MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me,
I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped,
My hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step,
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade,
Cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though you might hear laughin', spinnin', swingin' madly across the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone,
It's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'.
And if you hear vague traces
Of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time,
It's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind,
It's just a shadow you're seein' that he's chasing.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time,
Far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees,
Out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky
With one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea,
Circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate
Driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Bob Dylan
[One night in 1964, the Rose and Crown in Stalybridge was
offered the opportunity to book the then unknown Bob Dylan.
Unfortunately they had booked Paul Simon a fortnight previously,
which had completely emptied their coffers, and they couldn't
afford the fee (Barbara Dickson apparently did the night for
free instead). The aforementioned Bob Dylan ended up doing
a gig that night at the Parrs Wood Hotel. Reputedly he had
two pints of Boddingtons and fell off his stool. Many people
still remember the night. Boddingtons was Boddingtons in those
days.]
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NINIAN SOUTH
Ninian South;
We took the wasteland sea you gave us.
From your cold mouth,
We took the oil they said would save us.
Cold as Hell,
Was Your North Sea swell,
But we built a fine platform to bleed you dry right well.
The bright city lights,
And the joy they're bringing.
The cold winter nights,
When the wind was singing!
Tell us no tales
Of your fame or glory.
We were there for the wages.
We know the story.
Oh black gold,
You'll run dry and I don't blame you.
Your life's been sold.
There are licences to claim you.
Not for the sake
Of the poor or needy.
But all for some rich men, and still they're greedy.
Above the waves
Of the Ninian sector,
The flare boom burns
Like a beacon in all the weather.
A few years light
For the Northern night,
Then it's fare thee well Ninian, fare well forever.
Tony Hill
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ALBERT BERRY
To the coal walked Albert Berry, drill of iron in his hand
Off to fight another battle for the people of this land
Said the coal to Albert Berry, For forty years you've been a man
You took away the best part of me - today I'll kill you if I can
Albert took his drill of iron, and he drilled himself a hole
For forty years you've tried to kill me, said Albert Berry to the coal
Then said the coal to Albert Berry, I have scarred your back with blue
And your lungs are black and tattered - today I'll make an end of you
Albert took his shot and wire, pushed them deep into the hole
Now do your worst, you black old devil, said Albert Berry to the coal
Then said the coal to Albert Berry as he pushed the plunger deep
I will make your wife a widow, I will make your children weep
A cloud of dust rolled down the tunnel but Albert crouched into the hole
Ah, so you didn't get me this time, said Albert Berry to the coal
And Albert stepped into the tunnel but he never heard the sound
As a ton of dirt and rubble crushed Albert Berry to the ground
Then said the coal to Albert Berry as his blood seeped in the floor
Men have always won the battle but I always win the war
Then said the ghost of Albert Berry out of every bag of coal
There will be other Albert Berrys, said Albert Berry to the coal
Said Albert Berry to the coal
Ted Edwards
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MY YOUNGEST SON CAME HOME TODAY
My youngest son came home today
His friends marched with him all the way
The fife and drum beat out the time
While in his box of polished pine
Like dead meat on a butchers tray
My youngest son came home today
My youngest son was a fine young man
With a wife, a daughter and two sons
And a man he would have lived and died
Till by a bullet sanctified
Now he's a saint or so they say
They brought their young saint home today
An Irish sky looks down and weeps
Upon the narrow Belfast streets
At childrens blood in gutters spilled
In dreams of glory unfulfilled
As part of freedoms price to pay
My youngest son came home today
My youngest son came home today
His friends marched with him all the way
The pipe and drum beat out the time
While in his box of polished pine
Like dead meat on a butchers tray
My youngest son came home today
And this time he's here to stay
Eric Bogle
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AL BOWLLY'S IN HEAVEN
We were heroes then, and the girls were all pretty
And a uniform was a lucky charm
Bought you the key to the city
We used to dance the whole night through
While Al Bowlly sang, 'The Very Thought of You'
Al Bowlly's in Heaven, and I'm in limbo now
I gave my youth to King and country
But what's my country done for me
But sentenced me to misery
I traded my helmet and my parachute
For a pair of crutches and a de-mob suit
Al Bowlly's in Heaven, and I'm in limbo now
Hard Times, hard hard times
Hostels and missions and dosser's soup lines
Can't close me eyes on a bench or a bed
For the sound of some battle raging in my head
Old friends, You lose so many
You get run around all over town
The wear and the tear of it just drag you down
St. Mungo's with its dirty old sheets
Beats standing all day down on Scarborough Street
Al Bowlly's in Heaven, and I'm in limbo now
Can't stay here, got to foot slog
Once in a blue moon, you might find a job
Sleep in the rain, sleep in the snow
When the beds are all taken, you've got nowehere to go
I can see me now, back there on the dance-floor
With a blonde on me arm, red head to spare
Spit on me shoes and shine in me hair
And there's Al Bowlly, up on the stand
That was a voice, and that was a band
Al Bowlly's in Heaven, and I'm in limbo now
Richard Thompson
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SLIABH GALLION BRAES
As I went a-walking one morning in May.
To view yon fair valleys and mountains so gay.
I was thinking on those flowers all doomed to decay
That bloom around ye bonny bonny Sliabh Gallion Brae.
How oft in the morning with my dog and my gun
I roam through the glens for joy and for fun
But those days are now all over and I must go away
So farewell unto ye, bonny, bonny, Sliabh Gallion Braes.
How oft of an evening and the sun in the West
I roved hand in hand with the one I loved best
But the hopes of youth are vanished and now I'm far away
So farewell unto ye, bonny, bonny, Sliabh Gallion Braes.
Oh! it was not the want of employment at home
That caused us poor exiles in sorrow to roam
But those tyrannising landlords, they would not let us stay
So farewell unto ye, bonny, bonny, Sliabh Gallion Braes.
Traditional
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THE PARTING GLASS
Of all the money 'er I had, I spent it in good company.
And all the harm I've ever done, alas it was to none but me.
And all I've done for want of wit, to mem'ry now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all.
Oh all the comrades e'er I had, they're sorry for my going away,
And all the sweethearts e'er I had, they'd wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot, that I should rise and you should not,
I gently rise and softly call, Goodnight and joy be with you all.
If I had money enough to spend, and leisure time to sit awhile,
There is a fair maid in this town, that sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips, I own she has my heart in thrall,
Then fill to me the parting glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all.
Tom Carthy
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DOWNBOUND TRAIN
I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train
She just said "Joe I gotta go
We had it once we ain't got it any more"
She packed her bags left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train
Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying, you were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran till I thought my chest would explode
There in the clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door
My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried
Now I swing a sledge hammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train
Bruce Springsteen
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CRAZY
I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that phase.
Even your emotions had an echo, and so much space
And when you're out there, without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Probably
And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice
Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul, you really think you're in control
Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come, and I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably
Gnarls Barkley
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(I MARRIED A) MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE
I fell in love with an alien being
Whose skin was jelly, whose teeth were green
She had big bug eyes and the death ray glare
Feet like water wings, purple hair
I was over the moon, asked her back to my place
And then I married the monster from outer space
The days were numbered the nights were spent
In a rent-free furnished oxygen tent
Where a cyborg chef served up moon beans
Done super-rapid on a laser beam
I needed nutrition to keep up the pace
When I married the monster from outer space
We walked out tentacle in hand
You could sense that the earthlings wouldn't understand
They'd go nudge nudge when we got off the bus
Saying 'It's extra-terrestrial, not like us'
And 'It's bad enough with another race,
But fuck me, a monster from outer space'.
In a cybernetic fit of rage
She pissed off to another age
She lives in 1999 <------!!!
With her new boyfriend, a blob of slime
Each time I see a translucent face
I remember the monster from outer space
John Cooper Clark
[The above was written in (or at least is (C)) 1977,
when JCC was performing this kind of thing round pubs
and clubs in Manchester, to enthusiastic crowds. The
year 1999, let alone a whole new century, seemed
impossibly remote then.]
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COHEN THE BARBARIAN
A man rode in from Cheetham Hill,
A wild and untamed Jew;
They say that he was six foot six
Reduced to five foot two.
Cohen the Barbarian
Liked pillage and puddings and beer;
He was the most famous barbarian in Mossley;
Hardly anyone thought he was queer.
It's recorded by Homer and Plautus
He let no one in Saddleworth sleep:
He laid waste to wives and daughters
And an indeterminate number of sheep.
His early days were tumultuous,
Recorded by poet and bard;
He'd been to Audenshaw Grammar
And consequently he was dead hard.
Yet there was none but Mavis Clegg
Could have satisfied his lust;
She had poise and grace and charm
And a forty two inch bust.
He went up to her father
And his love for her did tell,
I want vour daughter's hand, he cried,
And the other bits as well.
A hard man Mavis's father;
This was the task he gave;
You must capture the golden ferrets of the Hesperides
Before you can have our Mave,
Before you can wed my daughter
You must bring them home to me;
The fabled five far-famed ferrets;
You must sail the wine-dark sea.
The fabled five far-famed ferrets of the Hesperides;
The news spread like wildfire round the houses;
The great golden ferrets of the gods,
Last seen up Agaememnon's trousers.
Tis a task beyond all mortals,
Father to his daughter said;
For I've already got 'em
Locked up in the garden shed.
Meanwhile, down at the job centre
There were jobs by the dozen about
For brickles and plumbers and milkmen
But the lads there had got it sussed out;
They'd pick up their weekly giro,
They'd go up to the clerk and report,
And there, where it says occupation,
They'd written Argonaut.
I suppose you could call it bad luck;
It wasn't what they'd planned;
Suddenly - in Saddleworth,
Argonauts were in demand.
And when Dawn with rosy finqers lit the, east
They just had to grin, and bear it
As they set off with Cohen, the Barbarian
In search of the golden ferret.
Far beyond the pillars of Hercules,
Where the winds of Aoleus blow,
In the land of the many headed Hydrant
Where the men from the Pru never go,
Where there are serpents and whirlpools,
Dark islands of eternal gloom
And, most fearsome of all, the voices
That lure sailors to their doom.
The terrible song of the Nolans
Feared from Ormskirk to Troy;
The sound of the eighty three sisters
That no man can live to enjoy;
The ninety seven sisters
Who beguile both boy and man,
But not Cohen the Barbarian,
For Cohen had a plan.
He'd be tied safely to the mainmast
There were earplugs for the crew;
Five bob in the shops
But two and six to you.
He filled their ears with wax,
Then he left the wax to harden;
Now tie me to the mast, he said
And everyone said Pardon?
He unplugged their ears of wax
And they tied him up and then
He sold them back the earplugs
For another two and ten.
They were safe from the two hundred Nolans;
Let them mount their worst attack;
And with Cohen safely tied up
They all took their money back.
Then the fearsome sound came floating,
Cohen wished that he was dead;
He tried to buy some earplugs,
But they couldn't tell what he said.
At last, the sound receded;
Right lads; untie the knot:
We're safe now from the Nolans;
And the crew all answered: What?
Just like the Flying Dutchman,
There's a ghost ship sails the seas,
The skipper waxing lyrical,
The crew deaf to his pleas.
The love of Mavis Clegg,
The golden ferrets, all forgot;
The captain cries: Untie me!
The crew all answer: What?
Les Barker