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Bad Harvest

(Sullivan/Nelson/Dean/White/Gill)

I was raised in the years of the harvest
There were fields to the far horizon turning to the sun
I have killed more than I could eat
I live in a house filled with bones
But now the rain doesn't fall
And the wells are running brackish and dry
We stare out across the shrivelling fields
at the pitiless blue of the pitiless sky

Ch:
Bad harvest is come, we're gathering dust
The scavenger birds are returning
La Muerte parades through the capital streets
Soon they'll be hunting for witches for the burning

I can hear in the far-off distance
The sound of the men making ready to come
I can hear them saddling horses
And the sound of the hounds howling scenting the kill in the air
I can taste fear on my tongue,
I can feel fear in my heart
We'll be running and stumbling through the thick dark woods
Through the barren fields through the empty towns

Ch:
Bad harvest is come and the wars they are lost
Whatever is left will be returning
La Muerte parades through the capital streets
Soon they'll be hunting for witches for the burning

Beneath the towering clouds of rusting red
As the sun bleeds into the horizon
The churches of the new gods are closing their doors
And the hard old gods are vengeance-bent on their returning

The gardens of the ruined towers glow with burning crosses
While the kings are in their counting houses
Counting out their losses
Trust to the stories, my love - it's what they are for
What's happening now has happened before
----------
Today Is a Good Day - CD (9/09)
Today Is a Good Day - Double LP (9/09)

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Bad Old World

(Sullivan)

Dear Justin, I know it's been a long time
Remember all those nights we spent sitting up talking in your front room
About leaving this worn out world and starting again far away in a better place
Well that's where I am now . . . but still thinking about you

Ch:
I'm never going back there
I'm never going back to the bad old world

I was travelling with Laurel way up on the north coast
She's got family living up here in a nearby town
We found a piece of land that looks out towards the north sea islands across the bay
And the sun is shining on the water today as I look out of our front door

Ch:
And I'm never going back there
I'm never going back to the bad old world

Are you still scared of the future? . . . well that doesn't surprise me
You could come up and stay here a while, back off from the killing wheel
I used to think it was me who'd somehow sold out or given in on some almighty cause,
But what difference would it make . . . it feels good to be out here

Ch
----------
The Love of Hopeless Causes - CD (4/93)
The Love of Hopeless Causes - LP (4/93)

(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - Bizarre Festival 1996 - Video (97)
(High Tour 07/08) - Fuck Texas, Sing for Us - CD (11/08)
(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

(9/94) - Big Guitars in Little Europe - CD (3/95)

Feb.-Jul. 93 - Love of Hopeless Causes Tour (Europe, UK, USA, Canada)
Dec. 94 - UK Tour/Feb. 95 - Europe Tour
Jun.-Jul.95 - Europe Festivals
21/04/96 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Aug.-Oct. 96 - Europe Festivals
Jun.-Aug. 97 - Europe Festivals
Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
Jun.-Sep. 98 - Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour
Feb. 99 - UK Tour
Jul.-Aug. 99 - Europe Festivals

Nov.-Dec. 93 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Europe Tour
Jan.-Feb. 94 - Red Sky Coven - Germany, Amsterdam Tour
Jul. 94 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Netherlands Festivals
Sep. 94 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Netherlands Tour
Dec. 95 - Red Sky Coven - Germany Tour
23/07/96 - Justin Sullivan - Kaue, Gelsenkirchen

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Ballad

(Sullivan)

When they look back at us and they write down their history
What will they say about our generation?
We're the ones who knew everything still we did nothing
Harvested everything, planted nothing

Well we live pretty well in the wake of the goldrush
Floating in comfort on waves of our apathy
Quietly knawing away at Her body
Until we mortgage the future, bury our children

Storehouses full with the fruits we've been given
We send off the scragends to suckle the starving
But still we can't feed this strange hunger inside
Greedy, restless and unsatisfied

I was never much one for the great "big bang" theory
Going out in a blaze of suicidal glory
Not foolish and brave, these leaders of ours
Just stupid and petty, unworthy of power . .

Just a little leak here and a small error there
Another square mile poisoned forever
A series of sad and pathetic little fizzles
And out go the lights, never to return

The affair it is over, the passion is dead
She stares at us now with ice in Her eyes
But we turn away from these bitter reproaches
And take up distractions to forget what we're doing

Well I stand on these hills and I watch Her at night
A thousands square miles, a million orange lights
Wounded and scarred, She lies silent in pain
Raped and betrayed in the cold acid rain
And I wish and I wish
We could start over again
Yes I wish and I wish
We could win back Her love once again
----------
The Ghost of Cain - CD (9/86)
The Ghost of Cain - LP (9/86)
(Remastered) - The Ghost of Cain - Double CD (5/05)

(Christmas 2014 shows) - Between Wine and Blood Live - Triple CD (4/15)
(Christmas 2014 shows) - Between Wine and Blood Live - DVD (4/15)

Red Sky Coven Volume 3 - CD (1/01)

(London Town and Country Club, 23/12/86) - Join the Army - Bootleg LP

26/07/86 - Mersea Island Festival, Colchester
Aug.-Dec. 86 - Ghost of Cain Tour (UK, Europe, USA, Canada)
Mar. 87 - Northern Europe Tour
06/06/87 - Reichstag, Berlin
May-Jun 89 - USA, Canada Tour
Jun.-Jul. 89 - Europe Festivals

18/12/87 - Red Sky Coven - Topic Club, Bradford
Mar.-Apr. 88 - Red Sky Coven - UK Tour
May 90 - Red Sky Coven - Grootebroek, Germany Tour
04/09/93 - Justin Sullivan - Freilichtbuehne, Luebeck (Anti Fascism Festival)
Jan. 99 - Red Sky Coven - Germany Tour

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Ballad 2

(Sullivan)

Crackle in the lines so far away, the late night DJ starts to play
That sacred song goes phasing through the airwaves of the night
Beyond the lonely light house beam, beyond these black and restless dreams
She'll wake before I go to sleep in the silver morning light

Ch:
Carry these words over the ocean, carry these words over the sea
Tell her that I'm thinking of her - does she ever think of me?

Out in the drizzle of the dirty rain, I walk the square alone again
Reflections of the neon shine in colours on the ground
Beyond the woods and the open field, the long and empty highway miles
She lies beneath these very skies, sleeping sound

Ch:
Carry these words over the ocean, carry these words over the sea
Tell her that I'm thinking of her - does she ever think of me?
Does she remember me?

And the promises that we made - and the place we loved so well
The storm clouds of her eyes, a sadness thunder never still

Crackle in the lines so far away, the late night DJ starts to play
That favourite song goes phasing through the airwaves of the night
Beyond the lonely light house beam, beyond these black and restless dreams
She'll wake before I go to sleep in the silver morning light

Ch
----------
(Demo) - Demos for Thunder and Consolation - Bootleg LP

18/12/87 - Red Sky Coven - Topic Club, Bradford
Nov.-Dec. 93 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Europe Tour
Dec. 95 - Red Sky Coven - Germany Tour

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Ballad of Bodmin Pill

(Heaton/Sullivan)

Smash glass against the wall
Curse the music on the radio that the neighbours play
Door slams, she turns her head
Watches through the window as he pulls away
Funny how your racing brain drives you so mad
When all the while you feel so numb
Too old to be clean far too young to be broken
Like an army we come

Cut back, left behind
I watched you self-destructing
Oh so many times
Shot down, once again
Sitting in a chair crying what am I going to do with my life?
Just learn to hide the way that you really feel
Never let them know that you're scared
But understand that you're not the special only one
Watch us now, watch us real close

Ch:
How we all dance with this fire
Cos it's all that we know
And as the spotlight turns toward us
We all try our best to show
We are lost we are freaks
We are crippled, we are weak
We are the heirs, we are the true heirs
To all the world

Let's go build a fire down on the empty beach when the waves are crashing high
White heat purify as the sparks fly up into the great black sky
Sacrifice these crutches to the crackling flames
Stand as silhouettes against the dawn
It's far too late to try to sleep now
Seems I'm never tired any more

Ch:
I want to dance with this fire
Cos it's all that I know . . .

We are lost we are freaks . . .
And we try our best to show . . .
I am lost I'm a freak ha ha.
----------
Thunder and Consolation - CD (2/89)
Thunder and Consolation - LP (2/89)
(Remastered) - Thunder and Consolation - Double CD (5/05)
The Collection - CD (10/04)

(Instrumental demo) - Roly - Bootleg CDR (2009?)

(Leeds Town and Country Club, 12/94) - Strange Brotherhood - CD (plus Bonus CD) (4/98)
(Leeds Town and Country Club, 12/94) - Wonderful Way to Go - Maxi CD (Special Edition UK) (2/98)
(Cologne Palladium, 16/12/06) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

(Live Justin Sullivan and Friends, 2002) - Ocean Rising 2- CD Single (4/03)
Justin Sullivan and Friends - DVD (10/04)

Jan.-Apr. 89 - Thunder and Consolation Tour (Europe, UK)
Dec. 94 - UK Tour/Feb. 95 - Europe Tour
Jun.-Jul.95 - Europe Festivals
Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
Jun.-Sep. 98 - Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour

Nov.-Dec. 93 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Europe Tour
Jul. 94 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Netherlands Festivals
Sep. 94 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Netherlands Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

BD3

(Sullivan/Dean)

Adolescent dreams and the ghost of Tupac
Still the devil has all the best beats
Hip hop and an image to keep
Brother hardware under the seat
On the wall "Bin Laden was here"
Turn around and it disappears
Soft spring rain and wild skies
Wild hope in all the kids' eyes
And no one's really sure if this is home

We close early when the nights are slow
Hit the Shell garage, Thornton Road
Take a long drive up on the moors
Park up in a place we know

Sat in the back seats getting stoned
To forget everything at home
Mess about with bleeping phone
Gazing down on the city below
Where no one's really sure if this is home

Check the rear view mirror at the lights
To see who else is about tonight
The mongrel dogs that run the streets
And the families all with secrets to keep

I lie awake and I hear the sounds
The sirens' wail and the car alarms
A call to prayer and a call to arms
The bass subs of the boom-box cars
The first riffs on the cheap guitars
Tinker ponies on the edge of the park
Drunks roll home and the dogs they bark
I know the sounds like the beat of my heart

And it's not where you're from or where you've been
It's not a matter of blood or family tree
Everybody believes what they want to believe
But they come from some kind of refugee
Running from something, turned out of somewhere
All looking for somewhere, exiled from something
And no one's really sure if this is home

----------
Carnival - CD (9/05)
(Single Version) - BD3 1 - CD Single (5/06)
(Single Version) - BD3 2 - CD Single (5/06)
(Single Version) - BD3 EP - CD (11/06)
(Video clip) - BD3 2 - CD Single (5/06)
1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

(Cologne Palladium, 16/12/06) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

BD7

(Sullivan/Heaton)

Well the warm wind blew through the 60s
But it didn't blow much round here
Disappointment hidden in the jutting chin - 'we didn't want it all anyway'
White paint daubed on a gritstone wall, the words of the prophets told
And we smiled to ourselves every time we walked by
The junction up on All Saints Road

'It's a mean old scene'

It doesn't do much for business or the paper-crack West-End dream
The council took it down every now and again
But it was written up fresh and clean
Stick your head above the parapet
They're going to arrange to put you down
Bad stories in the clubs at night, scrap metal in a rusting town

'It's a mean old scene'

BD7 and October evenings of endless rain
The backed-up storm drains bubbling and hissing
And the cats all running for shelter, fur matted and drenched
Twenty-nine years on and nothing's changed
Though in the end they took it down stone by stone
But we're still laughing all the way to the edge
Of our beloved, unredeemable, desperate town

'It's a mean old scene'
----------
Wonderful Way to Go - Maxi CD (Special Edition UK) (2/98)
Wonderful Way to Go - Maxi CD (Special Edition Ger) (2/98)

(Dornbirn Conrad Sohm Club, 28/08/96) - Lost Songs - Double CD (2/02)

Aug.-Oct. 96 - Europe Festivals

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The Beautiful Game

(Sullivan/Dean/White/Gill/Monger?)

We run like dancers, we move in patterns around the sun
We dream like heroes of the glorious nights to come
From the limitless cities and the concrete towers
To the shining beaches down beneath the shanty towns
Back to the generations we came to play
In the beautiful game
Oh to play the beautiful game
Yeah to play the beautiful game

From the streets of hometown all the figures go rushing across the grass
Beneath the floodlights all the colours so bright against the dark
We know all the winning songs and we know the words to the losing songs
And we know that it all comes round when seasons change
That's the spirit of the beautiful game
Yeah the spirit of the beautiful game

Feel the blood pumping through my veins as we move in patterns around the sun
Breathing fire like heroes and running like the dancers run
From the limitless cities and the concrete towers
To the golden beaches down beneath the shanty towns
Back to the generations all the same
All in love with the beautiful game
Yeah I'm in love with the beautiful game
The sound, the sounds of the beautiful game
The beautiful game
One love for the beautiful game
----------
The Beautiful Game - Download (1/14)

Many thanks to Monty for help with the lyrics!

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Before I Get Old

(Sullivan)

I'm going to kiss the girls, make them cry
Live too fast, still not die
Before I get old
I'm going to see you raised above this place
Watch the moments shine upon your face
Before I get old
I'll watch the sun set over every sea
From every city wall, every mountain peak
Before I get old
The Northern Lights and the Southern Cross
The harvests and the miles of dust
And the blowing wind across the world

So wrap this coat around yourself
And leave what's done behind
There's so much left for us to do
And yet there's so little time

I'm going to pull the fences to the ground
Watch the twisted towers come crumbling down
And start again

I want to be a hero and a villain
And a father and a son
Take care of my body and abuse it still
Until everything goes numb
So let's make this dance and never fear
That there's any real reason why we're all here

Live real fast, still not die
Before I get old
----------
Impurity - CD (9/90)
Impurity - LP (9/90)
(Remastered) - Impurity - Double CD (5/05)

(Hamburg Markthalle, 07/11/07) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)
(Christmas 2014 shows) - Between Wine and Blood Live - Triple CD (4/15)

Jun. 90 - UK Tour, Europe Festivals
Mar.-May 91 - Europe Tour (Partly as Raw Melody Men)
Dez. 91 - UK, Germany Tour
Jul. 92 - Europe Festivals
27/08/92 - Queens Hall, Bradford
(Intro to Wonderful Way to Go) - Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
Jun.-Sep. 98 - Europe Festivals
(Intro to Wonderful Way to Go ?) - Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour
(Intro to Wonderful Way to Go ?) - Feb. 99 - UK Tour
(Intro to Wonderful Way to Go) - Jul.-Aug. 99 - Europe Festivals

Sep.-Oct. 89 - Red Sky Coven - UK, Germany Tour
May 90 - Red Sky Coven - Grootebroek, Germany Tour
24/07/90 - Justin Sullivan and Joolz - Hackney Empire, London
04/09/93 - Justin Sullivan - Freilichtbuehne, Luebeck (Anti Fascism Festival)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Beginning

(Sullivan/Dean/Monger)

We watched her as she faded away
Back down through thirty thousand days,
Like a river flowing backwards or upstream
To the source of Everything.
How we all clutch onto that thread
We brought with us to find our way through
The darkness ahead
Until everything just reminds us
Of things left far behind us
We hold on to the beginning,
Hold on to the beginning . . .

The cities had been all in flame
That summer when the Rage came -
We were heading home from some great gathering.
The boys on the top of the bus
They gave us their badges, their names, they gave us their trust,
All the tokens of faith.
You found them where you'd put them away
For a moment like today -
To hold on to the beginning,
Hold on to the beginning . . .

I climbed and climbed to reach the view
Of the hills behind stretching away
In line on line of faded blue
Back to what we first believed in . . .

How we all clutch onto that thread -
We brought with us to find our way back -
To hold on to the beginning
Hold on to the beginning
----------
Winter - CD (8/16)
Winter - Double LP (8/16)

Oct. 14 - Justin Sullivan - UK Solo Gigs

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Believe It

(Heaton/Sullivan)

In the unlit room
With my head in my hands
The walls between us now seem unscalable
I cannot control
Anything
There's weapons down beside your bed
And every night I count them all

Ch:
Is this where we've come to - I don't believe it
After everything that we've been through - I don't believe it
Take a look around here - I don't believe it
I look into my own sweet heart - I don't believe it

Oh how they talk about us
When we're far away
Behind their frigid eyes
They know more than they ever say
They only tell you the truth
When they get drunk enough
It's a town of cornered animals
Teeth bared - out of control

Ch:
Is this where we've come to - I don't believe it
After everything that we've been through - I don't believe it
I take a look around here - I don't believe it
Is this where we're going - I don't believe it

And every night I clench my teeth and fail to get to sleep
I cannot bear the stillness drawn across the surface of the world

I have never learned to throw the first punch
Perhaps the more you know the more you get scared
In the end you left on your mission
To find a reason for all this pain
And how I wish I'd gone with you
Over and over and over again

Ch:
Is this where we've come to - I don't believe it
After everything that we've been through - I don't believe it
Take a look around here - I don't believe it
And I look into my own sweet heart - I don't believe it
----------
The Love of Hopeless Causes - CD (4/93)
The Love of Hopeless Causes - LP (4/93)
Original 20 - CD (3/04)

(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - Bizarre Festival 1996 - Video (97)
(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

(Different Lyrics) - 27/08/92 - Queens Hall, Bradford
Feb.-Jul. 93 - Love of Hopeless Causes Tour (Europe, UK, USA, Canada)
Jul.-Aug. 93 - Europe Festivals
Dec. 94 - UK Tour/Feb. 95 - Europe Tour
Jun.-Jul.95 - Europe Festivals
21/04/96 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Aug.-Oct. 96 - Europe Festivals
Jun.-Aug. 97 - Europe Festivals
Jun.-Sep. 98 - Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour
Feb. 99 - UK Tour
Nov. 99 - UK, Europe Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Belisha Beacon and the Accidents

(Sullivan?)

One summer we wove our little schemes
Everytime as we dreamed our precious dreams
We forged our own Rock'n'Roll band
We spent some money on second hand guitars
We dreamed that we'd be super stars
Be acclaimed all over the land

In a basement room
We sang out of tune and out of key
Remember little Claire
And how she dyed her hair so we could be

Ch:
Belisha, Belisha Beacon and the Accidents
Belisha, Belisha Beacon and the Accidents
Belisha, Belisha Beacon and the Accidents
Belisha, Belisha Beacon and the Accidents

We found the chords to an old Sex Pistols song
And Belisha sang while we all learned to strum along
And Tony wrote a tune called 'Life's a Game'
We practised for three whole Saturdays
We made a tape recording over up at Stuart's place
And listened to ourselves again and again

I'd lie awake in bed
My head was full of tunes and harmonies
Spending every day
Walking blind in faith and fantasies, but we were

Ch

Open Thursday we claimed the youth club stage
Our friends smiled and said, "Hey, you were great"
But we played it out of time and we played it too loud and out of tune
Tony left 'cause of trouble with his old man
Belisha went off as a groupie with a headline band
Tony screamed, "You'll never get anywhere anyhow"

Me and Stuart stood
Roamed in bitterness and empty space
Working up the broken pieces
With his own rusting bass, when we were

Ch
----------
Justin Sullivan - The Attack - Bootleg CDR (Year?)

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Betcha

(Sullivan/Morrow/Tompkins)

We know we can hurt each other real bad
You know my weak spots, I know yours
How come we egg each other on and on
Like battered boxers staying the course

How come we never ever come to blows
When we want to break each other's necks
How come we stab each other with these words
When all we really want is sex

Why can't we talk it out
Why can't we fight it out
Why can't we kiss and and go to bed

The seething angers burns around the room
The carefully poisoned arrows fly
And in the morning dirty tired hearts
And the scars of battle in our eyes
----------
Bittersweet - 7" (5/83)
Bittersweet - 7" (Plus Flexi) (5/83)
Great Expectations - 12" (11/83)
Vengeance - The Independent Story - CD (6/87)
Vengeance/Radio Sessions - Double Picture CD (6/95)
Smalltown England - Double CD (97)
(Remastered) - Vengeance - The Whole Story 1980-84 - Double CD (12/12)

(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - Stupid Questions - Maxi CD (1/89)
(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - Stupid Questions - 12" (1/89)
Videos 86-89 (Bootlegged Bootleg) - Video (89)

(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - All of This - The "Live" Rarities - CD (4/99)

(Nottingham etc.) - Rock City 23-10-2000 - Video (2001???)
(Remastered) - No Rest for the Wicked - Double CD (5/05)
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

(Demo, 81) - Limited Edition 4 Track EP - Bootleg 7"
(Demo, 81) - We Never Asked for Any of This - Bootleg LP (plus Limited Edition 4 Track EP)

(Demo) - This Is For the Fans Not the Militia - Bootleg LP
(Demo) - State of Mind - Bootleg CD

(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - Heroes of a Ghost Town - Bootleg CD

14/09/81 - Funhouse Bar, Keighley
02/10/82 - Trades Club Hebden Bridges
30/04/83 - Pavilion, North Ormesby
Apr.-Jun. 84 - UK Tour
Aug. 84 - UK Tour
Sep.-Dec. 84 - Northern Europe, UK Tour
Jun. 85 - UK Tour
Sep.-Nov. 85 - Brave New World Tour (Europe, Japan, UK)
Feb.-Mar. 86 - UK Mini Tour
05/04/86 - Breekend Festival, Bree (Belgium)
26/07/86 - Mersea Island Festival, Colchester
Aug.-Dec. 86 - Ghost of Cain Tour (UK, Europe, USA, Canada)
(Christmas Version) - 23/12/86 - Town and Country Club, London
Mar. 87 - Northern Europe Tour
Aug. 87 - USA Tour
Sep.-Oct. 87 - UK, Europe Tour
Jul. 88 - Northern Europe Festivals
Sep. 88 - UK Tour
25/10/88- Biskuithalle, Bonn (WDR Rocknacht)
Jan.-Apr. 89 - Thunder and Consolation Tour (Europe, UK)
May-Jun. 89 - USA, Canada Tour
Jun.-Jul. 89 - Europe Festivals
16/04/90 - Philipshalle, Duesseldorf (WDR Rocknacht)
(Reggae Version; Medly with Stupid Questions) - Jun. 90 - UK Tour, Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 90 - Impurity Tour (UK, Europe)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Betrayal

Instrumental
----------
(Instrumental demo) - Betrayal - Bootleg CDR (2002?)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Better Than Them

(Sullivan/Heaton)

This is our town, this is Friday night
Dressed in our rags and our rage and our best
Piercing eyes looking for something
Anything, anyone . . .
Stare across the floor as they begin to dance
Missing all the rhythms and the chosen right steps
And we laugh and we drink in our corner again
We're better than them . . .

Divided we were born, divided we live
Divided we fall, divided we die
Still we tell ourselves over and over again
We're better than them . . .

Ch:
With our hunger and our hatred
We all walk this town
With our fear and our weakness
Just holding on
With our doubt and our emptiness
And this cold, cold frown
We've got to be so important
We'll put the whole damn world down

And we build the walls that we can hide behind
And our finest weapon is our poisoned pride
Here in this town where the jealousies burn
We're watching you . . .

And truth is only what we need it to be
To bring us survival through each and every day
When nowhere is safe and nowhere is home
Just be cool . . .
And what was she wearing and what did he say
Who goes with who and what did they do?
We tell ourselves over and over again
We're better than them . . .
----------
No Rest for the Wicked - CD (5/85)
No Rest for the Wicked - LP (5/85)
(Remastered) - No Rest for the Wicked - Double CD (5/05)
Better Than Them (The Acoustic EP) - 12" (7/85)
Better Than Them (The Acoustic EP) - 7" (7/85)
Better Than Them (The Acoustic EP) - Double 7" (7/85)
History - The Singles 85-91 - CD (3/92)
History - The Singles 85-91 - LP (plus Bonus 12") (3/92)
The Best - CD (2001)
(Remastered) - Great Expectations - The Singles Collection - CD (10/03)
Anthology - Double CD (2/11)

(London Marquee, 21/4/85) - Live 21.4.85 - Video (85)
(London Brixton Academy, 16/06/90) - Raw Melody Men - CD (5/91)
(London Brixton Academy, 16/06/90) - Raw Melody Men - Double LP (5/91)
(London Marquee, 21/4/85) - History - The Videos 85-90 - Video (3/92)
(Nottingham etc.) - Rock City 23-10-2000 - Video (2001???)
(London Marquee, 21/04/85) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

Red Sky Coven Volumes 1 & 2 - CD (1/99)
Justin Sullivan and Friends - DVD (10/04)

(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - Heroes of a Ghost Town - Bootleg CD
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - European Tour '90 - Bootleg CD
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - Vagabonds - Bootleg CD
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - We Are Old, We Are Young . . . - Bootleg LP
(Duesseldorf Philipshalle, 16/04/90) - State of Mind - Bootleg CD

Apr.-May 85 - UK Tour
Jul. 88 - Northern Europe Festivals
16/04/90 - Philipshalle, Duesseldorf (WDR Rocknacht)
Jun. 90 - UK Tour, Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 90 - Impurity Tour (UK, Europe)
Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
(Nobody Else) - Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)

25/01/85 - Justin Sullivan - Apples and Snakes, London
Mar. 85 - Justin Sullivan - UK Mini Tour
18/12/87 - Red Sky Coven - Topic Club, Bradford
Mar.-Apr. 88 - Red Sky Coven - UK Tour
Sep.-Oct. 89 - Red Sky Coven - UK, Germany Tour
May 90 - Red Sky Coven - Grootebroek, Germany Tour
24/07/90 - Justin Sullivan and Joolz - Hackney Empire, London
Oct. 91 - Red Sky Coven - Germany, Vienna Tour
Nov.-Dec. 93 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Europe Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Between Dog and Wolf

(Sullivan/Dean/Monger)

Late afternoon in winter time on the edge of the city
The incinerator towers are breathing out into the cold
The birds are making spirals high above the neon skyline
Across the drifting swirl of charcoal and gold
Islands in silver seas as the land falls into shadow
These are more real for me than all that I leave behind
And if I could only choose one moment to last forever
I would be here with you
Between dog and wolf
Between water and wine
Between wine and blood

From the black and icy river's edge to the resurrection garden
We were in the arms of something that was unfolding
I close my eyes and see wild horses coming from the sky
Narcotic dreams and miracles descending
Silence my silver tongue and meet me somewhere deeper
Everything's how it feels – is what you were trying to say
And if I could only choose one moment to last forever
I would be here with you in the place
Between dog and wolf

Where the breath is sweeter and the lights are diamond
Where the blood runs faster and the taste is stronger
And the night uncoils moving around us
Come, take what you want in the place
Between dog and wolf
Between water and wine
Between wine and blood

----------
Between Dog and Wolf - CD (9/13)
Between Dog and Wolf - Double LP (9/13)

(Between Dog and Wolf Tour 13) - Between Wine and Blood - Double CD (9/14)
(Between Dog and Wolf Tour 13) - Between Wine and Blood - Double LP (9/14)
(Christmas 2014 shows) - Between Wine and Blood Live - Triple CD (4/15)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Big Blue

(Sullivan/Heaton)

So let us sing of what remains, there shall be stillness in our hearts;
There shall be a sweetness in our lives, bye and bye.
There's a beach I know at the edge of the world, mist rising up from
the breaking waves towards the cliffs, as green as god.
We'll be flying for the sake of flying - singing for the sake of singing,
looking back down on the lonely world . . .
Dive . . . dive . . . diving down . . .
Into the big blue we shall lose ourselves, gone are the doubts
and the fear of falling - hate is a curse lifted from our shoulders,
we never meant it in the way they thought . . .

If we hold our nerve, they will travel right over us;
they'll be going so fast they will never even notice us.
We'll be flying for the sake of flying - singing for the sake of singing,
looking back down on the lonely world. . .
Dive . . . dive . . . dive . . .
Into the big blue we shall lose ourselves . . .

Time to die, and die, and die again; doors closing in empty houses;
time to roll, and roll, and roll again - and all I hear is the diesel roaring.
Just like a people put to flight, all blown out in the endless duststorms,
into the West and the rolling hills, to dive, dive, dive again and
Into the big blue we shall lose ourselves . . .
----------
Strange Brotherhood - CD (4/98)
Strange Brotherhood - CD (plus Bonus CD) (4/98)
Strange Brotherhood - Triple LP (7/98)

(Nobody Else; Munich Babylon, 03/05/98 ?) - New Model Army . . . & Nobody Else - CD (8/99)

(Nobody Else) - Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Billy

(Sullivan?)

Oh, written for eternity are Billy boy and I
Daring, brave (burning red?) drunken faces pitched against the sunset sky
And bonfires blaze to heaven as we stare into the flames
But I know now that the things we saw were never quite the same

Well, let's sit right down at the working bar, the way we used to do
And I'll toast the love you gave to me and the faith I gave to you
And well be drawn forever to try and tear the mask
That turned out every question that I ever tried to ask

Billy, please forgive me, please forgive me
I can't go on understanding you

Oh, written for eternity are Billy boy and I
Daring, brave
(burning red?) drunken faces against the sunset sky
And bonfires blaze to heaven as we stare into the flames
But I know now that the things we saw were never quite the same

Billy, please forgive me, please forgive me
So long, I cannot stand with you
----------
(Demo) - The Rose - Bootleg CDR

Many thanks to Monty for the lyrics!

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Bittersweet

(Sullivan/Morrow)

Once upon a time it was easy
Everything kind of fell into place
Now this feeling won't leave me
We lost the power and we lost the pace
It's staring straight between the eyes
Something isn't right
The harder we try the more we realise
Something isn't right

Ch:
So bittersweet, this whole thing
So bitter sweet

Caught in this struggle for power
Where only blood ever tastes sweet
Everything else is so sour
The numbing failures and defeats
The loner's not a western hero
With nerves of steel and heart of gold
But here alone in the disco
Icy cold

But there's always another morning
We're never dead till the last breath
----------
Bittersweet - 7" (5/83)
Bittersweet - 7" (Plus Flexi) (5/83)
Great Expectations - 12" (11/83)
Vengeance - The Independent Story - CD (6/87)
Vengeance/Radio Sessions - Double Picture CD (6/95)
Smalltown England - Double CD (97)
(Remastered) - Vengeance - The Whole Story 1980-84 - Double CD (12/12)

(Demo) - This Is For the Fans Not the Militia - Bootleg LP
(Demo) - State of Mind - Bootleg CD

02/10/82 - Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
30/04/83 - Pavilion, North Ormesby
Apr.-Jun. 84 - UK Tour
Sep.-Dec. 84 - Northern Europe, UK Tour
Feb.-Mar. 86 - UK Mini Tour
Aug.-Dec. 86 - Ghost of Cain Tour (UK, Europe, USA, Canada)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Blitz

Instrumental
----------
(Instrumental demo) - The Attack - Bootleg CDR 

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Bloodsports

(Sullivan/Nelson/Dean/White/Gill)

There are boxes packed with bullets, there are crates all stacked with boxes
There are uniforms and hardware, there are meals all wrapped in plastic
Through the night the ships are loading, every night these ships are loading
Beneath the glare of the burning floodlights
And the dancing of the swarmed mosquitoes

Ch:
And into the fire and the blood red sun the old and rich still send the young men
Into a world of twisted steel and the acrid smell of metal burning
And on the streets of hometown now,
We watch each other as if we're strangers
But scream it loud, scream it loud: I am not at war

He says: this body I have been given shall be returned unto its maker
Beneath my clothes these secrets hidden, the sacrifice that I have to offer
By the checkpoint there are soldiers and the cypress branches waving
And the light is hard as glass and the sky is blue and cool and waiting

Ch

These stupid empty words could all be written on the cold pale skin
Of the dead laid out in shallow graves
Along the road of bombed out palm trees

And in the corners of the bars and cafes, in every town, in every nation
There are these blood-sports on the TVs and the loaded toneless voices
There are cameras by the gravesides and in the executioners' chambers
There are cameras high above us
To guide the missiles down from the heavens

Ch:
And into the fire and the blood red sun
The old and rich still send the young men
Into a world of twisted steel and the acrid smell of oil burning
And on the streets of hometown now, we watch each other just like strangers
But scream it loud, scream it loud: I am not at war
----------
High - CD (8/07)
Anthology - Double CD (2/11)

(High Tour 07/08) - Fuck Texas, Sing for Us - CD (11/08)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Blue Ship

(Sullivan)

Isaac tied upon the bow searches for land
Milton's hands upon the wheel steering us on
Seventy souls upon the deck and may God save us all
The strange brotherhood of the blue ship

And Rolff watches over the edge counting the fishes
Lost upon the drifting tide and the pull of the moon
They said there's water running in all our veins as they cast us off
Pulled forever back and on, back and on
The strange brotherhood of the blue ship

There is no wind that I can feel
There is no place for us to be
Just the strange brotherhood of the blue ship

----------
Navigating by the Stars - CD (2/03)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Bluebeat

(Sullivan/Dean)

Pulling away from Preston Street at the midnight call
The animals are restless and awake
We travel in hope just like we always have
Like everyone always did
The woman with topaz eyes who takes the money and rolls the dice is counting the cards
We get weak tea and cheap food from the tattooed man in the caravan, I don't know many things that taste this good
And there's always something new to fall in love with

Gazing into the heavens on a night as clear as ice
We held our breath, as a new jewel glistens in the Belt of Orion - out to the west
And parked up on the ridge between all the different lands
I feel I've always been here
Do we go back to the city, back to the lights
To the unforgiven world or on into the night
Where there's always something new to fall in love with
Searching after something new to fall in love with
There's always got to be something new to fall in love with
----------
Carnival - CD (9/05)
(as "To Fall in Live With" (Bluebeat Remix)) - BD3 2 - CD Single (5/06)
(as "To Fall in Live With" (Bluebeat Remix)) - BD3 EP - CD (11/06)
Anthology - Double CD (2/11)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Born Feral

(Sullivan)

We watched you disappearing like a passing bullet
Up the dirty streets into a nothing day
We never thought it could be us that you were running away from
And you were already gone anyway.
Your disappointment, it is hard to conceal,
So slow to grow and slower to heal,
It wasn't that they wanted to chain you down -
It was always that they wanted you to take them with you

The bubbling streams that flow down the hillside
Get slow and lost in the great wide plain
And energy attracts the things that cannot move
There's so much that fills the slipstream behind you
You were never scared of anything -
We thought it was the courage that we all lack
You gave so much of everything
You were never much interested in getting it back -

You were born feral passed from hand to hand like a loaded gun.
Ain't it hard now to remember just who you were?
Bad dreams of people you last saw years ago
Still pass before your eyes.

The garage is filled with bits of broken machinery
Coffee black and knuckles strong
And they all still turn to look at you
But no one knows what to do with a wild one
But courage is not an everlasting spring.
Dry seasons come that you cannot defy
And it's not where you run but who you run with
You'll be looking for them until the day you die . . .

You were born feral passed from hand to hand like a loaded gun.
Ain't it hard now to remember just who you were?
Bad dreams of places you last saw years ago
Still pass before your eyes.
----------
Winter - CD (8/16)
Winter - Double LP (8/16)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Bradford Lights

(Sullivan?)

Well, I'm far to young, I still believe in an each new morning
Light and cold and clean and bright
Comes Bradford's yellow light across this city
Light and cold and clean and bright
And I don't know what you believe and want me to know?
See now, what you might need now, I need you so
Leave me now, leave me every morning

I'm far to young, I still believe in each new promise
Even though they've all been dealt before
I don't know, or what (I watch?) you see or believe you know when
Born in every mood that has gone before
And I don't know what you dream and what you know
See you there, see you there in the morning cold
I know, I'm in every morning
----------
19/09/82 - Lyceum, London
02/10/82 - Trades Club, Hebden Bridge

Many thanks to Monty for the lyrics!

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Brave New World

(Sullivan/Heaton/Harris/Joolz)

The office lines are busy
And the girls are working hard
Tonight they'll be out clubbing
With their boyfriends busy wishing they were
Gentlemen please take your seats
There's champagne in the boardroom
Let's drink a toast to prosperity
Tell the waiting pressmen that

Ch:
No there's nothing wrong here
Nothing at all

Remember locking all the doors
Before you went to bed
Then waking with those racing dreams
Ringing round your head
The future's full of shining cars
On shining tarmac roads
Cutting through the wasted years
And all the old abandoned tracks

Ch:

So keep that smile on your face
Have a drink to help you sleep at night
They got what they desired
We're passive in their brave new world

We are not young and beautiful
We are not rich and bold
And we are not your people
Who bought the dreams you sold
And we hate your smiling faces
We hate what you have done
We hate your patronising
And we hate your cold blue eyes
And we all feel this raging
We all feel the same
This crazy blinding fury
That we cannot explain
And we all see reflections
In our lover's eyes
We live with so few troubles
And with so many many lies but

Ch
----------
(Extended Mix) - Brave New World - 12" (11/85)
(Extended Mix) - Brave New World - 12" (plus Bootlegged Bootleg) (11/85)
Brave New World - 7" (11/85)
(7" Mix) - Adrenalin - LP (11/85)
History - The Singles 85-91 - CD (3/92)
History - The Singles 85-91 - LP (plus Bonus 12") (3/92)
(12" Gregovich Mix) - B-Sides and Abandoned Tracks - CD (9/94)
(Remastered) - The Ghost of Cain - Double CD (5/05)
The Best - CD (2001)
(Remastered) - Great Expectations - The Singles Collection - CD (10/03)

Aug.-Dec. 86 - Ghost of Cain Tour (UK, Europe, USA, Canada)
Mar. 87 - Northern Europe Tour
Jan.-Apr. 89 - Thunder and Consolation Tour (Europe, UK)

Nov.-Dec. 93 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Europe Tour
Sep. 94 - Justin Sullivan and Dave Blomberg - Netherlands Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Brave New World 2

(Sullivan/Heaton/Harris/Joolz)

The thick black smoke comes rising up, silent in these dreams
There's faces leering through the haze, that ripples in the heat
And words are just some place to hide, a wall that we can run behind
And truth is twitching, hitching, turning, but locked away deep down inside

Ch:
Ha, no, there's nothing wrong here
Nothing wrong here, nothing at all

We sat up talking late last night, trying to make some sense
But we were just skirting round with clever words
And all the things that we pretend
There's guard dogs straining at the leash, with the soldiers standing by
Staring into empty space beyond the twisted wire

Ch

So when this nightmare's over, will you just rock me back to sleep
Tomorrow is another day, passive in their Brave New World
----------
Brave New World - 12" (11/85)
Brave New World - 12" (plus Bootlegged Bootleg) (11/85)
Adrenalin - LP (11/85)
B-Sides and Abandoned Tracks - CD (9/94)
(Remastered) - The Ghost of Cain - Double CD (5/05)

(Nobody Else) - New Model Army . . . & Nobody Else - CD (8/99)

(Telford Ice Rink, 13/09/86) - This Is For the Fans Not the Militia - Bootleg LP

13/09/86 - Ice Rink, Telford
Aug.-Dec. 86 - Ghost of Cain Tour (UK, Europe, USA, Canada) (?)
Sep. 88 - UK Tour
(Nobody Else) - Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Breathing

(Sullivan/Nelson/Dean/White/Gill)

Into a new place, pulling myself back
Tasting smoke and blood and burning in my lungs
I'm lying on my left side, I don't know if I can move
But I can hear myself breathing, I can hear myself breathing

Then into a new place - this is where I die
And all the noise is gone and there is only calm
Deep beneath the city – waiting for the fire
Any second now . . .
But the fireball never comes and so we turn back to ourselves
I can hear us all breathing, I can hear us all breathing
In the pitch black tunnels with all the weight above
I can hear us all breathing, I can hear us all breathing

Then into a new place – shouting men with torches and tools
Stumbling from the wreckage in a starlight of shattered glass
The wounded and the shell-shocked, the blackened and the burned
I can hear us all breathing, I can hear us all breathing
Climbing ever upwards like the rising of the dead
I can hear us all breathing, I can hear us all breathing

I can hear myself breathing, I can hear myself breathing
I can hear us all breathing, I can hear us all breathing
----------
High - CD (8/07)

(High Tour 07/08) - Fuck Texas, Sing for Us - CD (11/08)
(Hamburg Markthalle, 07/11/07) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Brother

(Sullivan/Heaton/Nelson; feat. Inder Goldfinger)

It's been a long dry season in tinderbox town
And the ghetto cars go cruising up and down and round and round
With tinted windows and the screech of tires
Poverty likes to ride in the best disguise
The boys get bored, set fire to the sheds at the end of my street
The thick black smoke rises up into the dusk
Sirens scream out across the hills
Turn into the close as the boys all swagger
I've got no quarrel with you brother
But the war is getting closer

Down at the Union there we stood
And embraced like brothers should
The fire catches when your back is turned
And now we watch as the city burns
And now we watch as the city burns

We used to joke about the colour of our skins
We used to joke about the names of God
But now the racist cops come round
Put your cousin up against the wall
A little crowd gathers round and takes up sides
The white trash come out of their doorways and mutter
There's a macho stand off with sullen faces all around
And all the middle ground is washing away
It's a time of pack dogs brother
And the war's getting closer

Down at the Union there we stood
And embraced like brothers should
The fire catches when your back is turned
And now we watch as the city burns

I, I accuse you
You want so much
But you give nothing of yourself
And I, I believe you
You want so much
But you keep nothing of yourself
----------
Queen of My Heart - Maxi CD (5/98)
Strange Brotherhood - Triple LP (7/98)
Lost Songs - Double CD (2/02)

(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - Bizarre Festival 1996 - Video (97)
(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - 1980-2010 - Triple DVD (2/11)

21/04/96 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Aug.-Oct. 96 - Europe Festivals
Jun.-Sep. 98 - Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour
Feb. 99 - UK Tour
Jul.-Aug. 99 - Europe Festivals
Nov. 99 - UK, Europe Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Burn the Castle

(Sullivan/Dean/Monger)

It's like a great Lord in his castle owns everything that we do -
So we plough up his fields and tip our hats to the courtiers riding through
And we polish up his suits of armour and we guard his hordes of gold
In the hope that he'll protect us but he will not protect us
Burn the castle, burn down the castle

And down in the streets of Bedlam it's left for a free-for-all,
All fueled by debt and paranoia and rivers of alcohol
And the streets are filled with the sound of sirens but no ambulance in sight
While in the lighted windows of the turrets above they count the takings for the night
Burn the castle

The smell of blood and buzzing flies
As around the corpses the posse of newsmen rides
To bring the Fear and to bring it well
Same old, same old, same old . . .

You know there's no great Lord in the castle – just the courtiers and their men
And we're still ploughing up their fields and wishing we could be like them
And we build their fleets of armour and we guard their hordes of gold
In the hope that they'll protect us but they will not protect us
BURN the castle
----------
Winter - CD (8/16)
Winter - Double LP (8/16)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Burning Season

(Sullivan)

I'm sick of the sight of some snot-nosed kid
Cutting a swathe through the age of deconstruction
Picking at the sores of the dying beast
And winning all the prizes for imagination
I don't know what we've got to lose
But I see the statues beginning to fall
The diesel's turning, the moon is high

Ch:
What the hell are we waiting for?
I see the smoke on the blue horizon
I smell the fires of the burning season
What the hell are we waiting for?

I'm sick of the ironies piled up high
In this sneery culture with its knowing smile
I'm sick of the sermons from the Church of Unbelief
All fat, empty and anaesthetised
The emperor's out riding naked again
I can't believe we're still playing this tired old game
Let's get out there and cut him down

Ch

On a smoky yellow sunset, I'm sitting at the wheel
As the traffic crawls by on the ten-lane
Bumper to bumper, nowhere to nowhere into the next millenium
I see you drowning in a sea of rage
Let's go back and get the ones who put you down here
The highway's jammed up with disinformation
And the anaesthetic dealers are selling by the million

Ch: What the fuck are we waiting here for? . .
----------
Lost Songs - Double CD (2/02)

Jun.-Jul.95 - Europe Festivals

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Bury the Hatchet

(Heaton/Sullivan)

Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
The pack's been shuffled now - we've got different hands
There's different enemies for both of us now
There's no one round here who remembers those times
When we were little kings of our own different sides
Was I the punk who stole your thunder
Or was it all just the other way round?

Ch:
Now it's gone, done, the feud is over
Funny how vendettas just turn into a bore
Gone, done, the feud is over
I really can't be bothered anymore

Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
But oh how that bitching was fun while it lasted
Until I got to realise no one really cared

Ch: So it's gone, done . . .

It's such a waste of my time
Thinking of you
And all the stuff that I hear
Which may or may not be true
I never did like you - probably never will
But I bet you can live with that fact pretty well
People get to drinking, they get sentimental
Maybe I'm a bastard human after all

Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
The pack's been shuffled now - we've got different hands
And this whole thing is just ridiculous
----------
Impurity - CD (9/90)
Impurity - LP (9/90)
(Remastered) - Impurity - Double CD (5/05)

(Impurity Tour 90) - Space - 10" (5/91)

Oct.-Dec. 90 - Impurity Tour (UK, Europe)

May 90 - Red Sky Coven - Grootebroek, Germany Tour
24/07/90 - Justin Sullivan and Joolz - Hackney Empire, London

[ Back to the Song Index ]

[ Introduction | Song Index | Updates ]

01/04/99; last update 23/07/17