"Grass" is a song by Colin Moulding. It appeared on and was released as a single for the 1986 album Skylarking.
The home demo appeared on the 2002 Coat of Many Cupboards box set.
Single tracklisting[]
12" single[]
- A-side: "Grass"
- B-side 1: "Extrovert" (Andy Partridge)
- B-side 2: "Dear God" (Partridge)
- West German single has the two B-sides switched
7" single[]
- A-side: "Grass"
- B-side: "Dear God"
Quotes[]
Dave: “We were called in and told: ‘Look lads, your career's down the toilet unless you start to sell records in America.’ So we were given this long list of American producers, and the only name on it I knew was Todd's.” Colin: “He said he could do it all for $150,000, so we said OK.” Andy: “In hindsight, it was a very good move.” Dave: “It saved our careers, really.” Colin: “But this single sank without trace.”
Dave (on the promo video): “It was shot on Wimbledon Common, South London, and it rained all day, so all the nice sunny grassy shots had to be filmed under canvas and artificially lit. Bearing that in mind, it worked quite well (as videos go). Andy and Colin are the principal stars, yours truly appearing for about five seconds. The other 15 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds were spent sitting in my car, trying to keep dry. Showbiz, who needs it?”
Colin (on the home demo): “Syd Barrett meets Ariel Bender for unlikely twosome, nevertheless I prefer the gutsiness of this version in low-fi, to the all singing, all dancing Skylarking hi-fi. Vocal performance slightly molester sounding, which begs the question, had I not heard of a capo? The drug connotation was always going to keep the reception cool, but nice to have the naughtiness against the sugar. Perhaps one could say it finds itself as the maiden aunt to The Dukes.”
Andy (on the home demo): “A lot of what Colin and I wrote about came from the same place. We grew up on the same council estate. We lived two streets away from each other. We shared the same teachers and schools. We played over the same fields. Bought the same comics in the same sweet shop and so on. When I heard this demo I knew straight off where he'd lain for a bit of slap and tickle and with what girls. I'd been in the same fields even with the same girl we both had a crush on. This song was a cake made from a completely familiar and mutually shared recipe. It tasted good and it tasted of my experiences totally.”
Lyrics[]
Laying on the grass my heart it flares like fire
The way you slap my face just fills me with desire
You play hard to get
'Cause you're teacher's pet
But when the boats have gone
We'll take a tumble excuse for a fumble
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
If you fancy we can buy an ice-cream cone
Your mate has gone She didn't want to be alone
I will pounce on you
Just us and the Cuckoos
You are helpless now
Over and over we flatten the clover
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
It would shock you too the things we used to do on grass
Grass, grass
Things we did on grass
Videos[]
Promo[]
Promo video for "Grass." Uploaded by YouTube user "lokrume04."