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Happy People

by Tom Slatter

supported by
David Bromberg
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David Bromberg This album does not exist. I'm sure I have entered another dimension accidentally. The post person will deliver an empty envelope and Mr Elephant will laugh loudly at my foolishness. Still.......it will be a bloody great envelope!
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
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Sven B. Schreiber (sbs) A great album... but hey, why do I write this? You've got ears, so hurry up and listen to it yourself! I'm not your babysitter. Probably you even want to know what's all the fuss with those "Immoral Supporters Exclusive" items that clutter up my collection. Well, since I'm a proud member of this exclusive club of morons, I can tell you exactly what expects you here. But I won't! Har har har, I won't, I won't! Did you really think I'd tell you?! Never! Forget it! You gotta pay like everyone of us naive jerks, who fell for the immoral promises of Major Tom! Join the "Immoral Supporters" now and find out the painful truth...
Andrew Langridge
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Andrew Langridge Penguin Penguin Penguin Penguin Penguin Penguin Penguin Penguin
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD in a 6-panel DigiPak with an 8-page booklet filled with stunning graphics and artwork from Joe Slatter.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Happy People via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £10 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP  or more

     

1.
Happy People 05:40
Prisons float in your eyes Lies on your tongue Let the public decide On drips to make them grin Don't you want to be happy for a while? Pull another tooth out Fixing up your smile Happy people don't pull faces Happy people smile and wave They ask after your family They never say a thing that hurts Happy people all make friends Happy people want you to pretend They never shout They don't make waves Cos happy people always win Happy people abound Daggers in their veins Let the public be hanged Let the pigs proclaim their rights Don't you want to feel safe for a while? Pull another tooth out Give us all a smile I've got nine lives left to worry out Escape with just my skin Scratches whip marks on my back Someone else's sin I've got nine lives left to worry out Fracture and displace All this running all this hurt to find myself a space In a dark room water drips and pools As the man I paid Pulls the skin back and stitches me a face.
2.
Maybe it's time to let them go Maybe that's what you do When the world's gone mad Circle of ink in a rippling pool Documents burning in an alleyway Crackling and spitting Looking at loved-ones Looking at nobodies No-one you're looking for is here Shadows and knives Maybe they were make believe Maybe it's time to let you go They're never gonna come back No matter how hard I shout and I cry They're never gonna come back Now they're nothing but a name in a file It's only wishful thinking No matter how hard I shout and I cry They're never gonna come back No matter how hard I shout and they Say once you're gone you will stay disappeared Murder Justice Perfect system A name in a file
3.
Satellites 04:42
They say eyes are watching down on all the lovers Ironclad watchers in star-bitten skies They're keeping a record of all our romances They'll pull us apart if they don't approve So we'll run and we'll hide away Find some other sky Won't see their satellites looking for us love Won't hide from satellites looking for us love 94 ways for the gunships to find us We'll have to make do with these home-grown hallelujahs There's a red glow in the black night It blinks up above us Cataract glint of some alien eye Sleep on the surface Make tools and weapons Use them to bury, to flee and to hide So we'll run and we'll hide away Find some other sky Won't see their satellites looking for us love Won't hide from satellites looking for us love 94 ways for the gunships to find us we'll have to make do with these home-grown hallelujahs Won't see their satellites looking for us love Won't hide from satellites looking for us love So we'll run and we'll hide til there's nothing above us They can't police our hearts Won't see their satellites waiting for us love Won't hide from satellites waiting for us love Won't see their satellites looking for us love Won't hide from satellites looking for us love
4.
The stench coming off the work-camps Mixed with perfume and with sweat Static buzz from the intercom You ain't been no-one yet The skull, the ribcage and the mescaline, All the fires never burned. All at sixes and at sevens, Haven't spoken, haven't met Yesterday the world knew you These sirens aren't your friends Yesterday they sang you name, now nowhere, now nothing Don't forget to take your pills And don't forget your name The world can be a cruel, cruel place in someone else's trip Flow my tears, the policeman said The skull, the ribcage and the mescaline, All the fires never burned. All at sixes and at sevens, Haven't spoken, haven't met Yesterday the world knew you These sirens aren't your friends Yesterday they sang you name, now, nowhere, now nuthin' Don't forget to take your pills And don't forget your name The world can be a cruel, cruel place in someone else's trip Flow my tears, the policeman said
5.
We've heard there are are wolves Patrolling at the border So we needed the guns We needed the fire Its flames are burning higher Soon they'll burn out the night We've all got to die Come sooner or later So we've all got to pray We've cleaned our souls By never doing nothing Will get our reward? Even when we go to bed and hide under our blankets Safe and warm in arms of sleep Even then we're scared We've built up the walls With blocks of righteous concrete So we can't see the world The barcodes and scans The database is safety And it watches over us If you've nothing to hide Then why should you be worried? There's a price to be free We've cleaned our souls By never doing nothing Will get our reward? Even when we go to bed And hide under our blankets Safe and warm in arms of sleep Even then we're scared Even when we bolt the door And sing ourselves to sleep Lullabies to help you dream Even then we're scared
6.
There was a woman here With steel behind her eyes With fire in her heart There was a woman With my soul between her teeth My conscience come alive But now I'm here with this button beneath my hands And none of you seem red None of you seem real My Fire Flower Heart Would still my hand If only she was here My Fire Flower Heart Was all my world And now she's disappeared There was a reason once Before the world turned grey Before the world turned old There was a reason once And they crushed it in their jaws They closed in their traps But now I'm here with this button beneath my hands And none of you seem red None of you seem real My Fire Flower Heart Would still my hand If only she was here My Fire Flower Heart Was all my world And now she's disappeared What would she say? What would she do? Would she say let all them should burn, all these worthless fools? My Fire Flower Heart Would still my hand If only she was here My Fire Flower Heart Was all my world And now she's disappeared
7.
{Instrumental}
8.
Is it something unforgivable This thing that ends my life Under star light and explosions With my fingers on the light I could pull the trigger I could end this nightmare quick Wash my hands mercy clean Sink my teeth into this If I could I'd light the match If I'd the choice then I'd set light to the sky Is it something that's unquenchable The thirst we have for blood? Cos we stained the whole world red with it Like we stained our only sun I could push the button Watch the sky fall in I could wash my hands mercy clean sink my teeth into this If I could I'd light the match If I'd the choice then I'd set light to the sky What would you say if you woke up to live as a slave? If I could I'd light the match If I'd the choice then I'd set light to the sky And watch it all burn
9.
Make me less than nothing Make me greyer than ghost A whisper of a memory you can't quite recall I'll be less than nothing I will be smoke, mist, gone Make me nameless and faceless Scratch out eyes and teeth and soul Make me blank and empty and void and nothing I'll be on the wind Smoke mist gone Can you take All of the dark All of the things I've believed All of the dark All of the things that I've seen All of the poison you think you can drain Leave so me so numb I won't feel again All of the dark All of the things I don't need Make me less than nothing Make me greyer than ghost Make a whisper of a memory you can't quite recall I'll be less than nothing I will be smoke, mist, gone Run faster run The further you can run The freer you will be Run faster run Happy people never run they never flee They never flee Make me nameless and faceless Scratch out eyes and teeth and soul Make me blank, empty, void and nothing at all I'll be on the wind Smoke mist gone Can you take All of the dark All of the things I've believed All of the dark All of the things that I've seen All of the poison you think you can drain Leave so me so numb I won't feel again All of the dark All of the things I don't need

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released March 17, 2017

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Tom Slatter London

A latter-day Victorian street-theatre barker with a guitar promising tales of mystery, imagination, ‘orrible murders and bloody great waving tentacles’ is how Tom Slatter has been described. Since 2010 he has been scaring audiences with six albums and numerous EPs of storytelling songs. ... more

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