Bound

Lyrics

(1) 

And I guess you could just say it
And I guess you just c-c-c-couldn’t say it
You’re love-bound
Love-bound

You’re out of bounds
Like your mother in the rain
Past the boundaries again

And the operator man
Puts you on hold again
But you just will not say it
Too much chocolate dip
Your a half-foot candle
You’re on Seconal
Ah man, woman admit you're teletubbied again (2)

Love-bound

And you just couldn’t say it
And 
And you just can’t understand it

And your marshall in the rain 
Like a sheriff in the rain
Past the boundaries again (3)

And you just can’t understand it 
And you just can’t relate it

Love bound

And the marshall cries again
Like a sheriff in the rain
The TV lines are vain

Love bound

And you just can’t say it
And you just couldn’t just say it

Love bound
Love bound

I just can’t
I just couldn’t say it
And I just couldn’t say it
And the marshall cries again

And a man cries in pain
Love bound again
Broken
And I just couldn’t say it
And I just couldn’t say it
And I just couldn’t say it

Cos you’re love bound
You’re out of bounds
And you’re love bound

Notes

1. This was originally an instrumental number called "Love Bound" by a vanishingly obscure band called The Audio Arts; the song was reportedly featured on more than one compilation of Northern Soul. The Peel version bears the title "Bound Soul One."  

^

2. Seconal is a brand name for secobarbital sodium, a barbiturate-derived drug: in short, a downer. "Teletubbies" was a British TV show for toddlers. In 1999 American evangelist Jerry Fallwell claimed that Tinky Winky, one of the characters, was a homosexual role model for children. This didn't happen in time for it to explain the lyric; however, claims that Tinky was gay apparently date from 1997.  

^

3. A nod to the somewhat halfhearted theme of The Marshall Suite, the "crying marshall." All we really learn about him is that he cries, and that he leaves town to avoid a fashion exhibit.  

^

Comments (10)

dannyno
  • 1. dannyno | 23/10/2013
You currently have:

"Too much chocolate-dip
Your half-foot sandals
You’re
Ah man, woman admit you're teletubbied again"

But I hear:

"Too much chocolate dip
Your a half foot sandal
You're on Seconal
Ah man, woman admit you're teletubbied again"

Dan
bzfgt
  • 2. bzfgt | 24/10/2013
Yep.
dannyno
  • 3. dannyno | 18/01/2017
I think it's worth recording the various meanings of the word "bound". Some of these are in the lyrics - "bound" as in "perimeter" or territorial limit - hence "out of bounds". But also "bound" as in restricted or tied up. So someone who is "love bound" could be imprisoned or confined by love. So someone who is "love bound" might be said to be "out of bounds". And also there's "bound" as in "headed towards" or "journeying in the direction of". So you might read it that way too.
joincey
  • 4. joincey | 17/10/2019
Is it not possibly "half-foot CANDLE" ? 6" tall ?
bzfgt
  • 5. bzfgt (link) | 09/11/2019
Yeah I think it's "You're half a candle." Could we get a 3rd opinion?
dannyno
  • 6. dannyno | 21/01/2020
I've listened to the album version, various live versions (he doesn't always sing the line), and the Peel version.

The Peel version doesn't seem to have that bit of lyric.

But yes, I agree, it's "you're half a candle" or actually "you're a half a candle" (seems like he stumbles). I can hear it clearly on the album version and on the live version I've got which has the line (eg 1999-09014 Doornroosje, Nijmegen, Netherlands)

On 1999-09-18 Brussels, it sounds like "half a sandal".
bzfgt
  • 7. bzfgt (link) | 25/01/2020
OK consensus for now
O! ZZTRRK
  • 8. O! ZZTRRK | 02/01/2021
Re: note #2, what does Tinky-Winky's sexuality have to do with anything?

I'd have thought being 'teletubbied' just meant putting on weight. Too much chocolate dip. With maybe an additional connotation of spending too much time in front of the telly.
dannyno
  • 9. dannyno | 25/01/2023
Re: "Your a half-foot candle", if that's what it is.

A "foot candle" is a unit of light intensity (fc), in the United States mainly:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-candle

Apparently 0.5 fc would be equivalent to moonlight.
Russ
  • 10. Russ | 15/06/2023
Teletubbies are simple creatures of limited vocabulary - so I hear "you're teletubbied again" as simply being the upshot of being a barbiturate user, which is what's implied by the previous line

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