Two Birds

by Kirsty McGee

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1.
03:12
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2.
03:36
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3.
03:32
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4.
04:10
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5.
03:25
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6.
03:44
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7.
04:06
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8.
02:39
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9.
01:43
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10.
05:35
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11.
03:33
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12.
03:57
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credits

released 14 November 2005
Kirsty McGee: Vocal, Guitar, Flute
Mat Martin: Guitar, Mandolin, High-strung Guitar, Banjo, Vocal
Ben Nichols: Double Bass
Roy Dodds: Drums & Percussion
Neill MacColl: Electric Guitars, High-strung Guitar

Produced by Neill MacColl
Recorded by Steve Stewart
Artwork & Graphic Design: Mat Martin
Photography: Kirsty McGee & Mat Martin

Record Company: Park Records

tags

tags: acoustic americana folk folk indie hobopop songwriter Manchester

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Track Name: Thank You
thank you for holding me
when the winds were very strong
when we couldn't hear our voices
when the storm was all around
i've been thinking of you lately
though i can't recall your smile
thank you for holding me when
the winds were very strong

thank you for supporting me
when i could not walk straight
when i hadn't strength of spirit
or the courage to see clear
i've been thinking of you lately
and i do recall your strength
thank you for supporting me

thank you for loving me
when i couldn't love myself
when you couldn't know for sure i'd mend
you gave your precious time
i've been thinking of you lately
you've been often on my mind
thank you for loving me
when i couldn't love myself

thank you for trusting me
when my eyes were blind with tears
when we couldn't hear our voices
when the storm was in our ears
i'll not forget your kindness
(which i'm sure i don't deserve)
thank you for your kindness
Track Name: Fresh Water
fresh water, cool on my skin
lay me down, wash me clean
wash all memory of sin
take these arms, fold me in

fire, fire, i won't fight
all i can see is your blistering light
for my sins i burn tonight
the body burns quickly
but the soul stays alight

the body knows nothing till the soul cries out
the soul knows nothing till the body burns

what you see is only one half
the other lies rusting in a box of nails
sweet sin leads to a silvery light
the soul knows nothing till the body burns

the body knows nothing till the soul cries out
the soul knows nothing till the body burns

fresh water, cool on the skin
can't get no rest from the state that i'm in
take me down, wash me clean
wash all memory of sin

stars in the heavens look down on me
gods and you angels what do you see?
a body that burns in a salt-black sea
that body would be empty if it wasn't for me...

the body knows nothing till the soul cries out
the soul knows nothing till the body burns

fresh water, cool and clean
carry me down to the bottom of the sea
won't you quench this fire that's burning me the soul feels nothing till the body swims free

fresh water, my desire
carry me down, my mouth full of fire
won't you take me down to your endless sea
the body knows nothing till the soul swims free

the body knows nothing till the soul cries out
the soul knows nothing till the body burns
the body knows nothing till the soul cries out
the soul knows nothing till the body burns
Track Name: Alchemy
i brought back more
than you will ever know
stare deep into the blue you'll see
the shapes that move below
i never learned a lesson
that i didn't learn by heart
and when one lesson ends i find,
another lesson starts

and something moved me
in the shadows on his skin
in a place where half-remembered clouds
lie down upon the sea
shiplight and starlight
as the colours disappear
where he paints from photographs
under a pale blue bulb

from the beginning
he held me like a child
no jealousy or envy
he lets my heart run wild
he paints from photographs
of sun and sea and sky
and softly he can play
and something in him haunts me

the water sighs sometimes
when a wave hits solid ground
you can hear the stones sometimes
singing in the sea
there's a sea-change in me -
it's in him too
and though we lost something beautiful
we make ourselves anew

i brought back more
than you will ever know
stare deep into my eyes:
all the sadnesses and things i've seen
it comes like alchemy
makes gold-dust of our hearts
and when one lesson ends i find
another lesson starts.
Track Name: India
india my dear, you're almost out of luck
that slender chain of pearls you wear
around your slender neck
is fallen to the floor - why don't you pick it up?
india my dear

it's not that i don't love you but the world's moved on
and the colours in your eyes don't mix with mine
it's not that i don't trust you
but there's nothing more to say
india, my dear

india my dear, you're nothing but kindness
and i don't expect you'd say the same of me
we did all of our crying in a lay-by by the road side
and i can see so clearly now i can no longer see

did you know when i first saw you
i felt i was falling into grace :
to see your bright hair burning
around your smiling face?
but i see the colours fading from you
like you're too much in the light
and i hate to watch you fading, india

india my dear - we're almost out of time
i can't sit and watch you crumble like a child
there's colours out there in the rain
that i first saw in your eyes
india my dear

it's not that i don't love you but there's nothing more to say
and the colours in your eyes don't mix with mine
it's not that i don't trust you but the world's moved on
india my love
Track Name: Lazy Eye Blues
honey i see you and i see the road
honey i see you and i see the road
much as i love you you know i'm bound to go
honey i see you and i see the road

where i'm going the path runs thin
much as i love you these's no room to spin
no room to spin love i can't come back again
where i'm going the path runs thin

where i'm going the sky's so wide
six thousand acres on each and every side
six thousand acres where no man alive can hide
where i'm going...

honey i see you and i see the road
honey i see you and i see the road
much as i love you you know i'm bound to go
honey i see you and i see the road

i'm gonna miss you it's not a lie
i'm gonna miss you honey, you know it's not a lie
i'll miss your ragged smile, i'll miss your lazy eye
i'm gonna miss you it's not a lie

honey i see you and i see the road
honey i see you and i see the road
much as i love you you know i'm bound to go
honey i see you and i see the road
Track Name: One Star
you left your tracks on the yellow sand
where the sunlight slips into the sea
you led the way with your two blind eyes
and the only one to follow was me

you took a boat down by mitchell's ride
i rode with you i rode with you
although the waves there were suicide
the only one to follow was me

i was blinded by you
i was blinded by you
i was blinded

i lie awake now almost every night
trying to figure you out trying to figure you out
where one star blazed on the line of the sky
the only one to follow was me

i was blinded by you
i was blinded by you
i was blinded

some might say i'm the foolish one
to ride with you, to ride with you
one star dies one more becomes a sun
and the only one to follow was you

seawater on my hands, saltwater on my face
cold water - there he lays
best stop following you
Track Name: Heart
don't break my heart
it would be easy
you know it's too easy
to fall through the ice

what you can't touch
you cannot damage
and any fool can see
you would break my heart

there's ice for a reason
and though i can't say
if ever i'll trust you
to hold me that way

the cold of the season
has stolen away
all of the words
that i came here to say

the sun's in the west
and the moon's on the run
the pull of the earth
on my negligent heels

the taste of your breathing
still stiffens my tongue
but i'm so used to running
that i can't stay still for so long...
Track Name: The Right Way Home
pockets are empty, birds on the wire
skies are all tangled with blueberry clouds
wisps of sadness all over the moon
and i'm finding the right way home...

i've got one foot in heaven, one foot in hell
crows in the steeple and they're ringing that bell
going to cover you up with a blackberry moon
cos i'm finding the right way home...

i can see butterflies and they're caught in your eyes
like a dream when there's no to dream it
and i'm strung out tonight on this dizzy moonlight
like a word when there's no one to mean it

night's a liquor and the flavour's so fine
starlight flickers like lilac wine
fireflies flip like a million moons
and i'm finding the right way home

the stars cannot fall cos they're too big to catch
(but my heart's only small...leave the door on the latch...)
gonna find you a sleep by the light of the moon
i'm finding the right way home...

fling out the dead wood, cling onto the good
time's gonna stop you (you knew it would)
i'm gonna sing to you sideways - rattle the moon
cos i'm finding the right way home
Track Name: Chicory
chicory, we both know the score
to use and to abuse - that's what a friend is for
knowing you like i know you there's nothing out of line
a bed on the floor...

i never worry when you're home late
you sneak in like a cat and you're asleep before i wake up
to your eggs in the morning and your stale cigarettes
there's never any money, oh but how could i forget
all the names i scanned for friends i scammed
for dinner and a bed
for a key behind the slate

there's no romance in staying still but jesus, how it hurts
to wake alone and watch the clouds fly by
when you're done with one place
then there's always someplace new
(till all the faces look familiar in every place you go)

chicory, i love you just the same
i recall the the gutted buildings and the friends who let me stay
with gratitude although these days i'm never out of line
i'll never ask you where you've been
there'll always be a floor for you...

after closing time
Track Name: Brittle
birds' wings in winter's fire
spread out against the sky
a dozen - maybe seven more
that touch my heart as they fly by

this brittle winter air
so thin it steals your breath
reminds me of your fragile taste
when i roll into your arms

oh how brittle you feel
like the snow light that finds you here
oh your fragile frame
you're nothing more than bones and skin

a feather fell today
i saw you turn to see
the sun caught in a wing
a plane so far away

that cut this winter air
so thin it steals away
the colours of your cheek
making you look cold and pale

a nameless winter wind
makes you draw closer to my side
i wish i could contain -
protect you from the wind and rain.
Track Name: Steady
if i was steady
would you love me like you do
if i was easy
would i be enough for you
and would you love me
if i never lost my nerve
would you love me like you do?

if i was lonely
would you hold me in the night
if i was tired
would you reach out and turn out the light
if i was angry
would you tell me i was right if i was wrong...?
just to make me feel alright?

would you tell me you were there for me only
roll me around in your perfect skin
would you tell me i need never more be lonely
would you close your eyes...and keep on smiling?

and if i asked you
would you tell to me your mind
would you show me all your sorrows
would you leave something behind...?

and if i asked too much
would you say everything was fine?
would you lie sweet lies to be kind?

and sometimes life is harder than the concrete and the clay
that pack down hard beneath our feet
(oh if life could be more sweet!)
i know that you know it too - our love's unsteady but it's true
if we ever fall, may we fall upon our feet...

and if we falter
let it be because it's real
don't go killing me with kindness
open wounds never heal

and if you love me, don't protect me
from anything you feel
love me like you do
Track Name: Static
i fell asleep in trieste harbour with my back against the wall
and i swear we're only half awake till something sees us fall
and all the houses in the harbour were as ripe as watermelons
in the afternoon cathedral of the red hot july sun

i held my head under the water of a fountain clear as glass
and i lay my head upon your heart when you lay on the grass
there was a bird and i remember how it flew across the sun
and how its shadow fell upon us as the clouds moved in

i fell asleep in massachusetts with my head against the wall
and i slept like i was dreaming for a thousand souls
when i raised my head the water was the colour of the sun
and my heart was full of fortune and my head as light as sand

we made love among the pine trees on an island full of butterflies
where hot successive summers had turned the grass to hay
and all the trees so still above our heads were tender
with the scent of pine
and static with both sunlight and forgetfulness

i fell asleep and when i woke up all the world was somehow different
the colours burned more brightly and the sunlight seemed more strong
and i remember blue glass shadows and the fine hair of your arm
and all the clouds in the cathedral of the red hot july sun