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1. |
A Song For Sisters
02:32
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Rise and shine, see how you’ve grown
Each new day, a new seed sown
The fresh bright sky that the new light brings
The waking sun makes the birds all sing
Breathe in, breathe out today
Reach in, reach out today
Don’t be afraid of the high piled snow
Every day is a good day to grow
Blink and look at the new wonderland
All the best journeys are hand in hand
Let it in, and let it go
Let it linger, let it flow
Let it in, and let it go
Let it fizz and let it flow
Look how small the best things are
The tiny speck of a distant star
Take yourself lightly and you will fly
Chase each wish as it floats on by
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2. |
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Sometimes I wish Robin Hood was my friend
Then right and wrong would be simple again
We’d rob the rich and give it to the poor
I’d be more healthy from just living outdoors
I’d say to him, ‘Robin I find it so very
Hard being a man, let alone being merry…’
Sometimes I wish young Prince Hamlet would call
And say, ‘Steve, y’know the readiness is all.
Your mind’s a prison and the jailer is you
Be kind to yourself, and you might just get through.’
I’d say, ‘You’re telling me, your Dad was a king
Mine left school at fourteen, it’s a whole different thing…’
I’d like to hang out in the cafés at night
Just hoping Vincent Van Gogh will drop by
I’d buy him a beer and say, ‘You’re weren’t wrong
Being so true to yourself for so long.’
He’d say to me, ‘Steve, but I feel so all alone.’
So we’d swap numbers and I’d call him on the phone.
I wish I hung out more with people like Sylvia
And Emmeline Pankhurst - people who’d fill ya
With hope for the future, and treat you the way
You hope that everyone is treated some day.
We’d discuss the future of the feminist agenda:
Toxic masculinity, non-binary, transgender
Then one dark night, when I’ve got really old
I’ve had enough of doing all that I’m told
I’ll go to the crossroads and wait there in the rain
For Robert Johnson to come by again.
He’ll say, ‘Hey, Steve, won’t you come on in my kitchen?’
And I won’t say a thing, I’ll just sit there and listen…
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3. |
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I see the pale green heads
Of the snowdrops appear
As they taste the frosty air
With the snow lying near
And the spring’s on the branches
That with catkins are hung
Telling me no-one, no,
Is too old to be young
And when the first snow fell
In our garden for years
We made a snowgirl there
And threw snowballs at her
And all the fun we had
On a freezing cold day
Proves that you’re only old
If you forget how to play
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4. |
The Robin
03:24
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There’s a robin on the fence
A redbreast on the plant pot’s edge
Looking in to see if I’ve been good
To see if I’ve been all I really should
And she was there, always there
When I got lost, when I went too far
When I had no home, when I crashed my car
Yes, she was there, always there
When I couldn’t say a word, or mend my shirt
When I burst with joy, when I burst with hurt
Cos what you get is how you live
But it’s only worth the things you give
So she was there, always there
When she was old, when she was alone
When she was cold, when I was full grown
She was there, always there
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5. |
So Small
04:09
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Driving to the football
Scruffy, sweaty and late
I pause for a Ferrari
That purrs through an electric gate
The driver’s like a page from Vogue
Manicured, designer, tall
She makes me, she makes me feel so, she makes me feel so very small
I don’t like that at all
It’s the playing fields of the public school
Where the weak are bullied by the strong
A place where Britain’s future leaders
Celebrate the bloody Somme
Then assemble in the dark, oak-panelled, solemn,
Portrait-crammed great hall
It makes me, it makes me feel so, it makes me feel so very small
I don’t like that at all
Winding up the coastpath
On the cliffs above the bay
The sea looks like an angry demon
Glowering, imperious and grey
The clouds are dark and thick and full
A heavy rain is going to fall
It makes me, it makes me feel so, it makes me feel so very small
I don’t mind that at all
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6. |
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The first job that I had I guess was being somebody’s son
The first few years were really good, we had a lot of fun
But after that, I took it for granted, I took but didn’t give
I took as an entitlement what should have been partnership
This time I’ll try my best
Now I’m ready to be a princess
Then I tried being a husband, again I started strong –
but got confused, and lost my way, and it all ended wrong:
‘Please dance,’ she said, ‘I can’t,’ I said. She knew what was in store
I know now as a husband, I owed her a lot more
I’ve been practising, more or less
Now I’m ready to be a princess
Now I’ve had a lot of other jobs, the kind that pay the bills,
But none of them have made me rich, and none have quite fulfilled;
I like to pretend it’s not my fault, just bad careers advice,
But I’ve always run from commitment, and I’ve always paid the price
I’m a setting sun, I’m going West
Now I’m ready to be a princess
My granny asked, when I was young, ‘What do you want to be
When you grow up?’ and kissed my head and sat me on her knee,
And I knew then that nothing grown-ups did really appealed
But I thought as I got older, something good would be revealed.
Yeah, my mind is quite a mess
Now I’m ready to be a princess
If all that kept me awake at night was a pea beneath the mattress
And the only choice I had to make was, ‘This dress now or that dress?’
If my castle had a drawbridge, and my gates had iron bars,
I could keep out the prime minister and practice my guitar
Here’s my plan, if you haven’t guessed
Now I’m ready to be a princess
I must have had my headphones on when opportunity knocked
And I went round to the church to pray but all the doors were locked
I’ve passed my ‘best before’ date – cue the tears, or cue the laughter?
All I know is I’ve got one last chance at Happily Ever After.
I just hope there’s no kind of test
Now I’m ready to be a princess
Yes, I think overall it’s best
Now I’m ready to be a princess
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7. |
She'll Fly Away
01:46
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I made a nest
For her to grow
And shelter from
The wind and snow
I made it strong
I made it warm
So she was safe from
The gathering storm
But she will fly away
She will fly away
She will fly away
One day
She’ll catch the wind
That’s in the wood
And fly away
Just like she should
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8. |
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Oh yes it was her favourite day
He bought her a la-la-latte
Then she browsed the seafront stalls
And she bought nothing at all
The sea was brown, not blue,
But it was love she knew
When they both sang along with Lou
She got sweaty, holding hands
Ice cream melting on her chin
She spent too long in the sun
With not enough sun cream on
Sand in her Pringles too
But it was love she knew
When they both sang along with Lou
Far too noisy in the club
Far too crowded in the pub
Way too cold to stay outside
Walked her home and went inside
But that’s when they both knew
That it’s a perfect day, it’s true
When you both sing along with Lou
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9. |
Bohemian Blasphemy
01:41
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Dirty old men
In charge of TV
With power cuts
And three day weeks
Liquid lunches
Jealous of youth
‘The filth and the fury’
A moment of truth
Ninety seconds that changed the world
Gave a new voice to young boys and girls
Now they all swear
But they don’t care
So let’s sing along
I did you no wrong
A bohemian blasphemy
Queen didn’t show
‘Just a rude word:
Next question?’ ‘No, no.’
Take the flowers out the dustbin
History beckons
‘Say something outrageous:
You’ve got five seconds’
‘Demand the impossible’
The T Shirt said
Now just like Brahms
Bill Grundy is dead
But if something good
Came from the day
Be reasonable
He had his part to play
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10. |
You Belong Somewhere
02:57
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An evening primrose when the sun goes down
A morning you can lie-in long in bed
Elin when she swears there’s no one like me
Gwen when she shares the books she’s read
A bag of chips with just enough salt
Walking on the quayside when the waves are high
Florence singing Disney with all her heart
Felicity’s little wiggle when she dances by
There are always places we don’t feel at home
And there are always hours when we feel alone
But always - for a moment here and there -
You will know you belong somewhere
The kettles boiling and the teabag’s in
The neon ripples in the city at night
Strictly Ballroom’s got me crying again
The September sun’s got that gossamer light
Thorn-pricked fingers, blackberry-stained
A pint of bitter on a Wednesday night
Robert Quine calls like a guinea fowl
A sudden jerk on a flyaway kite
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11. |
Small Steps
04:53
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It’s the gift you always wanted
Proudly given with a kiss
For the man who has it all
But you don’t know what that is
It’s an acorn on the tarmac
It’s a moth beneath the light
It’s a horse on the hard shoulder
It’s a long, hot sleepless night
It’s a jobseeker’s vacation
It’s a fish left on low tide
Jesus’ face in a potato
A critic at a pantomime
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12. |
Sleep Cottage
05:20
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I wanna buy sleep cottage
It looks like peace to me
Wrapped in Dorset’s greenest fields
And not too far from the sea
The bees will buzz me a lullaby
The blackbirds sing to me sweet
Underneath an oak canopy
The wind will rock me to sleep
Sleep sleep
Deep deep sleep
Don’t want to work a lifetime
Just to pay for a little peace
I wanna buy sleep cottage
It looks like peace to me
Underneath an oak canopy
Not too far from the sea
The birds will sing me a lullaby
The branches rock me to sleep
Wrapped in Dorset’s golden arms
The waves will lull me to sleep
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13. |
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Was it the hugs your mum didn’t give
Was it your dad too scared to live
Oh where, oh where did you get so sad?
Was it the teacher who made fun of you
Or was it the friends who wouldn’t stay true
Oh where, oh where did you get so “bad”?
Was it your shape you felt let you down
When you compared it to others around
Oh where, oh where did you get so “bad”?
Was it the lover who never said
That you were the nicest person he’d met
Oh where, oh where did you get so sad?
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14. |
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I tried to book a train today
I thought it wouldn’t take me long
I had my destination right
But I typed the date in wrong
Screen went blue, then flashed at last
‘Outward travel must not be in the past.’
Isn’t that just me all over
Always leaving stuff behind
Little precious bits and pieces
Little fragments of my mind
Look around for what I lack
‘Always check the luggage rack’
Even as a little lad, I
Used to miss my bus stop home
Cried my eyes out when I woke up
In the dark back seat alone
The driver didn’t worry, he
Said, ‘Worse things happen son, at sea.’
Even then it didn’t help to
Hear the clichés that he said
To know that some far distant sailor
Missed his mother and his bed
It wasn’t any consolation
Because I always miss my station
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15. |
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In the summer sun
When my mum was young
She wore long sleeves to hide
The bruises on her arm
Then her father died
And she no longer cried
But the shame and the fear left
A permanent harm
I know both sexes have a lot to learn
But men, well men, you know they’ve had their turn
The future’s female
There’s a four by four
In the drive next door
And he leaves the engine running for days
He voted to leave
And he seems to believe,
That it’s fun to make jokes
About Muslims and gays
Oh how I despise
Those leather-clad guys
Who hold their guitar like it was a penis
And if you wanted a deity
To spread a bit of gaiety
It wouldn’t be Mars, it would be Venus
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