1. |
Roanoke
05:10
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Jewel of the sea the isle of Roanoke
Cool and green the isle of Roanoke
Cursed be the day that I left Roanoke
When I returned you took my dearest heart from me
We landed in fair weather a new life for to start
One hundred men and women and hope was in our hearts
A land rich for the taking, a land to colonise
We'd plough, we'd build, we'd conquer
No thoughts of compromise
But fortune does not always favour the brave
Our intentions were bold but our path was not clear
The land was unyielding our hands they were empty
We faced the ruin of all we held dear
Someone must sail for England, England would hear our plea
So I left my loving daughter and went once more to sea
Sore was my heart at leaving my family, how long must it be 'fore I'd see them once more
What would I have done different if I'd known for one moment it would be so long 'fore I'd next see that shore
When I returned three long years late delayed by Spanish wars
The isle was barren, the people gone, the houses all forlorn
No earthly remnant did I find, save strange words carved on a tree
What became of them I'll never know and what will become of me?
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2. |
River
05:38
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You sprang among rushes and sweet mountainsides
Hurry down hurry down now is your time
Lights on the water they flicker and dance
Oh as you mirror the stars
Oh carry me over white water and into the sea
Oh follow the river and answer the call to be free
Smooth on the surface deep currents below
Will pull you down drag you down if caught up in their tow
But the current it changes and time it moves on
Oh you know where you belong
The time it draws closer I smell the salt tang
Holding on holding on you're slipping through my hands
Go where you will you're no longer confined
Watch the shoreline recede as you leave me behind
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3. |
Nell's Garden
04:50
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I took a train to another town, a leafy side street full of sound surrounds your little piece of ground
Someone had grown flowers given it a name but it could never be the same
Your garden full of fire and flame
All we could do was watch you running free and wild, an Eve of life and laughter the eternal child
Knowing that you came to live a life so rare will not shape meaning from the air or make it easier to near
With the conscience of a Judas, the demeanour of a saint
You went through life unburdened by dark fears of complaint
Or so it seemed to us who only watch and wait
He said trying not to love you was trying not to breathe
He knew that you were lying you said you'd never leave
But I think you know and I think you see and I think you would be proud
Of the paths that I have chosen of the person I've become
And if you are there and if you recall then there's something here for you
I remember
Things always are and not how they seem
Weep for the end yet still begin recalling all that might have been
And when the sun went down it smudged the sky
I think of you and I still cry
A thousand ways to say goodbye
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4. |
The Valley of Strathmore
06:16
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5. |
The Pilgrim Soul
04:15
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Cruel is the morning light
New day dawns banishing the dark
Blue were my true love's eyes well did they pierce my heart
Pretty words and gentle smile and a fair face to beguile
Helpless as a newborn babe I fell under his charm
But it was not meant to be, mistress fate how she was unkind
Invisible as tears in rain to my faith he was blind
Looking through me he paid no heed, my devotion he did not see
When he turned from me he took the sun leaving naught but night behind
Now I walk a lonely path tread the line between dark and day
A shadow of the girl that was no more colour just shades of grey
I'm a whisper, a candle flare, I'm as formless as the air
Damned by his indifference I must follow and fade away
Cruel is the morning light new day dawns banishing the dark
Blue were my true love's eyes swore that ne'er we would part
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6. |
On Cold Ground
05:32
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Road moving underneath my feet and the water, water rushing up to meet
I'm far, far from my home upon the hillside
My heart upon the red earth rests there still
Here upon cold ground I lay my head and here, here truly angels fear to tread
Here the cannons roar, many good men rise and then fall
As the watchfires burn I will think of you, think of you, of the familiar green of home
No rest for those who serve a rebel cause, no peace for those who wage a madman's war
No hope that we will ever end this fighting
So long no one remembers who's wrong or right
No more of lying in the cold wet rain of marching out to kill again
When the days are long and the corn is strong I'll be gone
As the watchfires burn I will come to you, come to you see the beloved green of home
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7. |
When I Was on Horseback
04:15
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8. |
Misery Point
07:23
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At Misery Point there lived a man, a simple man a child
Alone by the ocean long he dwelt, a lonely place and wild
His family he lost them to the sea he did not understand
When only an empty boat returned, the sea had shown its hand.
The people they feared this simple man, their doors they kept shut tight
Rumours of murder, deeds most foul, they cared not wrong or right
But one young girl she paid no heed and often went to the shore
Gathering seashells smooth and white and knocking upon his door
Friends they became, this simple man she knew meant her no harm.
So long alone her gentle words as potent as a charm
Talking and laughing they would walk and she would sing him songs
Such peace of mind he’d never known she surely could do no wrong
But one fateful day she tried to bring him down the waterside
She knew not the dread he’d harboured long of the sea and the ocean wild
Spurring him on she took his hands - he recoiled and he swore
Drove him too far pushed her away she fell and she breathed no more
With tears on his face he bore her home his sorrow like a knife
'What evil is this?' the people cried 'For this you’ll pay your life'
Take him seize him down by the waterside
Bind him hold him down by the sea
Drag him chain him down by the waterside
Drown him give him to the sea
So here ends the tale of a simple man a simple man a child
Gone with his kin beneath the sea, may they be reconciled
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9. |
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10. |
King of Prussia
02:49
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If you have the time then I have the will
To tell you this story men speak of still
Concerning John Carter the Prussian King
Owner and host of the old Prussian Inn
Now John was in free trade ‘tween Penzance and France
He led the excise a merry royal dance
Took orders from no one excepting with gold
To run in fine brandy likewise goods untold
Then one night by treachery his luck ran dry
The customs were waiting in rocks close by
His boat load was taken and much blood was spilled
The bondhouse was soon to the roof timbers filled
But not one to flinch from impossible task
John Carter for volunteers then did he ask
To go to the town the very next night
And reclaim his own goods afore morning light
Shadows had deepened and night things did crawl
From the gloom of the building there came a soft call
Soldiers outnumbered and no quarter asked
It’s away o’er the moors with barrel and cask
It’s been many years John Carter long dead
But the four winds still speak of the life that he led
And the sea adds its chorus to the words that we sing
Let’s raise now our glasses to the Prussian King
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11. |
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Maddie Southorn UK
Maddie Southorn is a UK singer/songwriter & pianist.
She has released 4 albums to date, all
of which have gained plaudits and airplay in both the UK and the US and invited comparisons to Suzanne Vega and Kate Bush.
She has toured nationally and shared the stage with many highly respected artists, including Kirsty McGee, Seth Lakeman and Eddi Reader.
"A voice that could melt glass" Decode
... more
Maddie Southorn recommends:
Beautiful, beautiful music - so original and evocative. You MUST listen to Chloe March.
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Stunningly beautiful songs wrought with pedal steel and nylon-string guitar that cast mesmerizing melodic shapes.
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