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13th July 2023

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Deacon Blue - Raintown (1987)

01 Born In a Storm 
02 Raintown
03 Ragman
04 He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now
05 Loaded
06 When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)
07 Chocolate Girl
08 Dignity
09 The Very Thing
10 Love`s Great Fears
11 Town To Be Blamed

Bonus Tracks
12 Riches
13 Kings Of The Western World 


Born In A Storm

That hurricane day
Will soon pass away
And someone will sweep
All the jetsam back into the bay

And we`ll come down
Like we always did
And knock on my door
Like the big bad wind

Born in a storm
Is that the only excuse you can give
Born in a storm
Is that all you`re gonna live

Born in a storm
Is that the only excuse you can give
Born in a storm
Is that all you`re gonna live


Raintown

It`s a rain dirt town job hurts but it don`t pay
All these calls they`re making me and driving you insane
Don`t you see
Don`t you understand
Waiting for the phone to ring to make me all I am.

You`re in the suburbs waiting for somewhere to go
I'm down here working on some dumb show

In a Raintown
Raintown
Rain down
On all those tired eyes and tears and frowns
In a Raintown
Raintown
Rain down
On all those days you`re not around

It takes a big hearted girl from the North Country you can tell
How you paid those bills and went through heaven and hell
You cried and you travelled and you spat but you never asked
Well how long how long how long is this pain

You`re on for three minutes trying hard to say hello
I`m down here working on some dumb show

CHORUS

Sitting at home listening to your radio
Listening for your old friend talking on some dumb show

CHORUS


Ragman

Offered her a roof
The rain had made it shine
Offered her a song
Wasn`t really mine

I showed her all my things
She offered me belongings
She thought I was a ragman

She offered me possessions
I tied them in a knot
Wrapped it in a note
I kept it in my pocket

I showed her all my things
She offered me belongings
She thought I was a ragman

I came to her too soon
She should have had a ragdoll
And wound up with a ragman

Wings and kites and wedding rings
All these charms I said I`d bring
I showed her all my things
She offered me belongings
She thought I was a ragman

Baby you`re a rich man
Lost in a small world
Looking for a ragdoll
Wound up with a ragman
With a ragman
Ragman


He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now

There`s a shadow on his photograph
On Tinian `45
Smiling like a college boy
Who`s glad to be alive

But now he owns a factory
And a store in Los Alamos
A wife called Beverly
Sells second hand
Ford motors

He may have taken pictures
Been caught in Albuquerque
Flown in Great Artiste
On a mushroom cloud
Now he may be a Senator
A General or a Turn Key
But I know he looks like Spencer Tracy now

And he cries all night
And he cries all night
And he cries all night
And he cries all night

And he may have been with Oppenheimer
Shaken Einsteins hand
Said did we have to drop the bomb
You bet to save this land

He was only taking pictures
Around the critical mass
While the troops on Tinian island
Sang Follow the bouncing ball
White Christmas

He may have been a nationalist
A physicist or a pacifist
But he`s just taking pictures
And he`ll do it anyhow
Well I have seen that movie
Of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde
And I know he looks like Spencer Tracy Now

And he cries all night
And he cries all night
And he cries all night
And he cries all night


Loaded

You sigh and you walk
You talk
You care about nothing
Sometimes you`re feelin`
That life has treated you wrong

I`ve got a feeling
You know what the score is
Baby
But it`s hard when you`re sitting here
Surrounded by friends#

I`ve got a love
That I`ll cling on to
And I`ll stay there
Stay there till the end

I  have found
An answer
I don`t think you don`t care
Just you laugh
`Cause you`re loaded
And things are different from there

I have found
An answer
I don`t think you don`t care
Just you laugh
`Cause you`re loaded
And things are different from there

You walk and you talk
And you sing and you shout
And you justify
About anything
And you rant and you rave and you hope and you say
Nothing

And you eat and you drink and you dress and you live as if
No one else did baby
No one else like you
Lives out in this world

I`ve got a love
That I`ll cling on to
And I`ll stay there
Stay there till the end
`Cause one thing I know is

CHORUS


When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)

Pale blue eyes
The same old house no ties
A little bit older but not so
Worldly wise

That I can`t see
Your light`s on me
Making me
Regretfully say

The wonder of it all
Was you
And underneath it all
It wasn`t true

I want you
In everything
In everything
In anything I do
When will you make my phone ring
And tell me I can`t give you anything
Anything at all now

Tiny steps
From ruthless legs
But when you`ve been walking so long
Now don`t you rest

From disharmony
From disunity
From anything that isn`t
You and me

The wonder of it all
Was you
And underneath it all
It wasn`t true

I want you
In everything
In everything
In anything I do
When will you make my phone ring
And tell me I can`t give you anything
Anything anything
Anything at all now

Tired of chasing old dreams
Tired of wasting days
Tired of waking mornings
Just to wait for you till late

Tired of searching high
Tired of getting low
Tired of listening hard
Just to wait for you to know that

CHORUS


Chocolate Girl

Alan doesn`t understand her
He only thinks in numbers
He only drinks in restaurants
Where the girls are fully covered

And he can`t trust his yearnings
And he doesn`t like pretending
His tempers stretched so much by work
His heart needs gentle rending

He calls her the Chocolate Girl
`Cause he thinks she melts when he touches her
She knows she`s the Chocolate Girl
`Cause she`s broken up and swallowed
And wrapped in bits of silver

Alan doesn`t understand this
He says he`s only human
So he still lights up with old flames
As if to try and prove it

And he doesn`t like emotion
He`s not certain of their ardour
If pouting causes so much fun
Then breaking hearts is harder

CHORUS

Alan doesn`t understand her
He thinks it`s getting harder
So he spends the night with old friends
Underneath the covers

And he talks about the Chocolate Girl
And how he thinks she melts when he touches her
And that she knows she`s the Cocolate Girl
`Cause she`s broken up and swallowed
And wrapped in bits of silver

CHORUS


Dignity

There`s a man I meet
Walks up our street
He`s a worker for the council
Has been twenty years
And he takes no lip off nobody
And litter off the gutter
Puts it in a bag
And never thinks to mutter
And he packs his lunch in a Sunblest bag
The children call him Bogie
He never lets on
But I know `cause he once told me
He let me know a secret
About the money in his kitty
He`s gonna buy a dinghy
Gonna call her Dignity

And I`ll sail her up the west coast
Through villages and towns
I`ll be on my holidays
They`ll be doing their rounds

They`ll ask me how I got her I`ll say
I saved my money
They`ll say isn`t she pretty
That ship called Dignity

And I`m telling this story
In a faraway scene
Sipping down Raki
And reading Maynard Keynes

And I`m thinking about home
And all that means
And a place in the winter
For Dignity

And I`ll sail her up the west coast
Through villages and towns
I`ll be on my holidays
They`ll be doing their rounds

They`ll ask me how I got her I`ll say
I saved my money
They`ll say isn`t she pretty
That ship called Dignity

Set it up set it up set it up set it up set it up set it up
Yeah set it up again set it up again set it up again set it up again
Set it up set it up set it up set it up set it up set it up
Yeah set it up again set it up again set it up again set it up again

And I`m thinking about home
And I`m thinking about faith
And I`m thinking about work

And I`m thinking
How good it would be
To be here some day
On a ship called Dignity
A ship called Dignity
That ship


The Very Thing

One day all of us will work
We`ll stand outside this orchard and we`ll talk
When all is said all is done
We`ll still be thinking about home

They say that love might be the very thing
If only it could be
And making love is more than anything
And all these things like buildings
And faces
And memories
And places
Don`t count for anything

I`ll gladly draw the lines of duty
Watching summer turn to gold
She`s not content with responsibility
She wants to have and then to hold

They say that love might be the very thing
If only it could be
And making love is more than anything
And all these things like buildings
And faces
And memories
And places
Don`t count for anything.

One day all of us will work
One day all of us will work
One day all of us will work


Love's Great Fears

You know the agony
Of seeing it all slip away
Well maybe now you`d be happy
Just to talk it out straight
If it`s just
Slipping away

About the danger of
Believing in plans in hand
About the role that you have in this delecate plan
If it`s just
Slipping away

Let`s talk it out now
Let`s name them one by one
One by one

Love`s great fears
Can`t you see them burn
Twist and turn
As you walk and learn
Love`s great fears
Can`t you see them burn
Twist and turn
As you walk and learn
Twist and turn
As you walk and learn

You know danger of believing that the summer`s gone
And with the fading light the feeling that love is falling

It`s all just
Slipping away

If you believe in
The dangers that you suppose
You think it can tumble down
None of us knows

It`s all
Slipping away

Let`s talk it out now
Let`s name them one by one
One by one

Love`s great fears
Can`t you see them burn
Twist and turn
As you walk and learn
Love`s great fears
Can`t you see them burn
Twist and turn
As you walk and learn


Town To Be Blamed

Close your eyes
And go to sleep
From the howling howling
Over these streets

`Cause People stare
`Cause you`re so mad
That wild wild spark
That innocent laugh

But baby that`s this town
It won`t happen next time
Yeah baby that`s this town
Lovers on love downs
It`s this town to be blamed

At the top of the block
There`s a church
At the top of the tower
There`s the clock
And it rings
And it sighs
`Cause there`s no time
For all these lies

But baby that`s this town
It won`t happen next time
Baby that`s this town
Lovers on love downs
It`s this town to be blamed

Baby take a walk
Round to my house
Throw off these tired eyes and tears
And these frowns

Take that lane
So narrow and deep
And walk those regrets
That fill your sleep

You say your sleep is naked
And your dreams are clothed
But what about your footsteps
Who sees them go

Who lets you know
About these
Things who`s gonna say
The things we think

So take your keys
And pack your bags
But leave your books
And leave your maps

`Cause baby that`s this town
It won`t happen next time
Yeah baby that`s this town
It won`t happen next time
Yeah baby that`s this town
It won`t happen next time

Sure baby that`s this town
Lovers on love downs
It`s this town to be blamed
It`s this town to be blamed

Work work work
Rain rain rain
Home home home
Again again again


Riches

It`s good to know how big a life can be
Especially when it falls away so easily
And how hard it is to let you take your leave
Also I wish you all the things that you believe in

Like riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted like riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted
I wish all those things if you would leave
Bright clothes for winter
Bright clothes for winter

When you go on your journey don`t say goodbye
Don`t need clothes to wear
Or money to buy
Don`t take a bed to sleep in or sleeves to cry on
And don`t go gently into that good night

And take riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted take riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted
I wish all those things if you would leave
Bright clothes for winter
Bright clothes for winter

You found a great big kingdom
And you gave it all away
And how I want live there
And how I hope you`ll stay

And take riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted take riches
Now that they`re different
And work
With your burden lifted
I wish all those things if you would leave
Bright clothes for winter
Bright clothes for winter
Bright clothes for winter


Kings Of The Western World

I have an old friend
So the story goes
He never calls without saying hello

He`s got a good job
So the story goes
He says it`s it`s funny to see you look so low

I said I`m on top of the hill
Looking down at the Kings of the Western World
I went out and caught the train home
Looked at the land so the story goes

They`ve got factories and jobs and playground provided
And the workers are willing so the story goes
But

I`m on top of the hill
Looking down at the Kings of the Western
World
The Western World
And people get born
So the story goes

And people get schooled
So the story goes
And people get on
So the story goes
And people get ruled
So the story goes

And people they die
So the story goes
And left on the hill
So the story goes
But

I`m on top of the hil
Looking down at the Kings of the Western