History tells us that every once in a while, a group of people can come together with one dream and do beautiful things with it, burning brightly but too briefly before sputtering out. But just because history throws up a cloud of white noise, that dream doesn’t necessarily have to die. We know that Stephen Duffy had been a founder of Duran Duran, one of a number of bands to emerge on Birmingham’s fertile, exciting and often confusing post-punk scene. When TV Eye, the Second City’s Stooges-inspired garage punk band split, Dave Twist (drums) and Kusworth (guitar) and Paul Adams (guitar) approached Duffy (vocals/guitar/piano) and Simon Colley (bass) from that first Duran line-up to join their new project. So began Obviously Five Believers, who in turn became The Subterranean Hawks, before settling on The Hawks.
Adored by most who saw them, they recorded constantly, spawning one highly collectable single, ‘Words Of Hope’. They lasted from 1979 until Christmas 1981 “falling apart in a myriad of acrimony,” as Duffy wrote in 1984. “Success makes the best excuses and the Subterranean Hawks had none... They proved that it was impossible and implausible to be a rock'n'roll band in the eighties.” Impossible, perhaps, in a city that never developed the support networks, the label entrepreneurs, of a Manchester, Liverpool or Sheffield – but The Hawks undoubtably had most of the signifiers already in place for the ‘Scene In Between’ that would emerge later that decade.Years passed with the various members each finding degrees of success: Duffy solo, and later with The Lilac Time; Kusworth with Nikki Sudden and numerous other bands, often alongside current Black Bomber Twist. In 2019, when Duffy and Kusworth last met, Duffy, as custodian of The Hawks’ ‘tape archive’, promised that the recordings would one day be released. Sadly this was not soon enough for Kusworth who tragically passed away suddenly in September 2020. Duffy has remained as good as his word, however, in bringing these ten songs to release, in honour of his friend. Having languished on cassette for 40 years, they’re now set free, sounding the best they’ve done since the day they were recorded, thanks to the judicious mastering of Grammy-winning engineer John Paterno. The album was finally released in September 2021.
Further On Up the Road
The Hawks Lyrics
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Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
Just like you mistreat someone, someone's gonna mistreat you
You been laughing, pretty baby, someday you're gonna be crying
Further on up the road you'll find out I wasn't lying
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
The Hawks' "Further On Up the Road" is a bluesy warning to an unfaithful lover that their actions will come back to haunt them. The first two lines of the chorus, "Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me / Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see," suggest that the person who has been unfaithful will suffer consequences in the future. The verses elaborate on this theme, with lines such as "You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true / Just like you mistreat someone, someone's gonna mistreat you."
The singer is clearly hurt but also eerily prophetic, warning the lover that their actions will catch up with them. The chorus is repeated three times, giving the song a sense of inevitability - the lover can't escape what's coming to them. The last verse, "Further on up the road you'll find out I wasn't lying," suggests that the singer is looking ahead to the moment when the lover finally realizes that they've been warned.
Overall, "Further On Up the Road" is a classic example of a blues warning song, with its dire predictions and minor-key melody. The message is clear: if you mistreat someone, you'll get your comeuppance in the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
As time goes on, you will experience the same pain that you caused me.
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
The consequences of your actions will eventually catch up with you.
Just like you mistreat someone, someone's gonna mistreat you
The way you treat others will ultimately determine how you are treated in return.
You been laughing, pretty baby, someday you're gonna be crying
Your current happiness will eventually turn to sorrow.
Further on up the road you'll find out I wasn't lying
At a later time, you will discover that what I said was true.
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
In the future, someone will cause you the same pain that you caused me.
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
It will take time, but eventually the consequences of your actions will come to fruition.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DON ROBEY, M VEASEY JOE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind