Spinning Top

(Partridge)

White Music

Recordings Art Lyrics Chords and Tablature

Recordings

1. Album version, 2'38.
   Released on White Music.

2. Live version.
   Recorded live at Eric's Club, Liverpool, on 13 August 1977.
   Recorded by Manor Mobile.
   Engineered by Newell/Heeley.
   Mixed by XTC.
   Released on 25 March 2002 on Coat of Many Cupboards in the U.K.
   Andy Partridge - Guitar and Vocals
   Colin Moulding - Bass and Vocals
   Barry Andrews - Keyboards and Vocals
   Terry Chambers - Drums

   Andy: “Seeing as we're going pretty much chronologically through this collection, our spit stained Tardis pops up in Eric's Club in Liverpool (now the tourist's version of The Cavern I think). We'd signed to Virgin at this point, they beat out Island and EMI's Harvest labels on the potential stakes, and they insisted that we be recorded live via their manor mobile truck. Eric's became a reasonably regular gig for us, so it was decided to commit our first noise to tape here. At this point we hadn't recorded 3D E.P. or White Music, we were an unknown band with puzzling new material. But we seemed to go down well enough in this stygian sweat pit.

   “Barry's organ is a little low in the mix as it was broke during the set and started emitting a gargling sound. Normally it gave out a pure tone (draw a straight line to depict), but after some disrespectful punk hammering all it gave up was ‘Grrronk!’ (draw a Greek key pattern to depict).

   “Every time we played Eric's two individuals would turn up, one would shout ‘John The Postman’ in the gaps between the songs and the other, even more mystifyingly, would bellow ‘bromide, get into bromide’. You can hear him on this recording.”

[Thanks to R. Stevie Moore]

Art

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Lyrics

I'm like a spinning top
Going round and around
Well I don't know what's up
And I sure don't know what's down
Now watch me - I'm like a spinning top
Can't tell day from night
Well I don't know what's wrong
And I sure don't know what's right
Now watch me

It started when I heard your song of love
Pouring down like honey from above
I started to spin
I started to move
Just like a needle
That's sticking in the same old groove

I'm like a spinning top

I like it so much that I'm never going to stop

© 1978 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.

Chords and Tablature

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