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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
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 *
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