Tightrope



You should have been an angel
It would have suited you
My gold-leafed triptych angel
She knows just what to do
In the half light of morning
In our 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 but 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 but 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 but it's a
long long long long way down


Lyrics by:
Squire

Music by:
Squire

Written:
1993

Personnel:
John Squire (guitar, backing vocals)
Ian Brown (vocals)
Gary Mounfield (bass)
Alan Wren (percussion, backing vocals)

Producer:
Simon Dawson. Initial recording by Mark Tolle and Al 'Bongo' Shaw.

Engineer:

Available on:
Second Coming (4.27)
Crimson Tonight Live EP: Daybreak (8:38) / Breaking Into Heaven (7:03) / Driving South (4:50) / Tightrope (4:39) (September 1995, Geffen, catalogue number of Japanese release: MVCG-13029)

First live performance:
Oslo Rockefeller Music Hall (19 April 1995)

Details:
Tightrope was one of two acoustic tracks, Your Star Will Shine being the other, on Second Coming. The band recorded an electric version with John Leckie but decided to go with the acoustic version. It was done in the first take, all around one mic in a TV lounge where the Roses were staying at Rockfield, with some bass and drum overdubs. On vocals are Ian, Reni and John. Live, they played it at a much faster pace without losing any of the harmony of the studio version.

A lyric close to that on a Buddy Holly song called 'Words Of Love' (covered by The Beatles):

Buddy Holly


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