Rebel Without a Clue
(Whyatt, Caldwell, Roberts)
One night, we'd forgotten to book our usual rehersal rooms so Adie and I went to Coddy's flay with our acoustic guitars. We had a bunch of ideas. I had a rocky power chord riff that just fell out of my fingers one day and Coddy had been writing some lyrics and had half-finished them. He originally intended them to be a slower song, but when we all started playing around with the chords and lyrics it turned into a real rocker.
Coddy didn't have enough lyrics so I wrote the last verse. In the end, when we recorded it he dropped the last verse, which was a shame as I thought they were great. I've included them here for posterity.
The guitar solo was my fourth or fifth take - not because I kept messing it up but because I wanted a really stinging solo and the others I recorded were a bit mild. It's totally improvised, just straight off the top of my head. I 'm not particularly happy about the phaser which was added by the other guys in the band when they mixed it. I prefer a minimum of effects on my guitar.
VERSE ONE
He wears the current trends, but buys them from the market men
Counts his wages out in pints, signs his name with a bookie's pen
He's always 'round the centre, he's heard as well as seen
Always out with his mates, and his bird the karaoke queen
CHORUS
He's a rebel, without a clue
He's a rebel, without a clue
He's a rebel, without a clue
It could be me...
VERSE TWO
With his baseball cap, pointing to the rear
He haunts the shopping centres, gives the chicks a lusty leer
You'll see him when he's young, he's the one that's not at school
Five years later down the line, he's the one that's breaking all the rules
BRIDGE
A football conversation, a topic for all men
He polishes his FSO until it bleeds United red
Is he a man with a mission or a missionary man?
He climbs on top then rolls right off, he's seldom there at the end...VERSE THREE (edited out - but great lyrics by me!)
As the weekend rolls around, he goes out dressed to kill
His wispy 'tache and fake Kouros gives all the tarts a thrill
Thirteen pints later, he falls out of a club
Crawls into a taxi cab then throws them all back up
Adie: Rhythm guitar
Coddy: Lead and backing vocals
Howard: Rhythm & lead guitar
Matt: Bass
Mick: Drums
© Copyright 1997, JTM, all rights reserved.