Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance (2015)

• Nobody's Empire
• Allie
• The Party Line
• The Power Of Three
• The Cat With The Cream
• Enter Sylvia Plath
• The Everlasting Muse
• Perfect Couples
• Ever Had A Little Faith?
• Play For Today
• The Book Of You
• Today (This Army's For Peace)
• Born To Act (Limited Edition Bonus Track)
• Two Birds (Limited Edition Bonus Track)
• Piggy In The Middle (Limited Edition Bonus Track)
• A Politician's Silence (Limited Edition Bonus Track) 

Nobody's Empire lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Lying on my bed, I was reading French

With the light too bright for my senses

From this hiding place life was way too much

It was loud and rough round the edges

So I faced the wall when an old man called

Out of dreams that I would die there

But a sight unseen, you were pulling strings

You had a different idea

I was like a child, I was light as straw

And my father lifted me up there

Took me to a place where they checked my body

My soul was floating in thin air

I clung to the bed and I clung to the past

I clung to the welcome darkness

But at the end of the night there's a green green light

It's the quiet before the madness

There was a girl that sang like the chime of a bell

And she put out her arm, she touched me when I was in hell

When I was in hell

Someone sang a song and I sang along

Cause I knew the words from my childhood

Intellect, ambition they fell away

And they locked me up for my own good

But I didn't mind, cause the silence was kind

It spoke to me in whispers

There was the sound of the wind and the cold cold dawn

And the quiet hum of business

Let me dangle awhile in this waiting room

I don't need to go, I don't need to know what you're doing

Know what you're doing

Lying on my side you were half awake

And your face was tired and crumpled

If I had a camera I'd snap you now

Cause there's beauty in every stumble

We are out of practice we're out of sight

On the edge of nobody's empire

And if we live by books and we live by hope

Does that make us targets for gunfire?

Now I look at you, you're a mother of two

You're a quiet revolution

Marching with the crowd, singing dirty and loud

For the people's emancipation

Did I do okay, did I pave the way?

Was I strong when you were wanting?

I was tied to the yoke with a decent bloke

Who was stern but never daunting

And he told me to push and he made me feel well

He told to me to leave that vision of hell to the dying

Oh to the dying

Allie lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Allie, what would you do?

When there's bombs in the middle east, you want to hurt yourself

When there's knives in the city streets, you want to end yourself

When there's fun in your mother's house, you want to cry yourself to sleep

Allie, what would you do?

With your fears, because they're adding one by one

And your mountains are obscured behind the sun

And the person that you could be is crumbling into dust

You're in the mess 'cause you thought

You'd be someone else

'Cause the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

Allie, hand on your head

And a prayer from the soon-to-be-closing library

And if you looked from here, you would surely see

There's a softness in your heart, there's a poetry to come

You bought that gun 'cause you thought

You'd be someone else

'Cause the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

You made a list of all your heroes

And you thought about what they went through

Yeah, you thought about what they went through

It's much darker, much harder, than anything that happened to you

Allie, what would you do?

When your seven-year plan happens to someone else

And the people in your life you would happily shelf

When day falls night, you are truly on your own?

You're in this place 'cause you thought

You'd be someone else

But the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

Yeah, the tricks in your head are a lie

The Party Line lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

How did I get here? I heard a rumour

From your girlfriend's sister that you knew me

And you end up dancing closer to me

I know that I broke the rule already

She asked me if I'm single

Going steady

I just drop my head and took a step off into the dark

Standing on the black and white tiles

Don't dance on the lines

Cause the bears eat the pretty ones

We are like the islands, divided

Jump to the beat of a party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

There is nobody here

But your body, dear

Jump to the beat of the party line

Stay

You stay

I am on this morning quite distracted

The tug of war begins on our emotion

I am leaving many people feeling

Worse than before

People like to drive their cars and smoke up

People like to sit inside and toke up

People like to shoot at things with borrowed guns and knives

I am happy to look and run

Where were you when I was king in this part of town?

Now the days of glory are gone

Jump to the beat of a party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

There is nobody here

But your body, dear

Jump to the beat of the party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

There is nobody here

But your body, dear

Nobody here

But your body, dear

Jump to the beat of a party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

There is nobody here

But your body, dear

Jump to the beat of the party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

Jump to the beat of a party line

There is nobody here

But your body, dear

Nobody here

But your body, dear

The Power Of Three lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Some people say two is company

Sherlock Holmes found the sign of four

I don't listen to that number theory

I'm always looking for a trio, them and me

One for all and we're all for one

Musketeers have got to have the power of three

Every time I read the horoscope, I read three

Virgo, Pisces, Aquarius

Nobody can tell what's down the road for us

You could be Holmes, I'll be Watson

Every hero, yes even me

Everybody has their Moriarty

Keep your friends close

Your enemies at your side

Always keep your green eyes open wide

Depth perception, a change of direction

And all signs point to a bumpy ride

Then I saw the fourth dimension, another line

We move in space and we can move in time

Everything existed right from the start

It's the blink of an eye

It's the beat of a heart

It's the beat of a heart

We've got enemies and nemesis

And a world of possibilities

In everything you leave a clue

A little trace, a sign of you

The Cat With The Cream lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Sitting at the old kitchen table

Peace and health and dreams

Stretching out in the darkness

Mother's up the stairs with her ageing new boyfriend

Cathy's staying in to make sure nothing happens

All aboard the freak parade

I cover up my head and pray

I'm praying for the light

Down amongst the old city chambers

Men in frocks debate all the policy changes

Everybody bet on the boom and got busted

Everybody bet and in the government trusted

Grubby little red MP

Yellow flapping hopelessly

Tory like the cat with the cream

Tory like the cat with the cream

I studied you in history

I studied in the library

In days of old when knights were bold

They'd settle it with sword and shield

In days of old when knights were bold

It's settled by the king

Praying for a friend is contagious

Specially when it comes at the old kitchen table

Listening for the swoosh of his quickening paces

Watching for the smile on the bravest of faces

How I wish you'd read to me

Verses rich in swallows and trees

Get me though the night

Waiting at the old kitchen table

Listening for my code listening for my instructions

Surely now I'm here, I am destined for greatness

I want to be the Queen pulling kids out of rivers

All aboard the freak parade

I cover up my head and pray

Praying for the cat with the cream

Praying for the cat with the cream

I studied you in history

I studied in the library

In days of old when knights were bold

They'd settle it with sword and shield

In days of old when knights were bold

It's settled by the king

It's settled by the king

It's settled by the king

It's settled by the king

Enter Sylvia Plath lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Come, and steal my thoughts away

Thief of my identity

I was holding on to decency, reality

Come, and take me for a while

Up to your abundant pace

I’ll be your sidecar if you want to race

Want to race

Put your hand on mine

And take me from this tired ride

Take me from this early night

From the sea and rain and countryside

If you talk to me then soon

I’ll be your accomplice in words

And we will talk only in verse

Talk only in verse

I will leave the ones I love

Leave them for the years to come

Even though I may be doing wrong, doing wrong

I will follow in your steps

Walk out to the station cold

Buy a ticket and and then slowly go, slowly go

In this place and time

Easy is the first escape

I got money I need no disguise

I’m a citizen and city wise

In this time and place

There is no one who will shoot you down

No one who will take a girl

And tell her she can’t have the world

You constantly struggle for self improvement

You have the ability to analyse and solve any problem

You are heading in the right direction

Your mind is creative, original and alert

Boy, you don’t know what you want

It isn't what you think it is

All the dreams, and guilt and loneliness, loneliness

Boy, if we were to be friends

Subtle is the art required

To draw the evil from this lonely pyre, lonely pyre

Take this hand from me

And guide me round your tools of work

Fashion me into your junior clerk

Let me live in shadows of your words

And when things get tough for you

As they did when you came up through the ranks

You can borrow from my faith

From my faith

Take this hand from me

And guide me round your tools of work

Fashion me into your junior clerk

Let me live in shadows of your words

And when things get tough for you

As they did when you came up through the ranks

You can borrow from my faith

From my faith [x36]

The Everlasting Muse lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

I want to find this girl I know

I need to take her out

I'll set a snare in evening air

Made of faith and hope and doubt

I want to spend some time with her

Learn the secrets of her trade

I wouldn't mean to cross the line

And look into the other side

Forbidden to my kind

Forbidden to my kind

I need to hangout with my love

The raven headed sprite

I know I'll never dance like her

Or keep her up at night

I need to hang around with her

I need to let her know

Her cause is mine, I'm but a slave

I look into her wondrous gaze

And taste the strangest chord

And make the purest noise

What I would do to meet the girl

I'd stand out in the rain

Outside my window, watching close

She will appear again

Still polishing her crazy nails

Still wispy, careless, drunk on song

If I could only right my wrongs

And take her to my favourite place

And steal a melody

'Cause I need only see her face

And doubts and worries fall away

And music rushes in

Listen to the sound of life

(I don't want to be friends)

Drink deep of the day

(I don't need your advance)

Wait for her, but don't obsess

(Why do you have to ask?)

She'll go the other way

(No, I don't want to dance)

Winds will blow and storms will rage

(But your phrases are poor)

The news is always sad

(And you try hard to rhyme)

Money tends to disappear

(And I can't read your words)

Beauty crumbles with the years

(But I can read your mind)

But music is for us

(Music is for us)

Music is for us

(Music is for us)

What I would do to meet the girl

I'd stand out in the rain

Outside my window, watching close

She will appear again

Still polishing her crazy nails

Still wispy, careless, drunk on song

If I could only right my wrongs

And take her to my favourite place

And steal a melody

'Cause I need only see her face

And doubts and worries fall away

And music rushes in

If I could only see her face

And know that she was close

There is a deeper magic here

The Everlasting Muse

I left the danger for an hour

I left the sadness for a day

I know that I am in safe hands

She pays the bill and smokes cigars

And on the napkin silk

She weaves a manuscript with skill

An intro, outro, middle 8

A tapestry of words

A subtle gift to modern rock

She says "be popular, play pop"

And you will win my love

A subtle gift to modern rock

She says "be popular, play pop"

And you will win my love

Perfect Couples lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

I know some friends of mine

Think about them all the time

Why can't my life be like that?

I've seen them in the park

Restauranting after dark

Working out on their yoga mats

Stars of the dancehall crowd

Married young, took their vows

Comfort in their boldness and their flair

Dab hands for all to see

Stroke of brush and poetry

His cut of cloth, the contours of her hair

Thank you for the invite tonight

Perfect snacklets, perfect drinks

I'm getting ideas from your interiors

Perfect apartments, perfect kids

Perfect couples are breaking up

What have they done?

Those perfect couples are breaking up

What have they done?

Don't make me feel so good

Expect that stuff in Hollywood

Not in my current milieu

Sexual tension at the fridge

He makes for the organic figs

Belmondo lips, dangling a cig

And she, just back from her hike

And to the gallery she might

Glide by with a basket on her bike

They've got issues too

But what can you do?

Bad times

They'll always see them through

(It always lurked in her mind)

Perfect couples are breaking up

What have they done?

(In the back of her mind)

Those perfect couples are now breaking up

What have I done?

(It always lurked in his mind)

Those perfect couples are breaking up

What have they done?

(In the back of their minds)

Those perfect couples, they keep breaking up

What have I done?

Never happy with my girl

Jealous of a different world

Suddenly the years slip away

What am I waiting for?

(I see those perfect couples and I)

What makes me close the door?

I see those perfect couples

(Why can't I be like them?)

I admire the most

Finding fault with my heart

(It's always been the same and then)

And always back to the start

What makes me get in the fray

Then just throw it away

Yes I throw it away

Yes I throw it away (only to find)

Yes I throw it away (only to find)

Perfect couples are breaking up...

Ever Had A Little Faith? lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

With your headphones on

Through the drizzled pane

Of a wet slate roof

Sun will turn to rain

Why are you the one?

Couldn't take the pain

Something good will happen, wait and see

Something good will happen, wait and see

Do you spend your day?

Second guessing faith

Looking for a way

To live so divine

Drop your sad pretence

You'll be doing fine

You will flourish like a rose in June

You will flourish like a rose in June

Ever had a little faith?

Ever had a little faith?

Morning came

The hope rose up in your heart, girl

You felt ashamed

When morning came

Roll away the stone of doubt, girl

If you're calm, then listen out for

A quiet voice, the sign from the window

Passion beating on your brow

You wish it were, you wish it was now

Past the sound of driving traffic

Past the madman's drunken attic

You climb the stair

It's dark and it's draughty

Smell of incense drawing you

Sky of light imploring you to

Then she ran from street to street

Looked up and down she must have missed him

If she could only find him she would

Throw her arms around and kiss him tenderly

She would give herself on bended knee

Never thinking if it's wrong or right

Courage sister, there's a little light

Ever had a little faith?

Ever had a little faith?

Who can you trust?

Trust the little man

Whispers in the trees

And the river can

Speak the calming verse

From the age of brave

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Something good will come from nothing

Ever had a little faith?

Ever had a little faith?

Play For Today lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

I'm in a play written today about a boy

Who hides in attics when the sun is up

Everyone is at work

What will I do? Where will I go?

Show me the way, the truth, the anger

Show me rules of thumb

Show the way to grow old

Love is a guide

The endless river of the soul

But we are mean

The dried up riverbeds of rock and stone

Lust is my friend

She comes to me when I am tired

Life is a road, death is a myth

Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood

Work is a sentence, family's a drag

This house is a trap

I'm in a play written today about a girl

She gets on perfectly with young and old

Everybody loves her

What will she wear? The cut of her hair

The way that she slides

Gracefully into the working week

She hides her baggage inside

She's got a friend

An ugly monster that will eat your face

She hides a crime

A hefty catalog of wasted time

She's got a friend

A lonely monster that will prey on you

Life is a secret, death is a myth

Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood

Work is a sentence, family's a drag

This house is a trap

Life is a secret, death is a myth

Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood

Work is a sentence, family's a drag

This house is a trap

I'm in a play written today about a boy

Tired and melancholy takes the weight

Takes the weight of the world

I walked alone, loving the sun

Walking the earth

A worn out sister who was twenty three

Dried and wrinkled, alone

I'll give you a month

To see past shadows in your sacred mind

Give you a week

To look Medusa in the eye

I'll give you a month

To notice heaven at the side of stage

(Author, author! Author, author!)

You're king inside your head

You're sitting on a throne of sand

You're pushing back the tide

So lift the mountain up

So tie the writer's ribbons down

Assemble all your troops

We go to war with metaphors

You'll suddenly see sense (and suddenly see sense)

And when you do, I'll have the higher grounds (I'll have the higher grounds)

You're not the king of me

I'll take my chance and play for tyranny

I build the sets, I light the scene

We're braver when we're on the sacred screen

I build the sets, I light the scene

We're braver when we're on the sacred screen

The backstage of your life

Is filled with props and lines you should have sung

The backstage of your life

Is filled with echoes of the ones you loved

The Book Of You lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Everybody’s making plans

For tomorrow

Stone can turn to sand

But I just

I want to take you back in time

I’ll draw the line

I would write a different story

A new final act

I don’t need the drama

But I would never write you out

Everyone’s a thread

We’re woven together

Read it in the tears and fraying edges

Read the book of you

The book of me

We’re fading into memory

But something is left

A gesture, a phrase or a photograph

The warp and weft

We’re always walking in the rain

And you’re just trouble, so I claim

Pretend the world can see

That I’m the one for you

And you’re the one for me

Valentine, if you could change

With the weather

Faith would just evaporate

Untethered

In a fresh disguise

I catch your eye

See behind the mask

And find you never went far

That’s not the last time

I’ve thought about the way we are

We’re always walking in the rain

And you’re just trouble, so I claim

But then the world can see

That I’m the one for you

And you’re the one for me

Today (This Army's For Peace) lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Today

I want to slip back to the dream I had

When you had urged me to look out

Upon the window of my life

Today

The choices have all clashed upon my head

Is it wrong to leave your charges

And go charging round the bend?

Mansions, there are mansions in the sun

There's no hiding

Defying the night

Come out into the light

Today

Today

My thoughts were like a tent put up in heaven

Build a shelter for your mind

Invite a stranger to come in and share the wine

Mansions, there are mansions in the sun

There's no hiding

Defying the night

Come out into the light

Today

Today

They want to tear my body from my mind

The rust will show

I am an iron bridge that's giving into time

Today

The wind blows west the heather and the broom becalms

The spirit of a fighting man and lays him

Where his wild spirit belongs

Victims will be justified

The lame will be leaping

This army's for peace

Come out into the light

Today

Victims will be justified

The lame are believing

This army's for peace

Come out into the light

Today

Born To Act lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

There is a girl on the floor, she dances way out

She’s a snub nose beauty, she’s a no doubt

But if I talk to her, I even look hard

She’ll be out of this place and she’ll be out of my life

So we busted a move we got the hell out

We got stories to tell, we got our whole life

We drink coffee till late because we jet lagged

We put a fortune into the greatest

Music machine in the land

Play a wonderful song to me and it’s better than a date

Play the tune where the girl sings high

She’s my lover surrogate

And the waitress is rolling by, shining high

Smiling for a tip

Every boy dreams of it

So the girl dances in, she takes the next booth

I break the rule of my life, I make a big move

Cos my accent is funny, got a head start

If you wanna make good, you got to use what you got

We go with her friends and there’s a big crowd

There’s a girl who can’t stand up till she falls down

There’s a pressure that’s building and it’s too late

Cos eh leaves in the morning, there’s a flight

It’s a family affair

Play a wonderful song to me and it’s better than a date

Play the tune where the girl sings high

She’s my lover surrogate

And the waitresses rolling by, shining high

Smiling for a tip

Every boy dreams of it

So we met a month later, she had long hair

She was driving the bus I paid the full fare

It was easy to talk and she drove real fast

And she told me the story of her dirty old past

All the boys she had loved and all the bad sex

All the things she must learn and all her prospects

I was there for the ride and for the old soul

But we couldn’t go further, no we couldn’t go

But we couldn’t go further, no we couldn’t go

But we couldn’t go further cos the story was already told

Two Birds lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

Two birds sitting on a wire

Big one makes his move

He spreads his feathers, rubs his beak

Boy and girl are leaving school

He is shy, but she will follow him

She don’t know why

Life is short, and then you sleep

Pull down the wall

It’s only masking honesty

Pull down the wall

It’s breaking up the family

Pull down the wall

Hear the true call

Start the day with little things

They’ll blossom into prayers and little wings

Look at what is in your heart

How could it be wrong?

The little man is telling you

People gathering in the square

They’ve had enough

Their leaders they are killing them

Life is short, and then you sleep

Pull down the wall

It’s only masking honesty

Pull down the wall

It’s breaking up the family

Pull down the wall

Hear the true call

Start the day with little things

They’ll blossom into prayers and little wings

When all the banks began to fail

I thought that we would have a change

But they found all this cash

We didn’t have to patch it up again

They never think to spend the money

On the everlasting broke

Or the sick, what a waste

Two birds in the promised land

One is building walls to keep the other in its place

Imprisoned like the special son

He became the greatest, broke his chains and busted out

Life is short, and then you sleep

Pull down the wall

It’s only masking honesty

Pull down the wall

It’s breaking up the family

Pull down the wall

Hear the true call

Start the day with little things

They’ll blossom into prayers and little wings

Piggy In The Middle lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

I’m alone

I’m not with you

When I get in at night the many facets of the conversation

Roll around inside my head

Who’s going with who?

Who’s going with you?

You are the girl who for a twist plays ventriloquist

To other boys line up to be your pooch

But if I draw a circle and I walk around it

You’re the piggy in the middle

I love my little pig until it hurts

I want to dance

Give the boy a chance

I want to lose myself in 1986

The darkened cinematic days of love and trance

Your crisp white tee – shirt

Rock a bill eee – hurts

An army of affected youth

They’re cute in boots

I look at her the girl is looking back at me

And with a thought that cuts me

She will turn and curtsey to her rockabilly boyfriend

It’s too late the damage done

I will catch them on the stairs

I’m like a bad smell that stays

They will turn round and see me

They will kiss stroke and feel

Just for the benefit: the boy voyeur

His camera makes up for what he’s lost

You know I know you’re the Queen

But when there’s nothing to rule

Who is the fool?

Wait for spring

I want to sing

Sleep is a drag love is the drug flu is the bug

I got my bag it’s full of stuff I want to bring

There is a club

There is a girl

Give her the secret sign that I’ll be there

A little clue

Maybe she’ll pick it up

Maybe she’ll pass

But I go into the building and she’s over by the bar

And by the time they play New Order

She is over in the corner

And she’s telling me stuff

I think she feels pretty rough

She has to lean on her shoulder

She is drunk, I am sober

And I take her confession

It’s the coolest little session of the month

As I take her confession

I confess I got my hand under her blouse

A Politician's Silence lyrics - Belle & Sebastian

The cherry tree is broken

The maple leaf is brown

The wind is in the north east

It’s blowing through the town

Morning is the mother

She pulls you out of bed

Noon is like the sister

No hiding from the threat

I want you for a lover

I want you in the dusk

Your thoughts are deep, unspoken

Buried in your past

The cherry tree is broken

The maple is a lie

The north east wind is building

The people go inside

I want to stay in this place

Where thoughts are warm and bright

I want to stay by your side

And listen to your words

The chaos is unbroken

All the news is grim

Feeds into the conscience

Chase away the dream

The cherry tree is broken

The maple has blown down

The water it is rising

The power has gone out

I want to find some respite

From ignorance and lies

I run from passing strangers

I run from evil eyes

I need to take some shelter

I look for you in storms

I know you have a foxhole

I know it’s dark and warm

I see you in the kitchen

I see you by the fire

Absorbing life’s great stories

Drinking from your eyes

Drinking wine in goblets

Knees tucked to the chin

Sitting in a straw chair

Hair like golden sun

Love you in the firelight

Love you in the dark

Think one day I’ll tell you

That accidents can spark

A trail of life’s destruction

A fissure of intent

A comfort blanket hanging

For every crisis spent.

Think one day I’ll tell you

I’ll catch you from behind

Cover eyes to trick you

Guessing will decide

The ash is like my brother

He took the lazy path

To summer and the good life

The last leaf in the park

A wise old head on shoulders

On boards of adamant

He watched us by the river

He watched us in the dusk

Ribbons fell from your hair

They came down from the war

The drunks fell out of houses

The food of love would flow

And just then for the one day

Beneath the tree of joy

We were equal in our beauty

To the sunset girls and boys

You’re too cool to rush in

Which lover could it be

A politician’s silence

Will be the death of me