The Chris Chapple Corporation

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It's A Wonderful Life 
      good intentions
I could waste my words like water / or spend them on you / I could waste my time in education / just to know what to do / I was all good intentions / when I saw you today / and I'm learning slowly / to mean what I say. 
yes I was all good intentions / when you came up to my room / and all my good intentions were up there / orbiting the moon / and I saw a sign in your eyes / that said don't look away / and I shed all of those bad disguises / you could see through anyway. 
   inconsequences 
it's ok / for Rita May / to wake me up at three in the morning / drunk and thin / hankering / I let her in / she asked me twice / I told her twice / told her what I wanted from her / I wanted more than anything / to hear her sing. 
then we spent christmas eve in a basket / we spent boxing day in a box / making up for missing something / by always changing locks / until we're lost in consequences of the past / & I'm awaiting separation to come at last. 
I asked her twice / she told me twice / told me that she'd never sing for me / but what's all this analysis / of a goodbye kiss / still there's two things / I never told her / apart from that I'm loose & cheap / well one I'm holding on to what I took from her / & two is that she sings in her sleep. 
then I spent new year's eve looking forward / I spent new year's day in the past / making up for getting nowhere / by driving faster and faster / I spent new year's eve looking forward / I spent all new year looking back / & I'm making up for bad decisions / by painting the whole thing black... 
     a message I remember now 
well I sleep too much / my hands aren't steady / there's this hum / it's in my head / & words come out / before they're ready / to be said / I've been feeling so uninspired / it's not even / up & down / & all these things that once I so required / are just hanging 'round. 
cynical / I'm not / afraid of what I've got / a concentrated shot / I'm 29 so what / it's a lesson that I'm learning twice / because I never took my own advice / it's a message I remember now / came back to me somehow. 
I'm gonna put them deep / & get them dirty / get more than time on my hands / I know it's there / and I'll be ready / when inspiration lands / I'll put a brand new bulb in that socket / a brand new dust bag in my head / & I'll take my hands from the pocket of the dead. 
typical / I'm not / aware that i've been shot / I'm cold & then I'm hot / I'm falling down so what... 
     it's a love song 
it's a love song here I go / but it's a language I don't know / it would help to be in love I'm sure / I love to start & I love to quit / I'd love to work on the other bit / but I just can't do what's best for me no more. 
as I'm in love with love & not with anyone / I'm in love with love what should I do / where's that one true lover that was promised me? / it's not true. 
yeah she's playing hard to get / so hard I haven't met her yet / one step ahead I'm playing hard to want / I know it goes in ebbs & flows / & it's a rhythm that I know / it's a love song & it's my only confidante... 
   gravity 
heavy hearts & slow machinery / & water fall down to the sea / I didn't know how heavy things could be / until I made that deal with gravity / I didn't know / I'd get so low / so wish me well / as down I go. 
I said "gravity hold me down / gravity hold me down / I can't stay where I should be / I'm floating around". 
I thought I needed heavy things to say / or some windy day I'd just blow away / once I lived such a life of levity / until I made that deal with gravity / now I can't tell / from where I fell / so wish me well / 'cos down I go... 
   what are we waiting for?
she was almost there / almost there / but she lay herself out bare / she was talking fit to burst / he did not mind at first / but soon it just got worse. 
he thinks "what do I come here for? / there must be something more / I'm not just here for you to score". 
& with such heavy touch / she was made up way too much / in her hope to look more like such & such / well she came on too strong / came on too strong / she held his eyes for just a bit too long. 
she says "what are we waiting for? / there may be nothing more / the worst that we could do / is waste a day or two / the worst that we could do / is do no more. 
   out here, so long 
I used to be a city kind of guy / head full / feet dry / I was living with my back to the sea / I turned around / & it was looking at me. 
I used to be a lot more like you / head full of nothing new / I was twisting away from change / again & again / but the time came / now I've been out here so long / I'm gone. 
but now I can't tell the sky from the ocean / I can't tell if it's blue or it's green / I can't tell when the ship will go down / but hell I'm not afraid of that now that I've been... 
      taxi 
your car is parked outside / you're in for a hell of a ride / tonight in the darkness / I can't tell / if your eyes / are open as well / so I'm laying lines / & putting up signs / because you can't tell the difference / between taking my love & my time. if only I knew how / I'd stop these clocks right now / and we'd wait / but wait I hear the taxi / they got the call / I can see the lights flash pretty colours on my wall / they'll come up & they'll get us / they'll carry us down / they'll put us in the taxi / and we'll ride around. 
   jaded 
well I'm a cheerful little guy / just watch me smiling when I should cry / & I'm completely infatuated / but she's so jaded / she says he's got the whole world / in a mess / she says the old songs are the best / & there's nothing to believe in / no she's not easy to impress. 
I've been walking with my eyes closed / speaking someone else's lines / I thought that I could see what's coming / but I hit the lamp-post every time / it's just a question of perception / she says I'm really just naive / when all my wisdom is caught between / my sleepy head & my dream. 
I can't explain it / it's the exception to the rule / she's so jaded / she's complicated / yeah she's jaded / & beautiful. 
she keeps a pair of dice in her pocket / because she's always playing games / she keeps her bathtub full of water / sometimes she just goes up in flames / now I don't understand the attraction / I'm not supposed to I suppose / here it comes now / ah distraction / my resolution / there it goes...


  Whisky Bay 
 one day we'll both be well
Lately we’re so tired / but wired / & feeling uninspired / we’re aching / & shaking / it’s all the pills we’re taking / but isn’t each empty glass a bell in time? / & baby / just think of how they’ll chime / we’re flagging / feet dragging / cheery cheeks are sagging / you’re sneezing / & wheezing / your hands are always freezing / one day we’ll wake up feeling fine / until then / I’ll warm your hands with mine / one day we’ll wake up feeling fine / one day the only thing we’ll have is time / to forget perhaps we weathered / this slow collapse together / one day we’ll both be well again 

 if you love a leaver
in britain & berlin & byron / she was lonely but never alone / occasionally staying just to plug in and recharge her phone / but I was travelling ‘round in a circle / that touched her straight line on one side / I’d gotten so dizzy that I just went along for the ride / I don’t think we knew it was foolish / there’s wisdom that lies on one side / like starfish asleep we got carried away by the tide / we’d go out for drinking & dancing / we shared in a joke & a joint / did I really learn nothing from that shooting star out on the point / like if you love a leaver / then you’ll be left alright / it’s not how much you need her / or how you feel tonight / you should have known better / than to think you could change her / she said this has never been easy to do / she said it’s not me chris it’s you / you just have to be on your own for a month maybe two / she left in a cloudburst of silver / the sky was as red as a rose / somehow it’s only in songs you get exits like those / because if you love a leaver / then you’ll be left alright / it’s not how much you need her / or how you feel tonight / you’re doing a dumb thing / maybe you’re gonna learn something 

 what night-time did to me
has the night one thousand eyes / just to make the morning wise / or can it keep its secrets from the day / & does the daytime see / what the night-time did to me / I made a mistake I can’t afford to pay / in the artificial light / I couldn’t see quite right / & the alcohol was draining through my head / the music was all I could hear / & the smoke got in my ear / I guess I didn’t hear what you said 

 over my head
humour me / baby me / I’m a willing conversee / but just now I didn’t understand one thing you said / full of wisdom / or full of words / what I’m hearing sounds absurd / & my big ears don’t mean that I’m easily lead / & with everything that you say / still you somehow give nothing away / or maybe it all just goes over my head / what’s that sound I hear / coming through / there’s a note there that rings untrue / maybe you’ve let your circumstance go to your head / & when you explained what you did / & how it made you feel just like billy the kid / how you’re a dog for a bone or a whore for a bed / it went over my head…/ & when you said you told me the truth / I might as well just climb up to the roof / ask the stars in the sky for an answer instead / over my head…/I guess I dug the truth out of you / don’t ask why that’s just something I do / I thought I could take it / I said shoot / so you shot & I bled / I’m over my head 

 one day we'll both be well again
Lately we’re so tired / but wired / & feeling uninspired / we’re flagging / feet dragging / cheery cheeks are sagging / too weak to eat / too tired for sleep / but baby / these passions don’t come cheap / my eyes are pining / declining / I’m sure they should be shining / you’re sneezing / & wheezing / your little hands are always freezing / one day we’ll wake up feeling fine / until then / I’ll warm your hands with mine / one day we’ll wake up feeling fine / one day the only thing we’ll have is time / to forget perhaps we weathered / this slow collapse together / one day we’ll both be well again / sure I’ve saved / behaved / but don’t think I’m unscathed / I’m aching / & shaking / it’s all the pills I’m taking / no weary heart’s a valentine / & baby / don’t you feel that it’s time / / one day we’ll wake up feeling fine / one day our blood-shot little eyes will shine / we’ll forget where things were thinning / we’ll make our new beginning / one day we’ll both be well again 

 seen on the surface
well / now I’ve got more holes in my skin / than I really need for breathing / I feel my last religion leaving / room for sin / just can’t explain this mood I’m in / communication it’s so feeble / just like the pattern on a beetle / it’s seen on the surface…of my skin / I’d like to slow these changes down / but then it’s change that I believe in / you only love those things you’re leaving / but I’m no longer nervous / I’m full of gin / and just like it was scratched in with a pin / it’s seen on the surface…of my skin 

 perfection
today’s the perfect day / or a perfect world away / to lay down the cards for all to see / I could have told you from the start / because an old imperfect heart / swings like a pendulum in me / I told you from the start / we were sold imperfect parts / must I explain all this to you / see perfection / here’s the thing / it’s a pinhole not a pin / too small to see one damn thing through / in time your perfect smile / will turn away / to fix on something new / they always do / it’s a crime that perfect rhyme / will come untrue / & fall back in two / perfection left its mark on you /  you say I could be wrong / because the pull you feel is strong / you don’t need to take these things from me / when the lips which kissed your eyes / and the tongue that took your size / told you those lies so perfectly / you can suck-start some bleeding heart / with sympathy / it’s the way I’ve known you to / yeah it’s true / in time that perfect rhyme / will turn on you / & fall back in two / perfection never will be true 

 whisky bay
sober the land / but drunk is the ocean / and each time you leave / I dream of the sea / because outside my room / the cars on the highway/ sound just like the water to me / now I love the sea / but I hate the horizon / it lures the ships / over the brink / the red sky at night / is the sailors’ delight / but the red sky at dawn just means too much to drink / eyes blue / there’s someone in love with you / eyes green / there’s something you’ve seen / if they’re brown / somebody has turned you down / red / well it’s something I’ve said / but there by the sea / the melody comes to me / but words just won’t fit / the way that I planned them / this semi-detached auto-fictography / I might as well write with a stick in the sand / once my mind was unclouded/ but now my mind is unclear / I count on the tide / I’ll let her decide / how long I wait for you here / because once my love was un troubled / but twice my love was untrue / if this is the end / my foul-weather friend / how long should I wait here for you 

 old skin
there’s a place in-between / the blood and the skin / between one too thick / the other too thin / where the plans that I had / were left & went bad / but were good to begin / there are things that I keep / & things I discard / there’s a box of those buried / deep out in the yard / I just can’t understand why / in this world / did I try / to become so hard / I’d broken my back / loading my pack / with junk that I’d found / got too heavy to haul / so I just let it fall / when no-one’s around / lord I try to be good / I wish you could see / the bad things I do / are mostly to me / but good it’s a fact / isn’t all that it’s cracked / my mind up to be / now I just can’t help / but punish myself / for letting you down / so I eat ‘til I’m green / smoke ‘til I’m steam / come ‘til I’m clean / drink ‘til I drown / but lately I’ve learned / the way to return / the way to restore / all the bridges I’ve burned / & lately I’ve been / shedding old skin / it won’t be long before / I’m a baby again.