Nancy Kerr 2010
Swan song for her 12 years living on narrowboats on the inland waterways. Their boat community was drifting away, and she was pregnant; they soon thereafter moved to Sheffield.
Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/queen-of-waters
https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/queen-of-waters
Well away my love away for we’re sailing home today, On a boat called memory (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Oh she’s like some Persian queen with her opal robes serene, In the lamplight shimmering (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Chorus: On a blue-jay morning feathering thorny memories Hail home, hearts have been too long away, On a well-worn byway travelling, magpie gathering Farewell queen of waters. Well it’s hard to roll in mirth when your feet don’t touch the earth, And the wolf comes hungering (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Folly never foots the bill and we all shall pay in full, For a life of melody (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Well I should have sowed my corn, but I danced until the dawn, Like an ant grasshoppering (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Oh there must be better ways, for to keep the debts at bay, And the whiskey trickling (hail home, hearts that long for the land) So we’ll bid our ship adieu, there’s a mooring in the blue, Where the gulls are gathering (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Oh she’s like some Persian queen and her like shall ne’er be seen, Only in our reverie (hail home, hearts that long for the land) Once there was a man, and he had no song, He felt his head was empty and his voice was wrong, And though he often tried, his songs were trapped inside He couldn’t find the place where they belong Chorus But raise your voice with mine For now’s the perfect time to join the song Once there was a woman, and her songs were loud She sang them in the shower, and she sang them proud But when her friends were near, her voice it shrank with fear And left her shaking, mute, before the crowd. Now if you want to sing but don’t know how or why Don’t listen to the ones who say you should not try There’s bound to be a way you’ve not tried before today To free your voice to soar beneath the sky Once there was a singer and he made his choice To leave his doubts behind him and to find his voice The journey that he’s on is to learn just one more song And sing it out and make his friends rejoice