The Laughing Gnome

Album: Starting Point (1967)
Charted: 6
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  • I was walking down the high street
    When I heard footsteps behind me
    And there was a little old man (hello)
    In scarlet and grey, shuffling away (laughter)
    Well he trotted back to my house
    And he sat beside the telly (oaah)
    With his tiny hands on his tummy
    Chuckling away, laughing all day (laughter)

    Oh, I ought to report you to the gnome office
    (gnome office)
    Yes
    (hahahahaha)

    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"
    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"
    Said the laughing gnome

    Well I gave him roasted toadstools and a glass of dandelion wine (burp, pardon)
    Then I put him on a train to eastbourne
    Carried his bag and gave him a fag
    (haven't you got a light boy? )
    "here, where do you come from? "
    (gnome-man's land, hahihihi)
    "oh, really? "

    In the morning when I woke up
    He was sitting on the edge of my bed
    With his brother whose name was fred
    He'd bought him along to sing me a song

    Right, let's hear it
    Here, what's that clicking noise?
    (that's fred, he's a "metrognome", haha)

    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"
    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"

    (own up, I'm a gnome, ain't I right, haha)
    "haven't you got an 'ome to go to? "
    (no, we're gnomads)
    "didn't they teach you to get your hair cut at school? you look like a rolling gnome"
    (no, not at the london school of ecognomics)

    Now they're staying up the chimney
    And we're living on caviar and honey (hooray!)
    Cause they're earning me lots of money
    Writing comedy prose for radio shows
    It's the-er (what? )
    It's the gnome service of course

    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"
    Ha ha ha, oh, dear me

    (ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me"
    Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
    "I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me")

    (one more time, yeah) Writer/s: DAVID BOWIE
    Publisher: T.R.O. INC.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

  • Carsten Dyreborg from DenmarkI first heard the song in 1973 at the age of twelve, having my ear glued to the transistor radio (get a grownup to explain it to you, if you’re in your thirties or younger) listening to Radio Luxembourg, where it was quite out of line with the rest of the music.
    It’s really rather silly, it’s got lousy lyrics and a bad tune, but it sticks like gum to your sole
  • Paul Osman from Liverpool, EnglandIt's possible that this is Bowie trying to impersonate Anthony Newley. When interviewed on BBC Radio in the1990s Anthony Newley denied ever hearing The Laughing Gnome. I think AN was aware of the Laughing Gnome song but HATED it and like Bowie wished it never had happened and would disappear!
  • Mark from London, EnglandA few years ago, Bowie decided to do a Greatest Hits tour. He asked people to vote for their favourite Bowie songs and he would perform those which won. Despite Gnome winning hands down, he refused to play it!
  • Kenny from Clydebank, ScotlandThe laughing gnome is just a bit of fun and makes me laugh and tap my toes. Bowie's a great laugher, too. Despite his alien image, when you hear him being interviewed he's always bursting into laughter, so there must be an essential goodness there (he believes in God, or goodness, call it what you will). I like a bit of silliness myself... hee, hee, hee.
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