Rock Art & the X-Ray Style Lyrics

Tony Adams

(Joe Strummer)

Tonight there was a power cut in the city of madness
All conversations died in the burst of a solar flare
In the darkness an angel won the beauty pagent
And stroboscopic snowflakes fell from the stratosphere
And all the neon blew down funky Broadway
And shorted out the eastern shore
Only saxophones and beach trombones
Were left to shout out 'we all need a little more'

And im waiting for the rays of the morning sun
Somebody tell me clearly has the new world begun?
Let all the wailing wail, let the drummer drum
We're waiting for the rays of the morning sun

Has anybody seen the morning sun?

I'm lost in a world, beyond lost city
I'm looking for a phone, and I cant find one
Gotta Tony Bennett eight trackin the hotle pity
The moon turned and shot someone
I'm lost in a mack truck jack, in the city of words
Only dead men stomp on the brake pedals, in the city of nerves
Sow me some reaps, Jack, I'm dead on the heap
Show me some glycerine, Mac, downhill so steep
And im waiting for the rays of the morning sun
Somebody tell me clearly has the new world begun?
Let all the wailing wail, let the drummer drum
We're waiting for the rays of the morning sun
Has anybody seen the morning sun?

The whole city is a debris of broken heels and party hats
I'm standing on the corner, thats on a fold on the map
I lost my friends at the deportee station
I'll take immigration into any nation

And im waiting for the rays of the morning sun
Somebody tell me clearly has the new world begun?
Let all the wailing wail, let the drummer drum
We're waiting for the rays of the morning sun
Has anybody seen the morning sun?

Who is that Screaming in Lunar Park?
If they make Tony Adams captain
We could all go screaming in Lunar Park
I say yes oh yes - you should check it out

Sandpaper Blues

(Strummer/Norris/Dyson)

It's gonna boom Mariachi
This really fine piece of madera
And this will be on the counter
Of the Pueblo Tabacalera
Shape it up, Shape it up,
All around the world
And this keel could save a life
When the stroms hit the Pacific
To make it really true
You gotta be...specific
Shape it up, shape it up,
All around the world
Keep the lantern bright
Keep food upon the table
If you shape it well tonight
As well as you are able
Keep the lantern bright
Keep food upon the table
If you shape it well tonight
As well as you are able
All around the world
From the Yukon comes a cowboy
De La Foret en La Montagne
Puts a grease gun to his elbow, saying
Never go against the grain,
Never go against that grain

Shoot the dog, Shoot the dog!

Keep the lantern bright
Keep food upon the table
If you shape it well tonight
As well as you are able
Keep the lantern bright
Keep food upon the table
If you shape it well tonight
As well as you are able
Shape it up, Shape it up
All around the world
Keep the lantern bright
Keep food upon the table
If you shape it well tonight
As long as you are able
Shape it up, Shape it up
All around the world
All around the world

X-Ray Style

(Joe Strummer)

I see a million walk the city mile
the tickertape kings and the juveniles
will anybody tell me which way to go
will anybody come back on a CB radio

I'm counting the stars and the telegraph poles
and each one represents the hopes of a soul
you'd think that God wouldn't be so hard
when you see all the little children running
runnin in the back yard

Hold me mississippi gourd
with a sub-saharan song
somebody is wailing in the financial district sun
can anybody feel the distance to the nile
I wanna live and I wanna dance awhile

Gonna make like Eddie from a rockabilly train
Gonna beat out the blues on the ball and chain
you can't pull a holdup with a bebop gun
these people living now ain't got no heart
and they aint ever had none

down on the border
they crawl all the way
to get a grip of living where the clean-all spray
can anybody feel the distance to the nile
I wanna live and I wanna dance awhile

you can't pull a holdup with a bebop gun
these people living now ain't got no heart
and they aint ever had none

I hear a payphone ringing out on murder mile
and the sucker who's picks up
gets his number dialed
and all the sparkling waters that ever flowed
could never wash down this town so clean that it glows

And I need to see in an x-ray style
I need some rock art that don't come in no file.
can anybody feel the distance to the nile
I wanna live, and I wanna dance a while.

Techno D-Day

(Strummer/Genn)

Well it was a techno D-day out on Omaha beach
I was a reserve D.J playing Columbian mountain beats
Andres Landero, Ay mi sombrero
Hold onto your hats because we gotta go...
Because the noise inspectors with the sound detectors
Were coming on down the beach
And the councellors wanna pounce on us
There we go disturbing the peace
And the cornish sun had only just begun
To sink into the western sea
So to keep it low so the cops dont know
I spun my Harry Belafonte
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
On a techno D-day, a techno D-day
Out on Omaha beach
Where the troops believe in a life of freedom
And this is all about free speech
The day became night by the campfire light
The crowd began testifying
Using the headphones for a mike, for tenor saw's delight
I sang another new sound is dying
On a techno D-day, a techno D-day
Where the long arm of the law cannot reach
On a techno D-day, a techno D-day
We waited on Omaha beach..
We waited, And we waited
Behind me in the booth was the techno crew
Ready with the crucial beats
Still they said keep it low, spin your calypso
We're still waiting for Babylon to retreat
The crowd was ready to riot, They were sick of being quiet
We're still waiting for the signal to go
Then the walkie talkie spat out the all clear
And the boys hit the decks in full flow, G G G Go Go
On a techno D-day, a techno D-day
Out on Omaha beach
Where the troops believe in a life of freedom
And this is all about free speech
On a techno D-day, a techno D-day
Out on Omaha beach
Where the troops believe in a life of freedom
And this is about free speech
Go Go techno D-day, Go techno D-day
Sometimes you have to get out of reach
It was a techno D-day, a techno D-day
And this is all about free speech

The Road to Rock 'n' Roll

(Strummer/Genn)

On the road to rock 'n' roll
There's a lot of wreckage in the ravine
Some you recognise
Used to hang out on the scene
On the road to rock 'n' roll
We'll be in the delta by and by
And if you don't believe in good and evil
You can tell the devil why
On the road to rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll what I learned to play
On the road to rock 'n' roll
Everybody carries a good luck charm,
Said to spook the highway wind,
Blowing off old Parchman farm
On the road to rock 'n' roll
They'll try to hook you by the eye
There's a mirror in your soul
You should turn it to the sky
On the road to rock 'n' roll
The lonely sing a soulful song
Leave a little light in the wilderness
For somebody to come upon
On the road to rock 'n' roll
With everybody deep in their dreams
And the snow is falling on the city
Ask the music what it means
On the road to rock 'n' roll
C'mon everybody drift away
On the road to rock 'n' roll
Where i learned to play
Rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll where i learned to play
On the road

Nitcomb

(Strummer/Genn)

Gonna take a nitcombe
To get rid of me
Cos I just realised
That it was meant to be
And I'm singing
To all the torn betting-slips
Flying around my feet
I'm talking to all the chewing gum
That's stuck everywhere on the street

And they're ringing the bells
All over the city
On a Saturday night
Nobody knows why
But they know it's gonna be alright

Cause it's gonna take a nitcombe
To get rid of me
Cos I just realised
That it was meant to be

And I'm standing at a sale
Of the shoes of bankrupt men
I just had to buy a pair
To show life can live again

And they're banging
On sheets of metal and sheets of gold
And these are the finest shoes
That were ever sold
It's raining on roofs
And raining on drums
Love buys a six-pack
And gives it to the bums

And they're ringing the bells
All over the city
On a Saturday night
Nobody knows why
But they know it's gonna be alright!

Diggin' The New

(Strummer/Norris)

One of those top nights of the year
I see everyones here
Oh, took me a long time to get it
But when its taken time
You think and dont forget it
You gotta live in this world
Go diggin' the new
Live in this world
Boy, trans or girl
Live in this world
Oh get diggin' the new
I can see we're really
Close to something
It's a feeling so near
But I got no time
For the Luddites
Always lookin' back down the track
Saying, can you spot
One more detail, Jack?
You gotta live in this world
Go diggin' the new
Live in this world
Boy, trans or girl
Live in this world
Oh get diggin' the new
oh, oh oh oh
oh, oh oh oh
Crashing head-on into the future
It won't even leave a dent
Just walk in like you own it
Remember, It aint set in cement
You gotta live in this world
Go diggin' the new
Live in this world
Boy, trans or girl
Live in this world
Oh get diggin' the new...

Forbidden City

(Strummer)

Under the moon
In the Dragon room
Inside the mind
Of a soul confined
Don't talk about soon
In the Dragon room
Under the scream
Of a jet machine
Who knows the hills?
Who knows when she will?
When all the hidden pity
In the forbidden city
Comes out x 4
Gold silk in a loom
Int he Dragon room
That silk that will be
For the flags of the free
Who knows the hills?
Who knows when she will?
When all the hidden pity
In the forbidden city
Comes out x 4
When all the hidden pity
In the forbidden city
Comes out
In China
Yeah China
Oh Oh China
Yeah China
When all the hidden pity
In the forbidden city
Comes out x 4

Oh Oh China

Yalla Yalla

(Joe Strummer)

well so long liberty
let's forget you didn't show
not in my time
but in our son's and daughter's time
when you get the feelin'
oh,when you got a room,meantime

we're cutting our hands at the key bad shop
in the streets of fear
forgettin' all our best tai-kwan-do moves
on a barrel of beer
we're tryin' to get a signalon a raga FM
to the TTI bust CNN
suckin' the wine right out of the vine
and spreading it out again
groovin' let's cut out of the scene,go groovin'
groovin' let's cut out of the scene,go groovin'
drive,drive,drive
distance no object rastafari

yalla yalla yalla yalla
yalla yalla yalla yall-i-oh-wah
yalla yalla yalla yalla
jambalya on the bayou

kool moe dee was in the trecherous three
there's old school,new school and brownie mcgee
going underwater to explode
now night is falling on the grove
(have a dream)and i'll hear

yalla yalla yalla yalla
yalla yalla yalla yall-i-oh-wah
yalla yalla yalla yalla
jambalya on the bayou

yalla yalla yalla yalla
yalla yalla yalla yall-i-oh-wah
yalla yalla yalla yalla
let's jambalya on the bayou tonight in the grove

well so long liberty
just let's forget you never showed
not in my time
but in our son's and daughter's time
when you get the feeling
oh,when you got a room,meantime

we're cuttin' our hands on the kebab shop
in the streets of fear
forgettin' all those best tai-kwan-do moves
on a barrel of beer
tryin' to get a signal through from raga FM
to the TTI bust CNN
suckin' this wine right outta of the vine
and i'm spittin' it back again

groovin' let's cut out of this scene,go groovin'
groovin' let's  cut out of this scene,go groovin'
drive,drive
distance no object rasta-fari

somebody got a vision of a homeland
from a township,from a township window
through the township window
some crazy riddle
just have a vision
some seething like..

seeming like a homeland
on the plain
not in focus yet
seeming like a homeland
on the plain
not in focus yet

from groovin'
we increased our nation
to the maximum density

and i say
yalla yalla yalla yalla
yalla yalla yalla yall-i-ooh-ooh
yalla yalla yalla yalla
jambalya on the bayou

yalla yalla yalla yalla
yalla yalla yalla yall-i-ooh-ooh
yalla yalla yalla yalla
hone it to shine,shine like gold,shine!

Willesden to Cricklewood

(Strummer/Genn)

From Willesden to Cricklewood
I tell you the town looked good
Walking lonely avenues
Where rhinestone cowboys find the blues
There's people in, doing their thing
Getting all the mozzarella in
And the passing time and phasing moons
Words flying in cloudy rooms
Plastic bags, milk'n'eggs
The poor old chrone's got aching legs
How I would love to speak
To everybody on the street
Just for once to break the rules
I know it would be so cool
From Willesden to Cricklewood,
From Willesden to Cricklewood,
From Willesden to Cricklewood
Come with me and be no good
Be a madman on the street
Sing something out like reet petite
Let's hip-hop at the traffic lights
Ten thumbs up and smiling bright
Crossing all the great divides
Colour, age, and heavy vibes
From Willesden to Cricklewood
I tell you the town looked good
From Willesden to Cricklewood,
From Willesden to Cricklewood
Oh let's go down to Al Rashid's
All the aussie lagers are on me
Now you've got the absinthe out
Your old mother - she wants a stout...

From Willesden to Cricklewood
As I went it all looked good
Thought about my babies grown
Thought about going home
Thought about what's done is done
We're alive and that's the one
From Willesden to Cricklewood,
From Willesden to Cricklewood.

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