We Love Life
Album - 2001 - Debaser id 19977

We came across the North Sea with our carriers on our knees
Wound up in some holding camp somewhere outside Leeds.
Because we do not care to fight, my friends - we are the weeds.
Because we got no homes they call us smelly refugees.
Ah. We are weeds, vegetation, dense undergrowth.
Thru' cracks in the pavement: there weeds will grow - the places you don't go.
This cut-price dairy produce that turns our bones to dust.
You want some entertainment?
Go on, shove it up me - if you must.
Make believe you're so turned on by planting trees & shrubs
But you come round to visit us when you fancy booze 'n' drugs.
Ah. We are weeds, vegetation, etc.
If you think it's a crime
We'd like to get you out of your mind.
It's just a matter of time, yeah
We'd like to get you out of your mind.
Gonna cut you down in your prime, yeah
We'd like to get you out of your mind.
For a little time: for all time.
Weed.

I took an air rifle
Shot a magpie to the ground
And it died without a sound

Your skin's so pale
Against the fallen autumn leaves
No-one saw us but the trees

Yeah, the trees
Those useless trees
Produce the air
That I am breathing

Yeah, the trees
Those useless trees
They never said
That you were leaving

I carved your name
With a heart just up above
Now swollen, distorted
Unrecognisable, like our love

You smell of leaf mould
And the sweetness of decay
Or the incense at the funeral procession here today

And the trees
Those useless trees
Produce the air
That I am breathing

Yeah, the trees
Those useless trees
They never said
That you were leaving

Ah

Try to shape the world to what you want the world to be
Carving your name a thousand times won't bring you back to me

Oh, no, I might as well
I might as well go tell it to the trees, yeah

Oh yeah, the trees
Those useless trees
Produce the air
That I am breathing

Yeah, the trees
Those useless trees
They never said
That you were leaving

Go and tell it to the trees, yeah
Go tell it to the trees, yeah
Go tell it to the trees, yeah
Go tell it to the trees, yeah
Go tell it to the trees, yeah

Just behind the station, before you reach the traffic island, a river runs thru' a concrete channel.
I took you there once; I think it was after the Leadmill.
The water was dirty & smelt of industrialisation
Little mesters coughing their lungs up & globules the colour of tomato ketchup.
But it flows. Yeah, it flows.
Underneath the city thru' dirty brickwork conduits
Connecting white witches on the Moor with pre-raphaelites down in Broomhall.
Beneath the old Trebor factory that burnt down in the early seventies.
Leaving an antiquated sweet-shop smell & caverns of nougat & caramel.
Nougat. Yeah, nougat & caramel.
And the river flows on.
Yeah, the river flows on beneath pudgy fifteen-year olds addicted to coffee whitener
And it finally comes above ground again at Forge Dam: the place where we first met.

I went there again for old time's sake
Hoping to find the child's toy horse ride that played such a ridiculously tragic tune.
It was still there - but none of the kids seemed interested in riding on it.
And the cafe was still there too
The same press-in plastic letters on the price list & scuffed formica-top tables.
I sat as close as possible to the seat where I'd met you that autumn afternoon.
And then, after what seemed like hours of thinking about it
I finally took your face in my hands & I kissed you for the first time
And a feeling like electricity flowed thru' my whole body.
And I immediately knew that I'd entered a completely different world.
And all the time, in the background, the sound of that ridiculously heartbreaking child's ride outside.

At the other end of town the river flows underneath an old railway viaduct
I went there with you once - except you were somebody else -
And we gazed down at the sludgy brown surface of the water together.
Then a passer-by told us that it used to be a local custom to jump off the viaduct into the river
When coming home from the pub on a Saturday night.
But that this custom had died out when someone jumped
Landed too near to the riverbank
Had sunk in the mud there & drowned before anyone could reach them.
I don't know if he'd just made the whole story up, but there's no way you'd get me to jump off that bridge.
No chance. Never in a million years.

Yeah, a river flows underneath this city
I'd like to go there with you now my pretty & follow it on for miles & miles, below other people's ordinary lives.
Occasionally catching a glimpse of the moon, thru' man-hole covers along the route.
Yeah, it's dark sometimes but if you hold my hand, I think I know the way.
Oh, this is as far as we got last time
But if we go just another mile we will surface surrounded by grass & trees & the fly-over that takes the cars to cities.
Buds that explode at the slightest touch, nettles that sting - but not too much.
I've never been past this point, what lies ahead I really could not say.
I used to live just by the river, in a dis-used factory just off the Wicker
The river flowed by day after day
"One day" I thought, "One day I will follow it" but that day never came
I moved away & lost track but tonight I am thinking about making my way back.
I may find you there & float on wherever the river may take me.
Wherever the river may take me.
Wherever the river may take us.
Wherever it wants us to go.
Wherever it wants us to go.

Here comes your bedtime story: Mum & Dad have sentenced you to life.
Don't think twice; it's the only reason I'm alive.
I feel alright as long as I don't forget to breathe.
Breathe in, breathe in, breathe out.
Look at all these buildings & houses
I love my life. I love my life.
Hey now, slow down a minute.
Take my arms & fill them full of life.
Don't think twice.
Does it ease the pain of being alive?
Or is it why - why you keep nodding out on me?
Breathe in, breathe in, breathe out.
Another day, another major disaster
I love my life. I love my life.
You got a problem.
I lost my keys when I stayed at your place.
On the floor of your living room, you made the scene but it'll never get shown on TV.
So tonight prepare to kiss goodbye to my lovelife.
So get this right- I love my life; it's the only reason I'm alive.
It's mine, all mine - as long as I don't forget to breathe.
Breathe in, breathe in, breathe out.
Corny I know, but you had better believe it
I love my life. I love my life. I love my life. God, how I love my life.
That's right: you've got to fight to the death for the right to live your life.
Alright: I'm gonna fight to the death 'til they give me back my life.
That's right: you're in the land of the living but there's so few signs of life.
Alright.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe out.

It's six o'clock, the birds are singing.
I'm wide awake whilst you're still fast asleep.
I went outside, into your garden.
The sun was bright & the air was cool
And as I stood there listening
Well the birds in your garden they all started singing this song
"Take her now. Don't be scared, it's alright.
Oh, come on, touch her inside.
It's a crime against nature - she's been waiting all night.
Come on, hold her, & kiss her & tell her you care
If you wait 'til tomorrow she'll no longer be there.
Come on & give it to her.
You know it's now or never."
Yeah, the birds in your garden have all started singing this song.

My father never told me about the birds & the bees.
And I guess I never realised that I would ever meet birds as beautiful as these.
I came inside, climbed to your bedroom.
I kissed your eyes awake & then I did what I knew was only natural.
And then the birds in your garden, they all started singing this song
"Take her now. Don't be scared, it's alright.
Oh, come on, touch her inside.
It's a crime against nature - she's been waiting all night.
Come on, hold her, & kiss her & tell her you care
If you wait 'til tomorrow she'll no longer be there.
Come on & give it to her. You know it's now or never."
Yeah, the birds in your garden have all started singing this song.
Yeah, the birds in your garden, they taught me the words to this song.

When you think you're treading water, but you're just learning how to drown.
And a song comes on the radio telling you that "The Only Way is Down".
You're out of luck, you're out of time, get out of here.
Your lover just traded you in for the very same model but a much more recent year.
It will not stop, it will get worse from day to day 'til you admit that you're a fuck-up; like the rest of us.
Oh, that's the time you fall apart .
That's the time the teardrops start & that's the time you fall in love again.
Yeah, that's the time you fall in love again.
The recreational pursuits that made you shine have worn you thin.
And it's oh so fine getting out of your mind as long as you can find your way back in.
You want someone to screw your brains out
I'd say they're running out of time & they'd only go & cut themselves on the daggers of your mind.
This is your future.
This is the sentence you must serve 'til you admit that you're a fuck-up like the rest of us.
Oh, that's the time you fall apart.
That's the time the teardrops start & that's the time you fall in love again.
When you've had enough, when you've had too much,
when you got knocked down & you never got up.
That's the time you fall in love again.
Oh, when you walked into the room I could not breathe, I could not speak.
Please could I hide myself inside you?
As far inside as it's possible to be.
Can you assist me? I could not make it on my own.
Can I give you all the love I have?
It's not much but I'll try & raise a loan.
I have no pride left, no, no there is nothing I'm trying to prove
No, I am a fuck-up; just the same as you.
Oh, I guess this is where I fall apart
And I guess this is where the teardrops start but I don't care 'cos I just fell in love again.
And I'd had enough - well, far too much
I just fell down, could you please help me up?
"Cos if you help me maybe I could fall in love again. Na na na.

The word's on the street, you've found someone new.
If he looks nothing like me, I'm so happy for you.
I heard an old girlfriend, has turned to the church.
She's trying to replace me, but it'll never work.

'Cos every touch reminds you of,
Just how sweet it could have been.
And every time he kisses you,
It leaves behind the bitter taste of saccharine.

A bad cover version of love is not the real thing.
Bikini-clad girl on the front, who invited you in.
Such great disappointment, when you got him home
The original was so good, the one you no longer own.

And every touch reminds you of
Just how sweet it could have been
And every time he kisses you,
You get the taste of saccharine.
It's not easy to forget me,
It's so hard to disconnect
When it's electronically reprocessed
To give a more life-like effect.

Aah, sing your song,
About all the sad imitations,
That got it so wrong.

It's like a later "Tom & Jerry",
When the two of them could talk.
Like the Stones since the Eighties,
Like the last days of Southfork.
Like "Planet of the Apes" on TV,
The second side of "'Til the Band Comes in".
Like an own-brand box of cornflakes,
He's going to let you down my friend.

The feel of my arm around your waist, the pale blue nightdress that you wore.
Your hair in braids, your sailor top: the things I don't see anymore.
You lost your suitcase in my hotel room, a subway token from your Ma.
The sun reflecting off the water on your face & the way you drove your car.
All these things I can't forget tho' I don't see you anymore.
Drove to the airport thru' a traffic jam; a deer lay dying in the road.
Maybe I should have seen it as some kind of sign, except I don't believe in them no more.
No, no - but I believe these things I can't forget, tho' I don't see you anymore.
Yes, I believe these things I can't forget, 'cos I see them - tho' I don't see you anymore.

I used to hate the sun because it shone on everything I'd done.
Made me feel that all that I had done was overfill the ashtray of my life.
All my achievements in days of yore range from pathetic to piss-poor,
But all that's gonna change.
Because here comes sunrise.

Yeah, here's your sunrise.
I used to hide from the sun,
tried to live my whole life underground.
Why'd you have to rise & ruin all my fun?
Just turned over,
Closed the curtains on the day. But here comes sunrise.
Yeah, here's your sunrise when you've been awake all night long
And you feel like crashing out at dawn.
But you've been awake all night, so why should you crash out at dawn?