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A Thousand Trees This song was a story Kelly heard about a man from his village who had been accused of sexually assaulting a girl. The rumour split the village in two, some people believed he was innocent, others didn't. The chorus "It only takes one tree, to make a thousand matches. Only takes one match, to burn a thousand trees." is about reputations. It takes so long to build one up, and only seconds to destroy it.
Looks Like Chaplin The village Kelly lived in, Cwmaman got flooded one time, people were trying to save there posessions, but one man who resembled Charlie Chaplin (hence the title) was walking down the street, deeper and deeper into the water. People were calling his name but he just kept walking, untill one of the locals ran and pulled him out, took him in and dried him off. The song tells this story
Last of the bigtime Drinkers There is a rumour that this song was written about Richard Branson (founder of V2, Stereophonics record label) but im not sure how true that is. The songs about getting home after a long day at the factory and just spending that night at the pub as your reward GOLDFISH BOWL This is about small town life. The village the band grew uo in, Cwmaman, was very small and so everything you did soon became pblic knowledge. Everyone was watching everyone else, very much like being in a goldfish bowl TOO MANY SANDWICHES Written about those "sht engagement party's" you go to, where there trying too hard "you bought a sequin dress for your chicken breast the disco's late and he's overpaid tonight". Theres too many sandwiches, and relatives you havn't seen for years. BILLY DAVEY'S DAUGHTER* Yet anouther song based on a rumour from the boy's home town. Local man Billy Davey's daughter threw herself from a bridge. No one really knew whether she was pushed or whether she jumped. Performance and Cocktails Song Meanings... Roll Up and Shine... "This is based on a night in a New York club called Shine where we played. The manager gave us a booth. Then this guy called Dominique came on stage talking about people's fears, the openness of sex and religion, and the final act was meant to be a woman who comes on with a pig's head and pisses all over herself, but it was cancelled. We were all going, "What the fucking hell is going on!" At the end of the night, this guy gave us his business card and it said "Shine - Performance and Cocktails". People might take the song literally - us on the road drinking - but there's more to it than that" The Bartender and the Thief... "We were waiting for a plane in New Zealand and all these sailors were walking in and out of the bar. Everyone was acting really weird and these were lesbians at the bar. I thought the bartender must see so many different things as people change character, from Jekyll to Hyde, sober to drunk. So I wrote this completely tongue-in-cheek story about the bartender and the thief who is robbing everybody. I found this melody for the chorus on a dictaphone tape. I'd been putting ideas on tape for two years and had never played them back before, until then!" Hurry Up and Wait... "This is a train-of-thought song. It's based on all sorts of things: waiting for a traffic light to turn green, a kettle to boil, losing your virginity, getting married, having children. Everybody has an expectation about what the perfect life is: the big house, winning the lottery. You always wait for something better to come along because you're never satisfied with what you've got. Sometimes you wonder whether this is all it's going to be. The title comes from a phase my brother used to say on the tour bus." Pick a Part That's New... "This came from a trip to America with Richard, when Stuart had glandular fever. It's about going to America for the first time and not being remotely shocked. I thought I was going to be really impressed but I'd already seen it all on the television. Even the Empire State Building didn't feel that big. I had to find some part I hadn't seen before when all I saw were rows of people drinking alone." Just Looking... "It's about different expectations between men and women. I always wonder what people perceive as being the perfect women: is it a supermodel, somebody with a sense of humour, or both? I think men are more pathetic. Women grow up a lot quicker because men always wait for something better to come along. It's the most personal thing I've written. Again, it was written on the road, in a hotel room in Amsterdam. If you're not drinking, there's nothing else to do but think. It's good sometimes, but other times it drives you fucking nuts." Half the Lies you Tell ain't True... "It's based on the media trying to find something that's not there. It was inspired by the treatment of Michael Hutchence, Princess Di and Ron Davies. George Michael is another example - how can you follow someone around just beacause they has a wank in a toilet? Also, when we wentthrought Hollywood, people would point out things, like, "Oh, that's where Hugh Grant got caught with a prostitute." You think, "Fucking hell, this all a movie set." The title is another one from my brother." I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio... " I dreamt this song. That's never happened to me before! I bought this old Gibson 1968 SG in Cardiff and I went to bed, having just watched the "I am the Walrus" video and there's a guitar like mine in it. I was in bed at my parents' house before I moved out with my missus and the song was going around my head at 4am. Normally, I wake up and think, "Ah, it's just a pile of shit", but I'd recorded this one just in case. I even wrote in my notebook: "B-side, big brass section, jokey, take the piss cabaret song". I wanted Stuart to sing it, but it ended up a bit high, so he couldn't." T-Shirt Suntan... "We played this at Earl's Court with The Who (in 1996). It was originally called "The Pool". I based it on a story I heard about a man who is obsessed with this singer. He goes into the record company demanding to see her and, because they won't let him in, he ends up shooting the receptionist. I tried to make him sound really child like, he just wants to show off his T-shirt suntan. It took me back to when I was a kid playing at the pool opposite my house. All the kids liked to show off their little white bodies with brown arms. It's a good image." Is Yesterday, Tommorrow, Today? "When we went to Hamburg we saw all these prostitutes in the windows. The easy way of looking at it was five boys walking down the street, getting drunk and having a laugh. But I decided to turn it around and write what she was thinking: what does she dream for? I was down the club in Cwmaman and this little kid came up to this guy I was talking to and said, "Is yesterday tomorrow today?" It means that everyday is the same, even in all these different places." A Minute Longer... "This was the first one I wrote in my new house, before we went on tour last January. It's about if there's a shit time happening, you stay with your memories a bit longer, rather than coming back to reality. If something is a pain in the arse, you think back to something better." She Takes Her Clothes Off... "This used to be a really nasty punk song! I sounded like a chipmunk because it was in a really high key, so we decided on an acoustic version instead, it's quite mellow and melancholy. The character is a women who was once really good-looking and the men used to give her all the attention. Then, when she gets older, she puts on weight, so the only way that she can get attention is by stripping off in the bar and acting the goat. It's based on someone I knew in Cwmaman, who was always rumoured to be a prostitute." Plastic California... "In LA, I soon realised that no one is a waitress - they're all actors and actresses. We went to a graveyard tour where a hearse takes you to all these dead fim stars' houses. We just thought, "What a fucked up town!" Then again we must be pretty fucked up to get in the back of a hearse with this guy burning joss-sticks in the front! The lyrical voice can't make up his mind whether he likes this place or not, so in the end he just says, "Well pleased to meet you anyway.." I Stopped to Fill My Car Up... "My girlfriend works in a hairdresser's and this woman wanted to give us a piano, so we swapped it for a stereophonics T-shirt. The only song I could play was "Imagine", but I had thes chords, so one night I came in from the pictures and wrote this song really quickly. It's about leading the listener on and it comes from a story that a bloke told me. He said that one night he stopped to get some petrol and someone just climbed in the back of the car. We didn't want any guitars on it. It's the perfect song to finish the album with" Melody Maker Feb 20th 1999
Local Boy In The Photograph


I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking. I took it when he wasn't looking.