1. |
Shortly After Midnight
06:02
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SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT
©Trev Teasdel
Quiet in the town
Darkness creeps around
Silence is a menace
Sleep cannot be found.
Tension in the town
Your heart begins to pound
Feet begin to itch
Toss and turn around
Feel you wanna cry
Burning of the eye
Explosion of the soul
Helplessly you lie
Feel the tension rise
Fear is in your eyes
Seems you want to scream
Then the feeling dies
Chorus
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Stranger in the cold light, standing in the moonlight
There a knocking at the door
A feeling not quite right
That robbed the purse of hope
And left you naked in the night
It crept upon you unawares
Teased and tore you like a cat
‘Til you screamed out inside
“What the hell is that!”
(Chorus)
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Stranger in the cold light, standing in the moonlight
(Bridge)
Emptiness was floodlit by the moon
As it crept through window into the room
Hand in hand with the darkness in the soul
Ushered in by the sound of a silent drum roll – oll etc.
Quiet in the town
Not a single sound
Moon turned out its light
In the darkest deep of night
The wind it made no sound
Sleep could not be found
Darkness did surround
Midnight in the town
Chorus – Shortly after midnight etc.
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2. |
Well I Don't Know
04:54
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3. |
The Phoenix
06:21
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4. |
The Isolate
03:35
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5. |
Mrs Stress and Strain
05:46
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MRS STRESS AND STRAIN
©Trev Teasdel Coventry
When the sun is out shining,
Are you always ironing?
Does your Steven need new shoes
And Mary have the lover’s blues?
As life all around gets tense,
Do you ask yourself
‘Where is the sense?’
Maybe the milkman hasn’t been,
And your rooms aren’t very clean.
So many bills to be paid,
On your mind they’re all weighed.
Prices rising higher
And your state is getting dire.
Chorus –
Mrs Stress and Strain,
To the 'kitchen sink you’re chained'.
Worry haunts your life,
And I can see you are the wife
Of Mr Toil and Strife.
They say “A women’s works is never done”
and the housework isn’t fun.
Who else would work as hard as you
Such long hours, no rest due?
The stresses and the strains you bear,
The children and the mothercare!
And the beat goes on, day by day,
The isolation wears your soul away.
There’s nothing to show for all your work
Because you can’t stop a room from gathering dirt!
Do you feel you’ve got no life left of your own,
A permanent fixture, a doorpost in your home.
Chorus …
And though you’ll never make ends meet,
The adverts entice you to compete,
With an image of an ‘all-mod-con'
Trendy space age 'Super mom.'
Should profiteers always hold the trump cards?
You’ve been dealt a hand of jokers –
Oh What a façade!
Sometimes 'slave' means the same as mom.
Who does everyone fall back upon?
They don’t think, there can be another side of you.
Only see what they expect of you.
Locked into the family situation,
With the pills to ease your aggravation.
Chorus…
Sit down, sit back, light up and sigh,
Does your position in society make you cry?
“How hard’s the fortune of all women kind,
always in fetters, always confined.
Bound down by parents until made wives
Slaves to their husbands the rest of their lives.”
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6. |
Just before Dawn
03:01
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JUST BEFORE DAWN
©Trev Teasdel Coventry 1970
Breeze blowing through the trees,
Squirrels squatting on their knees
Breeze blowing through the trees,
Squirrels squatting on their knees
Trying not to freeze, in amongst the trees
Searching for acorns
Just before dawn - Just before Dawn
Just before Dawn - Just before dawn
And the wind blows free, of the ripples of the city
Just before dawn, Just before dawn
Just before dawn, Just before dawn.
Then silence vomits an almighty roar,
A thousand vehicles and maybe more
Stampede the main, arterial lanes
To face their daily stresses and strains.
And engines sing to morning faces
Bustling off to their work places.
Oh, Oh,City light - Oh, oh, City light.
Refresh your lungs in the morning smog.
Find a patch of grass to walk your dog.
Wander by in an urban dream,
'long the banks of a traffic stream.
Black birds nesting in the branches
of the local factories.
Oh oh City light - oh oh City light
Listen to cockcrow in the clock tower
Announcing the arrival of another rush hour,
(another rush hour, another rush hour.)
Oh ,oh, City light - Oh, oh, City light.
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7. |
A Lotta rain is Fallin'
04:19
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A LOTTA RAIN IS FALLIN’
©Trev Teasdel June 1970 Coventry
A lotta rain is fallin’ but the earth has moved aside
There’s a lotta bullets flying but the victim’s found somewhere to hide.
There’s a lotta rivers flowin’ but the seas learned how to fly.
There’s a lotta clouds a wondering which rockets nicked the sky.
Cos the roads are moving fast but the cars are standing still
And so much is happening, yet nothin’s ever done
Oh we want to see the light but we’re dazzled by the sun.
(Bridge)
And some people’s only sunshine
Is their Cornflakes in the morning time
And the age of Instant sunshine, in packets bright and gay
I know will be dawning, in some future day.
There’s a lotta tears a fallin’ and more are being cried.
There’s a lotta people trampled on as man takes another stride.
There’s a lotta smoke arising but the sky’s learned how to swim
There’s a lotta faces smiling but their hearts are feeling grim.
Cos a lotta tension’s forming and the bag’s about to burst
There’s gotta be an answer cos the world is getting worse.
A lotta help is needed to get that truck back on the road
Cos too many people are pullin’ too heavier a load.
(Bridge repeated)
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8. |
Throw Down My Pack
02:42
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THROW DOWN MY PACK
©Trev Teasdel Coventry June 1973
Give me my pack, I’ll be on my way
The lakes of this land are now dry.
It’s been a good soldier in its day
But its eyes have no water to cry.
The sun looks bright but the land is in shadow
Like madmen we tried to swim a tideless sea.
A sky full of planes but nowhere to land them
A head full of ideas that cried to be free.
Instrumental Break…
Throw down my pack; I’m bound for to stay
I think we can turn on the tap.
Turning the tap is like tugging Excalibur
We need all hands at the tap.
The sun looks bright; we’ll invite it to stay
Once we find a place to land our planes.
A hand full of ideas; a jug full of water
Reap the fruit of our aims.
Where has the love gone; we’re empty and aching
Where has the fun gone; it’s turned into violence.
Where are the people with words and no action?
Let’s have the action and less of the words.
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9. |
Scarf
03:48
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SCARF
© Trev Teasdel Coventry / Middlesbrough April 1981
That night we were drunk in a downtown bar
And you were careful not to let me go too far
I said I’d take you home and you thought I had a car
Oh I tried so hard just to make you laugh
And you said that you would knit me a scarf.
Outside on the street, walking you home
We confided to each other, 'tired of being alone'.
I complained that my neck was getting cold
And you put your arms around me in a loving hold
And you tried so hard just to make me laugh
And you cuddled me in your arms like a scarf.
You told me you were training and I said “What for”
“to be a mechanic” – you hoped it would opens some doors.
And you were so surprised when I thought it was good,
Then you tripped me up and rolled me in the mud
And like a scarf you smothered me in love.
Half an hour later, worn out and wet
You told me how of late you had been up set
And invited me in when we got back to your flat
And I tripped over and I swore at your cat
And I made the cocoa and you fixed the stereo
And you tried so hard just to make me laugh
And if you knit me a scarf, then I’ll knit you one back
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10. |
A Teardrop in the Tees
04:09
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A TEAR DROP IN THE TEES
©Trev Teasdel
Little Cleveland Kathy grew up in the slums
The rain leaked through the roof
and the paint flaked off the walls.
At night, in bed, in winter
her feet grew cold and numb
In a house that wasn't weather-proof
she'd shiver till morning come.
Kathy's parents quarreled, all the time they could,
Always short on money
Always flush for tears.
Her mother claimed her father was a lazy ne're do good
cos he could never find employment
and drank his dole down in the pub.
Chorus.
And Kathy's voice was lost
like a teardrop in the Tees
Like wood that can't be seen for trees
A teardrop in the Tees.
Kathy she resided, in a home divided
Like muck that clogs the kitchen sink
she was always in the way.
Never knowing where to turn
to clear confusion from her head.
In the land of ‘do-without’, with tears she wet her bed.
Kathy took a walk down by
where the Tees flows deep and wide.
Feeling quite at home amongst
the rust and the bitter waves.
She saw the beaten path between
the dole and the factory yard.
She felt just like the can she kicked
crushed and beaten on all sides.
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11. |
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TONIGHT LONELINESS SURROUNDS ME
©Trev Teasdel Feb 1982 Middlesbrough - Piano song.
Sat at the table we sat last night.
Looking at the chair from where you looked at me -
Last night.
Wishing I could see you there now,
Loving eyes. Lovely hair.
It all serves to remind me how much –
I need someone nice like you to care.
Sat at the window where I watched for you.
Looking at the people looking at me,
looking for you.
Wishing I could see you there now,
Heart that love,. soul that cares.
It all serves to remind me how much –
I need someone nice like you to care.
Chorus
Last night it was the wine that was flowing
Tonight, it's the tears that are flowin'
Tonight, loneliness surrounds me,
Like the dark of night.
Sat on the edge of love awaiting your return.
Looking inside my soul as my feelings burn.
Wishing I could see you there now,
Words so tender, lips that heal.
It all serves to remind me, how much,
I need someone nice like you to care.
Bridge
Just a tender word, in my ear would ease my fear.
People say such ugly things and in my mind it rings and rings
But just a tender word from you can make loneliness stand up and sing.
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12. |
Back in Winter Town
03:52
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BACK IN WINTER TOWN
©Trev Teasdel Coventry 1970
I persevered through persistent rain,
Believing that the sun must shine.
Through the thunder clouds, I kept my head
Wishing that the sun would shine.
I was isolated by deep frozen snow,
Believing that the sun would shine.
And the sun did shine, and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down,
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down,
Now I’m back in Winter Town
(Bridge)
I'm a 'child of the snow'. I'm a 'child of the snow'. I'm a 'child of the snow'
I dug my way through fields of hurt
Believing I would find the key.
Through the gates of pain, I kept my head
Believing I would find the key.
I was left alone, in that nowhere zone
Believing that the key I'd find.
And the key did shine and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
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13. |
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WITH SOMEONE NICE LIKE YOU
©Trev Teasdel 1980 Coventry.
I torture myself, with pent up fears
I brood a lot
I brew tea for one
I ask myself “How come”
How come I just can’t face the pots.
I tie myself right up in knots,
Chorus
And I long to spend my time
And I long to spend my time
Yes I long to spend my time
With someone nice like you.
I smashed a cup, washing up.
I burnt the toast,
I missed the post.
I ask myself “Whyfore”
Whyfore I haven’t fixed the drafty door.
I’m frozen right through to the core.
Chorus
And I long to spend my time
And I long to spend my time
Yes I long to spend my time
With someone nice like you.
Oh the nights are cold.
Oh the nights are long.
All I do, it comes out wrong.
I wash my clothes but still they pong.
How come I just can’t get it right?
Sadness got me in his long-range sights,
To chorus..
Bridge
When I see a lover by your side,
I turn my love lights low.
Take my part in a melancholy show.
Oh I just don’t know
Don’t know how to show that I just don’t care,
When my feeling set fire to my hair.
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14. |
Captain Swing
05:07
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CAPTAIN SWING
©Trev Teasdel Coventry 1976
CHORUS 1..
Light light your torches bright
Burn the hayricks burn
Light light your torches bright
Burn the hayricks burn
The landlord is replacing our labour
With labour saving machines
Whilst we're in a living ditch
Under the Speenhamland scheme
With high rents and taxes and clergy tithes
We're robbed of decent lives.
Wages low and the prices so high
Families’ whole might die
(To Chorus..)
We'll unite in collective action
Sworn to secrecy
If they ask who is this 'Captain Swing'
You've never heard of him.
We'll fight fight for the right to eat
To feed our families
Fight fight for the right to work
To earn our daily bread.
Chorus 2..
Thrash thrash the threshing machine
Smash the threshing machine
Thrash thrash the threshing machine
Smash the threshing machine.
We'll send send a warning letter
To the offending gent
"Revenge for thee is on the wing"
From thy determined Swing.
You can read, read the riot act
We'll riot till we win
Here come, come the Royal Dragoons
To shoot poor Captain Swing
(Chorus 1)
Though we bravely stood our ground'
and tried to put our case
The dragoons they fired their deathly shot
into our hungry face.
Shot, shot were valiant men
Fatherless families abound
And transported to Van Diemen's land
Yet the Captain is still around
Chorus 1 & 2
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15. |
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SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT
©Trev Teasdel
(Alternative lyric version to the later track on here)
It was quiet in the town
You could hear that darkness creep
That silence was a menace,
Kept us from sleep.
A restless feeling did abound.
Was an itching of the feet
You tossed and turned around.
The tension made you weak.
A burning of the eye,
An explosion in the soul.
There was nothing there to guide you,
as the tension took its toll.
Chorus
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight.
The stranger called.
There a knocking at the door
A feeling not quite right
That robbed the purse of hope
And left you naked in the night
It crept upon you unawares
Teased and tore you like a cat
‘Til you screamed out inside
“What the hell is that!”
(Chorus)
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
Shortly after midnight, shortly after midnight
The stranger called.
(Bridge)
Emptiness was floodlit by the moon
As it crept through window into the room
Hand in hand with the darkness in the soul
Ushered in by the sound of a silent drum roll – oll etc.
Quiet in the town
Not a single sound
Moon turned out its light
Sleep was murdered in the night.
Chorus – Shortly after midnight etc.
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16. |
Postcards of China
03:11
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POSTCARDS OF CHINA
©Trev Teasdel 1985 Middlesbrough (Music by Steve Gillgallon and Steve Ingledew) These lyrics not included on this version of the track.
Come to my side, let love be our guide
The hills of Guilin, the Eternal spring.
You bring to mind postcards of china
Misty blue peaks, follow me there.
A sampan on the banks of the Lijang
Cross country from Peking to Shenyang
You bring to mind postcards of China
Misty blue peaks, you take me there.
So hungry to explore
The mysteries behind your door
So hungry to explore
The mysteries outside my door
And the girl who reminds me
Of postcards of China.
Lake Dianchi, the mountains of sunrise
Beauties of heaven I see in your eyes.
You make me think of postcards of china
Misty blue peaks, I’ll follow you there.
And I love you through and through
I love you, you know I do
I love you, you know I do
Cause you remind me of
Postcards of China
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17. |
Vision of a Brighter Day
03:39
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VISION OF A BRIGHTER DAY
©Trev Teasdel 2001
If you could see inside my heart
You’d know how much it hurts to be apart.
You’ve touched something so deep inside
And my love for you could never hide.
Your love around me was a silken gown
Shielding me from a lonely frown.
I never kissed or held you close
But you reached me where it matters most.
Bridge –
Cos you’re like a vision of a brighter day
With golden footpaths leading through the grey.
You’re like a church where everything is true
And every ounce of love I have's for you.
Oh I know I’m just a step along your way
But I’d do anything I could to make you stay.
There can be space in love for solitude
And hearts grow fonder in the interlude.
I see a world that needs what we can do
Two hearts with a mission to carry through.
If I’m the cheese, you’re my chalk
Can we meet up, I think we ought talk.
To Bridge...
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Trev Teasdel Middlesbrough, UK
Poet, songwriter and author and 'creative' from Coventry, now on Teesside. trevteasdelpoet.blogspot.com
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