried up riverbeds of rock and stone
Lust is my friend
She comes to me when I am tired

Life is a rope, death is a myth
Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood
Work is a sentence, family's a drag
This house is a trap

I read a play written today about a girl
She gets on perfectly with young and old
Everybody loves her
What would she wear? Cut off her hair?
Wave as she slides
Gracefully into the working week
She hides her baggage inside

She's got a friend
An ugly monster that will eat your face
She has to cry
A heavy cat of wasted time
She's got a friend
A lonely monster that will prey on you

Life is a secret, death is a myth
Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood
Work is a sentence, family's a drag
This house is a trap

Life is a secret, death is a myth
Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood
Work is a sentence, family's a drag
This house is a trap

I read a play written today about a boy
Tied in melancholy, takes the weight
Takes the weight of the world
I walked alone, loving a song
Walking the earth
The one-eyed sister who is twenty three
Dried and wrinkled, alone

I'll give you a month
To see past shadows in your secret night
I'll give you a week
To look Medusa in the eye
I'll give you a month
To notice heaven in the sight of stage

You'll keep inside of your head
You're sitting on the floor
You're pushing back the tide
So lift the mountain up
So tie writer's witness down
Assemble all your troops
Regards to all these metaphors
And suddenly she says, and suddenly she says
And away you too, and head for higher ground
And not the king of me
Take a chance and play for today
And build the sets and light the scene
A pretty air and we're upon the screen
And build the sets and light the scene
We'll break when we're on the sacred screen
The backstage of your life
Let's fill the glass and light to share the sun
The backstage of your life
Let's file the tables of the ones you love

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The Book Of You

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Today (This Army's For Peace)