''There are people in boats in the middle of the sea, Crying and dying like Jews.....Do you like tennis?''


Teesside warbler and one-time Radio 2 favorite Chris Rea.

A lot of his stuff's kind of dark, though, isn't it? "Road To Hell" and so on.

Possibly, although I had read that the aforementioned song was inspired by that picture of the woman scratching her arse on a tennis court.

I remember an interview with Bob Dylan, where he was saying The Monkees' Last Train to Clarksville was a terrifically subversive anti-war song, in the form of bubblegum pop.

The line in the Happy Mondays' Kuff Dam about "you see that Jesus is a cunt and never helped you with a thing that you do" always jumped out at me, even amongst the somewhat esoteric topics covered in their oeuvre.

Years ahead of Cradle of Filth and all.

"Everybody knows the world is going wrong
Everybody knows it just ain't right"

(and, last verse)

"So before the world is gone
Think now and put it right
Build yourself a new world while you can
Don't delay, go right ahead
Look up and see the light
Share your love and help your fellow man"

This rousing anthem comes courtesy of those eco-hippies at Chelsea FC (it's the B-side to "Blue is the Colour").

Sweet as sugar, twice as nice,
Cinnamon stick, cinnamon stick;
See that twinkle in her eyes,
Cinnamon stick, cinnamon stick.

The B side to

'We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man...'

Not sure about 'astonished', though I was certainly somewhat surprised to learn that these were the lyrics.

(Google, if you're still none the wiser.)