The Wrong People · 1986 · Stiff Records
She Gets Out the Scrapbook
Written by Jim Irvin, Tim Whelan
Published by Copyright Control
You're working for a family I'm working for myself The thought never changes, the thought never changes And my hands are reaching out to you, all across this town I swear that I'll find you I swear that I'll find you Even though you hide away I know, you won't forget Cause I've got a piece of your heart you left here And I don't want it There's things to be done and things to be said That should have been said long ago I could stay out here forever But the time will come I know When you can't think about the future For the past times you recall The thought never changes, the thought never changes Even when you're making love to him My shadow's on your wall You swore I'd be with you You swore I'd be with you, till the end And it all came true, but it's not how we expected it to be, is it? A memory round every corner A ghost coming back for a visit But I'm no ghost, and I want this chance Just a ghost of a chance Or the chance of a ghost I will take the stand, I will raise my hand I will talk, I will talk, I've held it in too long So tell me it means nothing to me now Tell me I don't have to think about you Tell me the next will wash out the last Tell me, but don't think I'll tell you it's true Nothing of this is important now Nothing that has any reason to last Still I will work for the future just to take control of the past She's been working late She comes home, gets on the phone Calls up a few close friends Gets a bottle of wine or something And as the evening draws on, they sit and reminisce She gets out the scrapbook, and they say Did we really live like this? Did we really really live like this? Entertain me Come on you big bad world and entertain me Entertain me Come on you big bad world and entertain me Entertain me Cause I'm bored with myself when the lights go out There's nothing to talk about And every silence lets in the same doubt Cause I won't forget a single night we spent And I won't forget a single wave of love we said Remember that when you speak to me Remember that when you speak to me And I'm working late in the open air And the moon shines on your face Entertain me Come on you big bad world and entertain me Entertain me I get so bored when the lights go out And there's nothing to talk about She gets out the scrapbook and she laughs and says Come back and claim what is yours Cause I do want it any more
Commentary
"Scrapbook" was assembled by Tim from several different songs he and Jim were working on. Like "I Miss You" it seemed to instantly take on a life of its own, becoming a cause celebre, a milestone, a liability, a highlight and a low point at one time or another. It was always the most requested song at gigs and kept cropping up on the radio, but was almost impossible for us to play perfectly. The recorded version, taken from "The Wrong People", remains one of our greatest frustrations. Its flaws are glaring to us and yet we can hear what it might have been. A fitting epitaph for Furniture, perhaps, and therefore the final song.
Band commentary — She Gets Out the Scrapbook — 1991 inlay (compiled by Jim, Tim, Hami)
Best thing we ever did. Never entirely happy with the mix, which might have been more dynamic, but the song wins through. It took us ages to get right. We were a bit afraid of it after we'd written it. I'm still slightly mystified by it.
Jim Irvin — Band commentary, 2010 Cherry Red reissue booklet (compiled by Jim, Tim and Hami)
This was the start of a wonderful relationship with a 909 and a heavy pair of brushes.
Hamilton Lee — Band commentary, 2010 Cherry Red reissue booklet (compiled by Jim, Tim and Hami)