1. |
Flowers Won't Bloom
05:38
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The ground is all broken and dry / the things that we planted are waiting to die / And the birds they just sing out of tune / the flowers won't bloom here in June / the flowers won't bloom here in June // We're trying to reap what we sow / but the world plays for keeps and it never lets go / Until all that is left is perfume / the flowers won't bloom here in June // But who built the fires and who lit the flame / who empties the ashes again and again / The words that you wrote up in smoke in the sky / say baby I love you baby goodbye // You said you'd come back for a while / I may make you angry I may make you smile / Though the sun shines a ray through the gloom / the flowers won't bloom here in June / the flowers won't bloom here in June // But who cut the wires and who stopped the rain / who's going under and taking the blame / The rooms are still empty and echo the years / it's too late for laughter it's too late for tears // We're searching for truth all our lives / but the truth never leaves and so never arrives / 'til we realise too late our undoing / the flowers won't bloom here in June / The flowers won't bloom here in June.
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2. |
Fond Farewell
04:16
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If you go will you leave a light at the end of the road / as the shadows they fall all around on this armoured abode / And if I fail to find the words to cast you in a spell / they'll come to me too late I fear upon your fond farewell // If you find you are lost and afraid of the gathering storm / I will wait your return to a hearth that is welcome and warm / And if I fail to make you see I surely must compel / to be the man I should've been upon your fond farewell // But you had put a knife through me and left me where I fell / But I had lived to tell the tale / with only tales to tell // Fare thee well fare thee well / you took me as far as you could / for true love will combine and consume us as fire and wood / But you / you had mistaken me and that may suit you well / but I could not stop loving you upon that fond farewell // And time will make both fools of us and that I can't dispel / for if we vow to part this way upon your fond farewell / For I shall make a pact with you and only time will tell / that you may mark me by my word upon your fond farewell / Though our paths are bound to cross again in heaven or in hell /where you may find it in your heart beyond that fond farewell.
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3. |
Let Me Down Easy
03:52
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Pour me out a whiskey / let it brim the glass / hold me in your arms and maybe this will pass // Let me down easy don't be sorry to explain / Let me down easy / spare the truth and spare the pain // Tell me I am dreaming and soon I will awake / You were never leaving it's a choice youíd never take // Let me down easy / deal the cards and let them play / Let me down easy / I can't make you stay // Let me believe you / though I've heard it all before // Let me down easy / it's impossible to win / let me down easy you won't let me down again so easy / You won't let me down again.
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4. |
All Will Be Revealed
03:51
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With the darkness upon us and our truths all laid bare / and when no one is listening and the world she don't care // When the shallow veils of laughter all around you has reeled / You will realise your hollow prize when all will be revealed // Those that have shall be given 'til their pockets will fray / and from those who have nothing shall be taken away // And the leaders and the liars who before them we kneeled / there's a higher revelation there when all will be revealed // Some their spirits will be broken by those that cannot see /they will surely find the error of their ways // From the cradle of creation 'til our fate has been sealed / there will be no absolution until all has been revealed // And the deeds of our fathers that we cannot deny / it's a sin to say nothing as the victims roll by // If you drift with no direction and your heart is concealed / you will find there's no salvation until all has been revealed // Through your thoughts and in your actions your clear conscience will yield / in an age of no illusion there when all will be revealed / There'll be one more hallelujah when all will be revealed.
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5. |
True Love
03:41
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Sometimes the world it moves too fast / nothing to cling upon / When the crowds have gone away true love will carry on // And though the heart feels safe at home / sometimes we get it wrong / And whilst the flesh is drawn to stray / true love will carry on // Some search for something / and wait a whole life through / end up with nothing true // In the streets kids laugh and play 'til innocence is gone / through their mistakes and tears will learn / true love will carry on // And though the fates conspire to drag us down / we'll heed tomorrow's calling / true love's a new day dawning // There's a star that shines so bright / o'er each and everyone / Even in your darkest hour true love will carry on // Love counts for nothing / if its aim ain't true / my arrow's aimed on you // Now the nights are drawing in over our winter sun / I'll be there to keep you warm true love will carry on.
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6. |
Should I Leave Your Side
03:46
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The ship in the harbour is ringing her bell / to take me wherever desires I can quell / Though I may ebb with the moon and the tide / my thoughts will be with you should I leave your side // If I am blown by a north westerly / or should I be lost in a cold briny sea / I'd follow the ocean and swallow my pride / to beg your forgiveness should I leave your side // I've tried to be open and tried to explain how a heart can be honest and reckless and vain / But if you are found to be battered and sore / I'd turn on these heels and curse you no more // The seasons are turning from green unto gold / and if you wait for me you're brave and you're bold / But if I should turn to a blackness and slide / you must not come with me should I leave your side // But unto your star I am heavenly drawn / between darkness and light I am forever torn / If I am guilty I'll bond my parole / may the stars strike me down and the depths take my soul // Though I can't be trusted / in this heart beats a stone / and many's the reason why I'm lost and alone / But if I depart it can never be denied / 'twas with good intention should I leave your side.
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7. |
Woodcutter's Son
03:29
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In the heat of the day beneath the shade of the pine / she watched him carving their names together for a lifetime / Charmed by his smile and a sweet northern tongue / dreamt of a life with the woodcutter's son // Their days were selfish and long / their summer measured in years / but his horizons drew strong and envied other careers / He swore he'd return and wanted no other one / and would always remain her woodcutter's son // She carries a tune but her heart is still strung / to play every note for that woodcutter's son // Bring on the night bring on the rain / wash away yesterday's dream / Bring in the tide, timber and grain / dry is the well and the stream // From a cradle of hope into forest of sin / the world will open your eyes to temptations within / But true to her own heart turned her head for no one / and bided her time for that woodcutter's son // Well seven years have passed / the fields are barren and clear / but on a fine May morn she saw two figures appear / One was her true love / the other still young / Who went by the name of the woodcutter's son / But what would she give / the last breath from her lungs / To walk side by side with those woodcutter's sons.
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8. |
Desperate Days
04:39
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Well I come home in the evening and the living room is bare / there's a bible on the table maybe find salvation there // If you see me I'll be dreaming of a time you wanted me / and the nights that I had wasted kissing ghosts I cannot see // And I don't know who I'm fooling / we cover up but can't erase / just what's going to get me through / these are desperate days // Did I tell you that I loved you did I show you that I care / and I would stay awake for hours just to watch you laying there // All my brave new bright tomorrows / seem to vanish in the haze / you’re my saviour and my sorrow / these are desperate days // There's a mask I hide behind now so the pain won't show / but everybody knows // Everyday I go out walking / all the people turn their heads / to the emptiness that crawling into our hearts into our beds // You won't catch me as I'm falling through a lifetime of betrayals / all I see is now and always / these are desperate days / these are desperate days.
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9. |
A Whaler's Lament
05:13
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We were chasing the wind for Blue and Right whales / when the lookout would shout we'd cling to the rails / As we rode to the kill we felt bold and alive / in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and five // But down in the harbour the flensing would start / barrels are filled and sent to the mart / For the oil in your lamps and bones for your tools / wait 'til they come up to blow with a harpoon to throw // The very next year when our season cut short / we said our farewells to friends, family and port / We'll follow our prey and run them aground / on the good ship Naroona we’re Newfoundland bound // No hiding from the stench / no respite from the cold / delivered to stations our dirty white gold / We'd drink into the evening and sang 'til we cried / wait 'til they come up to blow with a harpoon to throw // Now the new ships are big they swallow the catch / no escape for the beast it's no sport it's no match / Watched a mother and calf break the surface to cries / and felt no remorse at the look in her eyes // To the orders of our masters we'd work through the freeze / until we completed the rape of the seas / For the fuel of an empire in its slow decline / one day they won't come up to blow with a harpoon to throw // Takes more than the good book and luck to survive / despatches from home take weeks to arrive / In the hand of an angel / the scent of a girl / wrapped in a ribbon and bow with kisses to blow // But when my father took ill I had to return to care for my loved ones and what I could earn / So I followed the men with picks in their hand / through the coal fields and slags of East Northumberland // I wish I was a whaler in sunlight and air / I'd rather have salt than coal dust in me hair / Burning oil in our lamps and soap to scrub in / down from the colliery row / with a pick axe to throw / Now when Kitchener called I was first to the deck / as a merchant marine on a seagoing wreck / The Atlantic we'd cross and whisper Amen / in fear of cold hearted submariner men // So now we are the quarry it's the turn of the deep / to have her revenge it must taste so sweet / With the oilskin on his back the lookout would cry / wait for their ballasts to blow and torpedo to go // As we measured the stars we let go a sigh / our loved ones must stare at the very same sky / And for those left behind life must go on / lamps must be filled and chores must be done // I hope you light a candle for me every night / watch over the flame and keep it alive / To guide us through the darkness / for we cannot see / a cluster of mines that will blow us all down below // Now the tables have turned and I must confess the fate of a sailor I hope you can bless / For I fear I will rest in a bed of deep green / in the year of Our Lord it was nineteen fifteen.
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10. |
Goodnight Lover
03:27
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Good night / good night lover for wherever you may be / In the arms of another who will hold you tenderly // Midnight chimes for the end of the day / there is nothing to hold there is no one to hold // Sweet dreams distant lover and whatever keeps you there // Nightmares wait at the top of the stairs / of a someone you miss there is no one to kiss // Good night / good night lover and however much you care / I will whisper good night lover as if you were here with me
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Paul Handyside Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Paul Handyside is a folk and roots singer songwriter, formerly of eighties indie darlings Hurrah! whose songs now fuse pop with folk-tinged americana. The fourth album "Loveless Town" was released in 2021.
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