smudie - a Scot, a lyricist, based in Paris

Songs in search of a singer

A Flemish Painting*
(I'm Leaving) This City
Laughing In My Sleep*
Magnets
My Tattoo*
No Other Guy*
(Not Even) Half Drunk
Quits*
Rolleiflex*
Shipwrecked*
Teresa*
That's What I Do
Uninvited*

All the lyrics that appear on this page are yet to be recorded, except those marked with an asterisk (*). If you're interested in writing some music for any of them, send me an email.

A Flemish Painting*

Your eyes are
misting over
like the windows,
like the windows,
of a house
where it's warmer
inside
than out.

It's dark.
A candle flickers
when the wind blows,
when the wind blows.
There's a draught
comes from your corner.
Cold feet,
warm heart.

Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Let there be light.

Your eyes are
misting over
like the windows,
like the windows,
of a house
where it's warmer
inside
than out.

You're like a
Flemish painting
in whose shadows,
in whose shadows,
I can find
all the secrets
you try
to hide.

Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Let there be light, let there be light.
Oh, throw the curtains open wide.
Let there be light.

(I'm Leaving) This City

This city,
it has millions of inhabitants;
the streets here
are all gridlocked, full of cars;
and this town
isn't big enough for all of us.
I'm leaving
and I'm never coming back.

My building
must have been built in the seventies,
I'm guessing,
on account of all the cracks.
I've lived here
for six years and seven months, and still
the neighbors
seem to whisper when I pass.

Our bedroom
has become a sort of sanctuary.
We hide there
in the daytime, in the dark,
but this bed isn't big enough for both of us.
I'm leaving
and I'm never coming back.

Laughing In My Sleep*

I was laughing in my sleep again
the other night,
a real big honest laugh again.
I don't know why.

It's not as if I have that much to laugh about.
I don't have that much to laugh about at all.
I don't have all that much to shout about,
but maybe in my dreams I'm doing well.

I was laughing in my sleep again
the other night.
Could it mean I'm back on track again?
I guess it might.

I didn't think I had that much to laugh about.
I can't remember having cracked a smile.
But when I sleep, it seems to all work out. I've been laughing in my dreams now for a while.

Sometimes life's enough to make a grown man weep.
On days like those, I wish that I could stay asleep.

I was laughing in my sleep again
the other night,
a real big honest laugh again.
I don't know why.

It's not as if I have that much to laugh about.
I don't have that much to laugh about at all.
I don't have all that much to shout about,
but maybe in my dreams I'm doing well.

I was laughing in my sleep again,
laughing in my sleep again.
I was laughing in my sleep again,
laughing in my sleep again.

Magnets

I like to play with magnets.
I watch as they attract
and then I switch one pole around
to push the other back.

I like to play with wires,
with fuses and all that,
so if you hear a ticking sound,
make sure you stand well back.

There could be an explosion
of such a magnitude
that it could blow this love of ours
sky high soon.

You see, I like to play with magnets.
I watch as they attract
and then I switch one pole around
to push the other back.

My Tattoo

I cut my hair from time to time
depending on my mood.
I like to mix and match my clothes
to change the way I look.

There's little that is permanent
in anything I do,
but I want a little more
permanence from you.

Please be my tattoo.
Be the ink upon my arm.
You got underneath my skin.
Now stay there, if you can.
Please be my tattoo.
Be the ink upon my arm.
You got underneath my skin.
Now stay there, stay there.

I change the music on my phone
at least three times a week.
I give away the DVDs
of all the films I've seen.

There's little that is permanent
in anything I do,
but I want a little more
permanence from you.

No Other Guy*

Look me in the eyes and tell the truth.
Tell me there's no other guy between me and you.
Tell me that I'm wrong and that I'm a fool
to be questioning your love when it's nothing but true.

The thing is that I've seen the signs.
They've planted a doubt in my suspicious mind.
You come home late, or not at all,
and when your phone vibrates you won't say who it was.

Baby, do you understand
that you will never ever find a better man
to love you and take care of you
the way I did, the way I do?
Baby, do you understand
that you will never ever find a better man
to love you and take care of you
the way I did, the way I do?

Tonight I lie up close to you
wondering if some other guy's gonna make you choose,
yeah, and if you do, what it will be.
Will you go with him or will you stay with me?

The thing is that I've seen the signs.
They've planted a doubt in my suspicious mind.
You come home late, or not at all,
and when your phone vibrates you won't say who it was.

Look me in the eyes and tell the truth.
Tell me there's no other guy between me and you.
Tell me that I'm wrong and that I'm a fool
to be questioning your love when it's nothing but true.

The thing is that I've seen the signs.
They've planted a doubt in my suspicious mind.
You come home late, or not at all,
and when your phone vibrates you won't say who it was.

(Not Even) Half Drunk

I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left the party.
I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left the party
before it was time,
before it was time, yeah.

I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left a bottle.
I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left a bottle
of whisky behind,
whisky behind him.

It wasn't even
half drunk.
No, it wasn't even
half drunk.
I said, it wasn't even
half drunk.
Well, where's the sense in that then?

I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left a bottle.
I heard he left, heard he left.
I heard he left a bottle
of whisky behind,
whisky behind him.

It wasn't even
half drunk.
No, it wasn't even
half drunk.
I said, it wasn't even
half drunk.
Well, where's the sense in that then?

Quits*

Come on, little girl, let's call it quits.
I hurt you, sure, but what is this?
Is this now the way you get your kicks,
by brazenly rubbing my nose in it?
Couldn't you have just slapped my wrists?

Come on, honey, please just let it go.
What's done is done, as we both know.
All those dirty looks are getting old.
I'm not proud of myself at all, of course,
but do you really need to be so cold?

I mean, I'm sorry - and I said it,
and I'm saying it again.
It doesn't seem to be enough.
I'm sorry, but I guess that
you're not ready yet to mend
whatever got broken in our love.

Come on, little girl, let's call it quits.
I hurt you, sure, but what is this?
Is this now the way you get your kicks,
by brazenly rubbing my nose in it?
Couldn't you have just slapped my wrists?

I mean, I'm sorry - and I said it,
and I'm saying it again.
It doesn't seem to be enough.
I'm sorry, but I guess that
you're not ready yet to mend
whatever got broken in our love.

I mean, I'm sorry - and I said it,
and I'm saying it again.
It doesn't seem to be enough.
I'm sorry, but I guess that
you're not ready yet to mend
whatever got broken,
whatever got broken,
whatever got broken,
whatever got broken,
whatever got broken
between us

Rolleiflex

I didn't take your picture, darling, with my Rolleiflex.
I didn't need a lock of your blond hair.
I was quite content to keep the picture in my head,
so all I had to do was stand and stare.

I took in every detail
as you sat there with a smile,
a simple smile
that I could contemplate forever.
You're one of those people
who are gentle, like a child,
yet you are no child
because you took me as your lover.

Shipwrecked*

A man stands
in a launderette
with his face pressed
to the window, to the glass,
somewhere in Brest.
He is shipwrecked.
He looks lost.
He looks down.

Some get
lost at sea, yeah,
and others
run aground,
their lives swept
on the beach, yeah.
They're shipwrecked,
left to drown.

I thought you
had stopped smoking,
but you've broken
other promises in the past.
Don't you forget,
we were shipwrecked.
Are we lost?
Are we found?

Some get
lost at sea, yeah,
and others
run aground,
their lives swept
on the beach, yeah.
They're shipwrecked,
left to drown.

A man stands
in a launderette
with his face pressed
to the window, to the glass,
somewhere in Brest.
He is shipwrecked.
He looks lost.
He looks down.

Teresa*

Teresa, I don't know why,
but you came into my mind.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot.
It makes a change from drinking.

I see you, awash in the sepia tones
of memory and childhood,
frozen in time.
Teresa, I don't know why.

Teresa, I don't know what
happened to us all.
It's something I've been thinking about
to keep myself from sinking.

I see you, awash in the sepia tones
of memory and childhood,
frozen in time.
Teresa, I don't know why.

Oh, Teresa.

That's What I Do

I wrote a song.
That's what I do.
I wrote a song
- that's what I do -
but for once it wasn't one,
it wasn't one, it wasn't one,
for once it wasn't one
about you.

It was just a simple rhyme
I wrote to pass away the time,
not written for us.
It doesn't even mention love.
It was just a song I wrote.
That's what I do.

And you misheard.
That's what you do.
Yeah, you misheard
- that's what you do -
because you think the world revolves,
the world revolves, the world revolves,
you think the world revolves
around you.

It was just a simple rhyme
I wrote to pass away the time,
not written for us.
It doesn't even mention love.
It was just a song I wrote.
That's what I do.

I don't lie awake all night
with you on my mind.
I think of other things sometimes.
That's what I do.

I wrote a song.
That's what I do.
I wrote a song
- that's what I do -
but for once it wasn't one,
it wasn't one, it wasn't one,
for once it wasn't one
about you.

It was just a simple rhyme
I wrote to pass away the time,
not written for us.
It doesn't even mention love.
It was just a song I wrote.
That's what I do.

Uninvited*

Don't be jealous.
I don't like it.
No, don't be jealous, please,
'cause I don't like it.
The green-eyed guest,
did you invite him?
It wasn't me.
It wasn't me.

I'll talk to anybody that I like
because I'm at this party now to have a real good time,
so if I dance with someone else while you go smoke outside,
what does it matter?
I'll still come back, yeah?

So, don't be jealous.
I don't like it.
No, don't be jealous, please,
'cause I don't like it.
The green-eyed guest,
did you invite him?
It wasn't me.
It wasn't me.

I'll talk to whomsoever I may choose
and most of the time, you know, it surely will be you,
but if you see us laughing in the corner of the room,
what does it matter?
I'll still come back, yeah?

Oh, don't be jealous.
I don't like it.
No, don't be jealous, please,
'cause I don't like it.
The green-eyed guest,
did you invite him?
It wasn't me.
It wasn't me.

The thing that you should always bear in mind
is you're the one I'm leaving with tonight.

Now don't be jealous.