"As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still" as written by and Robert/ratledge Wyatt....
Here's a song for 'clean machine Kevin Majorca'
He's found his own way of 'live in Majorca'
Don't walk, don't drink
Don't talk, just think
Heaven on Earth he'll get there soon
Kevin's highly unlikely to get ill
At least as long as he lies perfectly still
He eats brown rice and fish - how nice
Heaven on Earth, he'll get there soon
Good and bad go so well together in his tunes
He wrote a song and called it the weather - or not
He's Lucky or Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir
Waiting for something that's already there
Heaven on Earth or is it the moon?
Why, why, why is he sleeping?
Why is the trumpeter weeping?
Kevin maybe asking to get back into my dreams
His voice is so weak now and the customers are screaming
Heavens above, we can't hear what you're saying
We've got something to tell you
Hold on we wanted to thrill you
Reckons it's so nice and it will make you feel better
Something in the nature of a Lullabye Letter
Kevin on Earth there'll be one
Kevin on Earth make room for one
Kevin himself he'll be in
Kevin on Earth, be here
Or you could be now
Or is he found, in Herne Bay...
He's found his own way of 'live in Majorca'
Don't walk, don't drink
Don't talk, just think
Heaven on Earth he'll get there soon
Kevin's highly unlikely to get ill
At least as long as he lies perfectly still
He eats brown rice and fish - how nice
Heaven on Earth, he'll get there soon
Good and bad go so well together in his tunes
He wrote a song and called it the weather - or not
He's Lucky or Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir
Waiting for something that's already there
Heaven on Earth or is it the moon?
Why, why, why is he sleeping?
Why is the trumpeter weeping?
Kevin maybe asking to get back into my dreams
His voice is so weak now and the customers are screaming
Heavens above, we can't hear what you're saying
We've got something to tell you
Hold on we wanted to thrill you
Reckons it's so nice and it will make you feel better
Something in the nature of a Lullabye Letter
Kevin on Earth there'll be one
Kevin on Earth make room for one
Kevin himself he'll be in
Kevin on Earth, be here
Or you could be now
Or is he found, in Herne Bay...
Lyrics submitted by Chip Spitz
"As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still" as written by Robert Wyatt Michael Roland Ratledge
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't know a lot about the scene, but I've pieced together a few things:
Ayers' birthplace was Herne Bay, Kent, England. Majorca is a sunny, pleasant Spanish island which I assume Ayers vacationed at--he took up residence there for a while, too.
Lucky, Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir are all characters from the play "Waiting for Godot," which ties in with "Waiting for something that's already there", a line from Ayers' "Why Are We Sleeping?"
Much of the rest of the song is references to Ayers-written lyrics:
"Good and bad go so well together in his tunes/He wrote a song and called it the weather or not..." are nods to the "Lullaby Letter."
The entire "Why is he sleeping/why is the trumpeter weeping" line is a nod to "Why Are We Sleeping?", while the next verse ("we've got something to tell you") is another reference to "Lullaby Letter".
References are made to so many of Kevin's songs, but I can't tell if Wyatt wrote this song affectionately or if he was having a dig. "Why is the trumpeter weeping?" seems to be asking what the hell Kevin's words actually meant, if anything. Whatever was in Wyatt's mind when he wrote these words, they continued to play on eachother's solo albums, so no long-lasting damage seems to have been done.
The song itself kicks some arse though.