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Who knows why boys build paper planes?
Do they try to climb onboard and fly away?
Because when you’re looking for a part to play
It takes a while to find your stride
But who knows if you’ve been lonely?
You’ve stolen meals to make it through the night
Who knows if you’ve been lonely?
Or watched the world go by with hungry eyes?
Who knows why you take up so much space?
When you are known for knocking heads around these parts
Why do you make us count our steps?
And hold our breath in your company?
But who knows if you’ve been lonely?
You sold your dreams to make it through the night
Who knows if you’ve been lonely?
Hidden bruises from the world outside
But the sun will rise despite your heavy mind
And you don’t know what might wash up on the tide
You can tell yourself these same old tired lines
And force a smile
I don’t know if you know who knows
But you should know that I care and I know that
When your whole life’s been shattered
Your dreams are hacked and battered
Feels like you’re dying deep inside
Your hands are shaking, the whole world is breaking
All you can do is stay alive
But the sun will rise despite your heavy mind
And you don’t know what might wash up on the tide
You can tell yourself these same old tired lines
And force a smile
Hold your horses steady
Wait for me - I’m not ready
Just let me take my time
There’s a devil on my shoulder
Watches me growing older
Ring of ring of roses
Fill your pockets up with posies
All fall down
They all fall down
Strange the way that I’ve been feeling
Cut the cards - I’m not dealing them
I need a king this time
Bless the souls our saviour chose
Heaven or Hell, no-one knows
Ring of ring of roses
Fill your pockets up with posies
All fall down
They all fall down
Because it’s lights out, story’s over
Words are better left unspoken
All fall down, they all fall down
You don’t know what hides in the dark
He’s patiently waiting to start
As soon as you turn out the light
A thief takes your day and your night
There’s someone here for you
He’s in the corner of your room
Oh well - I guess we lost track of time
So sleep now don’t make a sound
In the morning all fall down
We’re falling, falling
We’re falling down
Ring of ring of roses
Fill your pockets up with posies
All fall down
They all fall down
Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus
Ac arian yn fy nghod
A phob beirniadaeth drosodd
A phawb yn canu ’nghlod,
Mi brynaf fwthyn unig
Heb ddim o flaen ei ddôr
Ond creigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau gwyllt y môr
Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus
A’m gwaed yn llifo’n oer,
A’m calon heb gyflymu
Wrth wylied codi’r lloer;
Bydd gobaith i’m bryd hynny
Mewn bwthyn sydd a’i ddôr
At greigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau gwyllt y môr
Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus
Tu hwnt i fawl a sen,
A’m cân yn ôl y patrwm
A’i hangerdd oll ar ben;
Bydd gobaith i’m bryd hynny
Mewn bwythyn sydd a’i ddôr
At greigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau gwyllt y môr
Oblegid mi gaf yno
Yng nghri’r ystormus wynt
Adlais o’r hen wrthryfel
A wybu f’enaid gynt.
A chanaf â’r hen angerdd
Wrth syllu tua’r ddôr
Ar greigiau Aberdaron
A thonnau gwyllt y môr
The year is old, and she’s counting down the days
She’s grown so cold in so many different ways
When Black Shuck roams, she steps just out of sight
The shadows glow and the moonlight shines so bright
In churchyard stone the old Gods keep their watch
And heaven knows even the Devil tends his flock
When Black Shuck roams, you see murder through and through
But you don’t know that she’s just like me and just like you
Still waters flow, the sunlight hides away
The fens are cold in so many lonely ways
When Black Shuck roams, the churches shut their doors
And she goes home and waits for one that she sees no more
On moon-blushed evenings sometimes you see your deeds unmade
White bones and starlight in one summer’s bloody rage
When Black Shuck roams, the night birds blunt their song
The year is old now - but the way is long
The year is old, and she’s counting down the days
She’s grown so cold in so many different ways
When Black Shuck roams, she steps just out of sight
The shadows glow and the moonlight shines so bright
I remember the first time we made the sound
Ten thousand voices all crying aloud
Daughter of the heath and the heather
Chariot wheels in cold, bright weather
Fenland queen all draped in gold
Sister to the hare and roe
An ocean sang inside her stare
And fire danced in long red hair
Now the ground trembles and shakes and bodies collide
You fight them as hard as you can but you can’t break the line
They took everything that you had and they drove you away
You were taught never talk back, but that wasn’t your way
She’d ride out fast because she lived to attack
Sometimes the last, but she always came back
Now Colchester’s burning - I still feel the heat
But you’ve not come back yet from Watling Street
Now the ground trembles and shakes and chariots ride
You fight them as hard as you can but you can’t break the line
They took everything that you had and they drove you away
You were taught never talk back, but that wasn’t your way
No that wasn’t her way
And she was so brave
I thought you were my friend
But now I feel like a fool
Thought that I was using you
Not being used
I thought you were my friend
Found you when I was young
You said this might be fun
I found you when I was young
Then you blackened both my lungs
I thought you were my friend
Because you look so bright
Taste just right
Hold me all night long
Well one of you is alright
But two is always better
I stayed up with you all night
Till my insides turned to leather
I thought you were my friend
Because you look so bright
Taste just right
Hold me all night long
Baby can we go slow
I want you but I don’t think I should stay here
Please baby can you hold me all night
Hold me all
Because you look so bright
Taste just right
Hold me all night long
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 no 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 no drink nor money
Unready when you came along
I told you that the nights were blue
Unready when you came along
But now the whole world
Yes the whole wide world
Is as green as you
She’s a monastery on a hill
High above the ocean spray
She’s a visionary in her cell
And when the candle dims
She finds words to sing
To drive the gloom away
And how your fingers love to dance
And colour flood a world of grey
And how your fingers love to dance
As if the sirens
Or the seraphim
Had taught you how to play
You’re as green as the season that quickens the breeze
You’re as green as the waves as they sing in the sea
Unready when you came along
Unready when you came along
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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