1. |
[introduction] Theatre
01:53
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Theatre
A Blood Red Theatre
From A Long Forgotten Era
Under A Dim Chandelier
With A Good View From The Circle
Of The City Down Below
And Now It Is Time To Begin The Show
A Hush Across The Audience
As The Band Begins To Play
The City Turns To Flame
And The Actors Take The Stage
Once Again....
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2. |
City Burning
04:30
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City Burning
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Not one for living underground ---
But it’s easy to do if you have to
Hiding from people all over this city ---
Yes --- the people from the past are ghosts
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
The city is burning in a brand new wave
The night is heaving, soft rain in the air
The birds are wild and keep a watch ---
Don’t attempt some great escape.
An old man sits at the foot of the tree
Selling apples for the Company
To all God's pretty children
As they travel through the streets.
We should have climbed the lazer stairs
And seen the dying people there,
Ignored the signs that read ‘Beware!’
And looked upon Lady Charity bare ---
O, a carnival of carnivores
Picking over her broken corpse ---
Stoned to death by apples grown
But corporate apple seeds are sown
In the light of modern youth
With it’s apathy and shattered roots ---
The zealots bark and barge
Their furrow raking through.
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
The city has changed while we were underground ---
But we will reclaim our town!
Exciting times now the city’s alive ---
In the heat of the night
Excavating dreams that walked out of my life ---
Yes, the city’s on fire!
And now we are burning down everything we know ---
“To the city we must go!”.
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Oh no no! --- The city’s on fire!
Scythes are out every weekend
Reaping the souls of young women and men,
Because we are the dark children ---
We grew up in the Eighties, when
A carnival of carnivores
Picked the locks to our front doors!
Come and see my dark city
Where the kids are alive and girls are pretty ---
Oh I want to show you round
Tthe secret places of this town.
The battle for our children has only just begun!
Your head is burning down like a house in arson’s bloom ---
Which of your precious memories will you fight the flames to rescue?
Will you go back inside for me?
We should all take the heat for the ones we love ---
Remember me.
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3. |
The Dirt Beneath
02:45
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The Dirt Beneath
The dirt beneath your fingernails is no credential here,
Your bitter words and troubled thoughts are born of those you fear.
The scattered reasons --- The foggy plight,
The wounded echoes of the night,
The dark has eyes and ears round here.
Drag my ass through a foreign town where youth is dead but all around,
The cellars of sorrow go underground and the rust is creeping down.
The disregard --- The dead-end streets,
Where shadows creep and shadows meet,
The dark is full of black shapes and sounds.
And don’t you find it strange that my enemies know my name,
For they were all the ones, my sisters and my sons,
On these heartless streets which care nothing for your life.
Wasted too much time again to hear the classic ‘just good friends’,
Heartache in your life will have to end so what are you doing next weekend?
It’s plain to see --- The future is
A scary messy son-of-a-bitch,
The dark is pretty lonely in the end.
And don’t you find it strange that my enemies know my name,
For they were all the ones, my sisters and my sons,
On these heartless streets which care nothing for your life.
( .…If you go down to the woods today ---
The soil will cover your eyes
The scattered reasons, the foggy plight
The wounded echoes of the night,
The dark has eyes and ears round here! )
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4. |
Judas Squint
02:36
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Judas Squint
Locked in! --- I secured the door, I dowsed the fire and now I wait.
Old foxes, like myself require no pardon --- we make our fate.
I am the custodian of many secrets great,
My client has requested that I be most discreet.
Beyond the grace of Heaven lies our bargain --- oh how the price is steep!
Who is that knocking at my Judas squint?
Who is that knocking at my door?
Who is that knocking at my Judas squint?
Those the Devil knows, the Devil taketh in!
I would scream my mind to the Heavens if called to account for my deeds,
But my beliefs, they make me powerful and my contempt makes them weak!
I am the custodian of many secrets great,
And my client has requested that I be most discreet.
Beyond the grace of Heaven lies our bargain --- oh how the price is steep!
Who is that knocking at my Judas squint?
Who is that knocking at my door?
Who is that knocking at my Judas squint?
Those the Devil knows, the Devil taketh in!
Now I’m waiting --- he said he’d be here --- he said I’d know his sound.
But there’s someone else here, someone standing at my locked front door.
Remember!
Those the Devil knows, the Devil taketh in!
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5. |
Be Still
03:57
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Be Still
Don’t --- Don’t think of yourself
As an organic pain receptor hurtling towards oblivion ---
When the land just falls away there’s no need to stay
(There’s no need to stay) --- Be still
Work --- Work that bit harder
And try to remember you are one of six billion ---
And fools litter the way, don’t heed what they say
(There’s no need to say) --- Be still
You know you can’t just pack it away
Trouble never seems to fit in an old suitcase
Hey, don’t leave on the heels of a dream
Wherever you go, they will give chase
So, so just for a while, be still --- Be still --- Oh, be still
And Bang! --- Bang, right on target!
You got hit the hardest, so what, keep on marching
‘Cos home is far away --- yeah you need to pray
(There’s no need to pray) --- Be still
You know you can’t just pack it away
Trouble never seems to fit in an old suitcase
Hey, don’t leave on the heels of a dream
Wherever you go, they will give chase
So, so just for a while, be still --- Be still --- Oh, be still
You know you can’t ever pack it away!
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6. |
Birds
04:33
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Birds
I’m on the streets ---
As apology.
Fodder for the birds ---
Night flock. Swoop. Disperse.
You and I will seek those places out the secret places of the Earth
If only I could hear Jesus tell me himself that he is still the light of this world
I hear the birds ---
Waiting to inherit the Earth.
From the power lines ---
Beady eyes assess my size.
And all at once I rejected sweet Death and regretted Her presence here
If only I can utter these six words to myself, “there is no need to fear”
I am not afraid --- O I am losing faith
I’m loosing faith ---
A little more every day.
So I wear their feathers ---
To show that I am not afraid.
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7. |
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Tight Green Dress
Burn into my retinas
Or give me the saddest smile
It’s all within your pool table witchcraft repertoire
And I can hold my breath the longest while ---
I believe in the next life
A girl in a tight green dress
She was naught but witchcraft
And while we are all strangers here
Some it seems, are stranger than others
Invite me back to your hotel
Your silhouette stirs my mind
Like those kinks freaks, I wish I knew you well
But you can’t offer me a future ---
I believe in the next life
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8. |
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Introducing Mr. Eustace Grimm
Stone upon stone hems the cobbled old road
And the rain runs away down dark, thirsty drains
Pavement worn smooth by all of the fools
Just walking around with their faces cast down, walking places….
And I’m dressed all in black from my shoes to my hat,
Whistling a song --- melancholic and long
The market place feels my presence as people recoil and the fruit turns to grey
Children cry and dogs snarl back at me but I just don’t care it’s what makes me happy
I’ll push past faces ---
I’ll walk through spaces ---
I say damn such places (I think you’ll find!)
Step after step on the path that I tread
As the morning slips on in the absence of sun
But I can’t say I mind I have all of the time
In the world --- which I add is made up of various places….
And I’m dressed all in black from my shoes to my hat,
Whistling a song --- melancholic and long
The market place feels my presence as people recoil and the fruit turns to grey
Children cry and dogs snarl back at me but I just don’t care it’s what makes me happy
I’ll push past faces ---
I’ll walk through spaces ---
I say damn such places (Think you know?)
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9. |
O My Soul
04:05
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O My Soul
Dark and empty is the room in which I bleed
I think I was searching for something, something I thought I’d need
Now the devil from my dreams is beating tambourines, oh
I’m writing for deaf ears that are a long, long way from here
Architecture so sublime,
The documents of troubled minds
Dark literature
So rare to find
Taste the fear within the soul
A pulpit tale of terror told
How laughter made
Makes the Devil bold
O My Soul --- O My Soul
I passed by the churchyard after drifting for so long
Looking up at the spire towards a perfect crayon sun
Beneath rows of gargoyles all uttering their damnation, oh
I just shuddered in the breeze, mouth agape, weak at the knees
Walk alone into the night
Colours of day dawn into the mind
Where do all the birds
Go to die!?
The drowned, the saved, the quick and the dead
The weight of Wormwood on your head
Believe it all!
Each and every word they ever said….
O My Soul --- O My Soul
Now dark and empty is the room in which I’m laid
I think I was searching for someone, someone I thought I’d save
Now the devil from my dreams, he turns to me and says, “Hey,
Don’t you ever wake. The truth is the sum of your mistakes!”
O My Soul --- O My Soul
O My Soul
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10. |
Shaking Through
02:34
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Shaking Through
I know I’ll shake through
I know I’ll shake through
There’s something shaking --- starboard bound,
Gather my friends cruise into town.
Running my hands through her hair ---
It’s not as if I’m even there,
I know I’ll shake through
Gather dust or shake things up,
Walking around bruised and cut ---
The shrapnel wounds, they are nothing new.
So it goes when love falls through,
I know I’ll shake through
You ask if I’m angry --- Do I look angry!?
I’m going out tonight --- and I may be quite some time….
DJ Girl will make us shake,
Take away the burning ache.
My warrior heart will not grind down
For the pleasure of your battle hounds,
I know I’ll shake through
I know I’ll shake through
I know I’ll shake through
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11. |
House Down
02:49
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House Down
You come with your magic
You come with your cannons shining
You burn my house down
You turn it inside out
Look, these are my ashes
What a pitiful sight (for sore eyes)
You take my grand designs
And burn them down, down, down
Your wisdom is weak --- your power, diluted. Example: Maelstrom, squatting down the road
You seem to miss the bigger picture. Your planning department, they took my home
Arise Madame Speaker.
I had a dream.
I had this dream.
I’d just turned twenty-three,
The whole world in front of me,
But I’d lost my way.
So I drank a lot of drink, I wrote a letter --- sent it off
And I got on my moral high horse ---
This is my doorstep --- don’t darken my door.
I’m going to dig division ditch, I’ll teach my town new songs to sing by shaking the tree from within
And while all this is just a rant, I’m taking measures where I can because what the system is I am
Until you come with you magic
You come with your war engine
You burn my house down
You turn me inside out
Look, these are my ashes
What a pitiful sight (for sore eyes)
You take my grand designs
And tear them down, down, down
Your wisdom is weak --- your power, diluted. Example: Maelstrom, squatting down the road
You seem to miss the bigger picture. Your planning department, they took my home
Arise Madame Speaker.
I had a dream.
I had this dream.
I’d just turned twenty-three,
The whole world in front of me,
But I’d lost my way.
So I drank a lot of drink, I wrote a letter --- sent it off
And I put on my angry warhead ---
This is my doorstep --- don’t darken my door.
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12. |
Thirty Lines Of Paranoia
04:37
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Thirty Lines Of Paranoia
1. Walking through the dark --- walking into danger --- straight off the cliff tops
2. Calling ‘I’m so sorry’ saying that ‘I miss you’
3. Survive the violent fall
4. In the muddy water scratching at the surface, scratching at the timbers
5. They’ll set me on fire, set me on fire
6. This is my viking funeral --- no cards left to play
7. Crawling through the filth of a downtown nightmare
8. Watch me hit the button --- see the cameras pan left
9. Take me for a ride, c’mon take me for a ride
10. I don’t recognise, it’s all so very new, these feelings inside
11. Top of the shitlist --- stalking through the blackness --- straight off the precipice
12. Calling ‘I’m so sorry’ saying that ‘I miss you’ --- bang!
13. My head against the floor
14. Whistlin’ down the chimney pot, checking that the cauldron’s hot, I think they’re all against me
15. They come out at night, come out at night
16. In the bleak midwinter --- no words left to say
17. Crawling, hands and knees --- thorns and undergrowth again
18. Watch me hit the button --- see the cameras pan left
19. Take me tonight, please take me tonight
20. I don’t recognise, it’s all so very new, these feelings inside
21. Up with the government! --- I want to play Monopoly --- the ogre downstairs
22. Calling ‘I’m so sorry’ saying that ‘I miss you’
23. The ogre’s too strong and I am scared. He’s
24. Climbing up the stairs. Yes, I used to be a soldier, back in the wars against the communist hoard
25. They mess with my mind, mess with my mind
26. I only spoke my view --- bastards --- I wouldn’t want to do it again
27. Crawling, power lines in a soda-lamp park scene
28. Watch me hit the button --- see the cameras pan left
29. Take me alive, please take me alive
30. I don’t recognise, it’s all so very new, these feelings inside
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13. |
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Song For A City
Walking out in a city ---
Songs from the alleyways,
From underneath the tall archways
With pockets full of pity.
Headlights burning
Two holes in the blackness,
Down past the old churchyard
Eyes --- sore and hurting.
And someone’s walking out down by where they had the fairground
Soft-foot through the night past the freaks without a sound
And nothing really matters now that you are not around here
No care taken la la-la-la
He’s calm like a bomb
While focus lasts on your photo,
There’s always places you can go to
When it doesn’t feel like home.
Headlights burning
Bright in the blackness ---
Slam the kissing gate,
Eyes --- wide and searching.
And someone’s walking out down by where they had the fairground
Soft-foot through the night past the freaks without a sound
Nothing really matters now that you are not around here
No care taken --- Hyde Park is dark
Walking out in a city ---
Songs from the alleyways,
From underneath the tall archways
With pockets full of pity.
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14. |
Home (Out-Take)
02:07
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Home
September again
This time I’m twenty-four
I feel I’ve got to talk to someone
This time I’m lost
I don’t want to go back home
I want to strike out on my own and no one knows
I’m driving in my car
A lost soul of the night
Chained to everything I know
Where we are now? I’m sorry.
Seems like we’re sinking
I’ve tried my best to not go down
I’m lost
And I’ve got to talk to someone
Outside of my hemisphere
Oh there are people
Who equate to untied threads
They weave within my life
This time I’m lost
Please just hold that thought
Hold it forever
Comfort me because I’m lost
I want / I won’t go home because I need a bigger box
How could I guess the wrenching on my heartstrings?
I can’t go home
I’m sorry to have to say it to people that I love
But I can’t come home
Just drive at night, alone
Nothing here is easy
There are chains that bind me
Invisible to the eye
I am lost
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15. |
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The Light Under The Door
Woke up in a cold sweat down on a wooden floor
Darkness all around me as I wonder what I’m in for
I don’t remember how I got here or where I was before
--- All I see is a light under the door
My tears go unnoticed as I weep upon the boards
My arms and legs and bound and I’m curled up in a ball
I don’t know how long I’ve been here but I can tell you my voice is hoarse
--- All I see is a light under the door
Minutes bleed into hours
And every thought feels like it last for several days
And the things I see in the darkness all around
Are angry and they will not go away
Woke up in a cold sweat down on a wooden floor
Darkness all around me as I wonder what I’m in for
I don’t remember how I got here or where I was before
--- All I see is a light under the door
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16. |
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Sea-salt Sorrow
I hear the ocean
I hear it calling me
Not my time to go, though
I will allay the raging seas
I hear the ocean
I hear it calling me
I heard you got bitter, quicker
We can't save the ocean deep
Your frowning muscles ache --- such pain
The waves they lap your shores again
They laugh at you then slip away
Are you never going to learn ---
The sea consumed your world
Within your sorrow all the consumed still burn
Yes they burn ---
And so the huge, huge sea in which your brothers drowned, sings low .
And still the huge, huge sea in which your brothers drowned, sings low.
And still the huge, huge sea in which your brothers drowned, sings low ---
Sings low, sings low to me.
I hear the ocean
I hear it calling me
Not my time to go, though
I will allay the raging seas
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17. |
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Silverlode Leeds, UK
Silverlode is a folksome indie rock band from Leeds.
A folk band in the broadest sense of
the word; dogs of pop; self-taught musical ruffians who play to their own traditions. Reinventors of self and prone to playing their songs in a myriad of ways, join Silverlode on their mythological journey through history, future, fantasy and good times via their ever-evolving music.
DIY since 2001.
... more
Silverlode recommends:
A Carnival of Sorts: An R.E.M. covers compilation
by Various Artists
As massive R.E.M. fans, we endorse this epic compilation of covers, the standard is HIGH.
go to album
Sadly And And And disbanded at the start of 2020 but their music lives on by being awesome. We recommend.
go to album
From Dreams to Dust
by The Felice Brothers
The Felice Brothers are the real deal.
go to albumIf you like Silverlode, you may also like:
With “In Silver Halides,” Lowpines have created a collection of rich, textured, deeply-felt rock songs abounding in small sonic details.
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Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub produced this lush and hooky collection of pop songs.
go to album
The Woman You Want
by Eliza Shaddad
Haddad returns with cinematic soundscapes that include introspective folk, post-grunge, and indie-pop influences.
go to album
