Thermalandaquarter.com - Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ)

Released independently in 2000, Thermalandaquarter.com took a jab at Bangalore’s unhealthy obsession with information technology. Everyone was making a career in Y2K and everything had to be dot-commed to be cool (a barbershop in a city ghetto was called Haircut.com). The songs warned of changes in the erstwhile pensioners paradise, fumed at peak-hour traffic snarls in a city where commuting used to be a breeze, and smirked at simple folks confused by big consumer brands that had landed like aliens in their backyards. Some songs took digs at corrupt politicians and commented on the growth pangs of the city that we loved as it coped with the tumultous changes of the new millennium. These sentiments were about Bangalore but they found resonance with audiences all over the world.

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Songs

01 - Sunset Man

I’ve got a broken white line in my pocket
A humble offering to the gods of the road
They look down on every turn, on every man
Who’s on his way to far away

I’ve a punctuation mark in the middle of my life
Won’t you tell me if it’s a question
Of going on or dying where I am

So show me
I’m wandering without moving
Girl don’t you ever turn your back on me
That little bit of your anatomy
Dare I even say mediocrity
Don’t throw it darling, it’s nearly time for tea
Hold me
Love me

* I’m a sunset man, I walk away
You are another horizon
I’d like to stay, but I must be going,
Love me for today
I can’t even say I’m sorry
I’m not true, but I try not to lie
So, goodbye…

The road is a ribbon of promises
Thrown like dice, yes like dice
From a trembling hand
Up and down, round and round
I took a turn, and now I’m at the end of the way

Oh, I don’t deny it’s been lonely
And I’ve nothing left to give
I can’t look back, no
It’s another road anyway…

So show me
I’m wandering without moving
Girl don’t you ever turn your back on me
That little bit of your anatomy
Dare I even say mediocrity
Don’t throw it darling, it’s nearly time for tea,
Hold me
Love me

*
02 - One of those Days

Woke up morning, felt like a lemon
Squeezed on somebody’s gin
Burnt my toast, burnt my coffee
And the doctor wasn’t in
The Monday morning blues is ok
If you happen to B B King
Wish I had a Lucille
Who would do more than just sing
You and I we could make music
If you didn’t think I was a fruitcake
I haven’t lost my marbles yet
Will somebody give me a break

The day is just beginning
And the traffic isn’t thin
I fight my way, all the way
To the wrong side of the town
All this madness, violence
To try to make ends meet

One of those days…

Working man, didn’t make the grade
The top man said I was fired
For once in my life I tried to spit in his eye
But I missed – misfired
Walked out my tail you know where
And anger in my heart
Walked into the nearest lamppost
Stop this whining, time for me to start

Another day goes by
To drink with his friends
At the evening bar
Laughs at me, whispers about tomorrow…

One of those days…
03 - King Simple

He’s smiling now, dreaming
A practical man, his eyes are here
But that’s not where they’re looking

He’s heard the whisper of tomorrow
Future secrets in the wind
Never knowing, he will follow
No matter what they bring

Her eyes, they look at him all day
From many splendoured things
And anything you do or say
Is everything he sings

And if it rains on his parade
Stepping on the cats and poodles
He will sing the rain-god’s chorus
Until the clouds should fade

* Like a tall man on a hill
He’s trying
To look into another day
The sunset holds its secrets
But still he’s flying…

He’s the king, the royal man
In happy anarchy
His kingdom built around her smile
A simple man is he

He’s talking now, to people
His words are not so very clear
Misty syllables, not crippled -
That’s only when she’s near

He’s heard the whisper of tomorrow
Future secrets in the wind
Never knowing, he will follow
No matter what they bring

He’s walking now, to somewhere
Of all that he surveys
A minor monarch singing
A major key ballet

And if it rains on his parade
Stepping on the cats and poodles
He will sing the rain-god’s chorus
Until the clouds should fade

*
04 - Somebody's Fool

Saw a wise man
He was pushing his bicycle
Told me he ran out of gas
Saw a poor man
With his rich uncle
Whatever he’s eating – its not grass
Saw a tall man
He was running me down
Said he wanted my money
Saw a little man, he was looking down
You know who found the penny

*Why would you want a Gucci
When you’re pocket’s rather sketchy
Why would you want a counting house
When you haven’t the bread and honey
Why would you want a staircase going nowhere, just for show

I’m so tired of wanting more
I’m so tired of being sore
I’ve fallen of my royal stool
It’s easy when you can
I’ll never be somebody’s fool
I’m a self made man

Saw a big man
He was looking small
Hiding his face in his hands
Wanted more than he could get
Flushed him down the toilet
Saw a woman
She was shining bright
Her diamonds died in her eyes
Her hands were old her face was young
I hear the old reprise

*

The best things in life are free, they say
When you buy one, one is given away
Why do we sell our lives this way
Sometimes you even pay to pray
Tomorrow is such a busy day
Is it too early to say…
05 - Potatoe Junkie

Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on, turn it on, mass communication junkie
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on, turn it on, mass communication junkie
All you need is your backside
Get your kicks for free
On cable T
Veto is your right you can
But your life hangs by the anchorman

Do you ever look at the world outside you
Your soap-opera visions and Phil Donahue
The game-show man and the Hollywood hero
I wonder if that’s all you know…

Stop, don’t look, don’t listen
Do you want to be
A p-o-t-a-t-o-e
Stop, don’t look, don’t listen
Do you want to be
A p-o-t-a-t-o-e
Watch the late o’clock news if you must
There’s no better cure
Just stop, don’t look, don’t listen

Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, Babe-watch is getting to moi
All that surfing is not much good
All you get is Oprah
And even if you go desi
There’s not that much fun on DD

Do you ever look at the world outside you
Your soap-opera visions and Phil Donahue
The game-show man and the Hollywood hero
I wonder if that’s all you know…

Stop, don’t look, don’t listen
Do you want to be
A p-o-t-a-t-o-e
Stop, don’t look, don’t listen
Do you want to be
A p-o-t-a-t-o-e
Watch the late o’clock news if you must
There’s no better cure

Invisibility is yours, you can get no better than a camera
You’ve been trying all your life, but you can get no better than a camera…
06 - A Little Latino

Wishes, horses, beggars, losers
They run around in everybody’s mind
Like little latino dancers
If only we could rewind…

I see the hope in your eyes
The money in your hands
But what’s coming in disguise
Is everything but planned

* You can say it was meant to be
It’s really not that easy
Hang on, hang on to the fantasy
It’s a question of your sanity…

You want the moon on a Saturday
It was but a small step for man
Your giant leap into your holiday
You’re packed, yes you’re packed like fish
In a can

Love is like a pizza pie,
You always want the extra cheese
Sometimes you reach for the sky
And then you’re crawling on your knees

* You can say it was meant to be
It’s really not that easy
Hang on, hang on to the fantasy
It’s a question of your sanity…

Shake the dice, take your chances
Destiny’s a wicked mistress
Are you a puppet on a chain
Or a lonely man on a runaway train…

*
07 - That Day This Morning

An Indian summer long ago
I saw your eyes today
We spoke of all your tomorrows
And all my yesterdays

The rain kissed your winter eyes
The moon was in your hair
The river sang his lonely song
To the midnight air

I thanked the lord for womankind
Another fool, very very blind
A thousand ships, a thousand years
Will not wash away the tears

Once upon a time, that day, this morning…

People say forget the past
But everybody, everybody’s got one
Don’t talk about it anyway
But nothing’s ever forgotten

Yeah, we grow and we learn
Watch your fingers burn
When you break down and cry
Scream like the butterfly

Once upon a time, that day, this morning…
08 - Humpty Dumpty

I can see your greedy eyes…

You could be the president, I really don’t care
If all you ever want to do is never share
Smash, grab, make a stash, greedy-guts man
You’re climbing up the ladder, quick while you can
See the little fellow with hunger in his eyes
All his life he’s never never had a pleasant surprise
Running down the road after yellow butterflies
His arms open wide to the jigsaw skies

You could have a kingdom with the little that you have
But you drink the wine of wealth too deep
Line your plastic pockets with somebody else’s blood
Watch out little man, you could get a knife in your heart in your sleep

I can see your greedy eyes
Behind your silly Ray-Bans
Don’t take too much of what is mine
I don’t play the fool all the time
There’s many ways to skin a cat
A wise man was heard to say
Humpty Dumpty will fall down
Tomorrow if not today

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Will walk by your grave and pray
That they would never be the fools they were
To put you together again
So move while you can, you fatted fool
Or get some spiritual healing
Throw a million bucks on a saffron saint
But can he stop you stealing…

You could have a kingdom with the little that you have
But you drink the wine of wealth too deep
Line your plastic pockets with somebody else’s blood
Watch out little man, you could get a knife in your heart in your sleep

I can see your greedy eyes
Behind your silly Ray-Bans
Don’t take too much of what is mine
I don’t play the fool all the time
There’s many ways to skin a cat
A wise man was heard to say
Humpty Dumpty will fall down
Tomorrow if not today
09 - (Bonus) Sheep

Shades of gray
Are everywhere
Black is a bad, bad word
I don’t know if white is an honest man

Talk to me
In circles circles
Don’t look me squarely
In my believing eye
Sell it to you
You poor, poor man
Your head is spinning
The advertising lie

* I’m not speaking us and them
‘Cause you are me and I am him
We are sheep, we’re getting thin
Pull the wool over our eyes…

Watch the tube
It’s wonderland
Glorious escape, oh yeah,
Until you turn away
Kneel and pray on a holiday
Whisper secret words
Can he hear you now
Sell it to you
You poor, poor man
Your head is spinning
The advertising lie

*