Get all 8 luxembourg releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Changes, 45, London is Blue, Youth EP, A Secret Public - b-sides & rarities 2001-2006, Last Holiday Before Divorce - Deleted Scenes From An Unfinished Sequel, Front, and Best Kept Secret - Demos & Rarities 2001-2004.
1. |
Let Us Have It
03:11
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here we come like we’ve always done
but in droves, if you believe what you read
i was born with a bit of both
but i’m not sitting on the fence
‘cos your arguments for
keeping us all at bay
all amount to the same old thing
you happen to have it and you happen to like it
and you’re not giving it away
but take it easy
take it easy
no one will get hurt (oh oh)
if you relax it will be painless
take it easy
take it easy
we’ll be oh so slow (oh oh)
you’ll barely notice us arrive at all
well, are you sure that you’re oh so pure?
just how far back do you want to go?
i heard your father was a regular charmer
and you probably have a sister in montego bay
would you be the same person
if your mother had dumped him
and conceived you in a different way?
you happen to be here
and you happen to like it
but you can’t take it with you anyway
so let it go and
let us have it
well, was that really so hard?
and you might even find you like it
let it go and
let us have it
it’s inevitable, yes!
we’ve taken your cities
and we’ve got designs on your countryside
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2. |
Theme From Luxembourg
03:29
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mother fills the air with her perfume
the candles burn a hole through her eyes
the arms around her offer protection
the stone walls are just somewhere to hide
from those who wouldn't be understanding
of all that is about to unfurl
stand up, hold up your head
and keep on singing
stand up, hold up, hold on
stand up, hold up your head
and keep on singing
stand up, hold up, hold on
and mother knows exactly why she's here
it's not the first and won't be the last time
she always says it will be the last time
although she knows it's not up to her now
and mother knows exactly why she's here
it's not the first and won't be the last time
she always says it will be the last time
although she knows it's not up to her now
and now she stares up into that empty space
and fills it with words and voices, pain and fear
as one of the voices grows louder and tells her what she needs to hear
the voice departs but the pain won't disappear
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3. |
We Are The Resistance
03:09
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'79 to '91
and a nation led astray by a mad leader
1991 to 2000
the best years of a generation stolen by a dictator
1993 to 2003
and a man’s twenties are stunted by crippling shyness
well shyness is nice but shyness can stop you
from overthrowing oppressive political regimes
(and our leader says)
"all i’m saying
all i’m doing
i can’t breathe without your love"
cut’n’paste films and tunes
to make a collage of resistance
the stage is the street is the stage
bring down enemy servers by bombarding with e-mails
use digital cameras and satellite phones
and sing...
"why can’t my keyboard help me now?
my home has been bombed into the past
why can’t my country compensate me?
this Lady took the best years of my life"
we are the resistance
the resistance is futile generation
reporting mass desertion from the frontline
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4. |
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i’m stuck at home with a thousand housewives
they’re such a scream
at least for a while
from their tireless questioning they never cease:
how to keep your man
how to effect world peace
so why did you ask me out
when you knew you could not deliver?
we went out somewhere
then came back again
so why do you look terrified?
i don’t care if you
never make a move
just as long as you
don’t say it’s time to leave
stay around a while
i can make more tea
you can put on a record
just don’t say you’re going
cos what the housewives don’t tell you
because they don’t want to distress you
is it’s a lonely, lonely vigil that we’re keeping
and it’s all for you
now you’re sending me messages
that i can’t quite read
you write, “hope you’re well”
when you mean, “come and see me”
you write, “how are you?”
when you mean, “how i want you”
and your “see you soon”
means, “put those arms around me”
so why did you ask me out
when you knew you could not deliver?
i could wait all day in your favourite café
but the staff are almost ready to turn me away
cos what the housewives don’t tell you
because they don’t want to depress you
is it’s a lonely, lonely vigil that we’re keeping
what the housewives don’t tell you
what they never have done
and they never will do
it’s a lonely, lonely vigil that we’re keeping
and it’s all for you
you see there’s something that the housewives don’t tell you
because they really, really don’t want to distress you
but me, i’m not so concerned with protecting your feelings
i think there’s something that you ought to know
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5. |
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when we met you made a niche inside my body
beneath my ribcage and above my spleen
the niche was small at first
but you filled it completely
and with time you and the niche both grew
and grew
and grew
into a complex universe of spores and nodules
weaving between kidney, heart and lung
but always friendly
so benign and ever-welcome
but then you shrank
and you left
left your negative inside
and the search it goes on
and the search it goes on
but hope, it fades with the passing days
and the search it goes on
and the search it goes on and on...
but hope is fading
fading with the passing days
soon you became an extra vital internal organ
and then you shrank
and left a howling void behind you
there are endless doorless corridors
inside my upper torso
unique impression cast within me now
search continues, hope fades...
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6. |
Making Progress
05:40
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it goes like this...
(something like this)
there are moments of joy
they're interspersed
with something else that i call
constantly searching for escape
please don't - please don't try to stop things
from progressing
don't you ever try to stop things
from progressing
but i need things to slow down
it's getting fast
so very fast - but not fast enough
it takes progressively more energy
to yield the same small reward
i'm running fast
i'm standing still
i think i'm making progress
but i need things to slow down
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7. |
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a lime and lemon confection
brazil nut cracked inside steel jaws
coriander and parsley
musky perfume in classrooms
coal tar soap like a soft drink
a chocolate egg filled with...chocolate
a tin foil spud in the fireplace
the ajax scrubbing formica
the lager brewery hops smell
the sunday gravy ambrosia
it was the best thing i ever tasted
the first thing i ever tasted
the first thing...
palmolive soap on your shiny hands
the batter licked from the mix-bowl
the liquid for bubble blowing
when i smell these things
i know that time is a trick and no more
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8. |
Make It
04:19
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you were schooled in a monastery
discipline, latin and classics
and you slept there each night
though your parents lived very nearby
but i went to a bog-standard comp
that was neither the north or the south
while you studied socrates, shakespeare and chaucer
my mind was on woodwork and physics
i’m nothing like you and you’re nothing like me
but i think we can make it
i’m sure we can make it
i feel we can make it work out
no, i don’t think we’ll make it
i’m sure we won’t make it
i feel... like it’s not going to work out now
you are very well-spoken
i’m black country via home counties
your complexion is flawless
mine leaves something to be desired
but you say that you like me the way that i am
shall i read you the phonebook?
i’ve never met anyone like you before
but the novelty’s starting to wear off
i’m sorry, i’m sorry
i’m sorry again
but how long have you waited for a chance like this?
well it didn’t work when you were younger
so it’s not going to work out now
now who’ll be the lonelier
will it be you or i?
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9. |
Success Is Never Enough
04:29
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(let’s kid ourselves)
i’m starting out with such good intentions
i’m starting out with the perfect plan
i'm gonna write just what i see
i’m gonna say just what i feel
i’m gonna do things my own way
no one says no, and no one tries to stop me
no one conspires (at least not openly)
there are no thumbscrews to be seen
there are no pressures spoken of
but i feel the need to please
i want success just like the rest
i write what i need to meet this end
this goes down well
still i want more
i take more and it’s never enough
sometimes i wake up out of the dreaming
know there’s a problem, know that i must act
but someone always reassures
or opens up a few more doors
and i fall back into the dream
just for a moment i can’t imagine why you buy it
i can’t imagine why i buy it anymore
and i will tell the truth one day
but not just now (no, not today)
because there’s really no need to worry
i’m in and out of the dream
i’m in and out of the dream
stop - don’t stop
stop - don’t stop
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10. |
Close-Cropped (acoustic)
04:21
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do you remember us
on that minibus
with me staring at your feet?
and even judging by your footwear
i knew we had to meet
so it’s a crying shame that in the mating game
i have the prowess of a fool
when we got to the farm
i should have turned on the charm
but instead i played it cool
are you with or without her?
you’d be so much happier with me
if you’re available
i’m unrestrainable
can’t you see?
i want your close-cropped hair
i want your pale blue eyes
and i want your soft hands
and your handsome thighs
i want your gormless grin
your regional accent
and i want your cracked lips
and i want your snake hips
and i want it right now
and i might even
and i might even tell you
now my days are filled with ways
in which our paths might cross
i’ve never been down
to your part of town
as much as i have this week
are you with or without me?
you’d be so much happier without
are you available?
you see, i’m uncontainable
can’t you see?
i want your peachy skin
and i want it now
i want your well-groomed nails
and your tended brow
i’d let your supple arms
drape across my frame
i want the things you’ve got
i think you feel the same
i’d let your three-day stubble
tear across my cheek
i want to hold your hand
until some time next week
i want your winning ways
and your ample chest
i want the bits on display
and i want the rest
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11. |
Raised
03:40
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the cherished things were sold to raise some cash
the rationale was poor
driven just by pride and later on regretted
the money for the trip could have been
raised in a civilised way
those things were sold – they were not forgotten
when those things are found there will be comfort
when those things are found there will be sadness
all this letting go
and taking back
..and letting go again
is done with so much care
the very things that go to make a lifetime
disappeared
overnight and never re-united
stored away untroubled by the years
so on the day they left
they looked just as good as when first created
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12. |
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i came home early
found you sleeping on the stairs
with the woman from next door
i came to surprise you
and you did look quite surprised
when i found you lying naked on the floor
i guess that when i told you
i would leave you if you cheated
you took it as a promise, not a threat
but now we’re really here
i don’t feel like making your life that easy
i feel like making it hard on you
i need a little bit more than you can give me
i need a microscopic shred of honesty
i need a little bit more than you’re capable of giving
so i’m leaving you
i’m leaving you now
i came home early
found you skulking in the bathroom
with the local football team
you tried to convince me there was nothing going on
did you think i hadn’t heard that one before?
it didn’t look to me
like you were planning sunday fixtures
or discussing the finer points of the offside rule
so don’t expect me now
to keep providing the refreshments
forget the biscuits - i’ll be showing you the door
i want you to stop
and think
think what you’ve done to me
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13. |
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Woof woof woof.
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14. |
In My Bed (live)
06:44
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when you're overwrought
when you're overtired
when you need a plain word of hope
just this once in a while
please don't forget that part
i might just drop my guard
tonight you're forgiven
tomorrow i might just despise you
but that's all to come
come crawling into my bed
your hands and knees work just fine
there's room for one more in my bed
these old sheets have seen it all
these four posts would tell their stories if they could
but i'm kind of glad they don't
if you're open to ideas
if you're tired, if it's been years since you've been had
well i guess i could do you a favour
oh but don't say i'm easy
i sleep in the same bed each night
i just let them come to me
come crawling into my bed
your hands and knees work just fine
there's room for twelve more in my bed
if you've had more than enough of your own company
i know that i have
i know that i have
so get into my bed
oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no
my bed
oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no
cos baby, these old sheets have seen it all
these four posts would tell their stories if they could
but i'm kind of glad they don't
if you're open to ideas
if you're tired, if it's been years since you've been had
well i guess i could do you a favour
when you're overwrought
when you're overtired
when you need a plain word of hope
when you're overwrought
when you're overtired
when you need a plain word of hope
when you're overwrought
when you're overtired
when you need a plain word of hope
when you need a plain word of hope
when you need a plain old word of hope
You sure you want to be with me I've nothing to give?
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luxembourg London, UK
Luxembourg are a British five-piece indie band, formed in London in 2001. Most often compared to artists like Pulp, The Smiths, Suede and Roxy Music, they have been described as "pop noir".
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