instant karma: completely gone fishing

liner notes: go naked

'Before we recorded the album, we wrote a huge list of things `Instant Karma don't do', or better, `never tried before'. Item number one: Rapping. Ok, ok, it's not that, but most of the ideas came up while we were trying to introduce lines like `all the people in the house '. Don't worry, we got rid of all that trash. This is probably the funkiest record we ever did. Please also check out `WhatchaDo'. That one uses item 1 (Rapping) and item 4 (Reggae) and takes the whole thing probably to far ...'

Here's Sister Sue, she's into dirty games and cousin Kev enjoys a good rain. They take the dog, and have a pee party in the tub. And uncle Reg, swings ecstatic from the crossbeam in the attic. Auntie Sal whips hips him black, green, yellow and blue. And there's me, they hate me, I'm too square for that lot. My family, they tell me I'm screwed up. But I`d rather go naked out in the park. I know how to shake it here in the dark. There's brother Rat, doing the rubber thing, attaching wires to his nose ring. Plug him in, he has the best vibe money can buy. And my step-mum is on my back again, telling me to wear her stockings and hockey mask. "Go, play along in the yard". Still I`d rather go naked out in that park. I know how to wiggle and shake it here in the dark.

--Gordon

liner notes: silver whale

"Grammy's second single release. A song about Gordon+Tom`s car, a silver Ford Granada built in 77'. We shot a video in Downtown LA for this one, with Gordon strapped to the roof of the car while we took a little sightseeing ride . Gordon`s still looking after the wreck, hoping that he can rebuild it and turn it into a convertible from I.K.`s first million-seller."

Time is infinitely stretchable in the belly of a whale, Space is defined by your wish to move around, just tell your whale. One day looking like the other in a murky shade of gloom. Poor me wading in a mire of tea-drowned afternoons. I just wish it would be summer so that I can feel the sun back on me. Ride the silver whale, sink into your seat and watch the world go by, The silver whale, let it hum, and watch the world go by. The belly of a whale's an airy bubble, noses on the glass. Sky and trees, grass and tarmac substitute the wide salt sea. And I ride all of the time away. I ride, and you ride, we ride the whale

--Martin

liner notes: birthday suite

"The single of the album with a great, unusual animated video. A favourite for many, it's about an old man in a pensioners home, communicating with the bugs in his room. Slow forest, by the way, is the nice Thai word for cemetery. The highlight of the song , the elevating finale with Tom and Ollie on their best Pavarotti, was inexplicably culled for the radio single."

I'm not growing anymore, I decompose, I break my leg my shoulder, I lose my ears, I lose my nose, oops there it goes ... And she doesn't know that I'm not quite alone, I got friends on the ceiling, got neighbours in my bed, they're keeping me the company I never have, they're everywhere, and she won't care, that I see semaphores, they see moths, I receive morsecode, they see fireflies. They all tell me it's a slow forest, all the bugs and worms and maggots and butterflies, they're all friends of mine. I'm a giant, a whole world of their own. I'm all hills and valleys and forests and roads, they party on my pelvis and hide in my toes, and when the lights go down, they make music for me ... listen.

--Martin

liner notes: give me a deal

'Ego trip, part one. Many people who heard this classic IK rocker thought it was all about getting signed. It's not. At the time, I had lost my girlfriend, had huge financial problems ( OK, still have ...) and was running out of people I could shovel my problems on (Let's hear a big `Ah' for Gordon ...). Blamed it all on the music, I did. So, lets `give me a deal' and get this thing over with. Oh, the company exec loved it, `must have felt like a big wet sloppy one on the bum. But then again, it worked, right ?'

You've been pushing around my friends for much to long. You've been playing around with me and jerked me off. I'm twisted, I'm screwed, your sewer is my head. Maybe just a bond to much you broke. Suck, suck again. Give me a deal and be quiet. Give me a deal, I'm getting tired.

--Gordon