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Rating: My heart went on stage with a poorly pressed tuxedo and your absence in the front row; it tried to sing, but you took the highest note with you. So now it improvises: a misstep, a crooked bow, a smile that tastes of behind-the-scenes, and the audience laughs, and maybe, for once, they’re laughing with me.
There exists a pop theater that does not need an audience to shine. When your world is full of strange chords and gravity won’t let you through, you know you’re missing something.
The Look of Love.
That something depends on you.
The Lexicon of Love parades before the listener with the confidence of someone who knows they are the best dressed: lush strings, Trevor Horn’s sparkling production, Martin Fry seeming like an actor from a ’50s melodrama catapulted into a timeless British wave. Class is everywhere, in the stalls, on the radiant stage, among the shadows of the gallery. As with all great things, the difference is in the details: Philly soul horns, geometric synths, songwriting that turns every heartbreak into an elegant gesture.
The influences intertwine like fine fabrics: the orchestral soul of the Philly Sound, with its soft harmonic progressions and warm horns, blends with the controlled coolness of British new wave; Roxy Music–style art-pop provides Fry with a model of the modern crooner. Meanwhile, Anne Dudley’s arrangements recall John Barry soundtracks, with strings that sound straight out of a glamorous spy film. There’s even a refined disco echo, the most elegant and orchestral kind, flowing beneath tracks like Show Me.
Fry sings about love as a sentimental dictionary full of cutting definitions: in Poison Arrow he complains with irony (“I thought you loved me, but it seems you don’t glamour.” In The Look of Love he stages abandonment as an upside-down romantic comedy (“When your girl has left you out on the pavement”), in All of My Heart he surrenders with a romanticism that the orchestra amplifies until it feels like a film ending. The soul influences emerge in his vocal delivery, always a bit theatrical yet with a warmth betraying a love for Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson; at the same time, the rhythmic precision and use of synths place him firmly in the early-’80s electronic modernity.
The result is an album that speaks of broken hearts but does so with such elegance that every crack becomes a golden reflection. A classic because it doesn’t truly belong to the ’80s: it belongs to the realm where pop becomes art without losing its immediacy. A place where Motown, Broadway, new wave, and romantic cinema meet to tell the same love story, each in its own voice.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Show Me (04:01)
Once I needed your love
But that was just one thing left on my mind
Then I needed to feel you near me
You said:"Don`t have the time."
The cowboys at the rodeo
The rhine-stones on that Romeo
Your theme tune on the radio
Souvenirs that only go to
Show me, show me
Show me that your mine
Show me, show me
Give me just one sign
Show me, show me
Second that emotion
Show me, show me love
Since we`re skimming the surface darling
Now`s time to get in deep
You`ve opened up the envelope
But there`s still one secret you keep
A pirate station or the late night show
A sunken ship with a rich cargo
Buried treasure that the four winds blow
Wind and rain it only goes to
Show me, show me
Show me that your mine
Show me, show me
Give me just one sign
Show me, show me
Second that emotion
Show me, show me love
Some things are hidden
Some things you`ll see
Make me know
Signal to me
Nine out of ten, in every case
She might look pretty but there`s make up on her face
Show me, show me love
And you can be free
And you could be free. Free. Free.
Where are the diamonds?
Where are the curls?
Where are the things that you took from this world?
These are the diamonds
These are the curls
These are the things that you took from this world
02 Poison Arrow (03:25)
If I were to say to you
"Can you keep a secret?"
Would you know just what to do
Or where to keep it?
Then I say"I love you"
And foul the situation
"Hey girl I thought we were
The right combination"
Who broke my heart?
You did, you did
Bow to the target
Blame Cupid, Cupid
You think you're smart
Stupid, Stupid
Shoot that poison arrow to my heart
Shoot that poison arrow
No rhythm in cymbals
No tempo in drums
Love on arrival
She comes when she comes
Right on the target
But wide of the mark
What I thought was fire
Was only the spark
The sweetest melody
Is an unheard refrain
So lower your sights, yeah but raise your aim, raise your aim
Who broke my heart?
You did, you did
Bow to the target
Blame Cupid, Cupid
You think you're smart
Stupid, Stupid
I thought you loved me but it seems you don't care
I care enough to know I can never love you
Who broke my heart?
You did, You did
Bow to the target
Blame Cupid
You think you're smart
That's stupid
Right from the start
When you knew we would part
03 Many Happy Returns (03:57)
When I accepted this job
I was resigned to my fate
When I got there early
She`d arrive late
You can say she`s gone forever
Or just sit tight and wait
She said I was unprincipled
That I was not the first
Like the Phoenix coming back
From the ashes, uh-huh
I know what`s good,
But I know what trash is
In the head-lights,
In the highlights of her hair...
Hit the head lines
But she`s not there:
Many happy returns
Many happy returns
These are the lessons I could have learned
Return. Many happy returns
And these are the letters I should have burned
Okay, I`m sad, not blue
Okay, remember
All that matters to me now
Is the message I sent her
Like the world, spinning `round
On its axis, uh-huh
I know democracy
But I know what`s fascist
When she`s gone, all I got to learn
Is the law of diminishing return
When she`s here, one thing I`ve found
Things get better second time around
Many happy returns
Many happy returns
These are the lessons I could have learned
Return. Many happy returns
And these are the letters I should have burned
Okay I`m sad, not blue
Okay, remember
All that matters to me now
Is the message I sent her
Now she`s gone, she`s gone away
Now she`s gone forget her
Coming back another day
If you`d only let her
Now she`s gone, she`s gone away
But she`s gone forget her
Coming back another day
So why resurrect her?
Many happy returns
Many happy returns
These are the lessons I could have learned
Return. Many happy returns
And these are the letters I should have burned
04 Tears Are Not Enough (03:31)
Tears for souvenirs
Tears are not enough
Tears for shields and spears
Tears are not enough
Searching for certainty
When it's such an unstable world
Searching for something good
And I'm looking for the real McCoy
Blueprint: That says that boy meets girl
Picture: Girl meets boy
A blueprint that says that the boy meets the girl
Picture in a magazine
Yes you've shown your feelings
Yes you've shown you're tough
Said things worth believing
Tears are not enough
Slam that door, slap my face
I don't love you anymore
Dry your eyes Sink or swim
You surmise you can't win
We all make great mistakes
Would I lie
Should I lie
Could I lie to you?
Excuses had their uses
But now they're all used up, all used up
Yes you've shown your feelings
Yes you've shown you're tough
Said things worth believing
Tears are not enough
Tears for souvenirs
Tears are not enough
Tears for shields and spears
Tears are not enough
05 Valentine's Day (03:42)
When the postman don't call on Valentine's Day
And Santa Claus don't come on a Christmas Day
That umbrella won't work on a rainy day
Don't ask me, I already know
When they find you beached on the barrier reef
And the only pleasure treasured is in map relief
The choice is yours, sure, saint or thief
Don't ask me, I already know
Yes, they baked your cake in little slices
Kept your eyes on rising prices
Wound up winning booby prizes
I'm sure you'd like to think you know what life is
Find destiny through magazines
Liplicking, unzipping, Harpers and Queens
From here to eternity without in-betweens
Ask me, I already know
With your heart on parade and your heart on parole
I hope you find a sucker to buy that mink stole
School for scandal, guess who's enrolled
So ask me, I already know
When they find you beached on the barrier reef
When the postman don't call on Valentine's Day
When the only pleasure treasured is in map relief
When you don't tell the truth, that's the price you pay
When I'm shaking a hand, I'm clenching a fist
If you gave me a pound for the moments I missed
And I got dancing lessons for all the lips I shoulda kissed
I'd be a millionaire, I'd be a Fred Astaire
07 Date Stamp (03:52)
This heart's up for sale
Yeah, this heart's on the stand
Mix and match and melt in my mouth
Nothing ever goes quite as planned
You fly north and I'll sail south
So redevelop product
Redesign this package
Still refuse to reach in your pocket
Everything is temporary written on that sand
Looking for the girl that meets supply with demand
Love has no guarantee
(Yes I'm date stamped)
Promise me eternity
(Guess I'll fade away)
Even with a pedigree
(Yes I'm date stamped)
Love has no guarantee
That heart's on display, yes, that heart's off the rails
A ship in the harbour with wind in its sails
Chain up love inside the chain-store girl
Chain up love and exchange it
Is Monsieur a connoisseur or just short-changed?
Off the rack or custom-fit it all seems the same
Look but don't touch in paradise
Don't let them catch you damaging the merchandise
Love has no guarantee
(Yes I'm date stamped)
Promise me eternity
(Guess I'll fade away)
Even with a pedigree
(Yes I'm date stamped)
Love has no guarantee
I get sales talk from sales assistants
When all I want to do girl, is lower your resistance
Everything is temporary, written in the sand
Looking for the girl that meets supply with demand
Love has no guarantee
Brings out the woman in me
Even with a pedigree
Love has no guarantee
No chance of subtlety
No promise of eternity
Even with a pedigree
Love has no guarantee
08 All of My Heart (05:12)
Once upon a time when we were friends
I gave you my heart the story ends
No happy ever after now we're friends
Wish upon a star if that might help
The stars collide if you decide
Wish upon a star if that might help
What's it like to have loved and to lose her touch
What's it like to have loved and to lose that much
Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart
Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back
Remembering
Surrendering
Remembering that part
All of my heart
Spilling up in silk and coffee lace
You hook me up a rendez-vous at your place
Your lipstick and your lipgloss seals my fate
Sentimental powers might help you now
But skip the hearts and flowers skip the ivory towers
You'll be disappointed and I'll lose a friend
No I won't be told there's a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow
Or that pleasure and pain sunshine and rain might make this love grow
But I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart
Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back
Remembering
Surrendering
Remembering that part
All of my heart
Yes I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart
And I shrug and I say that maybe today
You'll come home soon
Surrendering
Remembering
Surrendering that heart
All of my heart
09 4 Ever 2 Gether (05:30)
You can tell me how to run my life
You can tell me the drugs you're using
You're talking loud and saying nothing
Walking proud and going nowhere fast
You know
If you could tell me how to find belief
If you told me, I'd believe you
Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil
I'll close my eyes, you know love grows
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
I stuck a marriage proposal in the waste disposal
If that's the trash aesthetic, I'd suggest that we forget it
Your 12 disciples might kiss and tell
But you can tell me much more than they can
Right now
A mathematical equation won't describe my liaison
The stars in the sky might try persuading
But you can tell me, I won't hear you
You can tell me, I gave up the listening
Years ago
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
So you're broken hearted, take it to the mender
I got something on the agenda
Speak no, speak no, speak no evil
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
For when two hearts but strong and sweet
One promise I can never meet
Forgive and forget, for goodness sake
For love this strong, might make or break
4 ever 2 gether, 4 years 2 come
4 love 2 strong, 4 us 2 part
Two's a party, three's a crowd
I'm surprised what get's allowed
Three coins inside the fountain
You saw Mohammed move the mountain
Speak no evil
Speak no evil
This is silly, well nearly
Yours faithfully, well eventually
Speak no evil
Speak no evil
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Other reviews
By gnoato
"Poison Arrow" is a real 'poison arrow,' scratching the ego and spirit of the previously innocent listener without hesitation.
The Lexicon Of Love is a low blow to the excessive materialism and political commitment present in today’s music, a complete and classy work.
