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1. |
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They’ve got money for fences, money for gates
Money for temples, money for space
Cash-flow for hatred, credit for races
I'm livin' in red so know where your place is
I ain’t payin' back no loan
Said I ain't payin' back no loan
Money to bomb, money for drones
Ain't payin' back no loan
There’s a crunch then a crisis
Sucker-punch, roll the dice
Such a shame your face isn’t on a face
They're rolling them now, as you chase to keep pace
I’m gonna lilt, tilt, keep on watering the base
Ain't payin' back no loan...
Liquidity for kings and royal weddings
Sequins in your teeth, build a ski slope on the beach
Tax havens off shore, cash in my top draw
Chat back answer that, never feed a fat cat
Ain’t payin' back no loan…
They can feed you a staple diet
Of stable-feed and mash
Labelled ‘100% Real Beef’
If they can cheat, sellin you horse meat
I ain't payin' back no loan...
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2. |
From the Heartlands
04:06
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FROM THE HEARTLANDS
Well the rain falls in Birmingham
Gently on the roof
There’s a fire downstairs but don’t be scared
Stick together, we’ll see it through
This city’s like a metronome
Keep your finger on the pulse
We’ve been building towers of song
That are strong, stronger than most
From the Heartlands
Well the paint pots empty
At least the brushes were filled
And the bristles might be dry, I wonder why
But you know they’ll be wet again soon
In this festival of confusion
My friends have sung before
We’ll find a way through the damp dark grey
And when we sing we sing with soul
From the Heartlands
Well the rain still whispers
Though few people hear
Just you wait for that urgent escape
And we’ll be coming, we’ll be coming near
From the Heartlands
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3. |
Loosey Goosey Blues
04:39
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Lucy Goosey Blues
Flourescent pink and yellow green
Dashed across their face
Spirals, spots and lines that curve
Their cheek-bones all ablaze
Piercings, stubble, plats and bubbles
It’s Carnival at last
The people gather, the people revel
Together in my mother’s flat
We were just chilling in the kitchen
My bro and his friends too
Singing, “Honey rum lemon beer and gin!
I’ve got those Lucy Goosey Blues.”
We were just chilling in the kitchen
I wish you’d been there too
Singing, “Honey rum lemon beer and gin!
I’ve got those Juicy Lucy Goosey Blues.”
A cat scratched in the alley
The devil stretched and beat his back
The drizzle on a London street
The heat the carnival relaxed
Bobbies bopping on the doorstep
We smiled denials then danced some more
Spindle legs and triple jointed arms
You know you don’t need to be so cool
Chorus
T-Rex’s and Terradactals
Peer out from guarded doors
Their faces sneer at the youth who dare
To dance and sing and break their rules
Empty bottles line the tables
Randoms out on the floor,
The bass booms, the lullaby lulls
‘Sleep my baby’ after Carnival
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4. |
Triana Bridge
04:02
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Triana Bridge
Should’ve seen the signs of our dreaming
Lucid walking, seamlessly seeking
The truth beneath the bed sheets surface;
I crossed the country to her mother’s house
There was red on the wall and I panicked out
The paprika powder exploded without her
Another bender that she didn’t know about
But I love her, crossed out the deed of a lover and I feel redeemed
Every time I see her face on the bridge
And I love her, crossed out the words of a lover and I feel redeemed
Every time I see her face on the bridge
Poems flow on her yellow paper
She’s the finest thief of language’s art
I trace the crease as her tongue leaks
Words that strike the night’s spark
But a pursuer followed
Her breats made no mistake
She’s chased by ghosts in the dark
And I love her, crossed out the deed of a lover and I feel redeemed
Every time I see her face on the bridge
But I love her, crossed out the words of a lover and I feel redeemed
Every time I see her face on the bridge
Every time I see her face
Every time I see her face
Every time I see her face
On the bridge
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5. |
Free Western Sahara
04:01
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Free Western Sahara
On a distant dusty road
There was a distant dusty stone,
Kicked by a soldier on his tea break .
The stone rumbled forward
As he stepped back and he thought,
‘Why can I not be more like that stone?’
In a distant deep blue sea
There was a distant shoal of fish,
Who muttered as they rocked upon the tide .
‘Why is it that these ships
Keep on cutting up our necks?’
Thinking back to 1975
On a silver mound of sand
Stood a sullen silver moon,
Who watched with a scythe in her hand.
She said, ‘I’ve to come to reap the harvest,
But the furthest I could get
Was to dig out hidden landmines underground.’
And she said ‘Free Western Sahara!'
‘Free Western Sahara!'
‘Free Western Sahara!'
In a rotten pile of tin
Baked rusty by the sun,
A conversation could be heard amongst the waste;
‘Hey you, you can of tuna? What’s the deal with us all bein’ here?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ replied the other tin in haste.
Underneath the tin
Were some rocks and veins of gas,
Minerals that glimmered unabashed.
Said the phosphate to the propane,
‘It’s insane all this profit!’
‘Stop it, you’ve ideas above your shaft.’
Sure enough the sun came down
To torch their necks,
Blistered almost to a cinder.
But the elders cried
As they shed their eyes
‘’Our revenge will be the laughter of our children!"
And they said ‘Free Western Sahara!'
‘Free Western Sahara!'
‘Free Western Sahara!'
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6. |
Over Land & Sea
03:38
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OVER LAND AND SEA
And we’ve been working all hours
And we’ve been screaming and shouting
We’ve been working all hours
We’ve been just roaming round town
They say that the seas all frozen over
I still dip my toes in the ocean
Though the sea’s all frozen over
I still dip my toes in
Won’t you take me the way back home
Won’t you take me the way back home
Won’t you take me the way back home
Back where we belong
And they cry ‘Over Land & Sea!’
All the way down Green Street
But through these London eyes
I sought new skies to seek
They say that the seas all frozen over
I still dip my toes in the ocean
Though the sea’s all frozen over
I still dip my toes in
On the back of a sugar pack
I found some words I like
‘Dreams are wasted
On those who only dream at night’
Tell me, do you feel alive?
‘Cause I do
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7. |
Cheer Up Scottie
02:35
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8. |
Dragonflies
03:57
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DRAGONFLIES
Foreign leaves from foreign trees
Crunch like snakes under foot
Drangonflies they fly like flies
The present of the present present
I sit where dogs stand still
The patch of stubbled grass between paths
Landlords walk arm in arm
Runners sweat sweat on their backs
Did they ever ask?
In the eye of the storm I found the words at times perpetual
And incensant
I sit where others sweat sunsets as we embrace the darkness
What would you make of this?
If all you wanted from love
Was all you need
If all you wanted from love
Was all you need
Regimented troops of school children run
Ducks quack quack quack quack quack
Feet shuffle shuffle, hustle rustle, shuffle shuffle
I tred on leaves in the grass
And if they every ask...
If all you wanted from love
Was all you need
If all you wanted from love
Was all you need
You’d be free
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9. |
Ballad of a Private Man
04:47
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Ballad of a Private Man
Well I followed the yellow brick road
But it didn’t lead to Oz
So I went through the fields and the streets and I sang
Everyday so I could be free
No I didn’t just click my heels
I’ve worked and worked for hours
Walking and playing, thinking and saying
Everything’s gonna be fine
Father , father look at my hands
Father, father look at my eyes
There’s a story behind
This melody, in your memory
Father, father open your mouth
And if you must, open the bottle
We can sing and sing and shout
But to talk is all I wanted all these years
And when I sing I sing with blood
And the traces of our paths
North, South, East, West
Where are we going?
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10. |
Six Eagles
03:53
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Six Eagles
Words are like pearls they say they hide in the ocean
So I ripped off my clothes and dived in to find them
When I opened my eyes, the salt sea was blinding
And the rhythm in my head from the pressure was building
So I flailed with my hands, to grab hold of something
Kicked off the bed, headed straight for the ceiling
And just at the edge my body stopped breathing
I thought ‘Where are these words I’m supposed to be feeling?’
I don’t need pearls just a thought to believe in
In the tapestries they stitched and the wood that they carved in
Depicted the world as a full coloured marvel
Ravaged my eyes with their dreams and ideals
Stretched on the winds over thousands of years
So I picked up a pen and set about engraving
Words on a page to convey all these visions
Images of love and war with precision
Cast with an iron only love can keep molten
You are alive as long as your not forgotten
Lastly, they sang but first only shouted
Screamed and complained of the suffering around them
Captured in sounds that served to appease them
No search of fame just a wound to be healing
Then the forest joined in with the birds and their laughter
The spit of the fire, the sigh of the lover
And then when they danced they soared even higher
The moon shed a tear when the singing was over
Til they sang again;
‘Doctor, doctor! Please find a cure
In the breeze in the plants that you know
For the girl from the mirror of the sea
Send the eagles from where the witch sleeps’
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Renny Jackson Seville, Spain
"Listening to tracks by Renny Jackson and loving them. Great lyrics." George Monbiot, Guardian
Columnist
"Renny Jackson writes lyrics with the sensibility of a poet, plays complex guitar with gusto and finesse, and delivers his songs with a simplicity and directness that marks him out among his peers." Paul Murhpy, The Songwriter's Cafe
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