Written by Kirsty MacColl, Lu Edmonds
This song is about to be released on the box set See That Girl.
Lyrics
The rain attacks my bedroom window
The thunder roars above
Tonight’s the night, well should have been
A night spent with my love
But the rain still pours above my head
And fills me with despair
What am I doing waiting for him?
The man with no name doesn’t care
When the time comes, who will reveal
The love I once had, and the way I now feel?
For the man with no name, I did love so well
So when the time comes, whom shall I tell?
I walk through this old lonely house
The tears fill up my eyes
How could I have fallen for his old tricks?
His cheating ways and lies
I know I should have read the signs
But he lured me to his lair
What am I doing waiting for him?
The man with no name doesn’t care
So when the time comes, who will reveal
The love I once had, and the way I now feel?
For the man with no name, I did love so well
So when the time comes, whom shall I tell?
He said that he would treat me right
He said he loved me so
But here I am waiting for him
But the man with no name doesn’t care
No, the man with no name doesn’t care
Back Story
Ths song’s history is interesting. We have long believed that this song appeared as a bonus track on a special edition of Polydor’s Kirsty MacColl compilation. As CW2 says, “I must tell you though, you’re not missing much as you can probably tell by the shoddy lyrics.”
It could well be that the “special edition” only ever existed as an acetate. RA questions the existence of the “Kirsty MacColl” special edition – according to Wikipedia the extra two tracks are stuck on the end of the album, which for a vinyl long playing record would put them on side B. This doesn’t really make sense for an LP.
According to Craig Wilson, “I was the guy who used to own the copy of the acetate vinyl special edition of Kirsty MacColl! I bought it years ago from a record dealer in Notting Hill who was clearing out vinyl from a job lot he acquired from polydor. I don’t think he realised how rare it was. I certainly didn’t at the time. I transcribed the lyrics from the album and sent them to the free world website years ago, and the lyrics on the site are definitely the lyrics that were on the album! Maybe the version kirsty created with Lou was a demo version and she revisited the song later? Or maybe just kept the title and made a completely new song? I’m not in possession of the vinyl anymore. I gave it to Jean at a Kirsty fest a few years back as I thought it would mean more to her, and maybe she would arrange to have it released further down the line. Alas, that wasn’t to be.”
Richard Atkinson had a conversation with co-writer Lu Edmonds, Lu asked if there are any recordings.
RA: Someone claims to have a copy of “Kirsty MacColl” special edition – this person is the source of the lyrics [show here]. I can’t personally confirm the existence of that special edition version – I’ve never seen a copy. I’ve never heard the track either
LE: the lyrics are wrong. kirsty & i wrote that here, i had the backing track and she put the words on top, afair made them up on the spot
…
LE: i’ll tell you what i remember, it was a film noir idea she had
LE: living out a dream in a big hotel
LE: you’ll find way around it
LE: lost all the money in a wishing well
LE: just when they thought they’d found it
LE: find the wife put her in the car
LE: get the kids in the back and
LE: go!
LE: cos it looks like rain
LE: (go! she shouts…)
LE: chorus – that’s the story of the man with no name
