1. |
||||
WAVING LIKE THE PALM TREES
Bb
Waving like the palm trees back home
F
I’m waving to the distance I know
F7
I’m lonely for my family
Bb
I’m lonely ‘cos there’s only me
Bb F F7
The days are long and the nights are slow
Outside on the edges I hold on
I’m not allowed to work or to belong
The things I say are thrown away
And this is not a holiday
The sun won’t shine, I’m only half alive
Chorus
Eb
And if I close my eyes and dream
Bb
Then peace would come and I’d be free
F7
My neighbour would still talk to me
Eb F Bb
And I would live in harmony with you
I live within my means in Stoke on Trent
The roof above my head was heaven sent
When I become a refugee
They’ll take it all, look down on me
I long for home and how it used to be
I take the bus to Burslem and I smile
To be with friends around me for a while
Where kindness chases fear away
And love can light the darkest day
A jubilee is waiting there for me
Chorus
And if I close my eyes and dream
Then peace would come and I’d be free
My neighbour would still talk to me
And I would live in harmony with you
I put away my broken heart – I try
I turn away from hurting days – I don’t cry
I search to find the better times
I look for hope to make it mine
I want to live, I’ve got a lot to give
Shining like the brighter sun back home
Climbing up as high as I can go
Sometimes I fall before I start
But that’s the way with broken hearts
Across the sea, will they remember me
Chorus
And if I close my eyes and dream
Then peace would come and I’d be free
My neighbour would still talk to me
And I would live in harmony with you X 2
Waving like the palm trees back home Rpt
|
||||
2. |
||||
SHE WALKS THROUGH THE RAIN
Intro - C Am7 Dm G 2
C
She walks through the rain in Rochdale
Am7
Like a queen in a foreign land
Dm C
With beautiful skin of caramel cream
D G
She’s taking her children’s hands
C
She’s calling this place her home town
Am7
Her mother’s across the sea
Dm C
She keeps to him only, she’s married and lonely
F G C
She’s a lot like me
She lives in the streets of Rochdale
Sometimes you can see the hills
In the rain they’re all shining like her silver lining
She covers her head and the pain
She moves with her friends through this town
Like everyone has to do
She tries for the future and fights the computer
She’s a lot like you
F C
There’s the best fish and chip shop called Habi’s
F C
There are books and the radio plays
F C
It’s not easy, but she seems to manage
D G
She learns English and keeps to the faith
Down by the canal in Rochdale
Past the railway and under the trees
She walks in the sun when the wok is all done
‘cos everyone needs to dream
She’s longing for peace and plenty
With argument far away
That time couldn’t hold her
She could cry on his shoulder
It’s a brand new day
C
She walks through the rain in Rochdale
|
||||
3. |
My Heart's Eyes
03:44
|
|||
MY HEART’S EYES
My heart tells me, my cat helps me
Stars are looking down
Maybe someday, Friday, Sunday
I’ll get there somehow
Broken scattered on the ground
Leaves like lives are turning brown
Don’t look down
See through my heart’s eyes
Frightened, worried
Confused, awake in the night
Put down, lonely
Hurt, humiliated
Words go by me like the wind
It’s whistling down the street
Quiet with my pen I fly
But I’ve no wings, just feet
Someday I’ll unlock this door
Somebody will ask for more
An open door
See through my heart’s eyes
Fixed, tied
Messed up, hiding inside
Hoping, knowing
Silent, staying alive
I am young and I keep smiling
Someday I’ll be me
It’s on the tip of my tongue but I am shy
And no-one seems to see
Side by side just as you please
On this shelf like chalk and cheese
Smile for me
See through my heart’s eyes
My heart’s beating, my cat’s sleeping
Stars are looking down
Maybe sometime, Autumn, Springtime
I’ll get there somehow
I’ll get there somehow
- It’s a sunny tomorrow
- Tomorrow’s my day
|
||||
4. |
The Broken Parts
02:45
|
|||
THE BROKEN PARTS
There’s nothing left, I feel bereft
They’ve put a fence along the railway
Silence grows and God knows we need some peace
But there’s no rest, grassed over left
To pay the price and it’s not nice
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
There’s nothing here, I’ve cried me tears
I lean against the harbour wall
The waves come in
It’s closing in, I see it all
I say the words, it’s never heard
I cannot make them understand
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
Chorus
If I could have a moment longer
What I’d give to see me Dad
Or see me Mam where we belonged
And touch the life we used to have
When times were good
When we were loved
There’s nowt to start, her Dad was hard
It’s set in stone and she’s come home
Where she belongs
Where she was wrong and trying hard
She went away to get away
There’s no escape from Seaham and pain
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
There’s nowt to see, just memories
There’s tins and cups and Sunday tea
And tags and lamps
And gran looking after me
There’s photographs, a marra’s laugh
The better times are in the past
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
Chorus
If I could have a moment longer
What I’d give to see me Dad
Or see me Mam where we belonged
And touch the life we used to have
When times were good
When we were loved
It’s all away, and it’s today
Half a lifetime, yesterday
The ground was shaking
Coal was breaking at the seam
And in the evening
Sometimes light will catch me breath
I’ll feel just right
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
The broken parts yer never see
The broken hearts
|
||||
5. |
Some Breaking, Some True
04:37
|
|||
SOME BREAKING, SOME TRUE
I’m watching, I hear
I listen and see
Big hearts are talking to me
It’s a church, it’s a hall
It’s a place for them all
And I know it’s a good place to be
They tell of the past
And the growing, the years
That settle on faces that care
These women of life
Take the dark and the light
They empty me out when I’m there
Chorus
So roll out the barrel
And bang on the drum
There’s hope for tomorrow
If today ever comes
And I could cry now
For the things they’ve been through
Families like trees
Some breaking, some true
I know they don’t say it
Some times have been hard
They pass it off, laugh it away
What use is a hard word
When kindness will do
And love will chase shadows away
They don’t suffer gladly
They don’t suffer fools
They’re strong when they stand unafraid
These women of living
With spark in their eyes
The strength to their arm
And their days
Chorus
So roll out the barrel
And bang on the drum
There’s hope for tomorrow
If today ever comes
And I could cry now
For the things they’ve been through
Families like trees
Some breaking, some true
And I could cry now
For the things they’ve been through
Families like trees
Some breaking, some true
|
||||
6. |
||||
THE STARS LOOK DOWN ON HORDEN
Things are bad now
Things are sad now
It brings a feeling over me
I’ve been happy all me life here
Now I live on memories
Me daughter tells me I should leave
But I’d be lost without me heart
Me future’s here where pigeons feed
And I’d be lost without me heart
There’s a voice cries in the night
I count the stars until it’s light
They’re setting fires off in the yard
But I can’t leave, it breaks me heart
The streets of Horden lie so quiet
Houses leaking in the rain
And no-one mends them
And no-one listens
There’s no ending to the pain
I ring the council again
There’s been a fight at No 10
The police are at the door
There’s trouble out there at 24
There are lights on still in Horden
And I’m dreaming in the dark
And the moon shines on the water
Silver linings break me heart
There’s a railway but no station
Every day trains come and go
Where the pit was there’s a wasteland
To remind us who we are
But I won’t tell you and I won’t say it
We’ve breathed the dust and work was hard
We had wor pride, I try to save it
They broke wor backs, I hide me heart
There’s a sunrise every morning
Reaching down for you and me
It’s a hard one in the morning
Loving Horden by the sea
|
Ribbon Road UK
Ribbon Road are:
Brenda Heslop
Geoff Heslop
For over 30
years, Brenda Heslop has been one of the undiscovered talents of songwriting. Only now is she starting to get the attention she has so long deserved, with singers taking up her lovely songs and spreading the word.
Geoff and Brenda now release material under the name Frank and Rose and have a separate Bandcamp page
... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Ribbon Road, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp