Shah Mat, by Steve Towson and The Conscripts

Shah Mat

by Steve Towson and The Conscripts

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1.	The Straits of Gibraltar 02:03	lyrics	buy track
The Straits Of Gibraltar (Steve Towson) I'm waiting to receive a confirmation So I can live with you But something is wrong Something is broken My message it ain't getting through So I pull these lips up to the receiver But there's no connection there And all of the while The cycle continues To spiral to despair Oh but the straits of Gibraltar Keeps on calling me to cross The straits of Gibraltar My hope lies beyond those rocks Life and death, fear and security All depend upon that sea As the sands of chance keep on rising Filling up the best of me Ice white moons keep on moving Casting shadows down in the path Of the range of waves that I keep on climbing How long can this treatment last How long can the treatment last How long can I last The straits of Gibraltar Keeps on calling me to cross The straits of Gibraltar My hope lies beyond those rocks
2.	Long Drive Through Ipswich 03:26	lyrics	buy track
Long Drive Through Ipswich (Steve Towson) Cause it's a long drive through Ipswich Long drive through town Long drive through Ipswich as the sun is setting down On me I can see the look of anguish Written across your face As I lay down your weary hand I can see you've reached the end of your race For the poison it lies within your blood The poison's in your belly I can hear the banshee as she howls Moving through the corridor For all of your life you vested your trust In the hands of those driven by lust For convenience Financial reward Until at last you severed the cord
3.	If This Is What It Means 01:51	lyrics	buy track
If This Is What It Means (Steve Towson) I met her on a Monday, she was battered and bruised And I said what the hell has been happening to you? She said, don't you ever fall in love with a man Who only solves problems with a hit from his hands And if this is what it means to be in love She said, I don't wanna deal with it If he doesn't love me anymore At least he could respect his own kids Some said it must be the power of the drink But I said, it's just the way that the arsehole thinks You fell in love when you were in your teens I think he just grew cold bitter and mean For a real man he doesn't punch holes in walls Real men they don't pretend to be strong Real men they don't make you feel small For a real man will make you feel like you're his world I met her again after a year had past She said, I've been seeing a guy who details cars He's been so kind, sweet and loving to my kids He says he loves me and I think I've fallen for him And if this is what it means to be in love She said, I wanna die while I'm deep in it How much better could life simply be Than finding someone who loves you and your kids
4.	Billy Hughes' Army 03:18	lyrics	buy track
Billy Hughes' Army (Traditional/Steve Towson) Why don't you join Billy Hughes' army With ten bob a day and nothing to eat Great big boots and blisters on your feet Why don't you join Billy Hughes' army Why don't you join Suharto's army With a gun in hand sent overseas To kill for family companies Why don't you join Suharto's army Why don't you join little George's army The son of a king, he's a fraud in the ring Telling to kill in the name of peace Why don't you join little George's army
5.	Tonight We Storm the Bastille 03:14	lyrics	buy track
Tonight We Storm The Bastille (Steve Towson) Right now it is one for all For an attack on one is an attack on all We'll dig our way underneath the prison floors While others scale over the barbed wire walls To free the innocent locked inside For tonight we're taking no more of your lies For tonight we'll break their barricades Yes tonight we'll make them watch For criminals have a hold of this country And they're squeezing it for all that it's got No more drowning lies or cheap politics Some say you're liberal but I know you're sick For feeding your greed from the desperate in need Is not what I'd call a safe society So the stage is set and all the names have been cast The whole world's seen the colours of their hearts So come storm the Bastille with the cry one for all Those with belief, religion or any law That speaks of human dignity The sanctity of life For this system needs fixing and it must be tonight
6.	6 am 04:57	lyrics	buy track
6am (Steve Towson) 6 am I'm alone Again How are you? Where are you going? I want you I need you I miss you Like a hole I can't fix I want you I need you 6 am I'm alone
7.	The Remains of Us 02:17	lyrics	buy track
The Remains Of Us (Steve Towson) The smell of you was on my pillow When I woke up without you today Before I met you I was so lonely Oh the summer nights To lie next to you and just to feel your thighs The sweat runs down and stings my sight On the long summer nights The thought of lying in your arms awhile And basking in the pleasure of your smile All the things that you sent me Made me feel like I'm wanted They made me feel like I'm needed They made me feel like I'm wanted The remains of us were on the window Where we pressed ourselves against the glass that day Too much talk So much confusion No affection So much confusion Is all that remains Of the summer nights To lie next to you and just to feel your thighs The sweat runs down and stings my sight On the long summer nights
8.	No One WIll Do You Any Harm 01:21	lyrics	buy track
Noone Will Do You Any Harm (Steve Towson) Never before was such sorrow seen As I see on your expression today Please believe I never meant to leave But circumstance drove me away So please take your pill, I will take mine Hold me in your arms For while we are together nothing can go wrong Noone will do you any harm
9.	All The Lords And Their Ladies 04:12	lyrics	buy track
All The Lords and Their Ladies (Steve Towson) A burning sun is setting down Behind a crowded beach And something in this tropical scene Feels so obscene I get the indication It's the colour of my skin That makes me feel so out of place So alien And the lords and their ladies walk on by Staring down from their pedestals at me Sometimes I wish I could swallow every single lie So they let me be I take a look to the right See the rising of white pride As goose-step gutless brownshirts Return calling for genocide They make their saints from our demons And their leaders from madmen Backed by big business Religion and so-called gentlemen And the lords and their ladies walk on by Staring down from their high horses at me Sometimes I wish I could swallow every single lie So they let me be
10.	A Love Like Water 05:09	lyrics	buy track
A Love Like Water (Steve Towson) I drink in your beauty and I bathe in your words But that is not enough to satisfy the thirst The desire, the longing to be alone For that is just the way that evolution goes A love like water Seeping through my hands A love like water Beyond my command I know I shouldn't want you but there's something infectious in a smile That keeps me wanting safe harbourage to anchor for a while So I step into the cyclone of a love to plant myself the seed In the hope it might mature in time to shelter me From a love like water Seeping through my hands A love like water Beyond my command And as I build my home in the middle of the ocean Water mixes with my mortar Bricks they get swept away Taking all my foundations A love like water Seeping through my hands A love like water Beyond my command
11.	Your Tears Mean Nothing To Me 02:13	lyrics	buy track
Your Tears Mean Nothing To Me (Steve Towson) Don't bother wasting my time Telling me how hard your life is At least you know at your all-time low You've got somewhere to go You've got somewhere to be You've got somewhere to live Your tears mean nothing to me They mean nothing at all to me They mean nothing to me You just degrade those who are different to you But how'd you feel if you were forced to live In someone else's shoes? You just give but you can't receive You just give but you can't receive You just give but you don't receive
12.	A Beautiful Murri Girl 02:57	lyrics	buy track
A Beautiful Murri Girl (Steve Towson) From across the dance floor her eyes hooked on me Dragging me into her world I knew I was falling in love with a beautiful murri girl Well everything the racist media dictated it smashed upon love's rocks that day When I stared into her eyes I knew all racists are full of shit You're my beautiful Murri girl Well Nova set my heart alight when she started talking equal rights The struggle for equality For all, Beauty, love, life and desire You're my beautiful Murri girl And no, one nation can't make me stay away One nation won't make me stay away I will make all the racists pay for my beautiful murri girl You're my beautiful Murri girl

about

First full length album by Steve Towson and The Conscripts.

credits

released January 1, 2006

All songs by Steve Towson except "Billy Hughes Army" which is an arrangement of a traditional anti-conscription Australian song.
Steve Towson - guitar, vocals, piano, percussion, organ, drums
Ness Glenn - cello and backing vocals
Andy (Choppa) Peachy - drums except tracks 4 and 9
JR - didgeridoo
Scotty Brique - drums and piano
Paul Thompson - sax on "All the Lords and Ladies"

Recorded at Zero Interference Studios in Brisbane Australia
Produced by Bryce Moorhead and Steve Towson

Artwork by Hannah Suarez
Photography by Silvana Macarone