1. |
The Border
04:14
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If I stroll across the border
Never to come home
Will you let my soul free to roam?
And if I call into the darkness
From a lonely hill
Will your ears be warm to me still?
Maybe they will
There's a man and he's a master
And I chose his name
But it trips me up just the same
'Cause there's a tenderness in balance
And I can't be sure
Whether he's the key to the door
So maybe I will not come home
Maybe I will not come home
He's precious as the coral tides
That I have lapping by my side
And I will love his bonny eyes
Until I lay me down to die
Oh to die
So if I stroll across the border
Never to come home
Will you let my soul free to roam?
Will you let me see coral tides?
Will you let me be, bonny eyes?
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2. |
Sparkle Eyes
04:02
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Funny how you chose the first frost
To freeze the words among us
And draw all the songs from Lily's lungs
With wild whisky tongue and twine
Fear, fight, frown
The table she laid was first to break
The fine varnished oak in splinters
The tree it did fall and needles tore
Her flesh on the boards beneath her
Once were bells and sparkle eyes
Cinnamon fires and sacred nights
Waltz and whirl and starry skies
My advice is hold your Lily tight
So visit your soul and rake your bones
From dirt and dust and din
And build you a heart with all good parts
The bolts and the cogs within
No fear, no fight, no frown
No fear, no fight
Once were bells and sparkle eyes
Cinnamon fires and sacred nights
Waltz and whirl and starry skies
My advice is hold your Lily tight
No fear, no fight, no frown
No fear, no fight, no frown
Funny how you chose the first frost
To freeze the words among us
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3. |
Distance
06:27
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Open the door and into the night
Adjust the straps on my shoulders
Turn my face to the shadows
And stride
Distance is no extraordinary thing
Felt by nations with fine machines
So hush that mind
Enter the town with the sun on the rise
Tiptoe past heads on pillows
Touch the ramp from the harbour
In time
Distance is no extraordinary thing
Felt by nations with fine machines
So hush your minds, and
Row boys, row boys
I walk the length of the island
I witness the fires and the murders
I cast the first and final orders
Aside
And after the bullets, after the bombs
I sweep the dust from the bodies
Nothing to see but sorrow
Distance is no extraordinary thing
Felt by nations with fine machines
Lost generations, hearts out of sight
Fickleless friends and free birds in flight
Row boys, row boys
Back on the boat, face to the helm
I feel the gaze of your eyes
Distance is no extraordinary thing
I find
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4. |
The Listening Ear
04:24
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Damaged dark, sunset days
Thunder and lightning
The boy is done with breathing in
Needles and pins
He is one day up and one day down
And knows not where in between
One day up and one day down
And knows not where he goes in between
He longs the shoot, stem and root
Of his father's endeavours
He yearns a heart, soft and sweet
To dance to his mother's love
But he is one day up and one day down
And knows not where in between
One day up and one day down
And they know not where he goes in between
Well don't despair my darlin'
Paint your dreams and fly, my child
There's life and love and colour
Wherever you ride
The pages turn as you seek to learn
The reason for living
Well when you skim cheek and chin
You know you have begun
'Cause it's underfoot and on your hands
And inside the listening ear
Underfoot and on your hands
And inside the listening ear
So don't despair my darlin'
Paint your dreams and fly, my child
There's light and love and colour
Wherever you ride
It's underfoot and on your hands
And inside the listening ear
Underfoot and on your hands
And inside the listening ear
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5. |
Rooms For Sleep
03:43
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Seventeen days until the lights go out
Across Dunvegan and spreading south
Over the breen and the multi hue
Throughout the kingdom, the power is torn in two
And, once the river has swallowed the key
To our stairways and rooms for sleep
Climbed the walls and the timber frames
Will the windows breathe the air again?
The winds they blow but on we listen
To our rushing minds and drifting hearts
Be still, and gather up some time we killed
Between the lark and the lonely tree
Floats the child of Sophie Jean
She filled her lungs in the undertow
And left her life and love for wilds and woe
The winds they blow and tides are lifting over us
And through our drifting hearts and minds
Be still, won't you gather up some time that we have killed?
Bring back old trends
Sharpen senses, fix and mend
Restore the life to the lonely tree
I wrap my arms around upon the sea
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6. |
Sickle Swing
04:11
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Sickle swing, the curl it brings to dormant air
Carving ripples over the heads, over ears of the barley fields
Dicing the stagnant summer sky, in chunks it lies
Over the thirsty, crisp quills of the barley fields
How heavy the news in the beak of the bird?
How deep the pile as it darts from the light?
Is this body treading steady towards horizon and song
Or descending in time into dark, soulless night?
Build one, build two, build three, build four
Second upon second upon second upon stem
Build five, build six, build seven and on
Fear every second upon second upon stem
Forward right, follows left, my coupled boots tread
A mirror to the action, my jagged blade threads
First hill then vale, my stomach heaves and falls
As I count every second of the slow death of corn
How heavy the news in the beak of the bird?
How deep the pile as it darts from the light?
Is this body treading steady towards horizon and song
Or descending in time into dark, soulless night?
Count one, count two, count three, count four
Second upon second upon second upon stem
Count five, count six, count seven and on
Fear every second upon second upon stem
Fear every second upon second upon stem
Fear every second upon second upon stem
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7. |
Every Willing Answer
04:11
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Twas here it overturned
Upon the cold slate, bracken and the burn
And the horses took the reins too soon
And left the carriage wheels whirring at the moon
And the bells were in my ears like a Sunday call
To put my best-dressed foot towards the Lord
And the bells were in my brain with a solemn creed
To keep all my senses from relief
Until the darkness let me in
I awoke to a man at my chest
Who whispered 'Knives, guns and bullets are best'
And then he made a stab in the dark
Well there's nothing as soft as a heart
And the reason that I screamed 'til near insane -
I wanted to see my mother's face again
And the reason that I kissed his face above -
Every willing answer should be for love
Every willing answer should be for love
Every willing answer should be for love
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8. |
Somedays
03:30
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Somedays there is peace
When the birds hold their melodies
And the wind pesters not the leaves
And the March hare sleeps on
It's at times such as these
My spirit sinks as deep as the
Silver trickle water flows
From the fields and folds
To the echo of the old farmer's well
For when will the red fox bark?
When will the cuckoo call?
Somedays there is peace
When the men leave their factories
And the children have the dusty road
As a pallet for their heads to their toes
But when will the red fox bark?
When will the cuckoo call?
May it be the longest time
For I love the quiet and calm
Reflection of the corner
Where I am alone and free
But when will the red fox bark?
When will the cuckoo call?
When will the canons roar?
When will the forest fall?
Somedays there is peace
Somedays there is peace
Somedays there is peace
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9. |
Forget Our Fires
04:11
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Oh my love, where is the crack
To let in some space between us?
Just a word, a thought, a deed
Is all that we need to calm us
Step back, step back, step by step
And let's forget our fires
Oh my Lord, silence our pain
Silence our pain and let us regain
Our tempers
Dry your nose, your cheeks, your eyes
And wipe all your fears, in your own salty tears
Aside
Step back, step back, step by step
And let's forget our fires
Step back, step back, low and light
And let's forget our fight
Step back, step back, step by step
And let's forget our fires
Step back, step back, long and light
And let's forget our fight
Oh my love, my life
In time and place
Let's meet again with grace
Dry your nose, your cheeks, your eyes
And wipe all your fears, in your own salty tears
Aside
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10. |
Wide-Eyed Wandering
02:45
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Long was the night
Grey is the day
Fierce the waves
That drank us on their way
But see the girl
With her hopes and curls
And a smile to light
The boats back to the bay
She is wide-eyed wandering
With a song to have the fishes sing
She is wide-eyed wandering
With a smile to light
The boats back to the bay
Feel the tide
Meet the shore
Touch the rocks
That many still long for
Gone is cold
Enter calm
And a sigh to shape
The whispers of our own
We are wide-eyed wandering
With a song to have the fishes sing
We are wide-eyed wandering
With a smile to light
The boats back to the bay
With a smile to light
The boats back to the bay
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11. |
The Old Whirlpool
04:15
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Marigold and Jimmy
Joined the big debate
Everybody's talking about
The human state
They listened to the stories
Of figures and defence
Then joined the line
For individual arguments
And said
'What we find
Are tough, hard times
And love falls far
Behind'
Said Marigold to Jimmy
'Let's walk the avenue
From the church and down the lane
To the old whirlpool
And while the water's spinning
Let's dance our hearts away
And when the music stops
We'll have a long embrace
And I'll
Feast my eyes
I'll feast my eyes
I'll feast my eyes
On you'
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Gill Sandell UK
Modernist folk songwriter, singer and guitarist
Accordionist and flautist with Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Gill Sandell recommends:
Lantern Waste
by Age of Not Believing
Over 60 musicians got together to create this wonderful ep, including Adrian Crowley, Ben Eshmade, Ted Barnes, Piney Gir, Emily Barker and Stephen Coates.
go to album
Really honoured to play piano and accordion for my dear friend Ted Barnes's latest album. Beautiful tunes and songs, with both humour and melancholy.
go to albumIf you like Gill Sandell, you may also like:
A Dark Murmuration of Words
by Emily Barker
supported by 31 fans who also own “Light The Boats - Album 2013”
Just excellent in everyway X
go to album
Songs Beneath The River
by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
supported by 23 fans who also own “Light The Boats - Album 2013”
A beautiful, haunting ballad, wonderfully done. This is a originally a protest song about the Iraq war by Tom Waits, but here it sounds like a traditional English folk/Irish ballad. Don't miss it, it's a keeper.
go to album
Maer, from Switzerland, debut with a haunted (and haunting) folk song that will warm you heart as it sends shivers down your spine.
go to album
Meet Me at the River
by Dawn Landes
On “Meet Me By the River,” Dawn Landes’s self-described “Nashville record,” buoyant country melodies settle deep into lush instrumentation.
go to album
