1. |
We All Said 'No'
03:43
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WE ALL SAID ‘NO’
Bill was out on his cargo bike and he was first to see.
He said ‘They’re coming down the road, on the B four double oh three’
And he told Bob and Bob told Ginny and she let the village know
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
Mike had a word with the farming folk and they all knew what to do
They filled each road with anything big so the trucks could not get through
There were sixteen cooks at the village hall with kettles set to go
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
Roadblocks first and the ditches next and the pitch and the sharpened poles
Practised teams got the earthworks dug like a troop of giant moles
To a woman and man all the villagers took up arms and stood in rows
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
Flares went up when the battle joined and the jam-bombs went in first
Boiling jars of the best preserve designed to do their worst
Alternating flour and water, anything handy we could throw
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
Then the Parish Council stepped up sharp and a parley flag was raised
The men who drive the fracking trucks were sticky, tired and glazed
We gave our ultimatum and we said they had to go
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
We knew that was but the start of it, and we knew that they’d be back
We had drawn our declaration up in the red ink and the black
With the help of the local solicitor, he was a gentleman named Joe
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
They sent a crew from the radio with the journalists from town
We told them all our full demands; there would be no backing down.
Half the Parish council went to bat on the TV breakfast show;
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
‘Not all of us are farmers here but we all need food to eat
And we won’t allow your poisoned muck in the ground beneath our feet
There are better ways of doing this, better leave what’s below, below’
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
‘You can’t repair what you break apart and you can’t take the poison out
When you asked our democratic views we left you in no doubt
But our voices counted nothing, that was a bitter, bitter blow
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
Now Bill’s got a great big cargo bike and delivers here and there
Most of us grow something and we trade and swap and share
We’re a village-state in Nowhere-land and the pace of life is slow, since
The day they came to frack our land and we all said ‘No.’
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2. |
||||
THE GREAT STATE OF NOWHERE
Citizens, friends, what’s a body to do
When you love your country, but it doesn’t love you?
When the shape of the noise round the flag you admire
Lights a bonfire of hate and throws fuel on fire?
Isn’t being one species enough common ground?
Here are old friends just met, here are lost cousins found
And the great arc of history joins me to you
Mitochondrial Eve was my grandmother too
Don’t I bleed just the same colour red that you do, friends and
Citizens all - I’m as Terran as you
If we haven’t the words we’ll find some other way
Nevermind what you eat, what you wear, how you pray
We’ll make shapes with our fingers if that’s what it takes
Use the language of music and the language of cakes
Some have travelled the world, others haven’t gone far;
Human rights for the humans whoever we are
In the great state of Nowhere no labels are worn -
Human rights for the humans wherever we’re born
Don’t I bleed just the same colour red that you do, friends and
Citizens all - I’m as Terran as you
Oh my dear friends, what’s a body to do
When you love your country, but it doesn’t love you?
Let the shape that we make with our hands be a heart
It won’t change the whole world... but it might make a start
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3. |
Telling Canterbury Tales
03:05
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TELLING CANTERBURY TALES
Tell me, Archbishop, you’re comfortable here
Does the populace ever get frighteningly near?
Are your windows well-soundproofed so all you can hear
Is your voice, telling Canterbury tales...?
So tell me,
What’s the church for with its buildings and treasures?
For visits by those with the means and the leisure
To purchase a guidebook and stroll at their pleasure
While listening to Canterbury’s tales.
Didn’t your man say some things about the poor
Isn’t that what your faith is about, anymore?
Here’s a vast institution, what lies at the core?
Are you telling me Canterbury tales?
If the pilgrims rode past your cathedral today
And they wondered whose homes have been tidied away
Would you know? Would you care? Tell me, what would you say?
I’ve no faith in your Canterbury tales...
Go tell the Knight and the Franklin, the Monk and the Squire
Tell the Clerk and the Cook and the Reeve and the Friar
That compassion and hope have joined love on the pyre
There’s no justice in Canterbury tales.
St Thomas a Becket, St David of Kelly, we pray you forgive us our sins
Jean-Charles de Menezes, & Blessed Ian Tomlinson, when does the rising begin?
When does the rising begin?
Now the Archbishop’s writing a sermon on Lent
The Physician and Parson are riding to Kent
There was sanctuary once, I don’t know where that went
But it’s not in these Canterbury tales...
And the Man of Law’s busy, and the Miller’s downed tools
And the Merchant’s convinced that we’re everyone’s fools
And the Pardoner’s sorry... but these are the rules...
And they’re all telling Canterbury tales.
They’re telling us Canterbury tales
I’ve no faith in these Canterbury tales
We deserve better than Canterbury tales
I’ve had enough of these Canterbury tales!
__________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 29th February 2012
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4. |
Occupy Your Mind
02:47
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OCCUPY YOUR MIND
Just suppose you got to start a thing from scratch.
Would you let just anybody speak?
The articulate, the shy, the somewhat negative
The vocal and the simply meek?
Just suppose you got to choose what shape it was.
Would you call it a democracy?
Would you note the jazz hands, count the secret ballots
Or try to work consensually?
Will you let my questions occupy your thoughts
Will you let my questions occupy your mind?
I am only led to ask you since I’ve met
A community of quite another kind, quite another kind
Just suppose you got to take away the price.
Would you share what you had plenty of?
Would you take what you required and then give back
Of what some others hadn’t any of.
Will you let my questions occupy your thoughts
Will you let my questions occupy your mind?
I am only led to ask you since I’ve met
A community of quite another kind, quite another kind
Just suppose you got to glimpse a different way.
Would you carry it inside of you?
Would you stifle it from fear or let it bloom
Until it blossomed
In the heart of you?
___________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 13th December 2011
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5. |
Leave It
02:05
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LEAVE IT
It's: one more kick at a splintered door (Leave it all on the field)
One more battle in a bloody war (Leave it all on the field)
Leave it all on the field now, leave it all on the field
Leave it all on the field you got to leave it all on the field.
It’s: up all night so the email’s sent (Leave it all on the field)
Zucotti Park in a freezing tent (Leave it all on the field)
It’s swinging the poll with a single vote (Leave it all on the field)
It’s the Selkie’s shawl and the goodbye note (Leave it all on the field)
Leave it all on the field now, leave it all on the field
Leave it all on the field you got to leave it all on the field.
It’s the last best hope when the rest are gone (Leave it all on the field)
It’s all or nothing on the final song (Leave it all on the field)
Speaking out because who else will? (Leave it all on the field)
It’s the birthing push, it’s an act of will (Leave it all on the field)
Leave it all on the field now, leave it all on the field
Leave it all on the field you got to leave it all on the field.
Don’t say ‘can’t’ say ‘Show me how’ (Leave it all on the field)
Don’t you go giving up on me now (Leave it all on the field)
Leave it all on the field now, leave it all on the field
Leave it all on the field you got to leave it all on the field.
Leave it all on the field now, leave it all on the field
Leave it all on the field you got to leave it all on the field.
_________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 28th January 2012
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6. |
The Steps of St Paul's
04:12
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THE STEPS OF PAUL’S
On the eve of the feasts of St Jude and St Simon
The good Christian Reverend Fraser resigned
While democracy stumbles and falls here on the steps of St Pauls.
The whispering gallery’s noisy with rumour
Great Paul’s saying nothing, but fear like a tumour
Is ruling within these fine halls under the dome of St Paul’s
Christopher Robin and Christopher Wren,
When will my England lie easy again?
With sanctuary offered to the women and men
Who stand on equality’s side?
While democracy stumbles and falls, here on the steps of St Pauls.
Bookends and stationery, jigsaws and gifts
For you lovers of luxury, strangers to thrift
All your cufflinks and printed silk shawls bought from the shop of St Pauls
Gordon Brown’s laughing so all must be well
‘We’re a centre for public debate’ say the bells
The economists set out their stalls under the dome of St Paul’s
Christopher Robin and Christopher Wren,
When will my England lie easy again?
With sanctuary offered to the women and men
Who stand on equality’s side?
The good Christian Reverend Fraser resigns,
But the bulk of his colleagues have pulled down the blinds
While their restaurant serves only the finest of wines
And the organ plays ‘Here comes the Bride’...
With your cufflinks and printed silk shawls bought from the shop of St Pauls
While democracy stumbles and falls, here on the steps of St Pauls
{Do let’s go see the cathedral again
It’s sure to be open at twenty past ten}
Was a sanctuary inside these walls when this was the church of St Pauls
Well the tourists are missing their clotted cream scones
It’s fourteen pounds fifty, one adult alone
And please, if the Archbishop calls, tell him I’ve gone to St Pauls
Christopher Robin and Christopher Wren,
When will my England lie easy again?
With sanctuary offered to the women and men
Who stand on equality’s side?
The good Christian Reverend Fraser resigns,
But the bulk of his colleagues have pulled down the blinds
While their restaurant serves only the finest of wines (don’t you know...)
And the organ plays ‘Here comes the Bride’...
Was a sanctuary inside these walls - with your cufflinks and printed silk shawls
While democracy stumbles and falls, here on the steps of St Pauls.
The economists set out their stalls, and please, if the Archbishop calls, tell him
Your god’s not returning his calls, he’s here with the rest of us - watching St Paul’s.
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7. |
Belling the Cat
03:06
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BELLING THE CAT
Smart little mice know their enemy’s name
They don’t let the cat set the rules of the game
It’s the predator’s downfall, the old story goes
When the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows.
Everymouse knows, everymouse knows
Let the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows.
Now I wouldn’t do the things some people do
I wouldn’t say that and neither would you
This is malice aforethought, I’m certain of that
And to know it and name it’s just belling the cat.
Belling the cat, belling the cat
And to know it and name it’s just belling the cat.
Till everymouse knows, everymouse knows
Let the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows.
Reasonable people do reasonable things
Courtesy merits what courtesy brings
But it’s not universal, so heed my advice
There are people prepared to be not very nice.
Not very nice, not very nice
There are people prepared to be not very nice.
So we’re belling the cat, belling the cat
And to know it and name it’s just belling the cat.
Till everymouse knows, everymouse knows
Let the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows.
‘I don’t think he meant that’ ‘We must have misheard’
‘I expect he’ll behave if I have a quiet word’
‘It’ll sort itself out’ ‘Shall we see how things go?’
I say ‘That’s enough chances, let’s stand and say ‘NO’.’
Stand and say no, stand and say no
I say ‘That’s enough chances, let’s stand and say ‘NO’.’
Not very nice, not very nice
There are people prepared to be not very nice.
So we’re belling the cat, belling the cat
And to know it and name it’s just belling the cat.
Till everymouse knows, everymouse knows
Let the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows.
Everymouse knows, oh! Everymouse knows...
Shh!
Let the bravest mice bell him so everymouse knows!
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 16th December 2011
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8. |
Common Ground
01:50
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COMMON GROUND
Find a space and make a garden
Plant some seeds and let them grow
Learn the skills to mend and make things
And pass on what you know
Do your best to build a village
In your cities and your towns
Reach your hand out to your neighbour
For you live on common ground.
Buy the things most truly needful
But choose well whose work to buy
Be discerning and be mindful
That the labelling can lie
Teach some children, yours and others’
What you’ve learned and what you’ve found
Be the change that you would hope for
As you tend your common ground
Take a moment to be grateful
Take a chance and start to share
Pay it forwards, don’t be wasteful
Pay attention to what’s fair
When the benefits of barter
Serve you better than the pound
You’ll be living, not existing
In a world of common ground
___________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 23rd February 2012
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9. |
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THE GREY MEN OF WHITEHALL
The grey men of Whitehall are watching
From comfortable ivory towers
And the grey men of Whitehall sit comfy, running
This country that used to be ours
For the grey men had their education
And society covered the cost
But tell that to the next generation and then tell them
Everything else that they’ve lost.
And of course you’ve a right to be angry
There’s enough to be angry about
But point it at those who deserve it
When you’re ready to stand up,
Ready to stand up and shout –
When you’re ready to stand up and shout.
The grey men have mortgaged the future
Put a price on what shouldn’t be sold
Oh, the grey men of Whitehall know better
But then they’re not afraid of the cold
There are grey men in each of our cities
Every parish and borough and town
And if you want to take back their power
Then you’d better stand up and put your name down
And of course you’ve a right to be angry
Only think before violence takes aim
Does a century’s trade - in armchairs and tables -
Really merit the fire,
Merit the fire and the flame?
Does it merit the fire and the flame?
‘Cos it starts with the local elections
Real people who do give a damn
Or the grey men will carry on suiting themselves
And democracy’s only a sham.
And of course you’re allowed to be angry
But you’d better know who’s getting hurt
And the ambulance man and the corner shopkeeper
Bleed the same colour blood –
The same colour blood down their shirts –
The same colour blood -
And of course you’ve every right to be angry
There’s enough, I know there’s enough to be angry about
Oh, but you’d better point it at those who deserve it
When you’re ready to stand up,
Ready to stand up and shout –
When you’re ready to stand up and shout...
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 9th August 2011
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10. |
Freedom-Free Zone
02:44
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FREEDOM-FREE ZONE
I realise that this is your job, sir
As it’s mine to take issue with you
Wrong actions don’t get any less wrong
Because somebody higher up told you what to do
I’m sure in your own private home life
You’re a perfectly reasonable guy
But I do not permit you to lay hands upon me
Before you’ll permit me to fly.
I do not permit this; no justice is served here
My body’s my own – my body’s my own.
You won’t secure freedom by making your country
A freedom-free zone, a freedom-free zone
It’s that or the backscatter scanners?
That’s quicker for you, I suppose.
These images I’m told your cameras don’t keep
Of me standing there sans my clothes?
Now we’re barely ten seconds acquainted
But you tell me you’re going to insist?
Well I’m picky ‘bout who gets to see me like that
And I’m afraid, sir, you’re not on that list
I do not permit this; no justice is served here
My body’s my own – my body’s my own.
You won’t secure freedom by making your country
A freedom-free zone, a freedom-free zone
I do not permit this; no justice is served here
My body’s my own – my body’s my own.
You won’t secure freedom by making your country
A freedom-free zone, a freedom-free zone
A freedom-free zone
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11. |
HMS Marie Antoinette
01:39
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HMS MARIE ANTOINETTE
Climb the rigging! Curse your debt!
No way back when the course is set!
What’s left over is the best we’ll get
On the HMS Marie Antoinette
Sixty splendid years it’s been
Quite an achievement for an English Queen
We must find a way to mark the date
With perhaps a little gift to celebrate
(With perhaps a little gift to celebrate)
Would you like a clock? Would you like a cake?
It’s a job finding presents for you, no mistake!
Would you like some slippers or a nice warm coat?
Or perhaps you’d rather have a great big boat?
(Perhaps you’d rather have a great big boat?)
Climb the rigging! Curse your debt!
No way back when the course is set!
What’s left over is the best we’ll get
On the HMS Marie Antoinette
Sixty years upon the throne
Hardly a minute she can call her own
It’s not as if she can retire
With a dog and a whiskey and a roaring fire
(With a dog and a whiskey and a roaring fire)
But there must be ways to leave her mark
Hospice, library, a public park?
If I had my druthers and could cast my vote
Then I wouldn’t spend a penny on a great big boat.
(Wouldn’t spend a penny on a great big boat.)
Climb the rigging! Curse your debt!
No way back when the course is set!
What’s left over is the best we’ll get
On the HMS Marie Antoinette
__________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 18th January 2012
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12. |
Damned if You Don't
04:18
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DAMNED IF YOU DON’T
You have the right to pick the party but you’re not invited in
Damned if you don’t, damned if you do
Then it’s another five years living with the plans of those who win
Does that feel like democracy to you?
Does that feel like democracy to you –
Oh the promises, the promises they make!
Does that feel like democracy to you? –
When you can’t hold them to the promises they break.
You have the right to come to meetings and ask questions at the end
Damned if you don’t, damned if you do
Too bad the officer in question wasn’t able to attend
Does that feel like democracy to you?
We want local consultation about where new buildings go
Damned if we don’t damned if we do
We have the right to say ‘yes’ but not the right to say ‘no’
Does that feel like democracy to you?
Does that feel like democracy to you –
Oh the promises, the promises they make!
Does that feel like democracy to you? –
When you can’t hold them to the promises they break.
You can elect local officials and I’m sure they’ll do their best
Damned if they don’t, damned if they do
The system grinds them down and spits them out till they’re bad as all the rest
Does that feel like democracy to you?
You have the right to sign petitions, you’re entitled to your views
Damned if you don’t, damned if you do
If you protest, we’ll have you kettled – oh, and who controls the news?
Does that feel like democracy to you?
Does that feel like democracy to you –
Oh the promises, the promises they make!
Does that feel like democracy to you? –
When you can’t hold them to the promises they break.
All that evil ever needed to succeed and win the game
Damned if you don’t, damned if you do
Is for good men to do nothing and good women just the same
Does that feel like democracy to you?
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13. |
Five Gold Rings
03:58
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FIVE GOLD RINGS
Oh what a five-ring circus, roll up, roll up to see
It’s world-wide peace and harmony galore
There’s a new and shiny pool down where the lido used to be
But I can’t afford to swim there anymore.
We love our seaside semi and we like to watch the boats
The public park’s our favourite place to walk
But now they’ve built a wall there hiding anything that floats
We’ve lived here forty years, but money talks
Community means ‘those who buy the tickets’, it appears
Perhaps they’d like to charge us too for listening to the cheers?
Five gold rings: the law forbids I name it.
Five gold rings: the trademark’s nailed down.
Five gold rings: they’ve bought the right to claim it for their own and send their
Circus through our villages and towns.
Who’s pulling on the strings?
‘Cos they’re attached to five gold rings.
My Gramps loved his allotment and it kept him fit and strong
For a hundred years that’s what the land was for
But they bulldozed eighty gardens that had been ours all along
And Grandpa doesn’t plant things anymore
‘Perpetuity’ no longer means forever, so it seems
And Grandpa’s not too active now, but there’s gardens in his dreams:
Five gold rings: the law forbids I name it.
Five gold rings: the trademark’s nailed down.
Five gold rings: they’ve bought the right to claim it for their own and send their
Circus through our villages and towns;
Who’s pulling on the strings?
‘Cos they’re attached to five gold rings.
Fire up the corporate lawyers with the words ‘cease and desist’
Tell knitters that they denigrate the games
Our sponsors’ cash investment needs protection after all
Fizzy drinks, fast food and chocolate bear their names
And let’s have lots of music, and we won’t shell out a bean
They’ll be glad to play for nothing, won’t they? ‘Least it gets them seen!
Five gold rings: the law forbids I name it.
Five gold rings: the trademark’s nailed down.
Five gold rings: they’ve bought the right to claim it for their own and send their
Circus through our villages and towns;
Who’s pulling on the strings?
‘Cos they’re attached to five gold rings.
Oh what a five-ring circus, roll up, roll up to see
The glories of this peace-time nation
You’ll all feel safe and sound thanks to the British military
And our tower block’s a missile station...
Excuse me from this celebration
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14. |
Lowlands: Pacific
02:44
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15. |
Spoon
02:22
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SPOON
This spoon is dirty, oh what shall I do?
(You could wash the damn spoon!)
I’ll make me another that’s shiny and new
(Or you could wash the damn spoon!)
Wash the damn spoon, wash the damn spoon
Or you could wash the damn spoon!
Dig me a well that goes all the way down...
That’s where the black stuff is generally found...
Bring it ashore in a jolly big boat...
If she should founder the oil will float...
Wash the damn spoon, wash the damn spoon
Or you could wash the damn spoon!
Get it refined so it knows to behave...
Mould it and melt it to the shape that I crave...
Pack it in boxes with ten thousand more...
Drive for a week to they get to the store...
Wash the damn spoon, wash the damn spoon
Or you could wash the damn spoon!
Ring up the price that it says on the tag...
Carry it home in a nice plastic bag...
Takeaway chicken and noodles for two...
Now my spoon’s dirty and what shall I do?
Wash the damn spoon, wash the damn spoon
Or you could wash the damn spoon!
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16. |
All the Birds are Gone
01:50
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ALL THE BIRDS ARE GONE
Land beneath my feet; the rock and soil of England
Cornflowers and wheat; our childrens’ futures here
What will burn, will burn, and the great machines are hungry
Oh, and this shall cost us dear
All the birds are gone, and all the stones are shaking;
On and on and on, every day in turn
What will burn, will burn, and they dare to call this ‘needful’
But the birds do not return
Sleep’s a beggar’s dream, the great machines are roaring
Thirsty for the fuel the land had stored away
What will burn, will burn; our rights are bought so cheaply
What does England have to say?
Seize the ancient light, poison all the water
Crack the ground apart that all of us stand on
What will burn, will burn, money shouts the loudest
And all the birds are gone
_____________________________________________
Words & music by & © Talis Kimberley 11th August 2013
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Talis Kimberley UK
"I'm a songwriter and singer; my songs are spun from folklore and history, stirred well with a hazel wand and served with
cake. I'll sing you ravens and bones and the story behind the story, I'll sing you bread and apples, ghosts and knitting, and bring you home with a pocketful of feathers and hope"
Voice / guitar / English concertina
Festivals, folk clubs, libraries, museums, & protests...
... more
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