FAIR FREEDOM LYRICS
THE RIVERS OF THE ISLE
I’m singing for the Tweed, and the Nene and the Dee,
And the Thames and the Medway and the Wye,
For the Ribble and the Wytham, and the Mersey and the Severn
And the Tees, and the Tyne and the Clyde.
From the Yarrow and the Kent, and the Avon and the Trent,
And the Esk, and the Swale and the Spey,
For the Great River Ouse, and the Colne and the Lune
And the Eden and the Dovey and the Tay.
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, sing for the rivers of the isle,
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, the rivers where we live for awhile,
By the rivers where we live for awhile.
I’m singing for the Chelmer, and the Derwent and the Dart
And the Churn and the Stour and the Lea,
For the Tamar and the Parrat, and the Wensum and the Arran
And the Ouse and the Frome and the Towey.
For the Amber and the Ex, and the Teifi and the Axe,
And the Cuckmere and the Usk and the Soar,
Blackwater and the Don, and the Calder and the Allan,
The Cocker, and the Lynn and the Ure.
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, sing for the rivers of the isle,
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, the rivers where we live for awhile,
By the rivers where we live for awhile.
I’m singing for the Yeo, and the Neath and the Lugg,
And the Waver, and the Belah and the Ness,
For the Plym and the Yar, and the Brit and the Par
And the Camal and the Ellen and the Test.
I’m singing for the Wharfe, and the Caldew and the Sark,
And the Sherrycombe, the Humber and the Brue,
For the Ryburn and the Rother and the Darwen and the Otter
And the Welland, the Medina and the Looe.
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, sing for the rivers of the isle,
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, the rivers where we live for awhile,
By the rivers where we live for awhile.
I’m singing for the Lossie, and the Clwyd and the Taff
And the Duddon and the Leven and the Weir,
For the Conway and the Forth, the Orwell and the Worth,
And the Torridge, and the Hipper and the Aire.
Well, I know there’s many more, from the Tromie to the Tor,
Like the Cam, and the Deben and the Cree.
Like the Ivel and the Dore, well, I’m singing for them all
Flowing down through the land to the sea.
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, sing for the rivers of the isle,
Come sing, let’s sing for the rivers, the rivers where we live for awhile,
By the rivers where we live for awhile.
The rivers outlive us we come and we go,
The rivers outlive us, the rivers just flow
The rivers outlive us we come and we go,
The rivers outlive us, the rivers just flow.
YOU’RE THE ONE I CARE ABOUT THE MOST
I thought it’s time I told you from this heart of mine,
I’ve even put a letter in the post,
That I’m always here for you come rain or shine
‘cause you’re the one I care about the most.
I thought it’s time I told you, you fill me full of pride
When I talk of you I often boast,
When all I need to know is that you’re happy inside,
‘Cause you’re the one I care about the most.
I don’t believe in grudges, they only bring you stress
With you I’m never giving up the ghost.
I’m cheering you along to what you call success
You’re the one I care about the most.
I don’t care where you’re educated, I don’t care at all,
Let’s relax and eat some toast!
Your certificate of excellence is already on my wall,
You’re the one I care about the most.
You can phone me anytime, you’ve always got my ear,
Even if I’m cooking Sunday roast
I’ll burn it and I’ll serve it without shedding a tear,
You’re the one I care about the most.
And I don’t care what bus you catch, or if you drive a car,
Go safely down the mountain to the coast,
On this endless road of wonder, just be the way you are,
You’re the one I care about the most.
Sometimes you’ll need some shelter from the storm of life,
If you ever need a home, I’ll be your host.
You can talk to me of anything that brings you strife
‘Cause you’re the one I care about the most.
I don’t believe in grudges, they only bring you stress
With you I’m never giving up the ghost.
I’m cheering you along to what you call success
You’re the one I care about the most.
I thought it’s time I told you from the this heart of mine,
I’ve even put a letter in the post,
That I’m always here for you come rain or shine
‘cause you’re the one I care about the most,
you’re the one I care about, you’re the one I care about,
You’re the one I care about the most!
THE GENUINE YOU
Don’t let this modern life break your heart
You’ve been perfect here from the start,
Away from the likes, the dislikes, the pressure and fear.
This world’s got bullies who can be so cruel,
Technology can take us all for fools,
When what we really long for is already here.
All you need is the genuine you,
The real life version so proud and true,
The one who at the end of the day will get you through.
All you need is the genuine you,
The one you really are is the one who’ll do,
And the best will fall in love with the genuine you
No need for pictures or a glamour profile,
Step offline, go dark for awhile,
Leave behind the online monsters that made you feel bad.
All that wrong spelling and trolling abuse,
It’s enough to give anybody the blues,
But answering them back will only make you more sad
All you need is the genuine you,
The real life version so proud and true,
The one who at the end of the day will get you through.
All you need is the genuine you,
The one you really are is the one who’ll do,
And the best will fall in love with the genuine you
Let your silence speak, let your eyes tell tales,
The age old communication never fails,
Spend time with your friends away from the speed of the screen.
We’re all here in this incredible space,
The greatest chatroom is a beautiful place,
Get out in the open, the genuine you will be seen.
All you need is the genuine you,
The real life version so proud and true,
The one who at the end of the day will get you through.
All you need is the genuine you,
The one you really are is the one who’ll do,
And the best will fall in love with the genuine you.
SHARING THE LAND
Oh I had a dream, oh a dream in the night
For a land far away in Jerusalem’s light.
It showed us the way to end all of the rage
So I scribbled the peace plan down on the page.
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
It shall be a new Country for all who there dwell,
And the name of this land shall be Israel,
And from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean
There’ll be full equal rights for the Palestinian.
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
Alas in this land there’s no right to return
But proclamations of guilt by the state shall be heard,
Israel shall build houses where refugees are
And pay reparations for the Naqba
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
The Settlers shall give back the occupied land
That’s beyond 67’s line drawn in the sand,
Unless it’s a greed in this Israel new,
They are shared neighbourhoods of both Arab and Jew.
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
There shall be no place for the terrorist hand,
With one defence force for all of the land,
And the days of the violence shall be past and gone,
In Jerusalem’s nation for everyone.
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
It shall always remain and forever in time
The home of the Jews under David’s sign,
And from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean
It shall always be the homeland of the Palestinian.
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom
Peace shall come, sharing the land,
Peace shall come,
Salem, Shalom.
BIRDSONG AND GREEN
My favourite Company is called Birdsong and Green
I’m impressed by the service every time I’ve been
With endless sacred products that are always on the shelf,
They do a special offer called life itself.
Come and do your shopping at Birdsong and Green!
Everything is priceless at Birdsong and Green!
No AI required at Birdsong and Green!
They’re open every hour are Birdsong and Green!
I’ve been going there forever and I will until I’m dead,
You see the balance sheet is excellent and never in the red,
With the best of all investment and an endless dividend,
There’s instant free delivery, they’re the ones I’d recommend.
Come and do your shopping at Birdsong and Green!
No I.D required at Birdsong and Green!
Everything is priceless at Birdsong and Green!
They’re open every hour are Birdsong and Green!
They’re the original multi-national, they’re a global brand
They’ve been here from the beginning with a helping hand.
Indifferent to the world and the opinion of the crowd,
They just carry on as if nobody’s about
It’s for everyone and anyone, take a walk down the lane,
Besides the trees and bushes, passed the field and the plain,
There’s a peacefulness and hope that nobody can describe
No conditions apply, you just have to be alive
Come and do your shopping at Birdsong and Green!
Everything is priceless at Birdsong and Green!
No Collecting data at Birdsong and Green!
They’re open every hour are Birdsong and Green!
THE LIVES WE LEAD
Oh what little lives we lead
Spinning round at such great speed,
Through the universe and time,
Bright Phoebes for us you shine,
Without you we don’t proceed,
Oh what little lives we lead.
Great names carved on stones of grey
Ego’s bounty stole away.
How the centuries they creep,
Narcissus! this waters deep!
Human timelines plagued with greed
Oh what little lives we lead.
Dreams of grandeur, battles fought,
Shining lights that burn to nought
Mighty ships that break and twist,
All at sea in Neptune’s mist
Through it all we’ve simple need
Oh what little lives we lead.
Travellers see and travellers hear
In the forests of countless years,
Unknown journeys, frightened eyes,
Wait for Thor’s exploding skies,
While muttering our ancient creed,
Oh what little lives we lead.
Crops of plenty, words sublime
To please the King and drink the wine,
The chosen in the garden walk,
While Mercury just talks and talks.
Still so many we can feed,
How what little lives we lead.
Oh what mighty lives we lead!
Through wind and rain we ride the steed,
With consciousness to ring love’s bell,
Change the world and break the spell.
With these impressions we succeed!
Oh what mighty lives we lead!
Oh what mighty lives we lead!
Oh what mighty lives we lead!
NEWTONS PARAKEET
Oh tell all upon the street about Newton’s Parakeet
That no matter who we think we are we could join her in her fall
And not be in the future at all.
Nothing here would know, all would carry on and grow,
With us no longer on the wheel,
There’d be nothing we could steal,
And the weeds would fill the street,
When we fell in our defeat,
Non existent, not a tweet!
Like Newton’s Parakeet.
You may think there’s no fuss about the black Rhinoceros
That creature proud and strong, charging with her horn,
Now gone like the dinosaur before.
‘cause a poacher with his gun, went a-prowling in the sun,
Near a fossil that looked like a wheel
He’d still see so much left to steal
But he though it was no fuss
As her body hit the dust
A wondrous thing like us
Was the black Rhinoceros.
Caught in our own spell we stalked the Saudi Gazelle
Invincible and proud we gave ourselves a sovereign name,
Human power we’d proclaim.
The fastest in the race,
We saw the one God in our face
And that really got us stuck on the wheel,
Chiselled lions so the rest would kneel,
With victory tales to tell
Crooked legs of the weakest fell,
Caught in our own spell,
We stalked the Saudi Gazelle.
It was not that long ago we killed all the Buffalo
On the never ending land, oh the beasts fell in the grass,
Now we know they weren’t the last!
For the Orangutan make ask, or the Tiger on her path,
Why on earth would you take us off the wheel,
I think it’s time you made a deal,
With all life in it’s flow,
You need us don’t you know,
Go back long ago
Before you shot the Buffalo.
And the weeds would fill the street,
When we fell in our defeat,
Non-existent, not a tweet!
Like Newton’s Parakeet.
DIE FOR LOVE
Who would I be if the worst came true?
Would I do the work they tell me to?
Would I not speak up for gay or Jew?
Or would I die for love?
What would I be if the dark day came?
Would I carry on much the same?
Would I dare not disrupt the game?
Or would I die for love?
Would I fight ‘til the cruel days done?
Would I scream out ‘til the hurt was gone?
Stand up for right against wrong
And die for love?
Who would I be if the evil thrived?
If they came for those who were not mine?
Take the easy road to stay alive
Or would I die for love?
Who would I be if the throng was loud?
The pressures on to join the crowd?
Think it best not make a sound
Or would I die for love?
Would I speak out no matter what?
Take all the risks and pay the cost?
Maybe rounded up and then be shot
And die for love?
Who would I be in all honesty?
If they threatened my family?
‘Just do your work and you’ll be free’
Or would I die for love
Who would I be if the worst came true?
Would I do the work they told me to?
Would I not speak up for you?
Or would I die for love?
THE GHOST OF A SAILOR
I’m the ghost of a sailor from a far off time,
If you’ve got paranormal powers you’ll be able to see me sitting in this alehouse,
I’ve been here for years, some people talk to me after a few beers.
Now the definition of the paranormal is that which is beyond
the scope of scientific understanding, but the thing is, I know lots of people like that!
I’ve been sitting here drinking me beer, smoking me pipe, watching the life,
Watching the people come and go, watching the fashions change and seasons wane and grow.
Keeping an eye on that old time piece that chimes its way through human history.
I see you coming, see you going with your revelry, your reverence, your revolution, your
reverberation while you’re eating your Revels. And I can watch you go through all these fears, see all your hope and your dreams and your romance.
Adieu sweet lovely Nancy, a thousand times adieu,
I am bound to cross the ocean, to seek for something new.
Come change your ring with me my love, come change your ring with me
It’ll be a token of our true love when I am far at sea.
I’ve been here in the corner, like a timeless Jack Horner,
Some people just know I’m here..I often whisper in their ear
Some people can spell the odour of a bygone time, like the tobacco in my pipe,
And they don’t understand, especially since the smoking ban!
There was a shipwreck you see, in 1593, we’d been carrying slaves,
Yes, I’m ashamed to say slaves, all chained up below deck..
It’s what made Britannica wealthy..still no reparations yet.
We were returning from the new world to here, when the wind blew high, as high as the sky
breaking the timbers on the rocks, shattering us all, every man and boy,
my last ship ahoy. As my spirit rose above this shore I found this alehouse and more..
These days what I like is the open mic every Wednesday night.
No more auction block for me, no more, no more.
No more auction block for me no more no more.
I’ve seen roundheads, cavaliers, preachers, teachers, beggars, drifters, highwayman, businessmen, tinkers and tailors, soldiers and sailors, software designers, judges wives, Muggletonians,
Eric Morcambe, Uncle Tom Cobley, Bankers, Common thieves, poets sublime, singing songs of happiness or drowning their sorrows in jugs and tankers, gentlemen and thugs, ladies of high society, people starving without a penny. Dogs cats, mice, rats, horses, boars, all kinds of libertines in powered wigs coming through the doors, cockerels, hens, hidden rebels and smugglers dens and lover’s tears, a hundred landlords and landladies over the years serving history quarts of beer.
All for me grog, me jolly jolly grog
All for me beer and tobacco.
I spent all my tin with that lassie drinking gin,
Now across the western ocean I must wander
I remember them all coming in after Trafalgar,
All the girls in the village were swinging in their dresses, dancing on the tables, singing songs of the whale and England’s glory and making up jokes about the French...because people were quite narrow minded and racist back then.
I remember a particular buxom wench she told me she loved me,
It was right over there, where we do the Karoke, where I start the conga or we do the Hokey Cokey,
Or where we sit down and watch our favourite team underneath the sports screen.
Come on Leicester City!..I know, Leicester’s not by the sea...but it soon might be!
Anyway, she was rowdy and unseemly, I don’t know what she’d be drinking but she saw me, so I said Kiss me hardily Kiss me..and she didn’t get the joke either.
She looked at me with that beautiful smile, then she started to cry as she looked through the hole in the roof and up to the sky
and said ‘War’ I said ‘What’s it good for?’
She said ‘Absolutely nothing’
I said ‘You can say that again.
She said ‘War! Was it good for? Absolutely nothing!’
My Bonnie lies over the ocean, My Bonnie lies over the sea,
My Bonnie lies over the ocean, oh bring back my bonnie to me’
So here’s a big hug from a ghost to the living
May you keep on loving, and believing and giving
and never give up on this crazy world.
There’s something about us we can’t explain, that carries on
through all the chaos, the change and the pain,
Whether lowly in spirit or up by the steeple,
I’ve seen so much goodness in so many people,
What I’ve learned is that if you keep an open mind things get better,
If you keep your heart soft, we endure the weather.
So keep rolling across that stormy brine
to that glorious home that’s yours and mine,
So lets raise up a glass for all humankind,
with your ghost of a sailor from a far off time.
Sing John Ball, and tell it to them all,
Long live the day that is dawning,
I will crow like a cock, I will carol like a lark
For the light that is coming in the morning.
FOREVERMORE
Lets find a place beyond the hill, built by love and made of will,
Though through the mist we wander still on the road to Forevermore.
It winds along the lanes the lanes of day, on the old changing way,
I’ll walk with you if you turn and say, let’s take the road to Forevermore.
Our love is strong, you’re so dear to me, we’ll share the hopes of what could be,
May I have your company on the road to Forevermore
I’ll hold you close through time and age, to navigate the storms of rage,
Descending by heartbroken cave, that’s on the road to Forevermore
Our love is strong, so dear to me, we’ll share the hopes of what could be,
May I have your company on the road to Forevermore
There’ll be days we won’t know how, to climb the hill or reach the brow
But if we stay in the now, we’ll reach Forevermore.
The length of path remains unknown as we reach each milestone,
Hand in hand, not alone, on the road to Forevermore
Our love is strong, and you’re dear to me, we’ll share the hopes of what could be,
May I have your company on the road to Forevermore
Our love is strong, so dear to me, we’ll share the hopes of what could be,
May I have your company on the road to Forevermore
Lets find a place beyond the hill, built by love and made of will,
Though through the mist we wandered still on the road to Forevermore.