1. |
The trees of London
03:03
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Iron lines and concrete
rust and crack and grow.
A ragged carpet
of streets and markets
from Epsom up to Harlow.
Denizens of empire
hurry to and fro.
Lying under the trees of London
Who wait, look on and know.
In among those building
a boy and girl join hands.
Through an open door,
their love like none before
that noone understands.
To a basement room in Hackney,
a mattress there on the floor.
They’re lying under the trees of London
who wait, look on and know.
A hundred thousand seasons
on from where we are now,
our race has ended,
it couldn’t be mended.
The curtain’s closed on this show.
The Shard’s loftiest towers
that dwarf us now down below
will be lying under the trees of London
who wait, look on and know.
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2. |
Do I love you?
03:15
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Do I love you?
Yes I do.
It’s as simple
as 1 and 1 make 2.
What else matters?
Nothing does.
We’re mad as hatters.
Crazy in love.
It’s a strange democracy
Where I can never lose.
I feel like aristocracy.
I waive my right to choose.
Am I dreaming?
Maybe so.
My favourite songs are streaming
Everywhere I go.
In a world of mystery
And circumstantial proof,
The fact you’re lying next to me
Is inalienable truth.
Is this forever?
Yes it is.
We’re bound together
in eternal bliss.
Do I love you?
Yes I do
Do I love you?
I do.
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3. |
A thousand cuts
04:17
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You call me up
And then hang up
One more of a thousand cuts
laid onto me,
my one and three,
then scurry off to watch us bleed.
You must have knew
What cuts could do
with blood that runs through me and you.
That blackened heart
tore apart
the root from which we grew.
And now there’s nothing left to say.
Gone are the games we used to play.
As grown-ups seek
a way to speak
with flip-flops on for mountain peaks,
a little world
of boys and girls
burns up in the heat
And now there’s nothing left to say.
Gone are the games we used to play.
All past and future swept away.
I wait and watch a corpse decay.
If you cling to hate
you become hate.
I forgive you and wipe my slate.
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4. |
Caroline
04:52
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I’m miles away.
Sun lights the corners of this place.
My face,
reflecting the times there with a smile.
Meanwhile
you watch and wonder
where I am...
“A penny for them.”
you say
and I’m back
and wondering if I can let you know
I’m thinking about the times
spent drinking with Caroline.
How all through that summertime
our love slowly grew.
We’d meet in the afternoon.
Evening coming round so soon.
And under the summer moon
we swooped and flew.
Summer moved on
and though we two were moving miles apart
our hearts
would keep us together with a bond
so strong,
surely our destinies
were one...
But life can take turns
I’ve learned
and leave you
with plans turning slowly back into dreams....
and memories of the times
spent drinking with Caroline.
A bottle of Spanish wine.
The best days we’d knew.
We’d meet in the afternoon
Evening coming round so soon
and under that summer moon
we swooped and we flew.
I hope that she’s happy now
and life has been kind somehow
and led her to where she’s found
a love pure and true.
I’ll never forget those days,
brimful with naivety.
And I can leave them that way
‘cos now I have you.
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5. |
My father's porch
04:04
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My father had a placce up on the estuary slope
He built a porch to take the view and got an astroscope.
He’d left to do his own thing when I was just twelve
And I didn’t want to hate him ‘cause I missed him like hell.
He came back to us later as a very old man
It was good to have him back and feel like part of his plan.
I helped him fix his porch one day. We worked till it was done.
It was the first we’d worked together. He said “Thank you son”.
My father’s porch
Was where we worked.
It’s where we touched.
It meant so much.
One year when he came back from spending winter in Brazil
to find they’d moved him to a smaller place and further down the hill.
He told us he had cancer and we shouldn’t lose hope
and it’s probably best they’d moved nearer to the bottom of the slope.
One day when I was visiting I walked back up the hill
and saw his porch pulled down in pieces to be took to landfill.
And when the cancer killed him and I think of my Dad,
I can’t separate him from that precious thing that he had.
My father’s porch
(And now I wonder if all things must end this way)
Was where we worked.
(All that we’ve done and what we’re working on today)
It’s where we touched.
(And now I wonder if all things must end this way)
It meant so much.
(All that we’ve done and what we’re working on today)
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6. |
The wind will blow
05:09
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Sleep child of mine in peace
and dream and grow.
While I hold back the worst
of this world of woe.
Until I’m swept away
by it all.
And won’t be there to catch
you should you fall.
I’m absurd
You’ll never need these words.
The wind will blow.
Winter will snow.
Your fire will glow.
If all that I can do
is get you through
the mess of adolescent
pulchritude.
So when the lights go out
and the sun boils the sea
and you’ll have to be more brave
and strong than me...
I’m absurd
You’ll never need these words.
The wind will blow.
Winter will snow.
Your fire will glow.
And when I go
I hope you know
I love you so.
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7. |
On Seacliff Beach
03:26
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On Seacliff beach the tides
they rise and fall
like every other beach
in the world.
Those birds that come and go
again and again,
in waves that break for more
of them,
in circles without start
or end.
Each tiny little part
a fleck
of sand.
Those circles turning turn
in front of me.
They confound my dear held
linearity.
I sweat the start, the end,
the why and the how.
When in circles all there ever is
is now.
And that’s within my reach.
And I’m a fleck of sand
on Sea-
cliff beach.
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Richard Buchanan Scotland, UK
Former bass player with legendary Scottish 90s folk rock under-achievers The Lost Soul Band, Richard now writes, performs and records songs that draw from a wide range of influences.
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