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Montague Terrace (In Blue) Lyrics
The little clock's stopped ticking now
We're swallowed in the stomached rue
The only sound to tear the night
Comes from the man upstairs
His bloated belching figure stomps
He may crash through the ceiling soon
The window sees trees cry from cold
And claw the moon
But we know don't we
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue
The girl across the hall makes love
Her thoughts lay cold like shattered stone
Her thighs are full of tales to tell
Of all the nights she's known
Your eyes ignite like cold blue fire
The scent of secrets everywhere
A fist filled with illusions
Clutches all our cares
But we know don't we
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue oh in blue
We're swallowed in the stomached rue
The only sound to tear the night
Comes from the man upstairs
He may crash through the ceiling soon
The window sees trees cry from cold
And claw the moon
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue
Her thoughts lay cold like shattered stone
Her thighs are full of tales to tell
Of all the nights she's known
The scent of secrets everywhere
A fist filled with illusions
Clutches all our cares
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue oh in blue
Song Info
Submitted by
eirikws On May 28, 2006
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Montague Terrace is in Brooklyn, but no idea why it's blue. This song's always seemed a bit pretentious, so I imagine there's something bigger going on that just a night spend waiting around. Like ... they're stuck in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ('the little clock's stopped ticking') and remembering places that have been destroyed. (Fist filled with illusions, etc.)
Of course, it could be something simpler, like waiting for summer and a better time to leave the apartment. But... I'm pretentious, too.
Montague Terrace is in Brooklyn, but no idea why it's blue. This song's always seemed a bit pretentious, so I imagine there's something bigger going on that just a night spend waiting around. Like ... they're stuck in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ('the little clock's stopped ticking') and remembering places that have been destroyed. (Fist filled with illusions, etc.)
Of course, it could be something simpler, like waiting for summer and a better time to leave the apartment. But... I'm pretentious, too.
There is a Montague Terrace in London (Bromley), another one in Edinburgh, and probably in other places as well as Brooklyn. Scott Walker had been living in Britain for some time when he wrote the song, so I always assumed it was a British location, but I don't really know.
BTW, isn't the lyric 'stomached room'? In other words the room is like a stomach which has swallowed them.
About those mundane moments in life when time stands still and you are staggered by the beauty and tragedy of living.
I think (amongst other things) he's gently taking the piss out of the suburban ideal. And er..it's about his depression.
Scott actually lived on an upmarket street called Montague ? in London in the mid 60s (I can't recall the exact locale, but the end bit wasn't Terrace), and Keith Moon lived in the same block of flats...consequently the road was often filled with fans circa 1966.
He's sat in silence in the flat and registering the noises of suburban life going on around him, while for him the clock has stopped. To support this viewpoint-I think it's also the flat where he tried to kill himself, a well trod episode in his biog. The flats also overlooked a large park (when I could recall where it was I checked it out ) which gives us the trees he's looking out at. Scott also uses living spaces as a metaphor for his mental state elsewhere in his songs.
@splod correction-Scott lived in a flat on Ormonde Terrace, St John's Wood, which overlooks Regent's Park. But I think it's the setting of the song, and 'Montague' just sounded grander and more poetic, or conveys that it's a posh address to be idealised/satirized -'In Blue'-more readily.
@splod correction-Scott lived in a flat on Ormonde Terrace, St John's Wood, which overlooks Regent's Park. But I think it's the setting of the song, and 'Montague' just sounded grander and more poetic, or conveys that it's a posh address to be idealised/satirized -'In Blue'-more readily.