We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

You Tattooed Me

from Still Loving You [1986] by Tom Robinson

supported by
Simon William
Simon William thumbnail
Stuart
Stuart thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £1 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

I was stranded up in Antwerp in the Summer of '54
There were teeming streets full of refugees
And rumours of a new world war
I was waiting at the station when a newcomer arrived
As you took your place you fixed me with those crazy hazel eyes...

Well the boarding house was crowded where I brought you back in fright
You ignored them all and slammed the door then smashed the electric light
You said 'why try to fight it?' - I could feel my racing heart
Then you nuzzled up like an animal
And you kissed me in the dark
We wrecked the bed and spent the rent
And left one night without a cent
I drank the fare and never made the train
Till I was 25 I was only half alive
And I hardly knew what hit me when you came

And tattooed me... tattooed me
Oh I hardly knew what hit me when you came

We shacked up in a basement with a crippled old senor
With bedbugs in the blankets, broken bottles on the floor
We were penniless and hungry, having arguments and fights
I was coughing up blood all winter but I'd never been more alive
And then I was sick one day you volunteered your life away
While I was way too weak to be alarmed
And when I was sound asleep as you left to join the fleet
You tattooed your name with a needle in my arm

You tattooed me... tattooed me
Tattooed your name with a needle in my arm

With the armistice in Dublin we slowly crawled away
From the brink of the unthinkable and began to breathe each day
There were rumours you'd deserted, then no more letters came
My life was wrecked but I did my best to pick up the bits again
And then when I was on the mend I drifted back to Zaventem
And worked unloading cargo from a plane
I began to pay my way on a thousand francs a day
And as time went by I realised we'd never meet again

You tattooed me... tattooed me
And I realised we'd never meet again
You tattooed me... tattooed me
Oh I realised we'd never meet again

credits

from Still Loving You [1986], released January 31, 2013
Written by Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson - vocals/DX7
Paul Harvey - guitar
Steve Laurie - percussion
Mark Ramsden - soprano sax
Martin Ditcham - percussion
Bias Boshell - keyboards

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Tom Robinson image

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

contact / help

Contact Tom Robinson

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Tom Robinson, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now