Last Updated: Friday, 20 February, 1998

As anyone who knows Xav will be aware, he doesn't particularly like nightclubs. This song is simply a reflection of that fact, and is based in an imaginary nightclub called "The Boundary". Much of it is drawn from Xav's last visit to a nightclub, when everything that could go wrong did, and he ended up losing his girlfriend. The girl in question is the same one for whom The Hill was written, so between these two songs there is a history of the birth and death of a relationship.

At The Boundary was not initially written about anything so sublime, though. Originally Xav and Xan were trying to write some lyrics, but lacked any real inspiration. At Xav's instigation, they randomly grabbed a book from Xan's shelves (A D.H. Lawrence anthology) and opened it at a random page. They then selected a random line, which, as it transpired, was about cricket, and contained the phrase "...at the boundary".

The original song got no further than the first verse - similar to the one below, but more raunchy and humorous (ending in the woman at the bar opening her legs and shouting "Oo-oo! Surprise!"). That is why the "following her thighs" line persists, although I'm not too keen on it myself.

After Xav went home, however, the song began to grow in his mind, and he wrote it down into its present form. Musically most of the input was from Joe and Drummy Dave, and it remains one of The Lovesticks most "progressive" pieces. The only trouble with it is getting Xan to start at the right speed, and finish at the right time - especially after a few drinks!

She sits there picking at peanuts,
Slowly drinking, and cooly slinking her way along the bar.
To where the men stand - innocent?
With devils in their eyes, they're following her thighs.

They just can't wait to look and see.
Lecherous men, and cheap women at "The Boundary".
They just can't wait to look and see.
Lecherous men, and cheap women at "The Boundary".

He sits there, looking for a love lost in his drink.
It's a tenuous link - but it's there.
She left him - destined for a life that's full and free,
So he cashes in his tears and his memory, for a night at "The Boundary"

She sits there, paranoia pressing in on her mind.
She cannot stand these people - they are not her kind.

She wished she hadn't come, and she's longing to be free,
But there's no escape from "The Boundary".
She wished she hadn't come, and she's longing to be free,
But there's no escape from "The Boundary".

They scream out - crying for attention.
Just a soulful intervention or a knowing smile.
They shout out - but no-one dares to answer them,
Or will admit to knowing them - it cramps their style.

And though those who cry out may think that they lose,
At least they have the freedom not to follow other's views.
They're trapped in this world, though they think they are free,
But they're inexplicably held within "The Boundary".