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Old 01-24-2007, 06:27 PM   #1
borneoman
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Default Is that it my friend! Lyrics? Opinion?

I did an attempt at the lyrics of Is That It My Friend, from the LA Orpheum gig. The second verse (sung by Lisa) is rather short and seems to me like a part is missing, so not sure if it's like that or Lisa forgot the lyrics... Feedback appreciated!!!! By the way, loooooooooove the song!!!

Is that it my friend
Come to the end
Only 2 days now
you've let us descend
to the Prince of the desert
the prince in the sand
Did he ask for your love
did he ask for your hand

Is that it my friend
the end of it all
Did you wait til I Break
Did you wait til I Fall
I was lost in your river
Now I come to a Dam
To question the boy
to question the man

and I long to Be with You
and I long to be Free
and I long to Be with You
and I long to be Free
Not for my... Jealousy

Is that it my friend
Just say Good night
Well I hope you sleep well
I hope you sleep tight
I was lost in your river
Now I come to a Dam
To question the boy
to question the man

and I long to Be with You
and I long to be Free
and I long to Be with You
and I long to be Free
Not for my... Jealousy

Yes I'm Alright... Now
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Old 01-24-2007, 07:08 PM   #2
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Good job as far as I can see! Except that i think the second line is have we come to the end.

What were you scribing this from, and does anyone have a recording of it? I loved it when he played it at Vicar Street
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Old 01-24-2007, 08:15 PM   #3
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Did Lisa also sung the 2nd verse in the Vicar??

I was using the one from LA-Orpheum Dec 06!!!!!
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Old 01-24-2007, 08:17 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
Did Lisa also sung the 2nd verse in the Vicar??

I was using the one from LA-Orpheum Dec 06!!!!!
Do you have a recording of it??
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Old 01-24-2007, 08:21 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
Did Lisa also sung the 2nd verse in the Vicar??

I was using the one from LA-Orpheum Dec 06!!!!!
Yeah she did. Nine, there was an MP3 of this floating around in the gigs section a while back. Wasn't great quality but I think a better one may have surfaced in the meantime (anyone?).
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Old 01-24-2007, 08:23 PM   #6
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AllThatLies posted the whole gig here in Dec, it's a great concert and definetely worth getting the whole thing!!! I think the link was in the gig sections, I think it's the Dec 8 show...
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Old 01-24-2007, 08:59 PM   #7
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the line "i was lost in your river" is from the juniper song "The Orchard," am i correct? That is the only line i recognize from The Orchard because i am not too familiar with the song. Is this entire song basically a newer version of The Orchard or is just that line borrowed from it?
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Old 01-24-2007, 11:00 PM   #8
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I think Is that it my friend has nothing to do with The Orchard. And the lyrics about the river are not the same. In The Orchard he sings:

I was once was drowned in a river
She made me swim even deeper
She filled my soul with heavy breath
She held me down with love like lead
I was once was drowned in your river
You made me swim even deep
You filled my soul with your water
You held me down your love like lead
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Old 01-24-2007, 11:46 PM   #9
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i cant find it, could anyone give me a link please?
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Old 01-25-2007, 12:42 AM   #10
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the link:
http://www.eskimofriends.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=12460
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Old 01-25-2007, 12:53 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
Thanks very much!
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Old 01-25-2007, 04:07 AM   #12
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years ago i transcribed it from the madison gig in april 2004, i think that's the first time he played it live. the lyrics have changed a bit..

Is That It My Friend?

Is that it my friend
Come to the end
Of a beautiful day
Where I can pretend
I can open these ears
I can open my eyes
I can scrape the bottom
And still touch the sky

Is that it my friend
The end of it all
Did you wait till I break
Did you wait till I fall
I was lost in your river
Now I’ve come to….land/the end?
I question the boy
I question the man

Oh
And I long to be with you
Oh
And I long to be free
Oh
How I long to be with you
Oh
That’s all I….

Is that it my friend
Just say goodnight
Well I hope you sleep well
I hope you sleep tight
I hope in your dreams
That he loves your eyes
Like I did
Just for awhile

Is that it my friend
The end of it all
Did you wait till I break
Did you wait till I fall
I was lost in your river
Now I’ve come to….(the end/land?)
I question the boy
I question the man

Oh
And I long to be with you
Oh
And I long to be free
Oh
Yes I long to be with you
Not for my….

(kazoo bridge)

Well I’m alright
Now
Yes I’m all I’m alright
Now
Yes I’m all alright
Now, yeah
Well I’m all alright
Now
Now

Yes I’m all I’m alright
Now
Yes I’m all alright
Now, yeah
Well I’m all alright
Now
Now
Now…… straight into “Insane” *with an extra verse and mad funky distortion that vibrated one’s very soul.

oh and i'm pretty sure lisa forgot the lyrics, it seemed that way to me anyway

Last edited by SisterMidnight; 01-25-2007 at 04:11 AM.
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Old 01-25-2007, 04:38 PM   #13
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Thanks Sister!!!!!!!!!!!! Didn;t know he had played it before, I thought the Vicar Aug 06 was the first time...

Looks like he's changed the first part a lot!!!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure he;s singing 'I was lost in a river/now i come to a DAM', I don't hear it that well in the mp3 but I heard it well at the gig. and kind amakes sense...

I guess it's clear Lisa forgot her part and jumped straight to the end of the verse. She missed this part you got which is really really beautiful:

I hope in your dreams
That he loves your eyes
Like I did
Just for awhile

Hope those lyrics are still in the song!!!
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Old 01-26-2007, 05:16 PM   #14
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Yes I love this song a lot, it's one of my favourites already! I was wondering if are there any other recordings of it besides the Orpheum one?
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Old 01-26-2007, 06:19 PM   #15
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This is one of them songs I really hope he releases for real!
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Old 01-27-2007, 11:52 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
I did an attempt at the lyrics of Is That It My Friend, from the LA Orpheum gig. The second verse (sung by Lisa) is rather short and seems to me like a part is missing, so not sure if it's like that or Lisa forgot the lyrics... Feedback appreciated!!!! By the way, loooooooooove the song!!!
That's the main reason I didn't bother transcribing it. It was clear that quite a chunk of lyrics were left out and so I'd just been patiently waiting on the Vicar St. tapes to be released (sadly that seems to be very low priority).

Sis had the only recording of this song (and does of "Fear") for several years and though I tried valiantly to help her find the means to share it, the condition of the tape wasn't amenable so we're very lucky he finally brought it back out late last year.

Even taking into account Lisa's lapse it sounded to me like there was probably at least another whole verse missing (notice the awkward extended instrumental vamping which followed) and now seeing Sis' earlier version I'm positive of it.

While it's likely Damo would change a few words over the years or even add an entire verse on to an older song (like he seems to have done with "Fool") I see no reason to abandon such a phenomenal poetic stanza entirely. To say nothing of how it likewise contains 4 consecutive "I" statements anticipating the echoes contained in the pre-chorus. Besides which, the whole concept with the sky and the beautiful day are quite essential as structural counterpoint to what now serves as the last verse. I could see him still being on the fence about where to best place it but it should definitely be left in (the most logical and perfect fit is for that one to become instead the second verse, keeping the 'goodnight' one for last). After all, it doesn't tell Lisa's side of the story: that's still his side.
Hey, wait a second...

New theory! Lisa started singing the wrong verse, suddenly realized it and stopped herself before she got to the lines where it would have been obvious that the wrong character was singing. Eureka!

Awesome: that would mean all three verses are rightly still in the song!!! Makes so much more sense to me now.

Anywho, born, I've digressed. Aside from your surprising omission of crucial punctuation (God, Damo's brilliant at using stinging rhetorical questions as weapons of guilt, isn't he?) and the fact that for past-meets-quasi-future- tense agreement sake both of the "Did you wait" lines must be followed by the word "I'd" rather than simply "I"; this is what I've heard (keep in mind his frequent implementation of clever wordplay).

Wait. Let me add this thought train first.

Also the whole song is thematically about the limbo of grains of sand (Damo's favorite mineral) shifting within the hourglass which is why I think he went so far with the wonderfully melodramatic/romantic Rudolph Valentino in "The Sheik" metaphor. Note also that it's very hard to say whether he means more than one footprint so, yes, it could well be given an apostrophe after the 't'. Either way, I hope I'm right because it's a devastatingly stark, powerful and moving metaphoric image of intemperance (In fact, his whole first verse here is gloriously Beckett-ian! surely it's no coincidence both are Irish?).

Is that it, my friend?
We've come to the end?
Only 2 days now
With letters to send
To the Prince of the desert.
The prints in the sand...
Did he ask for your love?
Did he ask for your hand?
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Old 01-27-2007, 04:38 PM   #17
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Thanks Spam!! Just re-listened and you're 100% right about the 'letters' and the 'prints in the sand'!!! Let's hope they play it again in the forthcoming UK tour and we can get the whole thing!!!! And I know I suck at punctuating
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Old 01-28-2007, 06:06 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
Thanks Sister!!!!!!!!!!!! Didn;t know he had played it before, I thought the Vicar Aug 06 was the first time...

Looks like he's changed the first part a lot!!!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure he;s singing 'I was lost in a river/now i come to a DAM', I don't hear it that well in the mp3 but I heard it well at the gig. and kind amakes sense...

I guess it's clear Lisa forgot her part and jumped straight to the end of the verse. She missed this part you got which is really really beautiful:

I hope in your dreams
That he loves your eyes
Like I did
Just for awhile

Hope those lyrics are still in the song!!!
you're welcome! he opened the show with this in wisconsin and it was much more upbeat than at the orpheum as i recall. i mean.. a kazoo bridge? when has he ever done that besides childish? it sounded really good with the song too

i really like that verse you mentioned, and the first one about touching the sky.. in fact i prefer the earlier version of the lyrics. i didn't get the sand metaphor out of it at all before (and how can you tell if he's singing prince or prints spamlet?) but i like the idea of keeping all the verses and structuring it by day/night

as if it matters what we think
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Old 01-28-2007, 12:04 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SisterMidnight
i didn't get the sand metaphor out of it at all before (and how can you tell if he's singing prince or prints spamlet?)
Well, as I said, I don't know for sure that's why I said "I hope I'm right" because I adore the haunting image that was conjured by that lyric:

Picture two dear companions who have crossed a burning desert now about to part probably forever. The one who feels he's being abandoned turns to survey the landscape and freeze a picture of it in his mind to help find perspective to make sense of the often torturous yet beautiful journey they've been through together. Inadvertently, his eye drops from the longview of the horizon and rests at the last footprint she made; already being buried by the breeze gently blowing the sand back over it to erase any record of her presence.

True, I fully admit that perhaps I'm a bit melodramatic but personally I find this heartrending and deeply profound. Although I'm actually a published, award-winning poet; I make a practice of not subjecting people to my poetry online (truly terrible amateur verse is so the norm on nearly every forum you'd care to visit nowadays that I honestly believe accomplished poets can't be appreciated and respected within such casual context). However, I will say that it's scarily similar to an event that happened to me which I once wrote about: a tiny, barely physical reminder of the love of my life (only a few months lost) unexpectedly presented itself and to my dying day it will remain one of the most significant, insignificant moments of my life.

Lawdy, I've probably just confused the crud outta this whole matter by adding that supremely vague anecdote so if anyone really wants to read my dumb little poem to attempt figuring out what the hell all that meant then PM me.

So I'm actually basing it on several things: instinct (first time I heard it I immediately thought he was contrasting the "prince" of the desert with the "prints" (or "print's") in the sand because as I said he's a writer who's style consistently shows he's particularly fond of wordplay and is obviously simply brilliant at it. So effortlessly gifted, in fact, that half of the time the implications appear accidental. For example "letters to send" again feeds into "print" if we intead first consider the idea of typeprint or the simple two or three letters which make up the one word answer he keeps probing her to answer the prince (and therefore also himself) with: a single "yes" or a "no" type-printed on a page. In Damo's character's scenario the same letters (notice how nearly identical letters to "send" and "sand" are too) could also be "the prints in the sand" having been drawn with either her finger or a stick as they neared the end of their trek. Skid Row's immortal ballad "I Remember You", anyone? Beuller? (wish I could make this smily drool)

Second of all, if he was saying "the prince of the desert" and then had the sole intention of merely continuing to define that character further for us he could make that singularity of goal much sharper by restating it "the prince of the sand" since "of" following a royal title always traditionally indicates both one's birthplace and current jurisdiction. However by using "in" with "the sand" he deliberately introduces the tactile element into our minds. The moment you hear someone is "in sand" you can't help but feel at least a slight subconscious sensorial response just as if I said someone is "in the mud" rather than said "the prince of the swamp" and followed it with "the prince of the mud" for clarification sake.

The original first verse shows a willingness to believe in the fairytale of the then unnamed prince and living happily ever after. She obviously loves the other man but the reality of love and all its faults proved too strong. Again, if Lisa instead sings this verse then another wonderfully poignant parrallel is set up. This time the extended ending where Damo tries unsuccessfully to convince us that he's likewise "all right now" will now have particularly powerful resonance. They've both chosen to accept the lie as a means of survival.

This newer first verse is all about the expectedly triumphant moment of seeing the finish line ahead, and turning to check over your shoulder only to realize that sadly you find yourself now the only runner (just like another Damo masterpiece of imperitive inquiry "Didn't Take Long") robbing you of any real sense of worth or value for your accomplishment. It's only natural to question both the boy you were when it all began so sweetly and to question the man you are now as to what you should or shouldn't have done vs. what you did or didn't do along the journey which led you to arrive at such a tragic and lonely outcome.
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Last edited by Spamlet; 01-28-2007 at 12:16 PM.
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Old 01-28-2007, 04:43 PM   #20
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Great idea for album 3... put together Sand+ Is that it my friend one after the other!!!!!!!! That would make sense eh!!!??

Hope someone from the band is reading

And thanks Spam for your post!!! I think I kinda understand it more now... I agree it has to be 'prints'... mainly because 'prince in the sand' wouldn't make much sense. as you said, if it was 'of the sand' then it could be 'prince'. So basically Lisa's character has to decide between Damien and the Prince and goes with the Prince...
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Old 01-28-2007, 07:20 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borneoman
Great idea for album 3... put together Sand+ Is that it my friend one after the other!!!!!!!! That would make sense eh!!!??

Hope someone from the band is reading
Concept album!

Well then don't forget part three of the 'sand' song trilogy: one of Damo's most perfect lyrical masterpieces "Lonely Soldier".

You're right though that playing ITIMF? and then going directly into "Sand" would make for a killer transition.
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Old 01-28-2007, 08:58 PM   #22
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I really enjoy your discussion here.
That's what I love so much about Damien's music. It's so thought-provoking.

I love the lyrics of the song. Both versions actually. I have never heard it, though. And I can't download the Orpheum show, cause I just can't get any torrent clients to work on my computer. Must be due to my firewall. Could anyone send it to me or is it against the rules?

Anyhow, keep on! I love reading everyone's thoughts on this one.
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Old 01-28-2007, 11:56 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lin@
I really enjoy your discussion here.
That's what I love so much about Damien's music. It's so spamlet-provoking.
huh?
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Old 11-24-2007, 03:24 AM   #24
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sorry to bring up an old thread again...
the version of "is that it my friend" that i have is the one where lisa has forgotten some lyrics and is missing some verses. It is missing my favorite part hwere he sings:

I hope in your dreams
That he loves your eyes
Like I did
Just for awhile

i know he sang this song a few times on the 9 tour, i was wondering if an mp3 of the complete version of it exists? (i'm just looking for the song, not the entire show)
thanks!
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Old 11-24-2007, 08:44 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by golnazv86
I hope in your dreams
That he loves your eyes
Like I did
Just for awhile
I've never heard a version with these lyrics.
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Old 11-26-2007, 07:07 PM   #26
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I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your posts on the interpretations of the songs, Spam!
I must say they inspire me a lot and I am actually tempted to go try my own interpretations of some of the songs.. but I guess I'm not really good at it yet.. but I thought I'd say it because it cannot be left uncommented by me this way Grrreat stuff

Greets,
Kil

PS.: Your thoughts on 'Lonely Soldier' would interest me as well, especially now we got into the 'Sand trilogy' a little...

PPS.: I didn't really catch your suggested order of the verses of 'ITIMF?'
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