1. |
Banks of the Roses
02:31
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On the Banks of the Roses me love and I sat down
And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune
And in the middle of the tune-o she smiled and she said
oh Johnny, lovely Johnny won't ya leave me
When I was a young one I heard me father say
That he'd rather see me dead and buried in the clay
Sooner than be married to any runaway
By the lovely sweet banks of the roses
And then I am no runaway and soon I'll let them know
That I can take a bottle or can leave it alone
And if her daddy doesn't like it he can keep his daughter at home
And young Johnny will go rovin' with some other
And when I get married t'will be in the month of May
When the leaves they are green and the meadows they are gay
And me and me true love we'll sit and sport and play
By the lovely sweet banks of the roses
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2. |
Wanderlust
04:03
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I've been travelling a long and dusty road
Where Woody and other folks did go
To earn a dollar or a dime hoping folk are kind
Where the outstretched arms of solidarity lie
And the ever-changing leaves match the lives we lead
Going down this long and dusty road
Through backwoods, through city and through town
It's there they say that New York wears the crown
But the jewels of the East are found in dirty streets
Where the gamblers of your soul they do not roam
And a gentle lilting breeze dances through the trees
In Delaware, Pittsburgh, Newark town
My pockets are light and my heart is the same
From Massachusetts, Maryland and Maine
My pockets are light and my heart is the same
Gentle as the wind that sweeps the plain
Gentle as the wind that sweeps the plain
And one day I'll find that golden track
To the ones who keep the demons off my back
And in times of misery are a distant memory
Where the rivers they run wild and free
And a true lover's kiss is purer than this
The Whisky that flows through these veins
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3. |
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The Drawbridges are being closed up, logic's left in the cold
The rejection of power is liberally exercised just to spite your own
A chorus sings as a mantra from the weary and the meek
You can hear cries of freedom from those with no voice to speak
A solitary voice cries from the mass, a noise that rings loud untrue
As I view with peculiar derision down Leaver's Avenue
Now the ones who hoard the power throw their their hands in the air
Conceding all their knowledge and admittance to the affair
The hero leaves his castle spreads his wings to new found lands
Inviting those who seek 'freedom' to embrace another crooks plans
Though they might fall for this old story, a calculated rouse
As I glance with admonition down Leaver's Avenue
The horizon now is hazy, the leaves begin to fall
Which side am I on now, if even which side at all
Truth is left meandering down the rivers of time
Cast aside with false prophesies that led to Rome's demise
Is unity immunity from the fears we've been sold?
Questions that lay unanswered down Leaver's Avenue
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4. |
Arthur McBride
04:02
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I had a first cousin called Arthur McBride
He and I took a stroll down by the by the sea side
A seeking good fortune and what might be tide
'Twas just as the day was a dawning
After resting we both took a tramp
We met Sergeant Harper and Corporal Cramp
Besides the wee drummer who beat up for camp
With his rowdy dow dow in the morning
Says he me young fellows if you will enlist
A guinea you quickly have in your fist
Likewise the crown for to kick the dust
And drink the king's health in the morning
From a soldier he leads a very fine life
He always is blessed with a charming young wife
And he pays all his debts without sorrow or strife
And always lives happy and charming
Ah now me bold sergeant we are not for sale
We'll make no such bargain, your bribe won't avail
We're not tried of our country we don't care to sail
Although that your offer is charming
And if we were such fools as to take the advance
This right bloody slander would be our poor chance
For the Queen wouldn't scruple to send us to France
Where we would be shot with out warning
He says me young fellows if I hear but one word
I instantly now will out with my sword
And into your body as strength will afford
So now my gay devils take warning
But Arthur and I we took in the odds
We gave them no chance for to launch out their swords
Our whacking shillelaghs came over their heads
And paid them right smart in the morning
As for the wee drummer we rifled his pouch
And we made a foot- ball of his rowdy dow dow
And into the ocean to rock and to roll
And bade it a tedious returning
As for the old rapier that hung by his side
We flung it as far as we could in tide
To devil I pitch you sez Arthur McBride
To temper your steel in the morning
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5. |
Showtime
03:52
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Let us peel away this curtain of blue, it's not what we're encouraged to do
And step into a time where justice ain't no crime
It's showtime for drier climes poor boys, It's showtime for drier climes
Illusory wealth and immortality, so that's what it's meant 'to be free'
Let convenience be a sin when we don't have to win
It's showtime for drier climes poor boys, It's showtime for drier climes
Curiosity did kill the cat, is that the only thing that holds us back?
Let this trepidation drive a force for new sensations
It's showtime for drier climes poor boys, It's showtime for drier climes
If there's gonna be a better prize, it's staring at us right before our eyes
In the air we breathe and reflections in the streams
It's showtime for drier climes poor boys, It's showtime for drier climes
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6. |
The Dalesman's Litany
04:21
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It’s hard when folks can’t get their work where they’ve been bred and born
When I was young I used to think I’d bide my time ‘mid the roots and the corn
But I’ve been forced to flee the town so here’s my litany
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
When I was courting Mary Anne the auld squire he said one day
I’ve got no room for wedded folk choose to wed or stay
I could not leave the girl I loved so town we had to flee
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
I’ve worked in Leeds and Huddersfield where I’ve addled honest brass
In Bradford, Keightley, Rotherham, I’ve kept my bairns and lass
I’ve travelled all three ridings round and once I’ve been to sea
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
I’ve been through Sheffield lanes at night ’twere just like being in hell
The furnaces thrust out tongues of flame that roared like wind o’er the fell
I’ve sammed up coal in Barnsley pit with muck up to my knee
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
I’ve seen grey fog creep o’er Leeds Brig as thick as Bastille soup
I’ve been where folks are stowed away like rabbits in a coup
I’ve seen snow fall on Bradford Beck as black as ebony
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good Lord deliver me
But now my children all have flown to the country I’ll go back
There’ll be forty miles of heathery moor ‘twixt me and the coal pit slack
And oft at night as I sit round the fire I’ll think of the misery
From Hull and Halifax and Hell good lord deliver me
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7. |
Last Year
02:02
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Last Year I wandered in the deepest of valleys
This year I'll repent all I've done
Last year I was dancing to the music of a fiddle
This year I swing to seven bells a-ringing
Last year I sang with the lark in the morning
This year I sang with the devil in the moonlight
Take warning by me these words they are plain
who knows when does the happiness refrain
When it happens to you these lines you'll explain
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8. |
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Of all the trades in England a-beggin' is the best
For when a beggar's tired he can lay him down and rest
Black patch on me fusty coat there's a black patch on me ee
But when it comes to tuppeny ale I can see as well as thee
Me britches they are nowt but holes me heart is free of care
As long as I've a belly full me backside can go bare
Pocket for me oatmeal pocket for me salt
And a pair of little crutches that should see how I can bolt
I got deaf at Duckinfield and I've got blind at Shaw
And many's the reet and willing lass I've bedded in the straw
There's a bed for me where'er I like and I don't rent
I got no noisy looms to mind and I am reight content
I can rest when I am tired and I heed no master's bell
But men'd be daft to be a king when beggars live so well
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9. |
Planxty Kateřina
02:23
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10. |
Tear Stained Letter
04:46
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Gonna write you a tear stained letter
About the way that things used to be
Worlds collide emerge mountain so high
Under whisky soaked river and stars in the sky
Tilling the fields we gazed upon
Harvest came where we should be strong
Put to the test I joked and I cried
Under whisky soaked river and stars in the sky
I'm so lonesome I could cry
Sang Hank on the Jukebox he's waiting to die
Know the feeling he got as the river ran dry
Under whisky soaked river and stars in the sky
Write my tale of sorrow and pain
Write it true and as cold as the clay
Tear it up and write it again and again and again
Under whisky soaked river and stars in the sky
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Johnny Campbell England, UK
Johnny has performed over 600 shows, toured 22 countries from USA, Mainland & E.Europe, Scandinavia & Nordic
countries.
Performing established festivals such as Belladrum Festival & Tradfest Edinburgh & being billed with BBC Folk award nominees & winners in recent years such as Stick In the Wheel, Martin Carthy, Ye Vagabonds, Lankum, Daoiri Farrell, Ewan McLennan, The Men They Couldn't Hang.
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