Andy Yorke: Angel

Lyrics:

he built the windows high
said it would last forever
he'd stare all night at the empty sky
to keep his thoughts together

to see the angel once again

she came to him back when
his life was full of promise
and he swore that he had only needed then
swore it would last forever

to see the angel once again
to see the angel once again

you wouldn't let her go
he thought it would last forever
she said that his love was a dead mans love
draining the life from another

to see the angel once again
to see the angel once again
to see the angel once again

and if you're gonna live your life like that
it's gonna let you down
and if you're gonna live your life like that
it's gonna let you down
and if you're gonna live your life like that
it's gonna let you down
and if you're gonna live your life like that
it's gonna let you down

and you won't see the angel once again
to see the angel once again

Andy Yorke: Building

Lyrics:

i'm in a city, where the people help each other to their beds,
say what you want, say what you want.
complete the picture, with a girl who only listens to the dead,
say what you want, say what you want,
and did I choose to be the one who is left,
or is this something sinister?
and is this proof against my ignorance,
or am I meant to waste away?

complete the picture, with a girl who only listens to the dead,
praise to them please, say what you want.
say what you want, (say what you want) and reverance can wait (?)
say what you want, (say waht you want) and now I should behave
just talk

trapped in a building, with the ghosts of all the people I've betrayed.
say what you want, say what you want.
and there's no reason, to step out into a nation that won't see me.
say what you want, say what you want.
and is this proof against my ignorance,
or am I meant to waste away?
and did I choose to be the one who is left,
or is this something sinister?
say what you want, say what you want.
say what you want, say what you want.
say what you want ,say what you want.
say what you want, say what you want.

Thom Yorke: Cymbal Rush

Lyrics:

Try to save it but it doesn't come off the rock
Try to build a wall that is high enough

It's all boiling over a
All boiling over

Try to save your house
Try to save your songs
Try to run
But it follows you up a hill

It's all boiling over
All boiling over
Your little voice
Your little voice

No more conversation
No more conversation
You should took me out when you had the chance
You should took me out when you had the chance
All the rooms were numbered
And the losers turned away
Don't turn away
Don't turn away

The Decemberists: The Mariner's Revenge Song

Lyrics:

We are two mariners
Our ships' sole survivors
In this belly of a whale

Its ribs are ceiling beams
Its guts are carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen

But I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave

At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
Oh Ohhhhh

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet

And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease

As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
Oh Ohhhhh

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind

And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind

Then one day, in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave
*sigh*"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street

Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat

But never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever, once, turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
Oh Ohhhhh

One night I overheard
The prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea

The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for a wanton cruelty

The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer

And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear...
Oh Ohhhhh

"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

"There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

[haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion and tuba]

And then that fateful night
We had you in our sight
After twenty months at sea

Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath

The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed

And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

[instrumental noise]
oh ohhhhhhhhhh
[screaming]
ohhhhh
[screaming]

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth

But, oh! What providence!
What divine intelligence!
That you should survive
As well as me

It gives my heart
Great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear

So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
Ohh Ohhhhh

Radiohead: Arpeggi (Live)

Lyrics:

In the deepest ocean
Bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me
Why should i stay here?
Why should i stay?
I'd be crazy not to follow

Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me on to phantoms
I follow to the edge of the earth
And fall off
Everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance
I get eaten by the worms
We're fishes
Get towed by the worms
We're fishes
We're fishes
We're fishes
I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape

I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom to escape
Escape

-- photo: kaveh khodjasteh