Written by Kirsty MacColl
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
This song appeared as a bonus track on the 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.”
That’s very interesting! 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.
Transcript of a chat conversation with Lu Edmonds – lyrics are at the end.
LE: back to man with no name – are there any recordings?
RA: So – Man With No Name
RA: Someone claims to have a copy of “Kirsty MacColl” special edition – this person is the source of the lyrics for Man With No Name on kirstymaccoll.com
RA: I can’t personally confirm the existence of that special edition version – I’ve never seen a copy
RA: I’ve never heard the track either
LE: the lyrics are wrong
RA: Whoever this person is, they haven’t uploaded the song anywhere or supplied a copy to anyone else
RA: https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/…/kirst…/man-with-no-name/
LE: 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
I’ve been speaking with Lu Edmonds – he doesn’t think these are the correct lyrics.
I’d also question 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 – you’d want to spread them between side A and side B, or else shuffle around the rest of the tracks and move the first track on side B to the end of side A (for example). Keeping side A the same length as the standard edition and making side B two tracks longer doesn’t sound right to me.
Does anyone actually have this? Despite comments about the lyrics I’d like to hear this. Have looked for years.
You and me both! I believe it does exist however.