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We Do What We Can 4:080:00/4:08
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Carnival Hornpipe 4:520:00/4:52
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Hounds of Love 4:010:00/4:01
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0:00/3:11
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Ruin Reel 2:440:00/2:44
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Rigs of the Time 5:200:00/5:20
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Seven Bonnie Gypsies 4:310:00/4:31
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Beating the Bounds 4:200:00/4:20
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0:00/3:07
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Rose in June 9:440:00/9:44
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All Hang Down 3:540:00/3:54
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Leviathan 4:130:00/4:13
Last Mile Home (2021)
Along the Old Straight Track
Along the old straight track
The mockingbirds are singing
The briar is snaking out
And the ivy stems are twisting
The earth is warm to the touch
The old clay pits are drying
There’ll be no turning back
Along the old straight track
The new sun burns our skin
The winter pallor is receding
The haze is setting in
And the warming sap is rising
Small insects fill the sky
And the skimming birds are feasting
There’ll be no turning back
Along the old straight track
And oh… we are not strangers to the road
Oh... we do not bear a heavy load
We do not fear what is behind us
We do not fear the storm
We do not fear the quaking
Our hearts are old and torn
We face endings without shaking
Our boots are worn at the heel
And my leather bag is crumbling
But we leave what we lack
Along the old straight track
And oh… the wild dogs follow in our wake
And oh… each sunrise shows which path to take
We drink cold water from the river
Along the old straight track
The mockingbirds are singing
Along the old straight track
Along the old straight track
Into The Garden
Walking in the wasteland
When the world is undone
Won’t you take me by the hand
And come into the garden?
Wading through the columbine
Where the berries ripen
Step out into the sunshine...
Underneath the overpass
Lying in the tall grass
Won’t you take me in your arms again?
For when the sun is beating down
And everything is golden
The city walls have fallen down
So come into the garden
And the green is like an ocean
And the tide is rising
Ivy in the chimney stack
Nature brutalising
Pulling down the high rise
Climbing rose and honeysuckle prising…
open all the city’s pores
And letting in the garden
And the shade is like a memory
Of when the nights were colder
Maybe we are older now
Oh but when the sun is beating down
And everything is golden
Love is opening up your heart again
And letting in the garden
Underneath the overpass
Lying in the tall grass
Won’t you take me in your arms again?
For when the sun is beating down
And everything is golden
Love is opening up your heart again
And letting in the garden
Honeysuckle Halo
Where… where the dunnock and her lover make their nest among the ferny brake
And the yellow swallowtails and tortoiseshells unloose their sails to dive and pirouette
Let’s go hiding in in the tangle of the briar as deep we can get
And oh… you taste like cherry wine
Your lips suspended above mine… with a
Honeysuckle halo
Hazy in the high noon sun
Lying where the lichens grow
Like we lay when we were young
Well… it’s as well that we lie still amongst the shade beneath the burning sun
In a while we’ll travel on and find our way out through the waste when day is nearly done
Walking late into the night on paths where shadows creep and wild things run
But for now… we’ll lie like lovers do
All among the hidden world gazing up at you… and the
Honeysuckle halo
Hazy in the high noon sun
Lying where the lichens grow
Like we lay when we were young
There’s a line upon your cheek, running deep for every winter in the wasteland
There’s a faultline in your heart for every child that went away
And I love you though your eyes are hard and distant as a warrior
And I love the way the shadows play upon your battle scars… and your
Honeysuckle halo
Hazy in the high noon sun
Lying where the lichens grow
Like we lay when we were young
Cinnamon Water
Climb down to the river
Let your heavy burden fall
The sun is in a tyrant blaze
The parched earth to enthral
Take off your leather boots
Your fettered feet unbind
Take off your cloying travel clothes
And from the white earth climb
Into cinnamon water
Through the roots of the willow tree
Deep brooding, slow moving
Cold river close and swallow me
As cold as solitude
As free as come-what-may
So cold it burns into your soul
And takes your breath away
The dust is washed away
Our clouded eyes revive
Breath deep into your aching lungs
And from the lost world dive
Into cinnamon water
Through the roots of the willow tree
Deep oozing, transfusing
Cold river close and swallow me
Dream of the Ocean
How we dreamed of the ocean
When the red earth was cracked and the river ran dry
Under a neon blue sky
Dreamt of cool tidal water
Black mud to paint on our skin and fresh cockles to eat
Where the zephyr blows sweet
We dreamed of spindrift days and
Cool salty breezes
Of white sails on crested waves
Of leaving the wasteland behind
But how they dreamed of the ocean
The children the clung to the stories we’d told
Like a thing they could hold
Like the dream was a promise
Like the promise was waiting around the next bend
Like a seed they could tend
They dreamed to make it real
We dreamed to hide
Their dreams were wounds to be healed by
Leaving us behind
So now we dream of the ocean
And we dream of the children on the other side
Across the water so wide
And we follow their footsteps
Shallow marks in the dust at each turn that we make
Every step that we take
Under the Bough
Under the bough
Under the green leaves lying
Under the sky
There in the deep green hiding
Under the soil
Hark to the new growth forging
Merciless toil
Yield to the catch-weed claiming
Under the bough
Under the bough
Under the bough
Lay My Body Down
I want to lay my body down
I want to let the warm earth hold me
And feel the summer’s heat among the meadowsweet and feverfew
Until the climbing bindweed makes a winding sheet for me and you
Why do we keep fighting on?
Holding back the comfort that is never gone
For it’s growing all around
Why don’t we lay our old bones down
I want to hold you in my arms
And let the world around us fall away
We’ll pledge a lovers’ oath and lie both underneath the spreading bough
And with a ivy twist and hemlock kiss renew our wedding vow
Why do we keep fighting on?
Holding back the comfort that is never gone
For it’s growing all around
Why don’t we lay our old bones down
This is a moment to be glad
This is no time for mindless holding on
Let’s join the summer heat among the meadowsweet and feverfew
And let the climbing bindweed make a winding sheet for me and you
Flash Flood
Red sun, baked earth
Rising through the thick wine of the dream time
Waking on barren turf
Sight clears, the clouds boil
The dust flies into dry eyes then you realise
Soon now the heavens will fall
And the tears of the sky fall warm as any blood
Peace turns to drums, dry earth turns to mud
In the flash flood, torrent sound
Wide eyed and tongue tied as we slip-slide up to the higher ground
In the flash flood, dam break
Heavens are thundering, mountains are crumbling
Somewhere the slumbering earth bones shake
Storm cloud rising
Deep root prising
And the tears of the world fall warm upon my skin
Clouds thundering by like the sky’s caving in
Falling and free like a fountain and felling them all with dead thud
Slicing a wound in the mountain and let it bleed out with the red mud, gash blood…
Flash flood, landslide
The sky is a troubling sight in the thunder-light
This is the night when the wild pack ride
Flash flood, torrent sound
Wide eyed and tongue tied as we slip-slide up to the higher ground
Walking Song
The mistle thrush is in her nest
The swallows throng on the cable wire
Bright phoebe hastens to her rest
And paints the sky with crimson fire
When the day is done and the night comes on
And the evening shades come creeping back
You can find your way at the close of day
Walking on the old straight track
The flowers droop their weary heads
The screech owl calls her hunting cry
From the trees the wild eyes peep
But you and I must walk on by
Come Out Wherever You Are
Come out, come out wherever you are
Running in the shadows
Under the evening star
Dancing in the hollow
We see you in the moonlight flitting
In and out like moth wings beating
Don’t be cautious, don’t you run away
We could make ourselves like shadows
Swap our voices for their echoes
Underneath the leaves where phantoms play
Turning turn and turn about
Come out, come out wherever you are
Running in the shadows
Under the evening star
Dancing in the hollow
All their voices, all their faces
Shrouded in the hallowed places
Flicker in the corner of your eye
Quiet laughter - joy begotten
Out of sight but not forgotten
A ragged dance beneath a starry sky
Turning turn and turn about
Leave your toying, leave your roaming
Leave the shadows, leave the gloaming
Come out where the starlight fills the air
Step into the silent meadow
Catchweed, campion, vetch and yarrow
Now revealed, the secret world laid bare
Turning turn and turn about
Come out, come out wherever you are
Running in the shadows
Under the evening star
Dancing in the hollow
The Path is Winding
The path is winding
The path is winding down
The path is winding down to
The end of the world
The sun is climbing
The sun is climbing up
The sun is climbing up to
The roof of the sky
And if I should close my eyes
Would I see what I want to see?
Would the clouds roll in across the sky
And carry you to me?
And if I should close my eyes
Would it be as I want it to be?
Would time fold in upon itself
And carry you to me?
The cart is rolling
The cart is rolling down
The cart is rolling down till
The axle breaks
The flower is opening
The flower is opening wide
The flower is opening wide till
The petals fall
Last Mile Home
On the last mile home
Where the ocean meets the flat lands
You can hear the low swell moan
On the last mile home
Our home is in the ocean
Or on the far side of the water
Where the laughing children play
When the last birds have flown
I take your arm
When footsteps falter
You take my hand
When I feel that I’m alone
On the last mile home
Where the ocean meets the flat lands
You can hear the low swell moan
On the last mile home
The sunset is behind us
Our shadows in the foreground
The mudflats stretch away
Towards the distant foam
I hear your voice
Like you’re singing to the children
As if you’re really here
As if I’m not alone
On the last mile home
Where the ocean meets the flat lands
You can hear the low swell moan
On the last mile home
On the last mile home
Where the ocean meets the floodplain
You can hear the low swell moan
On the last mile home
Afterglow (2017)
Moths In The Gas Light
People coming, coming from the over-pass
They come running, running through the shattered glass
Under the constellation of Orion
Their feet are beating like a drum
The city swallows the setting sun
The ties that bind come undone
The flames are dancing on the city wall
The sirens call you to the carnival
I’ll see you when the lights come on
At the carnival tonight
Come marching to the siren song
Like moths in the gas light
I’m going to see you again
I know it’s gonna be alright
We’re gonna dance in the flame
Like moths in the gas light
It’s so funny to be walking down this street again
Don’t know how but I know, I know we’re gonna meet again
Under the constellation of Orion
I smell saltpetre in the air
The fumes are clinging to my hair
The silent watchers turn to stare
I don’t know if you really feel the same
I don’t know if you even know my name, but
Ch.
I walk through streets where only dull things are
I’m looking for a neon guiding star
Under the constellation of Orion
I don’t know if you really feel the same
I don’t know if you even know my name
Ch.
Afterglow
High above the city
Sun sinking low
Pinpricks in the darkness
Carnival below
See them caught up in the undertow
The rabble rip tide turning
Iridescent in the afterglow
Down where the barrels are burning
Cloud cover red
Cloud cover blue
Star burst up ahead
Rain down on you
Maybe you're caught up in the undertow
The rabble rip tide turning
Iridescent in the afterglow
Down where the barrels are burning
Running down the hill
Dust in my eyes
Sink down to the city mile
Watch the rabble rise
Now I’m caught up in the undertow
The rabble rip tide turning
Iridescent in the afterglow
Down where the barrels are burning
And they’re burning so bright
As they roll down the city mile
I’m blinded by the light
Drums beating all the while
Now I see the parade
Come marching through
Masked silhouettes come swirling then
I see you
Dancing in the half light
Frozen in time
We reach out across the crowd
Your hand touches mine
But now we’re caught up in the undertow
The rabble rip tide turning
Carried away in the afterglow
Down to where the barrels are burning
Bee Sting
The pageant parade
Is pulling me away
Out into the dark streets
Where the shadows play
I can still see you moving through the chaos unimpaired
But I am still caught up in the moment that we almost shared
But now I am carried by the the swirling crowd
Like flotsam in the stream
The touch of your hand it lingers on my skin
Like the sting of a honey bee
But the night has just begun
Nothing ventured nothing gained
Now that I’ve seen you once I know I’ll see you again
Your eyes were like diamonds
In the celestial crown
Turned Sapphire in the afterglow
Of a star burst raining down
I saw you laughing in the carnival with all your friends
I know this kind of hunger is the kind that never ends
But now I am carried by the the swirling crowd
Like flotsam in the stream
The touch of your hand it lingers on my skin
Like the sting of a honey bee
But the night has just begun
This is what it’s all for
Now that I’ve seen you once I know I’ll see you once more
Yes the night has just begun
The fuse lit by a spark
And now that I’ve found you in the afterglow
I know I can find you in the dark
Wrong Side of Town
Come down Orion
Let your bugle sound
I need something to rely on
Orion won’t you come down
The rats are running down the street
I know I’m on a losing streak
I see the lights I hear the sounds
But I’m always on the wrong side of town
Come down Mira
Put your red dress on
Midnight is getting nearer
I see you clearer
Now that you’re gone
The smoke towers rise all in a row
Shifting in the afterglow
I see the light I hear the sound
But I’m always on the wrong side of town
The sky burns red and blue
The sirens call me to the underpass
All The Stars Are Coming Out Tonight
Though the fog is clinging to the wasteland where the broken factories lie
And the clouds are lined up like an army in a coronation sky
All the stars are coming out tonight
Though the moon is shrouded by the yellow fumes that cover it from sight
And the mist is writhing in the quarter light and frost begins to bite
All the stars are coming out tonight
See Cassiopeia pass –
Orion, Jupiter and Mars and
All the stars are coming out tonight
When the northern skies ignite
I’ll be blinded by the light
Orion, Jupiter and Mars and
All the stars are coming out tonight
Though the wind is howling and the
the warning curfew bells begin to chime
Though the gloom is rising and the Sages promise rain at any time
All the tribes are coming out tonight
Lock your doors and draw your curtains people of the law abiding kind
Come you vagabonds and platinum blondes come rise, come seek and you shall find
All the tribes are coming out tonight
Down to where the darkness slides, where mud and shadow circumscribes
For all the tribes are coming out tonight
When the northern skies ignite
I’ll be blinded by the light
Orion, Jupiter and Mars and
All the stars are coming out tonight
Fires of Midnight
Full moon high above the city mile
So bright the night is hard to reconcile
The drums are still beating
The moments are fleeting and they
Scatter at every turn
But somewhere near the fires of midnight burn
And oh, all that is scattered will return
With the full moon shining clear
And oh, I hear their voices at every turn
Somewhere near the fires of midnight burn
Kerosene scent in the cold night air
Frost glitters in the gas lamp glare
Voices are singling, bells jingling as the
Dancers leap and fall in turn
Somewhere near the fires of midnight burn
And oh, all that is scattered will return
With the full moon shining clear
And oh, I hear their voices at every turn
Somewhere near the fires of midnight burn
Dancing In The Ruin
See them wearing black hoods and sharing stolen cigarettes
Jumping higher across the pyre - flaming silhouettes
Look at them gather round, drinking the liquor down
Raising their voices in harmony
Enter the ring of fire, through the razor wire
Follow the melody
Take a chance don’t you glance back in front of the glorious rabble
Running Wild
God only knows what they are doing
Jumping through the flame
Laughing through the pain
Dancing in the ruin
In the factory the walls in tact but the roof is gone
Stars are shining through twisted pylon statues
Everyone is here
Light up the Catherine wheel, gunpowder rocket squeal
Sending sparks up into the night
Maybe you’re near me now, hear my silent vow
Here in the quarter-light
Feel the rhythm of madness beating the heart of the glorious rabble
Running Wild
God only knows what they are doing
Jumping through the flame
Laughing through the pain
Dancing in the ruin
Running Wild
God only knows what we are doing
Passing in the dark
Catch a falling spark
Dancing in the ruin
Burning Streets
Take my hand
Close your eyes we’ll go
Running through the burning streets
You and me we were
Meant to be here now
Running through the burning streets
I don’t need anything but you
If you’re ready to run
Then I’m ready too
We haven’t got time on our side
So come with me running through the burning streets
We’ll find a place to hide
Leave to world we know
Lets be bold lets go
Running through the burning streets
Cling to what we’ve found
Find the higher ground
Somewhere deep in the burning streets
I don’t need anything but you
If you’re ready to run
Then I’m ready too
We haven’t got time on our side
So come with me running through the burning streets
We’ll find a place to hide
Yellow Lights
Yellow moon, lamp-light haze
Plastic bags, look like flowers growing
In the yellow light
Sirens serenade
Through the broken heights of the cityscape
The world is ours tonight
All bathed in yellow light
Gas lamp flames, dying low
Neon flickering
While the oil drum embers glow
You wear a crown of the Pleiades
Your hair is dancing in the cold night breeze
The world is ours tonight
All bathed in yellow light
Shuttered windows, nailed down door
You find an opening
Where someone has been before
We climb inside of the silent room
Stand side by side in the musty gloom
The walls have closed in tight
Blocking out the yellow light
Tear the chipboard from the mantelpiece
Reveal the fireplace behind
Kindle fire with faded magazines
And all the wood that we can find
And soon the room will fill with yellow light
Yellow light fills the room
Flames are dancing, in the gloom
And now I see you in the ember glow
No time for words no time for games
We dive deep into the undertow
While the world outside goes up in flames
Breathing slows, heart beat calms
The one I love, she is lying in my arms
I touch your hand in the yellow light
You murmur low in the city night
You’re like a star, shining on
Through the dark hours
But in the morning you’ll be gone
We lie so close in the yellow light
Your skin is gold in the the ember light
Bathe in the yellow light
Bathe in the yellow light
Bathe in the yellow light
Till the cold light of the dawn
Aubade
When the dawn begins to creep
And the light begins to peep
And the morning sky lark begins to sing
Just as the day is dawning
I will raise my drowsy head
Climb up from the make-shift bed
That once we shared for a little while
Before the day came dawning
Oh the place is warm where once you lay
Before usurping dawn and prying day
Came to steal my love away
Just as the day was dawning
When the grass is wet with dew
In the pavement peeping through
And the sky is fading grey to blue
Over the red sun rising
I will walk these lonely streets
Out to wear the city meets
The hills that climb high up to the dawn
Under the red sun rising
And now the songbirds sing from every spray
As retreating clouds go skimming on their way
Night time dreams melt into day
Under the red sun rising
And now I turn to watch the brightness grow
Stare into the blinding sun because I know
I’ll see you in the afterglow
Under a red sun rising
Songs From The Floodplain (2009)
We Do What We Can
Reapers in the whitened harvest
Beggar on the hill
Doctor, lawyer, preacher
Swallowing a bitter pill
Pilgrims on the road to glory
Hear the cynic’s drowning cries
Redemption’s dream forsaken
Drifting in the clearing skies
From the fool to the wise man
From the floodplain to the dam
When hard times come knocking
We Do What We Can
Distant figures on the mountain
Whispers on the breeze
False prophet warnings
Heralding our disease
Take the seeds out to the garden
Sow them in the soil
Split the wood we gathered
Happy when we toil
Going Down to the Wasteland
Going down to the wasteland
Going down where the wild dogs go
Where the raven feeds and the blind man leads
And the oil black rivers flow
Going down to the wasteland
When the village is wrapped in sleep
To the broken town where the sirens sound
And oil black shadows creep
Going down through the wild wood
When the evening shadows fall
Prying eyes from the factory
But the night fog covers all
And the old ways hide under bush and briar
And the old walls glisten with razor wire
Hear the beating heart of the fool who seeks the devil’s hand
Going down to the wasteland
Going down where the wild dogs go
Where the raven feeds and the blind man leads
And the oil black rivers flow
Smell the fires of the city
Where dreamers lie like burnt out cars
Try to keep to the shadows
For the wild pack prowl in the underpass
And the mud is thick with ash and oil
Four rivers meet and the waters boil
Hear the beating heart of the fool who seeks the devil’s hand
Going down to the wasteland
When the village is wrapped in sleep
To the broken town where the sirens sound
And oil black shadows creep
Days Gone By
Lying on the motorway this morning
I thought I heard a distant thunder rolling
So I lay so still on the motorway
‘Til the cavalcade come screaming passed
like hell hounds in my ears
It was over in a moment
The wind like a tornado
The sweet perfume of petrol like a lover’s parting kiss
Then I closed my eyes on the motorway
And dreamed about the days gone by, boys
I dreamed about the days gone by
Lying on the motorway this evening
The gypsies came up close while I was sleeping
So quietly down the motorway
Pulling their possessions in the cover of the night
They two had seen the whirlwind
The shining black procession
Screaming passed like Gods ascending through a tarmac sky
So they hid themselves by the motorway
And dreamed about the days gone by, boys
They dreamed about the days gone by
And what were they doing those people from the government?
Burning sacrificial gasoline to keep the dogs at bay?
There are shadows in the hedgerows
And strange lights from the slip roads
So we huddle on the motorway, boys
We huddle on the motorway
Penny for the Preacher
The preacher is there for his children
He will drive the dogs from the wasteland
He remembers things we’ve forgotten
He will lead us to bread and water
Liar, liar, house on fire
Burnt your hands on the funeral pyre
Grief, grief, beggar man thief
Hiding in the water
Think he is a good man
Penny for the preacher
Seems like a good man
Penny for the poor
But these day’s it’s not easy to be sure
Think he is a good man
Penny for the preacher
Hope he is a good man
Penny for the poor
But who can tell a good man from a bad man
When a preacher man comes knocking at your door
There is a path in the darkness
There is a stone in the forest
There is a strength in our weakness
There is a sluice in the flood plane
Liar, liar, house on fire
Burnt your hands on the funeral pyre
Grief, grief, beggar man thief
Hiding in the water
Think he is a good man
Penny for the preacher
Seems like a good man
Penny for the poor
But these day’s it’s not easy to be sure
Think he is a good man
Penny for the preacher
Hope he is a good man
Penny for the poor
But who can tell a good man from a bad man
When a preacher man comes knocking at your door
Dancing in the Factory
The news was on the church house door and all over the valley
A storm cloud brewing in the east and wild fire in the cities
And all night long the hammers rang
And those who could were leaving
And those who stayed have gone to ground
And talk is harsh and fleeting
And all that I can think about is wood smoke in the valley
Kisses in the fall-out shelter, dancing in the factory
That closed so long ago, and no-one ever goes there now
We cling to words like children and seek for hidden meaning
Long after sense has ceased to be and reason is receding
But words have torn this world apart
And left us stooped and pleading
We shovel dust and hide our hope
And wrap ourselves in dreaming
And all that I can think about is wood smoke in the valley
Kisses in the fall-out shelter, dancing in the factory
That closed so long ago, and no-one ever goes there now
Tonight the curfew bells ring out across the shrouded valley
And all the candles flicker out and shadows claim their quarry
But I will take the blackthorn path across the parish boundary
Where ivy and barbed wire entwine and leaves fall all around me
And maybe I will catch the scent of wood smoke in the valley
Find kisses in the fallout shelter, dancing in the factory
That closed so long ago, and no-one ever goes there now
Beating the Bounds
Dressed up in our Sunday best
Canon Davis leads the rest
Like last year and the year before
Who remembers what it’s for?
But the solemn march proceeds
Over pavements over-grown with weeds
And everybody’s Sunday best
Has seen better days to say the least
The mayor’s robes are torn and creased
And Abraham Brown is whistling Brittania
Pleasantries are much the same
So many years so little change
And no-one thinks to question why
And no-one looks you in the eye
Passed the long neglected cars
Rusting in suburban yards
Wearing ceremonial frowns
Round the village up and down
Bless the people, beat the bounds
While Abraham Brown is whistling Brittania
Pause a while by Nine Elms Reach
For Ahab Smith to make his speech
Fuel the hatred, stoke the fear
Same as he does every year
But then a different voice descends from
A rusted old Mercedes Benz
A ragged girl of twenty-one
Sits laughing in the winter sun
And we’re the figures of her fun
And Abraham Brown is whistling Brittania
Sat behind the broken wheel
Soft-top gone nothing left to steel
Broken shades upon her eyes
Oblivious to cloudy skies
Laughing at her own regrets
Smoking homemade cigarettes
One man’s parade is another’s farce
The emperor’s clothes revealed at last
Our innocence like Eve’s has passed
And Abraham Brown is whistling Brittania
The pride of man’s a brutal thing
And fragile as an insect’s wing
The bubble burst, the march resumed
Half muttered outrage salves the wound
And as we leave I turn to see
The scourge of our society
Crowned in her audacity
The wielder of cruel mockery
I think she maybe smiled at me
While Abraham Brown was whistling Brittania
The Pilgrim’s Way
Up beyond the bypass
Overgrown with weeds
Across the moor and thorny dale
The forgotten footpath leads
Ancient willows snarled and bent
The metallic scent of rich decay
Through alder glade and mossy bank
The silent pilgrim makes his way
For where the briar is knotted hard
And elm and ash the old ways guard
There his lover’s bower is found
Where starlight flecks the cold, cold ground
April Queen
Sweet wrappers in the whirlpool
Plastic gems in dappled light
Cellophane like precious pearls
Aluminium shining bright
Trinkets I bring to my sweetheart
Among the leaves so green
Build her a throne like a magpie’s nest
Crown her the April queen
Plastic bags in green and gold
Coiled around the willow roots
Broken glass that shines like fire
Rusted cans and leather boots
Dressed in rags and shining things
Dystopian eyes and vagabond lips
Tin foil braids and plastic rings
With thimbles on her fingertips
When The Walls Come Tumbling Down
Black crow sitting on a dry stone wall
Wondering just how far we’ll fall
Make or break too close to call
When the walls come tumbling down
Scarecrow standing in a flooded field
He won’t beg and he won’t yield
Make or break his fate is sealed
When the walls come tumbling down
When the walls come down
When the sirens sound
When the walls come tumbling down
Don’t you hear the beggars knock
See the preacher tend his flock
Key is turning in the lock
As the walls come tumbling down
When the walls come down
When the sirens sound
When the walls come tumbling down
Down, down, when the walls come tumbling down
Don’t Wake Me Up ‘til Tomorrow
Don’t wake me up the blind man cries
Spare me your prophesies and your school boy lies
I can see well enough when I close my eyes
Don’t wake me up ‘til tomorrow
For I have dreamed a thousand dreams
And seen a thousand sorrows
Don’t wake me up ‘til the grey cock crows
Don’t wake me up ‘til tomorrow
The preacher’s men were back last night
New sermons on the common
And Sarah James’s only son
Has left to join their summoning
I saw her kiss her boy goodbye
The villagers all standing by
To watch the child they never new departing
And the leaves are turning brown again
And whitethorn blossoms on the lane
And everywhere the quiet shame
Of hopelessness is dawning
For I have dreamed a thousand dreams
And seen a thousand sorrows
Don’t wake me up ‘til the grey cock crows
Don’t wake me up ‘til tomorrow
From Bramwell down to Blind Man’s Copse
And in the fields above us
The earth is flecked with grey and white
Paper blossom in the coppice
And here and there the books still burn
The fire consumes, the pages turn
We strive like Titans to unlearn
And dream of winter’s solace
For I have dreamed a thousand dreams
And seen a thousand sorrows
Don’t wake me up ‘til the grey cock crows
Don’t wake me up ‘til tomorrow
Don’t wake us up the sinners say
Don’t take these foolish dreams away
There’ll be time enough come judgement day
Don’t wake us up ‘til tomorrow
Under Their Breath
The flowers in the valley all bloomed today as one
And the people of the parish woke to find
That summer was out walking like he’d never been away
And all the world was in a joyful mind
And the sun in the valley was golden
And the people on the road were
Singing under their breath
Songs of sadness
But singing nonetheless they were
Singing under their breath
Songs they had forgotten long ago
The old walls of the factory came tumbling down today
And the children of the valley went to see
And old men stood pondering and folks began to talk
Of what had been, and is, and is to be
And the sun through the ruins was golden
And the people of the valley were
Dreaming under their breath
Only modest dreams
But dreaming nonetheless the were
Dreaming under their breath
Dreams they had forgotten long ago
Many fires on the hillside were lit last night
And the hearts of men were all blazing at the sight
All manner of things were thrown upon the pyre
We watched them burn ‘til dawn
And the children of the morning were
Grieving under their breath
Not forgetting
But maybe letting go a little
Grieving under their breath
For things that they had lost so long ago
Has Been Cavalry
I cut the grass again today
The diesel’s getting low
I don’t know how much longer it will last
And I could hear the neighbours say
It would serve him right to get a visit from the government, oh
But I don’t see things their way
And I won’t play along with the games they’re playing
‘Cause you see one flood and you’ve seen them all
They’re not all that they’re dressed up to be
They strut their feathers in the dust bowl parade
Then they line up in the has been cavalry
I went to church again today
The preacher was welcoming
I smiled through my disbelief and prayed
And I watched my words soar heaven-bound
And a light was growing in my eyes
Bute you see one God and you’ve seen them all
They’re not all that they’re dressed up to be
They strut their feathers in the dust bowl parade
Then they line up in the has been cavalry
I met a pretty girl today
She said she was an angel
But I know she is the gypsy’s daughter
She said we could run away
Run into the wasteland
Find the places where no one ever goes
And her eyes they shone like forest fire
And the dogs were running in the wasteland
But you see one love and you’ve seen them all
They’re not all that they’re dressed up to be
They strut their feathers in the dust bowl parade
Then they line up in the has been cavalry
And the rain is coming down
Making silver ribbons on the sodden ground
People say you can see blood in the puddles
Blood in the puddles
But I just see the rain
I only see the rain
‘Cause you see one flood and you’ve seen them all
They’re not all that they’re dressed up to be
They strut their feathers in the dust bowl parade
Then they line up in the has been cavalry