1. |
Sea Theme
02:13
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2. |
The Regal
03:20
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Mrs Wittering lays out the cutlery
Staging the tables with care
Even with nobody there –
It’s a must
Polishes the ornaments, ruffles the serviettes
What if a flock of them came
No-one but her here to blame
For the dust
The Regal is open for tea
Charming views of the sea
And the empty arcades
The Regal is shamelessly yours
With its desolate doors
Even vanity fades
Mrs Wittering scowls at the layabouts
Smoking their way to the fare
Even with nobody there –
The abyss
Filthy lettering, gutter littering
Needles and numbers and names
How did her paradise change
Into this?
The Regal is open for tea
Charming views of the sea
And the empty arcades
The Regal is shamelessly yours
With its desolate doors
Even vanity fades
Silver frames and pictures by the gramophone
Haunted by a ghostly lover’s tune
The touch of silk, the curl of smoke
A secret smile, a whispered joke
A stolen kiss beneath the paper moon
The Regal is open for tea
Charming views of the sea
And the empty arcades
The Regal is shamelessly yours
With its desolate doors
Even vanity fades
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3. |
Sweeter
03:49
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The rocks below, the lightning above
Clouds making raindrops while we made love in the sea
Everything was so much sweeter when you shared it all with me
Your lips, the salt in your kiss
Your sundrunk tears reflecting the misty blue
Everything was so much sweeter when I shared it all with –
You were my best thing
You made the world sing
I remember the tune
And you – your peardrop eyes
You candied the skies
You sugared the moon
The star-shot night, your hand on my back
Heads full of light and mouthfuls of Dacquiri (strawberry)
Everything was so much sweeter when you shared it all with me
Two sticks, two names in the sand
While Leonard crooned and wooed his Suzanne anew
Everything was so much sweeter when I shared it all with –
You were my best thing
You made the world sing
I remember the tune
And you – your peardrop eyes
You candied the skies
You sugared the moon
I’ll not leave you with nothing,
No you gave me it all
All those boxes of memory in the hall
The salt of all our tomorrows
The pebble marks on my thigh
The cheek tattoo of the tears from our goodbye
You were my best thing
You made the world sing
I remember the tune
And you – your peardrop eyes
You candied the skies
You sugared the moon
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4. |
Alderney
04:29
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Leaving
Two hours ’til take off take everything
Off with a bagful of my leaving
Fire in the mantle left flickering
Wardrobe with clothes all turned to stone
Coming
6,000 tourists in shackling
Scuff up the shingle for they’re coming
To slip on my slippers and petticoats
And fill all the pastures with their bone
Alderney, Remember me, I claim you as my home
Remember me, my Alderney, wherever I may roam,
Alderney
Sailing
Deckchairs and blankets and worrying
God knows to where they’ve got us sailing
Off to a village of prattling
A handful of bricks that aren’t my own
Alderney, Remember me, I claim you as my home
Remember me, my Alderney, wherever I may roam,
Alderney
And it’s dig and dig and dodge all the thunder
and battle the hunger and dig and dig
And heave and heave and slab on the concrete
and dance to the drum beat and breathe and breathe
And build and build and brick up the wish holes
and tot up the death tolls and build and build
And haul and haul and bar all the windows and look to the shadows
and fall and fall and fall…
Alderney, Remember me, I claim you as my home
Remember me, my Alderney, wherever I may roam,
Alderney
Alderney, cicatrice si joli, est-que vous vous rappeller?
Alderney, vous avez marqué ma vie, je ne vous oublierai jamais
Alderney
Coming
Take up the trumpets, we’re back again
To pick through the rubble of our leaving
What have they done to our everything?
Pastures and people turned to stone.
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5. |
I Still Hear The Bells
04:03
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We built our house here on the shore
We wrote our names above the door
And you were mine alone forever more /
We built our love way out of sight
We clung together, held on tight
And said our vows one secret stormy night
And it’s so long since our last farewell…
But I still hear the bells
Ding dong / Ding dong
I know you’re gone, I know you’re gone
Ding dong / Ding dong
We don’t belong, we don’t belong
But the bells ring on
We built our house on shifting sands
Winds and tides got out of hand and
Walls were not as solid as we planned /
We built our love too near the edge
Too many stormy words were said
And vows swept out to sea and sunk like lead
And it’s so long since our last farewell –
But I still hear the bells
Ding dong / Ding dong
I know you’re gone, I know you’re gone
Ding dong / Ding dong
We don’t belong, we don’t belong
But the bells ring on
Our tears turned into floods of rain
We called for help, no rescue came
Cries drowned out by thunder
Everything went under
Everything went under
Now fish swim through the chapel tower
Coral as the wedding flowers
The aisles are filled with stones and shells
But I still hear the bells
Ding dong / Ding dong
I know you’re gone, I know you’re gone
Ding dong / Ding dong
We don’t belong, we don’t belong
But the bells ring onnnnnnnnnnnnnn…………..
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6. |
Fishguard Ladies
03:00
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Fifty Fishguard ladies in a row
Kiss them twice and wind them up and look at them go
(kiss kiss)
Blushing at the raindrops
Curling up the clifftops in the snow
Fifty Fishguard ladies in a line
Bold as brazen monkeys with a war in their minds
Staring out to sunset
Waiting hushed and concrete for their time
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you quaking in your knees
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you running cross the seas
Fifty Fishguard ladies count to three (one two three)
Flutter up their petticoats and look to the breeze
Flickering of scarlet
Flashing down a gauntlet to the seas
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you quaking in your knees
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you running cross the seas
Fifty Fishguard ladies all in frocks
Hearts of hardy steel and hats like chimney pots
Crafty fingered wenches
Tying all the Frenchies up in knots
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you quaking in your knees
We’ll have you running back, running back to Camaret
We’ll have you running cross the seas
Fifty Fishguard ladies in a row (one two three)
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7. |
Plenty Time For Praying
02:02
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There’s fortune in the stars, boys, and treasure in my chest
And I know just the kind of bait you brigands like the best
So come and take a nibble and I’ll catch you in my nets
There’ll be plenty time for praying in the morning
There’s magic in the moon boys, I never miss a trick
And my back is feeling hungry for the taste of salty brick
So take me with your craggy hands and kiss me to the quick
There’ll be plenty time for praying in the morning
There’s holy in the water, boys, and spirits on the breeze
So pull me close and whisper all the sermons of the seas
And I’ll worship all the night away, right down on bended knees
There’ll be plenty time for praying in the morning
There’s whiskey on the wind, boys, the air is thick with rum
So come and have a glug of me to toast the rising sun
And now’s the hour for lovers, one last flagonful of fun
There’ll be plenty time for praying in the morning.
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8. |
Drink
01:55
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Drink for the funeral drums inside your belly
Drink for the rattle and cry you’ll never know
Drink for the panic that pushes you unsteady
Drink for the terror that tickles at your toe
Fate is as natural as sin
– no point in fighting it –
The stars and the itch have set in…
So you’ve got to
Drink for the tick and the tock and the Titanic,
Drink for the moment he goes.
Drink like the Devil is dancing in your garters
Drink like the tip of your tongue is gonna burn
Drink like the drought of the dead has just departed
Drink like the boot of Poseidon’s at your stern
You’re wrung and you’re wrong and you’re wrecked
– no point in fighting it –
Tomorrow’s the time to reflect…
Now just go and
Drink to drink like an albatross drowning in a tempest,
Drink like he’ll never return
Drink to remember the way he used to hold you
Drink to remember the moonlight when you met
Drink to the things that he never would have told you
Drink to the ripples of rage and of regret
Life is the passing of time
– so you wait within
The shadows he’s leaving behind
So go on and
Drink to the man and the sea that is his mistress,
Drink.
And then try to forget.
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9. |
The King's Shilling
06:45
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Hey sailor lad come see my ship, I’ve seen the power of your grip
Heave ho leave, come away /
Oh Johnny, I don’t trust this man, I smell a mischief in his plan
I’m sure I saw him fighting yesterday
Hey sailor lad if you’ve a thirst, I’ll fill you ’til your liver’s burst
Heave ho leave, come away /
Oh Johnny, don’t you touch a drop, you know you don’t know when to stop
And when you’re drunk, you’re liable to sway
Oh the King’s Shilling
Take it / Don’t take it in your hand
Oh the King’s Shilling
Behold it / But hold it
And be damned
Hey sailor lad, come board the deck, or I will wring your wretched neck
Heave ho leave, come away /
Oh Johnny, do not show your fear and stand your ground we need you here
What will become of us if you don’t stay?
Hey sailor lad, if you resist, you’ll feel the fury of my fist
Heave ho leave, come away /
Oh Johnny, please don’t heed this knave, I see a vision of your grave
Use every ounce of strength to disobey
Oh the King’s Shilling
Take it / Don’t take it in your hand
Oh the King’s Shilling
Behold it / But hold it
And be damned
Every day more fodder for the cannon
Every day more sailors to the brine
The shackled and unwilling
Pay their debt to the King’s shilling
And every day more women left behind
Hey sailor lad, get you to boat, I hold a dagger to your throat
Heave ho, leave, come away /
Oh villain, is your heart a stone? We’ve seven children not yet grown
Have pity on our family, I pray
You whining wench, go sling your hook, you’ve floors to scrub and pies to cook
Heave ho, leave, go away /
Oh villain, since you paid no mind, I’ll come and stab you from behind
My kitchen knife is now your judgement day!
Oh the King’s Shilling
Take it / Don’t take it in your hand
Oh the King’s Shilling
Behold it / But hold it
And be damned
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10. |
Promises
05:12
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She’s not the wife she thought she’d be
It’s not the life she thought she’d lead
He’s not the man she thought she’d come to need
But still he’s always there / In every sign she reads
They whisper at the coffee shop
“She’s always on her own” they say
And “where on earth’s she walking to today?”
But they can’t comprehend / It has to be this way
Deaf to their fate / Blind to their stars
And innocent of all the future scars
The promise holds fast / The promise runs deep
The promises that she will always keep
She gives her self, she gives to him
She gives her joy, she gives her pain
And every day she gives herself again
The daily toil and grind / Her love can take strain
He leaves her once, he leaves no more
He leaves her letters in the sand
The signs that only she can understand
And he is hers alone / Her shifting shadow man
Deaf to their fate / Blind to their stars
And innocent of all the future scars
The promise holds fast / The promise runs deep
The promises that she will always keep
And every second beats
The pulse of them beneath her feet
And every hour renews
The promises that bind the two
And every day refreshed
The sacrament of thought and flesh
And every year the sea
Preserves their love
For all eternity…
His skin is salty on her tongue
His whispers soft caress her face
And hold her in a cradling embrace
The rock of sound and sleep / That keeps her dreaming safe
The cabin echoes with the sound
Of absent children on her knee
The giggles and the murmurs of the sea
She hears another life / That never came to be
Deaf to their fate / Blind to their stars
And innocent of all the future scars
The promise holds fast / The promise runs deep
The promises that she will always keep
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11. |
Lorelei
06:40
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She took his hand and she put it in hers
Wouldn’t be the last and was not the first
She sung her song and she spun him a curse
Cry out
For the loss of another
Her sea-green eyes never miss a trick
Those sweet mohitos pack quite a kick
Her careless smile cuts him to the quick
Cry out
For the loss of another
Lorelie, Lady Lorelie
Watch the dreams go by –
Drifters lost in the rain
Lorelie, Lady Lorelie
Chalk it up on high –
One more dupe for the dame
The streetlamps flicker, she picks up the tab
She’s got him flying with a sniff and a dab
All hips and bone in the back of the cab
Cry out
For the loss of another
You’re a beautiful child
You’ve got the voice of an angel
Boots of ebony tar, oh what’s the matter –
has Kafka got your tongue, my beautiful child?
You’ve got the voice of a devil
Take away your feather and chains
See how they run…
Lorelie, Lady Lorelie
Watch the dreams go by
Drifters lost in the rain
Lorelie, Lady Lorelie
Chalk it up on high
One more dupe for the dame
She took him well and the taking was fast
She shook him up, shook him from my mast
Was not the first; Will not be the last
Cry out
for the loss of another
Cry out for the loss of another
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12. |
Drip
04:07
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You drank every drip every drop of my energy
You took every tick every tock of my time and then you
Sung every beat every note of my melody and
Gave it a name and then it wasn’t mine
You wept and you wailed ’til my shoulder was sodden and
You ranted and railed ’til my ears trickled blue and then you
Swamped me with need ’til I sunk to the bottom and then
I was a drop in the ocean of you.
Drowning, drowning, I drown in the waking of the waves you made and
Down, sinking down, deeper down ’til the tide can wash your memory away
You drank every drip every drop of my energy
You screamed every dream so my own went unheard and then you
Stuck all your flags in the heart of my territory
And stepped on my head to be sure I was submerged
You stole every star every spark every sparkle and
You lingered in line for some pity for the theft and then you
Stirred up the storms of my latest debacle and you
Snuffed out the rest of the best of my breath ’til
Drowning, drowning, I drown in the waking of the waves you made and
Down, sinking down, deeper down ’til the tide can wash your memory away
Woman overboard / All my tenderness forgotten
Everything thrown over / Everything gone rotten
Woman overboard / All your overtures abandoned
Without a hand to hold / Without a leg to stand on
Woman overboard / After everything I’ve given
Nothing left to plunder / In the places I kept hidden
Woman overboard / As the seasons trickle by
I will find myself a lifeline and hang me out to dry…
But until then I’m
Drowning, drowning, I drown in the waking of the waves you made and
Down, sinking down, deeper down ’til the tide can wash your memory away
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13. |
Sea Theme Reprise
03:38
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Gwyneth Herbert Saint Leonards, UK
Singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist & musical adventurer Gwyneth Herbert has released 6 albums and toured across the
world, sharing stages with the likes of Boy George, Amy Winehouse and John Cooper Clarke.
She has also presented for BBC Radio 3 and 4; co-created three musicals and a feature-length art film; and had her arrangement of a Swahili folk-song performed by 100,000 children at once.
... more
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