1. JOE PRIEST
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s Joe Priest was not a big man, no he was small and thin
But the goodness in his heart made him bigger than most men
A free soul a wanderer with a gypsy violin
He looked the world right in the face and he laughed at everything. The day that I met him I was buskin' it around
This skinny guy came up and said lets' lay a few notes down
So I hit my guitar and he raked that violin
We rocked and rolled and rocked some more and the money came rolling in. CH:
Joe Priest, Joe Priest
He was the best of men
Joe Priest, Joe Priest
Where have you gone my friend
Where have you gone my friend? We skipped from town to town and we lived from day to day
Some days we played to live and some days we lived to play
We spent a long long time lookin' for that perfect pitch
But we never ever found it and we never did make it rich. CH Though Joe was good and gentle there was a darker side to him
For down the years he'd hurt himself with coke and heroin
'You're gonna lose that old body, you'll kill yourself' I'd say
But Joe would only laugh 'Who needs a body anyway'. CH Well the day had to come when he took the pure white dose
And his poor tired body gratefully gave up the ghost
That last night in the hospital the doctor let me stay
I sat and watched and waited and he faded away. CH Well I've never been a one for church and I'm not the praying kind
But I sometimes get to wonderin' what's on the other side
What happens when you die? Well you have to die to know
But I hope that there's a place where the free spirits go. CH 2. OH YOU
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s Oh you
You were the reason for some smiles upon my face
You were the one who brought me to a certain state of grace.
Oh you
You gave me a kiss of life when I was nearly dead
You helped me to break free from all those troubles in my head.
Oh you
Yes it was you that turned the spark into a flame
But you didn't do it all alone, I have to share the blame. CH:
Now looking back from here at all the good things that we had
Those good things they were oh so good, how could they go so bad.
Sometimes you made me glad, sometimes you made me mad
But worst of all by far was when we made each other sad,
Oh you. Oh you
This foolish heart still makes you haunt me night and day
I see your image everywhere, you will not fade away.
Oh you
You're in the bells that peal on Sunday afternoon
You're dancing in the dusty shafts of sunlight in my room.
Oh you
You were the coat that kept me warm on frosty days
I wrapped you all around me but I've been so cold of late. CH Oh you
When we loved you made me feel I was a prince
But everything is gone, I've been a pauper ever since.
Oh you
I know you told me that your heart was wild and free
I didn't think that wild heart would prove too wild for me
Oh you
Please tell me what the hell am I supposed to do
I don't know where to go from here, I just don't have a clue CH 3. MY HEART LIES IN YOUR HANDS
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s Farewell to you my darling one
Goodbye to you my lovely
Tomorrow morning I'll be gone
For the tide is turning early
Come spend these little hours with me
The last before my leaving
Off to your house with me
For the love before the grieving. CH:
I sail for Spain and Barbary then to the far Japans
But where'er I am you're part of me for your heart lies in my hands.
My journeys keep me far from you but I know you understand
That where'er I am I'm part of you for my heart lies in your hands oh
My heart lies in your hands. We'll do the things that lovers do
In the long watch of the night
And there will be no shallows
Only the deep tonight.
We'll sail upon your long white bed
Two voyagers alone
And set a slow course for the dawn ahead
And ride upon the storm. CH And when I'm home from sea again
Some twentymonth ahead
I'll crush you in my arms again
And you'll take me to your bed.
We'll sail upon that storm once more
Down in our rolling deep
And I'll promise I will sail no more
That one promise I can't keep. CH 4. DAYS OF LIGHT
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s There was a man who loved a girl
She filled his life, she filled his world
And love it shines, for love is bright
And all his days, yes all his days
Were filled with light. But love can be a flimsy thing
Fragile as an insect's wing
And so it broke so easily
The light went out, he looked about
And could not see. CH:
Love burns so very bright
It burns the eyes, it takes the sight.
There he goes in darkest night
Still searching for those days of light. He doesn't seem to understand
That he's become her last year's man
She gave her all, she gave her most
But then she flew to another fool
Down on the coast. There is a man who lives in pain
There is a man who seeks in vain
For love that's lost, why can't he learn
What's gone away has gone away
And won't return. CH 5. GIRL FROM THE HIGH COUNTRY
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s When I was young and fancy free I travelled where the whim took me
I sowed my time but it ran to seed and I squandered seasons carelessly
How I threw those years away.
Then I met a lass in the high country, fair of form and handsome was she
She stole my heart quite graciously when she turned her Gypsy eyes to me
Sweet thieves some women can be. CH:
You can keep your wealth and your finery
Riches mean not a thing to me
I have all the wealth I need
In the love of the girl from the high country. I courted her most ardently but she skipped and danced away from me
I took my time and I played her game, then I took her love and she took my name.
Sweet thieves some lovers can be.
When I went mad she made me sane, when I am hurt she feels my pain
When my pride flies high she laughs and then she brings me down to the earth again
'Oh you fool it's you you must be'. CH Sometimes I feel the need to roam, and she says 'Well go, for you must go
And when you've done what must be done you'll come tumbling and stumbling
And trundling home
For I know you love only me'
So when I leave it's with a heavy heart, glad to go but sorry to part
Now I sow my time most carefully, then I run back home with the greatest speed
For I know she'll be waiting for me. CH 6. THE ARMS OF SPRING
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s Summer was long and all but gone when you and I found that glade
My arms round your waist, our first embrace there in that place we made
We counted the flowers, lost count of the hours, but never the numbered days.
So we'll make the best of the days we have left, till you have to fly away. CH:
Sweet September
Stay forever
Bare October
Stark November
Dark December
Spare me your Wintering
Let me leap from the Autumn
Into the arms of Spring. We lay us down on a carpet made of dying leaves
I sing you songs of love and leaving on the living breeze
And when we are hungry I pick the hazel, you pick the blackberries
Could we but stay and all of our days ever be days like these. CH I can't believe you have to leave and stay so long away
What will I do without the you I've come to love of late
Fly January, flee February, I wish my life away
Till March comes again and I'll meet you then there in that lovely place. CH Now allow me to say what happened today just as I composed this song
I killed a wasp with this very song, well, the paper it's written on.
You said it's absurd that my gentle words could ever kill someone
But I'm counting the cost, for I think of that wasp whenever I sing this song. CH 7. BELLE
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s CH:
Oh my darling Belle
My lovely Belle
I ask you for your love but you only give me hell.
Oh my darling Belle
My lovely Belle
I may not love you wisely, but I love you oh so well
My darling Belle. In the house of love there are many many doors
I've opened one or two but I've never opened yours
There's a key that's missing and it breaks my heart because
That key is yours. In the song of love there are many many tunes
I'd like to learn them all but I only know a few
I have some words of love but no tune to tie them to
The tune is you. CH In the book of love there are many many themes
The happy and the sad and all those hopes and dreams
You know that I dream of you, and I hope you dream of me
One of these days. In the dance of love there are many many moves
Don't make me dance alone, I need to dance with you
I don't care what we're dancing and I don't care who leads who
I'll dance with you, you want me to, I know you do. CH 8. MR HAPPY GO LUCKY
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s He used to be so free and easy, Mister Happy go lucky we all used to say
He hadn't a care but he cared quite a lot in a devil may care kind of way. A generous man always giving, though he had more than most some people would say
A good home, a good wife, a good quality life, but in the end he just threw it away. CH:
Something inside him has broken
It must have been bad to change a man so.
He's not the same man that he was before
Mr Happy Go Lucky is happy
No more. He seemed OK when he left her, bloody good riddance was all he would say
But I think we could tell that all wasn't well by the drink he was putting away. He didn't seem too bad when he told us the people he worked for were letting him go
He agreed it was true he'd been hitting the booze but it helped to dull some of the blows. CH Look at him now he's got nothing but the clothes on his back and the shoes on his feet
He's lost everything that belonged to his life, and now he belongs to the street. CH We've given up trying to approach him, he just clutches his bottle and shambles away
He stands on the pavement and screams at the cars
He lies in the gutter and curses the stars
He slumps on a park bench and howls at the moon
By the way that he's going we know that quite soon..
Mr Happy Go Lucky will die. CH 9. CRISCO
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s Jim Crow Crisco woke at dawn and saw that Spring again had come
Another year has past and gone, and left him far behind.
And the thought of seasons trundling by brought salty tears into his eyes
This Gypsy heart will slowly die, without the wings to fly. CH:
And Jim Crow Crisco
Watching the grass grow
So long, for so long
Around his caravan. Crisco turned back to the room and saw his lady's sleeping form.
'I'll never leave, I cannot roam, and leave her all alone'.
His lady stirred and saw him there. 'That man is surely dying here.
He needs the road as the birds need air, and it's me that keeps him here'. CH She came up to her husband's side and looked so deep into his eyes
She felt the pain he could not hide as she hugged his gypsy bones.
'Now move yourself my darling man, mend your wheels and paint your van.
Your heart is travelling on the land and chasing you must go'. CH Now there are no horses in the yard, and from the house no sound is heard
The shutters are locked and the door is barred, the birds have flown away.
Now Crisco and his lady live the living of the free
Tonight they'll dance beneath some tree beneath some other sky CH: (different)
And Jim Crow Crisco
Glad to see the rivers flow
Glad to feel the roads roll
Beneath his caravan. Yes Jim Crow Crisco
Glad to see the rivers flow
Glad to feel the roads roll
Beneath his caravan. 10. WHEN THIS OLD LOVE WAS NEW
Written and Composed by Bernie Parry 1990s I rarely ever say I love you, now is that oh so wrong?
Do I need to tell you every day my love for you is strong?
You say I never say I love you but that's not strictly true
I've spent a lifetime writing and singing songs for you. You rarely ever say you love me but I've known that all along
Some words aren't necessary when we've lived so long as one.
Mere words they come too easy, a moment and they're gone
And you and I don't need them for we sing the unsung song. CH:
I don't have to say it, but I think I'm going to,
I love you even more than when this old love was new. So I'll continue writing and singing you these songs
Though they may not sound so sweet now as when this old voice was young.
But we have the unsung song my love and it binds us silently
And the truths of words gain value if you use them preciously CH 12. I WILL NOT DANCE (To Your Tune Any more)
Written and Composed By Bernie Parry 1990s I will not dance to your tune anymore
You will not find me knocking at your door.
I’ve dances of my own to make
Chances of my own to take
And I will not dance to your tune any more.
It seems to me I answered for the sins of your last lover
Though you know that I’m a creature of a very different nature
But still you had to tar me with the same brush as that other man
But I will not dance to your tune any more
No I will not dance to your tune like before. My waves no longer break upon your shore
My heart and soul are voyaging abroad
This ship I’m on is sailing for another port beyond this storm
And I will not dance to your tune any more.
How easily we slipped from being friends to being lovers
I was on my guard but still you slipped beneath my covers
And all the while you held me you had this power over me
But I will not dance to your tune any more
For you do not dance in my heart like before. I remember when the loving had to end
What strangers we became, not even friends.
Now something’s changing you and me
From strangers into enemies
And I will not dance to your tune any more.
You seem so unaware of all the pain you leave behind you
And the way you are ensures that no man lingers long beside you
Have you ever stopped and wondered why nobody ever married you?
Would they not dance to your tune anymore?
Oh we do not dance to your tune like before | 
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