ABACAB

released in 1981
Tony Banks - Phil Collins - Mike Rutherford

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ABACAB (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Look up on the wall, there on the floor
Under the pillow, behind the door
There's a crack in the mirror
Somewhere there's a whole in the window pane
Do you think I'm to blame?
Tell me do you think I'm to blame?

When they do it you're never there
When they show it you stop and stare
Abacab isn't anywhere
Abacab

If you're wrapping up the world
'Cos you've taken someone elses girl
When they turn on the pillow
Even when they answer the telephone
Don't you think they'll find out
Tell me don't you think they'll find out

When they do it you're never there
When they show it you stop and stare
Abacab isn't anywhere
Abacab doesn't really care

You want it, you've got it, you've got to go
You want it, you've got it, well now you know

It's an illusion, it's a game
A reflection of someone else's name
When you wake in the morning
Wake and find you're covered in cellophane
Well, there's a whole in there somewhere

Yeah, there's a hole in there somewhere
Baby, there's a hole in there somewhere
Now,  there's a hole in there somewhere

When they do it you're never there
When they show it you stop and stare
Abacab isn't anywhere
Abacab

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NO REPLY AT ALL (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Talk to me, you never talk to me
It seems that I can speak
But I can hear my voice shouting out
But there's no reply at all

Look at me, you never look at me
I've been sitting here staring seems so long
But you're looking through me
Like I wasn't there at all
There's no reply at all

Dance with me, you never dance with me
It seems that I can move
I'm close to you, close as I can get

But there's no reply at all
There's no reply at all

I get the feeling you're trying to tell me
Is there something that I should know
What excuse are you trying to sell me
Should I be reading stop or go, I don't know

Be with me, it seems you're never here with me
I've been trying to get over there
But it's out of my reach
And there's no reply at all
There's no reply at all

I get the feeling you're trying to tell me ...

Maybe deep down inside 
I'm trying for no one else but me
Too stubborn to say, the buck stops here
It's not the one you're looking for
But maybe deep down inside
I'm lying to no-one else but me
But my back is up
I'm on my guard - with all the exits sealed

Listen to me, you never listen to me
And it seems there's no way out
I've been trying but we cannot connect
And there's no reply at all
There's no reply at all
There's no reply at all
No reply at all

Is anybody listening
There's no reply at all

[repeat and fade]

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ME AND SARAH JANE (Banks)
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The fires are burning in another land
Don't start counting, don't start counting
Colder and colder the ice is moving closer
And it gets me down
Going round and round and down the same old track

Pack on my back, going swiftly nowhere
Heart in my ear beating like a drum
Where will you go?

All by yourself

And now I'm standing on a corner
Waiting in the rain
But then in sunlight without warning
I invent a name
Me and Sarah Jane
We had a special thing going
Me and Sarah Jane

It was a time of love and laughter
It would not come again
We had our round of joy but after
Then began the pain
Me and Sarah Jane
We had a special thing going
Me and Sarah Jane
(Sarah Jane)

Searching for a clue
Traces on the sand

First I'm flying, going round round round
Then I'm sliding going down down down
Doesn't matter where I start I always end up
Crawling through those same old crowded rooms

Me and Sarah Jane
We had it coming all along
All the pain
Walking down the streets
And finding nothing is the same
And now the city lights are dimming one by one
It costs too much money to keep them on

Me and Sarah Jane
In silence walk along the shore
Tears of joy and mocking laughter
Words lost in the wind
The tide is rising
But there we stayed
We had no fear of dying
We weren't afraid

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KEEP IT DARK (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Found that man reported missing
He wandered in his home
Don't seem too bad, if you consider
Just what he's been through

Seems he met up with a gang of thieves
Who mistook him for a man of means
They locked him up then found he had no money
So they let him go again
Now he's back at home and happy
Just to see the kids

I wish that I could really tell you
all the things that happened to me
And all that I have seen
A world full of people their hearts full of joy
Cities of light with no fear of war
And thousands of creatures with happier lives
And dreams of a future with meaning and no need to hide

Keep it dark

It seems so strange to have to lie
About a world so bright
And tell instead a made up story
From the world of night

I wish that I could really tell you
All the things that happened to me
And all that I have seen
A world full of people their hearts full of joy
Cities of light with no fear of war
And thousands of creatures with happier lives
And dreams of a future with meaning and no need to lie
No need to hate
No need to hide

Keep it dark

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DODO (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Too big to fly, dodo ugly so dodo must die
Doggo with fear on its side can't change, can't change the tide
Dot baiter, agitator, asking questions says he wants to know why
Ain't no reason that money can't buy
Mink, he pretty so mink he must die, must die

Sun he giving life in his light
Part of the sytem
Friend to man and friend to the trees
No friend to the snowman
Where does he go what does he do?
Does he meet with the mole, the stream, the cloud
And end up at the bottom of the sea

Fish he got a hook in his throat
Fish he got problems
Where does he go, what does he do?
Does he hope he's too small, too poor a haul
And emd up being thrown back in the sea
I'm back in the sea

Caretaker, horror movie
Only one eye, only needs one boot
Sweet lady, she knows she looks good
Vacuum coming for the bright and the brute

Big noise, black smoke
So pig headed couldn't see the joke
But it ain't funny
Ask the fly on the wall
It's only living
It don't matter at all, at all

Pimp he make you drool and grunt
He got an answer
One he got a dream of love
Deep as the ocean

Where does he go?
What does he do?
Will the siren team with Davy Jones
And trap him at the bottom of the sea

I'm back in the sea

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LURKER (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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*Spoken*:  Meanwhile lurking by a stone in the mud,
           two eyes look to see what I was
           And then something spoke and
           this is what it said to me .......

Clothes of brass and hair of brown
Seldom need to breath
Don't need no wings to fly
A heart of stone
A fear of fire and water
Who am I?

[repeat section once and then fade]

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WHODUNNIT? (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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Was it you or was it me?
Or was it he or she?
Wat is a or was it b?
Or was it x or z?

Was it you or was it me?
Or was it he or she?
Who dunnit?

I [repeat I several times] didn't do it
But we all know who did it

[repeat entire lyric once]

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MAN ON THE CORNER (Collins)
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See the lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know
But he waits everyday now
He's just waiting for something to show

And nobody knows him
And nobody cares
'Cos there's no hiding place
There's no hiding place for you

Looking everywhere at no one
He sees everything and nothing at all
Oh, when he shouts nobody listens
Where he leads no one will go

He's a lonely man, there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know
But he waits everyday now
He's just waiting for something to show

Nobody knows him
And nobody cares
'Cos there's no hiding place
There's no hiding plade - for you and me
We're just like all the rest
We're looking for something he's got
Or moving too fast to rest
But like a monkey on your back, you need it
But do yo ulove it enough to leave it

Just like the lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for I don't know
But he waits there everyday now
He's just waiting for something to show

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LIKE IT OR NOT (Rutherford)
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Ah, don't you know I've been on my own
But I'm coming home
And I'd like you to be there
I feel a little cold in the air
And you're now anywhere
You're just another face, I used to know
But there's still a chance to hold on to our love
'Cos I gave you everything, everything I had

Like it or not
You have done it this time
And like it or not, I've had enough

Like it or not
There's a lot I could say
'Cos I've got a lot on my mind
It won't be very long
You're just another face
That I once used to know
And I gave you everything
But what have I got show?

Like it or not
You are out on the street
And like it or not
That's where you will stay
Like it or not
There's another thing darling
Well I just could not stand another day
'Cos if you want to know
There is still a chance to hold on to our love
'Cos I gave you everything
Everything I had - Everything I had

It's been a long, been a long long time
Since I held anybody
Since I loved anyone

It's been a long, been a long long time
But if I'm right or if I'm wrong
Does it matter anyway

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ANOTHER RECORD (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)
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It's funny you know
'Cos there's an old rock 'n' roller
He's got nowhere to go
Did you ever think of taking him in
Somebody help him, somebody please
Put another record on
'Cos he likes that song

It's funny you know
He's never done nothing, done nobody wrong
Did he think about changing his name
I'm gonna tell him, it's the same old game
Put another record on

Round round and around
See him smile

Lately I've seen him
Walking down the street, kind of moving his feet
Everyone I know looks the other way
Somebody help him, somebody say
Put another record on

'Cos he likes that song

It's funny you know
'Cos he's an old rock 'n' roller
He's got nowhere to go
Did you ever think about taking him in
Somebody help him, somebody say
Just put another record on
 ('Cos you know he likes it)

[repeat 'Another record, (cos you know he likes it)' and fade]

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Tony Banks:  Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Phil Collins:  Drums, Vocals
Mike Rutherford:  Guitars, Basses, Backing Vocals

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