Alex Vann: Drums Rich Waitland: Guitar/Vocals Paul Chambers: Bass/Vocals Paul Simmons: Guitar Shaun Hemsley: Vocals
26th Feb 2021 – Not certain about the date for this but 1988 would be correct. This was the first iteration of Hate That Smile. Rich left fairly soon after recording this as we started to want to play more shows and I think he had young kids at the time and wasn’t able to commit his time. If I remember correctly I joined the band a little later after formation and still wasn’t sure about how to sing some of Paul’s lyrics so he and Rich ended up singing their songs in the studio.
Alex, the two Paul’s and I had all played together in Atrox which disbanded after Dave Redfern and Charlie Mason went off to university. I’m not sure of the genesis of Hate That Smile anymore. I think the Paul C came up with the name though not sure what the meaning was behind it. This was the time of the rise of Acid House music and raves which adopted the smiley face symbol and I found an image that was similar but the smile had been manipulated into something a little more sinister. I got 500 stickers made up and spread them everywhere I could around my little town. I don’t think they had any impact.
I still enjoy listening to these songs and we felt part of the much larger punk scene of the time though musically sometimes it’s hard to see where we fit in. I was always critical of my vocal skills, especially as this band needed a strong singer and not so much a shouter (which I also wasn’t particularly good at anyway) but considering how badly I sing these days I think I gave it a fair shot. The music holds up as interesting and I was happy with the lyrics I was contributing.
*Woke up this morning, rubbed the dust from my eyes Had to live again the life I despise No use pretending I was born free I was given eyes, but they’re not to see Drew back the curtains to view the outside And to my disbelief, I realised the world had died Couldn’t understand why I was alive And there was no one to hear my fear-fraught cry*
Been through pain and back again We’ll survive to the end Seen the hate confronting me I will not concede
You’ll feel alive if you can survive
What you always wanted to be Too hard to believe Take your chance to be free You will achieve
You just can’t convince me now I have the right to feel so proud You just can’t control my mind I’m taking back what was always mine
*These lyrics were originally written by someone in Atrox (possibly Charlie Mason) for the song Is This Tomorrow…?
Streets lit by the dull neon glow Houses upon houses, row upon row And the occupiers, where do they go? They must know something I don’t know
And the grass is green here And the flowers are alive But this place to live Is just the place to die
That clean air is so carbon-filled Now this monument had overspilled Choking to death on the dirt and dust The fabric of your society has started to rust
Colours of monotony crumble and fade In this dirty squalor, you have made The dark clouds rumble on so grey Hanging over you until your debts are paid
The future is no mystery anymore Cos nothing’s gonna change I only wish that I could be sure Why I feel so fuckin’ strange They say life’s what you make it But where do I start? All I seem to do is break it Until it all falls apart
There must be more, much more than this Life must be more that just getting pissed I got no answers for our sorry state When the truth is known, it’ll be too late
Why must we be contented To live with what we’ve got? I wanna be presented With the whole fuckin’ lot Don’t wanna hear no history Cos I haven’t got a clue It’s just one big mystery Which no one ever knew
Where do I start looking for What I wanna hear? And when I’ve heard it all Will it confirm my fear?
You’re sitting at home These visions in your head You’re all alone With your mind just full of dread You start to wonder Why it’s like it was before You’re going under In your own personal war
All you’ve got are these memories Repeated visions of what you’ve done I can’t help you if you’re not telling me You start to wonder where it’s all gone
Depressing your ego With visions of the past You won’t let me go And that’s all I ask Your time’s been wasted Trying to repeat all the good times It’s me that you hated But you kept ignoring all the signs
All you’ve got are these twisted visions Repetition, repetition of what you’ve done I can’t help you make your decision Strange to be nostalgic when you’re only 21*
*lifted word for word from the Partisans ‘Only 21’ – because it’s a great line!
See them drinking at the bar Standing there and acting hard Muscles bulging under leather Smashing glasses and heads together
Sitting quietly at a corner table Tied to my drink like a dog to a kennel Watching all the people walking by Looking from the corner of my eye
A brawl ensues over who owns the girl Just take her away and leave me alone I’m not man enough for your brutal world Just an easy prey when I’m on my own
Fucking up my drunken night See a shrimp and start a fight Your girls laughing at me Only came for the booze Nothing else to do No one else to go and see
So the good days are over they’re all gone While away your life, working all day long Nine to five and you think you’re doing well What about the future, well, who can tell?
Pay slips arrived and Friday’s here Down the pub for another sixteen beers Don’t it look great, this lovely world of ours They make it look like a rosy bed of flowers
They’ve blinded you well, making them look good Suppressing your mind, you always said they would Changed your opinion and altered your face You fit in their plans cos it suits your taste
So who knows what’s the reason Why nobody wants to change?
Don’t know what you want, but you want it now Talk to your friends cos they’ll show you how It’ll look great, this lovely world of ours They’ll make it look like a rosey bed of flowers
Don’t ask me what it’s all about We’re all just acting roles The life blood and emotions Wrapped in a bag of bones
Don’t kiss me in the morning When the skies are blue I’ll blow your mind by Sunday So you can join me too
I’m tripping over buildings Trapped in your telephones Screaming from the inside Wrapped in a bag of bones
Don’t ask me what’s the meaning Of life and alcohol I sit alone on desert dunes Contemplating the animals
Wrap me in your arms Touch me with your toes A comfort and warming This skinny bag of bones
1st May 2025 – A slight rearrangement of these words in the recording below though they are barely audible. I’m confused at how I managed to jag the saxophone sounding fairly melodic and in tune with the song. I had no idea what I was doing with the thing and it got sold soon after Hate That Smile broke up and I needed money. Written sometime in 1987 these words didn’t get used in a song until 1989.
1994ever 