Endorphin Bath & Todd E. Jones presents...

Headache Rhetoric

by CLOSE LOBSTERS

Headache Rhetoric: Lovely Little Swan, Gunpowderkeg, Nature Thing, My Days Are Numbered, Gut Ache, Got Apprehension, Gulp, Words On Power, Skyscrapers, Knee Trembler.

This album is a loud and nervous record with tight songs and pounding beats. They introduce something called "Warpin'" which adds a psychedelic chaotic feel to it. Every song on this album is brilliant!!! Here, I, Todd E. Jones will give my personal summary/review of each song and try to interpret the lyrics. In the lyrics, the ones in parenthesis with the (?) are just guesses. I've been listening to them for years and I still can not fully understand every word. Well, say farewell to the lovely little swan until your knees tremble.  -todd e jones 

"This is the best effort of the underrated guitar-driven popsters.".
-- David Szatmary,  All-Music Guide 

Also, check out...
Howard Turner on The Recording of "Headache Rhetoric".
He was there! He was in the recording studio while they made the album!
HEADACHE RHETORIC
Lovely Little Swan - (The sharp, fast & hard guitar kicks this song off and then, the beat kicks in with the bass. Andrew sings "I'll come round" and every line echoes for a great effect. This is an amazing way to begin the album since the song is about saying good-bye. It just shows that things are beginning when other things are ending. In this case it is "Headache Rhetoric". The break in the middle of the song brings it back to the lone guitar into which is similar to the beginning. "You have a lovely mouth, you have a lovely hyde, you have a lovely stomach, you have a lovely psyche", Andrew sings and then repeats with a precious jangle of guitar to accentuate the beauty of this moment. It's a precious good-bye but just the beginning... Beautiful, a Close Lobsters classic! - Todd E. Jones)

I'll come round - if you come over - to our way of thinking
Light blue vision - On the open sea - Drifting and listening
On the open sea -  My little swan
Good-bye my little swan - I hope you won't forget
Stop to recollect too long
I'll come over - If you come round - to our way of thinking
Light blue vision - calm and dreaming
On The open sea
Farewell my little swan - You don't want to forget
Stop to recollect too much
You have a lovely mouth - You have a lovely height
You have a lovely stomach - You have a lovely psyche
You have a lovely mouth - You have a lovely hyde height
You have a lovely stomach - You have a lovely psyche
psyche - psyche
Stop coming back - Keep coming back
Just to mess me up like that
My little swan - My epi-center
Good-bye my little swan - I know you won't forget
Stop to recollect to long
One day my little swan...


Gunpowderkeg - (Though on the c.d.this song actually begins on track one, it's cool. Mellow with a pounding beat, the guitars jangle over it. Andrew sings his way through this song with his voice at a higher pitch. Then, the chorus with Andrew's voice deeper: "Near where I want to be. Near where I want to be" ) - Todd E. Jones

Nature Thing - (The hard sonic maelstrom flush of the guitar sets it off. Andrew Burnett's laid-back "Oh" makes the drums roll and then the listener takes off. The driving beat and the looping bass line makes this song not only a sonic masterpiece of epic proportions but just so damn' cool! With a quickness, Andrew talks the lyrics with a thick accent. The chorus is just adds to the coolness in a gothic / pop / noise / pre-shoegazer way. "Hold still, still, still, I'll nail you down"... A Close Lobsters classic!)

Rat catch an early recollection of group disorder in our street
With half bricks and sticks and sticks of which
Whack me on the head
Not quite hard enough a thump to determine the nature of things
Not quite hard enough a thump to determine the nature of things
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down
So who put those questions there coming at you double quick fire
The first hit of political stick left a bright red sting
Not quite hard enough a thump to determine the nature of things
Not quite hard enough a thump to determine the nature of things
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down
Thing is you cant grow back what is mowed down
Thing is your own back yard is overgrown
Thing is you cant grow back what is mowed down
Thing is your own back yard is overgrown
(guitar solo)
Knocks and blows and bitterness fashion more much more then sympathy
storms of stones and sticks and half bricks
reflect how it all is
storms of stones and sticks and half bricks
the very perfect nature of things
storms of stones and sticks and half bricks
the very perfect nature of things
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down
So, hold still, still, still,
I'll nail you down"


My Days Are Numbered -(An upbeat drum beat and bouncy pop bass line gives the song a jump up and down feel. Like the Pixies, the songs seems so happy and joyous while the lyrics are being sung about dying!!! His "steps are aimless" and he "couldn't care less". This is a wonderful pop song! It makes living on the edge and almost dying seem fun! The twisted perversion of it is brilliant! "My theories are pseudo hollow and thoroughly weightless.... My elastic glands are stretched across oceans of stress" Where can you find lyrics like this? You can't! Only the Close Lobsters can do a song like this. The chorus even changes to complicate the song and make it even more sophisticated: "My days are numbered, I don't know what to do. My lights are flashing, how about you?" Brilliant! A Close Lobsters classic!)

My days are numbered and structured at cross purposes
My steps are aimless and i couldn't care less
I stumbled on DNA once and sucked in CS gas
My reality is Television - records
I disappeared one day in a blinding blue flash
I stumbled on DNA once and stuck it up my....
my conscience is non-existent i'm numb with disinterest
my elastic arms are stretched across oceans of stress
my days are numbered
i dont know what to do
my lights are flashing
how about you ?
....
My days are numbered
I know exactly what to do
My brain is bending
How about you?
My theories are psuedo hollow and thouroughly weightless
My mind is polluted by dreary sixties sickness
My fabrications are solidly ludicrous
I stumbled on CS gas while I sucked in DNA
My days are numbered
i know exactly what to do
my lights are flashing
how about you ?"


Gut Ache -(The rolling drums introduce this brilliant pop song. Then, the driving beat and looping bass brings it all together. Like the previous song, the tempo is fast and furiously happy while the lyrics are about "bones cracking" and "gut ache". "My heart is broken, my bones are cracked and I have gut ache." Overall, it's a love song about a broken heart. "Walk over broken glass - {whispered in the background} Just to get next to her"...This is a perfect pop song and could of expanded their audience on the indie-pop charts. Most girls I know who hear this album, like this song. Another Close Lobsters classic!)

My heart is killing, my bones are cracked and I
have gut ache
I fall over often and I spill all over the place
If there's something bugging you I'll assist it off you're chest
My bones are killing, my heart is cracked and I
have this taste
My heart is broken, my guts are cracked and I
have gut ahce
I fall over often and manage (uh-uh?) all over the place
Let me dive down deep and never ever come back up
My guts are cracked, my heart is broken and I
have this taste
(knock me up. ???)
(Knock me up today ?)
Walk over broken glass
Just to get next to her
(???????)
(??????) for her
Don't want to talk about - anyone else
Don't want to think about -  anyone else
My heart is killing, my bones are cracked and I
have gut ache
I fell over often and I spill all over the place
If there's something bugging you I'll assist it off you're chest
My bones are killing, my heart is cracked and I
have gutache


Got Apprehension -(A jangle of an-almost acoustic guitar starts the second side. There's a pulsating bass line which adds to the into and then, the typical beat of this album kicks in. Andrew talks the lyrics in his thick accent. "Put head on the chopping block... Decapitation is nothing to be scared of." Once again, the music is happy and poppy but the lyrics are about death - in this case, getting your head chopped off on the guillotine. Chorus: "I think I got something, I think I picked up something. I may have got something.")

"Put your neck on the chopping block
Sieze this day laugh the airheads off
Decline the blindfold - watch them chop
Decapatation is nothing to be scared of
Put your neck on the chopping block
You'll feel the left side of your skull box
Get out your face and your mind will follow
Let me help you with what you care for
Only if you're sure
Of this you can be sure
I think I got something, I think I picked up something
I may have got something
I think I got something, I think I picked up something
I may have got something
Put your neck on the chopping block
Seize this day laugh the heir's heads off
Troubles made to see you so (disturbed?)
Let me help you with what you care for
Only if you're sure
Of this you can be sure
Apprehension
I think I got something, I think I picked up something
I think I got something
I think I got something, I think I picked up something
I may have got something"


Gulp -(This is cool song. It's upbeat and the lyrics are not about death..at least, not many. "I swallowed black poison cherry, it still hasn't really {registered?}" What is really cool about this song is that there is not lyrical chorus. The music changes between sets of lyrics but there is not repetitious chorus in this song."I let it gulp you to a delicate dream?" I don't know. The lyrics are a little weird and hard to fully understand... still, a cool song.)

I wish i could tell you how much it means
without letting go to too delicate dreams
I have swallowed a black poison cherry
it still hasn't really registered
I lost my balance when you sat on my knees
spooked in a spell by the North Sea
(??In a disaster, grab a kiss??)
No one ever really (holds that close?)
Just carry on being what you are
Look up over morning at a new perfect star
Come to me - come to me
I'm on your side - (eternity?)
scan the sky invoke a storm
i count the seconds and they're far, far, far, too long"


Words On Power -(Brilliant!!! This is one of my favorite Close Lobsters song... ever! It's obviously about relationships. I think it's about a person telling another person to gain power in their life when they are heart broken by a woman."Her hair was blue and her eyes were black, she's never ever coming back. There's no sense in thinking too much on it but not willing it doesn't hurt. There's no sense in willing too much on it, by not thinking it doesn't hurt." The song is slower than most of the songs on the album and there is not that much sonic noise. The guitars jangle and gives this song the feel of "Foxheads Stalk This Land". At the end of the song when he says, "Once I was in the same position myself, I think I survived.", the beat gets more upbeat with a tambourine and the guitars just flow.It just makes you feel so damn' good! It's a perfect song to listen to when your down that would cheer you up. It's not corny, not sappy, just realistic and intelligent. It's a perfect pop song! Precious, intelligent, and completely universal in themes... A Close Lobsters classic masterpiece!)

I hate that wanting too much, so much
Some things don't bear analysis.
Here hair was blue and her eyes were black
She's never, ever coming back
There's no sense in thinking too much on it by not willing it doesn't hurt.
There's no sense in willing too much on it by not thinking it doesn't hurt.
A few days ago you were distinctively all right
Now you're back heading on for grimness
I never imagined for a moment you were (that scared?)
It's time you got some sense in that head of yours
You don't blink slow as not to miss a thing
Just leave it (open ended?)
You don't blink slow as not to miss a thing
Just let it sort itself out
- {guitar solo} -
Not something you can turn on and off like a tap
But it's (reared? stayed? weird?) when the power goes dead
Need someone else and completely forget
Make glaring big mistakes
Don't blink slow as not to miss a trick
Just leave it (opened ended?)
Once I was in the same position myself
I think I survived.


Skyscrapers - (This is a remake version of the song "Skyscrapers Over St. Miran" on "What Is There To Smile About?". It's a brilliant pop song but not one which grabs you instantly. It grows on you. The lyrics are weird and the beat is mellow. The pound of the bass drum introduces the song with the weird "warpin'" effect used. It kind of sounds like spirits or mystical things flying thru and around everything. "Good God, it all changed here.". It goes perfectly with this album. The chorus is not your average pop song chorus: "Just waiting for the planet to reflect and {durade?} back to the moon. Just waiting for the planet to reflect and interfere with my daydream." Then, the chorus gets a little more normal: "Will you be caught with your pants down and move on a step or two? Will you be caught with your pants down and get all these things done?" It's a classic Close Lobsters song but I have no idea while the hell it's called "Skyscrapers".)

"Good God, it all changed here. The stars must have switched position
Creating an (unwelcome?) question mark
Mostly over a town of patterns.
Just waiting for the planet to reflect and (durade?) back to the moon. Just waiting for the planet to reflect and interfere with my daydream.
Good god it all swapped here. The stars must have swapped positions
Creating a sense of rearrangement
Mostly over a town of patterns.
Just waiting for the planet to reflect and doom ray back to the moon.
Just waiting for the planet to reflect and interfere with my daydream.
Will you be caught with your pants down and move on a step or two?
Will you be caught with your pants down and get all these things done?
Will you be caught with your pants down and move on a step or two?
Will you be caught with your pants down?
I never listened to a coo-coo vigour
And reaffirm what we're following,
Is nothing but whats at the end
Of our rainbow noses.
Just waiting for the planet to reflect and doom ray back to the moon.
Just waiting for the planet to reflect and interfere with my daydream.
Will you be caught with your pants down and move on a step or two?
Will you be caught with your pants down and get all these things done?
Will you be caught with your pants down and move on a step or two?
Will you be caught with your pants down?


Knee Trembler-(The beat, bass, and guitar introduces this song with edge. From the title and the into, you know this is going to be wild and it sure is... "I have a headache rhetoric! and I'm so happy I can slit my wrists!" Well... need I say more? Like "Mother Of God" on "Foxheads Stalk This Land", this song has a hypnotic beat, bass line and guitar chords with Andrew talking his weird lyrics.. Then, the chorus: "Knee trembler" repeated a couple of times begins the second half of the song. He sings the rest of the lyrics quicker and more upbeat like they are closer together. This is an intense song with cool lyrics. "This is nothing worth repeating"... Where the hell would you find a song with a line like that to end the album? Nowhere. Towards the end of the song, the warpin' starts and adds a cool psychedelic effect. There's some light "doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo ahhh" Then Andrew says "Knee Trembler". Cool. It's a Close Lobsters epic masterpiece!)

I have a headache rhetoric - And I'm so happy I could slit my wrists
This is an empty vessel lesson - A collective works of what the mystic insults
oh
This is an (arm?) of disorientation - A central nervous brain of terror
This is the heart of emptiness - Banging the broken bell of treason
oh
These are words of one that're lost- Absurd and cracked under the surface
This is a twisted awkward beacon
I have to do nothing about the great boredom
oh
Knee trembler (4X)
I have a headache rhetoric, I'm so happy I could slit my wrists
This is an arm of disorientation, This is an empty vessel lesson
Have to do nothing about the great boredom
Have to do something about the great boredom
This is where the universe ends
This is a fable of desolation
This is where the whole world crumbles
In an age of (a reforming gyro-flem?)
This is the face of (Victoria Rome?) (or "victorian Rome?")
These are (grammar casualties?)
This is a (briefing?) for your unwanted money
This is a (cost and scheme in stress?)
This is nothing worth repeating
These are (characters?) of assassination
Knee Trembler(2X)

All songs written by A. Burnett, R. Burnett, Donnelly, McFayden, Wilmington 
Published by Hallin Music.
 Headache Rhetoric was recorded between November 1988 & January 1989
At Raven Recording Studios, Norfolk.
Released by Enigma and Fire Records in 1988
Produced by Phil Vinall
Engineered by Howard Turner
Original Sound Recording by Fire of London.


 
 
 
The Official CLOSE LOBSTERS Home Page

Part ONE - An Interview With A Lobster: ANDREW BURRNETT
Part TWO -  An Interview With A Lobster: ANDRREW BURNETT
 The CLOSE LOBSTERS Audio Page
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...other recordings...
" FOXHEADS STALK THIS LAND "
"WHAT IS THERE TO SMILE ABOUT?"


 

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