Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted: I Hate Nerys Hughes [Back in the D.H.S.S.]

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 The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references.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

Saturday, 6 October 2007

I Hate Nerys Hughes [Back in the D.H.S.S.]

St. Vitus came to my town and visited the cemetery
The dead got up and everything became one big cocophony
They all went down the social and they claimed their supplementary
And all the necrophiliacs were walking round in misery

The rattling mass of calcium went shopping in the superstore
Careering down the aisles like one big psychopathic carnivore
The shelf-stacker’s work of art in ecstacy crashed to the floor
And meanwhile the saint was going crazy at the fire door

Ah, the beautiful, sparkling healthy spa water of Bath, in Avon

I hate Nerys Hughes (x4)

Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

Nerys Hughes "Star" of The Liver Birds and The District Nurse.
St. Vitus St. Vitus Dance is a disease where the sufferer shakes and so seem to dance.
Social, Supplementary The Dept. of Health and Social Security, Supplementary Benefit - dosh given by the DHSS to unemployed people without sufficient National Insurance contributions. Then renamed Income Support, and now lumped with Unemployment Benefit into Jobseeker's Allowance.
Bath Spa town - was in the now defunct county of Avon. Now resides in the informatively named district of Bath and North-East Somerset. The beautiful healthy bath water of Spa isn't bad either.

Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Hearted