Pay the Lady (also sometimes called Pay the Lay) is an early Libertines song, first demo'd by the band before they were signed. The earliest known studio recording of this track was recorded during the band's Odessa Studio Recordings, and there is also a live bootleg from 1999 featuring Pay the Lady , making it one of the earliest Libertines tracks. The Odessa version of the song has since been leaked onto the internet and features Doherty singing vocals that have been compared to Frank Sinatra (as with many of the older Libertines tracks).
The old Libertines drummer Sasha played drums at least once on the track, as Peter Doherty wrote in The Books of Albion on Friday 23rd April, 1999; "For the best part of this afternoon 'The Libertines' were resident at Daylight Studios Kentish Town - our first rehearsal, and a chance for everyone to finally see what Sasha's drumming is like. We went through some songs with quite spectacular groove - Pay the Lady, Breck Road Lover, Lust of the Libertines, The Truth & the Light - and others with a combination of ill-vibes & lack of practice - like You're My Waterloo."
Other versions of Pay the Lady include a semi-acoustic lo-fi version recorded as part of the Chicken Shack sessions in 2003, and an acoustic version filmed by Paul Roundhill and uploaded onto balachada.com, around 2006. Even though it dates back to at least 1999, the song is sometimes still played live at gigs by Peter Doherty.
Chicken Shack Sessions | Babyshambles | Session | 2003-09 |
Odessa Studio Recordings (1) | The Libertines | Session | Unknown |
Every blue song in the world has the answers
Well can I tell you in the morning ?
Words mumble into soft white pillows
In that sleepy autumn dawn
We'll go to the market
(We'll go to the market)
When the good weather goes
We'll leave prints in the dusty books
And we 'll steal each other clothes
There's a streetlamp on in the middle of the day
Not too far out of our way
And it's such a lovely day
What do you say?
There's a streetlamp on in the middle of the day
Not too far out of our way
And it's such a lovely day
What do you say?
Well I can always
Pay the woman on my way back home
Pay her on my way
Well I'll pay the woman on my way
Well I'll pay her on my way
I'll pay the woman on my way back home
If you let me go home
Well every blue song in the world has the answers
Well can I tell you in the morning?
Words mumble into soft white pillows
In that sleepy autumn dawn
We can climb the hill
(We'll climb the hillside)
And look over our town
We'll sit and smoke and drink some tea
And watch the sun go down
We'll let the drink surround
There's a streetlamp on in the middle of the day
Not too far out of our way
It's such a lovely day
What do you say?
There's a streetlamp on in the middle of the day
Not too far out of our way
It's such a lovely day
What do you say?
I can always
Pay the woman on my way back home
Pay her on my way
I'll pay the woman on my way
Well I'll pay her on my way
Pay the woman on my way back home
If you let me go home
There's a streetlamp on in the middle of the day
NamePay the Lady
BandThe Libertines
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