1. |
Willie
04:53
|
|||
He is Willie on the tightrope
He is seventeen next June
He is finished with the teachers
He is finished with schoolin
His friends are all waiting
For their life to begin
Willie say lets kick it off
With a few cans of beer
He is Willie young Willie
Trying to break free
He is Willie young Willie
Just from down the street
He is a a beautiful loser
He s a a chip on his shoulder
He’s Willie darling Willie
He’s on the evening train
He’s had a bit too much to drink
Stay out of his way
He’s Willie He’s singing now
He’s as happy as can be
He’s Willie He’s is no fool you know
“Why are you looking at me?”
He’s Willie with a woman now
She calls him Willie honey
They go on the town together
When they have the money
Some times he can’t stand it
In the factory all day long
He’s Willie getting out of here
“You can keep your lousy job”
He’ s Willie 41 now
He’s knockin on a door
He does not want to be
An outsider any more
The womans asking questions
About something long ago
She hands him her hankerchief
As the tears begin to flow
|
||||
2. |
November Daisy
02:34
|
|||
November Daisy
He did not know
Where he was going
He drifted out to sea
He goes where the wind blows
Forever at ease
Another dreamed
How life should be
Cast his nets far and wide
In search of the promised land
Not yet satisfied
A third on the shore
Spoke no more
Never raised his oar
Stayed in a house he called it home
He closed the door
Another choose
To seek the truth
Staring out to sea
He found a November daisy
Beside his feet
|
||||
3. |
No News is Good News
03:46
|
|||
No News is Good News
I came home from school and sat down at the plate
It was eggs and mashed potatoes 'twas on a Friday
Any news from school she said as she pulled up a chair
I shook my head said no
No News is good news I heard my mother say
No News is good news I heard my mother say
I came home from the bedsit and sat beside the phone
I had to get my own food now I was on my own
Any bit of news for me she shouted from the room
I shook my head said no
No News is good news I heard my mother say
When I had my own kids I would visit the old place
She'd play cards with them and give them cuts of cake
Have ye any news from town she said for goodness sake
They shook their heads and said no
When she was sick in hospital we stood around the bed
We ate all the grapes, put flowers in a vase
Any news from home she said she couldn't eat the bread
We shook our heads and said no
She's in heavin now after all the prayers
Up there with the best of them no longer in the clay
Any good news she's askin' all the saints
They shook their heads they don't know
|
||||
4. |
Back to the well
04:05
|
|||
I’m going back to the well
I’m going to listen to Willie
As he stammers out life’s simplicity
Down on one knee
Fill a boy’s can with pure daft innocence.
Fill it full of talk from a man on one knee
Clearing the hill of rushes and bushes
And let grass grow if it will.
Yearning for the past is for old men with caps
So I’m going out to bury that old plough
Forget about the past, Nothing ever lasts
They are rose tinted glasses anyhow
Back to the well of my dreams
Where the whistling gypsy came over the hill
The only sound was a mowing machine.
And school boys listened to old men
Wheel a barrow full of childish dreams
Past Molly Murphys corner over Hastings bridge
I’ll tell you a story about Johnnie McGory
Down on one knee
I’m going back to the well away from the now
I’m going to drink deep and empty out
This confusion, this illusion, this doubt
And soak up all that I can
Back to the well of timelessness
Where the clock struck one and the mouse ran down
Before Willie and me were roped into town
Away from our time of innocence
|
||||
5. |
Raftery is back
03:22
|
|||
Raifteri is back
Back to the wall
Singin and playin for nothing at all
Playing his fiddle
Singing his songs
Blind faith in a world gone wrong
Lan dochas is gra
Lan dochas is gra
He isn't drunk
He isn't blind
He is just not the settlin' kind
Poetry is a curse
He can't give it up
Rhyming couplet and metaphors
Lan dochas is gra
Lan dochas is gra
He's playin in the Galway
He is playin' in Mayo
He can play Dylan and sean nos
Rafteri is back
Do you really want to hear
He is playin now in the market square
|
||||
6. |
Innocent Times
04:31
|
|||
Innocent Times
I remember the day,I remember it now
On The 15th of August we cycled to town
Going over the hills we stood on the pedals
On the feast of the assumption of Mary into heaven
I took a picture a picture of you
With my Brownie 127 ‘twas in 1962
A nervous smile against sky of blue
You were all I could ask for in the field of view
Innocent times a mother and son.
Trying to be saints as we cycled along
In a summery dress you looked your best
Way back then I was only ten.
Bikes in the shade a good crowd in town
We talked to the neighbours then cycled back home
Home to the house home to the place
Where I grew up and played before your sad days came
I have a picture a picture of you
In a summery dress,back in 1962
|
||||
7. |
||||
Too Many Diddles in the Die
The cats on the fiddles play hey diddle diddle
But the cows are looing at the moon
The little dog has his own ipod
And the dish broke up with the spoon
And Mary Lou and Little Boy Blue
Come around here blowin their horns
The diddle and fiddle are no longer their idyll
And go jazzin on Sunday mornings
Chorus
Now there’s too many diddlies in the dye
And Jumpin up high in the sky
If I heard Joe Cooley or McGann again
I might lend an ear for a while
And Old King Cole is a merry old soul
But his belly full of porter
Guess who is calling the tune tonight
You know you’ll have to listen to thunder
Jack Be Nimbles fiddlin is middlin’
He likes to sit in on the session
And the cats on the fiddles hate to see him coming
You can see it in their facial expression
And This Old Man is fed up with the neagh
Changed to Tom T Hall
He downloads country every
Hope he gets to listen to it all
Theres a diddlye week in every town
Five Little pigs are playin
The B and Bs are full every night
The Mamas and the Papas are payin
|
||||
8. |
The song of the crow
05:42
|
|||
Song of the Crow
I dreamed the crows were in charge
Of song and the chromatic scale
We couldn’t hum to the beat of a drum
Every day was a hum drum day.
The conductor hovered and swooned
He was waiting for the music to die
The skeleton of the orchestra moved
To a baton that was out of time
They were playing the song ,the song of the crow
The song with no melody,the song with no note
They were playing the song with no refrain
The song that had no key, the song with no name
The song birds had gone off the air
They did not even sing on the trees
The Rookery owned the radio
They would not play do re me
They were trying to get us to sing
In a choir of monotone
No rock no pop no jazz no bop
No sopranos no baritones
Even the poets and painters
They were legitimate prey
They said “Mr Hood was for your good”
And they had the final say
So rally round a sound
Make it harmonise
Sing it in your houses
And turn down the noise
|
||||
9. |
I pick myself a rose
03:43
|
|||
I Pick Myself A Rose
The village stage has been set for the show
Where fools and wise men chase shadows
On the other side of town somethings goin' down
That you don't really want to be part of
I dreamed a dream where you asked my name
Like you never saw me before
After years of dreamin' I opened my eyes
I shouted do you not know me
I Pick myselfa rose
Watch the petals fall
I leave my dreams alone
And grab the briary thorns
A family man with no time to dream
Takes life as it is and is happy
Can I shelter beneath your clump of trees
And stay as long as you'll let me
Expect nothin at all but the wild birds call
And leave pity for the distracted
Keep your head and keep love in your bed
Don't look for too many answers.
The three wise men have started out again
Lookin to the west for salvation
The stars are in their eyes the planes are in the skies
Lessons of 2000 years wasted
|
||||
10. |
Closer to the truth
04:24
|
|||
CLOSER TO THE TRUTH
There was a big bang
Way back when
Evolution
Then women and men
Light travelled
Over aeons of time
Into your eyes
Into mine
Closer to the truth
Closer to the core
Electrons moved
The stars aligned
A spark of love
Your hand touched mine
Molecules collided
Between cell brain
We bathed in moonlight
We drank champagne
Chance or design
The great debate
The apple fell
In your bed I lay
Some say we’re special
Some say there’s more
Is there life out there
Will we ever know
Meanwhile I love you
I love your DNA
We’re both part of
The Milky Way
|
||||
11. |
Hayshed days
03:55
|
|||
Hashed Days
Farewell to the land of the child of Prague
To the temple of the Holy Ghost
Farewell to bless me father
Farewell to Tantum Ergo
No more long step wellingtons
And burning a lock of whins
No tramps no laps or handcocks
No hay and oats and hens
So back her up and lock her well
Keep the sacred heart lamp lit
Horsing round the Volkswagen
Brylcream hair and open shirt
They were “Hayshed Days”
“Hayshed ways”
Skullin’ pullin’,sticks and stones
Stand back, let go the rope
Whitewashed walls and bloody shirts
Nervous women at the door
Bad cess to Master Flanagan
To a clatter on the jaw
To tears and torn copies
Sure it didn’t do us a bit of harm
Off to the dance in the ould lads car
Beetle boots packet of fags
She said sorry I’m not dancing
You headed for the mineral bar
T'would make you burst out crying
The way things turned out
The land is lying idle
The church has no clout
|
Tony Reidy
Tony Reidy is from Co Mayo Ireland
His songs have been played on RTE Radio1,TG4 RnaG,
BBC
Radio
Music press quotes,
“enormous talent as a songwriter.”
Aidan O Hara…. Irish Music magazine
“A powerful Questioning voice for the ordinary man….Colin Irwin.. fRoots
“His keen compassionate eye for human frailty …His songs have a pungently poetic sense of place”….
Jon Lusk … BBC Music Magazine.
... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Tony Reidy, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp