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Cuckoo Tree - Digital Album

by Kelly and Woolley

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1.
The Cuckoo Tree 06:22
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A memory floats around my head like clouds on a summer day A field, a tree with mushroom rings where hours I would play The sound of spring, a fleeting glimpse a sound I grew to love A cuckoo sitting on a branch somewhere high above I took such things for granted, I never had a care I didn’t question why things happened to things I held so dear I still recall those times as if only yesterday That call the cuckoo made and the smell of early hay You don’t always know what you’ve got till it’s gone Joni sang The things I held so dearly, I forgot are hard won Now they’re gone Time passed by so slowly and then I flew the nest And every year I came back to family and for rest And the people they grew older, got lines upon their face But the cuckoo tree was always there, nothing took its place Now Joni needs a helping hand she’s old and she’s grey But Ladies of the Canyon can still brighten up my day Her words are so prophetic, I didn’t understand That paradise was fragile, I held it in my hands Chorus Now many years have raced on by and my folks had all moved on My mother she shed a tear when the last field had gone But the heavy boot of progress had walked upon the land And the cuckoo tree had disappeared under tarmac, bricks and sand Now I stand and wonder what a cuckoo makes of this scene And all the things that disappeared and the loss of all that green And I’ll cry a tear for Joni, when her time comes round She told me what would happen to this hallowed ground Chorus
2.
Exploitation Blues 04:31
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Lyric I’ve been told to know my designation, learn how to do delegation and duplication But most mornings what I feel is desperation, degradation and dislocation I’m thinking about resignation and relaxation, it’s a revelation Got the exploitation blues, the exploitation blues We’ve been told to have an occupation, find ourselves a situation as our aspiration But most mornings I want to make an accusation, start litigation, take some medication I’m thinking about resignation and relaxation, it’s a revelation Got the exploitation blues, the exploitation blues I’ve been told to put up with infantilisation, come up with the same old nonsense in the guise of innovation, make everything fit the needs of statisticisation But most mornings what I need is co-operation, collaboration, combination I’m thinking about a demonstration, determination, it’s a revelation Got the exploitation blues, the exploitation blues
3.
Hands on the Window 05:08
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Teenage sweethearts hand in hand I went to war in the desert sand You waited on the quay for me And we walked into the sun I took your arm down the aisle I held it tight when you bore a child Now sixty years of hopes and fears Have left us standing here All these years we’ve paid our dues We took the rough with the smooth I’ll wait for you till the end of time Stand by you till the end of the line You’re lost at sea, you’re all on your own You recall our songs but not our home Is this the best that we can do For folk like me and you You and me we’re all alone Hands on the window and a mobile phone Is this our final stand No longer holding hands
4.
Don't Waste Your Breath 03:58
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When the road is calling me There ain’t nothing you can do You just gotta set me free When the morning comes You know that I will be long gone Don’t waste your breath calling after me Don’t waste your breath calling after me Don’t waste your breath calling after me Don’t waste your breath calling after me Well, the road don’t ask no questions The wind don’t tell no lies The sun, well she’s always your best friend And the folks that you meet Way down on that dirty street They’ll watch your back Wherever you may go Chorus And then one sunny day, I’ll be far far away My feet will be tired But my soul will be free And will turn right round I’ll come running right back to your door Till then don’t waste your breath calling after me Chorus
5.
Joy's Waltz 03:18
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6.
Lonely is as Lonely was 04:57
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Sitting in this bar close to midnight Looking at the bottom of my glass The bar tender says sorry are you finished I tell him yes, in more ways than one There’s nothing in the glass but I lift it Like Clint Eastwood in them old cowboy films I’m wondering if you’re coming home to see me Or whether I’ll be sleeping on my own And lonely is as lonely was, still deals the same hand My mind is playing but never wins the game By 1 am I’m standing in the doorway Hoping to hear your voice again I find myself smoking for the first time Since losing my dad before his time This grief is just giving me the shivers The tears are washing off the shine You left some clothes that you never wanted You left them there in a pile on the chair Sometimes I just pick them up and hold them I can still smell the perfume from your hair And it’s hard to accept you didn’t want me That someone else is holding you tonight That someone can help you through the hard times That someone else can put your wrongs to right Now all I have left is my memories Cross words and eyes looking at the floor How could we ever let this happen How could we ever be so sure I suppose one day the clouds will have lifted And I’ll look back at this whole sorry mess Till then I guess I’ll just be so lonely But I’ll always remember that dress Chorus
7.
Let the Fire Die Back 04:42
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8.
Robeson 06:25
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He was born in the embers of slavery, he reached up and he touched the sky A man of many letters and a man who excelled, a man who could call out a lie We worked all our fingers through to the bone in the dark and the damp and the danger We were cast on the heap to keep costs cheap, we starved and we suffered and died And the day Paul Robeson came to town We put on our suits and we stood around He sang Old Man River and Land of our Fathers He was a friend indeed to those in need He discovered his voice and he charmed the world, he travelled far and wide He never forgot where he came from, he stood tall and he beamed with pride And the General Strike had done us no good, we were just hung out to dry We walked all the way down to London Town, we felt we just needed to try Chorus And we’re all the same deep underground We’re black as the coal in this mine All the hopes and fears for so many years Just waiting for the sun to shine…and shine And in Drury Lane he heard our voice, he stopped to talk for a while He joined in the march and he sang us a song, he paid our journey home From that moment on he spoke for our cause, a bond that lasted a lifetime We looked to him as a guiding light, to help in the darkness of night Chorus
9.
Going Down the Garden 04:15
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I’m going down the garden To plant myself some seed I’m going down the garden To plant myself some seed I guess I don’t quite know yet What it is I really need I’m going down the garden To water me some plants x 2 I guess it always happens That things turn out by chance Plant the seeds, dig the weeds Rake the ground, tend the mound Plant the seeds, dig the weeds Rake the ground, tend the mound I’m going down the garden To inspect that mound of earth x 2 I guess I know enough now ‘bout what true love is worth
10.
Man on the Radio 04:42
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It’s 6 am and the man on the radio is saying it’s rough out at sea And out on the bank where the old boat sank, that’s really no place to be And I’m lying here alone In a storm of my own Drowning in my fear Just wishing you were here There’s a storm coming up from the Azores, it’s going to blow us all away And if you’re out there walking down by the sea, it won’t be a summer’s day And I’m lying here alone In a storm of my own Drowning in my fear Just wishing you were here Down by the port where the sailors meet For a pipe and a glass of beer Never seen the likes of this No never in their sailing years I can hear your key turning in the lock and I’m listening for your voice I don’t hear the words but it comes to mind, are you here by choice And I’m lying here with you Holding you close to me You throw me a line You pull me from the sea. Now the man on the radio he’s telling us not to worry and not to fear ‘Cos by tomorrow the storm will pass and the sunshine will be here And I’m lying here with you Holding you close to me You throw me a line You pull me from the sea.
11.
Address Book 04:29
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And as for that old address book, you claimed he’d thrown it out But I know I saw it on your shelf, as if the names were there to shout The names the dates the shadows that they keep Guitar chords flickered through your mind, the ones you knew and those you forgot As if you denied the words to your self, not worrying ‘bout the cost Counting out the years instead of sleep Access to your past A heart without a heart A voice without a part Plain as day Alive as you or me A living memory The names the dates the shadows that they keep Counting out the years instead of sleep The names the dates the shadows that they keep Counting out the years instead of sleep
12.
Man from Juarez 06:47
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Yes, I’m from the town of Juarez, I see El Paso glow at night There’s many more here just like me, we’ve grown up spoiling for a fight People here don’t seem to last long, they seem to die far too young It’s not as though we’ve ever done much, most would consider wrong Gonna swim the Rio Grande, going to the land of the free I’ll take my chance and I’ll throw my dice, I’ll see what they can do for me They say you can make it in an hour, if you swim straight and strong Then get underneath the wire, there’s nothing much can go wrong I kicked around I never made much, I never earned more than a bean I never thought myself a felon, that’s just the way that I’m seen And I swam the Rio Grande, went to the land of the free I took my chance and I threw my dice, look what they did to me Then one day I pushed the boat out, I drove off in a stolen car But the marshals they were waiting, they took me down before too far I heard they don’t ask many questions, if your face don’t really fit They’ll shoot first then fill the forms in, you’re just another PD hit And I swam the Rio Grande, went to the land of the free I took my chance and I threw my dice, look what they did to me Another death, another young man, never made the front page news They never told my folks what happened, the church was full of empty pews And that’s the story of just one man, a life taken far too young There’s many more here just like me, arguing with the marshal’s gun And I swam the Rio Grande, went to the land of the free I took my chance and I threw my dice, look what they did to me
13.
Mardi Gras Revisited 03:31
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Mardi Gras et où vient tu Oh mon cher mon cher Mardi Gras et où vient tu Tout le temps du fond d’hiver On vient de l’Angleterre Oh mon cher mon cher On vient de l’Angleterre Tout le temps du fond d’hiver On boit de la boteille Oh mon cher mon cher On boit de la boteille Tout le temps du fond d’hiver Bonjour au maitre et la maitresse Oh mon cher mon cher Bonjour au maitre et la maitresse Tout le temps du fond d’hiver Mardi Gras et où vient tu Oh mon cher mon cher Mardi Gras et où vient tu Tout le temps du fond d’hiver Mardi Gras, where do you come from, oh my dear, my dear; Mardi Gras, where do you come from, always at the end of winter We come from England, oh my dear, my dear; we come from England always at the end of winter We drink from the bottle, oh my dear, my dear; We drink from the bottle, always at the end of winter Good day, master and mistress, oh my dear, my dear; good day, master and mistress, always at the end of winter

about

All tracks are self penned and written between 2019 and 2022. They were recorded in the summer of 2022 at Zoo Audio, Cambridge, UK

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released February 8, 2023

All tracks written by Kelly and Woolley.

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Kelly and Woolley Cambridge, UK

Matt Kelly and Gary Woolley have been performing together for 12 years. Our influences are Americana, Cajun and folk music from both sides of the pond. We have now released three CDs, Papers in my Shoe, 2015, Miners Eyes in 2018 and Cuckoo Tree which will be released in 2023. ... more

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