HATFIELD & THE NORTH
"The Rotters' Club" (1975)

SHARE IT
Words by Pip Pyle, Music by Richard Sinclair

Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear
"Hey there! Rotter's Club!
Explain the meaning of this song and share it"

There's no way of understanding what's been going on
I lost track yesterday
Now I found out that it's generosity that turns me on
So let's keep it that way
Help yourself to me, I'll help myself to you
and all your friends - we can spread it around
So if you can spare it then come on and share it
Let's get on with it cause we're wasting our time

Please do not take it seriously really, what a joke!
The only thing that matters is to share it

Crass displays of acute embarrassment would make you cringe
Spend your money elsewhere
I won't trouble you with all that cheap philosophy
It's better still to watch that on T.V.
Most especially adverts of some slinky hairspray
When the plastic actresses take off their clothes
Just to demonstrate all their curves and cleavages
and subtleties quite forgetting their hair

Please do not take it seriously really, what a joke!
The only thing to do is grin and bear it

Mirthless merriment, sickly sentiments so commonplace
It would bore you to tears
Give me non-stop laughter, dispel disaster
Or the Rotter's Club might well lop off your ears

Laughing and drinking, dancing, grooving, stoned again
Falling over singing, hoping that you'll share it

FITTER STOKE HAS A BATH
Words and Music by Pip Pyle

You don't suspect my life's a mess
You prob'ly think it's groovy
Meeting people every day
See some place abroad
But I admit that when the time is right
It can be quite a laugh
But you know, that's not often
Eventually, I think that you will agree
I'm only putting lines out
And shifting gears, missing years disappear

As for you I couldn't bear to think of it
They said you were Swedish
You asked me for a chocolate bar
Then you went and spoiled it all by eating it
What a pain, what a nause!
You can imagine my delight
Was like some R. Crumb magazine come to life
Thank you ladies you had us all
I hope you both enjoyed it

But just the same
I'm happy just to sit around at home
With Pamela looking elegant and writing prose
If anyone's in need of me
I'm drowning in the bathroom

Bing billy bong - silly song going wrong
Ping pong ping, clong cling dong
Ping pong ping, my head's gone

Bing billy bang, Desperate Dan, frying pan
Cling clong cling, bong bing bang
Michael Miles, bogeyman

DIDN'T MATTER ANYWAY
Words and Music by Richard Sinclair

It didn't matter anyway
We'll meet again some other day
Till then keep well
You'll be in my dreams
Goodnight, goodbye, bye for now...

The time has come to leave you
Please don't feel alone
For now that we've met
There'll be a way to reach you and say
"Never mind..."

It didn't matter anyway
We'll meet again some other day
Till then keep well
You'll be in my dreams
Goodnight, goodbye, bye for now...

MUMPS (THE ALPHABET SONG)
Words and Music by Dave Stewart

I have minded my P's and Q's
Tried not to damage any W's
And if I tread upon a B
I'll pick it up and tell it earnestly
"I'm sorry!"
Which of course I am
You mustn't upset them
Or badly neglect them
Or else they'll refuse to work for you

I have minded my V's and U's
Tried to prevent them being badly used
And if I tread upon the C
I tend to sink beneath the surface gracefully

As for the task of keeping O's and K's apart
You'd be right to suppose that this is quite an art
I've trod with caution round the J's and Z's
I remain a man of letters to the end
Balancing syllables upon my knees
I've flown through the air with the greatest of E's
I did what you told me to
Now I only have I's for U

HALFWAY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH
Words by Richard Sinclair (with Dave Stewart), Music by Richard Sinclair

We're needing your love to guide us
If you just could, then we just would
Join in the mood of being
Halfway 'tween Heaven and Earth

If you feel like singing, sing it
If you just could, then we just would
Feel what the other's feeling
Even though we're far apart

Thanks for the colours you gave me
With them I can make a new start
Plan a new part for the future
A new resolution, gather my thoughts
Follow my heart, for here I am
Halfway 'tween Heaven and Earth, gently drifting
Caught in my dreams, supported by schemes
we wrote together, wondering whether
the words that were missing didn't belong
or might have been wrong
But so long as we can, we'll...

Follow moonbeams from afar
Touch the moon and chase the stars
Catch the sun and let it go
Find a way of saying so
Happy with you when we're
Halfway 'tween Heaven and Earth we'll remain
It's not like England, Holland or Spain!
What on Earth or what in Heaven's name
Is happening to me?
With you I want to be - I'll never leave you!

Halfway 'tween Heaven and Earth
Being with you's harmony
Sing a new song for the future
Although it's absurd just how it occurs
Without any words - goes 'do-dah-dee,
Doodle a-do-dah...'