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So Many Nights

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So Many Nights was recorded in Melbourne (at Sing Sing Studios) and the overdubs were done in Malibu, while the band was in town to perform on Jay Leno. The house and studio where we lived in Malibu overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Worth over 10 million USA $’s, it was owned by a guy who made his money Producing Karaoke tunes. This record is the result of mus ic written and developed on the road, and is perhaps a tribute to the many many nights we have played in hundreds of cities throughout the world. Produced by John Porter (Ryan Adams, The Smiths, Los Lonely Boys), this is the first time The Cat Empire has recorded an album with a Producer. John Porter, who was a guitarist for bands such as Roxy Music and Eric Claptons band, performs Guitar on Panama, and Slide Guitar on No Longer There. The experience of recording and staying in Malibu was at the extreme end of the spectrum from recording the previous record in Cuba. The result is a more pristine production, and the next chapter n the story of The Cat Empire. a guitarist for bands such as Roxy Music and Eric Claptons band, performs Guitar on Panama, and Slide Guitar on No Longer There. The experience of recording and staying in Malibu was at the extreme end of the spectrum from recording the previous record in Cuba. The result is a more pristine production, and the next chapter in the story of The Cat Empire.

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  • So Many Nights

    • Lyrics

      [FELIX]
      It doesn’t matter what I say it doesn’t matter what I do
      It seems I’m going to have to change my look for you cos
      I’ve got two shoes but they’ve been walked too far
      And I think that we could float from evening to the stars
      When I see you in the distance with your friends
      I look around and then I look down at my threads
      It’s inappropriate that I should present like a
      Retired matador with unpaid rent
      So many nights I’m still thinking about you
      And so many nights you step in and I walk through
      So he doesn’t care except he still combs his hair
      So what am I supposed to do?
      I bought a suit and I bought a top hat
      And I put a red stripe down the side of my slacks
      Went to the barber got my hair cut high
      And I bought a ticket for the opera tonight
      But when and I see you your bodice and your pride
      It’s nice to greet you with an interrupted stride, besides
      You say ‘Good evening’ you don’t say ‘Goodnight’
      And I can’t deny that
      So many nights I’m still thinking about you
      And so many nights until I changed my suit
      And when I’m bare don’t need to comb my hair
      Cos I found what to do
      Put your waistcoat on
      So many nights …
      So many nights …
      Put your waistcoat on
      String Section:
      Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)

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      So Many Nights

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    • Ringtone

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  • Panama

    • Lyrics

      [FELIX]
      I was in a plane to Panama
      And a fly landed on her thigh
      And though I brushed it off quite brashly
      I introduced myself
      And she said her name was Sky

      A simple ‘Hi’ and I could tell
      That her plainness was well seamless
      And somewhere deep inside
      She drove a calm and weightless determination

      And to what lands her mind would travel
      I don’t know but I was so curious

      I had to keep on thinking of her floating through the clouds

      I asked her whether she enjoyed being in the air
      And airily she answered with an accent so careful
      I could feel each syllable

      ‘I love things that seem Impossible …’

      Bridge

      The Empire Horns:
      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone)

      String Section:
      Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)

      Guitar:
      John Porter

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  • Fishies

    • Lyrics

      [FELIX, HARRY ANGUS]

       
      I left the house left the room with the foxy on my back
      And my supplies in a magic pack
      And I followed the sound of music
      Not up a hill … but down to an old wharf shack
       
      Inside I heard the trumpets call
      I salute to the champions on the wall
      And in the jazz of squalls and impassioned brawls she danced
       
      And the night she looked so fine to me
      Oh I am a man on an Odyssey
      And so tie me to the mast I must believe!
       
      Wow didi didi I just had to look
      I said wow didi didi how those hips they shook
      Eye patch tongue ring little black book  
      Welcome fishies to my hook
       
      And the tiny chefs they waved their giant knives
      And the dark goumas they flicked dynamite
      Still I kept the sight of my desire
       
      And this one thing’s sure I made no apologies
      Lights dimmed but she shone like mythology
      And I must admit she felt so alive
       
      Chorus
       
      She waves for everybody down on the floor
      As if to pray to the gods of the festival
      And there we were in the depths of the wild below
       
      Her face so close I could taste the distant shores
      She whispered ‘wait for the trumpet’s call’
      It’s not exactly love it’s to adore
       
      Chorus
       
      The Empire Horns:

      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone

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      Fishies

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  • Darkness

    • Lyrics

      [HARRY ANGUS]

      Something

      Something kissed my lips

      Something

      Something brushed my fingertips

      The north binds battle

      In the car park

      And the darkness

      Is the darkness

       

      Somewhere

      The night is on the run

      With a bottle of ouzo

      And a rusty gun

      The north wind

      Is like a Spanish Guitar

      Soaked in petrol

      Burning on the bar

       

      Let the dead raise their heads

      And the dying leave their beds

       

      She didn’t believe what her mama said

      And she clambered out the window in the darkness

       

      And behind you in the night

      A million dogs come out to fight …

       

      It’s the empire that be rising rising

      Rising through the night …

       

      Something

      Something give me strength

      I’m burning

      Burning on the brink

      The north wind

      Is like cinnamon and wine

      And the darkness

      Is the darkness

       

      String Section:

      Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)

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  • No Longer There

    • Lyrics
      And though you’d like to hear a song
      That sings everything’s all right
      The temperature is warm
      The fire horses sleep
      So gently comes the night
       
      Now close your eyes and stare
      The ground they’re on is bare
      But once it was as deep
      And wild as giants’ dreams
      It’s no longer there
       
      And all of our desires
      Could mirror skies with flames
      And smoke out heaven’s halls
      Who was that you called?
      They’re no longer there
       
      Here it goes again …
       
      What would you leave behind when all your fields are dead
      When your territories are dried out and your cities drowned and swept?
      What would you leave behind when those who bear your name    
      Are born in that place that you wrecked?
      What would you leave behind when you’re no longer there?
       
      Would you sail to distant shores
      And hide within the haze?
      Softly close your door
      Pretend the world was saved
      And wait for heaven’s call?
       
      Or would you turn and face the sea
      And calm decide you care?
      There’s chance but if you dare 
      And swift as honour’s steeds
      Before it’s no longer there
       
      Here it goes again …
       
      Chorus
       
      To deny or to despair
      They’re really just the same
      And everything between
      It means we have to change
      Cos when a one forgets
      Their world begins to fade
      And all the shapes and shades
      That made their colours see
      Well they suddenly turn grey
      Then they’re no longer there
       
      String Section:
      Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)
       
      Slide Guitar:
      John Porter
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  • Lonely Moon

    • Lyrics
      [HARRY ANGUS]
       
      Girl in the park one day
      Killing all the bugs on the pavement
      Seems like she got a nasty streak
      But she does it in a beautiful way
       
      Like a bullet from a gun
      She sparks and then she runs
      The only thing she’s sure of
      Is that no one really understands
       
      Sometimes … talking about
      Things just seem so strange
      Lie awake in the lonely night
      Things just seem so strange
       
      Maybe it’s all prearranged
      Tears on an empty page
      Look out the window see the full moon bloom and
      This is what he says 
       
      Don’t you worry
      When you feel so lonely, cos
      Everyone’s lonely
      They’re all crazy too
      Like their mothers
      Like their fathers
      Everyone’s crazy
       
      Sometimes she gets this way
      About her when she sways
      Slips into a liquid tune
      And vanishes away
       
      And it’s only for herself
      She can’t bring anyone else
      Everyone’s got a special box
      That they keep on a dusty shelf
       
      Such a beautiful dangerous thing
      Beautiful and strange
      Making love to the night itself
      Beautiful and strange
       
      Maybe it’s all prearranged
      Tears on an empty page
      Look out the window see the full moon bloom
      This is what he says
       
      Don’t you worry
      If people call you crazy cos
      Everyone’s crazy
      They’re all lonely too
      Like their mothers
      Like their fathers
      Everyone’s crazy
      Under a lonely moon
       
      The Empire Horns:
      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone)
       
      String Section:

      Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)

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  • Sunny Moon

    • Lyrics
      [FELIX]
       
      I climb the ladder of those black and white keys
      They take me out and into places some are real and some imaginary 
      And though she sways between a mystery and light
      She walks with me, she walks with me alone into the night 
       
      Tonight I see the sunny moon is rising again
      Three seasons passed since you were here then disappeared a friend
      Yet now exploded from its dreams back in that place oh how it beams
      And I see that you were glowing in the shadows
      And you’ve been here all along
      Ah you never left my side and now I feel my arms grow
      Stronger
       
      You may forget the details and you can forget the dates but never
      Forget the moment when the night revealed her face
      To be poor by lack of money but by god be rich in prize
      I found my youth’s desire dark within her eyes
      And the tent kept breathing something and then she cried -
      ‘Hold on we’re going somewhere else tonight’
      We’re going somewhere else tonight baby yeh! 
       
      And my friends they are the heroes of the loneliness that’s life
      And though everyone has a weakness only some they are defiant
      While most of us can see only a few have the gift of sight
      Would you walk with me
      Would you walk with me alone into the night? 
       
      The sun is set
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  • So Long

    • Lyrics

      [FELIX]

      The bus drives over on a mellow scene
      We’ve done five nights and tomorrow’s free
      Oh I say, tomorrow’s free
      And I seem to meet it in the morning and no sleep
      But I can’t keep myself from wondering

      The next night happen down in Montreal
      And when it rains I guess it pours
      Oh I say, when it rains it
      Pours and we go down into the
      Saint street keeping our feet off the ground
      Till we find ourselves at breakfast in our super town

      So long well hey hey hey
      Though I’d see you all again
      So long and hey hey hey 
      The bus drives yonder in the morning light
      Look out of the window baby what a sight we say
      Well hey hey hey

      I know a girl who’s got eyes on her feet
      So when she starts dreaming she roams and she’ll know where she’s going
      She looks alight that’s Romina she’s dancing on the speakers
      And speaking of moving Ruben’s place’s started jumping with all the Campisis

      Chorus

      Thursday it was solid and Friday’s cool
      Saturday was messy in the best way possible
      Sunday should be for rest but these
      Cats on the corner and I can’t keep my chest from a
      Rumbling the same way it did when we was young and blessed

      Bridge

      Chorus

      The Empire Horns:
      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone)

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  • No Mountain

    • Lyrics

      • [FELIX]

        No mountain can see
        But sometimes a mountain can sing
        Or hum at least I heard one
        Humming on the evening we …

        And no horizon can sleep
        But sometimes horizons can close their eyes
        And drift into one moment somewhere
        Halfway between
        The distance and a dream

        And all my senses’ honesty
        And all my senses’ honesty they belong to you

        Alone I stand alone I fall
        There is no option anymore
        Alone with you
        And though my point of view seems sad
        I believe it’s not so bad
        Alone with you

        Bridge

        Chorus

        The Empire Horns:
        Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone)

        String Section:
        Su-Ying Aw (Viola), Robert John (Violin), Mark Zorz (Violin), Leah Hooper (Cello)

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  • Strong Coffee

    • Lyrics

      [FELIX]

      It’s like the sound of St Petersburg bells banging in my head
      The night train rattle shake and rumble through that cabin bunk bed
      Now Sigmund said something about this super static travel tension that we get
      My magic woman met this woman while the wheels squealed and the tracks they gripped and sped

      My Maria got me thinking about soul in a whole new way
      We took a stroll got a ham and cheese roll and some strong coffee
      On the TV it’s Germany and Italy
      You be the Goalie Holly I am the referee

      Hey Hey I need some strong coffee
      My Maria’s got me thinking about soul in a whole new way
      Hey Hey I need some strong coffee
      My Maria you got me thinking in a whole new way

      When I looked down I found the edges of the mattress start to levitate
      The next thing I knew we were above the city gates
      Rised over steeple tops and all I could think to say was
      ‘You be the Kremlin and I’ll be the saint
      And you can be the person from the head of state’

      The Empire Horns:
      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone

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  • Till The Ocean Takes Us All

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  • Voodoo Cowboy

    • Lyrics

      [HARRY ANGUS]

       

      His mother was a snake

      His father was a scarecrow

      Born in the desert with his hat on his head

      Never missed a shot

      Sharp as a pharaoh

      Tequila in the sunrise

      The desert was his bed

      Now he could dance the barn dance

      Like nobody before him

      But no woman would take him

      Cos his eyes were rather strange

      In them you could see the emptiness of the desert

      Yellow like a scarecrow

      Black like a snake

       

      He was a voodoo cowboy

      And he had never found a girl to call his own

      On and on and on

      That lonely cowboy

      But a cowboy’s never really

      Cowboy’s never really alone

       

      He had a horse

      Whose name was Plenty

      And they saw things no man or beast has ever seen

      Out in the redness

      Out in the empty

      Where ghosts and spirits walk around like you and me

      He met a girl

      Called Annabelle

      And she was just the prettiest thing he’d ever seen

      Under a lake at the edge of the world

      He met a girl

      Walking through the edges of his dreams

       

      He was a voodoo cowboy

      And he was following a psychedelic stream

      On and on and on

      That lonely cowboy

      But a cowboy’s never really

      Cowboy’s never really deceived

       

       

      So he rode down

      Under the water

      And the sunset made a fire above his head

      In search of warmth in search of love

      In search of heaven above

      But all he felt was cold

      And all he touched was wet

      But he could see her down a little bit deeper

      And all he wanted was to hold her to his chest

      So he reached out and she reached out

      And he touched her

      And she drew him in

      And kissed him as he breathed his final breath

       

      He was a voodoo cowboy

      And he had finally found a girl to call his own

      On and on and on

      Lucky lucky cowboy

      Because cowboys almost always

      Cowboys almost always die alone

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  • Radio Song

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  • Won't Be Afraid

    • Lyrics

       

      [FELIX RIEBL, HARRY ANGUS, RYAN MONRO, WILL HULL-BROWN, OLLIE MCGILL, JAMSHID KHADIWALA]

       

      Well I’ve been at the top of a cliff and seen ships go sailing away

      And I’ve watched the sea turn green and bright blue fish swim in the shade

      I’ve imagined skies in reverse and heard stormy mountains collide

      And I was there by the shore on the night when the stars all married the tide

       

      When the time arrives

      When we must form a line

      Would you stand and take my side

      Would you take my side?

       

      No I won’t be afraid

      You know I won’t be afraid

      When the evening takes all of the colour out of my day

      And the morning is as far as it will ever be away

       

      And now we’ve journeyed through the world as if our dreams were an ocean to wade

      Underwater kites they glide like a friendship set on a wave 

       

      Bridge

      Chorus

       

      And maybe I’m afraid of fools the children that are saved

      And maybe I’m not certain when they draw the final curtain

      The woman in the water and the baby in the bath

      And the morning is as far as it could ever be away

       

      Chorus

        

      The Empire Horns:

      Ross Irwin (Trumpet), Kieran Conrau (Trombone)

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