1. |
Castle on the Hill
04:23
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Smoke rises from a fresh lit fire
And billows around the chimney pots
As I come around the corner
The sun hurts my eyes this evening
And it’s calling me far, far beyond
The Castle on the hill.
Oh to be home, wrapped in the warmth of the breeze
Welcomed with open fields
And comfort from the trees
Can you hear the distant cry
Of a Curlew in the sky
Oh how I dreamed, I had wings to fly.
Ooh…..
Yeah…..Ahh…..
There’s a string in my heart, and it’s pulling me along this road
The nearer I get to home,
The lighter the load
And it takes me past the Castle gates
That lead to nowhere
I turn my head around, a sigh escapes, I wish to go there.
I wish to go there.
Ooh…..
Yeah…..Laaa…..ahh…..
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2. |
The Boathouse
03:58
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Eyes of Ice and Fire
Blue and Gold
Like the Sea
Part of me
Piercing shards of light
Dart o’er the waves
Bold and breezy
Fall to our knees
And you say to me
Well “it’s not quite Gran Canaria Mum
It’s cloudy and it’s wet and there’s not much sun
The howling wind whips the skin off my face
I’ll walk in your shadow
Til a calmer place"
“It’s the cold harsh winds from the North you feel
Biting at your back, nipping your heel
But we’ll keep on striding out down the shore
For there’s shelter at the Boathouse
While outside the ocean roars”
Starfish fate
Sealed as bait
Sharp surprise
Seagulls cry
Dashing through a glade
Fairy made
Unseen magic
Don’t try to catch it
And you say to me
Well “it’s not quite Gran Canaria Mum
It’s cloudy and it’s wet and there’s not much sun
The howling wind whips the skin off my face
I’ll walk in your shadow
Til a calmer place”
“It’s the cold harsh winds from the North you feel
Biting at your back, nipping your heel
But we’ll keep on striding out down the shore
For there’s shelter at the Boathouse
While outside the ocean roars"
Ocean roars
La da da di da di da daa Ahhh……
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3. |
Little Boy Blue
04:25
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Little Boy Blue
Mummy, just don’t know what to do
Come with me
Your life your heart in my hand
This boat will carry you
This boat will carry you home
Little Boy Blue
Every little boy is You
Every child
Breaks my heart in two
This boat will carry you
This boat will carry you home
Mighty waves
Turned so cruel
Your Holy Saviour
Your creator too
This boat won’t carry you
This boat won’t carry you home
Little Boy Blue
Laid on the sand
All for the lack of an
Outstretched hand
This boat can’t carry you
This boat can’t carry you
This boat can’t carry you
This boat can’t carry you home
Will you wake him?
No not I, if I do he’s sure to cry
Will you wake him?
No not I, if I do he’s sure to cry
If I do he’s sure to cry
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4. |
Shipyard Fairy
02:52
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O’ say, little stranger and who may you be?
Are you from the river or in from the sea?
I have seen you most often so solemn and grave
Come creeping up here on the crest of a wave
In your bonnet of white and your cloak of pea green
And the diamonds that fall from your garments just stream
At our feet in a cluster then vanish at sight
Like the lamps on the gantry that peep out at night
Laaa ahhhhh…..
Ooh…..Ooh…..
Come here little stranger there’s nothing to fear
From the men on the ships for they hold you most dear
You comfort and feed them their children and wives
And you hold in your lap all their fortune and lives
Laaa ahhhhh…..
Ooh…..Ooh…..
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5. |
Little Bird
02:42
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Arriving in the Autumn with the Wren, and the Moon
Awaken with the dawning of the day, I’ll be there soon
I feel the need to kneel down and pray, for you
I don’t know what it is I’ll even say, or to whom
Little Bird
You fly so high
Your wings so small
And stretched out wide
Little Bird your heart is full
Beware of gravity’s pull
Build your strength and rise up tall
Or to the ground you’ll fall
The silent white Barn Owl floats, across the sky
The heart of his face like a ghost, caught my eye
Arriving without warning from the deep, made you cry
A gift from the God’s for you to keep, ask them why
Little Bird
You fly so high
Your wings so small
And stretched out wide
Little Bird your heart is full
Beware of gravity’s pull
Build your strength and rise up tall
Or to the ground you’ll fall
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6. |
Treasure
02:37
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Half way to becoming sand
Clutched in your tiny hand
Rushed around by the restless sea
The rolling years, so smoothly
Forever in your pocket
Held tightly now, don’t drop it
So perfectly you caught it
Between the rubble and the glitter
The longing and the bitterness
Quiffs of steam from the cooling towers
Designer hair for the cloud men
The east wind wildly westward blowing
Finds a scene, where no-one knows what to say
Move away from the ricochet
Wild West and banjo’s they kneel to pray
The image now becomes unravelled
Like a knitted bikini, you caught on a shell
I know you so well
Ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh
Forever in your pocket
Held tightly now, don’t drop it
So perfectly you caught it
Between the rubble and the glitter
The longing and the bitterness
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7. |
Magdalene Laundries
03:49
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I was an unmarried girl
Just turned twenty - seven
When they sent me to the sisters
For the way men looked at me
Branded as a Jezebel
I knew I was not bound for Heaven
I’d be cast in shame
Into the Magdalene laundries
Most girls got here pregnant
Some by their own fathers
Bridget got that belly by her parish priest
We’re trying to wash things as white as snow
All of us woe-begotten-daughters
In the streaming stains
Of the Magdalene laundries
Prostitutes and destitutes
And temptresses like me
Fallen women sentenced
Into dreamless drudgery
Why do they call this heartless place
Our Lady of Charity?
Oh, charity
These bloodless brides of Jesus
If they had just once glimpsed their groom
They’d drop the stones concealed
Behind their rosaries
They wilt the grass they walk upon
They leech the light out of a room
They’d like to drive us down the drains
Of the Magdalene laundries
Peg O’Connell died today
She was a cheeky girl, a flirt
They just stuffed her in a hole
Surely to God you’d think at least
Some bells should ring!
One day I’m going to die here too
And they’ll plant me in the dirt like some lame bulb
Never to bloom
When the Spring time comes
Spring time comes
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8. |
No Roses
04:26
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When I am dead, my dearest
Sing no sad songs for me
Plant thou no roses at me head
Nor shady Cyprus tree
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dew drops wet
And if thou wilt remember
If thou wilt remember
If thou wilt remember
And if thou wilt forget
I shall not see the sunrise
I shall not feel the rain
I shall not hear the Nightingale
Sing on as if in pain
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise or set
Happily I remember
Happily I will remember
Happily I will remember
And happily may forget
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9. |
Three Stags'
03:25
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Old Harry Wardlow sharpens his hunting knife
By the smoking fire in the corner
He stares right through me as though I might fear for my life
And takes a sip from his half pint of porter
The Landlord comes and drinks with him almost every night
There’s poached grouse and squirrel on the menu
Both these old men their eyes burning bright
It’s only to us they pretend to
In a place on the high road
Across from Gibbet Rock
In an old public house
Where the Landlord says “fuck off”
If you dare to order a lager
His Longbow makes it clear
Order a pint of dark strong ale
Or Harry Wardlow will scare you from here
It used to be the punishment here and you would be hanged
If they thought you a witch or an unmarried mother
The Crow’s would peck out the eye’s and heart till the wind slipped between the bones
Rattling on the Gibbet stick bright white and bleached quite clean
There’s a place on the high road
They call the Three Stags’ pub
Where the Landlord makes pots by day
And serves up poached grub
If you dare to mention politics or make funny remark
Harry Wardlow sharpens his hunting knife
And you know it’s time for you to depart
Ahhhh ahhhh ahhhh
Ahhhh ahhhh ahhhh
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10. |
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In the vale of contemplation
Through the mountain rains
Memories are made here
By the languishing lake
Emerald green star moss
Softly goes the breeze
Held within the forest
Brings me to my knees
Are you ready for adventure
O’er the hills and down to the sea
Always carry me with you
Forever we will be
Feel the darkness of Autumn
Beaming down the Hunters Moon
Heavy, hanging golden
I dream you back soon
Emerald green star moss
Softly goes the breeze
Held within the forest
Brings me to my knees
In the vale of contemplation
Through the mountain rains
Promises are made here
By the languishing lake
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