Oh No

You believe you are the best
And your steps are heaven blessed
But when you step upon your friends
That’s where the silliness ends
You only see what you want
(Shut out the world)
Only hear your own words
(Block off the truth)

Oh no, you don’t ignore me
Oh no, you don’t ignore me
I’m the unknown you’ll soon know so well
I’m out of my cell

Come on over to my place
Set your eyes on my face
And move up close to me
Now tell me you can’t see
I got something you need
(Sweet ignorance is bliss
But hell, the things you miss)

Oh no, you don’t ignore me
Oh no, you don’t ignore me
I’m the unknown you’ll soon know so well
I’m out of my cell

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Bag Baby

Did you see a frightened girl?
(Cockle shells and silver bells)
Running through the twilight town
Passing the parcel
A bundle of joy in a plastic bag
Paint the blossom blue
Bag baby
Bag baby, bag baby welcome to life
I will hear you cry tonight

Down came a blackbird
(Down came a blackbird)
And pecked and pecked and pecked
Come tumbling after
You didn’t have a choice
Bag baby

Innocence borne by cutting guilt
(Pudding and pie, stars in the sky)
This is no way for life to start
Never have two helpless souls
Needed each other more
And still the tongues come out to play

Happy, be happy
Turn my sympathy into milk
The cow jumped over the moon
Bag baby
Bag baby, bag baby welcome to life
I will hear you cry tonight

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Salon land

Girls will be girls
Hot tongues straighten the curls
We’re talking hair
And men who just don’t care
From Silver Scissors to Klipso
All weekend girls know
Why hope and hair grows
All that power blowing in the wind

Prudence and the pill come from Salon Land
Beauty and the beast come from Salon Land
The dream factory is no man’s land

Hey working girl
Princess in Woolworth pearls
I’ve seen inside
The four pink walls where you work and hide
All those happy customers
But what about you?
Do daydreams come true?
Then he whispered “I love you”

Salon Land, Salon Land

Blondes have fun when roots aren’t showing
Real brunettes don’t have to try
Red heads do the strand with ribbons
Mousey girls curl up n dye

Pin-ups and hang-ups live in Salon Land
Tears and tantrums down in Salon Land
Shy girl fantasies start in Salon Land
Big thrills in Salon Land
Prudence and the pill come from Salon Land
Beauty and the beast come from Salon Land
The dream factory is no man’s land

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Deer On The Motorway

What to do, what to do
What a to do, there’s a deer on the motorway
The car horns blare and the lights glare wild
Have you ever been truly frightened
Scared breathless by this modern world?

Ain’t no big deal
Innocence crushed
Ain’t no big deal
Tolerance pushed

Where do you run if you’re a deer on the motorway?
The valley is flooded and the woods are felled
Is there a safe and warm corner
Somewhere in this modern world?

Ain’t no big deal
Innocence crushed
Ain’t no big deal
Tolerance pushed
Ain’t no big deal
Innocence crushed
Ain’t no big deal
Tolerance pushed

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Nearly New

You know me
How hard it is for me
To open up
Or perhaps you don’t
I can’t tell you
Exactly what I want
Because I just don’t know
How can anyone know?
(But they all look sure, look so sure)
I’ve seen you
With a horror or two
So there’s hope for me
(Surely, slowly, softly)
Let’s drive down to the sea
And take our time

My love is nearly new
Touched by a special few
My love is nearly new
And now it waits for you

So here we are
In a van, not a car
In the rain, not the sun
It’s serious stuff
This kind of fun
What do I care if people stare?
This could be our day
(One fine day)
I don’t want anything
I want everything

My love is nearly new
Touched by a special few
My love is nearly new
And now it waits for you
(A to B via the cold North Sea)
My love is nearly new
Touched by a special few
My love is nearly new
And now it waits for you

So now you know how I feel
How I steel myself whenever you’re around
Tell me, what happens next?
What happens now?

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Contributory Negligence

The old man opens his door
In go the rats
The young woman walks home at night
The bats come homing in
Going down guilty town

Contributory negligence
Hit me harder, it might make sense

The little girl plays on the swings
Watch for the snakes
Don’t do this and don’t go there
You’re asking for trouble
Lend a hand justice man

Contributory negligence
Hit me harder, it might make sense

I’m singing the ballad of liberty lost
An ill wind is making the solid faith sway
Keep a low profile, build a high wall
Can this be England today?

The law is an ass
And who’d get an ass to judge the beasts?
Silly questions get silly answers
The victim is guilty of the terrible crime
Of being there at the wrong place and time
Danger round every bend

Contributory negligence
Hit me harder, it might make sense

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Scarecrow

Green, oh so green are the fields where we roam
Far away are the chimneys of home
There’s nothing to be but be true
At the gates of pastures new
Goodbye Mr What’s-The-Point

Raggy old scarecrow
All the birds know
Dirty stinking scarecrow
All the birds know
You’re just sack and wood

Sun found the hay in the back of the shed
Sun lit the words that we said
You don’t gild the lilies round here
You just keep them for a year
Goodbye Mr Stay-Away
No way

Raggy old scarecrow
All the birds know
Dirty stinking scarecrow
All the birds know
You’re just sack and wood

You’re no good
You’re no good
You’re no good
You’re no good

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Young Forever

All I want to be when I grow up is young forever
The happy man in the thickening gloom
The laughter in the other room
Young forever
Young forever

I’m keeping the rebel alive
The rebel in me alive
Because I want to, because I want you to
Those silly things you shouldn’t say
I’ll just say them anyway
Love me round the bend today

Stay young, stay young, make it fun
She has the power to keep you young
She has the power to have you hung

Another year, another pressure
Another great expectation, another pressure
And if that’s just the way it goes
Just go another way
Head on out to the worry tip
And dump your worries in that skip
There’s a little boy, no more than ten
He spoke more sense than the learned men
His words come back again and again and again
It doesn’t matter, just doesn’t matter, no
It doesn’t matter, nothing matters that much
Lighten up this heavy world
Lighten up this big dark world

Young forever
Young forever
Young forever
Love me, make me young forever
Love me, let it last forever

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989

Sometimes I Get So Restless

Uncertainty is the name of the game
But like moths round a flame
We’re drawn to where love may begin
You’ve such a pretty head
But so had Ann Boleyn
Till it turned

Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
I may as well confess
Sometimes I get so restless

Everyone wants what everyone else has
The more you have the worse it becomes
There ain’t no glasnost in Glasgow
Bulldoze the blocks and slums
And build a leisure park
Discontent is hell sent

Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
I may as well confess
Sometimes I get so restless

They only love you when you’re dead
(Everyone wants what everyone else has)
So rest your weary head
(Everyone’s the same)
From unfaithful heart to fickle guitar
Destiny drives a car
(Some feelings go…)
Heading out of town
Without lights
(… and never come back)
Without brakes
(… and never come back)

Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
Here till the rain
Pictures on the pavement
Here comes the rain

The power is ours
If only we knew
The power is ours
If only we knew
The power is ours
If only we knew, knew what to do with it

Written by Carl Green
Copyright Carl Green 1989