The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project

Busking this at Embankment Tube tomorrow

179 pop songs picked over by pedants

Where Vanburn Holder joins a local grindcore outfit

Let’s Not was a surprisingly sophisticated choon which features a relatively rare cricketing reference and several (fortunately less rare) references to irritating TV persons. It was the big single from what could almost be called the “comeback” album McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt (all together now, Hagerty F, Hagerty R…) which marked the start of the band we’ve all known and loved ever since. Sorry, I’m rambling.

See lyrics to Let’s Not

12 Letters Sent:
  1. 1

    Simon Smith

    To my 1991 ears, I always heard the line as “ain’t nothing much in Ecstasy, I saw Jesus but he didn’t see me”. I concede this is possibly catastrophically incorrect, but (and whisper it gently) “In nothing-much-next -to the sea” is a bit shit and despite Nigel’s ‘no drug’ stance, I prefer to think I, alone, am right. Besides, I doubt Nige has done half the things he references in songs (Tantric sex excepted).

  2. 2

    John Anderson

    It’s Nothing Much Next-The-Sea parodying the real Norfolk town of Wells Next-The-Sea. I always heard “set in Norfolk where it’s cold” rather than “set in Norfolk and it’s called.”

  3. 3

    s.g.d.,a Shropshire lad

    the lyric book(which is not 100% perfect) says:

    “Mean nothing much
    next The Sea”

  4. 4

    Simon Smith

    None of that makes much sense though. In fact, it’s a pretty dire ‘parody’, but I bow to your Norfolk (and Way) reasoning.

  5. I just read that Stephen Hawking is very ill in hospital. Reading on, the piece mentioned his motor neurone disease. The rest was inevitable. Before long I was thinking about Ian “Sludge” Lees. I remember once seeing the covers of a set of rubbish looking singles, it was something like football songs for a world cup sung by not very famous comedians of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the England one was done by Ian “Sludge” Lees. I think he had a perm.

  6. 6

    tarmac

    So is the missing apostrophe on the CD track list a typo or a brilliant joke about letting we’ve all missed?

  7. 7

    Simon Evans

    I always assumed that the line it ‘Let’s Not’ was:
    ‘where Ram John Holder joins a local grindcore outfit’.
    Ram playing the inimitable Porkpie in the much underrated Channel 4 sitcom Desmonds.

  8. 8

    Dan

    Could the ‘bohemian’ reference in Let’s Not actually be Bohemians as in League of Ireland football team from Dublin?

    Bohemian seems to go with Kerouac etc., but given the frequent football themes would seem it might have a double meaning used here. Just a thought. Hope it makes some sense, given that as the honorary treasurer of the Dublin HMHB supporters club, we’re bringing Nigel a Bohemians’ jersey to the gig on Friday. If it makes no sense, he’ll just be confused.

  9. 9

    Charles Exford

    No it couldn’t.

    But great wishful thinking and a very nice gesture.

    I once chucked HB57 a sticker from the Bohemians Prague Ultras, which, on the background of a picture of an astronaut on a moon landing, said in Czech: “First Ultras on Mars”.

    Enjoy the gig.

  10. 10

    Charles Exford

    “HB57″? Now that’s what I call a Crackerjack pencil (please could you correct that Chris? – thanks)

    No – Ed

  11. 11

    Toffo 78

    CRACKERJACK!!!! You could win a HB57 after a game of Double or Drop, trouble was holding the damn thing between thumb and index!

  12. 12

    Paul F

    Dan – I always read the Bohemian bit as saying that to fit in with arty types’ discussions, he would memorise names (presumably of writers) rather than go to the effort to read their books (such as On the Road).

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