Regeneration

Release Date

Mar 2001

Regeneration is the seventh studio album and features the singles: Perfect Lovesong, Bad Ambassador and Love What You Do.

Timestretched There's not enough hours in the day To say all that I want to say There's not enough days in the week And weeks go by quicker than drunks knock back liquor There's not enough weeks in the month To do all that needs to be done There's not enough months in the year And years disappear like the bubbles in my beer Timestretched... There's not enough lines on the stave To capture the music I crave There's not enough strings to my bow And even the barmen know extracts from Carmen There's not enough notes in this scale It feels like I'm chasing my tail There's not enough beats in the bar And bars get too busy with folks asking "is he…?" Timestretched...

Bad Ambassador I wanna chill, I wanna sit real still I wanna sleep like the dead on a bed of roses Me and my lovely wife We're in the prime of life I wanna feel real, I wanna free-wheel I wanna steal the show from under their noses I wanna get you off Well ain't that enough? I'm gonna abseil down my ivory tower And buy myself a Jaguar I'm a bad ambassador for that elusive place you're searching for I wanna show you so much more, but maybe some other time I wanna play with the big boys I wanna ride with the tough guys on a Japanese motorbike I wanna hold your hand Hey, what's your favourite band honey? I wanna look like they looked, I wanna shake like they shook I wanna take what they took I wanna get you high Don't ask me why It's just something I've got to do I'll try to make it up to you I'm a bad ambassador for that elusive place you're searching for I wanna show you so much more, but maybe some other time Yeah, maybe some other time I'm not the Pope And I don't wanna be the Archbishop of Canterbury I'm a bad ambassador for that elusive place you're searching for I wanna show you so much more Yeah, I could show you so much more But I'm a bad ambassador Well, maybe some other time...

Perfect Lovesong Give me your love And I'll give you the perfect lovesong With a divine Beatles bassline And a big old Beach Boys sound I'll match you pound for pound Like heavy-weights in the final round We'll hold on to each other So we don't fall down Give me a wink And I'll give you what I think you're after With just one kiss I will whisk you away To where angels often tread We'll paint this planet red We'll stumble back to our hotel bed And we'll make love to each other Till we're half dead Maybe now you can see Just what you mean to me Give me your love And I'll give you the perfect lovesong Give me your word that you'll be true To me always come what may Forever and a day No matter what other people may say We'll hold on to each other Till we're old and grey

Note To Self Monday Restate my assumptions Heaven and hell do not exist Tuesday Restate my assumptions If you die you do so at your own risk Into the heart of darkness Beyond the point of no return Wednesday Restate my assumptions Beauty is not The same thing as youth Thursday Restate my assumptions Only one thing beautiful, that's the truth Into the heart of darkness Beyond the point of no return What the fuck is happening? Where has everybody gone? What the hell is going on? There is nothing as frightening as being alone Friday Restate my assumptions The writer writes for himself, not for you Saturday Restate my assumptions A song is not a song until it's listened to

Lost Property Postcards and letters T-shirts and sweaters Passports and Parkas Mobiles and chargers Two tennis rackets Blue Rizla packets A new sheep-skin jacket I lost it all All through my life there have been Many rare and precious things I have tried to call mine But I just cannot seem to keep hold of anything For more than a short time Possessions of a sentimental kind They were mine, now they're not Gym-kits and trainers Asthma inhalers Silk-cuts and Bennies Ten-packs and twenties C-class narcotics Antibiotics The holes in my pockets I lost it all Lost Blown like seeds on a wind Everything lost Tossed like ships on the ocean And dashed on the rocks Hiding just out of reach Waiting for me All that I'd like is to know Just where do those lost things go? When they slip from my hands Then one night in a dream I passed through a sheepskin screen To a green, pleasant land I found them all piled up into the sky And I cried tears of joy

Eye Of The Needle They say that you'll hear him If you're really listening And pray for that feeling of grace But that's what I'm doing Why doesn't he answer? I've prayed till I'm blue in the face But the cars in the churchyard are shiny and German Distinctly at odds with the theme of the sermon And during communion I study the people Threading themselves through the eye of the needle I know that it's wrong for The faithful to seek it But sometimes I long for a sign, anything Something to wake up The whole congregation And finally make up my mind 'Cause the cars in the churchyard are shiny and German Completely at odds with the theme of the sermon And all through communion I stare at the people Squeezing themselves through the eye of the needle

Love What You Do Living isn't easy No need to make it harder Stretch yourself until you snap Ditch your superstitions Lose your inhibitions Tell them you're not coming back If you want it, you can have it If you need it, go and get it Whatever it is you've got to love it Everybody's running Round and round in circles What is it they're trying to prove? Exercise your freedom Exorcise those demons You have got to love what you do If you want it, you can have it If you need it, go and get it Whatever it is you've got to love it If you want it, you can have it If you need it, go and get it Whatever it is you've got to love it

Dumb It Down You've got a personality We'll throw you in the sea and watch you drown Dumb it down Your concentration span's too long It's longer than this song, that's not allowed Dumb it down You don't need books to know what's what We'll pile them up and burn them to the ground Dumb it down And if you say that we're corrupt We'll round you up and run you out of town Dumb it down Down and down and down it goes Where it stops nobody knows And not a lot of people seem to care Well it's so crazy, it's so great We can all communicate But no one's saying anything out there Is there anybody out there? Intelligence is dangerous A virus of the brain you pass around Dumb it down We'll vaccinate each boy and girl Lobotomise the world through sight and sound Dumb it down No one can tell you what to think And if you think that's true then you're a clown Dumb it down 'Cause freedom's wasted on the free You just don't see the beauty all around Dumb it down Down and down and down we slide It's too tricky to decide Between channels one and sixty-three 'Cause everything is mindless fluff Like this world's not dumb enough Does anybody feel the same as me? Is there anybody listening?

Mastermind Every pupil in the classroom will answer the same if you ask them Every mouth shout the message out as one Every girl weeps like the willow, every boy cries into his pillow Every tear disappears in the morning sun You don't need an indie song to figure out what's going on Tell me that I'm normal, tell me that I'm sane Tell me that you feel this too All the dreams that we have had are gonna prove that we're not mad to you Every nose is a vacuum cleaner in the loved-up London arena Every eye flies a dollar sign for me Every tongue will wag if you want it, every lung has a shadow on it Every heart comes apart at the seams You don't need a mastermind to read between the long white lines Tell me that I'm normal, tell me that I'm sane Tell me that you feel this too All the dreams that we have had are gonna prove that we're not mad to you Well, we all need reassurance as we play life's game of endurance Like a nice cup of tea or a cigarette But don't lean too long on your crutches or you'll fall straight into the clutches Of those who see free expression as a threat You don't need a law degree to set your mind and spirit free So tell me what the hell is normal and who the hell is sane? And why the hell care anyway? All the dreams that we have had are gonna prove that we're all mad And that's OK

Regeneration Old worlds seen through new eyes Just you and I and the sheltering sky The battle is over but the war's not yet won It's only just begun We'll walk the razor's edge The highest ledge of the worlds highest window The first lap is finished but the race isn't run It's only just begun Where will we run to? Where will we hide? Where will we rest our heads tonight? Where is the party? And who will be there? Angels or devils, we don't care We don't care New forms, new formulae X plus Y equals new life They'll tell you it's over Just tell them they're wrong 'Cause it's only just, it's only just begun

The Beauty Regime Beat stress and rebalance your life Make those dreams come true Impress all your colleagues and friends With the brand new you So many lives condemned for no need 'Cause people don't buy the right magazine Take a look in the mirror and see Exactly how worthless you are In a rut? You can't get out? You don't know why? It's time to make that change Cover up all the pain in your life With our new product range So please don't feel blue, let us show you how To talk yourself into a good mood right now Feeling sad is no longer allowed No matter how worthless you are And if your life depresses you Just live it through your favourite movie star To beat stress and rebalance your life All you need to do Is forget all the useless advice And live your life for you Don't let them sell you impossible dreams Don't be a slave to the beauty regime Look again in the mirror and see Exactly how perfect you are