| "There Goes A Tenner" From: The Dreaming
Written by Kate Bush
Okay, remember.
Okay, remember
That we have just allowed
Half an hour
To get in, do it, and get out.
The sense of adventure
Is changing to danger.
The signal has been given.
I go in.
The crime begins.
My excitement
Turns into fright.
All my words fade.
What am I gonna say?
Mustn't give the game away.
We're waiting.
We're waiting.
We're waiting.
We got the job sussed.
This shop's shut for business.
The lookout has parked the car,
But kept the engine running.
Three beeps means trouble's coming.
I hope you remember
To treat the gelignite tenderly for me.
I'm having dreams about things
Not going right.
Let's leave in plenty of time tonight.
Both my partners
Act like actors:
You are Bogart,
He is George Raft,
That leaves Cagney and me.
("What about Edward G.?")
We're waiting.
We're waiting.
We're waiting.
You blow the safe up.
Then all I know is I wake up,
Covered in rubble. One of the rabble
Needs mummy.
("What's all this then?")
The government will never find the money.
("What's all this then?")
I've been here all day,
A star in strange ways.*
Apart from a photograph
They'll get nothing from me,
Not until they let me see my solicitor.
Ooh, I remember
That rich, windy weather
When you would carry me,
Pockets floating
In the breeze.
Ooh, there goes a tenner.
Hey, look! There's a fiver.
There's a ten-shilling note.
Remember them?
That's when we used to vote for him.
*--"A star in strange ways." In addition to the
whispered question "What's all this then?" (spoken twice), additional words are
spoken in the vicinity of this line (which seems to be a pun on Strangeways prison).
These words have never been satisfactorily deciphered, but they appear to be a snatch of
conversation, running
perhaps as follows:
Whispered Voice Number One: "What are we gonna do with
the money?"
Whispered Voice Number Two: "I've got it!" (This is only a guess.)]
In one of her descriptions of this song Kate supplied a few
related lines of verse. They appear to be additional lyrics to There Goes a Tenner,
although the meter is a little different. Here are Kate's remarks in total, taken from her
self-penned article "explaining" the album The Dreaming:
"Everybody synchronize watches. Remember there's only
half an hour to do the job. We've been rehearsing for weeks, so nothing should go wrong.
Let's run through it one more time:
"I go in and distract the guard, Frank's out the back
in the getaway car, The sign on the door turns from open to shut, We keep them all
covered, you blow the safe up, We grab the cash, make a hasty retreat, And tear across
London using the backstreets. Remember, be careful, give nothing away, The arm of the Law
is as long as they say."
©1982 Novercia Ltd
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