| Jethro Tull – Heavy Horses Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Because early October is the time to sow winter wheat, according to: - http://www.ukagriculture.com/four_seasons/four_seasons.cfm?str_month=October&intro=no "The period between late September and early October is generally regarded as the prime time for drilling winter wheat." |
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| Elvis Costello – Goon Squad Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Urban myth. | |
| Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It for You Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Almost as vomit-inducing as 'My Heart Will Go On' | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Where the Wild Roses Grow (feat. Kylie Minogue) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Because its a folk song. | |
| Billy Bragg – Tank Park Salute Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| iirc the interviewer asked him the meaning of the phrase 'Tank Park Salute' and Billy just said "That's between me and my Dad." | |
| Jethro Tull – Broadsword Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I don't think the narrator of the song is necessarily Christian: he says "Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman" Dictionary definition: - A talisman (from Arabic Tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word "telein" which means "to initiate into the mysteries") is an amulet or other object considered to possess supernatural or magical powers. The cross was probably looted from another, Christian, settlement. The roundhouse could be a broch, but people lived in round houses all over Britain through the whole iron age. A thought: What if the narrator is a Celt and it is the Roman invasion he sees on the horizon? His talisman will give him little help against those fellows........ |
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| Jethro Tull – Acres Wild Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The Winged Isle is the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where Ian Anderson used to own land (and a salmon farm). | |
| Richard & Linda Thompson – Withered and Died Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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The song is very simnilar to the traditional Northern Irish song 'Banks of the Bann' - pwerhaps RT intended it as a sequel (Or, more likely, the point of veiw of the woman in the song): Banks of the Bann When first to this country a stranger I came I laid my affections on a girl that was young, She being fair and tender, her waist small and slender Fond nature had formed her for my overthrow. On the banks of the Bann it was there I first met her, She appeared like an angel or Egypt's fair queen, Her eyes were like diamonds or stars brightly shining. She's one of the fairest in the world that I've seen. It was her cruel parents that first caused a variance Because they are rich and above my degree. But I'll do my endeavor to gain my love's favour Although she is come of a high family. My name is Delaney, it's a name that won't shame me And if I'd saved money I would never have roamed. But drinking and sporting, night rambling and courting Are the cause of all me ruin and absence from home. Now had I the riches that are in the Indies, I'd put rings on her fingers and gold in her ears. It's there on the banks of the lovely Bann River In all kinds of splendor I'd live with my dear. |
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| Steve Earle – Jerusalem Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| A much better plea for peace than that godawful dirge by Lennon (Imagine) | |
| Bette Midler – Wind Beneath My Wings Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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A hymn to selfishness - "I'm a big star and you are nobody. But take it from me, it has been a lot of fun standing on your face for the last thirty years." A DESPICABLE song. Almost as nasty and vicious as 'My Way'. |
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| Richard Thompson – Beeswing Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Back in the 1970s Bob Pegg wrote a narrative ballad enititled 'The Gypsy' - its the title track of his band Mr Fox's second and final album. The last verse: The last time I heard a word about my Mary Lee She was married to a tinker and was living in Dundee They say she has a baby now to bounce upon her knee And I wonder in the long nights does she ever think of me? Cauldrum Street is in Dundee. Did Richard Thompson ever hear The Gypsy? Did he intend Beeswing to be a sequel and the girl in the song to be Mary Lee's daughter? Probably not - but it is an odd coincidence. Two long narrative ballads about lost love, one starting where the other leaves off. Oh, and both songs are BRILLIANT. |
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| The Pogues – Worms Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Personally, I prefer the Singing Loins' version. | |
| The Pogues – The Parting Glass Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Like a lot of Irish drinking songs its actually about death. | |
| The Pogues – London You're A Lady Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Your architects were madmen Your builders sane but drunk Absolutely sums up post-war London in two lines. |
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| The Pogues – Boys From The County Hell Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| London Irish, not Irish American. 'The County Hell' is an Irish nickname for London. | |
| The Pogues – 5 Green Queens And Jean Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| It is (like most McGowan songs) about drink. The green queens are bottles. | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Where the Wild Roses Grow (feat. Kylie Minogue) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It is a rewrite of a traditional folk song known as "The Oxford Girl", "The Wexford Girl", "Hanged I Shall Be" (Performed by the Albion Band under this title), "The Miller's Apprentice" and many other titles. Oysterband also rewrote it but from the point of view of the gossips in the local pub and the reporters writing about the crime. Their version is called "The Oxford Girl" and begins: - "I met a man whose brother said he knew a man who knew the Oxford girl" |
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| David Bowie – My Death Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| That's right, Dush - he was Belgian. | |
| Marc Almond – Yesterday When I Was Young Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Whoops, my bad - it was actually written by Charles Aznavour - who was French and DID speak English, so maybe he did his own translation. | |
| Marc Almond – Yesterday When I Was Young Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| It was actually written by the greatest singer/songwriter ever to walk the planet, Jacques Brel - I'm not sure who did the translation (Brel was Belgian and spoke no English). | |
| Loudon Wainwright III – Men Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Self pitying drivel. | |
| Eagles – Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The whole gang died in the Coffeyville raid except Emmett, who lived on for another forty-odd years. | |
| Jethro Tull – Coronach Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Written by David Palmer (and Shakespeare!) for the TV series 'Blood of the British' |
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| Steve Earle – Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Jonathan Nobles was a death row prisoner whom Steve Earle communicated with and visited. He was executed on October 7 1998 and Steve was one of the witnesses. He said later: "At very best, it's terrifying. It's torture. It was for me. I don't think I'll ever recover from it. I have absolute waking nightmares about it" | |
| The Pogues – White City Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The tune of this song is 'The Curragh of Kildare', a traditional Irish song. | |
| The Pogues – Thousands Are Sailing Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| He has written other songs, my favourite of which is 'Faithful Departed' performed by Moving Hearts. | |
| Jethro Tull – Weathercock Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Fantastic mandolin playing! | |
| Jethro Tull – The Whistler Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think he's actually an atheist. The song could have a more sinister meaning. In British folklore, the seven whistlers are omens of death. |
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| Jethro Tull – Songs From The Wood Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Nope, 'of these ageless times' is correct. | |
| Jethro Tull – Songs From The Wood Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Songs from the Wood is probably a reference to 'beer from the wood', i.e. the real thing (See CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who saved decent beer in Britain from tatseless too-cold fizz) | |
| Jethro Tull – Something's On the Move Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Out of the north, their ancient home, returning in triumph to the lands they had once possessed, the glaciers had come again" - Arthur C Clarke, "The Forgotten Enemy". I wonder if Ian Anderson was inspired by that? |
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| Jethro Tull – Pibroch (Cap In Hand) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Pibroch is an anglicised form of the word piobaireachd, which is a type of bagpipipe music consisting of a simple theme and up to twenty variations. The song is written in a form of piobaireachd. | |
| Jethro Tull – Moths Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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About suicide? Nonsense! It's about the all-consuming fire of love which can destroy but is still irresistable: the first moths of summer suicidal came to join in the worship of the light that never dies in a moment's reflection of two moths spinning in her eyes. |
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| Jethro Tull – Heavy Horses Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Second part. Stormwatch is the third. | |
| Jethro Tull – And Further On Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Oh, I forgot to mention - this song kind of reminds me of Edwin Muir's poem 'The Horses' which begins: Barely a twelvemonth after The seven days war that put the world to sleep, http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-horses/ |
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| Jethro Tull – And Further On Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The end of civilisation but perhaps not the end of everything - "Will you still be there further on?" could be seen as an optimistic question..... | |
| Jethro Tull – Cup Of Wonder Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| "the old grey standing stones that show the sun his way to bed", "Walk the lines of nature's palm" and "sung along the Old Straight Track" are references to Ley Lines - straight lines in the landscape supposedly marked by ancient monuments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_line | |
| The Oyster Band – Flatlands Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I worked for the (UK) civil service for FAR too many tears and it is FULL of the people in this song. "And if they do not panic the pain will vanish soon" - indeed. | |
| Richard Thompson – Mother Knows Best Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Recorded on the day Margaret Thatcher resigned. | |
| Steve Earle – Billy Austin Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Poignant and frightening: "I didn't even make the papers 'Cause I only killed on man"....... |
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| Mr Fox – The Gypsy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Nice to see Mr Fox on this website - especially this song, the title track of their second and final album and the best thing they ever did. They really were the forgotton band of early British folk rock (along with Trees). Everybody remembers Steeleye and Fairport but very few remember the wild north-of-England semi acoustic sound of Mr Fox. Live, they were unpredictable. Occasionally they were terrible, but on the majority of nights they were mind-bogglingly good. They were probably the scariest folk band ever to stalk a stage. Most of their songs were spooky in the extreme and their style of playing suited the material to a T. |
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| Fairport Convention – Reynardine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Reynard is an old name for a fox. The implication is that Reynardine is either a 'foxy' (crafty and not to be trusted) human being or an actual were-fox. Either way, I wouldn't give much for the girl's chances...... |
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| Richard Thompson – Grey Walls Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| About Colney Hatch mental hospital in Whetstone, north London which Tompson used to pass on his way to school. | |
| Ralph McTell – The Hiring Fair Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Depends whose version you hear. Ralph McTell (who wrote it) calls it 'The Girl from the Hiring Fair' but Fairport Convention (who he wrote it for) call it just 'The Hiring Fair' | |
| Ralph McTell – England Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This should be the national anthem. | |
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