Is it Really So Strange? (John Peel session, 12/2/86) - The Smiths

He was a sweet and tender hooligan And he said that he'd never, never do it again And of course he won't (Not until the next time) He was a sweet and tender hooligan And he swore that he'd never, never do it again And of course he won't (Not until the next time) Poor old man He had an accident with a three bar fire But that's okay Because he wasn't very happy anyway Poor woman Strangled in her very own bed as she read But that's okay Because she was old and she would have died anyway Don't blame This sweet and tender hooligan Because he'll never, never, never do it again Not until the next time Jury, you've heard every word But before you decide Would you look into those Mother-me eyes I love you for you, my love You, my love You, my love You, my love Jury, you've heard every word But before you decide Would you look into those Mother-me eyes I love you for you, my love You, my love I love you just for you, my love Don't blame This sweet and tender hooligan Because he'll never, never do it again And "In the midst of life we are in debt et cetera" Forget the hooligan Because he'll never, never do it again And "In the midst of life we are in debt et cetera" Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera "In the midst of life we are in debt et cetera"

All men have secrets and here is mine So let it be known For we have been through hell and high tide I think I can rely on you And yet you start to recoil Heavy words are so lightly thrown But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you So, what difference does it make? So, what difference does it make? It makes none But now you have gone And you must be looking very old tonight The devil will find work for idle hands to do I stole and I lied, and why? Because you asked me to But now you make me feel so ashamed Because I've only got two hands Well, I'm still fond of you, uh-ho-ho So, what difference does it make? Oh, what difference does it make? Oh, it makes none But now you have gone And your prejudice won't keep you warm tonight Oh, the devil will find work for idle hands to do I stole, and then I lied Just because you asked me to But now you know the truth about me You won't see me anymore Well, I'm still fond of you, uh-ho-ho But no more apologies No more apologies Oh, I'm too tired I'm so sick and tired And I'm feeling very sick and ill today But I'm still fond of you, uh-ho-ho Oh, my sacred one Oh...

Take a step out of yourself And you turn around Take a look at who you are It's pretty scary So silly It's revolting You're not much If you're anything Take a step outside the city And you turn around Take a look at where you are It is revolting You're really nowhere So wasteful So foolish Poppycock Who said don't look back? Don't believe 'em Go for that crazy sounding restaurant 'Cause they're gonna try and get behind you Don't you let 'em do it You know what I'm talking about? You hear me talking? You hear me talking? It's pretty scary, totally, it's so revolting It's pretty scary, totally, it's so revolting It's pretty scary, totally, it's so revolting It's pretty scary, totally, it's so revolting Take a step out of the country And you turn around Take a look at where you are It is amazing Take a good look You're no big deal You're so petty It's a laugh Take a step outside the planet Turn around and around Take a look at where you are It's pretty scary

When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride Till I get to the bottom and I see you again Do you, don't you want me to love you? I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you Tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer Helter skelter Helter skelter Helter skelter Will you, won't you want me to make you? I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer Look out! Helter skelter Helter skelter Helter skelter Look out! 'Cause here she comes When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide And I stop and I turn and I go for a ride And I get to the bottom and I see you again Well do you, don't you want me to make you? I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me your answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer Look out! Helter skelter Helter skelter Helter skelter Look out! Helter skelter She's coming down fast Yes she is Yes she is Coming down fast I got blisters on my fingers!

Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you From doing all the things in life you'd like to Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you From doing all the things in life you'd like to So if there's something you'd like to try If there's something you'd like to try Ask me, I won't say no, how could I? Coyness is nice and coyness can stop you From saying all the things in life you'd like to So if there's something you'd like to try If there's something you'd like to try Ask me, I won't say no, how could I? Spending warm summer days indoors Writing frightening verse To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg Ask me, ask me, ask me Ask me, ask me, ask me Because if it's not love Then it's the bomb, the bomb The bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb That will bring us together Nature is a language can't you read? Nature is a language can't you read? So ask me, ask me, ask me Ask me, ask me, ask me Because if it's not love Then it's the bomb, the bomb The bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb That will bring us together If it's not love Then it's the bomb Then it's the bomb that will bring us together So ask me, ask me, ask me Ask me, ask me, ask me

Smoke Lingers 'round your fingers Train Heave on to Euston Do you think you've made The right decision this time? You left Your tired family grieving And you think they're sad Because you're leaving But didn't you see the jealousy in the eyes Of the ones who had to stay behind? And do you think you've made The right decision this time? You left Your girlfriend on the platform With this really ragged notion That you'll return But she knows That when he goes He really goes And do you think you've made The right decision this time?

Sing me to sleep Sing me to sleep I'm tired and I I want to go to bed Sing me to sleep Sing me to sleep And then leave me alone Don't try to wake me in the morning 'Cause I will be gone Don't feel bad for me I want you to know Deep in the cell of my heart I will feel so glad to go Sing me to sleep Sing me to sleep I don't want to wake up On my own anymore Sing to me Sing to me I don't want to wake up On my own anymore Don't feel bad for me I want you to know Deep in the cell of my heart I really want to go There is another world There is a better world Well, there must be Well, there must be Well, there must be Well, there must be Well... Bye, bye Bye...

Panic on the streets of London Panic on the streets of Birmingham I wonder to myself Could life ever be sane again? The Leeds side-streets that you slip down I wonder to myself Hopes may rise on the Grasmere But, honey pie, you're not safe here So you run down to the safety of the town But there's panic on the streets of Carlisle Dublin, Dundee, Humberside I wonder to myself Burn down the disco Hang the blessed DJ Because the music that they constantly play It says nothing to me about my life Hang the blessed DJ Because the music they constantly play On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down Provincial towns you jog 'round Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ Hang the DJ, hang the DJ

What she said "How come someone hasn't noticed that I'm dead And decided to bury me? God knows, I'm ready" What she said was sad But then, all the rejection she's had To pretend to be happy could only be idiocy What she said was not For the job or lover that she never had What she read All heady books she'd sit and prophesize It took a tattooed boy from Birkenhead To really, really open her eyes What she read All heady books she'd sit and prophesize It took a tattooed boy from Birkenhead To really, really open her eyes What she said "I smoke 'cause I'm hoping for an early death And I need to cling to something!" What she said "I smoke 'cause I'm hoping for an early death And I need to cling to something!"