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

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Songs of Misfortune (2005)

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Confessions of St. Ace (2000)