lyrics

Medusa

Can you hear the shuffle of boots?
Old men in polyester suits
Ties like regimental colours flying
Who they are I do not know
I just watch them row upon row
Every single one of them is crying
They're marching along the old dirt track
Looking up ahead, never looking back
Scared they'll catch the eye of some Medusa.

Here they are now one, two, three
Four and five and more and many
Six and seven, eight and nine
Here they come in a long, long line
Count a dozen, count a score
There might be a hundred more

Can you hear the clatter of boots?
Kits and packs and khaki suits
And ragged regimental colours flying
Swallowed whole by the cold steel rain
Just a little fresh blood in the serpent's veins …
It's a sharp shrill whistle call to attack
And they're running up ahead, and they're never coming back
Caught right in the eye of some Medusa

Here they are …

Can you hear the concrete clicking
And the telephones bawling and the clocks all ticking
And the red ink spilling on the embers
No one cares, no one remembers
Names like footsteps chiselled in stone
Row upon row, row upon row, row upon row, row upon row

Here they are …

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & James Keelaghan (SOCAN)

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We're All Leaving

There is thunder on the skyline
And it tears her breath away
Like the twilight steals the day

A father's kind hand could not command her
To return to him once more
Like a soldier from the war

We're all leaving
Even the ones who stay behind
We're all leaving in our own time
We're all leaving in our own time

Each night surrenders to a morning
But beneath the April sky
He can hear an endless cry

On smiling fields there's a battle raging
And for every bloom he knows
Another flower never grows

We're all leaving …

And he has no Ark to bear him from this Flood
Just a broken vessel wrought in flesh and blood
Though the riptides pull him under
He will not cease to wonder
At the beauty, beauty, beauty, beauty

He brings her mother to the church door
And while she prays for what will come
He walks those woods alone

And there he builds his own cathedrals
And on every whirring wing
He can hear the whole world sing

We're all leaving …

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs 2009) & Dave Gunning (SOCAN)

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Beo Beo

I'm going home and I'm going home soon
Beo Beo

To where a boy at the window
is opening up his wings to the world
I'm gonna be there
when he takes to the air
I'm gonna watch them unfurl

Beo beo …

I'm gonna run as fast as I can
Beo Beo

To where a boy at the window
is opening up his heart for the first time
I'm gonna be there to keep it from care
I'm gonna hold it in mine

Beo Beo

I'm going home ...

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)

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Terminal Star - See "Scribbled in Chalk"

Wife of Usher's Well - See "Fairest Floo'er"

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The Good Years

Wherever you are
You shall be my star
Flashing near or smouldering far

I am happy when I bask in your light
All I ask is that you may bask

In my mind I hear the sound
Of every happy fount
Fresh as fresh is found

We're singing without tears
We're clinging without fears

Words: Edwin Morgan
Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)
Originally recorded for the CD "Ballads of The Book", a lovely collaborative venture between Scottish writers and Scottish musicians thought up by Roddy Woomble and eminent poet Edwin Morgan and released by Chemikal Underground Records in 2007.

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Sorry

When your time on the mountain is over
And you fall to the earth like a leaf
It won't be enough these days to say sorry
No, sorry won't pay for this grief

For you may lay down your guilt on the altar
You may nail your remorse to a cross
But it's not enough these days to say sorry
No, sorry won't pay for this loss

And if the blood on your hands turns to water
And the night in your soul turns to day
It won't be enough this time to say sorry
No, sorry won't wash it all away

You may lay down your guilt on the altar.

When you're through with the spells you've been spinning
When our hopes and our dreams have all died
It won't be enough these days to say sorry
No, sorry won't turn back the tide

You may lay down your guilt on the altar.

And if you should desist from deceiving
And if you should confess to the crime
It won't be enough these days to say sorry
No, sorry won't save you this time

You may lay down your guilt on the altar.

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2007)

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Better Things

So is this the best that we can do?
Oh I can think of better things - can't you?
Yes I can think of better things
That hands can make and hearts can sing

For now we deal with those for whom
A life is but a carnal tomb
In which the darkness holds no power
And neither does the final hour

We may lament the deadly art
Of tiny atoms torn apart
Of visions that we can't return
And future fires in which we fear we'll burn

Yet this is the art of those before
Who found a cure within the core
The noble mind behind the ray
That eased our earthly cares away

Is this the best...

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2007)
I wrote this for the "Bin The Bomb" campaign in protest at the UK Government's decision to re-commission the Trident generation of nuclear weapons. I just think maybe there are a few imaginative and constructive ways to spend £30 billion or so that don't involve weapons of mass destruction.

www.cnduk.org
www.camcorderguerrillas.net

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Rivers Run

This weary Earth we walk upon
She will endure when we are gone
While kingdoms come and kingdoms go
Rivers run and rivers flow

You know I don't believe it's true
That in this world there's nothing new
For darling you have just begun
Rivers flow and rivers run

And if those rivers should ever run dry
Somewhere the rain will still fall,
Will still fall from the sky

When I'm beguiled by the fear
That darker days are drawing near
My darling, you seduce the sun
Rivers flow and rivers run

And if the rivers.

This wounded Earth we walk upon
She will endure when we are gone
But still I pray that you may know
How rivers run and rivers flow

And if the rivers.

So I cross my heart and hope to live
Just long enough that I can give
It all to you, my darling one
Rivers flow and rivers run

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2007)

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Painted It White

Nobody learns, seems like everybody
turns to the screen
To watch it pass but not to ask you
"What does it mean?"

We believed.

So here we are, we're not so far
from where we could be
You've got a gun, the one
you say will keep us all free

So free that you
Can bomb a blue horizon to black
Then steal away the day
And never, never give it back

We believed.

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)

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Firethief

Who stole the heart of my bonnie laddie?
All alone and aloney O
And left me another lad in his body
Down where I cannot go
Down where I cannot follow

Who stole the light from my laddie's eyes
And left me another lad in disguise?

Who stole the words that were on my laddie's tongue
And left me a rickle of skin and bone?

Who stole today? Who stole tomorrow?
And left me with nothing but doul and sorrow?

I know the name of the fire thief
But you can't grow a tree from a fallen leaf

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)

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Behind Our Eyes

Hope roams these streets at night
It's looking for a light that gleams
Inside our dreams and yearning
It's burning behind our eyes

Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes

And in the waking hours
Hope keeps its flowers concealed
It's like a field before reaping
It's sleeping behind our eyes

Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes
Behind our eyes

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)

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The News

What if the news were nothing more
than the secrets of seashells on the seashore
whispering which way the wind will blow this night
and how everything's gonna be alright

What if the very first sound you heard
at dawn was a wild and wonderful word?
and what if a smile was your first sight?
wouldn't everything have to be alright

For everyone, everywhere
every joy, every care
Everything's gonna be alright

What if the only sign of unrest
were feathers falling form a fledgling nest
just an hour before it soars in flight
wouldn't everything have to be alright

For everyone, everywhere
every joy, every care
Everything's gonna be alright

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2007)

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Sorrowlessfield

I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
I saw you come back to me
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
You stood under the birken tree
Through the rattle and rain
To my window you came
And where I lay silently sleeping
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
But woke to the sound of weeping

I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
And we lay all day in that meadow
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
Unburdened by destiny's shadow
I surrendered my skin
Til evening blew in
Upon every joy of creation
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
But woke to a lamentation

I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
The only one left without sorrow
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
You said you would see me tomorrow
Then you parted from me
Where the road splits in three
And all of those roads were for the taking
I dreamt last night of a sorrowless field
But woke to the sound of my own heart breaking

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2007)

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Tongue That Canot Lie

I was born with a tongue that cannot lie
and how it grieves me
Each fleeting thought behind my eye
just up and leaves me
Into the wild, like a bastard child
born under a briar
Oh to be, oh to be, oh to be a liar

I've been courted by saints and by sinners
who all know the things that a tongue can tell
Whose discrete invitations for sweet revelations
Were such an enticement to sell
But the street price of secrets seduced
and reduced me to trading without any care
Oh to be a liar.

So in conscience I chose to avoid those consumed
by ambitions of earthly dominion
But even this act, the omission of fact
Just delighted The Lords of Opinion
And in retreat from it all I did fall for a man
Who swore that my words were a blessing

But for each of the beautiful daughters we bore
I betrayed all the joy in my heart
Each harmless invention or childlike convention
I brutally shattered apart
Some say love is saying the way that it is
But believe me it just isn't so
For the joy of surprises, the tooth-fairy wonder
And Halloween guises were all torn asunder

And the lovely mistruths that I so longed to utter
Dissolved in the blink of a tear just like butter
Oh to be a liar.
For a tongue that can't lie shall cause the meek to cry
cruel words to cut them through
And a tongue that can't lie
Shall cause the righteous few to silence all that is true
Oh to be a liar.

Now I wander these earthly lands from pole to pole
And from shore to lonely shore
Seeking concealment in corners but somehow
the world still descends on my door
Afflicted, addicted I pray for a potion
To take all my vision away
Oh to be a liar.

So tear out this tongue and stitch up these
barbarous eyes with which I see
And grant me the right
To spare you the cold callous cut of reality
Won't you take all this knowing
and leave me with nothing, no nothing at all
Let me speak what I will and reserve all the rest
and I'll walk through the world
Neither blighted nor blessed
For my sole modest wish now before my demise
Is to savour the sweetness and kindness of lies
Oh to be a liar.

For a tongue that can't lie.

Words & Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)
Inspired by Chris Wood's rendition of the old supernatural Border ballad "Thomas Rhymer". True Thomas, as he was known, was a famed 13th century poet and prophet, coincidentally also from Earlston.

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Dowie Dens of Yarrow

There was a lady in the north
You scarce would find her marrow
She was courted by nine gentlemen
An a plooboy lad fae Yarrow

Well nine sat drinking at the wine
As oft they’d done afore o
And they made a vow amang themselves
Tae fight for her on Yarrow

He’s come ower yon high, high hill and
doon by the den sae narrow
And there he spied nine armed men
Come tae fight wi him on Yarrow

He says “There’s nine o’ you and but yin o’ me
It’s an unequal marrow”
But I’ll fight ye a’ noo one by one
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow 

So it’s three he slew and three withdrew
Anthree he wounded sairly
Til her brother he came in beyond
And he wounded him maist foully

“Gae hame, gae hame ye fause young man
And bring yer sister sorrow
For her ain true love lies pale and wan
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”

“O mither I dreamed a dream
A dream o’ doul and sorrow
I dreamed I was pu’ing the heathery bells
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”

“O daughter dear I ken yer dream
And I doobt it will bring sorrow
For yer lover John lies pale and wan
On the Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow”

So she’s run ower yon high, high hill an
doon by the den sae narrow
And there she spied her dear lover John
Lying pale and deid on Yarrow

She’s washed his face an’ kaimed his hair
As aft she’d done afore o
And tied it roond her middle sae sma
And carried him hame tae Yarrow.

“Oh haud yer tongue my dochter dear!
What need for all this sorrow?
I’ll wed ye tae a far, far better man
Than the one that’s lost on Yarrow”

“O faither ye hae seven sons
Ye may wed them a’ the morrow
But the fairest floo-er amang them a’
Was the plooboy lad fae Yarrow”

“So mither, mither mak my bed
And mak it saft and narrow
For my love died for me this day
And I’ll die for him tomorrow”

Traditional arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Kim Edgar (MCPS/PRS)

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Thou Hast Left Me Ever Jamie

Thou hast left me ever Jamie
Thou hast left me ever
Thou hast left me ever Jamie
Thou hast left me ever
Often hast thou sworn that death
Should alone us sever
Noo you’ve left my heart for aye
I’ll see thee never Jamie, I’ll see thee never

Thou hast me forsaken Jamie 
Thou hast me forsaken
Thou hast me forsaken Jamie 
Thou hast me forsaken
Thou can love anither lass
While my heart is breaking
Soon my weary e’en I’ll close
Never mair tae waken Jamie, never mair tae waken

Robert Burns (Public Domain) arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Steven Polwart (MCPS/PRS)

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Mirk, Mirk Is This Midnight Hour

O MIRK, mirk is this midnight hour,
And loud the tempest’s roar;
A waefu’ wanderer seeks thy tower,
Lord Gregory, ope thy door.
An exile frae her father’s ha’,
And a’ for loving thee;
At least some pity on me shaw,
If love it may na be.

Lord Gregory, mind’st thou not the grove
 By bonie Irwine side,
Where first I own’d that virgin love
I lang, lang had denied.
How aften didst thou pledge and vow
Thou wad for aye be mine!
And my fond heart, itsel’ sae true,
It ne’er mistrusted thine.

Hard is thy heart, Lord Gregory,
And flinty is thy breast:
Thou bolt of Heaven that flashest by,
O, wilt thou bring me rest!
Ye mustering thunders from above,
Your willing victim see;
But spare and pardon my fause Love,
His wrangs to Heaven and me.

Traditional/Robert Burns (Public Domain) arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Steven Polwart (MCPS/PRS)

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Birks Of Invermay

Behold the hills and dales around
Wi lowing flocks and herds abound
The wanton kids and frisking lambs
Gambol and dance aroond their dams
The busy bee wi humming noise
And a’ the reptile kind rejoice
Let us like them then sport and play
Amang the Birks o’ Invermay

How soon the winter o’ the year
And age life’s winter will appear
Tis then your living bloom will fade
And that will strip the verdant shade
Oor taste of pleasure then is o’er
The feathered sangsters are no more
But when they droop and we decay
Fareweel the Birks o Invermay

Hark! How the waters as they fa’
Loudly my love tae gladness ca’
The wanton waves sport in the beams
And fishes play throughout the streams
The circling sun does now advance
And a’ the planets roond them dance
Let us like them then sport and play
Amang the Birks o’ Invermay

David Malloch (Public Domain) arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Will Ye Go Tae Flanders?

Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O?
Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O?
We’ll get wine and brandy,
Sac and sugar candy,
Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O.

Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O?
Tae see the bonnie soldiers, my Mally O?
They’ll gie the pipes a blaw,
Wi their kilts and plaids sae braw,
Ae the fairest o’ them a, my Mally O.

Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O?
Gin I tak the royal shillin there my Mally O?
Will ye tae a foreign shore,
For tae hear the cannon roar,
And the bloody shouts o’ war, my Mally O?

Will ye go tae Flanders, my Mally O?
Tae see the bold commanders, my Mally O?
Will ye see the bullets fly,
And the soldiers how they die,
And the ladies how they cry, my Mally O?

Traditional/John Faulkner (MCPS/PRS)

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The Learig

When o'er the hill the eastern star
Tells bughtin time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrow'd field
Return sae dowf and weary O;
Down by the burn, where birken buds
Wi' dew are hangin clear, my jo,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,
I'd rove, and ne'er be eerie, O,
If thro' that glen I gaed to thee,
My ain kind Dearie O;
Altho' the night were ne'er sae wild,
And I were ne'er sae weary O,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

The hunter lo'es the morning sun;
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen
Adown the burn to steer, my jo:
Gie me the hour o' gloamin' grey,
It maks my heart sae cheery O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

Robert Burns (Public Domain) arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Kim Edgar (MCPS/PRS)

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The Death Of Queen Jane

Queen Jane lay in labour full six days or more,
Till the women grew weary and the midwives gave o’er.
They sent for King Henry to come with great speed
To be with Queen Jane in her hour of need

King Henry came to her and sat by her bedside
Saying “What ails thee my Jeannie? What ails thee my bride?”
“O Henry O Henry do this one thing for me
Rip open my right side and find my baby”

“O Jeannie, O Jeannie that never will do
It would lease thy sweet life and thy young baby too”
She wept and she wailed and she fell into a swoon
They opened her right side and her baby was found

Well the baby was christened the very next day
While his poor dead mother a mouldering lay
Six men went before her and four more travelled on
While loyal King Henry stood mourning alone

He wept and he wailed until he was sore
Saying “The flower of all England will flourish no more”
He sat by the river with his head in his hands
Saying “My merry England’s a sorrowful land”

Traditional arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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The Wife Of Usher's Well

There lived a wife at Usher's Well
And a wealthy wife was she
She had three stout and stalwart sons
And she sent them o'er the sea

They hadna been a month frae her
Not one month and a day
Till cauld, cauld Death come o’er the land
And he stole those boys away

She said “I wish the wind would never mair blaw
Nor fish swim in the flood
Till my my three boys come hame tae me
In earthly flesh and blood
In earthly flesh and blood”

Well it fell aboot the Martinmas time
When the nichts are lang and mirk
The carlin wife’s three boys come hame
And their hats were o’ the birk

That neither grew in any wood
Nor down by any wall
But at the gates o Paradise
Aye, the birken tree grew tall

So she has laid the table braid
Wi bread and blood red wine
“Come eat and drink my bonnie boys
Come and eat and drink o mine”

“Oh mither bread we cannae eat
Nor can we drink the wine
For cauld, cauld death is Lord of All
And to him we must resign”    

“For the green, green grass is at oor heads
And the clay is at oor feet
And how your tears come tumbling down
Tae wet the winding sheet
Tae wet the winding sheet” 

So she has made a bed full braid
And she’s made it lang and deep
She's laid it all wi golden thread
And she’s lulled those boys tae sleep

But the cock he hadna crowed but once
Tae welcome in the day
When the eldest tae the youngest says
“Brother we must away”

“For the cock does craw, the day does daw
And the chunnerin worm does chide
And if we're missed out o’ oor place
Then a sair pain we maun bide” 

“For the green, green grass is at oor heads
And the clay is at oor feet
And how your tears come tumbling down
Tae wet the winding sheet
Tae wet the winding sheet”

She said “I wish the wind may never blaw
Nor fish swim in the flood
Till my three sons return to me
In earthly flesh and blood
In earthly flesh and blood”

Traditional, arranged by Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Steven Polwart (MCPS/PRS)

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Can't Weld A Body

You crafted and caressed her with a careful hand
But the lady didn’t understand
And you riveted and plated her til morning
But with a coil or a careless spark
Or a tumble in the dark
She’ll leave her mark upon you without warning

You can float a boat of steel upon the ocean
You can fix it up with nuts and bolts and toil
But you can’t weld a body when it’s broken

The lady she’s as fair as Desdemona
She swallowed you up just like Jonah
And there the air inside her belly ailed you
And no-one saw you fall
And they did not hear your call
And your breath it faltered just before it failed you

On a cruiser that was fitted by your father
You anchored in San Carlos harbour
But the lady at the helm she was not for turning
And in your bell bottoms blue
In April 82
You bid adieu and watched all you knew burning

Words: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006 & Jez Lowe (Lowe Music)
Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd 2006)

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Hole In The Heart

I made everything come undone
I made everything fall apart
I quit running to the finishing line
and I went back to the start
I found a great big hole in the middle of my life
Shaped just like my heart, just like my heart

I lost sight of what was under my feet
‘Cause I always had to be on top
And I was so drunk on love
That I didn’t taste a single drop
I used to make everything run on time
‘Til I made the whole world stop, I made it stop

CHORUS
Now I’m watching the world move in slow motion
Now I’m finding it easy to breathe

For too long I was trying to walk
In high heels through a river of mud
For too long I was trying to talk
Over the sound of rushing blood
Where truth is a story scribbled in chalk
Just an hour before the flood, before the flood

CHORUS

I made everything come undone
I made everything fall apart
I quit running to the finishing line
and I went back to the start
I found a great big hole in the middle of my life
Shaped just like my heart
Just like my heart
First verse repeat

“Just like my heart” outro

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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I'm Gonna Do It All

I’m gonna sail right out on the Atlantic
I’m gonna catch me a fish that’s bigger thangigantic
I’m gonna cook up a fine fish tea
It will be like some kind of Galilee
I’m gonna do it all some day

CHORUS
I’m gonna do it all some day
I’m gonna do it all some day
You may not believe a word I say
But I tell you I’m gonna do it all some day

I’m gonna climb way over that old mountain
I’m gonna shout in a place where no-one hears me shouting
I’m gonna swear so loud
I’ll strip the silver lining from a cloud
I’m gonna do it all some day

CHORUS

I’m gonna fly in a silver winged space rocket
I’m gonna pick out the stars and put them in my pocket
I’m gonna bring those stars back down
So I can spread celestial light around
I’m gonna do it all some day

CHORUS

“I’m gonna do it all” OUTRO

Words: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)
Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd) & Steven Polwart(MCPS/PRS)

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Daisy

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t spread your arms so wide
Why don’t you keep a little something inside?
I know you think that hands are made for pulling us through
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t give them all you can
Why don’t you keep a few more cards in your hand?
I know you’ll only say a thing you believe to be true
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

They don’t think like you do
And some don’t think at all

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t take it all as read
Why don’t you ask a few more questions instead?
I know you think that everyone should be paid what they’re due
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

They don’t think like you do
And some don’t think at all

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Maybe There's A Road

I’ve kind of got used to feeling cold
I know I was warm one day a long, long time ago
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

I’d rather not say why I couldn’t stay home
Now I get paid never to be alone
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

The trucks roll by here day and night
I know how to come on in a headlight
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

The signs are in a language I don’t understand
But I’m not going anywhere anyway so I don’t give a damn
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

I think I caught his eye about 4am
I thought he looked kinder than the other men
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

Now somewhere someone’s saying I was in the wrong
And that I never should have travelled where I don’t belong
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard

I don’t know where I am but I know I’m gonna stay
Cause if you just stand still you can never lose your way
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard
Maybe there’s a road that’s not this hard
Show me a road that’s not this hard
Show me a road that’s not this hard

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Where The Smoke Blows

Sometimes you just get caught where the smoke blows
And you just have to breathe it in until it all goes
Don’t you know it’ll all be gone when you’re gone?

Sometimes a thing look shit on the inside
And from farther away it’s the ebb and the flow of the tide
Don’t you know it’ll all be gone when you’re gone?

A small mind with a big notion
Brought down to earth by the size of the ocean wide

Sometimes you just can’t see what’s bigger
When you’re caught in the frame just a tiny figure
Don’t you know it’ll all be gone when you’re gone?

Sometimes the thing you think you have your eyes on
Fades out of view on the far horizon
Don’t you know it’ll all be gone when you’re gone?

A small mind with a big lie
Brought down to earth by the size of the sky

All the men with enormous heads and tiny hearts
In the end they’re only playing incidental parts
Don’t you know it’ll all be gone when you’re gone?

A small mind with a big notion
Brought down to earth by the ocean
A small mind with a big lie
Brought down to earth by the size of the sky

Sometimes you just get caught where the smoke blows
Where the smoke blows, where the smoke blows...

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Asleep in his basket
Encountered a question
But he couldn’t ask it
Nor could he answer
In baby sighs and baby cries
At least he heard no doubt
At least he heard no lies
Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Afloat on the river
Swaddled in big ideals
Surrounded by water
Too big for his tiny hands
And tiny heart
But in his eyes the size
Of all he would later part

CHORUS
Somebody told him
“Here’s a thing you cannot do”
He did it anyway
Just to prove it was not true

Holy Moses, Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Is it any wonder
That somebody raised upon
Secrets and undertows
Would know all the ways
To reveal what is hidden
And would be the one who conveys
All that’s forbidden?

CHORUS X 2

Holy Moses, Holy Moses

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Don't Know Why

All of these moments cling to each other
Just like a small boy clutches his mother
Maybe one day they’ll go their own way

I keep linking the daisies into chains
I keep blinking to see if it all looks the same
Maybe one day they’ll got their own way

CHORUS
Clouds form and disperse in the summer sky
Clouds form and disperse and I don’t know why

Nothing moves in a straight line, all these roads are not Roman
And the ruler rods of time are not fixed or frozen
Maybe one day they’ll go their own way

I keep linking the daisies into chains
I keep blinking to see if it all looks the same
Maybe one day they’ll go their own way

CHORUS

All of these moments cling to each other
Just like a small boy clutches his mother
Maybe one day they’ll go their own way

CHORUS

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Take Its Own Time

You ceased to mow the lawn ten years ago
You just wanted to see how your garden would grow
You abandoned the pruning shears and welcomed each weed
You permitted the soil to select its own seed

But it would be unfair to assume you don’t care
For you pay great attention to all that goes there
You simply abstain from a plan or design

You just let it all hang out and take its own time
You just let it all hang out and take its own time

And you follow a thread in a book that you’ve read
Or in something that someone you heard somewhere said
You say “It’s all connected, it’s all intertwined

If you let it all hang out and take its own time
If you let it all hang out and take its own time”

Now you don’t move too fast, you make it all last
You encounter a moment before it is past
And you say “Walking slow in this world is no crime”

You just let it all hang out and take its own time
You just let it all hang out and take its own time …

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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I've Seen It All

Build a tower
Build a wall
Watch it burn
Watch it fall
Two for sorrow
And one for joy
I’ve seen it all

And it all comes undone

A pale man pleads
A pale man dies
One man applauds
And another cries
Teeth for teeth
And eyes for eyes
I’ve seen it all

And it all comes undone
And it all comes undone

Raise a flag
Raise your hands
Praise your Lord
And then raze his lands
While one falls
Another stands
And I’ve seen it all

And it all comes undone
And it all comes undone
And it all comes undone

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Baleerie Baloo

I know the warp of a thread
Of fibres and filaments silver and red
But these golden stars
Are blood on my hands
Baleerie, baleerie baloo

I cradled you all in the sun
I cradle you still though the day is done
And these golden stars
Swallow the light
Baleerie, baleerie baloo

Tomorrow is sealed with a sigh
And I am betrayed by the tear in my eye
And these golden stars
Have fallen to earth
Baleerie, baleerie baloo

So hush ma wee lammie don’t weep
A far gentler hand will soon lull you to sleep
And those golden stars will shine for you and I
Baleerie, baleerie baloo

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)
For Jane Haining. Originally from Dunscore in South West Scotland, Jane worked in a Paisley thread mill before finding her “life’s work”, as she described it, as a missionary to a Budapest orphanage during the 1930s. During the Nazi occupation, she chose to remain in Hungary and was later arrested on charge of espionage for crimes that included weeping whilst she sewed the mandatory Star of David onto the children’s clothes. She was transported to Auschwitz, where she died in 1944 at the age of 47. In 1997, Jane was recognised as one of the “Righteous Among The Nations” for her services to the Jewish people. With thanks to Billy Kay for telling me to find out more.

---

Terminal Star

You’re a beautiful trace
Across time and space
You’re a thing that once shone
And you still shine bright
In the darkest night
Though you’re already gone

You have travelled so far
My terminal star
In your coat so red
But I still don’t know how
I can watch a thing now
When it’s already dead
When it’s already dead

Just to reach my eyes
You traverse the skies
For a hundred million years
I behold your power
In this waukrife hour
Just before it disappears

All the stories in stones
And in beakers and bones
All the salt in the sea
Are eclipsed by the might
Of your fading light
You’re dying so beautifully
So beautifully

You’re a beautiful trace
Of time and space
You’re a thing that once shone
And you till shine bright
In the darkest night
Though you’re already gone
Though you’re already gone

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)
waukrife = Scots word for waking / sleepless

---

Follow The Heron

The back of the winter is broken
And light lingers long by the door
And the seeds of the summer have spoken
In gowans that bloom on the shore

CHORUS
By night and day we’ll sport and we’ll play
And delight as the dawn dances over the bay
Sleep blows the breath of the morning away
And we follow the heron home

In darkness we cradled our sorrow
And stoked all our fires with fear
Now these bones that lie empty and hollow
Are ready for gladness to cheer

CHORUS

So long may you sing of the salmon
And the snow scented sounds of your home
While the north wind delivers its sermon
Of ice and salt water and stone

CHORUS X 2

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Asleep in his basket
Encountered a question
But he couldn’t ask it
Nor could he answer
In baby sighs and baby cries
At least he heard no doubt
At least he heard no lies
Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Afloat on the river
Swaddled in big ideals
Surrounded by water
Too big for his tiny hands
And tiny heart
But in his eyes the size
Of all he would later part

CHORUS
Somebody told him
“Here’s a thing you cannot do”
He did it anyway
Just to prove it was not true

Holy Moses, Holy Moses

Holy Moses
Is it any wonder
That somebody raised upon
Secrets and undertows
Would know all the ways
To reveal what is hidden
And would be the one who conveys
All that’s forbidden?

CHORUS X 2

Holy Moses, Holy Moses

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Only One Way (Live)

When you’re looking at life on the brim
And trying to figure out if you remember how to swim
You only find out if you jump right in
That there’s only one way, only one way

When the writing on the road says slow
And the people in the back seat ask which way to go
The truth is they already know
That there’s only one way, only one way

CHORUS
We have to break all the rules they make
And take all the risks they say we won’t take
We have to make all the trouble we can
Only one way
Only one way

And when every single sound you hear makes no sense
And your arse is sore with sitting on the fence
And the scale of the problem is larger than immense
There’s only one way

And when a genocidal maniac talks about grief
And you kinda get the feeling that there’s nothing underneath
But you can’t believe a man would lie through such nice teeth
Only one way

CHORUS X 2
And when you’re thinking that there’s nothing you can do
But eat what they feed you like a monkey in the zoo
Just remember that they want you to believe that’s true
And there’s only one way, only one way

CHORUS X 3

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Daisy (Live)

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t spread your arms so wide
Why don’t you keep a little something inside?
I know you think that hands are made for pulling us through
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t give them all you can
Why don’t you keep a few more cards in your hand?
I know you’ll only say a thing you believe to be true
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

They don’t think like you do
And some don’t think at all

Hey Daisy darling
Don’t take it all as read
Why don’t you ask a few more questions instead?
I know you think that everyone should be paid what they’re due
But there are people in this world who don’t think like you do

They don’t think like you do
And some don’t think at all

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Waterlily (Live)

Caught between the air and the windless deep (exit bass)
You float like a lily flower.
And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep
And you’re waiting for your waking hour.

CHORUS
And I swear to God I saw an angel hand attend you
But that was just the dancing of the light.
No mortal or immortal did deliver or defend you.
All hands have forsaken you tonight.

Are you dreaming of a lover who will carry you away
And keep you from the crying of the crowd?
No cradle in the rushes, you are broken like the day,
With darkness all around you like a shroud.

CHORUS

When they finally surrounded you, did any of them face you?
Did you curse the silent stars above?
Those cruel arms abandoned you for water to embrace you,
Won’t you lay your head my waterlily love

CHORUS

Caught between the air and the windless deep
You float like a lily flower
And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep
And you’re waiting for your waking hour
And you’re waiting for your waking hour

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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The Light On The Shore (Live)

Old as I am, older than
The threads of understanding, which we weave between us
Old as you are, older by far
Than the contours of the love that we leave behind us

Bold as I am, bolder than
The pioneers who swept their way across the desert
Bold as you are, bolder by far
The lovers who have swum the tide to be together

Are we old enough and bold enough to say goodbye?
Old enough and bold enough that we do not need to cry?
Well I’m not so old and not so bold I don’t need you more
Now the light is slowly beckoning you to the shore

Cold is the ground for which you’re bound
It’s a place where we can never more be together
Cold is the air that takes you there
On a passage that will end with your end forever

But it’s not so cold I do not feel the warmth of your skin
Not so cold I do not know the fires that burn within you
Though they are fading now I wish that they would burn once more
And keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore

If I could sail the seas of time then I would keep you from harm
But I am no sailor and I cannot warn you
Though there’s nothing in my life I ever wanted more
Than to keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you
Than to shield you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

Only One Way

When you’re looking at life on the brim
And trying to figure out if you remember how to swim
You only find out if you jump right in
That there’s only one way, only one way

When the writing on the road says slow
And the people in the back seat ask which way to go
The truth is they already know
That there’s only one way, only one way

CHORUS
We have to break all the rules they make
And take all the risks they say we won’t take
We have to make all the trouble we can
Only one way
Only one way

And when every single sound you hear makes no sense
And your arse is sore with sitting on the fence
And the scale of the problem is larger than immense
There’s only one way

And when a genocidal maniac talks about grief
And you kinda get the feeling that there’s nothing underneath
But you can’t believe a man would lie through such nice teeth
Only one way

CHORUS X 2
And when you’re thinking that there’s nothing you can do
But eat what they feed you like a monkey in the zoo
Just remember that they want you to believe that’s true
And there’s only one way, only one way

CHORUS X 3

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

Faultlines

Have you ever held something
until your hands were aching?
And then let it go and watched it fall
and listened to it breaking?
I have held back time and tide
when all the world was plenty
But now my hands are open wide,
open wide and empty

For every breath that leaves me now
another comes to fill me.
And for every death that grieves me now,
the next one will surely kill me.
For those borders crumble every day,
the fault-lines are showing.
And all I thought was here to stay
slowly is going

History abandons us
and we’re holding on, holding on
to nothing but dirt and dust.
We’re holding on, holding on
While those borders crumble every day,
the fault-lines are showing.
And all I thought was here to stay
slowly is going.

Have you ever held something
until your hands were aching?
Then let it go and watched it fall
and listened to it breaking?

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

Four Strong Walls

You put me back together again
just when I thought I was broken forever
So broken that nothing on this earth could mend me
You out me back together again

You out me back together again
Just like a puzzle with no pieces missing
I see myself as you see me my friend
You put me back together again

CHORUS
When everything else in this world
Flickers and falters and falls
And the thunder is under our feet
You feel like four strong walls

You put me back together again
Just like the trick with the saw and the lady
Everything draws to itself in the end
You put me back together again

CHORUS X 2

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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The Sun's Comin' Over The Hill

Six rain ridden summers and he still had an eye for me
He kissed me each evening and told me he’d die for me
And then he ran off the road, full of whisky and irony
He always meant what he said

So I took to whisky so I could recall
The taste of his mouth on my mouth, that’s all
I tried the same trick with a truck but it stalled
The engine was better off dead

CHORUS
Oh the nights are long
But life is longer still
Oh the nights are long
But the sun’s coming over the hill

The taste never left me and I don’t think it will
And it caused me to supplement whisky with pills
But there was something inside that I couldn’t kill
Believe me, I really did try

And there’s some say you get what you deserve but they’re wrong
Sometimes you get what you’re given and then it’s all gone
And you are lucky if you are sufficiently strong
To daily decide not to die

CHORUS

I can’t say there’s many things I wouldn’t change
There are better days gone than those that remain
But I can find joy in the sound of the rain
You have to find joy where you can

CHORUS X 2

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Resolution Road

Resolution road
Who’s your friend and who’s your foe?
How do you tell the one from the other?
Who’s on the inside, who’s undercover?
Who looks like you do?
Resolution road
Round and round and round we go
Who makes the circle and who’s in the middle?
Who talks in reasons and who talks in riddles?
Who looks like you do?

CHORUS
Don’t speak without thinking
Don’t sleep with a stranger when you’re drinking
And don’t jump in a ship when it’s sinking

Resolution road
Learn to speak your heart in code
Try to embody the laws of encryption
And try to defy all the laws of description
Who looks like you do?

Resolution road
Buy a ticket for the show
Who talks in riddles, who talks in reasons?
What kind of endings do you believe in?
Who looks like you do?

CHORUS X 2

Resolution road
Who’s your friend and who’s your foe?
How do you tell the one from the other?
Who’s on the inside, who’s undercover?
Who’ll be your Lazarus? Who’ll be your lover?
Who looks like you do?
Who looks like you do?
Who looks like you do?

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

WaterLily

Caught between the air and the windless deep (exit bass)
You float like a lily flower.
And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep
And you’re waiting for your waking hour.

CHORUS
And I swear to God I saw an angel hand attend you
But that was just the dancing of the light.
No mortal or immortal did deliver or defend you.
All hands have forsaken you tonight.

Are you dreaming of a lover who will carry you away
And keep you from the crying of the crowd?
No cradle in the rushes, you are broken like the day,
With darkness all around you like a shroud.

CHORUS

When they finally surrounded you, did any of them face you?
Did you curse the silent stars above?
Those cruel arms abandoned you for water to embrace you,
Won’t you lay your head my waterlily love

CHORUS

Caught between the air and the windless deep
You float like a lily flower
And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep
And you’re waiting for your waking hour
And you’re waiting for your waking hour

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

What Are You Waiting For?

You’ve been waiting for the wind to change direction
Waiting for the sun to shine
You’ve been waiting for a new connection
But you’re walking on the same old line
You’ve been waiting so long
how can you wait a single minute more?
You’ve been waiting so long
you just don’t know what you are waiting for

You’ve been wishing for a gentle hand to guide you
For a heavenly sign
You’ve been wishing for a spark to burn inside you
For a little bit more time
You’ve been wishing so hard
how can you now wish for any more?
You’ve been wishing so hard
you just don’t know what you are wishing for

CHORUS
Some say the good things come to all those who wait
Then again they might not come at all

You’ve been looking to what’s just around the corner
Living for another day
You’ve been looking to the distant skyline
Looking like you lost your way
You’ve been looking so hard for something
Your eyes are getting sore
You’ve been looking so hard
You just don’t know what you are looking for

CHORUS X 2

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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Skater Of The Surface

Skater of the surface
Where the ice is thin
Without plan or point or purpose
You just spin and spin and spin and spin

Skater of the surface
You never, never cross the line
And if it’s true that ignorance is bliss
Then you must be laughing all the time

You see what’s before your eyes
And there’s no lies and no disguise
A riptide’s gonna pull you under

Skater of the surface
You have nothing, nothing to say
Without plan or point or purpose
You’re just spinning your life away

CHORUS

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

Harder To Walk These Days Than Run

I used to think I could live by the law
And believe everything that my own two eyes saw
But now all the certainties have come undone
And it’s harder to walk these days than run

I was always impressed with how lassie could tell
The good guys from bad guys just by their smell
But now they’re all odourless everyone
And it’s harder to walk these days than run

I read all the books, I thought words could repair
And I dreamed of a language that everyone shared
But all reason retreats in the face of a gun
And it’s harder to walk these days than run

And how can I consider what’s wrong and what’s right?
When everything moves even faster than light?
I’m not even sure I can trust in the sun
It’s so much harder to walk these days than run

You told me everything in its own time
And you waited for yours and I waited for mine
And right from the start I knew you were the one
Who’d make it easier to walk these days
Easier to walk these days
Easier to walk these days
Than run

Easier to walk these days than run
Easier to walk these days than run
Than run
Than run
Oh it’s easier to walk these days than run

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)
Harder to Walk Jig by Corrina Hewat (MCPS/PRS)

---

The Light On The Shore

Old as I am, older than
The threads of understanding, which we weave between us
Old as you are, older by far
Than the contours of the love that we leave behind us

Bold as I am, bolder than
The pioneers who swept their way across the desert
Bold as you are, bolder by far
The lovers who have swum the tide to be together

Are we old enough and bold enough to say goodbye?
Old enough and bold enough that we do not need to cry?
Well I’m not so old and not so bold I don’t need you more
Now the light is slowly beckoning you to the shore

Cold is the ground for which you’re bound
It’s a place where we can never more be together
Cold is the air that takes you there
On a passage that will end with your end forever

But it’s not so cold I do not feel the warmth of your skin
Not so cold I do not know the fires that burn within you
Though they are fading now I wish that they would burn once more
And keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore

If I could sail the seas of time then I would keep you from harm
But I am no sailor and I cannot warn you
Though there’s nothing in my life I ever wanted more
Than to keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you
Than to shield you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

---

Azalea Flower

There’s a whisper at the window
And I don’t know what it is
Maybe it’s the sound of the wind in the azaleas

Matt’s away on business
And he calls me on the phone
But it’s hard to get to sleep at night when I’m alone

I pull the sheets around me
And I hear that sound again
Maybe it’s the sound of the wind in the azaleas

And when I was young I used to leave a note upon my bed
And it said “Dear Mister Robber Man
Don’t shoot me and my sister dead”

I double locked the door downstairs
I do the same each night
And I turned out the light
I turned out the light
I’m sure I turned out the light

All the lights are on at number 5
They’ve been on for days and days
It’s the middle of the afternoon in August

Billy Marshall checks the porch
Sees the mail has not been read
And someone’s cut off all the azalea heads

Matt’s on television
and he’s looking quite distressed
He says he cannot understand
The kind of man who would’ve done this

He says he didn’t call on Tuesday
‘Cause he was working long hours
And now she’s lying
Now she’s lying
Now she’s lying like the azalea flowers

Words and Music: Karine Polwart (Bay Songs Ltd)

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