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FIRECRACKER DAY

by TREVOR CLAWSON

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1.
The Running Tide I fetched up in a harbour town and landed on my feet There was money to be made back then, there was still a fishing fleet But I didn’t have my sea legs so I took a job on Land Pulling pints and eying waitresses in a pub down by the strand I was a handsome blade back then, though I say so myself You’d never find me waiting for too long up on the shelf No prospects and no future, and some ghosts I had to lay But I had a silver tongue and I could melt those hearts away Chorus And oh the wind and rain And oh the salt see spray And oh the storm gathering in the Western Sky And oh the running tide Along the waterside And the current that will wash you up and leave you high and dry I met her on a Saturday I was working at the bar She came in for a bite to eat took a seat beside the door Can’t remember how it started but here’ s the way it ends She takes my number, writes it down, we say we’ll meet again. Now she didn’t tell me straight away that her man was out at sea Hauling nets and losing sleep, north of Aberdeen Back then I flew I pirate flag that didn’t mean a thing to me. I took the prize he thought was his , and the plunder felt so sweet Chorus I had a beat up 308, we’d drive to secret places Thirty miles or so inland where no one knew her face And she liked to ride the Waltzers and she liked to act the fool And she made it easy for me by laying down the rules. We don’t fall in love or lose our hearts or any of that stuff This is a temporary thing and temporary’s quite enough I’m not looking for a while knight or a love that’s pure and true. I’m just looking for a good time ….That’s all you have to do. Chorus Oh the wind and rain But rules were made for breaking and hearts play tricks on heads She started going crazy, said she’s leave the marriage bed Then crazy turned into a plan an exit so discreet She’d pack a bag I’d pick her up by the church on Harbour Street But she didn’t show, I waited there for an hour or maybe more I took a walk and heard some voice raised down on the shore There was crying cos the news was bad, as bad as it could be Ten souls were lost forever and a boat was lost at sea. Then I drove down to the harbour, saw crowds done on the shore I guessed the rest and after that I hardly saw her face Funny in a small town she could vanish without trace. I saw her on the street one time and tried to catch her eye, But she looked away, then turned away and then she passed me by. Chorus
2.
3.
We walked all the way from Angel to Trafalgar Square Starting down the Pentonville Road 3.00am and a light rain falling Not sensible I know. Because we could have got a taxi or we could have got a bus Should have got a lift from a a friend But we walked from Angel to Pentonville Road Because we didn’t want the night to end. Underneath the lighthouse, past Kings Cross Station Through St Pancras down to Russell Square We talked about this and we talked about that We were freezing in the morning air And you talked about your mother, you sister and your mother Talked about your father too And by the time we made it to big museum I’d lost my heart to you. And ooooh…..it doesn’t get any better than this And ooooh ….that’s the way that it starts You find someone who catches your eye Someone you might move some time And you take a little walk outside And the city is yours tonight And you’re mapping it out in your heart Getting close in a café in Old Compton Street Until somebody said hey get a room So we went outside in the neon light And laughed by the light of the moon And I didn’t have much money And neither had you But we bought ourselves a bottle of wine We went down to the River And sat by the water Watched the cruise boats rolling by. And I came to this city Didn’t know anyone And no one at all knew me Now every street I walk has got a picture of you and a sweet, sweet memory There was a park in the Autumn, sweet chestnuts fell Crunching beneath out feet Chinese women took them home for the pot There was a café where we used to meet There was phone box where I called you All I got was a ringing tone There was a windynight when we said goodbye South Circular took me home And hey….this is not a sad song. END
4.
Barcelona Shoes It’s a game I sometimes play I imagine that you call After twenty years of silence Hey that’s no time at all Because we pick up where we left off Like it was only yesterday It’s a game where I imagine Exactly what you’d say It’s a game of wishful thinking A game in which we agree That every road we’ve ever you and me Leads back to you and me But it’s a game of self deception And it always ends the same Me and bottle and photograph As I wonder who’s to blame Chorus 1 If I recall correctly it was you who bought the ticket Caught a plane and took a chance on starting a new life If I recall correctly it was you who rang the changes If I recall correctly it was you Who said goodbye You wrote me such long letters Real and from the heart Said you’d found a place where we both could live We should never be apart A kaleidoscope of detail As you described the sounds and streets Adventures on a silver plate Were waiting there for me And I wrote back of course I did My pleasure to reply About TV shows I’d watched and liked And records I would buy And all of these mundanities I laid my careful clues I’d made my own life back at home That was it for me and you Chorus 2 And If I recall correctly it was me who made the promise To follow where you’d gone and take a chance on a your new life If I recall correctly it was me who broke the promise If I recall correctly it was me Who said goodbye Bridge You sent me one last picture You in Barcelona shoes That you bought in a department store In leather red and blue You were arm in arm with someone who you didn’t choose to name And your eyes were burning bright l And I know what you were telling me With this picture that you sent I’d had my chance and blown my chance My currency was spent You were moving on and catching fire While I just caught the blues And I’ve still got the picture of those Barcelona shoes Those Barcelona shoes Those Barcelona shoes And I’ve still got the picture of those Barcelona shoes
5.
6.
If By Chance 03:22
If you ever happen on this song If ever you should happen on this song If you should happen on this song or maybe track it down online I’d like to say you got it right I got it wrong You gave me something that I didn’t recognise You gave me something that I didn’t recognise It was plain as light of day you were all I ever needed I didn’t see love standing in plain sight Bridge I still don’t know what I was doing I don’t know what was running through my mind When I said goodbye without a reason Was I lost Or was I blind I’m not asking you to reconsider me I’m not asking you to reconsider me There’s nothing to consider so just think of me of someone Who sees all the things he didn’t used to see. And they say that love is like a valley You’re walking through, you don’t see much up close You climb the hill and look back at where you’ve come from And realise how beautiful it was I hope you got the life that you deserved I hope you got the life that you deserved And that after I had gone, you found everything you wanted I wish you all the good things in this world
7.
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9.
It was 1969 and you couldn’t get much further From the south side of Chicago if you tried Cos there’s an Irish rain falling and I’m playing in the fields And my mother’s calling out, hey come inside And my sister Sue’s got a brand new record player And a thing about those old time blues And I’m eight years old hearing muddy through the wall I don’t even know what I’ve been listening to. It was a song Muddy sang that went around the world X3 All the way to my front door Well my mother and my father didn’t care much for the blues But they loved to hear those dance hall tunes And in the days after the war, Glen Miller on the Radio Was sometimes all you had to get you through And it was 1953 when they fell in love On the way back from a Church Hall dance The sang each other songs, it was Bing and it was Frank It felt just like a fine romance It was a song bing sang, etc Now it’s Christmas time in London and you’re leaving Packing all your bags up and I’m grieving But there’s a Cuban band practising somewhere on my street Extemporising melody and kicking on the beat And I’m dancing in the kitchen and the World Is at my feet And this City’s full of songs and it speaks in tongues to me. Now it’s 1939 in a street in Chicago and Ray’s the best piano man in town But no one knows it yet and he can’t find a job so he’s resting up to lay his burden down And inside a bar there’s an Irish band playing Banging out an old, old song Ray hears that tune and he steals that tune And puts it in a song of his own It was a song Ray heard etc
10.

about

This mini album was recorded over two weeks in April 2014 .The aim was to make a fingerstyle album focused on lyrics, guitar and vocal performances. Hope you enjoy.

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released April 18, 2014

Burning Wood Records copyright 2014

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Trevor Clawson Brighton, UK

Trevor Clawson is an Irish singer and songwriter, currently living and working in West Sussex. Described by Time Out as "One of the best songwriters around" he combines folk, blues and jazz guitar styles with narrative lyrics.

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