Frank Turner

[fox69]

"Must Try Harder"

"Must Try Harder"



Mother loves me still despite
My failing health and lack of drive.
Shame on me, I could be so much better than I am.

Songs unfinished, post unopened,
Clothes unwashed and vows now broken.
Shame on me, I could be so much better than I am.

If I could just relax, then I could admit
That I don’t know what I want, but this is not it.
If I could just recall the dreams I had as a kid,
If I could just relax, if I could let my guard slip,
I’d be such a winner.

 

[fox69]

"My Kingdom For A Horse"

"My Kingdom For A Horse"



Would you pick your clothes up, put your clothes on,
Pack your things and go?
I’m tired of sinking this low.
Awkward semi-naked coffee conversations fade
Quicker than mistakes that were made.
Mornings when I’m coming down, being driven round the bend,
Make for days when I’m losing my friends
For all the little things that I have done and cannot make amends.

Don’t you ever kind of wish that the world would just stop?
That the band would pack up and the curtain would drop?
I’ve been stuck inside the same old nights, the same old days off,
And I need you now because I can’t get out of this.

Clean your mirrors, roll your notes out,
Put your cards away.
That’s a game that I don’t want to play anymore.
My head is sore, my throat is raw, and what’s more
I’m fifty pounds down to feel empty and poor,
Remembering the things that I believed when I was sober and sure.

And I’m trying to speak straight,
But I’m drunk and I’m lonely and you won’t believe me,
And I’m trying to see straight,
But I’ve been up for days and it scares you away,
And I’m trying to keep straight,
But I’d trade it all for just five minutes more
Of your wandering hands with their simple demands that are
All the things I ever wanted, better than the powder and pills,
All the things I ever needed, the only thing that doesn’t seem to kill,
That still makes me smile.

So if I tell you all the little things that I think that I need,
Will you tell me how to tell the world from the woods from the trees?
Because I’ve been stuck inside my comforting familiar disease,
And I need you now because I can’t get out,
And all over Europe the lights are going out,
And I’m pulling down the curtain, but every time I reach out
You’re gone.

 

[fox69]

"My Poor Friend Me"
(originally by Bad Religion)

"My Poor Friend Me"
(originally by Bad Religion)



I know a man
Who doesn't have many friends
I know a place he lives
Where trouble never ends
I know its hard for him
To read 'tween the lines
And his days are getting so much shorter
He simply turns away
And dons a bitter frown
His world is crumbling
His ship is weighted down
He doesn't care
As long as he can wear the crown
I know this man all too well
Its my poor friend me
A portrayal of the great dichotomy
(a reminder of a tragic history)
Its my poor friend me
And I'm running out of steam
I know there are people
Who are cynical and vain
They point their finger
'cuz they can't accept the blame
They live their lives
Under a blanket of shame and their progeny
Crawl from underneath it
Lately I've come
To see the solution
And it begins with me
But I'm so fallibly human
I've picked the lock
But will not turn the key

Of people running scared
We live, breathe and die
Off to a world, our time is slipping on by
We have solutions, but don't even try
And I feel I know just who to blame

 

[fox69]

"Nashville Tennessee"

"Nashville Tennessee"



From the heart of the Southern Downs, to the North-East London reservoirs,
From the start, the land scaped my sound, before I'd ever been to America.

And if I knew anybody who played pedal steel guitar,
I'd get them in my band and then my band would get real far,
But I was raised in middle England, and not in Nashville Tennessee,
And the only person in my band is me.

A simple scale on an old guitar, and a punk rock sense of honesty.
I cannot fail, I've got this far with no knowledge of mid-west geography.

And if I knew anywhere where I could drive in a straight line
For hours in the desert, I'd drive for hours at a time.
But I was raised in middle England, not in Nashville Tennessee,
And the only person in this car is me.

And yes I'm in four-four time, and yes I use cheap cheap rhymes,
But I try to make a sound my own.
I know I don't break new ground, many have travelled this sound,
But I try to make it sound like home.

Well I've been to Texas state, I didn't think it was that fucking great,
And Nebraska is just a bunch of songs,
Holloway and Hampshire where I belong.
And I don't know anybody who plays pedal steel guitar,
All the city roads are twisted and I do not own a car.
I was raised in middle England, not in Nashville Tennessee,
And the only thing I'm offering is me.

 

[fox69]

"Nights Become Days"

"Nights Become Days"



We soared in the dawn from the roof of the bar
When nights become days then you've gone too far
We listened to songbirds and rush hour cars and welcomed in the day
Peace in London in summertime is great,
On days like this I feel like I can escape
and things that I've done and mistakes that I've made.
I can wash it all away
We bathed like swimmers in the morning sun, and waiting for our night to end
We knew that one of us would come down hard and one of us would start again
We started out curious, it started out fun
We smoked in the woods when we were young
And secretly slipped something under our tongues
And danced the night away
But everyone stumbles on old cocaine
It burns up the best, and it burdens the brain
‘Til brown comes and whispers away the pain and you find you've lost your way
We bathed like swimmers in the morning sun, and waited for our night to end
We knew that one of us would come down hard and one of us would start again
You'd sink in the river for your death
You'd sleep with the fishes, and draw no breath
You'd swallow forever, till nothing's left
Take no rest
Oh my friend, if you made for the shore, you'd see us here, we're all waiting
Just cast your eyes down to the floor, you'll see us here, we're waiting
Don't sink in the river for your death
You can sleep in the shade, and draw some breath
You could start fresh tomorrow, and leave what's left
Please draw breath, please draw breath
Let's let nights become days
So come down kid the roofs not safe now
All your friends are waiting for you to get some rest

 

[fox69]

"Oh Brother"

"Oh Brother"



I never had a brother, old friend you had three.
You always said that if you had another one it would be me.
When you come through the flames, not everything has survived;
Forget about family now, we've got our old flyers,
Lame tattoos,
The in-jokes and memories,
The misspent youth.
And yeah we ran out of miles,
I guess that's true,
But I know I'll see you when I see you.

I had a new guitar, you had a drumkit,
And I knew the chords to "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Long summer afternoons washed out in the haze
I'll come round to your place, your folks are away
For a while,
So let's play
Till we're tired,
And then hey,
It's “Goodbye”,
But I know I'll see you when I see you.

This isn't where it ends;
The world will keep on turning,
We'll all make more mistakes, we'll all have time to make amends.
We'll carry different loads,
We'll all get different blisters,
Even so you know we'll miss them when we're finally out of road.

Time it will change us but don't you forget:
You are the only brother I've got.
I'll see you when I see you.

 

[fox69]

"Old Flames"
(duet with Billy the Kid)

"Old Flames"
(duet with Billy the Kid)



[Frank Turner:]
I went down to London Town to stay for the weekend
I'd been to long out on the road, I needed to catch up with my friends
But I didn't expect to see you there and I didn't expect to care
And I said, oh honey if I had known,
How the weekend would go,
Just how low I could go,
I would've stayed away

[Billy the Kid:]
I went back to town
Pack my things to say goodbye
But I got talked in to going for a drink and one drink became a night
If I'd know that you were 'round, I wouldn't have gone down
And I said, oh honey if I had seen,
Where this weekend would lead,
And seen the wreckage I'd leave,
I would've stayed away

[Frank Turner:]
And I always knew it was a bad idea
And I always knew I should just stay clear
I slipped up on a couple of months and a couple of beers
I'd like to fall in love again
But we're no good at being friends
It's just sex with the ex and the morning regrets

But do you remember
Back when we were young and unformed
It was all so much easier to give of yourself to fall in love, yeah
But as we get older and set in our ways
We hide in our hearts
But on nights like these
It can seem so much simpler
To simply forget why we ever grew apart

[Billy the Kid:]
I don't really know what you were thinking
Do you even think at all?
Car crash in slow motion the way that we falled into bed
I don't really know what I was drinking
I don't usually drink at all
I woke up with the hotel bill and an ache in my head

[Frank Turner & Billy the Kid:]
I'd like to fall in love again
We're no good at being friends
It's just sex with the ex and the morning regrets

And oh, honey,
It won't be the same
Oh, honey, we'll never change
We're drawn back into the flame
When we both, both should have stayed, stayed away

 

[fox69]

"On A Plain"
(originally by Nirvana)

"On A Plain"
(originally by Nirvana)



I'll start this off without any words
I got so high I scratched 'till I bled
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?
The finest day that I've ever had
Was when I learned to cry on commmand
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?

I'm on a plain, mmmm
I can't complain, mmmm
I'm on a plain, mmmm

My mother died every night
It's safe to say, quote me on that
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?
The black sheep got blackmailed again
Forgot to put on the zip code
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?

I'm on a plain, mmmm
I can't complain, mmmm
I'm on a plain, mmmm

Somewhere I have heard this before
In a dream my memory has stored
As a defence I'm neutered and spayed
What the hell am I trying to say?

It is now time to make it unclear
To write off lines that don't make sense
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?
And one more special message to go
And then I'm done, and I can go home
I love myself better than you
I know it's wrong so what should I do?

I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain

 

[fox69]

"Once We Were Anarchists"

"Once We Were Anarchists"



The demonstrations got boring –
Well it was obvious that the government was ignoring us.
It’s hard to drag yourself through empty streets
On an empty stomach and no sleep.
The shortcomings got clearer,
As the price we paid got dearer and dearer.
It’s supposed to be a case of give and take –
Well I was feeling the give and making a mistake.

And I’ve heard it said that the unexamined life
Isn’t much worth living, and I’m sure they’re right.
But it’s hard to keep on fighting the good fight
When no one else seems bothered, yeah,
When no one’s on your side.

I’ve got friends who are bankers,
And it’s an easy rhyme to call them wankers,
But I must say I envy the way that they live
In a style that’s all take and no give,
While I’m playing the Lone Ranger,
Riding to the rescue of six billion strangers,
Armed with only unoriginal songs
And a sense that something’s wrong.

And I must admit that I’m tired of saying “no” all the time.
But I must admit that I don’t really know what would be right.
And if politics is helping all the people then my political career is pretty fucked,
Because the truth is I don’t like people all that much.

The times they aren’t a-changing –
Yeah, England’s still shit and it’s still raining,
And everybody’s jaded and tired and bored
And no one lifts a finger because
It’s just not in our culture.
Our culture is carrion and we’re all vultures,
And no one seems bothered by this state of play –
It seems that the stench is with us to stay.

So I had a go, I tried examining life.
It wasn’t much worth living – I guess they’re right.
And I’m tired of fighting a fight that’s not my fight.
But so is everybody else – we’re all on the same side.

I’m young enough to be all pissed off
But I’m old enough to be jaded.
I’m of the age where I want things to change
But with age my hopes have faded.
I’m young and bored of being young and bored –
If I was old I could say I’d seen it all before.
In short, I’m tired, and in short I’m probably fired.
If the revolution doesn’t want me I don’t give a shit.

 

[fox69]

"One Foot Before The Other"

"One Foot Before The Other"



On the very day I die
The very last of my desires
Is that you take my broken body
And commit it to the fire

And then when the fire is finished
Scrape the ashes in a tin
Take them down to London’s drinking reservoirs
And throw them in

And then specks infinitesimal of my mortal remains
Will slide down 7 million throats and into 7 million veins
And I will creep through their capillaries to the marrow of their bones
And they will wake to bright new mornings and then wordlessly they’ll know

That I remain
I am remembered
I remain
I am remembered

So these 7 million innocents
They will have me in their blood
And when they die they’ll burn their bodies
Or be buried in the mud
And I will spread through streams and rivers like a virus through a host
From the hamlets to the cities from the rivers to the coast
And from there into the channel across the great Atlantic Ocean
And ever onwards to the new world
Through the waters gentle motions
Until parts of me are part of every land mass every sea
In the rain, up on your crops and in the very air you breath

I remain
I am remembered
I remain
I am remembered
I remain

And all the things I love will be washed away in the rain
I remain

I’m not convinced of the existence of these things that don’t exist
Yeah by Jewish boys with big ideas and scratches on their wrist
By a loving or a vengeful God
Or one who condescends
Who’ll wash his hands down in the mire among the misery of men
Or by ever turning circles hanging timeless in the sky
Like a dream catcher distracting from the fact you’re gonna die

But I place one foot before the other
Confident because
I know that everything we are right now is everything that was
That Watt Tyler, Woody, Guthrie, Dostoevsky and Davy Jones
Are all dissolved into the ether and have crept into my bones
And all the cells in all the lines upon the backs of both my hands
Were once carved into the details of two feet upon the sand

We remain
We are remembered
We remain
We are remembered
We remain

And all the things we love
Will be washed away in the rain
We remain