OIL AND WATER
performed on:- GOLDFISH TOUR (1982)
- PLAYTIME TOUR (1983)
- INFORMATION TOUR (1987)
- CHILD junket (2004-05)
Anyone who was expecting an album that would haunt them like FUN GOLDFISH TOYS was surely put off by the seductive, slick guitar hook that kicks off this reggae-lite track. Nick Parker's vocals are even more of a shock -- upfront, soulful, and enunciated. There are even horns in the chorus, and they're in tune. For earlier fans, this was a copout; for those hearing the band for the first time, it was nothing but pleasure, and this song just missed the top ten when released as a single.
It was never much different in live performances, having been introduced as an intentionally straightforward number toward the end of the Goldfish tour. It was a favorite throughout the two gorounds to follow, but the last performance for nearly two decades was in 1987; it finally returned in 2005 in an overbearingly modern arrangement.
On the Information Tour, there was a new bridge which in 1988 was removed and became the band's biggest hit, "This is Not Here."
The video for this song has the band running around aimlessly on a beach, kind of like a lost scene from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT.
why do you have to tell me how to live?
there's no time for a change in my ways
but nothing is the same when I can't find you in my bed
the wind blows through me and the appliances don't work
but all we ever have is a war
all we ever do is scream
all I ever feel is misery
baby, it's like oil & water
oil & water
we're like oil & water
can't sleep at night because you took my sheets
you'll be back but the silence is so eerie
it lets the past come out and play
and I don't want to think about it
when you leave I am free
when you leave I am cold
when you leave I realize
oil & water
oil & water
oil & water
you don't know it but I love it when we talk
and I love it when we fight and you take my pride
I got regrets out the ass, and they're all about you
it's tough to admit that I'm scared
since yesterday I've aged ten years
I can't go on, but I'll go on
you did for methings you'll never know
and today is the beginning of a new phase
it's like oil & water