Strumpet Lyrics

[BrotherLovesDub]

STRUMPET (31/10/08)
------------
??
with a white stick
with a little light
flows faster on the light?
white stick on the rock?
roping in the wind?
are you hungry?
do you know what to ?
floating in the blue
i hear you
your voice
it comes out above my head
close to you
close to you

there is one bird in my house
she said
you woke up from a dream
he heard momma kiss
he felt better
he saw her enormous things
it damped his mood for a second
then he remembered where he was
he regained his perspective
and felt a -- lot better

gets much better
and lays back on his bed
with the front door open
and a dim light* coming into the room
he smelled time
he laid back listening to a fly

he saw the washing hanging in the sun
he caught a fleeting glimpse of a man
moving up hill
pursued by a bus he saw a white church
with a three blue domed roof
a crucifix on the top and
an ant walked along the edge of his book he heard
another man
and a grey mustached man?

A moped started up
sounded like a chainsaw
tiny firecrackers
then he smelled the time again
the fly came in along the shaft of sunlight
coming through the open door
he watched it cross the room again
half way then it
turned around and left
he left

there is one bird in house x 4


------
*karl says "sunlight" instead of dim light during the Nov 1 show
*2 = changed to 'found' enormous things during Nov 1 show
help!

[holden]

Is Karl's guitar his "Strum pet"? :p

Seriously, could make sense in light of Bruce Lee - Dobropet, as a Dobro is also a strummed instrument.

[dubman]

you hold me in / are you hungry?
and lays back on his bed / he lays back on his bed
half way there / half way then it
a crucifix on top (and an ant) walked along the edge of his boot?

other than that im not good enough to disagree at these things.

[Rog]

wha........?:p

[qirex]

anyone come up with something solid?

[bas_I_am]

anyone come up with something solid?
With one of K's lyrics??? :eek:

[gaborez]

here's my attempt from the performance at brixton academy 31/10/08.
i cant even make out the first word. feel free to edit/add :)


_________ with a white stick
With a little light
Floats past her on the right
White stick on the rock
Groping (?) in the wind
Are you hungry?

Do you know what ______
Floating in the blue
I hear you your voice
It comes out above my head. Close to you. Close to you.

There is one bird in my house, she said
He woke up from a dream
He heard mama kiss
He felt better he saw enormous things
It damped his mood for a second
Then he remembered where he was
He regained his perspective
And he felt a….lot better.

It gets much better he laid back on his bed
With the front door open and the dim light coming into the room
He smelled time (?)
He laid back listening to a fly

He saw the washing hanging in the sun
He caught a fleeting glimpse of a man
Moving uphill
The __________
He saw white church with a
Three blue domed roof
A crucifix on the top and
an ant walked along the edge of his boot (book?)
He heard
Another man and a grey mostached man
___ then started up
Sounded like a chainsaw tied (?) in fire crackers

Then he smelled time again
The fly came in along the shaft of sunlight coming from the open door
He watched it cross the room again
Halfway then it turned around and left
He laughed
There is one bird in my house
There is one bird in my house
There is one bird in my house
There is one bird in my house


i love this song :)

Any clues for us, Karl? :D

[Banstylin']

I think you're pretty dead on Gaborez, here's a few additions...

_________ with a white stick / Black cat in town with a white stick

Groping (?) in the wind / Roping in the wind

Do you know what ______ / Do you know what to weave (?)

He smelled time (?) / He smelled thyme (like the herb)


And I think brotherlovesdub nailed it with these:


The __________ / Pursed by a bus he saw a white church

___ then started up / Moped started up

Sounded like a chainsaw tied (?) in fire crackers / sounded like a chainsaw
tiny firecrackers

[BrotherLovesDub]

also, the lyrics were definitely "He heard Mama Cass" in the live version from Czech Republic and the one that was streamed to Quicktime.

[potatobroth]

I always hear "a rubber man with a grey mustache" :)

[stimpee]

They played this for the first time at the Brighton City Festival the week before Brixton. I made a video of it which should still be available over at RTSR.

[jose m]

its a stream of conscious thingee with observational stuff thrown in.
the observational parts are from the sights and sounds outside the window of a hotel on a greek island.

or not ?

;)

[BrotherLovesDub]

It seems less stream of consciousness than some other songs. I'm sticking with my theory that the subject of the song is an autistic boy. Smelling time, listening to a fly etc. Of course, the beauty of abstract lyrics and lyrics in general is their ability to mean different things to different people.

[potatobroth]

I'm sticking with my theory that the subject of the song is an autistic boy.

What? It looks as typical stream of consc. as any other UW song. In fact, it would be much more obvious if it was about a boy having a dream and waking up in his bed and interpreting the visions in the room.

[smagdali]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one obsessed with this tune.

[Dirty0900]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one obsessed with this tune.

I don't like it. Well, shit fan quality recordings don't help.

[Champiness]

I don't like it. Well, shit fan quality recordings don't help.

There's at least one Liveherenow CD with Strumpet on it - probably more. Unless I'm out of the loop and they're discontinued you could always go with that.

[BrotherLovesDub]

It's on two diff. LHN recordings. The version on the 31st is the better version.

[Dirty0900]

It's on two diff. LHN recordings. The version on the 31st is the better version.

To be fair, the more recent version sounds better I think they did in Russia

[ThingInABook]

my head has been raptured by this song lately. it sounds extremely personal to me. like confusion the waitress. it's like a companion track to the latter. kinda like cherry pie/rowla when they're played together.

[DaddyAdv]

@ThingInABook: You know that an early version of Strumpet was mixed awesomely with Confusion at Electraglide 2000, do you ?
(Yes, it's on RTSR)

[Dirty0900]

@ThingInABook: You know that an early version of Strumpet was mixed awesomely with Confusion at Electraglide 2000, do you ?
(Yes, it's on RTSR)

I didn't.

[ThingInABook]

@ThingInABook: You know that an early version of Strumpet was mixed awesomely with Confusion at Electraglide 2000, do you ?
(Yes, it's on RTSR)

OOOOH!

niftee.

so, where's the way to the tracker?

[potatobroth]

mmm. i loved that 2000 Electraglide version!

"better better better, gets much better..."

[Champiness]

I'm on my way to Strumpety goodness as soon as I get home... thanks for the tip!

[ThingInABook]

as a paliative until i wait for a final version, i cleaned a bit the murkyness of the brixton recording (too much reverb! anyway it gives some kind of solemnity to the track) and raised the highs a bit. i'm gonna try and mix it with confusion the waitress when i get home, to see if my edit works on a regular mixing session

[chems1919]

I wonder if there a connection between the title of this song and the 2001 film directed by Danny Boyle? I know they're friends in real life and obviously collaborated on Boyle's other films, Trainspotting and Sunshine (well, The Beach also if you count 8 ball).

Being a big UW and Danny Boyle fan, I thought it would be really cool if the song is somehow connected to the movie. I personally haven't seen it yet since it was aired as a tv movie in the UK; however, now I'm even more intrigued to snag a copy somehow. Here's the plot of the movie from wikipedia:

"The story tells of a poet named Strayman (played by Christopher Eccleston (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Eccleston)) who lives with a pack of stray dogs in a rough estate based in Manchester (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester). He soon meets a young girl named Strumpet (played by Genna G (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genna_G)), who is homeless. He kindly takes her in his flat. He soon realises that she has an extrodinary gift for music. She starts playing Strayman's guitar and they both start singing. Strayman's neighbour nicknamed Knockoff (played by Stephen Walters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Walters)) overhears them and becomes fascinated by their talent. They soon team up and head off to London (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London) to become one of Britain's Top of the Pops (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops)."

From reading the plot, it sounds like it could be inspiration for a song, especially since it's mainly about music. I may just be over-analyzing this. I looked up the term "strumpet" and it kind of translates to "whore." I know Karl's lyrics usually don't make much sense, but since Danny is a buddy to the band, I thought about the possible connection.

[Andrea]

I was so curious to hear this song and at last I´ve found a live recording from 2008. It sounds a bit restrained in the beginning but getting better from the "...he saw the washing hanging in the sun..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIOffy_h7GI&feature=player_embedded


.... I know Karl's lyrics usually don't make much sense .....

I don´t know... it depends on who you ask.
In Sweden we had a long, snowy and very cold winter this year and believe it or not I even had a bird in my house a little while :D

[Mike]

@ThingInABook: You know that an early version of Strumpet was mixed awesomely with Confusion at Electraglide 2000, do you ?
(Yes, it's on RTSR)

Yes

http://uwlive.rowla.com/gigs/view/187

:)

[holden]

An amazing gig, that Electraglide 2000, that's for sure.

The more i hear Strumpet, the more insistent and driving it seems, like something very important is happening and theaudience are lucky enough to experience it. Really hoping this track makes it to the new LP, along with "Always Loved a Film".

[Dirty0900]

Still don't like Strumpet...

[mark3]

You know that an early version of Strumpet was mixed awesomely with Confusion at Electraglide 2000, do you ?
(Yes, it's on RTSR)

Been searching my pc for this, but can't find it. Somebody please share this recording - can't find it on the tracker. I'm dying to hear this early version.

[TheBang]

Been searching my pc for this, but can't find it. Somebody please share this recording - can't find it on the tracker. I'm dying to hear this early version.
It's on the FTP.