Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted

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 The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references.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

Thursday, 21 June 2007

Surging Out of Convalescence [Achtung Bono]

Darts in soap operas
Oh so wrong oh so wrong
No one scoring and there's
Too much chat between each throw

Worse than this though is when
Cheers are raised up for a bull
Granted, bull's a double and an out
But I know that they don't know
Therefore I propose no soap darts

Is your child hyperactive or is he perhaps a twat
Sometimes I like to watch wave rage down at Fistral beach
Last Ash Wednesday I had tantric sex and it was shit
Next Ash Wednesday I might strive to lick my elbow
Try in vain
For they say
Few succeed

I wrote to the Horse & Hound
To gloat over what I'd done
I'd stored their magazine
In a data retrieval system
Well let's face it what are they going to do
It's not as if they know where I live
And anyway I cut the caper back in 1984

Oh broken matrons! Oh joyless beds!
For those whose souls the iron has entered

And if I get to Heaven's Gate
I'll doubtless have to wait
While St Peter investigates
The inevitable asterisk

The inside of a Halex 3-star table tennis ball
Smells much like you'd expect it to


Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

Fistral The main surfing beach in Newquay (Cornwall). Too many pikeys these days.
Horse and Hound "The equestrian world's only news weekly".
...stored their magazine in a data-retrieval system It was a common copyright warning on magazines such as "The contents of this magazine, either in whole or part, may not be reproduced, stored in a data retrieval system...blah, blah, blah." In 1984, of course, few people had access to such a system.
Halex 3-star Table-tennis ball - The cream of ping-pong balls.

9 comments:

MickMacve said...

bulls a double and an outer

Martin said...

Worse than this though is when
Cheers are raised up for a bull
Granted, bull's a double and an out
But I know that they don't know
Therefore I propose no soap darts

EskimoEric said...

Changed. Thanks Martin.

MM

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris

I've just done a google search, and lo and behold it's a Thomas Hardy quote! (Nigel's into Hardy, isn't he?)

"In a November 1895 letter, Hardy wrote to Gosse: 'As for the story itself, it is really sent out to those into whose souls the iron has entered..."

So:

Oh broken matrons! Oh joyless beds!
For those whose souls the iron has entered

There. Feel better now!

Cheers,

Sean

EskimoEric said...

Thanks Sean! That line has been bugging me for ages.

Now you better let Chris Rand know as I think you intended to email him in the first place!

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

No problem, Eric.

No, it was you I intended to e-mail - just got your name wrong!

Does anyone know the word/s in the chorus of I Trog after "'Cause I'm a trog/and I've got....." It really bugs me!

Ta,

Sean

EskimoEric said...

Haha, No problem Sean.

Not sure either about the I, Trog chorus line....sounds like "got my tidies" but not sure if that makes sense.

smudge said...

I`m a trog/And I`ve got mad sidies*

*Sideburns/sideboards/bugger grips as exhibited by Noddy (not Vanburn) Holder

EskimoEric said...

Cheers Smudge!