Petrol
The cars come up the drive
Too many people inside
Under the stars they smile
They want to invade my home
I pace the darkened hall
Try to consider it all
In the dull lamps glow
And the truth is I don’t know
The cars stop outside
They all stay inside
The house is drenched in light
But what have I done wrong?
I quietly climb the stairs
I remember all them years
I check everything is right
I need to hurry now
I’ve been preparing for days
I know exactly what to say
“No-one will be around
No-one will take me down”
They’ll all get back in their cars
And maybe they’ll go home
But there’s things they’ll never know
Like where it is I go
Demo version
The cars come up the drive
Too many people inside
Under the stars they smile
They want to invade my home
I pace the darkened hall
Try to consider it all
In the dull lamps glow
And the truth is I don’t know, no
The cars stop outside
They all stay inside
The house is drenched in light
But what have I done wrong?
I quietly climb the stairs
I remember all them years
I check everything is right
I need to hurry now, now
I’ve been preparing for days
I know exactly what to say
“No-one will be around
No-one will take me down”
They’ll all get back in the cars
And maybe they’ll go home
But the thing is they won’t know
Where it is I go, go
Song Notes
“Petrol” is one of Ash’s oldest songs appearing on their early demo tapes from 1992. The song is about being lynched by a gang. The song was re-mixed by Ben Groose in America for a promotional 7” release on the Generator Records label.
The band recorded a version of the track for John Peel’s Radio 1 show in April 1994, that was later released on The Magnificent Seven compilation cassette given away free with Melody Maker magazine on March 16th, 1996.