The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the lively musical score, including a fast-paced variation of William Tell Overture for the opening scenes. Typical for a Sturges movie, the pacing and dialogue of The Palm Beach Story are very fast.
Tom and Gerry Jeffers (Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert) are a married couple in New York City who are down on their luck financially, which is pushing the marriage to an end. But there is another, deeper problem with their relationship, one that is hinted at in the prologue of the movie as the opening credits roll and then explained near the movie's end.
In the prologue Claudette Colbert appears bound and gagged in a closet, but then a second later in a wedding dress, seen by a maid who faints at every disturbance. The movie reveals much later that Colbert is playing identical twins, both of whom are in love with the intended groom played by Joel McCrea. The sister of the bride has just tied her up in an attempt to steal the wedding for herself. The pantomime is cross-cut with action showing McCrea hurriedly changing from one formal suit to another in the car as he rushes to the church. McCrea also is playing twins and the sibling is likewise in love with the tied up sister. He too is trying to steal the wedding. The end result is that the two siblings, not the original bride or groom, are married, and those two were not in love with each other.
Plot
Gerry and Tom Jeffers are finding married life hard. Tom is an inventor/ architect and there is little money for them to live on. They are about to be thrown out of their apartment when Gerry meets rich businessman being shown around as a prospective tenant. He gives Gerry $700 to start life afresh but Tom refuses to believe her story and they quarrel. Gerry decides the marriage is over and heads to Palm Beach for a quick divorce but Tom has plans to stop her.
Keywords: african-american, airplane, airport, ale-and-quail-club, annulment, architect, architectural-model, bar, bartender, bathroom
John D. Hackensacker III: Tipping is un-American.
Tom Jeffers: So this fellow gave you the look?::Gerry Jeffers: At his age it was more of a blink.::Tom Jeffers: Seven hundred dollars! And sex didn't even enter into it, I suppose?::Gerry Jeffers: Sex always has something to do with it, dear.
Gerry Jeffers: Isn't it wonderful?::Tom Jeffers: Sensational. But you haven't quite answered my question yet.::Gerry Jeffers: What question, dear?::Tom Jeffers: Why this alleged old man gave you - how much is it?::Gerry Jeffers: Seven hundred dollars.::Tom Jeffers: Seven hundred dollars. Why?::Gerry Jeffers: No reason.::Tom Jeffers: Oh, is that so? He just - seven hundred dollars? Just like that?::Gerry Jeffers: Just like that.::Tom Jeffers: I mean, sex didn't even enter into it.::Tom Jeffers: Oh, but of course it did, darling. I don't think he'd have given it to me if I had hair like excelsior and little short legs like an alligator. Sex always has something to do with it, dear.::Tom Jeffers: I see.::Gerry Jeffers: From the time you're about so big and wondering why your girlfriends' fathers are getting so arch all of a sudden. Nothing wrong - just an overture to the opera that's coming.
Gerry Jeffers: Anyway, men don't get smarter as they get older. They just lose their hair.
Princess Centimillia: I'd marry Captain McGloo tomorrow, even with that name.::John D. Hackensacker III: And divorce him the next month.::Princess Centimillia: Nothing is permanent in this world - except for Roosevelt.
Tom Jeffers: Don't you ever talk about anything but Topic A?::Princess Centimillia: Is there anything else?
J. D. Hackensacker III: Chivalry is not only dead, it's decomposed.
Wienie King: I'm the Wienie King! Invented the Texas Wienie! Lay off 'em, you'll live longer.
Wienie King: Cold are the hands of time that creep along relentlessly, destroying slowly but without pity that which yesterday was young. Alone our memories resist this disintegration and grow more lovely with the passing years. Heh! That's hard to say with false teeth!
John D. Hackensacker III: That's one of the tragedies of this life - that the men who are most in need of a beating up are always enormous.
As we stand before the judge, it's over now
Can't even get my name and go on somehow
It’s my time to sign on the dotted line
The spark came in my head before the ink dried
I'm getting up my (Damn)
Knowing I don't give a damn for this single life
Eleven months with you, I'm tripping cause it's through
I'm standing here looking at you
Bridge:
There ain’t no more, ghetto love
No more, breaking up
No more, making up
No more, waking you up
No more, things you hate
No more, holidays
No more, need to celebrate
No more, goodnight baby
Chorus:
You wanted half, just take it all
Cause it doesn't even matter anymore
We didn't last, cause now you're gone
Just take everything, everything, everything
You wanted half, you can have it all
What the hell am I gon' do with just half of you
Girl you can keep, even both rings
Just take, everything, everything, everything
I don't want the house, I'm moving out
Can't stand staying here without you around
All of the cars, I will sell them but just one, I will mail them
And as for the kids, I get weekends
Baby I ain't even mad, I wish you well
And I'll be wrong to tell you to go to hell
Cause you're still the one I love, we're just giving up
Guess it's best for us, can't help how it hurts
Bridge:
There ain't no more honey combs
No more, Oprah's on
No more, Looney Tunes
No more, Southpark with you
No more, the phone's for me
No more, did the doorbell ring
No more, can you come get me
No more, there's no more baby
Chorus:
You wanted half, just take it all
Cause it doesn't even matter anymore
We didn't last, cause now you're gone
Just take everything, everything, everything
You wanted half, you can have it all
What the hell am I gon' do with just half of you
Girl you can keep, even both rings
Just take, everything, everything, everything
And if this is divorce, I don't want a war
I don't want to fight with you no more
Take everything, you can have everything
Material things, your last
Chorus: (x4)
You wanted half, just take it all
Cause it doesn't even matter anymore
We didn't last, cause now you're gone
Just take everything, everything, everything
You wanted half, you can have it all
What the hell am I gon' do with just half of you
Girl you can keep, even both rings
Just take, everything, everything, everything
[Intro: Bizzy]
The one baby!
As a child, army days, cancelled the fun childhood
After runnin away with mom so many times
It's tearin their relationship apart
I wasn't doin anything but bein a kid, no evil in my heart
Never played in the area of they minds, anything like that
Just a normal kid, yeah, yeah
I remember messin with these little girls around the corner
My stuff wasn't even hard
Remember a brother was lookin for a little candy out the park
My mother went, my mother vent, momma what happened, momma I'm scared
Momma my head, so won't you get it baby
We carry on, we carry on, we carry on, we carry on
[Bizzy Bone]
Experience with different women, my dreams
And Sirita was a Cleveland and Sirita was clean
Now I'm explorin, the world around me very much learnin
And a, nurturing phase and a, lurchering phase
God with dirty people comin against me
It's the life of the dead, record of company defend me
Still workin, the musical group, is that the crew?
Are they with me? It's Mr. Majesty, Capo and (Que!) Que, huh
From the West Wing, soldiers of the West Wing
Money straight flowin, it's the best thing, best thing
They say sacrifice is I-N-C
With my buisiness partner Kanardo Davis, D.A.P.
That's the love, that's the love, that's the Lexus, that's the Benz
That's the thug, that's the thug, that's the thug, that's the thug
The owners, it started in the night life
I don't even remember havin fun, all I can remember is a trife life
[Chorus: repeat 2X]
Bizzy's... story (we want Bizzy's story)
Bizzy's... story (we want Bizzy's story)
[Interlude: Bizzy]
Time to clean up and get sober man
The kids came moved over I took the last $90,000
and put it on a $5,000 square home and got $10,000 worth of furniture
Frigerator full of food, it's for the kids
We moved on and we got a nanny
After much struggle we had a home, finally
[Bizzy Bone]
My early manhood, strange bein the man of the house
Without Sirita it was terrible, small as a mouse
Soon I met up with the women in the park got married
It's the way that we do it now it's time to get carried
Las Vegas at the time wanted a mother of mine
Myself I needed somethin I could shine
Fortunately, goin to the fast, gettin at last
Hey, I'm bein tested...
Irreconcilable differences, it's not over
I lost my house and my jewelry got stolen
And the kids were back with Sirita - it was the worst feelin
that you could think anybody could have, and Lord I need ya
I'm runnin around the struggle, runnin around the crib
We ain't gettin robbed again, we ain't gettin robbed again
Paperwork's an issue, attorneys and lawsuits
And the lawyer fees concocted to get me fucked up and keep me on recruit
[Chorus]
[Interlude: Bizzy]
Yeah, the "Resurrection" and "The Gift" came out
Beautiful deal and we worked it out for about a year hittin shows
Doin the road workin real real hard
Well shit, we had a new team and fresh settings and a healthy body
for the road after 11 months of sobriety
Shit recorded that album in L.A.
And of course we gettin the kids back
I think I'm gon' get married
[Bizzy Bone]
Still never could I fight the night
All the women tryin to take my girl's place
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, up above, up above
Do you feel it? Do you feel it? Feel the love, feel the love
I could not, find in a physical looks, it wasn't there
After goin back and forth to L.A., L.A. cares
Handlin business, we under new management
But I'm growin, you know I'm still flowin
And another year passed, we still gettin gold and dash{?}
It's the greatest appearence, and they showed it like wow
Dodge, quick, move!
You know you got to be slick and watch out for that bullshit
Watch out for that pulpit, they got me standin and I'm duckin the guns
And yes I'm duckin the bullets and it's always 'bout the one
The one, we represent it forever
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I still remember
[Chorus]
[Outro: Bizzy]
I can remember drinkin with Uncle Damon and his buddy
while we shot ball in the back
And finishing up I was thirstier than a muh'fucker
I ask Uncle Damon for a drink of the water, shit he said "Sure, drink it"
Ice cold cup sweatin and I gulped it
It was Gin, wasn't water, but I still downed it
Uncle Damon said, "You got a rock gut boy"
I used to think about Man Man often (Man Man often)
I don't know how to begin
'Cause the story has been told before
I will sing along I suppose
I guess it's just how it goes
And now those springs in the air
I don't go down anywhere
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories have all been told before
But if you don't try
The light won't hit your eye
And the moon won't rise
You fall inside
But if you don't try
The light won't hit your eye
And the moon won't rise
You fall inside
I don't know how it will end
With all those records playin'
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories all have been told before
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories have all been told before
You've got your sins and the worries behind you
And all the suffer that you have done
You saw an angel just before death of sorrow
You're payin' off the sins you've made
For all the buried nights
And all the people frights
You're payin' off, you're payin for what you've done
Make the story
Let us hear your past disease
Praise the glory
Just because you won
Pride is what you really need
There is no need to be worried around you
You never think to sabotage
You know what it's like to meet the bottom
But best you know is how to jump high
For all the buried nights
And all the people frights
You're payin' off, you're payin for what you've done
Make the story
Let us hear your past disease
Praise the glory
Just because you won
The first time he saw her she was out among the crowds,
she was sitting at the table, pouring beer from a spout.
He catches her eye from across the bar,
he wouldn't even bring himself to go that far.
Chorus
What comes around goes around or so they say,
when will we meet on another day.
What comes around goes around don't they say,
this could have happened on any other day.
The next time he saw her she was dancing by his side,
the band was driving and they were along for the ride.
He bought her a beer and didn't think about why,
it was fateful night that they realized why.
Now he pulls up to her doorstep he can't believe his eyes, she's
standing in the middle with his heart right inside.
And he tells her he loves her before they even tough,
it's been far too long though it don't seem that much.
She flies down to see him, and he's waiting at the gate,
they led seperate lives, could this have been fate?
She comes through the doorway, with bags in her hand,
her eyes search the waiting crowds just to find her man.
I would have returned your greeting
if it weren't for the way you were looking at me
this street is not a market
and I am not a commodity
don't you find it sad that we can't even say hello
'cause you're a man
and I'm a woman
and the sun is getting low
there are some places that I can't go
as a woman I can't go there
and as a person I don't care
I don't go for the hey baby what's your name
and I'd alone thank you
just the same
I am up again against
the skin of my guitar
in the window of my life
looking out through the bars
I am sounding out the silence
avoiding all the words
I'm afraid I've said too much
I'm afraid of who has heard me
my father, he told me the story
and it was true
for his time
but now the story's different
maybe I should tell him mine
all the girls line up here
all the boys on the other side
I see your ranks are advancing
I see mine are left behind
I am up again against
the skin of my guitar
in the window of my life
looking out through the bars
I am sounding out the silence
avoiding all the words
I'm afraid I can never say enough
I'm afraid no one has heard me
and despite all the balls that I've been thrown
and forced to drop
on the social totem pole
I'm preciously close to the top
the put you in your place
and they tell you to behave
but no one can be free
until we're all on even grade
and I would have returned your greeting
Just live and let die
Check, check, check, comon
If you could take a minute of your life
A certain minute when you feel the lightning strike
Danger is the only level of that moment
But it's your moment and you know you'll fucking own it.
Glorified in the grace by your victory
When your done, you escape without memory
Blindfolded through this life as we learn
And consequences when the wrong pages turn
It's an E! true hollywood story
Take a man down with his own glory
Now guess who's next
At some point we come down from the highs
It's no big deal we move on with our lives
And some of us let the last color cries
Do the math, you can laugh when I die
If life is just a fantasy life then could you
Live this fantasy life for soemthing would you
Just remember that the doors are not closable
And the mother fucking heroes are disposable
It's an E! true hollywood story
Take a man down with his own glory
Now guess who's next
Just live and let die
just live an let
just live and let
just live and let die
Just live and let die
just live an let
just live and let
so what about the hardcore that ain't hard anymore
or the shit talkers who ain't shit anymore
or the old fighters that can't fight anymore
or the white kid's who ain't white any more
or the actors that don't act anymore
or the rappers that don't rap anymore
or the hipsters that don't hip anymore
or the limpsters that don't limip anymore
Just live and let die
just live an let
just live and let
just live and let die
Just live and let die
just live an let
just live and let
but no
it's impossible
just to live your live your life
and let us die
oh mother fuck that
you wanna talk about some shit
let's talk about
the hardcore that ain't hard anymore
or the shit talkers who ain't shit anymore
or the old fighters that can't fight anymore
or the white kid's who ain't white any more
or the actors that can't act anymore
or the rappers that can't rap anymore
or the hipsters that can't hip anymore
or the limpsters that can't limp anymore
It's an E! true hollywood story
Take a man down with his own glory
The first time he saw her she was out among the crowds,
she was sitting at the table, pouring beer from a spout.
He catches her eye from across the bar,
he wouldn't even bring himself to go that far.
Chorus
What comes around goes around or so they say,
when will we meet on another day.
What comes around goes around don't they say,
this could have happened on any other day.
The next time he saw her she was dancing by his side,
the band was driving and they were along for the ride.
He bought her a beer and didn't think about why,
it was fateful night that they realized why.
Now he pulls up to her doorstep he can't believe his eyes, she's
standing in the middle with his heart right inside.
And he tells her he loves her before they even tough,
it's been far too long though it don't seem that much.
She flies down to see him, and he's waiting at the gate,
they led seperate lives, could this have been fate?
She comes through the doorway, with bags in her hand,
Say, this is the realist shit I ever wrote or said
Wake up with it everyday and take it with me to bed
Hurting my heart and hanging over my head
Bout the realest nigga these Texas streets ever bred
C.L. Butler better known as Chad or Pimp C
The closest homeboy that I ever had
Now when we first met, we wasn't on the same page
From pettiness understandings that got cleared up with age
Two young boys who was ready to mash
Put P.A. on the map and maybe make a little cash
Jumped down with Big Tyme, put down a few songs
Everybody co-signed saying that we could do no wrong
Then hit the streets with a big ass bang
Them gangsta ass rhymes with that country ass twang
Dropped "Tell Me Something Good" took off and went live
Shit, next thing you know we was signing to Jive
Dropped "Too Hard to Swallow" "A Pocket Full of Stones"
Put the remix on "Menace" shit we had it going on
Got love in the streets and played on the air
But the homey putting us out, wasn't playing too fair
Had to separate ourself, bring in a new team
But sometimes the other side ain't always what it seems
We dropped "Super Tight" a album full of killer flows
But then we got caught up with the drugs and the hoes
We didn't realize what was happening on the real
And new management was cutting back room deals
Hiding different money and ever sealing the price
He had us doing all the work but was keeping the biggest slice
Took a while to catch on, to what homey was doing
But by the time we did, all the paperwork was in ruins
Nigga kept all the receipts so we couldn't file taxes
The next thing you know, IRS hitting us with axes
Pimp you owe seven figures, Bun you owe six
Better get your paper together, get this shit fixed
Remixed the management team and tried it ourself
Cussed out the GM, almost got put on the shelf
Fuck it, dropped "Ridin' Dirty" instant classic in the South
Reclaimed the southern title, shut everybody's mouth
Got some clout in the game, boys calling us the greatest
But meanwhile me and Pimp is still ducking haters
The old manager calling and say he fina' sue
And put a padlock on the everything we trying to do
Put a call out to the Prince, this nigga still hating
We got heat for the streets, and we can't keep the people waiting
He made a call to ?? and folks, telling the man
You gotta cut UGK some slack understand
Young Pimp got the plan, Bun got the drawl
Rap-A-Lot had our back and we just waiting on Jive
We got the big bosses on the same page
So me and young Pimp went hit 'em from center stage
Next thing you know we got this call from the N.Y.
It's Jay-Z saying y'all niggaz getting fly
He doing "Volume 3" and got a track from Timb
And wondered could some trill niggaz rock it with him
Shit big Bun was all for it, but Pimp wasn't sure
But "Big Pimpin" hit 'em 187-Pure
Number one song on every station you turn on
MTV and BET we getting our burn on
Grammy nominated can't believe that we made it
And we got a call from Jive that left us all faded
And it stated, that due to the success of the track
We here at Jive records, would like to piggy back
Get another beat from Timb, then get a verse from Jay
Let Hype shoot the video and we'll be on the way
Shit it sounded okay, but me I had to ask
If we don't do Big Pimpin 2, would you still put us on blast
A song like that would might take a nigga to the top
But my true fan base, might think a nigga flop
They got mad and put niggaz on hold
For damn near a year till the buzz got cold
So we said fuck 'em and went back to the basics
Trying to find ways to get the fuck up out the matrix
We put "Dirty Money" together and it was aces
But that's around the time that Pimp caught two cases
He got probation, said fuck you hoes
We finish the album, got ready to do a couple shows
And then he violated, one month before we dropped
And shit just got put on hold or fucking stopped
Now 30 days done, we back to the nitty gritty
Album got released, big showdown in Chocolate City
Niggaz with masks on, vests and all black
It's Christmas 2001, bitch we was all that
Strongest on the block, nobody could budge
And then he violated, now we right back before the judge
They calling him a nuisance, put my dog behind a fence
It was January 28th, he ain't been home since
Threw a nigga through a loop and caught me in the crosses
Standing cold, CEO, now I'm the fucking boss
Had the devil on my back, got to drinking and drugging
Had to make a choice, get back to rapping or thugging
So I walked into my bedroom, got down on my knees
Put my hands together and I prayed Lord please
Let me get past this bridge over water that's trouble
And get back up on my grind on the double
He said son don't worry
Cause it's not really hard as it seem
And I can turn your nightmares back into dreams
You just got to stay true to yourself and succeed
Then push away from the devil and get closer to me
And every since that night man I promise I been on it
Giving that killer flow to anybody who want it
Pimp the pen like never before, I'm breaking 'em G
Not to mention I got the world screaming free Pimp C
So soon as you make parole and they open the doors
You ain't gotta worry about nothing, the world is yours
Ain't no mo' struggles my nigga and no mo' stripe
I'm always talking shit, cause wherever I go I walk in shit
And now they got me on some stalking shit
Broad daylight, niggaz is crying, "But I don't want anyone to blast"
So from the roof I pick em off like a scab
And watch the slug bust a thug like a watermelon
He shoulda thought about that before caught a terror
And now another kid grows up without a daddy or a mommy
Cause at the funeral I hit up the caddy,
it's the army for real niggaz with nothing to lose
Cause when it's time to go you don't get to choose
I make the muthafuckin rules and I enforce it,
shorty's people was loose hand so he lost it
I took the joints and tossed them, in the river,
at the same spot that I dumped
This kid that didn't wanna give a nigga the combo, to the safe in the crib
Look, money, that's why I did what I did
Mad stressed and I'm about to have a breakdown
It's time for pops who got the store on the corner to have get a shakedown
He hasn't paid for protection in like two months
So I figured I'd leave him wit like two fronts
I break up shit to let him know that I'm real
Reminder, I know where you live so don't squeal
Told him, next time I come, Have some paper for me
Don't fuck around and turn into another caper for me
Cause though he's cool all that cool shit stops
And I be in the crowd talking bout, "Yo who killed pops?"
It's a shame, he was caught up in the game and couldn't play it
So I smoked him, I asked him "who's the man" and made him say it
Three times, and that's how many times I hit him
A nigga was acting like he didn't have to pay so I did him
Yo I think this shit is going to my head (for real)
But let that be a lesson, don't pay dues and you dead
A little birdie told me that the feds were on to me
And they wanted to do something real wrong to me
So I broke out, Blazed the L for a while
Checked my sources and found my name was on file
Under gun for hire and extortion, but yo I never use
The same joint twice as a precaution and I heard this kid tried to set me up
He knew I knew so he tried to wet me up
See he was under investigation for drugs
They set up all types of phone taps and bugs
Then when they bagged him, money went out, reprisent (he was my friend)
Said they'd let him go, all he had to do was snitch
And I know now he wish they would have kept him
Cause it was sweet how I crept him, wet him up then left him
And that's for mufuckas that don't know
Go against the grain and you feel the pain
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
I think it goes, ya live by the dirt, ya die by the shovel
You can repent and come with God or you can know a Devil
You can go and get a job or you can do some federal
But if I were you, I'd straighten up and do some next level
I often tweak when I drives
How can a small town like Vallejo have all these homicides?
Man, fools be droppin' like flies
Maybe we do need mo' brothers sellin' bean pies
And it's a fool 'cuz everybody mama's know each other
It ain't cool, but you know black folks like to act they color
Wonder why all the good people get put through some many
Different changes of the weather and all those folks that do wrong
Seem like they live forever
I wish I can rewind time, remember when we used to get
Free lunch and the city bus used to cost a dime?
Runnin' around, talkin' about you got the cooties
Liftin' up skirts, and touchin' girl's booties
Boy, take those shoes off before ya come up in dis house and
Whatever you do, don't you sit on Grand Mama's plastic covered couch
Why's it that when all the homeys get together, we get back in the days
And how come every time we get drunk somebody bring up AIDS
Life is something you can?t borrow and give back
Here today and gone tomorrow
Just like that
Pat yo rats on yo back , patch your rats on your back
Take some time out yo waltz , take some time out yo waltz
And tell your loved ones that you love 'em every so often
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Fetti is the key to end all your woes
Contemporary crib, cash, cars and clothes
But fetti 'cuz problems like guns and spears
Familys fall out and don't talk for years
Like my cromey, like my cromey
They called him big bread Ed
His first cousin set him up and left his ass for dead
Churches, wakes, nothing unusual, seem like every other
Damn day I'm buyin' a brand new suit for a funeral
Have yo pockets ever lost weight, and you ain't even tried
Did you wonder if yo cash was on a diet
See, when you're up, everybody wanna come around
But when ya down, ain't nobody out there to be found
If you love someone you should tell 'em often
Ya never know when they'll be layin' in a coffin
Dedicated to my peoples up in jail
Ya partner 40-Wada gotta story to tell, a story to tell
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
You can take da ninja out da ghetto, the ghetto
But not the ghetto out da ninja, give me life for 3 rocks
But I won't surrender, oh, he's a heathen, heathen
Look at the way he dress, he must be dealin', dealin'
How did he get that Lex?
Of course, if it ain't used get spokes, it's crime and coast
It's all dey work, shootin' shit up and actin' tough, ridin' around
With gold an' stuff, it's rough, how much money you earn, enough
I own my own law firm
Don't need a tux, I tweaks pea coats and khakis
Khakis, Levis and T-shirts
Levis and T-shirts, whatever the street's works
Street's works, partner
Dude, you been actin' kinda funny lately since you even
Got a few bucks
But I'm still folks, Wilson Park
Member three flies up
And this goes on, again and again
Dis goes on, again and again
Ain't nothin' changed but the territory, territory
Same time, different day, different story
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Here's a little story I got to tell
And this dis goes on, again and again
Broken dreams, broken dreams
Hoping someday you'll see me
Sky is gray, sky is gray
But I dancing in the rain
Live this way, live this way
Will you remember my name?
Live a lie, live a lie
Why don't you ask yourself why...
Don't you open your eyes?
Only the moon, only the moon
only the moon will hear my plea
Only the creatures of the night
Will harmonize with me
Missed you so, missed you so
And I wondered if you know
The wind has blown me in the corner
And it's hard to let go
That's the story...
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you
I climbed across the mountaintops
Travel across the ocean blue
I cross over lines and I broke all the rules
And baby I broke them all for you
Oh because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do, I was made for you
You see the smile that's on my mouth
It's hiding the words that don't come out
All of the friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know I'm in this mess
No they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what I've been through
Like you do, and I was made for you
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
Oh but these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you
I've been waiting for a year
Waiting for my head to clear
And what you feel you've got to say
Just say it to me anyway
If it hurts me, it's pain my dear
I'll still be waiting for my head to clear
All night and day
If you take sides I must resume to copyright my trademark gloom
Phone phone phone
Letter, your love bites back
Oh seriously I'm no culprit
I just want it now
Oh seriously I'm no culprit
I'll just take it anyway I can
I like snow when it's not touched
Thanks for love, you threw too much
I'm a work in progress wait
Those tall kids will deliberate
I remember I was 7
Wore a squishy headband then
Played on logs I didn't care
If anyone was standing there
If you take sides I must resume
To copyright my trademark gloom
Phone phone phone
Letter your love bites back
Oh seriously I'm no cuplrit
I just want it now
Oh seriously, you're fixated
Valleys and hills
Echoes and fills
When the spotlight of your love relieves
Well we pounded the pavement between
dotted lines
But we always belonged to the
fugitive kind
We were never the best but we were
better than this
To be made to bow down among princes
I got thrown around hallways and
bedrooms and towns
And you run from that voice and
it drags you around
It don't matter the ruse or the
weapons we choose
There is only one thing that can free us
Oh so here I am
The lion and the lamb
I was born to be telling this story
I could only be telling this story
I will always be telling this story
Well our father married our
mother too young
And he took on a world like a
fortunate son
But in the cellar downstairs waiting
for the bomb scare
He would hide from us under the kitchen
Where she simmered so soft with
her weapons of tin
And like so many suppers she just
gave us to him
And he never did guess in her cast
iron dress
She was burning beyond recognition
Oh it's not over yet
I can't forget
I am going to be telling this story
I was born to be telling this story
I will always be telling this story
Sometimes I feel so reckless and wild
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
I gave nobody life, I am nobody's wife
And I seem to be nobody's daughter
So red is the color that I like the best
It's your Indian skin and the badge
on my chest
The heat of my pride
The lips of a bride
The sad heart of the truth
And the flag of youth
And blood that is thicker than water
I was made to be telling this story
I was born to be telling this story
I am going to be telling this story
I could only be telling this story
I will always be telling this story
The following tale depicts the life of a vulnerable child born into a
world of poverty and despair. The scene is set in a typical overcroweded
and run down industrial city. A haven for ranks of the unemployed. A young
and naive couple against all odds, ignore the advice of others and
secretly marry. Ignorance playing a major role in their futile lives,
their instincts sadly influenced, she is pregnant with their first
child, while he searches frantically for a means to support them. As time
grows shorter, and his chances slowly diminish, the pressure bears heavily
on his brittle shoulders. Desperately he battles against his own
weaknesses, trying to find strength within. No-longer can he smile, nor
will his conscience give him the freedom to lie or cheat. Exhausted, weak
and weary, he can't bear to face her. Passing a backstreet bar, he's
easily enticed inside, while a stranger sensing his vulnerabilty, helps to
alleviate him from the responsibilty for the couple's last savings. Dumped
in a drunken heap, and the stranger nowhere to be found, the father
struggles to his feet, as the alcohol suppresses his will to fight.
Momentarily he sees a way out. A vantage point high on an empty bridge,
peacefully he falls to his death. Frightened of exposing her identity, she
gives birth in a darkenend backroom. The innocent child free of pride or
prejudice, begins it's long journey discovering life's wonders, and
tragically life's many weaknesses.
I've been thinking of everything
I used to want to be
I've been thinking of everything
of me, of you and me
this is the story of my life
these are the lies I have created
I'm in the middle of nothing
and it's where I want to be
I'm at the bottom of everything
and I finally start to leave
this is the story of my life
these are the lies I have created
I created
and I swear to god
i've found myself
in the end
in the end
this is the story of my life
these are the lies I have created
One night in bed, the promiscuous Connacht Queen, Maeve, quarrels with her
husband Ailill. They argue over who has the most wealth. Ailill doesn't
like the suggestion that he's a kept man. "Her words were sharp; they cut
him deep, in a war between the sheets". Ailill's magnificent White Bull is
the deciding factor in their subsequent measuring of possessions. Maeve's
a bad loser. Mac Roth, her messenger, goes to Cooley to rent the famed
Brown Bull for a year, thus giving Maeve the decider. "I once told her where
she could find her dream". The Bull's owner is agreeable until Mac Roth and
his party get very drunk and reveal that had they not been allowed to borrow
the bull they would have taken it by force. The deal breaks down. They go
home emptyhanded. Maeve decides on war.
Having marshalled all her warriors, and allies from Munster and Tara, and
with Ailill's six brothers and their armies standing by Maeve receives
favourable omens from her Druids. The long march to Cooley begins. "The
champions and the Seven Sons are come to take away the Donn". However, a
sorceress appears and warns Maeve of impending defeat at the hand of Dearg
Doom, Cu Chulainn. "Saw the host stained red in war, saw the hero-light
around the head of a dragon-boy". The warning is ignored.
Meanwhile, the men of Ulster are ill with labour pains - the legacy of a
curse put on them for their inhuman treatment of a pregnant woman. The one
man exempt from this curse is Cu Chulainn, whose very birth is shrouded in
mystery. Singlehandedly he takes on the defence of Ulster, harassing Maeve's
soldiers, "And like a hawk I'll swoop and swoop again", beheading those who
stray from the main force. "You can hear me shout 'two heads are better than
none. One hundred heads are so much better than one'". Cu Chulainn is a
hard man. Originally called Setanta, he became known as Cu Chulainn, the
Hound of Culann, because of his savagery. As the Connacht losses grow
greater, the deposed King of Ulster, Fergus MacRoich, who is having a secret
affair with Maeve, meets Cu Chulainn and arranges a treaty. Cu Chulainn
agrees to singlehanded combat with any Connacht champion provided Maeve's
army does not advance. One by one, day after day he defeats each warrior
until eventually he faces his old foster-brother and close friend Ferdia.
Cu Chulainn pleads with Ferdia to leave. "But Ferdia just laughed and shook
his golden head and then they fell to battle again". For three days they
fight at a ford and appear evenly matched until on the third day Cu Chulainn
flies into a rage and lets loose his supernatural javelin, the terrible Gae
Bolga, which destroys his friend. As Ferdia falls Cu Chulainn catches him
and carries him to the riverbank, lamenting. "Life was a game, Now I miss
your name; your golden hair". Then overcome by despair Cu Chulainn abandons
the fight.
Maeve's army moves south with the stolen bull. The Ulster men rally and
with Cu Chulainn in their ranks they give chase. "But before you hit off,
let me say this time you bit off more than you can chew". The Morrigan,
Queen of Demons, who has been encouraging slaughter all along, prophesies
the outcome. In the battle which follows the Connacht army is routed.
"It seems our fortunes lied despite our gain. Our tears fall like our
pride". Maeve's life is spared by Cu Chulainn. As the Ulstermen are taking
the Brown Bull home, they meet Ailill's Bull, the White-Horned one. The Donn
immediately attacks the White. "You can fool them alright but can you fool
the beast"? All day and night they are locked in combat. Morning sees the
Donn victorious. The armies consider destroying him, the cause of all their
I feel you whisper - so far, dear sister
But now a shudder - your voice, stepfather
Is it a deception? - or true affection?
Do you feel better? - Are you together?
Old fingers touch a young girl's skin, unusual love or sin?
Tough leather slides on her velvety cover, never any other
Except stepfather gets her love
She's thirteen years old
He's got her in a cage of cold
Their sensitive relationship grows to great fears, transformed
To trouble and tears, every day when her head's on his shoulder
This fifty year man seems to be colder
Mother's pain, she wants to reveal what's going on in the family
One day in autumn sister shocked stepfather, me and
My mother when she gave her earthly life an end
His hair is grey, tender his words, he swears on her grave:
"No one will ever separate our love's heat, I'll meet you in heaven
Soon we shall be free". He trusted in this and in half a year
By his own oath he had disappeared
Benny is a Welsh coal miner. He is a radio ham. He is 23 years old, married to Molly. They have a son, young Ben, age 4, and a new baby. They look after Benny's twin brother Billy, who is apparently a vegetable. The mine is closed by the market forces. The Male Voice Choir stops singing, the village is dying. One night Benny takes Billy on a pub crawl. Drunk in a brightly-lit shopping mall, Benny vents his anger on a shop window full of multiple TV images of Margaret Thatcher's mocking condescension. In defiance, he steals a cordless phone. Later that night, Benny cavorts dangerously on the parapet of a motorway footbridge, in theatrical protest of the tabloid press. That same night, a cab driver is killed by a concrete block dropped off a similar bridge. The police come to question Benny; he hides the cordless phone under the cushion of Billy's wheelchair.
Billy is different, he can receive radio waves directly without the aid of a tuner; he explores the cordless phone, recognizing its radioness. Benny is sent to prison. Billy feels as if half of him has been cut off. He misses Benny's nightly conversations with radio hams in foreign parts. Molly, unable to cope, sends Billy to stay with his Great Uncle David, who had emigrated to the USA during the war. Much as Billy likes Uncle David and the sunshine and all the new radio in LA, he cannot adjust to the cultural upheaval and the loss of Benny, who for him is 'home'.
Uncle David, now an old man, is haunted by having worked on the Manhattan project during World War II, designing the Atom Bomb, and seeks to atone. He also is a radio ham; he often talks to other hams about the Black Hills of his youth, the Male Voice Choir, about home. He is saddened by the use of telecommunication to trivialise important issues, the soap opera of state. However, Live Aid has decynicised him to an extent. Billy listens to David and hears the truth the old man speaks.
Billy experiments with his cordless phone, he learns to make calls. He accesses computers and speech synthesizers, he learns to speak. Billy makes contact with Jim a DJ at Radio KAOS, a renegade rock station fighting a lone rear guard action against format radio. Billy and Jim become radio friends, Reagan and Thatcher bomb Lybia. Billy perceives this as an act of political "entertainment" fireworks to focus attention away from problems at "home".
Billy has developed his expertise with the cordless phone to the point where he can now control the most powerful computers in the world. He plans an "entertainment" of his own. He simulates nuclear attack everywhere, but de-activates the military capability of "the powers that be" to retaliate. In extremes perceptions change, Panic, comedy, compassion. In a SAC bunker a soldier in a white cravat turns a key to launch the counter attack. Nothing happens; impotently he kicks the console, hurting his foot. He watches the approaching blips on the radar screen. As impact approaches, he thinks of his wife and kids, he puts his fingers in his ears.
Silence. White out. Black out. Lights out. It didn't happen, we're still alive. Billy has drained the earth of power to create his illusion. All over the dark side of the earth, candles are lit. In the pub in Billy's home village in Wales one man starts to sing; the other men join in. The tide is turning.
Billy is home.
Aww yeah.. got the funk.. non-stop.. drop.. uhh, uhh
Ha ha, check it
("Next thing you know we're on the Boulevard in Linden..")
Yeah, now that's the right kind of beat
for me to sit back and kick my story
on a Friday night with nothin to do
Cause all the other plans that I made fell through
So I sat, 'til about half past midnight
Clock struck one, time to get right
Beat bop on, tilted over to the side
Tank on E and I was still gonna ride
Rollin up the ave leanin over to my left
Yo I'm headed fo' this club over on the Westside
Made my little stop at the liquor sto'
Chatted with a couple of homies on the corner then I stepped
through the do' seen another car roll up slow
With lights out, somethin told me to hit the flo'
Little did I know, right and exact
The AK sprayed the fools didn't have a chance to blast back
and it was just like that, just that quick
Just my luck, another fucked up night to pick
to roll but if I had some sense I woulda known..
.. to take my ass home
("Next thing you know we're on the Boulevard in Linden..")
*repeats*
Young and.. dumb, not satisfied yet
Picked up the brew and the gum and I jet
to the set sat outside, threw my brew down
Stepped in, yanked the mic, flowin with the funky sound
Kept the wallflowers off the wall
'til the DJ made the last call for alcohol
Party ended, I was standin outside
Female with some fake hair caught my eye
Conversation indicated she was underage
I still got tricked by my old third leg
Sat the big booty in the passenger seat
Fastened the seatbelt, I'm off to the cheap motel
Well, what to do?
When you check your rearview mirror and see
two brothers in a big blue Nova
The girl put a three-fifty-seven to my head and she said "Pull over!"
("Next thing you know we're on the Boulevard in Linden..")
*repeats*
Out the car, face on the sidewalk
Said I'd get faded, unless I talked
about a llello shipment
("You took my shit motherfucker, where my shit at?")
Givin me the count of three to come with the day place time
of delivery, "Yo," I said, "I ain't the guy you lookin fo'"
They said, "Shut up, cause you was at the liquor sto'
with the fools we blasted on"
I said, "Damn it's a small world after all"
And they was gettin fed up, the trigger cocked back
I closed my eyes, waitin for the impact
A gun went off, and it wasn't none of theirs
Looked up, down went the girl with the fake hair
The other two got popped, couldn't blast back
The liquor store crew had a nice payback
and it was just like that, just that quick
Just by luck, I was on the ground and didn't get hit
So I hopped in the bucket, drove and I was gone
Took my ass home!
("Next thing you know we're on the Boulevard in Linden..")
Can i get a new head?
Cause the one i've got
Is worn out and so very broken
And now my mind feels dead
It's like an arcade game
An arcade game that won't take a token, no
We get lost
Lost along the way
It happens everyday
Lost along the way
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will this life end?
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will our lives end?
Can i get a new soul?
The one i got's been trampled on
The push and the pull
Like a bottle of gin at Al Anon
Can i get a new heart?
The one i got works way too hard
Like a prisoner of war
That's come home bruised and scarred
We get lost
Lost along the way
It happens everyday
Lost along the way
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will this life end?
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will our lives end?
(woah) yesterday seems so long ago
(woah) like a childhood dream, that shrank as you began to grow
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will this life end?
How will the story end?
Where does the time go?
How will the story end?
All we really wanna know
How will our lives end?
Where's my voice?
Has it lost it's way?
As if we have a choice
Our character is measured by the words we say
It happens everyday
Lost along the way
Think you're peter pan?
Where you stand sleazy old man
Narcissist with a god complex
Insecure and self-obsessed, yes
Everyone knows that I'm the best
So why were you ever my first request
Now i only talk to people who care
I learned the hard way, life just ain't fair
I was deep in it, was so intense
But now that I know, it all makes sense
Forgot who I was, even my own name
You fronted like my boss, that shit was lame
All that was mine soon became yours
til I couldn't take the fakeness anymore
I swear I'll never let that happen again
I only live in truth, won't play pretend
I believed the story, not the reality
Poisoning myself in the shadow of your glory
I was just the girlfriend, a toy that you would bend
Gotta break the news, all good things must end
Now you try to be nice
But my heart is cold, cold as ice
Don't fool yourself that we can be friends
Shoulda thought of that before you took seconds
I lived in a bubble for years
You took me for granted, played on my fears
Exploited me, all you could
Lies became truth, but it was all good
Remember all the times, the times you said
That you loved me, really messed with my head
You wrote it on my walls, screamed it in the streets
Whispered it to me from between the sheets
In the meantime you were weaving stories so complex
Another notch on your belt then onto the next
All the pictures now burned, graffiti erased
Blows my mind all that time, it was me you couldn't face
I believed the story, not the reality
Poisoning myself in the shadow of your glory
I was just the girlfriend, a toy that you would bend
Gotta break the news, all good things must end
You need constant reassurance to feel sexy
Too bad I took you back after it got messy
Silly me, thinkin that you could ever change
Instead it was my own I had to rearrange
I believed the story, not the reality
Poisoning myself in the shadow of your glory
I was just the girlfriend, a toy that you would bend
Gotta break the news, all good things must end
I got only you to thank when you kissed me goodbye
Naive little girl when you opened my eyes
I complete myself, not you or any guy
Don't need anyone else to be justified
With open heart open mind I really can't hate
No enemies only teachers never too late
to have the life I always dreamed, watch and see what I create
Master of my future, I was born for something great
I've got only you to thank
for opening up my eyes
I don't need anyone, no no
and I've only got you to thank
for opening up my eyes
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you
I climbed across the mountaintops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
but baby I broke them all for you
Oh, because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do, and I was made for you
You see the smile that's on my mouth
It's hiding the words that don't come out
And all of our friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess
No, they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what I've been through
Like you do, and I was made for you
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
If you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, that I was made for you
Well I'm the icing on the cake
I'm the secret ingredient you're missing
Down the sidewalk but not complete
And I'm the reason that, baby you're tripping
On decisions you didn't make
I'm the chance you chose not take
And I'm the one you wish you were kissin'
Pray for clear skies tonight
You better start wishin'
So you write the title
I'll write the chapters
We could read a story of love gone disaster
You write the moral
And I'll write the lesson
We could read a love that kept us guessin'
Cause I'm in the question
You are in the reason
Soon this will change
Just like the seasons
My leaves will fall
While you're turning cold
And the colors are on the ground are so bright and so bold
And I'll make no motion
You'll hold me tightly
I'll look at you as you let me down lightly
Oh the story always ends up like this
Another opportunity that you're going to miss
So you write the title
And I'll write the chapters
We could read a story of love gone disaster
You write the moral
I'll write the lesson
We could read a love that kept us guessin'
Oh but I know you so well
When are you gonna come around
Oh I know you so well
When are you gonna come around,
Oh oh oh
You want it to be like this
Oh oh oh
I see how it is
Oh! No,No,No,No
Hmmmm
Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah
Hmmmm
He was a memory I can't erase
Like a dream come true from out of the night
When I first saw you our eyes met face to face
I knew right then and there that it would be right
Just when I thought I was over love
Baby you stepped right into my life
Will we be lovers or just the best of friends
Or will the story just come to an end
Was I just a victim of circumstance
Or just a fool who fell too quickly in love
But,when I saw you, there was someone else
And I knew I could not-Could not be-Not be second best(No,No)
Just when I thought I was over love
Baby you stepped right into my life
Will we be lovers or just the best of friends
Or will the story just come to an end
(Chapter 1) Momma told me when a boy meets girl
(Chapter 2) That you see rainbows, stars shining in your world
(Chapter 3) But when it's over the writing's on the wall
Don't you keep cryin, no, no (Just keep movin on)
Keep on moving on
Just when I thought I was over love
Baby you stepped right into my life
Will we be lovers or just the best of friends
Or will the story just come to an end