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...a live recording, filmed at The Lodge on an iPhone 6

Rough Notes

by David Philip Ireland

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1.
Shimmer & Shine 03:16 video
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Let’s go to the silvery river  Catch the shimmer and the shine  Treasures of the Seaweed Oceans  Can’t outshine this love of mine  This love of mine Eels of glass from seaweed tangles  Drifting slowly on the tides  Shimmering gold ‘cross the Atlantic Can’t outshine this love of mine  When the moon is but a sliver  As the tide comes up the river  And the evening makes us shiver  They’ll be there River Man, you Mudlark Seeker  In reflections of The May  Watch the Spring Tides Whirl and eddy Stirring up the restless clay  There they shimmer scaly silver    Flowing sleek against the tide  Cast your nets you Anchor Piemen Through the February Night Eels of glass from seaweed tangles  Drifting slowly on the tides  Shimmering gold ‘cross the Atlantic Can’t outshine this love of mine  Let’s go to the silvery river Catch the shimmer and shine  Treasures of the Seaweed Oceans  Cant outshine this love of mine This love of mine
2.
Blue Remembered Hills 03:49 video
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Skim a brittle frozen lake
And dance into my heart again
Melt my mind with breaths of spring And lead me to The May
When the nights are lighter
And when the days are lengthening Bluster me with morning thrills,
Lead me to my Blue Remembered Hills Fill my sky with untold stars Breathe me into life again
Sketch my air with summer nights And choose for me the way Your magic hour at sunset
When reds and golds surprise
Roll my tongue with sugar pills
And lead me to my Blue Remembered Hills Once we were callow young
With all our years before us
Ever two together as one
Now with our new found song aching to be sung We’ll cast our dreams upon the Blue Blue Hills So dance me through the Valentine To where our love is sheltering Shower me in blossom sparks
Of hawthorn’s scented day ’til sage Augustus clothes us
In frosted robes of silvery
When seasons move against our will
On Blue Remembered Hills
3.
One Hundred Days Of Solitude 03:45 video
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Losing track of everything Losing track of time Losing every scrap of sense Losing my mind Did I just catch Halley’s Comet? Or was that around last year? I’ve been dazed and confused for a while now Starting to fear the fear Counting down the hours and days To someone’s kingdom come Twenty-four hundred hours Of rabbits on the run One hundred and forty-four thousand minutes Since I last turned the key One hundred days of solitude is quite enough for me Losing sight of everything Losing the goddam plot Losing games I should have won Lost the bloody lot Waiting for Armageddon Waiting for the end of time Waiting for another bus To the end of the line Counting down the hours and days To who knows what Twenty-four hundred hours And just what have we got? One hundred and forty-four thousand minutes Since I turned the key One hundred days of solitude is quite enough for me
4.
The Sands Of Time 04:29 video
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There's a place in my mind I can always go Where memories melt like the summer snow The sounds of the sea in the shells that I hold Is the ticking of time on the sands of gold Here on the shore of the seven seas I can dream what I want and go where I please I can visit those places we used to go There on the sands of time Tick tock - I’m watching horizons of faraway lands Tick tock - writing my name with the fingers of my hand Tick tock - running it down faster than I planned There on the quicksands of time The first and the last we might never know Those moments will fade with the ebb and flow But I still see those castles we helped to grow Built on the sands of time Tick tock - I’m washing my hands of the crime Tick tock - putting my name to another man’s rhyme Tick tock - running it down one cog at a time Here on the sands of time Maybe The future’s a step too far Right now I'd rather turn and look away Some of us are reaching for different stars Shining above the sands of time We built us a life on the sands of time But now it slips through our fingers And runs through our hands Heading away with the waterline Here on the sands of time
5.
Winds Will Blow 05:44 video
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O fetch to me aye a Holland shirt
Withoot a stitch o' needlewark
Ye maun wash it in yonder well
Where water never sprang nor fell And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 you'll hing it to dry oer yon Thornhaugh bush,
That hasna bloomed since man was born Gin ye would be wed tae this day,
There's many thing ye maun do for me And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 For you'll fetch to me two acres of land
Between thon salt sea and thon salt sea strand.
For you'll ploo it up with a devil’s horn,
You will sew it ower with one grain of corn, And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 For you will ripen it up with one blink o sand,
You'll cut it down with a pea-hen's feather.
Ye may stook it in the sea
And bring the wheat sheaf dry to me And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 And ye will drive upon a snail,
And thresh the wheat with a mouse's tail, Should every ear grow merry and fine,
Then you will be a true lover of mine. And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 For surely when you put such task on me,
I'll surely put aye as hard on you.
How many ships sails in thy forest?
How many strawberries grows on the salt sea? And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2 And when he has finished all of his work,
Oh, tell him to call for his Holland shirt, With gifts of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And then he will be a true lover of mine. And it's ho, ho the wind'll blow x2
6.
Painting By Numbers 04:33 video
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On dark mornings, high up in the hills Ghosts rise o’er the river We glimpse the leaves a turning pale Against the East Wind’s shiver On scarlet sunsets spied from valleys Afore the moon scores over Veins that bleed the Pole Star’s gore Flee celestial rovers Staining the pages With ochres and umbers Winters and Summers Painting by numbers Smearing the pages With green and orange Springs and Autumns Painting by numbers High we rise, heady with fumes Higher than skylarks in thunderless skies Clovers and celandines drenching the pastures Silk scented carpets of butterflies Staining the pages With ochres and umbers Winters and Summers Painting by numbers Smearing the pages With green and orange Springs and Autumns Painting by numbers Renaissance minstrels Rothko blockers Warhol thievery Jackson Pollocks Seventeen, Three Thirteen, Eleven Nineteen, Six Bee Fourteen, One, and Seven Staining the pages With ochres and umbers Winters and Summers Painting by numbers Smearing the pages With green and orange Springs and Autumns Painting by numbers
7.
Slow Boat From Memphis 04:55 video
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I was seven years old when Elvis hit the airwaves It was Heartbreak Hotel and it shook me to the core All of my dreams arrived in those two moments And whatever he had, I wanted a whole lot more So let me pray at the shrine of The Ryman Let me soar with the stars to the highest of highs Let me walk in the neon lights of Broadway If my slow-boat from Memphis ever makes it on time From the cradle of the blues, to the stations of the heart The passion powering up that Mystery Train From the rising of the Sun, down on Union Avenue The old home town would never be the same again So let me pray at the shrine of The Ryman Let me soar with the stars to the highest of highs Let me walk in the neon lights of Broadway If my slow-boat from Memphis ever makes it on time And my West Country drawl was a close as I could get Singing Hallelujah in the choir Forget the Kiss Curl Square and the Little White Bull I wanted to get closer to the wire So let me pray at the shrine of The Ryman Let me soar with the stars to the highest of highs Let me walk in the neon lights of Broadway If my slow-boat from Memphis ever makes it on time Now I feel like I’m reaching the mooring But time has not withered my hope and schemes The lights on the quayside are calling me home Rolling down the river of dreams So let me pray at the shrine of The Ryman Let me soar with the stars to the highest of highs Let me walk in the neon lights of Broadway If my slow-boat from Memphis ever makes it on time
8.
The Girl With The Dandelion Hair 03:39 video
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Out on the plains where the crop circles grow Winds from the east make the wildflowers blow Summers of meadows with seldom a care I'll look for the girl with dandelion hair I first set sail when the weather was fair Searching for something - castles of air A runt of a lad with no flesh on me bones. Skeletal shadows - sticks and stones Newspaper vinegar shining the glass Scents of fresh tansy in the air as I pass Scattering words with a lightness of touch I didn’t ever quest to seek too much And if I am bold will she clamber my stair I want to be friends - I just want my share I’ve found me a love that is precious and rare Let me dance with the girl with the dandelion hair
9.
Song of the Limey Man 03:18 video
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As I walked the hillsides of my youth one morning in July I came upon a Limey Man with fire in his eyes With staff and dog, he made his way and stopped along the path He spake to me of devils, with eloquence and wrath And writ in black and orange, all ‘cross his weathered cloak Were words we should remember when all around is broke Don’t be afeared Don’t lose the fight Don’t let them win, you Cotswold Cocks Stand strong and rise, stand strong and rise Stand strong and rise again… Don’t let the bastards grind you down We talked awhile of this and that, and we cried out to the skies This Cotswold land, once ripe with pride withers before our eyes The peasants and the artisans, the poets, and the scribes Have stilled their pens in misery, while the carrion crows escry Yet still in black and orange all ‘cross his ragged cloak In words I shall remember that started as a joke Don’t be afeared Don’t lose the fight Don’t let them win, you Cotswold Hens Stand strong and rise, stand strong and rise Stand strong and rise again… Don’t let the bastards grind you down We chose divergent pathways, brightened by the sun He to cottage garden and we to bean and plum So when the weight of the world seems to hover overhead I’ll just keep thinking back to the things that he said Those words in black and orange writ across his tattered cloak Are emblazoned on my memory - I just need that little poke But don’t be afeared Don’t lose the fight Don’t let them win, you Cotswold Oaks Stand strong and rise, stand strong and rise Stand strong and rise again… Don’t let the bastards grind you down
10.
Someone Stole My Summer 02:56
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The fruit is withering in the orchard The grass is yellowing in the rain The days are shorter than they once were Someone stole my summer again Morning dew that doesn’t dry Leaves a silk trail on the pane Hours that flew, now they just fly Someone stole my summer again Someone stole my summer Someone stole my summer again Grains are shivering in the meadow Bowing to the August gales The days are colder than they once were Someone stole my summer again Evening mist that closes in Dense and heavy in the lanes Birds that flew, now they just fly Someone stole my summer again The harvest moon is ripe with season Silhouetting blooms that will not wane How the days go rushing by Someone stole my summer again The fruit is rotting in the orchard The grass is wallowing in the rain The days are shorter than they once were Someone stole my summer again Someone stole my summer again Someone stole my summer Again
11.
The Lavender Path 04:30 video
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Lavender's blue, lavender's green, When I am king, you shall be queen: Who told you so, who told you so? 'Twas mine own heart that told me so. Call up your men, set them to work, Some with a rake, some with a fork; Some to make hay, hey hey, some to thresh corn, Whilst you and I keep ourselves warm. If i should die, as it may hap, I shall be buried, under the tap; Who told you so, she said, pray tell me why? That i might drink, when I am dry. Lavender's green, Lavender's blue
 You must love me, cause I love you,
 I heard one say, since I came hither,
 That you and I, must lie together Lavender blue and Rosemary green,
 When I am king you shall be queen;
 Call up my maids at four of the clock 
 Some to the wheel and some to the rock;
 Some to make hay and some to shear corn,
 And you and I will keep the bed warm. Walk with me through the lavender path Fill my head with sweet perfume Run my fingers through the flowers We will be one come Summer soon Lavender's blue, lavender's green, When I am king, you shall be queen: Who told you so, who told you so? 'Twas mine own heart that told me so.
12.
Touch 03:31 video
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If I can’t touch you Touch you with my love This masquerade of Iron fists and velvet gloves Fill my dreams of you Lord above That’s when I touch you Touch you with my love Days drift by and we’re far apart Beating drums and beating hearts Building walls, no end - no start And I can’t touch you Nights arrive with lonely dark Silent skies and firefly sparks Wind is whistling if you hark But I can’t touch you If I can’t touch you Touch you with my love This masquerade of Iron fists and velvet gloves Fill my dreams of you Lord above That’s when I touch you Touch you with my love How long can they keep us away from each other I need you as a friend I need you as a lover How long can this madness go on I need to touch you Touch you with my love
13.
One Last Dance 05:08 video
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And we came from far and wide to watch the wild horses run With our arms around each other in the rain and in the sun As we watched another daybreak kill the darkening skies And we breathed the kiss of death into each other's eyes And a silent film of ill crept across our sleeping skin And the wages of our wagers were the tainted spoils of sin And the bitter taste of wine could not mask the new domain As the incubus grew strong in our poison-addled brains One last dance One last dance before we go One last dance At the closing of the show Arms around each other Sisters and brothers As we danced through the night We held each other tight One last dance One last dance Before we go And we flooded through the gilded halls of red white and blue To the tournament of champions, the chosen twenty-two And we sweated in the heat of the final hooray Watching ninety measured moments of our lives frittering away And we met each bloody triumph with a champions roar We were Gladiators falling on our Burger King swords Hold close together brothers, like sardines in a tin So let's dance tonight boys, and sing tonight boys, cause nobody, nobody wins One last dance One last dance before we go One last dance At the closing of the show Arms around each other Sisters and brothers As we danced through the night We held each other tight One last dance One last dance Before we go One last dance Looking back - could we have changed a single thing? Looking back - did we learn anything? Can anyone escape from here? Can anyone survive? Is anybody out there still alive? One last dance…
14.
A Winter's Dream 03:20 video
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Winter’s cloak is sewn with stars Cast in moonlight’s silver gleam Winter's cloak will hold us close In a Winter’s dream On the shortest day Through the longest night We hide beneath the covers With whispered words of love At the break of day In the morning light We dream of new horizons And love is birdsong bright Winter’s cloak is sewn with stars Cast in moonlight’s silver gleam Winters cloak will hold us close In a Winter’s dream And the certainty of love Gave us hope and faith and glory From the forest’s twisted pathways To the mountains shining heights Deep in Winter's dream tonight On the brightest day On the clearest night When the moon is full of longing We gaze across the autumn flight On the newest day When the near is far We’ll reach out for the moon once more And catch a falling star Winter’s cloak is sewn with stars Cast in moonlight’s silver gleam Winter's cloak will hold us close In a Winter’s dream
15.
Along The Cotswold Way 03:43 video
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As we set out on one misty morning, Dewdrops flew with each new step Wandering down the pilgrims' path Along the Cotswold Way The path was rugged as the twain Trod down the beech nut husks And the views we claimed, were ours alone Along the Cotswold Way From the Black Hills of Wales across to Malvern Wells From the bleating sheep of Uley to the Gloucester Bells We took them in from low to high Along the Cotswold Way Our gnarly sticks revolved like cartwheels Bouncing down the rutted climbs And many a hound went chasing there Along the Cotswold Way And if it’s nimbus in the skies Or purple clover in the dales We thrill to tread the ancient rise Along the Cotswold Way From the Severn’s Hulks across to the Forest Dean From the dizzy tumps of Old Ring Hill to the fading of the green We took them in from low to high Along the Cotswold Way There is a bench just up-a-hill Carved names in weathered grey A testament to whence we came Along the Cotswold Way
16.
Thistledown Blown 03:22 video
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You can’t fence that in Her spirit bright and shining You can’t build a wall around her She’ll break out Thistledown blown They made them wait for far too long Until she was fully grown He was just a farmer’s joss And she was thistledown blown Thistledown blown Two winter bairns she bore him Two lives that grew inside But the angels came and took her Before the spring could rise Thistledown blown The winter ‘flu after the war Harvested the some And she faded like a flower With all the meaning gone From his world Thistledown blown They made them wait for far too long Until she was fully grown He was just a farmer’s joss And she was thistledown blown Thistledown blown Now, when the four winds blow Across the plains of home He still hears her gentle cry And he cries all alone Thistledown blown
17.
Two-Wheel Town 03:52 video
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Two-Wheel Town - words and music David Philip Ireland There’s a jackdaw sitting proud on the railing near the chapel Casting round for sinner men to blame One eye on the skyline, one eye on the scatterings Iridescent blue-black feathers gleaming in the rain In this two-wheel town In this two-wheel town There used to be a print shop with headlines on the news Back in the day when jobs were for life Black and white and read all over Wrapped around the fish and chips now, to take home for the trouble and strife In this two-wheel town In this two-wheel town This town was never built for speed A proud industrial chasm in a grass green bowl Then the Danesman came and tamed the wild uneven ways Turned that one horse hole Into a two-wheel town Two-wheel town There’s a rumour that young William was a teacher at the school For eight long years he shaped the local minds And when labour’s loss was history’s gain From high on the escarpment his words flowed like the river Running through the distant two-wheel town Two wheel town When I was young the town had slipped into decline The Donkey ceased to run there any more A place of sad neglect And ruined stone and twisted iron And Lardy cakes and curdled cream Fed the two-wheel town Fed the two wheel town There’s a jackdaw sitting proud on the arm of a masked man Bags full of something for the plate One eye on the clock, but nothing’s really mattering There’s nowhere to go, no buses running late No hand to hold, or soul to touch There’s nothing really moving No, nothing much Everything has slowed beyond belief Life behind the lock and key Now dead to me Dead and gone From dusk ’til dawn In this two-wheel town
18.
The Windfall 03:24 video
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I came across an orchard with bloodstains on the ground  Fallen seed of bruised and bloody red  Sunlight glinting there upon the gall worms and the drones  Feasting on the remnants of the windfall I searched me for some greening shade - a willow parasol  A sheltered sun-dark dome of mornings drop  Each careless step a memoir, a cider memory  Intoxicating revels of the windfall And how they fade  And how they wither  How they leather up  And pass into the earth  Offering life through death, season by season  The cruelest culling harvest of the windfall  In the gardens of a house brought to life after the war  I was minded of the souls among the dew  Fields of far off summer mornings held them in their arms  The ruddy rising suns of the windfall  And the ghosts drift idly high over the orchard now  They hover over villages and towns  Each one a soul, each one a son,  A snapshot heart-held close, as the teardrops trickle down  And how they fade  And how they wither  Their cries to home were soundless in the dawn  And when the broken ones returned  No lessons had been learned  There is nothing to be learned from the windfall
19.
One More Time Around 03:19 video
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When the sun’s afire, there’s more than meets the eye Seasons change, seasons change As Winter gives the Spring another try, Seasons change, seasons change Starling songs reverberate all along the humming wires Tribal journey tales unfurl to fuel the Beacon fires One more time around When the moon’s a-watch, there’s more than meets the eye Seasons change, seasons change As Summer whispers Autumn’s name again Seasons change, seasons change Hoar frost sheets the windowpanes, our breath clouds billow free and wild ‘til vistas open misty paths for endless twisting miles One more time around In starlight’s gaze, there’s music in the dance Seasons change, seasons change As Venus offers Mars another chance Seasons change, seasons change Murmurations from the East are twilight swirling in the skies Joining Redwings in the fields to feast on fallen rye One more time around I watch Summer rivers flow I hear the Autumn rustling low I feel the Winter’s bitter blow And with each new year, I know I’ll welcome Spring’s return, and so it goes One more time around

about

The Lockdown has proved to be an incredibly productive time for me.

It may be something to do with my age and the fact that time is passing quickly and I have still so much to do.

My songs are full of the changing seasons with their descriptions of small things and big things, colours and emotions and scents and sounds. But also, there are songs of isolation and anger and reflections of the strange times we live in.

Please enjoy these rough note recordings - often on iPhone and simply edited...just a small selection of the many songs I have now added to my repertoire.

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released February 10, 2021

...recorded at The Lodge on a cracked iPhone...

David Philip Ireland: guitar & voice

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David Philip Ireland England, UK

David Philip Ireland is a writer, poet, musician, broadcaster and experimentalist.

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