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Cover: Jordan: The Comeback

Jordan: The Comeback



Released in 1990
Epic EK 46132

 
(04:03) Looking for Atlantis
(03:44) Wild Horses
(03:43) Machine Gun Ibiza
(03:39) We Let The Stars Go
(03:33) Carnival 2000
(04:13) Jordan: The Comeback
(02:15) Jesse James Symphony
(04:10) Jesse James Bolero
(04:12) Moondog
(03:50) All The World Loves Lovers
(01:34) All Boys Believe Anything
(03:19) The Ice Maiden
(02:55) Paris Smith
(02:50) The Wedding March
(03:55) One Of The Broken
(03:02) Michael
(01:23) Mercy
(04:17) Scarlet Nights
(03:43) Doo-Wop In Harlem

We ask for any wrong 
we've done the years 
ahead forgive us

We ask for any good
we've done that all of it 
outlive us

 
All songs composed by Paddy McAloon
Design by Peter Barrett and Andrew Biscomb. Photos by Jonathan Lovekin and Trevor Hart
Produced by Thomas Dolby

 
Looking For Atlantis

If you're looking for Atlantis 
You should cast your eye on me
Put your two and two together
Don't you know who built Atlantis
Then returned to the sea
Don't you know who owns the weather ? 
Rain or shine?

Sure is good to seek a challenge
Sure is fine to set your sights
Sure is foolish to be blinded
Searchin' for the holy grail
Isn't one of them can find it  
All this time

Chorus:
You should be loving someone
And you know who it must be
'Cause you'll never find Atlantis
'Til you make that someone me
(repeat)

Say you do find your volcano 
and the darn thing is still hot
Lesson one : Child don't waste it
Lesson two : The world's your cherry, 
but tomorrow ? Maybe not
Lesson three : Come on and taste it  (all this time)

(Chorus)


Wild Horses

Through the rails I spied
Your ponytail. I tried
With sugar cubes - And they're O.K.
            
But I don't think I'll catch you that way
I hate myself 'cause you're so cool
With your mocking eyes, 
Won't you look at the old fool

Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to

Look at you - Unflawed.
Now look at me - Plain overawed
Grace and looks take no credit for
Girl you're young and they're part of the score
Like the chemicals at war in me
'Til I'm a wolf with an eye for the ponies

Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to

I want to have you . . .

I want extra time to play,
Afternoons in the hay
It's a sorry way for a man to feel
But sentimental is part of the deal
I hate myself because it shows how
I'm a fool for your rodeo

Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses

Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have you


Machine Gun Ibiza

He's a stone delta blues man.
He's a top rollmo' star
He's a stone delta blues man.
He's a top rollmo' star
Black wand, white magic, nitroglycerine
He's earned the right to be known as

MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Voodoo up rollmo' down
MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound

If you've never been nowhere
Don't you pay that no mind
If you've never been nowhere
Don't you pay that no mind
Feel part of no circle ?
If you make no scene
Well you've earned the right
To hang out with

MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Voodoo up rollmo' down
MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound

If you're a goddess
If your heart's sixteen
Girl you're gonna wake up buddies with

MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Voodoo up rollmo' down
MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound

Ooh light a fire - Be an ex-marine
Baby learn to burn your dog tag like

MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Voodoo up rollmo' down
MACHINE GUN IBIZA
- Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound

Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound
Hangin' ten with the hurricane sound
Hangin' ten . . .  sound
MACHINE GUN IBIZA . . .  VOODOO


We Let The Stars Go

There was a girl I used to know 
She'd tease me about my name
Fan the embers long enough, 
I sometimes catch her flame
The soothing voice of distance tells me, 
That was just a fling
Other music fills my ears, 
but I still hear her sing. . . .  

She sings :
Chorus:
Paddy Joe, say Paddy Joe, 
Don't you remember me ?
How long ago one gorgeous night 
We let the stars go
Paddy Joe, say Paddy Joe, 
Don't you remember me ?
How long ago one gorgeous night 
We let the stars go free

There was a boy I used to be 
I guess that he was cold
If she came to buy him now, 
how cheaply he'd be sold
But the light is gone and it is dark
what used to be the sky
Is suddenly embarrassing 
to the naked eye. . . . 

You see :
(Chorus)

Paddy Joe, see Paddy Joe 
can't face this memory
How long ago one gorgeous night 
we let the stars go          
Paddy Joe, see Paddy Joe 
can't face this memory
How long ago one gorgeous night 
we let the stars go free


Carnival 2000

Tonight let's raise a glass my friend 
to those who couldn't make it
A century has shut its eyes 
and who are we to wake it ?

Cool music we play, dance and say

Chorus:
Carnival 2000
Lives come and go but life no denial
Is always in style. Welcome to :
Carnival 2000
Loves come and go but love above all
Is belle of the ball

We ask for any wrong we've done
the years ahead forgive us
We ask for any good we've done
that all of it outlive us

Cool music we play, dance and say

(Chorus two times)


Jordan: The Comeback

They say the spirit moves in mysterious ways
Sometimes the way it moves looks plain berserk
But two things you should be slow to criticize
- A manīs choice of woman and his choice of work
Some work'll earn you top dollar
In this here tinseltown
That's where I started thinkin' of something else
'Cos they couldn't film the spirit
From the waist on down
Sometimes I don't sleep too well,
But one day I know :

Chorus:
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning

And all those books about me
Well there wasn't much love in 'em boys 
I'm tellin' you if I'd taken all that medication
Man, I'da rattled like . . . one o' my lil girls toys
Now they call me a recluse
Been in the desert so long
Layin' on my back bidin' my time
I'm just waitin' for the right song
- then I'm comin' back
Sometimes I don't sleep too well,
But one day I know :

Chorus 2:
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
Jordan sweet Jordan
Hand me any cup you find that's lyin' spare
Lord I've long time been a thirstin' for a share
Jordan waiting for me there

End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning

Repeat Chorus 2, ad lib until end


Jesse James Symphony

Jesse James is running and heīll never be at rest
īTil the day they fold his arms across his chest
Heīs a long way from the craddle
And his Maīs authority
but it only seems a minute
since she stood over his bed
And she tried to tell him something
Now what the hell was it she said ???

Jesse James is thinking of the breaks he never had
And the gene that cursed his blood group rhesus-bad
Jesse James lived money
his account was in the black
īTil the day he stopped a bullet with his back
Well the zip code may read Vegas
but the heart beats Tupelo
And a footstep is such a small thing
That itīs neither here nor there
īTil you string those steps together
And find home is way back, way back where ?

Jesse James was never
part of lifeīs great symphony
All he heard were penny whistles out of key
Jesse James he promised:
I will never die afraid
That boy perjured every vow he ever made


Jesse James Bolero

Jesse was a renegade danced to his own drum
Growin' wise could wait 'til tomorrow
Took to a road signposted sorrow
Jesse was a hooligan jumped right off the rail
There in the cards there in the tarot
Born to despise the straight and the narrow
Jesse was a connoisseur
- Home cookin' tasted stale

Chorus:
Jesse James bolero is a dance upon the run
Every step proclaims that he's a wayward son
Jesse James is waiting for the cheap music to stop
Don't goodbye deserve some Bach not barbershop ?

Jesse didn't hear the drum suddenly lose time
All his plans crafted, clever;
fated unborn - Unfinished forever
Jesse didn't hear the drum stop outside his door
In his dreams destiny towered
In the cold light of day it came as a coward
Jesse didn't hear the drum 
- At the age of thirty-four

(Chorus two times until fade)


Moondog

The funeral cars crawl down
The heartbreak side of town
The mourners all discuss
The boy who caused a fuss
We chopped a billion trees 
To print up eulogies
But guys we should have guessed,
The girls would say it best

 . . .  MOONDOG !

LOVE. 'Cos love's the final word
Nothing crosses love
Reason has to bow if love demands it

MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
Up there a flag will fly for mom and apple pie
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
The one place left to play
- The comeback's underway

The world was younger then
- In bed asleep by ten
And daddies shook their fists
At hidden communists
The earth was merely round
Before the slapback sound
Is there one spell can bring
The once and future king ?

 . . .  MOONDOG !

Cut . . .  To somewhere deep in space
Beyond the Colonel's arms
Handsome doggone rake the truly weightless

MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
Up there a flag will fly for mom and apple pie
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
MOONDOG ! - Guess who's on the moon
The one place left to play
- The comeback's underway
(repeat)


All The World Loves Lovers

All the world loves lovers 
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it, don't forget it 
Love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers 
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it - love 
Don't forget it - love 
Love whatever the price 
... Love 

You and I won't lose our heads the way some lovers do 
Saying this will last forever when it's just a year or two 
You and I won't be the fools that other lovers are 
Thinking every silver bottletop potentially a star still 

All the world loves lovers 
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it, don't forget it 
Love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers 
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it - love 
Don't forget it - love 
Love whatever the price 

We won't make the promises that every lover makes 
Only to find that all we've made are similar mistakes 
No you and I won't wish for things 
Like other lovers do 
But let's cross our hearts and hope to die 
If none of them come true 'cause 

All the world loves lovers
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it, don't forget it 
Love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers 
All the world loves people in love 
Don't forget it - love 
Don't forget it - love 
Love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers, love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers, love whatever the price 
All the world loves lovers 
... Love 


All Boys Believe Anything

All boys believe anything.
All boys believe anything.
All boys believe anything.
All boys believe anything.


The Ice Maiden

Standing on the boulevard
You wish to know my name
I'm the Ice Maiden
- I think perhaps you like being unhappy
I'm the Ice Maiden - The limit of your dreams
Arctic winds blow and still you believe
Loves makes you one of the chosen
Die in the snow - I'll never grieve
- So what if tomorrow you're frozen
Death is a small price for heaven

Welcome to the glow of high octane affairs
Esperanto style and blonde dishevelled hair
Subterranean streams, duckling you're a swan
Infinities of dreams imploding into one

All those nights I dreamt of you
- I wonder where they've gone
. . .  You're the Ice Maiden

Standing on the boulevard
I've always known your name
You're the Ice Maiden
- Let you and I grow frosty together
You're the Ice Maiden - Today you meet your match

Girl when I burn - Hell nothing's the same
I'll singe your pretty blonde lashes
We're talking fire - We're talking flame
- We're talking ice into ashes
But death is a small price for heaven

All those nights I dreamt of you
- I wonder where they've gone

Girl when I burn - Hell nothing's the same
I'll singe your pretty blonde lashes
We're talking fire - We're talking flame
- We're talking ice into ashes
But death is a small price for heaven


Paris Smith

Little Paris Smith
Lovely name for a girl is Paris Smith
Baby Paris Smith
Don't repeat my mistakes Paris Smith

Paris : Any music worth its salt is good for dancing
Paris : But I tried to be the Fred Astaire of words
. . . Paris you heard

Little Paris Smith one day you'll have a job
Yes Paris Smith
Baby Paris Smith don't you grow up a snob
No Paris Smith

Paris : There are benefits to syncopated motion
Paris : Which no high falutin' double talk can show - Paris
Paris : Any music worth its salt is good for dancing
Paris : But I tried to be the Fred Astaire of words
. . . Paris you heard


The Wedding March

One dance whose steps I never could learn
It's called the wedding march
The grace that it takes, the grace you deserve,
Require a lighter touch
I know you love dancing.
Oh, I know that you love dancing so much
. . . I know you love dancing.

Music's a wild thing with mischief to prove
I can't adjust to the way that you move
Music's a wild thing whatever the groove
Some music isn't for dancing

One dance whose steps I never could learn
It's called the wedding march
The grace that it takes, the balance and poise,
I still find a mystery

I know you love dancing.
So, I know that you'd hate dancing with me
I know you love dancing.
So, I know that you'd hate dancing with me


One Of The Broken

Hi, this is God here:        
Talking to me used to be a simple affair
Moses only had to see a burning bush  
And he'd pull up a chair

Well it's been a long time since we talked in that way
If you're wondering what to say . . . 

Sing me no deep hymn of devotion
Sing me no slow sweet melody
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me

I remember King David         
With his harp and his beautiful, beautiful songs
I answered his prayers 
And showed him a place where his music belongs

It's not too far from here come get up off your knees
If you're looking for ways to please . . . 

Sing me no psalm you're not King David
Sing me no high hushed Glory Be
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me

Sing me no deep hymn of devotion
Sing me no slow sweet melody
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me


Michael

All the jobs I've ever held, positions I have known
The one I was a fool to leave was
Right hand to the throne
Ambition took me speed of light
To God's exclusion zone
Michael if you're listening,
Michael who stayed true
One of us got out of line when Paradise was new
One of us was exiled and the one who wasn't's you

Michael - help me write a letter to you know who
I will sign it Lucifer regrets . . . 
Can't forget his final words were
Ain't no comeback gonna come your way
- What if I pray ?

Michael the archangel listen.
Michael don't you see ?
We've come to stand for principles that
Prove free will is free
If you are on the side of good
Now where does that leave me ?

Michael - help me write a letter to you know who
I will sign it Lucifer regrets . . . 
Can't forget his final words were
Ain't no comeback gonna come your way
He never could resist a sinner
Or ignore a distress call - but such a fall


Mercy

Mercy on me, oh say that I'm forgiven
And wrap your arms around me
To your goodness I surrender
Without mercy where is goodness ?
Won't you have mercy on me ?

(Repeat)


Scarlet Nights

This is where your sleepless eyes will close
This is where the weary find repose
This is where a kinder bugle blows
This is where you'll wake
To find the River Jordan flows

Scarlet nights waiting sleep is overdue
Scarlet nights ending here on in they're blue

Yes I know we're not saying goodbye
Yes I know that farewell don't apply
Yes I know no matter how I try . . . 
Yes I know, and you should know
That all the same I'll cry

Scarlet nights waiting sleep is overdue
Scarlet nights ending here on in they're blue

Blue as skies and blue as heavens

Watching over Galilee and Rome
Blue as water, Jordan's waters
Blue as dawn and dawn will take you home

Scarlet nights waiting sleep is overdue
Scarlet nights ending here on in they're blue

Blue as skies and blue as heavens watching over you
Blue as water, Jordan's water washing over you


Doo-Wop In Harlem

There is a door we all walk through
And on the other side I'll meet you
Reunion in the air 
Acappella meets pure prayer - somewhere
I can't wait to meet you there - somewhere
I can't wait to meet you there

If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem

There is a door it may seem locked
But in a little while - Don't be shocked
Above the noise, behind the glare
I know you're listening out there somewhere - somewhere
I can't wait to meet you there - somewhere
I can't wait to meet you there

If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem