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Best Of Friends

by Friends

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1.
Day By Night 04:23
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Last thing here that I remember Wrapped inside a heat haze Is asking you to give me something To get me through the days Lost in some unending desert Staring at the blue sky You showed me something more than dreams And opened up my eyes I took a long time learning And now I know This world I found within me I’m never going to let it go Gave up waiting for the future Long before the time came Never felt this joy in living Since before the rain It’s been a long time coming And now it’s here I’ve spent a lifetime waiting And couldn’t wait another year Or even just another day Or even just another day I reached the light Through the shade and Day by night I can see so far And every moment where you are Although the journey’s been so hard I’ve found a place to be at last I found a world within me Made it come alive here And every day decide Don’t let it disappear I reached the heights From so deep and Day by night I can feel so free I reached the place I’ve been searching Night by day I can see so clear And whether far away or near I see the future without fear I want to stay now that I’m here Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
2.
That's The One 03:49
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Believe me, I’m happier than I have been for a while And even if I very rarely smile Appearances can lie Remember the many ways you thought I was alright Forget about the things you didn’t like You never know, you might Sorry but I won’t apologise Here’s the rain and here’s the sun Catch the day and that’s the one Birds can fly and cats can run Clear blue sky, yeah that’s the one I’m sorry, I know I haven’t written for an age I haven’t had an awful lot to say I’ll be in touch one day “Here I am in 1993 This is what I feel and what I see” Here’s the rain and here’s the sun Catch the day and that’s the one Birds can fly and cats can run Clear blue sky, yeah that’s the one Here’s the rain and here’s the sun Catch the day and that’s the one Birds can fly and cats can run All-time high, yeah that’s the one Where I’ll go and where I’ve gone Come with me, yeah that’s the one What I’ll do and what I’ve done Here’s a dream, yeah that’s the one Hang around and here’s a song Hit that drum, yeah that’s the one Can’t wear that, I’m much too young One more time, and that’s the one Someone’s friend and someone’s son Just one life yeah that’s the one Love will go and love will come Where’s my kiss? Yeah that’s the one Where’s my kiss? Yeah that’s the one Where’s my kiss? Yeah that’s the one That’s the one That’s the one Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
3.
Were We Really There? 03:58
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There’s a place I used to know I’m always drawn back there Moments from a secret past That I can never share These are dreams I’ll always dream And these are days that never come again So were we really there Or was it just a dream? Memories so clear Or only fantasy? I don’t know any more Couldn’t tell what is true Feel the endless years of childhood Say their long goodbye Watch the last few days of summer Burn across the sky Who knows what the future holds And who can see a clear way ahead? This paradise or real life instead Were we really there Or was it just a dream? Memories so clear Or only fantasy? I don’t know any more Couldn’t tell what is true Drifting away into the deep ocean Slipping away into the dim distance now Time seemed so much slower then It goes so fast today But coming back it’s just as though I’d never been away Souvenirs of far away And photographs of weddings long ago I never cared but now I want to know Were we really there Or was it just a dream? Memories so clear Or only fantasy? Were we really there Or was it just a dream? Memories so clear Or only fantasy? I don’t know any more Couldn’t tell what is true What is true What is true Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
4.
Lies Lies Lies 03:14
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If I hadn’t seen my family disappear When you’re at the door If I hadn’t heard your every good idea At least once before I would argue the case for you now If I didn’t know that every thousand pounds Was really a ton If I didn’t hear you putting your best friends down You’d still be the one That I’d say was profound And I’d still be around to impress Please don’t phone When you’re sitting all alone in an old folks’ home I’m not in And there’s no way I’ll begin when I just can’t win with you If it hadn’t been for all of your endless talk With zero to say After twenty years of watching the way you work I’ll call it a day ‘Cause you’re pure fantasy And it’s easy to see through the hype Don’t come round ‘Cause the kids are going to drown out the doorbell sound Keep away ‘Cause there’s no-one here today to come out to play with you If it wasn’t for a mutual friend who said You’d told them the same I would even be inclined to believe you meant The best in your way I would wait to have heard your excuse If you didn’t have to make an impression on them Then why all the fuss? ‘Cause it never really mattered to anyone And least of all us But it’s too bloody late And I won’t hesitate to cut you off Leave me out There was never any doubt of what you’re all about Just steer clear My pathological fear of you being so near Lies lies lies Did you ever see the size of my big brown eyes? Why why why Did I never ever cry when I said goodbye to you? Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
5.
Over And Over 03:55
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Could I dream of any more than I never knew what I could miss Until I saw you smiling Until I heard you laughing Never understanding why I never understand Never ever ending till I’m back where I began I thought I could never feel the same I thought you never knew my name Until I heard you say it Until I heard you shout it Never understanding why I never understand Never ever ending till I’m back where I began I could never have believed my ears But never in a thousand years I thought you’d never notice I thought you must be joking I thought I must be dreaming Could I dream of any more than this I never knew what I could miss It always leaves me wanting It only leaves me nothing Never understanding why I never understand Never ever ending till I’m back where I began My life is living twice as fast As if it couldn’t ever last Another thirty minutes As if it ever mattered As if I ever meant it Never understanding why I never understand Never ever ending till I’m back where I began Never understanding why I never understand Over and over and over again Never ever ending till I’m back where I began Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
6.
Let's Get Away From It All 03:00
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A summer day The city heat is killing me I couldn’t stay Another moment here but We could be a thousand miles away, anywhere We could leave a thousand times a day, everywhere Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all I couldn’t say As if it ever mattered how But every day I see you all around me Now I think of nothing at all, except you Now I dream of no-one else at all, only you Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Another year As if it’s just another day However near You’re always far too far but Stay with me and never let me go, for ever Worlds away from all I ever know, together Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Let’s get away from it all Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
7.
Hey Jo 03:08
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Hey Jo, you’re a real find Hey Jo, good friend of mine Hey Jo, you’d be a big catch for some lucky so-and-so Hey Jo, you’re the best thing Hey Jo, I love it when we singHey Jo, I know that sometime soon you’ll make someone’s day Hey Jo, you’re a magic charm Hey Jo, you’re a bright star Hey Jo, the world’s a better place with you around And when you’re feeling down and out again Will you remember what I said? Will you believe that it will end? Just try and keep in touch till then Let it come to you Hey Jo, the way it’s bound to do Hey Jo, don’t give yourself away so easily Hey Jo, you know they love you here Hey Jo, don’t ever disappear Hey Jo, the world and his son don’t know what they’re missing And Jo, in your heart of hearts you know There’ll be a place where you can go ‘Cause all your friends have told you so Just stick around and take it slow Hey Jo, you’re just so much fun Hey Jo, we are the lucky ones Hey Jo, don’t ever give up hope Of finding someone like you Hey Jo, you know you make me smile Hey Jo, let’s hang around a while Hey Jo, you can’t imagine how You make a difference to my life Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
8.
Many Places 05:22
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There where I belong Far away, long ago One long lost home Secret past, I don’t know Far beyond the hills Far across the water Through the deepest fields Far beyond the roads that brought me here Up in the clouds Spinning round, upside down Shouting out aloud Echoes sound, all around Where the journey ends There the journey started Every day I spend Leads me ways so long departed Fading away, never stay Where my heart is longing Time floating by, only find Distant years returning I’ve climbed the hills and I’ve seen the valleys I’ll live in many places And die where I was born Where the skies are clear Where the bells are ringing Where the sea is near Where the trees and birds are singing Fading away, never stay Where my heart is longing Time floating by, only find Distant years returning I’ve climbed the hills and I’ve seen the valleys I’ll live in many places And die where I was born There where I belong Far away, long ago One long lost home Secret past, I don’t know And in my end Is my beginning Years that I spend Never start and never finish Fading away, never stay Where my heart is longing Time floating by, only find Distant years returning I’ve climbed the hills and I’ve seen the valleys I’ll live in many places And die where I was born Fading away, never stay Where my heart is longing Time floating by, only find Distant years returning I’ve climbed the hills and I’ve seen the valleys I’ll live in many places And die where I was born Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
9.
The First Day Of Spring 02:37
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Bye bye bitter winter here’s the sun Welcome back at last that day has come Another year of joy just begun Darkness dying hard before the dawn Brightest light the trees and fields reborn The orchard’s green at last The blossom falling softly to the grass Every day now, coming awake now Every day now, living again Every day now, back into life now Every day now, bringing it round again Waking naked underneath the sky Frozen earth is aching with desire It’s heaven to be there The rain just hanging gently in the air The village bell still ringing everywhere Every day now, coming awake now Every day now, living again Every day now, back into life now Every day now, bringing it round again Every day now, coming awake now Every day now, living again Every day now, back into life now Every day now, bringing it round again Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
10.
That Faraway Look 03:07
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Can you see a cloud in the sky? Can you feel the rain in the green trees? Slowly realising that I could be anywhere And I’d rather be here Searching for a time and a place Learning how to speak without dead words Turn around to look in your face and suddenly see That I’m here on my own Only alone You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again It’s never really telling me anything You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again And are you going to let me know what you’ve seen? Silently delirious then Quietly oblivious now Are we getting close to the time when anything real Starts slipping away? You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again You seem to be a million miles away You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again And hardly even hearing a word I say We’ll walk along the waterway Until we see the sea And don’t look at the time again Until it’s time to tell me truly You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again The future in my picture will never come You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again The time we have together is nearly gone You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again I’m living for the memories in between You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again And now I’m getting frightened of what I’ve seen Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
11.
Everyone Knows 03:23
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I’m trying my hardest to get through I’m trying to find a way to you Don’t hide away your feelings Just give yourself completely And be free Some people you know won’t understand I’m putting my whole life in your hands Just wrap yourself around me Let your arms surround me And be still Everyone knows There’s no way of hiding it Everyone knows There’s no sense denying it Everyone knows There’s no point in going back now Though nothing is secret any more Here’s everything I’ve been searching for Believe me and be honest I will and that’s a promise Say I do Everyone knows There’s no way of hiding it Everyone knows There’s no sense denying it Everyone knows There’s no point in going back now I could have been stranded but for you I would have been lost without you Everyone knows There’s no way of hiding it Everyone knows There’s no sense denying it Everyone knows There’s no point in going back now Everyone knows There’s no way of hiding it Everyone knows There’s no sense denying it Everyone knows There’s no point in going back now Everyone knows There’s no way of hiding it Everyone knows There’s no sense denying it Everyone knows There’s no point in going back now Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
12.
Far And Away 03:44
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Far far and away the best days Of our life we still recall Nothing to say anyway All we used to do was Fall in the waterfall Float away and never care at all Time time and again we would end This affair that we’d begun Only intend to be friends All we used to do was Run where the rivers run Hide on the mountainside Burn in the summer sun Ride on the ebbing tide all right Say what I should be saying Feel what I could be feeling Stay where I should be staying Here when I could be far away Up up and away, never stay In a life of childhood games Never betray yesterday In another world I’m Saving myself for you Though I see you everywhere However old it’s always new However long I’ll still be there oh yeah Years after the years we were here We return each summertime Shedding our fears and our tears Fall like cherry blossom We’ve come far from where we started Seems like only yesterday Feels as though we’d never parted Only waiting till you say okay Say what I should be saying Feel what I could be feeling Stay where I should be staying Here when I could be far away Say what I should be saying Feel what I could be feeling Stay where I should be staying Here when I could be far away and away and away and away … Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
13.
Butterfly Man 02:56
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The child puts the fallen leaves into a secret book Names everything he sees with just a loving look The evenings he is dreaming of the seasons When the colours come again The man spends his summer days collecting butterflies He dreams letting each away just in the breath before it dies Frozen in a moment when it’s going Down in circles in the jar Flattened in a pattern like a map of Veins and colours where they are All the world’s own creatures suddenly mine All the world’s best secrets finally mine Pass every summer lost in wonder Years playing in a secret garden here All the world’s own creatures suddenly mine All the world’s best secrets finally mine One by one the years invisibly by One by one the golden butterflies die Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
14.
Thinking Of You 04:40
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I never understand the years of silence The hurt that all this bitterness can do The feelings I could never kill by hiding It took so long to find a way to you However many times the path was open I only heard the sound of closing doors A word so often thought but never spoken I meant it then but now I mean it more Through all the years it’s you I waited for Dreaming that it’s better here without you When all the time I wonder where you are Here where the sun can never shine Here where the daylight never finds In the street light’s gloom In a cold barren room Every time I raise my head I’m thinking of you I’ll never say this solitude was worth it Till we can be together without pain And now I know what took me so long learning Whatever happens happens anyway There’s nothing left to think about or say Hard enough to lose what we had longed for And harder still to lie here and forget Here where the memories never sleep Here where the world will never reach In a heartless town With its face looking down Every time I hold myself I’m thinking of you Here where the sun can never shine Here where the daylight never finds In the street light’s gloom In a cold barren room Every time I close my eyes I’m thinking of you I’m dreaming of you I’m thinking of you And only of you Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
15.
Every Summer 03:29
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Whenever I think of you it’s through a summer haze Whenever I dream of you it’s sky blue Wherever I look I see your half-forgotten face Chase her through the trees Feel the summer breeze through the window Open up your eyes and she’s gone now I feel it in the air I feel it everywhere Never let it go till it’s over Here we go again Round and round again Here it comes again Every summer Darker now Fading into autumn Lighter now Winter turning into spring And every year it’s just like turning back again However I try I can’t resist it As if I could every find the way that we were then Happens anywhere A heart is only there to be broken Find the hidden door and it’s open I feel it in the air I feel it everywhere Never let it go till it’s over Here we go again Round and round again Here it comes again Every summer Far away Shifting out of focus Clear today Moving into view again I feel it in the air I feel it everywhere Never let it go till it’s over Here we go again Round and round again Here it comes again Every summer Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
16.
Everywhere 05:21
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Blue as sky is blue And icy chill and mirror still New and never new I’m going down, I’m lost within you Salt against my skin Sand between my fingers Draw my body in Drag me down, I’m drifting from the shore Dawn and heavy warm The distant hum, the rumble comes The calm before the storm The heat before the rolling thunder Waves make no fear Take me to hear The white sound Come break down The white sound Come crash down Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere In a pure white In a wild night In a clear light I see you everywhere Old and know you now And never end, a constant friend Feel the silent power Hidden deep, and deep as evil A playground to play A graveyard to lay My wreck down To lie down To slip down To die down Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere In a pure white In a wild night In a clear light I see you everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere In a warm day In a cool rain In a blue haze I see you everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere In a high tide In a low tide In a dream life I see you everywhere Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd
17.
You'll Never See That Summertime Again 04:46
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Nothing else will ever feel the same You’ll never see that summertime again Now it’s just a picture in a frame You’ll never see that summertime again When we were young We spent each summer here Those days in the sun Could never disappear So hold onto this And everything can change One final kiss Before the sunlight fades Nothing else will ever feel the same You’ll never see that summertime again A pile of stones to show that we were here It won’t be there when you go back next year I will return The blue of the sky and the sun in your eyes When the crowds have gone The chill in the air and the wind in your hair Look for you there and you’re everywhere Three weeks have gone I never saw them pass You still linger on We’ll make this drink the last And goodbye to you My very special friend I’ll miss you too We’ll never meet again Nothing else will ever feel the same You’ll never see that summertime again A photograph to show that you and I Are hand in hand as long as we’re alive Long live tonight Watching you laugh as I lie in the grass Slowly fading light Making me smile like an innocent child Open my eyes and you’re filling the sky A paradise on earth when time stood still Has never come again and never will Nothing else will ever feel the same You’ll never see that summertime again A memory that’s coloured blue and gold A souvenir for when I’m tired and old Nothing else will ever feel the same You’ll never see that summertime again Try as I would Kissing goodbye through the tears in your eyes It’s gone for good Making it last but it’s fading so fast I should have asked but the moment had passed Wherever you go I’ll be missing you so Whatever I do I’ll be thinking of you Written by William Jones Published by Summerhouse Music Ltd

about

The inevitably titled Best Of Friends includes selections from the band's first six albums and from two of their six singles, spanning the period 1986 to 1995. It covers the whole wide range of the band's music, from the pure pop of their indie heydey, through more rock-inclined numbers, to the stripped-down acoustic pop of Folk Songs, all featuring the characteristic Friends trumpet sound and classically English vocals of singer and founder-member William Jones. Best of Friends is accompanied by a lavish 12-page booklet outlining the band's history and including many unpublished photos, with an introduction by former Factory artist Graham Fitkin. It is the perfect introduction to the band's music from their first single It's Getting Louder up to the ultra-acoustic Folk Songs.

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released July 15, 2011

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Friends City Of London, UK

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