The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project

A Shropshire Lad gets its title from an epic poem by AE Housman which I’ve just been told off about for not knowing (apparently it’s really famous). Anyway, it’s nice to be back after a summer off, and I promise there’ll be more frequent additions to the site now than the last few weeks’ pitiable close-season performance.

Irk The Purists rescues all sorts of bands from the dumpster to annoy a certain breed of person. And anyway, who hasn’t got a sneaking admiration for one or two of the acts mentioned? (Also though, I’m never sure what a couple of them are doing in this song in the first place…)

Monmore Hare’s Running is a nonsense song which is more endearing than it probably deserves to be. Brilliant if for nothing else than getting that title into a song.

OK, so I’ve taken a longer than usual break from posting up lyrics, and therefore as penance let’s do a song which nobody ever seems to have quoted online before and which I’ve been dreading doing. PRS Yearbook (Quick, the Drawbridge) has some fairly baffling content anyway, but the muddy production just makes it even harder to get to grips with. I expect more than a few comments and corrections on this one.

We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune has become something of a live favourite, as well as having one of my favourite ever HMHB song titles. References to very obscure Moz as well as Greek mythology and goodness knows what else.

Joy Division Oven Gloves now regularly get held up by someone in the audience at live gigs. Google some YouTube live performances of the song and you may get a glimpse. Slippers (for writing on the soles of) I did expect, but these I did not. Someone’s probably even selling them by now.

Twydale’s Lament is a three-parter with a shouty rant, some spoken cynicism and a chant to fade out with. What more can you ask for?

Bogus Official is a quick one-minute-twenty thrash which could be filed under “Public Safety Announcements”, a bit like Asparagus Next Left. Probably.

Hey pop pickers, I’d aimed to leave the all-time classics until the home stretch, but an overwhelming urge just came over me to add All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit to the site. Perhaps the most famous HMHB song of all, and the one which launched a thousand replica shirts. Does anything else need to be said about this?

4AD3DCD is an early example in the long series of HMHB songs mercilessly (for it can be no other way) lampooning indie or student bands. And it’s still one of the best.