Leon Russell, Nick Lowe, Paul Brady Songwriters' Circle

I'm a singer first, and a song writer by accident.

My first calling was industrial plumbing but I kind of disregarded

that for a while. I'm the song writer. I didn't set out to do that

but... Everybody else was doing it so you had to do it too. That's

right. Some of the songs I'm supposed to play today I've never

played. So it will be fun. They're sticking a camera in our face for a

kick off. That doesn't happen very often. Just make some noise, see

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

# I've been so many places # I've sung a lot of songs

# But we're alone now and I'm # I know your image of me

# I've treated you unkindly but darlin' can't you see?

# There's no-one more important to me

# Darlin', can't you please see through me?

# Cos we're alone now

# And I'm singing this song for you

# You taught me precious secrets

# Of the truth, withholding nothing

# You came out in front and I was hiding

# But now I'm so much better

# And if my words don't come together

# Listen to the melody cos my love

# Is in there hiding

# I love you in a place where there's no space or time

# I love you for in my life you are a friend of mine

# And when my life is over

# Remember when we were together

# We were alone and I was singing this song for you

# You taught me precious secrets

# We were alone and I was singing this song for you

# We were alone and I was singing this song for you. #

APPLAUSE

# I live on a battlefield

# Surrounded by the ruins of the love we built

# And then destroyed between us

# The smoke has cleared

# As I stumble through the rubble I'm dazed, seeing double

# And I'm truly mystified

# My new home is a shell hole filled with tears and muddy water

# And bits of broken heart

# All around there is desolation And scenes of devastation

# Of a love been torn apart

# I live on a battlefield

# I live on a battlefield

# I live on a battlefield

# Though one where not one single drop of blood has spilled

# Is no less horrifying

# Sweet memories, memories of a bygone situation

# Now shattered, Lord, and battered Lie scattered all around

# My new home is a shell hole filled With tears and muddy water

# Yes, and bits of broken heart

# All around there is desolation And scenes of devastation

# Of a love been torn apart

# I live on a battlefield

# I live on a battlefield

# Everything that can has gone wrong

# I live on a battlefield

# It's gonna take spine to carry on

# Like a drowning man coming up for air

# I live on a battlefield

# I'm looking for another survivor But I can't see one anywhere

# My new home is filled with muddy water

# All around there's bits of broken heart

# My world is one of desolation And scenes of devastation

# There is no consolation For a love been torn apart

# I live on a battlefield

# I live on a battlefield

# I live on a battlefield, battlefield

APPLAUSE

This

This is

This is a

This is a song for these crazy # They say the world

# And we'd all be gone # What can I do?

# A long time ago # They thought the ending

# But now we know that every time the darkness comes

# That old morning sun will surely rise and smile

# Doin' its thing in style

# Whatever they say Smile

# We're only here a while

# Time ticking away

# I could be just a dreamer

# But I say the grass looks greener when you smile

# Just for a little while

# Forget what they say Smile

# Do what you do in style

# Do it today smile

# Take it the extra mile

# It'll be OK Smile

# Love in the here and now

# Just get out and play

# Do it today

# Yeah-eh-eh, ah-ah-ah

# Yeah, yeah, yeah

# Smile! #

# Smile! #

APPLAUSE

Thank

Thank you.

# I'm up on the tightrope One side's hate and one is hope

# It's a circus game with you and me

# I'm up on the tightrope One side's hate and one is hope

linked by life and the funeral pyre

# And the wire seems to be the only place for me

# A comedy of errors and I'm falling

# Like a rubber-neck giraffe

# You look into my past

# Well, baby you're just too blind to see

# I'm up in the spotlight Oh, does it feel right?

# The altitude seems to really get to me

# I'm up on the tightwire

# Linked by life and the funeral pyre

# Putting on a show for you to see

# Like a rubber-neck giraffe

# Like a rubber-neck giraffe

# You look into my past

# Well, baby you're just too blind to see

# I'm up in the spotlight Oh, does it feel right?

# The altitude seems to really get to me

# I'm up on the tightwire

# Linked by life and the funeral pyre

# Putting on a show for you to see. #

APPLAUSE

During

During the

During the latter

During the latter part of the 1970s, I had a brief career as a bona fide

pop star. It lasted for about three years. A pretty good innings really.

I'm going to do a song now from that brief time when I was

breathing the sweet air of the hit # Oh, I can't take

# Though you say # You say your love

# With the things # Cruel to be kind

# Cruel to be kind Means that I love you

# Baby, you gotta be cruel

# You gotta be cruel to be kind

# Well, I do my best to understand, dear

# But you still mystify and I wanna know why

# I pick myself up off the ground

# To have you knock me back down Again and again

# And when I ask you to explain You say you gotta be

# Cruel to be kind In the right measure

# Cruel to be kind It's a very good sign

# Cruel to be kind Means that I love you

# Baby, you gotta be cruel

# You gotta be cruel to be kind

# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

# Well, I do my best to understand, dear

# But you still mystify and I wanna know why

# I pick myself up off the ground

# To have you knock me back down Again and again

# And when I ask you to explain You say you gotta be

# Cruel to be kind In the right measure

# Cruel to be kind It's a very good sign

# Cruel to be kind Means that I love you

# Baby, you gotta be cruel

# You gotta be cruel to be kind

# Cruel to be kind In the right measure

# Cruel to be kind It's a very, very, very good sign

# Cruel to be kind Means that I love you

# Baby, you gotta be cruel to be kind. #

# Baby, you gotta be cruel to be kind. #

APPLAUSE

Thank

Thank you.

Thank you. Well,

Thank you. Well, I was trying to write a song about the haphazard

nature of human existence and how all the plan wes put on paper

suddenly just tend to vanish into smoke when real life comes along.

This song came out. I tried my best to throw it away all the time

because the word Elvis kept dropping into my head all the time

as I was writing it and I kind of thought, you can't put Elvis into a

song, Paul, that's tacky, it's like putting radio in the songs and a DJ

might play it or something, you know. Tacky. I tried that. Anyway,

I came back to the song after a few months of leaving it alone and

persisted with it and this is what # Everyone knows

# Up on the roof top # Nobody knows why Elvis

# Nobody knows why some of us get broken hearts

# And some of us find a world that's clear and bright

# You could be packed up and ready

# Knowing exactly where to go

# How come you miss the connection?

# No use in asking The answer is nobody knows

# No use in asking The answer is nobody knows

# Johnny will keep his illusions

# What else can he do?

# And you can pretend that it would be different

# If it happened to you

# But up on the roof top It's a whole other world

# And who could see heaven And not want to stay?

# Nobody knows why Elvis threw it all away

# Nobody knows what Ruby had to hide

# Nobody knows why some of us get broken hearts

# And some of us find a world that's clear and bright

# You could be packed up and ready

# Knowing exactly where to go

# How come you miss the connection?

# No use in asking The answer is nobody knows

# No use in asking The answer is nobody knows. #

APPLAUSE

# Sometimes I get impatient

# But she cools me without words

# And she comes so sweet and so plain

# My hummingbird, and have you heard

# That I thought my life had ended

# But I find that it's just begun

# Cos she gets me where I live

# I'll give all I have to give

# I'm talking about that hummingbird

# Oh, she's little and she loves me

# Too much for words to say

# When I see her in the morning sleeping

# She's little and she loves me

# To my lucky day

# Hummingbird, don't fly away

# When I'm feeling wild and lonesome

# She knows the words to say

# And she gives me a little understanding

# In her special way

# And I just have to say

# In my life I loved a woman

# Because she's more than I deserve

# And she gets me where I live

# I'll give all I have to give

# I'm talking about that hummingbird

# Oh she's little and she loves me

# Too much for words to say

# When I see her in the morning sleeping

# She's little and she loves me To my lucky day

# Hummingbird, don't fly away

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

This

This is

This is a

This is a song which I wrote for Johnny Cash and he did me the

honour of recording it on his American recordings record. It's

# Is caged by frail # And by night rants

# Has had to learn # And how to shelter

# And in the twinkling of an eye

# Might have to be restrained

# God help the beast in me

# Sometimes it tries to kid me

# That it's just a teddy bear

# Or even somehow managed

# To vanish in the air

# Then that is when I must beware

# Of the beast in me

# That everybody knows

# They've seen him out dressed in my clothes

# Patently unclear

# If it's New York or New Year

# God help the beast in me

# The beast in me. #

APPLAUSE

I

I identify

I identify with

I identify with that song! That's a great song. This is one of

the first songs I wrote. I didn't realise until quite a few years

later when somebody was trying to tell me how to write songs that I

didn't even have a chorus in the song, it was just four verses.

Somehow, it remained one of the most asked for songs that I wrote

so I still believe in it even if it # Snow-bound siren

# It's ten below out on these city streets

# But the feeling in your heart is even cooler

# The sunrise screeching down the line

# And the fog banks running out of time

# But you won't be here when they creep in tomorrow

# You're tired of dreaming someone else's dreams

# When they really don't include you any longer

# Miles from home, you're sliding down with each day

# And you need a woman's love to make you stronger

# And lately you've been getting doubts

# A voice inside keeps calling out

# That someone else's dreams don't get you nowhere

# So shut the suitcase Kiss the year goodbye

# Don't let nobody stop you at the doorway

# And close the shutters on this empty room

# Where these crazy dreams come crawling to devour you

# And head on out across that line

# Where she's been waiting all this time

# And tell her that you want her there forever

# It's still two hours till this plane gets down

# Can hardly bear to wait another minute

# Your sweet loving, babe Is all that I need

# Darling, it's been building up inside of me

# Tonight we'll go and paint this town

# We're gonna drink Champagne Till we both fall down

# And we'll find some other crazy dream tomorrow. #

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

# Longing in your soft and fertile delta

# And I whisper sighs to satisfy your longing

# For the warm and tender shelter of my body

# Cos you're mine, delta lady

# Yeah, you're mine Be all mine, Delta lady

# Please don't ask how many times I found you

# Standing wet and naked in the garden

# And I think of days And the different ways I held you

# I held you closely to me Yes, our heart was beating

# Cos you're mine, delta lady

# Yeah, you're mine Be all mine, delta lady

# Oh, when I'm home again in England

# And I'm thinking of you

# Cos I love you

# Yes, I love you

# Yes, I love you

# Yes, I do

# There are concrete mountains in the city

# And pretty city women live inside them

# And yet it seems the city scene is lacking

# I'm so glad you're waiting for me in the country

# For you're mine, delta lady

# For you're mine, delta lady

# Be all mine, delta lady

# Gonna walk, gonna talk Gonna scream and shout

# Gonna tell all the world What I'm thinkin' about

# Be all mine

# Gonna walk, gonna talk Gonna scream and shout

# Gonna tell all the world What I'm thinkin' about

# Be all mine. #

APPLAUSE

Thank

Thank you.

Our

Our forthcoming

Our forthcoming record.

# I read a lot

# Nowadays

# Much more than before

# You left me high and dry

# In a loveless land

# With nothing

# But time on my hands

# I read a lot

# Not just magazines

# But other more serious things

# To get me through the day

# Night-time too

# Whilst wondering how in the world

# To go on without you

# Lonely

# Isn't the word for me now

# Blue

# Doesn't describe it somehow...

# Blue's

# Not the word for me now

# I read a lot

# I can't put it down

# While others are painting the town

# You'll find me in a world of fantasy

# Population - one

# That's me

# So if you ask me how

# I stop contemplating

# What I now have not

# I reply

# I read a lot. #

APPLAUSE

This

This is

This is a

This is a new record but it's not a new song. I wrote it 20 years ago.

I wrote it when it was kind of, when you write songs and somebody

else covers them, it's not cool to put your own version out, you know,

in opposition or something, so I kind of thought 20 years was the

appropriate interval to wait. This # You dust the bottles

# Three days a week can keep a girl working

# Sometimes it's good to lose our pride

# These things we do to keep the flame burning

# And write our fire in the sky

# Another day could see the wheel turning

# Another avenue to try

# It's in the luck of the draw, baby

# The natural law

# Forget those movies you saw, little baby

# It's in the luck of the draw

# The natural law

# Flames keep on burning

# Wheels ever turning

# You turn around to say it's last orders

# You turn around to say it's last orders

# You fix the ribbon in your hair

# Tomorrow's letter by the hall doorway

# Could be the answer to your prayer

# These things we do to keep the flame burning

# And write our fire in the sky

# Another day could see the wheels turning

# Another avenue to try

# It's in the luck of the draw, baby

# The natural law

# Forget those movies you saw, baby

# It's in the luck of the draw

# The natural law

# Take me

# Shape me

# Hold me

# Love me

# Your day is coming

# It's coming

# It's coming. #

APPLAUSE

# Are we really happy with this lonely game we play?

# Looking for words to say

# Searching but not finding understanding anywhere

# We're lost in this masquerade

# Both afraid to say we're just too far away

# From being close together from the start

# We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way

# We're lost inside this lonely game we play

# Thoughts of leaving disappear every time I see your eyes

# No matter how hard I try

# To understand the reason why we carry on this way

# We're lost inside this lonely game we play

# We're lost in a masquerade

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

# From being close together from the start

# We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way

# We're lost inside this lonely game we play

# We could just start over but it's, oh, so hard to do

# When you're lost in a masquerade... #

APPLAUSE

Thank

Thank you.

I

I started

I started trying

I started trying to write songs seriously in about 1969 and my

first efforts were terrible really because they were all, you know,

clumsy and very obvious rewrites of songs that had already been written

by people I admired. But I could be wrong here, but I would imagine

that's probably how... Yeah Yeah still doing it, yeah...

Anyway, in my case, I hammered away for years. Then one day in about

1972, I wrote this song and it was like a seismic eruption because I

found, to my astonishment, I'd actually come up with an idea of my

own, an original tune that I hadn't stolen off somebody else, or an

original idea, the tune might be stolen from somebody else, but

# Searchin' for light # Is there only pain

# And each time I feel # What's so funny 'bout peace

# Ohhh, what's so funny 'bout # My spirit gets

# And where is the harmony? # Cos each time I feel

# What's so funny 'bout peace # Ohhh, what's so funny 'bout

# And where is the harmony? # Cos each time I feel

# What's so funny 'bout peace # Ohhh, What's so funny 'bout

# Ohhh, what's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding? #

# Understanding

APPLAUSE

Nice

Nice one,

Nice one, nice

Nice one, nice one. Well, the idea for this one came from a nightmare

I had about being back in boarding # I knew this African

# Went out to see the Roman Empire fall Uh-huh? Uh-huh?

# Two thousand elephants in gold chain-mail

# Take it, shake it Make it what you wanna be

# Them Roman legionnaires they hit the trail

# Uh-huh? Tellin' you

# The world is what you make it

# The world is what you make it, baby

# The world is what you make it, yeah

# When Cleopatra ruled in Egypt's land

# Jump down, turn around Look at what the monkey did

# She went to find herself a mighty man Uh-huh?

# In come Antonio from Italy

# Haul it, ball it Drag it up the pyramid

# He never knew how hot a girl could be Uh-huh?

# The world is what you make it

# The world is what you make it, baby

# The world is what you make it

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# Whoa, whoa-ah

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

La, la-la, la-la Don't start to hit me

# Clean up them windows, let the sun shine through Uh-huh?

# There ain't no happy time without no pain

# Heartbreak, new date Move on up the alleyway

# Pick up them pieces Hit the road again Uh-huh?

# The world is what you make it

# The world is what you make it, baby

# The world is what you make it

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

# La, la-la, la-la La-la, la-la, la-la

Bluesin', losin' La, la-la, la-la