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South East Facing Wall

by The Smith Street Band

/
1.
Speak of the handsome devil, oh when will I wear you like and hand in a glove? You smother me, smother me, smother me in Morrissey like all the pretty ones have done before, And writing songs for you in the backyard of another house show, When all I wanna do is sleep and all my friends wanna do is see me fall, Watching music television with the sound down, It's technicolor rainbows and I think it's kicking in now, And there's more confidential information on mainstream radio stations Someone famous just got caught, Someone famous just got a divorce So I walk into my front door and I'm going in swinging, I'm going down drinking like I swore that I wouldn't, And I'll come in singing and I'll walk out screaming, Because no one gives a fuck anymore, yeah no one cares about this but you And I need a break from the city again, So I'll play in backwater pubs in no-name towns, pass out in your garden shed, And last night I slept in the country estate of a pretty girl's parents' in a single bed with my best friend, And I woke up to air so clean and so fresh that I didn't dare light a cigarette, As much as I love being near you, My favourite thing to do is to leave If you drive me home, I would've sat with you by the fire until my eyes closed I'd be happy if American Spirit was nothing more than a brand of cigarettes, And there are no more metaphors, this hunger feels like hunger, A greedy, filthy need from the very pit of me, And am I the only one holding on by skin of my teeth, But I don't eat meat, so I haven't got very strong teeth By the skin of my teeth, by the skin of my teeth, By the holes in the floor, the water that drips in through the cracks in the ceiling, By the mice in the walls, from the fingernail gash in the doorframe, From the blackened handprints on the south east facing wall Where I sit and I watch the heavy rain fall, Yeah I sit and I watch Smith Street drown
2.
Ever since her father died, she said she wouldn't give it up until she was married, Even when her conscience and her conscience went swimming, she would keep her dignity, We used to take sleeping pills together and watch Nightmare on Elm Street naked on my best friends living room floor, And ever since she claimed she tried to die when she was five, continuing that lie has been a reason to stay alive, So don't call me if all you're gonna do is bring me crashing and burning back through your window, Just walk me through the notes, let me pass out when I pass out and when I say stop I really, really, really fucking mean it, We swim about inside each other, we never loved we were just lovers, and I used to steal smack from your brother, So I write this on the back of my face, in the pub where I live, but they don't know my name, And if I'm fighting with anyone Jess I'm glad that it's you, because you sing my songs with more passion than I do, So fuck me and call me your big, grizzly bear, we'll make love in the night and we both won't be there, But your plane lands at midnight, I'll be home, safe and sound, but as soon as I'm sober I'll come round…
3.
I hope I scare people on public transport, no shoes, my eyes rolling back into my head, I fell down the steps of the tram at the stop where I used to get off to fall into bed with you, But now it's just a long, long, lonely walk home. Edgy, wild eyes trying hard to stay strong, Traversing the streets where the dogs and your old neighbours bark at me from behind fences that I swear are too small, I miss the taste of the city asphalt and I miss the smell of your freshly washed hair, And I miss the times we slept under bridges, bummed cigarettes from strangers and no one else mattered Today my mother flies out to Shanghai and today my father surely will catch me, And today my sister will go to school and forget me, I wish I could tell her just how much I cared, I had an affair that lasted the heat wave, the only thing that I remember now is your first name, And those heavy blankets and that shitty, little plastic fan and the way you had no idea who I am Everything is a fucking eye strain and I can't see my legs through the piss and the rain, And I hope to God that I can still spit, because fingers crossed our paths will cross again someday, And the train wires circle the planned out city centre like vultures coming in for the kill, We're gonna take your money and do nothing with it
4.
You told me in the beer garden that I had changed your life, I laughed at my new dress up shoes and thought, "He's a lucky guy" It wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be to see your arms around his boney, boney body, And in your mother's hatchback with the windows rolled down, my dear, you were a fucking joy to be around, But if I'm gonna make anything of myself, I don't wanna do it alone, Sitting behind a grey desk, staring at a whitewashed wall, tasting last night's amyl every time I talk, And my brain cracks, my head slips back, my hearts skips beats for a minute and you're softly, softly telling me to just breathe in, breathe out If this isn't a body for true love, then I'll slowly cut it down, To spend a week with a clear head and a free chest is becoming an impossible dream now, And I've been dancing past your skinny bodies at the door of a million parties, And I burst out shivering under the night sky and I wish that I was warm in bed with you, Wish I was warm with you, I wish I was allowed with you, And if we go away then we'll just come back Last winter everything was just so perfect, making castles in your bungalow and holding you from your parents, And no matter how it ended, I'm so glad it happened, you are an amazing person and you'll do amazing things, You'll do amazing things, but I won't come back If this isn't a body for true love, then I'll slowly cut it down, To spend a week with a clear head and a free chest is becoming and impossible dream now, And I've been dancing past your skinny body at the door of the party, And I burst out shivering under the night sky and I'm wishing I was warm in bed with you, Wish I was warm with you, I wish I was allowed with you, And if we go away then we'll just come back

credits

released January 27, 2011

Recorded & mixed by Fitzy Fitzgerald at The Arthouse Studio, Melbourne (RIP). Mastered by Jacob Munnery.
All lyrics written by Wil Wagner. All music written & performed by The Smith Street Band. Additional keys by Fitzy Fitzgerald. Additional vocals on My New Dress Up Shoes by Jess Shulman.
Design & layout by Chris Cowburn.

On this recording The Smith Street Band was:
Wil Wagner—Vocals, guitar & keys, Tom Lawson—Guitar & vocals, Lee Hartney—Guitar,
Jimi O’Loughlin—Bass, Chris Cowburn—Drums & vocals.

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The Smith Street Band Melbourne, Australia

Our 6th album 'Life After Football' is out now

vinyl/cd/tape from artistfirst.com.au

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