Elephant Small Vol 1, Page 2

  *** Number one with debut single!

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  Simply ‘speak’ your composition

  Into the vocal attachment

  (* Contains ‘Smoke and Mirrors’)

  (** Lyrics not included)

  (*** Subject to vocal restrictions)

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  INTRO

  1. (Hi-hat)

  This is it, this is it, this is, this is, this is it

  2. (Floor toms)

  Down daddy, down daddy, down, down, down daddy

  3. (Lead guitar)

  Do-oo you-oo choo-oose to-oo

  U-oose new-oo blue-oo shoes

  How I howl wild woes woes wild wild woes

  Howl a while woes wild wild woes woes wild

  4. (Rhythm guitar)

  Haha haha haha haha, haha haha, haha haha

  Haha haha haha haha, hahaha

  5. (Lead guitar)

  Why-ee now-ow-ow-ow-owww

  VERSE(S)

  6/7. (Rhythm guitar/(Snare/Hi-hat)

  Laughin’ lovin’, lovin’ laughin’ (Sit down sit down)

  Lovin’ laughin’, laughin’ lovin (Down sit down sit)

  Lovin’ laughin’, laughin’ lovin’ (Down down sit sit)

  Laughin’ lovin’, lovin’ laughin’ (Down sit down sit)

  (Repeat ad-lib)

  LEAD BREAK/ENDING

  8. (Lead Guitar)

  Grrrowwll

  Grrowl…grrowl-grrowl-grrowl-grrowl

  How I - howl wild - woes wild - woes wild woes

  Howl a while woes wild - wild woes wild woes wild

  Grrrowll – grrowll - grrowll

  9. (Rhythm guitar)

  Gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp, gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp

  Gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp, gasp-gasp-gasp-gasp

  Gaaasp

  10. (Lead guitar - to feedback)

  Knee-eelin’ down now - kneeeel

  Shrie-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee…ee…eek…growl…

  12. There’s Only One

  Persistent police pester prolific

  Petty pilferers

  Tactics teach teenage ticket touts to take

  Shelter from the rain

  Hushed whispers flush festering frustrations

  From wind-swept faces

  Senior citizens sway in the swell

  Flags flap, slap and clap

  Chattering children, shivering shyly

  Sweep to the shrine

  Wild, windy, wet weekend weather, welcomes

  Faithful followers

  Clinging cautiously, clustered companions

  Combat cold and crowd,

  Willingly waiting, anticipating

  The Saturday scene

  Battling gangs, bearing grudges, bond and group;

  Banish grievances

  Sympathies merge in single-minded song

  ‘There’s only one…’…what?

  One spirit; one voice; one passion…one love…

  …The Beautiful Game

  13. S O L D O U T!

  Due To Diminished Responsibility

  The bookstore owner blamed the publisher

  The publisher blamed the agency

  The agency blamed the author

  The author just blamed himself

  Who could blame the reader

  For his urgency?

  Needs that cover

  On his shelf

  Fiction?

  Fact

  !

  14. North/South Divide II

  Show me the way, I think I’m lost

  Someone give me some direction

  I’m prepared to pay any cost

  Just to reach my destination

  Co-ordinates were very crude

  Maps helped me out to some degree

  What’s longitude and latitude?

  All points north are clear to see

  But it was south I headed for

  A to Z index underneath

  The maps I’d spread out on the floor

  Drawn to scale; some in relief

  My compass wouldn’t save the day

  It lost me before I started

  I couldn’t read it anyway

  My route was not clearly charted

  I found an ethnic take-away

  I bought a curry and some rice

  Sat down, ate it, couldn’t say

  I liked the meal; it wasn’t nice

  I chose the route I thought was best

  The taste of the east was in my mouth

  My confidence was going west

  My northern mistrust of the south

  Made me question my instruction

  It’s never taken me this long

  Usually there’s no disruption

  This time something was going wrong

  I saw a note for my attention

  Opened it up and had to stare

  Somebody forgot to mention

  ‘Thomas Place’ is now ‘Thomas Square’

  Those ‘nice’ Southerners were to blame

  Not the team back at the depot

  Why did they have to change the name?

  Just so Northerners couldn’t go?

  15. Seven Ages of Man

  They would call us the children of the damned

  Our mother died when we were very young

  Soon after, our father left, to be with her

  We know how to say ‘good-bye’ to loved ones

  At school, the teachers tried to educate

  Work, rest and play, eat your food, wash your hands

  Why couldn’t they understand our wisdom?

  We already knew all there was to know

  Gainful employment earned our daily bread

  Promotions swiftly took us to the top

  As employers, we could dictate our terms

  We knew how to influence with standards

  Only two of us ever got married

  Honeymoon, anniversaries, children

  We were blessed by offspring of both sexes

  They grew with us and made our lives complete

  Healthy pensions ensured our happiness

  In retirement, life was good for a while

  All the time we counted on our blessings

  Our lives under control, until

  Old age came quickly, followed by illness

  Doctors and nurses; time in hospitals

  No recovery, no second chances

  Get it right first time, or die unfulfilled

  But our lives didn’t end without meaning

  Our time had come and we were well prepared

  Children, grand-children, mourned at our graveside

  Said ‘good-bye’ to the children of the damned

  16. Karma Coma

  I saw a programme on TV

  About the gifts of man

  Most gifted individuals say

  “I do it ‘cause I can.”

  But these were no ‘normal’ geniuses

  They’d suffered coma, all

  Long periods of unconsciousness

  Awakened by the call

  Now, things they’d never done before

  Seem more than possible

  They’re all now experts in new fields

  It sounds improbable

  Two years ago, on a motorbike

  I had an accident

  Unconscious for more than a week

  Don’t know how long I spent

  Recovering from the trauma

  They said it was ‘touch and go’

  In hospital; I don’t know where

  I guess I’ll never know

  When I came round some time later

  I found I was confused

  Too many concepts filled my head

  My memory refused

  To guide me through this new darkness

  That shrouded some things past

  One quest
ion that I asked myself

  How long’s it going to last?

  But I was able to use ‘gifts’

  I never thought I had

  Never an artist, but I painted

  A portrait of my lad

  It hangs upon his bedroom wall

  Taking pride of place

  Among all his long-gone heroes;

  There but for the grace…

  It’s not all glory, however

  My temper’s very short

  My eyesight’s deteriorating

  And things I never thought

  I could do, like Quantum Physics

  Didn’t get past the stage

  Of borrowing a book, or two

  And reading the first page

  In fact, I don’t know what it is

  But I am very keen

  To go and look it up – one day

  And learn what it could mean.

  17. LSD

  You could have knocked me down with a feather

  The first time my Gran mentioned LSD

  I think you know just what I thought she meant

  But did you know it means money?

  Back to the time when we were small children

  The ‘Olden Days’ were approaching past tense

  Decimal currency hit the UK

  Goodbye to (L) pounds, (s) shillings, and (d) pence

  Penny for your thoughts? That’s twelve for a shilling

  And two hundred and forty for a pound

  Bargain basement nostalgia of times when

  Lsd made the world go round

  Bus fare to town was less than a ‘tanner’

  ‘Saturday Club’ at the old ABC

  Sometimes the Odeon showed better pictures

  If you had enough Lsd

  Beano and Dandy, Topper and Whizzer

  Catapults, cap-guns, balsa-wood planes

  Upstairs at toy stores for hours at a time

  How much Lsd for the trains?

  ‘Conkers’ was seasonal, ‘alleys’ as well

  ‘Footy’ was played every day, to a crowd

  ‘Ticky’, ‘Red Rover’ and ‘British Bulldog

  No Lsd! No girls allowed!

  Five Park Drive tipped and a book of matches

  Change from a ‘bob’, four Mojo’s, a bubbly

  Sweets were my cut, the ‘fags’ were my brother’s

  Back in the days of Lsd

  Just as Gran used to say, ‘those were the days’

  Childhood memories that won’t fade for me

  The addictions of children everywhere

  Nothing to do with LSD

  18. Fair Weather Friends

  Brutal but clever

  Birds of a feather

  Choose surrogates for their brood

  They don’t even watch

  As their own eggs hatch

  And others provide the food

  A similar trait

  And one we all hate

  Displayed by some we call friends

  Who live to receive

  Flatter to deceive

  Merely a means to their ends

  Isn’t it funny?

  When it gets sunny

  That’s when these leeches appear

  They stick to your back

  And feel like a sack

  But not full of Christmas cheer

  According to climate

  Leech becomes primate

  Not a chip on your shoulder

  Monkey on your back

  Always ‘all right Jack’

  Acceptance makes them bolder

  When weekends seem wet

  It’s an odds-on bet

  They’re gone in a cloud of dust

  They’re fair weather friends

  They’ll grab what life sends

  Taking advantage of trust

  Use plenty of salt

  If you want to halt

  Parasites; it’s better for

  Getting rid of pests

  With selfish interests

  More than just a metaphor

  19. More Speed, Less Haste

  Ferocious v Cautious

  Never hesitate

  Don’t procrastinate

  Strike while the iron is hot

  Don’t just stand and wait

  Don’t be so sedate

  React quickly as a shot

  No time like today

  Time won’t find a way

  When time is of the essence

  Wasting time won’t pay

  No time to delay

  Don’t give in to reticence

  A single mission

  No repetition

  Be courageous, don’t succumb

  To indecision

  There’s no revision

  Tomorrow may never come

  Choose a lower gear

  Careful as you steer

  Study, argue and debate

  Panic will bring fear

  Don’t hurry, stay clear

  Chill, mellow and marinate

  And biding your time

  Is never a crime

  Don’t let a rush of blood

  Cloud reason and rhyme

  Ridicule the sublime

  And convince you bad is good

  So contemplate, learn

  From bow to the stern

  You have to negotiate

  Each twist and turn

  In time you will earn

  The rewards of those who wait

  20 The Bottom Line

  I don’t hold in contempt the familiar

  Without intimacy, how then faith?

  Yet I yearn for acquaintance with the unknown

  Without wisdom, how could there be hope?

  People, places, things I know offer comfort

  Without respect, how then charity?

  But it’s you I turn to for sanctuary

  Without goodness, how could there be love?

  I don’t know who you are

  Still, I know my faith gives me strength

  I don’t know of your plans

  Still, I know you’re my only hope

  I don’t know I’m worthy

  Still, I accept your charity

  I can’t even prove you exist

  Still, I love you…still, I love you

  21. No Future

  The future ended a long, long time ago

  How do I know…? I was there!

  But guess what? You were also there, beside me

  It was more than I could bear

  Right now, in this stationary, timeless void

  It’s always late November

  Endless winter – mocking spring’s broken promise

  Taunting us to remember

  Now, there’s only the past to look forward to

  Ah! The past!…Oh! I can’t wait!

  A time of promise and great expectation

  A time to anticipate

  We will have cause to predict prosperity

  We will always get it right

  We will think of our other, before our self

  Why should we have cause to fight?

  All those careful plans, we’ll make for tomorrow

  We will feast upon the crumbs!

  …Asphyxiated by irony…we’ll know

  Why tomorrow never comes.

  22. Denial

  Do I really remember the Sixties?

  Seventies? As well as Eighties, Nineties

  Or is it only imagination?

  Events just my playful, youthful mind sees?

  Do I really remember The Beatles?

  Monochrome TV and the days before

  DVD, Internet, or Mobile Phone

  There’s just NO WAY I can be forty four!

  I refuse to believe I’m so ancient

  Therefore those memories of times gone by

  Mere visions of a fictional era

  As seen through the gleam in my father’s eye.

  23. Triolet – Time

  I’m thi
nking about Time

  And how it takes its toll

  On our bodies and minds

  I’m thinking…about time

  I started to prepare

  For when Time is no more

  I’m thinking. About time!

  Better late than never

  24. You’ll Live Forever, In My Heart And Mind

  Cast your spell, and conjure up your presence

  We’ll walk together, hand in hand, again

  Holding tightly, savouring the moment

  You’ll touch my heart, and smile your perfect smile

  A tree-lined avenue, springtime blossoms

  Pinks to deepest crimson; glistening jewels

  Reflecting shafts of evening’s golden glow

  Pale, by comparison to one so fair

  Aromatic, your favourite perfume

  Drifts to the rhythm of a silent breeze

  Surfing the senses, in wave after wave

  Until we reach the point of no return

  Compelled to walk away, by force unknown

  The scene rotates, but part of you remains

  The Earth emits a mournful, haunting sigh

  So final…so profound…the saddest thing

  Yet beautiful; a fitting, fond farewell

  In recognition of your life of love

  Echoing, and ever more intensely

  In moments of despair, sadness, or fear

  Calling out to me, offering succour

  Reaching, drawing me into your bosom

  ‘There, there’, you whisper; comfort to your child

  Your magic never really went away

  25. A Life Of Convenience

  What happens when all the good food runs out?

  When the supermarkets don’t open late?

  Will they expect us to just do without?

  To take the last resort and seal our fate?

  What happens when they shut their doors for good?

  Or bad, more like. What do people do then?

  The village stores are just not big enough

  To cope with the demands of hungry men

  There’ll be no choice; we’ll have to live on bread

  And water, just like prisoners in jail

  But our jail is the world that we have made

  We’ll have to put our houses up for sale

  Because we won’t be fit to go to work;

  Toiling on empty stomachs doesn’t pay.

  Are we not men? How come nobody knows?

  Where does all the food come from anyway?

  Take a look around you and you will see

  Many people, not as well-off as you

  People who have never known it better

  People from countries, not so well-to-do