• Lyrics: play full screen play karaoke
• Bristol - Herman Dune
• Borstal - Oxymoron
• Barstool - Gary Jules
• Barstool - Paul Heaton
• Borstal - Steel Pole Bath Tub

On the bus back from Bristol, we talked about death
And we talked about a friend that I'd spent some time
with
Once or twice a year
We got to your house, all cold and out of breath
Your child was asleep
We sat down and you offered us a beer
You said : "Do you know what happened today ?"
And I said : "No"
He was family to millions
All over the evening news
But I tend to keep away from the press, the TV and the
radio
I like to keep my mind clean
When I can I always choose
To focus on what's here and
Not know what the world wants me to know
You said : "Would you want some tea or another drink ?"
And I said : "No"
We'd had sun in Bristol and
Fun with friends in London
And an awesome time as usual on tops of hills
In Leeds
We listened to Fred Neil
It sounded dark with the loudness on
You whispered to me
People whisper when a baby sleeps
You said : "Will you need an extra blanket ?"

Now you're in a jam, hold your head between your hands.
Clench your fist to keep your ground,
in a war that can't be won.
[Chorus:]
Banned to the borstal, now you're cornered.
Banned to the borstal, you're disordered.
Banned to the borstal, now you're locked away... like buried.
Cry, you have no choice.
Punishment at any price.
You submit to what the wankers say,
just to live another day.
[Chorus:]
Open you're eyes and you'll see.
You're just a toy of their schemes.
Open your eyes and you'll see.
They try to prevent that you're free.
Now they let you down, and you feel you're all alone.

An old man on a barstool, watchin' TV,
He got up and came over to sit closer to me.
He said, "You look familiar to someone I knew
But when were your age we were older than you.
Jimmy was twenty and I seventeen;
To us there was nothing but girls and machines.
Jimmy got married and I went to war;
I still don't know what we were doing it for.
And if you'll buy me a drink -- a Turkey on ice --
Then I could give you some advice.
"You just stay in the bar
For as long as you can.
'Cause as long as you're drinkin'
Then you've got the world in your hand.
"There's no shame in hangin' your world by a string;
You know there's no harm in not thinkin' a thing
But tryin' to find a place for yourself in this world
Is like tryin' to make a wife of an American girl.
And if you'll trade me a drink for a story or two,
Then you'll know what you need to do.
"You just stay in the bar
For as long as you can.
You know love is for sissies;
It's whiskey that makes you a man."
Yeah
Now the old man got up, stumbled out in the street;
He'd been drinking all day and left his bar tab with me.
I didn't have the money to cover his bill
But I found me a man -- looked like me, younger still --
And I said, "Buy me a drink and I'll tell you a tale
About the old man who taught me so well."
He said, "Stay in the bar
For as long as you can.
Well, I know you're a friend;
I can tell by the shakes in your hand.
"You just stay in the bar
For as long as you dare.
As long as you're tipping

Whilst other couples look for love
in a love so obviously dead
Ours still takes us by surprise
like a bar-stool over the head
Whilst she cowers away in a cupboard
and he cowers away in the shed
Ours still takes us from behind
like a bar-stool over the head
We could swap this helta-skelter ride
and take tranquility instead
But excitement and uncertainty
are the girl you actually wed
For so many love is a minefield
spent fearing where you tread
But ours just flies accross the room
like a bar-stool aimed at head
And if your down on your luck
just duck
Chances it'll probably miss
and if it ever hits
and your head splits
it's a hell of a good night kiss
A hell of a good night kiss
And the day you feel like ordinary loving
when we've grown too old for the stools
We can bring our bruised bodies together
and start loving like ordinary fools
And the day you feel like ordinary loving
when we've grown too old for the stools
We can bring our bruised bodies together
and start loving like ordinary fools

I couldn't have done a better job
Of falling apart, but that's alright
I fell with the grace of dirt
The trees bent red around me and
I should write the folks more ofter
Than I do, but I don't
And like a bottle spun loose on
The concrete I crawl.
I spin my bottle down the tracks.
It splits in half, exactly.
I fall down on the pavement.
The trees bend down around me.
I take the subway back downtown,
Collect the papers we drew on,