1. |
Beyond the Rising Tide
04:07
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BEYOND THE RISING TIDE by Carol Fieldhouse
In a thief hole, me and Agnes,
For a crime we will not see
Signed the Covenant, they must reprieve her:
She’s a child, just turned thirteen
To this thief hole came Margaret McLauchlan
Her quiet grace soothing me
Betrayed to men who have no mercy
Condemned to die for our belief
Oh I raise my soul
Far from the waterside
Oh I raise my soul
Beyond the rising tide
To Bladnoch’s waters they will take us
Our pardon’s lost but by whose hand?
Solway’s tide will overcome us
Bound to stakes firm in the sand
May our faith still uphold us
As we’re led to the stream
May our prayers rise above them
Singing for our soul’s release
Oh I raise my soul
Far from the waterside
Oh I raise my soul
Beyond the rising tide
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2. |
The Dancer
03:22
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THE DANCER by Carol Fieldhouse
Beneath the tables a silent shudder,
Held in shadow a child looks on
An adult world of secret lovers
And warring couples, a seed was sown.
As she watched them, sifted stories,
Felt their yearnings, saw their fears
Tell tale tics, bodies shouted,
Comfort battled every tear
No arms to hold her, as she dances
Stories ringing in her bones
Love and longing, wildest rapture
As she dances on
In her dreams, dancing lovers,
Eyes closed tightly she hits the wall
Yet she rises, rises stumbling,
Stumbles running, runs some more
Tables flying, chairs are tumbling,
Couples battle, cling and fall
All life thunders in her footsteps
As she dances on
No arms to hold her, as she dances
Stories ringing in her bones
Love and longing, wildest rapture
As she dances on, as she dances on, as she dances on...
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3. |
Laura
02:52
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LAURA by Carol Fieldhouse
I’m looking for Laura, wool, felt and pearls
Patchwork and silk thread...shaping her world
I’m looking for Laura, she’s stitching her world
Haberdash junkie, Marremeko girl, Marremeko
Her home’s far away in the dark Suomi night
In a silent white forest a cabin’s light
Old jeans and sacking she crafts late at night
To send home to England Laura’s light
I’m looking for Laura, wool, felt and pearls
Patchworked, embroidered, shaping her world
Ice flows and reindeer, wide Rothko sun
Spreads on the horizon, Spring will come
Each day an adventure of all she’ll know
Herself and the forest, to see them grow
Laura, looking for Laura
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4. |
Continuum
03:24
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CONTINUUM by Carol Fieldhouse with inspiration and chorus melody from Fiona Banks
Sun on the tall pine’s tip
The tree, once two, my place
In the dark night a silhouette
My anchor
News takes away my breath
News of my daughter
Aisling Gheal, spheres collide
Unfettered joy and wonder
‘Mum! I have a baby, somersaulting, hiccoughing inside me!’
My nest ebbs and flows, leavings, homings
First to fledge soon to return
Sisters circle to enfold you
Bright vision, Aisling Gheal
News took my breath away
News of your father
But, I whisper, ‘The day will come,
A baby son or daughter’
My nest ebbs and flows, leavings, homings
First to fledge soon to return
Sisters circle to enfold you
Bright vision, Aisling Gheal
‘Mum ! I have a baby, somersaulting, hiccoughing inside me!
Mum, well maybe, I’m coming home, I need you at my side’
(Aisling Gheal - ‘bright vision’ in Irish Gaelic)
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5. |
Little Red Scarf
03:42
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LITTLE RED SCARF by Carol Fieldhouse
Finding and folding a little red scarf
Behind Batman, storm trooper, superhero garb
There are traces of tiny lingering still
Knitted slowly at night time, your first winter chill
And Adele sang, ‘Don’t you remember?’
21 framing my day
How time ticked slowly on baby days
How time ticked slowly on baby days
There’s a school bell tolling far beyond our gate
There are new shoes, a gym bag just lying in wait
For your first day at Leasowes over the bridge
To boyhood, adventures out of my reach
And Adele sang, ‘Million Years Ago’
25, witness of change
How time ticked slowly on baby days
How time ticked slowly on baby days
How time ticked slowly
Pippo will wait for you, storm troopers too
Your tool box is ready for jobs you must do
I hope you thrive there, Finley, thrive
Hope you thrive there...
Finley, unfolding, ready, on your marks!
Come winter, your sister wears a little red scarf
As we walk to meet you, bringing you home
Crossing over the River Sow along Tixall Road
I hope you thrive there, Finley, thrive
I hope you thrive there, Finley, thrive
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6. |
Birdsong
02:19
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BIRDSONG by Carol Fieldhouse
And the bird sang, so sweetly,
Like a soft balm for weary spirits floating on the Summer air
And the bird sang and sang its song with wonder
For a cloudless sky and a peaceful patch of rolling ground
What could I know of that time of war?
Just a glimpse, an echo, beyond the sun
What could I know of loved lives lost?
Never, ever, home
The hills rang to the toll of distant bell towers
And my heart sang for the beauty of the fields
But my soul wept for a tragedy now fading
As Nature heals the wounds that time regrets
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7. |
Pale Sun
02:57
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PALE SUN by Carol Fieldhouse and Heather Fitton
Float away, to who knows
You know, but you don’t show me
Gap’s yawning, our two worlds
You’re in your Southern Ocean
I’m here, all emotion,
home in motion
Pale sun in the early morning,
A chiffchaff sings
Quiet nest in the steadfast oak tree
Brood on the wing
Unseen falls the falcon
My heart its prey
Your lodestar shimmers for you
Mine still veiled
You come and go, that’s ok
I’m walking my own path again
Still so much we might say,
but not today
Pale sun in the early morning
A chiffchaff sings
Quiet nest in the steadfast oak tree
Brood on the wing
Pale sun, pale sun,
Brood on the wing
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8. |
Aurora
03:35
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AURORA by Carol Fieldhouse
Larches in Birchover blaze in October sun
Birches, they bend in the stiffening breeze
The sweep of the lane as it climbs to the moor’s edge
Skirted in gritstone enclosing the fields
A quiet house and garden, thoughtful objects placed
Each well attended flower will flourish, find its way
And solar winds whisper, ‘Aurora’ Solar winds whisper, ‘Aurora’
Larches in Birchover, bare in December sun
Birches stand stiff, snow on the breeze
Skimming the fields, to the West from your window
As hedge sparrows chatter their welcome to me
Unwitting and uncertain, wanting to be seen
To find myself emerging, to know I’m who I’ve been
And solar winds whisper, ‘Aurora’ Solar winds whisper, ‘Aurora’
Larches in Birchover will bud in the April sun
May summer still buzz with bees through the trees
And love always find you, receive all you’ve given
Bountiful teacher and guide you have been
‘Aurora, Aurora’, Solar winds whisper, ‘Aurora’
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9. |
Sulaymaniyah
03:53
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SULAYMANIYAH by Carol Fieldhouse
No sun in the skies of Tarbuk
One degree below and falling fast
Strange clouds bring silence as snow begins to fall
Muffling the sound of the muezzin’s call
Desert snowstorms quiet the West Bank
The road to Damascus is closed
Lebanon to Syria blanketed in snow
Cars lie at the sides of the road
I know little of your culture, I know nothing of your lands
But as snow falls in the desert and settles in your hand
I recognise your wonder, an eagerness to play
And the peace of snow descending in Sulaymaniyah today
Snowmen rise on roofs in Beirut
Men dance as snow falls at the Western Wall
Palestine to Jordan Spring foals roll in the snow
As children slip and slide as they go...
I know little of your culture, I know nothing of your lands
But as snow falls in the desert and settles in your hand
I recognise your wonder, an eagerness to play
And the peace of snow descending in Sulaymaniyah today
And the peace of snow descending in Sulaymaniyah today
Sulaymaniyah today
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10. |
Woman of the Land
03:31
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WOMAN OF THE LAND by Carol Fieldhouse
A Woman of the land, a furrow seldom ploughed
A foot in closing doors, close to the ground
The Land made me,
Rivers in my veins
The cuckoo’s call on a summer’s day
The cackling jackdaw
Frill and fancy don’t detain me
With the herd I made my bed
4 a.m. the soft lowing
Of the earthy milk shed
A Woman of the land, a furrow seldom ploughed
A foot in closing doors, close to the ground
Soil seeps in my blood, as Norfolk sky is wide
A daughter drawn to serve the Land as I
Three score years and ten
Grandchildren detain me
A daughter’s daughter questioning,
Is farming for her?
Teenage years lost
Lost but not forgotten
The chance to live once more
In the shelter of them
These Women of the land, a furrow seldom ploughed
A foot in closing doors, close to the ground
These Women of the land, furrows seldom ploughed
A foot in closing doors, years lost and found
The Land made me
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11. |
Daisies
03:28
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DAISIES by Carol Fieldhouse inspired by Shirley Mann
Daisy chains round my heart grow
Unseen threads, white, gold
Each gathered through time will know
The tender stems that wind and bind, on they go...
Before I dress the phone rings,
Tales to shape my day
Mother, sister, daughters,
Our telephone exchange
Six o‘clock I’d call Mum picturing her face
Knew she waited for me
‘Highlight of my day’ – she told me
Highlight of her day...
Daisy chains round my heart grow
Unseen threads, white, gold
Each gathered through time will know
The tender stems that wind and bind, on they go...
Now she’s gone, no warm exchange
Petals fall, fade away
Details of my daughters’ calls
Tells me they’re ok
Threads that wind and bind us
Name and frame me always .....'highlight of my...
Daisy chains round my heart do grow
Unseen threads, white, gold
Each gathered through time will know
The tender stems that wind and bind, round and round, on they go...
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12. |
The Message
03:28
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THE MESSAGE by Carol Fieldhouse
Blue dot circling in a midnight sky
Blue
Pixel small in boundless night
Vanishing from view
‘Hear me’
A young girl’s protest, people passing by
Truth
She listens, as the science roars
Her vigil makes the news
‘Join me’
Voyager travels onwards
A tiny spec of hope
Golden Record, The Message
The best of Earth
A new wind’s blowing, hold your banners high
Shout
Smooth browed children wake a sleeping world
‘Hear Us! Hear Us!’
Voyager travels onwards
A tiny spec of hope
Golden Record, The Message
The best of Earth
Blue dot circling in a midnight sky
‘Hear me’
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Carol Fieldhouse Derbyshire Dales District, UK
After years rooted in Folk and Early Music, I discovered my musical homeland as a songwriter in 2008. My debut album linen, produced by Boo Hewerdine and recorded by engineer Chris Pepper, was Celtic Music Radio’s Album of the Week in 2016.
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