Wake Up!

(Moulding)

#\#a href="http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2492474" target="churl"#/##\#i#/#Wake Up#\#/i#/# single sleeve#\#/a#/#

Wake Up single sleeve

Recordings
Art
Lyrics
Chords and Tablature
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Recordings

  1. Album version, 4'39.
    Mixed by David Lord and XTC.
    Released on The Big Express.
    Peter Phipps - Drums
    Annie Huchrak - ‘Choir’ (Arranged by David Lord)
  2. Single edit, 3'40.
    Released in January 1985 as a single in the U.K.

    Notice the clock reads 7.46 (the catalog number is VS746).

    Colin: “I'm responsible, but it's not much of a song.” Andy: “Great intro, though.” Dave: “Syncopated intro.” Andy: “It was on the jukebox in Eastenders.”
  3. Demo version.
    Recorded in the bedroom of 565 Ferndale Road, Swindon, in Spring 1983.
    Engineered by Colin Moulding.
    Released on 25 March 2002 on Coat of Many Cupboards in the U.K.
    Colin Moulding - All instruments and Vocals

    Colin: “Mechanically played guitars symbolise day job monotony. Same faces, early mornings, people yawning into closed fists. Wake up to life..you get the picture.

    “Last verse sees me being first at the scene of an accident, a recurring dream for many years. We live on a busy road, so I lay in bed and wait for the bang. Must remember to pull that pillow over my head tonight. The Big Express recording of this, is much embellished, producer David Lord takes the song to the Albert Hall and back. I, not knowing what to do with it, take this version to Hook Village Hall.”

    Andy: “Colin arrived on my doorstep one day with a grubby cassette in his mitts to announce ‘I've got a new song’. I was excited, so we went into my front room and put it on straight away. I fell in love with those twin chopping guitars, snapping across each other like a pair of quarrelsome Jack Russells. That ‘missing beat’ drum rhythm was great too. I love the competition, nothing makes me write faster than Colin appearing with a new tune, it's always inspirational. But that aside, what a great opener for the new album this would make.”

  4. 2023 stereo mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  5. 2023 Dolby Atmos mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  6. 2023 DTS-HD MA Surround Sound mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  7. 2023 instrumental mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.

[Thanks to R. Stevie Moore]


Art

#\#a href="http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2492474" target="churl"#/##\#i#/#Wake Up#\#/i#/# single sleeve#\#/a#/#

Wake Up single sleeve

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Wake Up single back cover

Colin's Hand-written lyrics to “Wake Up”

Colin's Hand-written lyrics to “Wake Up”


Lyrics

You put your cleanest dirty shirt on
Then you stagger down to meet the dawn
You take a ride upon a bus, it's just a fuss
You know it keeps you born
You get to know a morning face
You get to join the human race
You get to know the world
Has passed you by

Who cares? You might be dead
Who cares? You stayed in bed
Who cares? You wrote the note
Who cares? You might have spoke

Wake up!

You take a snack to fill the gap
And then you're ready for another shift
Your attention was diverted
By the girl who smiled and made the lift
The radio is blaring out
It's in one ear and then it's out
You didn't notice that the record's over

Who cares? You might be dead
Who cares? You stayed in bed
Who cares? You wrote the note
Who cares? You might have spoke

Wake up!

In the road a crowd had gathered
And a man was close to dead
The blood is running down the gutter
While you're yawning, nothing's said
His body's wriggling like an eel
They got no sense, no touch, no feel
Somebody better go and get a blanket

Who cares? You might be dead
Who cares? You stayed in bed
Who cares? You wrote the note
Who cares? You might have spoke

Who cares?

© 1984 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.


Chords and Tablature

Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 17:09:52 +0100
From: Jordi Ibáñez Llauradó <lohagoporelmessenger (at) hotmail dot com>
Subject: xtc songs
Message-ID: <BAY113-F11D978375E7EAC7A754B66DA390 (at) phx dot gbl>


OK, my first posting. please be gentle. i just want to say that
that's been done with no keyboard or organ at hand, so i can't
be more precise about the chords. that's why here you'll only
find the basic chords: it's up to you, people that can write,
read and dissect chords, to finish this work. so here it goes,
all the songs in the XTC catalogue that hadn't been tabbed in
this great site, from "black sea" to "nonsuch". you won't find
anything from "mummer" because the whole album has already been
"chorded" in this site.

don't expect any riffs or arpeggios, BTW. that's as far as my
skills go...

maybe i should be ashamed to post something like this (so
incomplete, wrong and childish) but it's just for the sake of
people who just want to strum XTC songs and sing and don't care
much if this is a sus4, added or other bollocks chord (and i must
point that i am one of those who really care, so i'm willing to
read all kinds of comments and corrections). please, john relph,
erase every transcription of mine as soon as a proper tab of each
song made by any other XTC fan who's more trained on guitar than me
comes to your mail.

songs like "the somnambulist" or "seagulls..." were meant to be
played on keyboards and sound terrible on guitar. beware!


WAKE UP
intro/verse: G
bridge ("who cares?"): Dm-G-F-G
chorus/outro: F-G-A

--
hope that will be useful for somebody.
merry Xmas!
feedback welcome at jordiibanez (at) mixmail dot com
                 or lohagoporelmessenger (at) hotmail dot com

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