| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
| 6:41 | 
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Billy was born within sight of the shipyard
First son of a riveter's son And Billy was raised as the ship grew a shadow Her great hull would blot out the light of the sun And six days a week he would watch his poor father A working man live like a slave He'd drink every night, and he'd dream of a future, Of money he never would save Billy would cry when he thought of the future Soon came a day when the bottle was broken They launched the great ship out to sea He felt he'd been left on a desolate shore To a future he desperately wanted to flee What else was there for a ship-builder's son A new ship to be built, new work to be done One day he dreamed of the ship in the world It would carry his father and he To a place they would never be found To a place far away from this town Mm-bay mm-bay-day mm-bay Mm-bay mm-bay-day mm-bay Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship All the workmen suspended like flies Caught in the flare of acetylene light A working man works till the industry dies And Billy would cry when he thought of the future Then what they call an industrial accident Crushed those it couldn't forgive They brought Billy's father back home in an ambulance A brass watch, a cheque, maybe three weeks to live What else was there for a riveter's son? A new ship to be built, new work to be done That night he dreamed of the ship in the world It would carry his father and he To a place they could never be found To a place far away from this town, A Newcastle ship with no coals They would sail to the island of souls Mm-bay mm-bay-day mm-bay Mm-bay mm-bay-day mm-bay |
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2. |
| 4:55 |
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I looked out across
The river today, I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower Where the seagulls play. I saw the sad shire horses walking home In the sodium light I saw two priests on the ferry October geese on a cold winter's night And all this time, the river flowed Endlessly to the sea. Two priests came round our house tonight One young, one old, to offer prayers for the dying To serve the final rite, One to learn, one to teach, Which way the cold wind blows Fussing and flapping in priestly black Like a murder of crows And all this time, the river flowed Endlessly to the sea If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river And I'd bury the old man, I'd bury him at sea Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle And as these words were spoken I swear I hear The old man laughing, 'What good is a used up world, and how could it be worth having' And all this time the river flowed Endlessly like a silent tear And all this time the river flowed Father, if Jesus exists, Then how come he never lived here. The teacher told us, the Romans built this place They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire Garrison town, They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods But the stone gods did not make a sound And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left Were the stones the workmen found And all this time the river flowed In the falling light of a northern sun If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river Men go crazy in congregations But they only get better One by one One by one... |
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| 3. |
| 3:54 |
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A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight And through a million stars were shining My heart was lost on a distant planet That whirls around the April moon Whirling in an arc of sadness I'm lost without you I'm lost without you Though all my kingdoms turn to sand And fall into the sea I'm mad about you I'm mad about you And from the dark secluded valleys I heard the ancient songs of sadness But every step I thought of you Every footstep only you And every star a grain of sand The leavings of a dried up ocean Tell me, how much longer? How much longer? They say a city in the desert lies The vanity of an ancient king But the city lies in broken pieces Where the wind howls and the vultures sing These are the works of man This is the sum of our ambition It would make a prison of my life If you became another's wife With every prison blown to dust My enemies walk free I'm mad about you I'm mad about you And I have never in my life Felt more alone than I do now Although I claim dominions over all I see It means nothing to me There are no vitories In all our histories, without love A stone's throw from Jerusalem I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight And through a million stars were shining My heart was lost on a distant planet That whirls around the April moon Whirling in an arc of sadness I'm lost without you I'm lost without you And though you hold the keys to ruin Of everything I see With every prison blown to dust, My enemies walk free Though all my kingdoms turn to sand And fall into the sea I'm mad about you I'm mad about you |
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| 4. |
| 4:55 |
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It was midnight, midnight at noon Everyone talked in rhyme Everyone saw the big clock ticking Nobody knew, nobody knew the time Elegant debutantes smiled Everyone fought for dimes Newspapers screamed for blood It was the best of times Every place around the world it seemed the same Can't hear the rhythm for the drums Everybody wants to look the other way When something wicked this way comes Sometimes they tie a thief to the tree Sometimes I stare Sometimes it's me Everyone told the truth All that we heard were lies A pope claimed that he'd been wrong in the past This was a big surprise Everyone fell in love A cardinal's wife was jailed The government saved a dying planet When popular icons failed Every place around the world it seemed the same Can't hear the rhythm for the drums Everybody wants to look the other way When something wicked this way comes Sometimes they tie a thief to the tree Sometimes I stare Sometimes it's me Sometimes I stare Sometimes it's me
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| 5. |
| 4:47 |
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Under the dog star sail
Over the reefs of moonshine Under the skies of fall North, north west, the stones of Faroe Under the Artic fire Over the seas of silence Hauling on frozen ropes For all my days remaining But would north be true? All colours bleed to red Asleep on the ocean's bed Drifting in empty seas For all my days remaining But would north be true? Why should I? Why should I cry for you? Dark angels follow me Over the godless sea Mountains of endless falling For all my days remaining What would be true? Sometimes I see your face The stars seem to lose their place Why must I think of you? Why must I? Why sould I? Why should I cry for you? Why would you want me to? And what would it mean to say That, "I loved you in my fashion"? What would be true? Why should I? Why should I cry for you |
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| 6. |
| 2:43 | 
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| 7. |
| 6:42 |
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I saw it again this evening
Black sail in a pale yellow sky And just as before in a moment It was gone where the grey gulls fly If it happens again I shall worry That only a strange ship could fly And my sanity scans the horizon In the light of a darkening sky That night as I walked in my slumber I waded into the sea strand And I swam with the moon and her lover Until I lost sight of the land I swam ?til the night became morning Black sail in a reddening sky Found myself on the deck of a rolling ship So far where no grey gulls fly All around me was silence As if mocking my frail human hopes And a question mark hung in the canvas For the wind that had died in the ropes I may have slept for an hour I may have slept for a day For I woke in a bed of white linen And the sky was the color of clay At first just a rattle of canvas And the gentlest breath on my face But a galloping line of white horses Said that soon were in for a race The gentle sigh turned to a howling And the grey sky, she angered to black And my anxious eyes searched the horizon With the gathering sea at my back Did I see the shade of a sailor On the bridge through the wheelhouse pane? Held fast to the wheel of the rocking ship As I squinted my eye in the rain For the ship had turned into the wind Against the storm to brace And underneath the sailor?s hat I saw my father?s face If a prayer today is spoken Please offer it for me When the bridge to heaven is broken And you?re lost on the wild, wild sea Lost on the wild, wild sea |
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| 8. |
| 5:52 |
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The boy child is locked in the fisherman?s yard
There?s a bloodless moon where the oceans die A shoal of nightstars hang fire in the nets And the chaos of cages where the crayfish lie Where is the fisherman, where is the goat? Where is the keeper in his carrion coat? Eclipse on the moon when the dark bird flies Where is the child with his father?s eyes? These are the soul cages These are the soul cages He?s the king of the ninth world The twisted son of the fog bells toll In each and every lobster cage A tortured human soul These are the souls of the broken factories The subject slaves of the broken crown The dead accounting of old guilty promises These are the souls of the broken town These are the soul cages These are the soul cages ?I have a wager,?the brave child spoke The fisherman laughed, though disturbed at the joke ?You will drink what I drink, but you must equal me And if the drink leaves me standing, a soul shall go free?br /> ?I have here a cask of most magical wine A vintage that blessed every ship in the line It?s wrung from the blood of the sailors who died Young, white bodies adrift in the tide?br /> ?And what?s in it for me, my pretty young thing? Why should I whistle, when the caged bird sings? If you lose a wager with the king of the sea You?ll spend the rest of forever in the cage with me??br /> These are the soul cages These are the soul cages A body lies open in the fisherman?s yard Like the side of a ship where the iceberg rips One less soul in the soul cages One last curse on the fisherman?s lips These are the soul cages These are the soul cages Swim to the light Swim to the light He dreamed of the ship on the sea It would carry his father and he To a place they could never be found To a place far away from this town A Newcastle ship without coals They would sail to the island of souls |
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| 9. |
| 7:49 |
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So high above the world tonight
The angels watch us sleeping And underneath a bridge of stars We dream in safety?s keeping But perhaps the dream Is dreaming us Soaring with the seagulls Perhaps the dream Is dreaming us Astride the backs of eagles When the angels fall Shadows on the wall In the thunder?s call Something haunts us all When the angels fall Take your father?s cross Gently from the wall A shadow still remaining See the churches fall In mighty arcs of sound And all that they?re containing Yet all the ragged souls Of all the ragged men Looking for their lost homes Shuffle to the ruins From the leveled plain To search among the tombstones When the angels fall Shadows on the wall In the thunder?s call Something haunts us all When the angels fall These are my feet These are my hands These are my children And this is my demand Bring down the angels Cast them from my sight I never want to see A million suns at midnight Your hands are empty The streets are empty You can?t control us You can?t control us anymore When the angels fall When the angels fall |
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