1. |
Above Whitehawk Hill
05:05
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Above Whitehawk Hill
(for Mum)
If I lay myself down on the hill by my house
can I leave my body behind
and will I float above Whitehawk Hill
while the earth turns around and around
oh mother my heart is filled with darkness
and mother your heart is filled with kindness
And will I grow wings as my poor body melts
and fly to the tops of the clouds
Or build my nest on the highest tree branch
to call the sun to the ground
When you stand beside me
we can drive the darkness from me
for you illuminate
And if I sink to the grass and stay here
let my lungs feel heavy and old
I could take photographs of seagulls in flight
watch the light turn their feathers to bone
oh mother my heart is filled with darkness
dear mother your heart is filled with kindness
Will you stand beside me
we can drive the darkness from me
for you illuminate
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2. |
One Daughter
03:36
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One Daughter
(for Sam, Gabi and Ella)
Long winter lift my feet
pitch the seed under Ailim
grow, grow, grow
long the autumn nights
come the Ring Ouzel from the hills
carrying one daughter
then two can sing
Long winter lift my feet
pitch the seed under Ailim
grow, grow, grow
long the winter nights
come the Sanderling from the sea
carrying one daughter
then three can sing
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3. |
Laika
04:12
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Laika
(for Ella)
I hold her and I’m like Laika
I see the earth rolling, slow
and know the orbit of my heart
Laika knew the stars
and I can’t be frightened
if she holla’s and hauls me
throws me into the sky
those darkling skies close over
and collapsing eyes let go the earth
Like Laika, Laika
like Lisichka, Damka ,
Malyshka, ZIB Otvazhnaya, Tsyeganka,
Bars, Kresavka Albina ,
Schnezhinka, Tsygan, Smelaya Ryzhik,
Lisa, Pchyolka, Mushka
like Zhuchka, Zhuchka, Zhuchka, Zhuchka
Limonchik, Laika, Zhuchka, Zhuchka
Dochka, Dochka, Dochka Devotchki
Laika, Laika, Laika
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4. |
Curlew
06:26
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Curlew
(For Jordan and Pops)
Under a mackerel sky a curlew in flight
can we be caught in one birds eye
racing the watercourse
and how is the air how is the air up there?
Birds on the riverside (birds on the river)
know what the flowing course hides
they cast a shadow from the sky (under the shadows of Beech trees)
Alders and Birch and Willow (and Oak and Ash)
how is the air how is the air up there?
And there, the warm light dives down
through feathers on wings tips
and dances between leaves
to break the black water
and light up scales and ferns and shingle stone
and open eyes, and open eyes and wide open eyes
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5. |
O Willow Waly
03:13
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O Willow Waly
We lay my love and I
beneath the weeping willow
but now alone I lie
and weep beside the tree
singing O Willow waly
by the tree that weeps for me
singing O Willow waly
'til my lover returns to me
We lay my love and I
beneath the weeping willow
but now alone I lie
O Willow I die
O Willow I die
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6. |
The Lookerer
05:57
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The Lookerer
Each cold morn the Lookerer’s
counting the beasts counting the sheep
tell the shepherd, Lookerer
which one is lost and which one to keep.
The sea is gold
The sea is gold
From the ridge the Lookerer
watches the fog settle and swell
all the fields under cover
all of the sheep buried and quelled
The sea is gold The sea is gold
Marking time the Lookerer
waits out the sun warming the day
though the fog burned to nothing
it cradled the flock and stole them away
The sheep are gone
The sheep are gone
The sea is gold
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7. |
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The Serenade Of Rough Music
If you were a river, you’d flow like the sea
and churn up the banks and kill all of the sheep
that stand by the water and mind their own business
and quietly bleat that the river is rising
if you were a river
If you were the wasteland on the edge of the city
you’d creep into side streets and cover the pavement
with dust and with rubbish abandoned by people
who thought that the point of you
was to be dumped on
if you were the wasteland
You were a river
If you were a song, no one would sing it
no one would hear it you’d lie in an old drawer
left out for the bin men and hedgehogs would eat you
until you were just some remains of their vomit
forsaken in woodlands encroached on by housing
and railways and road works and rivers and wasteland
if you were a song
if you were a river
You were a river, you were a river
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8. |
The Time Traveller
03:33
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Time Traveller
Her second skin, kissing him, running wild
roots of a vine, sweet caress, strangling
my love comes from empty lands
where he lays me down in deep blue skies
cameras work, stopping time, brightening
her delicate skin, leaning in, kissing him
and my love pours out wine
my love travels through time
my love pours out
roots of a vine, strangling, holding on
an ordinary day, passing by, pressing down
if I wore a second skin if I could travel through space
if I had a train that flew through time I’d ride back to him
he’d lay me down in blue skies in empty lands
and there my love pours out wine
and my love pours out
If I wore a second skin if I could travel l through space
if I had a train that flew through time I’d ride back
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9. |
We're The Wild Dogs
06:55
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We’re The Wild Dogs
(for Sam)
You are the queen
I’m floating around you
a depth submarine
I still haven’t found you
you say you’ve done wrong
and you make people hate you
if you think you’re bad
you should see my head lately
I’m lost in the woods
been raised by a wolf pack
if you said my name
you would remember
I’ve been here before
I’ve been round the houses
you’ve been on my mind
for hundreds and thousands of years
I’ve been so tired
and you’ve been so angry
and I’ve been too slow
got no wits about me
you’re a broken machine
on a wilderness level
but my head's in the clouds
so I can watch you forever
You’re lost on the sea
and run out of water
If you heard my name
you would remember
you’ve been here before
been all round the houses
you’ve been on my mind
for hundreds and thousands of years
We’re the wild dogs
we’re hunting and howling
you are the queen
and I float around you
We’re lost on the moor
the beast is behind us
it whispers my name
so we can remember
we’ve been here before
we’ve been round the houses
you’ve been on my mind
for hundreds and thousands of years
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10. |
The Birthday Song
04:27
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The Birthday Song
She said she hung the moon
to keep from fading in time
to keep playing her silvery tunes
and I am back to sleepless nights
you were the one to keep me light
they said she hung the stars
to keep from leaving these holes in darkness
dream on lay your head down
and dream of silvery songs
and I am back to sleepless nights
you were the one to keep me light
sleep on sleep on
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11. |
Disney Girl
04:17
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Disney Girl
(for Gabi)
We both know the moonlight's just blue filters on the daylight
But we don't go south anymore cause backroads echo phantom saws
You are my disney girl, too many fingers for your world
We should go in white, top down, see quiet streets in tiny towns
Love in swamp-cooled Bates motels, your tailfin glasses, scarves as well
You are my disney girl, too many fingers for your world.
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