1. |
She
02:50
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Breath...
Breath...
She went down to the river
She took off her clothes
She went down to the river
The water was cold
She let the ripples kiss her skin
When she went down to the river
She felt the reeds and creatures pulling her in
When she went down to the river
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2. |
Mr Magpie
02:51
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Mr Magpie, I see you by the river
Mr Magpie, what news do you deliver?
Is it sorrow, a boy or a girl?
Mr Magpie
Mr Magpie, I see you by the water
Mr Magpie, will I have a son or daughter?
Will I grow old, with a secret never told?
Mr Magpie
Black bird with iridescent wings
Show me what fortune you will bring
And if I see you lonely should I cry?
Mr Magpie, where’s you wife in all her glory?
Mr Magpie, won’t you sing and tell your story?
Are you mourning, you call carries down the wind
Mr Magpie
Mr Magpie I see you by the river
Mr Magpie, what news do you deliver?
Mr Magpie.
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3. |
Siren Soul
02:17
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Never fall for a fisherman they warned
You’ll spend your nights alone in the cold
But this was a love no distance could part
He gave her a ring and a piece of his heart
When the ship pulled away, he didn’t look home
But he blew her a kiss and said, “don’t feel alone”.
“I’ll be waiting my love”, she called from the quay
Then the ship disappeared into the North Sea
Three nights a storm raged, rocked the boat two and fro
And on that last night the crew took a blow
When the bow hit the wave and it threw him astray
The skipper held on but it washed him away
“My love, my love!” he called out from the deep
Her heart will break when she wakes from her sleep
When she woke in the night from a frightening dream
His voice did she hear? With a deafening scream
She ran to the port with a heart that could burst
Tears cooled in the wind and she howled with a curse!
The sea called her name and invited her in
It said “come to me child, I will take you to him”.
She surrendered her soul to the waves with a sin
Left her old shell behind, with a shanty to sing
She grew a fish tail and searched the great sea
In hope that he’d hear her love songs from the deep
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4. |
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There’s a man on the land
Who said I’m the one
He said of my beauty
Oh, others there’s none
He wooed me and told me
We’d see all the world
He kissed me and I felt
The luckiest girl
One day after sun set
He called out my name
My heart skipped a beat
But for him there’s no shame
He tricked me and caught me
In his fishing boat
now I’m an attraction
While humans all gloat
He says of my beauty
Oh, others there’s none
That man from the land
Told me I was the one
But here in my fish tank
My waters not fresh
My beauty is fading
I’m starving to death
My hair is all tangled
And I sing no more
Since the man from the land
He brought me to the shore
I don’t feel so lucky
And I’m not the one
My man doesn’t love me
My heart is undone
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5. |
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Gold crown on the head of a child
Who was dressed in white in the river
Bells rang when the body was found
And the willow cried on the water
Circled by the key
The rumours say he drowned
The swans they could not see
The child who wore the crown
Crows call and the creatures crawl
And the willow tree keeps on weeping
Tall tales of the island caves
And the shipwrecks stay underneath them
Circled by the key
The rumours say he drowned
The swans they could not see
The child who wore the crown
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6. |
The North Sea Wall
03:16
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A haunting fret creeps in on another dark and dreary morning by the North Sea wall
The wind carries in a ships horn across the estuary that sounds like a mythical monsters painful cry
It catches me unaware and I feel a chill down my spine
I’ve walked this path many times and each time I do I imagine the thousands of sailors and trawler men that left this place and never came home, their ghosts watching me from the waves
At that very thought I walk a little faster
In the foggy distance I see the water tower and I’m reminded of Chapman’s Pond below it and the tales of it being bottomless and haunted
Stories of a drowning girl splashing, calling for help but then disappearing as her rescuers jump in
In my imagination she has blonde curls and her naughty little spirit laughs, as the confused heroes can no longer see her
It makes me smile
As I pass the north wall steps I think back to when I was a little girl
I remember being hit by a wave and it taking my silver St Christopher into the sea
The one left to me by my grandmother
The one I begged to be given to me before I was 18 and promised to take great care of
I didn’t stop to think that the wave could have taken me
I think about that now, the naive innocence
Or blatant stupidity
An intrusive daydream takes me back
But this time I am taken by the wave, the freezing salt water swallowing me whole and a darkness descending over me
I wonder, if I were religious and believed in the patron saint of travellers, I could believe that St Christopher carried me from the water that day
And in that moment
I am thankful to be alive
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7. |
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My boat it sways upon the pool
My heart is warm but hands are cool
The stove it burns up all our fuel
I’m starry eyed just like a fool
As I lie in the arms of the gypsy king
The birds they sing outside my door
Water reflects upon my wall
Our dogs are curled up on the floor
Nothing in the world that I want more
When I lie in the arms of the gypsy king
Our Coffee stews inside the pot
So content that I forgot
It doesn’t seem we have a lot
But I thank the Lord for what we’ve got
I pinch my skin and ask what’s real
As we had to borrow, beg and steal
You can’t ignore just what you feel
When what you feel is so real
When you lie in the arms of the gypsy king
My boat it sways upon the pool
My heart is warm but hands are cool
The stove it burns up all our fuel
I’m starry eyed just like a fool
As I lie in the arms of the gypsy king
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8. |
The Water Tower
03:18
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I once went down to the water tower
I crossed the train tracks just in time
I thought I heard a girl below
Calling out my name, oh
I searched the edges of the pond
Gazed out to sea and far beyond
I swear I heard it on the wind
The girl who called my name, oh
It’s just a trick your eyes do play
The voice you hear your ears play games
You did not see just what you say
The girl below the tower
I felt her eyes upon my being
Can’t be sure of what I’ve seen
I saw a girl who called me in
Into the pond below
She waved her arms and called my name
Asked me if I’d like to play
A friendly smile upon her face
The girl beside the pond, oh
It’s just a trick your eyes do play
The voice you hear your ears play games
You did not see just what you say
The girl below the tower
It’s just a trick your eyes do play
The voice you hear your ears play games
You did not see just what you say
The girl below the tower
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9. |
Move Forward Love
02:19
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Remember when we use to walk
Just to be alone?
We’d walk along the stream in Louth and never think of home
Remember when we left our lives and vowed to start again
We promised that we’d not go back and never be the same
Remember love we don’t look back
Move forward love we can’t go back
Remember love what this is for
Remember love we don’t need more
Remember when you threw your ring
Into the old canal
Who would ever think to dream
That we would live there now?
Remember when we bought a boat
We made it our new home
With blood and tears and memories
We’d never drift alone
Remember love we don’t look back
Move forward love we can’t go back
Remember love what this is for
Remember love we don’t need more
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10. |
Wintergrey
02:30
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As she made her way back through
The cobbled market road
The moon lit up the dark old church
And frost kissed each old stone
The night was clear and cold
Each star she felt could see
How she crept on through the night
And scorned the bitter breeze
For each year the winters grey
Reminds her she’s alone
Another spell to break this curse
A love to call her own
For one full year a love she finds
But never hers to keep
And on each winters Grey last night
She knows it’s time to weep
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Marsh Gothic Lincoln, UK
Shannon Reilly and Peter Conner are the creative partnership behind Marsh Gothic. They were both born and raised by the sea and the cold, dark water is reflected in their music. Or perhaps it’s the other way round? Welcome to the world of Marsh Gothic: a lyrical blend of Nordic-noir and the eerie sounds of the Lincolnshire marshes. Folk noir. ... more
Marsh Gothic recommends:
We love all their work, met them when they played in Lincolnshire and were inspired to form Marsh Gothic!
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