Widows & Orphans

Released 21 Apr 2023 | GET IT HERE

WHAT GOES AROUND

I’ve never known somebody trample so many hearts

Oblivious to the hurt you cause, you’ve got it down to an art

Why are there so many good people grasping at the sky

For something you’ll take and use and ultimately just suck dry?

You know they say what goes around comes around? 

I can’t wait to see it come around for you

Now you can call me bitter baby, if you want, that’s okay

But someday woman, maybe this dog will have his day

And maybe then you’ll be the one left stranded on your own

Yeah, maybe then you’ll be the one left reaping what you’ve sown

Oh, I know I’ve got love wrong so many times

At least I know I’m not the hurting kind

And if there’s a TV audience watching this explode

I think I know which one of us, which one would get their vote

And if there’s a judge sitting watching up there in the clouds

I think I know which one of us would go up and who’d go down

You know they say what goes around comes around?  

I can’t wait to see it come around for you

Oh they say what goes around comes around  

I can’t wait to see it come around for you

BROKEN JAW

Bobby just stood there with a broken jaw

He’d heard something snap when it dropped through the floor

He knew it was coming, he just didn’t know when

His baby was leaving and wouldn’t be coming back again

Well now, she had her reasons and they weren’t just him

But she was taking the kids and she’d packed all their things

She said she was tired, that she needed a change

She said she still loved him and that he wasn’t to blame

And he cried:  “Then baby, don’t you do it

Oh honey, don’t you say it

Oh darling, don’t you leave me alone”

But it was too late, she’d made up her mind

She told the children to kiss their daddy goodnight

So Bobby hit the bottle like in days gone by

It wasn’t too long before he was cursing the sky

And he cried:  “Oh baby, why’d you do it?

Oh honey, why’d you say it?

Oh darling, why’d you leave me alone?”

In the small hours of the morning as gas filled the air

In the small hours of the morning, Bobby whispered a prayer

Karen just stood there by the front door

She’d come to say sorry for what she'd said before

Cos she’d made a mistake, she’d broke her lover’s heart

She’d come to try and make a new start

There was no answer, but she still had her key

She let herself in but then fell to her knees

Cos there was Bobby, laid out on the floor

With a broken heart and a broken jaw

And she cried:  “Oh Bobby, why’d I do it?  

Oh Bobby, why’d I say it? 

Oh Bobby, why’d I leave you alone?”

THIRTEEN

She was a good girl

A baby in her mother’s arms

She doesn’t know what she wants

But who does? Who does?  

And she’s only thirteen

Sex and drugs and theft

Covenants made not to be kept

Spinning on her axis 

Who’d know? Who’d guess  That she’s only thirteen?

All the promises of an American dream

She’s only thirteen

Lived a thousand lives, she’s got a thousand scars 

And she’s only thirteen 

It’s happening oh so fast

The cripple got cracked inside

Don’t they grow up so fast?

So fast, too young

She’s only thirteen

A YEAR AND A DAY

Days on a page, you rip them away

Tears of rage roll down your face

Yeah, they’re tumbling down

They’re tumbling down

A cigarette burns like wages are earned

Lessons are learned as we all wait our turn

But you’re spinning it round

Yeah, you’re spinning it round

I wouldn’t be here if not for you 

A fool’s paradise, you don’t fall for their lies

Those beautiful eyes, in your beautiful eyes I see truth

 In your eyes I see truth

Oh this love will carry us through

Oh this love will see us new 

Oh this love will carry us through

A year and a day sometimes seem the same

But you’re spinning it round

 Yeah, you’re spinning it round

MY FAITHFUL ALIBI

My faithful alibi

Won’t testify for me

Cos there’s, there’s nothing left

But the intractable truth shrouded in lies

But I’m here, all heart and no soul

Trying to find my way back home

Peace, promiscuous peace

So hard to come by when you’re most in need

You, you play with my heart

You fuck with my mind and I let you

Cos I just wanna lie in your arms

I need you to tell me that I’ll be just fine

No angels speak out to me, they show me no signs  

And no lights will guide me, I’m searching blind

Step by misguided step

I’ll keep on walking till I fall

And then, bleeding and broke

You’ll see me trying, trying to crawl

ANOTHER NIGHT (ANOTHER BOTTLE OF WINE)

Another night, another bottle of wine 

Wait for its warmth to ease my worried mind

Another night, another bottle of wine

Another day, another bill through my door

I’ve never had so little, I’ve never been so poor

Another day, another bill through my door

Another week has gone and passed me by

I’ve never had so little to do in so much time

Another week has gone and passed me by

Another girl, another broken heart

Another song, another scar

Another girl, another broken heart

SHE KNOWS

You know those things that bring you close to tears

Well she don’t ask questions cos she don’t care

You can’t say she’s not been there through the years

As far as you can tell, she’ll always be there cos she knows

That life ain’t easy when you live it all alone

Life ain’t easy when you’re living on your own

When you wake up in your clothes on top of your bed

When you look in the mirror and your teeth are black

Just when you’re showing signs of regret

That’s when she comes running back, cos she knows...

She’ll be there for you  

And you won’t be letting go any time soon

You know those things that you drink to forget?

When you wake up in the morning they just come back

You hear her voice in the back of your head

You feel like a penny on a railway track and you know...

THOSE YOU LEFT BEHIND

Wherever you are, I hope you’re happy now

And I wish that you’d hope the same for me

After all, it’s you who cast me here

A landlocked sailor, dreaming of the sea

I’m singing for the broken hearts

I’m singing for the troubled minds 

I’m singing for all the pain  

Felt by those you left behind

I can’t pay the bills that fall through my door

And I’m running out of friends to call

You know, I’ve nearly got nothing now 

It's just the emptiness of these four walls

Well, I know where you are and I know you’re happy now

But the best I can do is say I don’t mind

I’ve given up hope that one day you’ll realise

Just what you’ve done to us left behind

HAPPY NEW YEAR DARLING

As the clock struck 12 

I looked around the room

My friends with their girlfriends

And me thinking of you

Like a fool I drove home

To drink alone in bed

With a pain in my heart

And thoughts of you in my head

Happy New Year, darling

Wherever you are

Whoever you kissed at midnight 

Happy New Year, darling

I hope it’s a good one

I’ll drink one to you tonight

If you’ll think of me sometime

Maybe this year

My luck will change 

I’m starting this new job  

Out Cambridge way 

Maybe this year

I’ll get a new car

Or a bigger flat 

Or maybe another broken heart

Happy New Year, darling

Wherever you are

Whoever you kissed at midnight 

Happy New Year, darling

I hope it’s a lucky one

I’ll drink one to you tonight

If you’ll think of me sometime

Happy New Year, darling

I hope it’s kind

I hope that all your dreams come true 

Happy New Year, darling

Just know one thing

The only dream I’m wishing for is you

But that won’t come true