Lyric Question(s)

My skull bones have fused together trying to work out why Guy chose that alias! Thanks Craig for solving that mystery.

Next question...why is the song called 'Asleep In The Back'?

Good question! It's a great name for the album but as a name for that song... a mystification.

Asleep in the back... seat of the car?!
At least that the way i see it!

Same, but that doesn't really relate to the lyrical content of the song '___'

Getting away, not sleeping at the wheel. It is also a bloody great driving song, so it may just be wishful thinking!

that is really fantastic to read Guy's responses

Didn't know of the songmeanings site before, cheers !

ah, the mystery of munroe kelly, solved. now if we could just get the answer to the mystery of these lyrics...life would be complete.

A while back, I read in some old review that Asleep (the album) was supposedly named after the idea of having a low profile: Related to the band being about for a while before the debut album being released, that kind of notion.

No idea how true it is, though. If I can find the review online I'll post a link.

Personally, the greatest thing about Elbow's lyrics is the fact that the songs are open to interpretation by the listener just because the meaning of most of the songs are a mystery to begin with. It allows the person to create their own personal attachment to the song and apply their own life experiences to the content, because most if not all of their lyrics can be related to in some way or form. The meaning they found will continue to be the meaning of the song for that individual regardless of what Guy says is the meaning or not.

I'm torn. Agree that it's great when you put your own interpretation on the lyrics but love it when Guy explains the storys behind the songs. For me it makes the songs even more personal when you know they're inspired by real life events.
My thoughts on 'Asleep In The Back' as an album title are that it might refer to sitting at the back of class and staring out the window, daydreaming. No idea how it relates to the song

Can you correct/put in the lyrics where I've put a ?
for this song, as not certain, please.

'Stumble'

Wore a bright dress?
Comb fine hair or is it?(Can't find her)
Towels on the bed, plastic chairs
Too many pairs on your stairsor is it? (Two men pass on your stairs)

Throw one down
Smile (Warning?)

Used to call you Stumble, used to call you Baby Giraffe

Do you recall your real name?
How he said your real name
When you read you mark the page
Underlining words of love

Used to call you Stumble, used to call you Baby Giraffe

Ok, so I just got an email from the man himself, Mr. Garvey. Here's the official lyrics to "Hotel Istanbul":

HELLO NATE. JUST A COUPLE OF TWEAKS
WHOOPS shouting.
as always very flattered mate.
i've amended the below
guy x

Hotel Istanbul and I was folded at the table
Well, the caberet was dull
And yes the yellow moon half-empty
So I slid between the bars
And I cast away my runes
On a cab ride via Mars
And I landed in this room

Pissed, I twist the mystery radio dial
I found a voice that almost raised a smile
It was just like yours
And I fantasized translation
And it's just like you
To call when I'm exposed

Damn your eyes
So blue
To have you near me
One red flare
If you're there
And you can hear me

Hotel Istanbul and I was notifying strangers
that my pugilistic flare could mean their consequential danger
But the maitre'd was deft and I was parted from my breath
His way of asking me to leave
It was a very sorry scene

Pissed, I just insist that no one cares
That love has only thrown me down the stairs
Then I hear your voice
Full of love and understanding
And I know your voice
Will always call me home

Damn your eyes
So blue
To have you near me
One red flare
If you're there
And you can hear me

i want an email from Guy!

When Elbow recently played in Amsterdam, Guy introduced 'Station Approach' with a little story of how the line "I haven't seen my mum for weeks" wasn't meant to be in the final draft of the lyrics. It was only when his mum heard an early version of the song that he was persuaded to keep the line in. Who else thinks Guy's mum was right? There's not enough songs that even acknowledge the existence of mothers, let alone mums!

evilpixie wrote:

There's not enough songs that even acknowledge the existence of mothers, let alone mums!

'Here comes my mum/and she knows what I've done' - Supergrass, "Caught By The Fuzz'
'And I thought I heard you laughing/when your mum and dad were gone' - Pulp, "Babies"

Can't think of any others, apart from 'Look Mama' by Howard Jones, or 'Mama Used To Say' by Junior Giscombe.

Whenever I go back to my home town of Bedford I always hear Station Approach in my head (despite the fact I drive there rather than taking the train), and I don't see my mum that often these days... so she was right, imo

lucky with disease wrote:

Can you correct/put in the lyrics where I've put a ?
for this song, as not certain, please.

'Stumble'

Wore a bright dress?

War-bright dress

lucky with disease wrote:

Comb fine hair or is it?(Can't find her)

Cat-fight hair

lucky with disease wrote:

Towels on the bed, plastic chairs
Too many pairs on your stairsor is it? (Two men pass on your stairs)

Two men pass on your stairs

lucky with disease wrote:

Throw one down
Smile (Warning?)

Frown run down, smile worn in (not quite sure about that, perhaps we should ask Guy!)

I think the rest is right.

Hi Lee Spoons, thanks!

I think the 'frown one down, smile worn in' fits best after
' Two men pass on your stairs'...

but verification from Guy would be ace!

I've always loved this song since I first heard it 6 or 7 years ago. My mishearing of some of the lyrics never seemed to matter, as I knew what the song was about, but was going to add it to the lyric site so thought I better be a bit more accurate.

'War bright dress, Cat fight hair, Frown one down, Smile worn in' is a brilliantly succint description of a prostitute appearance and face! and later the anonimity of do you recall your real name.

I always heard 'too many pairs(shoes) on your stairs
throw one down' which was more innocent than having the men in it! even though the lyrics you said, fit much better;


Guy said about the song in back in january 2002

"Lyrically i'ts a couple of things. It's basically about a prostitute who worked in this brothel above the guitar shop in Bury I worked at. I watched the customers going up and down the stairs every day and we shared a kitchen with them, so I'd go up to make the brews and got to know the girls quite well.
There's is a line in this Faye Dunnaway film, don't know which one, where she says " every whore knows failure" which I thought was really interesting.
All these girls lived crazy double lives. The chorus about stumble and baby giraffe, that's from an ex-girlfriend, who isn't a prostitute! She's incredibly tall and clumsy, but in a really cute way"

I love the shaker on it

but it also says:

"Craig really didn't like the shaker on it, he was like 'Oh I played it out of time' and I was like 'no you didn't it's a big room'. So the shaker's out of time all the way through.
It's a simple thing we recorded in a dressing room in Germany, so it's got a really loose vibe."