Get all 9 Adam Murphy releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of POST MAN, Paddy's Day 2003, PROGRESS, ENLIGHTENMENT PLEASE, OUT OF THE SYSTEM, GREEN BLUES BLACK BALLADS AND SOME NORMAL SONGS FOR GUITAR AND PIANO, HALF-WAY, EVERYONE'S SPECIAL, and 1 more.
1. |
Half-Way
03:13
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If you hear my whisper
Call out to me
If you see my eyes twinkle
Watch them closely
'Cos I might be thinking something
My mouth's afraid to say
Maybe it's some kinda dark star
You would like to acquaint
I'm here in my own way
Wooing you to my fray
I'm breaking my back
Trying to reach the centre
Then I hear someone say
That the centre's only half way
Half way
Half way
Half way to where?
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2. |
Charm and Harm
05:33
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Charm and harm go arm and arm
Down busy streets to havoc wreak
Take from the stalls the freshest fruits for free
They have a bite they spit it out
The rest they squash and smear about
Another hazard on romance's torrid trail
And Charm speaks when needs be
While Harm stays silent
Secretly hiding in the shadow of its friend
And when they wish they can endear you
To drop your guard, expel your fear
Make jealous lovers weep the tears of failure
Oh the smile
Oh the eyes
Oh the words
Oh the guile
Those wise to their scheming ways
Who pose a threat to their latest phase
Will be put down in the minds of the new victims
They'll block 'em off and cut' em out
Discredit them with a subtle bout of half-lies
Dismissing them to their so-called friends as sorry fools
When Charm has won the heart of one
And Harm has come to the fore and done the damage
They nonchalantly move along
And another wreck they have left
To join the others on a bitter shelf
You've just been a drop to their ever-thirsting ego
Oh the smile
Oh the eyes
Oh the words
Oh the guile
What can you do when your warning's mocked
Just stand back and watch the lambs being sucked up
You know the final score but you're disbelieved
You could maybe learn the tricks of trade
And run the risk of sour grapes
Fermenting onto that power to destroy
Oh the smile looks so nice
Oh the eyes are so bright
Oh the words sound so true
Oh the guile
Oh the smile looks so cute
Oh the eyes are so clear
Oh the words sound so cool
Oh the guile
Oh the smile is so pretty
Oh the eyes seem so frank
Oh the words sound so witty
Oh the guile
Oh the smile seems so pleasant
Oh the eyes how they twinkle
Oh the words sound profound
Oh the guile
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3. |
Kick
04:26
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Some get high on music
Some feel the buzz from above
Some say truth's in nature
But we all get a kick out of love
Some find peace in meditation
And it keeps them happy enough
Some like to kick a ball
But we all get a kick out of love
It can kick you up to the stars
It can kick you down so far
That you think to yourself "well for me that's the end"
Then it comes and kicks you again
Many are managed by money
And there's little else they think of
And some get horny with power
But even they need a dose of love
And some are driven by violence
As if they like the look of blood
Their hearts are riven with hatred
Methinks they need a kick from love
Some find solace in TV
While others depend on other junk
Some spend their spare time spotting trains
But there's no substitute for love
There's no substitute when it comes through
Even if sometimes it leaves you sad
'Cos to love and to lose is to live and to do
And learn and feel and be you
Well thrill-seekers like their danger
And epicures gobble their grub
Techno heads toy with their machinery
But we all get a kick out of love
And some like to go globe-trotting
Or live in the local pub
Some like to go bird-watching
But we all get a kick out of love
It can kick you up to the stars
It can kick you down so far
That you think to yourself "well for me that's the end"
Then it comes and kicks you again
And we all need a kick from of love
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4. |
Doom and Gloom
04:24
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Doom and Gloom came to my room
With Cassandra gone her way
Said Doom to Gloom "ah there he is
Now it's time to play"
I said "hi" with an innocent smile
Not knowing them by face
"Can I help you" I asked not hearing them laugh
Behind sincere facade
"You surely can for we have plan"
And they told me one not true
"We need someone to be our man
And we have chosen you
You because you're bright and true
And good at all you do
And we believe that all you need
Is a timely well-aimed boost
So pay us heed and follow our lead
And you'll be more than ok
Just listen boy"
Flattered, I resolved to obey
I swam a tide of rosy dreams
Saw bright future guaranteed
Or so I thought but all it brought
Was abject misery
I walked on air without a care
Bragged to friends and foe
But I talked through my hat for when it went flat
I'd no more seeds to sow
I was led to the Land of Lucre
Licked my lips and wrung my hands
But a lightning crash came in a flash
And my dreams were turned to sand
I woke up in a wasteland
Of crumble and decay
A giant chasm of emptiness
Was staring me in the face
I flaffed about for something
Any old comfort I would take
But there was nothing even familiar
They'd spirited all away
They robbed me of my dignity
Stripped my assets bare
I'd thought them unassailable
But there was really nothing there
I thought back to the wise words
That were Cassandra's
Remembering how I pooh-poohed them then
As merely slanderous
Oh how well I understand her now
How I rue the day
I waved away her presence
And what she had to say
For she'd warned me of Doom and Gloom
And how they'd be my ruin
But all I knew were happy notes
Now I'm singing a different tune
Now I wish to banish regrets
Find new fools to fry
Everything's easy in retrospect
And you never know till you die
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5. |
Coming
02:35
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It's coming from the TV
Coming from the silver screen
Coming from magazines
Coming from computer screens
Coming from the station walls
Coming down the station halls
Coming from from the bus stop
It's even in the country shops
Coming down the street now
In your face or at the sides
Flashing up on billboards
Flashing at you low and high
Gotta keep your head now
If you want to stay
Out of trouble
It's coming from from the top shelf
Coming from the bottom shelf
I only came in here
To buy some breakfast for myself
It's even on the cardboard box
As I eat my cereal
I'm wondering if it's healthy
To see so much of what's unreal
So many windows
To Fantasy Island
Where everyone is happily
Shiny, muscled, rich and tanned
I gotta go and get it
If I want to be a real man
But no it's not for me and you
You can look
But cannot feel
It's becoming more common
Increasing like mammon
Gone past daring
Over baring
For some it's just an easy please
To others it's an evil tease
Mmm we all like a peek
At images across our sheets
It's cold but it's hot
It's cheap so it sells a lot
The old are bemused
The young confused
They're talking all about it
Before they even grow their pubes
It's making us free
But it won't
Let us be
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6. |
So Long Ago
03:51
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So long ago
Everything's so long ago
Where did it go?
Everyone - where did it go?
That which was new is now very old
What once was hot is gone grey and cold
Time is fast and little seems to last
Some memories stay real though they're far in the past
So long ago
Everything's so long ago
Where did it go?
Everyone - where did it go?
In the same place at a different age
I feel the ghosts of old haunting the stage
They're still treading the boards as if it were today
But that is an era that's far far away
So long ago
Everything's so long ago
Where did it go?
Everyone - where did they go?
This is today but it won't be for long
If it's a bad one just remember it'll soon be gone
'Cos time's a great healer as well as a thief
Stealing your prime but relieving your grief
So long ago
Everything's so long ago
Where did it go?
Everyone - where did it go?
Time goes so fast "compared to what" you may ask
Life is so short "compared to what" you retort
Seems to speed up but why be surprised
That's how it will be, is, and always was like
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7. |
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Get out my way you're in my way
I haven't got all day
To go a million miles today
Gotta get there come what may
I'm on a buzz I don't need you
To tell me rest
No I can live on stress
Get out my way you're in my way
Got to get to the next place
Could sit and talk of life all day
But that is such a waste
So much left out there to plunder
Gotta get it before
The next guy gets there first
Man slow down
You're gonna run yourself into the ground
Man slow down
In your hurry you'll be drowned
Buy buy buy gotta buy buy buy
Can't let a day go by
Run run run gotta do do do
Gotta get it before you die
Got twenty million Euro
But Billy Boy
Has ten billion more
Ring ring ring gotta ring ring ring
Gotta keep that step ahead
Sell sell sell your soul to hell
Your heart to a hospital bed
Talk and talk and talk
Would you ever think
To just switch it off
Man slow down
You're going run yourself into the ground
Man look around
Try to see where you're bound
Man what is it now
That you have left to own?
Man what is it now
That you forgot to ruin?
Mankind calm down
You're going to run the world into the ground
Man calm down
In your flurry
We will all be drowned
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8. |
Small Man
02:32
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Small Man is annoyed
He thinks he's been betrayed
Feels he's been waylaid
Mind has been toyed with
To keep him in his place
A subject of the rules
That take him for a fool
Take him for a ride
Fill him up with lies
He's a small man
They call him "small"
A small man
But what if he were tall?
Small Man has his screens
To keep him in tune
To tell him what is new
Fill his room with life
Engage his little mind
Tell him what to buy
Show him what he can't
The kids start to cry
They want to know why
He's a small man
They call him "small"
A small man
But what if he were tall?
And every few years
They tell him "tick a name
Put it in that box
Now you control the game"
But it's just a bloody name
And a sneaky little smile
A few more tired lies
"Now make up your mind"
That's how I decide
I'm a small man
They call me small
I'm a small man
But what if I were tall
A small man
They call me small
But if I were tall man
Would I be good at all ?
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9. |
The Lord Said
04:45
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"The Lord said this is my land
The Lord said this land is mine
The Lord said this is my piece of ground
So bye-bye or die"
"The Lord said love thy neighbour
The Lord said you gotta do me right
So come on now, love me neighbour
Or bye-bye or die"
"The Lord said that he loves me
It's written here so I know it's right"
"Ah no but my book is the only true one
So abide by it or die"
"The Lord said you're a heathen
And unless you come to think like me
He won't forgive you, won't have mercy
And you'll burn,burn eternally
"Nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah nah-nah poo
"The Lord said my kind are chosen
It's written here so I don't ask why"
"The Lord said you killed Jesus"
When he sent him here to die
The Lord said "suffer children"
And Christ they suffer - just look around and cry
"Oh no what he meant was - bring them to him"
So they're churned out and left to starve and die
We've got this free will and reason
To try and make for all a better life
Instead we grab and hoard and trample all over each other
And hope that sycophantic prayer will see us right
Uh-uh uh-uh-uh-uh
Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh uh-uh-uh
"The Lord said this is my land
The Lord said this land is mine
The Lord said this is my piece of dirt
So bye-bye or die"
I say this is our world
I say this Earth is yours and mine
Gotta figure out how best to use and share it
Or it's bye-bye we all die
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10. |
Mammy Mammy Blues
03:42
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-Mammy Mammy Mammy, more more more
-Sorry silly baby it's all gone
-Mammy Mammy Mammy, so make me more
-Sorry little man it'll take too long for you
Who cooked and ate your golden goose
Before it had time to reproduce
-Mammy Mammy Mammy me tummy's sore
-I know but little baby there's no more in the store
-I went down to the market but there was nothing on the stalls
Flashed my wads of money they said "try it with a pinch of salt"
They said "you'll have to wait now
Till new things grow"
-How long will that take
"An eon or so"
You heard the words of wisdom
But you didn't listen
It's easier to believe
What you want to be true
-Mammy Mammy Mammy I have a hunger pain
-Where's all that stuff I gave you -oh I threw it down the drain
'Cos Mam it came so easy I didn't need to care
And all those miserable wretches were way over there
So Mammy Mammy Mammy I threw it in the ground
I should've stuck my head in with it as I didn't care to look around
-You refused to listen
Resented words of wisdom
Chose to believe
What made you feel good now it's all gone bad
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11. |
Tit-For-Tat
04:05
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And Jimmy will kill Johnny
'Cos Johnny killed poor Ger
And Ger was Jimmy's brother
Ooh how it's hurts
But Ger butchered Jamie
And Jamie was Johnny's friend
But Jamie shot down Marty
A message for to send
And the message was quite simple
You don't mess with our side
And Marty messed up Mikey
Who in the fight had died
And the reason for that fight was
That Marty thought he knew
That Mikey was behind
The dirty death of Lou
And it's said that Lou killed Larry
Just to even the score
But what the final score is
No-one knows anymore
And Larry whacked old Jimmy
Old Johnny to avenge
And well you may wonder
Where it all began or ends
And you can look this wild world over
And this is what you'll see
We just refuse to reason
Till we're sick to death of grief
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Adam Murphy Ireland
Adam Murphy was born and raised in Cork, Ireland, but is a long-time Galway resident after periods living and working in
Europe, USA, and UK.
‘Progress’ is his ninth album of original material. Each collection has a discrete flavour and is a set of thematically linked pieces. His work has been aired regularly on RTE and other radio stations in Ireland and abroad, most recently in the Far East.
... more
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