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 The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references.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
Showing posts with label ACD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ACD. Show all posts

Tuesday, 18 March 2008

New Album Lyrics!

Do not rub your eyes in disbelief! It is true. I have posted another set of album lyrics.

The lucky album this time round is ACD. Many thanks to Martin for supplying the lyrics (a long time ago, sorry Martin).

EskimoEric

Album: ACD













Song List:

The Best Things In Life

D'Ye Ken Ted Moult?

Reasons To Be Miserable (Part 10)

Rod Hull Is Alive - Why?

Dickie Davies Eyes

The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman

I Was A Teenage Armchair Honved Fan

Arthur's Farm

Carry On Cremating

Albert Hammond Bootleg (live)

Reflections In A Flat (live)

Sealclubbing (live)

Architecture And Morality, Ted And Alice (live)

Fuckin' 'Ell, It's Fred Titmus (live)

Time Flies By (When Your The Driver Of A Train) (live)

All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit (live)

The Trumpton Riots (live)


Carry On Cremating [ACD]

We’re hardly the fruit from a well-tended banana tree
We’re hardly the
Bayeux in rock’s rich tapestry
We were like two rubber ducks that passed each other in the bath
I can sound like Wally out of Crossroads, Kath

She threw an apple in my eye, cor blimey
Alex Haley was adopted, that’s what’s called a disappointment

When England won the world cup back in 1966
Wembley must have been a sea of smiles
Well, I think Kenneth Wolstenholme summed up the moment really well
When he said “Just look at Nobby Stiles”

She threw an apple in my eye, cor blimey
Alex Haley was adopted, that’s what’s called a disappointment

Oh they’re still cremating Hattie Jacques; I am not surprised
Come on now, let’s face it, she was fat
It usually takes for ever tryin’ to burn the grossly oversized
Who would ever want to look that that?
She had a face that could launch a thousand dredgers
I could never get her on my portable TV

She threw an apple in my eye, cor blimey
Alex Haley was adopted, that’s what’s called a disappointment

Notes from www.hmhb.co.uk

Taken from a Peel session (as are many on the CD). It was originally titled "The Continuous Cremation of Hattie Jacques."
Carry On Gerald Thomas is the Scorsese of British cinema. The Carry On films combine the philosophical insight of Kieslowski, the scope of Herzog, the intellectual rigour of Wenders and the character handling of Louis Malle.
Hattie Jacques Overweight star of "Carry On".
Bayeux Town in Normandy. Has tapestry depicting Norman conquest of England
Wally out of Crossroads Crossroads was a crap soap opera about a motel. Don't remember Wally. He was played by Max Wall.
Kath [Brownlow] Neice of the above Wally.
Alex Haley Author of "Roots", collaborated with Malcolm X. Nice reference to the fact that the book was really fictional!
Kenneth Wolstenholme Footy commentator 60's - present. World Cup Final 1966. I thought he was long-dead until he turned up hosting Channel 4's coverage of the Italian Serie A.
Nobby Stiles Man Utd & England, '66 World Cup, deficient in front teeth. Hard man. Oh, and his son John attempted to play for Leeds Utd.


Arthur's Farm [ACD]

Arthur Askey and Dougie Buggy Bader
Went down to the Animal Farm
Dougie bored a boar with his stories from the war
And explained about the boil on his palm
Napolean, wearing pink, offered both of them a drink
And a drink and a drink and a drink

Come the hour of four they were legless to be sure
And not one of them had even had a wink of sleep

And everybody sang as loud as they could
“Two legs bad but four legs good”
This made the boys feel pretty oppressed

Came the new realm, it was AA at the helm
While
Douglas played Luftwaffe on the roofs
And they’re amputating limbs while the others wrote new hymns
And a signpost read “Second hand hooves”
Years passed by, guns were blazing in the sky
It was good but it was total apathy
Everybody arsed around and the Beasts Of England sound
Had been ruined by that busy, busy bee.

And chants were heard from the east to the west
“Four legs good but no legs best”

Invalidity reigns supreme
And chants were heard from the east to the west
“Four legs good but no legs best”
One time visitors were now the regime

Notes from www.hmhb.co.uk

Takes the mickey from "Animal Farm" Contains all the essential anti-totalitarianism of 1984, but is shorter and has animals in it :-)
Arthur Askey Wartime comic. Very unfunny comedian "I thank you", the f***ing song about the bee, and the like. Died gradually by having legs amputated one by one. God he was unfunny.
Douglas Bader Second World War British Fighter pilot who lost his legs in an accident in 193X but flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain. Later captured and ended up in Colditz after unsuccessful escape attempts. Oddly enough Pat Reid's otherwise excellent books don't mention whether the Germans used to confiscate his false legs if he tried to escape (they did, but only after about the tenth time).
"Four legs good but no legs best" From "Animal Farm" where the sheep continually chant "Two legs bad, four legs good".
Napoleon French leader and chief pig in "Animal Farm".
It's been offered from afar that the keyboard riff at the end is a touch "Eton Rifles"-ish. Not sure I agree, Ted...


I Was a Teenage Armchair Honved Fan [ACD]

Woke up this morning, found myself in bed
My knowledge of the blues is somewhat nil
I’d dreamt about a love affair in far-off
Budapest
The sort of thing that sugars every pill
I was a teenage armchair Honved fan

I went dans la cuisine in a bilinguistic mood
And Morphy Richards popped up with the goods
I was feeling ‘
Hungary’ both this morning and last night
And with an appetite like that you see the woods
I was a teenage armchair Honved fan

Is this the bit where we’re supposed to make guitars collide
And is this the bit where we release all that raw energy
And is this the bit where we go crashing through those barriers
Like wot they do in music mags?

I was a teenage armchair Honved fan (x7)

I was a teenage, wham bam thank you

I was a teenage armchair Honved fan (x8)

Notes from www.hmhb.co.uk

Honved Hungarian footy side (based in Budapest)
Morphy Richards Domestic electrical goods manufacturer (esp. toasters)
wham bam, thank you mam Nicked from David Bowie's Suffragette City.


Dickie Davies Eyes [ACD]

Mention the Lord Of The Rings just once more and I’ll more than likely kill you
More cock, more cock, Michael Moorcock you fervently moan
Is this a wok that you shove down my throat or are you just pleased to see me?
Brian Moore’s head looks uncannily like London Planetarium

And all the people who you romantically
Like to still believe are alive are dead
So I’ll wipe my snot on the arm of your chair
As you put another Roger Dean poster on the wall

God, I could murder a Cadbury’s Flake but then I guess you wouldn’t let me into heaven?
Or maybe you would, ‘cos their adverts promote oral sex
A Romany bint in a field with her paints, suggesting we faint at her beauty
But she’s got Dickie Davies eyes

And all the people who you romantically
Like to still believe are alive are dead
So I’ll wipe my snot on the arm of your chair
As you put another Roger Dean poster on the wall

And all the people who you romantically
Like to still believe are alive are dead
So I’ll wipe my snot on the arm of your chair
As you put another Roger Dean poster on the wall

Notes from www.hmhb.co.uk

Title parodies "Bette Davies Eyes" by Kim Carnes.
Sleeve parodies "World Of Sport" title sequence.
Dickie Davies TV presenter of ITV "World of Sport", ITV's amazingly bad World of Sport on Saturday afternoons. DD sported a phenomenal grey streak in his hair, "nice" blazers and managed to maintain an even interest in everything from the FA cup to Monster Truck Pulls. Truly the Beeb got all the good sport in those days. He's from Wallasey (i.e., Merseyside HMHB country), and attended Oldershaw School. Now how's that for trivia?
Opening keyboard riff is a rip-off of the War of the Worlds theme tune.
The Lord Of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The sort of things Oxford professors of Old English do when they have too much spare time. Due to popular demand, virtually every scrap of paper he has ever written on has been published, including the totally unreadable "Unfinished Tales"
Michael Moorcock Science fiction/fantasy writer, much-beloved of a particular sort of saddo, particularly his Elric fantasies. "Moorcock" has an unfortunate pornographic homonym phrase used in the song. Also, it appears, he wrote some songs for Hawkwind and possibly even The Blue Oyster cult.
Brian Moore Charisma-free ITV footy commentator with a classic chrome dome.
London Planetarium Tourist attraction, projects spots of light onto the inside of a hemisphere. Near Madame Tussaud's with a classic domed metallic roof! Gillingham FC have named their fanzine "Brian Moore's head looks uncannily like London Planetarium" in honour of one of their most famous fans (which in 2006 gave up on the paper world and went online.
Roger Dean Culprit for the fantasy art on many Yes Albums. You know all those appalling prog rock concept albums you find for 99p in shops, with pictures of robots on horseback and suchlike? Chances are that Roger Dean painted it.
Cadbury's Flake Only the crumbiest, flakiest chocolate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before. Yeah. Used to have ads [still used!] in which attractive totty unwrapped and sucked flakes in a fashion that was sexually explicit.



Rod Hull Is Alive - Why? [ACD]

A doyen of topiary once told me
That one day he would like to grow a maze
It seemed to be quite logical that this should be his wish
And with that we both went our separate ways

They said you died at seven due to something in your head
I asked the sister why it wasn’t someone else instead
Tonight I’ll cry myself a bath of tears and ask the world
Why is Rod Hull alive and getting paid as well?

Heard a Palace spokesman mention ‘Sarah’
Said she’d known the groins of Jacques Laffite
She’s well prepared to be a standard-bearer
As pure as unproverbial driven sleet

Half way up the Wrekin with an empty flask of tea
A fog descends and takes away my visibility
Yet in this Helen Keller state I’d still quite like to know
Why is Rod Hull alive and getting paid as well?

And I wonder if they’ll bring back national service and the birch
And I wonder but I doubt if they will ever bring back the Watney Cup

Notes from www.hmhb.co.uk

Rod Hull TV personality with gimmick emu on his arm. He's a wretched Australian and has had the same act for 20 years. The amusement wore off over 19 years ago. This interview says it all...
Topiary The art of sculpting hedges into hens.
Sarah Duchess of York, professional ski-holidayer.
Jacques Laffite Formula 1 race driver 70's - 80's until a nasty leg-breaking accident in '86. Now back in touring cars etc. NB Sarah Ferguson lived for two years with former racing driver Paddy McNally before shacking up with Prince Andy, but this doesn't rhyme with sleet! McNally who was one of the people responsible for Marlboro sponsorship deals. For real F1 Fornication just look at the later affairs of Jacky Ickx.
Helen Keller Deaf, blind, mute & religious. An R.E. teacher's dream.
The Wrekin Shropshire hill.
national service the draft, for our American colleagues. However, we didn't have the benefit of Vietnam and most NS conscripts ended up peeling potatoes at Catterick for two years.
the birch an excellent way of deterring young offenders on the Isle of Man.
Watney Cup Pointless pre-season footy trophy (won by Bristol Rovers in 1972). It featured the two top-scoring teams in each division who weren't promoted and who hadn't qualified for the European competitions.


Reasons to be Miserable (Part 10) [ACD]

A fairly attractive girl walks past a building site and from underneath an industrial safety helmet you hear…. … ta Neil!
And you stand there witnessing the whole Neanderthal situation, wanting to twist your own brain out as they sit satisfied on their newly-built wall, laughing their hods off.
Cringe!

Reasons to be miserable, another good excuse to be dead
It’s one more thing to gripe about as I while away my days in bed

And there’s the person who collects all things Pierrot and loves Siamese cats and thinks they’re sophisticated ‘cos they eat Fry’s Chocolate Cream
And they’d do anything to spend the night with that fella off the Turkish Delight advert who’s full of Eastern monosodium glutamate

And they always have a portrait of a sad clown on the wall and they go to charity shops and tend to become slightly orgasmic at the thought of vampire lust.
Cringe!

Reasons to be miserable, another good excuse to be dead
It’s one more thing to gripe about as I while away my days in bed
Reasons to be miserable, another good excuse to be dead
It’s one more thing to gripe about as I while away the days in bed

And I don’t know anyone who puts peaches on their cornflakes either!

Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

Title parodies "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads.
Pierrot Pale & sad French clown, teardrop on cheek etc. Cultural reference stolen from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte genre of the 17th Century and turned into something saddoes wank off over at Athena.
Fry's Chocolate Cream/Turkish Delight Chocolates, adverts in desert, Rudolf Valentino style.
peaches on their cornflakes a less than gentle dig at some fruity serving suggestions on Kellogg's packets.

Friday, 26 October 2007

D' Ye Ken Ted Moult [ACD]

Our Ted it has to be said produces proof beyond us
Rain, shine or gale force nine his frames remain intact
Helicopters in my garden bringing wind (I beg your pardon)
Double glazing is amazing, don't you all agree?

No fears, they’ll last you for years - our statistics prove it
And you'll pose as everyone knows its you who sets the pace
On the cold and frosty mornings scoff and howl at Yuletide warnings
Insulation for the nation, that's the one for me

No draft ‘cos that’d be daft, a feather acknowledges Newton
And a ball and chain let loose on the pane can only smash your nerves
In the hibernating season pick the best, it stands to reason
No complaining when it’s raining, thanks to Mr Moult (wahey)

Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

Title from the Yorkshire song "D'Ye Ken John Peel", who I believe was a famous huntsman of yesteryear. There's a film of this title from 1934, starring John Garrick. John Peel is of course also the name by which John Ravenscroft (world's most wonderful human being and probably the only person ever to play HMHB on Radio 1. Apart from Mark Radcliffe. Oh, and Johnnie Walker) is better known, but that's irrelevant. Peelie is unfortunately a Liverpool fan.
Ted Moult Former "Brain of Britain" and double glazing advertiser. Appeared on "The Archers"; became a farmer.
[Sir Isaac] Newton Physicist, mathematician, hit on head with apple.
helicopters, ball and chain, feather and no draught Everest double glazing imagery, as advertised by Ted.

The Best Things In Life [ACD]

My uncle Charlie is a cynical man
His wife’s a touch skeptical too
They’ve got one of those stickers in the back of their van,
It says “We’ve seen the prices at the zoo”

Today I knocked up on their door and said that I was passing
Charlie launched a scathing attack
When I asked him what I’d done he said “You stupid bastard,
We live in a cul-de-sac”

Went to Dali’s party, it was fancy dress
I just stuck an apple in my face
I saw a chap who obviously was out to impress
He reckoned he’d beat Gagarin into space

He said “Hi there Salv, like I’m sorry I’m late
But I was getting done up as a Mogul Thrash acetate”
Me, I got bored so I went home
I got into bed and came to the conclusion

There is nothing better in life that writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro (x3)
There is nothing better in life that writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro
On a Saturday night instead of going to the pub

Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

The title is the same as a song by Dusty Springfield, covered by The Tourists a while ago.
[Salvador] Dali Surrealist painter, posters of whose stuff with wibbly clocks can usually be found on the walls of sad student rooms.
"I just stuck an apple in my face" Refers to a painting by Magritte which depicts a man in bowler hat, with an apple instead of a face.
[Yuri] Gagarin First man in space (1961), died in a plane crash (1967).
Mogul Thrash An offshoot of 70's rockers Asia, it seems.