Shadow, you are purple
Springing from my hair, ooh
The people ran but sank in the ocean
Good times – well Kathy she was there
Schitzoid Joe dug a hole in the earth
Uncovered a fire, ooh
And burning, burning Red Indians
Thank your God they are all blue
Schitzoid Joe shatter the chandelier
Bury your money
See if you can make it through
Well I, I can see
By the way you don’t look me in the eye
Well I try, oh so hard
But I’m not blind
Just out of my mind
My clowns are all upon me and they’re
Fighting for my diamond, ooh
And Zeus, he’s lying in the clouds
I hope he doesn’t find you
Or he may have you for his dinner
Peter Pan grew up a long time ago
And now he’s an office clerk in the city
If you ask him about his childhood
He don’t even remember
Cos your torture drives him insane
Well if there were somewhere to hide
I think I’m too tired to go there anyway
I think I’ll stay and get bombed out of my mind
An inhumane blitz of the human kind
Well I dig your crazy uniform
And your multi-coloured unicorn, aha
And the petals falling from your eyes
Are the petals that tell otherwise, aha
So climb your fairy-tale mountain
And drink from the golden fountain
Where others turn to stone
The tears run down your tortured face
Don’t you know your inborn grace?
You’ve torn your crazy uniform
To take your 3D visions
Is to fake a few decisions, aha
And the whisper that destroys you
Leaves you with a bitter view, aha
The clones that lie within the wall
Are only puppets walking tall
Who stiffen as you burn
The tears run down your tortured face
Don’t you know your inborn grace?
You’ve torn your crazy uniform
So climb your fairy-tale mountain
And drink from the golden fountain
Where others turn to stone
You know that I resent
The lies I told and the money I spent
Drinking whiskey and snorting coke
And lying in the gutter til the piggy bank broke
You know I’m not one
To preach how it’s done
But I just wanna say
They’ll learn some day
They’ll learn some day
Freedom is the word they say
Oh getting through life day by day
I see no freedom for the poor
They’re just kicked away from every door
You know I’m not one
To preach how it’s done
But I just wanna say
They’ll learn some day
They’ll learn some day
I just wanna make you see
Oh what it is they did to me
They made me work from nine to five
Well that sure as hell ain’t being alive
You know I’m not one
To preach how it’s done
But I just wanna say
They’ll learn some day
They’ll learn some day
Just a man up against the grain
Just a man looking through a veil of pain
Eyes firmly upon the ground
So they made him lift his head and take a look around
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he wouldn’t have to try
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he’d never have to die
Just a man picking up the news
Just a man - who can he abuse?
The men are coming for him soon
Now he wants to call another tune
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he wouldn’t have to try
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he’d never have to die
Just a man up against the grain
Just a man looking through a veil of pain
Eyes firmly upon the ground
So they made him lift his head and take a look around
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he’d never have to try
And they made him look up into the sky
And they said if he did he’d never have to die
The frowning jester snatched the photo from my hand
And I hid behind my father because I didn’t understand
Once I held the secret but I didn’t care to look
So you copied the pages in the library from a book
Impressions of a daydream
Is it really what it seems
That you love me and then you turn to cry?
The little girl falls into the pool
And her mother looks in anguish while the father plays the fool
And you’re always saying ‘thank you’ when your idol is in town
But the remnants of your nightmares still try to drag you down
Impressions of a daydream
Is it really what it seems
That you love me and then you turn to cry?
Impressions of a daydream
Is it really what it seems
That you love me and then you turn to cry?
[Repeat to fade]
Our time is a train
It leaves smoke behind
And there’s no smoke without fire
You will find
So listen to the news
You create your own abuse
The world is an opportunity
That drowned in the sea
So fly to the moon
In a silver cocoon
And circle the sun
Your new life’s begun
Remember the whirling wind
And the summer, and the spring?
Now they are all gone
And we are not one
So fly to the moon
In a silver cocoon
And circle the sun
Your new life’s begun
When I look into the night
I see millions of stars in the sky
The moon smiled at me today
It’s never done that before
And I’m quite insane
And I feel so insecure
Please God help me when I say
The world’s a happier place today
The sheep are on the hill
But I can’t keep my nightmares away
Slip off your shiny shoes
Blow away your blues
Cos I’m quite insane
Haven’t you heard the news?
Mother nature died today
So blow away your blues
Please God help me when I say
The world’s a happier place today
My clowns are all upon me
And they’re fighting for my diamond, ooh
And Zeus, he’s lying in the clouds
I hope he doesn’t find you
Or he may have you for his dinner
Peter Pan grew up a long time ago
And now he’s an office clerk in the city
If you ask him about his childhood
He don’t even remember
Cos your torture drives him insane
Well if there were somewhere to hide
I think I’m too tired to go there anyway
I think I’ll stay and get bombed out of my mind
An inhumane blitz of the human kind
about
‘Schitzoid Joe’ was recorded in 1981 by teenage duo Steve (North) and Juice (Lucy Nabijou). They wrote all of the songs, with a concept based around Juice's original song ‘Schitzoid Joe’. This song includes elements of storytelling.
For example: "Peter Pan grew up a long time ago and now he's an office clerk, in the City. If you ask him about his childhood, he don't even remember..."
Schitzoid Joe is scattered with a late 70s mixture of Bowie, prog and psychedelic rock, folk and funk influences which (in retrospect) were desperately uncool and uncommercial at a point in music when Punk was heading into Post-Punk and New Romantic.
It's hard to hear any of the Punk/New Wave/Alt Rock/Indie influences which the both listened to at the time and would (within a year or so) inform their later bands/solo work and recordings. But, it is intriguing and somewhat charming to hear what many teens (even in London) were actually listening to and emulating at the time.
Engineered by Paul Anastasi at The Pitz studio in Crouch End, which was previously The Tourists' rehearsal space.
Produced by: Juice, Steve and Paul Anastasi
Lucy (Juice) Nabijou - vocals - in the 21st century she sang with the band StrangeStar.
Steve North - all guitars and bass - later of 80s Rough Trade goth-funksters Lethal Poor, thrash-country shockers If It Bleeds... , Desperate Fun and many solo projects.
Additional musicians (also teenage friends):
Pascal Consoli - drums - (later to play with - Boys Wonder, TOM JONES, BJORK, UNDERWORLD, D'INFLUENCE, SISTER SLEDGE)
Nick Bunker - keyboards - Fischer-Z/Fatima Mansions
Special guest star on this album was legendary jazz and blues saxophonist the late Dick Heckstall-Smith (1934--2004). He played with some of the most important English blues-rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His credits include: Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, The Graham Bond Organisation (with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker), John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (with Jon Hiseman and future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor), Colosseum and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green. On the day of the recording (a Sunday morning, I seem to remember!), Dick turned up and improvised his sax parts on all of the 'Schitzoid Joe' tracks over an hour, or so! I'm sure he was gently amused to be scattering his magic over a teenage concept album, but he never let on :) We are eternally grateful for his contribution...what a nice guy.
A couple of 2020 notes from Steve and Juice:
We REALLY do know that the word in its medical context is spelt ‘S-c-h-i-z-o-i-d’ and that it does NOT have a ‘t’! We can’t remember why the ‘t’ is there and we’re too fond of it to change it now. Maybe it has a totally different meaning? Or it was Joe’s nickname, given by others in his story, that just stuck?
From a 21st century perspective, we DO know that using ‘schizo’ or ‘schizophrenic’ is ableist when used as a substitute for ‘switching rapidly’ or ‘acting without regard for others’ or otherwise implying a person seems mentally ill simply because they are unpredictable or make someone uncomfortable. We don’t think that this usage was our intention, even back in the mists of 1981. We certainly don’t remember ever thinking that it meant that Joe had a split personality (which would also be an inappropriate use of the term). Did the Joe character really have schizophrenia or schizo-affective personality disorder? Was it an ableist label that fictional others put on him (hence the misspelling)? Who knows...
Although we probably both considered ourselves fairly educated about social justice issues back in 1981, we were both still teenagers and attitudes were very different. To modern ears (and to both of us in 2020) the lyric “burning Red Indians” sounds wildly inappropriate. We wouldn’t use that term now. We were picking linguistic symbols, words and phrases from the ether and this illustrates what was culturally acceptable, at the time.
In 2020, I’m [Steve] not particularly comfortable with our names being in the order that they are: Steve and Juice. It’s just always been what we were called... but it has allowed me to reflect on why the choice of name order might have happened in 1981. Were we just following sexist conventions of the times, or did it just sound better? Honestly, we can no longer remember. The name order certainly has no significance in terms of our contributions to our joint work (!).
credits
released August 1, 1981
Words: Lucy (Juice) Nabijou and Steve North
Music: Lucy (Juice) Nabijou and Steve North
Arranged by: Lucy (Juice) Nabijou and Steve North
Sound Engineer: Paul Anastasi at The Pitz studio in Crouch End, London
Production: Steve North, Lucy (Juice) Nabijou and Paul Anastasi
Lucy (Juice) Nabijou: vocals
Steve North: guitars and basses
Nick Bunker: keyboards and bass (on ‘Catch 22’)
Pascal Consoli: drums
Dick Heckstall-Smith: saxophones
Synth ambience and melody: Paul Anastasi (on ‘The World’s a Happier Place Today’)
Cover design: Steve North
Cover art: from an early 1980s' painting by Lucy Nabijou
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This special vinyl release features remastered songs from the Sydney indie folk outfit and includes a few songs from an earlier album. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 23, 2020