1. |
A Follower, A Fighter
03:48
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They ruled the oval, Māori brothers up in arms
Kinship and colours, silver blades in their palms
All Blacks forever, they fought fierce, no backing down
Young ones with old wounds in a broken town
In class we learnt their war dance to scare our enemies
At lunch they fought with those they’d danced, hidden by the trees
We walked their war zone, but the war wasn’t ours
Pens and blades, swings and bars
Pens and blades, swings and bars
A god of the forest, Tane across from me
A follower, a fighter, he fell by the trees
We lined the windows as they flew him away
Silence deafening, after sirens too late
In class we learnt their war dance to scare our enemies
At lunch they fought with those they’d danced, hidden by the trees
We walked their war zone, but the war wasn’t ours
Pens and blades, swings and bars
Pens and blades, swings and bars
Once were warriors got sons at the gate
The looked after children lived next to our place
No one to wait for, detours they roamed
A house divided doesn’t make a home
In class we learnt their war dance to scare our enemies
At lunch they fought with those they’d danced, hidden by the trees
We walked their war zone, but the war wasn’t ours
Pens and blades, swings and bars
Pens and blades, swings and bars
Pens and blades, swings and bars
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2. |
Open Arms
03:21
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Come on let's talk about the weather
Let's get it over with
We both know it's not getting any better
Best to see it as a long wet kiss
Cause Lisa wrote it is the reason
The spaces are so green
From Kelvingrove to Bellahouston
And all the nooks and crannies in-between
So can we let go of the false alarms
And those cliches bearing down on me
So we can welcome you with open arms
Come on let's talk about the razors
The credit we still clutch
Dreamed up by an alcoholic baker
Is it time to kick it into touch
'Cause Johnny Stark is in the past now
He wasn't even real
They like to paint us as gritty
But this is no mean city
So can we let go of the false alarms
And those cliches bearing down on me
So we can welcome you with open arms
So can we let go of the false alarms
Those old chestnuts raining down on me
So we can welcome you with open arms
Come on let's talk about religion
Our not-so-secret stain
And how the lines we've traced through our past
Have turned Christ back into Cain
We need to re-write the script
We need fresh blood on the stage
We need the plot to thicken
We need our hearts to quicken
So can we let go of the false alarms
And those cliches bearing down on me
So we can welcome you with open arms
So can we let go of the false alarms
Those old chestnuts raining down on me
So we can welcome you with open arms
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3. |
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I've filled in these forms a hundred times
And waited in countless Monday morning lines
But I don't know how long I can last
When you can't get past my past
And darling, I'm trying the hardest that I can
To be some semblance of an ordinary man
But what if my best isn't good enough for you
What if my best isn't good enough?
What if I never come good?
What if my best isn't good enough for you?
If I could teach you how to live
Or at least not to make the same mistakes I did
Then that would be enough for me I swear
Yeah, that could be a medal that I wear
But you slam the door and lock me out
And God knows what you get up to
And what if my best isn't good enough for you
What if my best isn't good enough?
What if I never ring true?
What if my best intentions are just trampled underfoot?
Better sit still than rise up and fall
Better sit still than rise up and fall
Better sit still than rise up and fall
Or better to fail than not to try at all (Can anybody?)
Better sit still than rise up and fall (Can anybody?)
Or better to fail than not to try at all (Can anybody help me?)
Better sit still than rise up and fall (Can anybody help me?)
Or better to fail than not to try at all (Can anybody help me?)...
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4. |
California
03:33
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Sitting at the table lost for words
Books and letters in-between
I joke that she can never ever win
But she’s beating my by seventeen
Looking at scribbles over scores
While she just scored another nine
Dreaming of a Winnebago
And California all the time
California all the time
California all the time
We've each got our own words
And I've heard there's a place called paradise
America's the place where people disappear
And one day the kids'll be alright
Franz Kakfa made me wanna read
While Francesca really made me wanna write
But I've been dreaming
And she's the only reason I'm dreaming
Of California all the time
California all the time
California all the time
Slide into the summertime
Take a ride
You’ll be the shotgun at my side
On this open road we’re lost for words
In California all the time
California all the time
California all the time
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5. |
Inverlussa Bay
06:12
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Remember when we the climbed into the back of the wedding car
My black horn-rimmed spectacles, your face like a honey jar
The open road before us, a simple faith to light our path
Our can't-believe-our-luck faces captured unawares in that flash
Now over eighteen thousand days have come and gone
But no can accuse us of wasting a precious one
We've had more than we expected
Sometimes less than we could stand
But intertwined together we were stronger than a solitary strand
For what we have left
For what we have left
For what we have left
I am grateful
Remember when we sailed out on the Maggie May
The mooring roped tied up at Inverlussa bay
We could have dropped the anchor, could have calmed the storm inside
But the next great adventure quickly carried us away on the tide
For what we have left
For what we have left
For what we have left
I am grateful
These days I play my cello while you paint your latest masterpiece
We try to do no harm, try to leave a little legacy
Surround ourselves with sidekicks who share our blessed past
To reiterate the covenant that got us here, that still holds us fast
For all we've been given, for all we have left
For all we've been given, for all we have left
For what we have left
For what we have left
For what we have left
I am grateful
Grateful
Grateful
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6. |
Partick Station
03:57
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With a crazy boss and a broken heart
I took a one way ticket alone
With a bruised determination
I fled the castle I still call home
Turning left from Partick Station
With my whole life on my back
Exhilarated by the freedom
But daunted by the friends I lack
I made my way to 913 Dumbarton Road
Past the Velvet Elvis to my unfixed abode
So take a straw
And stand in line
'Cause someone in this city
Will be a friend of mine
Everytime the bus went under the Clyde
I could feel the whole building shake
But I tell myself don't worry
It's not a bomb or an earthquake
I feel safe here in 913 Dumbarton Road
Above the lawyers and Michaelangelo
So take a straw
And stand in line
'Cause someone in this city
Will be a friend of mine
To make a home
It just takes time
Enjoy the calm before the storm
It'll be just fine
So make your way to 913 Dumbarton Road
And take a hand
We'll dance in line
'Cause everybody in this city
Is a friend of mine
We'll make a home
It just takes time
Enjoy the calm before the storm
It'll be just fine
So take a straw
And stand in line
'Cause someone in this city
Will be a friend of mine
To make a home
It just takes time
Enjoy the calm before the storm
It'll be just fine
It'll be just fine
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7. |
Sycamore
04:13
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Lately I've been patiently waiting
For you to rise up from the forest floor
Where your limbs are tangled up in the thorn bush
And every movement hurts that little bit more
Lately I've been anticipating
That someday you would rise from the gloom
That these thorns would turn to sticky willow
And I could peel them off like scabs from a wound
But I've done all I can to save you
So until that day I will be waiting for you to
Meet me under the sycamore tree
Its pale white branches
And light a fire at the water's edge
And sing me to sleep tonight
Lately all this poison ivy
Only seems to drag you further behind
Robs you of the courage to find me
Makes you sleepy and lose track of time
Now the days and weeks have turned into decades
And how long will I be waiting for you to
Meet me under the sycamore tree
Its pale white branches
And light a fire at the water's edge
And sing me to sleep tonight
With the melodies that roll across the water
Bringing memories returning with the tide
Of the man you used to
When I became your bride
So meet me under the sycamore tree
Meet me under the sycamore tree
Its pale white branches
And light a fire at the water's edge
And sing me to sleep tonight
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8. |
Madeleine
04:48
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Madeline was chasing rainbows in the car
In the back seat baby tiger tucked beneath her arm
Looking behind-ways and sideways
Queasiness swimming round her head
From the front seat, Daddy
Turns around and says,
Darling look straight ahead
Madeline tasted blood in the summer she turned nine
When the stern-faced steward passed her the fake communion wine
The glass cups were tiny, the tray was heavy
It crashed down to the floor
The congregation exchanging glances
Her father's cheeks turned red he says,
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
Madeline was twenty-one when she surrendered to the stars
In the back seat, Sarah Taylor wrapped around her arms
Rocking backwards and forwards
The universe exploding in her head
Evolution painting rainbows
Sarah meets her eyes says
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
Madeline lost her bearings 'round the age of thirty-five
In a backwards looking shit-hole where she barely made out alive
She was clean out of courage
Had to find a way to get out of her head
When she shut the bathroom mirror
Pills in hand she whispered
Darling you're better off dead
Madeline woke up two days later dressed in white
With two cracked ribs and a Bee Gees earworm in her mind
Her exhausted father asleep at her bedside
When he woke up, between convulsions
He whispered through his tears
I'm sorry baby
Never look back
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
Darling look straight ahead
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9. |
Drip Feed
03:30
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Of course I would be cynical
If I was in your shoes
To have reached the highest pinnacle
Then slipped between the pews
Battered, bruised and senseless from your fight
Hiding in the shadows from the light
And now your heart's just a little bit, heart's just a little bit hard
And you've been trying to figure out how not to put up your guard
But there is no answer I have found
That can keep you safe and sound
Of course I would be sceptical
If I'd seen what you'd seen
Like a steel-toe cap to the testicles
It brought you to your knees
Now you're looking and there's no wise men in sight
To help you tell the shadows from the night
And now your heart's just a little bit, heart's just a little bit hard
And you've been trying to figure out how not to put up your guard
But there is no anchor I have found
To keep your feet chained to solid ground
To show the world the dirt I keep beneath my fingernails
Is the only way I've found to keep my heart from turning stale
But now my hand are in my pockets, fists clenched tight
And I'm beginning to prefer the shadows to the light
And now my heart's just a little bit, heart's just a little bit hard
And I've been trying to figure out how not to put up my guard
So if there's an antidote you have found
That can draw this poison out
Then drip feed me slow
Drip feed me slow
Drip feed me slow
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10. |
Broompark Drive
04:34
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On Broompark Drive
In the summer of eighty-five
Where the crossroads cut
Through our lives
You gave me a home from home
An alliance to call my own
Footprints to follow through
The great unknown
It was a baptism into the American dream
For this middle-class kid raised on state-side TV
With your jam you called jelly, your room called a den
It seems pedestrian now but it was glorious then
You had a digital watch with its own secret PIN
This was cutting-edge tech you could keep phone numbers in
And when you gave me my own in September that year
It was like catching a glimpse of the final frontier
We had late-night sleepovers locked in your room
Reading James Dobson's book page seventy two
And you had to explain with a static silhouette
With your fingers and thumbs against the television set
When I spiked up my hair up and got laughed out of school
I'd come round to your house and we'd joke and play pool
And those cruel little bastards could never compare
To the warmth of your home and the peace I found there
Then your dad got a job back home in the States
And your good-bye gift was this alarm clock that played tapes
And it lay by my bed like a delicate shrine
Until the digits wore out and I lost track of time
Now it's been thirty-five years since we were warmed by that flame
And there have been times when I've thought I should look up your name
But some friendships burn bright and then flicker down low
And there are places and times we just need to let go
Like Broompark Drive
Nineteen eight-five
Where the crossroads cut
Through our lives
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11. |
Echoes
04:36
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You caught me off guard with that look in your eyes
Like you're bracing yourself for a farewell
But the last time I checked I still had breath in my chest
Can you still hear the ocean in this shell?
I'm staring into the middle distance
Trying to gauge the gap between
Each waking moment and the leap to the unknown
And if this is everything we get
Then I'm not ready to let go yet
Are we transients who sing then slowly fade?
I'm here but I'm helpless
An impotent bystander
And it's too late to death defy
And as the leaves out this window turn their last shade of red
I'm like a permanent fixture by your bed
And if there's a skill to letting go
Then it's one I need to know
I'm staring into the middle distance
Trying to gauge the gap between
Each waking moment and the leap to the unknown
And if this is everything we get
Then I'm not ready to let go yet
Are we transients who sing then slowly fade?
Are we echoes of a sound yet to be made?
You caught me off guard with that look in your eyes
Despite the countless times I've held that gaze
But there's no getting used to that flickering light
No calender to count down the days
I'm staring into the middle distance
Trying to gauge the gap between
Each waking moment and the leap to the unknown
And if this is everything we get
Then I'm not ready to let go yet
So I grab that magic marker pen
So you can read this back again
I dim the lights and hush the crowd
So you can serenade out loud
Are we transients who sing then slowly fade?
Are we echoes of a sound yet to be made?
And in the end are we the sum of what we gave?
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Andrew Howie Scotland, UK
Andrew Howie is a Scottish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & community music tutor who has been writing, recording and releasing his own music for over two decades.
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