SINGER: The Beautiful South

SONG:Alone

(heaton/rotheray)
like the contents of your handbag
you don't know why it's there
people ask you where you're heading
you just answer "anywhere"
We don't mean to be this vague
it just happens that we are
no-one asked us to elaborate
we just shrug our shoulders and be
And like the stories that just happened
no-one thought of, no-one planned
we could have ruled, we could have conquered
then we could have been a man
We could be ex-husband
we could be ex-wife
but no-one looks at the menu in a greasy spoon life
Alone, alone
half an hour is seven hours
one day is several months
alone, alone
a month is a calendar
a year can be a decade spent
alone
He knows "hello" in eighteen languages
"i love you" in only one
by the time he's got his phrase-book
the chance is usually gone
And we feel ourselves quite prepared
but quite prepared for what
we always took the lead
before we actually knew the plot
And you can tell where we've been shopping
by the bags beneath our eyes
make-up shoulders burden
but the smile never lies
We could be ex-husband
we could be ex-wife
but no-one looks at the menu in a greasy spoon life
Alone, alone
half an hour is seven hours
one day is several months
alone, alone
a month is a calendar
a year can be a decade spent
alone
So empty at the airport
you don't set off the doors
we used to feel like chorus girls
and now we feel like whores
Hearts built like reservoirs
words built like dams
thoughts built like juggernauts
our actions built like prams
And when the wind blows into our face
we should be warmer and not colder
well, what price the charges
on this cargo that we shoulder
We could be ex-husband
we could be ex-wife
but no-one looks at the menu in a greasy spoon life
Alone, alone
half an hour is seven hours
one day is several months
alone, alone
a month is a calendar
a year can be a decade spent
alone
And we only smoke when bored
so we do two packs a day
and we've lost the difference
between bored and lonely anyway