Emily

(Russell, Owens, Lyons)

Little sister walking by, with a look in her eye,
“Come on”, she’s saying.
“I’m going out with all my friends tonight,
See we’ve got drinks to buy and parties to attend,”

“Oh, today I got a man from SA
He’s got a lot to learn and I’ve got plenty to say”
So come on (come on), come on (come on)
She wanna stop in The Sun, smile at everybody,

Emily, I’m sorry,
We’re just fooling around (just fooling around)
Emily, I’m sorry
We’re just fooling around (just fooling around)

”Four more hours of work today, then it’s time to play,
I’ve got all my things,
And I love the conversation-stop
When they laugh a lot at the things that I say”

Chorus

Little sister, smiles and tan, got a brand new plan
Most all of the time,
Says “I’ve got some other flames to fan,
See not quite every man is eating out of my hand…”

Chorus

Run

(Russell, Owens)

If you’re ever gonna run my boy
I’m afraid you’re heading for a wall
And I’d hate to see you fall
I think you’d better step outside
One day you might hear a deeper call
But you don’t care at all

You’re never gonna swim that ocean clearer
You’re never gonna be that boy again
You’re never gonna fly unless you leave her
Or something’s gonna give inside your head

You’re never gonna run
You’re never gonna run

I hear you say “It’s not my fault”
You play the game but you don’t know the rules
Afraid you’re gonna lose 

As seven easy years have shown
We can give you everything you need
But it won’t come for free

Chorus

I wish I could be more than just a witness
I don’t want to see this fall apart
But there has been a fire and London’s burning
Nothing that we built is built to last

Chorus

There are places that you’ve never seen in sunlight
People that you’ve never understood
A conversation overheard at midnight
Imagination trampled underfoot

A million other faces keeping secrets
Don’t you feel a fire for what they mean?
Where is the desire and where’s the hunger?
Nothing for a thousand miles to see

You’re never gonna run

�

England

(Russell, Owens, Lyons)

My father worked every hour
My timing was good
Fought enemies we believed in
For honour we stood

With sentiment, I grow older
I’m watching things change
These settlement walls are burning
Fear bellows the flames 

For another second we remain
Halt the fire with steady, ashen rain
Raise us up and bring us home again
The dawn is falling, the dawn is falling
Take me home

Take me home
Take me home (I hear England)
Take me home (I hear England)
Take me home 

It’s hidden in every heartbeat
It’s written on every wall
We’re sending a silent army
To fight for us all

Nail a call to battle on our door
Name the ground and what we’re fighting for
Take the strain and wait for us to fall

We won’t come crawling
We won’t come crawling
Take me home

Take me home
Take me home (I hear England)
Take me home (I hear England)
Take me home  

Do you believe in me now?�

LYs record with legendary producer Hugh Padgham



If you’re wondering why The Lightyears have been a little quiet for the last few weeks, here’s why – the band have been busy in the studio, recording new tracks with legendary producer Hugh Padgham.



Hugh Padgham is generally regarded as one of the most important producers in the history of popular music. He has worked with Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Kate Bush and Elton John but is perhaps most famous for his work with Sting, The Police, Genesis and Phil Collins. Hugh’s production skills were behind such classic hits as Sting’s Fields Of Gold, Every Breath You Take by The Police and Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight. Over his prestigious career he has won 4 Grammys and sold over 250 million records.



Over recent weeks, The Lightyears have recorded three songs with Hugh. Watch this space for further updates over the coming months!

I’m Not

(Russell, Owens)

You came to talk and to set things straight
I’d say you’ve come to the right place

We promised never to part
But here we are again
So just in case

You think I’m coming back… I’m not

You think I care for what you’ve got
There’s nothing left and I don’t care

I did not come to be made a fool
It’s such a shame to be so cruel

You said “Take care of my heart”
But here we are again
So just in case

Chorus

The Last Night

(Wob, Lyons)

Now the time is drawing to a close
The curtain, it twitches, as the stage hand holds onto the rope

This is the end
This is the end

The seats, threadbare and dusty, full for the last night

This is the end
This is the end

Tonight, all is forgotten
The battles lost and won
‘Cos tonight is the last night
And the final curtain call must be done

She’s The One

(Lyons)

She was a girl like no other
On my computer screen
She came from Surrey in the suburbs
But London was her scene

She worked in media and fashion
Lived in Highgate on the tube
And I just had to meet her
Sounded too good to be true

So after e-mailed faint attractions
Met in Chalk Farm for a drink
She wore the latest Hoxton fashions
Pretty trendy, but I think

That her clothes they do not suit her
And her business chat’s put on
But she’s the one I’m after
Affected girls just turn me on

She’s the one for me
She’s the one for me

We had to date in the right places
Primrose Hill, Point 101
She thought she was one of the faces
Fashion friends all tagged along

I liked the bright lights and the city
The excitement of it all
But she’s in media and fashion
Never could get comfortable

Chorus

These are the good old days, just wait and see

Bassline written by Garry Jones. See www.BidgieReef.com.

Miles Away

(Russell, Owens)

Correction
All that you know, you no longer own
Lines on a hand, a face in the dark you’d recognise anyhow

And you follow the rope
When it’s all that you know

And you call all your friends
They ask the usual questions

But you’re miles away
With your heart in motion
And everything’s grey

What if you knew from the start
This shake of your heart
Would you have changed it so one day it made it easier?

And you follow the rope
Because it’s all that you know

And you call all your friends
And they ask a million questions

But you’re miles away
With your heart in motion
And everything’s grey

Don’t call today
Numb with explosion
Ripping it all away

I’m running away from you…

Fine

(Russell, Owens)

Jamie knows what’s best for me.
I think I’ll ask his advice, And he says ‘I don’t know her
Anymore than I knew you, and we’re just fine, don’t be afraid’.

Jamie gets us both a drink.
Says he can see right through her,
‘She will break your heart you that,’
Maybe that’s just how I am, I don’t like it but it’s me. Maybe.

No, something else is bothering me.
She’s not the first mysterious girl
I’ve fallen for – is this the same?

There’s a picture in my head –
Stop me if you’ve heard this –
Of all that I want you to be…
And Jamie knows she’s not the image, she’s just smiles and bright blue eyes,
Do they see me, should I just think or speak on this,
I don’t know, no.

And all this time, she swims by,
And I don’t want her knowing this
Is all that I can think of now
(She’s so everything just now)
And now we’re talking, she’s just looking
Everywhere but in my eyes
And if she looked up I might know. If she looked up…

‘I don’t know what’s bothering you,’ she’d say,
And Jamie says what I think she thinks,
‘Maybe, maybe not today,’
And maybe we’re just playing games,
I like to think you think of me.
Is that so wrong?

And all this time, as she swings by
(I laugh at all her jokes and cry)
She makes me feel like all this feeling is alright,
It’s fine, oh I don’t want her,
I just want to know that everything is fine.
I want her to know that I am fine
I want her, I want her, no, I don’t want her,
I just want to know that I am still alive.

The World’s Most Famous Festival

Friday 22 June, 7am (Car Park, Glastonbury Festival, Somerset):
I wake up, reluctantly, and squint at my immediate surroundings. I am feeling really quite wretched. We have had less than two hours sleep on the back of a 14-hour day in the studio and a 3-hour drive to Somerset. And when I say “sleep”, I am using that word in its loosest sense. Three grown men squeezed into the back of an estate car with a couple of tents and a sizeable collection of instruments is not the kind of environment that promotes blissful slumber. Believe me.

Imagine, if you will, that upon waking up in said environment, your next task is to trudge for 45 minutes through the rain with half your belongings strapped to your back and squeeze awkwardly through about 27 different turnstiles and checkpoints whilst trying to keep your hair looking nice for the gig you are playing at the world’s most famous festival in just a few hours. This experience turns out not be a great deal of fun.

Nevertheless, we are here to play a gig at the world’s most famous festival and whichever way you look at it, that is still pretty exciting. We are handed our Glastonbury programmes at the main entrance and scan through to find our mention – The Lightyears, Small World Stage, 12pm. Glancing through the pages, it becomes clear that we are pretty much the first band on, on the first day of scheduled music, on perhaps the smallest stage at the festival. However, we are still on the bill and that’s what counts. What’s more, this means that, in theory, we have played on the same bill as The Who, who are headlining on Sunday evening. If you wanted to be pernickety you would point out that there are approximately 476 bands in-between us and them, but pah! That is a mere technicality. The Lightyears and The Who. Best of chums. Except that they were probably choppered into the festival, whilst we arrived in an only semi-functioning Mitsubishi Space Wagon. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

Having pitched our tents, we rock up to the Small World Stage at about 11.30am to set up our gear. The place is pretty much deserted. The mythical “Pony”, who has been running this stage for years, is nowhere to be seen. A couple of sleeping bodies are strewn across the floor. Looks like they had a big one last night…

Gradually, come 11.45, people begin to filter in. I gather from the sound engineer that a significant crowd gathered yesterday at this time, when we were initially scheduled to play (we pushed it back a day so we could spend longer in the studio). “We’ve never had that many people come and ask us about an act before. Looks like you boys have got a lot of fans. You’d better be good!”. Yes, we had, I think. Problem is, I’m not convinced I can even form sentences yet today, let alone sing complex harmonies and leap around the stage.

I genuinely have never done this in preparation for a gig before – and so I’m not just saying it to impress you – but at this point I decide to see off a good 150ml or so of neat whisky. Whisky seemed like the most economical alcohol to bring on-site, as beer is heavy and doesn’t taste any good warm, and drinking spirits at this hour is, after all, a festival tradition. This gees me up quite a bit.

By midday, the tent is three-quarters full. Time to kick off. We start the set gently, with Fine, so as not to freak anyone out (we may have been up for five hours but I get the impression that it’s still breakfast time for everyone else). Gradually we rock things up a bit, playing Beat Alive, Don’t Want You and Sleepless. By this point, the tent is packed, we are really beginning to enjoy ourselves and there’s a great atmosphere in the place. After high-energy acoustic versions of Emily and Banana Republic, we close the set with Girl On The Radio and leave the stage to enthusiastic applause. Calls for an encore lead to us dusting off The Last Night (from our 2005 album Mission Creep), which we haven’t played in at least a year. It’s written to be played at festivals, this song – 12/8 time signature, soaring harmonies, de-tuned acoustic guitar. Very chilled indeed. Nice.

Good job boys. Next stop – Bright Eyes, on the Other Stage. Best get the ciders in, eh?!

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