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Light The Boats - Album 2013

by Gill Sandell

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Download includes 16 page booklet containing all song lyrics, album credits and original illustrations by Andrew Rayner. Designed by John Sandell.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £7.49 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a beautiful digipak with a 16 page booklet containing all song lyrics, album credits and original illustrations by Andrew Rayner. Designed by John Sandell.
    Upon release, includes immediate download of 11 track album, plus booklet.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Light The Boats - Album 2013 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £10 GBP or more 

     

1.
The Border 04:14
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?
2.
Sparkle Eyes 04:02
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
3.
Distance 06:27
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Sickle Swing 04:11
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
7.
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
8.
Somedays 03:30
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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'

about

Second solo album by Gill Sandell, released on her own label Rowan Tree Records. Features contributions from musicians including:
Emily Barker, Ted Barnes, Adrian Crowley, Chris T-T, Anna Jenkins,
Jo Silverston, Ali Friend, Owen Turner, Andrew Rayner.

"a beautiful sounding record, beautifully sung and arranged" - Cerys Matthews.
"This is gorgeous, what a beautiful record" - Bob Harris.

credits

released September 16, 2013

Recorded and mixed by Owen Turner at Sickroom Studios, Norfolk.
Produced by Gill Sandell and Owen Turner
Mastered by Ray Staff at Air Studios Mastering

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about

Gill Sandell UK

Modernist folk songwriter, singer and guitarist
Accordionist and flautist with Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo

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