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Amazon.co.uk listings for CD1 / CD2 / Vinyl

CD1 track listing:

1. Lottery Winners On Acid
2. You've Been A Long Time Coming

CD2 track listing:

1. Lottery Winners On Acid
2. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
3. Ocean With No Edge
4. Lottery Winners On Acid (video)

7" vinyl track listing:

1. Lottery Winners On Acid
2. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Scroll down for lyrics!

Those ordering online should be aware that there are two other Crimea CDs released as Lottery Winners On Acid, one a self-released 2002 single, the other a 2004 EP released in America. The version on this 2006 singles set is a re-recorded, mass-market and radio-friendly version. Not that it was ever less-than-friendly to radio, as The Crimea can list proudly amongst their growing number of supporters the late Sir John Peel...

Lottery Winners is that rare thing, a well handled multi-format singles release. No vinyl exclusive track to piss off the vast majority of us who don't maintain a turntable, a £1.99 CD1 backed by a Marvin Gaye cover as a cheap and accessible way of appealing to new and more mature listeners, and a £2.99 CD2 with some extra goodies: original b-sides and a decent quality (~46Mb) MPEG version of the video for Lottery Winners.

As I'm now losing track of how many times I've reviewed the title track, I'll simply say that Lottery Winners On Acid has been an institution for the band since I first heard it about four years ago. New though it may not be, it sounds every bit as good, and if you're one of the people hearing it for the first time, it should be a treat: a feelgood love song in the mould of Fairytale of New York. Anyone who's been head-over-heels and wanted to do everything with another person, for better or for worse, should enjoy this.

If you're only buying one format, as I know you're not all inclined to drop five quid on four songs (three if you already own the album) I'd suggest the version that carries the You've Been A Long Time Coming cover. From a purely mercenary point of view, it's cheaper / you can see the video on TV or at plenty of places online, and from a rather more musical perspective, it's catchy in a gentle fashion, and after a few listens will have you hooked on the c-c-c-c- fadeout (which could be described — if rather inelegantly — as deliberate stammering. It's certainly much better than this description, I assure you.)

CD2 has a couple of original b-sides that remind me a little of the ones on the old 2002 Lottery Winners single: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose and Ocean With No Edge are more like each other stylistically than the title track, just like the supporting tracks from back then were. I hope people will hear them and appreciate the difference — although you'll have to forgive me for not placing a lot of faith in the British record-buying public.

Neither track is particularly cheerful, either could serve as soundtrack to that point in the middle of a film in which the hero has fucked up majorly and crawled off to think about it. The production is top notch, guitars, layered vocals and interesting keyboard effects meshing for the kind of songs I was bit concerned might not be getting into circulation after the band signed to Warners. Not immediately grabbing pop tunes, you see... well, it's nice to be proved wrong and I look forward to further singles.

How representative would I say Lottery Winners is of the Tragedy Rocks album? Fairly representative, actually. I don't think there's a bad track on any of the versions of the album that have been released (a limited-edition demo in 2004, the freshly-recorded 2005 album released in this country, and a forthcoming US release this year which will have a few bonus tracks) but there are certainly songs such as Baby Boom and White Russian Galaxy that are in the mould of Lottery Winners... and Girl Just Died is particularly poprock. There are also more story-oriented tracks such as Isobel and Losing My Hair... mixed in together, the variety works well.

In fact, the only downer of this single for me is the cover artwork... bland and not really noticeable, especially the brown version. Nevermind, it's the music that counts...

But wait! Forgetting the video, yes? It's suitably bizarre. At first you just think it'll be cuts between Davey falling through dark storm clouds and walking down a technicolor American street... then the tall black aliens show up. There's a third POV in which it's after dark and he's marching through a group of the aliens, and the Davey that's falling through the clouds starts to disintegrate (or moult bats, which is what it looks like...)

See it here: http://virgin.net/music/musicvideos/thecrimea_lotterywinnersonacid_hi.html

More: www.thecrimea.net/uk/ | www.myspace.com/thecrimea | inaudible.co.uk/crimea/

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Lottery Winners On Acid

If she gets a black eye, I wanna black eye
If she gets a splinter, I wanna splinter too
If she gets arrested, I want arrested
If she goes trippin', I go falling over

CHORUS:
We walk through the streets like lottery winners on acid
Everything she say, I was thinking anyway

If she likes Gordons, I like Gordons
If she likes the black stuff, I like the black stuff too
If she gets a disease, I want a disease
If she goes trippin', I go fallin' over

CHORUS

If your momma could see you now
What would she think of her boy?

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You've Been A Long Time Coming

CHORUS:
You've been a long time coming
But darling, welcome home
You've been a long time coming
But darling, welcome home

So many nights I call your name
Not knowing if I'll see you again

You've been a long time coming
Oh baby, welcome home
Feel k-k-k-kinda good right now

CHORUS

So many nights I call your name
Wondering if I'll ever see you again

You've been a long time coming
Oh baby, welcome home
Feel k-k-k-kinda good right now

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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

In the cold light of morning
Revenge the redeemer is here
Today I'm gonna hurt somebody
Almost cracked a smile for the first time in my life
Almost cracked a smile
Though I sometimes found comfort in you

There were times when I was cruel
Played kiss-chase to the death with you

Heads I win, tails you lose
Heads I win, tails you lose

In the grip of sobriety
Strange happenings occur
Today I was nice to somebody
Almost cracked a smile for the very first time
I almost cracked a smile
Though I tried to be gentle with you

Though at times when anger brewed
Played kiss-chase to the death with you

Heads I win, tails you lose
Heads I win, tails you lose

In the next life, don't forget to...
...read the label long before you swallow

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Ocean With No Edge

To requiem eternal
Til death do us part
I will be a soldier
In the army of regret
When I was just a child
When I was just knee high
They made me a soldier
In the army of regret

CHORUS:
If it takes all summer
Believe me, believe me when I say
It's over now
If it takes all summer
The ocean, the ocean with no edge
Will drown us all

The sunny side of sorrow
That old familiar stare
When we were all sailors
On the ocean with no edge

CHORUS (x2)

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All lyrics are, naturally, copyright the band.

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