Songs for the Small Places, by Giant Killers (2024)

1.

Outside the shops and round the blocksThe kids who spit and smoke a lotAre staring at the local cops - it's badWhile Grandma's scared to walk the streetsToday the dog won't get its meatShe hopes the cat will come home in one pieceAnd in the streets where you first kissedTo be inside the house you wishedBut Mum and Dad are not allowing thisSo drink the sacred lager kidIt makes you sick, so do the cigsBut you know you'll love 'em in the endIn the endThe only thing you'll be is olderIn the endA wiser head on wiser shouldersIn the endAll the things you love and hold dear will stay with youMeanwhile in subways and the tubesThe tags you sprayed still spoil the viewsAnd upset the early morning queuesHere grey people in greyer suitsIgnore the likes of me and youPolitely they ignore each other tooKid, see that tired look in their eyesMistake your fate in that and dieGoodbye, see you later, get a lifeSo you'd best hold the one you loveThough you may not be very goodYou know you'll get better in the endIn the endThe only thing you'll be is olderIn the endA wiser head on wiser shouldersIn the endAll the things you love and hold dear will stay with youKeep your eyes wide openKeep an ear to the groundIn these means streetsDon't steal a kiss if you can't do the timeIn the endThe only thing you'll be is olderIn the endA wiser head on wiser shouldersIn the endAll the things you love and hold dear will stay with youEven if you wanted toYou know that you could never doIt doesn't matter what you sayYou're never gonna get awayEven if you wanted toYou know that you could never doIt doesn't matter what you sayYou're never gonna get awayEven if you wanted toYou know that you could never doIt doesn't matter what you sayYou're never gonna get awayEven if you wanted toYou know that you could never doIt doesn't matter what you sayYou're never gonna get away

2.

Product of a misspent youthShooting pool and sniffing glueOn council run estatesWasting countless sunny daysThe fruit machine took all my changeIn all the cheap cafesAnd now in backrooms of barsI earn money playing cardsThose sunny days long goneOh when I was back in schoolFresh of face, all studied coolThe future seemed easyWho am I fooling it's onlyMyself againWho am I fooling, nobodyBut yours trulyIf you think it's ever easy Then think againChasing girls at swimming poolsLed to girl's names on tattoosAnd fumbled sex in carsThen came the one who broke my heartIt never healed and left a scarI still hope she'll come backUnlike the tattoos I regretThere are some things you never getespecially if you don't tryBut when I was back at schoolMy teacher said don't be a foolThose words ring in my earsWho am I fooling, it's onlyMyself againWho am I fooling, nobodyBut yours trulyWho am I foolingIf you think it's ever easyThen thing againIf you think it's ever easyAgainIf you think it's ever easyAgainif you think it's ever easyAgainIf you think it's ever easyThen think againWho am I fooling, it's onlyMyself againWho am I fooling, nobody But yours trulyWho am I fooling, it's onlyMyself againWho am I fooling, nobody But yours trulyWho am I fooling

3.

It's Friday night and I'm out with the old crowdWe're drinking, singing, hanging outTrying to look cool, hard and immortalWe hope we'll stay this way foreverWhen this time is overWe will know what it's likeTo love and be lovedFight and be foughtTo be aliveI see my beautiful reflectionI see the cut of my new clothAnd in that single, shining momentIt's then I know that I'm aliveWhen this time is overWe will know what it's likeTo love and be lovedTo fight and be foughtTo be aliveI feel the closeness of the othersThe feeling runs right through the packTogether no one can stop usBut will the ties that bind us lastNo, noWhen this time is overIt's overWe will know what it's likeWhen this time is overIt's overWe will know what it's likeWhen this time is overIt's overWe will know what it's likeWhen this time is overIt's overWe will know what it's likeWhen this timeWhen this time

4.

Up on the top deck of a bus, and the door of my carSome hooligan or other has scratched a calling cardAs I, I must confess, have left my own similar markOn table tops and fronts of shops etceteraOn Saturday nights in car parks I broke my heart and faceFighting against anyone for reasons unclearAnd in every open space I'd gather with the crewWe swore one day to leave this God forsaken placeBilly the Kid and meFighting in the High StWe tried hard but we couldn't beatEveryone who came alongEveryone who came alongThese days in tree lined avenues I'm a restless nativeI think I'm civilised but it's a thin veneerBilly the Kid still waits for me to get him out of jailAnd Jack the Lad is Jack the Man with wife and childNow all my open spaces are buried under pavementWhat would the neighbours say if I ripped the concrete upMe 'n' the Kid won't ride again, most nights we can't make itAnd brand new shops stand where our last chance saloon stoodBilly the Kid and meFighting in the High StWe tried hard but we couldn't beatEveryone who came alongEveryone who came alongBilly the Kid and meFighting in the High StWe tried hard but we couldn't beatEveryone who came alongEveryone who came alongEveryone who came alongOh I never get what I want So I'll take whatever you've gotCome on then I'll take you all onCome on I'll kill ya, who wants someOh I never get what I wantSo' I'll take whatever you gotCome on then I'll take you all onChew you up, spit you out, kick ya when your down

5.

You're so cool, or so I thought, back thenBut you looked stupid inThose glossy posters of you on so many bedroom wallsBut all the things you said and wroteWere meant only for meAll the details of my life were wrapped up in your linesI hoped you would always stay that wayI knew you never wouldI hoped one day you would know my nameI knew you never wouldI knew you never wouldSuch love affairs don't stand. times' testEveryone's star descendsThe fleeting nature of them lends a beauty of its ownBut the ghosts of posters on my old wallA radio half heardBrings to mind a special time and my love is not lost I findI hoped you would always stay that wayI knew you never wouldI hoped one day you would know my nameI knew you never wouldI knew you never wouldI hoped you would always stay that wayI knew you never wouldI hoped one day you would know my nameI knew you never wouldI hoped you would always stay that wayI knew you never wouldI hoped one day you would know my nameI knew you never wouldI knew you never would

6.

Your silence is deafeningIn your place there are just ordinary thingsA tap drips, the kettle boilsThe wind taps at my windowLet me inLet me inLet me inThe clock ticks to remind meThat time makes wide the gap between usAnd like a jilted loverThe wind taps at my windowLet me inLet me inLet me in

7.

In nightclubs with mirrored wallsTrying and failing to scoreWith all of the sweet young thingsWearing shades and sun tanned skinsA second hand car I could just affordCruising the streets 'til I got boredCos there's nothing else to do on hot Sunday afternoonsThis is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?Will things get any better than thisThe best days of our lives?On Monday I'll be back at workA job I'll hate in 20 yearsBut I'm living for todayThe weekend is just days awayThis is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?Will things get any better than thisThe best days of our lives?Here comes another weekendLet's get dressed up and go outAre these the best days of our lives?We'll all get drunk and fall downHeads in gutters and hearts in cloudsAre these the best days of our lives?This is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?This is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?This is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?This is the time of our livesIs there a life in our times?Will things get any better than thisThe best days of our lives?

8.

Hey you with the famous faceI heard you had it allThat you plied your trade with style and graceThe best my father ever sawAnd for a while you wooed the crowdsAnd your name played on their lipsBut time moves on and then you found that you weren't sadly missedGeorgie, Georgie where are you?Kissed them all cos they loved you When the world was at your feetBut when your greatness fades awayAll the legends still remain In the hearts of those who gasped at everything that you didI heard you threw it all wayDid you drink it down the drain?Was there no work, and too much play?What did the papers say?Well you don't need to pay no mindMy father recalls youHe reckons there are few can say their schoolyard dreams came trueGeorgie, Georgie where are you?Kissed them all cos they loved you When the world was at your feetBut when your greatness fades awayAll the legends still remain In the hearts of those who gasped at everything that you didGeorgie, Georgie where are you?Kissed them all cos they loved you When the world was at your feetBut when your greatness fades awayOnly legends still remain In the hearts of those who gasped at everything that you didGasped at everything that you did Georgie, Georgie where are you?Georgie, Georgie where are you?Georgie, Georgie where are you?Georgie, Georgie where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?

9.

I'm young, I'm smart and I'm sexyAnd I went to universitySo, now that I have my degreeWhy do I work in a factoryI work in a factoryI do it for the moneyWhich incidentally, isn't very goodPacking biscuits and crisps intoCardboard boxes consumed by youIn high tech homes designed and builtBy someone I went to school withI work in a factory I do it for the moneyWhich incidentally, isn't very goodI work in a factory I do it for the moneyWhich incidentally, isn't very goodAnd I'd change it if I couldStood at conveyor belts I'm boredThey have robots for this I'm sureIn my vision of the futureI wanted a space-age careerI work in a factory I do it for the moneyWhich incidentally, isn't very goodI work in a factory I work in a factoryI work in a factoryI do it for the moneyI work in a factoryIt doesn't mean that muchI work in a factoryI'd change it if I couldI work in a factoryI do it for the money

10.

Instrumental

"The world has been worse off this last quarter century by not having these deftly crafted indie gems in mass circulation.”

James McMahon; Chart topping music podcast host, former features editor of NME and editor of Kerrang.
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“Giant Killers have the ability to capture moods and moments while evoking emotions running the gamut from regret and loss through to optimism and love. They have the raconteur’s knack of painting pictures in the mind of the listener which are no less vivid for all the intervening years since the words were first written.

“With Songs For The Small Places, Giant Killers are doing their bit to make all of our lives a little happier, and whether or not they ever achieve long-overdue commercial recognition, they have certainly earned their fifteen minutes of fame second time around.”

Robin Boardman: Louder Than War
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"Packed with melodic tunes infused with a gritty lyricism and a nod to the iconic sounds of the ’90s"

A&R Factory.
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£2 from every Bandcamp sale of this album will be donated to the Campaign Against Living Miserably - a leading charity working in suicide prevention with a proven capacity to save lives. We're against living miserably too.

The songs on this album were originally written and recorded around the time Giant Killers signed to MCA Records (now Universal Music) in 1995 and were intended to be the debut album.

MCA released two singles: In the End (1996) featured My TV Set is Ill Tonight and Time to go Home as bonus tracks. A second single, Time of our Lives (also 1996) featured My Last Words and Billy the Kid, an acoustic version of a live favourite, as bonus tracks.

Reworked and re-recorded versions of those two songs, and also the full band version of Billy The Kid feature on this album alongside choice selections from our back catalogue. Every care has been taken to capture and recreate the 90s sound for the reworked stuff - especially as music from that era has enjoyed a renaissance of recent times, and we wanted to make this an authentic record.

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Giant Killers enjoyed some success in the 90s, and an impressive live following - we opened for Blur on select dates from their Country House tour, who went on to steal our original keyboard player! We also toured with Dr Robert (of Blow Monkeys fame), and Nick Heyward on his solo tours post the Haircut 100 years. Our TV appearances included Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, Chartbites on Scottish TV (STV) and a live performance on the Patrick Kielty Show (then an up and coming comedian and TV host) in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A dance mix of Time of our Lives - the Xenomania club mixes achieved top 10 placings in multiple dance charts and became an anthem at Love Muscle - an iconic gay club night in South London. Some of those mixes are to be found on our Youtube channel playlist.

Giant Killers were formed out of the ashes of our first music project, Illustrious (latterly Illustrious GY) - who were signed to Arista/BMG imprint Survival in 1992 - releasing three singles and an album on that label in 1993. The highlights from this part of our career included touring with Squeeze, appearing live on BBC1's Going Live, and being given away as a sticker in Smash Hits magazine.

We hope you enjoy this album, naturally we believe these are great songs, but our main motivation has been to ensure that a creation we gave so much time, energy and commitment to in an earlier part of our lives gets an opportunity to shine. We're delighted that the Giant Killers debut finally makes its debut almost 30 years after we wrote these songs.

Dedicated to Peter, Michael, Jo and Silver - fine musicians, who spent so much time touring these songs with us.

With love, Mike and Jamie, the Giant Killers.