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Genesis Hall Lyrics
GENESIS HALL
Fairport Convention
My father he rides with your sheriffs.
And I know he would never mean harm.
But to see both sides of a quarrel,
Is to judge without haste or alarm.
Oh, oh, helpless and slow
And you don't have anywhere to go.
You take away homes from the homeless,
And leave them to die in the cold.
The gypsy who begged for your presents,
He will laugh in your face when you're old.
Oh, oh, helpless and slow
And you don't have anywhere to go.
Well, one man he drinks up his whiskey,
Another he drinks up his wine.
And they'll drink 'till their eyes are red with hate,
For those are a different kind.
Oh, oh, helpless and slow
And you don't have anywhere to go.
When the rivers run thicker than trouble,
I'll be there at your side in the flood.
It was all I could do to keep myself
From taking revenge on your blood.
Oh, oh, helpless and slow
And you don't have anywhere to go.
And I know he would never mean harm.
But to see both sides of a quarrel,
Is to judge without haste or alarm.
And you don't have anywhere to go.
And leave them to die in the cold.
The gypsy who begged for your presents,
He will laugh in your face when you're old.
And you don't have anywhere to go.
Another he drinks up his wine.
And they'll drink 'till their eyes are red with hate,
For those are a different kind.
And you don't have anywhere to go.
I'll be there at your side in the flood.
It was all I could do to keep myself
From taking revenge on your blood.
And you don't have anywhere to go.
Song Info
Submitted by
ralph Mctell On Apr 24, 2002
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Corrections: "My father he rides with your sheriffs", "Judge without haste or alarm", "Gypsy who begged for your presents", "Rivers run thicker than trouble", "Taking revenge on your blood."
The father is on the side of the authorities, but the narrator takes a more balanced view. And when the poor rise up, the narrator expects to be swept away by the revolution too. And regardless, there will come a time where you'll need others, and then there will be payback for all the cruelty.
And Thomson was in his early 20s when he wrote this.
futatorius is right, the song begins, My father he rides with your sheriffs. This I think is a reference to Richard Thompson's own father who was a policeman. The next lines of that first verse seem to be a defence of his father; maybe it wasn't easy being the son of a copper in the heady days of the late 60s! But the lines about drinking up whisky and wine until you're red with hate are a spot-on analysis of the type of blind bigotry towards blacks, asians, muslim, catholic, protestant, asylum-seekers etc etc voiced in pubs up and down the country when in like company once the bevvy gets a hold.
This is about bigotry towards race or class and the chorus tells you of the ignorance of those who aren't the bottom feeders, they haven't a clue about struggle or a grittier side of life most of us have to face.
oh and I forgot the third party who is completely nonjudgemental who tries to clear the thick quagmire of hate from those helpless and slow.