1. |
THE BLACKENED STUMPS
02:35
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History hangs heavy
in the air,
gossamer assassin hiding in stairs,
behind filthy windows, unseen but
pooled still, thick mercury
between
sweating cobbles.
Death haunts my city
in the grey and black,
particles which are us,
and the past: genetic markers
in rock and dust and
cracked leather.
The cathedral hugs
the stone,
its
elemental home,
and sticky torture
clings like the stench
of demons
on the blackened stumps.
And the poor, and the rich
are attached umbilically
by the stitches of time,
united only by time. And they
wander eternity,
strangers in parallel.
Teeth and bones,
apart, so alone-
vibrate and chatter
and clack their auld cemetery song,
under a Samhain moon,
abandoned ancient children
of our gene memory loins.
They are marrow of you and me,
and we of them.
I hear them vibrate awake,
the land shivers and shakes
and sinks
and thinks
and rises
and falls
under moist turf,
ground unsure
of what it holds.
History sits
like an old familiar,
a weight on our psyche,
and like fat around the heart.
And the manacles of Then
Are as nothing to the
Chains of Now.
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2. |
ELEMENTAL
03:54
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Sow before the rains
Plant before the rains.
The earth
cold against my skin
cold
but a place where hope
can grow.
As we plant our seeds
when spring comes round
can we imagine the day
we will lie within?
We cannot know
if the seeds will grow
in ground
where life can rise…
Sow before the rains.
Plant before the rains.
Can we look into the seeds of time
And say which grains will grow
And which will not…?
Sow after the frost
sow after the frost
that we may begin again….
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3. |
SCARECROW
06:10
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We stand to the side
‘tween the groom and the bride
in the circle of breath.
The beasts of the woods
shrink from townsfolk in hoods
as the Green Man speaks:
we sleep and we dream
but the longest of journeys
is never as far as it seems
as we roll in the green.
Scarecrow sleeps in the drowse of July
his head stitched and torn
he gazes to me with sightless cloth eyes
and the scarecrow does rise.
He speaks in a voice of long-killed crows
in barleycorn rows…
something has gone but what it is
it is hard to know
spirits have passed
and now lie in this grass
unseen.
we sleep and we dream
but the longest of journeys
is never as far as it seems
as we roll in the green
as we roll in the green.
See the scarecrow with not much to show
as the seasons unfold.
His entrails have dried
his eyes never cried
at the sadness.
something has gone but what it is
it is hard to know
but the harvest is done
all under the sun
are now free.
We stand to the side
‘tween the groom and the bride
in the circle of death
we meet at the place
where the trees kiss the water
and lay him to rest
in his Sunday best
As eternity waits.
As eternity waits.
Cantant canticum perpetuum.
Aeternum Exspectat.
Umbra vocat.
Venient in tenebris.
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4. |
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Once again all has died
the frozen night cannot be denied
animals lie dead, the crop all gone
back to the ground, cold as stone
We asked the Old One please be kind
Not to let us stumble blind
into winter, no cheer or food
we begged he would make it good.
This is the Hour
the Hour of Giving
the moment has come
which beast will be chosen?
Instrumental section
This is the Hour
the Hour of Giving
the moment has come
which beast will be chosen?
We have called on the Horned One
Rest eternal when this day is done
sharp and true the blade will fall…
his is the Hour
the Hour of Giving
the moment has come
who will be chosen..?
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5. |
SON OF FORTUNE
04:51
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Instrumental
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6. |
THE HORNED ONE
02:15
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You are the Lord of wild things
the master of all
that nature brings
you are the Horned One
The Old One
The life and death of all.
Wodewose
Cernunnos
Green Man
You have many names
and we must worship you all
Man in the woods
Tatha of the river.
you are the Horned One
The Old One
The life and death of all.
Wodewose
Cernunnos
Green Man
You have many names
and we must worship you all
Creator of mountains
and Winter.
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7. |
THE KILLING CHILL
03:19
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We gather up the dark
to hold behind our eyes
and deep in us
always
Feel Autumn chase his tail
the sky turns blue to pale
swift feels the pull
of the south
Gather up food
gather up peat
gather the children
close to your side
fix the roof
and the walls
to keep the killing chill
away
Make the sign of the rod
carve a stone to the gods
feel the shadows grow long
as we sing our winter song
see the wolf in the trees
he waits for you and me
to trace the steps
of the frozen dead
who have gone before
Gather up food
gather the heat
gather the children
close to your side
fix the roof
and the walls
to keep the killing chill
at bay
See the light turning away
leave us for a hundred days or more
as we gather up the light
to hold behind our eyes
and deep in us
always...
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8. |
ARMY OF GHOSTS
04:05
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Army of Ghosts
eyes lit by the moon
Army of Ghosts
their bones and blood to dust.
This army is you and me
this army is you and me.
This army is you and me
this army is you and me.
Army of Ghosts
in its broken lines
wandering wraiths
in their moist pockets
of time.
This army is you and me
this army is you and me.
Near or far
we carry the scars
of battle
the scars of war.
Life is the battle of scars
under the stars
life the battle of scars
underneath the stars.
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9. |
WOODSMOKE
04:29
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Rise and fall
not knowing at all
which way to turn
or which way to go
grey and dead
rise from the fire’s bed
will the sky receive
when at last we leave..?
Woodsmoke
you are woodsmoke
you feel like nothing at all
Woodsmoke
just woodsmoke
feeling like nothing at all..
Existence so brief
and death the thief
who steals us away
in the dark.
Woodsmoke
we are woodsmoke
feels like nothing at all
woodsmoke, just woodsmoke
are you anything at all?
Feeling like nothing at all
Being nothing at all
Feeling nothing
being nothing
at all…
Existence so brief
and death the thief….
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10. |
THE WHEEL, IT TURNS
09:14
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As the squirrel thuds to the ground
a terrible, beautiful sound
the bear retreats to his den
and the seasons peel away again
As the blackbird tumbles from his branch
the deer is pulled into quicksand
as the goliath expires upon the shore
pulled weightless through the open door
Played in fields when I was small
moved among crop and livestock
as Autumn chased his tail
The bleakest of moments
but fertile as death
as each in the circle
holds his breath
Diving down where the DNA creeps
Gone so long but the gene pulls deep..
As the squirrel thuds to the ground
a terrible, beautiful sound
the bear retreats to his den
and the seasons peel away again
As the blackbird tumbles from his branch
the deer is pulled into quicksand
as the goliath expires upon the shore
pulled weightless through the open door..
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11. |
THE PATH THAT NEVER ENDS
04:17
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Garry Stanton Edinburgh, UK
Garry has been writing,recording and performing music since the 1990s. He has been guitarist/ lead vocalist/ bass player in many bands over the years. His new album, a collection of 'Imagined Pictish Music' entitled 'The Killing Chill', was released on 26 March 2023. ... more
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