Track Listing
1. Anyone’s High Street
2. A Time of Big Seas
3. Home
4. Every Day Brings Something New
5. Hitch Up the Wrecking Ball
6. A Fine One
7. Let Love Do the Rest
8. Where E’er the Winds Might Blow
9. A Whole Lotta Nerve
10. I Was Born in Black & White
11. Halfway Round the World
12. The Ballad of Little Mary *
Twelve more new songs on the usual wide range of topics.
All songs written by David J Wilson except * by Kip Winter
Lyrics
1. Anyone’s High Street
Tuesday morning, half past ten
The deadbeat boys come marching in
One by one, ducks all in a row
Hours to kill, nowhere to go
They get their drinks, each day’s the same
No-one speaks the other’s name
We’ve all seen this pitiful sight
The beer’s like water, but the price is right
CHORUS
It’s anyone’s high street; it’s anyone’s town
The great and the good they blow their trumpets
Still the walls fall down
It’s anyone’s high street, it’s anyone’s town
Then each one finds a lonely chair
To rest their legs and soothe their cares
They swill their drinks around the glass
There's no rush gotta make em last
The TV tells them things will change
Point the finger, they're to blame
Plug your ears and kill the sound
We're not levelling up, we're grinding down
CHORUS
It's enough to make your mother cry
But at least they're warm, at least they're dry
There's plenty more out on the street
Hustling for a bite to eat
You've been had, you've been framed
Cover your face and hide your shame
Cardboard boxes in the rain
CHORUS
2. A Time of Big Seas
It was a time of big seas and darkening skies
Cold grey mornings and bags under our eyes
The moon was full and blousey the tides they were huge
But we believe in gravity convinced that we'd pull through
It was a time of big seas and frost upon the hedgerows
Bruises and silence tear stains on the table
We often spoke of Ireland, you suggested France
But I couldn't get the lingo too scared to take that chance
The problem with me was that I never learned to sail
I never learned to trust your instincts frightened they might fail
What I thought had kept me floating it was dragging me down
As you went crashing through the torrents
I looked on from solid ground
It was a time of big seas and occasional healing
The bruises I could cope with, but your words they left me reeling
Then there came the point we could no longer share the blame
Neither could admit what we both wanted was the same
It was a time of big seas and darkening skies
Cold grey mornings and bags under our eyes
3. Home
As she climbed the stairs to bed
She said your home is in your head
It's not where you were born
It's in the clothes that you have on
Maybe it's a point of view, a feeling washing over you
A sorrow hanging off your bones
A longing for a place you can call home
Home is not a stone set in the ground
It's not a name placed on a town
It's not a number on a door
Somewhere you have been before
It might well be something new
A place you're always headed to
A candle burning in the dark, a bench to lie on in a park
What is home?
If home is where your heart is
What if your heart’s been broken
A thousand tiny pieces cast adrift upon an ocean
What if your life has been a never-ending trek
You don't where you're headed for
You just know you're not there yet
What is home?
Have you ever had that feeling
Of being buried underground
You feel like you are screaming
Yet no-one hears a sound
Your feet drag in molasses, you try but you can't run
You need a friend to turn to, there isn't anyone
What is home?
Have you ever walked a thousand miles
With everything you own strapped to your back?
Your future lies in limbo no way forward no way back
They’ll tell you you're not wanted here
Your pleas they fall on deafened ears
You feel you've lived a hundred years
The product of a million tears
What is home?
So I turn off the television and I make my way upstairs
I climb into a warm bed beside her lying there
She mutters and she mumbles
As she tumbles in her dreams
And I get the inclination, that this is what it means
What it means, this is home.
I am home.
4. Every Day Brings Something New
Old habits take some breaking
How come it’s two cups of coffee that I’m making?
Every day brings something new
Reminds me how much I’m missing you
I go to the shops, find myself crying
When I get to the checkout with your favourite wine
Every day brings something new
Reminds me how much I’m missing you
Oh sweet heartache, won’t you give me some rest
I’m out here on the limit, way way past my best
I turn on the TV, all I get is bad news
Won’t someone shine a light, shine a light on these blues?
I go out walking down by the river
I see folks talking and laughing together
Every day brings something new
Reminds me how much I’m missing you
Repeat first verse.
5. Hitch Up the Wrecking Ball
There's gossip in the chambers, there are rumours in the halls
Speculation on the TV no one's answering the calls
They've plundered all the assets stripped everything of worth
Now they're turning on each other
Spitting hate and slinging dirt
This old house of cards is tumbling
To the sound of slamming doors
Some are throwing in the towel
Some have walked across the floor
Me I'm hoping for some sunshine, I'm tired of all this rain
What I'd give to grip the hands of time and turn them back again
CHORUS
Swing the hammer, fetch the bulldozers
Before they steal it all
Gather round, clear the ground
Hitch up the wrecking ball
They're spouting in the tabloids, getting ready for the fray
And I don't believe a word, they ain't got nothing new to say
I'm looking for some fresh ideas,
Someone to give me hope
Why are all those people laughing?
I don't get the joke
CHORUS
I'm not asking for a handout, all I'm wanting is a chance
If I can't hear the music how am I supposed to dance?
Let's count to ten and start again
This planet needs a break
Let's build something new and beautiful
For everybody's sake
Now I'm certain we can do this, it's all been done before
Let's put an end to famine, we don't need another war
Wrap your arms around a stranger and open up your heart
We could start a raging fire and you might be the spark
CHORUS x 2
6. A Fine One
He squeezes her hand just a little too tightly
She shivers each time that he smiles
When he cracks a joke she does not take it lightly
There's menace in there, don't look in his eyes
He sees himself as a fine example
What else could anyone need?
Never far from a kiss, or from clenching a fist
He's a fine one, a fine one indeed
A fine one a fine one indeed
Not much more than a child, herself when she met him
Showered with gifts, he was handsome and strong
She had stars in her eyes, she misread his disguise
Her young heart so easily won
What she saw as escape was no more than a chain
She was tethered before she could see
What she mistook for love was a brute in kid gloves
He's a fine one, a fine one indeed
A fine one a fine one indeed
His kids love him dearly, they long for affection
Craving approval, they bask in his praise
But always they're wary, they know not to trust him
It's a wafer thin line, between laughter and rage
There are times when he's drinking he'll wail and he'll weep
He'll curse all the demons that won't let him sleep
He swears that he'll change, if they'd just let him be
He's a fool to himself, but he's not fooling me
Too soon for her time, her looks they are fading
The wine and the worry it all takes its toll
And there's many a man grieves to see her heart breaking
There's many a man would have given his all
But for better or worse, a vow or a curse
She needs to, she has to believe
He's a fine one, a fine one indeed.
7. Let Love Do the Rest
You know those mornings, when it's hard to leave your bed
You want to dive beneath the duvet
Pull the sheets over your head
When you daren't put on the radio
In case you hear the news
Days made just for getting through
Place one foot out in front of the other
Then in time you will discover that you don’t need nothing else
You just do it for yourself, nothings ever lasts
Days like these will pass
CHORUS
Pull back the curtains, wash the sleep out of your eyes
You can look but you might never ever find a reason why
So catch your breath
And let love do the rest
You might be thinking that this day is yours alone
But there's someone back at home
That needs help you can't refuse
And you know full well
There have been times you've needed them
And those days might come again be it a lover or a friend
You have to up and go
These things we all know
CHORUS x 2
8. Where E’er the Winds Might Blow
I was running like a mad thing
Spinning plates high up on canes
Trying to keep them all in motion but I didn't like the game
It was taking everything I had
It sapped the marrow from my bones
Fearful of the prospect of time spent on my own
I did all I could to please them
Their wish was my command
I gave everything that I could give and failed to understand
This life is not a one way street, it needs the ebb and flow
So I set my course for drifting
Where e’er the winds might blow
You can spend all of your energy just trying to hold on
You can tell yourself that you're to blame
For everything that's wrong
But often it's the stronger soul who chooses to let go
To take the pain and start again
Where e’er the winds might blow
You might find yourself in freefall
As if your life's been blown apart
But maybe this is not the end, what if this is the start?
And every day you find a way to continue brick by brick
Does this ring true? Could this be you?
Could you imagine it?
Often it's the stronger soul who chooses to let go
To take the pain and start again
Where e’er the winds might blow
9. A Whole Lotta Nerve
It takes a whole lotta nerve to smile sometimes
When you don't want the cracks to show
It takes a meanness to laugh at the mirror
And not reveal what lies below
So we go pushing and a shoving
Shoving and pushing
Grinding our bones to dust
We'd better find an escape before it's too late
And life takes both of us
CHORUS
It takes a whole lotta nerve, yeah a lotta nerve
Just to be happy
You gotta walk a lot a miles, yeah a lotta miles
Just to raise a smile
It takes a whole lotta nerve, yeah a lotta nerve
Just to be happy
When you can't please everyone else
Just do it for yourself every time
When you know there's a path there somewhere
But you can't climb over the wall
You're feeling like a tightrope walker
Terrified of taking a fall
Spread your arms out wide and trust in your stride
And keep staring straight ahead
When you're aiming for the sun
But your race is run
Then you settle for the moon instead
CHORUS
There's much more to you than you'll ever know
I've never seen a well so deep
You give so much there's no wonder sometimes
That you're down and dragging your feet
Whatever it takes you got it
Always ready for the fight
It's great to be alive with you by my side
You're a beacon in the darkest night
CHORUS
10. I Was Born in Black & White
I was born in black and white
Lazy days and lonely nights
Bath on a Sunday in front of the fire
Second-hand bike on solid tyres
And I was born on a council estate
Rows of houses and loads of mates
We played football at twenty aside
Kick the can and piggy-back rides
We’d walk to school beneath a nuclear threat
Bay of pigs and fighter jets
The reds, the cold war and JFK
It don't feel like much has changed
I was born in a house of pain, so much anger so much shame
There’s voices raised and curtains drawn
You don't get to choose where you are born
And I was born without any ties, wide open fields, wide open skies
Room to wander and room to roam, no-one to care when I got home
I've grown up lucky in love, feet on the ground, blue sky above
I love my kids I love my wife
I do believe it’s turned out alright.
11. Halfway Round the World
I was never told all of the story, always been looking for clues
Everything that I found out, you didn't know I knew
I'm certain you'd have been horrified,
You covered your scars with shame
But mother dear, oh mother dear, nobody was to blame
I put two and two together, came up with what was it for
I've always had a yearning to go peeking behind locked doors
Oh how times they have moved on, you wouldn't believe the change
But I have a cousin or maybe half a dozen
And I think l need to explain
CHORUS
I did the test and all of the rest is history so they say
We joined the dots, found out what was lost
And soon I'll be on my way
For blood runs thicker than water
And there's someone I need to meet
Half way around the world there's another girl
And they say that she looks like me
I'll never know all of the answers so I fill in the gaps myself
I've always been a romancer, I like a good story to tell
I'd like to think that they fell in love, both lonely and far from home
A familiar voice to help fill the void
It was better that being alone
CHORUS
one of this will change the way that we feel
About the man who brought you up
He treated you like you were his own, showered you with love
For crying out loud you did him proud you were the apple of his eye
You never questioned who was your father and I'm not going to try
CHORUS
I was never told all of the story,
Always been looking for clues.
12. The Ballad of Little Mary
Eighteen hours in the Western sea
Sleep little Mary, don’t you cry
The crew of the old Wild Swan and me
Mary dry your eyes
Torpedo took the rudder, but a trawler took us down
Sleep little Mary, don’t you cry
Thirty-one good sailing men were drowned
I’m your Daddy now
CHORUS
Oh Mary, don’t you cry
No matter what the people say I’ll always do the best I can
Mary let the gossip fly
I’ll be your old man
People in the village say your mother is a whore
But your Seanair is a hero and I know he saved you both for sure
Never had a mother I could call my own
Saw a woman and a baby and I had to make them both a home
CHORUS
Six more kids of my own to feed
But you’re the one who will always need me
Round the corner there’s a man with his wife and son
I’ve got seven but he’ll only ever have one
CHORUS x 2