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I Have So Many Friends

by Spottiswoode

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1.
Everybody likes you when you’re down and you’re feeling blue And everybody likes you when your tears are not yet dry I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends People are so wise when there’s someone else is pain They give such good advice, they should learn from what they’re saying I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends I have so many friends When your heart is broken they’ll open up to you They’ll tell you all their secrets, so many things you never knew You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside You never really know what’s going on inside
2.
Beautiful morning, beautiful day Beautiful people on a beautiful train All going to work now so dutifully Beautiful Monday, beautiful me Beautiful airplane on a beautiful cloud Beautiful children making a beautiful sound All going to school now, it’s a jubilee Beautiful Monday, beautiful me Everybody look at me, take another look at me I’m beautiful Everyone be good to me, do the things you should to me I’m beautiful Weekend is over, yeah we had a good time The world’s on our shoulders and we’re gonna be fine All hoping that one day we’ll truly be free Beautiful Monday Everybody look at me, take another look at me I’m beautiful Everyone be good to me, do the things you should to me I’m beautiful And I only wanna make a difference, I do Yeah we’re all gonna make a difference, it’s true Yeah I only wanna make a difference
3.
You wouldn’t know there was a war If you didn’t read the papers Love or hate the Emperor He’s still a great man Never seen such pretty gowns Another general’s in town tonight All the world, all the world is waiting All the world, all the world is waiting Carriage slides across the snow In the moonlight And you’re only going home Just to say goodbye Your parents never change They only show their age when you leave All the world, all the world is waiting All the world, all the world is waiting Life is good on the road You never know were it goes You never know were it leads Life is good All the world, all the world is waiting All the world, all the world is waiting The world is waiting for you For you
4.
They're building a road From the moon to the sun Then they'll build another road When that road is done They're working so hard But they've only just begun Building that road From the moon to the sun And everybody (everybody) everybody wants to succeed And everybody (everybody) everybody longs to be free And everybody (everybody) everybody's looking for love So they're building a road from the moon to the sun Yes they're building a road from the moon to the sun I'll sing them a song From the side of the hill And they'll sing along I know that they will It once was a dream But now it's gonna be real Cause they're building that road With concrete and steel And everybody (everybody) everybody wants to succeed And everybody (everybody) everybody longs to be free And everybody (everybody) everybody's looking for love So they're building a road from the moon to the sun Yes they're building a road from the moon to the sun We're building a road From the moon to the sun Then we'll build another road When that road is done We're working so hard But we've only just begun Building that road From the moon to the sun And everybody (everybody) everybody wants to succeed And everybody (everybody) everybody longs to be free And everybody (everybody) everybody's looking for love So we're building a road from the moon to the sun Yes we're building a road
5.
She’s looking for something I can’t give I’m drinking, I’m thinking this ain’t no way to live I’m hanging I’m hanging on I’m hanging just hanging on Hanging on the drop edge Hanging on the drop edge of yonder She’s somewhere, I’m nowhere, I’m inside out I wonder why I care, just gotta ride it out I’m hanging I’m hanging on I’m hanging just hanging on Hanging on the drop edge Hanging on the drop edge of yonder She wants, she taunts me, she burns me up I’m leaving this evening, I don’t know where I’ll stop I’m hanging I’m hanging on I’m hanging just hanging on Hanging on the drop edge Hanging on the drop edge Hanging on the drop edge of yonder
6.
Bulletproof 05:12
Lies are lonely, lies are sad Lies can sometimes make you mad We must always tell the truth My heart is bulletproof It ended with love, it started with lust The more you love, the less you trust But you can’t hurt me with the truth My heart is bulletproof We must never fear betrayal If you fall out of love it don't mean that you've failed So if your love has reached its end There's no reason to pretend You've got nothing to hide from me My heart is yours but my mind's still free There's no respect in telling lies Please don't patronize We must never fear betrayal If you fall out of love it don't mean that you've failed So if your love has reached its end There's no reason to pretend The first to fall is the first to stand The last to fall, the hardest to land Still I beg you tell the truth My heart is bulletproof My heart is bulletproof My heart is bulletproof My heart is bulletproof
7.
A Senator's daughter now living abroad She damaged her liver, still she drinks when she's bored A Communist actor who plays violin Fire burns in his eyes though his hair's getting thin A yoga instructor returned from the East A Polish conductor, a Birmingham priest MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS There's the lodger upstairs, an anorexic nurse She says she's much better but she's looking much worse And the tragic young wife of a millionaire She spent all his money cos he had an affair There's only one person on whom they depend She lives in my house so the fun never ends Cos MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS MUMMY’S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS And everyone knows when Daddy comes home They all run away like the plague He offers them Scotch, they say "Good Heavens! Gosh! How did it get so late?" When I come home from school I can never be sure Who'll be telling their secrets collapsed on the floor Or out in the garden finishing their tea Mummy is smiling as she notices me "Do you remember Heidi and Sven?" I shake my head and she smiles once again Cos MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS MUMMY’S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS MUMMY'S GOT STRANGE FRIENDS
8.
I waited patiently for June But it seems it's come too soon Looking back I now remember I miss the cold days of December The winter months she went away I wrote sad letters every day Still I never lost my temper I miss the cold days of December April, May, June, July Children play, grown-ups cry Since she came back through my door I'm much more lonely than before I try my best, still I offend her I miss the cold days of December April, May, June, July Children play, grown-ups cry They say the grass is never green I know exactly what they mean June, July, August, September I miss the cold days of December I miss the cold days of December I miss the cold days
9.
It Is Time 03:46
When your heart is cold, when you're feeling old When your whole life's a joke which you've already told When you've done your tour, when there's nothing more When you've seen, heard and swallowed it all before When the world is dreary, when you're world-weary When it's been so long since you've been teary-eyed When you're just depressed, always unimpressed When it's second nature now to be dissatisfied It is time, It is time, It is time When all your friends are so bourgeois But you don't complain because that's who and what you are When it's dinners and lunches, fundraising brunches When you're so civilized you've learned how to pull your punches And the avant-garde, you now speak of it rudely So instead you have long conversations about inconsequential movies When you take the train to work and everything's the same When you push, shove, push, shove and kick till you're back on the train again It is time, It is time, It is time When you sense the night in broad daylight When you still know what's wrong but you no longer know what's right When you're just resigned, made up your mind That it's not kind to be cruel but it's cruel to be kind And the horrible news that you're not so clever You're learning it now though you know you've known it forever When you finally give up and you stop ignoring That you've turned into your father who turned into his father before him It is time, It is time, It is time, It is time, It is time Time to have children It’s time to have children It’s time to have children It is time
10.
She's not the girl next door She got me once before Sixteen and heaven sent She seemed so innocent She wears her Grandma's clothes She's not like other girls Old records on her bed And cobwebs in her head DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM She doesn't know the rules She mustn't go to school She says it's not good for her health So her Daddy teaches her himself DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM You know the vicar's boy He had his life destroyed last year No, he's never been the same Since he first called out her name DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH LAURA INGRAHAM I saw her yesterday I should have run away But she combed my hair with her fingertips So I said a prayer, then I kissed her lips She’ll hurt you She’ll hurt you
11.
Well, the fog's coming down And the moon is a blur And you want something to eat So you're wandering the streets In the pouring rain And your friends are all there With a girl on each arm Laughing, smoking cigarettes And you’re all soaking wet In the pouring rain And everyone is smiling everyone is beautiful And there's a silver lining, silver lining in your soul And everything is shining everything is beautiful All the policemen are drunk Though the night's just begun The whole city's gonna drown And the wind'll blow you down In the pouring rain And everyone is smiling everyone is beautiful And there's a silver lining, silver lining in your soul And everything is shining everything is beautiful And the girl at your side Holds your umbrella high She's got everything you need And her kisses are so sweet In the pouring rain And everyone is smiling everyone is beautiful And there's a silver lining, silver lining in your soul And everything is shining everything is beautiful In the pouring rain In the pouring rain In the pouring rain
12.
Walking down the road to Beijing Big city, dark red cloud Left my home this Sunday morning Nobody’s gonna help me now All my life I been a good man Read the words of Chairman Mao Never caused any trouble But noboby’s gonna help me now I don’t like the men from Shanghai Gonna tear my old house down They tell me I got thirty days and Nobody’s gonna help you now Don’t know where they get their money They’re gonna build a brand new town This used to be farming country Nobody gonna help us now Walking down the road to Beijing Big city, dark red cloud All my life I been a kind man Nobody’s gonna help me now Gonna see a man from the Party Gonna tell him what’s going down My wife says I’m old and foolish Nobody’s gonna help you now Cowboys on their motorcycles Hair as long as Genghis Khan They laugh at me and the clothes I’m wearing Nobody gonna help me now I hate them all and their easy women I curse them all and I’ve made a vow When I get home I swear I’ll kill them Nobody’s gonna help them now Walking down the road to Beijing Big city, dark red cloud Gonna see a man from the Party But nobody’s gonna help me now
13.
One day we’ll see the sky again It’s waiting there behind the rain One day, my love One day, my love I'm offering a guarantee You’re suffering cos you can’t see The way, my love Stay, my love We’ve come too far to turn back now It’s only just a drifting cloud You say it’s been there all along You didn’t see when it was gone I loved you then I love you still I’m holding on, I hope you will All those times you’ve pulled me through This time I’m pulling you Even when the light is gone Even then the fight can still be won One day the truth will bloom again We’ll make juice from the sugar cane One day, my love One day, my love Our enemies are all around They’ll never feel the love we’ve found No way, my love Don’t stray, my love We’ve come too far to turn back now It’s only just a drifting cloud Remember how we used to be It isn’t just a memory I loved you then I love you still I’m holding on, I hope you will I’m putting all my faith in you Deep down you want me to Yeah the flame will always burn And one day the tide will surely turn One day we’ll see the sky again It’s waiting there behind the rain One day, my love One day, my love One day the truth will bloom again We’ll make juice from the sugar cane One day, my love One day, my love
14.
Girls with glasses and ten dollar arses That's what I like Big ol' fat ones, yellow and black ones That's what I like Ladies from Boston with college degrees Swimmers and gymnasts with knobbly knees Working class mothers and rich divorcees That's what I like Fun ones with dimples, young ones with pimples That's what I like Sly ones and strippers, shy ones in slippers That's what I like Farmer's daughters, engineers wives Girls who throw parties, girls who throw knives Spinsters who've made the most of their lives That's what I like But only just to look Darling, I promise on the book Born again Christians who read Solzhenitsyn That's what I like Brunettes, redheads, feminists, deadheads That's what I like Girls who've been thirty for twenty five years Some they talk dirty, so cover your ears Ladies who ride you like charioteers That's what I like But only just to look Darling, I promise on the book Vegetarians hooked on vitamins Arabs, Jews, senior citizens Russians, Turks, Tutsis, Hutus Busty girls from Tonga in tutus Is it so strange? Is it so wrong? I'm not ashamed to sing this song Cos that's what I like
15.
Road Song 04:27
When the race is won And there’s nowhere left to run I’ll be coming home When everything makes sense And you're out out of cigarettes I’ll be coming home I’ll be coming home Very very very very very very very soon January, February, March, April, May or June Lean your elbows on the window sill Smell the roses and the daffodils Been so long I hope you want me still I love you, darling, and I always will I love you, darling, and I always will When the light begins to fade And the truth has been proclaimed I’ll be coming home When all the treasure has been found The engine, it’s gonna turn around I’ll be coming home I’ll be coming home Very very very very very very very soon January, February, March, April, May or June Lean your elbows on the window sill Smell the roses and the daffodils Been so long I hope you want me still I love you, darling, and I always will I love you, darling, and I always will Very very very very very very very soon I’ll be coming home Very very very very very very very soon I’ll be coming home Very very very very very very very soon I’ll be coming home Very very very very very very very soon...

about

The Anglo-American troubadour actually has some friends? With them he concocts an acoustic medley of new tunes and greatest hits.

I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS, Spottiswoode’s first acoustic record for almost a decade, finds the formerly New York-based singer-songwriter without his usual band of Enemies. Indeed he’s in a whole different continent. His friends in this case are two Germans and an Englishman: Matti Müller (guitar), Angi Stricker (percussion) and Jonny Gee (double bass). They also provide gorgeous backing harmonies.

Half of the songs will be familiar to Spottiswoode fans. They include two title tracks from previous Spottiswoode & His Enemies albums: the gospel lament, Building A Road, and the cheeky cabaret waltz, That’s What I Like. Other old favourites include the achingly romantic In The Pouring Rain, the neo-Cuban wrist-slitter The Cold Days Of December, the demented nursery rhymes Mummy’s Got Strange Friends and Don’t Fall In Love With Laura Ingraham, as well as the anthemic Beautiful Monday, a tune recently performed by Luke Treadaway in the movie A Streetcat Named Bob.

“No two gigs of mine are ever the same but I often play a lot of these tunes at my acoustic shows. I’m happy to have them in one place. Matti had encouraged me to make an unplugged record. When he offered free studio time in Hildesheim and I discovered that he and Jonny and Angi were available I jumped at the chance.”

The newer tunes capture even more of the emotional breadth of Spottiswoode’s songwriting. All The World Is Waiting tells the story of a young woman fleeing the Napoleonic Wars. “It was only after the birth of my daughter that I understood what it was about.” Road To Beijing is a Depression era delta blues with a twist - it’s set in modern China! A Chinese peasant who has been kicked off his farm walks to Beijing to complain to the government. Other highlights include the country heartbreaker Bulletproof and the gorgeously bittersweet One Day My Love, both duets which Spottiswoode sings with Angi Stricker. The bell-like clarity of Stricker’s voice blends perfectly with Spottiswoode’s weathered baritone.

Referred to as a “genius” and a “downtown ringleader” by The New Yorker, Spottiswoode is the son of an American opera singer and an English clergyman. WNYC’s John Schaefer describes him as “one of New York’s more colorful band leaders for more than a decade.” Now based in the UK, Spottiswoode plays regularly in London and on the continent as well as with his Enemies in the USA. His songs have been featured in a wide variety of movies and TV shows. His award-winning gothic rock opera, Above Hell’s Kitchen, played to sold-out crowds at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. His screenplay, Either Side Of Midnight, was recently made into a feature film by veteran James Bond director Roger Spottiswoode - remarkably no relation!

credits

released August 1, 2023

Spottiswoode: Guitar and vocals
Jonny Gee: Double Bass and vocals
Matti Müller: Guitar and vocals
Angi Stricker: Vocals and percussion

Recorded at Studio 42, Hildesheim, Germany
Engineered by Robert Schäfer and Christoph Lubrich
Mixed by Spottiswoode & Müller at Mill Lane Yards, London, UK
Mastered by Michael Scherchen at mixfactory.co.uk
Photos and Artwork by Clare Elliott

All songs © Jonathan Spottiswoode, J Spot Music ASCAP
Except “Hanging On The Drop Edge of Yonder” © Jonathan Spottiswoode & Chris Alastair Marquardt, J SPOT Music ASCAP, Fur Tub Six Music ASCAP

Thanks to Clare Elliott, Kenny White, Chris Marquardt, Hans and Dagmar Müller, Christian Müller, Michèle Meire, Mark Roberts, Vince Garcia

Thanks as always to Enemies John Young, Tim Vaill, Candace DeBartolo, Kevin Cordt, Riley McMahon, Tony Lauria

Big Thanks also to Lovers: Paul Cohn, Chris Kocher, Perry Metzger, Valerie & Mark Noble, Steven & Lila Pague, Josh Raborn, Kjell Widlert, Kim & Pilo Holm, Randy Haus, Justin & Maria King

To Antisocialite: Alaina Allen

And to ArchEnemies: Will Cosby and Lisa Johnson

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Spottiswoode & His Enemies New York, New York

For over 2 decades, Spottiswoode & His Enemies have been a constantly self-reinventing New York institution. The IMA winners recently earned three more nominations for their 7th record, LOST IN THE CITY, “an immersive theater-of-the-mind love letter to New York”.

Spottiswoode's songs appear in numerous TV shows and films including Either Side Of Midnight for which he also wrote the screenplay.
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