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The Lipstick Conspiracies

by Thea Gilmore

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Smudge
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Smudge This album was my introduction to Thea Gilmore, Can't believe it was 16 years ago. It sounds as fresh & exciting now, as it did then; its almost 'too-simple' sound belies the fire and passion of the songs.

It opened my eyes to Thea's stunning & beautiful voice & her incredible song-writing ability. As a result, it holds a special place in my heart, among her amazing body of work.

Fav track difficult to decide on just one; Exit Route, Land of the free, My Beautiful Defence are also brilliant! Favorite track: See If They Applaud.
Yossi Levanon
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Yossi Levanon For some years Thea has been one of my favourites.
This album she's made when only 20 years old is no exceptions and shows a truly great emerging talent
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1.
Four o'clock in the morning and my coffee got cold And I've been watching the streetlamps flick off with the dawn So I take a deep breath inwards and my hair's pulled down my throat I look up at the sky, ask "do you mind if I smoke?" La da, la da, la da da da da da da Oh, oh, la da da da da da da La da, la da, la da da da da da da Talkin' 'bout degeneration And what about democracy and what about equality? We're all asking the age old question, so what about me? And we turn to face the cameras pointing knives towards each others backs Saying "I'm a product of my generation." You could make a film about that La da, la da, la da da da da da da Oh, oh, la da da da da da da La da, la da, la da da da da da da Talkin' 'bout degeneration And the bigwigs down on fleet street are cashing in on this parade Selling hot dogs by disaster zones, counting every dollar made And we pay out for the gossip and the latest on our own demise Like the print's supposed to be our ears, like the screen's supposed to be our eyes La da, la da, la da da da da da da Oh, oh, la da da da da da da La da, la da, la da da da da da da You said that it meant nothing You said that you just met her Well as far as your excuses go baby You could do better La da, la da, la da da da da da da Oh, oh, la da da da da da da La da, la da, la da da da da da da Talkin' bout degeneration Said I'm talkin' bout degeneration Said I'm talkin' bout degeneration
2.
They're coming with their stories and they're coming with their wine They got a copy of a Chopin tune and an old no-smoking sign They're mapping every person's life, aligning every chart They've got a kitchen knife and a power cable poised against each heart They say we are your morphine vision, we are your TV screen We are your chat show host, we are your magazine We've got trace elements in each fashion, every trend So let’s end this story kids, see if you do it all again The resurrection men They're watching all those people in the corporate ocean’s tide The choreography of commerce, the backhanders and the lies They're erasing all the figures, all the dollars, all the dreams They say you can always tell a suicide by the length of the scream And we are your morphine vision, we are your other half We are your healthy living, we are your epitaph We've got your second chances dressed in an accident You want the next big bang then you can just send The resurrection men The resurrection men The resurrection men They're coming with their bank books, they're collecting every fare From burning nights in Nagasaki, frozen days in Val-d'Isere And now the walls crumble round Downing Street and Capitol Hill Its only murder if you twist the knife with intent to kill And they're coming with their butane, they're coming with their signs From the black and white division, the bloody wars and their front lines They fan the flames of degradation to a mariachi band 'Cause the crimes always committed using someone else's hand And we are your morphine vision, we are your sleepless nights We are your catechism, we are your final rites We've got your weakness pegged, each break and every bend You throw a tragedy we'll always attend The resurrection men The resurrection men The resurrection men The resurrection men
3.
I had too much to drink last night, now I'm lying on the floor Watching the coloured patterns in my eyes, leftovers from the light And this "bearing all" thing is harder than I thought I'm gonna pull out my own tail feathers and see if they applaud See I always had this problem while you were still around We both threw our cards on the table but yours were all face down You know the thing about failure is it happens when you're out of time You don't know you've lost the race until you cross the finish line And that's How high I'll refrain this time You know the rain's come down again You'll pardon me if I don't seem surprised Now the grey suits and the big boys they're all slaves to their bank balance, see The media mass markets freedom as the ultimate commodity And you tattoo my image on the lips of all your friends As some tight cunt to fuck and leave and fuck again Like I'd say How high I'll refrain this time You know the rain's come down again You'll pardon me if I don't seem surprised How high, how high, how high And I had too much to drink last night, now I'm lying on the floor Watching the coloured patterns in my eyes, leftovers from the light And this "bearing all" thing is harder than I thought I'm gonna pull out my own tail feathers and see if they applaud See if they applaud
4.
Forgotten 04:24
I have been looking for loose change Down behind the armchair seat I've been propping up this coffee cup Looking down, down into the street And I hate what I've become, said I hate the insecurity of freedom Holding every breath, counting every step Checking every sentence with a polygraph test Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah, All is forgotten Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Mmm, that's it And you have always craved a conscience And I have constantly avoided that with Sincere regrets, sir, I must inform you I will not be another feather in your cap Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah, All is forgotten Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Hey yeah, Mmm I had it all worked out Had all my T's crossed, my errors ringed You got me all worn down You had to go and ruin everything I have been looking for loose change Down behind the armchair seat I've been propping up this coffee cup Looking down, down into the street All is forgotten
5.
Exit Route 03:04
God's electrician sparked up the heavens once again Heading northbound on the 7:10 And the Lord said let there be commuters Talking pension plans, medicals and monthly targets end to end I was hoping I could steal you Away from all that chemical release We were both walking, talking silk-wrapped razor blades Carving our initials into each others memories and I know I can’t place blame But this was all your idea I just got out when I did To prove the exit route was clear To prove the exit route was clear And I've seen you play dumb, but what else can you do? I've seen you dodge my questions like bullets But come on, honey, show me something new Show me this amphetamine psychosis Show me this not-quite-comatose it's Gonna track us up for the evening And you and I can support each other like rotting fence posts and I know I can’t place blame But this was all your idea I just got out when I did To prove the exit route was clear To prove the exit route was clear We both lay on the floor end to end While our bodies and our brains gave up the fighting And your bed-sit looked like some sick demon had rolled in It looked like Hell with fluorescent lighting It looked like Hell with fluorescent lighting and I know I can’t place blame But this was all your idea I just got out when I did To prove the exit route was clear To prove the exit route was clear To prove the exit route was clear To prove the exit route was clear
6.
Keep me again at arms length All I hear is your heart, you know baby It never shuts up And its all right This heart is on fire Just save your own ass go Leaving me burning Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town What am I not saying here? Hear the spaces between that Measure all The words I don't know And you are You're not welcome here I'm counting your reasons on one hand Then fitting them in Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town This is my own private riot Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town Maybe I am the one that you run to when she put the telephone down Maybe I am the in between girl and you're sure between girls in this town This is, this is This is my own private riot This is, this is
7.
Well, hey there come over here Y'know, I've got something to show you Just swivel in your power chair D'you want me to be Persephone the cookie queen And Snow White too Well forgive me for my complexion and my lewd tongue And lack of sensitivity But I'm not some easy little girl If you wanna fight someone you can Come fight me Lets do it now Lets do it now Lets do it now Do it now And I could sit with my hands intertwined And shrug my shoulders pretending everything's just fine But what fun is life when you're just Cowering in a corner waiting to drown all the time? And he grins and winks at me saying "Honey I'm your godsend, I sense you're incomplete" And I smile and turn the other way, so come on big boy I'll meet you on the edge of my seat Lets do it now Lets do it now Lets do it now Do it now And there she goes to her samurai Panties tucked high The past tense can be your alibi And we have been draped across these bar stools Picking stones out of our size six boots and He has been greasing every female with a gaze That smacks of 'I'll have anything that moves' So we take up the initiative And stroll over to Mr. Muscles in that predatory waltz Saying "hey there, lets see what you've got boy "And don't mind our amusement or preliminary insults" Lets do it now Lets do it now Lets do it now Do it now
8.
Hello anger it's me I've been calling almost an hour I left a message on your machine Yeah, well I guess you're out Heard a black guy got killed today Struck by nine and dead by one We all bleed red, don't we? No matter what side of town we're from We're from And I was driving out of town Listening to the radio And somebody wanted to know Why does the whole country stand accused? And just as the answer was coming back I passed under a railway bridge And the words got lost in a flood of static We washed our hands, disguised the bruise And I should have known we'd never do it Never see humanity as some screwball work of art We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart And we've been hanging on each news report Shaking our heads and loading blanks It's been slowly gaining interest In the public memory banks So that if we just close our eyes Then we may all be absolved Don't talk to us about blame, In fact don't talk at all; there, problem solved And I should have known we'd never do it Never see humanity as some screwball work of art We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart And they're coming to the door spilling names and what they've learned And she's muttering her 'thank you's even as the deadbolt turned I should have known we'd never do it Never see humanity as some screwball work of art We've gotta pick our shades and choose our pigments That's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart We need our borders, our specifics We've got each culture on a population graph Branding the "them and us" with extremist hieroglyphics And that's bulletin Britain rallying round its colour chart Hello anger its me I've been calling almost an hour Left a message on your machine Yeah, well I guess you're out
9.
I'm sitting here like statistics Amid teenage pregnancies and misfits Plotting my uncertain chart And the constant of our frequency The graph that follows your feelings for me Looks like a work of abstract art And in the law of love that you broke You employed me As your attorney And you are still learning And I'm still faithfully returning To the crime scene And I'm having trouble with the jargon Having trouble getting out of this tune And my headlights are bruised and broken but I'm Still night-driving with you And I'm into all this feeling sorry stuff After love's been gained and love's been lost These bruises are the landmark of the end And you were never a good lover You were never a great enemy And you couldn't even manage a good friend Now I'm having trouble with the jargon Having trouble getting out of this tune And my headlights are bruised and broken Still night-driving with you I'm still night-driving with you You said it's all about symmetry And the half reflection of you and me Can't piece together what is gone Watching my colours bleed and stain your hands With no regrets and no demands I expected a better Armageddon And I'm having trouble with the jargon Having trouble getting out of this tune And my headlights are bruised and broken but I'm Still night-driving with you I'm having trouble with the jargon Having trouble getting out of this tune And my headlights are bruised and broken Still night-driving with you I'm still night-driving with you Still night-driving with you
10.
Beauty is skin deep And mine's not even that You broke through, I couldn't touch you And you left me shaking on the concrete ground Its funny how things Just turn around in one minute You got what you wanted But, man, I'm sure there was a hair's breadth in it and You’re my lidocaine baby And I, I lied again baby And Hell, Hell hath no fury Like me Cold as stone and I think I needed that to understand I fell in feet first Bloody underwear is in my hands And he said my pockets Are lined with deep regrets Whatever the fashion For constant angst I haven't learned it yet You’re my lidocaine baby And I, I lied again baby And Hell, Hell hath no fury Like me One, two, spread your legs girls Those dirty little angels This tense, this numb And let's forget the alarm bells My, my lidocaine, my lidocaine And I, I lied again, I lied again And Hell, Hell hath no fury Like me No matter like me
11.
They're piling bodies up on the plains All of the strangers with so many claims and All that hope served as a warning Now they're falling like dominoes on a late December morning And stack up the dead and just leave them It proves we've got the last word in patriotism And send the live ones to some western reservation They've got the wrong coloured skin and ideas above their station I'm singing holy homeland While a nation is choking You smile and say "you know we said land of the free? "Yeah, well we were just joking" This land is your land With one roll of the dice and one guiltless command Now you're sitting watching TV Accepting moral direction from a crank pshrink with an impressive CV Your new god is your video screen Washed up, spun out by an American dream, Only memories of ghosts that patrol this place And this land, your land is a terminal case You're singing holy homeland While a nation is choking You smile and say "you know we said land of the free? "Yeah, well we were just joking" Who am I to criticise From a country with no problems about selling one another I guess we all have our dirty ink stains on the history books In the pages, on the cover And at dawn storm clouds disappear the future brings all hope and glory Ghost dancers rise 500 years Like there will never be another end to this story I'm singing holy homeland While a nation is choking You smile and say "you know we said land of the free? "Yeah, well we were just joking”
12.
Hey, looks like sleep is here Its two thirty AM, the town has been cleared and The traffic has stopped for the minute at least We lie like a symphony under the sheets And earlier today you said "you know, girl "We're like two different halves of two different worlds" And I said "that's fine, who says difference repels?" Like some crackpot play or some sketch of fate We've carried the scripts and the times and the dates In each others arms and our bodies are spent And you've got the roll of my beautiful defence And I spent some time trying to sum up your eyes In a cafe in Oldham Street under Indian skies Through the racks of your history and all the crossed lives And you looked so sad with all those ghosts on your trail When they claw at your skin you're all secrets and veils You say "Its dragging me under the riptide" and I said "When the whole world comes down I'll hold it up round your head" Like some crackpot play or some sketch of fate We've carried the scripts and the times and the dates In each others arms and our bodies are spent And you've got the roll of my beautiful defence Beautiful defence Maybe we can change the world, it might just take a while If we're gonna fight our corner we're gonna do it with style You've got the beauty and you've got the heart And that is as good a place as any to start You're my beautiful defence You're my beautiful defence

about

AVAILABLE DIGITALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!

Thea's 2nd album, released in 2000 when Thea was just 20. This album has NEVER been available as a download before and its almost impossible to find the remaining physical copies without taking a second mortgage out!

A spikey, barbed (and strangely American sounding!) Thea can be found on this record. The moody black haired teen on the cover - one magazine said she looked 'borstal bound' from memory - will hit you with all the angst of the 19 year old that wrote these songs and a good few expletives to boot.. (you have been warned!)

Thea has often said how fond she is of songs such as Night Driving and The Resurrection Men. Have a listen and see what you think!

credits

released March 4, 2000

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