1. |
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Better Times Are Waiting For You
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
As I walked out one winter’s morning,
More like the night it was than day,
The sun and moon had made their bargain,
We’ll give the clouds their chance today.
The road before me like a ribbon,
The North wind sighed from far away,
The Frost has plans to stop the music,
The singing stream he’ll freeze today.
Chorus:
But don’t turn back to look behind you,
Keep on walking on your way
Better times are waiting for you
Sure as night turns into day.
A puddle cracked beneath my footsteps,
As I turned up the hungry hill,
A church bell rang up from the valley,
Marking time where time stood still.
And down a lane a dog was barking,
The reason why I cannot say,
I nearly stopped but something stopped me,
And I continued on my way.
Chorus
A jackdaw watched me from his chimney,
More close to home than me I’d say,
His treasure trove of twigs beneath him,
No smoke will rise up there today.
And a magpie pecked in a broken phone box,
One for sorrow so they say,
But just in time she called her partner,
A blue black flash - they flew away.
And then as if from out of nowhere,
A voice came back from long ago,
These quiet places if you find them,
Are the spaces where you grow.
And through the clouds the sun came dancing,
I felt the warmth I’d missed so long,
The singing stream and all around me,
Said take us with you in your song.
Chorus
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2. |
January Child
04:45
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January Child
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
January early morning,
Foggy nightcap on the bay,
Milky clouds upon the mountain,
Sun won’t show for work today.
January child is painting,
Seagulls swirling in the spray,
Old house hunkers down for winter,
Storms are coming so they say.
Chorus:
But if January thinks we’re sleeping
It couldn’t be much further wrong,
At winter’s window, waiting, watching,
Who will walk into this song?
Here’s the man who braves all seasons
Since he heard the doctor say,
Young man your walking days are over,
Each step he takes us shows us the way.
And here’s that couple old and feeble,
Once they were so young and strong,
Yet beauty walks in every footstep
As they help each other on.
Hawthorn berries for the robin
Brightening morning with his song,
Red is such a welcome colour
When days are short and nights are long.
Branches bare still reaching upwards,
Knowing where their hope is found,
Underneath this frosty blanket
New life stirs beneath the ground.
All those January mornings,
All those years that slipped away
All those milky clouds that whispered,
Sun won’t show for work today.
You were four years old that morning,
Picture’s with me to this day
January child you’ve taught me
Hope will always find a way.
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3. |
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Goethe’s Song/All My Winding Journeys
From the original Goethe poem Naehe des Geliebten
Music and English translation : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
I watch the sun rise on another journey
Away from you, away from you
And when the moon paints midnight streams before me
I’ll think of you, I’ll think of you.
Ich denke dein, wenn mir der Sonne Schimmer
Vom Meere strahlt, vom Meere strahlt;
Ich denke dein, wenn sich des Mondes Flimmer
In Quellen malt, in Quellen malt.
And I see you on every road I travel
On the laughing street, and down the lonely mile,
Through the darkest nights of all my winding journeys
I see your smile; I see your smile.
Ich sehe dich, wenn auf den fernen Wege,
Der Staub sich hebt, der Staub sich hebt;
In tiefe Nacht, wenn auf dem schmalen Stege
Der Wandrer bebt, der Wandrer bebt.
I hear your voice from the rustling leaves of morning
Til the winds of evening knock my window pane
And in the silence of the deepest forest
I hear your name, I hear your name.
Ich höre dich, wenn dort mit dumpfem Rauschen
Die Welle steigt, die Welle steigt.
Im stillen Haine geh ich oft zu lauschen,
Wenn alles schweigt, wenn alles schweigt.
You’re by my side, though distance stands between us
I know you’re near, I know you’re near
The sun goes down, but the stars will walk beside us
Til you are here, til you are here.
Ich bin bei dir, du seist auch noch so ferne,
Du bist mir nah, Du bist mir nah.
Die Sonne sinkt, bald leuchten mir die Sterne.
O wärst du da, o wärst du da.
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4. |
One More For The Road
04:10
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One More For The Road
Words and Music Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Chorus:
One more for the road we’ve travelled together,
One more for the road and the tunes that we played,
One more for the friends who have shortened our journeys,
One more for the road that’s waiting ahead.
For the blossoms of Spring and the first day of Summer,
For the leaves that will soften the step to your door,
For the snowflakes that dance in the darkness of Winter,
For the love in your laughter there’s time for one more.
Chorus
For the song of the lark bringing hope in the morning,
For the salmon a leaping and trying once more,
For the speed of the hare, against the hill running,
For the courage within you, there’s time for one more.
Chorus
For the weavers of warmth and the builders of shelter,
For the women who carry all life to the door,
For the carers of soil, of air and of water,
For the love in your heart, there’s time for one more.
Chorus
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5. |
The Glassmakers' Hand
04:17
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The Glassmaker's Hand
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Some say it was chance in a far distant land,
They had stopped for the night lit fires in the sand
And the flames that were dancing and warming their hands
Had melted a secret by morning.
Eyes filled with wonder they knew not the name
But they learned how it grew in the heat of the flame,
They breathed into fire - from fire it came
As the light from the heavens comes dancing.
(Chorus)
And down all these years that trickle like sand,
There was fire in the heart of the glassmaker’s hand
Filling windows of lovers all over the land,
As the light from the heavens comes dancing.
It shelters the portrait, it ages with grace,
It mirrors the secrets in every face,
In cottage, cathedral, in each sacred place,
Bright eyes through the stone ever glancing,
It pictures the frost and it sparkles like dew,
It keeps the wind out and it lets the sun through
And it brings the stars closer for me and for you
When the light from the heavens comes dancing.
So we’ll hold up the bottle or hold up the jar,
Hold up the goblet or hold up the bar,
But whatever we’re drinking, wherever we are,
It’s the glassmaker’s praises we’re chanting
By the sand in the glass or glass in the sand,
If we measure our time by the turning of hands,
May we treasure each moment of life’s coloured strands,
Where the light from the heavens comes dancing.
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6. |
Very Nearly
05:04
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Very Nearly
Words and Music Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Well there I was upon my way
In the days of will you won’t you,
I met you at the crooked bridge,
You remember well now don’t you?
Signpost hiding in the hedge,
I could not see it clearly
Says you, you’ve come to a nice wee place
By the name of Very Nearly.
Well that’s the weather now, says I,
Says you, I’ve seen it better
But the greatest stories in the world
Begin with a single letter.
Chorus:
And many’s the night and many’s the day
I think upon you dearly,
And all the things we tried to say
On the road to Very Nearly.
Ah life’s a riddle in this place
With the briars and whin bushes,*
St Brigid’s crosses can’t be made
If you haven’t got the rushes.**
But if you climb up yonder hill,
I bet you I’ll climb higher,
And I’ll give you a glass to catch the sun
If you help me light the fire.
The weather’s picking up, says I,
Says you, well now you’re talking,
And if you sit down where the nettles grow
May you always find a docken.***
Chorus
Ah the water’s deep at the crooked bridge,
So mind yourself I tell you,
There’s some would give you all they have,
And there’s some would buy and sell you.
So look for truth between the stars,
Keep off the road that’s misty,
And every answer won’t be straight
For the question mark is twisty.
Ah the night is drawing on, says I,
Ah time is such a miser,
But if we’d known then what we know now
Would we be much the wiser?
Chorus
*Whin-bushes: gorse bushes (Ulex europaeus)
**Rushes (Juncaceae): sometimes used in Ireland for weaving crosses on February 1st, St Brigid’s Day.
***Docken/dock leaf (Rumex obtusifolius): a folk remedy for nettle stings.
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7. |
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Looking' the Loan of a Spade
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Is that yourself? - Indeed it is - Well you're a stranger here,
I don't know when I seen you last, it must be more than a year,
How are you doin'? - I'm not so bad and what about yourself?
- No use complaining I suppose, as long as we've got the health.
Where are you now? - I'm still at home, it's the brother that went away,
My father he said that if one of us left, the other would have to stay,
Sure jobs are gettin' very scarce, the unemployment's a curse,
- But still I suppose as the fella says, it's bad that couldn't be worse.
-Terrible weather altogether, it's never goin' to clear
- Do you know what I'm goin' to tell you though, it's not bad for the time of the year,
Sure a sup of rain never done very much harm, the grass could do with a drop,
I'd pass no remarks on a skift or two, as long as there's not a slap.
- A slap's the last thing that we need, for our wee meadow's in hay,
Do you mind the trade we had last year comin' up thon bit of a brae?
- The mountain's comin' very close, I don't like the look of the sky,
The forecast talked about a change, but you mightn't believe thon boys.
- I suppose I'd better be headin' on, I held you back enough,
I was clearin' up at the back of the house, the garden is very rough,
I broke the spade and it's awkward when you've only got a graip,
And unless I can get the loan of a spade, the garden will have to wait.
- Aye a spade's an awful, missly thing, there's the sun again,
But it's only a pet, it will never keep up, I felt a spit of rain,
- Would you be usin' your spade today? - To tell you the truth I'm not,
For I lent it to you a year ago, and since then I never saw it.
...Ah well, there is no harm in askin’..."
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8. |
Michael's Orchard
03:37
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Michael’s Orchard
Words and Music Colum Sands ©Elm Grove Music
Ah you’ll never grow an apple tree in this part of the country
For the weather here is wintry and the wintry weather’s wild
You’ll never grow an apple tree in this part of the country
For apples never grew here since Adam was a child.
For there’s salt upon the breath of the breezes from the ocean
And there’s frost upon the fingers of the fog at blossom time
You’ll never grow an apple tree in this part of the country
The old men chewed tobacco to the rhythm of their rhyme.
Michael heard their words and he looked across the ocean
Then he stepped around the little field where apples never grew
He chewed a blade of grass, he tasted salt he dreamt of orchards
While the old men watched him fearing he might teach them something new.
Killyballyowen watched him as he planted trees of shelter
Cross and Rehy watched him as the ash and rowan grew
Michael watched their colours change from springtime into autumn
And he knew that far above him time was watching too.
Michael felt the wind and years come flying up the Shannon
But his trees had taken root and their shelter warmed him too
He grafted hopes and dreams and he planted for tomorrow
And sheltered in his careful hands the little orchard grew.
He lived to see the apples and he watched his children taste them
While the old men chewed tobacco to the rhythm of their rhyme
For you who dare to dream the songbirds sing on branches
And your children’s play in the apple blossom time.
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9. |
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Going down to the Well with Maggie
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Going down to the well with Maggie, I’m running to match her walk,
I’m five years old and learning to listen more than talk,
She says, “The well’s a river, that flows to the seven seas,”
She knows what she is giving me, but not what I receive,
Going down to the well with Maggie.
Rose is in her garden, she leans across the wall,
They talk whenever it suits them both and some days not at all.
“Who’s this wee man you have today? he must be Bridie’s lad,
He’s a lovely child God bless him,”
Says Maggie, “He’s not too bad,”
Going down to the well with Maggie.
The can goes into the water, a butterfly rises high,
Rose takes down her washing with a knowing look at the sky,
“Stand back from the well”, says Maggie, “It’s deep as deep can be,”
But I’m still standing far too close in search of the seven seas,
Going down to the well with Maggie.
Walking though the rushes, the can filled to the brim,
A drop or two spills on the hardened path, says Maggie, “That’s no sin,
And gather some sticks you boy you, the whin roots are the best,
To keep the fire a-burning and the jackdaw off the nest,”
Going down to the well with Maggie.
It’s nearly dark inside the house, the pope hangs on the wall,
The sticks go into the open fire with paraffin oil and all,
A voice comes from the wireless, “They’ll walk on the moon one day,”
Maggie gives the fire a poke and says, “We’ll make the tay,”
Going down to the well with Maggie.
Now the lid of the kettle is dancing as flames lick out in heat,
And war breaks out in Maggie’s hearth as fire and water meet,
The cat jumps into the window, “Bad scrant to you!” Maggie calls,
At five years old I’m witnessing Pope Pius the Twelfth’s first fall,
Going down to the well with Maggie.
Saint Anthony was a friend of hers but she stayed at home to pray,
The smell of incense made her sick and the priest said, “That’s OK,”
She could read your cup and tell the age of the children who came to play,
Her door was always open and she smiled to her last day,
Going down to the well with Maggie.
Six women carried Maggie, a sight ne’er seen before,
And I smiled at the smell of incense, the church was packed to the door,
Now I sail across the seven seas, see Maggie and her can,
The key to the door of childhood forever in her hand,
Going down to the well with Maggie.
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10. |
Lazy Hill
03:50
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Lazy Hill
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
As I went over the Lazy Hill,
The sun was rising up lifting the morning chill,
The days were longer then, I thought I had time to kill,
Until I met you there, on top of the Lazy Hill.
The birds were singing a song of hawthorn hedges in June
Weaving the blossom and leaf, into the thread of a tune
A thought came to my mind, up there in heaven’s room
If ever you’d go away, you couldn’t come back too soon.
(Chorus)
If ever you’d go away you couldn’t come back too soon
To rustle the autumn leaves or dance in the meadows of June
Wherever your shuttles may fly, I wish a long life to your loom
I wish you the golden thread that’s spun from the sun and the moon
On Lazy Hill you said, there’s work to be done
Watching the stars come out, to dream of the rising sun
If you would win my heart, then walk don’t always run
There’s more than meets the eye, where love is lost and won.
You showed me the silver stream running all down to the sea
You said, “If your feet get wet, you needn’t come running to me!”
We stopped at the rusty gate we heard the old farmer say,
“Too late to fatten your hens, on the morning of market day.”
The day that you went away, the hawthorn berries were red,
I wonder if what you said will ever go out of my head,
“When dew is on the grass, take time to drink your fill,
There’s only one chance to dance on top of the Lazy Hill.”
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11. |
The Man With The Cap
04:19
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The Man with the Cap
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
They say he was the strangest man you’d ever want to meet
He didn’t like the towns at all and he kept to the quiet streets
But mostly he was in the fields, he always wore a cap
The same one for a Sunday as for briardin’ * up a gap
And no one has a photo of this man
No one seemed to know his plan
He was lonely as a baby and as gentle as a child
And it seems he often spoke of Oscar Wilde
I mind we used to see him on the quiet summer nights
Standing by the roadside like a rabbit in the lights
He’d never wave, just nod his head, he always wore a tie
Some people said that he was odd, others said just shy
And no one has a photo of this man
It seems he loved a girl one time but she must have gone away
Perhaps he was too quiet or too different in his ways
For he never bothered after that, got careless with his looks
Forgot to shave for seven years and took to reading books
And no one has a photo of this man
I saw him in the cornfield sowing with his hand
He understood the weather and he understood the land
He always wore what once had been a three-piece navy suit
The same one for the sowing as for standing up the stooks **
And no one has a photo of this man
They say he’d stand for hours gazing at the hills
His bicycle beside him, both of them were still
As statues in the sunset, and no one knew his mind
But when he died they said that he was kind
We laid him down this morning, the rain was falling fast
Those who thought they knew him were with him to the last
The priest was sprinkling prayers and holy water in the rain
And we said, “We’ll hardly ever see the likes of him again”
And no one has a photo of this man
No one seemed to know his plan
He was lonely as a baby and as gentle as a child
And it seems he often spoke of Oscar Wilde
======================================
*Briardin’ :: securing a hedge or a broken wall with cuttings of thorn bushes
**stooks : four sheaves of hay or oats,, stood up on their ends together to dry
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12. |
Before Winter Sets In
03:28
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Before Winter Sets In 3:23
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
September looks out as the evenings draw in,
Her colours are coaxing the spiders to spin,
They’ll lay out their lace in the dew of the whin,
For they’ve plenty to do before winter sets in.
Chorus:
And down the long lane with many’s the turning,
Back to school children are laughing and learning,
We’ll follow the field to the blackberry hill,
See the black, red and green and the blossoms there still.
And as fields turn to gold the songbirds still sing,
How summer was true to the promise of spring,
There’s no time to lose and a harvest to win,
So we’d best make a move before winter sets in.
Chorus
Sure we’ve filled up a shed instead of a bin
With things that we said were sure to come in Handy sometime now it’s anchor to pin,
But we’ll make room to dance before winter sets in.
When October makes time where there was none before,
We’ll follow the river from mountain to shore
And we’ll talk of the times we came through thick and thin,
And of all that we’ll do before winter sets in.
Chorus
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13. |
Beyond The Frame
04:36
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Beyond the Frame
(In memory of Jim and Gerry Sherry
Words and Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
There were two brothers in this town, they spread their colours all around
Where flowers rise and leaves come down, one day their pictures will be found.
They knew the canvas of the sky, how water plays when clouds go by
How colour schemes beyond the sun, for one last dance when day is done.
They painted pictures, painted names, above shop doors the owners’ claims
Their brushes flew brought colours back from Spain, their ladders knew the shortcut home again.
Chorus
And what is fortune what is fame? You catch the light, it’s gone again
Freedom flies beyond the frame, freedom flies beyond the frame.
One day they walked along the shore, to paint the walls around our door
Their stories echoed to the beach, brightened corners paint won’t reach.
And in between the tea and talk, I saw the place where artistes walk
Knew fickle fashion’s empty breeze, would never trouble men like these.
They mixed the paint, they viewed the sky, they wondered if it might stay dry
They spoke of light and ways of men, now every sunset speaks of them.
Chorus
In freedoms name beneath the sun, some close one eye to aim a gun
Some open both, see far and wide, all colours living side by side.
So take your ladders one last time, each tiny splash a secret sign
Like stories told between the lines, like pictures hidden in a rhyme.
There were two brothers in this town, they spread their colours all around
Where flowers rise and leaves come down, one day their pictures will be found.
One day their pictures will be found.
Chorus
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14. |
Song For Adam And Eve
03:34
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Song for Adam and Eve
Words & Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
Here's to the look that turned to a smile,
Lingered a while to shorten the mile
On the road that we took 'til we came to the stile
That would lead us right out of the garden.
And here's to the look that lingered that day
And caused us to reach out and touch in that way,
’Til our lips said all that words couldn't say
By the stile at the side of the garden.
And here's to the touch that became an embrace
That would quicken the heart of the whole human race,
While the scent of the orchard and the sun on your face
Crossed over the wall of the garden.
For outside the garden the wild flowers grow,
They're smiling in circles not standing in rows,
Their colours unite and it's not just for show
For love has no walls to its garden.
And here's to the apple you picked from the bough,
The juice on your fingers, I can still taste it now,
Sweet Eve it would seem that our children know how
We shared love by the side of the garden.
And here's to the one who said live and let live,
Made time for love, took time to forgive,
Said always remember as long as you live
Love has no walls to its garden.
For outside the garden the wild flowers grow,
They're smiling in circles not standing in rows,
Their colours unite and it's not just for show
For love has no walls to its garden.
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15. |
The Note That Lingers On
04:16
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The Note That Lingers On
Words & Music : Colum Sands © Elm Grove Music
I saw you by the river that goes flowing on forever,
The blossoms from the apple tree were falling for your charms,
I looked at you, you looked at me, but both of us could plainly see
That the river stood between us and the slightest chance of harm.
I was walking down the road that leads from August to September,
When I saw you picking berries with their colours on your hand,
Like the swallows on the rooftop you were making plans for winter,
When I came a little closer, like the swallows you were gone.
Chorus But do you know or don't you, that I'll be thinking of you
That I feel you right beside me in the singing of a song,
And we'll sing it where the road goes round the corner to remember
That the magic of the music's in the note that lingers on.
There was ice upon the river and the city seemed to shiver
Til I saw you in the market place that keeps the winter warm,
You were selling herbs and spices and a drink of human kindness
And a candle for the winter that the darkness might be gone
When the ice begins to splinter and the spring is coaxing winter Into taking off his ragged coat as days are turning warm, With the seasons I'll remember that as June said to December,
Love and life is letting go as much as holding on.
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Colum Sands Newry, UK
Colum Sands is a universal storyteller who draws on a long Irish tradition of poetic musicality to weave songs for the
world.
Drawing on countless performances, Sands uses humour and shrewd observation to celebrate what unites rather than what separates. His latest album “Song Bridge” includes many of the songs written for his extensive environmental campaigning over the past two years.
... more
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