Twelve songs.
Same old
habits.
You go out for the day.
You come back with a record.
A ferry ride. Monkeys eating chips. An imaginary contractor called Jerry. And a cigarette that gives your hands something to do.
Monkey See, Monkey Smoke is the debut album from Since 2011. Twelve songs about the people we borrow from, the friends beside us, and the habits we keep.
Funny in places. Quiet in others.
No grand revelation at the end.
Read between
the lines.
The stories are in the songs.
Select a track to open the lyrics.
01Monkey See
Verse 1
Left the city in our sunglasses,
Sweat already through the seats.
Came to meet our distant cousins;
Found them eating French fries in the heat.
One was guarding half the mountain,
One was reaching over three.
I said, "Look at that greedy bastard."
Someone passed the bag to me.
Chorus
Monkey see, monkey do,
Nobody tells me what to do.
Monkey see, look at me,
Show me how to look that free.
I make up my own damn mind.
I'm only half a step behind.
Monkey see, monkey do,
It looked all right on you.
Verse 2
I've got a cigarette behind my ear,
A borrowed pair of shades.
I've got a very strong opinion
That I heard the other day.
I said, "They shouldn't feed them rubbish."
Then I licked the salt off mine.
We had a lot to say about them.
They were getting on just fine.
Chorus
Monkey see, monkey do,
Nobody tells me what to do.
Monkey see, look at me,
Show me how to look that free.
I make up my own damn mind.
I'm only half a step behind.
Monkey see, monkey do,
It looked all right on you.
Bridge
Somebody shook the bottom of the bag.
Everybody turned their head.
Mine went first; I played it off.
"Just checking what he said."
A little one got past the others,
Made off with the biggest chip.
I said, "At least that one's got some ambition."
You said, "Listen to this prick."
Final chorus
Monkey see, monkey do,
Nobody tells me what to do.
Monkey see, look at me,
Show me how to look that free.
I make up my own damn mind.
I'll have what he's having this time.
Monkey see, monkey do,
It looked all right on you.
Outro
One fell in the dirt.
He ate that too.
I said, "Fair enough."
I would've, wouldn't you?
02Secondhand Man
Verse 1
There's a laugh I got off someone
I don't even like these days.
There's a jacket in my wardrobe
Still arguing his case.
There's a way I say "whatever"
That I learned to get me through.
Half the things I call my nature
Used to be a thing you'd do.
Chorus
I'm a secondhand man
With the labels cut out.
I can tell you what I stand for;
Don't ask where I found out.
I've been wearing these opinions
Till they fit me like my skin.
I'm a secondhand man.
Where do I begin?
Verse 2
I learned to call things overrated
From a man who hadn't been.
Kept the tone, forgot the subject,
Let the confidence sink in.
I can hold a room a minute
With a story someone told.
I put myself beside the window
In the version getting old.
Chorus
I'm a secondhand man
With the labels cut out.
I can tell you what I stand for;
Don't ask where I found out.
I've been wearing these opinions
Till they fit me like my skin.
I'm a secondhand man.
Where do I begin?
Bridge
But you make room when someone joins us,
Move your bag and pull a chair.
Never make a show about it;
Just let somebody sit there.
I caught myself doing that yesterday
Before I thought it through.
I think I got that off you.
I'd like to keep that too.
Final chorus
I'm a secondhand man
With the labels cut out.
Some of it I ought to alter.
Some I'd rather not throw out.
I've been wearing these opinions;
There's a few that don't quite fit.
I'm a secondhand man.
I can live with some of it.
Outro
Your laugh gets loose across the table.
I can hear it in mine too.
I don't think I'll give that back.
It sounds all right on you.
03Light Me One
Verse 1
We keep a story going
Long after it's run dry.
Someone does the voice again,
And that's another five.
I've forgotten how it started.
You've forgotten where we're due.
There's a whole day on the schedule
And I'm stood here talking to you.
Chorus
Light me one, mate.
Stand here a while.
You were halfway through a sentence
With that stupid little smile.
Let the bus roll up;
Let the driver count us twice.
I've got nothing worth announcing.
This is nice.
Verse 2
We invented Jerry on a walkway,
Had him sacked before we'd left.
Then you gave him one more contract
For the sheer cheek of himself.
He was somebody by the corner,
Had a mortgage by the bend.
Never met the poor old bastard.
Now I know him like a friend.
Chorus
Light me one, mate.
Stand here a while.
You were halfway through a sentence
With that stupid little smile.
Let the bus roll up;
Let the driver count us twice.
I've got nothing worth announcing.
This is nice.
Verse 3
You ask me how I've been lately.
I say, "Fine," then, "More or less."
You don't turn it to an interview.
You don't offer me a test.
You tell me something ordinary
About your week back home.
For a minute I stop working
Quite so hard to hold my own.
Bridge
There's the driver in the doorway
With his patient, tired stare.
We take the long way to the steps
To keep the story there.
You haven't reached the ending.
He's pretending not to mind.
I get the seat beside you.
You can finish it inside.
Final chorus
Light me one, mate,
When we stop somewhere again.
I was halfway through a sentence;
You were laughing at the end.
Let the whole day run.
Tell the best bit of it twice.
I've got nothing worth announcing.
This is nice.
Outro
"What was I saying?"
"Something about Jerry."
"Oh, yeah."
And off we go again.
04Everybody Looks Better in Black & White
Verse 1
You said, "Don't turn round a second."
I said, "What?" and held it there.
Now I look as though I'm leaving
Someone waiting on the stairs.
There's a river full of silver,
There's a collar full of breeze.
There's a man who's seen some trouble.
There's a bloke who needs a wee.
Chorus
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Nobody can hear what you were like.
Take the colour out and leave the light.
Give an ordinary second another life.
You caught a man with something on his mind.
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Verse 2
You can't hear the laugh behind me.
You can't smell the sun cream now.
You can't hear somebody doing
Jerry's voice a bit too loud.
I was thinking of his toilet
When you caught my haunted side.
Now I look like I've lost something
That I never will describe.
Chorus
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Nobody can hear what you were like.
Take the colour out and leave the light.
Give an ordinary second another life.
You caught a man with something on his mind.
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Bridge
But I did look out a moment.
I did let the others talk.
Watched the little wake unravel,
Watched it work its way to shore.
I wasn't thinking anything
That would look good written down.
For a second I stopped checking
If you had the camera out.
Final chorus
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Leave that little crease beside my eye.
Take the colour out; the light was mine.
Give an ordinary second another life.
You caught a man, and I was there that time.
Everybody looks better in black and white.
Outro
Send me that one.
No, the one before.
Where I don't look like I'm trying.
That's the one.
05No Safety Net
Verse 1
I turned to say, "Look at that one,"
And stepped into your way.
You had a baby in your arms
And nowhere much to sway.
My shoulder nearly met your elbow.
I checked myself in time.
The crocodiles lay still below.
I hadn't seen how close.
Chorus
No safety net,
Just half a step.
You passed me by;
I caught my breath.
Nothing happened.
Say it plain.
The day was ours
To waste again.
Verse 2
I don't know if you noticed.
I don't know what you saw.
I kept looking at the little gap
I'd hardly seen before.
Somebody asked about the exit.
Somebody complained of heat.
I nodded like I'd heard them,
Looking down to place my feet.
Chorus
No safety net,
Just half a step.
You passed me by;
I caught my breath.
Nothing happened.
Say it plain.
The day was ours
To waste again.
Bridge
No one shouted.
No one ran.
I won't give the water
What it never had.
Nothing for the story.
Nothing to put right.
You carried on with someone
Held against your side.
Final chorus
No safety net,
Just half a step.
You passed me by;
I caught my breath.
Nothing happened.
Say it plain.
The day was ours.
And there it stayed.
Outro
I caught up with the others.
We went on.
06Monkey Business
Verse 1
The commander's in the doorway
With a folder full of plans.
He says, "I asked you for a building
That would reasonably stand."
Jerry points towards the bathroom
With a proud, expansive sweep.
"Sir, the tiles were rather costly.
But the timber came quite cheap."
Chorus
Jerry, Jerry, what the hell is this?
You've built a royal bathroom
On a pile of sticks.
We asked you for a base, man,
Not a palace for a piss.
Jerry, Jerry,
What the hell is this?
Verse 2
The path kicks out to nowhere,
Then comes back to where it was.
"Why'd you put that bit there, Jerry?"
"Well, there wasn't one before."
"And the next one?" "That's another."
"And the next?" "You wanted more."
"More of what?" said the commander.
Jerry looked down at the floor.
Chorus
Jerry, Jerry, what the hell is this?
You've built a royal bathroom
On a pile of sticks.
We asked you for a base, man,
Not a palace for a piss.
Jerry, Jerry,
What the hell is this?
Verse 3
He'd never seen an actual boat.
He'd just agreed the fee.
Then we found his little project
Set in concrete in the stream.
"Jerry, is that meant to float?"
"Well, that's the longer-term dream."
"You've attached it to the bottom."
"So you know where it will be."
He was pleased about the mooring.
The commander couldn't speak.
Bridge
But the bathroom door shut softly.
And the tap ran clean and clear.
And the commander stayed in silence
For a good ten minutes there.
When he came out looking calmer,
We all thought he'd changed his mind.
Then he saw another platform.
"Jerry. Come outside."
Final chorus
Jerry, Jerry, what the hell is this?
You've built a royal bathroom
On a pile of sticks.
We asked you for a base, man,
Not a palace for a piss.
Jerry, Jerry,
What the hell is this?
Outro
We left the base by foot.
Nobody took the boat.
Jerry went to check the flush.
The commander wrote a note.
07Built to Stay
Verse 1
You gave it walls to keep the river
From coming through the side.
You set the bottom deep enough
To hold against the tide.
You took your time along the edges.
You made the corners true.
Nobody had thought to ask
What "boat" had meant to you.
Chorus
Built to stay,
Built to last.
Let the river hurry past.
You won't lose it in a storm.
You can always find it here.
Built to stay,
Built to last.
That's another year.
Verse 2
We tried to do the voice again.
It didn't land the same.
None of us had ever met you;
We'd just given you a name.
But I stayed to look a little
When the others moved along.
There was all that careful concrete.
There was only one thing wrong.
Chorus
Built to stay,
Built to last.
Let the river hurry past.
You won't lose it in a storm.
You can always find it here.
Built to stay,
Built to last.
That's another year.
Bridge
I've got plans for when the work slows down
And work to pay the rent.
I add another sensible thing
And wonder where the year went.
Everything is well supported.
Everything is hard to move.
I've a solid explanation
For each thing I never do.
Verse 3
There's a boat a little further out.
The paint is mostly gone.
The engine makes a rotten noise.
They've tied a seat back on.
There are people waving from it,
Getting smaller in the light.
Nobody has called it finished.
It has made the other side.
Final chorus
Built to stay,
Built to last.
Let the river hurry past.
You won't lose it in a storm.
You can always find me here.
Built to stay,
Built to last.
That's another year.
Outro
Shift along a little, Jerry.
I could use a seat in there.
08Flammable Forest
Verse 1
One sign by the entrance,
One nailed to a tree.
It was written for the public.
That did not include me.
I could read it from a distance.
I could quote the thing by heart.
I was very well informed
As I gave myself a spark.
Chorus
Flammable forest.
Yes, I saw the sign.
Terrible idea.
But it'll probably be fine.
Let me finish this one.
Then I'll toe the line.
Flammable forest.
This one's different. This one's mine.
Verse 2
Ten minutes back beside the water
I was careful where I stood.
Here I'm talking about the spelling
Of a warning nailed to wood.
There's a leaf caught on my bootlace.
There's a light between my hands.
I can spot a stranger's bad idea
Before he even makes his plans.
Chorus
Flammable forest.
Yes, I saw the sign.
Terrible idea.
But it'll probably be fine.
Let me finish this one.
Then I'll toe the line.
Flammable forest.
This one's different. This one's mine.
Bridge
The forest didn't catch that day.
Nothing made the news.
That's the sort of evidence
I'm very pleased to use.
Don't ask what I was proving.
I was following the path.
You were halfway through your Jerry voice.
I was waiting for the laugh.
Final chorus
Flammable forest.
Yes, I saw the sign.
Terrible idea.
But it'll probably be fine.
Let me finish this one.
Listen to that line.
Flammable forest.
This one's different. This one's mine.
Outro
There was another warning
Further up the track.
I noticed all of them.
I can tell you that.
09Smoke Break
Verse 1
I said I needed a cigarette.
That wasn't quite the truth.
I needed somewhere I could stand
Without a thing to prove.
Not a reason to be miserable,
Not a story to explain,
Just a corner of the afternoon
That didn't need my name.
Chorus
Give me five.
Maybe ten.
Let the river do the moving
Till I find my feet again.
Let the engine take the strain.
Let the little wake unwind.
Keep a place for me inside.
Give me five.
Verse 2
I hold it while it burns itself.
I scarcely take a drag.
I'm watching where the river folds
And opens at the back.
I can hear you through the doorway.
You are laughing; I'm all right.
No one's come to ask me questions.
I could stand here half the night.
Chorus
Give me five.
Maybe ten.
Let the river do the moving
Till I find my feet again.
Let the engine take the strain.
Let the little wake unwind.
Keep a place for me inside.
Give me five.
Bridge
Then you come and lean beside me.
You don't try to catch my eye.
You complain about the weather,
Once, and let the subject die.
I'm relieved you haven't left me.
I'm relieved you let me be.
We can stand here saying nothing.
There's a lot of it to see.
Final chorus
Give us five.
Maybe ten.
Let the river do the moving
Till we find our feet again.
Let the engine take the strain.
Let the little wake unwind.
Keep a place for us inside.
Give us five.
Outro
I look down at the cigarette.
I forgot that it was there.
10Monkey Smoke
Verse 1
I don't check how I hold it now.
I don't angle for the light.
I don't wonder who's behind me
When I take it out at night.
It was once a little entrance.
It was once a little show.
Now my hand has found my pocket
While I'm thinking where to go.
Chorus
Monkey smoke.
Nobody needs to know.
I learned the part so well
I do it on my own.
Monkey smoke.
Nothing left to show.
It started with a borrowed light.
It follows me back home.
Verse 2
I do it when there's time to kill.
I do it when there's none.
When I need to leave the table.
When I want to stay with someone.
I could give you fourteen reasons;
You could take them all away.
There'd still be something in my hand
At the ending of the day.
Chorus
Monkey smoke.
Nobody needs to know.
I learned the part so well
I do it on my own.
Monkey smoke.
Nothing left to show.
It started with a borrowed light.
It follows me back home.
Verse 3
There's a way I fill a silence.
There's a joke I always make.
There's a little change of subject
When I feel my voice might break.
I'm not working from a script now.
There's no page I need to turn.
I have done it all so often
I forget I had to learn.
Bridge
I won't make myself a villain.
I won't make myself a saint.
I can tell you what I'm doing.
I can't tell you that I've changed.
I was halfway to my pocket
When I noticed where it went.
I stood there for a second.
That's as far as I can get.
Final chorus
Monkey smoke.
Nobody needs to know.
I learned the part so well
I do it on my own.
Monkey smoke.
Nothing left to show.
It started with a borrowed light.
It follows me back home.
Outro
Nothing much to look at.
A man beside the rail.
11Heart of Darkness
Verse 1
The bus doors folded closed again.
The driver raised a hand.
We stood a moment on the pavement,
Like we'd only just made land.
Someone said, "A beer, then?"
Someone said, "I know a place."
All the jungle fell behind us
As the sweat dried on my face.
Chorus
At the Heart of Darkness,
There is lager catching light.
You are halfway through the story
And you've got his voice just right.
Never mind the bits you've added.
That's a very Jerry line.
At the Heart of Darkness,
Pull your chair up next to mine.
Verse 2
Jerry's got a company now,
A logo and a van.
He's been quoting for a submarine;
He's already bought the land.
And the toilet's grown a ballroom
In the version doing rounds.
I have never met that builder.
I would know his voice by now.
Chorus
At the Heart of Darkness,
There is lager catching light.
You are halfway through the story
And you've got his voice just right.
Never mind the bits you've added.
That's a very Jerry line.
At the Heart of Darkness,
Pull your chair up next to mine.
Bridge
Then someone asks about the baby.
I say, "Nothing happened there."
A glass stays halfway to a mouth.
You nod and leave it there.
We hear a chair scrape on the floor.
The noise comes slowly back.
You ask if anybody's hungry.
I say, "Yeah, I'd go for that."
Final chorus
At the Heart of Darkness,
There is lager catching light.
You are halfway through the story
And you've got his voice just right.
Someone brings a bowl of chips out.
We reach in at the same time.
At the Heart of Darkness,
Pull your chair up next to mine.
Outro
Don't clear those.
We're still here.
12One for the Road
Verse 1
I've been leaving for an hour.
I've said bye and paid my share.
Someone starts another story.
I pull back the empty chair.
I've got half a dozen promises
For the man I'll be next week.
He's apparently quite something.
We have never had to meet.
Chorus
One for the road,
Then I'm gone.
Leave the door a little open.
Let me hear you carry on.
You don't need to come and find me.
I'm just outside the door.
One for the road.
Then one more.
Verse 2
On my phone I'm on the ferry,
Looking like I've missed a train.
I can hear you through the window
Doing Jerry's voice again.
I find the little plastic lighter
In the pocket I just tried.
Hold the photograph a moment.
Put the phone back out of sight.
Chorus
One for the road,
Then I'm gone.
Leave the door a little open.
Let me hear you carry on.
You don't need to come and find me.
I'm just outside the door.
One for the road.
Then one more.
Bridge
I don't know if I've changed much.
I know where we've been.
I know you kept a place for me
When I wandered off again.
I can tell it badly later.
I can miss the better parts.
But I'll know whose laugh to listen for
Before the story starts.
Final chorus
One for the road,
Then I'm gone.
Leave the door a little open.
Let me hear you carry on.
You don't need to come and find me.
I'm just outside the door.
One for the road.
Then one more.
Outro
Then someone does the voice again.
I hear you lose your breath.
I turn a little from the breeze.
I light another cigarette.