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Adapted by Molly Ellis?

Isn’t language wonderful, there are so many words
There’s synonyms and antonyms, metaphors and verbs
With language there are so many ways to convey the very same thought
But somehow when it comes to women and sex, comprehend words some men cannot

Chorus:
No means no, but so do other things too
Like not right now and I don’t want to
I don’t think so, this doesn’t feel right
It’s not gonna happen tonight

Now you may have noticed that none of those phrases actually contained the word “no”
But you knew what they meant, didn’t you? It’s easy, don’t you know
You don’t have to have superpowers, you don’t have to read her thoughts
You just have to give a shit about what she really wants

Not everyone wants to have sex with you, it sounds crazy, but it’s true
Even if you’re famous, or really hot, or have lots of money, or happen to be their boss
“What if she was nice to me?” “What if she didn’t say ‘no’?”
“What if she made a horrified face, and said ‘I should probably go’?”

After last chorus:
So don’t try to make it happen tonight ‘Cause if you do that’s sexual assault 

trad

Pentangle recorded in 1972

Just like the songbird deep in the forest
I sing praises but you never hear
And deep in my body my song is silent
Yet contented at times when you’re near

Please listen to me, and I will tell thee
All those words that have never been said
They shout inside me but then they cower
Behind weakness that’s rulin’ my head

I dearly love thee and not one other
With a sweetness that lies in my breast
‘Tis you that made me but God forbade me
To uncover my heart to love’s test

No love is sorrow, but now I’m happy
To have thee in this world for my love
And now you must know my soul is for thee
That’s why this life is my soaring dove 

Brian McNeill 1995

I was listening to the news the other day
I heard a fatcat politician who had the cheek to say
He was proud to be Scottish, by the way
With the glories of our past to remember
Here’s tae us, wha’s like us, listen to the cry
No surrender to the truth, and here’s the reason why
The pride and the glory’s just another bloody lie
They use to keep us all in line

Chorus:
‘Cause there’s no gods and there’s precious few heroes
But there’s plenty on the dole in the land o’ the leal
And it’s time now to sweep the future clear
Of the lies of a past that we know was never real

So to hell with the heather and the glen
They cleared us off once, and they’ll do it all again
‘Cause they still prefer sheep to thinking men
Ah but men that think like sheep are even better
There’s nothing much to choose between the old laird and the new
They still don’t give a damn for the likes of me and you
Just mind you pay your rent to the factor when it’s due
And mind your bloody manners when you pay

And tell me, will we never hear the end
Of poor bloody Charlie and Culloden yet again
Though he ran like a rabbit doon the glen
Leaving better folk than him to be butchered
Or are you sitting in your council house, thinking o’ your clan
Waiting for the Jacobites to come and free the land
Try going doon the broo wi’ a claymore in your hand
And count all the princes in the queue

So don’t talk to me of Scotland the Brave
‘Cause if we don’t fight soon there’ll be nothing left to save
Or would you rather stand and watch them dig your grave
While you wait for the Tartan Messiah
He’ll lead us to the Promised Land wi’ laughter in his eye
We’ll all live off the oil and the whisky, by and by
Free heavy beer, pie suppers in the sky
Will we never hae the sense to learn 

Walt Aldridge 1989

Ari & Mia: https://ariandmia.bandcamp.com/track/aint-no-ash-will-burn

I have seen snow that fell in May
I have seen rain on cloudless days
Some things are always bound to change
There ain’t no ash will burn

Chorus:
Love is a precious thing I’m told
Burns just like West Virginia coal
But when the fire dies down, it’s cold
There ain’t no ash will burn

You say this life is not your lot
But I can’t be something that I’m not
Can’t stoke a fire that we ain’t got
There ain’t no ash will burn

In every life there comes a time
When there are no more tears to cry
We must leave something dear behind
There ain’t no ash will burn

Richard Thompson 1972

Verses 2 and especially 3 tweaked by Alex Ellis

The time has come for action, Leave your satisfaction
Can’t you hear St. George’s tune, St. George’s tune is calling you home
Freedom was your mother, Fight for one another

Refrain:
Leave your factory leave your forge And dance to the new St. George.

Don’t believe pretenders Who say they would defend us
While they flash their teeth and wave The other hand is being paid
They choke the air and bleed us, These vulgar men who lead us

When fish and fowl are ailing Our way of life is failing
Where were all your empty words No empty words can save us now
They rob, they lie, they’re greedy Who plunder from the needy

A.E. Housman 1896 / Ian Robb 2018

Arrowsmith:Robb Trio: "Ian came across this poem when browsing through Housman's dark and pessimistic collection, A Shropshire Lad, published in 1896. The New Mistress, AKA Queen Victoria, probably seduced many a disillusioned or rejected young man into serving-and often dying for-her imperial ambitions.ÿ Ian re-purposed the second stanza as a chorus and wrote the tune."

Chorus:
I will go where I am wanted, to a lady born and bred
Who will dress me free for nothing in a uniform of red;
She will not be sick to see me if I only keep it clean:
I will go where I am wanted for a soldier of the Queen.

Oh, sick I am to see you, will you never let me be?
You may be good for something, but you are not good for me.
Oh, go where you are wanted, for you are not wanted here.
And that was all the fond farewell when I parted from my dear.

I will go where I am wanted, for the sergeant does not mind;
He may be sick to see me but he treats me very kind:
He gives me beer and breakfast and a ribbon for my cap,
And I never knew a sweetheart spend her money on a chap.

I will go where I am wanted, where there’s room for one or two,
And the men are none too many for the work there is to do;
Where the standing line wears thinner and the dropping dead lie thick;
And the enemies of England they shall see me and be sick.

James C. Moore 1914

While a 26 years old seminary student, Moore visited his hometown church to preach, where his father had led the singing for years. Hearing his father's voice failing him, Moore knew that he would not hear his father sing much longer due to his father's advanced age. He wrote this song and dedicated it to his parents.

I have heard of a land On the faraway strand
‘Tis a beautiful home of the soul
Built by Jesus on high There we never shall die
‘Tis a land where we never grow old.

Chorus:
Never grow old, never grow old, in a land where we’ll never grow old (x2)

In that beautiful home Where we’ll nevermore roam
We shall be in the sweet by and by
Happy praise to the King Through eternity sing
‘Tis a land where we never shall die.

When our work here is done And the life-crown is won
And our troubles and trials are o’er
All our sorrow will end And our voices will blend
With the loved ones who’ve gone on before. 

Nancy Kerr 2014

Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/never-ever-lay-them-down

Cast down in stony gardens Sweet visitor we heard you say
There grows no grass And none shall pass Till some great day of judgement
Oh are we bound for glory Born on a little fortune’s way
Or are we bound for some dark town And some great northern story

Chorus:
And it’s cold, cold, the winter’s hold She shall not think of stalling
She’s proud, proud, of every cloud And will never ever lay them down
Love, love, the winds above To blow towards your calling
Behold in dreams Your true love stings And never ever lay them down

Oh once I played the lover To follow on a swallow’s tail
And what I’d give for to relive My days of being a rover
But wrapped in love’s embraces Like summer in a silken gown,
How could I pawn what we have sworn Lay down your gold and silver

Do you see black beaks a gleaming Did you ever see a magpie’s wing
My love did drop those greedy birds To fill our hearts with singing
Cast down by steel cathedrals My lover is a fallen star
Who’s spark shall stoke This heart that broke Held in his hand a beating

Kind eyes in trepidation Whatever do you hear behold
Cold labour’s done and nothing won Grey stone around your children
But freedom’s eyes are golden And glitter like a silver crown
And none shall fear while love is here Cast down in stony gardens 

Stan Rogers 1983

The clothes men wear do give them airs, the fellows do compare.
A colonel’s regimentals shine, and women call them fair.
I am Alexander MacIntosh, a nephew to the Laird
And I do distain men who are vain, the men with powdered hair.

I command the Nancy Schooner from the Moy on Lake St. Claire.
On the third day of October, boys, I did set sail from there.
To the garrison at Amherstburg I quickly would repair
With Captain Maxwell and his wife and kids and powdered hair.

Chorus 1:
Aboard the Nancy
In regimentals bright.
Aboard the Nancy
With all his pomp and bluster there, aboard the Nancy-o.

Below the St. Clair rapids I sent scouts unto the shore
To ask a friendly Wyandotte to say what lay before. “
Amherstburg has fallen, with the same for you in store!
And militia sent to take you there, fifty horse or more.”

Up spoke Captain Maxwell then, “Surrender, now, I say!
Give up your Nancy schooner and make off without delay!
Set me ashore, I do implore. I will not die this way!”
Says I, “You go, or get below, for I’ll be on my way!”

Chorus 2:
Aboard the Nancy!
“Surrender, Hell!” I say.
Aboard the Nancy
“It’s back to Mackinac I’ll fight, aboard the Nancy-o.”

Up comes Colonel Beaubien, then, who shouts as he comes near.
“Surrender up your schooner and I swear you’ve naught to fear.
We’ve got your Captain Maxwell, sir, spare yourself his tears.”
Says I, “I’ll not but send you shot to buzz about your ears.”

We fired as they hauled anchor, boys, and we got under way,
But scarce a dozen broadsides, boys, the Nancy did then pay
Before the business sickened them. They bravely ran away.
All sail we made, and reached the Lake before the close of day.

Chorus 3:
Aboard the Nancy!
We sent them shot and cheers.
Aboard the Nancy!
We watched them running through the trees, aboard the Nancy-o.

Oh, military gentlemen, they bluster, roar and pray.
Nine sailors and the Nancy, boys, made fifty run away.
The powder in their hair that day was powder sent their way
By poor and ragged sailor men, who swore that they would stay.

Chorus 4:
Aboard the Nancy!
Six pence and found a day
Aboard the Nancy!
No uniforms for men to scorn, aboard the Nancy-o. 

Sarah Pirtle 1979

"In 1979 I was attending a workshop with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. On a January evening we stood outside under a full moon for a ceremony, and afterwards as I was walking back, I heard the song arrive in my mind. I kept singing it on hikes but  I didn't know if others would like to learn it, until I shared it first with my affinity group at the Seneca Women's Encampment in 1983. A Gentle Wind recorded it in 1984 on "Two Hands Hold the Earth." The wonder of a song is that today it is sung in schools, at nature centers, at herbal trainings, and by performers including Annie Patterson, Bruce O'Brien, and the Seedy Seeds. What I love to do is ask people about a favorite tree or flower or other part of nature that they love and encourage them to make up their own new verses -- "I am a sunflower jumping up high." You can also delve into other directions like, "I am a voice healing life." It's such a joy to find out how it has traveled. Most recently, a  four-year-old girl and her father (called The Rookies) sing this song with great vitality on youtube, watched by a million and a quarter people."

My roots go down, down to the earth (x3)
My roots go down.

Chorus:
My roots go down, down to the earth (x3)
My roots go down.

I am a pine tree on a mountainside. (3x)
My roots go down.

I am a wild flower pushing through stones. (3x)

I am a willow swaying through the storm. (3x)

I am an ancient redwood tree. (3x)

I am a mountain reaching for the sun. (3x)

I rise with the voice of every living thing. (3x)