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Smile, You​’​re On Fire: BBC Sessions 2001​-​2002

by Miss Black America

/
1.
MISS BLACK AMERICA You used to be the life and soul Now you practice and preach self-control Yeah, you are obsessed with privacy but there’s none Six billion mobile phones There’s no escape Trust no-one Shout it out until your blood runs cold Shout it out until your lungs explode Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” What happened to your urge to destroy And your mission to bring the noise? Two young boys wanking over atlases Six billion empty heads Death to the living dead Shout it out until your blood runs cold Shout it out until your lungs explode Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “They won’t take us alive “We are beyond embarrassment “We want real lives “And we’ll get them, yes, you’ll see” So, shout it out Shout a hard thing and a mean thing Let the hatred flow free Be an obscene thing Be obscene I am Miss Black America.
2.
PERSONAL POLITICS It’s not intent that makes us liars But desire to please And be more than we ever could be In a million years And all our failures are demons We must conquer if we are to be strong It’s not just the looks that make these eyes sore It’s the lifestyle, baby Not everybody gets to win But I will win, ‘cause I can win Yeah, I will beat this thing for you I will conquer I will learn to be strong But it’s just words that count for nothing Personal politics Empty words It’s just pointless words that make us liars Oh, we do it every time Hack, hack away at your demons But they still eat you alive Now you’ve seen more than you wanted to know You use staples to keep your eyes closed People talk People talk and talk They go on and on and on But it’s just words that count for nothing Personal politics Empty words It’s just pointless words that make us liars Oh, we do it every time I’d do anything for self-control sometimes Death to all liars Death to us all.
3.
ROADKILL Did I see our star collapsing Or was it my imagination? We’ve been crushed and we’ve been broken Still we stand The Earth is flat and full of corpses We fuck our sisters to stop the bleeding Another careless copulation Another gaping mouth to feed It’s no wonder we all break beneath the weight of our regret Like Chinese water torture it goes drip, drip, drip, drip The best thing about the past is that it’s already gone So you don’t have to nail yourself to someone else’s cross We don’t kill to cure the boredom We like our vengeance to be painless So we just sit and watch the roadkill Take it time and time again This backward life is just existence We always hoped people would forget But like the stink and my erection These things never go away It takes strength to stand this straight beneath the weight of our regret Like Chinese water torture it goes drip, drip, drip, drip The best thing about the past is that it’s already gone So you don’t have to nail yourself to someone else’s cross Anymore We love you so much it should make us puke But we don’t eat ‘cause we’re too cool And when the cupboards are all empty And the table is bare And the hand that rocked the cradle rules the World And we’ve been wiped out We eat roadkill.
4.
TALK HARD I am not washed-up I should believe I am but I do not I still read all their ungraded hatemail Fourteen long years of school And all I learned was to fail But I am not proud To rot with that crowd ‘Cause I am stronger I was born in a force ten gale It takes more than hot air to blow the wind out of my sails And my eyesight’s poor But I am the future Hear me roar And get ready to talk hard Know this: your head is not empty So talk hard You can do anything you feel “Toilet-trained and dumb” When we first talk we learn by rote, “We are scum “We come from nothing? That’s what we deserve” Classrooms crowded with robots We are Goebbels’ children But we’re not down yet Don’t let them forget That we are stronger You were born ‘Til the day you die, you are alive While you’ve got the time At least try to justify yourself The buck stops with you and no-one else So get ready to talk hard Know this: your head is not empty So talk hard You can do anything you feel.
5.
6.
INFINITE CHINESE BOX On a speedway Crashing your car To see your face drop Who is the victim? You’re awaiting my transmission An infinite Chinese box to get lost in All that you see is a replay Every time you close your eyes, I’m there Crashing over and over again An infinite Chinese box to get lost in Deal you in Cash you out Deal you in Crash you out.
7.
TALK HARD I am not washed-up I should believe I am but I do not I still read all their ungraded hatemail Fourteen long years of school And all I learned was to fail But I am not proud To rot with that crowd ‘Cause I am stronger I was born in a force ten gale It takes more than hot air to blow the wind out of my sails And my eyesight’s poor But I am the future Hear me roar And get ready to talk hard Know this: your head is not empty So talk hard You can do anything you feel “Toilet-trained and dumb” When we first talk we learn by rote, “We are scum “You come from nothing? That’s what you deserve” Classrooms crowded with robots We are Goebbels’ children But we’re not down yet Don’t let them forget That we are stronger You were born ‘Til the day you die, you are alive While you’ve got the time At least try to justify yourself The buck stops with you and no-one else So get ready to talk hard Know this: your head is not empty So talk hard You can do anything you feel
8.
ALWAYS Forget what you’ve bought into The highlife is within you You’re just too scared to look inside For fear of what you might find What do you see when you turn out the light? I can’t tell you, but I know it’s not mine And we’re no better by design This one-horse life’s over before we know it’s started Thinking of the time Thinking of the time we spent It’s hard not to laugh When they say time and time again, “I love you, always” Free will lavishes you with A choice of one direction: March on towards your destiny There is no alternative The lady’s not for turning The ends don’t justify the means And we’re no better by default Or worth our salt Or weight in gold Just plants and rags Thinking of the time Thinking of the time wasted It’s hard not to laugh When they say time and time again, That sick joke, “Always” And when, gnarled and gibbering, Incontinent, abandoned and forgotten we sit Chewing over time Chewing over time We can’t swallow, we can’t digest Darling, Don’t offer false comfort Never say, “Always.”
9.
MISS BLACK AMERICA You used to be the life and soul Now you practice and preach self-control Yeah, you are obsessed with privacy but there’s none Six billion mobile phones There’s no escape Trust no-one Shout it out until your blood runs cold Shout it out until your lungs explode Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” What happened to your urge to destroy And your mission to bring the noise? Two young boys wanking over atlases Six billion empty heads Death to the living dead Shout it out until your blood runs cold Shout it out until your lungs explode Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “I am Miss Black America” Shout it out, “They won’t take us alive “We are beyond embarrassment “We want real lives “And we’ll get them, yes, you’ll see” So, shout it out Shout a hard thing and a mean thing Let the hatred flow free Be an obscene thing Be obscene I am Miss Black America.
10.
LIQUID SILK Your trails of blood and spunk Will not lead back to us All history is bunk, Forever impotent and dry Nostalgia is a dog returning to its vomit No beauty without decay Forever impotent Liquid silk Your secrets are safe with me I keep them locked away here in my heart Love is bearing what you can’t bear to see It’s a miracle A miracle So it’s too hard to see this through? Well, some of us have You throw caution to the wind Then you reel it back again Between liberty and restraint Forever impotent and dry You wanna be kept tied up But you wanna be satisfied And you’re somewhere in between, Forever impotent Liquid silk Your secrets are safe with me I keep them locked away here in my heart Love is bearing what you can’t bear to see It’s a miracle A miracle So it’s too hard to see this through? Well, some of us have.
11.
SMILE, YOU’RE ON FIRE Enough is enough Cynicism is mental virginity It’s time to tear that straitjacket off And take the monster on Face it, face-to-face Gouge its eyes out Saw its legs off Saw its legs off And let it sink Sink into the sea Let it fall Into pieces Smile, you’re on fire We love Uncle Sam He will drop the bomb Make a “Who’s Got The Biggest Cock” competition From genuine tragedies A miracle! Blood and water Blood and urine Innocent blood for innocent blood Unholy war Useless martyrs Smile, you’re on fire.
12.
CAR CRASH FOR A SOUL Skilled, professional teams have created, In magnificent sweatshops, This gold-plated Plastic gangster with a car crash for a soul Keep the motor running Let the good times roll On over the precipice My life came flat-packed Inside it’s falling to pieces But the surface remains intact At the drive-in with a car crash for a soul You call this a party? It feels like a funeral And we thought we’d died alone These brain-dead functions never felt like fun And now’s the time for us to say, “If we’re gonna crash, they’re gonna pay” Tonight we shine so bright Tonight we kill the light Our star is rising Yours is falling Shopping’s just like sex in pornos: Urgent and joyless I’m so modern everything is pointless With this smashed-up, burned out car crash for a soul There’s no big “fuck you” We just lost all self-control And we thought we’d died alone These branded boxes never felt like home And now’s the time for us to say, “If they’re gonna screw these corpses, they’re gonna pay” Tonight we shine so bright Tonight we kill the light Our star is rising Yours is falling.
13.
THE WHITE NOISE INC. You talk about a class war between “us” and “them” The beautiful freaks and the straight, white men Despite what the beautiful people believe You don’t inherit the Earth through vanity It’s not your commitment to the cause that’s in doubt But how you’ll make a big noise with a cock in your mouth Despite what the downtrodden people believe You don’t inherit the Earth through being meek Dance, dance, baby Let the white noise take you over Dance, dance, baby The White Noise Incorporated Dance, dance, baby Let the white noise take you over Dance, baby, dance We will rock you like a hurricane.
14.
Human Punk 02:55
15.
16.

about

All profits from this compilation will be donated to Gatehouse Food Bank in Bury St Edmunds. To find out more and donate directly, please visit their website:
www.gatehouse.org.uk

A note from Seymour, Mike, Neil and Gish:
“These tracks were recorded between an extended UK tour (approximately 250 dates) that started in October 2001 and ended 12 months later. As things got hazier we lost all perspective and became a bit sour – about the music and towards each other – so it’s been a nice surprise to listen back to these sessions and discover that, actually, we were pretty good after all. The Lamacq tracks were broadcast live on the Evening Session and hilariously, Seymour sounds absolutely nothing like he actually sounds on the accompanying interview; we were 200 dates or thereabouts in the touring year and he was beginning to turn into Nigel Tufnell. It was his first major live broadcast interview so he attempted to style it out by thinking, ‘What would Nicky Wire say at this point?’ Which, to be fair, was his modus operandi during most conversations that year. Anyway, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we didn’t enjoy touring. And endless love to John Peel and Steve Lamacq for supporting us, and for being lovely chaps.”

credits

released May 1, 2020

Tracks 1-4:
Recorded in BBC Maida Vale Studio 4 for John Peel
Produced by Miti Adhikari
First broadcast on BBC Radio One 27th June 2001

Tracks 5-9:
Recorded in BBC Maida Vale Studio 4 for Steve Lamacq’s Evening Session
Producer unknown
First broadcast on BBC Radio One during 2002 (exact date unknown)

Tracks 12-13:
Recorded in BBC Maida Vale Studio 4 for John Peel
Produced by Mike Walter
Engineered by Nick Fountain
First broadcast on BBC Radio One 29th May 2002

Tracks 14-16 (bonus tracks):
Taken from the Adrenaline Junkie Class-A Mentalist EP
Produced by Miss Black America
Engineered by Richard Lockett
Originally released May 2001 on R*E*P*E*A*T Records

All tracks written by Baldwin/Gish/Quigley/Smith

Seymour Quigley – vocals and guitar
Mike Smith – bass
Neil Baldwin – drums
Gish – guitar

Love and thanks to Stefek Zaba for transferring tracks 5-13 from cassette tapes.

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R*E*P*E*A*T Records UK

R*E*P*E*A*T Records - putting the riot back into rock'n'roll...
Here we will feature our new releases, plus a some older ones not previously available digitally.
Releases by Miss Black America, The Dawn Parade and Johnny Panic (amongst others) are already widely available through I-tunes etc and hence aren't included here (yet).
Vast profits split between Save the Children, LMHR and R*E*P*E*A*T.
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