Al Stewart

"Beleeka Doodle Day"

"Beleeka Doodle Day"



I could have gone to Cambridge with Lionel
I think I tried to raise a pound
Just to see the University
And find the scenes she hung around

Is your mind a menagerie
Perhaps, I mean it's hard to say
A pterodactyl built its nest on me
I'm feeling strange but quite OK
On this beleeka doodle day

Archimedes and his orchestra
Loudly disapprove of life
Got mad when I called them unmusical
Tried to land me with a wife

Out in San Francisco's wonderland
The purple poet kneels to pray
But I just hang around your city and
I don't have anything to say
On this beleeka doodle day

I had a week once in Italy
With Mike and Robin and some songs
I had a girl once in Sweden but
I haven't seen her for too long

I drift down to the Cousins and
The usual people were all there
I saw a girl in the soft red light
I smiled but she looked away
On my beleeka doodle day

I wrote a song just before the dawn
And then I lost it now its gone
I spent all day playing Monopoly
It seemed to feel like getting on

Sometimes I wonder how it feels to be
Paul McCartney or the Queen
I wonder how they'd feel if they were me
I think its gonna start to rain
On this beleeka doodle day

Oh Jack the Ripper and Hippocrates
They're out to get me in the end
I think they'll find me by the ruined trees
Without a candle or a friend
Then they'll bring me to the wizard's cave
Softly mould me into clay
And lock me in with no telephone
And laugh and throw the keys away
On my beleeka doodle day

So to Avril and I would like to give
My thanks for lending me your room
I stayed one night, ah but I had to go
I think I'll maybe come back soon

Of all the girls that I have ever known
There wasn't one who didn't play
They came and went just like the newspapers
And left me here to find my way
Through my beleeka doodle day

"Belsize Blues"

"Belsize Blues"



The roof started leaking and the stairs were squeaking
There was water running down the walls
So we took down the carpet, scrubbed down the parquet
And the drains overflowed in the hall
In the pub across the street it was two feet deep
And the chairs were floating away
In the Chinese store all the food was on the floor
And they were wondering who was going to pay.

But it's alright now, she said
I'm a little bit tired, a little bit wet
But it's alright now, she said
Though I believe I have the Belsize Blues.

Conrad's bistro, the nights a go-go
With people talking over the flood
And Jenny from the newsdesk is looking at her shoes
Just to see is she's avoided the mud
And Annie comes slowly with a pile of ravioli
Fried chicken and a soup of the day
Moving ‘round the table, she's a little Betty Grable
In the way she's got her hair today.

But I'm alright now, she said
I'm a little bit tired, a little bit wet
But I'm alright now, she said
Though I believe I got the Belsize Blues.

Philadelphia seems like a part of my dreams
And I cannot believe that I held the sleeve of her coat
But now the night is clear as a chandelier
And the trees are turning the water into a moat.

We finally got cleared and the neighbours disappeared
We were sitting down for a rest
When the TV blew and the lights all fused
And the wine spilled all over her dress
So I lit up a candle, poured up a brandy
I was trying to get into a groove
And I was kissing her on the chin when the roof fell in
And I decided I was going to move.

But I'm alright now, she said
I'm a little bit tired, a little bit wet
But I'm alright now, she said
Though I believe I got the Belsize Blues.

That's as far as it goes now
Well, I don't suppose.

"Black Hill"

"Black Hill"



Hey, won't you come look at the sunrise
Peeping up into the blue skies
Washing away the morning chill
That hangs like a cloak over Black Hill

"Broadway Hotel"

"Broadway Hotel"



You told the man in the Broadway Hotel
Nothing was stranger than being yourself
And he replied, with a tear in his eye
Love was a rollaway
Just a cajole away
Mist on a summer's day
Nothing was clear
Love was a smile away
Just a defile away
I sought it every way
No-one came near

You asked the man for a room with a view
Nothing was said as he stared at his shoe
Then he replied as he gave you the key
Love was a rollaway
Just an unfold away
That's all there is to say
No-one came near

Alone in your room you hide
As the night rolls by
In the street outside
And you feel over the words he said
Till they turn to rain all around your head

You're seeking a hideaway
Where the light of day
Doesn't touch your face
And a door-sign keeps the world away
Behind the shades
Of your silent day.

You made your home in the Broadway Hotel
Room service came at the push of a bell
And the man said as he put down the tray
Love was a stealaway
Just a reveal away
I tried to find a way
Nothing was clear
Then as he turned away
You asked the man to stay
He was there all the day
No-one came near

"Cafe Society"

"Cafe Society"



Late at night
When reality's failing and nothing is prevailing but the wind, I come to you
Out of sight
Like a fugitive trailing across a barren land, you let me in, you always do.

My reason is caught by a sudden gust of lateral thought that sweeps me far beyond
It's the opium of the night
And the ocean of words that we throw in the air grow more absurd and nobody seems to care
It's a refugee's respite.

Café Society.

Late at night (late at night)
While the city lies sleeping and solitude is keeping me awake, I think of you
Dim your lights (dim your lights)
Oh, I want to sink deep in that river of oblivion you make, I need it too.

Let me check-in my mind with my coat at the door ‘cause I want to go flying where I've never been before
Some inviting dark ravine
If the hand that you hold in the dead of the night is a little too cold, the body seems just right
It's a Toulouse Lautrec scene.

Café Society.

(‘Excuse me, sir, are you a member?’)

"Candy Came Back"

"Candy Came Back"



Candy came back to amazing acclaim
Saying: ‘If this is love give me more of the same’
The people were waiting in crowds for the sight
Of her face in the car driving into the night.

And she says: ‘They gotta have someone’
’I might as well let it be me’
’For all my life was a dream’.

In the shops and the factories they talk about you
And the girls in the street wear their hair like you do
Hordes of reporters are always at hand
And the cameras are ready whenever you land.

But she says: ‘It couldn't be better’
’I don't let it get in my way’
’All my life was a dream’.

I'm not sentimental for the ticker tape life
I could lose it all in just the card of the night
So don't you worry about the things that I do
There are times I need to get away from you
But every time I try to close my door
I seem to fascinate you more and more and more.

Candy came back to amazing acclaim
Through the hot summer night they were calling her name
They seemed to be drawn by the power of her fame
Like a gull to the water, a moth to the flame.

But she says: ‘Oh, it's not what I did’
’And they saw what they wanted to see’
’For all my life was a dream’.

"Carol"

"Carol"



Sometimes it seems unimaginable
That you were ever any other way
With your white rose face and your orphan clothes
Embroidered jeans and silver chains
You're a well known face in all the hang-out places
Where the lost souls congregate
You sit all night, but you talk too fast
I don't know what you're trying to say

Oh Carol, I think it's time for running for cover, a-ha
Believe me, you're everyone's and nobody's lover, a-ha
You've got a one-way ticket for all your yesterdays

I know your daddy said he'd talk to you
But he never really found the time
And your TV mother with her cocktail eyes
Could never really reach your mind
So you fixed your star to a passing dream
And took a cocaine holiday
Now the years flow round you in a muddy stream
And you need another place to stay.

Oh Carol, I think it's time for running for cover, a-ha
Believe me, you're everyone's and nobody's lover, a-ha
You've got a one-way ticket for all your yesterdays

Reach down, silvery ship from the stars, I know you're there
I know you'll understand me, you can take me anywhere
I know you must be there

Well, sometimes it seems impossible
That the game could get that rough
But the stage is set, the exit's barred
And the make-up won't come off
So you make your bow to the balcony
You light another cigarette
And the lights grow dim as the music starts
And it's easy to forget

Oh Carol, I think it's time for running for cover, a-ha
Believe me, you're everyone's and nobody's lover, a-ha
You've got a one-way ticket for all your yesterdays

Reach down, silvery ship from the stars, I know you're there
I know you'll understand me, you can take me anywhere
I know you must be there

"Charlotte Corday"

"Charlotte Corday"



If you hear a step upon
Your stair tonight
If you see a shadow in
The candle light
It's only your imagination
Leading you astray
See her for a moment
Then she'll slip away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday

She wanders down the hallway
In a long black dress
And lingers by the fireplace
Like a faint caress
Just what it is that brings her here
No man alive can say
See her for a moment
Then she melts away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday

Stars in the window like a panoply
Covering everything
River of night
Stars in the window
See them shining for
Anyone else, anyone else

The clock ticks in the dark and now
The night is still
The air is like a murmur
On the window sill
All at once there's someone there
That only you can see
Seeking the forgiveness
That will set her free
The wind has taken away
The words she wanted to say
The sky is now turning gray
The dawn is turning away
The ghost of Charlotte Corday

"Class Of '58"

"Class Of '58"



Old jazz guys being interviewed
Thirty years beyond their prime
With memories of road shows
From the Golden Age of Swingtime
The piano player strikes a chord
Leans forward on his stool
And through they've all seen better days
They've got that air of faded cool
It's an entree of another world
One of tailcoats and victrolas
And one day they'll make TV shows
On aging rock-and-rollers
On aging rock-and-rollers

Then came the kid with the red Colorama
And the Watkins copycat echo chamber and the toothy grin
With one hand glued to the tremolo arm
While the singer moves around like an Elvis clone
They really packed them in
And every song was short and sweet, and every beat was fast
And every paper in the land said rock-and-roll won't last
You know it just won't last, it's such a rapid burn
And it's a hard, hard, hard lesson to learn
It's a hard, hard, hard lesson to learn

Well what are you going to do when it's all over?
What are you going to do right now?
What are you going to to when it's all over?
Will you get along somehow?
I just don't know
Feeling like I do right now
Ask me tomorrow

Red guitar, red guitar
You know I really miss that red guitar
Red guitar, red guitar
You know I really miss that red guitar

And you can write this on my tombstone
That'll be my fate
I'm a gradute of rock-and-roll
Class of '58

'58, '58, I'm a graduate of the class of '58
Red guitar, '58, I'm a graduate of the class of '58

And there's no use analyzing these anthems that were sung
Rock-and-roll's not good or bad
It's just the sound of being young
And it's a long long way from pompadours
And doo-wop and payola
And one day they'll make TV shows on aging rock-and-rollers
One day they'll make TV shows on aging rock-and-rollers.