Get all 10 Anne Lister releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Root, Seed, Thorn and Flower, A Twist in the Story, The Quiet People, Waiting for the Hero, Singing on the Wind, Prometheus, No Signposts., A Flame in Avalon, and 2 more.
1. |
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The fairies danced up on our hill
Years ago and they dance there still
You can’t see their ruins or find their bones
But I’ve seen them there – so did Edmund Jones
Don’t expect chiffon and don’t expect wings
But listen for the music and the songs they sing
And don’t wander far into the woods alone
Or you’ll end up with the fairies and with Edmund Jones.
Three hundred years is no time at all
Though cities crumble and rulers fall
Although his house may be rubble and stones
The fairies still dance with the Reverend Jones.
Of course I’m a Christian he said to his foes
God creates more than we can know
Humans are not on this world alone
Of course there are fairies said the Reverend Jones.
Big as rugby players, small as sprites
The fairies hold their revels on the hills at night
Dancing together or dancing alone
Dancing with me or with the Reverend Jones.
The roads that cross this hill are old
There’s more beneath this hill than coal
Look past the houses, the trees and the stones
Come and dance with the fairies and the Reverend Jones.
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2. |
A Call to Arms
03:46
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Arise, arise you lost gods and heroes
Your sleep is over, it’s time to stand
We need your strength and we need your courage
It’s time to rescue a fading land
This is no battle as you have known it
The times have changed now and so has war
Your shields and swords alone cannot defend us
No kind of challenge you have faced before.
What we face now is a slow erosion
The land is slipping slowly out of sight
We walk on concrete, drive metalled roadways
We blind the stars with our man-made light
We live in boxes separate from each other
We find so many ways to close our minds
The air, the sea and the rivers poisoned
We’re sowing seeds of a different kind.
I want to walk the green lanes and hedgerows
And feel the heart beating fierce and strong
I want to stand deep in central London
And hear the notes of a skylark’s song
I want to feel we have reconnected
The highest branches to the deepest spring
I want to re-tell the myths and stories
And hear the tales that the dragons sing.
A different world now, the towns and cities
Where money talks so loud that no one hears
And information means we all know nothing
And no one notices truth disappear.
I call you now you lost gods and heroes
To stand beside me and make a stand
Those who’ve heard the faint call of Logres
Put the heart back inside our land.
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3. |
Marrow Hill
04:37
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Where you built fortresses, we have ploughed fields
Long gone the palisades, long gone the shields
Courage and cowardice, both in time yield
As the wind blows over the moor.
Where you were lords and kings, we graze our sheep
Long gone the warriors, far down you sleep
Faithful or treacherous, the tale’s buried deep
As the wind blows over the moor.
Where you fought desperately we stroll on by
Long gone the weeping, long past the cry
Fierceness and gentleness lost in the sky
As the wind blows over the moor.
What will they say of us, when we have gone?
Long gone the listeners and finished the song
The fights, the caresses, the right and the wrong
As the wind blows over the moor.
But let’s light a candle flame here in the dark
Let’s add a stone to the cairn on the path
Let’s pass the stories on, leave a small mark
As the wind blows over the moor.
So here’s a song for you and here’s a prayer
For life still worth living and risks still to dare
For battles worth fighting and dreams rich and rare
As the wind blows over the moor.
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4. |
Dante's Church
03:10
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Sunlight over the old bridge
We walk hand in hand
Step into the piazza
Where the statues stand wondering how they came to be
wondering why you stay with me
wondering what else we should see this time.
Water under the old bridge
We watch the tourists flow
Into the rooms of paintings
Constant come and go wondering how the sky’s so blue
wondering why I stay with you
wondering what we’re going to do next time.
And there in the darkened alley way there’s a door
As if no one else had ever been here before
Stepping inside a cool fresh place
Step inside into sacred space
Step inside, and come face to face with love.
Full moon over the old bridge
Walking side by side
Listening to all the echoes
Of all the times we’ve cried wondering how we’ve never learnt
wondering why we’ve been so burnt
knowing that at least it is our turn this time.
For there in the darkened alleyway there’s a door
As if no one else had ever been here before
Stepping inside a cool fresh place
Step inside into sacred space
Step inside, and come face to face with love.
We walk over the old bridge
Close in heart and mind
Discovering in this city
More than we’d dreamt we’d find Love is still love, if you’re old or young
love is love, a song being sung
love is love, and we’ve just begun this time.
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5. |
The Small Black Cat
04:46
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There were three noble clerics, there were brothers three
Who one day decided to sail across the sea
“Oh what will you take with you, what food and drink and all
To keep you from all hunger and keep you from the cold?”
And first up spoke the oldest of all the brothers three
“I need no heavy luggage when I sail across the sea.
I will pray on the waters and on the flowing tide
And I do believe and trust that the Lord will provide.”
And then spoke the second clerk of the brothers three
“All that you have spoken seems quite correct to me.
We will pray to God’s glory as we sail upon the tide
And in some mysterious way, God will provide.”
And then up spoke the youngest, and he spoke with a sigh
“I’m sure God is Lord of all between the sea and sky.
I believe in God’s goodness and yet in spite of that
I will bring along with me the small black cat.”
A long way they journeyed, a long summer’s day
Until they spied an island and there knelt down to pray
And down on their knees they prayed, the brothers three
And all the while the small black cat sat beside the sea.
And then the youngest brother woke from his trance
And watched as the small black cat began to weave and dance
And out of the water he watched a salmon leap
And the cat brought the fish to him, held between his teeth.
“Oh look” cried the youngest, “See how the Lord is good!
He makes the cat a messenger to bring to us some food!”
“Oh no,” cried the others, “How could this be right?
And the cat brought the fish to him, held between his teeth.
“Oh look” cried the youngest, “See how the Lord is good!
He makes the cat a messenger to bring to us some food!”
“Oh no,” cried the others, “How could this be right?
Be still now and pray again – the Lord will provide.”
Then hunger brought the youngest again out of his trance
He watched as the small black cat began to weave and dance.
And upon a bed of charcoal the salmon fish was fried
And alone among his brothers the youngest brother cried.
And then before eating the youngest brother sang
For all of God’s creatures and for his fellow man
He prayed and he sang for faith and charity
And all the while the small black cat danced beside the sea.
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6. |
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The trees in the woodland stand silent and black
As they wait for the time for the spring to come back
And they whisper to me the secret they keep
There’s no better healing than darkness and sleep.
And here you are rushing so crazily by
More swift than the sun as it crosses the sky
The good times, the bad times, the seasons will turn
The seedlings will sprout and the old hearthfire burn.
The trees in the woodland are busy and green
As the leaves and the blossom burst out to be seen
And they whisper to me the secret they know
There’s nothing so fine as to bloom and to grow.
The trees in the woodland stand full and stand tall
As warm light brings lushness and plenty to all
And they whisper to me the secret they hide
There’s nothing so fragile as beauty and pride.
The trees in the woodland stand red, green and gold
As they wait for the storm winds so brisk and so bold
And they whisper to me the best secret of all
A life without some grief is no life at all.
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7. |
Gate in the Wall
04:10
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This song is for me more than it is for you
And that’s where the strange part begins
For I always fight hard against saying what’s true
And it’s not the kind of song I would sing.
But hearing you leave and saying goodbye
And sitting alone when you’d gone
I thought that while others had just made me cry
You just made me write you this song.
I built my heart walls and I structured them well
And I build every kind of defence
And though they could stand against mortars and shell
There’s really no chance with a friend.
And the worst kind of loss and the worst kind of hurt
Would be losing a friend by mistake
If the alcohol blurred all our edges last night
Then a song should help cover the break.
Oh love is a big word and fills many dreams
And there’s two kinds that I can see there
There’s the kind that’s your whole life that I’ve never seen
And the warm kind that all close friends share.
And the worst kind of mess would be mixing the two
Or drawing too heavy a line
There’s no kind of danger between me and you
But it’s some kind of love all the time.
And wherever you go and whoever you see
There’ll be something else following on
Standing quite close in the good times there’ll be
And there in the times things go wrong.
There’s no need to worry, no need to explain
No need to be sorry at all
Whatever has been may not happen again
But we both made a gate in the wall.
This song is for you more than it is for me
And that’s where the strange part should end
For I always fight hard against saying what’s true
Ah but how could I lie to a friend?
And hearing you leave and saying goodbye
And sitting alone when you’d gone
I thought that while others had just made me cry
You just made me write you this song.
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8. |
Silkie
06:09
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I heard a mother lull her bairn
And aye she rockit and she sang
She took so hard upon the verse
That the heart within her body rang.
O row cradle and go cradle
And ay sleep thou my bairn within
O little ken I my bairn’s father
Or yet the land that he lies in.
O up then spoke a grimly ghost
That lay so long at her bed feet
Saying here am I thy bairn’s father
Although I’m not your love so sweet.
Jo Immrannoe it is my name
Jo Immrannoe they do call me
And my lands they lie both broad and wide
Among the rocks of Sule Skerry.
And foster well my young young son
And for a twelve month and a day
And when the twelvemonth’s fairly done
I’ll come and pay the nurse’s fee.
But how shall I my young son ken
And how shall I my young son know
Mongst all the silkies in Sule Skerry
He will be midmost among them all.
My husband is a proud gunner
And aye a proud gunner is he
And the very first shot that he will fire
Will be at my young son and thee
I fear no living proud gunner
I fear no mortal man, quoth he
For powder will not burn in salt
So I and thy young son will go free.
Oh when that weary twelvemonth came
He came to pay the nurse’s fee
He had one coffer full of gold
And another full of white money.
Upon the Skerry is your young son
Upon the Skerry lieth he
Since thou will see thy own young son
Now is the time to speak with he.
The gunner lay behind a rock
Behind a tanglie rock lay he
And the very first shot the gunner fired
It struck his wife about the bree.
Jo Immrannoe and his young son
With heavy hearts took to the sea
Let all that live on mortal land
Ne’er mix with silkies of the sea.
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9. |
Drake's Drum
04:52
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Down in the abbey you can see Drake’s drum, far across the Devon moor
They say we’ll hear it beating when the hero comes as it did when he went to war.
They say you’ll hear it beating when we need him most, deep in the Devon hills
Beating the drum like a marching ghost, but it seems that we’re waiting still.
It seems I’ve been listening all my life, listening for the drum
Waiting to be rescued, waiting to live, waiting till the hero comes.
I’ve seen Nelson’s jacket in a fine glass case, clear in a spotlight glare
They say it’s his blood on the delicate lace, a piece of him lying there.
And we’ve dug great holes in the hills and dales looking where Arthur sleeps
Looking for redemption in the myths and tales, salvation in the castle keep.
Far in the forest, deep and dark, there’s a castle where a princess waits
They say she was punctured by a magical dart and left to her sleeping fate
Until one day a prince will come, the right man brave and true
The years will pass while the princess dreams and no other prince will do.
Suppose there are no heroes and there’s no prince, suppose we’re on our own
Stories are just stories, myths are myths, and we have to cope alone
In real life some moments end in pain, there’s nothing you can do
We’re all each other’s heroes, so hold my hand and we’ll try to battle through.
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10. |
Cinders
04:14
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I’m sitting in the ballroom now - the guests have all gone home
My husband’s somewhere in the palace - I think I’m all alone
There’s mirrors all around the room and in every one I see
A lady in fine clothing but she doesn’t look like me.
There’s nothing so attractive as a prince in his full power
There’s nothing as enticing as a rigid curfew hour
There’s nothing quite like choosing if you’re the one to choose
There’s nothing quite like gambling if you’ve nothing left to lose
And you’re bound to be quite certain there’s a fine prize to be had
With a memory of perfume and a slipper in your hand …
You thought that you were helping when you came by that night
And turned my rags to riches and made the wrongs all right
You thought that you were helping with your magic and your wand
But I can’t see what the fuss was for now everyone has gone.
I can’t see the princess or the beauty or the bride
I only see the little girl in ashes left behind.
I think he just came after me because I ran away
I think I said I loved him to have something nice to say
I think he only married me because the slipper fitted right
I think I only married him from the romance of that night
Don’t judge me by the satins or the velvets or the gold
There’s just a little child by a fireside and the ashes have gone cold.
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11. |
Medusa's Smile
04:53
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As I walked over London Bridge I heard Cassandra cry
She saw the towers falling down, spill people from the sky
And all of us saw what she saw, the buildings torn apart
Saw the world turned upside down, a knife blade in the heart.
As I walked out through London Town I heard Achilles weep
He’d had a vision in the night which woke him from his sleep
A different kind of slaughter in a different kind of war
A thunderbolt from an open sky he’d never seen before.
The snakes around Medusa’s head spread confusion and deceit
Her smile turns people’s hearts to stone, success into defeat
We think we can control our lives, we think we make the rules
We look upon Medusa’s face and then we know we’re fools.
As I walked through the Isle of Dogs Odysseus caught my arm
He’d witnessed many battles but he’d never seen such harm
How do you fight with shadows, how do you catch thin air
How can you deal with evil when it drifts through everywhere?
As I sat down on Hampstead Heath I called Athena’s name
But she was with the other gods, all playing stupid games
Our leaders are their playthings and our future is their prize
And every death in war is triumph through Medusa’s eyes …..
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12. |
The Quiet People
02:18
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And the evening shadows swoop and fall and lengthen
And we hear the sound of a church bell ringing
And we pass a statue, a black angel flying
And beneath it written names and dates of dying.
Oh your father hated mine and my father killed yours
In the time-honoured fashion of all our time-out-dated wars
For politicians never know and commanders soon forget
That a country is more than the men in its government.
And the history books make sure that traditions last and last
So that we never can forget any injury done in the past
And the quiet people believe that wars can never end
Without knowing that if we linked hands we could make the world a friend.
So now I’ll sing no anthems for death or glory
And I’ll stand beneath no flag, shout no cheers for victory
But I vow that I will live my life in harmony
And teach my children’s children to love my father’s enemy.
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13. |
Dance with the Dragon
04:05
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I danced with the dragon through the gates of the sun
As the daylight died
And the tune he was singing made the stars skip and run
In the deep night sky
Down in the forest at the turning of the year
The holly is still king
The trees sing the carols if you’ve ears for to hear
Bring the New Year in.
The dragon guards the fire with the curl of his tail
As the daylight dies
The starlight bends and fractures on a thousand gleaming scales
In the deep night sky
Here the logs are blazing and we sit by the fire
With our songs to sing
A challenge from the winter lord to find our heart’s desire
Bring the New Year in.
When you dance with the dragon be careful of his breath
As the daylight dies
The gates of the sun can lead to new life or death
In the deep night sky
Winter’s on the turning point, darkness will not last
Peace is on the wing
We’ll tell the tales of what’s to come remembering the past
Bring the New Year in.
The dance of the dragon is the flippant dance of time
As the daylight dies
Match him step for step, do not stumble out of line
In the deep night sky.
He’ll turn you and roll you around and around
Your head will rock and spin
And your world will seem much duller when your feet touch the ground
Bring the New Year in.
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14. |
How to Find True Love
04:20
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Walk into the forbidden forest
How does the story end?
Fight your way through thorns and brambles
Into the nightmare’s den
Treat each one you meet with kindness
There are so many kinds of blindness
The night is deep and dark and mindless
Is that how the story ends?
Tiptoe past the sleeping giant
How does the story end?
Keep your courage, stay defiant
In the nightmare’s den
Steal the treasures from his keeping
There are so many ways of sleeping
No time to stop for joy or weeping
Is that how the story ends?
Find the prince, find how to kiss him
How does the story end?
Don’t search too hard or you might miss him
Inside the nightmare’s den
Sew a shirt of stinging nettles
Burn your thumb on the boiling kettle
Burst out of a cage of metal
Is that how the story ends?
Does it have a happy ending
How does the story end?
Or is it heartbreak beyond mending
In the nightmare’s den
Get out of the bag strung from the rafters
Tears of joy with tears of laughter
We’ll live happily ever after
That’s how the story ends.
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Anne Lister Wales, UK
Anne is best known for her song "Icarus", recorded and performed by a number of different singers, including Martin Simpson and Nic Jones. "Astrolabe" is her ninth solo album.
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