Sundial In The Shade - Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott

As she sat down, put up her feet

And she turned the telly on

She clearly wanted some revenge

For how badly day had gone

And nothing could be better

No end of day complete

Than watching fellow woman

Getting beat

So she smiled a knowing smile

As gradually, the plot

Took the damsel down

For everything she’d got

And nothing made her heart leap like

Another falling flat

That she was not the only one

Who married into that

What I want from life

Is not a rollercoaster dip

What I want from love

Is not a ramp up to a skip

All I want is compliment

Occasionally made

For a life of pure simplicity

Unlike these soaps I’d trade

Till then, I am just

That sundial in the shade…

See, momma went to prison

And left her feeling blue

Now, twenty good years later

She’s in that prison too

A prison where the governor’s

In the armchair of despair

A prison where the only thought

Is a wish she wasn’t there

So she smiled a knowing smile

As gradually, each soap

Took away her dignity

And offered her the rope

So, with coat over pajamas

She headed into the night

Television never made no friends

But solitude just might

In the shade

Sundial in the shade

Ooh.

Oh…

Oh, oh…

Oh, oh…

Ooh…

When the groom is just too matey

With the father of the bride

And the punch on shoulder’s just too hard

For the bridesmaids to decide

Like the mints that fence the lager breath

There’s so much he could hide

Is it plastic bag or jellyfish

That’s floating by your side?

What I want from life (what I want from life)

Is not a rollercoaster dip

What I want from love (what I want from love)

Is not a ramp up to a skip

All I want is compliment

Occasionally made

For a life of pure simplicity

Unlike these soaps I’d trade

Till then, I am just (till then, I am just)

That sundial (in the shade)

Till then, I am just (in the shade)

That sundial in the shade…

In the shade…

Sundial…

All I want from life…

All I want from love…