Blackbird singing in a Sycamore tree

A song I wrote about a month ago…

Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Sing a little song for you and me
Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Come on, you blackbird, and sing!

Robin singing in a hazel bush
A song so sweet it’ll make you blush
Robin singing in a hazel bush
Come on, you robin, and sing!

There’s a song in the wind and a song in a seed
There’s a song of love and a song of need
A song of living and a song of death
There’s a song in the sound of a baby’s breath

Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Sing a little song for you and me
Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Come on, you blackbird, and sing!

My heart is singing on a summer’s morn
Just like on the day when the world was born
My heart is singing on a summer’s morn
Come on, my heart, and sing!

There’s a song in the sound of a baby’s breath
There’s a  song of living and a song of death
There’s a song of love and a song of need
There’s a song in the wind and a song in a seed

Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Sing a little song for you and me
Blackbird singing in a sycamore tree
Come on, you blackbird, and sing!

Farewell to Kentucky

Another 5090 song

Lyrics:

Oh my Pappy is dead
And my Mammy is too
They took to their beds
And they died of the flu

All good things must end
The bank took our home
I said good-bye to my friends
And I started to roam

(chorus)
Farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
I always thought we would marry
But it’s not meant to be

I worked on the rivers
I worked on the sea
Until a white shark
Took a bite out of me

A one-legged man
Can’t haul on a sheet
So I found myself
Back out on the street

(chorus)
Farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
I always thought we would marry
But it’s not meant to be

I took to the begging
Then I stole a gun
I held up a store
And went on the run

I ran through the country
And I ran through the town
With the law close behind me
And jail bearin’ down

(chorus)
Farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
I always thought we would marry
But it’s not meant to be

One desperate dark night
I broke into a house
I crept up the stairs
Just as quiet as a mouse

There a lady was dreaming
Fast asleep in her bed
But when she started screaming
I filled her with lead

(chorus)
Farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
I always thought we would marry
But it’s not meant to be

The silence was deadly
Then the sirens commenced
My running was over
My relief was immense

Then they brought out the corpse
And they pulled back the sheet
There dead on the gurney
Was my sweet Rosalee

(chorus)
Farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
I always thought we would marry
But it’s not meant to be

Yes, farewell to Kentucky
And to sweet Rosalee
Now she is in Heaven
But it will be Hell for me

Begin Again

Another 5090 song.

(I thought I would start writing a series of lyrics based around a course on spirituality that I started last year. Not that all the songs will be spiritual, though some may.

This one serves two purposes, because the first booklet is about starting the course, intiation, etc. and I lost it a couple of weeks ago when I left my bag on a train. So loss comes into it, but the truth is I started the course well over a year and a half ago and just recently decided to go back the beginning to re-engage with it – hence the booklet was in the bag that got lost. Anyway, this song isn’t particularly spiritual, but it is the first of many – I hope!)

Lyrics:

(verse 1:)
You say that there is nothing left
And this thing we have should really end
But before you go I’d just like to suggest
That we could always begin again

(chorus:)
Darling let’s
Begin again
It would really 
Be a sin
If we just
Gave up on us
Without trying
To begin again

(verse 2:)
Now Adam he loved Eve back in the garden
And they fell out, as do the best of friends
But even after they got kicked out by the warden
They decided to begin again

(chorus)

(bridge:)
Everything has its appointed hour
All things must come to an end
But love is like the apple flower
In springtime it begins again

(verse 3:)
Just as one door shuts, another opens
Honey open that door and let me in
So I can help to fix whatever’s broken
Let’s walk through and begin again

(chorus x 2)

Come Lie with Me

another 5090 song:

(verse 1:)
Turn out the light
Come lie with me
All through the night
Come lie with me
I feel weary
And I need the company
So come lie with me

(chorus:)
Come lie with me
Come lie with me
Come lie with me 
Come lie with me
In this room 
By the sea
Come lie with me

(verse 2:)
On this old bed
Come lie with me
Leave it unsaid
Come lie with me
Moonlight on the waves
Is all we need
So come lie with me

(chorus as above)

(bridge:)
Please don’t turn away
There is no need to fear
Don’t shut the door
Don’t leave me here

(verse 3:)
Face to face
Come lie with me
Legs interlaced
Come lie with me
I’ll breathe you in
And you’ll breathe me
Come lie with me

(chorus)

The Life of Leaves

Another 5090 song:

The Life of Leaves

Music and vocals by Leslie Stahl, lyrics by me.

The leaves on the trees, they are budding
Oh the leaves on the trees, they are green
The leaves on the trees are the loveliest, 
That I have ever seen

Now the leaves on the trees, they are dying
Oh the leaves on the trees, they are brown
And the leaves on the trees, they are letting go
And drifting to the ground

Oh the leaves of the trees, they are crumbling
The leaves of the trees disappear
But the life of the leaves of yesterday
Will rise again next year

Holy Corner

Lyrics for a new song I wrote for 5090:

I church, 2 church, 3 church 4
All the little churches with an open door
Little church, big church, cathedral town
Dead saints and sinners all a’gazing down

And Jesus is on the Cross
Guess that makes Him the Boss
I mean the Man he went
The extra mile
But you can sometimes just detect the hint
Of a superior smile

Up in the chapel, hear the wedding vows
The couple promise and the Church endows
A future full of eternal bliss
The couple seal it with a sacred kiss

And Jesus is on the Cross
Guess that makes Him the Boss
After all the Man he went
That extra mile
But can you sometimes detect just a hint
Of an ironic smile?

Once I knew Jesus and he knew me
We’d meet up in church to sing
“Nearer My God to Thee”
But even the best of friends can drift apart
I think all in all he’s probably got a good heart

(maybe some jaunty whistling here…)

The rain is deep and the couple weep
As they tuck their baby to his final sleep
But the mourners say as they drop the clay,
“They’ll be together again on the Judgement Day”

Hey there Jesus, up on the Cross
Do you think you’ll always be the Boss
We all know you went
The extra mile
But sometimes I’d like to see a wee
Apologetic smile

Granny Danced a Two-Step

Last song that I wrote for FAWM (February Album Writing month).

Granny Danced a Two-Step music

Lyrics:

VERSE 1
Back when we were young
And dancing was the thing
We’d go out of an evening
To hear them play and sing
They might swing like Bob Willis
Or do a Hank Williams tune
Something about cheatin’
By the light of the moon

VERSE TWO:
Then the grownups would head out
Onto the sawdust floor
While us little kids
Would head for the door
Playing outside
On a warm summer’s night
With music in the air
And the stars shining bright

CHORUS:
And Granny danced a two-step
To a good old country song
Back when we were young
And the nights were long
Everybody faded
But she kept going strong
Dancing that two-step
To a country song

WALTZ BRIDGE:
And sometimes a slow waltz would creep in
Later on when the children were sleepin’
On coats piled up in the corner
Sucking thumbs like little Jack Horner
And sometimes they’d dance out of doors
On a dancefloor made of old boards
Under the stars above
Holding tight to an old dream of love

VERSE THREE:
Now life on the farm
Could be a hard row to how
Getting in the crops
And then the seeds to sow
With fences to mend
And stock to be fed
Then you eat your own supper
And get off to bed

VERSE FOUR:
But things would be different
On a Saturday night
With everybody laughing
And shoes polished bright
We’d go to the dancehall
Where songs could be sung
And cares put aside
And hearts could be young

CHORUS:
And Granny danced a two-step
To a good old country song
Back when we were young
And the nights were long
Everybody faded
But she kept going strong
Dancing that two-step
To a country song

As the Crow Flies

[I hear this with a full-blown bluegrass band...]

Way up yonder on the mountain
There sits a little two-room shack
That’s were my true love is waiting
And she don’t know if I’m ever coming back

If I had the wings of an angel
Or even the wings of a crow
I’d fly straight into my lover’s arms
And lord I would never let go

chorus:-
As the crow flies, as the crow flies
My heart flies to you as the crow flies
As the crow flies, as the crow flies
Oh my heart flies to you as the crow flies

Now they took me away to the trenches
They took me away to the war
They took me away from my lover
And I don’t know if I’ll see her any more

Now I’m pretty good with a rifle
And I’m pretty good with a knife
But I’m even better with a horse and plow
And three little children and a wife

(chorus)

Now they say that the war is over
Yes they say that the war is done
They tell us that we can go home now
But they never told us who won

Oh it’s two hundred miles of walking
Down the river and over the bridge
But it’s only twenty miles as the crow flies
To that dear little house on the ridge

(chorus)

Oh way up yonder on the mountain
There sits a little two-room shack
That’s were my true love is waiting
But now she knows that I’m coming back

And If she had the wings of an angel
And I had the wings of a crow
We’d fly straight into each other’s arms
And lord we would never let go

(chorus and repeat)

Ride the Yellow Moon

I wrote this after pondering a fat yellow moon last night, and thinking about Bride/Bridget.

I think the chorus will probably be good for harmonising, and maybe work well as a round.

Listen to the audio file here http://www.purevolume.com/paulsm/albums/99584560

chorus:
Bride, Bride, Bride, Bride,
Bride, Bride, Bride, Bride,
Bride, Bride, Bride, you
Ride the yellow moon

Bride hear my voice
Teach me to sing
Bride hear my song
And give it wing

(chorus)

Bride stroke the fire
That burns in us all
Bride of the forge
Our hearts hear your call

(chorus)

Bride pluck the herbs
Stir the cauldron black
Bride heal our wounds
Give our bodies back

(chorus)

Bride call the spring
Let green leaf unfurl
Bride spread your legs
Give birth to the world

(chorus)

This Uncertain World

This is a song I’ve written for February Album Writing Month (FAWM). I’ll try to get an audio file up soon.

This is for my wife Eileen.

This Uncertain World

Lately I have nursed a worried mind,
Late at night when the kids have gone to bed.
Sometimes it seems the world is so unkind,
With just a stone to lay my weary head.

Now times are hard, and they won’t get better fast,
Even the rich man’s house is built on sand.
Everybody’s looking for one thing to last,
I know I’ve found it when you take my hand.

Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world,
I’m just your boy and you are just my girl.
I finally realise I’ve found my pearl,
Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world.

The seas will rise and storms will sweep the sky,
Disease will try to take us in our prime.
But we’ll face the worst together, you and I,
And our children will flourish in their time.

Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world,
I’m just your boy and you are just my girl.
I finally realise I’ve found my pearl,
Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world.

Now the seasons come and go,
If we can just hold on,
Through summer sun and winter snow,
Until our days are done.

And when my final day is here at last,
And I lay down to my eternal rest,
If I can take your hand in one last clasp,
I’ll know that my life’s been truly blessed.

Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world,
I’m just your boy and you are just my girl.
I finally realise I’ve found my pearl,
Cuz you’re a sure thing in this uncertain world.

Snowflakes Fly

A new song (imagine a waltz time signature):

Snowflakes Fly

You told me you loved the snow
Although it would bring in the cold
Now you sit by the fire
While the snowdrifts grow higher
Outside where you no longer go

And the snow comes falling from the sky
Like souls you watch the snowflakes fly …

You once took me out in the night
To look at the stars shining bright
And to my surprise
In the tears from your eyes
Were reflected the pale Northern Lights

Then the snow came falling from the sky,
Like souls we watched the snowflakes fly…

Now eighty winters you have seen
And eighty times you’ve welcomed spring
Eighty snows have shrouded Earth
And eighty times a second birth

I found you out in the snow
That day it was forty below
I took you into the fire
You were light as a sigh
And I wept in the warm fire’s glow

Then the snow came falling from the sky
Like souls I watched the snowflakes fly
And snow comes falling from the sky
Like souls we watch the snowflakes …
… oh how the snowflakes fly …

The Running of the Deer

Running of the Deer:

(music files on Pure Volume)

[The tune to this song is inspired by the traditional American song "Pretty Polly".]

Come with me and be my love
In the Springtime of the year
Dance joyous with the honeybee
And with the running deer

chorus:
May your heart always be happy
And your singing always clear
May you run forever fair and free
With the running of the deer

Come with me and light the fires
That promise fertile crops
Gather flowers from the woodlands
And from the mountaintops

(chorus)

Drive the cattle through the flames
And leap the raging fire
Look into my loving eyes
And feel my heart’s desire

(chorus)

By hart and hare and trout and wren
By land and sky and sea
By the running Lord of Stags
And the dancing honeybee

(chorus)

By the spin of moon and stars
And the cooing turtle dove
In the springtime of the year
Come and be my love

May your heart always be happy
And your singing always clear
May you run forever fair and free
With the running of the deer

The Year of Jubilo

(music files on Pure Volume)

Walking home through Georgia
In the Year of Jubilo
The War Between the States is finally over
Beside a burnt-out farmhouse
Music fills the air
Where a mockingbird is singing in the clover

I try to whistle up a tune
A dear old mountain song
But something bright down deep inside me dies
After all the things I’ve seen and done
And all the men I’ve killed
A happy song sounds like a pack of lies

But though we may not feel like singing
Music soothes the soul
So it’s a sin to kill a songbird
In the Year of Jubilo

Lord knows I have been hungry
And you don’t know what it means
When a widow gives you cornbread with grits and greens
And sleeping in that widow’s barn
Bedded in the hay
A nightingale is singing til break of day

Although we may be hungry
Music feeds the soul
And it’s a sin to kill a songbird
In the Year of Jubilo

I remember…
Little boys who sang
Of marching off to war
I remember …
Little girls who sang
Of love forevermore
I remember…
Old men sang of horses
That they used to ride
And I remember …
Old women sang of meeting
In the sweet by-and-by

A child playing in the dirt
Beside the weary road
Once a white man owned him, it was all he knowed
A blackbird singing in a bush
The child laughs and claps, and
Something cold and hard inside me finally thaws … and cracks

Though we may be slaves to life and death
Music frees the soul
And it’s a sin to kill a songbird
In the year of Jubilo…

Snowdrops

With apologies to Robert Frost …

(music files on Pure Volume)

Forever Young

Too quick to hurt
Too quick to heal
Too quick to fight
Too quick to feel

Will I be forever young? (x4)

I wear my heart
Upon my sleeve
Too quick to come
Too quick to leave

Will I be forever young? (x4)

I stole a kiss
You stole my heart
We fell in love
We fell apart

Will we be forever young (x4)

We’re like two children in the woods
Nobody hears us when we call
But stumbling out into the light
The whole world watches as we fall

I’ll hold your hand
Along the way
We may grow up
But not today

Will we be forever young? (x4)

We’re like two children in the woods
Nobody hears us when we call
But stumbling out into the light
The whole world watches as we fall

I’ll hold your hand
Along the way
We may grow up
But not today

Will we be forever young? (x4)

(Repeat chorus until all sung out)

Living on the Coast

Skimming silver stones across a moonlit sea
A shooting star skips out across the sky
I know your love is out there like a million dancing stars
And a million miles between us, you and I

Now I’m wandering on the beach
My heart just out of reach
Like a gull crying lonely, and lost
Your heart cries out to me
Over sand and under sea
Because we both are living on the coast

Something still connects us, something stronger than the tide
Although we both have tried to live apart
Currents running through our lives run deep beneath the sea
And it’s currents, wind and waves that rule the heart

Now I’m wandering on the beach
My heart just out of reach
Like a gull crying lonely, and lost
Your heart cries out to me
Over sand and under sea
I guess we both are living on the coast

And the mist rolls in
And the foghorn blows
And a light shines out
And oh, can you hear the breakers roar?
And will we ever make it to the shore?

Don’t know if we’ll ever kiss each other’s lips again
Or ever feel our fingers interlace
But the sea breeze that blows through your honey hair
Is the same breeze that blows across my face

Now I’m wandering on the beach
My heart still out of reach
Like a gull flying lonely, and lost
And your heart cries out to me
Over sand and under sea
I guess we both are living on the coast

What have you got (when you’ve got no one left to hold)

[This is my attempt at 12-bar blues.]

Almost ran over a little kid today
A girl on a little red bike
Rode right out in my way
Couldn’t see nothing for my tears
Thinking ’bout how you left me yesterday

(chorus)
What have you got
When you’ve got no one left to hold?
How you ever gonna feel warm again
After feeling so cold?
How you ever gonna feel young again
After feeling so old?

We both hit our brakes
And just looked at each other
For some reason I thought about
My own sister and my brother
All my uncles, aunts and cousins
And my father and my mother

(chorus)

Now I don’t blame you baby
For walking out on me
I hoped you’d only see
What I wanted you to see
Now after all my running ’round
I guess it’s your turn to be free

(chorus)

If I could turn back the clock babe,
I’d do things a different way
But why should you listen to
A single word I say?
I had a chance at redemption
But I threw it all away

(chorus)

You know what they say babe,
They say that you live and learn.
But I guess there’s no point asking you
To give me another turn
I lit that match
Now I gotta watch my bridges burn

(chorus)

She pedalled off
And I drove away real slow
It’s not like I got
Anywhere special to go
Just a long road ahead
And a hard row to hoe

But what have you got
When you’ve got no one left to hold?
How you ever gonna feel warm again
After feeling so cold?
How you ever gonna feel young again
After feeling so old?

(repeat chorus as necessary until song is done)

A Quiet Night In

A quiet night in
Eating pizza on the couch
Watch a little telly
Maybe later we’ll make out
Watching old films all through the night
We should be making love by dawn’s early light

A quiet night in
Kids have finally gone to bed
Pour me another glass of that
California red
I’m feeling giddy from the wine
Not half as giddy as I feel when your lips meet mine

(bridge)
It’s good we can both be here
Like we seldom are these days
I think we’re going through
And awkward phase
I wonder where you are
Even when I see your face
I miss your laughter and your quiet grace

A quiet night in
We’ll let the world go by
We need this time alone
You and I
I need to feel our limbs entwine
I need to feel your heartbeat next to mine

(repeat bridge)

A quiet night in
We’ll let the world go by
We need this time alone
You and I
I need to feel our limbs entwine
I need to feel your heartbeat next to mine

A quiet night in,
Let’s forget the TV
Go put on some music and then
Come dance with me
Let’s be like young lovers once more
We’ll dance into the bedroom and then
Shut the door

I Don’t Want to Sleep Any More

[This was the first song I wrote where I made up the tune myself.]

I don’t want to sleep anymore
This dream’s gone on too long
I don’t want to sleep anymore
Everything just feels wrong
It’s like swimming through treacle
And never getting anywhere
Somebody somewhere is calling
“Are you there?
Are you there?”

I don’t want to sleep anymore
With these ghosts beneath my bed
I don’t want to sleep anymore
Having conversations with the dead
There’s a crowd of invisible people
That I never really knew
But through my half-closed eyes
I can see you
I can see you

Is this my life, or is it really a dream?
Is everything really as it seems?
Why do I feel that my life is not here?
What do I want? What do I really feel?

I don’t want to sleep anymore
So come and lay your body here
I don’t want to sleep anymore
Come and kiss away my fear
Now the dream is slowly fading
Like mist rising from a lake
Now the morning light is growing
I am awake.
I am awake.

When Skylarks Sing

[The tune to this is based on "The Lily of the West" as heard sung by Joan Baez.]

When skylarks sing in spring, my love,
My thoughts turn home to you.
It rises joyous to the sun,
Flies high above us every one,
And vanishes into the blue.
When skylarks sing in spring, my love.

I think about our home, my love,
When wolves howl all around.
I think of cakes and cups of tea,
And how you touched me tenderly,
All in our bed, without a sound.
I think about our home, my love.

I think about your face, my love,
When the rain pours down.
I see both joy and sadness there,
I run my fingers through your hair,
And kiss away your lonely frown.
I think about your face, my love.

But I have gone away, my love,
As punishment for crime.
I am my own worst enemy,
There is no other remedy,
No reprieve, I’ll do my time,
Now I have gone away, my love.

Look for me in the spring, my love,
When skylarks take the air.
A wandering beggar at your door
Will ask for just a little more,
And suddenly you’ll see me there.
Look for me in the spring, my love.

When skylarks sing in spring, my love,
My heart turns home to you.
It rises joyous to the sun,
Flies high above us, every one,
And vanishes into the blue.
When skylarks sing in spring,
Look for me in the spring,
When skylarks sing in spring,
My love.

Deirdre’s Lament

[This poem/song is taken from the Irish story of Deirdre of the Sorrows, and for the tune I used Burn's "Scots Callan o' Bonnie Dundee" as heard sung by Mairi Campbell, on the album "The Winnowing" by The Cast, consisting of Mairi and her partner Dave Francis (Culburnie Records, CUL104). ]

Do you remember when I dreamed of this?
On the shores of Loch Ness, in the days of our bliss,
I dreamed of a dove, with mead in its mouth,
Pursued by a hawk, red with blood, from the South.
And now you lie beautiful, down in your grave,
Between your two brothers, whom you couldn’t save.

Naois, oh Naois, my husband, my love,
With soft-spoken words and the eyes of a dove,
Men will remember your sword of bright steel,
But your wife will remember how you made her feel,
On the shores of Loch Ness, in the days of our bliss,
Before that dark night when I first dreamed of this.

I was a fair maiden, the world was unknown,
When first I espied you, your raven hair shone,
And flew like the pennant when men go to war,
To meet their sad fate on death’s lonely black shore.
You rode with your brothers, whom you couldn’t save,
Now the three of you, lovely, lie down in one grave.

Our story is strange, our story is long,
A poet might tell it one day in a song,
Might tell of my father, a harper they say,
Who foresaw my sad fate and then sent me away,
He foresaw how the dove with the mead in its mouth
Would be killed by the bloody red hawk from the south.

He foresaw how my laughter and bonnie bright smile
Would one day the King of all Ulster beguile,
And Connor would send many men to their graves
That a kiss from these ruby red lips he would have.
For my smile did the brave men of Ulster make war,
And meet their sad fate on death’s lonely black shore.

Oh you were my fate, my fairest of fair,
The finest of Ireland, with raven black hair.
You were my fate, and I was your weird,
And this bloody black day is the day my Da feared,
When the finest of Ireland is laid in his grave
Between his two brothers, whom he couldn’t save.

But you tried to save them, and that was your doom,
Now you lie close between then, and yet there is room.
I’ll lie down beside you and cross to the isle
Where the dead men of Ulster may yet see me smile,
And there I will find you and there we will kiss,
As we kissed at Loch Ness in the days of our bliss.