By treefrogdemon
When RL Burnside sits down in his chair
And takes his slide guitar upon his knees,
The whole of heaven stands up and shouts “Yeah!”
Better than angels, everyone agrees.
Though you might think Sky’s Edge is heaven too,
It’s really Sheffield – you can google it.
Those characters sound biblical, it’s true,
But they are Everyneighbour, and they fit.
Sold down the river, eh? That’s what you’ll get
Believing that such sweet lips wouldn’t lie.
And though I don’t suppose you ever met,
James Reyne would tell you: “Stand up – please don’t cry.”
That shellac’s very fragile – have a care –
(Just like my ego) but the music’s great.
A bloke sits on a bench in Soho Square
Not realising that he’s far too late.
Teenagers these days don’t get many kicks
Just sitting on a bench or in a park,
Unless they’re ‘three-steps’ Eddie at the flicks,
Canoodling with his girlfriend in the dark.
Are there that many Geraldines in rock?
I think that’s what I heard ShivSidecar say.
As many times as you go round the block,
You’ll not find a good stand-up man like Ray.
For Judas, heaven was a step too far,
But still I like to think (I’ll get me coat)
Of RL Burnside’s bottleneck guitar
And Nicely-Nicely getting on the boat.
Armchair Heaven A-List Playlist:
1 Wish I Was In Heaven – RL Burnside
2 Standing At The Sky’s Edge – Richard Hawley
3 Sit Down And Cry – Ella Washington
4 Stood Up – James Reyne
5 Don’t Sit On My Jimmy Shands – Richard Thompson
6 Soho Square – Kirsty MacColl
7 From The Bench At Belvidere – The Boo Radleys
8 Sitting In The Balcony – Eddie Cochran
9 Will The Real Geraldine Please Stand Up And Be Counted – Scrugg
10 Stand-Up Comic – Ray Davies
11 Stand Up For Judas – Dick Gaughan
12 Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat – Stubby Kaye
RL Burnside
Straight Back, Knees Bent B-List Playlist:
1 Woman In A Car – Jackie Leven
2 Baby Seat – Barenaked Ladies
3 Sitting In A Hotel Room – Eric Bibb
4 Sit Thee Down – The Oldham Tinkers
5 Outside Your Door – Me’shell NdegéOcello
6 On The Sly – Mischief Brew
7 In Two Minds – Art Bears
8 Take A Stand – The Templars
9 Standing Stones – Loreena McKennitt
10 I’ll Stand By You – The Pretenders
11 Estoy Sentado Aquí – Los Lobos
12 Dead Man Sitting On A Train – The Bevis Frond
13 Sit Right Down – Toots and the Maytals
14 Blue Chair – Elvis Costello
15 Sitting On Top Of The World – The Mississippi Sheiks
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
Standing – Anthony Stewart Head with Sarah Michelle Gellar
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: In the lap of the gods: songs about sitting or standing. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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