Lyrics Sundial In The Shade - Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott

Sundial In The Shade

As she sat down, put up her feet
And she turned the telly on
She clearly wanted some revenge
For how badly day had gone
And nothing could be better
No end of day complete
Than watching fellow woman
Getting beat
So she smiled a knowing smile
As gradually, the plot
Took the damsel down
For everything she’d got
And nothing made her heart leap like
Another falling flat
That she was not the only one
Who married into that
What I want from life
Is not a rollercoaster dip
What I want from love
Is not a ramp up to a skip
All I want is compliment
Occasionally made
For a life of pure simplicity
Unlike these soaps I’d trade
Till then, I am just
That sundial in the shade…
See, momma went to prison
And left her feeling blue
Now, twenty good years later
She’s in that prison too
A prison where the governor’s
In the armchair of despair
A prison where the only thought
Is a wish she wasn’t there
So she smiled a knowing smile
As gradually, each soap
Took away her dignity
And offered her the rope
So, with coat over pajamas
She headed into the night
Television never made no friends
But solitude just might
In the shade
Sundial in the shade
Ooh.
Oh…
Oh, oh…
Oh, oh…
Ooh…
When the groom is just too matey
With the father of the bride
And the punch on shoulder’s just too hard
For the bridesmaids to decide
Like the mints that fence the lager breath
There’s so much he could hide
Is it plastic bag or jellyfish
That’s floating by your side?
What I want from life (what I want from life)
Is not a rollercoaster dip
What I want from love (what I want from love)
Is not a ramp up to a skip
All I want is compliment
Occasionally made
For a life of pure simplicity
Unlike these soaps I’d trade
Till then, I am just (till then, I am just)
That sundial (in the shade)
Till then, I am just (in the shade)
That sundial in the shade…
In the shade…
Sundial…
All I want from life…
All I want from love…