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Iceman

Band songlist

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Iceman (originally known as "The Iceman Cometh") is the title of a Libertines track, released on their third album in September 2015. In an interview with Radio 1, Doherty named it his favourite track from the album. An NME interview confirms that writing and singing duties were "split 50/50" between Doherty and Barat.

To record the track, Jake Gosling moved the studio equipment down to the beach so that he could record Pete and Carl playing there together. "I think the original idea was to get us actually coming out of the water while playing guitars," says Pete. "That didn't really work out that well. It was a bit of a mess to be honest, but I think he got what he needed. It was one of them moments when he said: 'We'll just take you and the guitars down to the beach', then half an hour later there were about 30 of us down there. It all got a bit complicated, but it worked out OK. The 'Iceman' cometh!"

The song was first heard by fans when it was played live in Bristol, 3 days before the album release.

First NME review of the song:
"AWaves lapping at the sand and an acoustic guitar start this track. That riff they’re playing? It’s taken from a song Pete wrote with former squeeze Dot Allison in 2004 called ‘I Wanna Break Your Heart’ (later released by Allison as a single in 2009). The rest of the song’s different though – it’s a story about a couple new to London: “A suedehead and his pipe” who walks around White City, according to Pete, and is on his way to meet a girl – “the rummest sort Stockwell had ever seen” – according to Carl. Maybe it's the same girl they're singing about on 'France' (also from Stockwell). Old references to Albion and London pepper the chorus (“I spend my nights wandering the wards”), while a breakdown halfway through gives way to a jazzy, Django Reinhardt-inspired guitar solo. Oh, it’s largely acoustic too”.

From interview for french Rock and Folk:
R&F:What is the inspiration behind Iceman? Is it a dealer, a killer?
CB: It’s about a young boy and a young girl who found love in the city… I’ll give you a tip: I worked at the Old Vic when The Iceman Cometh was played. The song starts there. The icema, it’s a man called Hickey, in the 1910s in New York, in a bar full of hookers. The iceman is the one who sends you off to sleep. You can be a normal person working 9 to 5 or spending “your days in the haze with the iceman”.
PD: I later discovered iceman means killer in American.

Appearing on

Anthems for Doomed Youth The LibertinesAlbum2015-09-11

Lyrics

He was just a young boy in the city
Clouds of smoke he sought to find his dreams
Swayed hair and his pipe he walked through the white city
The hows-your-father bookies run the scene

She was just a young girl in the city
Struggling with life love and money
Weaving through the streets and looking so so pretty
The rummest sort Stockwell had ever seen
The rummest sort Stockwell had ever seen... seen

I've spent my days in the haze with the iceman
I've spent my nights wondering the wards
I've spent my days in the haze with the iceman
It means the iceman is always on call

She started work on the last day of November
Spilling drinks in a seedy cabaret show
He met her on the first day of December
Outside a a bookshop on the Charing Cross road

Those winter nights they'd walk along the river
He'd chain-smoke and she'd stare up at the sky
And say this life, this love, this river has to end
But just for now we have all the time
Just for now we have all the time... time

Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman
Don't spend your nights wandering the wards
Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman
Because it means nothing at all

Don't spend your days in the haze with iceman
(Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman)
Don't spend your nights wandering the wards
(Don't spend your nights wandering the wards)
Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman
It means nothing at all

Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman
Don't spend your nights wandering the wards
Don't spend your days in the haze with the iceman
It means nothing at all

Just for now we have all the time
Just for now we have all the time

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/the-libertines-lyrics-iceman-gdd5thx#ixzz3mJ2SxHLH
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community

NameIceman
BandThe Libertines
CreditsCarl Barat
Peter Doherty


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