words without music

Milim

2010-05-30T02:16:00.006+01:00

Words by NOAM HOREV
Music by TOMER ADADDI
Released as a single by HAREL SKAAT(2010)

Israel's entry for Eurovision 2010 in Oslo, Norway. An English translation, provided by Eurovision, is below the Hebrew lyrics.

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שוב העצב כאן
שוב הפחד קם
והסוף נרקם
בחלוני
זגוגית סדוקה
ושוב שתיקה
מותשת וזרוקה
בדמיוני
האור נרדם
דמעות של דם
שורפות לי בגרון
ידית שרוטה
תקרה שמוטה
כשאני שר לך את השיר האחרון

השארת לי רק מילים
מקלט בין הצללים
ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים
השארת לי רק מילים
זר של מנעולים
אלוהים, השארת לי רק מילים

קירות שותקים עכשיו
ומה לקחת כשברחת
כן, מה לקחת
במלחמה הזאת אולי ניצחת
ומה נשאר לי כשהלכת?

השארת לי רק מילים
מקלט בין הצללים
ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים
השארת לי רק מילים
זר של מנעולים
אלוהים, השארת לי רק מילים

וגם לקרח קר
כשאני נזכר
איך את היום מולו
מוארת בצילו
נשברת בשבילו
את המילים שהשארת לי
את עכשיו אומרת לו

once again the sadness is here
again fear has risen
and the end is at my window
cracked glass, silence again and
exhausted and cast aside
in my mind
the light fell asleep, tears of blood
burning my throat
scratched handle ,fallen ceiling
when singing to you the last song

you left me only words
Refuge in the shadows
arranged books
and in between the rooms
you left me only words
and a bouquet of locks
god
you left me only words

the walls are silent now
and what did you take
when you ran away
yes, what did you take
you might have won this war
what is left when you are gone?

you left me only words
Refuge between the shadows
arranged books
and in between the rooms
you left me only words
locks bouquet
god
you left me only words

to the ice is also cold
When I remember
how today you are in front of him
Lightning in his shadow
Breaking for him
the words you left me
You are telling him

Algo Pequeñito

2010-05-29T15:26:00.004+01:00

Words and music by: JESÚS CAÑADILLA, LUIS MIGUEL DE LA VARGA,
ALBERTO JODAR, DANIEL DIGES
Released as a single by DANIEL DIGES (2010)

Click here to return to Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: Eurovision Awaits

This song, whose title means Something Tiny is one of my two picks to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo tonight, my other pick being the Nederlands' entry. The English translation, from Spain's page on the Eurovisions Song Contest Oslo 2012 website, is underneath the Spanish words.

Algo pequeñito, algo chiquitito
Una rosa blanca, una caricia,
un beso dulce y un perdón.

Algo pequeñito, algo chiquitito,
un gesto tierno, una mirada,
un abrazo, una flor.

Algo pequeñito, algo chiquitito,
un simple te quiero con dulzura
uon cariño y con pasión.

Es lo que te pido amor,
Mi vida se derrumba, me partes el corazón
Trata pronto de cambiar,
El tiempo se termina ahora de verdad

Algo pequeñito, oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito, oh oh oh ooooh
Cosas simples que ahora no me das,
que te pido con locura si no quieres terminar.
Algo pequeñito oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito oh oh oh ooooh
En tus manos tienes la ocasión,
hoy decides si quererme
o romperme el corazón.

Algo pequeñito, algo muy bonito,
Tu pelo al viento que se enreda entre mis manos al calor.

Has sabido comprender
que las pequeñas cosas son las que hacen esto arder.
Ahora trata de cambiar,
El resto de las cosas ya se arreglarán

Algo pequeñito oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito oh oh oh ooooh
Cosas simples que ahora sí me das,
Que te quiero con locura y siempre yo te voy a amar.
Algo pequeñito oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito oh oh oh ooooh
En tus manos tienes la ocasión
decidiste tú quererme y no romperme el corazón
no romperme el corazón

Algo pequeñito oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito oh oh oh ooooh
Cosas simples que ahora no me das
que te pido con locura si no quieres terminar.
Algo pequeñito oh oh oh ooooh
Algo chiquitito oh oh oh ooooh
En tus manos tienes la ocasión
Tú decides si quererme o romperme el corazón.

SOMETHING TINY

Something tiny
Something really little
A white rose, a caress
A sweet kiss and an apology

Something tiny
Something really little
A tender gesture, a look
An embrace, a flower.

Something tiny
Something really little
A simple “I love you” with sweetness,
with affection andwith passion.

That’s all I ask you, my love
My life is falling apart, you’re breaking my heart
Try to change soon
Time is really running out now.

Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
Simple things that you’re not giving me now
I´m asking you for like crazy, if you don’t want it to end
Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
The choice is in your hands
Today you decide whether to love me
Or to break my heart

Something tiny
something really pretty
Your wind-blown hair entwined in the warmth of my hands
You managed to understand
That it’s the small things that keep this fire alive
Now, try to change,
The rest will sort itself out

Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
The simple things that now you are giving me
I love you like crazy and will always love you
Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
The choice is in your hands
You decided to love me and not to break my heart,
Not to break my heart

Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
Simple things that you’re not giving me now
I´m asking you for like crazy, if you don’t want it to end
Something tiny, oh oh oh ooooh
Something really little, oh oh oh ooooh
The choice is in your hands
Today you decide whether to love me
Or to break my heart

Ik Ben Verliefd

2010-05-29T15:04:00.005+01:00

Words and music by PIERRE KARTNER
Released as a single by SIENEKE (2010)

Click here to return to Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: Eurovision Awaits

This is the Netherlands' entry for the Eurovision Song contest 2010, which is one of my two favourites to win, the other being the Spanish enty. Translation from the Netherlands' Eurovision Song Contest Olso 2010 page below the Dutch words.

'K ben vergeten waar ik dit liedje heb gehoord in de zomerzon
Ik geloof dat 't toen daar met jou op 't strand was in Lissabon
Of was 't daar toen in Parijs
Achter 'n coupe vers mokka ijs
'T kan ook zijn dat 't was met z'n twee boven zee in die luchtballon

Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala 't gaat niet uit m'n kop
Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala ik sta d'r 's morgens mee op
Ik ben verliefd op jou
Daarom vergeet ik alles gauw
En weet ik 't niet meer
Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala zo gaat 't ongeveer

Ik ben verliefd ik ben verliefd
Ik ben verliefd.........dat kun je zo zien

'T kan ook zijn dat ik samen met jou in 't vliegtuig naar Oslo zat
Of kwam 't uit 'n cafe in zo'n straatje we waren in Trinidad
Of was 't met 'n goed glas wijn op dat terrasje in Berlijn
Of was 't Moskou waar ik mijn eerste kus van jou heb gehad

Hoe kan ik dat... Hoe kan ik dat
Hoe kan ik dat... Hoe kan ik dat
Hoe kan ik dat nou vergeten

Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala 't gaat niet uit m'n kop
Shalalie shalala Shalalie shalala
ik sta d'r 's morgens mee op
Ik ben verliefd op jou
Daarom vergeet ik alles gauw
En weet ik 't niet meer
Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala zo gaat 't ongeveer

Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala 't gaat niet uit m'n kop
Shalalie shalala Shalalie shalala
ik sta d'r 's morgens mee op
Ik ben verliefd op jou
Daarom vergeet ik alles gauw
En weet ik 't niet meer
Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala zo gaat 't ongeveer
Shalalie shalala
Shalalie shalala ja ik weet 't alweer....!

I’M IN LOVE (SHA-LA-LIE)

I’ve forgotten where I heard this song in the summer sun,
I believe it was with you there on the beach in Lisabon
Or was it there that time in Paris,
With a bowl of fresh mocha ice cream
Or could it have been with the two of us over the sea in that hot-air balloon

Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, I can’t get it out of my head
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala it’s there when I get up in the morning
I’m in love with you
That’s why I soon forget everything
And I don’t remember
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, that’s about how it goes

I’m in love, I’m in love
I’m in love ……..it easily shows

It’s also quite possible that I was on a plane to Oslo with you
Or was it coming from a bar in this alley when we where in Trinidad
Or with a fine glass of wine on that little terrace in Berlin
Or was it Moscon where I got my first kiss from you

How come I... How come I
How come I How come I
How come I don’t remember

Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, I can’t get it out of my head
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala it’s there when I get up in the morning
I’m in love with you
That’s why I soon forget everything
And I don’t remember
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, that’s about how it goes

Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, I can’t get it out of my head
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala it’s there when I get up in the morning
I’m in love with you
That’s why I soon forget everything
And I don’t remember
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala, that’s about how it goes
Shalalie Shalala
Shalalie Shalala Yes, I remember now! …..!

Celebrate Earth Day (Every Day)

2010-04-22T23:06:00.001+01:00

words and music by JOHN DENVER
from the 1990 album Earth Songs

Celebrate morning
The cry of a loon on a lake in the night
the dreams that are born in the
dawn's early light
Celebrate morning

Celebrate living
The laughter that sings in the heart of a child
The freedom that flies at the call of the wild
Celebrate living

Celebrate evening
The stars that appear in the loss of the sun
Whispering winds, "We are
one, we are one"...

Celebrate earth Day, every day
Celebrate earth Day, every day
Celebrate land and sea
Celebrate you and me

Celebrate earth Day, every day
Celebrate land and sea
Celebrate you and me
Celebrate earth Day, every day,
every day, every day, every day

Plaisir d'Amour

2010-01-10T02:17:00.003Z

Words by JEAN DE FLORIAN
Music by JEAN PAUL EGIDE MARTINI

This was written in 1780 by Jean Paul Egide Martini, using a poem from Jean de Florian's Célestine. The melody would be resurrected in 1961 when songwriters George Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatori used Martini's music for Can't Help Falling in Love, which appeared in the King's film Blue Hawaii and proved an enduring hit in its own right. (English translation below.)

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

J'ai tout quitté pour l'ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte et prend un autre aimant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,

Je t'aimerai me répétait Sylvie.
L'eau coule encore. Elle a changé pourtant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

Translation:

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.

I gave up everything for ungrateful Sylvia,
She is leaving me for another lover.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.

"As long as this water will run gently
Towards this brook which borders the meadow,

I will love you", Sylvia would tell me.
The water still runs, but she has totally changed.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.

Les Grognards

2009-11-22T03:30:00.003Z

Sung by EDITH PIAF

Les Grognards were a regiment created by Napoleon, essentially a special forces operation, from which we get the term "the old guard". This is Edith Piaf's song about the Old Guard's ghosts marching at night through Paris, which they never had a chance to visit when they were alive. I'd love it if anybody could give me details of songwriting credits. An English translation is below the song.

Return to Tales from a Draughty Old Fen

Écoute peuple de Paris
Tu n’as pas la fièvre
Écoute ces pas qui marchent dans la nuit
Qui s’approchent de ton rêve
Tu vois des ombres qui forment une fresque
Gigantesque accrochée dans ton ciel
Écoute, peuple de Paris
Regarde peuple de Paris ces ombres éternelles
Qui défilent en chantant sous ton ciel

Nous les grognards, les grenadiers
Sans grenades, sans fusils, ni souliers
Sans ennemis et sans armée
On s’ennuie dans la nuit du passé
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers
Sans grenades, sans fusils, ni souliers
Ce soir nous allons défiler
Au milieu de vos Champs-Elysées
Wagram, Iéna, Eylau, Arcole, Marengo…
Ça sonne bien
Quelles jolies batailles
Tout ce travail
C’était pas pour rien
Puisque les noms de rues
Les noms d’avenues
Où vous marchez
C’est avec le sang
De nos vingt ans
Qu’on les a gravés
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers
Sans grenades, sans fusils, ni souliers
Sans ennemis et sans armée
On s’ennuie dans la nuit du passé
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers
On est morts sur des champs étrangers
On a visité la Russie
Mais jamais nous n’avons vu Paris
On n’a pas eu le temps
D’avoir un printemps
Qui nous sourit
Nos pauvres amours
Duraient un jour
Au revoir et merci
Roulez, roulez tambours
Dans le petit jour
On s’en allait
Au son du clairon

Et du canon
Notre vie dansait
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers
On nous a oubliés, oubliés…
Depuis le temps de nos combats
Il y a eu tant et tant de soldats
Mais cette nuit vous nous verrez
Sans grenades, sans fusils, ni souliers
Défiler au pas cadencé
Au milieu de vos Champs-Elysées
Sans grenades…
Sans fusils…
Ni souliers…
A Paris…

Translation

Listen, people of Paris,
You're complacent
Listen to those footsteps marching in the night
That come to you in your dreams.
Do you see the shadows forming a gigantic fresco
hanging from the sky?
Listen, people of Paris
Listen, people of Paris to those eternal shades
Who sing as they pass under your skies!

We are les Grognards, grenadiers
Without grenades, rifles or boots
With neither enemies nor army
Turned grey in the night of the past.
We are les Grognards, grenadiers
Without grenades, rifles or boots
Tonight we're going to march
To the heart of your Champs Elysées.
Wagram, Iéna, Eylau, Arcole, Marengo…
It sounds impressive,
Those fine battles
All our work
Was for nothing.
Because the names of your streets
And avenues
Were written with our blood
Engraved on our twenty years
We are les Grognards, grenadiers
Without grenades, rifles or boots
With neither enemies nor army
Turned grey in the night of the past.
We are les Grognards, grenadiers,
dead on foreign fields.
We visited Russia
But never saw Paris.
We never had time
To have a spring
To smile in.
Our feeble loves
Lasted a day
So thank you and goodbye.
Roll, drums, roll
In the short day
When we followed the bugle's call.

And to the cannon
Our lives danced to.
We are les Grognards, grenadiers,
And you have forgotten us, forgotten us.
Solider after soldier has fallen
Since the time of our battles
But you will see us tonight
Without grenades, rifles or boots,
Marching in time
To the heart of your Champs Elysées
Without grenades...
Without rifles...
Without boots...
To Paris...

Return to Tales from a Draughty Old Fen

Out in the Street

2009-10-27T02:04:00.003Z

Performed by THE SHANGRI-LAS
REleased as a single in 1965
And by BLONDIE in 1976

Return to: Tales from a Draughty Old Fen

I can't find attributions for this song, but will try to. It demonstrates the difficulty of trying to get "off the streets" once you've been on them.

He don't, hang around, with the gang no more.
He don't do the wild things that he did before.

He used to act bad, Used to, but he quit it.
It make me so sad.
Cause I know that he did it for me.
(Yes he did now)
And I can see...(It's still in the streets)
His heart, out in the street.

(He don't, comb his hair, like he did before
He don't wear those dirty old black boots no more.)

But he's not the same, Somethin' about his kissin'
That tells me he's changed.
I know that something's missing inside.
(mumble mumble)
Somethin's died...(It's still in the streets)
His heart, out in the street.

He grew up on the sidewalk.
Streetlight shinin' above.
He grew up with no-one to love.
He grew up on the sidewalk.
He grew up running free.
He grew up and then he met me..

He don't, hang around, with the gang no more.
Gee, he doesn't smile like he did before.

I wish I didn't care.
I wish I'd never met him.
They're waitin' downstairs.
I know I've got to set him free
He's gotta' be... (Out in the street)
His heart is out in the street.

He don't hang around with the gang no more.
(Out in the street)
He don't hang around with the gang no more.
(Out in the street)
He don't hang around with the gang no more.
(Out in the street)

Return to: Tales from a Draughty Old Fen

Once in a Lifetime

2009-10-04T01:39:00.002+01:00

This song was written by my mother in New York in the early '60s.

Once in a lifetime we make a mistake
One that causes real heartbreak
It's then that we feel, all the sorrow and pain,
And wish that we could turn the clock back again.

Once in a lifetime, we do a great wrong
To someone who loves us sincerely.
We think we are clever, but only headstrong
And too late, we see things quite clearly.

So once in a lifetime, heed the advice
From the one, in whose hearts we are dear.
For that big mistake we pay a terrible price
In emptiness, loneliness and fear.

Fairytale

2009-05-17T00:00:00.004+01:00

Words and music by ALEXANDER RYBAK
Winner of the EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2009

Click to go to Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: Eurovision 2009

Congratulations to Alexander Rybak from Norway, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in Russia with this song, and after years of frustration about voting for countries in one's own back yard shares the prize with the night's other big winner - the music!

Years ago, when I was younger
I kinda liked a girl I knew
She was mine and we were sweethearts
That was then, but then it's true

I'm in love with a fairytale
Even though it hurts
'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind
I'm already cursed

Every day we started fighting
Every night we fell in love
No one else could make me sadder
But no one else could lift me high above

I don't know what I was doing
When suddenly, we fell apart
Nowadays, I cannot find her
But when I do, we'll get a brand new start

I'm in love with a fairytale
Even though it hurts
'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind
I'm already cursed

She's a fairytale, yeah...
Even though it hurts
'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind
I'm already cursed

Taxman

2009-04-23T22:54:00.003+01:00

Words and music by
GOERGE HARRISON
From the 1966 Beatles album REVOLVER

With the reintroduction of high taxes for higher earners, this song has been on the minds of many

Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'cause I'm the taxman,
yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'cause I'm the taxman,
yeah, I'm the taxman

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Taxman

'Cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman

Don't ask me what I want it for (ha ha Mr. Wilson)
If you don't want to pay some more (ha ha Mr. Heath)
'cause I'm the taxman,
yeah, I'm the taxman

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'cause I'm the taxman,
yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me

Those were the days of our lives

2009-03-06T23:16:00.003Z

Words by FREDDY MERCURY/QUEEN
Music by QUEEN
From the 1991 album INNUENDO

Freddy Mercury, famously "gay as a daffodil", seems to reflect in this song, recorded in his dying days, about the possibility of living life vicariously "through your kids". Regrets about straying from his long-term relationship with Mary Austin?

Sometimes I get the feelin'
I was back in the old days - long ago
When we were kids. when we were young.
Things seemed so perfect - you know,
The days were endless, we were crazy we were young.
The sun was always shinin' - we just lived for fun,
Sometimes it seems like lately - I just don't know
The rest of my life's been just a show,

Those were the days of our lives,
The bad things in life were so few,
Those days are all gone now but one thing is true,
When I look and I find I still love you.

You can't turn back the clock you can't turn back the tide -
Ain't that a shame!
I'd like to go back one time on a roller coaster ride,
When life was just a game,
No use in sitting and thinkin' on what you did,
When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids.
Sometimes it seems like lately - I just don't know,
Better sit back and go with the flow.

Cos these are the days of our lives,
They've flown in the swiftness of time,
These days are all gone now but some things remain,
When I look and I find no change.

Those were the days of our lives - yeah,
The bad things in life were so few.
Those days are all gone now but one thing's still true,
When I look and I find,
I still love you.

I still love you.

we are the world

2009-02-21T21:52:00.002Z

WORDS and MUSIC by
MICHAEL JACKSON and LIONEL RICHIE
Released as a single in 1985

This song was released in the run-up to the 1985 Band-Aid concert by USA [United Singers of America] for Africa. As good as the intentions of the organisers were, the money raised by this and the Band-Aid concert was largely diverted into the hands of the warlords who had exacerbated the famine in the Ethiopian region of Tigray in the first place (see post below)

There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretneding day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

do they know it's Christmas?

2009-02-21T21:31:00.004Z

WORDS and MUSIC by
BOB GELDOF and MIDGE URE
Released as a single in 1984
and twice subsequently

The ultimate song of unfulfilled promise: as part of the Band-Aid process in 1985, almost a billion pounds ($1.4bn) made its way to Africa. Much of this money cme not from the single and and concert but from governments, who would deal only at governmental level. Thus much of the money went to Ethioian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, who had much exacerbated the crisis in Tigray by making war on the region - but this was never reported in Michael Buerk's seminal dispatch nor by Bob Geldof, who were anxious not to give the public reasons not to donate.

It's Christmas time
There's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time

But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmas time it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
Are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmas time at all

Feed the world, feed the world, feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmas time again

I'll find my way home

2009-02-08T19:08:00.004Z

Words by JON ANDERSON
Music by EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU (VANGELIS)
From the album
THE FRIENDS OF MR CAIRO (SECOND EDITION)
And as a single (1981)

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You ask me where to begin
Am I so lost in my sin
You ask me where did I fall
I'll say I can't tell you when
But if my spirit is lost
How will I find what is near
Don't question I'm not alone
Somehow I'll find my way home

My sun shall rise in the east
So shall my heart be at peace
And if you're asking me when
I'll say it starts at the end
You know your will to be free
Is matched with love secretly
And talk will alter your prayer
Somehow you'll find you are there

Your friend is close by your side
And speaks in far ancient tongue
A season's wish will come true
All seasons begin with you
One world we all come from
One world we melt into one
Just hold my hand and we're there
Somehow we're going somewhere
Somehow we're going somewhere

You ask me where to begin
Am I so lost in my sin
You ask me where did I fall
I'll say I can't tell you when
But if my spirit is strong
I know it can't be long
No questions I'm not alone
Somehow I'll find my way home

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Loch Lomond

2009-02-08T18:57:00.003Z

TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH
Released by RUNRIG
In the album THE HIGHLAND CONNECTION (1979)
And as a single (1983/2007)

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By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love spent many happy days
On the banks of Loch Lomond

Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue the Highland hills we view
And the moon glints out in the gloaming

You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

Where wild flowers spring and the wee birdies sing
On the steep sides of Ben Lomond
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring
Though resigned we may be while we’re greetin

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Galveston

2009-02-08T18:47:00.004Z

Words and music by JIMMY WEBB

Released by GLEN CAMPBELL
As a single and in the album of the same name (1969).

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Jimmy Webb stated he was thinking of the Spanish-American War when he wrote this song, but Glen Campbell performed the promotional video in battle fatigues, intending it to be about Vietnam, as Galveston was the embarcation point for many soldiers going to that war.

Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin'
I still see her dark eyes glowin'
She was 21 when I left Galveston

Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Galveston

I still see her standing by the water
Standing there lookin' out to sea
And is she waiting there for me?
On the beach where we used to run

Galveston, oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I watch your sea birds flying in the sun
At Galveston, at Galveston

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

London Pride

2009-02-08T18:31:00.005Z

Words and Music by NOËL COWARD
Released as a single in 1941

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Noël Coward wrote this song in 1941, comparing the hardiness to Londoners during the Blitz to that of the plant of the same name.

London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.

Woa, Liza,
See the coster barrows,
Vegetable marrows
And the fruit piled high.
Woa, Liza,
Little London sparrows,
Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.

Cockney feet
Mark the beat of history.
Every street
Pins a memory down.
Nothing ever can quite replace
The grace of London Town.

There's a little city flower every spring unfailing
Growing in the crevices by some London railing,
Though it has a Latin name, in town and country-side
We in England call it London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.

Hey, lady,
When the day is dawning
See the policeman yawning
On his lonely beat.
Gay lady,
Mayfair in the morning,
Hear your footsteps echo in the empty street.

Early rain
And the pavement's glistening.
All Park Lane
In a shimmering gown.
Nothing ever could break or harm
The charm of London Town.

In our city darkened now, street and square and crescent,
We can feel our living past in our shadowed present,
Ghosts beside our starlit Thames
Who lived and loved and died
Keep throughout the ages London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.

Grey city
Stubbornly implanted,
Taken so for granted
For a thousand years.
Stay, city,
Smokily enchanted,
Cradle of our memories and hopes and fears.

Every Blitz
Your resistance
Toughening,
From the Ritz
To the Anchor and Crown,
Nothing ever could override
The pride of London Town.

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

The Song of the Clyde

2009-02-08T18:23:00.003Z

Words and music by
R.Y. BELL and IAN GOURLEY
Sung by KENNETH McKELLAR (1963)

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I sing of a river I'm happy beside.
The song that I sing is a song of the Clyde.
Of all Scottish rivers it's dearest to me.
It flows from Leadhills all the way to the sea.
It borders the orchards of Lanark so fair,
Meanders through meadows with sheep grazing there,
But from Glasgow to Greenock, in towns on each side,
The hammers' "ding-dong" is the song of the Clyde.

CHORUS: Oh the river Clyde, the wonderful Clyde!
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride,
And I'm satisfied, whate'er may betide,
The sweetest of song is the song of the Clyde.

Imagine we've left Craigendoran behind,
And wind-happy yachts by Kilcreggan we find.
At Kirn and Dunoon and Innellan we stay,
Then Scotland’s Madeira—that's Rothesay, they say—
Or maybe by Fairlie and Largs we will go,
Or over to Millport that thrills people so,
Maybe journey to Arran it can't be denied,
Those scenes all belong to the song of the Clyde. CHORUS

When sun sets on dockland there's beauty to see.
The cry of a sea bird is music to me.
The blast of a horn loudly echoes, and then
A stillness descends on the water again.
'Tis here that the sea-going liners are born:
But, unlike the salmon, they seldom return.
Can you wonder the Scots, o'er the ocean so wide,
Should constantly long for the song of the Clyde? CHORUS

4. There's Paw an' Maw at Glasgow Broomielaw.
They're goin' "doon the water" for "The Fair."
There's Bob an' Mary, on the Govan Ferry,
Wishin' jet propulsion could be there.
There's steamers cruisin', and there's "buddies" snoozin',
And there's laddies fishin' frae the pier;
An' Paw's perspirin', very near expirin',
As he rows a boat frae there to here.

5. With eyes a-flashin', it is voted "smashin",
To be walkin' daily on the prom:
And May and Evelyn are in seventh heaven
As thy stroll along with Dick and Tom;
And Dumbarton Rock to ev'ry Jean and Jock,
Extends a welcome that is high and wide:
Seems to know that they are on their homeward way
To hear the song of the Clyde. CHORUS

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Mull of Kintyre

2009-02-08T18:14:00.003Z

Words and Music by PAUL McCARTNEY
Releaased as a single by WINGS (1977)

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Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Dark distant mountains with valleys of green.
Past painted deserts the sunsets on fire
As he carries me home to the mull of kintyre.

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then.
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the time of the mull of kintyre.

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Smiles in the sunshine
And tears in the rain
Still take me back to where my memories remain
Flickering embers growing higher and higher
As they carry me back to the mull of kintyre

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Remember the Alamo

2009-02-08T17:57:00.003Z

Words and music by JANE BOWERS
Recorded and sang by
the KINGSTON TRIO, JOHNNY CASH, DONOVAN and others

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A hundred and eighty were challenged by Travis to die
By the line that he drew with his sword when the battle was nigh.
Any man that would fight to the death cross over,
But him that would live better fly
And over the line went a hundred and seventy nine

Hey Santa Anna we're killing your soldiers below,
That men where ever they go, will remember the Alamo

Jim Bowie lay dyin', but his powder was ready and dry
Flat on his back Bowie killed him a few in reply
And young David Crockett was singin' and laughin',
With gallantry fierce in his eyes
For God and for freedom, a man's more than willin' to die

Hey Santa Anna we're killing your soldiers below,
that men where ever they go, will remember the Alamo

And then they sent a young scout from the battlements bloody and loud,
With the words of farewell from a garrison valiant and proud
"Grieve not little darlin' my dyin', if Texas is sovereign and free,
We'll never surrender and ever with liberty be"

Hey Santa Anna we're killing your soldiers below,
that men where ever they go, will remember the Alamo!

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Né en 17 à Leidenstadt

2009-02-01T21:15:00.005Z

Words and music by JEAN-JACQUES GOLDMAN
From the 1990 album FREDERICKS GOLDMAN JONES
Released as a single in 1991

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This song was a big hit when I was living and working in France, and I fell in love with the words and the arrangement. The lyrics show the moral and intellectual courage of Jean-Jacques Goldman, who has Polish Jewish forebears, as he reflects on how he would have felt had he been one of the Germans in their humiliating WWI defeat in the town of the title. He also wonders how he would have felt in the tribalised atmosphere of industrial Belfast, and the late Carole Fredericks, from Springfield, sings the verse wondering how she would have acted had she been born white and rich in Johannesburg. The last two lines speak of a hope of peace springing from stepping back from war until we are somewhat more enlightened than at present, and the sampled bagpipes in the chorus, which is sung only once, are the icing on the cake. My English translation is below the French words.

Si j’étais né en 17 à Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d’un chams de bataille
Aurias-je été meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Si j’avais été allemand?

Bercé d’humiliation, de haine et d’ignorance
Nourri de rêves de revanche
Aurais-je été de ces probables consciences
Larmes au milieu d’un torrent

Si j’avais grandi dans les docklands de Belfast
Soldat d’une fois, d’une caste
Aurais-je la force envers et contre les miens
De trahir: tender un main

Si j’étais née blanche et riche à Johannesburg
Entre la pouvoir et la peur
Aurai-je entendu ce cris porté par le vent
Rien ne sera comme avant

On saura jamais c’qu’on a vraiment dans nos ventres
Caché derrière nos apparences
L’âme d’un brave ou d’n complice ou d’un bourreau?
Ou le pire ou plus beau?
Serions-nous de ceau qui résistant ou biens les moutons d’un troupeau
S’il fallait plus que ces mots?

Si j’étais né en 17 à Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d’un chams de bataille
Aurias-je été meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Si j’avais été allemand?

Et qu’on nous épargne à toi et moi si possibles très longtemps
D’avoir à choisir un camp.

Translation

If I was born in 1917 in Leidenstadt,
On the ruins of a battlefield
Would I have been better or worse than its people
If I’d been German?

Brought up with humiliation, hatred and ignorance
Cutting my teeth on dreams of revenge
Would I have been improbably conscientious,
Tears in the midst of a flood?

If I’d grown up in the docklands of Belfast,
Soldier of one faith, one tribe,
Would I have had the strength to go around and against my own people,
To betray – reach out a hand?

If I’d been born white and rich in Johannesburg,
Living between power and fear,
Would I have heard the voices on the wind
Saying things would never be the same again?

We never know what’s in each other’s mind,
Hidden behind our appearances.
The soul of a brave, or a collaborator, or an executioner?
Or something better, or worse?
Would we be among those who resist, or else with the sheep in the flock
If more than words were needed?

If I was born in 1917 in Leidenstadt,
On the ruins of a battlefield
Would I have been better or worse than its people
If I’d been German?

And if you and I spare each other long enough,
We might not have to choose a side.

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You've got to hide your love away

2009-01-30T19:11:00.004Z

Words and music by
JOHN LENNON AND PAUL McCARTNEY
Performed by THE BEATLES (1965)

John Lennon wrote this for the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein after he showed up bruised, having been beaten up by gay-bashers in London over the weekend. Perhaps it was also an apology for his having reduced Epstein to tears by calling him a "gay Jewboy".

Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feeling two foot small
Everywhere people stare
each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

How can I even try?
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in
How could she say to me
"Love will find a way?"
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

i treni di tozeur

2009-01-27T18:57:00.006Z

WORDS and music by FRANCO BATTIATO,
ROSARIO COSENTINO and GIUSTO PIO
Performed by ALICE E BATTIATO

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This was the Italian entry for the 1984 Eurovision Song contest and, in my opinion, is one of the finest pop songs ever written. The lyrics are redolent of another time and another place - Tozeur is an oasis in the Tunisian Sahara. Lyrics from Mozart's The Magic Flute also turn up. Italian lyrics are below, English underneath.

Nei villaggi di frontiera guardano passar' i treni
le strade deserte di Tozeur
da una casa lontana tua madre mi vede
si ricorda di me delle mie abitudini.

E per un istante ritorna la voglia di vivere
a un'altra velocità
passano ancora lenti i treni per Tozeur.

Nelle chiese abbandonate si preparano rifugi
e nuove astronavi per viaggi interstellari
in una vecchia miniera distese di sale
si ricordo di me come un incantesimo

E per un istante ritorna la voglia di vivere
a un'altra velocità
passano ancora lenti i treni per Tozeur.

Nei villaggi di frontiera guardano passar'
i treni per Tozeur.

Translation:

In the villages on the border they watch
trains pass the deserted streets of Tozeur.
From a faraway house your mother watches me,
or so I remember, as I'm prone to doing

And for a moment the wish
to live at another speed returns -
he trains still pass slowly through Tozeur.

In abandoned churches,
There hideaways, and spacecraft for interstellar journeys
In an old mine bloated with salt
Or so I remember, as if I was under a spell.

And for a moment the wish
to live at another speed returns -
the trains still pass slowly through Tozeur.

In the villages on the border
They watch the trains for Tozeur.

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When a child is born

2008-12-09T21:12:00.006Z

Words by Fred Jay
Music by Ciro Dammico
Released as a Johnny Mathis single in 1976
and by various other artists

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A ray of hope flickers in the sky
A tiny star lights up way up high
All across the land, dawns a brand new morn
This comes to pass when a child is born

A silent wish sails the seven seas
The winds of change whisper in the trees
And the walls of doubt crumble, tossed and torn
This comes to pass when a child is born

A rosy hue settles all around
You've got the feel you're on solid ground
For a spell or two, no-one seems forlorn
This comes to pass when a child is born

And all of this happens because the world is waiting
Waiting for one child
Black, white, yellow, no-one knows
But a child that will grow up and turn tears to laughter
Hate to love, war to peace and everyone to everyone's neighbour
And misery and suffering will be words to be forgotten, forever

It's all a dream, an illusion now
It must come true, sometime soon somehow
All across the land, dawns a brand new morn
This comes to pass when a child is born

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I believe in Father Christmas

2008-12-09T21:01:00.004Z

Words by Greg Lake
Music by Peter Sinfield
Released as a single in 1974
and various times afterwards

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They said therell be snow at christmas
They said therell be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin's birth
I remember one christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of christmas
They sold me a silent night
And they told me a fairy story
till I believed in the israelite
And I believed in father christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes
till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said therell be snow at christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
Hallelujah noel be it heaven or hell
The christmas we get we deserve

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Christmas song

2008-12-09T20:13:00.005Z

Words and Music by Gilbert O' Sullivan
From the Album GReatest Hits (1976)
Also released as a single in 1974 and 1978

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I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
All I'm dreaming of the whole day long
Is a peaceful world

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year
To those of you who live in fear
And let us hope that very soon
The peace you seek will then resume

I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
All I'm dreaming of the whole day long
Is a peaceful peaceful world

(I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
All I'm dreaming of the whole day long
Is a peaceful world)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year
To those of you who live in fear
And let us hope that very soon
The peace you seek will then resume

I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas
All I'm dreaming of the whole day long
Is a peaceful peaceful world

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The hungry years

2008-11-18T22:30:00.004Z

Words by HOWARD GREENFIELD
Music by NEIL SEDAKA
From the album THE HUNGRY YEARS (1975)

I don't think anybody's enjoying the recession, but headmistress and chainrman of the Girls' Schools' Association says it may help us rediscover the value of more traditional values that sectors of society have lost sight of. Certainly this song always meant a lot to my mother, when thinking of days that were poorer in terms of money only.

Girl we made it to the top
We went so high we couldn't stop
We climbed the ladder leading us nowhere
Two of us together
building castles in the air
We spun so fast we couldn't tell
the gold ring from the carousel
How could we know the right would turnout bad
Everything we wanted,
was everything we had

I miss the Hungry Years
The once upon a time
The lovely long ago
We didn't have a dime
Those days of me and you,
We lost along the way
How could I be so blind,
not to see the door
closing on the World
I now hunger for
Looking through my tears,
I miss the Hungry years

We shared our day dreams one by one
Making plans was so much fun
We set our goals and reached the highest star
Things that we were after
were much better from afar
Here we stand just me and you
with everything and nothing too
It wasn't worth the price we had to pay
Honey take me home
Let's go back to yesterday

I miss the Hungry Years
The once upon a time
The lovely long ago
We didn't have a dime
Those days of me and you,
We lost along the way
How could I be so blind,
not to see the door,
closing on the World
I now hunger for
Looking through my tears,
I miss the Hungry years
I miss the Hungry Years
I miss the Hungry Years

Different worlds

2008-11-15T22:06:00.004Z

Words and music by TONY CLARKIN
From the MAGNUM album
WINGS OF HEAVEN (1988)

When the Wings of Heaven album was released, I read an interview with the group's songwriter, Tony Clarkin. He spoke about the inspiration for this song - he was on holiday in France, sitting outside a rather posh café, and across the road prostitutes were awaiting their clientèle. I was living in Glasgow, Scotland, at the time; a city that had ostensibly went through a wonderful transformation but at dark (I knew as an addictions worker) went back to the bad old ways of cities worldwide.

On narrow streets
Old men lie
In the doorway sleeping
While working girls
Comb their hair
See the young men peeping

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

No satin sheets on your bed tonight
How you feeling
While running feet always disappear
From sirens screaming

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed

Where velvet gloves and your diamond rings
Lose their meanings
For those who we love if they realy care
Keep on dreaming
Dream on

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed

Bring him home

2008-11-10T16:12:00.004Z

Words by ALAIN BOUBLIL
Music by CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG
From the 1980 musical LES MISERABLES

I remember hearing this at a Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance some years ago. The song is powerful in its own right, but in this setting it made the hair on the back of my neck stick up as it evoked the feelings of those who had lost their children in the name of their country. The DVD/video of the 2007 Festival of Remembrance is out now - click on the picture above for details.

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

In Flanders' Field

2008-11-09T23:15:00.003Z

Words by JOHN McCRAE - May 1915
Music by KARL JENKINS - 2008
Performed at the 2008
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE

This is a timely reminder of the sacrifices our forebears made for us. May we neer forget.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Here's to the heroes

2008-11-08T20:40:00.003Z

Words and music by MARIO FRANGOULIS
From his 2005 album
FOLLOW YOUR HEART

I'm listening to the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on BBC Radio 2, and this song has just come on. God bless them all.

Here's to the heroes,
Those few who dare,
Heading for glory,
Living a prayer.

Here's to the heroes
Who change our lives.
Thanks to the heroes,
Freedom survives.

Here's to the heroes
Who never rest.
They are the chosen,
We are the blessed.

Here's to the heroes
Who aim so high.
Here's to the heroes
Who do or die.

Here's to the heroes
Who aim so high.
Here's to the heroes
Who do or die.
Here's to the heroes
Who do or die.

Wasted years

2008-11-07T21:58:00.003Z

Words and music by ADRIAN SMITH
From the IRON MAIDEN album
SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1986)
and also released as a single.

I first began listening to Iron Maiden while studying at an ecclesiastical college. Many of their songs hit the nail on the head so squarely that it hurts. This one reminds me of a time I was working on buses converted to hospital wards wheeling through Europe, and wondering what I'd really like to do with my life.

From the coast of gold, across the seven seas,
I'm travelling on, far and wide,
But now it seems, I'm just a stranger to myself,
And all the things I sometimes do, it isn't me but someone else.

I close my eyes, and think of home,
Another city goes by, in the night,
Ain't it funny how it is, you never miss it til it's gone away,
And my heart is lying there and will be til my dying day.

So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years,
Face up...make your stand,
And realise you're living in the golden years.

Too much time on my hands, I got you on my mind,
Can't ease this pain, so easily,
When you can't find the words to say, it's hard to make it through another day,
And it makes me wanna cry, and throw my hands up to the sky.

So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years,
Face up...make your stand,
And realise you're living in the golden years.

Jena

2008-10-26T23:00:00.003Z

Words and music by JOHN MELLENCAMP
From his 2008 album
LIFE, DEATH LOVE AND FREEDOM
And also released as a single

I came to the story of Jena through this song by John Mellencamp, and am confused. The town's mayor appears to have been angered by the lyrics, but one thing I know about Mellencamp is that he doesn't hide from difficult subjects.

An all white jury hides the executioner's face
See how we are, me and you?
Everyone here needs to know their place
Let's keep this blackbird hidden in the flue

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena

Take your nooses down
So what becomes of boys that cannot think straight
Particularly those with paper bag skin
Yes sir, no sir we'll wipe that smile right off your face
We've got our rules here and you must fit in

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena

Take your nooses down
Some day some way sanity will prevail
But who knows when that day might come
A shot in the dark, well it just might find its way
To the hearts of those that hold the keys to kingdom come

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena

Take those nooses down

Oh oh hey Jena
Oh oh Jena
Oh oh Jena

Take your nooses down
Take those nooses all down

Streets of London

2008-10-22T03:01:00.002+01:00

Words and music by RALPH McTELL
From the 1969 album SPIRAL STAIRCASE
And released as a single in 1974

In London, we're about to see the start of a campaign where buses will carry posters stating "there is no God". This powerful song, still relevant, shows many of the real problems that this and other cities still face.

Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
And held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.

Chorus

In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old man is sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone

Chorus

And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears.
In our winter city,
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care

Papa don't preach

2008-10-21T10:38:00.002+01:00

Words and music by MADONNA
From the album TRUE BLUE(1986)
Also released as a single

This song seems topical right now. There was some controversy at the time that it was glorifying teenage preganancy, but I'd rather glorify teenage pregnancy than teenage abortion.

Papa I know you're going to be upset
'Cause I was always your little girl
But you should know by now
I'm not a baby

You always taught me right from wrong
I need your help, daddy please be strong
I may be young at heart
But I know what I'm saying

The one you warned me all about
The one you said I could do without
We're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe - please

(CHORUS)
Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby, oh
I'm gonna keep my baby, mmm...

He says that he's going to marry me
We can raise a little family
Maybe we'll be all right
It's a sacrifice

But my friends keep telling me to give it up
Saying I'm too young, I ought to live it up
What I need right now is some good advice, please

Daddy, daddy if you could only see
Just how good he's been treating me
You'd give us your blessing right now
'Cause we are in love, we are in love, so please

Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep

Oh, I'm gonna keep my baby, ooh
Don't you stop loving me daddy
I know, I'm keeping my baby

labelled with love

2008-10-20T16:34:00.005+01:00

Words by CHRIS DIFFORD
Music by GLENN TILLBROOK
From the 1981 SQUEEZE album EAST SIDE STORY
And also released as a single.

I have two favourite Squeeze songs - Up the Junction for music, and this for words. Having heard it again recently, I remembered just how powerful those words were, weaving a picture of a woman who is rejected by those around her, but who, like any human being, had a life worth remembering.

She unscrews the top of a new whiskey bottle
And shuffles about in her candle lit hovel,
Like some kind of witch with blue fingers in mittens
She smells like the cat and the neighbours she sickens,
The black and white t.v. has long seen a picture
The cross on the wall is a permanent fixture,
The postman delivers the final reminders
She sells off her silver and poodles in china.

CHORUS:
Drinks to remember, I me and myself
And winds up the clock
And knocks dust from the shelf
Home is a love that I miss very much
So the past has been bottled and labelled with love.

During the war time an american pilot
Made every air raid a time of excitement,
She moved to his prairie and married the texan
She learnt from a distance how love was a lesson,
He became drinker and she became mother
She knew that one day she’d be one or the other,
He ate himself older, drunk himself dizzy
Proud of her features, she kept herself pretty.

He like a cowboy died drunk in his slumber
Out on the porch in the middle of summer,
She crossed the ocean back home to her family
But they had retired to roads that were sandy,
She moved home alone without friends or relations
Lived in a world full of age reservation,
On moth eaten armchairs she’d say that she’d sod all
The friends who had left her to drink from the bottle.

South Texas Girl

2008-10-20T00:34:00.002+01:00

Words and music by LYLE LOVETT
From the 2007 album
IT'S NOT BIG IT'S LARGE

I heard this song recently on Bob Harris' Country show on BBC Radio 2, and thought, "this is perfect".

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

Three in the front seat they sat on each side
That green-and-white 58 Fairlane it would glide
Down farm roads past open fields seeming like no big deal
As it was happening I never felt a thing

But now looking back it seems like it was everything
Singing with mom just so we could hear ourselves sing
Stealing a drink from the cold can in daddy's lap
Protected by only a small thin brown paper sack

And the wind blew the echoes of long-faded voices
And they'd sing me a song that the old cowboys sang
And I didn't know what the words meant or anything
I was just singing because I was supposed to

Sing Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

And with the windows wide open it felt hot to us anyway
Three bound together on a day just like any day
They told me and taught me and showed me and bought me
Whatever I wanted from the corner U-tote-M

They say the name Corpus Christi means the body of Jesus
Pronounce it Refugio city folks they don't know
It looks like Palacios but sounds like
Just listen the next time you're watchin' Sid Lasher

And the wind blew the echoes of long-faded voices
And they would sing me a song that the old cowboys sang
And I didn't know what the words meant or anything
I was just singing

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

And I didn't know what the words meant or anything
I was just singing

And these days with car seats and open container laws
Social correctness leaves no room for Santa Claus
Sitting right next to me she looks like that used to be
Song that they sang for me

And with the windows wide open it feels hot to us anyway
Two bound together on a day just like any day
The wind blows the echoes of long-faded voices
And they sing us a song that the old cowboys sang
And now that I know what the words mean and everything
I am still singing

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we stumble around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

Saint Mother Maria watch over us please
As we wonder around in this dangerous world
Thank Mother Maria there's nothing so sweet
As the undying love of a South Texas girl

Don't Let's be beastly to the Germans

2008-10-12T19:07:00.003+01:00

Words and mucic by NOEL COWARD
From the album
NOT TO BE BROADCAST: BANNED BY THE BBC

Two BBC Radio 2 disk-jockeys, Sheridan Morley and Desmond Carrington, have recently featured songs in their shows that were once banned by the BBC. They come from a new CD, This Record Must not be Broadcast: Banned by the BBC - sort of speaks for itself. The lyrics of this song by Noël Coward, featured on the album, display a prescience for the way radicals seem to feel alarmed and even ashamed at the prospect of military victory.

We must be kind
And with an open mind
We must endeavour to find
A way-
To let the Germans know that when the war is over
They are not the ones who'll have to pay.
We must be sweet-
And tactful and discreet
And when they've suffered defeat
We mustn't let
Them feel upset
Or ever get
The feeling that we're cross with them or hate them,
Our future policy must be to reinstate them.

Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When our victory is ultimately won,
It was just those nasty Nazis who persuaded them to fight
And their Beethoven and Bach are really far worse than their bite
Let's be meek to them-
And turn the other cheek to them
And try to bring out their latent sense of fun.
Let's give them full air parity-
And treat the rats with charity,
But don't let's be beastly to the Hun.

We must be just-
And win their love and trust
And in additon we must
Be wise
And ask the conquered lands to join our hands to aid them.
That would be a wonderful surprise.
For many years-
They've been in floods of tears
Because the poor little dears
Have been so wronged and only longed
To cheat the world,
Deplete the world
And beat
The world to blazes.
This is the moment when we ought to sing their praises.

Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When we've definately got them on the run-
Let us treat them very kindly as we would a valued friend
We might send them out some Bishops as a form of lease and lend,
Let's be sweet to them-
And day by day repeat to them
That 'sterilization' simply isn't done.
Let's help the dirty swine again-
To occupy the Rhine again,
But don't let's be beastly to the Hun.

Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When the age of peace and plenty has begun.
We must send them steel and oil and coal and everything they need
For their peaceable intentions can be always guaranteed.
Let's employ with them a sort of 'strength through joy' with them,
They're better than us at honest manly fun.
Let's let them feel they're swell again and bomb us all to hell again,
But don't let's be beastly to the Hun.

Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
For you can't deprive a ganster of his gun
Though they've been a little naughty to the Czechs and Poles and Dutch
But I don't suppose those countries really minded very much
Let's be free with them and share the B.B.C. with them.
We mustn't prevent them basking in the sun.
Let's soften their defeat again-and build their bloody fleet again,
But don't let's be beastly to the Hun.

Badge

2008-10-09T15:39:00.002+01:00

Words by GEORGE HARRISON
Music by ERIC CLAPTON
From the CREAM album GOODBYE
and released as a single in 1969

I heard this song for the first time in a long time on BBC Radio 2 when they broadcast a concert by Eric Clapton, and realised I'd forgotten how wistful George Harrison's lyrics were. It was interesting to hear the roots of Harrison's middle-8 guitar break in Here Comes the Sun in the coda to the song, and I realised: great art never ages.

Im thinking about the times you drove in my car
Im thinking that I might have drove you too far
Im thinking of the love
That you laid on my table

I told you not to wander round in the dark
I told you bout the swans that they live in the park
Then I told you about our kid
Now hes married to mabel

Yes I told you that the life goes up and down
Notice how the wheel goes round?
And youd better pick yourself up from the ground
Before they bring the curtain down
Yes before they bring the curtain down

Talking about a girl that looks quite like you
She didnt have the time to wait in the queue
She cried away her life since she fell out the cradle

Miss you nights

2008-09-19T02:33:00.005+01:00

Words and music by DAVE TOWNSEND
From the 1976 CLIFF RICHARD album
I'M NEARLY FAMOUS
Released as a single in 1975

I've long been fascinated by these lyrics, and never cease to be surprised that Cliff released the single in 1975; it is perpetually relevant. To try to live as well as you can doesn't make you immune to the tortures of loneliness: the song says it all. BTW with his song Thank you for a Lifetime the Knight has entered the top ten in each of the six decades of his career. Well done, Cliff!

I've had many times
I can tell you
Times when innocence I'd trade for company
And children saw me crying
I thought I'd had my share of that
But these miss you nights
Are the longest

Midnight diamonds
Stud my heaven
Southward burning
Lie the jewels that eye my place
And the warm winds
That embrace me
Just as surely kissed your face
Yeah these miss you nights
Are the longest

How I miss you
Im not likely to tell
Im a man and cold day light
Buys the pride Id rather sell
All my secrets
Are wasted affair
You know them well

Thinking of my going
How to cut the thread
And leave it all behind
Looking windward for my compass
I take each day as it arrives
But these miss you nights
Are the longest

Lay down all thought of your surrender
Its only me whos killing time
Lay down all dreams and themes once remembered
Its just the same
This miss you game
Yeah these miss you nights
Are the longest

A better place to be

2008-09-17T14:45:00.002+01:00

Words and music by HARRY CHAPIN
From his 1972 album SNIPER AND OTHER LOVE SONGS

A kitchen-sink epic from the pen of Harry Chapin. The "little man" who is the main protagonist is trying to find the opposite of loneliness. He is on the brink of discovering that this is friendship, not sex, but the waitress' reply to him which forms the last line of the song shows that for her the vicious circle continues.

It was an early morning bar room,
And the place just opened up.
And the little man came in so fast and
he Started at his cups.
And the broad who served the whisky
She was a big old friendly girl.
Who tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin' at the world.

And she said "Hey Bub, It's, It's been awhile
Since you been around.
Where the hell you been hidin'?
And why you look so down?"

Well the little man just sat there
like he'd never heard a sound.

The waitress she gave out with a cough,
And acting not the least put off,
She spoke once again.

She said, "I don't want to bother you,
Consider it's understood.
I know I'm not no beauty queen,
But I sure can listen good."

And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips.
He took a couple of sips.
And then he told the waitress this story.

"I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rusting, I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite.
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright.

You see, she was so damned beautiful that she could warm a winter frost.
But she looked long past lonely, and well I on to lost.
Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try.

Well I was "Tongued-tied like a school boy, I stammered out some words.
It did not seem to matter much, 'cause I don't think she heard.
She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head.
It shamed me into silence, as quietly she said,
'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be.
Anywhere's a better place to be.'

Well I drove her to my boarding house, and I took her up to my room.
And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom.
But she said, 'Please leave the light off, oh I don't mind the dark.'
And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart.
The moonlight shone upon her as she lay back in my bed.
It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head.
I just could not believe it, to think that she was real.
And as I tried to tell her she said 'Shhh.. I know just how you feel.
And if you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be.
anywhere's a better place to be.'

Well The morning come so swiftly I held her in my arms.
And she slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm.
I did not want to share her or dare to break the mood,
So before she woke I went out to buy us both some food.

"I came back with my paper bag, to find that she was gone.
She'd left a six word letter saying 'It's time that I moved on.'"

You know The waitress she took her bar rag, and she wiped it across her eyes. And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh.
She said "I wish that I was beautiful, or that you were halfway blind.
And I wish I weren't so goddamn fat, I wish that you were mine.
And I wish that you'd come with me, when I leave for home.
For we both know all about emptiness, and livin' all alone."

And the little man,
Looked at the empty glass in his hand.
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, "I guess I'm out of gin.
And I know we both have been, so lonely.
And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be."

Lakeside Park

2008-09-15T11:01:00.003+01:00

Words by NEIL PEART
Music by ALEX LIFESON and GEDDY LEE
From the RUSH album CARESS OF STEEL (1975)

This is one of my favourite Rush songs. Every time I go back to Scotland another space associated with years past has been built on, a shop has changed hands, somebody else has died. Although the memories in this song are vastly different from mine, the songwriters have captured perfectly the sense of the magic of childhood fading slowly as one progresses through teenage years, balanced by another magic as memories are laid down that will, please God, remain forever.

Midway hawkers calling
Try your luck with me
Merry-go-round wheezing
The same old melody
A thousand ten cent wonders
Who could ask for more
A pocketful of silver
The key to heaven's door

Lakeside Park
Willows in the breeze
Lakeside Park
So many memories
Laughing rides
Midway lights
Shining stars on summer nights

Days of barefoot freedom
Racing with the waves
Nights of starlit secrets
Crackling driftwood flames
Drinking by the lighthouse
Smoking on the pier
Still we saw the magic
Fading every year

Everyone would gather
On the twenty-fourth of May
Sitting in the sand
To watch the fireworks display

Dancing fires on the beach
Singing songs together
Though it's just a memory
Some memories last forever

Helpless Dancer

2008-09-14T01:41:00.002+01:00

Words and music by PETE TOWNSHEND
From THE WHO album QUADROPHENIA (1973)

The last two lines of the first verse are depressingly familiar today, over 30 years since the song was written.

When a man is running from his boss
Who hold a gun that fires "cost"
And people die from being old
Or left alone because they're cold

And bombs are dropped on fighting cats
And children's dreams are run with rats
If you complain you disappear
Just like the lesbians and queers

No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face
And you get beaten up by blacks
Who though they worked still got the sack

And when your soul tells you to hide
Your very right to die's denied
And in the battle on the streets
You fight computers and receipts

And when a man is trying to change
It only causes further pain
You realize that all along
Something in us going wrong...

You stop dancing.

Footprints in the sand

2008-09-13T23:30:00.003+01:00

Words and Music by RICHARD PAGE, PER MAGNUSSEN,
DAVID KREUGER AND SIMON COWELL
From the LEONA LEWIS album SPIRIT (2007)
and also released as a single (2008)

Leona Lewis won the third series of The X Factor. I wasn't too hot on her because my musical tastes are stuck in a time-loop that starts another cycle backwards when it reaches the early '90's. But my arrogance was revealed to me when my daughter played this track to me today. It's a meditation on the popular prayer-poem Footprints, and Ms Lewis has ascended mightity in my estimation.

You walked with me
Footprints in the sand
And helped me understand
Where I'm going

You walked with me
When I was all alone
With so much unknown
Along the way

And just when I
I thought I'd lost my way
You gave me strength to carry on
That's when I heard you say

I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair

And I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand
When I'm weary
Well I know you'll be there
Cause I can feel you
When you say

I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sadness and despair
Oh, I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand

[choir]

When your heart is full of sadness and despair
I'll carry you
When you need a friend

I promise you
I'm always there
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints
In the sand

I don't know how to love him

2008-09-12T20:59:00.004+01:00

Words and music by
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER and TIM RICE
From the album JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1970)

I'm listening to an instrumental version of this on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night, hosted by Paul Gambuccini. It struck me that it perfectly describes Jesus' tendency to turn lives upside down in a way that only a fool would describe as warm and fuzzy.

I don't know how to love him
What to do, how to move him
I've been changed, yes really changed
In these past few days when I've seen myself
I seem like someone else

I don't know how to take this
I don't see why he moves me
He's a man, he's just a man
And I've had so many men before
In very many ways
He's just one more

Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love
Let my feelings out?
I never thought I'd come to this
What's it all about?

Don't you think it's rather funny
I should be in this position?
I'm the one who's always been
So calm, so cool, no lover's fool
Running every show
He scares me so

Yet if he said he loved me
I'd be lost, I'd be frightened
I couldn't cope, just couldn't cope
I'd turn my head, I'd back away
I wouldn't want to know

He scares me so
I want him so
I love him so

She is always seventeen

2008-09-07T00:19:00.002+01:00

Words and music by HARRY CHAPIN
From the compilation STORY OF A LIFE (1999)

The chronicles of a liberal adolescence! But I love harry Chapin's sense of tragic theatre, and the first two, and last lines of this song do it for me: "she has no fear of failure, she's not bent with broken dreams/for the future's just beginning when you're always seventeen"; and "she's the only hope I've seen, and she is always seventeen". Misguided as they can be, where would we as societies get our hopes from, if not from dreamers?

She has no fear of failure, she's not bent with broken dreams.
For the future's just beginning when you're always seventeen

It was nineteen sixty-one when we went to Washington;
she put her arms around me and said, "Camelot's begun."
We listened to his visions of how our land should be;
we gave him our hearts and minds to send across the sea.
Nineteen sixty-three, white and black upon the land;
she brought me to the monuments and made us all join hands.
And scarcely six months later she held me through the night
when we heard what had happened in that brutal Dallas light.

Oh, she is always seventeen;
she has a dream that she will lend us and a love that we can borrow.
There is so much joy inside her she will even share her sorrow;
she's our past, our present, and our promise of tomorrow.
Oh, truly she's the only hope I've seen, and she is always seventeen.

It was nineteen sixty-five and we were marching once more
from the burning cities against a crazy war.
Memphis, L.A. and Chicago we bled through sixty-eight
till she took me up to Woodstock saying with love it's not too late.
We started out the seventies living off the land;
she was sowing seeds in Denver trying to make me understand
that mankind is woman and woman is man,
and until we free each other we cannot free the land.

Oh, she is always seventeen;
she has a dream that she will lend us and a love that we can borrow.
There is so much joy inside her she will even share her sorrow;
she's our past, our present, and our promise of tomorrow.
Oh, truly she's the only hope I've seen, and she is always seventeen.

Nineteen seventy-two, I'm at the end of my rope,
but she was picketing the White House chanting,
"The truth's the only hope."
In nineteen seventy-five when the crooked king was gone
she was feeding starving children saying the dream must go on.
she is always seventeen;
she has a dream that she will lend us and a love that we can borrow.
There is so much joy inside her she will even share her sorrow;
she's our past, our present, and our promise of tomorrow.
Oh, truly she's the only hope I've seen, and she is always seventeen

The farm

2008-09-05T22:29:00.004+01:00

Words and music by GERRY BECKLEY
From the AMERICA album
ENCORE: MORE GREATEST HITS (1991)

The reference to Daisy in the song links it to the wistful love song Daisy Jane; the narrator has got his girl, but they have hit hard times and are thinking, for them, the unthinkable. Although the band is not overtly political, the first line seems to be a comment on the fine objectives of Band Aid/Live Aid in relation to poverty in the countries whose acts were going to save the world with their music and other people's money.

We're feedin' the world but we can't feed ourselves
They tell us don't plant now but there's nothing on the shelves
If someone is watchin' down from above
What in the world is he thinkin' of

Daisy I think we must sell the farm
And you know I don't wanna cause alarm
The times are a changin', the money is gone
Where do we go from here, where do we go from here

If someone is watchin' down from above
What in the world is he thinkin' of
Daisy I think we must sell the farm
And you know I don't wanna cause you harm

The times are a changin', the money is gone
Where do we go from here, where do we go from here
Where do we go from here

Wooden boat

2008-09-05T13:01:00.003+01:00

Words and music by
TAKE THAT, EG WHITE and JOHN SHANKS
From the TAKE THAT album BEAUTIFUL WORLD (2006)

The melancholy lyrics of this deconstructed and reconstructed boy band show a wistfulness for what has gone and been lost, and what one hopes is to come.

A little boy me went fishing in a wooden boat
Sitting there for hours in the cold
Patience is a virtue til we die
Then a ripple in the water caught my eye.

Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
That's the time to be the first one on the dance floor
We go from green to blue to gold to black
Breathe deep, who knows how long this will last.

Only was last week I learnt to drive
I stole my mother's keys and drove all night
Christine never showed it's 4 am
I started up mum's car drove home again.

Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
That's the time to be the first one on the dance floor
We go from green to blue to gold to black
Breathe deep, who knows how long this will last.

One year ago I've kissed my bride
Now I wait to hear my baby's cry
Woman showed me all that she knew then
To cut himself down man's born again.

Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
That's the time to be the first one on the dance floor
We go from green to blue to gold to black
Breathe deep, who knows how long this will last.

Christine died and now I'm here alone
What I wouldn't give to be on that wooden boat.

Crescent noon

2008-09-04T22:47:00.005+01:00

Music by JOHN BETTIS
and RICHARD CARPENTER
From the CARPENTERS album
CLOSE TO YOU (1970)

I don't think I could be accused of having SAD because I tend to be a winter person; I like the colours and the cold. This song's words are rather doleful, but the warm minor chords of Richard Carpenter's arrangement hints at the promise of spring.

Green September
Burned to October brown
Bare November
Led to December's frozen ground
The seasons stumbled round
Our drifting lives are bound
To a falling crescent noon

Feather clouds cry
A vale of tears to earth
Morning breaks and
No one sees the quiet mountain bird
Dressed in a brand new day
The sun is on its way
To a falling crescent noon

Somewhere in
A fairytale forest lies one
Answer that is waiting to be heard

You and I were
Born like the breaking day
All our seasons
All our green Septembers
Burn away

Slowly we'll fade into
A sea of midnight blue
And a falling crescent noon

Another try

2008-09-04T01:17:00.004+01:00

Words and music by GERRY BECKLEY
From the AMERICA album HOLIDAY (1974)

This is a song I discovered many years ago, and seems a very powerful description of the effects of a father's alcoholism on his son, who wants his Mum to "pick up the phone" and order his Dad home. Gerry Beckley tends to write songs in the form of stories, a bit like Paul McCartney, so it's hard to tell if this comes from Beckley's own experience, that of a friend, or is merely a story. Whichever, the song packs a punch.

Hey, Daddy just lost his pay
What did he do it for
It never made it through our door
He drank the week away
And what can a family say
There must be a better way
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

Pick up the telephone
Tell him you want him home
To sit and watch the evenings pass
And readin' the Leaves of Grass

I'm caught in a closing door
It's pinning me to the floor
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

I'm caught in a closing door
It's pinning me to the floor
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

When we're old and gray
And the things we say are the things we really mean
So why cause a scene
When things ain't what they seem
'Cause the end result's the same
Now what can a family say
There must be a better way
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

One better day

2008-09-01T13:43:00.004+01:00

Words and music by GRAHAM McPHERSON and MARK BEDFORD
From the Madness album KEEP MOVING (1984)
Released as a single (1984)

This is a haunting and disturbing song, and if you don't agree then there's something wrong with you. In my view this is the best song about homelessness and loneliness since Ralph McTell's Streets of London, and is easily better than Phil Collins' histrionic Another Day in Paradise. Listen, then do.

Arlington house
Address no fixed abode
An old man in a three-piece suite
Sits in the road
He stares across the water
And sees right through the lock
But on and up like outstretched hands
His mumbled words, his fumbled words

Further down theres a photo booth
A million plastic bags
And an old woman filling out
A million baggage tags
But when she get thrown out
Three bags at a time
She spies the old chap in the road
To share her bags with, she has bags of time

Surrounded by his past
On a short white line
He sits while cars pass
Either side
Takes his time
Trying to remember
One better day
A while ago when people stopped
To hear him say

Walking round you sometimes
Hear the sunshine
Beating down in time with the
Rhythm of your shoes

Now she has walked
Enough through rainy town
She rests her back against his
And sits down
Shes trying to remember
One better day
Awhile ago when people stopped
To hear her say

Walking round you sometimes
Hear the sunshine
Beating down in time with the
Rhythm of your shoes

Walking round you sometimes
Hear the sunshine
Beating down in time with the
Rhythm of your shoes

The feeling of arriving
When youve nothing left to lose

Perhaps love

2008-08-27T20:15:00.003+01:00

Words and music by JOHN DENVER
From his album SEASONS OF THE HEART (1982)
Released as a single by
JOHN DENVER and PLACIDO DOMINGO

John Denver wrote this at perhaps one of the most confused times in his life, when he was considering extreme measures. He'd just been through the process of divorcing Annie Martell, about whom he wrote Annie's Song and other beautiful love songs. This song is almost a hinge between when amny of his love songs were the immature product of somebody who, by his own admission, was "in love with falling in love"; the darker sides of loving and losing would come through more after this. Dencer and Martell started to reconcile their cifferences before his death in 1997, but rumours that they were remarried have not been sunstantiated, but would be a fitting example of life imitating art - "the memory of love will bring you home".

Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home

Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don`t know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

Oh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don`t know

Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it`s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

In the ghetto

2008-08-25T00:33:00.003+01:00

Words and music by MAC DAVIS
Released as a single by ELVIS PRESLEY (1969)
And by LISA MARIE RPESLEY AND ELVIS PRESLEY(2007)

Mac Davis originally wrote this song as In the Ghetto (The Vicious Circle, but record producers took off the subtitle before they presented it to Elvis. Having been a drugs worker, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I hear it. The video, where Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie duets with him, shows guns in cradles with babies. It would be equally valid of instead of guns there were syringes - either way, some kids just don't get a chance.

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto

And his mama cries
'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way

Well the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto

As her young man dies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto

Greetings to the new brunette

2008-08-24T19:29:00.004+01:00

From the BILLY BRAGG album
TALKING WITH THE TAXMAN ABOUT POETRY (1986)

Although the lyrics are somewhat challenging, I was fascinated by this piece featuring Kirsty MacColl singing in the background to Billy Bragg's song. Love gets everywhere, doesn't it? There's a twist at the end, though.

Shirley,
It's quite exciting to be sleeping here in this new room
Shirley,
You're my reason to get out of bed before noon
Shirley,
You know when we sat out on the fire escape talking
Shirley,
What did you say about running before we were walking

Sometimes when we're as close as this
It's like we're in a dream
How can you lie there and think of England
When you don't even know who's in the team

Shirley,
Your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle
Shirley,
We are joined in the ideological cuddle

I'm celebrating my love for you
With a pint of beer and a new tattoo
And if you haven't noticed yet
I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet

Politics and pregnancy
Are debated as we empty our glasses
And how I love those evening classes

Shirley,
You really know how to make a young man angry
Shirley,
Can we get through the night without mentioning family

The people from your church agree
It's not much of a career
Trying the handles of parked cars
Whoops, there goes another year
Whoops, there goes another pint of beer

Here we are in our summer years
Living on icecream and chocolate kisses
Would the leaves fall from the trees
If I was your old man and you were my missus

Shirley,
Give my greetings to the new brunette

All about soul

2008-08-22T23:39:00.004+01:00

From the album RIVER OF DREAMS (1993)
by BILLY JOEL
Also released as a single

when this came out as a single, I didn't at first hear the love song or the even deeper meditation on faith in each other and in a greater reality. I was working for a pair of abusive managers, and the line that spoke to me, jumped out and grabbed me by the throat, was "there are people who have lost every trace of human kindness". The song helped me get through that whole time - thanks, Billy.

She waits for me at night, she waits for me in silence
She gives me all her tenderness and takes away my pain
And so far she hasn't run, though I swear she's had her moments
She still believes in miracles while others cry in vain

It's all about soul
It's all about faith and a deeper devotion
It's all about soul
'Cause under the love is a stronger emotion
She's got to be strong
'Cause so many things gettin' out of control
Should drive her away
So why does she stay?
It's all about soul

She turns to me sometimes and she asks me what I'm dreaming
And I realize I must have gone a million miles away
And I ask her how she knew to reach out for me at that moment
And she smiles because it's understood there are no words to say

It's all about soul
It's all about knowin' what someone is feelin'
The woman's got soul
The power of love and the power of healin'
This life isn't fair
It's gonna get dark, it's gonna get cold
You gotta get tough, but that ain't enough
It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Yes it is
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Yes it is

There are people who have lost every trace of human kindness
There are many who have fallen, there are some who still survive
As she comes to me at night and she tells me her desires
And she gives me all the love I need to keep my faith alive

It's all about soul
It's all about joy that comes out of sorrow
It's all about soul
Who's standing now, who's standing tomorrow
You've got to be hard
As hard as the rock in that old rock 'n' roll
But that's only part, you know in your heart
It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Yes it is
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Yes it is
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, It's all about soul
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Yes it is

She Believes in Me

2008-08-17T18:39:00.003+01:00

Words and music by STEVE GIBB
From the 1979 KENNY ROGERS album
THE GAMBLER
and the 2004 RONAN KEATING album
TURN IT ON
and released as a single by both

I used to have a spot playing guitar in a pub to try to keep body, soul and sanity together. The first time I played this to my wife she cried. I should have been the one crying - I've had cause to thank God for her many times. Which is what I guess the song is about.

While she lays sleeping, I stay out late at night and play my songs
And sometimes all the nights can be so long
And its good when I finally make it home, all alone
While she lays dreaming, I try to get undressed without the light
And quietly she says how was your night?
And I come to her and say, it was all right, and I hold her tight

And she believes in me, I'll never know just what she sees in me
I told her someday if she was my girl, I could change the world
With my little songs, I was wrong
But she has faith in me, and so I go on trying faithfully
And who knows maybe on some special night, if my song is right
I will find a way, find a way...

While she lays waiting, I stumble to the kitchen for a bite
Then I see my old guitar in the night
Just waiting for me like a secret friend, and there's no end
While she lays crying, I fumble with a melody or two
And I'm torn between the things that I should do
And she says to wake her up when I am through,
God her love is true...

And she believes in me, I'll never know just what she sees in me
I told her someday if she was my girl, I could change the world
With my little songs, I was wrong
But she has faith in me, and so I go on trying faithfully
And who knows maybe on some special night, if my song is right
I will find a way, while she waits... while she waits for me.

That Lovely Weekend

2008-08-11T23:40:00.005+01:00

Words and Music by MOIRA AND TED HEATH
Performed by VERA LYNN in 1942
From her album THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER (1992)
And eprformed by many other artists during WWII

This was possibly one of the most emotional songs released during the Second World War, and probably one of the most "adult". Hear the story bu reading the lyrics of the song, and click on the picture above how the song impacted in one case on its contemporary culture.

(Female voice singing)
I haven’t said “Thanks” for that lovely weekend
Those two days in heaven you helped me to spend
The thrill of your kiss as you stepped off the train
The smile in your eyes was like sun after rain.

To mark the occasion we went out to dine
Remember the laughter, the music, the wine
That drive in the taxi when midnight had flown
And breakfast next morning just we two alone

You had to go, the time was so short
We both had so much to say
Your kit to be packed, the train to be caught,
Sorry I cried but I just felt that way.

And now you have gone dear this letter I pen
My heart travels with you till we meet again
Keep smiling, my darling, and someday we’ll spend
A lifetime as sweet, a lifetime as sweet as
That lovely weekend.

(Orchestral interlude)

(Male voice speaking)
I haven’t said “Thanks” for that lovely weekend
Those two days in heaven you helped me to spend
And the thrill of your kiss as you stepped off the train
The smile in your eyes was like sun after rain.

And to mark the occasion we went out to dine
Do you remember the laughter, how we laughed, and the music
Harry Roy’s Band, and,and the wine, no champagne, just er just wine
Then we waited a long time for a taxi, but we got one at last

And then breakfast the next morning, just we two alone
And then I had to go, and time was so short
And we both had so much to say, and you packed my kit
And the train had to be caught, and what a train,
And then I cried,

And now that you’ve gone dear, this letter I pen,
My heart travels with you until we meet again
So keep smiling my darling and someday we’ll spend
A lifetime as sweet as that lovely weekend

(Transcribed by Bill Huntley - October 2004)

What makes a man

2008-08-11T06:34:00.003+01:00

Words and music by CHARLES AZNAVOUR
Released as a single in 1973
From the 1996 album GREATEST GOLDEN HITS

This song by chanteur Charles Aznavour was originally called Comme ils Disent, and was the B-side of Les Plaisirs Démodés (The Old Fashioned Way). It tells the story of a homosexual man living two halves of a life - one at home with his Mum, another at work as a transvestite performer - which somehow don't seem to add up to a whole life.

My mum and I we live alone
A great apartment is our home
In Fairhome Towers
I have to keep me company
Two dogs, a cat, a parakeet
Some plants and flowers
I help my mother with the chores
I wash, she dries, I do the floors
We work together
I shop and cook and sow a bit
Though mum does too I must admit
I do it better
At night I work in a strange bar
Impersonating every star
I'm quite deceiving
The customers come in with doubt
And wonder what I'm all about
But leave believing
I do a very special show
Where I am nude from head to toe
After stripteasing
Each night the men look so surprised
I change my sex before their eyes
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

At 3 o'clock or so I meet
With friends to have a bite to eat
And conversation
We love to empty out our hearts
With every subject from the arts
To liberation
We love to pull apart someone
And spread some gossip just for fun
Or start a rumour
We let our hair down, so to speak
And mock ourselves with tongue-in-cheek
And inside humour
So many times we have to pay
For having fun and being gay
It's not amusing
There's always those that spoil our games
By finding fault and calling names
Always accusing
They draw attention to themselves
At the expense of someone else
It's so confusing
Yet they make fun of how I talk
And imitate the way I walk
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

My masquerade comes to an end
And I go home to bed again
Alone and friendless
I close my eyes, I think of him
I fantasise what might have been
My dreams are endless
We love each other but it seems
The love is only in my dreams
It's so one sided
But in this life I must confess
The search for love and hapiness
Is unrequited
I ask myself what I have got
Of what I am and what I'm not
What have I given
The answers come from those who make
The rules that some of us must break
Just to keep living
I know my life is not a crime
I'm just a victim of my time
I stand defenceless
Nobody has the right to be
The judge of what is right for me
Tell me if you can
What make a man a man

Tell me if you can
Tell me if you can
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

Old admirals

2008-08-05T23:36:00.008+01:00

From the AL STEWART album
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE (1973)

This song by Al Stewart, one of my favourite writers, was inspired by the life and times of Admiral Lord "Jackie" Fisher. In the song, the Admiral is in retirement, looking back on his life, and yearning to be back at sea where he could use his experience. Stewart's talent for bringing out the differences between the power of youth and the wisdom of age is on top form here. As the Italians say, "si gioventù sapesse, se vecchiaia potesse" - if only youth knew how, if only age could.

I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea,
It was on the old "Calcutta" in eighteen fifty-three.
I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be
To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy.

By the time that I was twenty-one I'd sailed the world around,
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down,
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around.

I live in retirement now and through my window comes the sound
Of seagulls and sets my mind remembering.
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
Way out across the open seas I hear them sing.

Oh, the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
And I was given Captain's rank, and soon took under me
the proudest ship that ever sailed for Queen and country.

Ah, the old queen she passed away with the newborn century
And I received my calling up to the admiralty.
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany.

So at last the Great War blazed I waited with the passing days
a call to arms that never came, writing letters.
"I may be old now in your eyes, but all my years have made me wise,
You don't see where the danger lies, oh call me back, call me back..."

But the war, it ran its course they could find no use for me
And I live in the country now, grandchildren on my knee
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
Old admirals who feel the wind and never put to sea.

Now just like you, I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
And some of them they've come on rocks and some faced mutiny
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company -
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea.

Brothers in arms

2008-08-02T12:20:00.003+01:00

Words and music by MARK KNOPFLER
From the DIRE STRAITS album BROTHERS IN ARMS (1985)

The sense of dislocation in the first verse morphs into a vision of Hell as the song progresses, but ends on a note of hope as the man of war into whose mouth the words have been put hopes for a future without war.

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun has gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

In my life

2008-07-27T22:31:00.002+01:00

Words and music by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album RUBBER SOUL (1965)

This was sung by John Lennon, but came towards the end of the time when Lennon and McCartney were genuinely writing songs together, which may explain the subtlety of the some of the lyrics. I think of this song every time I return to Glasgow; everybody's a bit older (including me), somebody else has died, the landscape - especially of my old area in the East End - has changed; but there's still the memories of life and love among the ashes of areas forgotten for generations by planners and politicians.

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

Life is

2008-07-27T17:32:00.002+01:00

Words and music by CALUM AND RORY MACDONALD
From the RUNRIG album IN SEARCH OF ANGELS (1999)

This is the song that most struck me from the band's In Search of Angels album, at a period when their lead singer of over 20 years, Donnie Munro, had left to pursue other interests. By the time the next album, The Stamping Ground, had been recorded, Bruce Guthro from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia had been recruited, but for most of this album Rory MacDonald handled the vocals. The lyrics to this song are sublime, and show the touch of the metaphysical poet that the MacDonald brothers' writing can sometimes reveal.

Life is hard, somehow
Life is cold, somehow
It can make you, it can break you
In pieces all around

There is no return
Once the seal's undone
Morning dawning with life abounding
But in time we all must fall
And it seems to be this way
Hearts change and brightness fades
And it leaves you facing the days
When your hope is blown apart
Life is hard

I walk you down that road
It's the only road we know
Nights so blinding, the world denying
That love so loved the world
What words to ease the pain
A life to live again
What can lift you up from this place
Where you hold a broken heart
Life is hard

One day in your life

2008-07-26T23:50:00.005+01:00

Words and music by RENEE ARMAND and SAM BROWN
Released in 1975, re-released in 1981

This song was sung by somebody whose name gets mentioned less and less in polite society as time goes by. He didn't write the song, however. The lyrics have haunted me since I first heard the re-release in 1981. Although happily married now, I remember a time when a relationship ended and it took my Mum to point out that I was spending hours watching a blank TV screen into the wee hours. This song seemed to encapsulate perfectly the feeling that a relationship is dead in the water and it wouldn't be a wise move to try to resurrect it...and yet, if the other party were to indicate they were willing to revisit it...

One day in your life
You'll remember a place
Someone's touching your face
You'll come back and you'll look around you

One day in your life
You'll remember the love you found here
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...

One day in your life
When you find that you're always waiting
For the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there

You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...

One day in your life
When you find that you're always longing
For the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there

Summer highland Falls

2008-07-25T03:00:00.003+01:00

Words and music by BILLY JOEL
From the album TURNSTILES (1976)

Billy Joel has famously struggled with depression, but has given hints in interviews that he feels he might be manic-depressive. Being manic-depressive myself, when I hear the words of this song I think his hints are right.

They say that these are not the best of times
But they're the only times I've ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own

Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover's eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It's either sadness or euphoria

And so we'll argue and we'll compromise
And realize that nothing's ever changed
For all our mutual experience
Our separate conclusions are the same

Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason coexists with our insanity
And though we choose between reality and madness
It's either sadness or euphoria

How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies
And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives
With our respective similarities
It's either sadness or euphoria

In this Place

2008-07-24T18:58:00.002+01:00

Words and music by STUART ADAMSON
From the BIG COUNTRY album
PEACE IN OUR TIME (1988)

The classic exile's song.

All the years I spent in this place
The friends I knew here,
I loved every face
I loved the smoke, the heat and the noise
But the profit's too small
For the black-suited boys

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

All the years I lived in this place
The people I knew here,
I loved every face
I loved the parties, the funerals and fights
The supermarket needs my land
I have no rights

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

All the years I spent in this place
The children we raised here,
I loved this country, the land of my birth
But how much am I wnated
How much am I worth

Oh angel, it's coming down stone by stone
It's breaking up home by home
Take it away, take it away

In this place I will lay my life down
In this place I will let you carry me
As I age so my learning grows
I still touch the vision
I still smell the rose in this place

Letter from America

2008-07-23T00:32:00.005+01:00

Words and music by CHARLIE AND CRAIG REID
Released as a single by THE PROCLAIMERS in 1986
From the album THIS IS THE STORY (1987)

This song was released towards the end of 1986, and was given a thumbs-down by Donny Osmond. Ouch. I'd returned home from Italy in the summer of that year, unprepared for the unemployment that was sweeping the nation. It was easy to blame the government of the day, but the easy course usually leads to rapids. The Miners' Strike, which rode the momentum of Edward Heath's defeat in 1974 when he went to the country to ask them as adults who ruled, and the country replied as scared children "the miners, who are cutting our power", had been over for a year. We were in the midst of a domestic cold war. But one line still hits the spot - "Do we have to roam the world to prove how much it hurts?" I don't know the enswer to that one. The second-last time I left Glasgow, I asked the taxi-driver to do a loop round George Square because, I guess, I couldn't believe I was leaving. I returned later in life, and came to chair my housing association in an area of multiple deprivation. I got a temporary job elsewhere, as there weren't too many shifts going in Glasgow, and when it turned into a permanent job moved my family away. Perhaps the answer to the question is that we roam the world to feed our families, not to prove how much it hurts: but it still hurts.

When you go will you send back
A letter from america?
Take a look up the railtrack
From miami to canada

Broke off from my work the other day
I spent the evening thinking about
All the blood that flowed away
Across the ocean to the second chance
I wonder how it got on when it reached the promised land?

I’ve looked at the ocean
Tried hard to imagine
The way you felt the day you sailed
From wester ross to nova scotia
We should have held you
We should have told you
But you know our sense of timing
We always wait too long

Lochaber no more
Sutherland no more
Lewis no more
Skye no more...... etc

I wonder my blood
Will you ever return
To help us kick the life back
To a dying mutual friend
Do we not love her?
Do we not say we love her?
Do we have to roam the world
To prove how much it hurts?

Bathgate no more
Linwood no more
Methil no more
Irvine no more.

Always a Woman

2008-07-21T02:32:00.006+01:00

Words and music by BILLY JOEL
From the 1977 album THE STRANGER

Billy Joel found himself being saddled with accusations of mysogyny because of this song, by individuals who thought that the title was "She's only a woman". It seems that his sin was to have the dexterity to be able to describe a man's experience of loving a flesh-and-blood woman with the darkness as well as the splendour that entails, as opposed to expressing solidarity with whoever could best deconstruct an oppressive patriarchal narrative which, more often than not, didn't exist in the first place. Joel was surprised that this song was a hit because of its unusual time-signature, but his fans weren't surprised. It was the best of songs from a songwriter who demands nothing but the best from himself.

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But shes always a woman to me

She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her, as long as its free
She steals like a thief
But shes always a woman to me

Chorus

Oh-she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
Shes ahead of her time
Oh-and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

And she'll promise you more
Than the garden of eden
Then shell carelessly cut you
And laugh while youre bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause shes always a woman to me

Chorus

She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobodys fool

But she can't be convicted
Shes earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But shes always a woman to me

Remember my forgotten man

2008-07-15T23:04:00.004+01:00

Words by AL DUBLIN
Music by HARRY WARREN
From the 1933 film GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933
And the album HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD:
THE BEST OF BUSBY BERKELY AT WARNER BROS (1995)
Sung by ETTA MOTEN, JOAN BLONDELL AND CHORUS

A lot of people who have posted videos of jazz musicians performing this on YouTube have misinterpreted it as the song of a war-widow for her deceased husband. In fact, she is singing about the effects of the Great Depression, which started in 1929 and lasted for most of the 30's, upon her husband, at a time when a woman who wasn't financially supported by family or a husband faced terrifying uncertainty at least. In the film the men, veterans of the First World War, are shades of themselves. They have no job, therefore not only no self esteem but no means to support their families. It marked one of America's darkest moments, and was more or less contemporaneous with President FD Roosevelt's inauguration of the "New Deal". The next year, Etta Moten, who takes the second part of the song, became the first black woman to sing at the Whitehouse, on the occasion of FDR's birthday. This is the song she sang.

I don't know if I deserve a bit of sympathy,
Save your sympathy, that's all right with me.
I was satisfied to drift along from day to day,
'Til you came and took my man away!

Remember my forgotten man,
You put a rifle in his hand,
You sent him far away,
You shouted "hip-hooray,"
But look at him today!

Remember my forgotten man,
You had him cultivate the land,
He walked behind a plow,
The sweat fell from his brow,
But look at him right now!

And once he used to love me,
I was happy, then!
He used to take care of me,
Won't you bring him back again?
'Cause ever since the world began,
A woman's got to have a man,
Forgetting him, you see,
Means you're forgetting me,
Like my forgotten man!

Flying Sorcery

2008-07-15T15:47:00.002+01:00

Words and music by AL STEWART
From the album THE YEAR OF THE CAT (1976)

Like many of Al Stewart's works, this haunting piece works on several levels. The theme of unrequited love (the best kind, as a friend of mine says) runs through it, but I also like the references to flying. Especially tiger moths, which can be seen in the skies above Cantabrigia, and Faith, Hope and Charity, the three biplanes which kept Malta supplied during the German blockade of World War II. Again, as with much of Stewart's work, shades of presence and absence are deftly woven into the fabric of the song. The album was hardly off my turntable for years.

With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small.

No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day

Are you there?
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there?

Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights

Are you there?
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere,
Oh, are you there?

The sun comes up on Icarus
As the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus Y
ou can touch the morning air against your wheels

Are you there?
Do you have a thought for me that you can share?
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there?

He was a friend of mine

2008-07-15T01:05:00.005+01:00

Words and music by BOB DYLAN
From the album THE BOOTLEG SERIES
VOLUMES 1-3 - LIVE AND UNRELEASED (1991)
and THE VERY BEST OF THE BYRDS (1997)

The first verse of this song was performed by Street Voices at the memorial service held for the 17 members of the street community who had died in the last year, which was held at the Leper Chapel in Cambridge on Friday 20th June. Depending on how you quantify and define the city's street community, this represents a mortality rate of 3.7-8.5%. I know of no other estate of life wherein such an attrition rate would not cause an immediate national crisis.

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
Every time I think about him now
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause he was a friend of mine

He died on the road
He died on the road
He never had enough money
To pay his room or board
And he was a friend of mine

I stole away and cried
I stole away and cried
'Cause I never had too much money
And I never been quite satisfied
And he was a friend of mine

He never done no wrong
He never done no wrong
A thousand miles from home
And he never harmed no one
And he was a friend of mine

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
Every time I hear his name
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause he was a friend of mine.

The Special Years

2008-07-14T21:32:00.004+01:00

Words and Music by BOB LIND
Released as a single by VAL DOONICAN(1966)
From his album HIS SPECIAL YEARS(1999)

I was listening to Pam Ayres' Sunday show on Radio 2 during a prolonged hospitalisation when this song came on. I thought of my family, Maxima looking after Minora and Minima on her own, and the girls being very young and without me. As the tears came I suddenly felt very alone, but determined that I would get back to them as soon as possible.

From pigtails to wedding veils
From pinafores to lace
And in between are the special years
Time never can erase

From play toys to college boys
From little girl to wife
And in between are the special years
You remember all of your life

The special years are filled
With sweet promises and pain
But love will never taste
Quite so wonderful again

So slow up, don't rush to grow up
You'll be a woman before long
So stay awhile in the special years
Their magic will soon be gone

Just stay awhile in the special years
Their magic - will soon be gone...

Chance

2008-07-14T04:17:00.003+01:00

Words and music by STUART ADAMSON
From the 1983 album THE CROSSING
by Big Country (1983)

This song by Big Country reads like a story of the bleak post-industrial heartlands of Scotland as might be told by William McIlvanney. I grew up in the same sort of background as the girl whose tale forms the tale of the song, although by then the jobs had gone: but I got a chance to get away. I can't help wondering if Stuart Adamson was talking about himself in the words of the chorus.

All the rain came down
On a cold new town
As it carried you away
From your father's hand
That always seemed like a fist
Reaching out to make you pay

He came like a hero from the factory floor
With the sun and moon as gifts
But the only son you ever saw
Were the two he left you with

Oh Lord where did the feeling go
Oh Lord I never felt so low

Now the skirts hang so heavy around your head
That you never knew you were young
Because you played chance with a lifetime's romance
And the price was far too long

Oh Lord where did the feeling go
Oh Lord I never felt so low

The Boxer

2008-07-14T03:37:00.004+01:00

Words and music by PAUL SIMON
From the album BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (1969)
and SIMON AND GARFUNKEL'S GREATEST HITS (1972)
and OLD FRIENDS: LIVE ON STAGE (2004)

This is the first Simon and Garfunkel song that I knowingly came into contact with when I went to livein Italy in my late teens, and is connected in my mind with Strega, penne arrabiate and the sort of summer sunsets that you only appreciate within a certain timeframe in your life. At the end is the extra verse which was left out from the recorded version, but is sometimes performed live, as was performed in music-nights in the students' common room by Joe Keenan, who taught me to play guitar.

I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.

When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.

CHORUSLie-la-lie.....

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers.
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there.

CHORUS

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home.

In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains

CHORUS

Now the years are rolling by me,
They are rocking evenly.
I am older than I once was,
But younger than I'll be.
That's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange,
After changes upon changes,
We are more or less the same.
After changes we are more or less the same.

The only Rose

2008-07-14T03:12:00.005+01:00

Words and music by
CALUM AND RORY MacDONALD
From the 1987 album
THE CUTTER AND THE CLAN by RUNRIG

My first Runrig album was 1987's The Cutter and the Clan, bought with a record (remember those?) voucher from my cousins. It blew me away. Recently, after my daughter bought me a CD copy, I played her this track from the album. She was left speechless. This is the MacDonald Brothers at their most heart-rendingly lyrical, speaking of the feelings of loss and separation of a generation for whom to leave the Highlands, even for another part of Great Britain, was to become an emigrant. Enjoy.

Between the shifting shadows
In the no-man's zone
There's a bar at the
end of the street
Some poor country music
One or two sixties songs
In the place where
the night owls sleep
Oh, loneliness
You're a hard earned crust
You're the night at
the end of the day
'Cause you pay your dues
On the road you choose
With the price you have to pay

Down the neon aisles
And the twilight miles
Where the world takes
comfort in shame
And all I can hear
Is a voice in my ear
And its calling out your name
Still the silence glows
The four winds blow
And a dark moon rising above
To rest by your side
In the heat of the fire
In the sleep of the night of love

When darkness hangs
On the dirty city
Winter falls on a foreign town
And it's all I can do
To be with you
Tonight as the sun goes down
But I would cross
The ocean wide
I'd walk the mighty foam
If I could lie
In your arms tonight
You're the only rose I know

Let it Be

2008-07-14T02:44:00.007+01:00

Music and lyrics by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album LET IT BE (1970)
and LET IT BE NAKED (2003)

This has been one of my favourite songs for decades, and seems to have followed me round during my life. Paul McCartney wrote it in memory of his mother, Mary, but there is an undeniable Gospel-style arrangement, and the midde-verse seems to be a meditation on a line of the prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes, prièz pour ceux qui aiment et sont partis - pray for those who love and are parted.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.

There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be