Episode 2 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC

In the world of pop, it's hard to find an original talent,

but here is one. A man who is writing and singing

some of the best songs around at the moment.

With his latest, Where Do You Go To My Lovely, Peter Sarstedt.

APPLAUSE

# You talk like Marlene Dietrich

# And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire

# Your clothes are all made by Balmain

# And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are

# And you live in a fancy apartment

# Off the boulevard of St Michel

# Where you keep your Rolling Stones records

# And a friend of Sacha Distel Yes you do

# But where do you go to my lovely

# When you're alone in your bed?

# Tell me the thoughts that surround you

# I want to look inside your head Yes I do

# You're in between 20 and 30

# A very desirable age

# Your body's firm and inviting

# But you live on a glittering stage Yes you do

# And they say that when you get married

# It'll be to a millionaire

# But they don't realize where you came from

# And I wonder if they really care Or give a damn

# Where do you go to my lovely

# When you're alone in your bed?

# Tell me the thoughts that surround you

# I want to look inside your head Yes I do

# I remember the back streets of Naples

# Two children begging in rags

# Both touched with a burning ambition

# To shake off their lowly born tags, they try

# So look into my face, Marie-Claire

# And remember just who you are

# Then go and forget me forever

# But I know you still bear the scar deep inside

# I know where you go to my lovely

# When you're alone in your bed

# I know the thoughts that surround you

# Because I can look inside your head. #

APPLAUSE

# Stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time

# There's something wrong here There can be no denying

# One of us is changing Or maybe we've just stopped trying

# And it's too late, baby Now it's too late

# Though we really did try to make it

# Something inside has died and I can't hide

# And I just can't fake it Oh, no

# No, no, no

# Way-ooh, way-ooh

# It used to be so easy living here with you

# You were light and breezy and I knew just what to do

# Now you look so unhappy and I feel like a fool

# And it's too late, baby Now it's too late

# Though we really did try to make it

# Something inside has died and I can't hide

# And I just can't fake it Oh, no

# Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah...

# Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo

# La, dah, dah, dah

# Nah, nah, nah, la-dah, dah

# Way-ooh, way-ooh

# There'll be good times again for me and you

# But we just can't stay together Don't you feel it too?

# Still I'm glad for what we had

# And how I once loved you

# But it's too late, baby Now it's too late

# Though we really did try to make it

# Something inside has died and I can't hide

# And I just can't fake it Oh, no

# No, no, no, no

# Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah

# Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo La-dah, dah, dah

# La-dah, dah, dah, dah

# It's too late

# Baby, it's too late

# Oh, now, darling

# It's too late. #

APPLAUSE

This is a song called Terminus.

# Finally the moment's come and here we stand

# And all the words have gone Along with all the plans

# And though the hands are surely moving on the clock

# For us, this moment Time itself has stopped

# Our early morning eyes still feel a little sore

# And bodies sweetly aching from the night before

# I can feel the cold platform through my shoes

# There must be something to be said But what's the use?

# The wind picks up some paper and it blows past our feet

# We watch it grateful that our eyes don't have to meet

# A screaming whistle rips the air and takes away

# The last seconds we have shared

# And still photographs The train begins its run

# And all the words I should have said suddenly have come

# Someone touches me and asks me for a light

# And wonders if

# I'm feeling quite all right

# And I say, yeah

# On another platform there's a train

# The same old scene is to be shot again

# The wind picks up some paper and with it I shall ride

# Out through the door marked exit Into the world outside. #

APPLAUSE

# Well the south side of Chicago

# Is the baddest part of town

# And if you go down there You better just beware

# Of a man named Leroy Brown

# Now Leroy, more than trouble

# You see he stand 'bout six foot four

# All the downtown ladies call him Treetop Lover

# All the men just call him sir

# And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown

# The baddest man in the whole damned town

# Badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog

# Now Leroy, he a gambler

# And he like his fancy clothes

# And he like to wave them diamond rings in front of everybody's nose

# He got a custom Continental

# He got an Eldorado too

# He got a .32 gun in his pocket for fun

# He got a razor in his shoe, yeah

# And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown

# The baddest man in the whole damned town

# Badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog

# Now Friday 'bout a week ago

# Leroy shootin' dice

# And at the edge of the bar sat a girl named Doris

# And, ooh, that girl looked nice

# Well he cast his eyes upon her

# And the trouble soon began

# And Leroy Brown learned a lesson 'bout messin' with the wife

# Of a jealous man

# And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown

# The baddest man in the whole damned town

# Badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog

# Well the two men took to fighting

# And when they pulled them from the floor

# Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle With a couple of pieces gone

# And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown

# The baddest man in the whole damned town

# Badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog

# Yes, he's bad, bad Leroy Brown

# The baddest man in the whole damn town

# Badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog

# Yes, he were badder than old King Kong

# And meaner than a junkyard dog. #

I'm going to say very little about the lady sitting behind me,

except to say that she arrived back from Holland this morning.

Fly High, a single of hers last year, is one of my favourite singles ever

and it's really a pleasure to welcome her to the programme.

Ladies and gentlemen, Bridget St John.

# Take me as you see me Let me be me, please, myself

# Take what you find, although you might want something else

# Doesn't really matter if you love me once or twice

# All that really matters is that love be nice...

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm...

# So love me when I'm gentle

# Love me when I'm wild

# I love you like a woman should

# I love you like a child

# Doesn't even matter when our love goes out of sight

# All that really matters is that love be nice...

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm...

# Maybe I'm a dreamer Maybe I'm a fool

# Life has little order and love can have no rules

# Doesn't seem to matter when I lose out once or twice

# All that really matters is that love be nice...

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm...

# Please love me when I'm gentle Love when I'm wild

# I love you like a woman should I love you like a child

# It doesn't even when our love goes out of sight

# All that really matters is that love be nice...

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm...

# Nice... #

# Will you have whiskey with your water or sugar with your tea?

# What are these crazy questions that they're asking of me?

# This is the wildest party that there ever could be

# Oh, don't turn on the light Because I don't want to see

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama said, that ain't no way to have fun

# Open up the window let some air into this room

# I think I'm almost choking on the smell of stale perfume

# And that cigarette you're smoking 'bout to scare me half to death

# Open up the window Let me catch my breath

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama said, that ain't no way to have fun

# The radio is blasting Someone's beating on the door

# Our hostess is not lasting She's out on the floor

# I've seen so many things here I ain't never seen before

# I don't know what it is But I don't want to see no more

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama told me not to come

# Mama said, that ain't no way to have fun. #

APPLAUSE

# If I laugh

# Just a little bit

# Maybe I can forget the chance that I didn't have

# To know you

# And live

# In peace

# In peace

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

# So if I laugh

# Just a little bit

# Maybe I can forget the past that I didn't choose

# To get you

# At home

# With me

# Oh, no

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

# If I laugh

# Mmm, oh, yeah

# Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah...

# If I laugh

# Ooh, just a little bit

# Maybe I can recall the way that I used to be

# Before you

# And live

# At night

# And weep

# Mmm, mmm, mmm, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

# If I laugh

# Maybe if I laughed just a little bit

# Dah, dah, dah, dah...

# La, dah, dah, dah, dah...

# Whoa, oh, oh, oh

# La, dah, dah, dah... #

When I first started writing songs,

I, of course, had been singing other people's songs for a long time,

and I'm still rather a slow writer,

but this was about the fourth song that I wrote.

And...it's not as entirely autobiographical as it sounds,

only in sentiment.

# My father always promised us

# That we would live in France

# We'd go boating on the Seine

# And I would learn to dance

# We lived in Ohio then

# He worked in the mines

# On his dreams like boats

# We knew we would sail

# In time

# All my sisters soon were gone

# To Denver and Cheyenne

# Marrying their grown-up dreams

# The lilacs and the man

# I stayed behind the youngest still

# Only danced alone

# The colours of my father's dreams

# Were fading

# Without a sound

# And I live in Paris now

# My children dance and dream

# Hearing the ways of a miner's life

# In words they've only seen

# I sail my memories of home

# Like boats across the Seine

# And watch the Paris sun

# Set in my father's eyes...

# ..Again

# My father always promised us

# That we would live in France

# We'd go boating on the Seine

# And I would learn to dance

# I sail my memories of home

# Like boats across the Seine

# And watch the Paris sun

# Set in my father's eyes...

# ..Again... #

Here's a love song that I've always felt

had a kind of English flavour to it.

# She's a lady

# And I chanced to meet her in my scufflin' days

# She's a lady

# Hypnotized me there that day

# I came to play in my usual way, hey

# Floating along with a whimsical twinkling

# In her strange green eyes

# Linger with me She said, Yes!

# And, oh, the time did fly

# She's a lady

# Give her time for she's allowed to change her mind

# She's a lady

# Happy to say she once was mine

# Only sometimes I remember old times

# And when she says, can you guess? It's a dress

# You won't believe

# Would you come zip me up and button up my sleeve?

# Oh, lady

# Lady of ladies

# I remember days that felt like

# It was raining daisies. #

APPLAUSE

# Looks like my deal's gone down

# It looks like my deal it has gone down

# Sit thee down, come out of the rain

# Fill a cup and drink away the pain

# Because it looks like your deal's gone down

# It looks to me just like your deal it has gone down, down, down

# Sit thee down, the dogs They don't mind

# One's too old and the other one too blind

# Because just like me their deal's gone down

# Just like me the deal it has gone down, down, down

# Sit thee down for company's rare

# In these far parts High up in the air

# Because it looks just like your deal's gone down

# Yes, it looks to me like your deal it has gone down

# Well I know, I know my deal's gone down

# Yes I'm sure, I'm sure, I'm sure my deal's gone down

# Sit thee down, come out of the rain

# Fill the cup and drink away the pain

# Sit thee down The dogs, they don't mind

# One's too old and the other one too blind, too blind

# I said sit thee down for company's rare

# In these far parts High up in the air

# Because it looks like your deal's gone down

# It looks to me like your deal it has gone down, down, down

# It looks bad to me, it looks bad because your deal's gone down

# Because you're just like me In fact, your deal's gone down

# Down, down I'll tell you

# One more time Your deal's gone down

# One more time, your deal it has gone down, down, down

# Well I know. #

Let's have a little bit of that Love And Affection right now.

Here's a really beautiful song that's doing so well for Joan Armatrading.

Here it is for you.

# I am not in love

# But I'm open to persuasion

# East or West

# Where's the best

# For romancing?

# With a friend

# I can smile

# But with a lover I could roll my head back

# I could really laugh Really laugh

# Thank you

# You took me dancing

# 'Cross the floor

# Cheek to cheek

# But with a lover I could really move, really move

# I could really dance, really dance Really dance

# Really dance, I could really move Really move

# Really move, really move

# Now if I can feel the sun

# In my eyes and the rain on my face

# Why can't I feel...

# Love?

# I can really love, really love Really love, really love

# Really love Love, love, love, love, love

# Love, love, love, love Now I got all...

# The friends that I want

# I may need more

# But I shall just stick to those That I have got

# With friends I still feel so insecure

# Little darling, I believe you could help me a lot

# Just take my hand and lead me where you will

# No conversation No wave goodnight

# Just gimme love Make love with affection

# Sing me another love song but this time with a little dedication

-# Sing it, sing it

-Sing it, sing it

-# You know that's what I like

-Oh, ooh-ooh

# Once more with feeling

# Give me love, give me love Give me love

# Love

# Make love with affection

# Sing me another love song but this time with a little dedication

-# Sing it, sing it

-Sing it, sing it

-# You know that's what I like

-Love, ooh-ooh

# With affection

# Sing me another love song but this time with a little dedication

-# Sing it, sing it

-Sing it, sing it

-# You know that's what I like

-Love, ooh-ooh

# With affection

-# With a little dedication

-Love, ooh-ooh

-# Once more with feeling

-Ooh-ooh

# You know that's what I like Love, ooh-ooh

# Ooh-ooh. #

APPLAUSE

# On a morning from a Bogart movie

# In a country where they turn back time

# You go strolling through the crowd like

# Peter Lorre contemplating a crime

# She comes out of the sun in a silk dress

# Running like a watercolour in the rain

# Don't bother asking for explanations

# She'll just tell you that she came

# In the year of the cat

# She doesn't give you time for questions

# As she locks up your arm in hers

# You follow till your sense of which direction

# Completely disappears

# By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls

# There's a hidden door she leads you to

These days, she says, I feel my life Just like a river running through

# The year of the cat

# She looks at you so coolly

# Her eyes they shine like the moon in the sea

# She comes in incense and patchouli

# You take her

# To find what's waiting inside

# The year of the cat

# Well morning comes and you're still with her

# And the bus and the tourists are gone

# You've thrown away your choice You've lost your ticket

# So you have to stay on

# But the drum beat strains of the night remain

# In the rhythm of the newborn day

# You know some time you're bound to lose her

# But for now you're going to stay

# In the year of the cat. #

It's really a pleasure to welcome for the first time to Whistle Test

Kevin Coyne.

# Well I'm going to the house up on the hill

# The place where they can give you pills

# And the rooms are always chilled

# And they're never cosy

# Where they give you three suits a year

# And at Christmas time a bottle of beer

# And at Easter time the mayor comes round

# And he's always smiling

# Where the old ladies sit by the garden wall

# And they never hear the bluebirds call

# Never notice the leaves that fall

# Because they're all crazy

# Where the red bus stands by the great big gate

# The red bus that's always late

# You know why it's always late

# Because it's always empty

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny that it's making me cry

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny, Lord Sometimes I wish I could die

# Now this pagan life is getting me down

# My brow is filled with a furl and a frown

# My eyelids lower as low as can be

# But I'm not sleeping

# I wander round that Brixton Square

# With the bottles strewn everywhere

# Under tables and under chairs

# And they're all broken

# Where the big red face of the man on the beat

# Says, hey, have you had something to eat?

# Sticks out his yellow teeth

# They're all for biting

# Where I don't have a cent

# And I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent

# I think I'll turn bent and make some money

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny, it's making me cry

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny, Lord Sometimes I wish I could die

# If you know a way I can go

# From out of this show you know

# You could give me a golden glow

# But you're not trying

# Well you never lift a regular hand

# You're calling me a lazy man

# Who on earth will ever understand?

# I'm really trying

# So I'm going to the house up on the hill

# The place where they can give you pills

# And the doctors they don't kill

# Because they're so friendly

# Where the red bus stands by the great big gate

# The red bus and it's always late

# You know why it's always late

# Because it's always empty

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny, it's making me cry

# Funny, funny, funny, funny

# Oh so funny, Lord Sometimes I wish I could die. #

APPLAUSE

# You look to me like misty roses

# Too soft to touch

# But too lovely to leave alone

# Even if I could be like misty roses

# You know I'd love you much

# You're too lovely to leave alone

# Flowers often cry

# But too late to find that their beauty has been lost

# With their peace of mind

# You look to me like love forever

# Too good to last

# But too lovely not to try

# Even if I believed in love forever

# I mustn't forget what's gone in the past

# Because you're just too lovely

# To leave alone. #

APPLAUSE

# Many is the time I've been mistaken

# And many times confused

# Yes, and I've often felt forsaken

# And certainly misused

# Oh, but I'm all right I'm all right

# I'm just weary to my bones

# Still, you don't expect to be bright and bon vivant

# So far away from home

# So far away from home

# And I don't know a soul who's not been battered

# I don't have a friend who feels at ease

# I don't know a dream that's not been shattered

# Or driven to its knees

# But it's all right, it's all right

# For we've lived so well so long

# Still, when I think of the road we're travelling on

# I wonder what's gone wrong

# I can't help but wonder

# What's gone wrong

# And I dreamed I was dying

# I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly

# And looking back down at me

# Smiled reassuringly

# And I dreamed I was flying

# And high up above my eyes could clearly see

# The Statue of Liberty

# Sailing away to sea

# And I dreamed I was flying

# We come on the ship they call the Mayflower

# We come on the ship that sailed the moon

# We come in the age's most uncertain hours

# And sing an American tune

# Oh-oh-oh and it's all right

# It's all right, it's all right

# You can't be forever blessed

# Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day

# And I'm trying to get some rest

# That's all, I'm trying to get some rest. #

APPLAUSE

This next song is a true story.

I say that because some of the stuff I write is a pack of lies.

It's called Piano Man.

# It's nine o'clock on a Saturday

# The regular crowd shuffles in

# There's an old man sitting next to me

# Makin' love to his tonic and gin

# He says, son, can you play me a memory?

# I'm not really sure how it goes

# But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete

# When I wore a younger man's clothes

# La, la, la, de, de, dah

# Dah, dah, de, de, dah, dah, dah

# Sing us a song You're the piano man

# Sing us a song tonight

# Well, we're all in the mood for a melody

# And you've got us feelin' all right

# Now John at the bar is a friend of mine

# He gets me my drinks for free

# And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke

# But there's someplace that he'd rather be

# He says, Bill, I believe this is killing me

# As the smile ran away from his face

# Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star

# If I could get out of this place

# Oh, la, la, la, de, de, dah

# La, la, de, de, dah, dah, dah

# Now Paul is a real estate novelist

# Who never had time for a wife

# And he's talkin' with Davy Who's still in the navy

# And probably will be for life

# And the waitress is practising politics

# As the businessmen slowly get stoned

# Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness

# But it's better than drinkin' alone

# Sing us a song You're the piano man

# Sing us a song tonight

# Well, we're all in the mood for a melody

# And you've got us feelin' all right

# It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday

# And the manager gives me a smile

# Because he knows that it's me they've been coming to see

# To forget about life for a while

# And the piano it sounds like a carnival

# And the microphone smells like a beer

# And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar

# And say, man, what are you doing here?

# Oh, la, la, la, de, de, dah

# Dah, dah, de, de, dah, dah, dah

# Sing us a song You're the piano man

# Sing us a song tonight

# Well we're all in the mood for a melody

# You've got us feeling all right. #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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