Earthling - First Transmission

Earthling - First Transmission


I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm rock
I'm roll
Nat King Cole
Shostakovich drowning in a fish bowl
Earthling something you can never get a hold of
Baby took a load off
And then she strolled off
Whistling
Hummin'
Thumbin' a ride
"Driver won't you take me to the other side?"
I'm a book
A poem
By Leonard Cohen
Son of the dice man
And I won't stop throwing
I'm Boris Karloff
The man they could not hang
I'm a roughneck romantic
Talkin' that slang
I'm Jesus Christ superstar
Driving around in an old yellow car
I'm jumping on the balcony
Landing on a bigger man
I can fly
I fly to Japan
Hail stones falling on my dreads
Reminding me of something Hendrix said
Tunes from the room
Come back on many levels
Sounds from the earthling swing and dishevel
I'm Pollyanna in the way that I portray
Poo poo
La la
I kiss you on a good day
Hey little beetle
Sliding in my bath
When you flip on your back
You really make me laugh
I used to kill worms when I was a kid
Like Mr. McLaren, someday I'll kill Sid
Crazy how my girl wants a simple life
She's a simple schizophrenic but we get along fine
I'm a young Parisian,
Maybe I'm mistaken
Maybe I'm Cuban
Maybe I'm Jamaican

I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am

I know who I am

I never say "never"
I always say "more"
I know the score
I know what to look for

I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am

Kickin' like a kung-fu Shakespeare
Another girl another planet
On the corner, just wasted
Oh gosh
Oh gosh
Oh Juliette Binoche
I'm on my way to Babylon, by bus
I'm a big bloke
When I smoke, I don't choke
"Hi Malachi" let's talk about hope
In the beginning
Head spinin' make me dizzy
I'm the mirror man
So don't ask who is it
London is my city
Jamaica's my country
Africa's my history
It ain't no mystery
How I came to be
Earthling-free
Sitting in Ilford watching TV
Where's Uhura
On an adventure
Did she touch your sexual centre?
Cursing
Never seen an earthling
Never seen a microphone
Microphone
Now i'm all alone
Lost in my head
On the road until tomorrow
I'm double demented
Like William Burroughs
P to the I to the M P
Pimp
Sako Urinocho reading Iceberg Slim
I'm Marcus Garvey
I'm Harvey Keitel
I'm the ghost of a dog chasing d Brickell
It's crazy perplexing
I'm hexing like a Haitian
I'm an Arowak Indian
Picking pockets like Fagan

I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am

I never say "never"
I always say "more"
I know the score
I know what to look for

I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am
I'm not who you think i am
I know who I am

I'm Michelangelo working on a totem pole
I'm Galileo studying Shinto
I'm the rest of the earth giving birth to a baby
Grasshopper, tell me about slavery
I'm in a sauna, watching television
Yeah, Tripitaka gave me permission
I'm that man in 1686
Saying black people come from Venus
Yeah
I saw her reading poetry
Practising verses
What's the meaning of 33 degrees in the morning?
It ain't easy man
It ain't easy.

~


It's 1995, and we are at the zenith (as well as the depth) of Trip hop (interestingly, a counter culture to the 'height of BritPop' - more on this to follow at a future date...), and a Bristol three piece band named "Earthling" release a virtually unknown, ground breaking/mind bending album entitled "Radar". This is the first track on the album, and indeed, its "First Transmission". Absolutely awesome!