1. |
Cleanskin
04:52
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1. Cleanskin
You work so hard it breaks my heart, bathed
in sound and naked in the dark. Oh this bag of
bones feels carved in stone, and you long for
a clean skin.
You've banged you heart against this world
too long, pissed in your own swimming pool
for too long. Some days you ride dark horses,
some nights you howl at the moon - a hall full
of case files in boxes, but you never sue for
a clean skin.
You're grinding hard on sunlight, straining to
catch hold of smoke - a slow-burning fuse for
a handhold, a primer in knots for a rope. All
the drawers are full of ritual.
Some days you ride dark horses, some nights
you howl at the moon - a hall full of case files
in boxes, but you never sue. Oh this bag of
bones feels carved in stone, and you pray for
a clean skin.
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2. |
Little Black Classics
05:06
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2. Little Black Classics
Lips too chilled, O Cruel Alexis
It was snowing butterflies
The Terrors of the Night, Wailing Ghosts
The nightingales are drunk
How We Weep and Laugh at the Same Thing
I Hate and I Love, Circles of Hell
The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows
How Much Land Does A Man Need?
The Old Man of the Moon, A Pair of Silk Stockings
Femme Fatale, The Tinder Box
Mrs Rosie and the Priest, A Modest Proposal
The Tell-Tale heart, Come Close, To-morrow
Well, they are gone, and here must I remain
On the Beach at Night Alone
Woman much missed, The Beautifull Cassandra
Remember Body... A Simple Heart
Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls
The Night is Darkening Round Me
As kingfishers catch fire, The Old Nurse's Story
The Meek One, The Reckoning
My Dearest Father, Leonardo da Vinci
The Fall of Icarus, The Nose
The Life of a Stupid Man
Goblin Market, Socrates' Defence
Olalla
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3. |
Mixed Messages
05:12
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3. Mixed Messages
Your body told me a secret last week, and
mine responded with the customary heat.
Friends is okay, but sometimes it's hard
when your boundaries are all over the place
and I'm not on your dance card.
Mixed messages, mixed message hey yeah
I'm picking up mixed messages, mixed
messages hey yeah
This problem is not unique to you - there's
another, and she can't decide what to do.
Hiding behind someone else's rules, she
left me high and dry without a word – I
call that unnecessarily cruel.
I fall into your eyes when you look at me -
ah, shoot me now, put me out of this misery.
I'm picking up mixed messages, mixed
messages hey yeah, I'm picking up mixed
messages, mixed messages hey yeah
Ah but look around, I think I'm being unkind,
maybe I do it too - the blind accuse the blind.
But I fall into your eyes when you look at me -
someone shoot me now, put me out of my
misery.
I'm picking up mixed messages, mixed
messages hey yeah, I'm picking up mixed
messages, mixed messages hey yeah
I'd commit to you if I could draw you in,
but this moment-to-moment thing, oh darling
it's doing me me in...
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4. |
Stoney Ground
05:02
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4. Stoney Ground
I don't want to sleep with you while you still
sleep around. You say “all men want this”, well
I say all those you've found up till now.
I've taken time to realise that my heart is sound
and my heart is telling me my love would fall
on stoney ground
So where's the rub, and what's the deal?
Why do you hide the way you feel?
Where's your heart, and where's your soul?
You're a male fantasy, but I want reality
I've taken time to realise that my heart is sound
and my heart is telling me I don't want to fall
on stoney ground
But there's a girl on a hill, and her soul is singing
still, as she moves to and fro.
I've taken time to realise that my heart is sound,
and my heart is telling me I'm not going to fall
on stoney ground. I don't want to fall on stoney
ground. My love won't fall on stoney ground.
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5. |
Strange Disease
04:19
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5. Strange Disease
Stealing glances, too late for advances - you're
spoken for and I'm a coward. I'm always falling
for a pretty face, and I know I don't really know
you, but I'm in outer space and I want to come
down - I'm sick of flying. I want to come down,
I'm so sick of flying
The air gets thin up here, this rarified atmosphere.
The middle of the night, just cold philosophy.
I wondered if you might become my wife, but
these fantasies and dreams cut like a knife. Oh,
I should know - I destroyed my life with it, this
strange disease, I destroyed my life with it. Yeah,
I've destroyed lives with it
The way your hair falls around your face, and
your smile lights your eyes – well, here I go again.
You'd think that I'd be wise to this by now, but
I'm swallowing the hook and I'm in anyhow. It's
a strange disease, it feels like dying. Such a
strange disease, I feel I'm dying a little bit faster now.
Stealing glances, too late for advances - you're
spoken for and I'm a coward. I'm always falling
for a pretty face, and I know I don't really know
you, but I'm in outer space and I want to come
down - I'm sick of flying. I want to come down,
I'm so sick of flying. I want to come down now.
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6. |
Old Dog Fast Car
05:07
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6. Old Dog Fast Car
Hot girl in a red top, blonde hair in a braid
Red roses are blooming, nineteen in the shade
Just give me the barmaid and no-one gets hurt
I'll give you my credit card, I'll give you my shirt
The things the mind takes hold of, the body too
An old dog chasing a fast car – if he caught up
with it, would he know quite what to do?
There's something in New York, there's something
in Rome. There's something all over the place, by
the scent of my phone. Well I ain't going easy – I
want back to the feast, shake of this collar, slip the
leash (swipe RIGHT...)
The things the mind takes hold of, the body too
Like an old dog chasing a fast car - if he caught up
with it, would he know quite what to do?
There's life in this mongrel yet, new tricks to be learned
Plenty of fuel to be lit, dry tinder to burn
So hand over the barmaid, and the keys to that car
I'm sure it'll come back to me when I've remembered
where all the levers are...
The things the mind gets hold of, the body too
An old dog in a fast car - head out the window,
looking for mischief to do. Ah, the things the mind
takes hold of, the body too, like that old dog driving
his fast car - head out the window, looking for more
mischief to get up to. Head out the window, baby,
looking for more mischief to get up to...
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7. |
Home By Now
05:35
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7. Home by Now
We didn't mean to run away to sea, only to seek
our own place and identity, but the currents are
strong, the tide and the undertow, and lost in the
waves, and the deep blue...
No ghost from the grave needs sent to tell us this -
in over our heads, we're in one hell of a fix. Staring
at screens for retail therapy and for the homes of our
dreams, with no hint of irony
But if you lived in your heart you'd be home by now
If you knew what it wanted, it could be in your hands
All this flailing and fighting it leads nowhere
If you lived in your heart you'd be home by now
The call of the sea, harsh and inviting -
the foam and the spray, the farthest horizon.
Ah but sail with me for an inland ocean -
your body's the key, the seat of emotion
And if you lived in your heart you'd be home by now
If you knew what it wanted, it could be in your hands
All this flailing and fighting it leads nowhere
If you lived in your heart you'd be home by now.
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8. |
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8. Desire is a Nameless Rose
Desire is a nameless rose
She curls, unfurls, and she burns
Our hunger birds, they feed on thorns
They seek the teeth to match our wounds
So many shades in bloom
Desire is a nameless rose
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9. |
Coming Undone
05:32
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9. Coming Undone
Still life in black and white - a fallen star,
you cower in the dark. Too much to put to
bed, but not enough space to heal your heart
inside your head
And you're coming undone, falling apart at the seams
And you don't understand what it means
Small hour, 3 a.m., awake again, too wired
and tired for sweet dreams. It's too late for
ways and schemes, there's only love can open up
and let life out and in
When you're coming undone, falling apart at the seams,
and you don't understand what any of it means
You're coming undone, falling apart at the seams,
and you don't understand what any of this means –
only love.
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10. |
Run
08:06
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10. Run
It would have been safe to declare this thing
to me, you don't have to face this on your own.
You don't have to sleep alone, but I know
the overwhelm - and you run
And you run through halls and rooms of
shadow, from one who should have loved
you most. This should not come to anyone,
don't give up upon this ghost - but you run
And you know, yeah you know that I know
because I run too – but I would've held you.
I would've held you.
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Duncan Batey Glastonbury, UK
Winner of the 2012 Somerset Songwriter competition, Duncan released his first EP, ‘Blindsided’, in February
2013.
Accompanied by Daniel Shaw on upright bass, Gerry Barnett on cello, and Caelia Lunniss on violin, his beautifully crafted 'epic acoustic' songs explore love and hope in the face of adversity.
His debut album 'Little Black Classics' was released 18th January 2020.
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