Robyn Hitchcock Song Catalogue

1974        Lyrics |  Tab |  Gigs |  New Search

Author: Robyn Hitchcock
Alternate Title(s): Feels Like 1974

Released on 8 records:

Storefront Hitchcock, 2000  (DVD)  MGM 908023
Inflatable Hitchcock, 2000  (CD)  [none listed]
A Star For Bram, 2000  (CD)  Editions PAF! PAF 1
CMJ New Music January 1999, 1999  (CD)  CMJ
Storefront Hitchcock, 1998  (CD)  Warner Brothers 9 46846-2
Storefront Hitchcock, 1998  (Vinyl LP)  Warner Brothers 9 47147-1
Storefront Hitchcock, 1998  (CD)  Warner Brothers 9 46846-2
Storefront Hitchcock, 1997  (Videotape)  MGM 1000666


Lyrics:

You have two coffees
One of them is one coffee too many for you
On a health kick
Trying to lead a middle-aged life
Well, it's either that or drop dead
Wait til you get older than this
And then turn around and tell me I was young for my age
Yeah

And it feels like nineteen seventy-four
Waiting for the waves to come and crash on the shore
But you're far in land
You're in funky denim wonderland
You and David Crosby and a bloke with no hand
You've got hair in places
Most people haven't got brains
Ooh

But it feels like nineteen seventy-four
Syd Barrett's last session, he can't sing anymore
He's gonna have to be roger now for the rest of his life
Oh

Enough about me, let's talk about you
You were working at the earth exchange at half twenty-two
Rebel, Rebel was your favorite song
On the Archway Road Where it all belongs
All those molecules of time
That you thought you'd shed forever
All those inches of time
That you thought you could just say bye-bye

And as Nixon left the Whitehouse
You could hear people say,
"They'll never rehabilitate that mother
No way."
Yep

Whirry-whirry goes the helicopter out of my way
I've got president to dump in the void
Ooh

Python's last series and The Gaurdian said,
"The stench of rotting minds"
But what else could you smell back then?
You didn't have to inhale too hard
You could smell the heads festering in the backyard
There's a baby in a basket and it's taken your name
And one day it'll grow up and say,
"Who are you,
Eh?"

And you say that's where it ended
But I say no no no, it just faded away
August was grey
It feels like nineteen seventy-four
Ghastly mellow saxophones all over the floor
Feels like nineteen seventy-four
You could vote for labour, but you can't anymore
Feels like nineteen seventy-four
Digging Led Zeppelin in Grimsby
Oh Christ



How To Play This Song:

PLAYING TECHNIQUE:

Play the E7 with the middle, ring and pinky fingers so that when
you switch to Em7 you can do it by lifting your pinky off the
B string and putting your index finger on the 3rd fret of that
string.

Where you see A(add D)-A or A-A(add D), you should alternate
between these two chords in the order specified, 2 beats per
chord. Sometimes one chord is first, sometimes the other. Do
it until the next indicated chord change.

There are a few places where you'll see A6, then A'. It's hard
to hear in the recording whether this is done consistently or
not (mostly because of the distortion on Tim's guitar). Do it
all the time, or none of the time or where marked, or where
you feel like it. I wouldn't be surprised if Robyn just does
what he feels like at the time.

If you're tough enough, you ought to play the Bm as a full
barre, but you can just leave out the 2 bottom strings if you
have to. I've shown the Bm voicing as a partial barre only.

Overall, the fuzz guitar makes some of the voicings indistinct
enough to be unimportant.

VOICINGS:

Em: 022000
Em': XX5450
Em7: XX5430
E7: 020100
G: 320003
Gx: XX000X
Gm: 244222
A: X02220
A': 002220
A": 007650
A6: xx7670
A7sus4: XX5230
Bm: XX3321 

intro

Em' Em7 Gx Dsus2 Dsus2(Gb) Gx A Gx
Em' Em7 Gx Dsus2 Dsus2(Gb) Gx A Gx

A        Dsus2 Em'
You have two   coffees

A6                            Dsus2    Em'
One of them is one coffee too many for you

     A6          A"
On a health kick

Dsus2            Em          A6
Trying to lead a middle-aged life

A"         G                      A
Well, it's... either that or drop dead

G                 Dsus2      A
Wait 'til you get older than this

         Em              Gm            E7
And then turn around and tell me I was young for my age

G
Yeah

                           A
And it feels like nineteen seventy-four

Em              Gm                A
Waiting for the waves to come and crash on the shore

                 E7     G
But you're far inland

                      A 
You're in funky denim wonderland

Em            Gm           A'
You and David Crosby and a bloke with no hand

G                  A'
You've got hair in places

Em          Gm          E7
Most people haven't got brains

G
Ooh

                           A'
But it feels like nineteen seventy-four

    Em             Gm          A'
Syd Barrett's last session, he can't sing anymore

     Dsus2            Em'      A6                   E7
He's gonna have to be Roger now for the rest of his life

G
Oh

 Dsus2       Em'       A6         A"
Enough about me, let's talk about you

         Dsus2          Em'               A6          A"
You were working at the Earth Exchange at half twenty-two

G                     A'
Rebel, Rebel was your favorite song

       Bm      G             A'            A(add D) - A'
On the Archway Road Where it all belongs

          G
All those molecules of time

                               A'         A(add D) - A'
That you thought you'd shed forever

          G
All those inches of time

                                   A' - A(add D)
That you thought you could just say bye-bye

       C(G)
And as Nixon left the White House

          Am
You could hear people say,

         C(G)      Em            A'
"They'll never rehabilitate that mother no way"

     Dsus2
Yep

       Em'             A6         A"
Whirry-whirry goes the helicopter out of my way

Dsus2      Em'          A6          E7
I've got a President to dump in the void

G
Ooh

Dsus2         Em'            A6
Python's last series and The Guardian said,

     Bm                G
"The stench of rotting minds"

                        G
But what else could you smell back then?

                     Em               G
You didn't have to inhale too hard

          Dsus2           Em'       A6         A"
You could smell the heads festering in the backyard

          Dsus2     Em'             A6         A"
There's a baby in a basket and it's taken your name

    Dsus2         Em'               A6
And one day it'll grow up and say,

A"
"Who are you,

G
Eh?"

        Bm
And you say that's where it ended

          G                 E            Gx
But I say no no no, it just faded away

G
August was grey

                       A'
It feels like nineteen seventy-four

Em             Gm             A
Ghastly mellow saxophones all over the floor

G                   A
Feels like nineteen seventy-four

Em                 Gm              A'
You could vote for labour, but you can't anymore

G                   A
Feels like nineteen seventy-four

Em          Gm          E7
Digging Led Zeppelin in Grimsby

   G
Oh Christ

TRANSCRIBED BY:
===============
Ross Overbury (with thanks to JH3)



Known to have been played live at 81 gigs:

Robyn Hitchcock:
12 Bar Club (London, England UK), 8/6/1996 The Gliders (Concert) solo
Robyn Hitchcock: Isle of Wight Bus Tour (Isle of Wight, England UK), 8/10/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: BBC (London, England UK), 8/14/1996 (Radio)
Robyn Hitchcock: 12 Bar Club (London, England UK), 8/27/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 12 Bar Club (London, England UK), 9/3/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 12 Bar Club (London, England UK), 9/17/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 12 Bar Club (London, England UK), 9/24/1996 with Morris Windsor & Tim Keegan (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Nachtleben (Frankfurt, Germany), 10/7/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Club Soda (Montreal, Canada), 10/24/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Concert Hall (Toronto, Canada), 10/27/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: [unknown venue] (Detroit, Michigan US), 10/29/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: WXRT (Chicago, Illinois US), 10/30/1996 (Radio)
Robyn Hitchcock: 1st Avenue (Minneapolis, Minnesota US), 11/1/1996 with Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Vogue Theater (Vancouver, Canada), 11/5/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Moore Theater (Seattle, Washington US), 11/6/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Warfield (San Francisco, California US), 11/8/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Coach House (San Juan Capistrano, California US), 11/9/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: El Rey Theatre (Los Angeles, California US), 11/10/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 9:30 Club (Washington, DC US), 11/13/1996 with Deni Bonet (Concert) "never rehabilitate that fucker"
Robyn Hitchcock: Keswick Theater (Glenside, Pennsylvania US), 11/14/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Beacon Theatre (New York, New York US), 11/15/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Avalon (Boston, Massachusetts US), 11/16/1996 Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Mountain Stage (Charleston, West Virginia US), 11/17/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: The Met Café (Providence, Rhode Island US), 12/5/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Maxwell's (Hoboken, New Jersey US), 12/6/1996 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Bluebird Café (Nashville, Tennessee US), 2/22/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 40 Watt Club (Athens, Georgia US), 2/24/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Point (Atlanta, Georgia US), 2/25/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Cat's Cradle (Carrboro, North Carolina US), 3/3/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 8 X 10 Club (Baltimore, Maryland US), 3/5/1997 w/ Dear Janes (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Milestones (Rochester, New York US), 3/7/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Park West (Clifton Park, New York US), 3/8/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Santa Fe (Tivoli, New York US), 3/18/1997 w/ Dear Janes (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Iron Horse (Northampton, Massachusetts US), 3/19/1997 w/ Dear Janes (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Raoul's (Portland, Maine US), 3/20/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: TT the Bear's (Cambridge, Massachusetts US), 3/21/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: House of Blues (Chicago, Illinois US), 5/21/1997 Tim Keegan (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Shank Hall (Milwaukee, Wisconsin US), 5/23/1997 Tim Keegan (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn at Sea (Isle of Wight, England UK), 8/16/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle, Washington US), 8/30/1997 with Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, & Barret Martin (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Jazz Cafe (Camden, England UK), 11/20/1997 with Tim Keegan and Ntshuks Bonga (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Mean Fiddler (London, England UK), 12/9/1997 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Largo (West Hollywood, California US), 1/10/1998 with Deni Bonet (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Bottom Line (New York, New York US), 6/12/1998 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: The Ram's Head (Annapolis, Maryland US), 6/13/1998 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Largo (West Hollywood, California US), 6/19/1998 with Jon Brion & Grant Lee Phillips (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Aladdin Theater (Portland, Oregon US), 6/25/1998 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Crocodile Cafe (Seattle, Washington US), 6/26/1998 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: GLR (London, England UK), 11/28/1998 (Radio)
Robyn Hitchcock: Largo (West Hollywood, California US), 8/26/1999 and the Café Largo Bunch (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Winchester Arts Centre (Winchester, England UK), 9/24/1999 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Ronnie Scott's (London, England UK), 9/26/1999 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Portland Arms (Cambridge, England UK), 9/27/1999 with Kimberley Rew, Terry Edwards (Concert) [1]
Robyn Hitchcock: The Zodiac (Oxford, England UK), 9/28/1999 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: G2 (Glasgow, Scotland UK), 9/30/1999 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA: Fletcher's (Baltimore, Maryland US), 10/27/1999 (Concert) solo acoustic
Robyn Hitchcock: The Attic (Edinburgh, Scotland), 8/26/2000 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: The CLUNY (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England UK), 11/22/2000 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland UK), 8/5/2001 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Highbury Garage (London, England UK), 1/25/2002 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Largo (West Hollywood, California US), 4/27/2002 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: The Horseshoe Tavern (Toronto, Canada), 7/24/2002 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Assembly Rooms - The Edinburgh Suite (Edinburgh, Scotland UK), 8/12/2002 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: 40 Watt Club (Athens, Georgia US), 10/9/2003 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Fletcher's (Baltimore, Maryland US), 10/28/2003 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Bottom Line (New York, New York US), 10/31/2003 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Aladdin Theatre (Portland, Oregon US), 11/12/2003 w/ Scott McCaughey (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Maxwell's (Hoboken, New Jersey US), 1/9/2004 Ira Kaplan (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Conway Hall (London, England UK), 5/15/2004 w/ Paul Noble (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Polish Club (Sheffield, England UK), 10/5/2004 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Cat's Cradle (Carrboro, North Carolina US), 11/1/2004 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota US), 11/3/2004 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Music Saves (Cleveland, Ohio US), 11/8/2004 (In-Store)
Robyn Hitchcock: Southpaw (Brooklyn, New York US), 11/13/2004 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Arts Center (Norwich, England UK), 12/9/2004 w/ Morris Windsor (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Largo (West Hollywood, California US), 3/10/2005 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Pour House Music Hall (Raleigh, North Carolina US), 3/21/2005 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: The Iron Horse (Northampton, Massachusetts US), 3/28/2005 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock: Schuba's (Chicago, Illinois US), 3/31/2005 (Concert) acoustic
Robyn Hitchcock: Duncan Hall (Lafayette, Illinois US), 4/3/2005 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock with Minus 5: Coach House (San Juan Capistrano, California US), 2/24/2006 (Concert) solo acoustic

From now on, sort gigs by:  Date  Performer  Type of Appearance 


If you have an addition or correction, please send an e-mail message about it to Bayard Catron.

If you ever see an error message or a bad link, please send an e-mail message about that to John Hedges.

Back to the Query Page
Back to Main Page