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Daughter of a Heathen Man
Matt Hicks
Father was a preaching man
And I’d go a rambling with his bag in hand
He’d point his Bible at the road,
And I would follow.
There were many things he said
That I had to swallow as my daily bread
I was a slave to the humble lamb, a slave to the law.
But nothing ever seemed to soothe my lonely sense of distance from the Lord.
Something always held me back from loving the way He said we should.
I was the son of a preacher man.
The congregations eyes were as dead as night
Despite the hymns and raised hands and, try as I might,
I couldn’t move my gaze from the girl standing at the door.
She had a smile that drew me out
From the marquee that still rang from the preaching mans shouts
I could have been James or I could have been John,
A son of thunder.
She was the only one that truly ever soothed the sense of distance from the Lord.
The only one who ever let me love the way I thought I should.
She was the daughter of a heathen man.
I looked back and we began to exalt
The detail of there being no God to turn me into salt
She took my hand and told me “everything will be alright”.
The apple lip gloss caught the moon upon her lips
I kissed her well and held my hands against her slim ribs
She lay down on the ground and I followed.
It was the first time I failed to note a sense of distance from the Lord.
She was the only one who ever taught me how to love.
It could have been James, it could have been John she chose to sway
But she closed her eyes and said “Kiss me, Billy Ray!”.
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2. |
Tradewind
03:33
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I was born in the arse end of town
Fired and landed in the rough
Where the days don't ever seem to end
And the sun don't show because it's seen enough.
Best mate Harvey joined the army
Guess I could have joined up too
But I saw my fortune in the trawler lines
Gave my life to the big deep blue.
Chorus
You can't sit and wait for a trade wind
You've got to hang your sails up tall
Make yourself a slave to every turn in the wind
If you want to stand tall.
I became a man at 18 with my best mates girl.
Best mate never seemed to mind
He was busy in his heaven at the gates of hell.
Well I looked into that first born eyes
Swore I'd make him proud
I'd send greatness running through our veins
So he could say his name out loud.
Chorus
When you pray for a trade wind
The Lord will sometimes send a storm
And like my best mate Harvey I fought to the end
Refused to think I wasn't coming home.
Well that best mates girl of mine
Has gone and made us proud
She keeps the boy away from the trawler line
And the army office in the centre of town.
She warns him about the trade wind
And where you hang your sails.
That you shouldn't be a slave to every turn in the wind
If you want to keep standing tall.
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3. |
Outrage
03:46
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Outrage
When there is fire at the end of them fingers
And the cave is calling you.
And lazy in the rest of you lingers
And your echo sings the right tunes
When the last word being framed
Is more trophy for you than its truth
And you give yourself to the lying elf
Who's perched on your shoulder as proof.
Outrage
Outrage
Extreme sports for the idle
Outrage
Outrage
The cherry on your privilege
Where you're king of your village
Where black and white is easier on the eye.
Does your sense of a revolution from your three piece suite
Keep you hazy while cities burn
Just enough to warm your feet.
And the only imposition
That you will ever have to taste
Is your foul breathe pushing
Against the mask upon your face.
Outrage
Outrage
Extreme sports for the idle
Outrage
Outrage
The cherry on your privilege
Where you're king of your village
Where black and white is easier on the eye.
And if I ever feed you words
That are bursting with feathers of pride
Save a seat for this tired wanderer
Next to you on the old bitter cart that you ride.
But I will never rest
Till the people you hurt do the same
They will be a beacon
For a truth than can never be tamed
Outrage
Outrage
Extreme sports for the idle
Outrage
Outrage
The cherry on your privilege
Where you're king of your village
Where black and white is easy on the eye.
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4. |
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The Night Brings the Best Advice
This wondrous web we weave
Has all but claimed you
Words that rattle cages strive to
Move your hand toward the key
Free the monsters within
On left and on the right
They'll try to steal your jinn.
But the night brings the best advice
So sleep my darling don't you stir
Whatever this world throws at you
And street signs overwhelm you
The night brings the best advice.
When the Sun has got his hat on
And your morning
Is too bright for your eyes I'll be your awning.
To cool you throughout the day
Let the beauty walk steadfast
As those on the left, on the right
Pin their flag to the mast.
Love is a universal language
A smile will bring a smile will bring a smile.
A river only finds its courage
When it's fuller than the day it was before.
But the night brings the best advice
So sleep my darling don't you stir
Whatever this world throws at you
And street signs overwhelm you
The night brings the best advice.
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5. |
The Tree
05:41
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The Tree
As a girl she always hoped to see
The young elms of Northern Hay
Rising up against the Roman walls
But the soldier said “They’re old now”
As she pulled away to gaze upon them
In awe of how they looked so strong and tall.
She said “Is this the place, where they’ll make me hang?
And will these elms give them the frame they need?”
And he said “Don’t make such foolish talk,
I’ll hedge a bet that in three days you will be free.”
She said “These trees have been a sign of good things to come
For so very long. And hope is a hymn I’ve always sung,
But time is like the devil with its own time and it’s own dance.”
She steadied her gait, one hand on the red stone
The other treasured in the soldiers’ palms.
She could have been his mother as he left her in that cell,
Still felt her failing bones against his arms.
But she hung upon his words
Lay there like her saviour
Until the third sunrise kissed her face
And from the window of her cell, those trees they held aloft
The very taste of saving grace.
She said “These trees have been a sign of good things to come
For so very long. And hope is a hymn I’ve always sung,
But time is like the devil with its own time and it’s own dance.”
She stood before the judge, there was pity in his eyes
As he read the verdict based on so many many lies.
He said “In this modern age I ought to set you free,
But the crowd won’t be rested until they believe.
That the devil and his witches work is truly made to cease.
There won’t be harmony until they’re at peace.
I have no Avenue for which to make this stop
Other than hanging you from the Heavitree drop.
They took her body from the gallows
Tied it to a tree.
Hanging fruit of the witchcraft she enjoyed.
But the soldier couldn’t help but see
The similarity between the savours tree
And that of Temperance Lloyds’s.
He said “These trees have been a sign of good things to come
For so very long. And hope is a hymn I’ve always sung,
But time is like the devil with its own time and it’s own dance.”
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6. |
Read Between The Lines
03:32
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I would hang your tears off my shoulder
And dance you till the wind blows them dry
When the day makes you feel older
I would rest you in my arms till it passed us by.
And when your anger fails to waiver
I'd the be fire break amongst burning trees
I'd be the rain to cool your ashes
And offer them up to the breeze.
I'll just read between the lines
Look for the picture in corner of my eye
I'll just roll with the times
Because these things are just trains rolling by.
I would wait for you by the shoreline
And swim to meet you in the waves.
Treasure you like a new found pearl
That's only mine for a day.
And in the evening as we settle down
And make our bed on the floor
I'd ignore the suitcase in the corner
That's sitting like a dog by the door.
I'll just read between the lines
Look for the picture in corner of my eye
I'll just roll with the times
Because these things are just trains rolling by.
I will search for you from the crow's nest
Over sea that's rough and serene
Our faith can be our family crest
Always there but often unseen
When when words fail to bridge
Our unanswered souls
We'll hold each other in the water
Until this life turns us old
I'll just read between the lines
Look for the picture in corner of my eye
I'll just roll with the times
Because these things are just trains rolling by.
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7. |
Tyburn Days
05:28
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Strangers pay no heed to
The woman singing to an empty sky.
Bags in hand and hope in heart
She hangs on by a smile.
The children of her offspring
Dance around in photos from her purse.
She’s love to talk to someone
Tell them just what they mean to her.
These rivers still run
Underneath the streets we walk.
Those Tyburn days roll on without
Knowing where they start or end.
Boy wakes up with nightmares
But has no one there to call.
His mother barely makes it upstairs
Most nights if at all.
He keeps a blanket underneath
The sofa where she always falls asleep.
By morning she’s right as rain
And those are memories he keeps.
Chorus
There’s a time to live, a time to die,
A time to love and a time to challenge time.
But these are not things that come
To people waiting patiently in line.
There are kinds of love that
Don’t stand so right and proudly on a stage.
These are not actors saying lines
For which they’re laid.
Chorus
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8. |
When the Curtain Falls
03:52
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I know that asking you not to forget me
Is a tall order
So all I'm dreaming of
Is to be the ghost you're dreaming of
When the curtain falls
Your oyster is a stage
On which I've played my part
And many times I've read the act
Of your slowly closing heart
We shared a scene in Brooklyn
I was artful with your lines
Hidden away from the Harvest moon
That would smile upon our time.
I know that asking you not to forget me
Is a tall order
So all I'm dreaming of
Is to be the ghost you're dreaming of
When the curtain fall.
Oh this stage has been your oyster
Where underneath I've drawn the bow
And though you've paid dues to the orchestra.
Your love I'll never know.
But sing, sing,
Sing the words that tells me to linger
Drop the tear that holds me forever
The laughter that lures me to the brook
Oh Ophelia
I know that asking you not to forget me
Is a tall order
So all I'm dreaming of
Is to be the ghost youre dreaming of
When the curtain fall.
But sing, sing,
Sing the song that tells me to linger
Drop the tear that holds me forever
The laughter that lures me to the brook
Oh Ophelia
I know that asking you not to forget me
Is a tall order
So all I'm dreaming of
Is to be the ghost youre dreaming of
When the curtain fall.
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Matt Hicks Plymouth, UK
Old time, modern time, blues, jazz, folk, Americana story telling, guitar playing, Uke strummer.
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