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Sixteen Coaches Long

by Max Décharné

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1.
Black Mask 04:04
I remember a night Like a dream I once had Or a film that you saw long ago On a day when it rained Too dark to see Too dark for me Like a thing that you keep in a box In a place where no-one can see It’s waiting for me Something Like the state that I’m in The shape of the room The things that come back in the night Behind the mask that you wore Something is looking at me But it’s too dark to see Too dark for me I remember a night Like a dream I once had Or a film that you saw long ago On a day when it rained Too dark to see Too dark for me And that thing that you keep in a box In a place where no-one can see It’s waiting for me
2.
Saw you open up the door And you looked so good I wouldn’t say that I missed you But you knew I would C’mon take a walk down the street Cause there’s places to go Tell the one behind the counter That we’ll have two more of those Alright It’s the kind of place that’s always 1991 Where they smoke with both hands It’s past two And they’re still glad to see you Cause this ain’t England And the place ain’t closed Late night summer And it’s a fine place to be Up above the park here Just you and me If it wasn’t for the hippies Banging tins in the darkness You might think everyone was asleep Ah you look so good Yeah you know it’s true C’mon and take A walk by the river Away my café Cause it’s somethin’ to do Alright Saw you open up the door And you looked so good I wouldn’t say that I missed you But you knew that I would You knew that I would You know that I would
3.
Well I'm down here again tonight I watch the cars out of the window The rain and the neon lights Your favourite song Is on the radio But you're not there I have another drink And lean back in my chair And I say here's to you Wherever you are Here's to you From the bottom of a glass In the middle of a bar All the nights we spent down here Just getting drunk And passing out Like decent people do Yeah here's to you Ah here's to ya And if I had my way Well you'd be sat right here today If I had money I'd buy you a ticket You could get on a plane Come on home And you could tell them to stick it That song is on the radio But you're not there I have another drink Lean back in my chair And I say here's to you Wherever you are Here's to you From the bottom of a glass In the middle of a bar All the nights we spent down here just Getting drunk and passing out Like everybody does Yeah here's to you Here’s to you
4.
Only Tonight 03:16
Well she's not here She had to go I don’t know why And I don't care what people say Till they say goodbye And I never think of you It's just tonight I call you up But you're not there They said you caught the train To god knows where But I never think of you It's just tonight Just tonight You're not here You had to go I don't know why And I never think of you It's just tonight Yeah I never think of you It's just tonight Only tonight
5.
You could see him through the window Of the all night cafe Just across the street Lighting up another From the first Before it burned his hands Hardly touched A thing on the plate Didn't care how long He might have to wait Down looking for A burnt out wreck of a man Yesterday's papers Staring up from the gutter All wet with rain Spokesman from the bank is saying "Help us if you can" And there’s a pair of tired eyes On the face of someone Just my size It says they're all out Looking for A burnt out wreck of a man But he's not around Some people say He's already Left town But he's not around Some people say He's already Left town Now they're here to check the tickets As the train leaves another station Far behind She helps him with his brand new coat And says it's all gone according to plan Clean shoes New suit And a suitcase full of cash He says to her Five seconds before The fatal crash Without you I'm A burnt out wreck of a man And all they found later was A burnt out wreck of a man
6.
This train is sixteen coaches long I saw it once but now it's gone Saw that train go rolling by Too blind to see too late to cry The way it always seemed to me The way I guess it has to be The way you walk the way I try The way you never ask me why I looked on up and saw the sky Turning red, and turning blue It doesn't matter what you do I'll always be a fool for you Here's one that took me far away The earth was black the sky was grey And someone shouted out your name Or if it was I couldn't say And maybe there I lost my way But when it was I couldn't say I couldn't say There's a jukebox in my head Playing Every word you said There's a name I gave to you And there's a place you took me to That one was sixteen coaches long And you were riding on that train So I had to go along I wanna go back there again I saw the writing on the wall It doesn't look like me at all I read the words You wrote to me So many times I couldn't see I heard the evening train go by I walked on out And looked at the sky Was turning red Turning blue It doesn't matter what you do I'll always be a fool for you
7.
They said we fought in the war For people like you I said well you never got one But what can you do La da da da da da da La da da da da da da Well stop me if you've heard this one before But I don't think I can take any more La da da da da da da La da da da da da da There’s gotta be better things to do Than working all day for people like you We’re having a hard time having some fun Just trying to find A place in the sun They're playing our tune And they're playing it wrong He's playing dumb She's playing along La da da da da da da La da da da da da da Some you win Some you lose Some things wind up On the evening news There’s gotta be better things to do Than working all day for someone like you We’re having a hard time having some fun Just trying to find a place in the sun A place in the sun A place in the sun A place in the sun
8.
It’s all too much Nothing left to do Sometimes The lights go out Sometimes When you were young Thought you had so much time But… But nobody told you Nobody told you Night must fall Sometime Sometime And it’s a lonely road And it gets harder And you can’t see your way Sometimes So you pulled a knife But they pulled a gun They never told you That the night must fall Sometime And it’s all too much Nothing left to do Sometimes The night must fall Yeah the night must fall The night must fall Yeah the night must fall Sometime
9.
She says she says I don’t know where or when And Billie says It’s just the mood that I’m in And Charlie says I can’t hardly stand it And Lewis says Well you know it’s a sin I’m looking for something I wanna be me I’m lookin’ for a kiss I’m lookin’ at you Just lookin’ at me And Jimmy says Things are not what they seem And Bobby says it’s alright Alright And Charlie says I can’t hardly stand it And Billie says It’s just the mood that I’m in It’s just the mood that I’m in
10.
Well it's a shame It's a sin It's a sickening state to be in There's no room For that stuff spinning round in your mind There's nothing Left to say Throw your memories away It's gone it's best forgotten slam the door Try and leave it behind Well you wake in the morning Leave without making a sound First they want to see you Then they say see you around You thought you could swim But you're drowning again The light at the end of the tunnel Is an oncoming train Oncoming train It's an oncoming train The light at the end of the tunnel Is really an oncoming train You thought you could swim But you're drowning again The light at the end of the tunnel Is an oncoming train And that golden glow In the evening sky It won't bring a brighter dawn It's just the streets nearby And they're on fire Well it's the same Every night You'd complain But you're much too polite Well the world doesn't owe you a living But it could buy you a beer Nothing's quite what it seems They'll take a blowtorch To your dreams And what's the point Of the keys to the kingdom If you can't find the door Well you wake in the morning Leave without making a sound First they want to see you Then they say see you around You thought you could swim But you're drowning again And the light at the end of the tunnel Is an oncoming train Yeah the light at the end of the tunnel Is an oncoming train

about

As with my previous LP, New Shade of Black (May 2020), these songs were all written on a four-track cassette-based tape recorder, often late at night, wherever I happened to be living at the time. I’d then play them to our band, The Flaming Stars, and we’d record group versions, which would be released on LPs and singles.

Five of the songs here are my original demos from those days, and the other five are new versions of some of my songs from back then which I recorded this summer, 2020. In each case I was looking for something simple. In some cases I’m playing several instruments, in others it’s just me and a piano.

No loops, no editing, no Pro Tools, no Auto-Tune - just the performance, some rough edges, and a couple of steam locomotives.

MAX DÉCHARNÉ
London, September 2020

credits

released September 4, 2020

Black Mask, A Hell Of A Woman, Burnt Out Wreck Of A Man, A Place In The Sun and Oncoming Train entirely recorded and mixed to 4-track in London, June-August 2020.

Backing tracks for The Marabou Shuffle, Only Tonight, Sixteen Coaches Long, Night Must Fall and She Says She Says recorded and mixed to 4-track in London and Berlin, 1995-2002. Vocals for these recorded and mixed in London, June-August 2020.

Front cover photo by Katja Klier
Cover design by Max

ALL SONGS WRITTEN, SUNG, PLAYED AND RECORDED BY MAX DÉCHARNÉ

℗ & © 2020 Max Décharné PRS/MCPS All Rights Reserved

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Max Décharné London, UK

Max Décharné is a musician and author from England. With several bands he has released eleven albums and roughly thirty singles, and also recorded nine John Peel Sessions. He played drums with his friend Nikki Sudden before joining Gallon Drunk in 1991, with whom he toured the world. Since 1994, he has been the singer with The Flaming Stars. ... more

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