Lyr Add: Roots (Show of Hands)

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:35 PM

The above 'np' wasn;t to Ruth's care in the community comment but to the outrageous suggestion that the Roots dirge was Knightley's 'best and strongest' song.

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:33 PM

No, it's just a rant with no regard for the musicians, dancers and teachers who actually are doing something to save and pass on their heritage. It offers no solutions and provides no political muscle to confront cultural apathy. Also (possibly unconsciously) it has highly socially divisive undertones.

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:29 PM

God, is this what passes for care in the community nowadays?

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: DMcG
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:28 PM

As the other thread has dozens of posts (including lots by you saying how much you love the song :-) ), maybe posting to that would be better.

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: Lizzie Cornish
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:26 PM

Double woops! ;0) Should I revive that thread? Or let this one stand do you think DMcG?

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: Lizzie Cornish
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:24 PM

Woops! I forgot to tell you how I feel about 'Roots'

I think it's the best and strongest song that Steve Knightley has yet written...and my goodness he's written some good 'uns over the years hasn't he!

Subject: RE: 'Roots' by Show of Hands
From: DMcG
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:21 PM

Perhaps this thread on the same song has slipped your memory!

Subject: Lyr Add: ROOTS (Steve Knightley)
From: Lizzie Cornish
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:16 PM

So...do like it or not? Here are the lyrics and below is the Myspace link to Show of Hands site, where you can hear part of the song:

'ROOTS' by Steve Knightley.

"Now it's been twenty-five years or more
I've roamed this land from shore to shore
From Tyne to Tamar, Severn to Thames
From moor to vale, from peak to fen
Played in cafes and pubs and bars
I've stood in the street with my old guitar
But I'd be richer than all the rest
If I had a pound for each request
For 'Duelling Banjos' 'American Pie'
Its enough to make you cry
'Rule Britannia' or 'Swing Low'
Are they the only songs the English know?

Seed, bud, flower, fruit
They're never gonna grow without their roots
Branch, stem, shoots - they need roots

After the speeches when the cake's been cut
The disco is over and the bar is shut
At christening, birthday, wedding or wake
What can we sing until the morning breaks?
When the Indian, Asians, Afro, Celts
It's in their blood, below the belt
They're playing and dancing all night long
So what have they got right that we've got wrong?

Seed, bud, flower, fruit
Never gonna grow without their roots
Branch, stem, shoots - we need roots

Haul away boys let them go
Out in the wind and the rain and snow
We've lost more than well ever know
Round the rocky shores of England

And a minister said his vision of hell
Is three folk singers in a pub near Wells
Well I've got a vision of urban sprawl
It's pubs where no one ever sings at all
And everyone stares at a great big screen
Over-paid soccer stars, prancing teens
Australian soap, American rap
Estuary English, baseball caps
And we learn to be ashamed before we walk
Of the way we look and the way we talk
Without our stories or our songs
How will we know where weve come from?
I've lost St George in the Union Jack
It's my flag too and I want it back

Seed, bud, flower, fruit
Never gonna grow without their roots
Branch, stem, shoots - we need roots

Haul away boys let them go
Out in the wind and the rain and snow
We've lost more than we'll ever know
Round the rocky shores of England"


Show of Hands Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/showofhandsuk


Lizzie :0)