'Twas on one April morning, just as the sun was rising,
'Twas on one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
Love it is a fancy-
Sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.
O young men are false and they are full of all deceiving;
Young men are false, and they never will prove true.
With their roving and their ranging
And their minds are ever changing
They're seeking for to find out some other girl that's
new.
O if I had but my own heart in keeping,
O if I had but my own heart back again:
Safe in my bosom
I would lock it up forever
And it should wander never so far from me again.
Why must you spend all your long time in courting?
Why must you spend all your long time in vain?
For I don't intend to marry,
I would rather longer tarry.
I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through
In that small cafe
The park across the way
The children's carousel
The chestnut trees
The wishing well
I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day
In everything that's light and gay
I'll always think of you that way
I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new
I'll be looking at the moon
'Twas in the month of sweet July,
Before the sun had pierced the sky;
Down between two rigs of rye
I heard two lovers talking.
Said he, "Lassie, I must away,
Along with you I cannot stay,
But I've a word or two to say
If you've the time to listen."
"Of your father he takes great care,
Your mother combs your yellow hair;
But your sisters say you'll get no share
If you follow me, a stranger."
"My father may fret and my mother may frown,
My sisters too I do disown;
If they were all dead and below the ground
I would follow you, a stranger."
"Oh lassie, lassie, your portion's small,
Perhaps it may be none at all.
You're not a match for me at all
So go and wed with some other."
The lassie's courage began to fail,
Her rosy cheeks grew wan and pale;
And the tears come trickling down like hail,
Or a heavy shower in the summer.
This lad he being of courage fine,
He's dried her tears and he's kissed her eyes,
Saying, "Weep no more lass, you shall be mine,
I said it all to try you."
This couple they are married now,
And they have bairnies one and two;
And they live in Brechin the winter through,
Oh, waly, waly up the bank and waly, waly down the
brae,
And waly, waly up burnside where I and my love used to
I was a lady of high renown that lived in the North
country;
I was a lady of high renown when Jamie Douglas courted
And when we came to Glasgow town, it was a comely sight
to see,
My lord was clad in the velvet green and I myself in
cramasie.
And when my eldest son was born and set upon his
nurse's knee,
I was the happiest woman born and my good lord, he
loved me.
There came a man into our house and Jamie Lockhart was
his name
And it was told unto my lord that I did lie in bed with
him.
There came another to our house and he was no good
friend to me;
He put Jamie's shoes beneath my bed and bade my good
lord come and see.
Oh woe be unto thee, Blackwood, and an ill death may
you die,
You were the first and the foremost man that parted my
good lord and I.
And when my lord came to my room this great falsehood
for to see,
He turned him round all with a scowl and not one word
would he speak to me.
"Come up, come up, now Jamie Douglas, come up the stair
and dine with me,
I'll set you on a chair of gold and court you kindly on
my knee."
"When cockleshells turn silver bells and fishes fly
from tree to tree,
When frost and snow turn fire to burn it's I'll come up
and dine with thee."
Oh woe be unto thee, Blackwood, and an ill death may
you die,
You were the first and the foremost man that parted my
good lord and I.
And when my father he had word my good lord had
forsaken me,
He sent fifty of his brisk dragoons to fetch me home to
my own country.
O had I wist when first I kissed that love should been
so ill to win,
I'd locked my heart in a cage of gold and pinned it
with a silver pin.
You think that I am like yourself and lie with each one
that I see,
But I do swear by Heavens high, I never loved a man but
thee.
'Tis not the frost that freezes fell, nor blowing
snow's inclemency,
'Tis not such cold that makes me cry, but my love's
heart grown cold to me.
O waly, waly, love is bonnie a little while when first
it's new,
But love grows old and waxes cold and fades away like
Somewhere in the ether they are talking ship to shore
but the lines that bound an empire do not run here
anymore
Hear the hooters calling at the breaking of the day
They call to wake the master, but the master's gone
away
And it's goodbye, windy city
You widow dressed in black
I'm going someplace warmer
and I'm never coming back
Never coming back
You wore yourself to shadow
Your fingers to the bone
You raised too many children
Now you watch them leaving home
And all your rooms are narrow
All your skies are clouds
Do you know what love really is
Can you say the word out loud
And it's goodbye, windy city
You widow dressed in black
I'm going someplace warmer
And I'm never coming back
Never coming back
We went to church on Sunday
We wore our Sunday best
We went to work on Monday
The damned just like the blessed
Just like the blessed
Some walk down by the water To see the seagulls cry
You can spend your whole life fishing and watch your
day go drifting by
I hear the hooters calling, but I cannot stop or stay
The train is in the station and it's taking me away
So it's goodbye, windy city
You widow dressed in black
I'm going someplace warmer
and I'm never coming back
No, never coming back
Yes, it's goodbye, windy city
You widow dressed in black
I'm going someplace warmer
and I'm never coming back
My love, he built me a bonny bower
And clad it o'er with lily flower
A bonnier bower you ne'er did see
Than my true love he built for me
There came a man by middle day
He spied his sport and went away
And brought the King that very night,
Who broke my bower and slew my knight
He slew my knight to me so dear
He slew my knight and seized his gear
My servants all for life did flee
And left me in extremity
I sewed his shroud, making my moan
I watched his corpse, myself alone
I watched his body night and day
No living creature came that way
I took his body on my back
And whiles I walked and whiles I sat
I digged a grave and laid him in,
And happed him with the turf so green
Oh, don't you think my heart was sore,
As I laid the earth on his yellow hair
Oh, don't you think my heart was woe,
As I turned about, away to go
No living man I'll love again
Since that my lovely knight is slain
With just one lock of his yellow hair
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
How do you love a woman
With eyes cold as the barrel of her gun?
Who's never missed her mark on anyone?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
Casino doors swing open, the rich men raise their eyes,
They say, "Who is this beauty as elegant as ice?"
And later there's an accident, another charge
d'affaires
Is lying in a pool of blood, no witness anywhere.
And they say she was a hundred miles away,
The hotel porter saw her climb the stairs
And the maid with trembling hands knows what to say
When the judge says, "Are you sure?" "I'm sure," she
swears.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
How do you love a woman
With eyes cold as the barrel of her gun?
Who's never missed her mark on anyone?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
At the presidential palace, a thousand people saw
His excellency leave his car and never make the door.
The blood flows from his fingers as he clutches at the
stain,
He staggers like a drunken man, lies twisted in the
rain.
And they say she grew up well provided for,
Her mother used to keep her boys for sure.
And father's close attentions led to talk,
She learned to stab her food with a silver fork.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
And they say she didn't do it for the money,
And they say she didn't do it for a man.
They say that she did it for the pleasure,
The pleasure of the moment.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
How do you stop this woman
When everyone is moving in a trance?
Like prisoners of some slow, courtly dance?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne,
When I was a wee thing and easy led astray
It's before I would work I would rather sport and play,
It's before I would work I would rather sport and play
With my Johnny on the banks of red roses.
On the banks of red roses my love and I sat down
He took out his fiddle and began to play a tune.
And when the tune was ended, his love broke down and
cried,
"Oh Johnny, darling Johnny, never leave me!"
He took out his pocket knife, and it was long and sharp
And he plunged it through and through the bonny lassie's
hart,
He plunged it through and through the bonny lassie's
heart
And he left her lying low among the roses.
When I was a wee thing and easy led astray
It's before I would work I would rather sport and play,
It's before I would work I would rather sport and play
It's at times such as this she'd be tempted to spit,
If she wasn't so ladylike,
She imagines how she might have lived back when
Legends & history collide
So she looks to her prince, finding since
He's so charmingly slumped at her side
Those days are recalled on the gallery wall,
And she's waiting for passion or humor to strike
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty, all this useless beauty
Good Friday arrived, the sky darkened on time,
Till he almost began to negotiate,
And she held his head like a baby and said
"It's okay if you cry"
Now he wants her to dress, as if you couldn't guess
He desires to impress his associated
But he's part ugly beast and Hellenic deceased
And she finds that the mixture is hard to deny
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty,
All this useless beauty
She won't practice the looks from the great tragic
books
That were later defaced disgraced celluloid
They no longer make sense, but you can bet
If she isn't a sweetheart, a plaything or pet
The film turns her into an unveiled threat
Nonsense prevails, modesty fails,
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calender fades almost all barricades
To a pale compromise
While our rulers have feasts on the backsides of beasts
They still think they're the gods of antiquity
If something you missed didn't even exist,
It was just an ideal, is that such a surprise?
What shall we do, what shall we do
With all this useless beauty,
One night as I lay on my bed,
I dreamed about a pretty maid.
I was so distressed,
I could take no rest;
Love did torment me so.
So away to my true love I did go
And when I come to my love's window,
I will boldly call her by her name,
Saying, "It was for your sake
I'm come here so late,
Through this bitter frost and snow,
So open your window, my love, do."
"My mam and dad are both awake,
And they are sure for to hear us speak.
There'll be no excuse
Then but sore abuse,
Many a bitter word and blow.
So begone from my window, my love, do."
"Your mam and dad they are both asleep,
And they are sure not to hear us speak,
For they sleep so sound
On their bed of down,
And they draw their breath so low.
So open your window, my love, do."
My lover rose and she opened the door,
Like an angel she stood on the floor.
Her eyes would shine so bright
Like the stars at night,
No diamonds could shine so.
I wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
I wonder what's keeping you out of my sight
It is little you know of the pain I endure
Or you would not stay from me this night, I am sure
Oh love, are you coming your cause to advance?
or yet are you waiting for a far better chance?
Are you coming to tell me you've a new love in store?
Are you coming to tell me you love me no more?
Oh no, I'm not coming my own cause to advance
And yet I'm not waiting for a far better chance
I'm coming to tell you I've a new love in store
I'm coming to tell you I love you no more
For I can love lightly and I can love strong
And I can love the old love 'til a new love comes along
I only said I loved you for to give your heart ease
But when I'm not with you, I'll love whom I please
I've gold in my pocket and pain in my heart
For I can't love a love with one too many sweethearts
You're my first and only false love and it's lately I
knew
The longer I loved you, the falser you grew
Spring grass it grows sweetest, spring water runs clear
I'm sorry and tormented for the love of my dear
Your love it lies as lightly as the dew on the thorn
Descends in the evening, goes away with the morn
I wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
I wonder what is keeping you out of my sight
I wonder if you know of the pain I endure
It is winter now,
and the roses are blooming again,
their petals bright against the snow.
My father died last April.
My sisters no longer write
except at the turning of the year,
content with their fine houses and their grandchildren.
Beast and I potter in the gardens
and walk slowly on the forest paths.
He is graying around the muzzle
and I have silver combs to match my hair.
I have no regrets. None.
Though -- sometimes I do wonder.
Sounds of children ...
running across the marble halls,
swinging from the branches of the roses
I will put my ship in order
And I will set her on the sea
And I will sail to yonder harbor
To see if my love minds on me
I drew my ship into the harbor
I drew her up where my true love lay
I drew her close up to the window
To listen what my true love did say
"Oh who is that at my bower window?
That raps so loudly and would be in?"
"It is your true love that loves you dearly
So rise, dear love, and let him in"
Then slowly, slowly rose she up
And slowly, slowly came she down
But before she had the door unlocked
Her true love had both come and gone
"Come back, come back, my own true love
Come back, come back, come to my side
I never grieved you nor yet deceived you
And I will surely be your bride"
"The fish shall fly, the seas run dry, love
The rocks shall melt with the sun
The laboring men shall forget their labor
You said you wanted me to stay,
Still hoping for a better day.
But as I turned you heard me say,
I am no good at love.
Still with my heart I made so free,
Expected love accordingly,
But now I know that could not be.
I am no good at love.
I am no good, I'm too intense,
To turn my passion into sense,
Nor ever proud enough to be
Like those who take love carelessly.
I am no good at love.
There's different kinds of loneliness,
The kind you make yourself's the best.
I know because I've tried the rest.
I am no good at love.
And when self-pity makes me pray
For all the love we threw away,
Here in sweet solitude I'll say,
I walked on a northern shore
Where the sandywort sped on before the ocean's blast
The grass ran like lemmings for the dune's high edge
And I thought it meant like the grass
We bend in the driving gale
and scarcely paused to think what makes the wind so
strong
or if there's a refuge from the driver's flag
But then I heard the saddest song
of the Irish Girl
The Irish Girl
Her eyes through a sparkling red
like raindrops on a laurel when the moon appears
She sang of her sorrow through the stinging spread
and through the sweeter brine, the salt of tears,
I weep for the lost of a love
Who's gone brooding now and silent as a standing stone
Two sides of a coin we rolled a battered roll
but in time he chose to leave alone
His Irish Girl
His Irish Girl
I touched her and spoke my name
for it seems she didn't know me for the song she sang
she said, oh I know your face but here's the shame
for though I knew the boy, who knows the man
and I wept who might turn for the fool
who never saw the joys that make a blind man smile
seeking his fortune while the brightest jewel
was within his reach all the while
The Irish Girl
High upon highlands and low upon Tay
Bonny James Campbell rode out on a day
He saddled, he bridled, how gallant rode he
Home came his good horse but never came he
Home came his good horse but never came he
Out came his mother, weeping full sore
Out came his new bride, a-tearing her hair
"My meadow lies green and my corn is unshorn,
My barn is to build and my baby unborn,
My barn is to build and my baby unborn."
Saddled and bridled and booted rode he,
A plume in his helmet, a sword at his knee
His hounds running by him, his hawk flying free
Home came his good horse but never came he
Home came his good horse but never came he
Empty the saddle, all bloody to see...
Home came his good horse but never came he
"Speak to me gently before we begin"
She pleads but they laugh and pull her down
And after they've used her briefly and roughly
They leave her to face the dawn alone
When they have gone she moves on her side
Thinks of the men that with her have lain
And none of them gave her a kind-worded loving
And after they'd done not one of them stayed
Once she was wary, chose but a few
To roll in her arms at the end of the day
But the flower so proud begins now to wither
That any may pluck at the petals so gay
Alone in the night she muses a while
And thinks of the days and how they will pass
She cries for the lonely years that awaiting
Till death takes her hand and weds her at last.
Down in the barroom she moves among men
Who watch her and touch her whenever they can
And she notices hands and mouths as they drink
And over the tankards the eyes of each man
I want to vanish
This is my fondest wish
To go where I cannot be captured
Laid on a decorated dish
Even in splendor this curious fate
Is more than I care to surrender
Now it's too late
Whether in wonder or indecent haste
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste
If you should stumble upon my last remark
I'm crying in the wilderness
I'm trying my best to make it dark
How can I tell you I'm rarer than most
I'm certain as a lost dog
Pondering a sign post
Chorus
I want to vanish
This is my last request
I've given you the awful truth
As I was a-linking o'er the lea,
The finest weel that I ever did see
Looking for his charity,
"Would you lodge a lame poor man?"
For the night being wet and it being cold
She took pity on the poor old soul,
She took pity on the poor old soul
And she bade him to sit down.
Chorus (after every other verse):
With his tooren ooren an tan ay
Right an ooren fal la doo a day
Right an ooren ooren ay
With his tooren ooren aye doe
Chorus (after every other verse):
With his tooran nooran nan tan nee
Right ton nooran fol the doo-a-dee
Toraan nooran noraan nee
With his tooran nooran-i-do
He sat himself by the chimney nook
Wi' all his bags about his crook,
All his bags about his crook,
And so merrily he did sing.
Now he grew canty and she was fain,
But little did her mother ken
Just what the two of them were saying
As they sat sae thrag.
"Well, if I was black as I was white
As the snow that falls on yon fell-dyke,
Dress meself some beggar-like
And along with you I'd gang."
"Lassie, lassie, you're over young,
You hannae got the cant o' the begging tongue,
Hannae got the cant o' the begging tongue,
So along ye cannae gang."
"But I'll bend my back and beck my knee,
And I'll put a black patch on my e'e,
And for a beggar they'll take me,
So along wi' you I'll gang."
All the doors being locked quite tight,
The old woman rose in the middle of the night,
The old woman rose in the middle of the night
To find the old man gone.
Well, she ran to the cupboard, like wise to the chest,
All things there and nothing missed.
Clasped her hands, saying, "God be blessed,
I've lodged an honest old man."
She's run to the cupboard, likewise to the chest,
All things there and nothing missed.
Clapping her hands and the dear be blessed,
Wasn't he an honest old man?
The breakfast was ready and the table was laid
And the old woman went for to look for the maid:
The bed was there but the maid was gone,
She's away wi' the lame poor man.
Now seven years were passed and gone,
And this old beggar came back again
Looking for his charity,
"Will you lodge a lame poor man?"
"Well, I never lodged any but the one,
He with me only daughter's gone,
And I chose you to be the very one
AndI'll have you to be gone."
"If it's your daughter ye want to see,
She's got two bairnies on her knee,
Got two bairnies on her knee
And a third one comin' round.
"Yonder she sits, yonder she stands,
The fairest lady in all Scotland.
She has gold at her command
Farewell, Finisterre
Sleep away the afternoon
Rocking with the tide
Drinking with the moon
I found a ticket in my pocket
All the way from Port of Spain
And the warm wind
From the Indies covered me again
Santander, the sky is falling
The tale we told each other has an end
Santander, you hear me calling
You, that never lost a friend
We'd often look for gold
Treasure buried in the sand
We hid it long ago
Before our wars began
When the world was green and early
And time was on our side
Before the storm got up
To blow us far and wide
Santander, the sky is falling
The tale we told each other has an end
Santander, you hear me calling
You, that never lost a friend
Farewell, Finisterre
Sleep away the afternoon
Just rocking with the tide
Drinking with the moon
Last night I turned the glasses over
And I drank the bottle dry
The moon stared out to sea
All night and so did I
Santander, the sky is falling
The tale we told each other has an end
Santander, you hear me calling
You, that never lost a friend, never lost a friend
Farewell, Finisterre
Sleep away the afternoon
Some will call it a love song, honey
Lost in the melody, lost in the rhyme
Just another song about love gone funny
Heard it before a thousand times
But it's shameless love that sings the song
When it's all been sung and the music ends
Tears are only salty water
And it's shameless love again...
Some say love is an outlaw raven
Sun goes down and away he flies
To steal the blind man's watch and chain
And ask politely for the time
Shameless love makes a thief out of me
Catch me, chain me to the prison walls
I'll rust the chains with salty water
Shameless love will set me free
Here's my heart and all that's in it
Some say roses, and some say thorns
Some say I'm a fool to give it
Crazy as the moon in a midnight storm
It's shameless love that killed the clown
Somebody turn that spotlight down
Wash his face in salty water
Then shameless love abounds
Wish you'd been the first to love me
Take me to your Texas towered plains
We could sleep and dream of one another
Far away from the raven's wings
And its shameless love makes a dreamer out of me
Shameless love is all I feel
Tears are only salty water
It's May she comes and May she goes down by the garden
green
It's there she spied a good young squire as good as
e'er be seen
It's May she comes and May she goes down by the Holland
green
And it's there she spied a brisk young squire as brisk
as e'er be seen
"Come give to me your green mantle, give to me your
maidenhead
If you won't give me your green mantle, give me your
maidenhead"
He's ta'en her by the milk-white hand and gently laid
her down
And it's when he raised her up again giving her a
silver comb
"Perhaps there may be bends or perhaps there may be
none
But if you be a courtier pray tell to me your name"
"Oh I am no courtier" he said "but new come from the
Oh I am no courtier" he said "but when I courted thee
They call me Jack when I'm abroad, sometimes they call
me John
But when I'm in my father's bower, oh, Jock Randal is
my name"
"You lie, you lie, you bonny lad, so loud I hear you
For I am Lord Randal's only daughter, he has no more
than me"
"You lie, you lie, you bonny lass, so loud I hear you
For I am Lord Randal's very own son that new come from
the sea"
She's puttin' down by her side and out she's taken a
knife
And she's put in in her own heart's blood and taken
away her life
And he's taken his only sister with a big tear in his
And he's buried his only sister beneath the Holland
tree
It's soon he's hied him o'er the dales his father due
to see
"It's oh and woe for my bonny hind beneath the Holland
tree"
"What care you for a bonny hind, for it you need not
care
There's eight score hinds in yon green park and five
score is to spare"
"Oh score at them a silver shot and these you may get
three
But oh and woe for my bonny hind beneath the Holland
tree"
"What care you for your bonny hind, for it you need not
care
Take you the best and leave me the worst since plenty
is to spare"
"I care not for your hinds, kind sir, I care not for
your fee
But it's oh and woe for my bonny hind beneath the
Holland tree"
"Oh were you up your sister's bower, your sister fair
to see
Oh you'll think no more on your bonny hind beneath the
Lords have to the mountains gone, a-huntin' of the fallow deer
They have grippit Hughie Graeme for stealing of the bishop's mare
They have bought him hand and foot, led him up through Carlisle town
All the lads along the way cried 'Hughie Graeme, you shall hang'
'Loose my right arm free,' he said,
'Put my broadsword in my hand.
There's none in Carlisle town this day
Dare tell the tale to Hughie Graeme.'
Up and spoke the good Whitefoord as he sat by the bishop's knee,
'Five hundred white stots I'll give you if you give Hughie Graeme to me.'
'Hold your tongue, my noble lord, and as of your pleading, let it be.
Although ten Graemes were in his coat, Hughie Graeme this day shall die.'
Up and spoke the fair Whitefoord as she sat by the bishop's knee,
'Five hundred white pence I'll give you if you let Hughie Grame go free.'
'Hold your tongue, my lady fair, and as of your weeping, let it be.
Although ten Graemes were in his coat, it's for my honor he must die.'
They've ta'en him to the hanging hill and led him by the gallows tree
Ne'er did color leave his cheek, nor ever did he blink his eye
Then he's looked him roundabout, all for to see what he could see
Then he saw his father dear, weeping, weeping bitterly
'Hold your tongue, my father dear, and as of your weeping, let it be.
It sorer, sorer grieves my heart than all that they could do to me.
And you may give my brother James my sword that's made of the metal clear.
Bid him come at twelve of the clock and see me pay the bishop's mare.
And you may give my brother John my sword that's made of the metal brown.
Bid him come at four of the clock and see his brother Hugh cut down.
Remember me to Maggie my wife the next time she comes o'er the moor
Tell 'er she stole the bishop's mare
Tell 'er she was the bishop's whore
And you may tell my kith and kin I never did disgrace their blood
When next they meet the bishop's cloak,
I once loved a boy, a bonny, bonny boy
And I loved him, I will vow and protest.
I loved him so well, so very, very well,
That I built him a bower on my breast.
Well, up the long alley and down the green valley,
Like one that was troubled in mind
I hollered and I whooped and I played upon my flute,
But no bonny boy could I find.
I sat myself down on a green mossy bank
Where the sun it shone wonderful warm;
And who did I spy but my own bonny boy
Fast locked in some other girl's arms.
Well, the girl who's the joy of my own bonny boy
Let her make of him all that she can.
And whether he loves me or whether he don't,
Pharaoh he sits in his tower of steel
The dogs of money all at his heel
Magicians cry Oh Truth! Oh Real!
We're all working for the Pharaoh
A thousand eyes a thousand ears
He feeds us all he feeds our fears
Don't stir in your sleep tonight my dears
We're all working for the Pharaoh
Egypt Land Egypt Land
We're all living in Egypt land
Tell me brother don't you understand
We're all working for the Pharaoh
Hidden from the eye of chance
The men of shadow dance a dance
And we're all struck into a trance
We're all working for the Pharaoh
Idols rise into the sky
Pyramids soar Sphinxes lie
Head of dog Osiris eye
We're all working for the Pharaoh
I dig a ditch I shape a stone
Another battlement for his throne
Tell me brother do you understand
We're all working for the Pharaoh
Call it England call it Spain
Egypt rules with the whip and chain
Moses free my people again!
We're all working for the Pharaoh
And its Egypt Land! Egypt Land!
We're all living in Egypt Land
Tell me brother do'nt you understand
We're all working for the Pharaoh
Interlude
Pharaoh he sits in his tower of steel
Around his feet the princes kneel
Far below we shoulder the wheel
If they ask you where the old man's gone
You may say you saw me leaving
If they ask you did I crawl
You may say that I was riding
If they ask you was I bent with care
Or did I hang my head in sorrow
You may say that I rode tall
Looking forward to tomorrow
All you have for me is questions
Living in the past they say
Why should I have all the answers
Let me make my way
If they ask you did I travel light
With no provisions close besides me
Say my saddlebags were filled
With all the dreams I need to guide me
If they laugh and say he's lost his mind,
Did they aver stop to wonder
Just what the fool would hope to find
On the road that leads to yonder
If they ask you where the old man's gone
In 1952 in Croydon town
The streets still scarred from the war
November that year food was scarcely off the ration
Two boys went out to rob a store
Two young boys went out to rob a store
Christopher Craig he was just sixteen
Derek Bentley he was nineteen
Craig had a Colt .45 in his pocket
Made him feel more like a man
Up on the roof of Barlow and Parker
Somebody saw them there
In a matter of minutes the police had arrived
When they heard the bell you bet them boys were scared
Craig he shouted, "I've got a gun!"
And he thought about the movies that he'd seen
And at Fell Road station the rifles out were signed
And police were soon back at the scene
Some of the police had got up onto the roof
Derek Bentley knew he never could escape
So he gave himself up and was put under arrest
And he begged his young friend Chris to do the same,
so people say
"Give me the gun," the sergeant said
"Let him have it, Chris," poor Bentley cried
And a shot rang out, tore the night in two
On that dirty roof a brave policeman died
Guilty of this murder both these boys were found
Craig was too young, not yet a man
Though he was under arrest when the fatal shot was
fired
Derek Bentley was judged old enough to hang
Derek, he was judged to be a man
Wandsworth jail, January twenty third
They took that poor boy's life
Some people shouted, some people prayed
Some people hung their heads and cried
And the mother, she just hung her head and cried
All of you who sanctioned that boy's death
There's one thing left you could do
You could pardon Derek Bentley who never took a life
For Derek Bentley, he can never pardon you
I never thought that my love would leave me
Until that morning when he came in
He sat down and I sat beside him
'Twas then our troubles they did begin
Oh love is pleasing and love is teasing
And love is a pleasure when first it's new
But love grows older and grows quite colder
And fades away like the morning dew
There is a tavern in yon town
And there my love goes and he sits down
He takes a dark girl on his knee
And tells her what he once told me
There is a blackbird sits on yon tree
Some say he's blind and cannot see
Some say he's blind and cannot see
And so is my false love to me
I wish my father had never whistled
I wish my mother had never sung
I wish the cradle had never rocked me
