1. |
Because You're Young
03:33
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Burn in the hearth your scarf, your scarf
Your mother's work is done!
And all her fond, long-suffered fears, my dears
Were bound to come undone.
You are loved because you're young
You are loved because you're young
The howling wolf of youth, your youth
Will one day be a half-eyed pup
That sleeps inside a silent shoe
With a broken bud under its tongue.
You are loved because you're young
You are loved because you're young
For now all war is fair. is fair
And you are right to fly in the face of all advice.
Come break your fleets against our feet;
The blood on your teeth is so sweet.
You are loved because you're young
You are loved because you're young
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2. |
Free Grace
05:49
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Oh once I had a little bird
And I let her fly,
She's the prettiest thing in the whole damn sky.
And off she flew to my love so true
But she flew right by;
The prettiest thing in the whole damn sky.
Free grace and dying love
You can tear your thumb on the sharpest thorn,
But the heart in me is full enough
And it will not learn.
Oh if I had a faithful heart
It might get broke,
But I can slip any lover's yoke.
And I've been down to the drowning sea
But I'm still dry,
With a desert sun burning in my eye.
Chorus
Oh once I had a rag-doll
'Til I lost hold,
Oh and I would not be consoled!
Now all those tales where love prevails
Have gotten old,
And you can't go back that's what I been told.
Chorus
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3. |
Honey
05:30
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When I drank the honey, I drank the bee,
When I drank the honey, I drank the bee,
'Cos I let a good man lie,
He laid with her and he laid with me.
I drank the honey to the very last drop,
I drank the honey to the very last drop,
I was thirsty for love, my love,
Oh and I didn't stop.
And when it was over I drank the river dry,
And when it was over I drank the river dry,
'Cos you take your love, my love
So much harder than I.
When the river was dried up I went down to the sea,
When the river was dried up I went down to the sea,
And I saw you drowning, drowning
But I pretended not to see.
Some have got nothing
And some have too much
But all must keep up with the Marching.
And some will be upright
And some will be arch
And some can't feel for touching.
When I drank the honey, I drank the bee,
When I drank the honey, I drank the bee,
I let a good man lie,
He laid with her and he laid with me.
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4. |
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Hunter wrote a poem
concerning a frozen sparrow
and the sound it made
when it hit the ground;
which sounded like...
Hunter's poem fell in the forest
where there's no one around to hear it
and my reading made no sound;
but it sounded like
it sounded like...
Hunter writes no poems.
He's a teacher now,
towering in the playground
where the noise of people growing
bounces high off of the tarmac.
If I wrote a poem, Hunter,
it would be about a man who shoots a stag,
and he would break like a storm
when he came close to its still warm body.
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5. |
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I gave my love a talking dog
Sing ovy, sing ivy,
And how she did laugh,
It's my favourite photograph.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
We took him to St. James' Park.
Sing ivy, sing ivy,
He stayed at her heel,
And whistled like a lark.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
He took a shine to my favourite chair.
Sing ivy, sing ivy,
They were talking for hours;
I went to sit elsewhere.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
She said:
"There isn't much room in the bed,
Sing ivy, sing ivy,
But I've made up the couch,
You could sleep there instead."
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
Next day when I went out for lunch,
Sing ivy, sing ivy,
She packed up my things
And left them on the porch.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
...And when I had gone,
feeling rather smug and thinking himself rather droll,
that dog jumped up on the bed and rolled over,
playing out a new trick in his head.
And when she came in the room,
it was all:
"Look at me I'm dead, I'm dead!"
And "Do you miss me yet?" he said
And "Do you miss me yet?" he said
She broke his skull with her tiny fist,
Sing ivy, sing ivy
And she bundled him off
To the taxidermist.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
He came to me with this morning's mail.
Sing ivy, sing ivy
He smelled like a rose
With a card wrapped round his tail.
[which read:]
I love you, please come back and stay.
I wish you'd never gone away.
It seems your dog has had his day.
A bunch of green holly and ivy.
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6. |
Pygmalion
04:20
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By the sun,
And by the moon,
And by my last milk tooth,
I have cut my shoe-strings
On the simple truth.
But for your wheat,
And for your chaff,
And for your friends to point at and laugh,
I have run bare-footed
Right up this garden path.
When will you meet me?
When will you meet me my love, my love?
When will you wake me?
When will you wake me my love, my love?
You give me the floor
But I'll go home to bed
Where I keep every needful word unsaid;
A glass-eyed doll will pull your clothes off
As she stares at the side of your head.
"When will you wake me?
When will you wake me my love, my love?
When will you meet me?
When will you meet me my love, my love,
My love?"
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7. |
Meanwhile...
01:41
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Rhubarb (variously)
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8. |
The Bell They Gave You
05:00
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While you wait in the wings,
An eye comes out from under each feather.
You can't hide forever
No, you can't hide forever.
The eel cries out before it is skinned:
A strange scream in the high night,
A strange scream in the high night,
And everything begins.
Sweet, sweet horror!
The buttons came away in your hand...
And all our books must now be burned,
For there is no more to understand.
The bell they gave you is ringing
The bell they gave you is ringing
Hear her pounding on your drum!
The great grey midwife is singing:
"I know you're there now, out you come.
Yes I know you're there now, out you come."
The bell they gave you is ringing
The bell they gave you is ringing
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9. |
Island
04:06
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There's no way off the island
But we will make a road
And we'll stand on the shoulder of the mountain
We'll make Gods from potatoes
And hats for our houses;
The boughs of the fruit trees,
The arms of our spouses.
There's no way off the island
But we will make a road
We'll be flayed by the sunshine
And ripped by the winds,
Grow faces like deserts
And forests on our chins.
There's no way off the island
But we will make a road
And we'll stand on the shoulder of the mountain
And with one tooth between us
And eyes all ablaze,
We'll roll down the valley
Like beads into our graves.
We'll chase the racing shadows
Of the sea-beast clouds
As they swim across the meadow
With our water.
There's no way off the island
But we will make a road
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10. |
Exeunt
06:32
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Here is your baby,
Blunt as a spoon.
Sit him on your shoulder
And he'll be bigger than you.
Who be you, who will be you?
[Hidden track follows]...
Florence Foster Jenkins
In that gold silk gown,
Whose pattern raised the eyebrows
Of the tailor men uptown;
The world is wearing nylon and
A beatific frown;
Florence Foster Jenkins,
Will you come back down?
Florence Foster Jenkins
In that green room in the sky,
This world is full of stiffs
Who need to laugh until they cry,
And everyone's a critic
'Cos they're all afraid to try;
Florence Foster Jenkins,
Let your glad rag fly!
Florence Foster Jenkins,
Florence Foster Jenkins,
Ms Florence Foster Jenkins,
Hold your head up high.
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