1. |
Whisky Galore
03:51
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It’s bleak by the loch
Drove so far we had to stop
One week and round the clock
Rain to rival monsoons in Bangkok
It’s bleak on the ben
Shrouded in cloud and we can’t see the glen
There’s a leak in my beaten up Docs
Maybe ‘bout time bought some of those red socks
And if we’d gone as many miles South
We could have sticky juice of peaches in our mouth
But we’ve just got this transit van
And the little that out money can afford
All aboard
Some place by the shore
The village hall’s showing Whisky Galore
Is there space for four more?
Sorry for treading our mud on your floor
And if we’d gone as many miles South
We could have sticky juice of peaches in our mouth
But we’ve just got this ’84 Transit
It’s not how we planned it but we’re making do
When we get to the edge it feels like the moon
But the stars are enough to make even the most miserable swoon
And anyway we’ll be home pretty soon
One day of blazing sun
Digging a hole in the sand just for fun
The way back down looms long
Say goodbye to the space and the sky
And the song of the birds and the sea in the night
And the way that the wind blows
Wave out the window behind
’Til next time
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2. |
The Misty Isle Hotel
05:56
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I left Oban in the early light
I was yawning pulling my woollens tight
Tight round my neck, I climbed on the deck
Over the gunmetal grey sea swell
To stay at the Misty Isle Hotel
Write a postcard send it away back home
Say how it feels being here all alone
I keep your likeness in my purse
But it makes me feel worse, makes me feel worse
The great war carried you miles and miles
From me and the Misty Isle Hotel
Do you know the fables
Those two tall tables of the clan Macleod?
Fearsome beasts having most lavish feasts
On the hill for the crowd
What would they have eaten and with cutlery or not even?
“Well maybe they had lobster. We can but assume.”
We watch our mother licking Marie Rose sauce off her spoon
Her brass buttons glinting, her lipstick a smile
Having tea at the Misty Isle Hotel
And did you ever see such a sight?
There are cows in the loch they are bathing in moonlight
They’re cleaning their feet while we’re drinking our fill
Good scotch whisky, colour of caramel
Down at the Misty Isle Hotel
And since the steamers have long since stopped
And now the bay has filled up with very expensive yachts
We’ve had all types in here
All through the year, over the years
Empty glasses stacked up in rows on the bar
The locals are in and so are some from afar
Is it better today? Five pounds each way
If the tourist trade ruins us, I told you so
There’s very few places they have left to go
But I suppose only time will tell
The fate of the Misty Isle Hotel
And the waves will sing their songs
And the ghosts will meet in throngs
And the walls will all fall down
And rot in the ground, not to be found
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3. |
Kite Song
03:39
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Peg your kite in the ground
Listen to that mournful sound
Twirling round and round
Strings tangle and untangle again
Leave your kite in the earth
Climb the mountain for what it’s worth
Oh the wind she whips it, flips it, tips it, slips it away
That strange vertigo feeling
A bird flying below you
And it leaves you reeling
The wings swoop close to you
Grey and blue
Left your kite in the soil
Coming back from a long day’s toil
And though the rain she lashed us, thrashed us
The kite out-lasted us all
It strains, tugs it’s tethers
Oh wind, take me with you
How I long for feathers
My wings would be grey and blue
If you pull me loose
Fly, I would fly
I would fly, I would fly
I would fly, I would fly high
But you reel, reel me in
Brush the dew off my skin
Pack me up
Put me in the boot
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4. |
The Banquet
03:30
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Come to the hill, bring what you will
Oh come swill our wine round your mouth
Be you from north or be you from south
You are invited to drink your fill
Come to the table, bring what you’re able
Worry not there is lots to go round
A crock full of soup and a large wooden ladle
And blankets to spread on the ground
Come to the hill, we’re tarrying still
Oh come drink our wine and be fed
The reddest of red like the blood you have bled
You’ll be sure to drink more than a gill
Come to the table, bring what you’re able
The junket it creamier than most
We’ve sugar and spices to make it most tasteful
And a sprinkling of water of rose
Come to the hill, or you’re missing a thrill
Oh come spill our wine, hear our band
The most splendid of banquets in all the fair land
Will live on in ink and quill
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OWEM Stroud, UK
OWEM is a project of Maya who writes songs about places and spaces and faces. The Pilgrimage EP is a collection of songs written about the Outer Hebrides as recounted to her by her dad.
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