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Gloria

Sixteen and at the seam

well there were headlamps, canary dreams

I was apprenticed to a charcoal art

as I waited for my life to start

They said black blood flowed through my veins

yet in the pit all I knew was pain

those blasted chambers were choking me

and only glory could set me free

But then a woman I chanced to meet

and I felt the coal move beneath my feet

and in the mirror I did stare

at Gloria with the short brown hair

She said what's to come is way past overdue

and it's then I knew what I was born to do

And as she moved through the county fair

not a man in sight could help but stare

so she left them there - watching and waiting

for the sound of a woman's voice

but the look in her eye gave them no choice

so she left them there - watching and waiting

for the sound

I'll leave behind a miner's life

I'll say no prayers, I'll take no wife

I'll busk my way down to Camden Town

for it's there a queen can find her crown

And then one evening she comes around

we tear our way right through the town

and through the sherry, wine and smoky haze

Gloria shows me a woman's ways

So I dress myself as best as I can

and I forget that I was born a man

I find myself in Soho bars

in a world of ashtrays and old guitars

and there were those who said I did transgress

and there were those who saw beyond the dress

Now I clad myself in finery

I sing my song for all to see

and all the people, how they did stare

at Gloria with the short brown hair

So I dress myself as best as I can

and I forget that I was born a man

Haf (Summer)

Eistedd yn yr ardd ar ganol diwrnod braf

gwair gwyrdd dan fy nhroed ac adar yn y coed

a'r awyr yn lasach na welais i erioed

A doedd neb yn gallu amharu ar hyn

Dwi'n cofio wir i chi – ie deunaw oeddwn i

efo amser yn y llaw, yn bell o'r gwynt a'r glaw

a'r glesni yn ymestyn o fan yma i fan draw

A doedd neb yn gallu amharu ar hyn

Haf - Translation

Sitting in the garden at the height of a sunny day

Green grass under my feet and birds in the trees

And the sky bluer than I've ever seen before

And no-one could ruin this

I remember, I swear - I was eighteen at the time

Time to spare - far from the wind and rain

And blueness reaching into every corner

And no-one could ruin this

Gawain

I'm a man who lives alone

these crooked hills I call my home

now I had men and I had meat

and walls that rose a thousand feet

Now not so long ago it seems

I dreamed a dream of a man in green

his breath I've felt, his face I've seen

so come and hear of a Christmas game

how the emerald night begins again

how I risked my life to make my name

So you might sing

Gawain, riding on our hopes out in the rain

just a small town shame

Gawain, for the land that once you loved is not the same

oh Gawain

There's a lady in the sacred lake

she visits me from day to day

tiny hands caress my face

and they take me to the other place

Now there's a hollow tree she hides inside

a place where all the beetles hide

I couldn't go although I tried

now the green knight now before me stands

but I swear to God I killed the man

how does he speak with his head in his hands?

I was young and I was lean

while he was tall and strong and mean

now I hit first and I hit well

and I watched as the green man fell

How does he stand, how does he speak?

How does he say these words to me?

Devil go and let me be

in crashing blows there is no gain

but when the emerald night begins again

I'll risk my life to make my name

Tom Paine’s Bones

As I roved out one evening

by a river of discontent

I bumped straight into old Tom Paine

as running down the road he went

He said I can't stop right now child

King George is after me

he'll have a rope around my throat

and hang me on the liberty tree

But I will dance to Tom Paine's bones

I'll dance to Tom Paine's bones

dance in the oldest boots I own

to the rhythm of Tom Paine's bones

Well I only talked about freedom

and justice for everyone

but ever since the first word I spoke

I’ve been looking down the barrel of a gun

They said I preached revolution

let me say in my defence

that all I did, wherever I went

was to talk a lot of common sense

Well old Tom Paine he ran so fast

left me standing still

and then there was a piece of paper in my hand

standing at the top of the hill

And it said this is the age of reason

these are the rights of man

kick off religion and monarchy

it was written there in Tom Paine's plan

Well old Tom Paine dead he lies

nobody laughs and nobody cries

where he's gone or how he fares

nobody knows and nobody cares

These are the Things

They say there's a mother who cares for us all

who shows us the way when we stumble and fall

trained and educated to the highest degree

but whoever she is, she's not working for me

We've been robbed we've been wronged - counted the years

and now we've been told to dry up our tears

to show "aspiration" and swallow our pride

and these are the things that we cannot abide

For when the walls all go up, then trouble's in store

and reason and justice is all we ask for

but when you're kicking a man for being down on the floor

these are the things that I cannot ignore

These are the things that I cannot ignore

They say there's a nation of more than one tongue

where the children of old foes can sit down as one

they don't give a damn where the other comes from

and this is called marching to the beat of one drum

But while we've all been dreaming of days long ago

we've burnt every bridge and we've shut every door

but no man is an island so far from the shore

and these are the things I cannot ignore

And you say we're to blame but we've heard it before

they've won it this time, but who's keeping score?

When the little eats less so the richer reaps more

These are the things that I cannot ignore

When you live by the day at the market's command

When profit and property's the law of the land

To be held, to be heard, to be dealt a fair hand

These are the things that a people demand

My Love's In Germany

My love's in Germany

send him hame, send him hame

my love's in Germany, send him hame

my love's in Germany

fighting brave for royalty

he may ne'er his Ginny see

send him hame, send him hame

he may ne'er his Ginny see, Send him hame

He's as brave as brave can be

send him hame, send him hame

he's as brave as brave can be, send him hame

he's as brave as brave can be

he would rather fall than flee

oh his life's so dear to me

send him hame, send him hame

oh his life's so dear to me, send him hame

Our foes are ten to three

send him hame, send him hame

our foes are ten to three, send him hame

our foes are ten to three

he would rather fall than flee

oh his life's so dear to me

send him hame, send him hame

oh his life's so dear to me, send him hame

He'll ne'er come o'er the sea

for Willie's slain, Willie's slain

he'll ne'er come o'er the sea, for Willie's slain

and he'll ne'er come o'er the sea

to his love and our country

oh this life's nay more for me

for Willie's slain, Willie's slain

oh this life's nay more for me

for Willie's slain

The Drinkers

My man lived to the beat of a drum

taught me how the West was won

with a merry band he rambled on

but he showed the bar no quarter

Taught me how good living's done

drank pints of ale and seas of rum

with the courage of the dutch and good clean fun

till the morning in September

When he lined them up and he knocked them down

in every little pub and in every little town

oh my friends will he ever slow down?

not while there's life in his body

Old Verlaine was an absinthe man

it didn't leave much for the pension plan

on a drunken boat he reeled and span

and sang us songs of the moonlight

And though that he was a prince of verse

he died all alone of a fairy's curse

with a broken heart and empty purse

as he danced in the starlight

My old dad would tell a tale

how salty dogs on the sea would sail

wrote true and tight, hard as nails

and he never shied from peril

Papa filled his glass to the brim

with bulls did run and in wine did swim

until that bell it tolled for him

when he rolled out the barrel

Bedlam Boys

For to see Mad Tom of Bedlam

Ten thousand miles I travelled

Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes

For to save her shoes from gravel

And still I sing bonnie boys

Bonnie mad boys, Bedlam boys are bonnie

Still I sing bonnie boys

Bonnie mad boys

My staff has murdered giants

And my back a long knife carries

But I cut mince pies from children’s thighs

With which to feed…

For they all go bare

and they live by the air

and they want to drink nor money

I went down to Satan’s kitchen

To get me through one morning

And there I got souls piping hot

All on the spits a-turning, a-turning, a-turning

For they all go bare

and they live by the air

*and they want to drink nor money *