Intimacy Digital Booklet

BLOC PARTY. INTIMACY

All songs written by Bloc Party. All songs published by EMI Music Publishing. Produced by Jacknife Lee for Big Life Management and Paul Epworth. Jacknife Lee sessions recorded at The Garage in Kent by Sam Bell. Programming and keys by Jacknife Lee. Additional programming by Sam Bell for SSO. Paul Epworth sessions recorded at The Pool, Miloco, London by Mark Rankin. Assisted by Matt Wiggins. All songs mixed by Alan Moulder at Assault and Battery, London. Mix Assistant - Darren Lawson. Mastered by Guy Davie at Electric Mastering, London. "lon Square" contains lines from ''i carry your heart with me(i carry it in". Copyright 1952 (c) 1980, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from COMPLETE POEMS: 1904-1962 by E.E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation. Managed by Tony Perrin and Simon White at Coalition Management. Art Direction & Design - Rob Crane at Work. Photography - Perry Curties. www.blocparty.com © 2008 Bloc Party.

Choral and brass parts recorded at Olympic Studios, London by Phil Rose. Assisted by Tom Hough. Brass arrangements by Avshalom Caspi. Trombones played by Colin Sheen, Roger Harvey, Dan Jenkins and Christopher Dean. Trumpets played by Derek Watkins, Paul Archibald, Guy Barker and Sid Gauld. Trumpet solo by Guy Barker. Brass players contracted by Hilary Skewes. Choir: The Exmoor Singers of London. Music Director: James Jarvis. Sopranos: Sara Coffey, Alex Cope, Claire Fletcher, Sharon Kniss, Hayley Kruger, Sarah Meunier, Charlotte Nicklin, Roz Sherris, lngalo Thomson, Rebecca Wallis, Rhian Walther. Altos: Aiison Benbow, Gretchen Cummings, Philippa Gardner, 'Desola Haastrup, Claire Hetherington, Angharad Lloyd, Jenny Marsden, Julia Saperia, Frances Rowberry, Bettina Weichert. Tenors: Gordon Banner, john Catherall, Richard Furse,Victor Gan, Dave Garioch, Peter Kenny. Basses: Malcolm Aldridge, Chris Brasted, Stephen Hall, Peter Jennings, Tim Meunier, Tom Smith, Mark Rivers-Moore, Henry Ross, Chris Wright. www.blocparty.com © 2008 Bloc Party.

INTIMACY

ARES War, war, war, war! I want to declare a war My fist breaks your porcelain nose There are other things That hands can do To create or to destroy Mini gods and goddesses First person singular Set it, set it, set it off! War, war, war, war! Keep the past, future's ours Man-made natural disaster Blocking out all of the sun Supermen and Mitsi turbo Speed! Agility! Super strength! Wipe the blood off those knuckles Spark it! Give me two's on that War, war, war, war! I want to declare a war True say blud that when we ride We don't stop for nobody The Africans and the Bengalis He knows all the rude boys Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Puma "Rer, rer, rer, this shit is long!" It's all getting (It's all getting)

Quite highly charged (Quite highly charged) Get out of the way (Get out of the way) Or get fucked up (Or get fucked up) We dance to the sound of sirens We dance to the sound...

I'm sitting in Soho trying to stay drunk In any bar in the world From Silverlake to Williamsburg You could pick another stranger And fall in love Mercury’s in retrograde...

And to think that these hands Could work wonders with their touch Listening to dead singers In your room... In '98

This is not the time…

We dance to the sound of sirens We dance to the sound...

Bleeding gums and blue veins protruding I'm starting to hate all of your clothes Neumayr's in LA and she ain't returning I’m sleeping with people I don't even like

MERCURY

In any bar in the world…

My Mercury's in retrograde...

Mercury's in retrograde...

This is not the time The time to start a new love This is not the time The time to sign a lease Try not to worry about what's forgotten Try not to worry about what's been missed

When I say you last night I wanted to say: "Run away with me away from the cynics" That this could be the start of Something truly real But all that I could say was "hey" Was "hey" Was "hey" Was "hey"

Scars on shins And scars on my knuckles Today I woke up in a basketball court Jonjo’s in Sydney and he ain't returning

My Mercury's in retrograde…

HALO It was your hair that did it It was your hair that lit the fuse A golden-brown halo Like sunlight peering through trees I ask you for the time But I am asking for so much more A moth to your light bulb You made my heart beat faster Paralyse me with your kiss Wipe those dirty hands on me Maybe we’re looking for the same thing Maybe you’re the one Who’ll complete me Oh how beauty burns Lips and eyes and your fingertips The spark of desire On every point our bodies meet Behind your eyes were stars Infinite and serene How I would suffer for you You fascinate and magnetise me Paralyse me with your kiss Wipe those dirty hands on me Maybe we’re looking for the same thing

Maybe you’re the one Who’ll complete me Sometimes I think I would float away If this sadness Didn't weigh me down Paralyse me with your kiss Wipe those dirty hands on me Maybe we’re looking for the same thing Maybe you’re the one Who’ll complete me BIKO

Was my love not strong enough to Bring you back from the dead? If I could eat your cancer I would But I can't (You're not doing this alone) So I keep writing these songs for you To steal you from your grey We can dance in our front room again So toughen up… (You're not doing this alone) Don't you know that when you stand You stand up for the both of us? Remember that when the darkness looms

You're not doing this alone... For my sweetheart, the melancholic You have crossed the river Styx And the waves have taken you away As I lay my head on your chest I can hear it in your veins Wake me up when you come to bed So toughen up Biko, toughen up Biko, toughen up This world isn't kind to little things (You're not doing this alone)

(You're not doing this alone) Every tear you shed is cleansing Taking the pain away from you I left you blueberries in the fridge The little things that I can do So toughen up… You're not doing this alone... Resist! So toughen up… (Resist!) You're not doing this alone

TROJAN HORSE You used to take your watch off Before we made love You didn't want to share Our time with anyone You used to close your eyes When we kissed goodbye You didn't want to see me Draped in sadness And now there's nothing here Now there's nothing here at all In a loft conversion Off New North Road And now there's nothing here Now there's nothing here at all You were here, I was here There was something real here I know there was You know I still adore you But in a different kind of way You know I still adore you But things have gotten vague Baby I don't ask for much But things have gotten convenient, oh You know I still adore you But things have kind of changed

And to think I laughed at you For how you saw the world For all that empty space Inside your heart I have to cling to things now Doubles and cigarettes Forever trying to find you on the lips Of someone else

There was something that was not there You never wanted to alarm me But I'm the one that's drowning now

You know I still adore you, But in a different kind of way You know I still adore you But things have gotten vague Baby I don't ask for much But things have gotten convenient, oh You know I still adore you But things have kind of changed

It was so like you to visit me To let me know you were okay It was so like you to visit me Always worried about someone else

Just take me back to the start When your earthquake was just cracks You must ask yourself every day Just how high are the highs? SIGNS Two ravens in the old oak tree And one for you and one for me And bluebells in the late December I see signs now all the time The last time we slept together

I could sleep forever these days 'Cause in my dreams I see you again But this time fleshed out fuller faced In your confirmation dress

At your funeral I was so upset So up-, so upset In your life you were larger than this Statue-, statuesque I see signs now all the time That you're not dead, you're sleeping I believe in anything That brings you back home to me I see signs now all the time That you're not dead, you're sleeping I believe in anything That brings you back home to me

ONE MONTH OFF Well there were seven years between us Seems that all my friends were right That we can't survive on your bedroom eyes And a Spanish guitar When we started this it was paradise Not just Bethnal Green And it's just not right This waiting game Making a cuckold of me I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies (If you need time) And it's just not like me to lash out But enough is enough Tell me what the others can do That I can't? Translucent and sun-bleached skin Yeah When did you get so L.A.? How can you desert me After all we've been through?

Stuck on a dream that somewhere is better You'll be the one missing out I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies (If you need time) I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood (If you need time) I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies (If you need time) If you need time Time, time, time, time... I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies (If you need time) I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood

(If you need time) I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies I can be as cruel as you Fighting fire with firewood I can be as cruel as you Fighting lies with lies Fighting lies with lies…

ZEPHYRUS Backwards Forwards but making no ground at all Standing in the city with the clocks counting one And your face is still wet from the fight before As your tears hit the ground Blue flowers spring from them

And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do" And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do"

And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do"

(Too many mirrors in this house) (And I don't like to see myself like this) (I'm becoming the man I used to be, I guess) (These walls could tell you a thing or two) (Things that you really don't want to know) (Lend me your eyes for your point of view) (Lend me your feet and I'll stand up for you)

And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do"

And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do"

How fast must we Run before we can just take off in flight? How far must we Run before they do not recognise us? So let's take this from the start You'll be me and I'll be you And let's try not to complain about your smoking And my distant heart And my distant heart And my distant heart

And all you said in your quietest voice was: "I needed you as much as they do"

Baby, I'm ashamed of the things I put you through Baby, I'm ashamed of the man I was for you

TALONS And in the dark it comes for me Malevolent and without form Uprooting trees Destroying cars Cold and relentless With arms outstretched No bolt nor brick Nor crucifix can hold it back I have been wicked I have been arrogant And when it comes it will feel like a kiss Silent and velvet And when it comes it will feel like a kiss And I cannot say that I was not warned or was misled When it comes it will feel like a kiss Awaken from dreams Of drunken car crashes You've saddened my friends And claimed all my lovers I try to stay still So it will not see me Its talons rake the side of my face Oh when did you become Such a slut?

And when it comes it will feel like a kiss Silent and velvet And when it comes it will feel like a kiss And I cannot say that I was not warned or was misled When it comes it will feel like a kiss And I didn't think I'd catch fire When I held my hand to the flame And I didn't think it would catch up As fast as I could have run Fate came a-knocking When I was looking the other way A new disease came in the post For me today And when it comes it will feel like a kiss BETTER THAN HEAVEN What's with all this doom and gloom? You used to be such, such a laugh It's only sin, original sin Corinthians (15:22) Never been a big fan of things But I'm growing so fond of you, you You get sadder the smarter you get And it's a bore

You get sadder the smarter you get And it's a bore Truth is truth I ain't no bohemian Much too, much too safe Much too, much too typical Much too, much too typical Much too, much too You can use your hands For something else I’ll take you further Than the scholars can Put down your books And molest me Heaven is here Where it needs to be You get sadder the smarter you get And it's a bore And there was a time Before we were born When we stood in the garden If this world does not turn you on Well, I've got enough For the both of us The both of us The both of us

ION SQUARE Ion Square Perspex swing I breathe out You breathe in Permanent midnight Our love Our love How we've come to depend On each other to the end The space between us Has disappeared You finish my You finish my words for me I remember how it began So many great days in a row Barefoot on Bishopsgate Trying to find Blake's grave If we could stay like this In a silver foil Trapped in amber for a life Permanent midnight Our love Our love I carry your heart here with me I carry it in my heart

I carry your heart with me I carry it in my heart Who said unbroken happiness Is a bore? Is a bore? Who said it, my love? I don't mind it anymore Anymore And I reach out a hand Over your side of the bed Pull that blanket Over your shoulders Exposed to the night And the hunger Of those early years Will never return But I don't mind I don't mind 'Cause I love my mind When I'm fucking you Slowed down to a crawl Years of crime And the bread line Have not at all Dimmed your shine

So let's stay in Let the sofa be our car Let's stay in Let the TV be our stars I found my dancing shoes But they don't fit All the bright lights Do is bore me They bore me They bore me I carry I carry I carry I carry

your heart here with me it in my heart your heart with me it in my heart

I carry I carry I carry I carry

your heart here with me it in my heart your heart with me it in my heart

LETTER TO MY SON

I tried, I tried, I tried

I found myself At the point where we kissed first On a rooftop overlooking The East London mosque

Oh Marlena, I'm too young To be the father to our son I tried, I tried, I tried

They say, they say, they say, they say "You can't go around breaking young girls' hearts" I say, I say, I say, I say Keep it casual, easy thing And you looked so right In that red dress Oh, how I'd love to be a rock for you To be anything you could rely on So I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try But I'll get caught out So we'll try, we'll try, we'll try, we'll try But we forget the lines Forget the lines And you looked so wanton In the back of the car Like you could start a hundred wars See what trouble wicked thoughts cause By the bedroom door, the kitchen floor

Forgive me Oscar YOUR VISITS ARE GETTING SHORTER I can see it in your eyes now You have come to resent me Condescension in the silence Your fingers are tired girl How they falter against my thigh Your kisses are pining For the lips of someone else Your visits getting shorter Your heart is getting further from me Your touch is getting colder Always somewhere you need to be Boys in blue blazers Boys on motorbikes Boys in your maths class Who'll do anything you ask You're pulling the trigger And the gun is in my mouth A subtle annoyance

Laced with disgust When you get older And those boys grow tired of you You can come find me I can never hate you Your visits getting shorter Your heart is getting further from me Your touch is getting colder Always somewhere you need to be Boys on your left side Boys on your right Boys by your locker Who'll do anything you ask Let's spend the whole day in bed then 'Cause if we don't you'll want to Want to leave I try to hold something I can never keep (Never keep) Your visits are getting shorter Your heart is getting further from me Your touch is getting colder Always somewhere you need to be Boys on your left side Boys on your right Boys by your locker Who'll do anything you ask

FLUX If your right hand is causing you pain Cut it off, cut it off If your colours have started to run Let them all run Run away from you There is lightning in this room Above our heads, waiting to strike I'm a thinker not a talker Put your faith, your faith in God We were hoping for some romance All we found was more despair We must talk about our problems We are in a state of flux I'd kill for an adventure Just you and I, in the Curzon Bar Dancing 'till we knew So all that we've learnt disappears When you shouted at me I saw my father in the second grade Concerned and kind Yet unable to reach me We were hoping for some romance All we found was more despair We must talk about our problems We are in a state of flux

(State of flux) (We are in a state of flux)

Wouldn't it be too divine If we could see a way out?

We need to talk We need to talk

Wouldn't it be too divine A start, middle and an end? Wouldn't it be too divine If we could see a way out?

(We need to talk) We were hoping for some romance All we found was more despair (We need to talk) We must talk about our problems We are in a state of flux IDEA FOR A STORY Lucian I'm so tired of flesh and blood My Lord is growing so vile Shamefulness Descends upon our shoulders Kicking the corpse 'Till the fun wears off Bleeding septums in SW1 Talking Nietzsche ‘Till the sun comes up Rich boys They just need a hand Or a hand down from Papa Wouldn't it be too divine A start, middle and an end?

There's a blizzard In the after-hours bars Raining my way down The Strand Who are these fags In their red bow ties Ruining it for the rest of us? Self-content for the young The younger said that history Will always eat itself Rich boys They just need a hand Or a good old-fashioned war Wouldn't it be too divine A start, middle and an end? Wouldn't it be too divine If we could see a way out? Wouldn't it be too divine A start, middle and an end? Wouldn't it be too divine If we could see a way out?

ONE MORE CHANCE Give me one more chance Give me one more chance Give me one more chance to love you Give me one more chance Give me one more chance Give me one more chance to love you So open the door I've calmed down Can't you see that I'm trying? Don't say another word About the other boy Can't you see that I'm dying? This time things will be different And you're gonna see This time things will be different And you're gonna see, see These hands will come around (See) You'll love their touch again (See) This time things will be different (See) And you're gonna see, see Give me one more chance Give me one more chance Give me one more chance to love you

Give me one more chance Give me one more chance Give me one more chance To love you

This time things will be different And you're gonna see (See) This time things will be different And you're gonna see, see

So open the door I've calmed down Can't you see that I'm trying? Don't say another word About the other boy Can't you see that I'm dying?

These hands will come around (See) You'll love their touch again (See) This time things will be different (See) And you're gonna see, see (See)

This time things will be different And you're gonna see This time things will be different And you're gonna see, see These hands will come around (See) You'll love their touch again (See) This time things will be different (See) And you're gonna see, see One more chance Give me one more chance One more chance Give me one more chance One more chance Give me one more chance to love you

1. ARES 2. MERCURY 3. HALO 4. BIKO 5. TROJAN HORSE 6. SIGNS 7. ONE MONTH OFF 8. ZEPHYRUS 9. TALONS 10. BETTER THAN HEAVEN 11. ION SQUARE 12. LETTER TO MY SON 13.YOUR VISITS ARE GETTING SHORTER 14. FLUX 15. ONE MORE CHANCE

BLOC PARTY.