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I Wanna Be Your Cabin Boy

by Tom Robinson

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    A compilation of queer-themed recordings by Tom Robinson released 1978-96
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      £7 GBP  or more

     

1.
War Baby 04:05
War Baby Only the very young and the very beautiful can be so aloof Hanging out with the boys, all swagger and poise I don't even care what other people are there I just stare and stare and stare I see your shadow in the swimming pool I see your face in the shaving mirror Time and time and time again I follow your footsteps so quietly up the backstairs And I hope and I pray you're never going to find me there Smooth skin and tenderness long ago on a dark night Wish I could see you once again just to remember it was true I want to be still beside you - quiet and still beside you Listening to your breathing and feeling your warmth again War baby - you were a War baby - this means War baby - I'm scared, so scared Whatever it is you keep putting me through I don't think I could stand another ten years of this fighting All this stabbing and wounding - only getting my own back I don't want to batter you to your feet and knees and elbows When I'm kneeling like a candle at the foot of my own bed Corresponding disasters every night on the TV Sickening reality keeps gripping me in its guts All my friends talk and joke and laugh about Armageddon But like a nightmare it's still waiting there at the end of every day War baby - you were a War baby - this means War baby - I'm scared, so scared Whatever it is you keep putting me through I don't think I could stand another ten years of this fighting All this stabbing and wounding - only getting my own back But later that same evening we were out in the car talking When I suddenly wondered who the hell it was we were trying to fool Co you were the first one that I ever wanted And it's you I come home to at the end of every day Like a mother-sucking baby, demanding and so helpless A little old balding man, all wrinkles and bulging eyes War baby - you were a War baby - this means War baby - I'm scared, so scared Whatever it is you keep putting me through
2.
Cabin Boy 03:26
Cabin boy I wanna go to Frisco bay Drink my liquor and spend my pay Sling my hammock and hoist the boat Knuckle under and learn the ropes Action stations, all correct Trim the rigging and swab the deck Hard to starboard - man ahoy I wanna be your cabin boy All night...all night Cabin boy work night and day Cabin boy goes all the way Man the capstan, work the pump Cook and carry and fetch and hump Set the sextant, strip the guns Bite the biscuit, beat the drums Do the hornpipe - jump for joy I wanna be your cabin boy All night...all night I wanna be your cabin boy all night I wanna be your cabin boy all night... Set the sextant, strip the guns Bite the biscuit, beat the drums Do the duties I enjoy I wanna be your cabin boy All night...all night I wanna be your cabin boy all night I wanna be your cabin boy all night All night.
3.
BLOOD BROTHER Ben was born in Lincoln county and he grew up in the fens Teased and bullied by his brothers in a family of ten Sociable and easygoing - helping out around the home While his inner life ticked on like an unexploded bomb Just waiting for his moment Going shopping with his mother like a whippet on the leash Always straining at the traces - out of sight and out of reach And anytime the house was empty he would work out on his own Disappearing on his bike in the middle of the night And stealing from the kitchen Open your eyes... Open your eyes... Open your eyes... here I am I'm your blood brother Well he saved up his allowance and he studied like a slave Worked his passage to Australia... to try and make his getaway I was single when I met him - he was bitter and nineteen And he so reminded me of someone I used to be A long long time ago Open your eyes... I said, open your eyes... Open your eyes... here I am I'm your blood brother Now the years have been and vanished and I've lost a lot of friends I do twenty at the pool and take my kid to school Since the party had to end But at a benefit last Sunday we met again - as if by fate I barely recognised Ben when he grabbed me again And whispered in my ear Open your eyes... He said, open your eyes... Open your eyes... here I am I'm your blood brother
4.
Congo Blue 04:34
CONGO BLUE Smalltown city on a weekday evening Pubs are shutting and the streets are heaving Looking for a little bit of late night twistin Hear the muffled thumping of a big sound system Bass in the bowels of a crowded bar Squeeze through the beefcake steaming in the dark My friends are restless, talking by the door But I'm dazzled by the flash and razzle on the dancefloor Blue, blue, Congo Blue... Blue, blue, Congo Blue... Sweating and deafened in the strobing light Transfixed by a vision in the northern night Your face so radiant, full of animation Dancing and glancing with a hint of flirtation Knowing and flowing with amazing grace Shirt hanging down, flapping over your waist Can't help laughing, got a hard attack - cause you're Grinning and singing and you're looking right back, I said Blue, blue, Congo Blue... do you really mean it Blue, blue, Congo Blue... or are you laughing at me Never imagined I'd run into you here Here of all places after all these years All my life I've been waiting, aching Too many nights of searching, hurting Summoning the courage up to bridge that gap Walk right over and begin to chat, Wishing I was fitter now, wishing I was younger Wishing I could hide my raging hunger Blue, blue, Congo Blue... do you really mean it Blue, blue, Congo Blue... are you laughing at me
5.
YOU TATTOOED ME Stranded in Antwerp in June '54 Streets full of refugees and rumours of war In a queue at the station a stranger arrived You walked up and fixed me with wild hazel eyes But the hotel was crowded - I followed in fright You slammed the door behind us and smashed out the light You said "why try to fight it?" to my racing heart When we nuzzled like animals and kissed in the dark We wrecked the bed, spent the rent and left there without a cent We drank the fare, never made the train Till 25 I was barely alive and I wondered what hit me… When you tattooed me You tattooed me... tattooed me Tattooed me (tattooed me) And I wondered what hit me when you came Shacked up in basements behind broken doors Bugs in the blankets and glass on the floor Cold, broke and hungry, having quarrels and fights Coughing blood through the winter I felt so alive And on one fatal day you signed your life away I was too weak for alarm I was drunk and asleep; as you left for the fleet You tattooed your name on my arm You tattooed me (tattooed me) You tattooed me (tattooed me) Your name with a needle on my arm With the peace in Geneva the world crawled away From the brink of oblivion - we all breathed again And when you deserted no more letters came My life cut to pieces I started again And when I was on the mend I drifted to Zaventem And worked there unloading the planes I paid my way on a thousand a day And I never did see you again But you tattooed me (tattooed me) You tattooed me (tattooed me) The mark of the needle remains You tattooed me (tattooed me) And I knew that we'd never meet again
6.
MARTIN'S GONE Martin's gone… Martin's gone Things will never be the same again Now Martin's gone I told my mother and the boy next door The girl at the garage and my brother in law I talked to the doctor and I told my boss The launderette lady and the corner shop I told the postman, then I told a gag I told Claire Rayner and the local rag I told the barmaid and the landlord too I told everybody in the world I knew Martin's gone… Martin's gone Things will never be the same again Now Martin's gone I told our father and my favourite guys Ten Hail Marys and a few white lies I told the Samaritans, I told my dog I talked to the telly and the talking clock Back on the wagon when the nights are dark I drive by the diner where I made my mark Martin's gone… Martin's gone Things will never be the same again Now Martin's gone
7.
Roaring Days 05:46
ROARING DAYS One roaring morning at the break of day Me and my buddy were still wired awake Though the fog was freezing and the streets were cold We went hell for leather up the coastal road Stopped the Honda on a cliff My buddy threw up, I rolled a spliff In the glorious autumn... Of our roaring days The mist made haloes in our hair As we came down slowly through the market square A fresh fruit trader gave us one plum each We sucked and swaggered till we hit the beach Shouting down the esplanade Two shifty misfits acting hard In the glorious autumn Of our Roaring Days The tide comes in, the tide goes out We go our separate ways Our roaring twenties came and went And vanished in a haze Driven, drunken, discontent Our oats were sown, our savings spent In the glorious autumn... Of our Roaring Days In a jacked-up Datsun gleaming on the slip Saw a teenage greaser eating eel and chips We admired his styling - how we laughed and lied Till he asked my buddy if he'd like a ride Radio blazing Queen and Quo All greased up, no place to go In that glorious autumn Of our Roaring Days The tide comes in, the tide goes out We go our separate ways Our roaring twenties came and went And vanished in a haze Driven, drunken, discontent Our oats were sown, our savings spent In the glorious autumn... of our Roaring Days We were deaf and selfish - we were smug and dumb And our bleak mid-winter was still to come My buddy turned ugly - and so did I: He took my money and never said goodbye But in my daydreams now and then I long to wake up once again In the glorious autumn... Of our roaring days The tide comes in, the tide goes out We go our separate ways Our roaring twenties came and went And vanished in a haze Driven, drunken, discontent Our oats were sown, our savings spent In the glorious autumn... Of our Roaring Days
8.
The Wedding 05:42
THE WEDDING It was a winter Sunday in the centre of town In the middle of the advent madness Fading daylight, gusts of rain Christmas carols playing on the brain - and on the radio I could see the other guests arriving In their Range Rovers and MG midgets Sprayed lime green and vomit orange Princess Di lookalikes in county twinsets And down-at-heel Cambridge playboys Wearing Moss Bros suits and hand-me-down sports jackets The theatrical profession at prayer... and I felt so out of place. Heads were turning and the whispering spread As you stood in the aisle staring straight ahead Like Lazarus risen up from the dead in a formal morning coat; Prayers were offered and a lesson was read As one or two crocodile sniffles were shed And somebody whispered "Doesn't she just look wonderful" With a dry crack in the voice. But I felt like a leper and a traitor too To everything we once knew was true You avoided my eye and I knew that you knew And something in my heart screamed no... Because it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss It isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss And it's not that I wanted a life like this But I'm doing fine... I'm doing fine Still I remembered all the places and people we'd known All the summers we spent on that disused aerodrome All the double-edged jokes in our private code In our very own private language And if I could still ride my bike home across that windswept runway Well I'd do it again today... And now here we were all these years later Still living in the shadow of a mushroom cloud As we mumbled the Lord's prayer together And asked for the peace which passeth all understanding; And if I sound bitter it's because I'm alone Under alien colours, in an alien zone And though I know the language well it isn't my own And I really don't belong here Because it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss And it isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss And it's not that I wanted a life like this But a part of my childhood died No, it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss It isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss It's not that I wanted it to end like this With water and wine, water and wine... Well I guess I'm just paying my respects to you For the sake of who we used to be...
9.
BLOND AND BLUE Well you know how the last seven years Haven't been all that easy Sometimes I'd feel so weak Cause I can't seem to speak when I'm angry All those things that they say hen they stand in your way Just seemed to eat me up deep down inside Well they force you to crawl - and when you make it Then they all want to own you Blond and Blue You fight like a tiger You're blond and blue You'd better come home All that smiling and lies All that long swallowed pride Used to make me choke up All those high-flying friends Keeping up with the trends That couldn't wait to get the blade in For your own peace of mind Try and give me some sign And show me you still want me After so many years can you take it Now it's here for the asking? Blond and Blue You fight like a tiger You're blond and blue You'd better come home So for both of our sakes Won't you give me a break So I can prove that I won't use you When you're so terrified I can't stand to stand by yet again You're blond and blue You fight like a tiger Blond and Blue You'd better come home
10.
Ricky 03:54
RICKY... We hear you're leaving, that's okay I thought our little wild time had just begun I guess you kinda scared yourself, you've turned and run But if you have a change of heart... Ricky don't lose that number You don't wanna call nobody else Send it off in a letter to yourself Ricky don't lose that number It's the only one you'll want You might use it if you feel better When you get home I've got a friend in town, he's heard your name We could go out driving down Slowhand Road Or we could stay inside and play games, I dunno.. And you could have a change of heart Ricky don't lose that number You don't wanna call nobody else Send it off in a letter to yourself Ricky don't lose that number It's the only one you'll want You might use it if you feel better When you get home I can tell you all I know The where to go, the what to do You can try to run but you can't hide From what's inside of you... You tell yourself you're not my kind But you don't even know your mind And you could have a change of heart... CHO: Ricky don't lose that number You don't wanna call nobody else Send it off in a letter to yourself Ricky don't lose that number It's the only one you'll want You might use it if you feel better When you get home
11.
LONG HOT SUMMER Hey Joe, get up and go Wouldn't like to tell you twice Hey mac, get off my back Didn't ask your advice There's all this heat out in the street Telling us to move along It's gonna be a long hot summer From now on Hey man, I don't understand We ain't hardly bothering you Say fag, you're just a drag We ain't nearly finished with you There's all this heat out on the beat Telling us we don't belong It's gonna be a long hot summer From now on Hey Dan, give us a hand We won't make it alone But we can all make a stand Next time the whistle's blown So get your feet out on the street When you hear the heat is on It's gonna be a long hot summer From now on... Look out sisters, look out brothers We won't be fooled again
12.
COLDHARBOUR LANE The first night I dared to come out on the town It was hard believing my eyes Met a fresh faced teacher in a big leather coat On a dancefloor crowded with guys And though he never told me he loved me I know he never told me no lies Hoping... moping... Freezing at the bus stop in Coldharbour Lane Blew it... knew it... Hitting the bottle I could hardly remember his name Wasn't too easy It wasn't slow You wanna leave me You'd better go Time out taking the tube into town To the upstairs room on the right Stuck in the middle but feeling the need To keep it up night after night One time I hit the jackpot Made out with the hottest in sight Grinning... winning... He was a slim dark mover With devastating eyes Fun night... one night... He came and left me there barely saying goodbye Boozing... cruising... Bitterly sipping a half pint of 'E' Who's he... choosing... Clenching my toes And just wishing to God it was me Wasn't too easy It wasn't slow You wanna leave me You'd better go.

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released October 5, 2009

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Tom Robinson London, UK

Tom Robinson (b.1950) is a UK songwriter & broadcaster first known in the 70s as an anti-racist and LGBT campaigner. He released 19 albums between 1975-2001 with various bands and has co-written songs with Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Dan Hartman and Manu Katché. He's an award-winning presenter at BBC Radio 6 Music, and released Only The Now (his first album in 19 years) in October 2015. ... more

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