Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted: New York Skiffle [Editor's Recommendation]

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted

Ah yes. Why spend time typing up the lyrics to Half Man Half Biscuit songs? Because they are gems like no other. We celebrate British bands and artists for seminal musical works (think Bowie or Elvis Costello) and, unless you happen to know the late John Peel's inside leg measurement or you were enlightened as a student, the majesty, wit and sheer intelligence of the HMHB opus is ignored. Shame, shame, shame.

Over the years a number of web sites have recorded some lyrics and a multitude of research notes for the songs [see the excellent www.hmhb.co.uk]. The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references. The former are a mixed bag, with only a few songs listed.

So what started out as a full hearted attempt by me to record the lyrics so my sister could understand the songs has developed into a blog post and a project to educate the half-hearted masses and to provide a definitive song list with lyrics.

They'll be other crap on here too such as my own songs "Progressive Dads", "People called Wilson", "Blog-proof iPod", "Armchair Expert" and "Holistically Challenged"- I need to finish writing them first :)

"...Baby I'm from the Wirral Peninsula.
A merciless despot with nothing to lose"

Monkey Man, June 2007

Please note that all lyrics are mostly my interpretation and are presented here to assist you in understanding the songs. They are the copyright of others.

You should also pay a visit to www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/ for HMHB lyrics - a superb site with a superb range of listings

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

New York Skiffle [Editor's Recommendation]

I’m the vendor of quack nostrums born in a Kansas shack
I came down to Greenwich Village with a tea chest on my back
I danced a while for Andy and crashed his Cadillac
Now I’m just waiting for my ban

Chorus

Oh does your
Heroin lose its glamour on the washboard overnight?
When your mother says don’t do it
Do you crank it up in spite?
Do you rob your brother’s Giro?
Do you talk a load of shite?
Does you Heroin lose its glamour on the washboard overnight?

I’ve drank too much black coffee read too much Wilbur Rose
I’ve been a He and been a She and maybe and who knows
I’ve had the cee-bee jeebies I’ve ??????? way up state
So don’t you rock me Daddio!

6 comments:

Martin said...: "I danced a while for Andy and crashed his Cadillac"

... which would also make sense of ..

"Now I'm just waiting for my BAN"; 28 September 2007 at 14:46
EskimoEric said...: Yeah, I like that.; 29 September 2007 at 09:35
the bloss. said...: ...drank too much black coffee, read too much Bill Burroughs". As in, William Burroughs, I always thought?

also I've always sung it as "journeyed way upstate"? But I don't know. Not that I sing along or anything.; 10 January 2008 at 11:23
Anonymous said...: I thought it was 'turkeyed way upstate'; 11 February 2009 at 04:04
Wanderin' Man said...: "I've had the CBGBs" likely refers to the New York club of the same name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBGB; 23 March 2009 at 14:23
EskimoEric said...: Thanks Graeme.; 24 March 2009 at 07:35

Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Hearted