My Spine (Is The Bass Line)

No guts, no blood, no brains at all! (repeat 4x)

My spine is the bassline
And the top line could be broken glass
All amusing views of those better men
Dirty habits hand on the purse's string

Quiet fear of the passing time
Gently magnify the dividing line
All this history could be blown away on a breath of lust

Trajectory, synchronicity,
How the choice is made with a fresh resolve
Jamming tight up to the barrier
Down a string of nerves, so these feelings go

My spine is the bassline
And the top line is the distant past
All that history, all those books have gone
They've been blown away on a breath of lust

No guts, no blood, no brains at all! (repeat 4x)

He can rip it out the chassis and gearbox
Could replace it with a neck and a chest
He can feel it in the back in the ribcage
He can kick it 'til it gets in the sense
He's been reading about dying in public
He's been tensing up his arms and his legs
He can have you home in a heap in a heartbeat
He'll go messing with the civil defense
There's no joy in the squander of resource
There's more passion in the pump of a plug
He can leave you at the club with the cashbox
He can push you at the pressure above

(repeat and fade)

Shriekback is a band formed in 1982 by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), Carl Marsh (guitars/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of the Gang of Four (bass). They were joined by Martyn Barker on drums in 1983. Popular for their exploration of the darker, funkier side of music, usually featuring Dave Allen's driving basslines, they self-described as an "avant-garde musical outfit". They were popular among a limited audience, both for their poetic, often intellectual lyrics, and for their dance-worthy music that couldn't be categorized easily. They were no 'rock band' as many sources claim - that wouldn't do them justice. They had (and still have) to be seen in context with bands like (late) Talking Heads, (early) Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and the likes, but formed their own niche of hard and dark electronic funk building up on the remains of New Wave. 1985, with the release of Oil And Gold, Carl Marsh left the band to join Happyhead, and one year later Dave Allen left (after Big Night Music) to play in King Swamp, The Elastic Purejoy, and most recently in the reformed Gang of Four. Both Allen and Marsh did return to the studio to contribute to the recording of Shriekback's 2003 release, Having a Moment. Why do I tell you all this? One of the milestone tracks of that time - My Spine (Is The Bass Line) - found its way back on my stereo, and I was wondering what had happened to them. Besides, I was searching for the lyrics to that song as the intro line had somehow survived the decay of my grey cells... As I couldn't find them (hidden in some cached archives) I thought to put them here, as Shriekback certainly deserve to be remembered. There you are!