A BOAT ON THE RIVER
This city’s not home, though it knows me well
It’s cradled me close for some time
But when I’m alone and the traffic stops beating
I can’t get the thoughts from my mind
Am I just lost? Could I be lonely?
Is it just the rain we’ve had so much of lately?
Or is it just that this city’s been bringing me down?
All that I want is a boat on the river
And someone to hold and time to deliver me on
‘til I’m old, I’ll go where the current takes me
All that I want is to live slow and easy
One day at a time is enough speed to please me
A dog by the door and someone to sing me to sleep
The blue lights fly by with their siren song
That calls to me all through the night
This city won’t sleep but I’m trying to keep hold of
a dream that stays just out of sight
To rise with the dawn, to live by the seasons
To accept that things change without asking for reasons
To sleep like a baby, to love and be loved in return
All that I want is a boat on the river
And someone to hold and time to deliver me on
‘til I’m old, I’ll go where the current takes me
All that I want is a soft breeze to blow me
The sky up above and the water below me
To find a horizon and fade into nothing at all
(drifting, drifting on and on…)
All that I want is to live slow and easy
One day at a time is enough speed to please me
A dog by the door and someone to sing me to sleep
ABOUT ROSIE
Rosie’s a wallflower left school at sixteen
She lives with her mum in a house on the green
Days trickle slowly like treacle
A badly drawn dream
Craving horizons she’s easily led
And our poor young Rosie got it in her head
To believe the first man who promised the world from his bed
Oh the world can seem large if you’re made to feel small
It’s harder to fly than to fall
But Rosie she sits by the window and stares
She thinks she might love him, she hopes that he cares
Seasons march onwards as seasons must do
And people drift with them ‘cause people change too
But Rosie stays stagnant and waiting
The girl missed her cue
If you’re told that no green grass grows beyond your field
You learn not to wander and instead learn to yield
Surrendering ambitions a little girl wore as her shield
Oh treading on eggshells it’s so hard to tell
If her lover will love her or if he’ll raise hell
Chains on the heart are the hardest to break
It’s the soft way he loves her and the hard way he hates
‘Cause oh how he’s angry and oh how he shouts at her
Tells her she’s worthless, sows all his doubts in her mind
She’s soft round the edges and blurred round the lines
But each night he hardens her, leaves her defined by his lies
Oh Rosie be careful, stay quick on your feet
Everything’s changing and nothing’s concrete
The only prison’s the body you’re born in
Everything’s subject to change without warning
ANYWAY, ALWAYS
Well anyway
Just wanted to call, see how you’re keeping
Are you settled down yet, or still dreaming
Of freedom that you struggle to define
And you know me
A little prone to swing low but I’m managing
It’s easy to forget things when you’re travelling
But I still think of you from time to time
I guess a bit of you was left behind
‘Cause how was I supposed to know
That you were never mine to keep
And the feelings you awakened
Were never meant to get this deep
We’re two ships passing at night
A moment, a trick of the light
I just wish we’d had a little time
And anyway
I know we both had reasons to keep moving
A shame that in the end it got confusing
I’d like to think we tried in our own ways
And it’s okay
I’ll lie here and I’ll dream myself to sleep
And you’ll go out and drink too much to keep
The thoughts at bay, talk of how you’d run away
Or maybe stay
‘Cause how was I supposed to know
That you were never mine to keep
And the feelings you awakened
Were never meant to get this deep
We’re two ships just passing at night
One small glimpse of a light then you slip from my view
We can pretend we were meant to be friends but you know
All I wanted was you
Well anyway
Just called to say
Be nice to see you round this way again
COME AND GO
Mama I’m young
Too old to feel your arms
How long have I been away?
The roads all look the same but how
The faces they come and go
Mama I’m lost
The pines grow thicker now, the air is frost
Sometimes I think I love him
I know I must be off, oh well
The seasons must come and go
And when the creek is risen love
When the leaves grow green
And when the drink is all run dry
It’s time to change the scene
And when things move to fast
Just let them go
Oh well
’cause nothing was built to last
DOES SHE HOLD YOU LIKE I DID
Darling, I missed you when the snow came falling down
I closed my eyes but still I saw it drifting, swirling round
Head for the crowds to hide my shame and my disgrace
But in this Winter time, all I see’s the paleness of your face
And darling, it’s hard to look you in the eyes my love
All I see is my lies, oh god
I’ve tried to put it all behind
So I lose myself in reading books but never reach the end
And I try to find quick fixes but these fixes don’t quite mend
‘Cause when you’re high it’s easier to plummet like a stone
And I guess some folks are better off at roughing it alone
And darling your eyes were always dark as night, I know
‘Cause I never found their light, but oh
I tried, I tried with all my might
And they say you tried to find someone easier to love, and yes
Guess I’m no blessing, but I must confess
That I have never loved you more
Oh and darling when the sheets grow vines around you
In the middle of the night
Does she hold you like I did? Does she wrap those dreams up tight?
And when you’re standing on the cliff edge and you see the waves beneath
Is it my voice that you hear? Is my face that you see?
‘Cause I’ll tell myself you miss me until I believe it’s true
You’re a thousand miles away tonight
But all I see is you
EURYDICE
You’re darker these days, I thought you were sun
Stars in your eyes, when your shirt is undone
Your skin is full moon, a reflection of light
That sleeps in the daytime, stays up most of the night
A blackhole my dear, a beautiful empty
You’re sucking me dry and spitting out memories
It feels like we’re fading, you’re miles away
Are you still there, love? Do you have nothing to say?
Eurydice baby, is that your sweet footfall?
Oh say something, anything, a howl or a call
To the wilds of this wasteland, where blindly I blunder
Shatter the silence rolling through me like thunder
Don’t know what you’re thinking, can’t read your mind
I can’t read your eyes when you’re walking behind me
I trust that you’ll follow me up to the air
I wish there was something to let me know you’re still there
A kiss on my neck child to know you’re still living
The sound of your voice be it cruel or forgiving
A touch of your skin or a scratch down my spine
Anything, anything, to let me know you’re still mine
And first light of morning, a moment of still
A comma, a dash, a loaded ellipsis ‘til
You sink under slowly, I knew you were only
A shadow behind me
I loved you blindly
FATHER OF TWO
How fortunate to be a fruit now grown
That once was sown from a different tree
How you nursed me from the ground
How far we’ve come from that small drumbeat
On an ultrasound
Arms that stay the same
Even as the seasons change
The first to ever hold me and the last to let me down
Eyes wide open
Father my oldest friend
Born of love if not by blood
A word without an end
That began at my beginning
Spinning years fall like dust in my memories
Years fall like dust in my memories
Time has a trick of slipping through your fingers
Lingers on in moments hung
Suspended on the wall
And though there were times when tides were low
It’s good to know that eight strong legs
Trod water through it all
Eyes that stay the same
Even as our faces change
All the years you cared for me and now I’ll care for you
Father my oldest friend
Born of love if not by blood
A word without an end
That began at my beginning
Spinning years fall like dust in my memories
Years fall like dust in my memories
Years fall like dust in my memories
Years burn like gold in my memories
Father of two
This one’s for you
FIRST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
There is a house on a hill
One little corner where time has stood still
And as though caught in some pendulum swing
I try to go but home pulls me back in
Centuries passed through this door
The stories we write have been told here before
All of their voices still breathe in these walls
It’s as though things never change here at all
Oh is this the boat made of old bricks and mortar
That’s kept us afloat as we sail through the years?
Or is this the light that shines from the shoreline?
The port where we know we can rest?
Or Is it just the first house on the left?
The garden tells most of the tales
With fragments of china, old horseshoes and nails
Flower seeds planted by hands gone before
Asleep through the winter then blooming once more
And is this where they slept on the way to the jail?
Or the shop where the lady had sweeties for sale?
Or is this just the nest that was emptied by war?
Or the room where the next generation was born?
Oh is this the boat made of old bricks and mortar
That’s kept us afloat as we sail through the years?
Or is this the light that shines from the shoreline?
Pushing us out and then pulling us in
Or is it the rocks, so firm and unchanging?
Is it the port where we know we can rest?
Or is it just the first house on the left?
ICARUS
Do you remember that night where you set me alight?
Swore that the moon turned pale at the sight of us?
Melted away at the first light of day
Knew that I could never make you stay
And now your eyes are on fire with unearthly desire
You’re never content oh you keep aiming higher
Leaving me breathless, I didn’t expect this
You’re holding the match to your own funeral pyre
And darling even ocean waves must bow down to the shore
Oh everything has limits and you can’t keep wanting more
Oh no, I can’t always always catch you if you fall
And Icarus dear you are flying too near
To the sun and it’s burning your skin
A faint distant cry, a black dot on the sky
As you realise the trouble you’re in
But God you’re beautiful, a radiant stain as you fall down as rain
I’ve often wondered how things might have changed
If someone had told you your plans were deranged
You were insane, all my hopes were in vain
There was only so long I could keep you caged
Well I hope you are happy wherever you are,
I hope you flew high and I hope you flew far
I pray and I hope that the landing is neat
Is it too much to ask you to fall on your feet?
I can’t always catch you if you fall
And oh what a magnificent way to die
And I still love you though I don’t know why
And Icarus dear you are flying too near
To the sun and it’s burning your skin
A faint distant cry, a black dot on the sky
As you realise the trouble you’re in
But God you’re beautiful, a radiant stain as you fall
And you fall
Oh you fall down as rain
And I’ll catch you again
INDIGO
You were raised in a forest, it grew straight and tall
As you weaved through the trunks you felt desperately small
The taller you grew, the taller the trees
And you’d run home all muddy and graze both your knees
And there in the middle stood a tall, slender beech
If you raised both your arms you found you could reach
The base of her branches and upwards you swung,
The forest she whispered as all her leaves sang
To you
In those indigo eyes there’s a child that hides
And the stars they call out to their runaway bride
Oh you
Oh come home now darling, the journey is done
Your troubles are old for a body so young
You were the first and the last to climb up the tree
You slept in her branches, you whispered that she
Had been there from the first, she’d be there ‘til the end
And you’d weave her your stories of myths and pretend
And there in the night came a mighty great storm
Oh her arms were outstretched as her body was torn
You cried when you found her and after you fled
But nothing could silence the voice in your head
Oh you
A breath-cloud on a window, a shadow on the lawn
Or a leaf on the breeze and a star in the dawn
Oh you
Oh come home how darling, the journey is done,
Your troubles are old for a body so young
Oh you
The earth will forget you, to the stars you are known
And when this life’s over they’ll herald you home
LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLING MAN
Dear darling I’ve been travelling round the country with an urge I cannot tame
But everywhere I go I think of home and hope that all remains the same
Oh when you’re travelling landscapes change, the faces fade, no one here knows my name
But in the nightly gloom I find the moon and soon I hear your voice again
Oh nothing’s changed
So I just wrote to let you know
That it’s time for me to go
Even though I wish I could remain I won’t be coming round this way again
Mama won’t you take this whiskey from me, I’ve been drinking far too long
The sun’s too high, the road’s too long and I’m too drunk to know my right from wrong
If I could I’d find some land, we’d have a child a baby on the lawn
But honey I’m a travelling man and I’ll have up and left you come the dawn
So I just wrote to let you know
That if I could I wouldn’t go
Tell my ma I love her just the same but I’m leaving on the 7:30 train
Honey life can get a little lonely living like a rolling stone
Oh and sitting by my fire tonight I must confess I’ve never felt so far from home
One day baby I’ll come home, I’ll have you seated on my knee
But until that day I need you to promise that you’ll sit and wait for me
Can’t you see
That I need to know
That wherever I will roam
There will always be a fire burning waiting for your traveller to come home
There will always be a fire burning waiting for your baby to come home
NORTHERN SUNRISE
Stinking of woodsmoke, rum and wildflowers
Was it the sun or the moonshine it drove us to dance there for hours
Reeling from nettles and ale that you stole from the bar
Your voice made me enter, your skin made me stay
We move like the water, two currents merged, meeting halfway
Lost my defences somewhere in the back of a car
We don’t fall in love, we rise
Like the dawn burns slow
Oh I know this takes time
But I’ll stay here tonight
And lie with you under a soft northern sunrise
I know we’re both drifters, not ones to stay still
I’m scared of freewheeling but I’m so sick of struggling uphill
Give me an orbit that holds me whilst letting me spin
The distance is bitter but the fruit tastes so sweet
The doubts worm away but my heart has admitted defeat
I’ve come such a long way to be here so please let me in
We don’t fall in love, we rise
Like the dawn burns slow
Oh I know this takes time
But I’ll stay here tonight
And go to the water and lie with the doors open wide
As I share all my secrets oh god knows I tried
To resist you from the moment I kissed you
One night near the sea
Never dreamt you’d be drowning with me
I can hear you’re still sleeping, see the dawn through closed eyes
As I lie with you under a soft northern sunrise
There’s no need to worry we’re taking this slow
READY TO GO
Been a long time since I first saw your eyes
Been one hell of a ride with you darling
But the curtain must fall on our show
It’s my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Ready to go my darling believe me
It’s just my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Fell in love dear, when we first met
And the truth is I’m yet to stop falling
But our sunset has started to glow
It’s my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Ready to go my darling believe me
It’s just my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Won’t you hold me as we take the chance
To have one last dance here together?
And the seeds that we planted will grow
It’s my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Ready to go my darling believe me
It’s just my time to leave and I’m ready to go
Ready to go my darling believe me
It’s just our time to leave and we’re ready to go
RING O’ ROSES
Ring a ring of roses fair
Pocket full of posies there
Brothers, brothers you all fell down
They think they’ve found the answer now
And mothers, mothers I hear your cries
As mist descends upon their eyes
Oh hang your head, let the shadows come
Brothers, brothers you’re too young
Little sister’s eyes are red
(Brother, brother, brother, brother)
Ten thousand brothers or more lie dead
(Down below the earth)
But you’re safe locked inside your head
Little sister go back to bed
Ring a ring of roses fair
Pocket full of posies there
Brothers, brothers you all fell down
They’ll never find the answer now
SELAH
The moon tapped on my windowpane
Dislodging rainbow drops of rain
Lady she has come again
I will not fear the end of day
As long as I can feel her rays
Lady she will shine the way
Selah
I cried aloud with sheer delight
To witness such an awesome sight
My lady danced on through the night
She poured like honey across my skin
I’m reaching out to let her in
My jaundiced sun, my sacred sin
Selah
Pleasure shivered down my spine
I reached up played with the divine
She ran her fingers through my mind
The night it seemed to run on by
The stars a sea of judging eyes
I thought I saw my lady cry
Selah
And I’ll wait
And I’ll fade with you
Don’t let the devil dawn frighten you my love
As your indigo gets tainted with his blood
Hush now darling morning has come
But I’ll find a time when we can be one
And a waiting world will watch beneath her
As my lady melts into the aether
In the morning I’ll take a drop of dew
A melted fragment, all that’s left of you
STILL WINTER, STILL WAITING
Winter is coming and we all feel her weight,
She’s just round the corner ain’t one to be late,
But you’ll keep me warm and you’ll make sure I ate
And I’ll keep you in bed and let the world wait
Well I’d like to remind you of things yet to come
Like the hikes in the snow and moonlight and sun
On our necks as we lie by the waters in June
You’ll say that it’s late but it’s always too soon
I love you
And I not there to show it
But I hope you still know it
And I’ll come home real soon with the Christmas lights glowing
Oh love
There’s a look in your eye and I know it too well
You’ve the scent of adventure, it’s gonna raise hell
You’re a mischievous darling with a need to be free
But I’ll grow wherever your roots need to be
I know that it’s hard when I’m so far away
But I love you the same as I did that the first day
Oh I must have the emptiest arms in the world
The emptiest arms in the world
I love you
And I not there to show it
But I hope you still know it
And I’ll come home real soon with the Christmas lights glowing
Oh love
THE ISLE OF EIGG
If you wander over west, where the hills lie all clothed in deep green
Down to black seas where the seals slip unseen
And in the Arisaig of nowhere, there’s a boat that will go there
Bring whisky for waves and let the spray leave you clean
There she rises out of mists to the sounds of the pipes on her shores
They sing of men in a land with no laws
And by the dawn you’ll be losing brain cells while you’re boozing
They’ll leave you wheeling like gulls, but you’ll come back for more
The night’s all but gone but we’re still holding on
And my lips have turned blue and her hair was blue too
I’ve lost all my friends, blown my brains out to sea
Oh Eigg you have cracked it but I think you’ve cracked me
The music won’t end ‘til we’re all round the bend
And I can’t feel my face but in this sacred place
High rocks surrounding us, thick mist enshrouding us
Our own secret isle where the world can’t get hold of us
And as we stagger back to boats that will tear us away from her shores
Part of my heart in her harbour stays moored
And though she breeds bad behaviour, her beauty will save ya
If it’s freedom you need then let the isle be your cure
THE SPRING NEVER CAME
I still feel your hands and the shape of your fingers
The way that they lingered round mine
Oh how can I sleep when your whispers come creeping
Through my dreams? They drip down my spine
I still remember your face last November
I wonder if it’s still the same?
Oh should I have left you in the winter my darling?
‘Cause this year the spring never came
Oh if I could describe all my feelings inside
I’ve lost all my eloquence in verse
Oh to think that another may call you her lover
I can’t think of anything worse
Oh you,
I miss you so much that I can’t seem to breathe
The world fades away it’s just you I can see
Always you, always you
I’m losing my mind and I’m lost in a haze
Shadow-boy you were the best of my days
It was you, always you
And numbered days must come and go
In another place your roots will grow
And perhaps another may come to know
Joy found in your quiet glow
My touch will be a distant haze
Forgotten in another lover’s gaze
So goodbye my sun, and know your rays
Have left lasting warmth on all my days
THE SUMMER HAS FLOWN
The summer has flown and so must I
Black seas cracked under darkening skies
Lady winter, I beg be kind
Anaesthetise this sun-stroked mind
The mist, the smoke, oh it still remains
On clothes, on skin and down darkening lanes
Silhouette strangers on a steepening hill
Thousands of eyes, they haunt me still
The summer has flown and so must I
I’m hard to please but I know you’ll try
Is that my own voice that I hear sigh?
I could never bear to see things die
Goodbye
THESE WORDS OF MINE
Honey there’s a silence that’s been growing
Shows no signs of slowing, is there something on your mind?
Lately I’ve been tossing words like stones into an ocean
Taken out and nothing’s left behind
At night I try my best to climb the walls that you’ve been building
It’s hard to know where to start
Would it be so hard to say three words before you go?
‘Cause I just need to know
That you’re not going to go and break my heart
‘Cause these words of mine
I pour them like water and spill them like wine
And now I can see
All of these words and you’ve none left for me
Just unspoken sentences lost to a breeze
Keep looking out for signs of what’s inside
And now and then I’ve even tried to read your body like it’s braille
I weave tapestries from similes
I sow my verbs like flower seeds
I’ve tried to win your words to no avail
Is it me, can I not see the signals that you’re leaving?
Honey I can’t read your mind
Would it be so hard to say three words before you go?
‘Cause I just need to know
That you’re not going to go and waste my time
Just tell me that you want me, that you need me
You won’t leave me, tell me just how much you need me here tonight
Tell me stories, lies or secrets, any words in any sequence
Just don’t leave me waiting here for your reply
‘Cause these words of mine
I pour them like water and spill them like wine
Now I can see
All of these words and you’ve none left for me
Just unspoken sentences lost to a breeze
WALNUT SHELL
Two lines upon the door frame
Four handprints on the wall
Six times they tried to find us
The seventh heard our call
Nine months swimming the same sea
Before we came to shore
At ten to twelve on Wednesday ninth
Ninety ninety-four
We’re two halves of a walnut shell
What’s in you’s in me as well
Brother won’t you come back slowly
Take your time you know we’re only
Over here if you get lonely
And when the world came calling
You knew we’d let you go
Two sides of the same coin
On two sides of the globe
Well I hope you’re met with kindness there
I hope you’ll strike your gold
Although we were born as halves I hope you find what makes you whole
We’re two halves of a walnut shell
What made you makes me as well
Brother won’t you come back slowly
Take your time you know we’re only
Over here if you get lonely
But now and then if you could ring
And let me know you’ve settled in
That you’re getting used to things
How your day ends as mine begins
And that you’ll call again real soon
And we still stare at the same moon
WOLF
My love he chases midnight over heath and over heather
Overthrows the starlight as he hails the stormy weather
His eyes are like two pools of ink into which I seem to drown
Why is it I love him when his only pleasure’s pulling me back down? Oh and down
My wolf he’ll come by moonlight and he’ll stay with me ‘til morning
Shiver in his stone embrace and watch the daylight dawning
When he leaves his shadow stains the hollow he has made
No he is the devil’s own, but oh my God I only wish he’d stay
Won’t you stay?
‘Cause I shouldn’t love you
Devil man I beg be kind
Your words they fall like ashes
And they’re burnt inside my mind
On my mind
My love is made of rocks and now I need him to be stable
His arms they may be cold and hard but they hold me like a cradle
Know that if I go with him my soul he’ll surely take
Beast he is an ocean and I know I am the rocks on which he’ll break
And he breaks, and I break
‘Cause I shouldn’t love you
Devil man I beg be kind
Your words they fall like ashes
And they’re burnt inside my mind
On my mind
‘Cause I shouldn’t love you
When you’re everything I hate
And I’ve lost my heart to darkness
And I know that it’s too late
I’m on my way, on my way
©2023 Katherine Priddy. All rights reserved.
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