where is brian?
"i have no idea"
did you ring him? "
twice now but no joy"
it's nine and we're meant to be on at ten
i'd spent most of the day tinfoiling the gweedore stage
pinning the band's 8-bit logo behind your kit
and sellotaping the seams
he was here for soundcheck
but now no sign
grand form as far as i could make out
tensions had been high as was normal for an ep night
where the guest list dwarfed the number of skulls that might pay in
terry had us on a fixed fee and wasn't happy about having to ring jim
to dj at the last minute
it was three days later
when we found out in the pump street practice room
you'd gone home to make something to eat
but electrocuted yourself on the cooker
because you'd wired it straight into the grid
to bypass the meter
you were a hard hitter
ah-ah
you were a zero-fucks giver
fugazi, genesis, mozart and bach
joke teller of the highest order
no one had a bigger or louder laugh
like that one time after the show in dublin
where we ended up in bray
at andy cairns' mansion
and you slid down his manicured lawn
on an oven tray
we fell in a tequila-fuelled heap
while he played us the demos for 'the holy bible'
or at the hot press awards
amped on free heineken
you asked bono for a tenner
and despite the mortification
i was secretly proud
at least it wasn't as bad as m
asking phil selway
how he got that 'high and dry' sound
that was the night
that t got a taxi home from belfast to derry
but left his keys at the bar
i made you an a3 cardboard painting of the 'glider ep'
in purple and gold metallic
and you hung it above your electrolux heater
my first exhibition
you made homemade speed in celebration in the bathtub
cooked to l's recipe
that still didn't make ends meet
so sometimes you would take the long way round west side stores
just to get something to eat
you were a hard hitter
ah-ah
you were a zero fucks giver
librarian, libertarian, peace maker
librarian, libertarian, peace maker
librarian, libertarian, peace maker
librarian libertarian hard hitter
hard hitter
hard hitter
the producer thought that we were insane
when you summoned us to hazelbank
for a reading of the new rules of engagement
jamie thought about climbing out the bathroom window
because he was shit scared of what would happen next
the lamb lay down on christmas eve
we stood by your coffin
while una played the ink spots
and i remembered nailing carpet to the walls
that you'd found in a nearby skip
and the time liam gallagher's handlers put you in a bin
outside the dublin castle
because you were getting tasty
you were a hard hitter
ah-ah you were a zero fucks giver
ah-ah you were a hard hitter
ah-ah you were a zero fucks giver
