A much-loved musical spectacle in his native Newcastle for many years now, Dawson is a skewed troubadour who sings and plays guitar with a rare intensity and a very singular style. Dawson’s music is a collision of opposites, his hoarsely cracking voice suddenly rising to a magical soar that’s been compared to Tim Buckley, John Martyn and Richard Youngs, while his battered acoustic guitar veers from stumble to sublime in a way that can recall Sir Richard Bishop or Captain Beefheart, add this to his snaring way with words and Dawson’s got you pinned.
Two Halves
Richard Dawson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Purple in the face' getting really mad
Man on! Man on!
An empty stadium yells "man on"
Come on! Come on!
The cross goes sailing wildly over the heads of everyone
"Stop fannying around! Keep it nice and simple!"
Man on! Man on!
An empty stadium yells "man on"
Come on! Come on!
The cross goes sailing wildly over the heads of everyone
Perhaps we were expecting this to be a walk in the park
But these bastards from King's Priory are kicking lumps out of us
Man on! Man on!
An empty stadium yells "man on"
Come on! Come on!
The cross goes sailing wildly over the heads
Their left back slips taking a free kick
It trickles over the mud straight to me
In desperation he scrambles and slides
I leap his flailing leg and dink it
Over the sprawled body of the goalie
The net is gaping
The ball takes a bobble and I slice wide of the mark
Everything goes quiet
Staring into the red dark of my palms
They launch a long ball into our box
Suddenly we find ourselves with a corner to defend
I am on the near-post
Somehow it gets bundled underneath my feet
At the final whistle I am inconsolable
Man on! Man on!
I reckon dad is really disappointed with me
Come on! Come on!
He tries his best to not show how he really feels
In the car home' he says "dust yourself down
Move on to next week's game
Shall we pick up a Chinese or would you rather fish and chips?"
The lyrics to Richard Dawson's song Two Halves describe the experience of a young football player playing in a match. The song is a meditation on the pressure and expectations placed on young athletes, particularly by their parents and coaches. The first verse describes the player's coach, who is depicted as a frustrated and angry figure bellowing instructions from the touchline. The chorus of the song is a repetition of the phrase "Man on!" which is a call to the players to be aware of the opposing team and defend their position. The empty stadium yells this phrase back at the players, emphasizing the pressure to perform that exists even when no one is there to see it.
The second verse describes the player feeling overwhelmed by the opposition, who are "kicking lumps" out of them. The frustrations of the coach are further emphasized in this verse, as he implores the players to "keep it nice and simple" and not try to play like Lionel Messi. The third verse is a climax of sorts, as the player has an opportunity to score, but ultimately misses the mark. The final verse describes the aftermath of the game, with the player feeling dejected and disappointed in himself, while his dad tries to console him with the offer of Chinese food or fish and chips.
Overall, Two Halves is a powerful exploration of the complex world of youth sports, and the pressures and expectations that young athletes face from those around them.
Line by Line Meaning
Bellowing instructions from the touchline, that's my dad
My father is shouting loudly from the sidelines, giving us instructions for the game.
Purple in the face' getting really mad
He is turning purple with anger due to our poor performance.
Man on! Man on!
Someone is shouting from an empty stadium that an opponent player is close by and we need to be aware of it.
An empty stadium yells "man on"
The stadium is eerily silent except for somebody shouting a warning.
Come on! Come on!
We are being encouraged to move quicker and do better.
The cross goes sailing wildly over the heads of everyone
A ball is kicked across the pitch and misses its target by a large distance.
"Stop fannying around! Keep it nice and simple!"
We are being told to stop showing off and instead focus on playing a straightforward game.
"You're not Lionel Messi' just pass the bloody ball!"
Our skills aren't comparable to Lionel Messi's, so we should just focus on passing the ball to each other.
Perhaps we were expecting this to be a walk in the park
We might have thought this game would be easy for us to win.
But these bastards from King's Priory are kicking lumps out of us
The opponents from King's Priory are playing aggressively and are beating us up physically.
Their left back slips taking a free kick
One of their players loses his footing while taking a free kick.
It trickles over the mud straight to me
The ball comes rolling slowly towards me on the muddy ground.
In desperation he scrambles and slides
The opponent player tries to slide and tackle me to take back the ball.
I leap his flailing leg and dink it
I jump over his leg and quickly pass the ball to a teammate.
Over the sprawled body of the goalie
I manage to get the ball over the goalkeeper who has dived and is lying on the ground.
The net is gaping
There is no goalkeeper guarding the goal, so the ball easily goes into it.
The ball takes a bobble and I slice wide of the mark
The ball bounces oddly and doesn't go where I intended it to go when I kicked it.
Everything goes quiet
The crowd and players become silent for a brief moment.
Staring into the red dark of my palms
I am looking at my hands, which have turned red due to exercising.
They launch a long ball into our box
The opponents kick the ball far into our area of the pitch.
Suddenly we find ourselves with a corner to defend
The opponents have earned a corner kick, and we must defend it.
I am on the near-post
I am positioned near the goalpost to defend it.
Somehow it gets bundled underneath my feet
The ball ends up under my feet in a messy and uncontrolled manner.
At the final whistle I am inconsolable
When the game ends, I am devastated and cannot be comforted.
I reckon dad is really disappointed with me
I believe my father is very let down by my performance.
He tries his best to not show how he really feels
My father is trying hard to hide his true emotions about the game from me.
In the car home' he says "dust yourself down
Move on to next week's game
Shall we pick up a Chinese or would you rather fish and chips?"
My father tells me to forget about this loss and focus on the next game, and then offers to take me to get food on the way home.
Writer(s): Richard Michael Dawson
Contributed by Grace E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@GeoWizard
This is fucking brilliant
@nickharrison1604
GeoWizard and Richard Dawson are two of my top interests so this comment made my bloody day!
@ConsPopov
And now it’s in Dribbling Britain! Nice one :)
@arnethone3220
@ConsPopov used this song aswell i know Dawson from that series
@articlesscz203
this is how I discovered this gem! Thank you.
@bluerev
The way he constructs a song around mundane lyrics like these is SO GENIUS and SO FUNNY.
A real artist right here.
@estudiosfolkloreiberoamericano
Honestly, it seems he write mundane lyrics around a nice constructed song, in that order
@aenamabag
I wouldn't call the lyrics mundane at all. He captures something integral in a lot of his songs
@lotuseater7247
The lyrics are used very economically and carefully from my reading. 'An empty stadium yells man on man on', gives a full picture of the pressure and passion inflicted on kids by adults shouting the usual football cliches in what is really a meaningless game among kids thrown into it. And the descriptions of the actions taking place add drama and humour 'somehow it gets bundled underneath my feet' in what sounds like a typically scrappy and dreadful kids' game. But to each kid, these moments stay with you for the rest of the week at least. Unless of course there's fish n chips involved.
@pabloinamible5315
i find his lyrics are always tinted with quite a sad tone under the funnynes and mundane topics he describes