1. |
Our Golden Age
05:11
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1. Our Golden Age
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
Round and round goes the potter’s wheel
Down and down goes the cage
Crash and bang goes the molten steel
A flashback to our golden age
Before someone ripped out the page
An age that tells stories of how it was then
What a young man like Peter could bring
Who could have dreamed he’d make pots for the Queen
But that was when he was the King
When Peter looks back he remembers the laughs
Along with the banter and scorn
You’ll hear his clichés like ‘those were the days’
And ‘kids today don’t know they’re born’
Round and round goes the potter’s wheel
Down and down goes the cage
Crash and bang goes the molten steel
A flashback to our golden age
Before someone ripped out the page
Tom was a miner as hard as they come
A man’s man if ever there was
Three pints before shift and a fist like a brick
Was his licence to make his own laws
Now he pauses for breath every four or five steps
The coal dust still sits on his lungs
He tries to recall what became of it all
But the memories have waited too long
Round and round goes the potter’s wheel
Down and down goes the cage
Crash and bang goes the molten steel
A flashback to our golden age
Before someone ripped out the page
Jack was a lad and true to his name
He stood for the workers in steel
‘Out brothers out’ you would hear him proclaim
Whilst the tempers of management reeled
Jack held his philosophies close to his heart
A tattoo of Marx on his arm
In more ways than one stood too close to the fire
But too zealous to hear the alarm
Round and round goes the potter’s wheel
Down and down goes the cage
Crash and bang goes the molten steel
A flashback to our golden age
Before someone ripped out the page
Now Peter sits quiet in the Potter’s Bar
With Tom who tells tales of the dark
Remembering Jack who’s not coming back
Lost to the heat and the sparks
But they all left their own fingermarks
Round and round goes the potter’s wheel
Down and down goes the cage
Crash and bang goes the molten steel
A flashback to our golden age
Before someone ripped out the page
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2. |
Where I Live
03:11
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2. Where I Live
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
Where I live is what I know
Where I live is what I am
When I walk that road to home
That’s where I can be the man
The man who almost never was
The man who asked what will I be
When I walk that road to home
Where I live will answer me
Where I live will answer me
Where I live will answer me
Where I live can paint me green
Where I live can paint me blue
When I walk that road to home
I can be just any hue
Any colour you can name
Any sound that you can sing
When I walk that road to home
I can be most anything
I can be most anything
I can be most anything
I’m not talking bricks and sand
Grassy lawns nor roses too
When I talk of roads to home
It’s any road that leads to you
Where I live is what I know
Where I live is what I am
When I walk that road to home
That’s where I can be the man
That’s where I can be the man
That’s where I can be the man
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3. |
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3. What If My Pockets Were Empty?
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
What if my pockets were empty
And no more could I hold my head high
Could I still claim a seat at your table
Would I still be that glint in your eye
And what if the words that define me
Could no longer be spoken with pride
What if my pockets were empty
A cup that cries for mercy or a glass that calls for wine
There but for good fortune down that slippery road go I
Many words are spoken too few deeds are done
For those whose lives are broken
And what their hopeless world’s become
What if my pockets were empty
And no more could I hold my head high
Could I still claim a seat at your table
Would I still be that glint in your eye
And what if the words that define me
Could no longer be spoken with pride
What if my pockets were empty
Would I still have you here by my side
Is it true what people say we’re all just a payday away
So come and walk beside me past the doorways of our town
Past the eyes that say ‘so why me
Why must I bear this cross and thorny crown?’
If your life changed tomorrow if your ship just turned around
Too proud to beg or borrow
Too scared to face the cold cold ground
What if my pockets were empty
And no more could I hold my head high
Could I still claim a seat at your table
Would I still be that glint in your eye
And what if the words that define me
Could no longer be spoken with pride
What if my pockets were empty
Would I still have you here by my side
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4. |
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4. The Rejected Songwriters’ Club
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
If you’re looking for an easy way to make ends meet
Take a shot at the arts
Unsure what to pursue
Well you could maybe write a song or two
It can’t be that hard
In need of inspiration
I get a lot of mine down at the pub
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
There are loads of competitions that you’ll need to be in
Only 20 bucks per song
I always choose the category ‘Unrequited Love’
But with a story that’s not too long
It’s always good to be optimistic
But set yourself up for a snub
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
My latest composition is my best I’ve been told
My friends all say it should be a hit
Now someone says it’s similar to that one by The Pogues
But it isn’t, well, it could be a bit
And the judges they’re just listening for dollars
Poetry simply won’t make the cut
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
I’m trying my best to stay optimistic
But I’ve set myself up for a snub
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
Welcome to the Rejected Songwriters’ Club
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5. |
The Answer
04:35
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5. The Answer
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
I worked in the factory I mastered my trade
From clay in the fire to the pots that I made
But I longed for the long roads and I craved for the stage
And I dreamed of just what I could be
So I told them one day that these cups were my last
I was done with the wheel I was through with the cast
And the clay in my nails will be a thing of the past
When tomorrow I’ll follow my dream
But if I speak from the heart it was clear from the start
Written there in the stars was the fate of this chancer
And what was to be, it was all there to see
But to fools such as me I was blind to the answer
Many years later one cold lonely night
Helpless and hungry but a book I could write
If I could make it to London and the east city lights
Somehow I could find myself work
So I cut all my hair and I knocked every door
Till a man with a million from North Baltimore
Said “if you get a suit son I’ll teach you the score
And soon you’ll be richer than me”
But if I speak from the heart it was clear from the start
Written there in the stars was the fate of this chancer
And what was to be it was all there to see
But to fools such as me I was blind to the answer
The money came quick even quicker it went
And so no surprise did my Baltimore friend
It was then that I saw you and my future was penned
Welcome back to the long roads and dreams
Now if I speak from the heart it was clear from the start
Written there in the stars was the fate of this chancer
And what was to be it was all there to see
There was just you and me and you were the answer
And what was to be it was all there to see
Now it’s just you and me and you are the answer
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6. |
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6. No Time (The Facebook Blues)
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
I really should be getting on with it
I know I could be almost done with this
But no time
These updates drive me mad
You would have thought that I’d be through by now
But I don’t even know the who or how
There’s no time
Still trying to sync my iPad
No time to think no time to play
I really hoped to make the most of the day
But it‘ll all be gone in no time
No time at all
I want to paint the fence and mend the gate
But it won’t happen now it’s all too late
There’s no time
Thought I was first out the blocks
The garden’s calling and the tree’s blown down
The house is falling all around me now
There’s no time
Won’t someone stop all the clocks
No time to think no time to play
I really hoped to make the most of the day
But it‘ll all be gone in no time
No time at all
I need to Google me some time saving tips
All my Facebook friends you’re sure to know this
Private message me if you know a way
Meanwhile I can sit and procrastinate
Wait a minute ‘cause I’m almost there
Just one more friend request and post to share
But no time
Who thought of this anyhow?
I spend my life in disarray
I really hoped to make the most of the day
But it‘ll all be gone in no time
all be gone in no time
all be gone in no time
No time at all
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7. |
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7. The Ballad of The Queen of May
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
It was 1890 and the first of May
Aileen Palmer was the first to say
Am I the favourite of the village fair
Have I won their hearts with my long brown hair
Yes, she won their hearts with her long brown hair
Now she’s to be the Queen of May
Our flower bride our fairy maid
Let’s all pray for purity
And growth throughout our valley
Yes she’s to be the Queen of May
Let flowers fashioned in a crown be made
On Fair Oak green by the chapel fair
Folk will gather for to see her there
Yes, folk will gather for to see her there
So let’s all sing for the Queen of May
Our flower bride our fairy maid
Let’s all pray for purity
And growth throughout our valley
As the children danced around the queen
The sounds of joy that filled the green
Would ring around this place today
If history could have its way
But as they danced, behind the oak
A darker beauty drew her cloak
If truth be known her heart was vexed
Just the devil knew what would happen next
Just the devil knew what would happen next
So let’s all hope for the Queen of May
Our flower bride our fairy maid
Let’s all pray for purity
And growth throughout our valley
When all was done and the sunlight waned
She followed her down the Langot Lane
And the fist of stones now dry and dull
She brought down hard on Aileen’s skull
As Aileen lay in a pool of red
She took the crown and put it on her head
And spinning round with a cry of glee
The Queen of May at last is me
The Queen of May at last is me
So let’s all weep for the Queen of May
Our flower bride our fairy maid
Let’s all pray for purity
And growth throughout our valley
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8. |
Diamonds and Rust
04:37
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8. Diamonds and Rust
(Joan Baez)
Well I'll be damned here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual it's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known a couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall
As I remember your eyes were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said where are you calling from
A booth in the Midwest
Ten years ago I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something we both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Well you burst on the scene already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon the original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed
Now I see you standing
With brown leaves around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Now you're telling me you're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid
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9. |
Down To Numbers
04:45
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9. Down to Numbers
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
They say he had a good life well I really wouldn’t know
But his son told me when he was young he rode through Mexico
And there’s something in that photograph
The eyes say ‘I was there’
And look there’s not an empty seat so many people cared
But soon there’ll be a gravestone with dates from then to now
And in between a dash that doesn’t start to tell us how
But it’s the dash that really matters
The numbers count for naught
Be sure to get yours noticed the dash is your report
We should ask ourselves the question
When we look at what has past
Is it only down to numbers
Or will we be remembered for the dash
As we go along our journey there’ll be junctions that we meet
One road might be bumpy while another might be steep
But if we only take the downhill path
We might move to fast to see
And in a flash might miss the dash the dash that holds the key
We should ask ourselves the question
When we look at what has past
Is it only down to numbers?
Or will we be remembered for the dash
So I’m asking me the question but little’s coming back
A number here a number there how much more can I ask
But life’s clock keeps on ticking
And it never seems to slow
So I’ll make time I’ll carve out mine my dash before I go
As we ask ourselves the question, when we look at what has past
Is it only down to numbers
Or will we be remembered for the dash
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10. |
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10. Under That Old Clare Moon
(John Spillane)
When I was a singer I had only one song
That I wove from the sunlight and I rambling along
I tied it with rushes and I freed it with air
And it swept me along to the old County Clare
It went ‘Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon’
I chanted in Doolin and I sang at Fanore
I went rattling and a clattering on the old flaggy shore
Where the cliffs at Kilkee they challenge the sea
And I sang like a thrush in the town of Kilrush
I sang ‘Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon
Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon’
At Old Spanish Point where the ships they went down
The moon she rose up with her great starry crown
Her necklace of diamonds her white wedding gown
And she shed salty tears for the sailors who drowned
She sang ‘Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon
Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon”
A wonderful promise that old County Clare
There are melodies hanging from shelves in the air
There's the Maid at the Barrells, the Hag at the Churn
There's a great flock of angels flying over the Burren
Singing ‘Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon
Meet me tonight by moonlight
Under that old Clare moon
Under that old Clare moon’
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11. |
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11. Peat Bog Soldiers / Die Moorsoldaten
(Johann Esser/Rudi Goguel/Wolfgang Langhoff)
Wohin auch das Auge blicket
Moor und Heide nur ringsum
Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket
Eichen stehen kahl und krumm
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten
Und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor
Far and wide as the eye can wander
Heath and bog are everywhere
Not a bird sings out to cheer us
Oaks are standing gaunt and bare
We are the peat bog soldiers
Marching with our spades to the moor
Auf und nieder ziehn die Posten
Keiner keiner kann hindurch
Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten
Vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten
Und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor
Up and down the guards are pacing
No one no one can get through
Flight would mean a sure death facing
Guns and barbed wire greet our view
We are the peat bog soldiers
Marching with our spades to the moor
Doch für uns gibt es kein Klagen
Ewig kann nicht Winter sein
Einmal werden froh wir sagen (One day we will cry rejoicing)
Heimat Du bist wieder mein! (Homeland, dear, you're mine at last!)
Dann ziehn die Moorsoldaten
Nicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor
Then will the peat bogs soldiers
March no more with spades to the moor
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12. |
Auf Wiedersehen, Me Duck
04:30
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12. Auf Wiedersehen, Me Duck
(Walker/Pfeiffer)
When all the songs are sung
And all the poems read
When all the Ceilidhs are danced
And Morris has gone to bed.
When John and Chris and Mary
Malcolm, Sue and Pete
Have cleared all things away
And there’s nothing left to eat
Then that’s it for another year
Goodbye my friends good luck
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
We shouldn’t shed another tear
For friends will all be back
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
And it’s back to work on Monday
But most there will look at us blank
When we try to describe what it’s like
But to them we’re just some kind of crank
Well that’s it for another year
Goodbye my friends good luck
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
We shouldn’t shed another tear
For friends will all be back
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
Show me the way to go home
I’m tired and I want to go to bed
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it’s gone right to my head
No matter where I roam
O’er land or sea or foam
You will always hear me
singing this song
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
Well that’s it for another year
Goodbye my friends good luck
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
We shouldn’t shed another tear
For friends will all be back
We’ll see you in a field somewhere
Auf Wiedersehen me Duck
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Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer England, UK
The Anglo-German duo Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer hails from Staffordshire, although Karen is originally from Stuttgart, Germany. The rumour goes that it was there Paul ‘discovered’ her busking in a city centre park and invited her to perform in England. The two of them have now been playing music together since 2012. ... more
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