1. |
Elegy (Crystal Glass)
04:39
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Elegy (Crystal Glass)
This crystal glass was given to my grandma on her wedding-day
It was one of twelve that were only used for guests
and it loves candle-light - it loves the morning sun
but it spent its days in darkness in a big oak chest
waiting for white linen and the silver and the wine -
On a table set for angels, it would shine
and she said,
Glasses may break if you use them every day
You must keep them safe - They’re like hearts that way
Mostly you can get along with less
Wait for special times to use the best
This crystal glass was given to my mother as a legacy
It was one of ten from my grandmother’s estate
and it loves candle-light - it loves the morning sun
but it spent years marked FRAGILE in a packing crate
‘til my mother rediscovered it in nineteen eighty-nine
She held it to the light to see it shine
and she said,
Glasses may break if you use them every day
You can keep them safe - but what good are they
if they just stay shut up in some chest?
Why wait to use the very best?
So here’s a toast to lovely things
Hear the crystal speak as it clicks against my rings
and see the facets shine
makes water taste like wine
Clink the glasses and they sing
This crystal glass was broken on a clumsy Monday morning
It was one of four that my mother gave to me
and it loved candle-light - it loved the morning sun
and I’m sad to see it go, but I still have three
so I will pour some orange juice and drink to precious things
Shake the broken pieces, and they sing
and they say
Glasses may break if you use them every day
That’s the risk you take - they’re like hearts that way
and every day will put them to the test
but every day deserves the very best
© Zoe Mulford 2004
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2. |
Gonna Wear Red
03:22
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City snow is piled high
There’s a weary rain from a worn-out sky
It’s so dreary, if I died it might be okay
But there’s a woman crossing the street
She’s dressed in red from her head to her feet
with a red umbrella and a sweet little red beret
City snow melts down to meet
the filthy water that floods the street
and every car throws up a sheet of icy spray
But she got up this morning and said,
I’m gonna dress myself in red
and they’ll turn their heads when they see me from a block away
She said, I’m gonna wear red today
I’m gonna wear red today
I’ve had enough of black and white and gray
I’m gonna wear red today
City traffic is perverse,
the driving’s bad and the walking is worse
and parking will make you curse or maybe pray
But I’m so tired of sitting alone
if I can’t find a party I’ll just make my own
I won’t stay home and I’m gonna wear red today
I’m gonna wear red today
I’m gonna wear red today
I’ve had enough of black and white and gray
I’m gonna wear red today
Gray means business, beige is in
Black is chic and it makes you look thin
but they don’t make people grin when they look your way
The kids wear coats big enough for two
in gray or black or navy blue
but me and you - we’re gonna wear red today
Whaddya say?
I’m gonna wear red today
I’m gonna wear red today
I’ve had enough of black and white and gray
I’m gonna wear red today
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3. |
Our Lady of the Highways
04:36
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Thank God for the radio and convenience-store coffee
Three hours you've been on the road, and it should have been dawn
North-bound to Delaware, you'll pass the temple where
Our Lady of the Highways stands looking on
And blessed be the children and the strangers
We are all together, we are all alone
All the sleepless dreamers, all the restless angels
Bless all the wanderers far away from home
Red lights in the passing-lane - hundreds of pilgrims
All your fellow-travellers,
you don't know their names
Some come throuh here every day, some come from a long long way
Our Lady of the Highways loves them all the same
Blessed be...
White rag on the driver's door, glass on the shoulder
The ditches and the medians blossom with shrines
Fake flowers and a wooden cross and the names of the ones we've lost
Our Lady of the Highways knows they're yours and mine
Blessed be...
Hear the swish of the wiper-blades, rain on the windshield
Passing exit 100-A to the town of Rising Sun
Black sky fading into blue - clouds shift and the sun peeks through
Our Lady of the Highways welcomes every dawn
And blessed be...
© Zoe Mulford 2004
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4. |
The American Wake
05:26
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Farewell to my dear ones - to Sligo I’m bound.
I’ll not be one more that you’ll lay in the ground.
It’s early tomorrow my leave I must take
but tonight we will have an American wake.
The plight of our country was never so bad -
there’s no work to be found and no bread to be had.
I’ve nothing to hope for and nothing to fear -
I leave nothing behind me but all I hold dear.
Farewell, my good friends, you will see me no more
unless we should meet on America’s shore.
Don’t cry for me, Mother, no tears for my sake -
I’ll be raising a glass with you at me own wake.
Now few men are granted the chance for to know
what good men will say of them after they go
and I’m lucky indeed to be present to see
the tears that the lasses are crying for me.
And if there is any that bears me bad will,
I pray you’ll forgive and not speak of me ill,
but wish me good luck as I take to the seas -
and after I’m gone you can say what you please. (Farewell, my good friends...)
I’m going down to Sligo that lies on the bay;
I’ll be boarding my coffin and sailing away
to where shillings lie thicker than shells on the strand
and I’ll grab me a shovel and I’ll send what I can.
And if I should prosper, it’s home I’ll return
with a coach and four horses and money to burn -
but if it should happen I’ve never the means,
I will wander these hills every night in my dreams. (Farewell, my good friends...)
Though Heaven be distant from Dublin or Cork,
it’s closer, they say, than the docks of New York -
but wherever I am when I venture ashore,
I’ll be welcomed by those that have got there before.
If my ship it should founder, I pray I may see
the harbor of Paradise waiting for me.
If I land in the other place, I’ll not despair -
God knows, I’ll find plenty of Irishmen there. (Farewell, my good friends...)
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5. |
Nobody Knocking
02:53
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He won't need his coat no more, no more
You can wear it when you're grown
Two went out together and one come back alone
and ain't nobody knocking at the door
He won't need his boots no more, no more
Snow is falling on the track
Two went out together and only one come back
and ain't nobody knocking at the door
He won't make me cry no more, no more
I ain't gonna cry and moan
We went out together and I come back alone
and ain't nobodo knocking at the door
He won't need his gun no more, no more
Ain't nobody needs to know
how I pulled the trigger and he bled into the snow
and ain't nobody knocking at the door
So you don't need to fear no more, no more
You won't feel his hand again
Go and light the candle and draw the latch-string in
'cause ain't nobody knocking at the door
Ain't nobody knocking
Ain't nobody knocking
That ain't no one knocking at the door
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6. |
Gone Is Gone
03:06
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Train pulls out on a one-way track
Nothing you do's gonna bring it back
No use hanging on
Gone is gone
Time's gone by and my money's spent
Don't ask me where the hell it all went
I'll keep moving on
Gone is gone
I've always been a loser
Never been a fighter
Maybe I'm the poorer
Maybe I'm just lighter
Ain't gonna bother
hanging on your shoulder
just 'cause it's over
and all I've got is older
I've said about all there is to say
Nothing I do's gonna make you stay
I'll keep moving on
Gone is gone
I've always been a loser
Never been a fighter
Maybe I'm the poorer
Maybe I'm just lighter
Ain't gonna bother
hanging on your shoulder
just 'cause it's over
and all I've got is older
Train pulls out on a one-way track
Nothing you do's gonna bring it back
No use hanging on
Gone is gone
Gone is gone is gone is gone is gone
Gone is gone
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7. |
Those Boys
04:57
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Jamie and Kevin are down by the high-school track
hanging around with the guys
Just killing time and flipping their skateboards
over the curb into the summer sky
Swooping down the path that leads
down a dozen concrete stairs
Jamie rides the railing down
and Kevin rides the air
Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time stands still for them
They learn to play it cool
practising in the parking lot after school
Someone says Awesome! Jamie just shrugs
and Kevin pretends not to hear
They make as if they weren't out here practising
after school every day last year
Before the dusk turns streetlights on
you can get in a hundred times
Ninety times you eat the pavement
The ninety-first you fly
Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time stands still for them
They learn to play it cool
practising in the parking lot after school
Jamie thinks maybe he'll train as an EMT
Maybe he'll join a band
Kevin just knows this town is too small for him
He's got to get away from his old man
He sees eternity stretched out
between him and next year
Soon as I get my license, he says
I'll be out of here
Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time lies in wait for them
Time may be kind or cruel
but it doesn't care for the time they spent here
learning to be cool
practising in the parking lot after school
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8. |
The Angel in the Storm
06:12
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Thunder shakes the windows
the night is rent with rain
The wind is crying loud and shrill
There’s an angel on my windowsill
tapping at the pane
Wind and fire, wind and rain
as bright as iron and as fragile as a flame
Thin and tired, bruised and torn
I’d give you haven, I would keep you safe and warm
Ah, but who could keep the angel from the storm?
Her head is crowned with fire,
her wings like beaten gold
Feathers edged like razors,
too beautiful to look at
and too dangerous to hold
But her wings are ragged
and she’s soaking to the skin
Her clothes are tattered too
and she’s so thin her ribs show through
I have to let her in
I have to let her in
Wind and fire, wind and rain...
Ah, but who could shield the angel from the storm?
So I sit her by the fireside
and I give her toast and tea
This sudden visitation,
this strange annunciation
with a message just for me
We talk for hours as we
gaze into the flames
She burns with glory
and she tells me many stories
but she never says her name
she never says her name
Wind and fire, wind and rain...
Ah, but who could name the angel in the storm?
She’s had many lovers
and then vanished from their lives
She thinks that they’ll forgive her
if she carries them all with her
like a necklace made of knives
I know that I’ll be one of those
who wait for her return
but she never flies the same way twice
she says, the more you sacrifice
the brighter you can burn
the brighter you can burn
Wind and fire, wind and rain...
Ah, but who could love the angel in the storm?
Just before she leaves me
her lips brush past my ear
I feel her words caressing
like a secret or a blessing
What she says, I cannot hear
And as I watch her disappear,
I think of many things
If I were to follow her, I don’t know if I’d fall
or if I’d find that I have wings
find that I have wings
Wind and fire, wind and rain...
Ah, but who would be an angel in the storm?
Rain pours in the window, leave it open just a crack
I know I ought to close it now, but the carpet’s soaking anyhow
and what if she comes back? - What if she comes back?
You never know - the angel might come back.
Wind and fire, wind and rain
I crave your beauty, but I cannot heal your pain.
Thin and tired, bruised and torn,
I’d give you haven, I would keep you safe and warm
Ah, but who could save the angel,
the angel in the storm?
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9. |
Blues for Two
03:48
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If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
‘Cause if they catch you alone, honey, there’s nothing you can do
When you left, baby, I was sunk in misery
When you left, baby, I was sunk in misery
Now that you’re back, my misery has company
If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
‘Cause if they catch you alone, honey, there’s nothing you can do
One is lonesome, two is company
One's so lonesome, two is company
But there’s three in this menage, honey, you and the blues and me
If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well have blues for two
‘Cause if they catch you alone, honey, there’s nothing you can do
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10. |
Stock
03:06
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This cabbage has seen better days;
the side that's cut is turning gray.
The mushrooms are all brown and dry,
the potatoes have reached for the sky.
The onions are putting out new green shoots,
the carrots are covered with hairy roots,
the Chinese cabbage is limp as a sock -
Baby, it's time to make stock.
'Cause everything grows and everything dies
and it all comes back in another guise.
All this stuff needn't go to waste -
instead it'll give me soup more taste.
Open the fridge and see what we've got,
haul it on out before it starts to rot,
chop it all up and put it in the pot,
Baby it's time to make stock.
Sunday's chicken is done and gone -
save the bones, put the stock pot on.
If the thing came whole and complete,
you can throw in the head and the feet.
I'm told the heads of fish are fine
with celery tops and a little white wine.
The eyeballs may give someone a shock,
but they sure make mighty nice stock.
'Cause everything grows and everything dies...
This process also works with songs
that end in the middle or just go wrong -
if you've got a tune that won't go right
or you find that the whole thing's trite.
Here's a chorus that can't keep a verse;
it started out fine, but it just gets worse.
Here's one nice line in a pile of schlock -
Baby, it's time to make stock.
'Cause everything grows and everything dies
and it all comes back in another guise.
Whether it's soup or whether it's art
you can just cut out those yucky parts.
Open your mind up, see what you've got,
haul it on out before it starts to rot,
chop it all up and put it in the pot,
Baby, it's time to make stock.
Everything grows and everything dies
and it all comes back in another guise.
All this stuff needn't go to waste -
instead it'll give my soup more taste.
Open the fridge and see what we've got,
haul in on out before it starts to rot,
chop it all up and put it in the pot.
Baby it's time to make stock.
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11. |
Stone Song
04:31
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My people have wandered for so long,
we've forgotten where it was we came from
The villagers call us beggars and thieves
and suspect us of stealing children
When we break camp in the morning,
they're relieved to see us leaving - and the road is long
There is nowhere that we are welcome
But every father gives his son a treasure he can carry
He says, This stone marks the center of the world
He says, Carry it with you always
The stranger's tongue may name you, child
The stranger's hand may harm you
but where you are is the center of the world
and one day, you will tell your children
that the whole world turns around the stone
You can chart your place under unfamiliar skies
The whole world turns around the stone
and you alone will know where the pivot lies
Every morning the sun may rise
over somewhere that is unexpected
Should I pass this way again,
who can say what the road will show me?
And the hills and valleys answer
to names I did not give them - and the road is long
and its end just another turning
But the stone is round and it fits my hand
like a story smoothed in telling
He said, This stone marks the center of the world
He said, Carry it with you always
Take it out and sing to it
when the road is lonely
and know that you're at the center of the world
and one day, you will tell your children
that the whole world turns around the stone
You can chart your place under unfamiliar skies
The whole world turns around the stone
and you alone will know where the pivot lies
You were not born into this road
but I see the road has come to find you
The dust upon your shoes is new
and behind you the bridge is broken
I do not have to ask to know
your compass has betrayed you - and the road is long
There is nobody now to guide you
There is nothing I can give to you
to aid you on your journey
but a stone to mark the center of the world
I say, Carry it with you always
What you love is far behind now
Let a stranger teach you
to know that you're at the center of the world
and believe with the faith of children
that the whole world turns around the stone
You can chart your place under unfamiliar skies
The whole world turns around the stone
and you alone will know where the pivot lies
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12. |
The Earth and the Sky
03:21
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I am standing in silence in a wide-open field
For a moment the earth and the heavens are healed
The new moon lies sleeping, there's never a cloud
and I can't hear the highway 'cause the stars are too loud
I can't hear the highway 'cause the stars are too loud
And somewhere toward sunrise out over the sea
silver wings carry you farther from me
but the earth is too tiny to keep us apart
From here, I can still hear the beat of your heart
From here, I can still hear the beat of your heart
And a poet said those who can love without end
will live in the open surrounded by friends
Loving's not easy, though I try and I try
but tonight I love you and the earth and the sky
tonight I love you and the earth and the sky
So walk where you will, love, and go without fear
The earth has a heartbeat you always will hear
May silence be music, may strangers be friends
'til the heavens turn round and you come home again
ooo'til the heavens turn round and you come home again
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Zoe Mulford Manchester, UK
American songwriter Zoe Mulford is best known for "The President Sang Amazing Grace," which has been covered by Joan Baez and the Kronos Quartet and was the International Folk Awards Song of the Year in 2018.
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