1. |
Storm To Weather
04:28
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Batten down the hatches love, the night is rolling in
The clouds are getting darker and you're scared of what they'll bring
And you are searching the horizon for some sign, some little spark
Of morning that will chase away the dark
Heavy was the winter, love, and what became of spring?
This demon came and got its claws in every little thing
Now there are miles and glass and distance that are keeping me apart
From the beating of your strong and steady heart
And if it sinks
My darling then
Just close your eyes
And think of when
When you'll be in my arms again
There's a storm here to weather, the thunder's coming near
Louder than ever and we don't know where to steer
And though we can't be together, no matter what my dear
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
This world is unfamiliar now, it's turned us all around
A sailboat in a hurricane and nothing's bolted down
And whichever way you turn there is no sanctuary in sight
No path to some safe harbour in the night
But I am sailing right beside you, I am just out of arm's length
Willing you remember you are wrought of iron strength
And I am hanging my tomorrows on the bones of yesterday
All I can do to make it through today
And when my heart sinks
My darling then
I fill my lungs and I think of when
When you'll be in my arms again
There's a storm here to weather, the thunder's coming near
Louder than ever and we don't know where to steer
And though we can't be together, no matter what my dear
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
So best foot first, and hold on fast
Do your worst - this too will pass
And when it does, I'll be there to fill your glass
There's a storm here to weather, the thunder's coming near
Louder than ever and we don't know where to steer
And though we can't be together, no matter what my dear
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
I will love you forever and we will dance again next year
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2. |
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You’ve got your first real six string
Got your heart full of pain
You got the makings there kid
Of a lucrative campaign
You got your story and your spirit
You got a rock n roll dream
We’ve got an office in Hackney
We’ve got a really cool team
Cos we love this authentic
Lonely outsider type
Big up that aesthetic
On your socials for the hype
Whoever said revolution
Would not be televised
He didn’t have our contacts yeah
He didn’t have our PR guys
But I was reaching out for a lifeline
Fighting the tide, yeah and trying to work out why
If my name is up in lights
And it's all going right
I've never been as lonely as tonight
I've never been as lonely as tonight
Well every night I get the spotlight
And I get out this guitar
And like so many folk before me
Use it to open up my scars
And I don't know if it's helping
Or it's driving me insane
I'm just after some connection yeah
To know somebody feels the same
Come rain or wreck or ruin
I’ll be following these dreams
The same way I’ve been doing
Since the middle of my teens
And if there’s a single person out there
To whom this song something means
I’d take one lonely broken heart
Over a hundred millions streams
Cos I've still got this six string
Still got my heart full of pain
And I don’t know how to fix things
But I’m still in the game
Maybe I don't know what the point is
Maybe I’m never gonna see
But as long as anybody’s listening
This is where you'll find me
I'm gonna be reaching out for a life vest
Fighting the tide, yeah and giving you my best
So turn down all the lights
Stay with me in this fight
Between me and my loneliness tonight
Yeah so let me see your hands
I need someone who understands
That when I'm out here all alone
That this right here is home
So let me hear you sing
I think that you’re the only thing
Between me and my loneliness tonight
Can you save me from my loneliness tonight
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3. |
Great Central Way
03:49
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We took the 101
Out of Oregon
In the shadow of the redwoods down golden state
Took the coast all day
To San Francisco bay
We didn’t stop before we hit the golden gate
I have lived lives
Beyond my years
Seen open roads
With no end in sight
But my rambling heart
Won’t be unchained
From where it’s anchor lies
And when the foxes score
I hear the roar
From my front door
When the river soar
Bears me back to shore
I will run no more
I’ve seen the oceans meet
From fifty thousand feet
I’ve watched the Black Forest shiver neath electric storms
I’ve seen the Rockies rise
Up into clear blue skies
And carved foundations just three miles from where I’m born
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4. |
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To the girl I knew in Sixth Form long ago
It took me sixteen years or more to know
That she probably wouldn’t thank me for the songs that I wrote for her
Well I wrote this one for me and looking back I think they all were
Because I grew
Up in a world
Where the tragic hero always gets the girl
I set the scene
I wrote the script
Handed her a leading part and she never wanted it because
No woman ever wants to be a muse
To be dragged over hot coals
To be slandered, to be used
So you can sing the world your inauthentic blues
And be the bravest, be the smartest
The most deeply tortured artist
Tell me who in their right mind would ever choose
To be a muse
Oh I wish for all the world I’d learned back then
To not repeat the deeds of famous men
Who took just one perspective, that gave them a good villain
Absolved them of their sins and in the process made a killing
So best be warned
Not to believe
The bleeding heart I wear upon my sleeve
For all the pain
It might imply
There’s another one out there somewhere with no right of reply
And maybe Stevie Nicks really drove him out his mind but maybe Lindsay should have gone his own way too
And we’ll never know the girl who wasted Dylan’s precious time
Or if he left her tangled up in blue
I guess they both had versions
But we all know just the one
All that I really know for certain
Is it made a damn good song cos
History’s written by the victors
Yeah and art is made to last
And I dread the day I’ll have to answer
For the songs of break-ups past
Yeah no woman ever wants to stand accused
Of the crimes that you wrote for her
While professing to adore her
While disparaging her honour
With all you projected on her
While you revelled in the glory
Of telling one side of the story
Yeah no woman in this world would ever choose
To be a muse
Now I've looked at it both ways
Don't believe a word I say
And beware of anyone who ever views
You as a muse
Because no woman in this world would ever choose
To be a muse
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5. |
The Last Man On Earth
05:07
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Another Friday night when your plan A has fallen through
A Tinder date that sounded great was too good to be true
I guess besides love of adventure, sense of humour, zest for life
He just forgot to mention the new baby or the wife
Yeah what a dick
But there’s no need to be lonesome when you’ve got the next best thing
So you block him on your socials and you give me a ring
And say you’re in need of some sympathy, some sushi and Netflix
You know I’m always free for dinner when they bail on you at 6
And I will be the best I can
And I will be the best I can
And I will be the best I can
But you won’t choose me
Over the last man on Earth
How am I back here again I’ve learned so many times
That I’ve run out of melodies and I’ve run out of rhymes
And this way lies insanity, I’ve seen it all before
But I know next time you need me I’ll be right there at the door
And after all the chasing, when you’re tiring of this life
And you pick the least worst option and consent to be his wife
You know I’ll plan the hen do in Chicago
And I’ll be there at the alter
And you can be my Santiago
Though I can’t be your Peralta but
I’ll be the best I can
And sometimes at last orders
And we’ve both had too much to drink
And you look at me for too long
In a way that makes me think
You sometimes wish that things were different
And it sometimes makes you sad
That I treat you better than the best boyfriend you ever had
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6. |
Galway
03:53
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Well it’s my first time tonight in Galway
And on every single street
I can hear the hometown players
And I know I can’t compete
I’ve got no audience to speak of
But I take it on the chin
Cos I’m the worst thing on in town tonight
And it’s 10 euros in
The promoter’s setting out all
Of the chairs that he can find
I tell him optimism isn’t
What I look for in his kind
Still he’s confident of walk-up
But I don’t think we’ve got much chance
It’s the first show of my life that was more
Expensive in advance
And I’ll never be Ed Sheeran
God knows I’m no Steve Earle
Four hundred miles away tonight
From my Hertfordshire girl
And if temptation should befall me
To overstate my worth
At least there’s always Galways
To bring me down to earth
I’ve played rooms of hundreds
That have never felt so loud
Because it’s not the size of the crowd that’s in the gig
But the gig that’s in the crowd
And tonight’s, they are heroic
Their response enough to seem
Like they could fill a football stadium
When they’re a few short for a team
And we’re halfway through the set list
And the finish line’s in sight
When in come five drunk fellas
And they’re making it a night
One hollers ‘are you doing classics?
Cos if you are we’ll pay’
He’s not convinced by my assertion
That they’ll be classics one day
And I’ll never be Ed Sheeran
God knows I’m no Steve Earle
Four hundred miles away tonight
From my Hertfordshire girl
And if temptation should befall me
To overstate my worth
At least there’s always Galways
To bring me down to earth
And I walked along the shoreline
Looked out across the bay
I felt the threat of creative juices
Overflowing to cliché
And I fought the inspiration
I swear I tried to hold it off
I said I’d never write a song here
Because this town’s suffered enough
And I’ll never be Ed Sheeran
God knows I’m no Steve Earle
Four hundred miles away tonight
From my Hertfordshire girl
And if temptation should befall me
To overstate my worth
At least there’s always Galways
To bring me down to earth
Guitar in hand I’m walking
To my hire car down the street
I can hear the hometown players,
and I know when I’m beat
Someone asks me what my act is
And I can’t suppress a grin
when I say ‘I was worst thing on in town tonight for 10 euros in’
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7. |
Romance Addict
03:43
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Mayday mayday, SOS
Got myself into a mess
There's a spring in every step
There’s a traitor in my chest
I’ve been keeping up my guard
Over places that I’m scarred
Now I’m singing in the car
Guess old habits just die hard
And I’m stitched up
Good and proper
She’s in my veins now
And I can’t stop her
God knows I tried
But I could sooner hold back the tide
She’s gonna keep me guessing
I never learned my lesson, oh no
This time I thought I had it
But now I’m right back at it, oh no
Can’t kick the habit, a romance addict
I crossed my heart and hoped to die
That I’d left this all behind
Like a moth into the light
No other way I seem to fly
Thought I’d done most everything
To make bulletproof my skin
But I just can’t seem to win
she keeps finding her way in
And it's been a long, lonely winter
Summer will come again they said
Not if I could help it my friend
If I keep my nights all long and black
And the light out every crack
I won’t have to fear
The autumn coming back
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8. |
Haul Away
04:40
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The heart of me is ocean bound
But I come from a landlocked town
No coasts or caverns to be found
Among the plains and fens
But when the road takes me in reach
Of ocean waters that beseech
Me every time to scour the beach
In search of hidden gems
Along the shore where can be seen
In frosty white, in blue and green
Some days even aquamarine
All from the water thrown
Discarded shards of glass who all
Were swept up in this waterfall
And now whose bodies so recall
The stories of their own
Haul away, haul away
I'm bound to follow oceans, I know no other way
Haul away, haul away
And make me who I am today
Well who amongst us can’t relate
To such an ordinary fate
As living in a constant state
Of battling with the tide
Who started out a fragile shell
That broke apart each time it fell
That you could see straight through as well
And know what lay inside
Then traded days in pubs and bars
For crashing waves beneath the stars
And storms that gave us battle scars
When best adventure beckoned
Who turned with currents, met with caves
Wandered lost among the waves
And managed to avoid our graves
But sometimes by mere seconds
Haul away, haul away
I’m bound to follow oceans, I know no other way
Haul away, haul away
And make me who I am today
Blessed those that understand
We all return back to the sand
We were born of, but bear the brand
Of suffering and our pleasure
Now I find that that time and tides
Have worn my edges, smoothed my sides
For tourists who come wandering by
To mistake me for treasure
Haul away, haul away
I'm no kind of opponent for the current or the sway
Haul away, haul away
That make me who I am today
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9. |
Technicolor
05:52
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Something’s changed You cut your hair
But I’d know that profile anywhere
I hesitate I smile and shrug
I’m not sure if we’re meant to hug
I know my lines and I give them well
Same old here thanks not that much to tell
Weather work and mutual friends
Well lit paths to safe dead ends
All too soon it starts to slow
And you’re looking round for somewhere else to go
And I think how strange we could run out
Of having things to talk about
Soon enough it’s at an end
We say goodbye and both, alone, pretend
That we found it harder than we did
I’m not sure who we’re trying to kid
It hits me that I don’t know when
We’ll have a cause to meet again
I’d never believed it once
I guess endings come in increments
Halfway home my car breaks down
2am in some west midlands town
I call for help, I sit and wait
There’s no one at home to tell that I’ll be late
Most recent number last missed call
For three years straight without a second thought
You were the one I turned to first
And just like that the riverbank has burst
And you’re in HD technicolor
You’re in stereo sound
And we are tangled up together
As if we could never be unbound
It's in HD technicolor
It's in stereo sound
Back when I was somebody better
Before I was someone who let you down
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10. |
IKEA
03:48
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It’s Wednesday evening in Ike
There’s just two kinds of people here
And in my life, I have been both
Those couples at the starting line
Committing to each room design
Like it was a permanent oath
But that’s not me
I know these aisles
You can spot the ones like me for miles
There’s no good-natured argument on taste
I have no need to compromise these days
There’s no one saying: we’ve been here too long
And I get exactly what I want
It’s Wednesday evening in Ikea
And everywhere I look in here
Are new teams trying to make themselves match
Those couples sharing meatball tea
Don’t notice all the ghosts like me
Back here alone, and starting from scratch
But spare a thought
But for the grace
Of ever disassembling shared space
Now there’s no good-natured argument on taste
I have no need to compromise these days
There’s no negotiation to concede
You know I get exactly what I need
What I need
And to those optimistic lovers
Picking duvet covers
I wish them all the best
From the bottom of my chest
And if they follow the instructions
There’s no reason their constructions
Really shouldn’t last
But who am I to ask
Because mine all fell apart
And I’m right back at the start
Hoping I’ve not lost any fundamental parts
And I’m sure I will remember
How it all fits back together
Because I know I’m not inadequately skilled
It’s just that some things
Take two people to build
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11. |
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I used to think I’d change the world if I could write a song
Good enough to make you see the truth
But everything I touch has turned to ruin and gone wrong
And I can’t believe the arrogance of youth
I know the world is turning when it feels like standing still
Or slipping ever backwards by degrees
But it feels like I’m always dying on the least productive hill
And I haven’t even planted any trees
And all my chords
All of my G major chords,
You know they couldn’t move the House of Lords
All I felt
All the pain I ever felt
It never stopped the ice caps melt
Some days this world
It makes me hide beneath the covers
But some days are worse than others
I used to think my heart was so reliable and strong
Steady ‘neath your feet as frozen ground
Believing all the promises of poetry and song
I never dreamt how far I’d let you down
And I know I am remembered for the shattering of dreams
Never for the time I held the roof
Our fossilised worst moments held forever in extremes
And I console myself with versions truth
For all I gave
For all I told myself I gave
I really thought that I was being brave
For all I swore
Ever steady, ever more
It comes to nothing if you’re keeping score
Some nights I can answer the charges of those lovers
Some nights are worse than others
I used to think my stories were the place I could be known
And told them without having to pretend
Now finally old enough to know that I’m not fully grown
I see that I don’t know how they will end
The skins I shed, the roads I tread, the ways that I have fared
Have turned me into someone not the same
And some days I feel the anchor of the years that we have shared
But some days I can only feel the chain
And it washes off
Yeah it all just washes off
And my arms will always be too soft
And I understand
Maybe I finally understand
That I might never know just who I am
Some days I still wake up jealous of my brothers
Some days are worse than others
Some days I still
Want to hide beneath the covers
Wonder how we will recover
Search the eyes of friends and lovers
For a sign of my true colours
But some days are worse
Some days are worse than others
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12. |
The Losing Side
05:00
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From common grief to Bristol up in flames
We came here begging justice, instead we got the blame
For peace disturbed, out on the streets tonight
And watching on the BBC you know something’s not right
When mourners come with candles and with flowers
Wrestled three on one, and pinned down by the state’s full powers
This is their world. And these have been the rules
We’ve come to break it down with bloody fingernails for tools
The threat of violence
This tightrope wire
We can no longer bear it, we are all too fucking tired
No more minutes’ silence
We will sing hire
You tell us to light a candle we have come to start a fire
And if I spend my life the losing side
You can lay me down knowing that I tried
There’s a better world and on a quiet day
When I hold my breath
I can hear her say
She is on her way
Safe at home, you watch it on TV
And never think that one day you could be the enemy
That you might be one day under attack
From all that should protect you, hoping someone has your back
The history books are screaming from the shelves
No government who outlaws speaking to defend ourselves
Has good things planned. A storm ahead I see
And none of us will bear it without solidarity
They give us trouble
All our days
This ailing failing world sent signs
Of fire and flood and plague
But from the rubble
From the razed
The mightiest cathedral
From these ashes we will raise
So take heart my sisters
This fire will never die
Take heart my comrades
No one left behind
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