The Gin Diaries
by Fergusson Elliott
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumComes in a beautiful 6 panel digifile with artwork and lyrics and limited edition cover art in sepia on the cd itself.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Gin Diaries via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysedition of 500Purchasable with gift card£6 GBP or more
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1. |
Welcome
00:35
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2. |
The Bonnie Harbour
06:45
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Bonnie Harbour
(A brisk lad convinces his pals to try their hands at a spot of wrecking)
We sit within this tavern drinking till our cares are drowned,
With all of us a-hurting without the coin or work to be found,
But hear me now boys I've got a plan,
To chase the wolves from our doors, deep in the waters cold.
I know a Bonnie Harbour that's lined with many pretty hidden rocks,
It's just the perfect place for ships to run aground and be lost,
We'll light the fires oh so bright,
And guide her to her death, deep in the waters cold.
Think of all the wine think of all the joys,
And how our wives will hold us,
We're heroes to a man with coin to spare and more, we'll wreck that ship,
And pick her bones before the day is light leaving sailors to their plight or worse.
There's wives and bairns to think of who will feed their mouths if not us,
The lords are all a-squeezing coin from every hand till we are dust,
I tell you true there's gold and jewels,
To be caught upon this tide, deep in the waters cold.
Think of all the wine think of all the joys,
And how our wives will hold us,
We're heroes to a man with coin to spare and more, we'll wreck that ship,
And pick her bones before the day is light leaving sailors to their plight or worse,
We might even have to take a life, or worse.
Now I sit here drinking drowning all those cares on my own,
With gold and jewels a-plenty I'll dance this merry jig till I am done,
We wrecked that ship and stole her wares,
But all good friends were lost, deep in the waters cold.
Drink my boys you almost had it all,
Drink my boys I know you cannot fall,
Drink my boys you almost had it all, just drink my boys
It's all on me...
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3. |
Whiskey in the Jar
06:19
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4. |
Antipodes Waltz
05:13
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Antipodes Waltz.
(A migrant's song)
We sail in these boats flimsy and fine sure as gold,
Taking our lives lovers and hopes and all that we own,
We sail onto the south were ice becomes sun blistered and burnt,
To start over again keeping our names and proving our worth.
We're keeping our eyes with one of them closed,
The immigrants lot is a heart full of questions and tears,
As we dance the Antipodes Waltz.
Mothers loose their sons to tales of adventure stories so bold,
We promise our loved ones that nothing will change but all of it does,
We sold all our promises chapter and verse these lies rehearsed,
And taken new lovers to block out the last we left with a curse.
We cling to these lies as we cling to these hopes,
The immigrants lot is a heart full of questions and tears,
As we dance the Antipodes Waltz.
So sail us on to your arms.
You're left with division half of you home and half of you cold,
The price to the restless when seeking our fortunes and wasting our gold,
We fly in these birds silver and bronze all the way home,
To run through the fields and bathe in the warmth of the stories of old.
We're keeping our eyes with one of them closed,
The immigrants lot is a heart full of questions and tears,
As we dance the Antipodes Waltz.
So save all you tears and pour me a drink me boys,
The sun on your back is lover's embrace in the night,
As we dance the Antipodes Waltz...
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5. |
Silence
07:38
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Silence.
The years that she wears are only measured by,
The twisting of the tops release all her daily sighs,
As I I'm sitting in my castle with disguise.
The rent of the world is quickly catching up,
The twisting of the tops decide who's going to drain her cups,
As I I'm sitting in my fortress with disguise.
And Silence is all that she needs,
We suffer ourselves to believe,
That sitting on the fence is just the same as reaching out a helping hand.
The face that she paints is somewhat glamorous,
The walk and talk and touch of kings is deftly flashed to us,
As I I'm sitting in my castle with disguise.
Shhhh it's a day and it's a life we all can't be that saint,
It's her choice and it's her life to twist that top,
As I I'm sitting in my castle with disguise.
If Silence is golden, how much would she pay,
If Silence is golden, there's nothing left to say,
If Silence is golden....me well I'd take the silver and damn the day...
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6. |
The Jailer's Daughter
05:33
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The Jailer's Daughter.
(She's a pretty thing to be sure, and affordable)
There's a Jailer's Daughter and she's the one,
And in this dark cell who'd have thought that I'd find a love,
And for just a guinea you can have her all day long.
Now the Jailer's Daughter or so the boys all say,
She tastes so sweetly of wine and strawberry,
But a poor boy like me who didn't steal the right things oh no,
I'll never get to taste the Jailer's Daughter.
The Jailer's Daughter so the boys all tell me,
She's got secret kisses and secret embraces they
take your cares all away of yes they do,
But a poor boy like me who hasn't got the guineas to give,
To give to my Jailer's Daughter.
Now the very first thing that I'm going to do when I get out,
Is get myself a real job that pays well,
Maybe a rich man's house maybe a stage couch maybe something bigger,
Then I'll hand myself in a man of money a man of consequence a man of guineas,
To give to my Jailer's Daughter.
And all for the want of a single guinea...
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7. |
The March of Cpt Badger
04:19
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8. |
The Tyburn Lads
05:15
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The Tyburn Lads.
(The last moments/regrets of one facing the drop at Tyburn)
I'm dancing on the edge I'm tortured by your fingers,
Of the many lives I've sold some of them still linger,
We celebrate the fools banality is king here,
The fatuous still rule while the rest of us just bleed.
As dawn breaks Ice into my tears it's all the same,
As the Tyburn Lads sing on..
I see my little girl standing tall for her mother,
With a future black as coal she'll drown in gin like the others,
I've swum against the tide and cursed all gods and lawyers,
The setting sun it lies there is no chance of spring.
As dawn breaks ice into my tears it's all the same,
As the Tyburn Lads sing on..
I could have been a man I could have been a sailor,
I could have been a soldier-boy dying for the King,
I could have been a miner I could have been a father,
Hold my little boys hand I could have been a man.
We're dancing on this edge we're tortured by your fingers,
Will I take a glass instead a love of wine still lingers,
Is it very different now the poverty we sift through,
While the money boys escape the killing and the lies.
As dawn breaks ice into my tears it's all the same,
As the Tyburn Lads sing on..
I could have been a god changing all the worlds,
I could have been a rich man buy you pretty pearls,
I could have been a drunkard I could have been a murderer,
Instead I'm dancing here when I could have been a man.
I just thought I'd try my hand at making coin for you and the lad,
I just thought the world would give us a chance?
Just let the trapdoor go, and damn you all...
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9. |
Courting is a Pleasure
07:09
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10. |
Last Orders
05:46
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11. |
Empty Table
05:45
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Empty Table.
We've sold all that we owned,
All that's left are memories and a handful of gold,
As damp seeps into lungs,
With honesty delirium we build a happy home.
I'm held beneath your Empty Table with arms outstretched and barely able,
To lift my head from underneath your foot.
We're kept tied to the past,
Editing the images till all are played in time,
As thoughts fast come undone,
Exposing many frailties the lovers return.
So tell me another one,
How we're all going to be fine,
So fine...
The soft kiss of the sun,
Is just enough to bring alive a brief glimpse of home,
We'd all run if we could,
To catch the final bus departs the station of self.
I'm held beneath your Empty Table,
With arms outstretched and barely able,
To lift my head from underneath your foot,
A call to arms a call to fingers,
That scratch and tear this face of wisdom,
These marks of mine that indicate your love.
So tell me another one
How we're all doing fine,
Held beneath your Empty Table,
With arms outstretched and barely able.
He says we're all going to be fine,
From now on, from now on....
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12. |
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Of the Silence that she brings.
She picks away at life too long through the night,
Not questioning the words that trickle through her lies,
Still one by one we applaud and run to the arms,
Of the Silence that she brings.
I've held a lover's hand once or maybe twice,
And clutched those nettles close that scar and delight,
As one by one we ignore and run to the arms,
Of the Silence that she brings.
Brave lads all dying to learn,
To win their stripes,
These emblems of love and sorrow.
When morning comes at last what years have we lost,
When questioning these words that trickle through her lies,
Still one by one we'll agree to run to the arms,
Of the Silence that she brings...
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about
The Gin Diaries, released 2013, recorded in Bathford, UK, all instruments by me, album includes crowd favourite Whiskey in the Jar, the gallows song -The Tyburn Lads and the romping tune - The March of Cpt Badger.
credits
released January 1, 2013
license
all rights reserved
tags
discography
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Jan 2013 -
Jan 2013 -
Jan 2009
contact / help
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