[ Introduction | Song Index ]

I Love the World

(Sullivan/Heaton)

The roll of distant thunder breaks
The afternoon of silence wakes
They hurry through from Petergate
As if they know this dance
In fury blind I drive at night
Across the moors, the open roads
Beneath the freezing starry skies
Racing in some trance
These cities are illusions of
Some triumph over Nature's laws
We've seen the iron carcass rust
And buildings topple into dust
And as the waters rise it seems
We cling to all the rootless things
The Christian lies, technology
While spirits scream and sing . .
Oh God I love the world

Well I never said I was a clever man
But I know enough to understand
That the endless leaps and forward plans
Will someday have to cease
You blind yourselves with comfort lies
Like lightning never strikes you twice
And we laugh at your amazed surprise
As the Ark begins to sink
This temple that is built so well
To separate us from ourselves
Is a power grown beyond control
A will without a face
And watching from outside I wish
That I could wash my hands of this
But we are locked together here
This bittersweet embrace . .
Oh God I love the world

And if one day the final fire
Explodes across the whitened sky
I know you've said you'd rather die
And make it over fast
With courage from your bravest friends
Waiting outside for the end
With no bitterness but an innocence
That I can't seem to grasp
I know somehow I will survive
This fury just to stay alive
So drunk with sickness weak with pain
I can walk the hills one last time
Scarred and smiling, dying slow
I'll scream to no one left at all
I told you so I told you so I told you so . .
Oh God I love the world
----------
Thunder and Consolation - CD (2/89)
Thunder and Consolation - LP (2/89)
(Remastered) - Thunder and Consolation - Double CD (5/2005)
Collection - LP (5/91)

(Hamburg Sporthalle, 06/11/90) - Raw Melody Men CD - CD (5/91)
(Hamburg Sporthalle, 06/11/90) - Raw Melody Men CD - Double LP (5/91)
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - BBC Radio One Live in Concert - CD (12/93)
(Cologne, Bizarre Festival, 17/08/96) - Bizarre Festival 1996 - Video (97)
(Nottingham etc.) - Rock City 23-10-2000 - Video (2001???)
(London Astoria, 16/12/03) - Live 161203 - DVD  (5/04)
(Hamburg Sporthalle, 06/11/90) - The Collection - CD (10/04)
(Remastered) - Thunder and Consolation - Double CD (5/05)

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

(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - In This Together - Bootleg LP
(Nottingham Rock City, 28/02/89) - Like a Storm - Bootleg CD
(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
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - We Never Asked for Any of This - Bootleg LP
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - We Never Asked for Any of This - Bootleg LP (plus Limited Edition 4 Track EP)
(Hamburg Logo, 23/03/91) - Raw Melody Men - Bootleg LP
(Norwich Waterfront, 31/05/91) - New Model Army - Bootleg CD

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)
Jun. 90 - UK Tour/Europe Festivals
Oct.-Dec. 90 - Impurity Tour (UK, Europe)
19/01/91 - Wembley Arena, London
14/02/91 - Marquee, London
Mar.-May 91 - Europe Tour (Partly as Raw Melody Men)
May-Jun. 91 - UK Tour
Jun. 91 - Germany Festivals
Sep. 91 - USA, Canada Tour
Dez. 91 - UK, Germany Tour
Jul. 92 - Europe Festivals
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
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour
03/07/99 - Justin Sullivan and Friends - Forestglade Festival, Wiesen
Jul.-Aug. 99 - Europe Festivals
Nov. 99 - UK, Europe Tour

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I Wish

(Sullivan/Morrow)

Today seems so special like a beginning or an end
And there's so many thousand people here
After all the grey days we're shining once again
And I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world
We never want to fight you
We only want to love

Ch:
I wish it could always be like this
I wish I could always be in love

The world reflects the passion in your grey eyes
And I see them shine
You raise up your arms like you believe that you can fly
And I want you so much now
I never want to hurt you
I only want to love
----------
(David Jensen Show) - Radio Sessions 83-83 - CD (6/88)
(David Jensen Show) - Radio Sessions 83-83 - LP (6/88)
(David Jensen Show) - Vengeance/Radio Sessions - Double Picture CD (6/95)
(David Jensen Show) - Smalltown England - Double CD (97)

14/09/81 - Funhouse Bar, Keighly
02/10/82 - Trades Club Hebden Bridges
30/04/83 - Pavilion, North Ormesby

[ Back to the Song Index ]

If You Can't Save Me

(Sullivan/Heaton/Nelson)

In a nowhere bar-room on the east side of the city
There was a strange smell of burning outside in the street
I was giving a sermon like a son of a preacher
I was high on revolution and wild with belief
Across the table she was lighting a cigarette
And in the light of the flame her eyes flashed fury as she turned to me
She said - you're never going to save the world
If you can't save me

On Calvary Hill, the sky turned black
And the wind blew the dust in the blistering heat
But the heavens were empty, no angels came
The only sound I remember was the crying of Mary and the mother's weep
And he cried out - you're never going to save the world
If you can't save me
It's all vanity and you're never going to save the world
If you can't save me
----------
Lost Songs - Double CD (2/02)

Justin Sullivan and Friends - DVD (10/04)

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Inheritance

(Sullivan/Heaton)

Mother, Father, I'm doing OK
On the other side of the country
Far away
And though I know the things
That you want to hear me say
Sometimes these things are hard

Mother, Father, I am your son
Right down to the long thin pointed face
And this muddled up and twisted tongue
And now I find that I'm doing all those
Things you would have done
Sometimes these things are hard

Ch:
So do I thank you?
Do I curse you?
These tracks stretch out before me
The ones you left behind
What I want and what I feel
It's yours, yours, not mine

Mother, Father, all those battles that have been
And the long long silences that lay in between
Please don't try to tell me all those were in vain
Sometimes these things are hard
We line up at the wedding
In rows of deep set eyes
In our finest formal dresses
Yes, and proper suits and ties
Like a family of Munsters
In a really bad disguise . . .

Ch
----------
Thunder and Consolation - CD (2/89)
Thunder and Consolation - LP (2/89)
(Remastered) - Thunder and Consolation - Double CD (5/2005)

(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - Videos 86-89 (Bootlegged Bootleg) - Video (89)
(Paris La Cigale, 16/05/98) - New Model Army . . . & Nobody Else - CD (8/99)

(9/94) - Big Guitars in Little Europe - CD (3/95)
(Europe, UK Tour 02-03) - Justin Sullivan and Friends - Tales of the Road - CD (3/04)
Justin Sullivan and Friends - DVD (10/04)
(Munich Mayday Festival) - Justin Sullivan and Friends - DVD (10/04)

(Bonn Biskuithalle, 25/10/88) - In This Together - Bootleg LP
(Nottingham Rock City, 28/02/89) - Like a Storm - Bootleg CD
(Nottingham Rock City, 28/02/89) - Sadistic Pleasures - Bootleg 7"

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
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
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. 99 - UK, Europe Tour

Oct. 91 - Red Sky Coven - Germany, Vienna 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
Dec. 95 - Red Sky Coven - Germany Tour
Aug. 98 - Justin Sullivan - Germany Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Innocence

(Sullivan/Heaton)

Ch:
We scream, you run
Fall out - fall out
You scream and we're gone
Fall out - falling out

There must have been times in the smoke and the beat on the dancefloor
When all of the doors, they were opening for you
There must have been times when you thought you were kings of the whole world
With the chemicals eating away at your reason
But now you're shut down, closed in
We build our own little jails
I've had to watch this thing so many times
Another little death of innocence

Ch:
Now we scream . . .

None of us saw the clever image you hold of yourselves
The things that you thought were so cool were just a joke to everyone else
Didn't they tell you when you pulled a stupid expression
That when the wind changed you'd be stuck with it forever
And now you're shut down, closed in
With all the money you owe
I've had to watch this thing so many times
Another little death of innocence

Ch
----------
Impurity - CD (9/90)
Impurity - LP (9/90)
(Remastered) - Impurity - Double CD (5/2005)

(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - Raw Melody Men CD - CD (5/91)
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - Raw Melody Men CD - Double LP (5/91)
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - BBC Radio One Live in Concert - CD (12/93)
(Remastered) - Impurity - Double CD (5/2005)

(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - We Never Asked for Any of This - Bootleg LP
(Berlin Eissporthalle, 05/11/90) - We Never Asked for Any of This - Bootleg LP (plus Limited Edition 4 Track EP)

Oct.-Dec. 90 - Impurity Tour (UK, Europe)
Mar.-May 91 - Europe Tour (Partly as Raw Melody Men)

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Into the Wind

(Sullivan/Nelson/Dean/White/Gill)

We went to see the fall of Rome - I thought it would please us
To watch how the mighty go in a blaze of hubris
But I just stood there hypnotised by all the beautiful madness
Face into the wind, boys, face into the wind

Last night I dreamed that we built a fire in a wild garden
We took all the holy books and we burned them
All those pages to ashes, every last one of them
Face into the wind, boys, face into the wind

Everything under the sun shall be harnessed
Forced to push and pull and endure like unwilling horses
All for the ceaseless construction of Man's Great Purpose
Face into the wind, boys, face into the wind

And in the Market Square they're still stacking the shelves
I'm screaming: I don't want anything, I don't need anything
I don't want anything, I don't need anything

Island

(Sullivan/Dean)

The wind blows keen across the ridge
Black against a charcoal grey
We climb up here by the winding path made so long ago
In the valley below the last few lights glow just like the embers of a fire
We begin to remember, we begin to remember

We came by the sea and we took the land
We spread out across the plains
And on and on to the mountains
Until there was nothing left to conquer
The sound of chopping trees echoed through the woods
We built the ships and the houses
and the bridges and the fortifications
Until there was nothing left to build with
Now in the silver grey dome of the sky
The birds fly home for winter
And we all come down to the shore and stare across the waves
We've got to get off the island

We carved monuments to the angry gods
We hauled stone across the deserts of our own making
From the standing stones to the villages
To the shining palaces looking out over the water
The soil is growing thin, the yield running low
There's too many of us here, too many of us here
And now ragged ribbons of rain sweep in
As the birds fly home for winter
And we all come down to the shore and stare across the waves
We've got to get off the island
----------
Carnival - CD (9/05)

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

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Jolene

(Dolly Parton)

Ch:
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green

Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene

He talks about you in his sleep
There's nothing I can do to keep
From crying when he calls your name, Jolene

And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene

Ch

You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He's the only one for me, Jolene

I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene

Ch:
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene
----------
Oct. 93 - Red Sky Coven - UK Tour

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Killing

(Sullivan/Heaton/Nelson/Blomberg)

It was summer when they finally came, the law of force
and line upon line of machine upon machine, back into the greenwood,
closer to the heart of things we go - beneath the wires stretched against the sky,
spitting out in desperation - stop the killing . . .

The wind blows down from St George's Hill through to Stanworth Woods,
and to the East, on this grey and pallid dawn the lights from the rigs
blinking out across the poisoned sea, a little group of ships floating out to meet the coming storm
sailing on in desperation - stop the killing . . .

Raised and bound upon the land, and the everlasting whispers in diamond
through the trees, in the breath of Eden . . .
Innocent still the faith we hold - our time will come . . .

That which walks the corridors of power is a virus that mutates;
immune to all resistance, and every turn of history . . .
And all that's left for us is marking crosses upon doors,
and scrawling in the golden sand before each tide comes rolling in;
screaming out in desperation - stop the killing . . .
Holding on, and out, forever . . .
----------
Strange Brotherhood - CD (4/98)
Strange Brotherhood - CD (plus Bonus CD) (4/98)
Strange Brotherhood - Triple LP (7/98)

21/04/96 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Feb.-May 98 - Nobody Else Tour (UK, Europe)
(Acoustic) - 25/07/98 - WOM Record Store, Karlsruhe
Oct.-Dec. 98 - Europe, UK Tour

Dec. 95 - Red Sky Coven - Germany Tour
23/07/96 - Justin Sullivan - Kaue, Gelsenkirchen
Aug. 98 - Justin Sullivan - Germany Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

Knife

(Sullivan)

Turn and the world turns on, we're riding out with the dawn
All fired up once again like a thousand times before
Beneath the blessed sun and the coming day
And the years don't change a thing - the rush remains the same

Ch:
And I feel like a knife, these days are calling
I feel like a knife, sharpened like steel
Touched by the hand of the gods on these golden mornings
I feel like a knife for you

Stopped on the way down to the sea on the wide and lonely roads
The scent of summer nights and the warm fever of dreams
Beneath the falling stars, with the music loud
We're dancing spinning round in the wild cascading lights

Ch

These days to remember where it was that we came from
What it was that we wanted before all the changes
And the hardest part is choosing and watching all the doors closing
No turning back, no turning back

Well the years and the miles don't change a thing
The blood remains the same
It's a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream
With the darkness rushing by again

Ch
----------
Lost Songs - Double CD (2/02)

Dez. 91 - UK, Germany Tour

[ Back to the Song Index ]

01/04/99; last update 29/06/09