SITTING TARGET MUSIC

(words and music by Dave Milligan)

the girl with the backpack jumps wide-eyed from the train
like she's learning parachuting in a burning plane
and she runs all the way
from the station to the bar
downs a quick budvar
and picks up a guitar
she days she likes a little panic, says it gives her an edge
makes her little stage feel like a window ledge

she says "it's someone else's turn to be me
cos there are lots of other people who I'd really like to be
and while I'm being someone with a bit more clout
someone else can haul my baggage about
because it's someone else's turn to be me"

the man with the glass eyes looks through windows all day
if you ask him what he does he doesn't know what to say
then he runs to the gym and he runs off the flab
then runs down to the bar and he runs up a tab

and thinks "it's someone else's turn to be me
cos there are lots of other places that i'd really ike to see
and while i'm seeing something that i've never seen
someone else can glare at this miserable screen
because it's someone else's turn to be me"

six months later they meet
in the same london street
on her way to the gym
she runs square into him
as they get up from the floor
he feels he's seen her before
comes and watches her play
and finds he knows what to say
and so they talk about plans
and they leave holding hands
she moves into his flat
and for two decades that's that
he says "i once was a mug
but now i'm a cup
and you are the saucer
that's holding me up"

they're doing just what they did
with an additional kid

who thinks "it's someone else's turn to be me
cos there are lots of other places that i'd really like to be
and while i'm living it up where it's all going down
someone else can fester in this tedious town
because it's someone else's turn to be me"

(words and music by Danny Scott)

You took your time didn’t you?
You never lied like the others used to
And I never really knew you
But now your life story’s suddenly see-through
I guess that’s ok
Because there’s nothing that we can do
Except wait
Till we’re beaten, black and blue

Your tattoos tell a tale or two
You loved your mam like I never could do
And the bright lights would sometimes blind you
But I knew you’d always come to me rescue

We just needed more time
But that’s the one thing I can’t give you
And so I’m left here
Beaten, black and blue

Even though you’re half the reason that I never did much with my life
You always gave me everything ‘cos you were never sure what I’d like
I wish I’d kept it ‘cos it’s not the sort of thing you can buy now
So goodbye now
I think we know where we stand

You took your time didn’t you?

(Words & music by Dave Milligan)

These lines are short
So I can get them out through my clenched teeth:

Just like a chorus
Coming round again
Coming round again, again
Just like a chorus
Coming round again
Coming round again, again

It’s hard to play along
But was I always wrong
The bruise you left was real
Its taken time to heal

Just like a chorus
Coming round again
Coming round again, again

These lines are short
So I can get them out through my clenched teeth

I didn’t always do
What you’d’ve liked me to
But why treat me so rough?
I thought I’d done enough

It’s hard to play along
But was I always wrong
You left a bruise that’s real
It’s taking time to heal

Just like a chorus
Coming round again
Coming round again, again

Man hands to man
Step by step on down to your own hell
Back in the van
And don’t forget to take your kids as well

(words and music by Dave Milligan)

sometimes i don't reflect in mirrors
i just don't give off light
cos if you spend too long reflecting
you flicker out of sight

but other times - I gleam like polished brass
and other times - my head's as clear as glass
because a mirrorball's just seven years' bad luck until
it's hit by a light in the dark

sometimes i don't appear in pictures
my understudy's in place
he has a number of my features
but doesn't have my face

but other times - i can just be myself
leave out the act - the the mask upon the shelf

because a picture isn’t worth a thousand words until
it’s struck by a flash of light

SOLO

sometimes i am the poor relation
i don't know what i'm worth
and why would i believe in Heaven?
when i found you on earth

and thanks to you - i know just what to say
and thanks to you - I fall in love everyday

because a mirrorball's just seven years' bad luck until.....

sometimes i can't complete my sentence

(words by Dave Milligan, music by Dave Milligan & Gareth Hall)

Seems to me you passed me in the night
And floated out of sight
A ship of fools left floundering around then run aground
An island far away
Where no one wants to stay
But no one ever leaves in case the current drags them down

There's no way you can win this inhuman race
What we need's a reunited state of grace
And I think we'll end up in the self-same place
We'll be in a re united state of grace

Seems a big hand parted the Dead Sea
Supporting you and me
And we were lost and tossed to our great cost internally
When we hit the beach
Our home was out of reach
The blind giving the bland a guiding hand and eyes to see

And I think we'll end up in the self-same place
See you in a reunited state of grace
From the shrapnel made of bits of broken heart
Thrown together just as we were thrown apart

No man is an island; don't surround yourself with sharks
Tell her all your sweetest nothings; leave out all your sour remarks
You don't have to both be diamonds, you don't have to both be rocks
Don't lock up your hearts of gold in separate vaults with separate locks
Use your gentlest persuasions, don't use blackmail and bribes
Tell her all your juicy stories, leave out all your pithy jibes

No way can we both win this inhuman race
Head towards a reunited state of grace
We can turn the other cheek and not lose face
We'll be in a reunited state of grace
From the shrapnel made of bits of broken heart
Thrown together just as we were thrown apart
Two directions up the same old piece of track
One way forward 'cos you know you can't go back

(words and music by Chris Healey)

-lyrics available at www.arco.org.uk-

(words & music by Dave Milligan)

it’s not the change that haunts me
but the things that stay the same
the ones who didn’t move away
the bar that only changes name

the world belongs to someone else
the roads we took are gone
and someone dug the garden up
and someone thought the house looked wrong

back to the elephants’ graveyard
on one last excursion
back to the rusty old junkyard
the whole trip as one long diversion

back to the elephants’ graveyard
the journey ends where you departed
back to the swing in the backyard
around the world and back to where you started

I stand and watch the conga line
snake into the past
I wish that I had joined in time
I was too young, they moved too fast

back to the elephants’ graveyard
on one last excursion
back to the rusty old junkyard
the whole trip was one long diversion

I went away and made a life
When I came back you’d gone
You took a husband, lost a wife
You sold the place up and moved on

back to the elephants’ graveyard
on one last excursion
back to the rusty old junkyard
the whole trip as one long diversion

(words and music by Dave Milligan)

She smells like you
And I wonder if she's got the things you've got
She smells like you
And I wonder if she'll be here when you're not

And now I'm going off my head
Retracting things I never said
Undoing things I never did
Unearthing things I never hid
You wouldn't get into my bed
She wouldn't get out of my head
And now I'm on my own instead

She laughs like you
But the times that we weren't laughing we would row
She laughs like you
And I wonder if she's laughing at me now?

(Breakdown)
(Solo)

My friends have told me I'm a fool
And that I'm using both of you
They say I'll get what I deserve
Just playing her as a reserve
Although we've been this way before
And now you're showing me the door
There's something I must know for sure:

She smells like you
And I wonder if she's this fresh every day
She smells like you
Is she getting up your nose in the same way?

(words & music by Dave Milligan)

All these people working at the weekend
All these people writing on the walls
Everybody shouts
And everybody pouts
Everybody kicks you in the balls

CHORUS:

Oh yeah!
We’re going back to Grandma’s
Oh Yeah!
We’re walking in the rain
Oh yeah!
We’re gonna fit the jigsaw
Oh yeah!
We’re going back again

All these people whining on the weekdays
All these people sleeping on the train
Text instead of speech
Know instead of teach
Everybody’s showing you their pain (no thanks)

CHORUS:

Oh yeah!
We’re going back to Grandma’s
Oh Yeah!
We’re walking down the lane
Oh yeah!
We’re gonna quit the bourgeois ("what's bourgeois?")
Oh yeah!
We’re going back again

All these people leaping to conclusions
All these people shouting into phones
Everyone’s in groups
And everybody snoops
But everybody wants to live alone

CHORUS:

Oh yeah!
We’re going back to Grandma’s
Oh Yeah!
We’re going back for tea
Oh yeah!
Go back up on the see-saw
Oh yeah!
She’s gonna spoil me

Oh yeah!
We’re going back to Grandma’s
Oh Yeah!
We’re walking down the lane
Oh yeah!
We’re gonna quit the bourgeois
Oh yeah!
We’re going back again

(words & Music by Dave Milligan)

I thought I'd leave this note for you
Before I go away
In case you find me & I've changed
And don't know what to say

I have to go
It hurts us if I stay
Remember me
Before I slip away

Do you recall the old black dog
I couldn't bear to see
I need you to remember him
& not to look for me

You try to thrive
in the shadow that I throw
To stay alive
One of us has got to go

If you cut out the bruise
What's left of this old fruit will be OK
If you cut out the core
From the inside the flesh will rot away
Will I still be me? Well I Wouldn't dare to say
-Before I go away.

I saw a tired old man today 
and I asked him what to do
He said I had to treat myself
To find a cure for you

And so I leave this note for you
Before this thing takes me
Two souls fighting for one mind
Is an ugly thing to be

We both depend
On a single limping heart
This is the end
Pull and watch it come apart

Do you recall the bitter days
The times when life was black
I need you to remember them
In case you want me back

And so I leave these words to you
Before this thing takes me
My aching mind & twisting heart
Will finally be free

(words and music by Dave Milligan)

I don't know how to start
cos I won't know when to stop 
and I don't know what to say
cos I won't know what to drop

but my hands are very big
and my head is very full
and my mouth is working hard
but I'm only spitting bull
grab its horns - have a cow
cos I think I'm ready now
for my close-up

I'm ready for my close-up
Mr DeMille-again
it's time to turn my nose up at what's making me ill-again
all the craggy lines that I've carved out over time 
and all the numbered greying strands and the backs of both my hands 
and the stubble and the spot and the teeth I haven't got
In my close up

I didn't have the gall
for the monsters in the hall
So I hid under my bed
for a dozen years instead

watched the world from the floor
through the crack under the door
sick of choking on the fluff
i'm coming out, i've had enough

Now I'm up and I'm back
And I'm ready for my crack
At my close up

I'm ready for my close-up
Mr DeMille-again
it's time to turn my nose up at what's making me ill-again
all the craggy lines that I've carved out over time
and all the numbered greying strands and the cuts on both my hands
and the eyes that always pierce
when i don't mean to look fierce
In my close up

i'm gonna know more than your shoes
i'll show the face i couldn't bear to lose
i'm going to get some inspiration
i'm gonna switch off my playstation
i'm on a 4-star caffeine buzz
i'm only doing this for us

I'm ready for my close-up
Mr DeMille-again
it's time to turn my nose up at what's making me ill-again
all the craggy lines that I've carved out over time
and all the numbered greying strands and the backs of both my hands
and the stubble and the spot and the teeth I haven't got
In my close up

Contact us at mailto:info@sittingtarget.net

There’s no fool like an old fool and I’m older and more foolish everyday;

Optimism overcomes the evidence and blows it all away

(But it’s lurking in the corner)

There’s no thrill like a new thrill, like a new toy on a grasping Christmas day

But what’s still there by autumn? Just the good stuff and the rest is thrown away

(Or hidden in the closet)

Let’s play

Squeak piggy squeak and bling drunk’s buff

Let’s play

Let’s play while we’re still young enough

There’s no songs like the old songs and we’ll sing ‘em as we’re dancing out the door

And every generation writes their new songs, but we’ve heard them all before

(Sing it loud; my ears are tired)

Let’s play

Let’s play a song that fills the room

Let’s play

While we can still carry a tune

Out in the long grass

Out in the sun

Before our free bus pass

While we can still run

Let’s play

Why stay in when you want to come out?

Let’s play

Be the parents that our people warned us about

He was born in the sixties on a promise of free love and music

By the century’s end he’d be working a two day week

Now the music is free but the love’s only there if you make it

And he’s working so hard that he’s almost unable to sleep

            He’d be riding around on a monorail train

            Full of miracle drugs so he’d feel no pain

He’s a 60s man with an 80s life

And a naughty kid and a 90s wife

He’s a 60s man with an 80s life

And the young would take all that was best; stuff it all in their pockets

Do the good stuff and leave all the rest to be done by machines

And we all would expand our horizons on drugs and on rockets

But the world of tomorrow turned out to be yesterday’s dreams

            He’s still limping around on a routemaster bus

            And the miracle drug just makes him one of us

And not a 60s man with an 80s life

And a naughty kid and a 90s wife

He’s a 60s man with an 80s life

For all the girls who never were:

He loved you all in his own way

And with your style, and with your smiles

You made him what he is today