Black Coffee In Bed
(Difford/Tilbrook)
There’s a stain on my notebook
Where your coffee cup was
And there’s ash in the pages
Now I’ve got myself lost
I was writing to tell you
That my feelings tonight
Are a stain on my notebook
That rings your goodbye
With the way that you left me
I can hardly contain
The hurt and the anger
And the joy of the pain
Now knowing I’m single
There’ll be fire in my eyes
And a stain on my notebook
For a new love tonight
From the lips without passion
To the lips with a kiss
There’s nothing of your love
That I’ll ever miss
The stain on my notebook
Remain all that’s left
Of the memory of late nights
And coffee in bed
Now she’s gone
And I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook
Says nothing to me
Now she’s gone
And I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion
And coffee in bed
This is the song that did it for me. I saw the video on MTV, at that very special time in the 80s when they actually played music videos more than any other programming. This song did not sound like anything else that was released at the time…it stood out. The keyboard, the soulful vocals, the hook…I couldn’t get enough. Sweets from a Stranger was the first Squeeze studio album I bought because of this song. From there, I worked my way backwards through all of their previous releases. I sometimes wonder what I would be listening to if I had never heard Black Coffee in Bed, shudder at the thought, and smile as the lyrics play in my head. My life without Squeeze? Too painful to fathom.
That video, how much make-up was Gilson wearing? Would’ve gone down well at the building site.
You’re right about life without Squeeze. I remember when they split up in 1982, I was pretty miserable for a few weeks. Didn’t feel the same way about their 1999 parting, though, “Domino” showed that the writing was on the wall.