Cliff Richard – Two a Penny (1968)

The lyrics explore a conflict between two opposing views of love: a traditional, long-term commitment held by a woman, and the narrator’s modern, intense, yet transient perspective focused only on the present moment.

Verse: tender vocals with recurrent trumpet fanfare and pizzicato harp

• ‘Love is being friends,’ she says
• ‘Going on and on’ she says
• ‘True love never ends,’ she says
• ‘I don’t believe a word’
• She says, ‘I don’t believe a word’

Cliff presents the woman’s view of love as a stable, long-lasting friendship. He immediately distances himself from this traditional, enduring ideal, suggesting he finds such claims unbelievable or naive.

• ‘Love is now for me,’ I say
• True love needn’t come to stay
• It can come and slip away
• Believe me when I say
• That love is strictly for today

The narrator counters with his philosophy, prioritizing intensity and the present experience. He argues that genuine love does not require permanence and can be defined by its powerful, immediate nature, existing only “for today.”

Bridge: retains verse tempo with minor turns in the vocals (contoured, sustained) and chords (4→5→1 in B flat)

• Love is many things to many people
• I just know what it means to me
• Love is ‘tie me down’ to many people
• For me, if it’s right, then it’s got to be free

Cliff addresses the diverse interpretations of love, differentiating his view from those who see love as a restrictive commitment. For him, a relationship’s validity is tied to emotional freedom, not obligation.

• I can’t look ahead to say
• Tomorrow I’ll still feel this way
• Who knows what games we both might play?
• But this I’m gonna say ‘I’ll love you forever Today’

The narrator explicitly avoids making any promises about the future, citing uncertainty and human inconsistency. His solution is to make an ultimate commitment to the present: his love is absolute, but confined strictly within the boundaries of “Today.”

• On and on today, Never ending today
• I’ll love you forever today

The concluding lines offer a paradox, emphasizing the depth of his feeling—”forever”—but only by stretching the current moment (“today”) to its limits, perfectly encapsulating his philosophy of intense but non-committal love.

The lyrics express a profound spiritual uncertainty and longing, with the narrator questioning the reality of faith and hoping for a direct, unmistakable sign of a divine presence.

Verse: soft air vocals, brush drums, descending trumpet notes with harp

• How to start? What to say?
• I don’t remember ever feeling this way
• Can it be true? Does anyone care?
• Is it only make-believe or are you really there?

Bridge: Swelling vocals with intensified backing

• Is there a chance I’ve been missing the best?
• Could it be life is more than a guess?

Cliff begins with raw confusion over the intense spiritual questioning he is experiencing, admitting this feeling is new. He poses fundamental questions about the authenticity of faith, the existence of a caring deity, and whether there is a deeper, more certain meaning to life than chance.

• I’m afraid to let go, yet I long to see
• If you are real, be real to me
• If you are real, be real to me

He captures the emotional paradox of his spiritual search: fear of surrendering his certainty, alongside a deep yearning for confirmation. He pleads for the spiritual presence to manifest itself clearly and genuinely in his life.

• Okay, supposing I were to come to you?
• Not saying I will, just supposing I do?
• Would I have to be, just another guy?
• Two a penny’s not for me, it just won’t satisfy

Bridge: same as above

• I’m just confused, by candles and prayers
• I just need to know if you are there

Cliff hypothetically considers engaging with faith but questions if his personal journey would be reduced to a generic experience (“just another guy”). He rejects a superficial form of worship (“candles and prayers”) and demands a direct, personal confirmation of the divine’s existence.

• Show me the way, for I long to see
• If you are real, be real to me
• If you are real, be real to me
• I’m just confused, by candles and prayers
• I just need to know if you are there
• Show me the way, for I long to see
• If you are real, be real to me
• If you are real, be real to me

The final section is an impassioned, repeated request for guidance and empirical evidence. Cliff returns to his core need: a direct, undeniable validation that the spiritual entity is truly present and responsive to his search.

A4. “Long Is the Night”

2:32 | instrumental score piece | nocturnal, sad

Slow, sorrowful trumpet showcase (in D minor) with sharp string accents.

The lyrics offer a brief, sympathetic portrait of a woman suffering from loneliness because the man she desires is emotionally distant and only uses her for temporary affection.

Verse: slow, deep vocals with soft fingered guitar and trumpet

• Sparrows to their nests can fly
• Foxes in their dens can hide
• But she’s so lonely
• ‘Cause he only
• Passes by just out of reach
• Of the lonely girl

Cliff begins by contrasting the natural security of animals finding shelter with the woman’s profound lack of emotional refuge. The source of her loneliness is a man who is always nearby but never fully accessible, keeping her in a state of perpetual longing.

Bridge: Swelling vocal with heightened strings across traveling chord passage

• Life to him is one big scheme
• He just drifts from dream to dream
• When nothing’s real
• But she feels
• Life is more than simply loving him
• When he only wants loving from
• This lonely girl

The man is characterized as superficial and detached from reality, viewing life as a series of pleasant illusions. The woman, however, has a deeper understanding: she knows life is more profound than chasing him, but he only values her for the affection she provides.

• Life is more than simply loving him
• When he only wants loving from
• This lonely girl

The final lines serve as a sorrowful summary, emphasizing the unequal and parasitic nature of their relationship. Her life is consumed by him, while he only seeks emotional fulfillment from her without true commitment.

Break: xylophone solo

The lyrics express the painful realization of a narrator who sees his partner’s world changing and knows he is being replaced, despite her verbal denials.

• And you, and you tell me that nothing’s changed
• While I can see your whole life rearranged
• Where once I used to be your morning sun
• I see it in your face, I’m no longer number one

Cliff highlights the dissonance between his partner’s reassurance and the reality he observes. He notes the fundamental restructuring of her life and the clearest sign of his demotion: he has lost his essential, primary status in her world.

• And we, and we now slowly drift apart
• You’re clinging to the hope
• The hope that’s new within your heart
• And me, I’m on the outside now

The narrator describes the slow, agonizing separation taking place. He perceives that his partner has found a new source of optimism, while he is left completely excluded from her emotional life.

• What now, what now, where do we go from here
• I want to reach your heart
• But your mind won’t let me near

He voices confusion and despair over their future direction. Cliff recognizes that her rational or willed decision is blocking him from accessing her true feelings.

• And you, and you tell me that nothing’s wrong
• You’ve learnt a brand new tune
• With words that I can’t sing along
• And me I’m on the outside now

The partner’s denial of any problem is dismissed, as her behavior reflects a complete change in perspective (“a brand new tune”). He is unable to participate in this new life, confirming his final, unwelcome position of exclusion.

A7. “Daybreak (Instrumental)”

2:20 | instrumental | interlude

The piece is a darkness-to-light passage with a droning deep tuba intro (low F→G→B flat→A→E), joined by fanfare trumpet, ominous strings, and snare drum breaks

The lyrics use the recurring metaphor of a “cloudy” sky to describe a state of aimlessness, mental confusion, and a longing for clarity and direction.

• Cloudy
• The sky is gray and white and cloudy
• Sometimes I think it’s hanging down on me
• It’s a hitchhike a hundred miles
• I’m a rag-a-muffin child
• Pointed finger-painted smile
• I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while

Cliff begins by setting a somber, oppressive scene, where the weather reflects his mood, feeling weighed down by life. He describes himself as a transient, wandering figure—a “rag-a-muffin child”—suggesting a disconnect from his authentic self or a stable path.

• Cloudy
• My thoughts are scattered and they’re cloudy
• They have no borders, no boundaries
• They echo and they swell
• From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell
• Down from Berkeley to Carmel
• Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill

The metaphor shifts inward to describe his unfocused, expansive thoughts, which lack structure or purpose. The references to vast geographical and intellectual extremes highlight his mental chaos and his present state of profound, unproductive idleness.

• Sunshine
• I haven’t seen you for a long time
• Why don’t you show your face and bend my mind?
• These clouds stick to the sky
• Like floating questions, why?
• And they linger there to die
• They don’t know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I
• Cloudy
• Cloudy

The narrator pleads for “Sunshine,” a symbol of clarity, joy, or inspiration, to break through his confusion. He sees the literal clouds as tangible representations of life’s unanswerable questions, and concludes by confessing that, like the clouds, he is utterly lost and without direction.

The lyrics describe the bittersweet pain of a narrator who is trapped in the friend zone with a woman named Kathy, serving as her confidant while longing for her romantic affection.

Verse: violins and slow, tender vocals overlay the flute/piano motif (muted) across a descending pattern (in C major)

• I’m so close to Kathy
• I know just what she’s dreaming of
• She always calls me up to tell me
• Every time she falls in love

Cliff establishes the paradox of his relationship with Kathy: he is intimately close to her emotionally, yet only as a listener. He knows the details of her romantic life because she trusts him enough to share her experiences of falling in love with other men.

• Yes, I’m so close to Kathy
• I know her every tender sigh
• She loves to cry upon my shoulder
• But always for some other guy

He highlights the depth of their physical and emotional intimacy—sharing tender moments and vulnerability—which only deepens his frustration because her tears and comfort are always directed toward the drama of another relationship.

• Oh, why can’t she see
• The one true lasting love in her life should be me
• I’m so close to Kathy
• As close as anyone can be
• And I’ll stay close to Kathy
• Hoping someday she’ll feel close to me

This is the emotional core of the song: his agonizing realization that his love is the solution to her romantic struggles. Cliff resolves to maintain his current position, hoping she will eventually recognize his enduring love.

• She always calls me up to tell me
• Every time she falls in love
• Yes, I’ll stay close to Kathy
• As close as anyone can be

The repetition of her habit underscores the recurring cycle of his pain. He reaffirms his decision to remain her confidant, accepting the emotional torture of being so near yet so far.

• And I’ll stay to Kathy
• Just hoping someday she’ll feel close to me
• I’ll stay close to Kathy
• Oh so close to Kathy

The song ends with a final, desperate statement of his plan: continued presence and enduring hope that his proximity will eventually translate into the mutual romantic closeness he desires.

The lyrics describe the narrator’s transient life as he travels across the country by train, driven by the singular, powerful goal of reuniting with his beloved partner.

• Don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow
• Riding on some northern railroad
• Left some setting suns behind me
• There’s be many more before I’m through
• Rattler take me home to my baby
• One way ticket
• Bringing me back to you

Cliff begins by emphasizing his nomadic, uncertain lifestyle, having left many experiences behind. The “Rattler” (a slang term for a freight or old passenger train) is his means of transport, representing a dedicated journey back to his partner.

• Been away for such a long time
• You’ve been on my mind the whole time
• I’ve changed cities like an old coat
• Train a rollin’
• Don’t know where I am
• Friends I’ll never meet again
• Memories drifting by like grains of sand

He reflects on his extended absence, during which his partner was his constant focus. The imagery of changing cities and lost friendships highlights the casual impermanence of his travels, with only the forward motion of the train and his memories remaining.

• Rattler moving on down the line
• Dreams to carry me through the night
• Country lanes sweep by before me
• Friendly stars to light my way to you
• Rattler take me home to my baby
• One more town
• Journey’s almost through

The train continues its inevitable journey, with his desire for her sustaining him through the darkness. The sights and stars guide him, symbolizing a clear path to his destination. The journey is nearly complete, and his homecoming is imminent.