So, like me you thought it couldn't get any better than the Stone Roses, and with the rumours flying round that they might reform (though I seriously doubt it), it's never been a better time to follow what must be said was the greatest band of all time (sorry Beatles and Rolling Stones fans, but it is true).  Anyway here's a few things I've found that you'll enjoy I'm sure.

First of all an article I picked up and edited, a magical piece of journalism about one of the Stone Roses gigs.
Secondly an article by some guy about when he first heard the Roses, an experience I never had as I was born and conceived listening to them.
They're awful screams some guy, well let's hear what he has to say then, huh, he has no respect, but a valid point.
A sad description of the last few gigs they did, but we'll always remember them as how they were originally.

And finally Stone Roses lyrics by the page full, oh i!
 Take me back to the first page
 
  •  I wanna be adored
  • Fools Gold
  • Your star will shine
  • She bangs the drums
  • Good times
  • All I want
  • Elephant stone
  • How do you sleep
  • Going down
  • Waterfall
  • Love spreads
  • All across the sands
  • Don't stop
  • Mersey paradise
  • Guernica
  • Bye bye badman
  • One love
  • So young
  • (song for my)sugar spun sister
  • Sally cinnamon
  • Something's burning
  • Shoot you down
  • Standing here
  • Tell me
  • This is the one
  • Straight to the man
  • The sun still shines
  • I am the resurrection
  • Tears
  • Elizabeth my dear 
  • Begging you
  • Ten storey love song
  • What the world is waiting for
  • Breaking into heaven
  • The hardest thing in the world
  • Daybreak
  • Tightrope
  • Driving South
  • Where angels play
  •  

    Song: I Wanna Be Adored
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I don't have to sell my soul
         He's already in me
         I don't need to sell my soul
         He's already in me

         I wanna be adored
         I wanna be adored

         I don't have to sell my soul
         He's already in me
         I don't need to sell my soul
         He's already in me

         I wanna be adored
         I wanna be adored

         Adored

         I wanna be adored
         You adore me
         You adore me
         You adore me
         I wanna
         I wanna
         I wanna be adored
         I wanna
         I wanna
         I wanna be adored
         I wanna
         I wanna
         I wanna be adored
         I wanna
         I wanna
         I gotta be adored

         I wanna be adored
    Contents
    Song: She Bangs The Drums
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I can feel the earth begin to move
         I hear my needle hit the groove
         And spiral through another day
         I hear my song begin to say
         Kiss me where the sun don't shine
         The past was yours
         But the future's mine
         You're all out of time

         I don't feel too steady on my feet
         I feel hollow I feel weak
         Passion fruit and holy bread
         Fill my guts and ease my head
         Through the early morning sun
         I can see her here she comes
         She bangs the drums

         Have you seen her have you heard
         The way she plays there are no words
         To describe the way I feel

         How could it ever come to pass
         She'll be the first she'll be the last
         To describe the way I feel
         The way I feel

         Have you seen her have you heard
         The way she plays there are no words
         To describe the way I feel

         How could it ever come to pass
         She'll be the first she'll be the last
         To describe the way I feel
         The way I feel

         Have you seen her have you heard
         The way she plays there are no words
         To describe the way I feel

         How could it ever come to pass
         She'll be the first she'll be the last
         To describe the way I feel
         The way I feel
    Contents
    Song: Elephant Stone
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Burst into heaven
         Kiss in the cotton clouds
         Arctic sheets and fields of wheat
         I can't stop coming down
         Your shrunken head
         Looking down on me above
         Send me home like an elephant stone
         To smash my dream of love

         Dreaming till the sun goes down
         And night turns into day
         Rooms are empty I've got plenty
         You could move in right away

         Seems like there's a hole
         In my dreams
         In my dreams
         In my dreams

         Down through the heavens
         Choke on the cotton clouds
         Arctic sheets and fields of wheat
         I can't stop coming down
         Your shrunken head
         Looking down on me above
         Send me home like an elephant stone
         To smash my dream of love

         Did your bed and bookshelf go
         And run run run away
         These four walls saw the rise and fall
         And your midnight getaway
         Seems like there's a hole
         In my dreams
         Or so it seems
         Yet nothing means anything
         Anymore
    Contents
    Song: Waterfall
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Chimes sing Sunday morn
         Today's the day she's sworn
         To steal what she never could own
         And race from this hole she calls home

         Now you're at the wheel
         Tell me how how does it feel
         So good to have equalized
         To lift up the lids of your eyes

         As the miles they disappear
         See land begin to clear
         Free from the filth and the scum
         This American satellite's won

         She'll carry on through it all
         She's a waterfall

         She'll carry on through it all
         She's a waterfall

         See the steeple pine
         The hills as old as time
         Soon to be put to the test
         To be whipped by the winds of the West

         Stands on shifting sands
         The scales held in her hands
         The wind it just whips her and wails
         And fills up her brigantine [these rickety] sails

         She'll carry on through it all
         She's a waterfall

         She'll carry on through it all
         She's a waterfall
    Contents
    Song: Don't Stop
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine
         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine

         Here the sea spray give
         I was with her
         We're under the ship so get me over
         Now that was me
         Listen
         Now she fishes now
         Listen
         There was no one out there we used
         There is the news for me useless
         Now so much waste
         How we'll be teased

         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine
         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine

         Won't you just ask me
         You're an imbecile
         What's the matter for everyone I feel
         Pain blue singer
         He's
         Pain just a guitar
         >From the top

         I wake I steal look I feel loose
         We're all here now who's the first
         He's into my heart
         He must
         Be one of us

         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine
         Don't stop
         Isn't it funny how you shine
    Contents
    Song: Bye Bye Badman
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Soak me to my skin
         Will you drown me in your sea submission
         Ends and I begin
         Choke me smoke the air
         In this citrus sucking sunshine I don't
         Care you're not all there

         Every backbone and heart you break
         Will still come back for more
         Submission ends it all

         Here he come
         Got no question got no love
         I'm throwing stones at you man
         I want you black and blue and
         I'm gonna make you bleed
         Gonna bring you down to your knees
         Bye bye badman ooh bye bye

         Choke me smoke the air
         In this citrus sucking sunshine I don't
         Care you're not all there

         You've been bought and paid
         You're a whore and a slave
         Your dock's not a holy shrine
         Come taste the end you're mine

         Here he come
         Got no question got no love
         I'm throwing stones at you man
         I want you black and blue and
         I'm gonna make you bleed
         Gonna bring you down to your knees
         Bye bye badman ooh bye bye

         I've got bad intention
         I intend to
         Knock you down
         These stones I throw
         Oh these French kisses
         Are the only way I've found

         I've got bad intention
         I intend to knock you down
         These stones I throw
         Oh these French kisses
         Are the only way I've found
    Contents
    Song: (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Her hair
         Soft drifted snow
         Death white
         I'd like to know
         Why she hates
         All that she does
         But she gives
         it all that she's got

         Until the sky turns green
         The grass is several shades of blue
         Every member of parliament trips on glue

         Until the sky turns green
         And the grass is several shades of blue
         Every member of parliament trips on glue

         It takes all these things and all that time
         Till my sugar spun sister's happy
         With this love of mine
         It'll take all these things and oh much more

         I've paid
         For fifteen or more
         But my guts
         Can't take many more
         My hands are stuck
         To my jeans
         And she knows she knows
         What this must mean

         She wakes up with the sun
         She asks me what is all the fuss
         As she gave me more than she thought she should
         She wakes up with the sun
         I think what have I done
         As I gave her more than I thought I would

         At takes all these things and all that time
         Till my sugar spun sister's happy
         With this love of mine

         Yeah yeah yeah the candy floss girl
         The sticky fingered boy
         Oh that sister of mine
         Yeah
    Contents
    Song: Made Of Stone
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Your knuckles whiten on the wheel
         The last thing that your hands will feel
         your final flight can't be delayed

         No land just sky it's so serene
         Your pink fat lips let go a scream
         You fry and melt I love the scene

         Sometimes I
         Fantasize
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Don't these times
         Fill your eyes
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Are you all alone
         Is anybody home

         I'm standing warm against the cold
         Now that the flames have taken hold
         At least you left your life in style

         And for as far as I can see
         Tin twisted grills grin back at me
         Bad money dies I love the scene

         Sometimes I
         Fantasize
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Don't these times
         Fill your eyes
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Are you all alone
         Is anybody home

         Sometimes I
         Fantasize
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Don't these times
         Fill your eyes
         When the streets are cold and lonely
         And the cars they burn below me
         Are you all alone
         Are you made of stone
    Contents
    Song: Shoot You Down
    -------------------------------------------------------
         You know it
         You show it
         And the time has come
         To shoot you down
         What a sound
         When the day is done
         And it all works out

         I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming

         You know it
         You show it
         And the time has come
         To shoot you down
         What a sound
         When the day is done
         And it all works out

         I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming

         I never wanted
         The love that you showed me
         It started to choke me
         And how I wish I'd said
         No too slow
         I couldn't take
         That too fast
         I want you to know

         You know it
         You show it
         But I can't back down
         It's far too late
         I can't wait
         Now the time has come
         It'll all work out
         And when this
         Thing is done
         It'll leave no doubt
         So when you've
         Had your fun
         Will you all walk out?

         I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming
         I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming
         I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming
    Contents
    Song: This Is The One
    -------------------------------------------------------
         A girl consumed by fire
         We all know her desire
         From the plans that she has made
         I had her on a promise
         Immerse me in your splendor
         All the plans that I have made

         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         She's waited for

         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         Oh this is the one
         This is the one
         She's waited for

         I'd like to leave the country
         For a month of Sundays
         Burn the town where I was born
         If only she'd believe me
         Bellona belladonna
         Burn me out or bring me home

         And this is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         She's waited for

         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         Oh this is the one
         This is the one
         I've waited for

         Oh this is the one
         Oh this is the one
         This is the one
         I've waited for

         This is the one
         Oh this is the one
         Oh this is the one
         This is the one
         I've waited for

         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         Oh this is the one
         This is the one
         I've waited for

         A merry goodbye //I'm really
         Then I don't rhyme \\stretching here.
         This is the one
         This is the one
         She's waited for

         And this is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         This is the one
         She's waited for

         And this is the one
         Oh this is the one
         Ah this is the one
         This is the one
         I've waited for
    Contents
    Song: I Am The Resurrection
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Down down you bring me down
         I hear you knocking down my
         Door and I can't sleep at night
         Your face it has no place
         No room for you inside my
         House I need to be alone

         Don't waste your words I don't need
         Anything from you
         I don't care where you've been or
         What you plan to do

         Turn turn I wish you'd learn
         There's a time and place for every
         Thing I've got to get it through
         Cut loose 'cause you're no use
         I couldn't stand another
         Second in your company

         Don't waste your words I don't need
         Anything from you
         I don't care where you've been or
         What you plan to do

         Stone me why can't you see
         You're a no one nowhere washed up
         Baby who'd look better dead
         Your tongue is far too long
         I don't like the way it sucks and
         Slurs upon my every word

         Don't waste your words I don't need
         Anything from you
         I don't care where you've been or
         What you plan to do

         I am the resurrection and I am the life
         I couldn't ever bring myself
         To hate you as I'd
         Like

         I am the resurrection and I am the life
         I couldn't ever bring myself
         To hate you as I'd
         Like
    Contents
    Song: Begging You
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I'm begging you, I'm begging you.
         The fly on the coachwheel told me that he got it
         and he knew what to do with it, everybody saw it,
         saw the dust that he made.

         King bee in a frenzy, ready to blow,
         got the horn good to go wait, oh his sting's all gone,
         now he's begging you, begging you.

         Here is a warning, the sky will divide,
         since I took of the lid now there's nowhere to hide,
         now I'm belling you, I'm begging you.

         This is a mystery not to be solved,
         but be minded, like minded, I'm gone, still I'm with you,
         I'm begging you, I'm begging you.

         Give it over, give it over.
         Give it over, give it over,
         yeah I'm begging you, I'm begging you.
         Give it over, give it over.
         Give it over, give it over,
         yeah I'm begging you, I'm begging you.

         Weigh it and say it, is it all in a name,
         does it call you or maul you and drive you insane.
         Can it make you remember, time is a place,
         now I'm belling you, I'm begging you.

         The fly on the coachwheel told me that he got it
         and he knew what to do with it, everybody saw it,
         saw the dust that he made.

         Make all the dust that you can, make all the dust that you can,
         king bee in a frenzy ready to blow.
    Contents
    Song: Breaking Into Heaven
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I've been casing your joint for the best years of my life,
         like the look of your stuff, outta sight.
         When I'm hungry and when I'm cold,
         when I'm having it rough, or just getting old.

         Listen up sweet child of mine, have I got news for you,
         nobody leaves this place alive, they'll die and join the queue.

         Better man the barricades, I'm coming in tonight,
         had a line of my dust, outta sight.
         When I wander and when I roam,
         I'll find a soul I can trust, I'm coming home.

         Listen up sweet child of mine, have I got news for you,
         nobody leaves this place alive, they'll die and join the queue, sing it.
         I'm, I'm gonna break right into heaven,
         I can't wait anymore.

         Heaven's gates won't hold me, I'll saw those suckers down,
         laughing loud at your locks when they hit the ground.
         Every icon in every town,
         hear this, your number's up, I'm coming round.

         Listen up sweet child of mine, have I got news for you,
         nobody leaves this place alive, they'll die and join the queue, sing it.
         I'm, I'm gonna break right into heaven,
         I can't wait anymore.

         How many times will I have to tell you,
         you don't have to wait to die,
         you can have it all, any time you want it,
         yeah the kingdom's all inside.
    Contents
    Song: Daybreak
    -------------------------------------------------------
         This is the daybreak, and this is the love we make,
         for love us the law here. You've got to know how I love it,
         yeah, it's more than a mover, you know it takes all fast, all song,
         stone cold wild. Bring the love in son, brother, man, true nature child.
         I think I'll sing it.

         For Atlanta Georgia to Longsight Manchester,
         everyone ready, so, so willing and able yeah, yeah, yeah,
         for the love you make, gn 'o sis' huh, yeah, wooh!

         She built it to make ya, we all love makers ain't we?
         Sister Rosa Lee Parks, love forever her name in your heart,
         forever in my heart, mm, yeah, woh, hey!

         As I sing on this song, someone just got rolled on, hey,
         oh hey, yeah, wooh yeah.
         New York City to Addis Ababababa,
         keep on keeping strong, keep on keeping on.

         So why no stack for black on a radio station in this, the city?
         Been going on so long, level on the line, I'm a leaf on the vine of time.
         Black bones are the original bones,
         and so this the whole wide world should know, y'all.
         I came to sing this song in your city.
         Ooh, for the dreamers, one more for the dreamers, yeah.
    Contents
    Song: Driving South
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Driving south round midnight, man, I must have been insane,
         driving south round midnight in a howling hurricane.
         I stopped for an old man hitcher at a lonely old crossroad,
         he said, 'I'm going nowhere,
         I'm only here to see if I can steal your soul.'

         'I'm not tryin' to make you, I don't want to touch your skin,
         I know all there is to know about you and all your sins.
     Well, you ain't too young or pretty and you sure as hell can't sing,
         any time you want to sell your soul,
         I've got a toll-free number you can ring.'

         Yeah, that's what I thought he said anyway.

         'I'm not tryin' to make you, I don't want to touch your skin,
         I know all there is to know about you and all your sins.
         Well, you ain't too young or pretty and you sure as hell can't sing,
         any time you want to sell your soul,
         I've got a toll-free number you can ring.'

         O eight O O triple six, oh yeah.
         O eight O O triple six, oh yeah.

         I stopped for an old man old man hitcher at a lonely old crossroad,
         he said, 'I'm going nowhere,
         I'm only here to see if I can steal your soul.'
    Contents
    Song: Fools Gold
    -------------------------------------------------------
         The gold road's sure a long road
         Winds on through the hills for fifteen days
         The pack on my back is aching
         The straps seem to cut me like a knife

         The gold road's sure a long road
         Winds on through the hills for fifteen days
         The pack on my back is aching
         The straps seem to cut me like a knife

         I'm no clown I won't back down
         I don't need you to tell me what's going down
         Down down down down da down down down
         Down down down down da down down down

         I'm standing alone
         I'm watching you all
         I'm seeing you sinking
         I'm standing alone
         You're weighing the gold
         I'm watching you sinking
         Fool's gold

         These boots weren't made for walking
         The Marquis de Sade never made no boots like these
         Gold's just around the corner
         Breakdown's coming up round the bend

         Sometimes you have to try to get along dear
         I know the truth and I know what you're thinking

         Down down down down da down down down

         I'm standing alone
         I'm watching you all
         I'm seeing you sinking
         I'm standing alone
         You're weighing the gold
         I'm watching you sinking
         Fool's gold

         Fool's gold

         I'm standing alone
         I'm watching you all
         I'm seeing you sinking
         I'm standing alone
         You're weighing the gold
         I'm watching you sinking
         Fool's gold
    Contents
    Song: Good Times
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
         I'll tell you my story man, I wish I'd never been born.
         I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams,
         and my hand, it shakes the pen.
         Come on, come on now, baby, let the good times roll again, yeah.

         Where did our sweet love go? Who stole away our time?
         Why do the stars above refuse to shine?
         The harder I try to paint a picture of the way it was back then,
         the more I miss the good times, baby, let it roll again.

         Good times, baby, this is the time I need to know that your love is mine,
         love me up yeah, reel me in, I'm hooked, line and sinker,
         she's my heroin.

         How many days have I been lying on my back
         staring at the ceiling, girl, streching on your rack?
         The harder I try to paint a picture of the way it was back then,
         the more I miss the good times, baby, let it roll again.

         Good times, baby, this is the time I need to know that your love is mine,
         love me up yeah, reel me in, I'm hooked, line and sinker,
         she's my heroin.
         Said I'm hooked now, I'm not fakin', I'm here till the day I die.
         Can't get enough now, my heart is aching, I'm in to deep to stop.

         All I want is those good times, baby, show me a sign.
         I need to know that your love is mine,
         love me up yeah, yeah, reel me in, I'm hooked, line and sinker,
         she's my heroin.
    Contents
    Song: How Do You Sleep
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I've seen your severed head at a banquet for the dead,
         all dressed up for dinner looked so fine.
         You shining silver salver so tastefully powdered
         with the finest military quick lime.

         Now try and picture this as I gave you a kiss,
         the apple in your mouth slipped in mine.
         The orchestra played the sweetest serenade,
         we laughed as we put away your wine.

         So raise your glasses, here's a toast to wasted lives.
         May all their ghosts come back to haunt you,
         and tell you how they died.

         How do you sleep? How do you last the night and keep the dogs at bay?
         How do you feel when you close your eyes, and try and drift away?
         Does it feel any better now?
         Does it mean anymore when the angel of death comes knock, knocking,
         and banging at your door?

         When all the fun was over, I put you on my shoulder,
         took you home, away from it all.
         Shot down and claimed, mounted and framed,
         tastefully hung upon my wall.

         Are my dreams your nightmares? I hope they all come true.
         Get off your knees, the party's over, I'm coming home to you.

         How do you sleep? How do you last the night and keep the dogs at bay?
         How do you feel when you close your eyes, and try and drift away?
         Does it feel any better now?
         Does it mean anymore when the angel of death comes knock, knocking,
         and banging at your door, at your door? Mmm.
    Contents
    Song: Love Spreads
     -------------------------------------------------------
         Love spreads her arms, waits there for the nails,
         I forgive you, boy, I will prevail.
         Too much to take, some cross to bear,
         I'm hiding in the trees with a picnic, she's over there, yeah,
         yeah, yeah, yeah,
         yeah, yeah, yeah.

         She didn't scream, she didn't make a sound,
         'I forgive you, boy,' but don't leave town.
         Cold black skin, naked in the rain,
         hammer flash in the lightning, they're hurting her again.

         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         I have a dream, I've seen the light.
         Don't put it out, say she's alright, yeah, she's my sister.

         She didn't scream, she didn't make a sound,
         'I forgive you, boy,' but don't leave town.
         Cold black skin, naked in the rain,
         hammer flash in the lightning, they're hurting her again.
         Oh, oh,
         ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean,
         the messiah is my sister, ain't no king, man, she's my queen.
         I have a dream, I've seen the light.
         Don't put it out, say she's alright, yeah, she's my sister.
    Contents
    Song: Mersey Paradise
    -------------------------------------------------------
         River splashes against the rocks
         And I scale the slope I hope the tracks won't
         Lead me down to dark black pits or
         Places where we fall to bits
         If she were there I'd hold her down
         I'll push her under while she drowns and
         Couldn't breathe and call for air
         She doesn't care for my despair
         Or is it me? Or the one that's wrong
         You see it in the sea
         River cool's where I belong
         In my Mersey paradise

         As I stare an oil wheel comes
         Sailing by and I feel like
         Growing fins and falling in
         With the bricks, the bikes, the rusty tin I
         Swim along without a care
         I'll eating sand when I need air you can
         Bet your life I'll meet a Pike who'll
         Wolf me down for tea tonight
         I want to be (I want to be)
         Where the drownings are (drownings are)
         You see it in the sea
         River cool's where I belong
         In my Mersey paradise

         I want to be (I want to be)
         Where the drownings are (drownings are)
         You see it in the sea
         River cool's where I belong
         Oh yeah
         I want to be (I want to be)
         Where the drownings are (drownings are)
         You see it in the sea
         River cool's where I belong
         In my Mersey paradise
    Contents
    Song: One Love
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Any time you want me
         Any time at all
         Any time you need me
         All you gotta do is call

         Any time you want me
         Any time at all
         Any time you need me
         All you gotta do is call

         I'm no dog or a dolphin
         [I'm no dog, i'm a dolphin?]
         I just don't live in the sea
         You feel my flow and you flood my brain
         Show me a vision you wild apparition
         And sink to the depths of your soul

         One love, we don't need another love
         One love, one heart and one soul
         We can have it all
         Easy, easy do do do do do

         Any time you want me
         Any time at all
         Any time you need me
         All you gotta do is call

         You put me one step clear of the chain gang
         And two miles over the line
         All the scenes I saw left me wanting more
         Show me a vision you wild apparition
         And sink to the depths of your soul

         One love, we don't need another love
         One love, one heart and one soul

         Your fruit's in season
         And these feet fall surely sound
         And what goes up must come down
         Turns into dust or turns into stone do do do do...
    Contents
    Song: Sally Cinnamon
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Until Sally I was never happy
         I needed so much more
         Rain clouds, oh they used to chase me
         Down they would pour
         Join my tears, allay my fears

         Sent to me from heaven
         Sally Cinnamon, you are my world

         I pop pop pop blow blow bubble gum
         You taste of Cherryade
         There is something, hey, you must show me
         From what you are made
         Sugar and spice
         And all things nice

         Sent to me from heaven
         Sally Cinnamon, you are my world

         Your eyes are gazing back from
         Every little piece of glass
         You seem to smile from every place
         Sally Cinnamon, you are my world

         Then I put the letter back in
         The place where it was found
         It's a pocket in a jacket
         On a train in town

         Sent to her from heaven
         Sally Cinnamon, your whole world
    Contents
    Song: Standing Here
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I'm standing on a hilltop
         A hundred miles from home
         I can see the light surrounds me
         I want you to show me around

         I'm standing here
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile

         I'm drifting through the city
         I'm swinging from a tree
         I can touch, but you can't feel me
         You hear me as you sleep

         I'm standing here
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile
         And I'm everywhere
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile
         But I don't think you think like I do
         No matter how how hard I try
         I always thought I'd have the answer
         Let me tell you what I've got

         I'm looking through your window
         I might just have the key
         Over me my free-fall baby
         You hear me as you speak

         I'm standing here
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile
         I'm standing here
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile

         But I'm everywhere
         I really don't think you know that
         I'm in heaven when you smile
         But I don't think you think like I do
         No matter how how hard I try
         I always thought I had the answers
         Let me tell you what I've got
         Oh let it rot I made them stop

         I could park the juggernaut in your mouth
         And I can feel the hurricane when you shout
         I should be safe forever in your arms
         I should be safe forever in your arms
         Who could park the juggernaut in your mouth?
         And I can feel the hurricane when you shout
         I should be safe forever in your arms
         I should be safe forever in your arms
    Contents
    Song: Straight To The Man
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Saying this revelation call delia station,
         an initiation, all you'd better beware.
         Who'll cast the first stone? Skin to the bone,
         bring it all on home, bring it all for Jerome.

         So, new castle, build a brand new castle,
         yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, straight to the man.

         On an island of traders, you know they're trying to fade ya,
         no-one can train you, no-one evade you, no-one can fade you,
         saying 'Don't be late, no, the train won't wait',
         saying 'Don't be late, no, the boat can't wait',
         saying 'Don't be late, no, the train nor the boat
         or the train can't wait, yeah.'

         Do the do, do the do, do the do do,
         do the do do, do the do do do,
         do the do do, do the do do do do do do do do do the,
         heading straight for the man.
         Oh, you know they'll never evade you.

         So now I stand here, love cuts down a revolver,
         am stern damn in Sodom and Gomorrah,
         so I'm singing to King Stone, your teaching it's on.
         They say it's a fable, though I was made able.
         I slipped through the net, wanna bet it's a ramble, a sandstorm,
         one slip you don't never forget, who could ever forget?
         You know I never forget.

         Do do do, do do do, do do do do do do do,
         do do do do, straight to the man.
         Oh, you know they're trying to fade you.

         Saw this revelation, call delia station.
         I don't need no powder, one kinder, easy blind ya,
         yeah, the ice of Grand Bretagne owes a debt,
         say, the ice of Grand Bretagne, all the eyes of Grand Bretagne
         all the eyes of Grand Bretagne owes a debt.

         Yeah, the eyes of Grand Bretagne,
         all eyes of Grand Bretagne owes us a debt.
    Contents
    Song: Tears
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Our love, girl, is going through changes,
         I don't know if I'm alive, dead, dying, or just a little jaded,
         someone throw me a line. You know I need it, I need it bad.

         Lost in a maze of my own making,
         no way out that I can find, send home your hard working jury,
         I'm going down this time. You better believe it, yes you had.

         So if you hear me crying, or talking in my sleep,
         don't be afraid, it's just the hours that I keep.
         We gotta love to last for a million years,
         a love that could never fade through the tracks of your tears.

         All I can do is hope that you will see me fall,
         do your best to smash my picture on your wall.
         Forgive me baby, absolve me, my dear.
         I've seen the future in the tracks of your tears.

         I've seen the future in the tracks of your tears,
         of your tears, of your tears.

         I cast a shorter shadow with every passing day,
         no time to think, I'm just fading away.
         Some kind of magic in all your hopes and fears,
         show me the future through the tracks of your tears.
    Contents
    Song: Ten Storey Love Song
    -------------------------------------------------------
         When your heart is black and broken, and you need a helping hand,
         when you're so much in love you don't know just how much you can stand,
         when your questions go unanswered, and the silence is killing you,
         take my hand baby, I'm your man, I got loving enough for two.

         Ten storey love song, I built this thing for you, ooh.
         Who can take you higher than twin peak mountain blue?
         Oh well, I built this thing for you, and I love you true.

         There's no sure-fire set solutions, no shortcut through the trees,
         no breach in the wall that they that they put there to kepp you from me.
         As you're lying awake in this darkness, this everlasting night,
         someday soon, don't know where or when,
         you're gonna wake up, and see the light.

         Ten storey love song, I built this thing for you, ooh.
         Who can take you higher than twin peak mountain blue?
         Oh well, I built this thing for you, and I love you true.
    Contents
    Song: The Hardest Thing In The World
    -------------------------------------------------------
         The hardest thing in the world

         Holland [?] it don't please
         I never wanted to leave
         Searching for a perfect day
         It never happens that way - ahey hey hey

         I'm sick and tired and so obscene
         Will heaven help me be clean?
         Searching for a perfect day
         It never happens that way - ahey hey hey

         Cut away, I know your world wants you around [?]

         You never heard a word I said
         It's very simple to me
         That if you knew you wouldn't say
         It never happens that way - ahey hey hey

         And the impression I get
         As the story unfurls:
         That you're the hardest thing in the world

         Cut away, I know your world wants you around

         What you feel might not be
         It seems softer [?] to me
         I cannot climb to touch your spire
         I'm getting higher and higher

         Cut away, I know your world wants you around
         The hardest thing in the world
    Contents
    Song: Tightrope
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Tightrope

         You should have been an angel, it would've suited you.
         My gold-leafed triptych angel, she knows just what to do.
         In the half light of morning, in a world between the sheets,
         I swear I saw her angel wing, my vision was complete.

         And I know I'll never want another lover, my sweet,
         can there be more in this world than the joy of just watching you sleep?
         I don't know just what to feel. Won't someone tell me my love's real?

         Are we etched in stone or just scratched in the sand,
         waiting for the waves to come and reclaim the land?
         Will the sun shine all sweetness and light,
         burn us to a cinder, our third stone satellite?

         I'm on a tightrope, baby, nine miles high,
         striding through the clouds, on my ribbon in the sky.
         I'm on a tightrope, baby, one thing I've found,
         I don't know how to stop, and it's a long, long, long,
         long way down.

         She's all that ever mattered, and all that ever will,
         my cup, it runneth over, I'll never get my fill.
         The boats in the harbour slip from their chains,
         head for new horizons, let's do the same.

         I'm on a tightrope, baby, nine miles high,
         striding through the clouds, on my ribbon in the sky.
         I'm on a tightrope, baby, one thing I've found,
         I don't know how to stop,
         and it's a tightrope, baby, nine miles high,
         striding through the clouds, on my ribbon in the sky.
         I'm on a tightrope, baby, one thing I've found,
         I don't know how to stop, and it's a long, long, long,
         long way down.
    Contents
    Song: What The World Is Waiting For
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Here comes the wise man
         And there goes the fool
         Can you see the burned out world that he is living in
         I don't need to look for the rules

         Here comes the donkey
         Chained to a ten ton plough
         He'll never make that hill in a million years
         Whip crack, beat him down

         He loves his brother he'd sell him for a fistful of gold
         But he needs a slave for his vision of the promised land
         No i don't believe a word
         Take me any way the wind blows
         You'll never know just what you want to do
         Or where you wanna go i think it's time
         That you found what the world is waiting for
         I think it's time to get real
    Contents
     Song: Where Angels Play
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Come with me to a place no eyes have ever seen
         A million miles from here where no one's ever been
         God-given grace and a holy heaven face
         I'm on the edge of something shattering
         I'm coming through

         "Ok, let's fly," she says, "this carpet's made for two"
         This ugly little box, no place for me and you
         Our carpet falls on a dew-fresh daffodil plain
         Take a look around, there's something happening
         All the colors fade

         I don't want you now, bang bang bang gone
         Ooh I don't need you now, the seeds are sown
         Ooh bang bang pretty pretty, bang bang
         I don't think so, no no
         I don't think so, no no
         Bang bang, bang bang
         Out below the country rolls like a mighty boiling sea
         The warm red sun gives up and sinks into the trees
         But I'm no fool, I can't stand here betrayed
         Take a look around there's something happening
         All the colors fade

         I don't want you now, bang bang bang gone
         Ooh I don't need you now, the seeds are sown
         Ooh bang bang pretty pretty, bang bang
         I don't think so, no no
         I don't think so, no no
         Bang bang, bang bang
    Contents
    Song: Your Star Will Shine
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Your star will shine again one day, through deep blue velvet skies,
         shine for all the world to see the universe in your eyes.
         When the storm outside is raging, and the dogs, they howl your name,
         lay down, sleep, and I'll kiss you, your star will shine again.

         Na na na na na na na na.
         Hush my darling, don't you cry,
         I'll stay by your side until morning,
         all through the night I'll watch the skies.
         And your distant sun will shine like the gun
         that's trained right between your Daddy's eyes.
    Contents
    Song: All I Want
    -------------------------------------------------------
         I'll show you the way
         I could make it seem (sound?) so easy
         ??? lazy
         There's so much to be seen
         It isn't just a dream

         And all I need is all I want
         So don't turn away

         Help you get away
         Tell you not just always ???
         ??? lazy
         There's so much that I can see
         It isn't, it isn't just a dream

         And all I need is all I want
         So don't turn away
         All I need is all I want
         Don't ??? me away

         And all I need is all I want
         No no don't turn away
         All I need is all I want
         Don't, don't shy away

         And all I need is all I want
         No no don't turn away
         All I need is all I want
         You can ??? me away
         Do you see ??? me
         No no don't turn away, turn away
    Contents
    Song: Going Down
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Dawn sings in the garden
         Phone sings in the hall
         This boy's dead from two day's life
         Resurrected by the call
         Penny here, we've got to come, so come on round to me
         There's so much penny lying here to touch, taste and tease

         Ring a ding ding ding I'm going down
         I'm coming round
         Penny's place her crummy room
         Her dansette crackles to Jimi's tune
         I don't care, I taste Ambre Solaire
         Her neck, her thighs, her lips, her hair
         Ring a ding ding ding I'm going down
         I'm coming around

         All thoughts of sleep desert me
         There is no time
         30 minutes brings me round to her number 9

         Yeah she looks like a painting
         Jackson Pollock's Number 5
         Come into the forest and taste the trees
         The sun starts shining and I'm hard to please
         Ring a ding ding ding I'm going down
         I'm coming around

         All thoughts of sleep desert me
         There is no time
         30 minutes brings me round to her number 9

         To look down on the clouds
         You don't need to fly
         I've never flown in a plane
         I'll live until i die
    Contents
    Song: All Across The Sands
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Bones of an impressive romance
         Scattered all across the sands
         A secret safe with all the world
         Too vain to seem so capable

         Can you hear it calling
         Do you feel warmer
         As the hired hand's exposed

         How can a pretty painted shell
         Send them all packing off to Hell
         A freight train laughs and rattles by
         You kissed the girls and made them die

         Can you hear it calling
         Do you feel warmer
         As the hired hand's exposed

         And I'll never come here again
         Ah, we will never come here again
         Ah, we will never play here again, again

         Can you hear it calling
         Do you feel warmer
         As the hired hand's exposed

         After her call
         After her call
         After her call
         And she calls
    Contents
    Song: Guernica
    ------------------------------------------------------
         Watch me at war, really up
         You wanna hurt me, stop the row
         We both are stitched up now
         We're hard with fear, hard, speak up
         You wanna hurt me, stop the row
         We both are stitched up now
         We're whores, sit down,
         We're whores that's us

         He wanted us hw swore and all we've got
         You wanna hurt me stop the row
         We both are stitched up now
         We're hard with fear, hard, speak up
         You wanna hurt me, stop the row
         We both are stitched up now
         We're whores sit down
         We're whores that's us

         Simple lives ah we don't have
         We pack up, in truth it seems this
         Peacemakers has arms that hold fear
         Say gargoyles can you see the wonder?
         Yes I fear the carbine
         What does never wrong mean? That's right
     

         Every one of us he swore so hurry up
         You wanna hurt me stop the row
         We both are stitched up now
         We're hard with fear, hard, speak up
         You wanna hurt me, stop the row
         Both of us are stitched up now
         We're whores, sit down
         Whores
         That must mean sinful eyes that maim of fear
         It's the look that stings I fear boy
         Being disturbing I trust no-one
         They've been back down for nothing
         It was never shared it ours ***something missing?
         We win know those names who follow
    Contents
    Song: So Young
    -------------------------------------------------------
         In the misery dictionary
         Page after page after page
         In the misery dictionary
         Page after page

         Where there's life there's gotta be hope
         And where there's a will there's a way
         One man's in is another's out [?]
         I gotta get out today

         Where there's life there's gotta be hope
         And where there's a will there's a way
         Amid divisions you're so low [?]
         You know I gotta get out today

         In the misery dictionary
         Page after page after page
         In the misery dictionary
         Page after page

         And where there's a will there's a way...no way! [?]
    Contents
    Song: Something's Burning
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Don't count your chickens 'cuz they're never gonna hatch
         You can't catch a monkey with a shotgun and a sack
         'Cuz you're too dull, baby, you can't see the wood for the trees
         'Cuz you're too slow, baby, you just couldn't get off your knees

         Don't count your chickens 'cuz they're never gonna hatch
         You can't cut your monkey with a shovel and a sack
         'Cuz you're too dull, baby, you can't see the wood for the trees
         'Cuz you're too slow, baby, you just couldn't get off your knees

         I can see the love and the hate in your eyes
         Heading [Penny] for the thoughts behind the disguise
         What you gonna do and what you gonna say?
         I'm not the only one believing there's an easier way

         It doesn't pay to be sorry, you take me [disorientate me]
         It doesn't cost to be someone
         I am the vine
         And you are the branches

         Don't knock her young man, you don't know what he'll get done
         You can't kick and old man, see what he's become
         You are far too lazy
         You stick to your pillow with ease
         'Cuz you're much too lazy, you just couldn't get off your knees

         I can see the love and the hate in your eyes
         Heading for the thoughts behind your disguise
         What you gonna do and what you gonna say?
         I'm not the only one believing there's an easier way

         It doesn't pay to be sorry, you take me
         It doesn't cost to be someone
         I am the vine
         And you are the branches

         Don't count your chickens 'cuz they're never gonna hatch
         You can't cut your monkey with a shovel and a sack
         'Cuz you're too dumb, baby, you can't see the wood for the trees
         'Cuz you're too slow, baby, you just couldn't get off your knees

         I can see the love and the hate in your eyes
         Heading for the thoughts behind your disguise
         What you gonna do and what you gonna say?
         I'm not the only one believing there's an easier way
         What'ya gonna do with the rest of your life
         Heading for the thoughts behind your disguise...

         I am the vine
         And you are the branches
    Contents
    Song: Tell Me
     -------------------------------------------------------
         You can't tell me, you can't tell me
         You can't tell me anything
         I love only me, I love only me
         I've got the answer to everything

         There's only me, so suggest what I do
         I am the garage flower
         I don't need to stare, 'cuz I know everywhere
         Well there's a place for me anywhere

         Tell me, tell me
         You tell me anything
         You can't tell, you won't tell
         Me anything, anything

         I love only me, I love only me
         I've got the answers to everything
         I don't need to stare, 'cuz I know everywhere
         Well there's a place for me anywhere

         Tell me, tell me
         You tell me anything
         Tell me, tell me
         You can't tell us anything
         You can't tell, you won't tell
         Me anything, anything
         You can't

         I am the garage flower
         I am the garage flower
    Contents
    Song: The Sun Still Shines
    -------------------------------------------------------
         She said the spring is in the air
         But summer will blossom everywhere
         But when ???
         As all ???
         Oh let me warm you in the spring (trees?)

         And the sun still shines
         The sun still shines
         Oh the sun, the sun keeps shining through
         Behind everyone
         And over me and you

         And every time I try
         You all walk away
         And now I know the end
         The end's here to stay
         I'd like to lose myself
         Inside of you
         But God I know the things
         We do (maybe "we'd do???)

         Yet the sun still shines
         The sun still shines
         Oh the sun, the sun keeps shining through
         Behind everyone
         And over me and you

         So fall down the stairs
         And cry at my door
         How much does it hurt?
         Can you sing the blues now?
         I know I'd like to
         You wear it like a shirt
         shirt

         The sun still shines
         The sun still shines
         la la la .......
    Contents
    Song: Elizabeth My Dear
    -------------------------------------------------------
         Tear me apart and boil my bones
         I'll not rest till she's lost her throne
         My aim is true
         My message is clear
         It's curtains for you
         Elizabeth my dear

    Contents


    Corn Exchange, Cambridge 1995
    THE Stone Roses are expert in the laws of supply and demand, where less means more. Theirs is not so much a career as a state of suspended animation. Two albums in a decade, a six-year lay-off since the last British tour: this is not what the Chancellor would call high productivity. Yet like some exotic bird, whose beauty is much extolled but rarely witnessed, the Stone Roses generate a level of extraordinarily passionate interest.
    Pulling out of their starring role at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival, after guitarist John Squire injured his shoulder, only fuelled the faithful's ardour. It was not just mischievous irony which named the second album (released in 1994) Second Coming. There was tense, almost edgy anticipation among the fans. Would it happen? Would it be worth the wait? questions prompted by the band's reputation for blistering live performances and obstinate unreliability.
    There was a wave of relief as the introduction to Breaking Into Heaven echoed across a deserted stage which was cloaked in smoke and lit by shafts of ultra-violet light. As more smoke billowed forth, punctured by an array of coloured flashes, singer Ian Brown droned plaintively, ``I want to be adored.'' He was, of course; this was love at first sight.
    The drama of their arrival was followed by a roller-coaster ride of songs: the up-tempo She Bangs the Drum, the wistful Waterfall, the thundering drums and sweeping chorus of Ten Storey Love Song. These were pop songs for the rock generation, each powered by the bass of stalwart John (Mani) Mountfield and new drummer Robbie Maddix, and embellished by Squire's guitar, with its super-highway connections to the ghosts of Jimmy Hendrix and to the memory of Led Zeppelin.
    The mood of benign pleasure was disrupted, however, by the anxious paranoia that started with Good Times. Huge lightbulbs swung hypnotically from the ceiling, while piercing beams dissected the air, creating a cat's cradle of light. Squire's guitar mimicked disrupted reason as it squealed and yelped. The tension dissipated, though, as the pyrotechnics meandered into self-indulgence.
    The show faltered, and then struggled to regain its coherence, through an acoustic interlude which included the pub ballad Your Star Will Shine. Even when they reverted to the R&B rumble of Love Spreads, things were still on the slide. Not that they seemed to mind. Like their fellow Mancunians, Oasis, the Stone Roses are not products of a rock'n'roll charm school. On stage, they give nothing away. It is an hour before Brown, hidden behind sunglasses and a woollen hat, addresses the audience.
    But then comes the glorious celebratory chorus of Made Of Stone. Squire, his hair falling across his face and his back arched, creates a cascade of notes and chords, pushing Brown's voice and the song to a wonderfully up-beat finale. It is a moment to cherish, a sighting of that rare bird:
    the Stone Roses in flight.
     
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    wanted to adore, honest

    I wanted to adore, honest Caitlin Moran
     The Stone Roses are back, and you can hardly recognise them
     I was 15 and on the bus. I heard it and I went mad. That's the simple story. There was this Cool House on the way into town, where a long-haired boy of dubious honour would regularly throw his bedroom windows open on hot summer evenings, and treat passengers on the 513, which passed some four feet from his curtains, to the delights of his record collection. That Wednesday, the Cool Lad was floating something I'd never heard before out into the Wolverhampton evening. The bass-line shivered on the border-line of fever, and the guitar was flecked through with the gold and silver promise of a pocket full of change on Friday night. The singer, who drawled like he'd just been kissed stupid by the most beautiful woman in the world, informed me and the OAPs on the top deck, that he ``Don't need to sell my soul/He's already in me,'' with which line he knocked the Robert Johnson selling-of-soul-at spooky-crossroads myth into a cocked hat.
      Before the chorus could even begin to uncoil itself, the lights changed and the bus pulled away, leaving me doubled over with frustration, and endlessly repeating the line so I would not forget it, and could track it down. And I did. It was I Wanna Be Adored by the Stone Roses.
      I should imagine the 20,000 kids at Feile '95 last week all had roughly similar stories of the day they invested their hearts in the Roses. But then would come the litany of woe. After The Stone Roses, the band's perfect debut album, had been released in 1989, things had gone wrong. We spent six years waiting for the follow-up; waiting through inter-label court wrangling; through years of torpor and creative blocks and constant promises that the album would be out in autumn (1990, 1991, 1993 take your pick).
      And then, when The Second Coming finally did come out, the band had moved on so much that we didn't really recognise them, and we felt slightly, um, disappointed, because after the wide-eyed, woozy joy of The Stone Roses, The Second Coming was this rock album, which seemed to be made by people with hearts that had hardened slightly in the studio. And all through these six long years, they didn't once play live and our hearts had hardened slightly, too.
      But The Second Coming would all make sense played live, we thought. So when the Roses announced their first gigs in six years, we all came to a concrete stadium in Cork to see them.
      Now, I've seen the hysteria Take That inspire, and it was nothing compared to the Roses fever at Feile. As the band took the stage, the crowd started piling over the crash barriers before they had even played a note; and when they kick-started their comeback with I Wanna be Adored, it was as if all those Tooth Fairy wishes you sent with your milk teeth had finally been granted.
      And for the first 20 minutes it was everything you ever wanted from a band: pop and sex and bright purple lights and insurrection. But then the Second Coming stuff sprang into action, monstrous and groove-laden and sparking with over-fierce guitars, and it still doesn't make sense. It's beautiful music but it's not what I wanted.
      I can't quite work out who is more disappointed the Roses, emerging, blinking, from a studio, holding an album they adore and finding it clubbed to the ground by the once-devoted; or me, for selfishly wanting them to stay the same, and let me slip back to being 15 again, just for the day.

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    Bright lights, big pity: No flares, and no flair
    either: the Stone Roses are back in town - and they're awful.
       By RYAN GILBEY
     
    It was announced recently that the Brixton Academy had been rescued from
    plans to convert it into a church. Not that you'd have known from the
    reverence on display there last Friday. There were the lame, the sick, the
    morally repugnant. And that was just the press. The fans were jigging up and
    down like a factory-floor syndicate who've matched six numbers and the bonus
    ball. They were all a bit older, and a bit tighter about the trouser-leg,
    than the last time they'd gathered to dance badly to these songs.
    There was a long and winding intro to the Stone Roses' show, but they'd made
    us wait five years for an album, so what was another 10 minutes of bizarre
    sound-effects between friends? At least there was the lighting - whoever was
    in possession of the spotlights was also in possession of some choice Class
    A substances. At one dazzling point, eight bulbs swung above the stage,
    glowing as though a series of bright ideas had suddenly struck each band
    member (unlikely, I know). The bright ideas began and ended with those
    bulbs.
    The new member, Robbie Maddox, played with violent passion. Give him a year,
    though, and he'll look as miserable as the rest of them. He banged the
    drums, but not loudly enough to drown out Ian Brown. Brown is the singer,
    though I use that word in its loosest sense. His voice suggested a child
    whingeing for a lolly, or a pop star who has blown his million- pound
    major-label advance. Still, I wouldn't sound too happy if I had to sing the
    words to 'Love Spreads'.
    The thatch-haired guitarist John Squire is the brains of the band (though
    bear in mind that here are four men who would probably raise Timmy Mallett
    shoulder-high and proclaim him a god). Squire writes the songs, and at least
    he's consistent: both music and lyrics languish in a gutter of cliches. An
    experimental vocalist might have lifted those compositions closer to the
    stars. But what Brown did to the band's only showstopper, the majestic 'Made
    of Stone', should see a restraining order slapped on him while the song
    undergoes extensive counselling.
    Brown peddles care-in-the-community chic, from his Andy Pandy dance to that
    shrunken face (were they sunglasses, or hollowed eye-sockets?) and the mouth
    set in a mid-gobstopper-sucking pose. He's indispensable: without him, the
    band would only be moderately, not monumentally, rotten.
    Nothing wrong with the rhythm section - Maddox and bassist Mani drove the
    songs ahead at great speed while their colleagues rattled and flailed behind
    them like tin-cans tied to a limousine bumper. Squire spent the entire set
    riffing on automatic pilot; at one point, a young girl tried to wrestle him
    to the ground. She had just realised to her horror that 'Daybreak', which
    had already lasted until dawn, was seguing into the epic 'Breaking Into
    Heaven'.
    The truth is that these hotshots-turned-cold have cast out their old flair
    along with their old flares. London has not witnessed such a shameless
    display of aural flatulence since Morris Cerullo was in town, making the
    same unsubstantiated claims to possess miraculous powers. (He's got nothing
    whatsoever to do with music either.)
    In 10 years' time, when your children find The Second Coming in a box in the
    loft, they will ridicule you, much as you ridiculed your parents for Venus
    and Mars. Which is why I'm off to the Record & Tape Exchange to swap it for
    something less embarrassing. I hear they're doing an unbeatable deal on The
    Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
     
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    After a rash of courtroom scuffles, a plague of feeble bones and a brief
    tour of Scandinavia, the Stone Roses finally loped onto the stage of Pirc U
    Chaoimh, Cork, last Sunday, to play their first gig in these islands for
    more than half a decade.
    Lead singer Ian Brown has never made much effort to hide his messianic
    pretensions. Roses tunes, such as 'I Am the Resurrection', left few doubts
    about the genre of his delusion; but it remains fun to ponder whether Brown
    thinks he is the second coming of Jim Morrison or Jesus Christ, or perhaps
    even Jesus reincarnated as Jim. In either case, a certain family resemblance
    is as striking as it is calculated.
    The band opened with Brown's paean to his humble aspirations, 'I Wanna Be
    Adored'. If Ian does want to be adored, he would want to learn to hit the
    notes with a little more precision, or are these strange sounds the
    'slightly atonal eastern effects' that so impressed one American critic?
    'She Bangs the Drum' and 'Waterfall' leave his voice sounding equally
    vulnerable, skipping around the note painfully. Painfully, that is, until
    one remembers that singing in key is hardly what the Stone Roses are about.
    They are about coy, middle-distance stares, faintly religious eroticism and
    sprightly guitar sounds. As the band's set had good measures of all three,
    there ought to have been little room for complaint.
    When John Squire wrestled his guitar into action, Brown's plaintive assault
    on the melody finally received the heavy covering fire under which it
    flourishes. By the time the band were halfway through 'Breaking Into
    Heaven', everything was all right again.
    Squire's guitar rubs up against Brown's tantalising, surreal lyrics like an
    old tabby, before transforming suddenly into a wah-wah leopard. Given his
    head - and his plectrum - Squire wraps his mates in razor-tipped blues
    guitar, as though his one desire is to be the star turn at an E-Monsters of
    Rock festival. The reaction of the crowd was predictably ecstatic. Hardly a
    hypercritical group at the best of times, the XXXL T-shirt and Vittel
    water-bottle crew liked the way things were turning, as Squire embarked on
    the-wild-solo-that-just-might-never-end.
    It does though, and Brown slips in for an acoustic mini-set, including
    'Elizabeth My Dear', a 'Scarborough Fair'-based songlet that never amounted
    to 20 seconds well spent, but now sounds simply deranged. Happily, Squire
    soon throws up another Led Zeppelin-like electric smokescreen.
    Whatever the Stone Roses have been doing for the past five years it was not
    learning how to end a show. Indeed, the confused, soggy finale to this
    second coming will have left few breathlessly awaiting a third.

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