1. |
The Pier
01:28
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THE PIER
A pier
Harbouring no feelings of this or that
Stands Silent
A ferry appears
Women in Glasgow frocks and heels
disembark down steep steps
clutching handbags and handrails.
Husbands in Sunday suits
carry cardboard suitcases
Waves of recognition
Children held at arm's distance
inspected for likeness and growth
Wary cousins measured.
Chatter from arrivals
tears from departures
Arms placed round shoulders
Backs turned against land and sea
A pier empty
No longer echoing of sounds
Stands Silent
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2. |
GB94R2300190 - Torn
02:54
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TORN
She’s leaving the island
She needs to get away
An unfamiliar voice is calling
And getting louder every day
She fears to break the ties that bind
But the voice will not be scorned
And as she looks across the water
She is torn
The boat sails Monday morning
Before the towns awake
They drive her to the harbour
A car full of heartache
Her world surrounded by the sea
Ends on every shore
And as she looks across the water
She is torn
She boards the boat turns back to wave
To her parents on the pier
The only place she’s ever known
Will slowly disappear
Back home the house is silent
They sit and watch the dawn
As the ferry boat gets smaller
They are torn
Our world surrounded by the sea
Ends on every shore
And as we gaze across the water
We are torn
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3. |
Two Rivers
03:02
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There are two rivers in my hometown
Driving down the rain
Through the hills to the sea
Both these rivers flowed through me
The softer river hugs the town
Rolls along with a soothing sound
As a child I walked its course
I gathered its peace
It let me cross
Different rivers
Different rain
No two pathways run the same
The wilder river shuns the town
It’s waters fast
Its pull is strong
As a child I walked its course
It took my fear
It let me cross
Both these rivers played their part
In the design of my restless heart
I’m going back to where I came
Where the rivers know my name
Different rivers
Different rain
No two pathways run the same
I’m going back
To where I came
Where the rivers know my name
I’m going back
To where I came
Where the rivers know my name
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4. |
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THE HEART OF THE HEBRIDES
I have watched a Bernera sunset
On a summer solstice night
Until the last threads of darkness
Surrendered to the light
I have felt the winter storms
Lash against the Port of Ness
Like Neptune’s ancient army
Charging merciless
Deep into the Heart of the Hebrides
I have crossed the Grimsay Causeway
Landed down on Barra Beach
Sailed across the sea to Scalpay
Where I saw the Devil’s Sheep
I’ve travelled the Golden Road
Up and down its bends and bays
Knelt inside the Rodel Church
On a late December day
Deep within the Heart of the Hebrides
I’ve watched the fishing fleet
Setting sail before the dawn
Stood amongst the fishermen
In a frozen auction mart
I have worked a kipper yard
Minded herring as they smoked
Hanging from the rafters
Above the burning oak
Deep within the Heart of the Hebrides
I have heard the weavers loom
Late into the darkest night
I have seen the single bulb
Spreading out its yellow light
I’ve stood on the Holm cliffs
Thought about the Iolaire
Trying to make some sense
Of what unfolded there
And tore the Heart out of the Hebrides
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5. |
Tender
02:19
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There is no colour in the moon
It just reflects the sun
The forest makes no sound
When no one is around
When I first laid my eyes on you
I’d no idea did you
But the sun and moon both knew
You’d stop me running
So I keep it on the tender
Leave it on the true
I wear it on my sleeve
Only for you
If I should lose you
In whatever shape or form
The moon would lose its colour
The forest give up its song
I have no answer
To thoughts of this kind
So, I don’t give them time
Or space in my mind
When I first laid my eyes on you
I’d no idea did you
But the sun and moon both knew
You’d stop me running
So I keep it on the tender
Leave it on the true
I wear it on my sleeve
Only for you
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6. |
Silver Locket and a Key
04:17
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Silver Locket and a key
On the edge of the harbour looking east
East toward the light across the bay
Following a ship that’s disappearing
She lifts her tiny hand begins to wave
She looks at her mother stood beside her
And the other mothers in the line
Holding their children so tightly
As if letting go would anger the divine
Below the wind she’s singing Jesus loves me
A song she learned upon her father’s knee
while her other hand deep in her coat pocket
Clasps a silver locket and a key
With his back to the bridge, he looks homeward
Home to those gathered on the pier
He closes his eyes to freeze the moment
Filled of the those he holds dear
In a mud filled trench called Gordon Alley
By a village in the Somme
While his brothers in arms are sleeping
He’s crouched in a corner writing home.
Below the guns he’s singing Jesus loves me
A song he learned upon his father’s knee
While his other hand deep in his coat pocket
Clasps a silver locket and a key
And when the guns fell silent
On the 11th day
He heard a small bird whistling.
And he fell to his knees
And he sang out loud Jesus Love Me
A song he learned upon his father’s knee
And he thought about his wife and daughter
And kissed the silver locket and its key
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7. |
The Tree that Bends
02:42
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The tree that bends
Toward the sun
Grows its roots down
Deep and strong
Learns to sway
With the gentle breeze
Come the winter
Weathers the storm
When the farmer goes
To plant the tree
He protects the bark
Leaves the branches free
By following this
Ancient way
The tree grows stronger
Day by day
When the farmer goes
To build a house
He’ll build from stone
Face it south
By following this
Ancient way
It becomes a home
Day by day
The tree that bends
Toward the sun
Grows its roots down
Deep and strong
And learns to sway
With the gentle breeze
Come the winter
Weathers the storm
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8. |
The Alchemists
02:50
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The Alchemists
My grandad was a kipper man
He smelt of wood and smoke
His hands were red from kipper dye
He coughed before he spoke
Born in the Glasgow Gorbals
At the turn of the century
Shipped out to the east coast
Brought up by the sea
He spent his life in red brick kilns
Amongst the burning oak
Or standing on the quay side
With the other fisher folk
They told me they were Alchemists
Back in the days of old
Traveling Scotland’s herring towns
Turning silver into gold
My granny was a herring girl
She left before the war
And headed for the herring ports
Along the Scottish shore
One of 2000 island girls
Who worked in teams of three
Gutting curing packing fish
Outside on the quay
With fingers wrapped in cotton rags
Made from old flour sacks
To save her hands from the gutting knife
Salt water and the cracks
They told me they were Alchemists
Back in the days of old
Travelling Scotland’s herring towns
Turning silver into gold
Now the herring are no more
And the gold has turned to dust
Kipper yards demolished
boats turned to rust
These days will never come again
But stories will be told
When herring girls and kipper men
Turned silver into gold
They told me they were Alchemists
Back in the days of old
Traveling Scotland’s herring towns
Turning silver into gold
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9. |
Tides They Turn
02:53
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Tides They Turn
Clouds they pass
Sand runs through
the hourglass
Minutes’ walk
While years fl
Things change
In the blink of an eye
You cast a stone
You choose your way
Some roads are colours
Some roads are grey
You see her face
It melts you heart
She returns your smile
The music starts
A butterfly
flaps its wings
The movement changes
Everything
Every thought
Every sound
It spins them all
Round and round
Tides They Turn
Clouds they pass
Sand runs through
the hourglass
Minutes’ walk
While years fly
Things change
In the blink of an eye
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10. |
Mary Ann
02:57
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Mary Ann
Three old photographs
Caught my eye today
In a faded envelope
Hidden away
A girl on a motorbike
By a passing place
Striking a pose
Sun in her face
On the back is Mary Ann
March 31
In the Harris Hills
Before she left home
Three laughing chambermaids
On a sea front wall
Strong breeze in their hair
Billowing their shawls
On the back is Mary Ann
June 38
On Oban promenade
With Catherine and Kate
A mother with child
On a on bombed out street
Dressed in black
Rubble at her feet
On the back is Mary Ann
April 41
Outside whats left
Of their Clydebank home
Captured in black and white
Her spirit shines through
Oh Mary Ann
What happened to you
The girl on the motorbike
The woman on the wall
The mother with child
I wonder who
Captured it all
Three old photographs
Caught my eye today
In a faded envelope
From a lifetime away
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11. |
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When the |Yellow's on the Broom
As I lie on Flanders Field
The sound of battle fading fast
I slowly close my eyes (my love)
And I’m with you in Luskentyr
Where the sea is emerald green
And the curlew call is clear
We will walk those hills again (my love)
When the yellows on the broom
When the yellow’s on the broom (my love)
When the yellow’s on the broom
My darling will you look for
When the yellow’s on the broom
As the sun dies in the west
I feel a darkness creeping in
Until I hear your sweet voice (my love)
Telling me I’m going home
And the boat will wait for me
To sail me back across the sea
We will walk those hills again (my love)
When the yellows on the broom
When the yellow’s on the broom (my love)
When the yellow’s on the broom
My darling will you look for me
When the yellow’s on the broom
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12. |
The Healing Will Begin
02:20
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The HEaling Will Begin
When the storm is at its strongest
The wind has knocked you down
When your hope has lost its anchor
There’s no comfort to be found
When your road begins to crumble
And you’re still so far from home
The drifts begin to deepen
The wolves come creeping in
When you’ve no one left to turn to
You’re running on you own
Raise up your head
And look around
And in the middle of the maelstrom
Deep within the blue-black light
There will be a place or person
Put there to make things right
And if you find the courage
And the trust to let them in
When the storm is at its strongest
The healing will begin
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13. |
Accident or Design
03:12
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Downtown Stornoway Friday night
Autumn of 75
The bars and pubs are heaving
It feels good to be alive
Me and my pals are hanging out
In the Rendezvous Cafe
Not knowing this is the last night
It will ever be this way
There’s a clock in our town that never chimes
Stands there silent stuck in time
While all around lives unwind
Tommy’s off to college
Then he’ll head to sea
Colin starts on Monday
In a local factory
Danny’s not made any plans
Except for signing on
Me I’m scared of leaving
And scared of staying around
There’s a clock in our town that never chimes
Stands there silent stuck in time
While all around lives unwind
All things change
Stars re-arrange
Whether by
accident or design
That night was 50 years ago
But feels like yesterday
When everything was simple
Till life got in the way
Four young lads hanging out
In the Rendezvous Cafe
Not knowing it was the last night
It would ever be that way
There’s a clock in our town that never chimes
Stands there silent stuck in time
While all around lives unwind
All things change
Stars re-arrange
Whether by
accident or design
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14. |
Suilisgeir
01:29
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Sulisgeir
Suilisgeir built from
pebbles and concrete
stood closer to wave than village,
a strip of machair,
sandstone
walling off the inches
between the Minch and land.
Tides would spring
aligning boundaries,
lapping against doors
before neaping to
halve the distance from
The Church on the opposite shore
where the minister’s mother
would walk me.
And I spent my summers
overturning rocks,
stretching seaweed in a tightrope
as if I were trying to undermine
our home’s foundations.
allowing space for hermit crabs
to creep and crawl within
Suilisgeir now empty
each winter moving
nearer the sea
They say
It would take a foolish
man’s money to repair
the pebbles and concrete
Would I had it.
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Norman Paterson Lockerbie, UK
Originally from the windswept islands of the Outer Hebrides he penned his first song at the age of 65
Incorporating the
acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and accordion as they sweep through his songs, Norman is making the kind of music that stirs the ancient soul. Painting memories of a nostalgic island life, his lyrics and signature vocals are warm, authentic and deeply intoxicating.
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... more
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