CRASS

BATA MOTEL
SYSTEMATIC DEATH
POISON IN A PRETTY PILL
WHAT THE FUCK?
WHERE NEXT COLUMBUS?
BERKERTEX BRIBE
SMOTHER LOVE
HEALTH SURFACE
DRY WEATHER

CRASS:
EVE LIBERTINE - LEAD VOCALS
JOY DE VIVRE - LEAD VOCALS ON "HEALTH SURFACE"
PHIL FREE - LEAD GUITAR
B.A. NANA - RYTHM GUITAR
PETE WRIGHT - BASS
PENNY RIMBAUD - DRUMS
GEE - HARMONIUM ON "WHAT THE FUCK"

MEMBERS OF CRASS NOT ON THIS RECORDING - STEVE IGNORANT

RECORDED AT SOUTHERN STUDIOS.
LONDON. DECEMBER 1980. ENGINEERED BY JOHN LODER.
ALL MATERIAL WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY CRASS.
COLLAGES BY GEE. DESIGNED BY CRASS AT EXITSTENCIL PRESS. THANKS TO KEITH MILLER.

SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN LODER, STEVE ANGEL, NOD, MEL AND ROBIN. POISON GIRLS.

"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man" Genesis 2/23


BATA MOTEL

I've got 54321
I've got a red pair of high-heels on
Tumble me over, it doesn't take much
Tumble me over, tumble me, push
In my red high-heels I've no control
The rituals of repression are so old
You can do what you like, there'll be no reprisal
I'm yours, yes I'm yours, it's my means of survival

I've got 54321
Come on my love, I know you're strong
Push me hard, make me stagger
The pain in my back just doesn't matter
You force-hold me above the ground
I can't get away, my feet are bound
So I'm bound to say
That I'm bound to stay

Well today I look so good
Just like I know I should
My breasts to tempt inside my bra
My face is painted like a movie star
I've studied my flaws in your reflection
And put them to rights with savage correction
I've turned my statuesque perfection
And shone it over in your direction
So come on darling, make me yours
Trip me over, show me the floor
Tease me, tease me, make me stay
In my red high-heels I can't get away
I'm trussed and bound like an oven ready bird
But I bleed without dying and I won't say a word
Slice my flesh and I'll ride the scar
Put me into gear like your lady car
Drive me fast and crash me crazy
I'll rise from the wreckage as fresh as a daisy
These wounds leave furrows as they heal
I've travelled them, they're red and real
I know them well, they're part of me
My birth, my sex, my history
They grew with me, my closest friend
My pain's my own, my pain's my end
Clip my wings so you know where I am
I can't get lost while you're my man
Tame me so I know your call
I've stabbed my heels so I am tall
I've bound my twisted falling fall
Beautiful mute against the wall
Beautifully mutilated as I fall
Use me, don't lose me

I've got 54321
I've got a red pair of high-heels on
Strap my ankles, break my heels
Make me kneel, make me feel
Turn, turn, turn, like a clockwork doll
Put in your key and give me a whirl
Tease me, tease me, the reason to play
In my red high-heels I can't get away
I'll be your bonsai, your beautiful bonsai
Your black-eyed bonsai, erotically rotting
Will my tiny feet fit your desire?
Warped and tied I walk on fire
Burn me out, twist my wrists
I promise not to shout, beat me with your fists
Squeeze me, squeeze me, make me feel
In my red high-heels I'm an easy kill
Tease me, Tease me, make me see
You're the only one, I need to be me
Thankyou, will you take me?
Thankyou, will you make me?
Thankyou, will you break me?
Use me, don't lose me
Taste me, don't waste me
Use, lose, taste, waste.


SYSTEMATIC DEATH

System, system, system - death in life
System, system, system - the surgeons knife
System, system, system - hacking at the cord
System, system, system - a child is born
Poor little fucker, poor little kid
Never asked for life, no she never did
Poor little baby, poor little mite
Crying out for food as her parents fight (x2)

System, system, system - send him to school
System, system, system - force him to crawl
System, system, system - teach him how to cheat
System, system, system - kick him off his feet

Poor little schoolboy, poor little lad
They'll pat him if he's good, beat him if he's bad
Poor little kiddy, poor little chap
They'll force feed his mind with their useless crap
Force feed his mind with their useless crap

System, system, system - they'll teach her how to cook
System, system, system - they'll teach her how to look
System, system, system - they'll teach her all the tricks
System, system, system - create another victim for their greasy pricks

Poor little girly, poor little wench
Another little object to prod and pinch
Poor little sweety, poor little filly
They'll fuck her mind so they can fuck her silly
Fuck her mind so they can fuck her silly

System, system, system - he's grown to be a man
System, system, system - He's been taught to fit the plan
System, system, system - forty years of jobs
System, system, system - Pushing little buttons, pulling little knobs

Poor fucking worker, poor little serf
Working like a mule for half of what he's worth
Poor fucking grafter, poor little gent
Working for the cash that he's already spent (x2)

He'll selling his life, she's his loyal wife
Timid as a mouse, she's got her little house
He's got his little car and they share the cocktail bar
She likes to cook his meals, you know, something that appeals
Sometimes he works til late so his supper has to wait
But she doesn't really mind cos he's getting overtime
He likes to put a bit away just for that rainy day
Cos every little counts when the cost of living mounts
They do the pools each week hoping for that lucky break
Then they'd take a trip abroad, do all the things they can't afford
She'd really like to have a fur, he'd like a bigger car
They could buy a bungalow, with a Georgian door for show
He might think of leaving work, but no, he wouldn't like to shirk
He'd much prefer to stay and get his honest days pay
He's got a life of work ahead, there's no rest for the dead
She's tried to make it nice, he's said thankyou once or twice

System, system, system - deprived of any hope
System, system, system - taught they couldn't cope
System, system, system - slaves right from the start
System, system, system - til death do them part

Poor little fuckers, what a sorry pair
Had their lives stolen, but they didn't really care
Poor little darlings, just your ordinary folks
Victims of the system and its cruel jokes (x2)

The couple views the wreckage and dreams of home sweet home
They'd almost paid their mortgage when the system dropped its bomb.


POISON IN A PRETTY PILL

Your tactile eyes running over glossy paper
Printed on with tactile lies of glaze and gauze
They say "forget yourself, adorn with this disguise"
This womanhood of smooth and tampered whores
Let me warn you of their cold sensitivity
They'll have you gathered in a trap of glass
Is your reflection all the you will recognise?
That cruel lie will stare you in the face
Wrapped up in a haze and flow of bridal gown
They tell your lover he must hold a gun
You're the pornographic reassurance he's a man
They deal with flesh, incarcerate with rags
Red lips, shimmer-silk and body-bags
Hairless legs against the blistered napalm burn
I want to rape the substance of your downy hair
In that mist a gutted child fights for air
Against the fragile, mashed and sweaty wound
Your facile beauty has an outrageous sound
Like a glamour billboard on a battlefield
At least the blood red poppy was of natures will
That flower perfecting by the barbed wire fence
Must be insulted by your scented poor pretence
Just as I, who finds it hard to touch you now
You traumatise my love with needle doubts
I want so gently to remove your mask
It's hard enough to find water here
In this barrenness of dishonesty and fear
Without you accepting poison in a pretty pill
Your bondages of silk robes and lace
Are the bandages on a bullet punctured corpse
The layers of precious imitation worn
Are the layers of history that suffocates the unborn


WHAT THE FUCK?

(chorus)
What now? Now you would destroy the earth
Dry, the river beds
What now? Now in your control, birth and death
Dry, the bodies, incandescent in the heat

Your fire is melting both soil and soul
In plan maybe, is that not enough?
Your war and raving of it is so total
You're consumed by it as you'd consume us
Would you see the fire from your sanctuary of death?
What terrible pain you need to hide
In your hatred you'd seek to destroy the earth
What is it that you have been denied?
Your mind and its rantings are so barren
What the fuck are you thinking? What the fuck?
Your eyes and their vision, empty, staring
What the fuck are you seeing? What the fuck?

So singularly your motives, yet impossible to define
How finely lined my destiny in the cobwebs of your crime
So insular your future, so alien your plan
Take all of this if you will and take what I can

A town that is no more
"My God", you say, "What have I done?"
But you won't heed what's gone before
"What pity?", you say, "There is none"
And so you drive the world to war
But this war will not be lost or won
The desolation that you've seen but never saw
Is the lesson that you teach, but never learn
But would you see the fire in the world where you exist?

Will your hard eyes register the pain?
Are you so cold that there is no distress?
Where there's death would you give death again?
No flowers in your landscape, some withered rose
Kicked amongst the corpses where they lay
Halted where all hope died, froze
By the horror of your acts compelled to stay

Unnoticed all this in your lusting after death
How determined that your darkness should be shared
Unnoticed in your blindness this miracle of breath
What element of beauty attracts your cruel desire?
Would you see the burning? Is that your delight?
Would you have me see it in your stead?
Would you feel my yearning? Peace, life, light
Body, breath. Would you take all this?

What is it that you're seeking, so cold and so deprived?
What is it that you dream of in your empty eyeless head?
Why must I share your lust of death?
Can you not die alone? Why must I share your fear of breath
Life, light, PEACE?


WHERE NEXT COLUMBUS?

Anothers hope, anothers game
Anothers loss, anothers gain
Anothers lies, anothers truth
Anothers doubt, anothers proof
Anothers left, anothers right
Anothers peace, anothers fight
Anothers name, anothers aim
Anothers fall, anothers fame
Anothers pride, anothers shame
Anothers love, anothers pain
Anothers hope, anothers game
Anothers loss, anothers gain
Anothers lies, anothers truth
Anothers doubt, anothers proof
Anothers left, anothers right
Anothers peace, anothers fight

Marx had an idea from the confusion of his head
Then there were a thousand more waiting to be led
The books are sold, the quotes are bought
You learn them well and then you're caught

Anothers left, anothers right
Anothers peace, anothers fight

Mussolini had ideas from the confusion of his heart
Then there were a thousand more waiting to play their part
The stage was set, the costumes worn
And another empire of destruction born

Anothers name, anothers aim
Anothers fall, anothers fame

Jung had an idea from the confusion of his dream
Then there were a thousand more waiting to be seen
You're not yourself, the theory says
But I can help, your complex pays

Anothers hope, anothers game
Anothers loss, anothers gain

Satre had an idea from the confusion of his brain
Then there were a thousand more indulging in his pain
Revelling in isolation and existential choice
Can you truly be alone when you use anothers voice?

Anothers lies, anothers truth
Anothers doubt, anothers proof

The idea born in someones mind
Is nurtured by a thousand blind
Anonymous beings, vacuous souls
Do you fear the confusion, your lack of control?
You lift your arm to write a name
So caught up in the identity game
Who do you see? Who do you watch?
Who's your leader? Which is your flock?
Who do you watch? Who do you watch?
Who's your leader? Which is your flock?

Einstein had an idea from the confusion of his knowledge
Then there were a thousand more turning to advantage
They realised that their god was dead
So they reclaimed power through the bomb instead
Anothers code, anothers brain
They'll shower us all in deadly rain

Jesus had an idea from the confusion of his soul
Then there were a thousand more waiting to take control
The guilt is sold, forgiveness bought
The cross is there as your reward
Anothers love, anothers pain
Anothers pride, anothers shame
Do you watch at a distance from the side you have chosen?
Whose answers serve you best? Who'll save you from confusion?
Who will leave you an exit and a comfortable cover
Who will take you oh so near the edge, but never drop you over?
Who do you watch?


BERKERTEX BRIBE

The object unsoiled is packed ready and waiting
For the moment of truth in this spiritual mating
The object unsoiled is packed ready and waiting
To be owned, cherished, to be fucked for the naming
The public are shocked by the state of society
But as for you, you're a breath of purity

Well don't give me your morals, they're filth in my eyes
You can pack them away with the rest of your lies
The painted mask of ugly perfection the ring on your finger, the sign of protection
Is the rape on page 3, is the soldiers obsession
How well you've been caught to support your oppression
One god. One church. One husband. One wife.
Sordid sequences in brilliant life
Supports and props and punctuation
To our flowing realities and realisations
We're talking with words that have been used before
To describe us as goddesses, mothers and whores
To describe us as women, to describe us as men
To set out the rules of the ludicrous game
And it's played ver carefully, a delicate balance
A masculine/feminine perfect alliance
Does the winner take all? What love in your grasping?
What vision is left and is anyone asking?
What vision is left and is anyone asking?
She's a berkertex bride. Bride. Bribe.


SMOTHER LOVE

The true romance is the ideal repression
That you seek, that you dream of, that you look for in the streets
That you find in the magazines, the cinema, the glossy shops
And the music spins you round and round looking for the props
The silken robe, the perfect little ring
Will give you the illusion when it doesn't mean a thing
Step outside into the street and staring from the wall
Is perfection of the happiness that makes you feel so small
Romance, can you dance? D'you fit the right description?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you want me for your own?
Do you love me, say you need me
So you know that I'm the one
Tell me I'm your everything, let us build a home
We can build a house for two, with little ones to follow
The proof of our normality that justifies tomorrow
Romance, romance
Do you love me? Say you do
We can leave the world behind and make it just for two

Love don't make the world go round, it holds it right in place
Keeps us thinking love's too pure to see another face
Love's another skin-trap, another social weapon
Another way to make men slaves and women at their beckon
Love's another sterile gift, another shit condition
That keeps us seeing just the one and others not existing
Woman in a holy myth, a gift of mans expression
She's sweet, defenceless, golden-eyed, a gift of gods repression
If we didn't have these codes for love, of tokens and positions
We'd find ourselves as lovers still, not tokens of possessions
It's a natural, it's a romance, without the power and greed
We can fight to life the cover if you want to sow a seed
Do you love me? Do you? Do you? Don't you see they aim to smother
The actual possibilities of seeing all the others?


HEALTH SURFACE

Places of sickness nurse me cold
Attendant whiteness glare in dark
Straighten out the winding sheet
Twisted round in poorest dreams
Shattered proofing of the lost

Splinter shackled, little wounds
Of cruelty and truth, they tie
The one way sickness up inside
Regressive smile, a babys laugh
A learnt contortion of the mouth
Places of laughter leave me cool
Hot fire dying down to ash
Beauty breezes through so swift
Endless roundabout of grief
Not much to ask, a rightful place
Where nothing matters, but can touch
Without a sinking heart, this sigh
Could be the wind among the leaves
This pain does not belong to me
They've taken everything away
To nurse the sicknesses of loss
Instilled with fear and bleachy guilt
Impatient winds up in her cloth
The tired shoes are splitting up
With weighty promises of love
Waiting for the last to fall away
Buckle noose around the strap
All that separates the flesh

From green grass or sinking mud
Stagnating, knowing the delusion
Clean sheets waiting for a body
Slapped into life and slowly gutted
A place of sickness is to die in
Tired of the cruelty and lying
Drip-fed tears of the forsaken
They say "we'll soon have you up and walking"
Took the prison for a stronghold
Took the lies for a love-song
Paid for life on a shoestring

Waiting for the last to fall away
Buckle noose around the strap
All that separates the flesh


DRY WEATHER

Is there anyone prepared to tell me why?
Tell me why I'm being sucked dry?
Oh yes, that is yours and this is mine
As long as the balance is out, that's fine
I don't define the terms of the oppression
Do you awake to that dull and grey depression?

You ride on me
Suck my energy
You take what you want when you want it
You reject any change that I make
You ask me for more when I've spent it
When I've given it all, you still take

Is there anyone prepared to tell me why?
Tell me why I'm being sucked dry?

Oh yes I know the lines you draw are for protection
The number given for a name is simply for detection
I know I'm only paper in a file
But couldn't you treat me as a human for a while?

You ride on me
Suck my energy
You take what you want when you want it
You reject any change that I make
You ask me for more when I've spent it
When I've given it all, you still take

Is there anyone prepared to tell me why?
Tell me why I'm being sucked dry?

You offer your protection, but insist when I decline
You offer independence, but demand I tow the line
You say you give me freedom, but you hang on to the key
Well don't you think, perhaps, the decision's up to me?

You ride on me
Suck my energy
You take what you want when you want it
You reject any change that I make
You ask me for more when I've spent it
When I've given it all, you still take

Is there anyone prepared to tell me why?
Tell me why I'm being sucked dry?

So tell me I'm dreaming if I want to live
And I'll tell you you're just scheming to make me give
More than I want to, more than I can
You don't want person, you just want woman
You hide behind logic, secure with your facts
You've a history of time to back up your claims
Protecting the future by filling up the cracks
The might expose the real nature of your games
You want woman cos she's children for your system
Well people wither in that living death
You hide behind your prejudice, afraid of my wisdom
Afraid I might question your unquestioned worth

You ride on me
Suck my energy
You take what you want when you want it
You reject any change that I make
You ask me for more when I've spent it
When I've given it all, you still take
Is there anyone prepared to tell me why?
Tell me why I'm being sucked dry?
Used as a tool? Treated like a fool?
Shat on? Spat on?
Totally confused?
Fucked up? Mucked up?
Totally abused?
Pulled about? Fooled about?
Treated like a toy?
Joked about? Poked about?
Something to destroy?
Tricked? Kicked?
I don't want these games.