The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project

Do you ever get to Roots Hall?

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:09:25 +0000

Yeah, we waited a long time to finish off the album, but so did the band. Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools is another album-closing epic, which certainly didn’t let us down. Lots to get stuck into. Thanks to (deep breath) Norbert D, NigeyB, Simon P, Matthew, Gregg Z, Spencerthehalfwit, Ezekielpuncheddanbrown, Ray and Martin D…

See lyrics to Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools

A glass of what he thought was wine

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:33:23 +0000

RSVP doesn’t leave much room for arguing over lyrics, although it does give us another name to ponder. And there is one small word about which I disagree with almost everyone who sent this in. Another macabre tale for those who think it’s all about the jokes. Thanks to Toerag, Another Alterego, Jim on the Timor Sea, Allan, Niall, Marc, Barry, James, Simon, Arthur and Third-Rate Les.

See lyrics to RSVP

Your jaw juts out like Mart Poom

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:33:10 +0000

Left Lyrics In The Practice Room is one of those seemingly simple songs which actually contains loads of references to other artists and songs, both musically and lyrically (see comments). Doesn’t outstay its welcome, either. Thanks to William L, Toerag and Norbert D

See lyrics to Left Lyrics In The Practice Room

PLEASE NOTE for context that the first few comments below were made some time ago, on other pages, discussing an early version of this song. They’ve been moved here for relevance.

The age-old eel in your decommissioned fridge

Chris The Siteowner — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:11:13 +0000

Something’s Rotten In The Back of Iceland is a belter of an album-opener, which might have one indistinct couple of words to argue about, quite a rarity for 90 Bisodol (Crimond). Five different contributors for this one, five different versions of that line. Thanks to Third Rate Les, Desmon, Conrad, Barry and Leigh

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You stay as you are, and I’ll just walk in the road

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 10:25:10 +0000

L’Enfer C’Est Les Autres returns to the subject of pedestrian etiquette, addressed on more than one occasion in the past. While Jean-Paul Sartre might have come up with the title, the sentiment is skewered far more neatly here. Thanks to Lee, Jim, WG Lincoln, Jon D, James, Neil and Owen – all much appreciated!

See lyrics to L’Enfer C’Est Les Autres

As for me, I’ll take the TGV to Zurich

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:47:51 +0000

Tommy Walsh’s Eco House featured on the BBC 6Music session in the summer of 2010, over a year before the album finally appeared, and immediately suggested that 90 Bisodol (Crimond) wasn’t going to disappoint. We’d have to wait a while to discover that “Wankeling the zeitgeist” was just NB57 getting tongue-tied. As I wrote at the time, “Tommy Walsh’s Eco House was a TV show made 2-3 years back. I guess it’s just a representative show for the whole property and building genre. Interestingly, Tommy Walsh will have what’s been a surprisingly rare honour since the first couple of albums of being namechecked in full in an HMHB song title, joining the likes of Bob Wilson, Brian May, Eno and Vitas Gerulaitis.” Much of the early discussion about this song can be read here, in the original radio session comments. Thanks to Desmon, Hagerty F, Barry, Steve, Shirley Dimensions and Peter Gandy.

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The crazy world of Arthur Brownlow

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:40:00 +0000

One of those wonderful flights of fantasy in the style of The Ballad of Climie Fisher or Epiphany, Descent Of The Stiperstones allows an almost unlimited number of obscure references to people, places and cultural artefacts both real and – most likely – occasionally imaginary. Apparently, Stockport County fans used to chant Arthur Brownlow’s name a lot. It could take a long time to dissect this one fully. Thanks to Third Rate Les, DB, Jon D and Paul Rodgers (Crimond).

See lyrics to Descent Of The Stiperstones

Some contain top, top players

Chris The Siteowner — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:05:28 +0000

Well, much to discuss about Joy In Leeuwarden (We Are Ready). Firstly, those sleeve notes: “Written by Henny Wassenaar and Corien Steenstra. The original version of this song was entered into a competition to celebrate the arrival of the 2010 European Korfball Championships in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (it came second but in the words of town mayor Ferd Crone – “it should have won and as a consequence of it not doing so I have much spite towards the victor”). All sounds plausible, but then again, NB57 can’t complain about any skepticism, being very much a boy who cried wolf. I’m sure the truth will come out, some way down in the comments below. Henny, Corien and Ferd all exist, that’s for sure. Not sure about Alice van der Meer, or Uncle Rudy/Rudi/Ruudi. You’ll have your own opinions. Thanks to Gregg Z and Third Rate Les.

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But the fates around these parts are ruthless

Chris The Siteowner — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:30:17 +0000

The Coroner’s Footnote has already caused a bit of a stir in the discussion about the album (now moved below). Is it NB57 writing this, in which case it’s possibly a bit insensitive? Or is it the Coroner, in which case …well, what do you expect? Make up your own minds. But don’t bother looking up Happiness Bay and sending it to Stuart Vallantine, I’m sure it doesn’t exist. Thanks to Conrad and Third Rate Les

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Chesil Beach is far away in time

Chris The Siteowner — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:10:30 +0000

Although (as with most of the album), there won’t be too much dispute over the lyrics of Fix It So She Dreams Of Me, it will be one of the songs which will prove the most puzzling in terms of meaning, so it seemed appropriate to get the lyrics posted early. Please feel free to put forward any theories! Thanks to William, Jason, Nortbert D and Owen

See lyrics to Fix It So She Dreams Of Me