Recently I’ve been playing two Belle & Sebastian albums a lot: Dear Catastrophe Waitress and The Life Pursuit.
Stay Loose is from the earlier album and is an example of how their lyrics are anything but mindless. While it lacks the brilliant couplets that Martin Fry of ABC puts in his songs, I do like this song a great deal. And this song, like the best songs of ABC, was produced by the wonderful Trevor Horn, formerly of The Buggles, Yes, and The Art of Noise.
I was choking on a cornflake
You said, “Have some toast instead”
I was sleeping maybe three hours
You said, “You should get to bed”
I was waiting at the church door
For the minister to show
I was looking at the new year
You said, “Walk before you crawl”
I was feeling like a loser
You said, “Hey, you’ve still got me”
I was feeling pretty lonely
You said, “You wanted to be free”
I was looking for a good time
You said, “Let the good times start”
With a quiver of your eyelid
You took on someone else’s part
But what about me
I don’t really see
How things will improve
All you want is to stay…
Maybe I’m a little greedy
You said, “Think before you speak”
Sometimes I’m a little seedy
You said, “Everyone is weak”
Now I feel a little better
Is there something I can do?
But I never heard the answer
I never had a clue
But what about me
I don’t really see
How things will improve
All you want is to stay…
The lights are out in the house tonight
And I creep around
And I creep into your head
All you want is to stay loose
There’s a little echo calling
Like a miner trapped inside
If I tell her of this moment
She will in me doubt confide
And she’s on me like a blanket
Like a stalk of wilting grass
I’m not sure about her motive
I’m not sure about her past
But my faith is like a bullet
My belief is like a bolt
The only thing that lets me sleep at night
A little carriage of the soul
If it starts a little bleaker
Then the year may yet be gold
Happiness is not for keeping
Happiness is not my goal
So what about me
I don’t really see
How things will improve
All you want is to stay loose
Oh what about them
You play mother hen
To a gaggle of gangling youth
All you want is to stay…
The lights are out in the house tonight
And I creep around
And I creep into your head
All you want is to stay…
I was living through the seconds
My composure was a mess
I was miles from tenderness
It was dark outside, the day it was broken in pieces
Everything is flat and dreary
I couldn’t care what’s in the news
Television is the blues
Television is hysterical laughter of people
And I know it could be me
I’m always asking for more, more, more, more
I keep running round in circles
I keep looking for a doorway
I’m going to need two lives
To follow the paths I’ve been taking.
MEADOR.ORG 