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Everything Glows

[Text Les Barker; Original song by Cole Porter]

Everything Glows is a poem from Les Barker’s book Pup Yours.

Eliza Carthy sang Everything Glows on Les Barker’s 1992 album Some Love. Martin Carthy played guitar, Norma Waterson held his nose and Chris Harvey played keyboards. This track was also included in the 2 CD anthology Mr Straw’s Hallway.

Lyrics

Eliza Carthy sings Everything Glows

In olden days, how well a feller feeled;
Now they’re not well in Sellafield
And it shows;
Everything glows.

Nowadays the humble peasant
Is likely to be fluourescent
From head to tows;
Everything glows.

100 watt they say
You can spot today
Every male today
In Windscale today
And the tramps today
Are like lamps today
With an incandescent nose.

Parsons, priests and monks and deacons
All look like belisha beacons;
They say God knows;
Everything glows.

Plutocrats don’t have plutonium;
Leave those vats of odium
For the proles;
Everything glows.

Acid rain and radiation,
Our gift to other nations,
Both friend and foes;
Everything glows.

In the west today
We fluouresce today
And the rain today
Rots your brain today
And the Manx today
Don’t give thanks today
For the waste that we dispose

Cows that once just ruminated
Are now illuminated,
Well, stone the crows;
Everything glows.

On the hills the sheep are numerous,
Shining in their illuminous
Sheepskin clothes;
Everything glows.

On the hills and mountain passes
Sheepdog all wear dark glasses
Perched on their nose;
Everything glows.

The sheep today
They may sleep today
But their sleep today
Is not deep today
For the night today
Is too bright today
And they’ve all got extra toes

Why is there this sense of doom in us?
Must be because we’re luminous,
I suppose;
Everything glows,
Everything glows,
Everything glows.

Acknowledgements

Poem copied from Pup Yours with adaptions to the singing of Eliza Carthy by Reinhard Zierke.