Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Cooper (various instruments) and Stuart Kershaw (drums); McCluskey has been the only constant member. Regarded as pioneers of electronic music, OMD combined an experimental, minimalist ethos with pop sensibilities, becoming central figures in the late 1970s/early 1980s emergence of synth-pop.
Song lyrics
[edit]All songs were written by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, except where noted.
- Our one source of energy:
Electricity.
All we need to live today,
A gift for man to throw away.
The chance to change has nearly gone,
The alternative is only one.
The final source of energy:
Solar electricity.
Organisation (1980)
[edit]- Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Ah-ha, this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away.
- The more I see you,
The more I want you.
Somehow this feeling
Just grows and grows.
With every sigh I become
More mad about you,
More lost without you.
And so it goes.
Architecture & Morality (1981)
[edit]- It's my direction, it's my proposal.
It's so hard it's leading me astray.
My obsession, it's my creation.
You'll understand it's not important now.- "Souvenir", written by Paul Humphreys and Martin Cooper
- I gave her everything that I ever owned
I think she understood but she never spoke
She should have not tried to be that way
She shouldn't have to go there ever again
Without me
Without me.- "Joan of Arc", written by Andy McCluskey
- If Joan of Arc had a heart,
Would she give it as a gift?
To such as me who longs to see
How an angel
Ought to be.- "Maid of Orleans", written by Andy McCluskey
Dazzle Ships (1983)
[edit]- These are the little children,
The future in our hands.
When all God's children on this Earth
Inherit all our plans,
These are the lies they tell us.
But this is the only way,
When all God's children on the Earth,
Will ever more be saved.
- I've got a telegraph
In my hand.
Words on paper
Written in sand.
Junk Culture (1984)
[edit]- Tes-tes-t-t-t-t-tes
Tesla girls, Tesla girls
Testing out theories,
Electric chairs and dynamos.
Dressed to kill, they're killing me,
But heaven knows their recipe.
- Crossing every ocean for the sake of Locomotion
Crossing every ocean for the sake of Locomotion.Across every ocean,
For the sake of Locomotion.
But I wouldn't have a notion
How to save my soul.
I walk down the sidewalk,
Run down the boardwalk,
Stop and make small talk,
But I can't say no to you.- "Locomotion", written by Humphreys, McCluskey, and Gordian Troeller
- Talking loud and clear,
Saying just what we feel.
Lying in the grass
With the sun on our backs
It doesn't really matter
What we do or what we say
With every little movement
We give ourselves away.- "Talking Loud and Clear", written by Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper
- I was so impressed by you,
I was running blind.
I would fall for every trick,
Every twist of mind.Heaven is cold
Without any soul.
It's hard to believe
I was so in love with you.- "So in Love", written by OMD and Stephen Hague
- I've got a secret and I can't explain.
All the time I've waited for this day.
All along I was never in doubt.
I've always knew it would never get out.
There are things that I cannot tell.
And there are things that you know damn well.
This is getting very hard for me.
I guess you'd better just wait and see.- "Secret"
- La femme accident,
A woman full of want.
Her heart's on the line.
You haven't got the time.
She suffers like some Joan of Arc.
The Pacific Age (1986)
[edit]- I never wanted another.
Come over to me and discover
How I want to be near you
And you need to be far away
You always seem to make me feel at home
Hey you.- "(Forever) Live and Die", written by Humphreys, Graham Weir, Neil Weir
- If there's one thing I know,
Things are gonna change.
There's gonna be a different ending,
Though I'm not one to complain.But there's never been a right time.
And we've never been too far.
But you're the only single reason I know
That's holding back my heart.- "Shame", written by Humphreys, McCluskey, Weir, Weir
- We've got to get a message to the stars above
Like radios in heaven hearing just enough
And every single teardrop along the way
We put them in our pockets for a rainy day.But here we are in trouble,
Like we always are.
Just praying for a miracle
And reaching for stars.- "We Love You", written by Humphreys, McCluskey, Stephen Hague
Pretty in Pink soundtrack (1986)
[edit]- If you leave, don't leave now.
Please don't take my heart away.
Promise me, just one more night,
Then we'll go our separate ways.
We've always had time on our side,
Now it's fading fast.
Every second, every moment,
We've gotta make it last.I touch you once, I touch you twice.
I won't let go at any price.
I need you now like I needed you then.
You always said we'd still be friends someday.- "If You Leave", written by McCluskey, Humphreys, Cooper
- If you leave, I won't cry;
I won't waste one single day.
But if you leave, don't look back,
I'll be running the other way.
Seven years went under the bridge
Like time was standing still.
Heaven knows what happens now.
You've gotta say you will.- "If You Leave"
The Best of OMD (1988)
[edit]- If you were born in heaven girl,
I'd understand so well.
But ever since I've met you child,
You've made my life such hell.
With every day that passes,
I fall nearer to the ground.
It seems that I've been looking for
Something that won't be found.I was only dreaming.
I was only trying to catch your eye.
I was only wishing you would notice me,
Instead you said goodbye.- "Dreaming"
- Sick and tired, and I don't know why
Skin and bone won't touch the sky
Sex and lies can't bring me down
Because I've sold my soul all over town
And I'm so in awe of you
That I don't know what to do.
And I'm sailing on the seven seas so blue.- "Sailing on the Seven Seas", written by OMD and Stuart Kershaw
- And all the stars you kissed
Could never ease the pain.
Still the grace remains.
And though the face has changed,
You're still the same.And it's a long long way
From where you want to be.
And it's a long long way,
But you're too blind to see.
- So many things I do, so many things I say
Give you the wrong idea.
So many things I do, so many things I say
Just make a fool of me.
Then you turn away.
Then you turn away.- "Then You Turn Away", written by OMD, Kershaw, Lloyd Massett
- I've seen a new sensation,
I heard you call in pain.
But running round in circles
Won't make it right again.The telephone keeps ringing.
Your head is in the sand.
The future is unfolding,
But it's not what you had planned.
- We always stick together
Like we're something made of glue.
And justify the passion,
Saying one is more than two.But if you don't believe the words,
They're surely to come true.
There's one thing that's so obvious,
But it's something you won't do.Because you stand above me
But I know you don't.
You say you love me,
But I know you won't.- "Stand Above Me", written by McCluskey,Kershaw, Massett
- Everyday,
I'm on my knees to pray.
Since I kissed you once
And I held you once,
Things have never been the same.And I've tried,
God knows I've tried,
But there's nothing left
In the world today
That's making sense in any way.- "Everyday", written by McCluskey, Humphreys, Kershaw
- It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white
Or the god that you choose to pray to.
It doesn’t matter about the clothes you wear
Or which creator made you.
We all bleed the same blood,
We all need the same love,
And when we die there’s no heaven above.
It’s Universal, It’s Universal.- "Universal", written by McCluskey
- When I was only seventeen,
My head was full of brilliant dreams.
My heart would call and I would gladly go
At twenty one the world was mine
And I was yours and you're divine.
And nothing else would matter to us so
I don't believe in destiny,
I don't believe in love,
I don't believe that anything will ever be enough...- "Walking on the Milky Way", written by McCluskey, Nigel Ipinson, Keith Small
