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 | Mad Jack (3'55) Bonus US EP: |
| The US EP is only included in some editions in double LP and in all edtions in CD. |
| Technical Data |
| Byrdy: Bass, voices All songs by Burgess/Fielding/Lever/Smithies except "John, I´m Only Dancing" by Bowie and"Tomorrow Never Knows" by Lennon/McCartney © 1986 Geffen Records. GEFD-24609 |
Comments by Mark Burgess
Comments by StrangE TimeS
Note - We include at the beginning of each song the comments Mark Burgess made for the official web site. These brief notations will help you to understand the reason why of each song. Enjoy!
Hello again,
This LP was well and truly produced by Dave M. Allen (not the brilliant Irish Comedian, the brilliant English Comedian) and was admiringly engineered by Mark Saunders (courtesy of West Side, London) and assisted by Paul Corcket and Beki, who also played some piano. The noise was created at Jacob's Studio which is in Surrey, a land of many mansions; nut "looks are deceiving" said the Gladiators and they were right! We'd like to say thank you to some people. Thanks Tony Fletcher, a rock of sanity in a sea of shit. Thanks Harvey and Anthony Addis for saving us from extinction. Thanks Andy and Spoonhead and Colin for helping out. Thanks WEA Records, London, particularly Alicia Winter (what a nice name) for coping with last minute chaos. Thanks Tom Zutaut for showing us what paradise looks like and a hello to everyone in paradise. Thanks Tony The Greek, the last DJ. Thanks to everyone in The Sun, Hawkshead, for being friendly. Thanks Jacob's staff for being great and waking me up every morning. Metaphorically and literally; Hello Chrissy; and thanks Bob Geldof for firing the starting pistol.
So here it is. LP number three. Who would've believed it, not me.
Mark B.
Some time in the afternoon,
I wish I knew what day it was,
Where am I?
Who am I?
What?
P.S. Another splendid picture from Reg.
P.P.S. This record was made to be played loud
The third and last album of the Chameleons in the 80´s and 90´s, edited under Geffen Records and produced by Dave Allen ( The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy ). This album is the counterpoint to what was being the Chameleons musical evolution. In this occassion they choose a less atmospheric sound developing more elaborated melodies. The guitars, this time, try to get rid of their caracteristic sound, opting for a more conventional one ( alternating the distortion and acoustic sound), although the style is still unmistakable.
This manner, more powerful songs like Mad Jack or extense melodies like Caution or Soul In Isolation appear where, at last, John takes the main role, contributing positively to their musical evolution.
In short, a necessary change in sound to avoid a dead-end in their evolution, although the end came at last, the year after the edition of this album.
Letras Strange Times
Notes by Mark - The demo for this song was very different and had the title 'Bobby Moore's Wine' when we were going through a phase of making up silly working titles. When it came to arranging the song on the Fostex the arrangement changed and it became 'Mad Jack'. It was one of the very few times I was actually able to get Dave, Reg and John to join in on backing vocals and it was the first song to be completed on the session. Actually a lad in Middleton, whose name was Jack, got very paranoid because he thought the song was about him, it wasn't actually, but it could have been...
He's cold to the kiss
In ignorance he's dangerous, in innocence he's bliss
And stalks the night with sonar senses and he holds you tight
Masturbates the madness in you
He dreams when he's not sleeping
Plays a trusted friend
Trust him, friend, about as far as you can piss
And he holds the night, walks in shadow and avoids the light
Masturbates the madness in you
His frightened eyes can't disguise
Blatant lies, flagrant lies
Step inside, let the world know...
Oh well we'll be watching now where he's walking
Is a vacuum world where every word is a silent, strangled scream
Oh he's God tonight, he walks on water and he's always right
Talks about the madness in America
Oh he's God tonight, he walks on water and he's always right
Talks about the madness in Africa
His frightened eyes, Mad Jack's eyes
Can't disguise blatant lies
Frightened eyes
Mad Jack's eyes are open wide, his eyes are wide, eyes are wide!
It's been a long time Jack, welcome back
Have some speed, have some smack
You know it's your name.
Notes by Mark - As I said on the album description the vocal was completely spontaneous, nothing actually written when I stepped up to the mike to do the take. I'd tried to write something down but to be honest I was struggling and decided to use a 'stream of consciousness' approach, which involved a litre of wine in a very dark vocal booth. We did about six takes all in all, each completely different, but I could tell from the Producer's voice on the intercom that we had something special. I'd placed a glass on the floor, in the dark, and during the takes I'd somehow broken it without realising and cut myself. The Producer and engineer couldn't see me so when it was finished they drew back the curtain and turned on the lights to find me covered in blood, they thought, I think, that I'd been mutilating myself in the name of method performance. I did nothing to kill the myth :-)
(This is a little trick I learned, this latest great escape)
We have no future, we have no past
We're just drifting ghosts of glass
Brown sugar, ice in our veins
No pressure, no pain
Everybody looks the same to me
Rows and rows of faces on a balcony
I can hear them calling down to me
Come up here--set us free
Got sugar in our brains
Or a dagger in our hearts
This is not my home, no
Everyone's bought and sold
This is not my home
Everybody's walking round the dead and cold
And one by one by one we disappear
Day after day, year after year
You can do a runner but we're still there
Nobody hears cause nobody cares
Put a dagger in my heart now
Cold here and I shudder and I shiver
I want to look twenty but I can't deliver
Pains in the heart
Ba-ba-bow-wow-wow-wow
It's cold in here
Can you hear my teeth a-chatter
The time has come for all of us to scatter
Caution to the wind
Caution to the wind
Dagger in the heart
No
This is not my home, no
Everyone's bought and sold
This is not my home
Everybody's checking out the dead and cold
Cold, cold, cold
We have no future we have no past
We're just drifting ghosts of glass
Brown sugar, ice in our veins
No pressure, no pain
No pressure, no pain
No pressure, no shame
No pressure, oh, throw it away
Nothing on earth could help me now
No...
Notes by Mark - A few months prior to starting 'Strange Times' I'd lost a very old and dear friend to Cancer. At that time it was the hardest blow I'd ever been dealt and I wanted to write something specially, the idea 'Tears' originally 'Tears Are Not Enough' seemed perfect for it. I think it had been earmarked as a single by both the Producer and the label from the word go, hence the first 'Rocky' version, which I liked up to a point, but it didn't quite capture what I'd had in mind and so I argued and eventually got, an alternative treatment. The studio was residential but the Producer chose to commute each day from nearby London. We chose to continue working into the night and it was the band and the engineer that put the track together, the Producer then coming in on the mix. Personally, the night we recorded it was one of the highlights of the album.
It's just coincidence
Well you can talk that way
But I have to say I don't believe in it
And with the chill of chance I decided to dance the days away
But I wasn't worried at all--sneaking through the back door
No I wasn't worried at all--dreams are what you live for
Waiting for the light to turn green
And carry me home
To the kindest eyes that I've ever seen
Carry me home
Well can you tell me how will it be now?
How will it be?
Can you tell me how will it be now?
How will it be?
Well we were younger then, and the days were long and slow
But were we wiser then? I couldn't say, I wouldn't know,
But I wasn't worried at all--I had someone to run to
No I wasn't worried at all--I knew which way the wind blew
Kicking out the chaos and gloom
Carry me home...
I watched the ceiling spin round the room
Carry me home...
Well can you tell me how will it be now?
How will it be?
Can you tell me how will it be now?
How will it be?
In a cold world
How will it be?
In the real world
How will it be?
In a lonely world
How will it be?
Will the ghosts just stop following me?
In a cold world
How will it be?
In a real world
How will it be?
Beg and crawl
How will it be?
Will the ghosts just stop following me?
Oh now, draw him to the sun
He was the only one
He cries out to everyone
For his only son
From the window of my room now
I can see the colour bloom now
You can't even look in my eyes now
What would you see?
If you could look into my eyes now
What would you see?
What would you see
It's just coincidence
Well you can talk that way
It's just coincidence
Well you can talk that way
I don't believe in it
I don't believe in it
Notes by Mark - The original idea was taken from one of the first things we did together, demoed but never actually finished, entitled 'Dear Dead Days'. We re-worked it in rehearsals and came up with this. I start singing the original lines at the end of the song. We were struggling to kick start the song following the intro when John came up with the stabs, which I absolutely love. The lyrical idea was inspired by one of my all time favourite books 'Star Rover' by Jack London, which at that time I'd never heard of. It was the Producer Dave M Allen that gave it to me.
Soul in isolation
I can hear you breathing down the hall
Soul in isolation
I can hear you whisper through the walls
And if I had a mind to now
I could call to you
Or I could simply shut you out
No more would you cry, cry, cry
I give you my time to kill
But you'll never never break my will
Or I could sink a sleeping pill
And in the morning could be sleeping still
But most of you are much too ill
Way beyond a surgeon's skill
In bondage to a dollar bill
What more can you buy, buy, buy?
Oh, when you think on it,
When you think on it we're all souls in isolation
I'm alive in here
Come here...a word in your ear...
Back to the trees...
Big bad giant standing tall
Crushing all creatures, great and small
I'd like to see this giant fall
When will it come?
Words that rattle round my head
"Struck by lightning" someone said
A diamond bullet through the head
Right in the brain
Will I see the chamber's face
Did my mother bring me to this place?
And will I live to see his face
Will another come to take my place?
In total isolation surrounded by fears
Too many clouds--too many tears
Isolation, surrounded by clouds
In another world, head in the clouds
I'm alive in here
I scream but you still don't hear
I'm alive in here
I'm alive--turn on the light...
Turn on the light...
Oh, when you think on it,
When you think on it we're all souls in isolation
I'm alive in here
We're always searching for something, searching
Dear, dear dead days I'm longing for you
Sweetest virgin, now deflowered...
Notes by Mark - Definitely one of my favourites from everything we did. I'd had the chords of the chorus, which Dave had come up with, running around my head for some time and knew, when the time came, what I'd sing to it. John and Reg meanwhile, had jammed out what were to be the verses and, not knowing what to call it, had named it 'Swamp'. When it came to working it out I started singing over it and then suggested we switch to the chorus idea. It was one of the quickest songs we ever did. It was recorded some months earlier in London and remixed for the album. I was dissatisfied with my own voice and it was suggested I stop smoking for a couple of days. I did and didn't light up again for about a year. Lyrically I regard it as a true prophesy.
I can already hear your tune
Calling me across the room
When the world and his wife are on my back again
Not enough pleasure, too much pain
When the world is too much with me
(Please leave--just go away)
I lose my mind completely
(Please leave--just go now)
In the side street something's moving
Look around, look around
All around you walls are tumbling down
Stop staring at the ground
I can practically see your face
And another revolutionary falls from grace
Hear the thunder in your brain
Not enough sunshine, too much rain
When the light of life has gone
(No change for the meter)
And then the king of spivs will come
(Selling blood by the liter)
When nothing's sacred anymore
When the demon's knocking on your door
You'll still be staring down at the floor
Not too many hours from this hour
So long
The storm comes
Or is it just another shower?
Picking up the pieces
Half alive in a nine-to-five
Vacant eyes
Is it any wonder?
Rhyme and scream at the TV screen
Close your eyes
Now the world is too much with me
(Please leave--just go away)
Before I lose my mind completely
(Just leave--please go now)
Now nothing's sacred anymore
When the demon's breaking down your door
You'll still be staring down at the floor
Not too many hours from this hour
So long
The storm comes
Or is it just another shower?
Now the rain has come
Or is it just another shower?
Time
Notes by Mark - One of the first songs including The End Of 'Time' I ever wrote on an acoustic guitar, which I'd only recently bought, a Jap Washburn, which I still have. I played it to the others and married the chorus with a progression that Reg had, which changed the key of the chorus and improved the idea. Satisfying for me because I'd moved beyond writing on a Bass.
One chance is all you have
When it's gone all you have is sorrow
One chance is all you have
Take it on like there's no tomorrow
Don't waste your time,
Don't waste time
Time
Time--slipping away
Have to make the most of your time
You don't have time
Time--open the door somewhere in the back of your mind
Child, you don't have time anymore
Unchained, intoxicating youth
Such an endless feeling
These days are softly stolen away
While your head is reeling
Don't waste your time,
Don't waste time
Time
Time
Time--slipping away
Have to make the most of your time
You don't have time
Time--open the door somewhere in the back of your mind
Child, you don't have time anymore
Don't waste your days away crying all night
Lonely child, lonely child
Don't waste your days away crying all night
Oh lonely child, lonely child
Time--slipping away
Have to make the most of your time
You don't have time
Time--open the door somewhere in the back of your mind
Child, you don't have time anymore
Time, time, time
Slipping away somewhere in the back of your mind
In your mind, in your mind
Tick tick tick
Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock...
Notes by Mark - The last song I actually wrote on a Bass guitar and in my opinion one of the best and a song I still play a lot on acoustic sessions, except for the end which Reg and I jammed out years before one night at a friend's flat in London, but which I never forgot. The percussion is also provided by Reg who turned in an amazing 'Human Beat-Box' performance which, had I not seen it with my own eyes I'd find hard to believe.
I used to be so sure
I used to be so certain
Now it's gone
Always needing more
Bleating out excuses
I have none, no
Cast reflections on the water
Now that the deed is done
We'll wait, and watch the ripples fade away
Hearts are breaking
Someone's daughter joins with someone's son
It goes on and on again, on and on again
We'll watch the ripples run
I used to be so sure
I used to be so certain
How could I be so wrong?
Always needing more
At last the chains are breaking
Watch me now
Watch me run
Over fields and past the houses
Like a bullet from the gun
Watch the figure fade away
Hearts are breaking
Someone's daughter joins with someone's son
All alone again
All alone again
Watch the ripples run
Over fields and past the houses
Watch the rabbit run
Notes by Mark - We'd written and demoed the song quite a long time before the 'Strange' session and played the only great live version of it at the Paradiso, in Amsterdam. Again one of my favourites, a definite progression. Lyrically deals with the loss of my virginity.
Hey, one afternoon
The parties were parted too soon
And it slipped away
I don't know what to say
Eyes that drew me in
To a wonderfully wonderful sin
And it blew me away
I don't know what to say
In answer,
In answer,
In answer,
Nothing matters to me
Hey, one cold grey afternoon
The parties were parted too soon
And it slipped away
I don't know what to say
Eyes that drew me in
To a wonderfully wonderful sin
And it blew me away
I don't know what to say
In answer
In answer
In answer
Nothing matters to me
Nothing matters to me
Believe me--you own my soul completely
And from day to day,
Oh from hour to hour
I will be, I will be
Always in your power
Set my spirit free
As I fell, fell to the ground
My head spun around and around
And I didn't know
Which way was up or down
Hey, one cold grey afternoon
The party was parted too soon
I touched the moon
I don't know what to say
In answer
In answer
In answer
You're all that matters to me
You're all that matters to me
Believe me...
Notes by Mark - One afternoon John and I were hanging around at Suite Sixteen while the others put guitars down on a demo and we started playing together on a Casio keyboard what became the outro to 'Childhood.' Again I didn't forget it and when the time came I worked it in. I was able once again to get Reg and John to join me on backing vocals. But lyrically nothing was coming until one morning, I awoke beneath the mixing desk as usual and was given an invitation to an old school friends wedding. Being at that time more cynical, I immediately woke up the engineer, wrote the words in five minutes and put down the vocals before the Producer had arrived for work.
I saw innocent kids turn cool
In the playground at school
Poor Claudius played the fool
Survival is cruel
One for the space to prowl as you please
Two for the pulpit--down on your knees
We opened out hearts to shame
No-one's to blame
Hey--everything was clearer than today
Oh you have to hold on to your childhood
Open your eyes, and stay as you are my friend
You have to hang on
My life is a Milbury's home, on Hereford way
My life is a Barclays' loan, now, and a mortgage to pay
Let's drink to freedom and family ties
"Here's to the bags that are under my eyes"
We opened our eyes to pride
Nothing inside
Hey--everything was clearer than today
Oh you have to hold on to your childhood
Open your eyes, and stay as you are my friend
You have to hold on...
How have you been? I hope you go far
Together we stand and drop from the bar
I'm watching you now, cleaning your car
Open your eyes, and stay as you are
You have to hold on to your childhood
You have to hold on to your childhood
Hang on, hang on
With just a little more heart now
With just a little more--come on
Just a little more heart now
Just a little bit--come on
I hope we'll both be very happy
Both be very happy
Both be very happy
Both be very very very very very very very happy
Hang on with just a little more heart now
With just a little bit...
Hang on, hang on
I´ll Remember
Notes by Mark - Again not a song in the full sense but a brilliant instrumental track and a clear example of how good a producer Dave M Allen is. I added the choirs at the end on a new toy brought in for the occasion, a brand new Emulator II, ooooo!!
Tears (full arrangement)
It's just coincidence
Well, you can talk that way
But I have to say I don't believe in it
It was a chill of chance,
I decided to dance the days away
And I wasn't worried at all
Sneaking through the back door
No, I wasn't worried at all
Dreams are what you live for
Waiting for the light to turn green
Carry me home
To the kindest eyes that I've ever seen
Carry me home
Well, can you tell me how will it be now?
How will it be?
Can you tell me, how will it be now?
How will it be?
Well we were younger then,
And the days were long and slow
But were we wiser then?
I couldn't say, I wouldn't know
But I wasn't worried at all
I had someone to run to
And I wasn't worried at all
I knew which way the wind blew
Counting out the chaos and gloom
Carry me home
And I watched the ceiling spin 'round the room
Carry me home
Well, can you tell me, how will it be now?
How will it be?
Can you tell me, how will it be now?
How will it be?
In the real world, how will it be?
In a cold world, how will it be?
In a lonely world, how will it be?
Will the ghosts just stop following me?
No, now drawn into the sun
He was the only one
In the real world, how will it be?
In a cold, cold world, how will it be?
Beck and call, beg and crawl, how will it be?
Will the ghosts just stop following me?
No, now drawn into the sun
He was the only one
And so I'll remember you
I'll remember the days and the thousands of ways you pulled me through
And dream of all the things you've seen
Of all the faces and all of the places you have been
Now you have no phone and you have no name and you have no number
And it comes to an end in the blink of an eye and it makes me wonder...
Paradiso
I recall a closing door, and I remember
Seeing shadows cross a stained-glass stair
Long before the strangers came down to steal our clothing
And our consciences and long before
Eyes were empty
Hearts were cold...
We'll watch the rattlesnake slide
Slowly swirl into view
To tease and tantalize
To suck your senses and spit out the pieces
Magazine girl, she was living in a different world
Or is it a he?
Pull back the curtain, my son
I look around, the color has gone
And slowly darkness descends upon me
Paradiso, I know you lied
That much I see
Well the serpent sings his song
To so many sleeping, staring eyes
Like sheep they sing along
And clap in time to a heart that's beating
Crazy child, she was wicked, oh she was wild
Her eyes were open
Pull back the curtain today
I look around, the color is gray
Gray as the ghost town that towers above me
Paradiso, I know you lied
That much is clear
To me
I see the poet and the fool
Walking hand in hand to school
I recall a lonely outcast, and I remember
Laughing children
It was long before
Their eyes were empty,
Hearts were cold
So dance this final dance with me
I'll wrap my sting round your spine
Will poison wash away the fear
Wipe the world from my mind?
Look up, what can you do
I looked around, the color was blue
Wise up, it's in your head
I looked around me and the color is red
Red as the words that I read on the wall
Paradiso, kingdoms rise,
So must they fall
And only ashes remain in the end
Paradiso, I know you lied,
Lies without end
I'll see it again and again and again...
Inside Out
Love and laughter fills his life today
Dragged into this world and thrown away
She never wanted you, better things to do
You won't remember...
Drawn to the door, whizzing through the week,
Dancing round the fire with the rest of the freaks
Oh no, no, things are different now
Don't let these days of doubt
Turn him inside out
His second mother holds him to her breast
She sees her children come and go
Ripping the heart from her
All of them part of her
And some will remember...
Time heals all wounds they say
She can't let them take her boy away
This son, oh, she would die without
Don't let these days of doubt
Turn her inside out
When she was young, the world was a different place...
After all
And his heart is in his home
There helplessly waiting for someone to smash his world to pieces
Ignorant and cruel,
Social student fools,
Pull him to the right, pull him to the left,
Pull him by the arms, pull him by the legs
Let go!
Oh, things are different now...
Don't let these days of doubt
Turn them inside out
When you were young, they wore a different face
When she was young, the world was a different place
When you were young, they wore a different smile
Ever After
I don't believe in fascists or flashing females or factory floors
I don't believe in speeding, I don't believe in spreading spores
I don't believe in Cupid or his laden arrows out of the blue
All of that is stupid but then again it's up to you.
Disguise and distort all you will
I'm burning up I can't stand still
I'm finding out I always will
For ever after.
I don't believe in fireworks, I don't believe in CND
It's just another slogan from a student library
I don't believe in justice, I don't believe in love on the dole
I don't believe in wham-bam, I don't believe in what comes now.
Disguise and distort all you will
I'm burning up I can't stand still
I'm finding out I always will
For ever after.
It's just another avenue to walk down.
Disguise and distort all you will
I'l burning up I can't stand still
I'm finding out I always will
For ever after.
Everybody's crazy.
