1. |
Some Days
03:33
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SOME DAYS
I'm happy but can only grieve
At times I think but cannot breathe
At times I think but cannot say
I cannot stay, it's hard to leave
I'm thirsty and the taps are dry
I'm sad but have no tears to cry
My heart is full, my head is light
I'm hungry with no appetite
Some days I'm ten foot tall
Some days I'm ten foot small
Some days I'm ten foot under the ground
I like it there, where there's no sound
I want to walk but cannot crawl
To brave to jump, to stubborn to fall
I'd like to fly but there's. no breeze
No respite, no reprieve
Some days I'm ten foot tall
Some days I'm ten foot small
Some days I'm ten foot under the ground
I like it there, where there's no sound
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2. |
Connachta
03:14
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CONNACHTA
How many scuttlers, thieves and scallywags
From the pestilence and poverty of the Angel of Death
How many O’Connors lie asleep beneath the Flags
How many survived ‘this hell on earth’?
From the Hundred Battles
And the monastery of Cong
To the scattering of a people
Whose spirit stayed strong
Who would dare to contradict the King of Scotty Road
As he reigned over ‘the real capital of Ireland’?
From the million dead, on the hills and in the fields
To the million survivors of An Gorta Mór
From the Hundred Battles
And the monastery of Cong
To the scattering of a people
Whose spirit stayed strong
And north from the causeway of the land of Giants
They endured the ugly journey by Rathlin Isle
From the crest of a wave and the turbulent straits
To the ‘Dear Green Place’ along the banks of the Clyde
From the Hundred Battles
And the monastery of Cong
To the scattering of a people
Whose spirit stayed strong
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3. |
Silhouette
04:36
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SILHOUETTE
There he was in silhouette
At the wide open front door
Of a house I barely knew
At 25 I was too young
But I saw his silhouette at the front door
We’d been called upon
By the knife sharpener
I was playing on the floor
His call was answered
And I saw his silhouette at the front door
The poor man was sent packing
Then reality set in
The man who loved the little girl
Had taken his leave again
And I saw his silhouette at the front door
Siblings in their summer clothes
Went running after him
With a precious gift of half a crown
John Baird was never seen again
I saw his silhouette at the front door
I saw his silhouette at the front door
I saw his silhouette
I saw his silhouette
I saw his silhouette at the front door
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4. |
Maker
03:31
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MAKER
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
The burning sun is setting
Above a silent sea
The breeze is slowly building
All around us
A wave of contradiction
To the calm across the ocean
Serene upon the surface
Undercurrent of commotion
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
Responsible and reckless
Attentive and dismissive
Focused and then feckless
Conventional and permissive
Feeble and courageous
Faithful then deceiving
Predictably outrageous
Aware but not receiving
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker
You’ve got to let your maker take your soul
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5. |
Montevideo
04:37
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MONTEVIDEO
The Lancaster was by the harbourside
For East India was gathering the prize
She was pressed into the Wars
And the service of the King
The Lancaster was by the harbourside
The city had been “carried by assault”
Hawkesbury puffed his chest and so declared
Castlereagh showed his pride
At “this glorious enterprise”
That the city had been “carried by assault”
“Plenty of work but little to eat
Yet we were servants of the King”
We saw that man beneath the gun
Relinquish everything
Nine thousand miles across the stormy sea
For the Riflemen to set about their siege
Six soldiers and their knives
No mercy for his life
Nine thousand miles across the stormy sea
John Cofty laboured thirteen years at sea
That day he saw such inhumanity
For the glory of the Crown
They took that city down
John Cofty laboured thirteen years at sea
“Plenty of work but little to eat
Yet we were servants of the King”
We saw that man beneath the gun
Relinquish everything
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6. |
Top of the Stairs
04:41
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THE ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (DADGAD)
Pastries for grafters
Pennies for the home
Off to the preacher
Happiness known
“Won’t you marry us preacher,
Won’t you marry us please?
Won’t you marry us sir
Our time’s short and sweet”
There’s a knock at the door
The man from the dockyard stood
Clutching his cloth cap
No need for words
Another family grieves
A widow weeps
Another suitor stands and stairs
From the room at the top of the stairs
Pastries for lodgers
To make ends meet
Sunrise to sunset
On cobbled terraced streets
Pastries for grafters
Pennies for the home
Off to the preacher
Happiness known
“Won’t you marry us preacher,
Won’t you marry us please?
Won’t you marry us sir
Our time’s short and sweet”
Weary and tired
From the swell and the tide
Weary and tired
From the swell and the tide
The Jerseyman now the widow’s prize
Left the ocean behind
Twenty years or more of bliss
How hard they fought to come to this
“Won’t you marry us preacher,
Won’t you marry us please?
Won’t you marry us sir
Our time’s short and sweet”
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7. |
Peace
04:25
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PEACE
Tiny shoes awaiting in the hall
The crowd of smokers taken at the knees
A pounding heart leaps in your mouth
And you can never really rest at ease
You will toss and you will turn
And maybe one day you will learn
That any love that you express
Is just a fraction of the deal
Why would you ever take for granted anything you have
Or imagine grass is greener on the other side
Why would you follow stars when they are right there next to you
In a world of those you could have lost, and those you surely did
It probably takes a life to realise
You could have done things so much better
But regret is just a thief of time
For the conscience of a debtor.
The time is now before it’s done
And actions speak a thousand words
Piece by piece and one by one,
Your peace is there for you to earn.
Why would you ever take for granted anything you have
Or imagine grass is greener on the other side
Why would you follow stars when they are right there next to you
In a world of those you could have lost, and those you surely did
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8. |
Inside
05:01
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INSIDE
From my place inside
I take an aeroplane ride
Take a train to the airport
And a cab the other side
And I bask in the warmth
Of the Corsican sun
Islands outstretched
To the horizon
From my place inside
I travel far and wide
And I drink of the nectar
Like a butterfly
Walk through the cornfield
With the buzzing of bees
To the cool of the forest
And the shade of the trees
Because this is my country
This is my town
This is the street
That I like to walk down
When the strength is within me
And the spirit is strong
And the four walls fall…
Like when I was young
From my place inside
To the high streets and malls
I taste the fine dining
In restored market halls
And I visit the cinema
Three times a week
Where the good people listen
Whenever I speak
From my place inside
I’m prostrate on the lawn
I soak up the sunshine
To nightfall from morn
Daisy chain necklaces
Dandelion wishes
Watching the dragonfly dance
Over reeds and rushes
Because this is my country
This is my town
This is the street
That I like to walk down
When the strength is within me
And the spirit is strong
And the four walls fall…
Like when I was young
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9. |
Woodpeckers
04:23
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WOODPECKERS
The rangers arrived
And had no choice but to take it away
Returning with their ropes and saws
To open up the sky
The cherry had for many years
Rained blossom down among the flowers
But it was strangling the culvert
Which led to its final hour
There were two woodpeckers staring in at me
On the two main branches of the soon to be taken tree
The tree had been condemned
Its roots had breached the drain
Yet there were two woodpeckers staring in at me
The lady of our house had spirited herself away
Like the gentleman who left us near twenty years before.
No sightings on the trees round here back then
They were hammering in the woods but very rarely seen
There were two woodpeckers staring in at me
On the two main branches of the soon to be taken tree
The tree had been condemned
Its roots had breached the drain
Yet there were two woodpeckers staring in at me
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10. |
Our Time
03:44
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OUR TIME
There's a fading light on the horizon
And it will turn to gold with the rising sun
It will turn to rust when the day is over
With the moon rising in the sky
We're tenants of the air we breathe
Custodians of this land
We borrow time from the earth and the sky
And the sun and the moon and the sand
Our place is just a passing phase
In a greater scheme of things
We can theorise and theologise
But we will never change destiny
We're tenants of the air we breathe
Custodians of this land
We borrow time from the earth and the sky
And the sun and the moon and the sand
Our time has come. Our time has come.
This is our time.
Our time has come. Our time has come.
This is our time.
This is our time.
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11. |
Tablets of Stone
06:43
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TABLETS OF STONE
If you’ve a feeling of loss and you’re grieving
I will feel that I’ve done you proud
There’s nothing much left to believe in
As I sit up here on my cloud
Or who knows I may well be burning
In the fiery furnace below
But wherever I am and whatever I’ve done
My love will be with you wherever I go
So to those who embezzle and profit
From misfortunes that others may have
Put a wet finger into a socket
Or drop a live wire in the bath
To the fascists and bullies and rapists
You’ll get your just desserts
From a malignant manifestation
In a place where I know that it hurts
Well this is my Highwayman
This is my War and Peace
This is my Holy Bible
My Tolkein trilogy
This is my Grapes of Wrath
This is a Kampf of Mein
These are my tablets of stone
For those I leave behind…
To the hand wringers and the believers
You know that your time will come
When the depth of remorse goes from ‘very’ to ‘grievous’
You’ll want to run home to your Mum
Deluded, duped and defrauded
Your minds have not been your own
Hoodwinked, swindled and cheated
To fight for your lives all alone
To the disingenuous divas
Who gambled our pensions and savings
Who promised the earth but dished only dirt
Your itching will turn into ravings
Your ravings will turn into madness
And you will start to pick at your skin
With needles and pliers and coat hanger wire
Until you’ve atoned for your sins
Well this is my Highwayman
This is my War and Peace
This is my Holy Bible
My Tolkein trilogy
This is my Grapes of Wrath
This is a Kampf of Mein
These are my tablets of stone
For those I leave behind
If I left you feeling angry
If I ever caused you offence,
My attention was unsatisfactory
Or my rantings just didn’t make sense
Just remember that I was a poor boy
From a big Catholic family
I swore at a teacher, gave a bribe to a priest
And a prison officer came running after me
So to anyone who would mistreat you
May a tsunami come rushing in
Breaking all sides of the sandbank
And leave them to sink or to swim
To the miscreants and liars
May their hearts and minds be cursed
May their brains be invaded by riddles and teasers
May their children be sterile from birth
Well this is my Highwayman
This is my War and Peace
This is my Holy Bible
My Tolkein trilogy
This is my Grapes of Wrath
This is a Kampf of Mein
These are my tablets of stone
For those I leave behind
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John Reed Berwick Upon Tweed, UK
John is a Blackpool born singer-songwriter and radio show host whose songs cover themes of social injustice, environment,
politics, love, & life
Music is never more important than in difficult times. Therefore, all downloads on this site are provided on a "Pay What You Can Afford" (PWYCA) basis. Merchandise is available at the prices stated.
John is also 1/3 of nightsong.bandcamp.com
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