The Kinks

[fox69]

 

[fox69]

"(A) Face In The Crowd"

"(A) Face In The Crowd"



Our Star doesn't know who he is any
More. Is he the starmaker, the image
Maker, looking for material or is he
Just plain boring little Norman after
All? Perhaps he should accept that he
Is a plain ordinary bloke and not try to
Be something he is not.

(A) Face In The Crowd

I've got to stop faking it,
I've got to start facing it,
I'm going to take my final bow
Then I'm going to take my place in the crowd.
I know I'll get used to it,
I've got to stop acting like a clown.

I've gotta start facing up to what I really am.
I've got to realise l'm just an ordinary man.
I think that I'll just settle down
And take my place in the crowd.
I don't want to lie to myself any more.

Am I just a face in the crowd, is that all I'll ever be?
Don't want to be anything that isn't really me.
Mister, can you tell me who I am?
Do you think I stand out
Or am I just a face in the crowd?

 

[fox69]

"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman"

"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman"


Woke up this morning, started to sneeze
I had a cigarette and a cup of tea
I looked in the mirror what did I see
A nine stone weakling with knobbly knees
I did my knees bend press ups touch my toes
I had another sneeze and I blew my nose
I looked in the mirror at my pigeon chest
I had to put on my clothes because it made me depressed
Surely there must be a way
For me to change the shape I'm in
Dissatisfied is what I am
I want to be a better man

Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman
Superman Superman I want to be like Superman
I want to be like Superman
Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman

Woke up this morning, what did I see
A big black cloud hanging over me
I switched on the radio and nearly dropped dead
The news was so bad that I fell out of bed
There was a gas strike, oil strike, lorry strike, bread strike
Got to be a Superman to survive
Gas bills, rent bills, tax bills, phone bills
I'm such a wreck but I'm staying alive

[Look in the paper, what do I see,
Robbery, violence, insanity.]

Hey girl we've got to get out of this place
There's got to be something better than this
I need you, but I hate to see you this way
If I were Superman then we'd fly away
I'd really like to change the world
And save it from the mess it's in
I'm too weak, I'm so thin
I'd like to fly but I can't even swim

Superman Superman I want to fly like Superman
Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman
Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman
Superman Superman I want to be like Superman
Superman Superman I want to fly like Superman

 

[fox69]

"20th Century Man"

"20th Century Man"



This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare,

This is the twentieth century,
But too much aggravation
It's the age of insanity,
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem.

Ain't got no ambition, I'm just disillusioned
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.
My mama said she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Just give me some security,
I'm a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century.

You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I'll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough,

Girl we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't want to die here.

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
Cos the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.

Don't wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman,
Gotta keep a hold on my sanity
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna die here.

My mama says she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Ain't got no security,
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.

 

[fox69]

"A Gallon Of Gas"

"A Gallon Of Gas"



I've been waiting for years to buy a brand new cadillac
But now that I've got one I want to send it right back
I can't afford the gas to fill my luxury limousine
But even if I had the dough no one's got no gasoline

I went to my local dealer to see if he could set me straight
He said there's a little gas going but I'd have to wait
But he offered some red hot speed and some really high grade hash
But a gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere for any amount of cash

I can score you some coke and some grade one grass
But I can't get a gallon of gas
I've got some downers some speed all the drugs that you need
But I can't get a gallon of gas
There's no more left to buy or sell
There's no more oil left in the well
A gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere
For any amount of cash

Two extra verses from long version:
I love your body-work, but you're really no use
How can I drive you when I got no juice?
Because it's stuck in neutral and my engine's got no speed
And the highways are deserted
And the air smells unnaturally clean.

It's got power-assisted overdrive and carpets on the floor,
But it's parked out front just like a dead dinosaur.
And I'll be paying off the bank for 45 years or more.
It should go 100 miles an hour,
But it's never moved away from my door.

Who needs a car and a seven-forty-seven
When you can't buy a gallon of gas
Who needs a highway, an airport or a jet
When you can't get a gallon of gas
There's no more left to buy or sell
There's no more oil left in the well
A gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere
For any amount of cash
You can't buy a gallon of gas

 

[fox69]

"A Little Bit Of Abuse"

"A Little Bit Of Abuse"



One on the nose, one on the chin,
You bruise so easy, so why stay with him?
He uses you just like a human punching bag.
But you don't complain, you're too scared to speak.
Anyway, it only really hurts you when you laugh,
And when you eat.
But you can't break the pattern, week after week.
The bruises show,
But he must be special otherwise you'd just get up and go.
You'll never let us know
Exactly how you feel.
What's the use, the cynics say it's no excuse,
You keep running back just to get a little bit of abuse.
You say it's okay,
But I say that it's not right.
You wind him up, but you're living in fear,
You keep going back but it ends in tears, oh.

That's quite a cut on the side of your head.
Is it from his fist, or did you really fall out of bed?
Oh, so uncouth,
Excuse me, is this your tooth?
Why do you stay, no one knows.
Do you really love him, or are you too scared to go?
You're always nervous and on the edge of tears.
You cry alone,
But you never tell us what it's like when you get back home.
No one will ever know
Because you never show.
What's the use,
Everyone says you've got no excuse,
You keep running back just to get a little bit of abuse.
You say it's okay,
But I say that it's not right.
Oh, it's your secret, it's your life, who am I to criticize?
It takes two sides to know it's true,
And maybe, he'll stay in love with you.
No one will ever know,
Because you never show.

 

[fox69]

"A Little Bit Of Sunlight"

"A Little Bit Of Sunlight"



Tears would fall like the falling rain,
There would be a sea.
But you don't have to cry to prove your love,
Just believe in me.

'Cause a little bit of sunlight is all that I want from you,
A little bit of sunlight,
Is all that I want,
All that I want,
All that I want from you.

A man who can't live with cloudy skies,
Should only wait and see.
Soon all the clouds will disappear,
And leave just you and me.

'Cause a little bit of sunlight is all that I want from you,
A little bit of sunlight,
Is all that I want,
All that I want,
All that I want from you.

 

[fox69]

"A Long Way From Home"

"A Long Way From Home"



You've come a long way from the runny-nosed and scruffy kid I knew
You had such good ways
I can remember the little things that always made you smile
They made you happy
Now you think you're wiser because you're older and you think
That money buys everything
And you think you need no one to guide you
But you're still a long way from home.
You've come a long way, you're self-assured and dressed in
Funny clothes, but you don't know me.
I hope you find what you are looking for with your car and handmade overcoats
But your wealth will never make you stronger 'cos you're still a
Long way from home
Yes, you're still a long way from home

 

[fox69]

"A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy"

"A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy"



Hello you, hello me, hello people we used to be
Isn't it strange, we never changed
We've been through it all yet we're still the same
And I know it's a miracle we still go, and for all we know
We might still have a way to go

Hello me, hello you, you say you want out
Want to start anew, throw in your hand
Break up the band, start a new life, be a new man
But for all we know, we might still have a way to go
Before you go, there's something you ought to know

There's a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night
And when he feels down he puts some rock 'n' roll on
And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

He just spends his life living in a rock 'n' roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock 'n' roll fantasy
He just spends his life living in a rock 'n' roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock 'n' roll fantasy
He just spends his life living in a rock 'n' roll fantasy

Look at me, look at you
You say we've got nothing left to prove
The King is dead, rock is done
You might be through but I've just begun
I don't know, I feel free and I won't let go
Before you go, there's something you ought to know

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music
It's the only thing that gets him by
He's watched us grow and he's seen all our shows
He's seen us low and he's seen us high
Oh, but you and me keep thinking
That the world's just passing us by

Don't want to spend my life living in a rock 'n' roll fantasy
Don't want to spend my life living on the edge of reality
Don't want to waste my life hiding away anymore
Don't want to spend my life living in a rock 'n' roll fantasy

 

[fox69]

"A Well Respected Man"

"A Well Respected Man"




'Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
'Cause his world is built 'round punctuality,
It never fails.

And he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And his mother goes to meetings,
While his father pulls the maid,
And she stirs the tea with councilors,
While discussing foreign trade,
And she passes looks, as well as bills
At every suave young man

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
'Cause he's better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father's loot,
When Pater passes on.

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he plays at stocks and shares,
And he goes to the Regatta,
And he adores the girl next door,
'Cause he's dying to get at her,
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes.

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.