The Incredible String Band Maybe Someday by Mike Heron

The Incredible String Band Maybe Someday by Mike Heron Maybe someday she will come, come along long Maybe someday she will come, come along long Maybe someday she will come, come along long maybe someday she will come along Sitting here with my arms around my music Thinking of the girl that I might spend the whole of my days with Until then I will do the best that I can And any fine young girl that I might meet 'That I could use, keep my eye on. Mother tried the very best that she could do, That was no good, the one she chose Didn‟t like the way her teeth grew. One fine day I took a walk down by the river, Fair maid did lie and she did sigh As I stooped down to kiss her. October Song by Robin Williamson I'll sing you this October song, Oh, there is no song before it. The words and tune are none of my own, for my joys and sorrows bore it. Beside the sea The brambly briars in the still of evening, Birds fly out behind the sun, and with them I'll leaving. The fallen leaves that jewel the ground, They know the art of dying, And leave with joy their glad gold hearts, In the scarlet shadows lying. When hunger calls my footsteps home, The morning follows after, I swim the seas within my mind, And the pine-trees laugh green laughter. I used to search for happiness, And I used to follow pleasure, But I found a door behind my mind, And that's the greatest treasure. For rulers like to lay down laws, And rebels like to break them, And the poor priests like to walk in chains, And God likes to forsake the. I met a man whose name was Time, And he said, "I must be going” But just how long ago that was, I have no way of knowing. Sometimes I want to murder time, Sometimes when my heart's aching, But mostly I just stroll along, The path that he is taking. When the Music Starts To Play by Mike Heron All my life and it's been a short one; I've met the happy and the sad together. I chased the soft warm air that flew before me, And through the storm on wings of love, the song of life bore me. And when the music starts to play let me be around, (I said) When the music starts to play let me be around. Oh, can't you see how my heart soars high, When I hear that music. When the music starts to play let me be around. When sadness lays his cold fist on my shoulder, And pushes me in icy waters drowning, The gentle hand of music lifts me smiling, And through these sounds my heart takes bounds, I happy am. Womankind by Robin Williamson I sing for love of womankind, I have one in my heart and mind, Low, my heart aches for her. My soul swims naked in her streams, And in her meadows lies to dream, Hey, what need to waken. Her breast blow blossom in my hands, Her eyes shine moons on secret lands, As through my clouds her raven thoughts go flying. Space nearly parts and nearly joins, Love's magic song moans through her loins, Well hay, the lead long sweets of loving. May she glow always in her sun, have nothing lost and nothing won, Oh, now what fear can chain her? Oh blessed is he who joys and grieves Who wears the coat the rainbow weaves Lo, around his body. Tree By Mike Heron I had a tree in the dream hills where my childhood lay and I'd go there in the wide long days and my tree would listen to all that I'd say and the sun was shining brightly and the sky was smiling then one day when the world had put me in its tomb and my life was just an empty room I went to my tree and I sat there in my gloom and the light was fading dimly and the sky was crying then my tree bent its branches low down to the ground and its green leaves shrouded up my mind and I left the world somewhere behind and I did not know what I would find and the sun was shining brightly and the sky was smiling Dandelion Blues by Robin Williamson You meet a girl, she moves soft eyes and pulls you in the game. Perhaps you do not wonder her reasons or her name. You'll follow her on out the room, how sweet her body flows, Say take it easy, make it lazy, that's the way to go. Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy don't even have to try. You may lip your flute or pick your strings to hear the music grow, Maybe you'll stand by a while, it all comes through you so, Just maybe you will hit magic sounds that call you to your heart, And gently you will follow down and view yourself a part Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy don't even have to try. If when the moon's a toothy smile you meet a whirling wind, Whirls you clear to nowhere and forgets where you came in, There is no call to worry, or be sorry that you came, You may maze along there for a space, oh buddy and then come back to your name. Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy, Do believe it's easy don't even have to try. Now, if your man gets busted and you hope to go his bail, Suppose you cannot borrow money, you may go to borrow the mail, Yes, if your man gets busted and you hope to go his fine, You may laze along to the judge's house, sweet woman, and set it on the line. Empty Pocket Blues By Clive Palmer My pocket's empty baby, Singing the blues for you. My pocket's empty baby, You know I loved you true. Even my old kettle, Is whistling the blues for you... Back again, I'm still waiting, (to go) Back again, With you... The nights are lonely baby, I need you all the time. I'm lonely baby, Need your lips on mine. Even my old kettle, Is whistling the blues for you... Back again, I'm still waiting, (to go) Back again, With you... My pocket's empty baby, Just singing them blues for you. My pocket's empty baby, You know I loved you true. Even my old kettle, Is whistling the blues for you... Back again, I'm still waiting, (to go) Back again, With you... Oh, Lord How Happy I Am by Mike Heron Oh, Lord how happy I am, Oh, Lord how happy I am, I won't feel sad 'till the whiskey's gone. Oh, Lord how happy I am. Oh, when I met my first woman, you know, she was nice and kind as can be. Now she go walking out all over town, and she do just what she please. Well, if she thinks I'm sitting here An' I'm waiting for her to come home, She wanna come a little closer to me right now, and I'll tell you how happy I am. Now, a whole lot of women in this world, They making trouble for all you men; They're strutting around all over town, And then walking back home again; Well, if you think that she's got you down, And she's started to count to ten, Just look at her with one eye closed, And sing to her again. Smoke Shovelling Song by Robin Williamson Last winter blew so cold no lies, And my fire smoke would not rise; Soon as the smoke tried to depart, It'd be froze up harder than a landlord's heart. There was an airplane stuck in it, but I didn't notice at first It was so cunningly disguised as a dragon. And anyone telling a bigger story would have to be telling a lie, Anyone making a bigger one up would have to be very high. I called up the police and they came around Three days later and very brought down. The sergeant he gave me this hysterical croak. Says, "What do you think you have going here, some kind of joke?" (of course I wasn't laughing) He says, "You're causing us officers so much grief, Why don't you give us some relief? Why don't you call the fire brigade? Or maybe why don't you try shovelling the smoke up the chimney with a spade." I borrowed a spade from the woman next door, And I broke up the smoke that remained on the floor, I was shovelling away, 'till the closing day singing a smoke-shovelling song. After working so hard I went out to my yard, And I looked up to my chimney so long, (there was nothing to see there) Just a thousand foot high, way into the sky, Was a pillar of smoke full of song. There was an airplane stuck in it, but I didn't notice at first it was so cunningly disguised as a dragon. Came the summer at last, though it was rainy and fast, The pillar it melted away, The airplane fell with a big smoky smell, And echoing around all over the town, Was the words of the smoke shovelling song. And anyone telling a bigger story would have to be telling a lie, And anyone think a bigger one up, Have to be very high. Can't Keep Me Here by Mike Heron I'm going way over the wide skyline And I'll sing and be happy And you can't keep me here no how. And I'll sing and be happy And my world is my own And I'll do what I want to And you can't keep me here no how. Hey baby, don't cry for me Hey baby, when the sun comes up I'll be free. Good As Gone by Robin Williamson A strange thought just crossed my mind paid the rains back in kind. „Twas the thought of sweet May coming on. The days are running so slow, my heart is aching to go, and my feet surely itch for the road. Oh the long hot summer. Oh now the summer long. Things I must do places to see, Things I must do, I've nothing now to hold me here, And I'll take the southward road. I have been tied to this land since the day I was planned, By the need to feed my body and my mind; Look can you work 'till you're grey, waste your whole life away; What security then do you find? I don't have no one to cheat, don't have no one to beat, I just need some room to uncurl, I don't have no aim in view, just some dreams to pursue, As I wallow around in the world. Footsteps of the Heron by Mike Heron One day as I sat in a big noisy crowd, There was me and the whole of my conscience. And I thought that I wouldn't be missed if I went, and that my going would be of no importance. And I've nothing to do, And I've nowhere to go; I'm not in the slightest way upset. I'm not chasing a hope, or a dream or a plan; And I'm not even chasing the sunset. The pussycat laughed and he followed me down, As we walked through the crowds without motion; He said he would stay, but he ran clear away, I just laughed at his lack of devotion. I met this fink, tried to buy me a drink, And he says, I don't care 'bout no money." I said, "Neither do I, but I'd buy you a guy, If I thought you were trying to get funny." This man I did meet, spoke to me through his feet, And he said, "I don't care either 'bout no money." I said, "Neither do I but I buy wings to fly, 'Cause without them the sun ain't so sunny." Everything's Fine Right Now by Mike Heron Who's that knocking on my door? Can't see no-one right now. Got my baby here by me, can't stop, no, no, not now. Oh, come a little closer to my breast, I'll tell you that you're the one I really love the best, and you don't have to worry about any of the rest, 'cause everything's fine right now. And you don't have to talk and you don't have to sing, You don‟t have to do nothing at all; Just lie around and do as you please, you don't have for to fall. Oh, come a little closer to my breast, I'll tell you that you're the one I really love the best, and you don't have to worry about any of the rest, 'cause everything's fine right now. Oh, my, my, it looks kind of dark. Looks like the night's rolled on. Best thing you do is just lie here by me, of course only just until the dawn. The Chelsea Sessions 1967 Lover Man by Mike Heron Baby come tell me 'bout your tree-house And your candy-striped pet mouse And your car that has feet Hey come tell me 'bout your eyebrows that meet And my baby won't you tell me 'bout your chilblains And your right eyeball's growing pains And your purple tractor that sings Hey come tell me all of those things But if you want to tell me some more Think you can Oh babe tell me 'bout your lover man You know I'm talking 'bout him He's one that's strutting around Each time I get out of town You know the one that I mean He's one that's stealing my scene away Baby I'm talking 'bout him Oh baby won't you tell me 'bout your black rose And the garden where your love grows Among the cabbages and beans Hey come tell me why your primroses are green But if you want to tell me some more Think you can Oh babe tell me 'bout your lover man You know I'm talking 'bout him He's one that's strutting around Each time I get out of town You know the one that I mean He's one that's stealing my scene away Baby I'm talking 'bout him He's one that's stealing my cream away Baby I'm talking 'bout him Talking 'bout your lover man Talking 'bout him Born In Your Town by Robin Williamson Born in your town on this young morning oh certainly I have good luck coming sadly sadly have I mourned making heavy my burden such toils to entwine me no more to endure them A lover is to me she is my companion six strings at my hand to the morning I tuned them oh warm room I have and a warm place for sleeping black coffee to waken me no more to be dreaming The wings of the albatross long since I saw him the hair of the goats as they walk to the island in the hands of the watchers a page is turned over and the echoes flow on rippling on on the face of the river What would I wish for if wishing were having in the streets of your town I see nothing worth stealing for autumn speaks leaves to the lost deeps forever and the clouds echo on echoing on on the face of the river Alice is a Long Time Gone by Robin Williamson White rabbit smile, white rabbit smile cry not so loud my lover frowns I'm a grown up lady from London town Yet ever more he sang his sad songsweet Alice is a long time gone Oh Alice is gone, gone Alice is gone, gone sweet Alice is a long time gone she was pretty, oh yes with her flaxen hair, her eyes so fair her sweet voice and her snow white dress Oh Alice is gone, gone Alice is gone, gone sweet Alice is a long time gone It's seven long years since last I seen your face no-one in Wonderland could take your place but when I see you again that sets me back apace sweet Alice is a long time gone I would exchange my coat of fur if time would turn or waters burn I'd wish you back the way you were Oh Alice is gone, gone Alice is gone, gone sweet Alice is a long time gone. See Your Face and I Know You by Robin Williamson I sit down in the Underground trying to be gay see the wild grass turn just into hay I see the magic movement but they don't fly away bad karma and it ricochets my eye bad karma round me the asp and the ashed and the infant of flame Murgatroyd and Doris and the leper-leaping lame the sad and the giggly and the black-suit swain I see your face and know you Easy as lightning I've laughed in the leaves and I'd feel like Ali Baba when he quit the forty thieves I can cruel no more so you cause me to grieve I see your face and know you I don't dig hating and I don't like to try but how can I love you when you want me to die oh Lord, live and learn I see your face and know you I wish I was springtime green as the snow I'd sprinkle me with growing dust green for to grow I'd leave here running 'cause walking's too slow I see your face and know you oh watch how the light comes new each day if you learn how to wonder you will know how to pray oh Lord, live and learn I see your face and know you. Frutch by Mike Heron Now I met me a girl and her name was Frutch And she liked dirt and me very much She said if she'd met me during the war And she found me hiding underneath the door Even if she was German and I was Dutch She wouldn't shoot me She was a fine girl, Frutch Shot me last Tuesday Now I met me a girl and her name was Scrot She kept a notebook with many a jot About how to turn a banknote into a cat And many such things just as useful as that But I told her she wouldn't dig it if she turned into a piece of gunshot She didn't listen She was a fine girl, Scrot I got her right here in my shoulder now thanks to Frutch Now I met me a girl and her name was Blit And she bought a do-it-yourself submarine kit She tried it in the bath and it went down the plug And she was inside it, she was making it chug When she found there wasn't no place at all for her to sit She didn't worry none She was a fine girl, Blit She was still standing when she passed Norroway for the fourth time Now I met me a girl and her name was Twing She looked like a yoyo without a string She rolled up and down like a solid hoop Right round the block and right through the soup And right through the stew and the chicken stuffing She was a fine girl, Twing She was a good cook as cooks go...she went! Now I met me a girl and her name was Plof She had a car with a nasty cough She fed it with aspirins and vitamin pills Lotions and potions for to cure all ills 'Til you couldn't see the car for three miles of froth Big Claimsville She was a fine girl, Plof Car don't cough no more Just sits in the garage all day long And screams for the doctor Hypochondriac! God Dog by Robin Williamson This dog is no puppy dog she's strange as the trees she's brown as the mountain and white as the breeze she walks on the water without any boots her eyes are as fine as the music of flutes but she will not sweep chimneys nor will she pluck corn but she is the best little dog that ever was born I have lain in the womb of the rocks cold and chill while she speaks in my heart with the voice of the hill and when I am risen and ready to run she will laugh without laughter to welcome the sun but she will not learn language nor will she bear scorn but she is the best little dog that ever was born The water god offered me the ring of his rings to buy the dog from me to teach she poor kings the ring's on my finger the dog runs behind since watery palaces would ne'er suit her mind but as yet she can't fly well nor play on the horn still she is the best little dog that ever was born. The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion Chinese White by Mike Heron The bent twig of darkness Grows the petals of the morning; It shows to them the birds singing just behind the dawning. Come dip into the cloud cream lapping; I can't keep my hand on the plough Because it's dying. But I will lay me down with my arms round a rainbow, And I will lay me down to dream. Oh, will your magic Christmas tree be shining Gently all around? Climbing up these figures The sun is tugging at my shoulder. And, every step I take, I think my feet are getting older. I see the crystal dreams unfolding, I can't keep my eyes on the book because it's mouldering. But I will lay me down with my arms round a rainbow, And I will lay me down to dream. Oh, will your magic Christmas tree be shining Gently all around? No Sleep Blues by Robin Williamson Cracks rack the windows, Howls hold the floor; Rains rot the rafters, And do you just have to snore? It's a most inclement climate, for the season of the night, Is that mouse playing football, oh I thought they didn't like the light? And the dawn comes sneaking up When it thinks I'm not looking; I am starting to grieve, man, I used to know but now I believe, man. They tell me sleep is a gas, and if I want to lay down, But I'm sorry I woke you, I mean I've got the no sleep blues. There's mayhem in this mansion, Since the cows were coming home, With delirium no sleepum, In a cloud of nylon foam. But release scours the outhouse, And a hard rain sears the sky, But if you let the pigs decide it, They will put you in the sty. I think I'll get a picture, And I think I'll put it on a nail. I think I'll get another one, And put it in a pail. But the pail got so rusty I called it red, red, red for fun, And I laughed like a leaver till you ought to seen it run. The size of the future declared itself no part, Aloof like a Sultan in the autumn of your heart, But the heart got so hearty, that it pulled for the shore, And the sailors fired a big salute, and it made my ears quite sore. I mixed stones and water just to see what it would do. And the water it got stoney, and the stones got watery too. So I mixed my feet with water just to see what could be seen, And the water it got dirty, and the feet they got quite clean. Painting Box by Mike Heron When the morning of your eyes comes waking through my shadows Leaving just a trace of twilight sleep, I whisper to the baby raindrops playing on my window, And tell them gently this is not the time that they should weep. For somewhere in my mind there is a painting box, I have every colour there it's true. Just lately when I look inside my painting box, I seem to pick the colours of you. My Friday evening's foot-steps plodding dully through this black town, Are far away now from the world that I'm in. My eyes are listening to some sounds that I think just might be springtime, With daffodils between my toes I'm laughing at their whim, The purple sail above me catches all the strength of summer. Fishes stop and ask me where I am bound. I smile and shake my head and say my little ship is sinking, But I kind of like the sea that I'm on, and I don't mind if I do drown. For somewhere in my mind there is a painting box, I have every colour there it's true. Just lately when I look inside my painting box, I seem to pick the colours of you. The Mad Hatter's Song by Robin Williamson Oh seekers of spring how could you not find contentment In a time of riddling reasons in this land of the blind By the joke of fate alone it's sure that as the loved hand leaves you, You clutch for the slip-stream, the realness to find. But do what you like, do what you like, do what you like, do what you like, do what you like, do what you can, do what you can, live till you die My poor little man. For Jesus will stretch out his hand no more. But in the south there's many a waving tree; Oh would that musky fingers move your pain; In the warm south winds the lost flowers bloom again. And if you cried, you know you'd fill a lake with tears, Still wouldn't turn back the years, Since the city has took you, Mad Hatter is on my mind. So sad, sad to see the way it grew Those other people that I knew That have either fell or faltered. Mad Hatter is on my mind. And you must have to see clear some time. Prometheus the problem child, still juggling with his brains Gives his limping leopard's visions to the miser in his veins. Within the ruined factory is the normal soul insane As he sets the sky beneath his heel And learns away the pain. But I am the archer the lover of laughter, And mine is the arrowed flight. I am the archer, and my eyes yearn after the unsullied sight. Born of the dark waters of the daughters of night, Dancing without movement after the clear light. O prithee an fate be kind in the rumbling and trundling rickshaw of time. Hooked by the heart to the king fisher's line, I will set my one eye for the shores of the blind. Additional line from Chelsea Sessions version (after “normal soul insane”): saying gods are indigestions, I come for gain Little Cloud by Mike Heron How sweet to be a cloud, floating in the blue. Lying awake, late the other night Heard above me a trembling, I looked up, it was a little cloud, From which a gold string was dangling; You know, I gave the string a little pull, Just to see what was on the other end. Just then a voice came down to me, says, "Hey, now, don't you want to be my friend, And float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair; Float with me to distant lands wondrous and fair? You see I'm just a happy little cloud, I laugh and float and sing my song, But the other clouds don't like me none. They say I am behaving very wrong. You see a cloud‟s supposed to be sad, To cry and weep and tear its hair and all, And don't matter how hard I try, I can't get the first little tear to fall." And float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair; Float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair; I said, "Hey, I like you little cloud, You are a nice little fellow, yes." "You making some, kind of a joke?", said the cloud, "Now can't you see I'm wearing such a pretty dress? You see I am the prettiest little chick cloud That you'd find anywhere up above. I just dropped in on you awhile To see if you could give me some kind of love." And float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair; Float with me to distant lands wondrous and fair; Just then the chief cloud come into view And says, "Hey, girl, now what you think you're doing there? I told you so many times before You just don't seem at all to care. You know you should be floating up above, now Don't let me catch you down here again." And as my cloud pulled out of view, There come failing down a gentle shower of rain. Happy rain come failing down, Red, green, blue and golden. And every drop, as it fell, it smiled And, throwing back its head, began singing, "Oh float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair; Float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair." The Eyes of Fate by Robin Williamson Oh, who can see in the eyes of fate? All life alone in its chronic patterns. Oh, swan, let me fly you To the land of no winds blowing. I know nothing, and know that I know nothing; All is in the eye, and in its blinks of seeing. So just like the morning The ghost of the following day. Listen: Ory, cry, cry..... Rear the rollers wild and stormy Echoes wholly only lonely long beforey, ory ory. All rivalry and opinion still cast their wild spells. Effort and contrariness change the directions of time. The lion still growls in your hollowness. Please let's be easy, please let's be friends. Watching and learning like small children. Till out of the morning is growing the strength of the day. Listen: ory, ory, ory..... Rear the rollers wild and stormy Echoes wholly only lonely long beforey, ory, ory. Servant of fame or fame for a servant, You see what you see, you see seldom what is. Servant of fate or fate for a servant, You see what you see, you see seldom what is. Servant of fate, ohhhhhh. Blues for the Muse by Robin Williamson I wake up in the early when I see my day walk in; I wake up in the early when I start to begin. I drink up my coffee to drive dreams away, And I think about leaving but remain for the day. Oh Glory but I just stay blind, Think about my loving, yes, some of the time I want to take it easy, Ain't it hard like they say, But I can play. And most any morning, most any morning I like to be born into my guitar day. They say it's all butterflies, Don't let your dreams get in your eyes, But Orpheus made the sunrise, 'Cause he knew how to play. She sings so fadey, Called the sweet guitar lady. She's a noted writer, I just can't seem to let her be. And she is my flower, I call her my easy hour. She's a low special, Baby that's enough for me. And it's all right, you're in the graveyard now. Well it's all right, you're in the graveyard now. You may weep, you may moan, You may pass your life so gay, But lucky in life, I swear sometimes, Surely going to have to meet your leaving day. Well, she sings like the seashore, Tonight I'm going to ride on your seesaw. I will call up the angels if they have a little word to say, And I think I'll try cloudwalking. It's just my face you see here talking, And it's just the guitar singing, And I have to let her have her way. Additional verse from Chelsea Sessions version: I got my sorrows felt, I got my sorrows felt I will reach for my lady and I swear she's sure to blow the blues away and it's rain in the ocean rain in the ocean and stones on the mountain and just like I say I'm just the string striker I ain't no prizefighter it's easy to play The Hedgehog's Song by Mike Heron I'm not the kind to complain That I never had a girl to love. Many a fine girl I tried hard to know, But I think I never tried enough. Sitting one day by myself, And I'm thinking, "What could be wrong?" When this funny little Hedgehog comes running up to me, And it starts up to sing me this song. Oh, you know all the words, and you sung all the notes, But you never quite learned the song she sung I can tell by the sadness in your eyes, That you never quite learned the song. Every day when the sun go down, And the evening is so very still, Many a fine girl I've held in my arms, And I hope there's many more that I will, But just when everything is going fine, And absolutely nothing is wrong, This funny little Hedgehog's always around And every time he wants to sing me this song. Oh, you know all the words, and you sung all the notes, But you never quite learned the song she sung I can tell by the sadness in your eyes, That you never quite learned the song. One day when the moon was full I thought I might settle down, Found myself a pretty little girl, And I stopped all my running around; But just when the preacher come along, And he's just gonna pop on the ring, This funny little Hedgehog comes running down the aisle, And I don't have to tell you what he did sing. I'm not the kind to complain That I never had a girl to love; Many fine girls I've tried hard to know, But I think I never tried enough. But now I'll be looking all my days, And it isn't just me I got to please, There's this funny little Hedgehog Who's always around, And the only words he ever sings to me are these. Oh, you know all the words and you sung all the notes, But you never quite learned the song she sung I can tell by the sadness in your eyes, That you never quite learned the song. First Girl I Loved by Robin Williamson First girl I loved, Time has come I will sing you this sad goodbye song, When I was seventeen, I used to know you. Well, I haven't seen you, now, since many is the short year, And the last time I seen you, you said you'd joined the Church of Jesus. But me, I remember your long red hair falling in our faces As I kissed you. Well, I want you to know, we just had to grow; I want you to know, I just had to go. And you're probably married now, house and car and all, And you turned into a grownup, female, stranger. And if I was lying near you now, I probably wouldn't be here at all. Well, we parted so hard; Me, rushing round Britain with a guitar, Making love to people That I didn't even like to see. Well, I would think of you. Yes, I mean in the sick sad morning. And in the lonely midnight, Try to hold your face before me. Well, I want you to know, I just had to go; I want you to know, we just had to grow. And you're probably married now, kids and all, And you turned into a grownup, female, stranger. And if I was lying near you now, I'd just have to fall. Well, I never slept with you Though we must have made love a thousand times. For we were just young, didn't have no place to go, But in the wide hills and beside many a long water You have gathered flowers, and they do not smell for me. Well, I want you to know, I just had to go. I want you to know, we just had to grow. So it's goodbye first love, and I hope you're fine. Well, I have a sweet woman Maybe some day to have babies by me, she's pretty, She‟s a true friend of mine You Know What You Could Be by Mike Heron Read your book and lose yourself In another's thoughts. He might tell you 'bout what is Or even 'bout what is not. And if he's kind and gentle too, And he loves the world a lot, His twilight words may melt the slush Of what you have been taught. You know what you could be. Tell me my friend, Why you worry all the time What you should been. Listen to the song of life. Its rainbow's end won't hold you. Its crimson shapes and purple sounds, Softly will enfold you. It gurgles through the timeless glade, In quartertones of lightning. No policy is up for sale, In case the truth be frightening. You know what you could be. Tell me my friend, Why you worry all the time about What you should be. My Name is Death Traditional, arranged by Robin Williamson I am the question that cannot be answered, I am the lover that cannot be lost, Yet small are the gifts of my servant the soldier, For time is my offspring, pray, what is my name? My name is Death, cannot you see? All life must turn to me; Oh cannot you see? And you must come with me, You must come with me. I'll give you gold and jewels rare, And all my wealth in store. All pleasures fair, if I may live but a few short years more. Oh lady, lay your jewels aside, No more to glory in your pride. Tarrying here there is no way, Your time has come that you must away, And you must come to clay. Gently Tender by Mike Heron Gently tender falls the rain, washing clean the slate again; But leave me please, behind my brain, the slightest shadow of her Shadows dancing through the pink milk blankets, where my mind Lay dreaming gently of my loving you. Sometimes I think I was true, but then I loved the stone beneath my feet as much, usually. Gently tender snow-drop grows, see the past tense quietly go. Kill the chord but let me know the slightest shadow of her Shadows crawling through the green bush trees where my toes crept Breathing lightly of my loving you. Sometimes I think I was true, but then I loved the stone beneath my feet as much, usually. Slowly spitting crawls the snake, see the branches bend and break. Venom that might easily shake the slightest shadow of her Good, good loving, she gave me good loving, good, good, loving, she gave me good loving, Good, good loving, she gave me good. And now all my wine is water, to her all my wine is water, All water, and my pearls are clear. And now all my wine is water, to her all my wine is water. All water, and my pearls are clear. She gave to me good loving, she gave to me good loving, Oohhhhhhh good loving. Way Back in the 1960s by Robin Williamson I was a young man back in the 1960s. Yes, you made your own amusements then, For going to the pictures; Well, the travel was hard, and I mean We still used the wheel. But you could sit down at your table And eat a real food meal. But hey, you young people, well I just do not know, And I can't even understand you When you try to talk slow. There was one fellow singing in those days, And he was quite good, and I mean to say that His name was Bob Dylan, and I used to do gigs too Before I made my first million. That was way, way back before, before wild World War Three, When England went missing, And we moved to Paraguayee. But hey, you young people, I just do not know, And I can't even understand you When you try to talk slow. Well, I got a secret, and don't give us away. I got some real food tins for my 91st birthday, And your grandmother bought them Way down in the new antique food store, And for beans and for bacon, I will open up my door. But hey, you young people, well I just do not know, And I can't even understand you When you try to talk slow. Well, I was a young man back in the 1960s. The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter Koeeoaddi There By Robin Williamson the natural cards revolve ever changing seeded elsewhere planted in the garden fair grow trees, grow trees tongues of the sheer wind setting your foot where the sand is untrodden, the ocean that only begins listen a woman with a bulldozer built this house now carving away the mountain whose name is your childhood home we were trying to buy it buy it buy it someone was found killed there all bones bones dry bones earth water fire and air met together in a garden fair put in a basket bound with skin if you answer this riddle you'll never begin born in a house where the doors shut tight shadowy fingers on the curtains at night cherry tree blossom head high snow a busy main road where I wasn't to go I used to sit on the garden wall say hello to people going by so tall hallo to the postman's stubbly skin hallo to the baker's stubbly grin mrs thompson gave me a bear brigitte and some people lived upstairs skating on happy valley pond various ministers and guards stood around the ice was nice hallo the invisible brethren and there was a tent you played cards with the soldiers in, don't worry we won't send anyone after you they screamed but me and licorice saw the last of them one misty twisty day across the mournful morning moor motoring away singing ladybird, ladybird what is your wish your wish is not granted unless it's a fish your wish is not granted unless it's a dish a fish on a dish is that what you wish earth water fire and air met together in a garden fair put in a basket bound with skin if you answer this riddle you'll never begin The Minotaur's song By Robin Williamson Straight from the shoulder I think like a soldier I know what's right and what's wrong He knows what's right and what's wrong. I'm the original discriminating buffalo man And I'll do what's wrong as long as I can He'll do what's wrong as long as he can I live in a labyrinth under the sea Down in the dark as dark as can be I like the dark as dark as can be He likes the dark as dark as can be I'll even attack you or eat you whole Down in the dark my bone mills roll Porridge for my porridge bowl Porridge for his porridge bowl I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born He's strong as the earth from which he's born I can't dream well because of my horns He can't dream well because of his horns Moo I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born He's strong as the earth from which he's born I can't dream well because of my horns He can't dream well because of his horns A minotaur gets very sore His features they are such a bore His habits are predicta-bull Aggressively relia-bull, bull, bull I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born He's strong as the earth from which he's born I can't dream well because of my horns He can't dream well because of his horns I'm the original discriminating buffalo man And I'll do what's wrong as long as I can He'll do what's wrong as long as he can Witches hat By Robin Williamson certainly the children have seen them in quiet places where the moss grows green coloured shells jangle together the wind is cold the year is old the trees whisper together and bent in the wind they lean next week a monkey is coming to stay if I was a witches hat sitting on her head like a paraffin stove I'd fly away and be a bat across the air I would rove stepping like a tightrope walker putting one foot after another wearing black cherries for rings A Very Cellular Song By Mike Heron Winter was cold and the clothing was thin But the gentle shepherd calls the tune Oh dear mother what shall I do First please your eyes and then your ears Jenny Exchanging love tokens say goodnight Lay down my dear sister Won't you lay and take your rest Won't you lay your head upon your saviours breast And I love you but Jesus loves you the best And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. One of these mornings bright and early and fine. Goodnight, goodnight Not a cricket not a spirit going to shout me on Goodnight, goodnight I go walking in the valley of the shadow of death Goodnight, goodnight And his rod and his staff shall comfort me Goodnight, goodnight Oh John the wine he saw the sign Goodnight, goodnight Oh John say I seen a number of signs Goodnight, goodnight Tell A for the ark that wonderful boat Goodnight, goodnight You know they built it on the land getting water to float Goodnight, goodnight Tell B for the beast at the ending of the wood Goodnight, goodnight You know it ate all the children when they wouldn't be good Goodnight, goodnight I remember quite well, I remember quite well Goodnight, goodnight I was walking in Jerusalem just like John Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. Who would lose and who would bruise Or who would live quite prettily? And who would love what comes along And fill the air with joyous song Who would go and who would come Or who would simply linger And who would hide behind your chair And steal your crystallised ginger Nebulous nearness cry to me At this timeless moment Someone dear to me wants me near, makes me high I can hear vibrations fly Through mangoes, pomegranates and planes All the same When it reaches me and teaches me To sigh Who would mouse and who would lion Or who would be the tamer And who would hear directions clear From the unameable namer Who would skip and who would plod Or who would like quite silly And who would ride backwards on a giraffe Stopping every so often to laugh Amoebas are very small Oh ah ee oo there's absolutely no strife living the timeless life I don't need a wife living the timeless life If I need a friend I just give a wriggle Split right down the middle And when I look there's two of me Both as handsome as can be Oh here we go slithering, here we go slithering and squelching on Oh here we go slithering, here we go slithering and squelching on Oh ah ee oo there's absolutely no strife living the timeless life Black hair brown hair feather and scale Seed and stamen and all unnamed lives that live Turn your quivering nerves in my direction Turn your quivering nerves in my direction Feel the energy projection of my cells Wishes you well. May the long time sun shine upon you All love surround you And the pure light within you Guide you all the way on. Mercy I Cry City By Mike Heron Since you got me here I see you're trying to steal my soul You're army's trying so very hard to find for me a goal But where's your quiet pastures where there's time for me to be Nothing else but what I am that's what you seem scared to see You cover up your emptiness with brick and noise and rush Oh I can see and touch you but you don't owe reality much Have mercy I cry city you're all upon my mind Sometimes I think you keep forgetting that you don't know me Mercy I cry city you're all upon my mind Send another carriage chugging down your chokey tube I hope it makes you happy 'cause it don't do my health much good You slowly killing fumes now squeeze the lemon in my head Make me know just what it's like for a sin drenched Christian to be dead Ah show me your glitter and your flashing neon light You see I think that only the sun knows how to be quietly bright Have mercy I cry city you're all upon my mind Sometimes I think you keep forgetting that you don't know me Mercy I cry city you're all upon my mind Hey, city, what you been doing? All these years what you been doing? Who would believe that what you been doing Would make such a ruin of you? Waltz of the New Moon By Robin Willamson I hear that the emperor of china used to wear iron shoes with ease We are the tablecloth and also the table also the fable of the dancing leaves The new moon is rising the axe of the thunder is broken as never was not since the flood nor yet since the world began The new moon is shining the angels are washing their windows Above the years whose jumble sale goes spinning on below Ask the snail beneath the stone, ask the stone beneath the wall Are there any stars at all Like an eagle in the sky tell me if air is strong In the floating pan pipe victories of the golden harvest Safe in the care of the dear moon The new moon is rising the eyelid of god is approaching The humane train the skating raining travelling voice of certainty The new moon is shining the harmonious hand is now holding lord krishna's ring the eagle's wing the voice of mother everything Ask the snail beneath the stone, ask the stone beneath the wall Are there any stars at all Like an eagle in the sky tell me if air is strong In the floating palaces of the spinning castle May the fire king's daughter bring water to you The Water Song By Robin Williamson Water water see the water flow Glancing dancing see the water flow O wizard of changes water water water Dark or silvery mother of life Water water holy mystery heavens daughter God made a song when the world was new Waters laughter sings it through O, wizard of changes, teach me the lesson of flowing Three Is a Green Crown By Robin Williamson Not with the lips of skin nor yet with the lips of dark snow But let the white dove sing Of the body of life of the lover whose love is complete Hold hands out to greet ah let not the swan be brought low For all that is moving is moved by her hands She is mirrored forever in the light of the lands In the building of thoughts in the shifting sands Life life remembering Well here you are now o now you are here Well how has it been so far The hair and the fur Lemons, frankincense, and myrhh For all that is moving is moved by her hands She is mirrored for ever in the light of the lands In the building of thoughts in the shifting sands Let the cracked crystal raindrop be merged in the sea Silent shining thoughtless free but close your eyes to find the golden flower And open them to see the sunshine shower Where the flowers are free and the fishes ask Ah what can water be She beareth thought she beareth visions Speaking truth in contradictions Dreams of pain dreams of laughter And every action follows after O second self o gate of the soft mystery I'll love you if you'll love me O guide me with the gold of Gabriel's wing Grant me the tongue that all the earth does sing Vibrating light forever one the sun The book of life is open to us There'll be no secrets left between us Swift as the wind By Mike Heron For my delight Swift as the wind flies His chariot and wings Shine in the light of a thousand suns For he comes from the land of no night He comes from the land of no night There is no land The night is all around my child You must stop imagining all this You must stop imagining all this For your own good Why don't you go with the rest and play downstairs Closing my eyes I see him so clear The blood on his sword Flashes so bright as it Falls to the skulls by his feet But his eyes they know all things His eyes they know all There is no blood No-one knows all my child You must stop imagining all this You must stop imagining all this For your own good Why don't you go with the rest and play downstairs Swift as the wind Stay if you will now Seeing you again will be in your castle so fair But I make take some time on the way And I may have to spend some time downstairs Nightfall By Robin Williamson Nightfall o river of night flow through me Washing thoughts of the day on your waters away For the morrow that dawns never knew me Nightfall nightfall folding her dark locks around you Her eyes they have found you would show you This new dream they're holding O sleep o come to me you who are night's daughter And I'll give you my eyes for the colours that rise As time's echoes reflect on you water. The Pig went Toddling over the Hill By Robin Williamson (unreleased) The pig went toddling over the hill To see what he could find “Oink oink” were the words he spoke He thought he was going blind First he looked here Then he looked here The man in the hat was walking away Saying “dear dear” [sings gobbledygook] and the sky was blue Oh oh see a small boat row The pig went walking over the hill With hardly any clothes Oh oh I never feel this way in the snow Oh and I can‟t remember anything I talk to thee everywhere and somewhere I sing Yes what happened just before I came in? Wee Tam and the Big Huge Job's Tears By Robin Williamson We're all still here no one has gone away Waiting, acting much too well and procrastinating The cross of the earth (let me go through) The four winds point them Body to body Seas to anoint them The reed they brought him Sponge and vinegar Fiery serpents Spitting gold and cinnamon The moon was bleeding And stars were shallow And the sword that killed him Was a sword of willow Hello I must be going well I only came to say I hear my mother calling and I must be on my way O I remember it all from before The winter and the midnight Could not hold him The fire could not burn him Nor earth enfold him Rise up Lazarus Sweet and salty Brother soldiers Stop your gambling and talk to me The thieves were stealers But reason condemned him And the grave was empty Where they had laid him Why heroes die at sunrise Why the birds are arrows of the wise Why each perfumed flower Why each moment has its hour It's you It's all true Stranger than that we're alive Stranger than that Stranger than that Whatever you think It's more than that, more than that Happy man, the happy man Doing the best he can Keep on walking where the angels showed (All will be one) Travelling where the saints have trod Over in the old golden land In the golden book of the golden game The golden angel wrote my name When the deal goes down I'll put my crown Over in the old golden land I won't need to kiss you when we're there (All will be one) I won't need to miss you when we're there Over in the old golden land We'll understand it better in the sweet bye and bye You won't need to worry and you won't have to cry Over in the old golden land Puppies By Mike Heron Even the birds when they sing It's not everything to them Fiddle-head ferns and daffodils Made me want to play To the puppies having their little breakfast So I picked up six fine strings And I began to play What I thought that new Born fur would like best Hey, hey, such a new born morn Hey, hey, the puppies they have gone Left me here holding this song Music is so much less than what you are Just how far can you take me How far can you take me, Mother Nina Before I'm on my own Don't imagine that the pretty flower can sing a song When the sun makes it's sap to rise One by one the chorus swells till it's a mighty noise Are you sure that it's not a silence? Even the birds when they sing It's not everything to them Even the birds when they sing Spread their wings to heaven and fly away. The Yellow Snake By Robin Williamson Someone you saw stretched sleeping on the sand Five withered violets cradled in his hand His dreams are so loud calling in your ear The yellow snake coils from the water And all is refreshed far and near. Log Cabin In the Sky By Mike Heron All around this wide country the winter it has now begun Now is the time to slip away from the California sun To a place where a man can be free as the wind As wild as the huskies' cry Now winter is nigh let us fly to my log cabin home in the sky With snow piling all round the door And many a log on the stove Where the chickadee's singing a comforting song I'll show you it's you that I love O let the wolves howl, they won't find us here By a soft oil lamp we will lie Now there comes a time to every man When he must turn his back on the crowd When the glare of the lights gets much too bright And the music plays too loud When a man must run from the deeds he has done Recalling those days with a sigh. You get Brighter By Mike Heron You get brighter every day and every time I see you Scattered brightness in your way and you taught me how to love you I know you belong to everybody but you can't deny that I'm you In the morning when I wake I moor my boat and greet you Hold your brightness in my eye and I wonder what does sleep do Krishna colours on the wall You taught me how to love you Oh wondrous light, light, lighter You give all your brightness away and it only makes you brighter. The Half-Remarkable Question By Robin Williamson Who moved the black castle Who moved the white queen When Gimmel and Daleth where standing between? Out of the evening growing a veil Pining for the pine woods that ached for the sail There's something forgotten I want you to know The freckles of rain are telling me so O it's the old forgotten question What is that we are part of? What is it that we are? And an elephant madness has covered the sun The judge and the juries they play for the fun They've torn up the roses and washed all the soap And the martyr who marries them dares not elope O it's the never realised question O long O long e're yet my eyes Braved the gates enormous fire And the body folded 'round me And the person in me grew The flower and its petal The root and its grasp The earth and its bigness The breath and its gasp The mind and its motion The foot and its move The life and its pattern The heart and its love O it's the half-remarkable question. Air By Mike Heron Breathing, all creatures are Brighter then than brightest star You are by far You come right inside of me Close as you can be You kiss my blood And my blood kiss me. Ducks on a Pond By Robin Williamson Ducks on a pond, ducks on a pond Very pretty swimming round The lion and the unicorn journey very far The answers are the question, sir The lady soothes the lion's fur Meek as a lamb he follows her Wherever angels are Sing me something I asked the ice it would not say But only cracked or moved away I thought I knew me yesterday Whoever sings this song Greetings on you kings in the sky Who'll buy me a mynah bird Play me a magic word Speak of hopes with thoughts absurd Thoughts floating by Little ducks, pretty birds Clouds across the sky Moving pieces on the plains of Troy Carving faces on the rocks of joy Pretty lady washing the tiles Soapy pictures like crocodiles Chilly winds blowing Lovely spring coming soon I wear my body like a caravan Gipsy rover in a magic land Misty mountains where the eagles fly Lonely valleys where the lost ones cry I had a little letter full of paper Inky scratches everywhere Always looking, looking for a paradise island Help me find it everywhere Peacocks talking of the colour grey Awaking soundly in darkest day A howling tempest on a silent sea Lovely Jesus nailed to a tree Mad as the moon when Merlin falls Silver castles and silver halls Taking lessons from the piper's son Learn to play while the world is young Boys and girls come out to play The moon doth shine as bright as day Leave your sorrows and leave your sleep And join your playfellows in the street Come with a whoop or come with a call Come with a goodwill or not at all Up the ladder and down the wall A ha'penny loaf will serve for all Following my fortune now the Holy Grail is found And the Holy Bread of Heaven it is given all around Farewell sorrow, praise God the open door I ain't got no home in this world any more For as the birds love to give their song away Gathering possessions round to make a bright array Dark was the night, praise God the open door I ain't got no home in this world anymore. Maya By Robin Williamson The dust of the rivers does murmur and weep Hard and sharp laughter that cuts to the bone Ah, but ever face within your face does show Going gladly now to give himself his own And twelve yellow willows shall fellow the shallows Small waves and thunder be my pillow Upon the gleaming water two swans that swim And every place shall be my native home The east gate like a fortress dissolve it away The west gate like a prison O come break it down Island I remember living here Wandering beneath the empty skies In time her hair grew long and swept the ground And seven blackbirds carried it out behind It bore the holy imprint of her mind As green-foot slow she moved among the seasons The great man, the great man, historians his memory Artists his senses, thinkers his brain Labourers his growth Explorers his limbs And soldiers his death each second And mystics his rebirth each second Businessmen his nervous system No-hustle men his stomach Astrologers his balance Lovers his loins His skin it is all patchy But soon will reach one glowing hue God is his soul Infinity his goal The mystery his source And civilisation he leaves behind Opinions are his fingernails Maya Maya All this world is but a play Be thou the joyful player The wanderer no sense does make His eyes being tied in the true love's knot The trees perceive his soul Do not detain him long Dear little animal dark-eyed and small Caring for your fur with pointed paws This hawk of truth is swift and flies with a still cry A small sweetmeat to the eyes of night O dandelion be thou thine Reflecting the sun in sexual glory In every-changing tongues The every-changing story The book, man, bird, woman, serpent, sea, sun Blessed O blessed are they of the air Your eyes are the eyes Of the glad land Ye twelve that will enter the seasons The great ship, the ship of the world Long time sailing Mariners, mariners, gather your skills Jesus and Hitler and Richard the Lion Heart Three kings and Moses and Queen Cleopatra The Cobbler, the maiden The mender and the maker The sickener and the twitcher And the glad undertaker The shepherd of willows The harper and the archer All sat down in one boat together Troubled voyage in calm weather. Greatest Friend By Mike Heron The greatest friend I have in life Has brought me here to dwell Awhile among your green green hills All by the watery well The water from that wondrous well Has made my eyes to see And loosed my tongue to sing with joy That such a friend can be The greatest friend I have in life Was hidden long from me Above the mountains cold and wide Beneath the sacred tree That sacred tree whose bark I touched Whose leaves did tell to me The ancient tales that made me sure My friend would come to me My greatest friend a song has given To sing where I may go To sing among the green green hills And where the waters flow The waters from that wondrous well That made my eyes to see And made my mind to ever show My greatest friend to me. The Son of Noah's brother By Robin Williamson Many were the lifetimes of the Son of Noah's brother See his coat the ragged riches of the soul Lordly Nightshade By Robin Williamson Captured by Hitler with Oliver Twist in the tower Guards say here's pens and paper just sit down and work for an hour O, Goodness, how can we escape? but it's not worthwhile All I can do is smile. Down gallons of glandular corridors of the dark castle The pompous old bellman is tolling one bell At bathtime the hippies in chains they are crossing the hall Where Hitler is making his new film about it all We slip trough a pew and escape but I just don't know All I can do is grow Tell me more, what then Down Main Street I go on a duffel-coat hoping instead For a little room, yawn, I'm so tired with this big bag of coal on my head It's a top hat I'm trying to sell or a lesson to learn Vaguely seeking some fire to burn While a group of middle-aged persons with dwarfish expressions and tinned conversations in Sunday blessed blue Standing around for a photograph, watch the cuckoo Do you need any coal? But it doesn't appear that they do Then I offered my throat to the wolf but I just can't die All I can do is fly Safe and secure in the skirts of the midsummer wood Cooking soup with stale words and fresh meanings it tastes so good The green wolf with his bunch of red roses is slinking away All on a summer's day. The Mountain of God By Robin Williamson "Behold the mountain of the Lord in latter days shall rise" "Hark, the herald angels sing" "Hush, hush, whisper who dares, Christopher Robin is saying his prayers" "Do ye not fly as clouds and as doves to your windows Who serve as the shadow and the example of heavenly things" "As Moses was admonished of God as he was making the Tabernacle See that ye do all things according to the pattern shown you on the high mountain." "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen." Cousin Caterpillar By Mike Heron My cousin has great changes coming One day he'll wake with wings Cousin Caterpillar, seven pairs of legs for you Cousin Caterpillar, can you tell me what they do? Well, all that I can say Is that they seem to help some way To pull my little body along Well first I didn't know their use But worrying you only lose So I said I love you and I love what you do Come on do your thing Cousin Caterpillar, white and silky threads for you Cousin Caterpillar, can you tell me what they do? My cousin as you see Takes his changes easily O happy we Could we take each change so easily Then all that we could say Is that it would seem to help some way To pull our little bodies along So we say I love you and I love what you do Come on do your thing The Iron Stone By Robin Williamson A long wind a weaving mind Over all the land the wild flowers grow, Echoing kind to kind On that day when I found the iron stone Heavy in my hand in the sloping rain Ever the seas rolled on and o'er my heart They roofed their slates of grey The iron stone I found it on that day The iron stone I brought it home Heavy in my hand I brought it home Black as the thoughts of doom A man told me it came from the moon Flying through time it flew Upon the long beach where I found it Dancing horses told their tale Among the stones it called me There my hand it knew Seeing in the thickness of the thick black sight Forests and centaurs and gods of the night Never that sun shone on Where high Atlantis raised her shores Out sang the dragons of the sea Love paints the cart with suns for wheels The jester's baubles, cap and bells The brave, perhaps, Mustachio Sir Primalform Magnifico The dragon me with golden toes And golden fire my flaming nose And memories, memories My cave was bright with sulky gems That paled the stars like diadems Silver lost and buried gold Such was my home in days of old. Additional verse from Chelsea Sessions version: the stag hunt rushing round the world one turn of light it's gone again the eyes of Merlin speak beneath their crown of silver grey A piece of iron black and heavy smoothed and rounded by the sea holding its sand and stones... Douglas Traherne Harding By Mike Heron When I was born I had no head My eye was single and my body was filled with light And the light that I was, was the light that I saw by And the light that I saw by, was the light that I was And many's the time that I've passed by the river And saw no tollman and needed no ferryman to cross And I enjoyed the world aright For the sea itself floweth And warm I was and crowned. But one day walking by the river I met a tollman with an angry face And many's the time I passed through his tollgate And paid no silver and paid no fee But rather I did hide my sheep and goats under the bags of oatmeal And cold I was, no crown did I wear But if you're walking down the street Why don't you look down to the basement And sitting very quietly there is a man who has no head His eye is single and his whole body also is filled with light And the streets are his and all the people And even the temples and the whole world And many's the time he walks to the river And seeing the ferryman and seeing the tollman The light within him leaps to greet them For he sees that their faces are none but his own One light, the light that is one though the lamps be many You never enjoy the world aright "Till the sea itself floweth In your vein and you are clothed With the heavens and crowned with the stars" The Circle is Unbroken By Robin Williamson Seasons they change while cold blood is raining I have been waiting beyond the years Now over the skyline I see you're travelling Brothers from all time gathering here Come let us build the ship of the future In an ancient pattern that journeys far Come let us set sail for the always island Through seas of leaving to the summer stars Seasons they change but with gaze unchanging O deep eyed sisters is it you I see? Seeds of beauty ye bear within you Of unborn children glad and free Within your fingers the fates are spinning The sacred binding of the yellow grain Scattered we were when the long night was breaking But in the bright morning converse again. The Head By Robin Williamson Only a palace with interior doors Well painted well gargoyled with multiple floors Two windows let free this projector machine and the magical world here appears on the screen My servants attend me with tricks of the senses The past and the future and similar tenses and on platters of air they convey me my measure both gladness and sorrow, I lack not for treasure The lord and his lady are seated within In the court of the mind where the song does begin The song is as fine is as fine is as follows The song does continue through measureless hollows that sink from the level of personal being through caverns of darkness where dragons are dwelling The mountains above them are raised at my calling Where the apples are ripe or the rain is a-falling In ships of white vision I sail the horizon where three spinners stand beyond the horizon under the tree of the apples of beauty I watch them arranging my days and tomorrows The song is as fine is as fine as follows I stood on the beach where the moon was a-curling Laughed on the wings of the sea birds calling I loved when sweet Venus a lover did bring me I cried when sweet Saturn and Jupiter moved us and all of my servants were fighting their brothers And the lord and the lady they hated each other Till the spinners arose with their work on their fingers Commanding the presence of heavenly singers That spoke of the silence so soon to be coming When all would be still in the wonderful palace The peace is not stillness but peacefully changing This hope is the hope of the man on the gallows The song is as fine is as fine is as follows The infant I was in the womb of my mother White sperm I was in the loins of my father Before that I swam in the oceans of nowhere Where the fish are as fine as the colour of colours Where waves are the message of centuries rolling Where wind is the breath of the Holy Creator Where no ship sails but only the ocean Where all the rivers grow mighty with showing And crowned with the gifts of the myriad valleys Return with a sigh to the sea of the coming Forever and ever and ever and ever be glad O be Glad for the song has no ending. Be Glad For the Song Has No Ending Come With Me by Robin Williamson I have a ship both sleek and fine I point her bows wherever I will The seven seas they all are mine I call the winds I call the winds her sails to fill If you will flee away with me And bid farewell to the land you know I'll show you marvels presently And wonders And wonders that the earth does show The shouting mountains O speak on sir The diamond valleys The caves where sleep the stars by day Eve's clouded bower Adam's garden The secret land that love does see O come with me I will come with thee The gentle spring rains will lave your face O sweet waters The winds will bear your train The morning birds will sing your song The earth will call your name The stars will be your canopy The sun your candle flame The greeny-gold wheat your incense sweet My heart your windowpane O come with me I will come with thee All Writ Down by Mike Heron I fully understood That you'd leave when your ship come by And l fully understood You had a purpose more high Than to give a little schoolboy To give a little schoolboy his first love But oh did I cry And did I cry For I thought that those days Would just fade and die But every cell in my body has it all writ down Every smile and every frown And oh those good-time girls Oh those good-time girls That book ft sometimes makes me glad That book ft sometimes makes me sad But oh - it don't read bad I cursed you to your face When you turned to go But I see now that you did just right And I bow to you low For you gave a little schoolboy You gave a little schoolboy his first love... I thought those women were so cruel And were so low But they just moved by nature‟s law Didn‟t feel right to stay Thought that they‟d just go Vishangro by Robin Williamson Moon of the berries is waning to clay Bavol the wind leap on the whale's way Sing for Veshengro, oak ash and may I will not flash the day glance on the strong king's shield Nor yet the moon glance on the frightened man Bring her sweet peace ere she rests on the breast of God With the nutmegs and oak-apples of her rosary That counts the praying sand Who cradles earth and water in the hollow of her hand I was a wasp on a nettled hill Ten thousand brothers in a nest of fungus paper And every sopping apple held its cider sweet for my thin tongue I was a swineherd at the court of Fionn I wore the coat of patches with Jalal beneath the stars Sang at the black court of Ain I baked sweet pastries for the Queen of Spain I hid my alchemy beneath the stone of lies Burned at the post my boiling brain Made craters of my eyes The mystery of history it is not revealed We hear not clear but only with hope and fear And the pomp of crime, and the pride of the time I was a monk repelled by a woman's smell I sailed in Darwin's ship, a mouse that gnawed the grain Trapped by the cook on one dark day I have spoken with the Thames in much sweeter times And with the Medway where she rolls her waves The snake-weed is hissing the wind of the morn The mountains are mouthing where Albion is born The light rays are gathering where Horus is shown Sing for Veshengro, oak ash and thorn. Waiting For You by Robin Williamson I've been wearing faces in the strangest places Just to make a dream come true The dawn is sweet but it's incomplete and I'm waiting for you The breeze is blowing and my hair is growing Forgotten everything my mother knew The day is young and spring is sprung and I'm waiting for you Must you bring that horse in here Miss Jones (although your snowshoes do look terrific) Yes they all come from out of the sky you know I'm waiting for the dove that never came home I'm waiting for the painter when his colours were gone I‟m waiting for the soldiers at the war, I‟m waiting for a royal decision I'm waiting for the sun to snore I'm waiting for a rumble from Jericho, waiting for the world to begin I'm a bareback rider, I'm an outsider and love to dance the boogaloo I'm a turnip head, I'm a lately wed and I'm waiting for you More tea vicar? (Hold that tiger) Yes, the hydrangeas do look divine this time of the year I'm wailing for the angels to put on their smiles I‟m waiting for the judges to come to trial I‟m waiting for the aeroplane, I‟m waiting for the graves to open I'm waiting to be sold in chains I'm waiting for a signal from the trapdoor queen Waiting for the world to begin I'm a snake charmer, I'm a guava farmer I'm a goose to me don't ever say boo Let the universe roll, I'm a simple soul and I'm waiting for you Oh it sounds so sweet when you play it to me like that.. (that tiger really doesn’t want to be held) I‟m waiting for the signs to point a different way I‟m waiting for God to take a holiday I'm waiting for night in the mine I'm waiting for the hills to grow steeper I'm waiting for the man they call Shine I'm waiting for Willie the Weeper to wake, waiting for the world to begin I'm off to market with an old straw basket singing dodeodeodo Greenest cloak to wear in the spring, in the April breezes how it will blow I'm going to introduce to you now the personalities who compose the Jim Spiggatt Occult Quart. Over there on my left we have Miss Cynthia de Monfort-Jones on her silvery toned mandoline, and just a little further over the left we have that famed Oriental bass player Miss Fenola Bumgarner (first time in captivity folks!) On the pounding batterie and coterie we have that well known bricklayer's labourer from Pilton, Mr Jack McMarker- and perhaps we just have time to devastate your synaesthesia with one more searing chorus from Black Jack Davy on the steam organ. That's all. See All the People By Mike Heron See all the people laugh Ha ha ha ha ha See all the people cry Boo hoo hoo hoo Changing Horses Big Ted By Robin Williamson Big Ted he was a great old pig He‟d eat most anything, never wore a wig Now he‟s gone like snow on the water Don‟t cry He was getting old, so the farmer said Sold him to the butcher just to make a little bread Now he‟s gone like snow on the water Goodbye Ted may be a moo-cow next time around Giving sweet milk to the people in the town He‟ll be whatever he will choose on air or sea or ground The sows are busy with piglets five I‟d put them in the forest now if they were mine Cause I know they like acorns and I don‟t like bacon He came into the kitchen while we were away He took all the rice and he forgot to pay He‟s gone like snow on the water Don‟t cry He never cared to do the boogaloo dance All he ever thought about was food and romance And he‟s gone like snow on the water Goodbye Big Ted‟s soul is gone or Big Ted‟s solid gone! Mr & Mrs By Robin Williamson He‟s wearing the breeches that father bequeathed him Grandfather‟s jacket still stained from the war Schoolmaster‟s hat and mother‟s familiar And thousands of souvenirs kept from before Still wearing the bruises of coppers and robbers Ring of the bishop on loving his thumb Once-bitten apple of jealous dispassion Twice-eaten hopes with the crust and the crumb She carries a gramophone and plays the same records Family choir playing truth equals pain Compulsively buying the devil‟s selection Of sugar-gilt nothing again and again Children come follow in grandfather‟s footsteps Lace on her fears and her man-of-war stare Mapping the course with the hard-learned lesson Magistrate‟s customer, and the three bear (grieved air?) Mr and Mrs I know it‟s sore With the daily pitchfork and the martial law Old chat, young nervous, sweetness heart Working together to make this world Out of the pain of sweet gone sour I‟m going to the beautiful country, don‟t you want to come? I‟m caring for the break in my telephone line And people are buzzing me most of the time I‟m dialling your eye I wait for my reply I‟m here Now I‟m on my way O Mr and Mrs Too many haters in this house You‟re in despair I understand your acceptedness From the tears in your eyes You know I won‟t leave till you come too. White Bird By Mike Heron Who among you has not laid his head beneath some holy awning Would think that such a night of tortured travelling Could bring such a glory morning And feel his heart sucked to his head His head so wide that all life says Has room to live and breathe and have its being - and more For such a scene of beauty For such a scene of beauty encompasses See the white bird on the water In beauty calm and still White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, See he watches the white bird of the morning White bird, white bird, See he watches the white bird of the morning White bird, white bird, Warm in his ecstasy A shimmering gentle backward fall He leaves his body there so small and mirror black against the sun With deities for strength He sees his body wracked with pain And hears his voice so stained with sadness deep It asks the day to weep away Loved her so strong now She is gone My heart will break forever Sun and moon change around Me the games seem so strange Walk in the light I shall never Walk in the light I will never White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird, Speak to me with your beauty oh white bird of the morning Oh he cried Oh he cried But stopped short Seeing not water but ice death not life dead white bird dead white bird Walking onward every day Sunshine in our faces Sun knows what goes on below But still our faces graces No disgraces No distastes Nothing wasted at all White bird, white bird, white bird Of the morning White bird, white bird Sleepers, Awake! By Mike Heron Sleepers, awaken The night has gone and taken Your darkest fears and left you here And the sun it shines so clear O awake for the world looks wonderful O glorious golden sun Your song of light to pray And when we turn away Your silver sister moon does sing Then once again we face Your glory and your grace And those whom sleep still takes Tell the little birds to wake You send your beams to earth Giving flowers their birth And looking to the sky They see your diamond eye Livening sap and cell They love you very well And answering the first light‟s ring Push their petals back and sing Dust Be Diamonds By Robin Williamson I fished for a plough, it was heavy as lead And tired in my body I wished for a bed When I lay claim to nothing Seems everything‟s fine When I lay claim to nothing Dust be diamonds, water be wine Happy happy happy all the time King Jesus he whispers “It is not so far” And Buddha declares it is right where you are O tell me how many tales have you tried? Tell me how many The things that you crave are the things you will be And the actions of now are tomorrow‟s memories So buy for a million, sell for a dime Buy for a million Somebody tells you the world‟s all wrong And somebody tells you the road is so long And if you have an argument, please see your mind And if you have an argument The man on the corner is singing the blues And the man in the office is studying the news So you‟re looking for trouble, trouble you‟ll find So you‟re looking for trouble I used to have to wind up my clockwork heart And my face was addicted and I did not feel part So look in the index, see my secret crime Look in the index Creation By Robin Williamson The messengers with sharpened heels Flew backwards into whose galloping arms And the impassioned Phoenix Drawls a sad goodnight to fiction's tomb Then come to me secretly And with your silken feather And with your silken feather Open your rooms Never, in fact, as he gazed amazed At two lost eyebrows lisping into the unexpected And the archetypal postman delivering your seed letters Whose eyes are black eggs really Upon a long shore, upon a long shore Open your door, open your door 'Ask anyone,' he muttered, as he spat a small, Brilliant blue insect whirring into the gauze. 'I would advise stilts for the quagmires, And camels for the snowy hills And any survivors Their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way, there's always a way. I smiled with that gallantly concealed forceful nervousness That has proved that oysters cry And that I have come to know and accept as myself. And plucking a barbed feather from the morose universe I called him deathless And he left before he could reply Open your eyes, open your eyes Our first father, Abraham, whose bosom Was the unique soul of the humans Was certainly as bewildered as we are If not infinitely more so And with an ancient ceremonial gesture of dismissal He pointed forward. Verily, verily Verily, verily The first day was golden And she coloured the sun And she named it Hyperion And she made it a day of light and healing The second was silver And she coloured the moon And she named it Phoebe And she made a day of enchantment and the living waters And the third was many-coloured And she coloured the earth And she made a day of joy With the scarlet strength of seed In the fourth black and white were mingled into quicksilver And she coloured Mercury And she made a day of wisdom And the signs that are placed in the firmament The fifth was bright blue And she envisaged Jupiter And she made a day of awe and circles, circles And she sent it to guide the blood of the universe The sixth was burning with icy, green flames that glowed white And of her beauty she made Venus And she made a day of love Whereby all beings are united The seventh was rich purple of the molluscs And she coloured Chronos And she made a day of idleness and repose Whereon all beings cease from struggle. Verily, verily Verily, verily I am the pebble in your very own eye I am the sword and your enemy dies I am the storm and the hurricane wind I am the thorn of an unkind friend I am desire what colour my eyes? I am Loki wizard of lies Catch me, find me, see me if you can I am the guilt of an honest man Then seven times we raised our arms and with cat-stretch Sent our footspells yawning into the multitudes In need we called upon the mother of all living Three times for succour But with ambitious spears they made us change They crouched behind their mirrors and fought on. I will not allow them praise That broke the harmonious globe in splintered fragments And yet they moved perforce with a perfect pattern And complemented harmony with discord And light with darkness It was then that we stepped out of our world machine Between the palm and the fingers Peeling like gloves And for each eye that shed one tear, We made of that tear an ocean And in the five directions We loosed our several craft. Wild sea, I say today, Please be a sweet cow for me Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea Gentle as lightning, easily Take me to the root of the world tree Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea Your face is consumed in a bruised sky's glance By the brazen wall with your sword and lance Where iron-eyed your sight was cast Where dappled maidens, endless danced Round the root of the world tree. Wild sea, I say today Please be a sweet cow for me Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea Wild sea, my love is salty for me Every ripple in her body is a wave in me Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea. All Too Much for Me By Robin Williamson Bless all the dead and every little unborn child Sitting in their mummies‟ tummies Warm as warm as warm could be No use trying, no use denying Way past lying, all too much for me Laughing and crying, living and dying Smiling and sighing, sitting in the world you see Now anything might happen any moment now The doors won‟t close to anything It‟s his, not yours, so take no vow No use trying, no use denying Way past lying, all too much for me I feel so humble, now got to tumble Lost in a jungle talking to a tree (Lost my cool you see) If you look too hard for anything, it disappears And I‟ve been looking much too hard For years and years and years and years (unreleased) Fine Fingered Hands By Robin Williamson I glanced down at her hands, at her fine fingered hands Nine naked Maja fingers lazy did lie On the tenth small finger where it crossed my eye Lo, a very small door Spiked all with coral With moonstones and bloodstones and the purple pearl A rolling road leaned against that door I stood before it with my crimson staff I dare not call and I see no key It opened with a cry and with a laugh Happy I walked that beautiful town Pale spires of water, roofs of thistledown It was paved all with green berries pale as dew Small windows bright with every hue I stood on a clockface underground Through shoals of movers that made no sound I whistled for a table and a chair Laughing they came there And from the curling crowd A girl brought hop‟s milk in a green silk jar Her face was sweet Her eyes like nenuphar I glanced down at her hands, at her fine fingered hands Nine cyclops fingers moved softly and sly On the tenth small finger where it crossed my eye Lo, a very small door All stained with bright jewels And painted with the festival of fools A rolling road leaned against that door I stood before it with my crimson staff I dare not call and I see no key It opened with a cry and with a laugh Happy I walked that beautiful town It was all of colours that the eyes have not shown The wind was solid and the rain was flame And the people clad in shining clothes Riding on the wind‟s wall on horses tall I sat on a fountain in a tree The moon was mining silver and shared it for me I whispered for a trumpet and a drum No, but they would not come But from the curling crowd A girl brought essence in a love-hewn jar Her face was sweet Her eyes like nenuphar I glanced down at her hands, at her fine fingered hands (performed but unreleased by the ISB; later released by Robin Williamson) Won‟t You Come See Me? By Robin Williamson (unreleased) Build a loving mansion with the shapeless bricks of time But friends they change like wispy mist though promises are fine Lovers also go their way Won‟t you come see me some sweet day Now love is on my shoulders, a cathedral and a town Love is in my body like a whale in the sun Dying flowers ache for rain Oh if I were very clever I would state it very clear That love of love is very huge, it‟s shouting in my ear Leaves me thinking with my body for a change I have no will to own you or with chains of duty bind your way to my way But won‟t you please come see me some sweet day Gather Round by Robin Williamson Gather round and I will tell you Of a man who walked alone He met with me one dusty evening He could not recall his home And he was not a beggar But people pressed coins in his hand And his skin it was weathered His eyes full of far foreign lands And he took food they offered him For the hunger in his soul And they want to wish he'd be there It was written on their scroll He had sold his heart's desire Winding many a tangled thread Salty tears he drank for water But the thought he ate for bread The bag across his shoulder Was a painted paper heart Filled with several thousand reasons Why two souls can speak too hard For he knew truth but seldom spoke Nor written with the ten pens of the hand And he sought not wealth Of the door he wished to understand And he sang of time a coming When all secrets would be known And the song would sing him the chorus And no soul will walk alone Here we are, here we are, Here we are, here we are, Here we are, here we are, Here we stay, here we stay Here we are, here we are, Here we are, here we are, Here the stars shall roll him away (unreleased) I Looked Up Black Jack Davy by Mike Heron Black Jack David is the name that I bear Been alone in the forest for a long time But the time is coming when a lady I'll find I will love her, hold her Singing through the green green trees And the skin on my hands is like the leathery hide and my face is hard from the cold wind But my heart so warm with the song that I sing Would charm a fair lady Singing through the green green trees Fair Eloise rode out that day From her fine fine home in the morning In the flush of the dawn came a sound to her ear Drifting and floating Singing through the green green trees Now fifteen summers was all that she'd seen And her skin was as soft as the velvet But she's forsaken her fine fine home And Black Jack David is Singing through the green green trees Last night she slept on a fine feather bed Far far from Black jack David But tonight she will sleep on the cold cold ground And love him and hold him Singing through the green green trees Saddle me up my fine gray mare Cried the lord of the house next morning For the servants tell me my daughter's gone With Black Jack David Singing through the green green trees And he rode all day and he rode all night But he never did find his daughter But he heard from afar come adrift on the wind Two voices laughing Singing through the green green trees Oh Black Jack David is the name that I bear Been alone in the forest for a long time But now I have found me a lady so fair I will love her and hold her Singing through the green green trees The Letter by Mike Heron Started rubbin' my eyes when I heard the birds talk Hey mister sleep you're gonna have to take 'walk But nothing has much power to make me rise as the post man Bringin' a mornin' surprise (Here he comes! You better believe it, here he comes!) Too much I've got a letter I'd better get out of bed That‟s what I said Then I pulled the covers right up to my nose I thought well the letter might be for Rose Her mother she writes very regularly Mister Postman have you got a letter for me “Er, Mr. Heron, yes I have!” Says “It‟s right here, yes I have!” Too much I've got a letter I said with some joy It came from Maria, Chicago, Illinois And I never have met her but she sounds sweet like a flower growin‟ on a rubbish heap She's got a lot of things 'round her She's gotta work out But she's gonna make it and I have no doubt (neither has she! Oh no, not Marie, not real!) Maria, the plane that brought your letter must have felt a little bit lighter The air hostess must've felt brighter bringing your letter over the sea And the pilot was your Orpheus singing a song for you Maria I'm singin' Hear me singin' I'll be your Orpheus too By the time you hear this song your troubles will be gone And you'll be left with what's shinin' through your letter you (repeat) Pictures In A Mirror by Robin Williamson Deep in the hollow jail Sleeps Lord Randall The mixed voices speak of bread And of sheets that were scarlet and blue are at his head His heart like a cat drowns in a well He thinks of all the girls he will not love He thinks not of the future or of the past Blue lightning spikes the hills above the sea Where Kasa's ship sets sail for otherwhere There stands the chief with gold on his hair Two fingers thick each link of coiled ore Speaks to his white skinned wife she answers not He hurls his question angry to the gulls His wife strikes her mouth with a skull like sound The bleeding image of her loss revolves above her mind With every line in its design an accusing eye That pierces Kasa's soul The slaves row on beneath the dragon flag His heart recoils recall his red-haired son Beneath the burning walls that he razed down His wife and he speak not as wine is brought A cup that seethes like the black blood of wolves His wife's dagger is hidden in her dress He drinks joyless to a dark sleep The gaoler bangs the iron door Lord Randall wakes in pain He shakes his shackles in the beaten gloom The blood of his wounds is hard as coal The gaoler leads him out upon the blinding bright stair He feels uneven turf beneath his feet The priest intones, the sword falls on his neck The pain is boiling cold They lay him in the tomb at the break of day They close the earthen door upon his clay The birds are plucking worms from the ground Their feathers grey as mist on a cloudy morn Foresters burn branches from the sleeping trees The white sun turns to stone His mother lies in her labour Nine days long She called on Saint Bridget in her time I looked out on the room of my birth With hangings rich of many strange designs Nobles stand with their wine cups in the room Saluting me and she the King's queen Already I am forgetting who I am Already I've forgotten who I've been My mother lifts me up to her huge soft breast Her nipple like a berry both hard and brown Her eyes look on me like waves of the sea And with small lips the yellow milk I draw. This Moment by Mike Heron This moment is different from any before it this moment is different it's now And if I don't kiss you That kiss is untasted I'll never get it back But why should I want to I'll be in the next moment Sweet moment Sweet lover Sweet now The walls of this room are different from any before them They are now They are now The air that you breathe is different from any before it It is now It is now You may think that life is repeating Repeating Repeating Repeating Repeating You may think that life is repeating Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no Each moment is different from any before it Each moment is different it's now When You Find Out Who You Are by Robin Williamson It's of a strange and furious time when men did seek to stray (parade ?) Along the road of discontent to gods of gold and clay Some did seek security Among the seas of change And some did seek dear life to wound a furious time and strange But when you find out who you are Beautiful beyond your dreams Just look around and notice where you are Just look around and notice what you see Each moment born for you innocently But when I see what we have made What we have cut with the mind's blade In the blackness feel it all Repeated faces rise and fall With ancient goals and wandering fail Further obscure the ancient trail Filling with the endless years The river of our heart's tears I swear you have the power as the angels do Spread out your fingers and make all things new Change the world by the things you say By the things you love And by the games you play And you make each new day It feels so funny in your mummy's tummy Before you get born into the world for to carry on Remember young man of the time before you first went to school How did it feel trying to live by the rule Remember young man of the time when your love stick First rose free between your legs Like a growing tree Remember you walked with your lover Like a gypsy and a gypsy queen Under the stars where the sight was seen Under the stars where the leaves were green Under the stars where the sight was seen O how many shining hearts With love have guided me How many I have met before in lands across the sea We used to speak of that ocean deep How little words can say It's better now to ask your friend What makes his world so grey or What makes him sad today No one can do it for you Make your own sky blue Make your own dreams come true Make it come true. Fair As You by Mike Heron My fairest love I live and learn the songs that ring true Whose message is plain whose words are few whose melodies smell of the pines love dwells between the lines cast upon the air to fly when words won't do Words won't do The sun he sings a song For every day a new But even he can‟t sing to me A song as fair as you In forest moist at break of day When wonder fills the air I thought to pluck at break of dawn a melody so fair Whose gracious form can match your own Your soul blessed in every turn coloured by the rainbow's pen in tints so rare Tints so rare Ring Dance By Robin Williamson The great oak stands five hundred years as solid as a wall sir By there comes the north wind and crashing down they fall sir The gentle grasses bend and sway, they grow unbroken still sir The strongest thing a man can do is change his mind at will sir All that our poor eyes can see is like some northern field sir The farmer‟s gone and the weeds grow there, how little it will yield sir To us it seems a mountain high begirt with snow and rain sir The strongest thing a man can do is dare to climb again sir The keepers of the scales and pens, the guardians of our time sir They ride blindfold down the hill, sat back to fore on swine sir And every healer that they meet, they nail him to his gate sir The strongest thing a man can do is still refuse to hate sir Infinite much I do not know but this seems plain to me sir Everything we‟ve seen this far ain‟t half of what we‟ll see sir Many people ask of me “What do you believe sir?” How much love a man can give that love that man receives sir (1970; performed but unreleased by the ISB; later released by Robin Williamson) Queen Juanita and her Fisherman Lover By Mike Heron Fisherman have you gone crazy Mending your nets so near the sun Just when the sun was highest in the sky She came by and took you by the hand To the shimmering ocean An underwater land Saying “I am Queen Juanita Come to my palace so grand, Fisherman come” Lying in the cool green stillness The seaweed‟s lazy drift Among the glistening pearly shells The languorous seabirds shift Drinking from Neptune‟s cup You sent a bubble floating to Queen Juanita‟s cheek She turns in her grace Leaves her dolphin, lifts her face Her seahorse earrings flick their tails Her eyes bejewelled with water snails await you Stay fisherman stay Brown fisherman stay Canopy of giant oystershells Golden with sand and legend Reflect the embrace of fisher and queen Across the bay a rainbow gleams Juanita loves you Queen Juanita she loves you Many men who sail upon the foam In the still of the evening far from home They hear her voice Much slender as the seagrass sways Her being is water‟s ways Juanita playing with the currents Spoken: The conch rings out across that watery bower A dangerous note struck in a dangerous hour. Osmeroy Overloader, notorious giant octopus, demon of the deep, Has vowed to ensnare Juanita and carry her off to the darkest doomy depths of the dim Sargasso Sea. The octopus comes nearer and nearer. He comes nearer and nearer and nearer. He stretches out his great tentacles towards Queen Juanita‟s silvery minarets. He comes nearer and nearer. Just then the fisherman who has been hiding all this while behind a rock tries to tiptoe away, and stumbling, plunges his thumb into the octopus‟ eye. [Sounds of screaming] says the octopus, falling down in a messy heap on the sand. Eurrrrhhhh! Come prawn, come skate Come fat, come thin Come early, come late Come swim, come plunge Come float and treading It is the day of our great Queen‟s wedding All across the sea the tabor is beating The guests are drinking and the guests are eating And all the ocean will sing forever of Queen Juanita and her fisherman lover. (recorded in 1970; released on “Seasons They Change”) U Juggler's Song By Robin Williamson Gather round friends and I'll show you what I made, Something in my bag that'll surprise you all It's a secret, don't push, I'm not ready Something to dazzle your eyes-o Something to blow your mind away, Something that I made today The first little ball is red and green Oh it's pretty Yes I know what you mean I call it Space, do dio dio do And what it will do I just don't know But the trees may whisper and the hills may grow While it's changing The first and only juggler, I must be the best I love to see the rings spin, never at rest Up in the air and back to me What it will do I just can't see Something to blow your mind away, Something that I made today The next little ball is silver and black See it chase the first one forward and back I call it Space, do dio do What it will do I just don't know But it seems to make a difference just to have it so While it's changing The next little ball is too hot to hold I have to keep tossing it and I hope it gets cold I call it Power do dio do What it will do I just don't know But it seems to make the whole thingummywhojemyflippery rattle and go While it's changing Something to blow your mind away, Something that I made today The next little ball is orange and blue I can't juggle four so I'll toss it to you And I call it Time... Time By Robin Williamson Arise, arise and follow me as best you can Come follow me, my measured dance Come see my circus, come dice with chance Now you are come beneath my sway Who once was as the daylight gay Here's rights, here‟s wrongs and reasons why A time to live A time to die I was your slave, now you are mine I am Time, I am Time. Experience will teach you what you may and what you may not do I'll teach you to forget the truths you always knew See what might be, See what might have been Though you yourself created me, Your own mistake has set me free I was your slave, now you are mine I am Time, I am Time. Queen of Love By Robin Williamson A strong power calls from the left hand Across the waters deep a strong power calls from the left hand let all things sleep or weep oh the queen of love, you have unwove my eyes and my heart will not sleep the eye would sleep but the mind would rise I must needs walk down God's eyebrows and along the street of his eyes look for me and you will see me in my red cloak swimming determined as God's blood flows creatures of grief you beg from the thief I will not carry home your sacks of sorrow but I will pay the fiddler good silver if he smiles pray God he see tomorrow and the fine fine girls that are into it and my eyes with salt water swim and we disputing with a brittle gaiety upon the world's rim if I sought to love you with my body it would be with a bent back unto the day of doom Oh the Queen of Love I am in her heart she is in my room and together alone we clasp hands and in each other's eyes walk the endless shore and below I have my duty to perform in the song and that that I was you will see it no more the snow is on the hills of my heart and to speak is to die the men at arms do seek to mark me and the monks raise hue and cry seek me in vain on Golgotha or in fear's hollow for the way I take today only the true may follow the ancestors in stone armour calling for loyalty untrue seek to make a zigzag of the arrow's flight it is so swaddled in the bands of form but I am girdled with the storm and cloaked with the night I am not to be seen or found save only in what I cause standing outside on the inside outside perfectingness and flaws how will I say where I end or where you begin how will I say, what shall I play shall it be you or the wild wind as Pan with the unsane eyes or with the wild horns or when I am crowned with the paper crown or with the crown of thorns a strong power compels distortion from the right hand fleece to the grey wolves fangs to the grey sheep but the Queen of Love she strokes my body alive, that I do not sleep. The doctor brews potions and pills to open his own front door and the locksmith makes strong bolts to bar his gates to every new breeze that blows shall I now put lion's ears upon my ears hear every sound as a roar shall I now put mouse's eyes upon my eyes gauge the moon for size against my paw while the Queen of Love she sings to me from above and beyond the world and I observe my mind it is playing ignorant boy while at her feet I am curled and I remember all female movements so well of such a form to bring much joy and ease much care to perfume and let fall the coloured gown and to let down the curling hair. But now I play seed thrower and I will play three-legged man I will play dream weaver and day-bringer and catch as catch can While the Queen of Love she swims like a silver dove in my mind's room and my body sleepwalks down the road in a warm dark swoon Light In Time Of Darkness/Glad To See You By Mike Heron Oh light in time of darkness When your eyes on mine fell My heart on timeless waters drifted chorus: I want to know you I want to know you I want to know you well Oh strength in time of trouble Pray your nature tell Oh beautiful and shining one chorus: Oh timeless closeness springing Between our paths in time Oh crystal bell of truth ringing chorus: Oh formless bliss come flying On wings of laughter free Oh road of beauty crying chorus: Brother all I know is I am I know not yet who I am But a bright star took my right hand Led me to this strange and far land Oh new star touch with your silver breath my light Then you may know who I am Brother the sun shines on our path Flowers grow and birds sing on our path Come to me love take my right hand Together to walk in this far land Oh new star touch with your silver breath my light Then you may know who I am Glad To See You I'm glad, glad to see you So glad, glad to see you It must feel good to be you And it feels good to be me When you're glad to see me Walking Along With You By Mike Heron There are many things'll give you a good time I have known a few But my lover it's you that makes my eyes shine And makes the sky so blue And it makes me feel so very good When I'm walking along with you When we're walking along You've got the power you're so strong But you move your body like a midnight song I love you Last night we made a meadow Bathed among the dew And out of buttercup's pale clear light I was born anew And it makes me feel so very good When I'm walking along with you When we're walking around I see your feet kissing the ground Your arms make music without a sound I love you Hirem Pawnitof By Mike Heron It's of a famous highwayman a story I will tell His name was Hirem Pawnitof, in bread street he did dwell Through all the storms of his career few troubles he had missed His tale was wrote from ear to ear, and he looked like this: Throughout the land his gallant band in many a song did star With Biceps dead, and Pretty Boy fled, and Boothill claimed Bill Star Though the best are gone, he still rides from Leeds to Carter Bar Weedy and few his motley crew And here they are: His purse was lined with empty air, his wherewithal was low The last good swag to pad his lag was 40 years ago His motley band were out of hand, their breakfast they had missed Then travellers two hove into view And he challenged them like this. The stranger turned to his lady fair A smile played on his lips What's the deal, are they for real they've been taking too many trips No gold need we, we travel free, here's something we won't miss A treasure map from Gabby the Flap And he gave it him like this: His glasses perched upon his nose the map he carefully sussed Each robber's eye filled with surprise, there's gold in it for us The strangers waved the band goodbye but they did not see them go Hirem got his compass out, said follow me lads, Westard Ho Then had not gone but 20 yards when a pieman they did spy They smacked their lips with hunger keen - my kingdom for a pie The peddler twinkled once or twice Not one word did he say With snake-like eyes he shouted 'pie' and he struck him on the head with the tray At that moment Hirem Pawnitof attained enlightenment. Come on said Hirem laughing much Let's see what's down this road His troop were dropping, wearily stooping men of no fixed a bode Just then a milkmaid Hirem spied their hearts were filled with bliss Like long lost friends who meet again they fondly kissed like this I need a man around the place the milkmaid breathed with charm And Hirem twirled his long moustache and took her by the arm The last we heard they all lived there doing what the law allows They all ate breakfast every day, happily growing cows. Bridge Song By Mike Heron Beautiful Girl: To the South a brightness It is not the moon deep dreams unfurling It is not the starlight far but near I feel in my heart bright joy stirring Look yonder love, see it comes more clear To the South a brightness City of light unfolds its glory How it calls me on through the night Pinnacles of gold, towers of the silver bright And the soul of city calls, Come, be my bride tonight To the South a brightness And I must go The bridge opens its arms and bends low And you my love must go where you will See you Seeker: Beloved how I love, how I love To see things through the magic of your eyes To share things that make your spirit rise up But try as I might, and try as I may I can't see anything Invocation By Robin Williamson you that create the diversity of the forms open to my words you that divide and multiply hear my sounds I make yield league to you ancient associates and fellow wanderers you that move the heart in fur and scale I join with you you that sing bright and subtle making shapes that my throat cannot tell you that harden the horn and make quick the eye you that run the fast fox and the zigzag fly you sizeless makers of the mole and of the whale aid me and I will aid you I make a blood pact with you you that lift the blossom and the green branch you who make symmetries more true you who consider the angle of your limbs who dance in slower time who watch the patterns you rough coated who eat water who stretch deep and high with your green blood my red blood let it be mingled aid me and I will aid you I call upon you you who are unconfined who have no shape who are not seen but only in your action I will call upon you you who have no depth but choose direction who bring what is willed that you blow love upon the summers of my loved ones that you blow summers upon those loves of my love aid me and I will aid you I make a pact with you you who are the liquidness of the waters and the spark of the flame I call upon you you who make fertile the soft earth and guard the growth of the growing things I make peace with you you who are the blueness of the blue sky and the wrath of the storm I take the cup of deepness with you earthshakers and with you the sharp and the hollow hills I make reverence to you round wakefulness we call the earth I make wide eyes to you you who are awake every created thing both solid and sleepy or airy light I weave colours round you you who will come with me I will consider it beauty Robot Blues By Robin Williamson Down in Robot City, you might think it's play play play Down in Robot City, you might think it's play play play But a Number 5 Robot he must work in all the night and day Number 1 come by, he give my work to me Oil the flowers, fix the showers, clean the electronic trees Shine the light, fix it right, now listen carefully Don't you go romancing with that pretty Number Three and that's why, why I got the Robot Blues, Down in my heart compartment Down in my old magnetic sole shoes When I see that Number 3 I get a charge all in my dial When I see that Number 3 my piston fills with oil You know what I'm talking about But she likes that number 1 because he's rich with all my toil toil toil That Number 3 she charm the heart of any robot man Moving her body like an old tin can If I could get my claws on her I would lubricate her free I've got a perfect action why won't she play with me and that's why, why I got the Robot Blues, Down in my heart compartment Down in my old magnetic sole shoes Well I think I'll get a ray gun I will see what that will do I think I'll get a ray gun I think I'll get a ZZ Special Q I will blast the Number 1's gaskets and his coils I will refuse to renew He seen me coming, sneak up from behind switched off my vision and he left me stone blind I could not see to blast him here's the ending of my tale He went of with Number 3 and I cursed to no avail and that's why, why I got the Robot Blues, Down in my heart compartment Down in my old magnetic sole shoes Puppet Song By Robin Williamson Now you may have observed if you walk into a wall you get a certain sensation of reality when you take a look through your memory book you may perceive a certain rhythmic regularity the crazy things your mind gets up to when you're away throwing clouds of rain over brightest day there was once a little man he worked all day and slept all night he looked at the sun it didn't seem bright, it didn't seen right he wondered did the world go rolling along on its own or did some spirit move it with a black cat bone and he set out to find the causes behind the events in the world and the seasons of the mind so he asked his wife about it, and his wife said yes come back and see me if it's time to know less you do too much a-questioning of the world at large everybody knows the politician's in charge so he went to the Kinghouse just the next day to see that politician with his hair dyed grey jump down turn around blow you up or kiss the ground trying to be the president of the land so gay he had false pretendies, I had to love his style bound to make some havoc with that violin smile hey, Salvador Dali, make a walking talking something you paint some freaky pictures, make a likeness of that man muchos dollars if you can so the little man asked the politician who makes the plan who makes the plan, what happens to me and who has the key now you are asking me who makes the scene his highness King Gold and Madam Silver his queen they keep it all a-rustling with the dollars and pounds and everyone knows that money makes the world go round so the little man asked King Gold and Madam Silver come tell me what you can and King Gold said, lifting his golden voice from his golden bed now money is something, it's a basic flow and me I am the archetype of jewels and dough I do a lot of talking both slow and fast but me make decisions, no of course it's the past for the past is something, we all have some and universal history is a bundle of fun now I'm getting sleepy, starting to nod if you want to check the picture, want to check the picture want to check it, check it with God so the little man climbed up on a rickety ladder, to the heavenly lands and he shed a tear, 'it's all so queer and it doesn't seem clear' now God was sitting easy in a heavenly chair breathing deep and lazy on the heavenly air the little man got near him just to get right from wrong said 'God are you responsible for all that goes on' God looked up from having a heavenly think he gave that little questioner a heavenly wink, saying 'men have coloured me with the colours of their minds so I find they used me as an excuse for all kinds of goofs and for crimes of all kinds all your so hard facts painted thinly on the void why were you not more pleasantly employed anything you want to do, I'm happy if you make it go right and it's true if it makes you happy you know it makes the world more bright and you shall have liberty it always was yours anyway you're one of my kind, you're an infinite mind you make each new day there's nothing more I can say' Cutting The Strings By Robin Williamson There now, they've all gone almost as if they never had been I turn my eyes backwards and I gaze into my own gaze I turn my eyes inwards and I gaze into my own face I built my prison stone by stone how many useless knots I tied I dug the pitfalls in my path how many useless tears I cried here to build in worlds of beauty no-one made a joy a duty no-one, no-one but me I saw the birds that flew so free I envied them their grace divine I saw the dancer's airy steps theirs was a different world than mine here to build in worlds of glory no-one made my sad sad story no-one, no-one but me when useless walls come tumbling down sparrows will sing on the fallen stones Adam will pull the knife from his brow Eve will lick the salt from his wounds free to make my own tomorrow free to free my heart from sorrow free to hear and smell and see free to be me, free to be free I Know You By Christina McKechnie I know you through and through Saw you kiss the flowers For hours and hours Saw you colour the flowers For hours and hours You and all the ones I've known Shall wear my crown Winged we were before time was How we've flown, how we've flown I love the others My sisters and brothers I love them all the more Now that I've found you I love them all the more. Rainbow By Mike Heron Golden seeds of autumn streak the purple sky miles of amber raindrops stretch between our hands just then, just then my heart leaped high beautiful colours danced in my eye walked to the window looked up at the sky As I lit an evening candle feeling you were there with me all around me, saw your love come shining brightly You're a rainbow And me I'll come shining though Rain's gone, and the sky is blue I'm a Rainbow too No-one can say how long I've loved you Rainbow shine no one can say cause nobody knows Rainbow rainbow rainbow time Morning light of springing snowdrop golden sun - at midday hour twilight violet midnight stars come shining silver you're a rainbow and you take my breath away you make me stop and say I'm a rainbow too If you see a soft light falling And you feel I'm there with you All those colours They do not come from the candle, Oh no you're a rainbow Born are the words On the silent wings of love So dear to me, sweet song of love Coloured are the words with the rainbow of truth So dear to me As long as I live I will sing that song so dear So dear to me And merging with mine the voice of all that you are will shine so dear to me sweet song of love And me I'll come shining through Rain's gone and the sky is blue I'm a rainbow too No-one can say how long I've loved you rainbow shine No-one can say, cos nobody knows Rainbow rainbow time Me, I'm not missing you I'm right there kissing you I'm a rainbow too I can tell by your eyes You've been singing that old sweet song Let your love roll on Everybody here I think will agree That they can sing that song As good as can be You know I'd hate to go I'd hate to go Before I see everybody here Shine like a rainbow I have seen you there Long Long Road By Mike Heron I‟m thinking tonight of that long long road And all who walk upon it Dying at midnight New born by sunlight We need love all right I‟ve been hurt so bad on that long long road In the dust that I picked up took me I was lying at sunlight All alone crying by moonlight I needed love all right We needed love all right Myrrh Strings In The Earth And Air By James Joyce Strings in the earth and air make music sweet strings by the river where the willows meet there's music along the river for love wanders there pale flowers on his mantle dark leaves on his hair all softly straying with head to the music bent and fingers playing upon an instrument twilight turns from amethyst to deep and deeper blue lamps light with a pale green glow the trees of the avenue the old piano plays an air sedate and slow and gay she bends upon the yellow keys her head inclines this way shy thoughts and grave wide eyes and hands that wander as they list twilight turns a darker blue with lights of amethyst. Rends-moi Demain By Robin Williamson Rends-moi demain et le lendemain pour toi j'éfface le passé pour toi j'écris les heures laisses-moi derouler dans le cháteau vitreu de tes pensées tes réves mondains tes espoirs purs m'envoies tes baisers quand départ le jour les nuits s'éloignent tu me manques car les danses bizarres de ce monde patinoir génent maintenant mes yeux. translation: Give me tomorrow and the following day for you I erase the past for you I write the hours allow me to unroll myself in the glassy castle of your thoughts your worldly dreams your pure hopes send me your kisses when the day departs the nights grow longer I miss you for the strange dances of this world skating rink hinder my eyes just now. The Dancing of the Lord of Weir By Robin Williamson In the third part of the year when men begin to gather fuel against the coming cold hear hooves ring hard on frosty ground begins our song for centuries we lived alone high on the moors herding the deer for milk and cheese for leather and horn humans came seldom nigh for we with our spells held them at bay and they with gifts of wine and grain did honour us returning at evening from the great mountains out red hoods ring with bells lightly we run until before our own green hill there we did stand she is stolen she is snatched away through watery meads straying our lovely daughter she of the wild eyes she of the wild hair snatched up to the saddle of the lord of Weir who has his castle high upon a crag a league away upon the horse of air at once we rode to where Weir's castle lifts like a crippled claw into the moon and taking form of minstrels brightly clad we paced upon white ponies to the gate and rang thereon "we come to sing unto my lord of Weir a merry song." into his sorry hall we stepped where was our daughter bound near his chair "come play a measure!" "sir at once we will!" and we began to sing and play to lightly dance in rings and faster turn no man within that hall could keep his seat but needs must dance and leap against his will this was the way we danced them to the door and sent them on their way into the world where they will leap amain till they think one kind thought for all I know they may be dancing still while we returned with our own into our hall and entering in made fast the grassy door. Will We Open the Heavens By Robin Williamson Let me be where love is born to sail upon a scallop shell the way no hair of a thought is disturbed and the sight is still as moonlight clasps each leaf of a tree of dust until it knows it is alive and lives to be green tell me will we open the heavens and disperse ourselves as rain or passing by some closed door beam morning at the passing of all dreams i love you in spirit and in earth through all and beyond until sweet kindness fills all space quieting the howling stars. Through the Horned Clouds By Robin Williamson I see your faces blown through the horned clouds in the silent cities they call me so loud come through the fire come through the foam come at the world's night call the herds home dearest child dearest child Most High please don't let our fancy die till all the grapes are gathered from the vine when you come will you sound the harp give to the blind cat's eyes in the dark o will we know you for what you are you who have come so far sweetest fair sweetest fair Most High don't let them cut that ladder before its time for all the grapes to be gathered from the vine He comes again She comes again through the mist of time through the mist of rain no more words my heart brims over in the sea of circumstance rows for the rocky shore we who have sworn by the dead and the unborn wheels within wheels O Most High. Sandy Land By Robin Williamson The wheels roll on and on into the older west seeking for sleep and you found no rest old genetic train is railed to the ground it keeps your smiles turned down dandelion compass and the bible and pin seen some seasick sailors since the origin you may sift your bread you can save your bran its hard to make a living on sandy land the map of human theatre its incomplete favourite parts are broken hearts and poison sweet here grins the villain in the smartest car the hero in the mask of bone everyone prompting behind the scenes for their reasons unknown the map of human theatre its filled with roads but favourite routes are concrete boots and overloads. Cold Harbour By Robin Williamson Please never name yourself to me enough lies we see even the moonlight come rest, rest awhile beneath the shade of all the beauty you have made and shared with me you are my pride to think I once though you had died in cold harbour it seems there will be no more goodbyes for you and I dearest companions there's time to wipe away what went before to give away what you have stored and moor no more moor no more in cold harbour it seems there will be no journey's end for you and I dearest companions mother and I we have been singing all we can I know that you will understand you can be so strong and kind no one will be left behind when we leave cold harbour cold harbour hard hard haven. Dark Eyed Lady By Robin Williamson Dark eyed lady I believe you are the one I loved before you are the one I loved before beneath the eucalyptus of your garden door I see a face within your face I'm not looking any more for anyone to take your place at the noon of night I believe we'd leave our bodies there below lying there below along the hidden ways to go to the hidden hall where the friends convene to sing the songs that cannot be sung to do the things that cannot be done I always knew I would meet you again I believe you are my long lost friend I will know you when time has an end and love continues to begin I believe you are the one the one I loved before. I See Us All Get Home By Robin Williamson You treat me so kindly how can I repay seeing your lips talking so lovely takes my breath away you make me restless but you give me words to say and if I don't get it wrong I see us all get home let me be your fantasy let me kiss your weary foot let me be your cameraman your confidant your preacher and your prostitute let me be your enemy but over all let me be your friend cause if I don't get it wrong I see us all get home I see us hew great mountains down I see us in a lovely place I see us naked of lies together I see us naked of disgrace I see trust born in us through honour and I see peace come and if I don't get it wrong I see us all get home. Smiling Men With Bad Reputations Call Me Diamond Call me diamond, call me gold I have been bought, been sold I've been hung up, been laid been exalted, been betrayed I've been killed, I have been maimed I've been freed, been tamed. Oh, come on, come on, dig my mine. Oh, come on, come on kiss me, kiss me all along my spine. Call me diamond, call me gold Been in the fire so hot, been in the ice so cold Been in the summer, winter, spring and fall Been in the everything, I've been in the nothing at all. Flowers Of the Forest Sweet love the words that made you cry They came from one that don't have love like we do Even if you'd give him all your sweet love Probably turn his back and walk away, Lookin' for a trick and he wouldn't understand That you just want to stretch out your hand You know he's closed himself to all the grief and pain that he can't stand And he's bound his heart with an iron band Come dry your tears like the sun dries the rain Deep is the river running through my life Full shines the sun upon it The girl I love swims there all day long You know she is bright as the flowers of the forest The tender tears in your smiling eyes They meld me right to my soul We have to part now for a while But our lives will cross for ever You'll bless every place you pass through So much good in all you do. I can't understand how anyone could hurt you so bad So sad to see them hide from what they are Me I know you like I know the song in my soul It's gonna be all right Audrey Audrey my dear, I've been waitin' so long for you girl Won't you let it all come on through Tonight won't you come and make love to me Oh Audrey my dear Just look at us, walkin' in the snowy street with our collars up I don't want to go to another party, 'cos I've had enough And you, you look so lovely, I want very much To take your clothes off and hold you very close Someplace where it's quiet enough To feel our love a-growin. Brindaban Lately I've seen your face come close in on mine like sunshine Lately I've heard your voice come close in on mine like sunshine And I know your life is running close to me Peacocks in the first, kokilas in the fifth Sing like Jayadeva Ma lati, Madhava, how close Brindaban Feast of Stephen When winter came this year she found me well prepared for her The flame well fed with pine, shuttered windows oakwood doors From the low dales come the fiddler, gave his tunes their flight Don't know her name or the dance that became her so well From topmost limb of night's dark tree Tonight my lantern light floats free The ladies danced so well, the ladies danced so light But it was not mortal step drew me from my guests to meet the night Snow lies deep with friends unseen I will light my eyes to Venus green Holding my life with a hope When the midnight skies rise, She flies--- Spirit Beautiful Glow little spark glow brightly in the embers of dying fire See the people come run to their windows What manner of lightning this Oh spirit, spirit beautiful Oh spirit, spirit beautiful Swim little bubble swim lightly, bubble on a silent pool See the people come run to their windows What manner of ocean this Grow little seed grow brightly resting in a nest of earth See the people come run to their windows What manner of lightning this Warm Heart Pastry Hey I know your faces and you've sent them here before Drinking my wine, dropping your ash on my floor, I'm waiting And when you call, bring it all I'm thin and I'm getting thinner Hey I'm a hungry man and you know I ain't talking 'bout grits Yeah I'll bid for the puzzle 'cos I think I know how it fits You could be fat as a hog, still you want to chew it One day you're gonna find out - hot dog doesn't do it Warm heart pastry Talkin' bout warm hot pastry sure „nuff I am Hey I'm a hungry man and you know I ain't talkin‟ 'bout grits Just look at you, you got a sour lemon stuck where a smile oughta fit Beautiful Stranger Soft lapped the bark boats A wounded shoulder hurt me not Snake - like branches quietly hid my eyes so bright in the swamp-red sun Soft edged the foreign words Coloured by the dark waves splash in the mist Brown the breasts and purple-stained Dye deep-pounded with the stone The warm wind now lifts the haze I looked and I caught my breath And I raised my head up high And I shouted out loud in my soul Beautiful stranger I'm glad I found you Bright the sky above my head Streaked with red and yellow wing Warm the mud between my toes Darkest green the inland trail Distant now the bark boats Golden beads on silver wire of sea Long bathed by salty spray Visions float on the dry earth‟s smell Drifting back through younger days I looked and I caught my breath And I shouted out loud in my soul Beautiful stranger I'm glad I found you Moist and cool the river bank Laid me down against a tree Remembering as in a dream Shoulder cut in the dark waves splash In that place no wound there was Only a ring of finest bronze there gleamed Soft lapped the back boats Brown the breasts and purple stained River green reflect the gaze I looked and I caught my breath And I raised my head up high And I shouted out loud in my soul Beautiful stranger I'm glad I found you No Turning Back No turning back I gave a small cry Stirring in your sleep you caught my thought So close and so far is a bad way to leave you Once more the sea shore dry Next time around lover Next time around redeemer Next time around saviour We'll put our love together and sing Remember, through it all I loved you And you knew I loved you So it wasn't such a bad one Son it wasn't such a bad one No brother but Oh - next time around Willow Pattern by Robin Williamson The sun in the pale silence Through the soft yellow mist A gentle sighing My love lies alone in guarded palace Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Ho! Drifting in moonlight I wait for soft step I know through swaying grasses The bird will sing so sweet The cage is broken Hoi-hoi-ya &c My skirt is long and the pink flowers tall Oh how I love you, love you best of all How we shall dance and sing of the day You're so much stronger than twice what you say Hoi-hoi-ya &c Under the plum blossoms lingering snow Come with me love before we must go Over the water to our secret way Tomorrow will be our sweet wedding day Hoi-hoi-ya &c Her father the Emperor has denied their right to marry Hoi-ya-nah! The lovers seek to escape by their secret way over the willow bridge Hoi-yo, hoi-yo? A spy has betrayed them, they are pursued by the palace guard Hoi-ya! Before their cruel spears can pierce their innocent flesh We'll fly away like doves in the sky Higher and higher, ever so high We'll fly away like doves in the blue Never they'll sever a love that is true Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Hoi-hoi-ya Living in the Shadows By Robin Williamson Living in the shadows and calling you I was calling Could hardly hear you calling me Could not see you in my memory Time rolled on like a river, like a wind Like an endless song Something was wrong for me Could not see you in my memory I tasted every drink, I was a sober man You were my wine You were my wine You left me outside Outside (unreleased) Lowlands Away By Mike Heron (unreleased) If the night was more gentle I would lie at home and sigh And sing a song But they ladies, they‟re so fair and bold Calling out my name Wearing their fine bodies with insight All in the cool of the startling night Stars on my breast like pearls for a lover‟s tongue or touch With fire of dawn and you ride upon the hills like thunder You‟re so silent I recognise your song And your mask of light for the seventh morn Changing your dance for the lowlands Come on, turn your long legs home Jade princess stranded, pale ship gone far Fiery light in the silver dawn Scanning the skies for our lowlands Turn your long legs home The guitar lines tremble for the rosehip man Lingering essence to fill the rain Turning the galleons homeward again Turn your long legs home Cool high majestic (indecipherable) And her black bead shine on the lotus flower Deep is the chanting a lowland hour Turn your long legs home Come you long life sailors on the waves so high All you who‟ve heard the captain‟s cry I mean piercing the sky, lowlands away Turn your long legs home Lowlands lowlands away away Sea White Horses By Robin Williamson Sea white horses Prancing, dancing over a lilac sea Waves like silver leaves silver leaves O sea of memory, sea of memory They got silver hooves, silver bells Eyes like ivory Get up in the saddle Ride over the waves so free Under a lilac sky Over a violet sea Far far away (unreleased) El Ratto By Robin Williamson (unreleased) I am El Ratto The aristocratto From gay Seville I hail I am a gay bagatto With my lips I kiss the mirror Mmmm, multo eleganto! Naked I stand Will I wear red or blue? Will I wear velvet black or the doublet new? I pass – the damsels sigh And fainting all, saying “I would wed El Ratto or none at all” (A devil for the ladies) Cara mia, I am so sincere I keen for you, dearest snookums Beneath her window I was singing “O soleoeoeoeoeoeo” But she was upstairs with my rival. Upstairs I ran, three steps at every stride, Tu es magnifico. I sneer, screech, I curse his mother‟s knee, I step up to my rival, I seize him by the collar and to him I say “I am El Ratto Well known as the aristocratto. Flee, coward, flee, flee While yet you may.” My rival turns, hmmm, turns, Hmm, tall, hmm, taller than I thought… Aaaah, he‟s coming! It is El Catto! My pants I shatto! Between his clan and mine is a long vendetta I honourably withdraw, I think I‟d better I think I may go seek some calmer region Perhaps I‟ll go and join the Foreign Legion Liquid Acrobat As Regards the Air Talking of the End By Robin Williamson Talking of the end talking of the end let me hear you say you disagree talking of the end talking of the end let me hear you say it will not be this is no time for easy riding this is no time to cry better start to play your part start to live before you start to die dream the world all alive busily conspiring humming like a hive dream the world all alive I dream it as me rise as fair and tender leaves brightening in countless eyes and the sweet song of whales beneath the sea if I could sing only one song I'd sing of you Additional verse sung live: If you go to the beautiful future Carry it my love from me You‟ll see what‟s done in the heart of the sun And in the deep salt sea Remember every second since the world began Build new worlds for your play Reach out your hand, pick the fruit of the stars When all that mist rolls away Dear Old Battlefield By Robin Williamson just another rusty brother seeing his old role replayed looking in the world like a broken mirror seeing his old face displayed they come and go, come and go why do you advertise goodbye living a lie will lay you low, what can I tell you, what can I sell you but the truth will make you high death is unreal that's the way I feel there's more to be revealed lovers and friends meet again and again on the dear old battlefield I will see my memory lightly let me go I know that we will always be but time pass fast and slow agelong cradlesong almost had me sleeping for good if not for the plan of the magic man who finally helped me out of the wood. Cosmic Boy Lyrics by Christine McKechnie I'm calling to you my cosmic boy for I want to say hello and I see you smile your shining joy ah you look so high you look so high and I shall dance for you the sweetest dance that I can do yes I shall dance the sweetest dance I can ah you're looking so fine now all soft-eyed and shiney and when you look how you are I'm so proud you are a friend of mine and I shall dance for you the sweetest dance that I can do yes I shall dance the sweetest dance I can all along the soft pink clouds yes on the rolling clouds endless Worlds They Rise and Fall By Mike Heron worlds they rise and fall within her eyes she gives the eagle wings to fly her skies upon her breath the four winds live and die and sometimes its all I can do is bow to her chorus: but when the moon is misty through the trees right now she says I want to be your girl, your little girl stars they rise and fade, around her dance for her the steep is climbed the gulf is spanned she lives, she lives, the bards sing, around her stand and sometimes its all I can do is bow to her Evolution Rag By Robin Williamson we're the fish men and the sea apes look at our tails and scales and out big tough leader away he wails he thinks he is the king pin but he's outraced by the little weedy stranger with the grin on his face but that is the illusionist the circus man and the whole man murdering sea is his caravan (it leaks) eat air croquettes my children dear if you want to save yourself time and tears history picnickers follow me evolution up the slopes of the sea out on the land out on the land singing hurray while a million years pass by and we get well on our way grandma clears the trash left by previous picnic slaves and with just one swipe of her ragged fins she uncovers the caves singing Billy go store the map safely underground he does but what is this that he has found the map has gone how will we grow old grandma's tears made the barbecue cold I find myself saying here's where I came in the illusionist has vanished like a red hot gin Painted Chariot By Mike Heron only a painted chariot but it took you so far into the rain and the coachman slapped his fist on the chariot in the mist he said look here sonny, can't you see its as real as pain see this fine chariot, won't you ride it I'm the coachman, won't you trust me to guide it and it's only a painted chariot don't you trust that coachman he doesn't want you to be free then you got high, deep sigh, much more, where's the door hear the old prayers, find the wise players Adam and Eve By Robin Williamson once before the world began God was sitting in the sky he began to get some mud together o I wonder why first he made a man and then he made a woman Mr. Adam and miss Eve they began to be quite good friends as I can well believe o remember that morning remember that time take a warning when you see the sign Eve was sitting in the garden when in came a serpent miss Eve take this apple give it to your man give it to your man I don't want it o Adam give it a try o give it a try friends if you're travelling never go taking an apple from a snake if you do I'll tell you true you make a big mistake Red Hair By Mike Heron stepping out of the grey day she came her red hair falling like the sky love held them there in that moment with the whole world passing by he could look through all of his books and not find a line that would do to tell of changes he could feel her make in him just by being there so good just to walk in the light may the moon shine down on love every night sometimes it seems the only things real are what we are and what we feel Here Till Here Is There By Robin Williamson where will you go when days grow short and winds grow cold and green leaves are shaken there was a road as once I saw wound with bright ivies and trumpeting haws of whitest sand embroidered with flowers that very few had taken where will you go while rivers run and days eat days and white stars are pining in hopes more true in hearts more gay in love that is stronger and brighter that day in hands that heal in thoughts that play in all eyes shining Darling Belle By Robin Williamson papa would take me to the park to see the swans by hansom cab trotting so high holding his hand to see the swans hissing louder than rustling dresses of gracious ladies bustling by see swan ships come sailing in white as the clouds on a windy day James I suppose would be in school James I suppose would be in school I was I was learning to spell laughing at loud smells avoiding the rod of the codfaced master was it your absence made me quiet at noon playing British bulldogs on the gravel was it your presence coloured my dream I burrowed in cupboards like a mole all saturday under old chairs and old ladies knees I framed your half remembered face with frail white embroideries calling for you down the mousey garden calling for you down the mousey garden o did you meet him at the ball eighteen years on tall soldier now and you full grown Belle did you meet him at the ball o do you remember me thin girl with cold hands you in your scarlet and you knew my name step to the veranda under the wisteria in the mysterious November dancing as if with death or fate to the moon black ballroom of the silk skinned lake kissing me you lifted my skirt under the willow trees keep the home fires burning though your heart is yearning though the boys are far away they dream of home there's a silver lining in the dark clouds shining turn that lining inside out till the boys come home o did I see you march to the train did I cry was my nose red my two day bride can you feel me in your memory I will be the redness in your iron fire how could i write my words would seem sad or gay we regret to inform you we regret to inform you meet me by gaslight in dark dawn on Waterloo Bridge we will walk arm in arm hearing the leaves fall with whisper into the foggy dew when we are dead when we are dead now she sits in her brother's window's house skin like a lizard aura like a daffodil migrant guest from relative to inlaw she stares into the embers and remembers I Know that Man By Mike Heron I know that man, I know that man He‟s just too old for you His hopes are dead His dreams are fled Too old for you Why should you be his pillow or his pill How come you love him How come you love him still? I know that man, I know that man He‟s just too pale for you He‟s not too strong He won‟t last long, too stale for you Do you really think he‟ll make it up this hill? How come you love him still? When I was on fire I used to want you then When I was a man I did not care I leave you now the keys to the highway Go on, see how you fare I know that man, I know that man He‟s just too pretty for you (indecipherable line) What will he do when there‟s nothing left to kill? How come you love him still? Earthspan My Father was a Lighthouse Keeper By Malcolm LeMaistre Lying on the beach with desire Rocking to the music of the waves I was in despair My heart needed repair My lover had lied to me but I was bored by what I saw there Why? Why! Why? My father was a lighthouse keeper Watched the waves getting steeper Watched the ships going down In Cadillacs they sailed with the tide Beneath the pier the sea she stroked the night I rocked a little then I moved my body again My lover kissed my lips I was digging what I saw there Why! Why? Why! My father was a lighthouse keeper Watched the waves getting steeper Watched the ships going down We watched the days slip by and the stars explode And we watched them once again Oh the laughter rose a cheer Oh the laughter so nice to hear Oh the laughter so good and free Oh the laughter so nice to see I lay among the shells and coke cans In my lover All the people were eating And smiling sadly in their big cars My father looked down from his lighthouse He saw it all he knew it all Then he laughed a little Oh so pretty Oh so easy Antoine By Mike Heron So still the green and golden plain in icy spring They young French convent girls in white singing He took the sacrament young Antoine not without a blush He left the priest the good book the bread and cup And took with him the voices hanging in the silver space Not till he'd reached the vineyard rim did he look down On the gentle valley breathing in the sun Seeing the eastern slope where she lived he spoke her name In love beyond his years he saw the mist come down And knew there would be many mists he'd look through For this mountain star Ah if you'd seen me there hiding in the orchard Rejoicing in my warm salt tears Holding to my heart the beauty of a sad song Needing, needing you. Restless Night By Robin Williamson restless night walking nowhere in the foggy dew restless years whispering through very long clouds very low clouds very long clouds very low clouds it wakes in me the wound of days as dawn breaks bleak I call to you present the mirror as you comb your hair horizons rising icy blue yes and tall walls dwindle steeples sink into the sea old keys for old locks splash up a spray grey thoughts and useless papers they roll and blow away while the band was playing such a sad refrain sounds my ears have lost continue through the rain Restless Night (original version) from live performances Restless night Walking nowhere in the foggy dew And the whole town is tiptoeing And whispering through Very low clouds Doors are all closed And the stores are too bright I would go tell them of the dreams we know But the night gets in and fits too tight The whole world grows around Cars and me in the clear night air And my body gets sad cause I see No stars here and no stars there Very low clouds Sunday Song Lyrics by Licorice McKechnie In the church made of living trees entwined Green and dapple golden trees enshrined us I heard the mice murmur in the corners Saw the moles move deep below the ground Far below the great ships trembled And a million men almost remembered For one did We are bonded Love is god For one did we are bonded love is god Gold is roses and horses Kissing petals, swishing tails Love is god oh sweet joy [Original live version added the following lines here:] We were having an earthspan of silence To contemplate supreme being Venus fell for a while in England Air was sweet as milk The boy child's kisses still changed into birds Grasses were violet swaying like silk Now my friends are scattered wide Over planet earth I have so much to tell each one Those of chosen birth My friends who fold their wings away In the day [Additional verse from original live performance:] And I want to tell you now And letters take too long So now I give you this, a spirit song Friends who fold their wings away In the day Ah strange surprise Grass being green On planet earth Galaxy thirteen Yes I have so much to tell each one Of things I truly know Of our journeying creating golden dawn Of our sweet and awesome bond Why we fold our wings away In the day Love is god, is god, oh sweet joy. Banks of Sweet Italy By Robin Williamson and must you go my flower my gem my laughter and my hope of joy to follow fortune through all the world make luck pursue you my darling boy the sun shines bright in France yellow it shines on high Barbary o be my light of day tarry not long on the banks of sweet Italy a golden ring is a precious thing red stockings and shoes of green a dwelling place with painted door a wide white bed to love you in summer's gone with calm days ungentle now is Biscay Bay a cold fear claims my heart god save all sailors from the cruel waves [Additional verse from live performances:] I followed you through rain and snow Though you had nothing but your father’s purse A foreign winter and no other shelter Drink in your eyes is burning clear (?) The Actor Lyrics by Malcolm LeMaistre, Music by Robin Williamson The actor leaves the stage with a rose in his hand He settles in the back seat his thoughts are like fine sand Driven through the rain swept streets casting a melancholy stare Upon two enraptured lovers kissing without a care The dreams of an actor spill slowly by Like the thoughts of a dreamer or the casting of a die Talking to gay fellows of the follies on which they perch He saw a lovely lady beneath the arches of a church Cigarettes in the airless twenties An estate well filled with dust In the evening reading Swinburne Eating mightily with some false lust But a kiss was what we found On damp but friendly ground The lady wore no makeup but she stood like a swan Thin body of a dancer her dress was quietly torn Her eyes searched his distant heart that lingered in the rain But his friends caught his iron gaze and carried it away again Broken hearted in the loveless twenties Where a wink was like an embrace Making love on blue Fridays From across some foggy space But a kiss was what we found On damp but friendly ground Tea was like a mirror a reflection never there His thoughts upon that ring of love that burned upon her stare Her eyes her lips her chin her grace the rain upon her hair Thus it gripped his white gloved heart can anyone be so fair Untied in the breezy twenties With a hand held in my arms Bearing my heart to the hallowed spires Of this quiet and ancient land For a kiss was what we found On damp but friendly ground [Original 3rd verse from live performances:] Time knotted in the breezy twenties With lilacs on the ground Tennis on wet Sundays Tea taken without a sound But a kiss &c Moon Hang Low By Robin Williamson let the moon hang low low down in the sky the lower it goes the higher we fly one small candle is just enough light for endless moments of love bright and the more I know you the more I know and the more I love you the more love grows let the fire burn way down low in those early hours easy hours when the world turns slow. Sailor and the Dancer By Malcolm LeMaistre Beneath some shaded planet before this earth was born We came together and we danced in the early dawn For my hands contain ten dances that shall bear us into the night Into the sea and the moon's morning light Night mimed a bow and broke into the day Fair sailors and their cautious friends smiled on the sea That reflected all their gazes and danced with the air The breezes filled the sails high against the quay High on the limpid waves the ship it did fly Rising as a condor into the silvery sky Passing through the arches that begin his earth The sailors saw the scenic air as air gave Earth it's birth Gazing ahead towards today They saw the fields of this world They watched the first new dancers As their bodies did unfurl. Seagull By Mike Heron Cold morning sun show me where I spent the night Sun can you find through porthole on the anchored sea – me Then I'm walking on the prom deck asking the sky Oh someone won't you hear my cry Come and stop my questioning, stop my lie And maybe give me a sign to show me it's alright Seagull come fly me your song your high song It's very true there's nothing to complain of here You know I've tried and not found an enemy to fear – here There's safety in the warm thoughts all around me Adventure in the strange port quay But still a questioning in the quiet of me Why do I need a sign to show me it's alright Seagull come fly me your song your high song All right, out on the rolling, rolling sea Now. Oh Did I Love a Dream By Malcolm LeMaistre Bored laziness laced his lucid eye In corderoy suits and old school tie He left for France to lavish lie It rained slightly when he arrived Spring rushed by in ‟31 Fresh daffodils on wet windowsills Laced and chased in chiffon thrills Image reves ma cher Oh did I love a dream? She appeared one night in the smoke-filled air Flashing and flawless, a faultless frame From Paris to Rome she tossed her hair The valet changed but she remained The heels were high in ‟31 A movie kiss a sacred bliss A sound came from Garbo‟s lips Upon the walk he watched the gondolier From his fingers a Gauloise limply glowed His sanguine friends cheered their cheers But he recalled her dancing, how she flowed The days were changing in ‟31 O loss of laughter lay over the hill A foolishly fashionable passing thrill In Greece he saw her prancing eye Words from lips twirled towards her For one brief night he held her sighs But she leaped away in the morning air The days grew bright in ‟31 Our eyes were light and hearts were strong Life became a swan-song (released on “On Air”) No Ruinous Feud Explorer By Mike Heron I can no longer hear you call 'cross the airwaves Fog on the line has shaken my will not to yield The one left here, my command all gone down I'm caught, caught, where the cold dark fingers trace Where the men who failed, they lie and kiss the dark earth's face I am lost, lost, by the storm clouds am tossed Now here comes the snow deep And I will take a sleep, sweet Margaret my dear Tell me It was long and a strong and sweet year indeed To get lost in I've seen the survivors when they come home from the icefields The lace and the ladies' flush and a pearl on the eye Fine bone china and the log fire spark high But I'm back in the wasteland low, where the ripe seed never gets blown What chance I'll see the sun on the lea, hear the cornfield moan I am lost, lost, by the storm clouds am tossed Now here comes the snow deep And I will take sleep, sweet Margaret my dear Tell me It was a long and a strong and a sweet year indeed To get lost in No one to hear me when I cry No one to hold me when I sigh No one to watch me when I die How will I live again Down Before Cathay By Malcolm Lemaistre Through red forests that lean against the hills I wandered with my heart in my hand My cloak wound down to the shores of Cathay Where the gold lay scattered on the sand Night was young back before the dawn Casting kisses at the day Shipping the sea bestriding the earth Down before Cathay. The admirable deeds of Khubla Khan we admired from the deck Of our cedarwood ship Observing the domes that prance from Mandalay Where the dogs they sleep all the day We gazed upon the Towers of Tyre That rose coarse and spicey in the air But we sailed up the coast to Sidon Where the gazes are so rare Where the gazes are so rare The ship shone its lamp across the silent air That swirled before Cathay And there on the sand that courts the amber sea Our fair bodies we cast away Night was young back before the dawn Casting kisses at the day Sipping the sea bestriding the earth Down before Cathay. Saturday Maybe By Robin Williamson factory chimney coughs yellow smoke trucks and trains go rumbling throw down your key from your window high your man's out drinking neighbours thinking evil lead by the light of your electric fire your grey slips falls around your feet and across the sheet your nut brown curls go tumbling we don't have long before he comes home from the bar I'll be gone a week of Sundays meet me by the bronze horse or the clock tower try to come Friday, Saturday maybe don't cry now, you'll freak the baby Old Buccaneer By Robin Williamson Sissie wouldn't believe when I told her the old man was gone the one who lived all alone in the shack on the shore that's so hard to find, so hard to go past he used to light our cigarettes and never tell anyone he had blue tattoos and he'd tell us tall stories from the bottom of a rum glass he's got things to see on the Spanish main he's gone away for a while he's gone skullduggering on the Spanish main, he's gone away far away thought I heard sails creaking as the stars paled anchor chains clinking as the night failed way out on the bay no one else knows how he crowed when they crowned him king of the cannibal isles or how he'd really feel blind drunk at the wheel through a high hurricane he could dupe the devil at dice and charm charmers with his beguiling smile how he fell in love in Lima and a schemer stole his pearly girl and broke his heart again now all the foes he killed call him in to fight with their beckoning bones and all the gold he stole sparkles in the morning light his sweet ladies are all alone Sissie dear let's not go near the church today the big bells tolling the hearse goes rolling the holy joes pray as they lay him away lived one too many winters cold cold weather had to sail down to the south sea waters warm his old bones there let an old man go through let an old man go through Alternative 2nd verse from live performance: I sneaked up to the window That‟s where I could see him there Hunched up at the table with his ---------He sat so still and I bent my ear So I could hear him testamenting to his will He lied like Judas but I think he fooled them all At the Lighthouse Dance By Malcolm LeMaistre Waiting for the queen to come Waiting for her to show up While out on the rocks all the ships Were sinking we laughed as the dance began Oh how we danced At the lighthouse dance Stepped outside took a look Shook the sweat felt madly sad I was dreaming of angels I saw the ships sinking But one pulled in I asked the sea captain tell me where you've been He turned his gaze into the days and he showed me this movie Oh do you dance you serenader Oh do you die you masquerader Oh do you land you space invader I could see the dance Through the cracked window pane Alice smiled at me I felt quite lame The dance group played I can't recall their name They played quite well but all their numbers sounded the same Oh how we danced At the lighthouse dance We danced, I grooved, I sighed, I cried Circus Girl By Robin Williamson circus girl, how could you love me you're so far above me you hang by your knees and your toes circus girl can you even hear me down in the crowd your silver skirt hangs back over your breast such beautiful legs and you sparkle and flirt I don't mind lipstick all over my shirt you fly through the air you've got princess hair I'm really impressed circus girl you fly higher than the House of Lords you look serene circus girl your picture cheers hospital wards you met the queen the ringmaster's hat is as black as a Wellington boot he's mean he cracks his whip but if he tries to beat you or even mistreat you I'll give him some lip circus girl you ride wild horses running real quick you smoke long cigars and you don't get sick you dance on tightropes sleep on knives if I married you would I want other wives Turquoise Blue By Mike Heron On the white sand a footprint On her back the golden sun Is playing tunes on this lazy afternoon It's high summer The sun's playing tunes They're so beautiful to see Only love can sing the harmony Oh my lover She knows how to give a gift She knows how to make a cool breeze sigh Brings the warmth of summer to my bed at night And she brings the colour of the sky too Turquoise Blue In the distance the birds sing In the distance the sweet echoing Of the flute she's playing On the hazy air Over there Oh shimmering day don't take me away I'd rather be here than anywhere Weather the Storm By Robin Williamson stormy weather in the world since the day I was born stormy in the schoolhouse stormy when I left my home a few more storms won't freeze me my love will keep me warm one thing more I know for sure I swear we're going to weather the storm you, you had your soft brown eyes pretty as I ever saw want to see the sunset I know where in the shade of the big boys jaw dance through the summer dance through the spring dance through winter and fall one thing I know for sure I swear you are the belle of the ball I've been around this whole round world many strange things I see I know where I'm going and I know who's going with me never fear I won't be cold my love will keep me warm one thing more I know for sure I swear we're going to weather the storm Little Girl By Mike Heron Everybody knows good times Everybody knows tears that fall You and me had something higher than just good times Something else that I just can't find without you Without you got emptiness Without you I've got an emptiness That is lower Than just about anything at all Pick up Let me pick up Let me pick up on your lovelight Please let it shine on me I want that more Than just about anything at all Little girl I love you Spend my walking hours in thoughts of you You held your love light high And it shone And it shone down on me But you let it fall so low I could not see Without you got emptiness Without you I've got an emptiness That is lower Than just about anything at all Where are you Living Now, Man? By Robin Williamson (unreleased) When I was a younger man my mind was like a sieve I used to move from house to house, I was never sure where I lived I changed my house two times a week, I kept it up for years When I met someone out on the street these words were all I‟d hear Where are you living now, man? How are you getting high? Where are you living now, man? I wish I did reply I‟m sitting here looking at the stars I‟m trying to play the simplest chords I know You and I we came from very far away I wonder where we all go I‟m sorry for any pain I brought to you my darling friends And I‟m sorry if I brought you down or messed you around my darling friends Well I used to scrape a livelihood in a very devious style I had big bags of sticks and stones, I would sort them into piles At night when I was coming home with sticks and stones galore A big policeman stopped me there and he put me against the door Now what have you got in your bags, what‟s inside your hat? I told him it was sticks and stones, I had my answer pat We chatted there for an hour or so, I showed him all my stones This pretty one, that pretty one, he answered just with groans And just when I was warming to it he had a bright idea He looked me keenly in the eye, these words he said to me Where are you living now, man? How are you getting high? I started to tell him He did not wait for my reply Giles Crocodile by Robin Williamson (Alternative Lyric) In a sleazy side street in a well-known town Where only the strong survive The slinky young pimp there And I think you ought to meet him Can you smell his Brylcreem? Can you stand his vibes? I'm Frankie the Frog, I don't work too much I got the golden touch I got the socks to match Great snakes! I got what it takes I can always run you down a little zee love's snatch (?) From here to Nevada Or even farther Pay me my money down Love her or leave her But if you got the coins And the porky loins You ought to try my special Gloria Beaver This Gloria Beaver Whatever Gloria wants Gloria gets She has those kind of eyes that say no!, no!, no! no! She has that kind of mouth that says yes! And she came out of the Union Trust With her ferrin rollers and her silicone bust She met a young croc on Fifth and Vine And she said: "Oh, Gorgeous, can you spare a dime? He had a football jersey with a number four He said he'd buy her a beautiful mink coat And bring it to her the next day for sure He said he'd take her away with him On his old man's wheels And, as he was leaving, he said: "They call me Giles" Now who is this that rides like a bat out of hell, Down the side streets of his own home town Totally swathed to the waist in the tightest of black leather So there was rhinestones and the works Crocodile angels are blazened (?) across his ass Could this figure of perfect suavity and debonair Could this be the young Giles? Crusin' down Main Street Yeah, with four-on-the-floor Sitting away down low I'm trying to be just like Bobby Vee And I'm diggin' on the radio I tell you, that Gloria, she came to me Just like the answer to a young croc's prayer With the gorgeous golden hair Oh, man, how will I ever pay for that mink coat I sweared I would buy for her I know! Maybe I could rob that old candy store down the block But no! The way in which I obtain this fur coat for my true love It must be pure, as ribbon snow I know, the very thing: my childhood savings I will draw them out, this very afternoon, I will buy her a fur coat today And so he did And it was early next morning Giles crawled out of bed And he popped a few pimples And he slicked down his hair He sprayed his arm-pits till he smelled like a man Near Gloria's gun (?) I made my stand She appeared in the shade (?), dismayed When she saw my empty hands Then I reached down in the back seat Of my Chevrolet Pontiac And I gave her that beautiful mink Oh, what do you think, she loved that thing And she loved that thing She loved me then She loved me then She loved me then Ah, she loved me then. Hard Rope & Silken Twine Maker Of Islands By Mike Heron I do my job and it's pleasing to me It's getting so I can sail upon the roughest sea On the roughest sea I do alright On the roughest sea I do alright But when my work is over and done I get to being a lonely one Need someone to take the wheels at night Someone to navigate till light comes But most of all I need A maker of islands Rested in the golden sunlight Where the seas are kind She could make me islands For my peace of mind If I could only see her Look into her eyes Then I'd lie easy, I'd lie easy, I'd lie easy In my soul Cold February By Robin Williamson As I beside some winter's fire Sat writing words strange and steady Amongst my own internal choir Came voices to my mind unready Of those who died on either side While friends cry o'er their bones unburied Go sighing through the north east winds These cold days of February Some clerk with papers and his pen Some banker with his poison pity Some captain careless of his men These fan the flames that maim the cities And bigots in the name of Christ By thorny paths obscure and muddy Can fear to roam through years of cold Bewailing how their hands are bloody Whether they were from here or there Their race and place I would not be heeding The men who caused such bitterness If hearts they have let their hearts be bleeding Who neither for age nor the young child Would turn the shot of the arms they carried Go bear the guilt a weary ways For the cold days of February Glancing Love By Malcolm LeMaistre / Mike Garson You used to lie out in some Persian garden You strode cat lithe the streets of New York You saw me silent eyed aching in the front row Heart of fire To ease your cool desire Heartless love come and lie beside me And I'll try to find your glancing love You flashed cruising through the glances Cast by chances of romances With nonchalance you cast your gown Writhing to the ground wildest dream You stretched away unseen You used to lie out in some Persian garden You strode cat lithe the streets of New York You seemed so serene as you glided from the screen Angel eyes I eased back amongst the sighs Heartless love come and lie beside me And I'll try to find your glancing love Dreams Of No Return By Robin Williamson Dreams of no return Waking in the early dawn Dreams of no return Waking in the early dawn To whom I sourly yearned in my weakest spell But what I could not know you could not show me Old hotel the walls weep and the door leans The blackbird quits the eaves And the lonesome spider sings Saw my sweet and soothing prayer Was air Why should you care I never saw the tomb you they laid There was already too much shade What could it bring What if you know I need no hand of yours But still I feel you kiss While I have words to sing Perhaps you treasure nothing From before In the time I had no friends I held your picture like a tongueless bell When I really saw I was wrong I wrote this song to seem a fond farewell I've been in the north west world Looking out on an endless view When you were any reason why Was I really any use to you Dumb Kate By Mike Heron Dumb Kate she's no Indian no Mexican neither Come up from San Diego long ago Settled in Nome Alaska, best place that she could be Half the people there froze right to the bone Warm'em up Kate Nobody does business like Kate do Dumb as she is She's so dumb she don't know just when to stop Dumb as she is Oh oh she don't quit givin' it No no she don't quit givin' it If the corn liquor don't get to you Kate will She used to serve tables down at the Last Post grill room Where they chewed on the beef with a lean and a hunted jaw While waiting for that slow train Going where the sun is glowing She'll keep your blood just moving right till the thaw Ithkos By Mike Heron I sailed out from Sardis just one day past Ithkos Ithkos Sailed ot meet the dawn on Lesbos fair Ithkos Ithkos My merchant's task on this isle is done I call soft evening forht To ease up my care Aphrodite's temple is sweet with sandorac Bright torches start the night to praise her Ithkos wipes his mouth and drops the wineskin Salt wind fresh in his mind Bark brown eyes has Ithkos From Sardis newly come The carmined lips of Lesbos fail to please And through the noisy night Just one plaintive song will match his heart The beautiful Aegean sea Brings out a weeping need in me I can't stand by Like a thief in the night While that aching lovely light Shines on Dreams fade now, a new day rings Trade pulls the galleon ever on To rich Sybaris, port of our call Beyond the blue Aegean How sweet the sight of peopled shores To a wanderer as I Kown from here to Lydia far Pale Sybaris knows not my tread And fear stalks in my heart For reason unknown Gotta come right out and say it Pale Sybaris I bear you great scorn Talkin' 'bout your fluted pillars and your muted life It's worse to me Than Death's own chariot rollin' Oh hold my gaze light of day That my thoughts they will not stray To Hippolyta The vows that set her free Denied me It was right there in Sybaris famed That I met with her who's named Hippolyta Oh hold my gaze bring not the sight Of that awful wondrous night Far outside the city walls Hte Huntress Dance does call Hippolyta And the vows that set her free Denied me On Air Jane By Mike Heron Jane can‟t tell me if her hands Are trembling with emotion of grief or joy Jane looks down at her brown shoes And she knows that the shine upon them should please someone like you Someone like you would like to take Jane off To play on sands so white To buy her boat trips if you could And to watch her drink tea 1968 by Mike Heron My friend the nights are longer Do you think we know anymore? Do you think we will be sure of all the song there is? Did we step wrong somewhere? Did we my friend? Are we lost? Are we lost? Are we lost, my friend? You played your strings like they led to the truth Sang your words like clear spring light Let‟s do it one more time And we‟ll keep the fire going Bright sunshine in darkest night We kept looking long and we kept praying strong The I-Ching‟s talking soft, warm hearts are getting thin And the voice of water running cold, still speaks so real to me And I still love to see a rainbow Conflict of Emotions Torch Song The light in the crooner's life is an old torch song Flaming up for his first loves Misty romancing and moonlighting dancing into dawn "You are my sweet theme song You linger when the spotlights fade With my sweet theme song I've got it made Just love me Run to meet me when I come home Take my feelings, Show them a new day. Make me say; I will sing again Just like the brown eyes of autumn years Singing to the yellow moon „The dawn is soon coming' I will touch again Dreams in the lonely glass at 4 am And walk onto the foggy street The chance to meet a dream coming" Belinda There was no foolin'. Stretched out her hand and led me, Let her long hair fall soft on my cheek She made it so clear She would go with me one time And dance for me a dance so sweet It took all my love to show that girl the sun It took all my love to show that girl the sun Took all my strength just to watch her goin' Like she was no one Oh! Belinda I'm glad you closed your door It could've been rough If you'd seen me fallin' All over your dancin' floor It Takes My Breath Away Yet I did not meet you soul to soul. I felt the kiss and missed the words that you spoke. Your skin so soft and warm on mine, Sighing like the best was done and gone. And the way that I was playing it was just one night with you Opened my eyes and you were smiling. Oh darling I'm further and further and further From the way that I thought when we met. Isn't it amazing to watch our love growing? You know it takes my breath away yet. Went lookin' in the city streets And in the ways of the country And all the time what I needed Oh all the time just what I needed Was lookin' to find me Lookin' to find me