Adam’s Apple
All songs written by John Wesley Harding
(TOWNSONGS [ASCAP]), except Sluts and Negative Love written by John Wesley Harding/Chris von Sneidern (TOWNSONGS [ASCAP]/Pop Gem Factory [BMI]) and Sussex Ghost Story written by John Wesley Harding/Gavin Bryars (TOWNSONGS [ASCAP]/Mnemonic/GB Productions)
Songs Produced by Julian Raymond
Engineered by Greg Goldman
Assisted by Marc Valentine
Also assisted by Alex Gibson and Kevin Mills
Digital editing by Tal Herzberg
Recorded at Studios B and C, Henson Studios, Hollywood, CA
Songs Produced and mixed by Eric Kupper for Hysteria Productions
Engineered by Eric Kupper
Recorded at Hysteria Recording, Weston, CT
Song Produced by John Wesley Harding and Gavin Bryars
Recorded by Martin Terefe and Andrea Olsson
Assisted by Martin Froden
Recorded at Electric Earth East, London
Vocal and guitar recorded by Neil Perry at Chung King, NYC
Songs mixed by Neil Perry
Assisted by John O’Mahoney
Mixed at Chung King, NYC
Songs mixed by Chris Lord-Alge
Assisted by Dmitar "Dim-E" Krnjaic
Mixed at Image Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, CA
Cover Photography and Cover Design: Abbey Tyson
Snake: Mickey
Snake handler: Molly Osborne
-
Nothing At All
I’d give you everything you wanted
I’d give you all that you require
Just say the word and I’ll get on it
I’m here to realise your desires
So I don’t know why
You don’t try
Cos I get no assistance at all from you
Will you even reach your hand out when I fall?
Do you understand me? Do you understand me?
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling, I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all
There was a king who had three daughters
I think perhaps you’ve seen the play
He asked them all how much they loved him
The youngest didn’t want to say
And you’re just like her
Cordelia
You can save us all from a world of hurt
Or you could watch me bang my head against your wall
Am I speaking English? Am I speaking English?
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling, I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all
Oh you’re such a cruel mistress
A silent psychopath
Can we get back down to business?
Can’t you do the math?
It’s just too bad
You can’t add
Will you wait forever to call my bluff
'Til I’m slumped and barely breathing in the stall?
Please give me something
Anything
Nothing gets nothing at all
Nothing gets nothing at all
I’m falling
Nothing gets nothing at all -
Monkey and His Cat
Monkey keeps his cat up in a cage upon the stage
And the crowned heads of Europe cheer the wonder of the age
Cos the cat’s just like a bird and good old monkey grinds the tune
And the cat will dance fandangos just above the footlight moon
And then he’ll make a very birdlike sound
And monkey makes him flop upon the ground
As though he’s flying
Some people he’s dying
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat
The cat hisses at monkey as he milks all the applause
Above the clank of change that ricochets across the floor
And monkey says “I love you” and returns him to the cage
And bows to all the ladies as they exit from the stage
The cat is dressed up as a Puss In Boots
And monkey wears a sparkling new suit
Just like a human
All the girls are swooning
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat
Monkey and his cat retrieve the key and go within
The humble home sweet home where they quietly live in sin
A man will bring their supper as they sit before the fire
Once he was the grinder, now he has to work for hire
He didn’t keep his finger on the pulse
The audience demanded something else
A new distraction
Some cat and monkey action
Man got his monkey, monkey got his cat
Cat got his flea, flea’s got me
And everybody’s free to work on their act
Monkey and his cat -
Negative Love
Negative love
Sceptical eyes beneath a frown
Negative love
You’re always putting other people down
Then they’re gone
And, as they fade away, well, who’s to say that you were wrong?
Negative love
The radio’s playing my request
Negative love
You lie before me, unimpressed
Why say ‘yes’
When you know all the ways to say ‘no’ best
Please don’t make an exception for me
Please don’t make an exception
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too
Cynical you
I see the look that’s in your eyes
Cynical you
And it’s saying ‘I don’t sympathise’
No surprise
Only the naïve believe in love and other lies
Please don’t make an exception for me
Please don’t make an exception
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too
I’m a little negative too
We’re the wrong side of one
I should change my name to John Undone
Or maybe we’re on to something
Could we end up positive after all?
Please don’t lower you standards for me,
Please don’t lower your standards
There’s no hope for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative too
There’s nothing for me and you
Cos I’m a little negative, I’m a little cynical
I’m a little negative, I’m a little critical
I’m a little negative too -
Sleeper, Awake!
Rise up from your deep sleep, baby
Wake up from your slumber
I’ve got your anaesthetic ready
I have got your number
I’ll do everything to help you
Make a smooth transition
The coffee’s in the grinder
The key’s in the ignition
Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
Oh, how I’ve missed you
Sleeper, Awake!
You’ve slept for a thousand years
But not like Sleeping Beauty
Maybe you’re the princess
Who refused to do her duty
No poisoned spinning wheel
No blood upon the Singer
You just buried your alarm
And turned off the phone ringer
Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
Oh, how I’ve missed you
Sleeper, Awake!
Ah, but I’m scared
One touch of your cold cold lips, perhaps I’ll join you there
But I don’t care
This is a risk, this is a risk
This is a kiss, this is a kiss
Sleeper, Arise! Wipe the sleep from your eyes
Get outta your bed, quit playing dead
Sleeper, Awake! How much time does it take?
Lie there still and I’ll kiss you
I can’t resist you
Sleeper, Awake! -
Pull
Sometimes I look into your eyes
I’m trying to see the light that shines back at me
Sometimes there’s nothing there
Sometimes it’s hard to care
Sometimes I’m scared that I don’t know
What pulls you up?
What pulls you down?
What pulls you back to me, my love?
What makes you sing?
What pulls your strings from up above
What pulls you up?
I wish it was just you and me
Like in our glory when we needed no-one
Maybe another hand
Messed with our master plan
Perhaps we’ll never understand
What pulls us up?
What pulls us down?
What pulls us back again, my love?
What makes us sing?
What pulls our strings from up above
What pulls us up?
Are we just happy puppets, baby?
Can we make up our own minds?
Are we just happy puppets?
Maybe.
Probably.
And now you’re just a mystery
And we will never know whodunit, will we?
First time is just for fun
Next time, repeat step one
And then you’re done before you know
What pulls you up?
What pulls you down?
What pulls you back again, my love?
What makes you sing?
What pulls your strings from up above
What pulls us up?
Are we just happy puppets?
Maybe. -
Sussex Ghost Story
After I had killed my wife
And by the jury been acquitted
I resolved to change my life
And try to lead a life less wicked
I roamed around
From town to town
In search of some employment
But it was here
I settled down
I saw her standing in the sun
I was bewitched by all her features
And before the day was done
I was in love with the schoolteacher
And since she had
No next of kin
I offered my assistance
To my surprise
She took me in
We spent the summer of that year
In a love of such perfection
But when winter first appeared
I felt the cold of her rejection
It was then
She turned to me
With a look I didn’t recognise
"It is our anniversary"
"It is our anniversary
And you cannot run away from me"
I saw a light
Upon a knife
And in a moment that I recognised
I begged for my life -
It Stays
Bury it in the garden
At midnight by the moon
Cover up the traces
Lick and dress your wounds
Burn it up or drown it, you can try
What has never lived, can never die
And it doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
I saw you standing in the kitchen
Drinking champagne from a mug
Should I have waited ‘til you noticed me?
Was I ash upon the rug?
Sometimes you cannot remove a stain
And if you do, its absence still remains
And it doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It’s as simple as that
I can’t add to it
We had our chance
And we blew it
Worse than that
Well, we knew it, we knew it
Every day’s the morning after -
Maybe last night broke the curse
But it was only in remission
It’ll come back even worse
In your dreams, it’s falling far behind
But just like daylight coming through the blinds
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
It doesn’t go away
It stays, it stays, it stays, it stays
It fights another day
Do not go away
Stay, stay, stay, stay
Do not go away
Stay -
Hard
Inside your machine, I hear a whirring
Cogs and flywheels getting into gear
Once this was time to tell your secrets
Softly so that only I could hear
Strange to be this close and never touching
Moves me far away from where we are
I wish I knew what you were dreaming
And I wonder if you’re showing off the scar
It’s true
I know it’s hard on me
It’s even harder on you
It’s hard
It’s hard to be strangers
I send my best regards
We’ve both changed
And that’s hard
We slept through one another’s nightmares
Till we forgot what beds were for
Now we’re awake and slightly shaken
We’ve seen what’s behind the bedroom door
It’s no fun
I know it’s hard on me
It’s hard on everyone
It’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard to be strangers
I send my best regards
We’ve both changed
And that’s hard
And when you said that it was love or nothing
I didn’t know the outcome was in doubt
It’s true
If it’s hard on me
It’s even harder on you
It’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard that we changed
I send my best regards
We’re strangers now
And that’s hard
It’s hard
It’s hard -
Sluts
We’re sluts, you and me
Succumb to pleasure easily
Despite all our sincere attempts
We rise at two, go out unkempt
Retire at six for a little more
Hey, there’s no-one’s keeping score
Except the dog, who’s kinda bored
We’re sluts, the two of us
Why walk, when we can get the bus
Why get the bus, when we can cab it
Living large is our best habit
Don’t cook now, it’s much too late
Look at all the dirty plates
Let’s go where we don’t have to wait
No ifs, no ands, no buts, cos we’re sluts
We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, doing what’s appropriate
One day we will live like kings in one big house but separate wings
Sluts
We’re sluts, it’s what we do
Promiscuity for two
We’re not here, wait for the tone
Oh yes, we rarely check the phone
Please call back another day
Hold me down just where I lay
I don’t want to float away
No ifs, no ands, no buts, cos we’re sluts
We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, curled up like invertebrates
And one day we will live like queens, always just beyond our means
Sluts
We’re sluts, our claim to fame
Please remind me of your name
This is where we both belong
Wonder where my cell phone’s gone
Let’s be realistic, sweet
Soon we’ll have to make ends meet
Make our home between the sheets
No ifs, no ands, no buts, we’re sluts
We’re sluts, and we’re proud of it, doing what’s appropriate
And one day we will live like kings, in one big house with separate wings
We’re sluts and we don’t care, you look good in my underwear
I love you, you so and so: we just met three days ago – Sluts -
Protest! Protest! Protest!
Back in the radical sixties
It was hippies and tambourines
It was mud and nudity
It was gigs in fields of green
It was a changing society
And that was cool, but these are different times
Miracles happen by the hour
Science can make a flower
And the people got the power
So cheer up and don’t be dour
My angry friend!
All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere…
I know it must have been easy
When everyone was ready to shout
There was much to complain about
Just get the guitar out
It was “Nixon And Agnew Out!”
Or whatever, but attitudes have changed
And we’re happy in the herd
Now the enemy’s blur
Prick us and we purr
It’s time to choose your words
A bit more wisely
All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Just look at the world around you
We have what we are fighting for
I mean lotteries and more
And the rest is best ignored
Cos there’s much more fun in store
After these messages, You’re free to sing your song
But watch the things you say
No negativity today
For the times they have a-changed
And then they’ve a-changed back again
And we barely noticed
All you wanna do is Protest! Protest! Protest!
Could you be more introspective?
Protest Protest! Protest! It’s only you that’s suspect
That negative attitude will get you nowhere
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere -
She Never Talks
She had never been the silent type
Didn’t wanna be a trophy wife
She had an asp like Cleopatra
And everybody started to point at her
It was her first time at the opera house
She bought a ticket for Die Fledermaus
The Gods peered out from private boxes
She must have caught someone’s eye
No-one knows what happened next
But they found her naked at a Texaco
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore
She was put into a private ward
The kind that mere mortals can’t afford
She didn’t understand the changes
But she felt the need to speak her mind
She foretold the fall of rock’n’roll
She predicted all the exit polls
She was ridiculed for each suggestion
No-one realised they’d all come true
Now she knew where speaking led
She bit her tongue until it bled
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore
She never talks at all anymore
People begged her for a final word
Promised solemnly that she’d be heard
But life seemed cruel and pointless
She just wanted to be left alone
She was doomed to speak one final time
Before she gave up for a life in mime
They laughed loudest when she predicted
A happy ending for herself
Now she lives with her dogs and me
In perfect silent harmony
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore
She never talks
She never talks about it
She never talks at all anymore -
When You Smile
All you have to do is smile
And the words just melt away
And there is nowhere worth going
And I have nothing to say
When you smile
Please take off your rings, your watch
We’ll forget time as it’s flying
I can see myself so deep in your eyes
Can you see yourself in mine?
We’ll forget just where we are
If we’re anywhere at all
You’re not the only one who’s lonely
I’m not the only one who calls
When you smile
When you smile at me
When you smile
When you smile at me
When the shadows pass above
Put the sun on, let it shine
And the world revolves around you and me
It’s centre is just where we lie
Feels like time will crawl forever
This little room is everywhere
We were made to be together
And if not, it doesn’t matter
When you smile
When you smile at me
When you smile
When you smile at me