CLASSIC BLUE

1989 album cover

LIST OF SONGS   1. The Tracks Of My Tears   2. MacArthur Park*   3. Blackbird   4. Vincent   5. God Only Knows   6. Bright Eyes   7. Whiter Shade of Pale   8. Scarborough Fair   9. Railway Hotel 10. Man Of The World 11. Forever Autumn 12. As Long As The Moon Can Shine 13. Stairway To Heaven

2006 CD Cover, Remastered Released UK Nov 3, 2005 Released US Jan 31, 2006

* For anyone looking for "meaning" in this song, try this LINK

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The Tracks Of My Tears
William "Smokey" Robinson, Marv Tarplin & Warren Moore

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People say I'm the life of the party Cause I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I'm blue So take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears Since you left me If you see me with another girl Seeming like I'm having fun Although she may be cute She's just a substitute You're the permanent one So take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears I need you, need you Outside I'm masquerading Inside my hope is fading I'm just a clown since you put me down My smile is my makeup I wear since my breakup with you Baby, take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears

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MacArthur Park *
Jim Webb

* For anyone looking for "meaning" in this song, try this LINK

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Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no...

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground around your knees
The birds, like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing checkers by the trees

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no...

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands 
And I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes 
And I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no...

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Blackbird
John Lennon and Paul McCartney

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Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life 
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly 
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird fly 
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

---

Vincent
Don McLean

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Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you
But still, your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could've told you, Vincent
This world was never meant
For one as beautiful as you

Starry, Starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget

Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn, a bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

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God Only Knows
Brian Wilson and Tony Asher

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I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I'd be without you

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you

If you should ever leave me 
Life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you

God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you

---

Bright Eyes
Mike Batt

---

Is it a kind of dream? 
Floating out on the tide 
Following the river of death downstream 
Oh, is it a dream? 

There's a fog along the horizon 
A strange glow in the sky 
And nobody seems to know where you go 
And what does it mean? 
Oh, is it a dream? 

Bright eyes 
Burning like fire 
Bright eyes 
How can you close and fail? 
How can the light that burned so brightly 
Suddenly burn so pale? 
Bright eyes 

Is it a kind of shadow? 
Reaching into the night 
Wandering over the hills unseen 
Or is it a dream? 

There's a high wind in the trees 
A cold sound in the air 
And nobody ever knows when you go 
and where do you start? 
Oh, into the dark 

Bright eyes 
Burning like fire 
Bright eyes 
How can you close and fail? 
How can the light that burned so brightly 
Suddenly burn so pale? 
Bright eyes 

Bright eyes 
Burning like fire 
Bright eyes 
How can you close and fail? 
How can the light that burned so brightly 
Suddenly burn so pale? 
Bright eyes 

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A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Keith Reid and Gary Brooker

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We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
The crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale

She said: "There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see"
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were opened
They might just as well be closed

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale

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Scarborough Fair
Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon

---

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
Parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

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Railway Hotel
Mike Batt

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We went to the room and we bolted the door The base from the jukebox was comin' through the floor And out through the walls We could still hear the roar of the trains Was this all the comfort we got for ourselves? No candles, no waiters, no soft violins A dirty electric convector plugged into the mains I had wanted much more for the first night with you But the Railway Hotel was the best I could do I knew the Savoy would have suited you well But the best I could do was the Railway Hotel Away in the sky were the lights of a jet Burning in the night like a slow cigarette The lamp in the street threw a soft silhouette on the wall And though it was crumbling and run down and bare A chair, and a sink and an old single bed The love we began and the things that we said I recall I had wanted much more for the first night with you But the Railway Hotel was the best I could do I knew the Savoy would have suited you well But the best I could do was the Railway Hotel

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Man Of The World
Peter Green

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Shall I tell you about my life?
They say I'm a man of the world
I've flown across every tide
And I've seen lots of pretty girls

Yes I've got all the things I need
I wouldn't ask for more
There's no one I'd rather be
I sometimes wish that I'd never been born

And I need a good woman
To make me feel like a good man should
I don't say that I'm a good man
Oh, but I would be if I could

I could tell you about my life
And keep you amused I'm sure
About all the times I've cried
And how I don't want to be sad anymore
And how I wish I was in love

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Forever Autumn
Paul Vigrass, Gary Osborne and Jeff Wayne

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The summer sun is fading as the year grows old
And darker days are drawing near
The winter winds will be much colder
Now you're not here

I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky
And one by one they disappear
I wish that I was flying with them
Now you're not here 

Like the sun through the trees you came to love me
Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away... 

Through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way
You always loved this time of year
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now
'Cause you're not here 

Like the sun through the trees you came to love me
Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away... 

A gentle rain falls softly on my weary eyes
As if to hide a lonely tear
My life will be forever autumn
'Cause you're not here

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As Long As The Moon Can Shine
Mike Batt

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I must have known that it existed 
But I couldn't quite conceive it - 
I was always the loser in affairs of the heart 

Well, you know how when you find something that you want 
You don't believe it 
No, you can't quite believe it when the good times start 

I used to think of love as just a dream that disappears 
But you've taught me more tonight than I have learned in all those years 

As long as the moon can keep on shining 
And the sun keeps hanging in the sky 
No one can take what flows between us - no one alive 

As long as the moon can keep on shining 
And the years keep rolling slowly by 
You'll be a friend of mine, as long as the moon can shine 

Some people search for people and some people search for freedom 
And some search for nothing, but the thrill of the chase 
Well, you know sometimes you search for things 
Just to find that you don't need them 
Or you search for the right things in the wrong kind of place 

I used to think of love as just a promise people make 
Or a game that people play or just a risk that people take... 

But, as long as the moon can keep on shining 
And the sun keeps hanging in the sky 
No one can take what flows between us - no one alive 

As long as the moon can keep on shining 
And the years keep rolling slowly by 
You'll be a friend of mine, as long as the moon can shine... 

As long as the moon can shine 

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Stairway To Heaven
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

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There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying the stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven

There's a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Ooh, it makes me wonder...
Ooh, it makes me wonder

There's a feeling I get
When I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder

And it's whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder

Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How ev'rything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll

And she's buying the stairway to heaven

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Album Information:

Original LP released October 1989 by Trax Music
Produced, arranged and conducted by Mike Batt
Engineered by Haydn Bendall, Assisted by Gareth Cousins
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1989
Digitally recorded at all stages
Direct-Metal Mastered

LPO (London Philharmonic Orchestra) Concertmaster: Robert St. John Wright
Backing Vocals: Mike Batt
Choir on Stairway to Heaven: The English Chorale
Cover Photography: David Thorp
Sleeve by Acrobat Design

CD originally released in 1993 by Castle Communications

Remastered CD released UK November 3, 2005 by Castle Communications
Released US January 31, 2006 by CMC

Singles:
Oct 1989 Tracks of My Tears/Railway Hotel