Tom Robinson
1986 USA re-release (1997)

1) Feel So Good/Hurt So Bad
2) Nothing Like The Real Thing
3) Still Loving You
4) Take Me Home Again
5) You Tattooed Me
6) Drive All Night
7) Living In A Love Town
8) Spain
9) This Little Romance
10) The Wedding
11) A Song For you
12) Nothing Like The Real Thing (Jazz Version)
13) Northern Rain
14) The Saturday Disco
15) Change (Feel So Good)

Deleted for many years and a sought-after collector's item, Still Loving You is regarded by some as the definitive TR solo album. This new release features 5 extra tracks, including alternative versions of 'Nothing Like The Real Thing' and 'Feel So Good/Hurt So Bad'.

1) Feel So Good/Hurt So Bad

Lock that door and turn out the light
Close the curtain on the world outside
Under the cover where I'm safe and warm
Feel so happy, like I'd never been born...

Feel so good... like I never been born

Don't bother knocking on my bedroom door
When I get this obsession I don't care no more
The need is on me and my need comes first
Feel like the centre of the universe

Feel so good... like the centre of the universe

And it feels so good
But it's the worst feeling I've ever had
If it feels so good
Why does it always hurt so bad

I gotta get some money and I don't care how
I need satisfaction and I need it now
Gimme a problem and I'll fix it fast
But satisfaction just don't last...

Feel so good... but satisfaction just don't last

And it feels so good (feel so good)
But it's the worst feeling I've ever had
If it feels so good (feel so good)
Why does it always hurt so bad

Laid on the line
I've been waiting and aching
Wasting my time
If I've got a problem

Well at least it's mine

Lyric by TR & Steve Jolley

2) Nothing Like The Real Thing

I've been around, I've had my kicks
And I've picked up one or two party tricks
There's those that drink, those that smoke
And those that like a little line of coke
There's cocaine places, cocaine folks
Cocaine mirrors and cocaine jokes
It's a little bit wicked and widely done
And everybody tells you it's a bunch of fun

Well it ain't as sweet as people say
You're up all night but you're down all day
It rots your nostrils, burns your brain
And it kills your liver instead of your pain
You call up dealers, rack your brains
When they ain't at home or the line's engaged
In your heart of hearts you know it's true
Cocaine's a killer - and it's killing you

Well you're killing off years of your life right now
Cos we might all die soon anyhow
Well in five years time you're gonna look so dumb
When we haven't been blown to Kingdom Come
Remember life before cocaine -
Ain't it time you started living again
You spend your money hand over fist
In an ideal world would you live like this?

Now I'm not saying it's morally wrong
I did it myself for far too long
And I'm not saying I know better than you -
I'm saying I know and you know it too
I ain't no killjoy, ain't no shrink
And I ain't a preacher - whatever you think
I'm simply giving my point of view
And if you don't like it... fuck you

The real thing...
It ain't nothing like the real thing...
The real thing...
I'm talking 'bout the real thing...

(Charlie C - you're such a creep
Got no money, get no sleep
Tense and edgy, ill at ease
Taking my friends away from me
Charlie bastard - you're to blame,
Acting crazy, feel insane
If I had my time again
I'd never mess with King Cocaine...)

Lyric by TR and Paul Harvey

3) Still Loving You

I still recall those crazy nights
Days our love was at its height
The madness and the passion that we shared
Waking early in the gloom
Beside you in that bedsit room
Magazines and letters everywhere

Payphone ringing in the hall
Cheap emulsion on the walls
The smell of winter in the air
With you I feel alive and clean
And happier than I've ever been
When I'm alone it's hard to bear

One day I will lose you and that I know
But sure as hell I'm gonna be yours forever
And till that day I'll still be loving you
The way I do while we're together
Be loving you... still loving you

The day we went back to the place
You spent your wild unhappy days
The hometown of a teenage refugee
I lay beside you on the grass
As trains to London thundered past
The ghost of who you used to be

One day I will lose you and that I know
But sure as hell I'm gonna be yours forever

And till that day I'll still be loving you
The way I do while we're together
Be loving you... still loving you
Silences and sudden strains
Fall between us now again
I know you're always on your guard
But you don't have to be sweet to me
Be what you want to be -
Be rude and brutal if you are

One day I will lose you and that I know
But sure as hell I'm gonna be yours forever
And till that day I'll still be loving you
The way I do while we're together
Be loving you... still loving you

4) Take Me Home Again

Telegraph poles keep passing by
Cable looping in a hazy sky
Great North Eastern in the rain
Never thought I'd be back here again
But tonight...
This station with the name I still remember
Is a place I'm passing through

Take me home again... been too long on my own
Take me home again... still living all alone
Take me home again... to the place I used to go
Take me home again... to a face I used to know
When love was just a heartbeat away

Tonight, tonight...
Tonight, tonight...

High wind howling, fallen slate
Scuttle and ashpan in the grate
Wick on the kelly lamp burning bright

Wait till your Daddy gets home tonight
But tonight...
This station with a name I still remember
Is a place I'm passing through

Take me home again... to the place I still recall
Take me home again... want to walk in through the door
Take me home again... to the place I used to go
Take me home again... to a face I used to know
When love was just a heartbeat away

5) You Tattooed Me

I was stranded up in Antwerp in the Summer of '54
There were teeming streets full of refugees
And rumours of a new world war
I was waiting at the station when a newcomer arrived
You took your place and fixed me with those crazy hazel eyes
(Your coat was old and worn, the rags around your feet were torn
You pressed right up beside me with your hips
And quite to my surprise I was kind of hypnotised
When you reached and took the cigarette from in between my lips)

The boarding house was crowded where I followed you in fright
You slammed the door behind us and smashed the electric light
You said 'why try to fight it?' - I could feel my racing heart
Then you nuzzled up like an animal
And you kissed me in the dark
We wrecked the bed and went, and never paid a cent
I drank the fare and never made the train
Till I was 25 I was only half alive
And I hardly knew what hit me when you came

And tattooed me... tattooed me
No, I hardly knew what hit me when you came

We shacked up in a basement after breaking down the door
With bedbugs in the blankets, broken bottles on the floor
We were penniless and hungry, having arguments and fights
I was coughing blood all winter but I'd never been more alive
And then one fatal day you volunteered your life away
While I was way too weak to be alarmed
And when I was drunk asleep as you left to join the fleet
You tattooed your name with a needle in my arm

You tattooed me... tattooed me
Tattooed me with a needle in my arm

With the peace talks in Geneva we slowly crawled away
From the brink of the unthinkable and began to breathe each day
There were rumours you'd deserted, then no more letters came
My life was wrecked but I did my best to pick up the bits again
And when I was on the mend I drifted back to Zaventem
And worked unloading cargo from a plane
I began to pay my way on a thousand francs a day
And as time went by I realised we'd never meet again

You tattooed me... tattooed me
And I knew that we would never meet again

6) Drive All Night

Got a pre-war hotrod Super Estelle
She been fitted with the four wheel drive
And she flies like a rocket if the octane's hot
And the time and the lights are right
Well we took the old road from Rostock
In the moonshine clear and bright
Where you can make180 on the straight
When the radar's off for the night

The Northbound carriageway's covered in cars
There's a couple of bridges down
But you figure out the sliproads soon enough
When you know your way around

Drive all night, drive all day
Trying to drive my worries away

We crossed the border 'bout a quarter to four
As my brain began to ache
With the checkpoints empty and the turnpike clear
As the day began to break
Well we had a few packs of vaccine
And a crateful of Duracell Two's
So we tanked her up and took a couple of cans
At a backstreet depot in Bruges

We ran into a lone control point
And it could have been the end of the line
But they recognised Eddie and they waved us on
And they took apart the car behind

Drive all night, drive all day
Trying to drive my worries away

There were gasoline robbers at Salzburg
And we only had a couple of rounds
It was touch and go for an hour or so
But we shook 'em with our foot right down

Drive all night, drive all day
Trying to drive my worries away

7) Living In A Love Town

Sick and lonely to a man
Cutting through the Zuider See
Limping in to Amsterdam
Battle weary and fatigued
Docking on Saint Stephen's Eve
As four and twenty hours of foreign leave
Came into sight
Saw the city shining bright
A beacon in this flooded countryside
We'll spend the night...

Living in a love town
We were hungry to a man
Living in a love town
In the heart of Amsterdam

Boys and women on the quay
Broken english in the street
Cold and famine sweeping south
Such a welcome still we meet
After half a year at sea
The cobblestones and snow beneath our feet
Were soft and sweet
Castaways from far and wide
Wrecked together in this town tonight
On every side...

Living in a love town... we were hungry to a man
Living in a love town... in the heart of Amsterdam
Living in a love town... as the carnival began
Living in a love town...

After half a year at sea
The cobblestones and snow beneath our feet
Were soft and sweet
Saw the city shining bright
A beacon in this flooded countryside
We'll spend the night
Cast away from far and wide
Wrecked together in this town tonight
On every side...

Living in a love town... we were hungry to a man
Living in a love town... in the heart of Amsterdam
Living in a love town... as the carnival began
Living in a love town...

Lyric by TR and Peter Acock

8) Spain

Leaving London in the pouring rain
Climbed high into the blue again
Over Europe, above an ocean
I was out on my own
On the tarmac, sunlight in my eyes
Like a furnace - half hypnotised
In the haze I saw the mainland
Then I knew you were home

Spain... I finally came to Spain
Across the straits in Spain
Where I want to be...
Won't you come home with me?

Battered taxis in the marketplace
Narrow streets, little alleyways
I was restless - kind of breathless
Still trapped in the past
Nightfall under the battlements
Sidewalk cafes and mandolines
Across a table in the lamplight
When I met you at last

Spain... I finally came to Spain
Across the straits in Spain
Where I want to be...
Won't you come home with me?

Spain... you finally found me
Spain... your arms around me
Spain... where I want to stay
Won't you come home

Don't go - won't you stay with me
Leave home, fly away with me
Who will find us or remind us
When our moment is gone

Spain... I finally came to Spain
Across the straits in Spain
Where I want to be...
Won't you come home with me?

Spain... you finally found me
Spain... your arms around me
Spain... where I want to stay
Won't you come home

9) This Little Romance

When I met you
It was midway through the summer
Wearing dungarees
Like a Dexy's Midnight Runner
We spent three or four weeks together
And hit the rocks in no time whatsoever

I've chewed right through the end of my tether
It looks like we ain't gonna live forever in clover
Call me arrogant - perhaps I am
But I ain't a tramp and this little romance
Is over... it's all over

Every time there's a break in the conversation
You imagine I'm lost in admiration
You may be cute but you ain't no sensation
And I can do without the aggravation

Whoever might be my ideal dream
I know it ain't gonna be some teenage poser
You still think I wanna get into your pants
You're crazy baby - this little romance
Is over... it's all over

You call me hard and cold
You must be joking
When I get close
You only put the spoke in
Please don't bother to write or try to phone me
I know you tell your friends how you've outgrown me

How come you're acting so surprised -
I keep my ears and both of my eyes wide open
Why bother giving it one more chance
The magic's missing - this little romance is over
I don't give a monkey's, don't give a damn
I'm happier now this little romance
Is over... it's all over

10) The Wedding

It was a winter Sunday in the centre of town
In the middle of the advent madness
Fading daylight, gusts of rain
Christmas carols playing on the brain - and on the radio
I could see the other guests arriving
In their Range Rovers and MG midgets
Sprayed lime green and vomit orange
Princess Di lookalikes in county twinsets
And down-at-heel Cambridge playboys
Wearing Moss Bros suits and hand-me-down sports jackets
The theatrical profession at prayer... and I felt so out of place
Heads were turning and the whispering spread
As you stood in the aisle staring straight ahead
Like Lazarus risen up from the dead in a formal morning coat;
Prayers were offered and a lesson was read
As one or two crocodile sniffles were shed
And somebody whispered 'Doesn't she just look wonderful'
With a dry crack in the voice
But I felt like a leper and a traitor too
To everything we once knew was true
You avoided my eye and I knew that you knew
And something in my heart screamed no...

Because it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss
It isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss
And it's not that I wanted a life like this
But I'm doing fine... I'm doing fine

Still I remembered all the places and people we'd known
All the summers we spent on that disused aerodrome
All the double-edged jokes in our private code
In our very own private language
And if I could still ride my bike home across that windswept runway
Well I'd do it again today...
And now here we were all these years later
Still living in the shadow of a mushroom cloud
As we mumbled the Lord's prayer together
And asked for the peace which passeth all understanding;
And if I sound bitter it's because I'm alone
Under alien colours, in an alien zone
And though I know the language well it isn't my own
And I really don't belong here

Because it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss
And it isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss
And it's not that I wanted a life like this
But a part of my childhood died
No, it isn't the bride that I wanna kiss

It isn't your friendship I'm gonna miss
It's not that I wanted it to end like this
With water and wine, water and wine...

Well I guess I'm just paying my respects to you
For the sake of who we used to be...

11)A Song For You

Walk on by - please don't cry
Not one teardrop for me
Honey 'cos your time ain't long
I can't hear words you say
See your eyes and turn away
So this can't be where I belong

You say you love me - and you're fair
And the light shines in your hair
But it makes no difference to what we know
Pretty baby it's time to go back home
And think it over - all day long
Just think it over - you know it's wrong
It's not the kind of loving
To make a weak man strong

Close your eyes - count to ten
When you open them again
Chances are that I'll be gone
It's no use to explain
All those same old things again
They're no use to dwell upon

Those old mistakes we think we made
But when all is said and done
We're just afraid to say goodbye
But there really is no reason why
We should hang on - another day
As time goes on - and rolls away
Into the past - and there we stay.

Alexis Korner, 1969
Tribute to a first mentor.

12) Nothing Like The Real Thing (Jazz Version)

I've been around & I've had my kicks
And I've picked up one or two party tricks
There's those that drink, those that smoke
And those that like a little line of coke
There's cocaine places, cocaine folks
Cocaine mirrors and cocaine jokes
It's a little bit wicked and widely done
And everybody says it's just a bunch of fun

Well it ain't as sweet as people say
You're up all night but you're down all day
It rots your nostrils, burns your brain
And it kills your liver instead of your pain
You call up dealers, rack your brains
When they ain't at home or the line's engaged
In your heart of hearts you know it's true
Cocaine's a killer - and it's killing you

The Real Thing
Ain't nothing like the Real Thing, no no
The Real Thing
I'm talking 'bout the Real Thing, yeah yeah

You're killing off years of your life right now
Cos we might all die soon anyhow
Well in five years time you're gonna look so dumb
When we haven't been blown to kingdom come
Remember life before cocaine -
Ain't it time you started living again
Spend your money hand over fist
In an ideal world would you live like this?

The Real Thing
Ain't nothing like the Real Thing, no no
The Real Thing
I'm talking 'bout the Real Thing, yeah yeah

Now I'm not saying it's morally wrong
I've done it myself for far too long
And I'm not saying I know better than you -
I'm saying I know and you know it too
I ain't no killjoy, ain't no shrink
And I ain't a preacher - whatever you think
I'm simply giving my point of view
And if you don't like it... Fuck you

The Real Thing
Ain't nothing like the Real Thing, no no
The Real Thing
I'm talking 'bout the Real Thing, yeah yeah

Lyric by TR and Paul Harvey

13) Northern Rain

We found so much to do
More to do... than we had the time
We'd chase whatever moved
Never lose... till I went down the mine

We knew, or thought we knew
All there was to know - like young men do
And we were happy too
Played the fool - till I went down the mine
Life was just one big round
The rain was never pissing down

Grey and slanting northern rain
Will our lives ever feel the same
You wave the boys off - what a game
Washed up, dried up, put away
Staring at the window pane
At nothing but northern rain

Now that you've grown
When you leave home
We'll just have one less to care for
Left on our own
Sometimes I wonder what are we here for
God knows what I'm supposed to do
With my time - yesterday it was fine
It's no use without you

Grey and slanting northern rain
Will our lives ever feel the same
You wave the boys off - what a game
Washed up, dried up, put away
Staring at the window pane, at
Nothing but northern...
Nothing but northern...
Nothing but northern... rain

Goodnight Mr Bolton
Goodnight, lad...

Hereward Kaye (Copyright Control)
Commissioned for Hull Truck's 1986 production of John Godber's play "Cramp"

14) The Saturday Disco

Dressed for the disco ready to kill
Gonna burst my buttons
And drink my fill tonight - alright
I've been sitting on the sidelines far too long
If I play my cards well
I can't go wrong tonight - alright
And I won't give a damn about the whole wide world
If a Northern boy meets a working girl
At the Saturday disco

Once in a while there's a God-sent chance
And I've just seen mine
Walk into this dance tonight - alright
Seems he's finally seen the light
And come out on the town
For a real good time tonight - alright
Well I know what I want and I won't think twice
Gonna get that fella if it takes all night
At the Saturday disco

Tonight... tonight
Let's get together at the end of the working week
It's gonna be... alright
If it takes all night
At the Saturday disco

I don't wanna hang around here and sulk
With you making eyes at the Incredible Hulk tonight - alright
You never care about the ones you hurt
And you're treating my feelings like a piece of dirt tonight - alright
But I know one day you're gonna change your mind
I'm gonna keep out of trouble and bide my time
At the Saturday Disco - yeah yeah

Tonight... tonight
Let's get together at the end of the working week
It's gonna be... alright
If it takes all night
At the Saturday disco

Hey pretty women, Mad Max is here
I've been working all week
Now I'm getting in gear tonight - alright
There's gonna be some laughs when I've had some beers
Cos I've got no worries
And I feel no fear tonight - alright
Well I ain't goodlooking but I wheel and deal
And I know how happy I can make you feel
At the Saturday disco

Tonight... tonight
Let's get together at the end of the working week
It's gonna be... alright
If it takes all night
At the Saturday disco

Originally written for Hull Truck production of John Godber's 'Cramp', 'B' side of 'Still Loving You' single

15) Change (Feel So Good)

Lock that door and turn out the light
Close the curtain on the world outside
Under the cover where I'm safe and warm
Feel so happy, like I'd never been born...

Don't bother knocking on my bedroom door
When I get this obsession I don't care no more
The need is on me and my need comes first
Feel like the centre of the universe

But I'm gonna change
I don't wanna stay this way forever
Yes I'm gonna change...
Someday I'm gonna change

I gotta get some money and I don't care how
I need satisfaction and I need it now
Gimme a problem and I'll fix it fast
But satisfaction just don't last...

But I'm gonna change
I don't wanna stay this way forever
Yes I'm gonna change...
Someday I'm gonna change